Taking on hills and challengers at Bethpage

On June 29, 2014 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Halfway there on Sunnyside

Today’s run (Bethpage bike path): 6.4 miles

It was back to Bethpage this morning, where I went for my longest run of the week. I arrived early and parked in my usual parking spot near Haypath Road. It was the beginning of another beautiful day and there were already plenty of people out on the trail. My Garmin acquired its signal very quickly so I was off and running seconds after locking my car.

The Bethpage bike path is isolated, but in a good way. With trees on both sides of the trail, it sometimes feels like a paved path through the woods. I felt good, but I wasn’t sure how I’d hold up through my 6+ targeted miles. I have an aversion to hills and, as a result, I tend to avoid certain sections of this path. I originally planned to run to the route 495 underpass and turn around there. Instead I decided to take on the worst of it by following the trail all the way to the top of Sunnyside Boulevard.

Rise along the bikeway north of Washington Ave

What’s tough about the section from Washington Ave to Sunnyside Boulevard is the roller coaster-like changes in elevation over a mile and a half span. I figured that if I wasn’t going to burn up the trail with my speed today, I might as well challenge myself with some hills. I kept reminding myself to run the mile I was in instead of dreading the other hills that I would soon encounter.

I was about a mile away from finishing when a runner came off the road and fell in behind me on the trail. I felt a need to step up my pace so I wouldn’t get overtaken. It was a good test of my fitness and I was determined to hold him off. After a while I stopped hearing his footsteps. I don’t know if he fell back or went off trail (most likely) but he never passed me. No surprise, that was the fastest mile of my run.

We had guests coming midday, so I needed to wrap up quickly and head back home to take care of a couple of things. Today’s experience went a long way towards restoring my running excitement. Too bad I probably won’t get back on the road until late next week.

Angry workers and the endless trail

On April 25, 2014 By Emerging Runner9 Comments

My view of the trail today

Today’s run (Bethpage bike trail): 9.7 miles

With the Marcie Mazzola 5K happening on Sunday, I needed to figure out a way to get my long run done this week. On Wednesday I logged six miles and was planning to run 10 or 11 on the weekend. I didn’t want to run that much the day before a race, so I decided to cram it in today. I’m wrapping up a lot of things as I prepare for a new role on Monday, so my schedule was tight.

I decided that the bike trail was my best option, so I drove to the small lot that sits on the bike trail north of Old Country Road. I quickly started running north until I reached Washington Ave and turned around to run south. My target was 10 or 10.5 miles and I felt great. The weather was perfect and the setting serene. I must have seen thirty cottontails along the path and countless birds. Not too many people though.

I did fine through the first five miles despite the hills that came about every quarter mile. My only concern was time, because I needed to be home (and hopefully showered) before a business call that was happening mid morning. Once I’d traveled south of the Bethpage lot and down the big hill, I started to feel a little fatigued. I’d swapped the sock liners in my Virratas for gel insoles and that turned out to be a good idea. However, the softer landing probably made me work a little harder on the hills.

By the time I reached seven miles, I became concerned that my progress was not fast enough to meet my timeline. I was really feeling fatigued and the trail seemed endless. I also realized that I did bad math in terms of turnaround point and I wouldn’t quite make ten miles. Oh well, it was only a 3/10th of a mile difference. The only disruption to this placid experience was when I reached Old Country Road near the end of my run.

Before I’d rounded the corner to the street, I heard loud male voices screaming at each other. It was mostly expletives. These were town or county workers who were fixing the bike trail at the point where it met Old Country Road. I was mildly concerned because I needed to run between them to get across the street and more concerned when I saw that one of the arguers was driving a huge front loader.

I think they realized the danger of interfering with a civilian, so they stopped while I passed through. Immediately after, the guy in the front loader started yelling, “I !@#$% quit!” By then I was on the trail on the opposite side heading to my car.

