Once around the neighborhood

On March 28, 2010 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Today’s run (street): 3.6 miles at 9:15/mile

Today’s weather has turned dark and gloomy and I’m expecting to see the predicted cascades of rain starting at any time. The morning’s skies were brighter but the temperatures were colder and I made the mistake of putting on too many layers for my run. I have been pushing myself more than usual over the last couple of weeks but I haven’t focused as much on my speed as I have on hill training. I’m racing the Marcie Mazzola 5K in two weeks and I want to tune my conditioning for the killer hill at the start of the race. At least the race organizers were kind enough to design the course so that the hill is at the beginning rather than making it a dreaded obstacle near the finish.

Last night we got together with friends for dinner. Our hosts are fantastic cooks and this led to some untypical overindulgence at mealtime. Adding to that, I had my monthly beer (a Budweiser of all things!) and more calories came later when we all celebrated my wife’s birthday with homemade desserts. Due somewhat to that, I wasn’t exactly raring to get out and run this morning. We’re traveling tomorrow and I probably won’t have a chance to do a workout before we leave so I needed to get in a run today. I decided to start by running the three mile perimeter of our neighborhood. Along the northern road (Jericho Turnpike) there is a hill that goes on for a third of a mile. I thought that would provide a good challenge within a fairly low key run and I was pleased by how easily it went compared to the last time I tried. After reaching the apex of the hill I turned into the neighborhood proper and finished with a total distance of 3.6 miles. I was sweating quite a bit by the time I got home, having broken the cardinal rule about dressing for the second mile rather than the first.

9:15 isn’t exactly burning up the road, but given that I completely ignored any thought of pace I was happy with where I ended up. It was a successful weekend of running and I’m glad to have done a good series of hill workouts over the last nine days. I look forward to my rest day tomorrow and I hope to get in at least one trail run as we visit the Berkshires for a few days next week.

It’s all uphill from here

On