Even though today’s distance was almost the same as last Sunday’s, today’s run was far tougher. I’m hoping it had to do with running almost ten miles after running 6 just two days prior. For some, that would have been a non-issue, but it was only about five weeks ago when I was struggling to complete 4 miles on this same trail.

Tomorrow I will rest and Sunday I’ll race. What I’ll do for training next week is still up in the air. I’ll have to see what my schedule holds.

Bethpage run: Making friends along the trail

On April 20, 2014 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

I really want that chocolate bunny

Today’s run (Bethpage trail): 9.5 miles

Today is Easter and I hope it’s a good one for those of you who celebrate this holiday. I don’t, but I’m certainly celebrating the great weather we’re having this weekend. Sunday is when I do my longest run and the distance gets extended each week as I build up to half marathon distance. Last Sunday I ran eight miles and today’s plan was for 9. Depending on the training schedule, today could have been a ten miler, but I was reluctant to jump 20% from week to week. Though it was an accident, I ended up with a good compromise distance.

My Runsketeer friends are both in Boston for the marathon that’s being held tomorrow. SIOR will be running it and we are really excited for her. She trains really hard while taking great care of her family (4 kids!) and she has the athleticism to make it a memorable performance on Monday. No pressure, just qualifying for Boston is a victory. TPP is there to support her sister T, who is also running tomorrow. T is another high performer. That, of course, is a prerequisite for getting entry into Boston.

As a native Bostonian, I would have loved to be there to watch them run through my old home town of Natick, but I’ll be here on Long Island tracking their progress through the baa.org site. In the meantime, I have my own race training to do with the Brooklyn Half coming up mid-May and the Marcie Mazzola 5K next weekend. I’m very curious to see how I do in terms of speed in the 5K and whether all these hills I’ve been running will provide a performance payoff.

Today’s run was split into two experiences, one being a pleasant but uneventful solo effort for about five miles and the other a highly enjoyable almost-five with an other runner on the path. I parked near Haypath Rd. again and got right on the bike trail going north. I followed the trail up to Washington Ave and turned around once I reached the underpass of the LIE.

I maintained the easy pace that I need to cover long mileage while I rebuild my endurance. I got to the five mile point and had stopped at Haypath to watch for cars when I saw another runner to my left. We exchanged hellos and crossed the road. I suspected that he was faster than me and was surprised that he hadn’t taken off and passed me at that point. Instead, he (I’ll call him J) pulled alongside me and asked how many miles I was doing. He was planning to do about the same, we’re both training for different long races and his will be in Vermont.

Today’s elevation profile

J turned out to be a very good and interesting guy who also works in the media technology space, but not in publishing like me. He set a slightly faster pace than I was running and I was very surprised that I was able to hold up my end of the conversation. J is a tall athletic guy and I’m somewhat older than him. He could have easily run two or three minutes a mile faster than the pace we held and I was grateful that he didn’t. He really pulled me along, especially on the hills.

The time spent with J went by much faster than the previous five miles. Just like when I have group runs with SIOR and TPP. Good company is a runner’s gift. I left J to finish on his own once we returned to Haypath and I felt remarkably good after covering almost ten miles today. All this focused training is making a difference and it demonstrates that there is no substitute for putting in the work. When the work is made easier with friends, it’s simple to understand why we do this.

Short and steep running at Trailview

On April 19, 2014 By Emerging Runner4 Comments

Trailview welcomes you

Today’s run (Trailview State Park): 2 miles

Today is my birthday and it’s been a good one so far. I’m not much for big celebrations and my family and friends respect that. I did enjoy a nice lunch at the Lemonleaf Grill (spicy Panang curry), the great cards, thoughtful and fun gifts, calls and emails. And there’s still more to come!

I had looked forward to today’s run which I planned to do at Stillwell Woods this morning. I haven’t been on a wooded trail since March’s relay race in Bethpage and I thought a change would be nice. When I arrived at Stillwell, I saw that the enormous set of athletic fields were packed with tents and people who were there for some lacrosse-related event. I drove into the lot despite the hundreds of cars, many double parked along the drive. In the past I’ve been able to find spots way down near the trail entrance, but today there wasn’t a space to be found.

If I wasn’t wearing my H/H Trail Lizards, I would have driven to the nearby high school and run on the track. Instead, I decided to head home and take a birthday rest day. When I reached Jericho Turnpike, it occurred to me that I could run the trails south of Stillwell (i.e., Trailview) that probably had plenty of parking. I was there in two minutes and, while the lot was crowded, there were still plenty of spaces.

I wasn’t looking to run long today, so Trailview was a good choice. The loop is an out and back measuring about two miles, but with its steep, gnarly, rocky climbs and precipitous drops, you can get quite a workout. As soon as my Garmin captured a signal, I was (literally) off and running, mostly because I wanted to get to the starting point ahead of a large group of hikers.

The short run seemed to go by quickly and I was very happy with my response to the hills. I actually liked going up more than going down, because I feared catching a root and tumbling down 20 feet of rocky trail. I maintained a fairly high heart rate which has been my goal for my current training. I always forget how challenging Trailview can be.

Later in the day, the family headed over to Syosset-Woodbury Park for some other activities. There are some great hills and I took on the biggest a couple of times. I got outside a couple of times today but didn’t overdo it either time. I’m planning to cover 9 or 10 miles tomorrow and need to reserve a little energy for that.

Runsketeer Sunday on the mountains of Westbury

On April 6, 2014 By Emerging Runner4 Comments

The concrete roller coaster

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

What goes up must come down. That is an apt description of the loop I ran today at the campus of SUNY Old Westbury. SIOR, who discovered this beautifully torturous running venue, described the course as “hilly.” She certainly wasn’t kidding. With the exception of the short drive that connects the campus to Cedar Swamp Road, I don’t think there was a level section on our route today.

SIOR was unable to join us this morning, so it was left to TPP and I to conquer this undulating beast. She wanted to run 11 miles today and I had had 7 scheduled. Our timing was almost perfect. I arrived a couple of minutes before our designated meet time and I could see TPP heading in my direction. She was probably half a mile away, but her neon yellow running jacket made her easy to spot. TPP had already run 30% of her planned distance and would cover the balance while I did my seven miles.

We headed west toward the loop running against traffic. There were a lot of cars on the route because the college was having an Open House. Fortunately there was plenty of room for the many other runners and cyclists we saw today. I followed TPP who is a very focused runner. I had to ~~constantly~~ occasionally remind her to get over to the left when cars were heading in our direction. Apparently her friends from the Selden Hills running club are frequently called on to do this for her during their group runs.

Elevation chart from today’s run

We encountered the first of many hills soon after we’d started. We were running easy and took it on without much trouble. Every hill was followed by an equivalent drop, making it the least fun roller coaster ever. But the run was fun, because our pace allowed us to carry on a conversation most of the time. I’ve never been able to speak when running at my regular training pace, but I did okay today.

I had been concerned about being able to cover seven miles over what turned out to be 600 feet of elevation. We decided to walk parts of some hills, but I stopped my Garmin during those times because I wanted to make sure I recorded 7 full miles of running.

I’m looking at today’s run from a couple of different perspectives. On the positive side, I had a great time running with a friend, made my targeted distance and ran a lot of hills. On the not so positive side, I probably fell short on effort, as evidenced by my heart rate that averaged only 75% of max. I think this is a signal for me to start pushing my speed a little more on my long runs. SIOR suggested running a couple of miles at targeted half marathon pace on training runs and I plan to do that during next Wednesday’s run.

Raising HR should raise performance

I want to get my heart rate up to at least least 80% of max on long runs and average at least 85% on more speed-focused runs. This is a tough change for me because the harder I push, the less I enjoy the run. But I always feel great afterward.

Runsketeer training run at Bethpage

On March 23, 2014 By Emerging Runner6 Comments

Why am I smiling? I’m done.

Photo and artistic effect by The Petite Pacer

Today’s run (Bethpage State Page): 6 miles

Today’s run with my Runsketeer buddies had its ups and downs, and I’m not referring to the hills at Bethpage. The ups came from spending time with two of my favorite people, SIOR and TPP, who joined me on the trail this morning. The downs related to the struggles I had trying to cover 6 six miles today. It was the second Sunday in a row where I went out for a long run with great hopes, but ended up with a disappointing performance.

SIOR was running 17 miles today. She covered all but six of them before rendezvousing with me and TPP on the north trail at Bethpage. TPP and I took off in SIOR’s direction and we both noted that the pace felt challenging. This was not a good sign for me because we were running slower than our normal training paces and I feared that today would be a repeat of last Sunday’s performance. It turns out that it was.

We met SIOR at the one mile marker on the north trail. She had done an out and back from the parking lot and we all decided to head north from there. Both of my group-mates are speedy, although TPP has been hurting a bit and is still dealing with respiratory issues. She took a few moments for recovery (as did I) throughout the run, but when she was in “running mode” she did an impressive job of keeping up with our speediest run-mate.

Much of today’s run was spent watching my buddies progress from a distance. At first my gap was about 30 feet as they tried to keep me included. They both slowed or stopped so I could catch up and participate in the conversation. Unfortunately, I struggled to both talk and run and eventually encouraged them to open up and run their faster pace. They are great people and they followed a “No Runsketeer left behind” policy, so periodically I would spot them waiting for me to catch up.

I am still puzzled by my difficulties today. They started early and remained, just like last week. I had really good runs on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday where I maintained my targeted training paces. Wednesday’s run was 4.4 miles where I ran strong from start to finish. Yesterday I did a hard three miles near targeted half marathon race pace. The only variable that could explain it is the weather. Last Sunday’s run and today’s were both around 30° with wind-chill and I wonder if I’ve developed a cold induced breathing issue.

I managed to cover six miles per my training schedule, although there were a few stops for rest and to let traffic pass on Old Country, Old Bethpage and Haypath roads. It was a strange experience to be running with such a high perceived effort, yet not being able to keep up with the continually shrinking silhouettes of my friends as they disappeared over the many hills along our route.

Reunited in the parking lot

Photo by The Petite Pacer

SIOR made it to our end point first, followed by TPP who threw in surges at the end. I rolled in a couple of minutes behind her. One of the “ups” from today was when the three of us took a few minutes to chat at the three mile point of our run. We didn’t get a chance to go for our traditional Starbucks after-run coffee, so this was a nice substitute. We also took a few minutes once we finished, but the combination of cold, sweat and scheduled obligations caused us to cut that short.

I’m trying to look on the bright side. I got to spend time with my buddies and ran my planned distance. After last Sunday’s tough run, I did far better throughout the week. Hopefully that will repeat this week. Eventually I’ll get past whatever it is that’s making my Sunday runs so difficult. It may be something as simple as warmer weather. It’s spring, so theoretically that should come soon.

Steep road to the Brooklyn Half

On March 16, 2014 By Emerging Runner7 Comments

Scene of the crime

Today’s run (Bethpage Bike Trail): 5.25 miles

Have you ever had one of those long runs that felt so effortless that it seemed you could run all day? If that’s the case, I am extremely envious, because today’s kick-off to my Brooklyn half marathon training was the opposite of that. The one positive that came out of today’s workout was that I planned to run five and I did it. However, the experience itself was not good and it raised some questions about my fitness.

I had every reason to think today’s run would go well. Yesterday’s race was only a two mile leg. Although it was a tough two, it wasn’t an endurance challenge. I wasn’t pleased with my lack of stamina that caused me to slow considerably a couple of times, but my Garmin showed I’d averaged under 9:00 for a good part of the time. I figured an easy run on the paved Bethpage trail would be a nice recovery.

It was much colder this morning compared to yesterday’s race conditions. The temperature display in my car showed 28° and it was breezy outside. I had dressed for the cold, but the wind made it feel far more uncomfortable. But that was an irritant, not an obstacle. I felt fine for the first few minutes and it helped that my route went downhill for much of the first mile. By the time I reached the wooded section, just east of the park drive, I started feeling an energy debt. I made my way up some short but somewhat steep sections and realized this was not going to go well.

I often hit a wall around 30 minutes into a run, but I can usually manage through that. Today that wall came at the 10 minute mark and it never went away. Even at a 10+ minute pace, I felt weighted down. I think I’m starting to react to tree pollen that was released with the spring-like weather we had earlier this week. It may just be that all the indoor training on the treadmill at easy paces has softened me up for cold weather endurance running.

The tough running continued and I considered truncating today’s distance to 4 miles. I decided to stick to the script and adjusted my speed to maintain forward motion. I wasn’t happy to be running so slow, but I reminded myself that this was supposed to be a recovery run and I’d committed to this schedule. All the indoor training and the lack of real elevation on my neighborhood roads were working against me. The hills really took a toll on me today.

One down, nine to go

But this is why we train, right? I remember going from middle distance to double digit mileage the last time I did half marathon training. In a way it was tougher to get through a hilly six miles those first weeks than to double that distance after many weeks of base runs. Next weekend I go for six. I’m thinking about resting Monday and Tuesday and then going for another four or five miles on Wednesday. Perhaps I’ll run 80% of my previous weekend’s distance on each mid-week run. I may use Tuesdays for weekly speed work. But not this week. At this point I need a couple of days of rest.

All trails lead to Mount Olympus

On December 22, 2013 By Emerging Runner3 Comments

Back to the woods

Last night, sometime between the start and finish of dinner, my headache disappeared. My daylong discomfort and exhaustion were suddenly lifted. I don’t know if it was the Ibuprofen, or the nasal decongestant that did the trick. I’m guessing it was neither. My theory is that my fresh New York bagel, full of carbs and covered with real butter, cut through the migraine. Forget Imitrex, this is the cure.

Relief from that headache completely changed my level of engagement and I felt like a human being again. The rest of our night was great and I was able to give full attention to our guests. This morning I woke up headache-free, but I delayed my workout until after our guests had left. At that point, I thought about the benefit of resting versus getting in a run. I decided on rest, but not completely.

Around mid afternoon, my son and I decided to go for a hike at Trailview, a park that connects the Greenbelt Trail north of Jericho Turnpike. The skies looked dark and there was a little rain coming down. We put on hooded jackets and headed into the woods.

A stop along the way

Trailview, unlike Stillwell, is a simple layout with two paths. The segment between Jericho Turnpike and Syosset-Woodbury Road is closely contained so it’s virtually impossible to get lost there. Still, Trailview’s paths are interesting, with twists and turns and some steep inclines and descents.

The view from Mt. Olympus

We saw a few other hikers braving the light rain, as well as a couple of trail runners. We ended up at the overlook where Woodbury Rd and Syosset-Woodbury Road meet. Crossing that intersection brings you into the south side of Stillwell Woods. For some reason, we’ve dubbed that “the view from Mount Olympus.” At that point we headed back, talking the whole time about the history of PC’s, handheld calculators and gaming systems, along with discussions about sentient computers and our common fascination with the movie, “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

A hike in the woods with my son beat a run on the streets by a mile. The trails posed a few challenges, but nothing we couldn’t handle. I got my workout without pushing so hard as to invite a relapse of yesterday’s headache. All in all, a pretty good day. I’ll have to decide whether to take tomorrow as my usual rest day or go for my first Christmas week run.

Seven miles of fun on the GLIRC Clubhouse Run

On December 14, 2013 By Emerging Runner9 Comments

Group shot just before the start

Photo courtesy of SIOR and GLIRC

Today’s run (GLIRC Clubhouse run): 7.4 miles

Well the snow came a little earlier than expected, but it didn’t interfere with today’s club run in the least. I arrived at the Greater Long Island Running Club (GLIRC) office just before 8:00 AM this morning and saw that I was almost late to the party. My friends TPP and SIOR were there among the assemblage of colorfully dressed participants. After some quick hellos and a group picture, we were all off and running.

The three of us followed the group and headed out of the business park onto the bike trail. It’s a hilly section from that point to the turn onto Washington Ave. Although I had good energy at the start, I worried about how I’d be feeling after many more miles. SIOR and TPP are both speedy runners, but they maintained a pace that I could sustain with some effort.

We chatted with other runners as we made our way south and came under the LIE overpass at Washington Ave. We crossed the road and found ourselves on a wooded trail that roughly parallels the bike trail. The snow had covered the sidewalk that led to the paved path, so it was confusing where to go. A little diversion into the woods was unexpected and appreciated at different levels by the three of us. The ice and roots on the path made the going treacherous.

We came out at Old Country Rd and continued on the paved path that rose for a while and proved a little challenging for me. Unlike the last time we ran together, today was more of a workout (though not much of a challenge to my friends). I found it hard to maintain a conversation at times, but we did have our moments. We took the run past Old Bethpage Rd and as far south as Haypath. As we drew close, many of the returning runners warned us of black ice further down.

I struggled to keep up with my friends who were gracious about waiting for me to catch up from time to time. They were probably running one or two minutes slower than their normal training pace, except for periods where they opened the throttle for a few minutes. I was challenged but I didn’t reach the point where I felt I was over matched or wished the run was done.

When we turned north from Washington Ave I knew we were close, but I also knew the toughest hills were coming. I took on the first hill with a pace slightly better than a fast walk. SIOR had no trouble burning up that hill as well as the ones that followed. TPP stopped to walk and I stopped with her. She will occasionally do that for 30 second periods and it’s a good strategy. I probably delayed her a little, but once we saw SIOR at the top of a hill we returned to running form.

TPP and SIOR took on the remainder of the hills at a brisk pace and I followed. We reached Sunnyside Boulevard and made our way back to GLIRC HQ where they hosted an amazing spread of post race goodies. After indulging in some high carb treats, TPP, SIOR and I headed over to Starbucks for coffee and conversation. Given the greater effort on today’s run that made it less conversation-friendly, we still had a lot to catch up on.

Post run – (from left), SIOR, ER, TPP

Photo courtesy of SIOR

It was a really fun time and it’s the perfect way for me to do group running. The next adventure for “The Three Musketeers” will be the LIRRC Hangover Run at Eisenhower Park at 9:30 AM. It’s a timed five mile run that goes around a one mile route. No bibs, tracking chips, or winners. In this event, everyone’s a winner. I’m looking forward to this event as I do every year and it will be more special because my friends will be joining me.

Hill running on marathon day

On November 4, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

The long and windy road

Today’s run (street): 4.6 miles

It’s marathon day in NYC and I got an early start on the coverage. I didn’t take advantage of the extra hour’s sleep from DST, because I wanted to have my run completed prior to the marathon pre-show. There wasn’t much drama in today’s race, but it was still fun to watch. I was hoping all my friends who ran it had great experiences. I thought about them on my run knowing I’d be covering far less distance today.

Today was my last chance to do a good training run prior to next weekend’s 10K. I decided to head over to the Greenbelt bike trail and run south so I could take on the long hill along Sunnyside Boulevard. It was cold enough for long pants and sleeves, but I remained comfortable (except when the wind hit me head-on). The Sunnyside hill is just long enough to wear you down because it gets increasingly steeper along the last half mile. I just kept reminding myself that I’d get to run it downhill on the way back.

Today’s run went well and I’m hoping I’ve built my fitness to handle a brisk pace over 6.2 miles next Sunday. This will be a busy week with early mornings into the city. I’m not sure how I’ll handle my taper, but I’ll figure it out. Although the Hope for Warriors course is fairly flat, this weekend’s hill heavy training should yield some conditioning benefit.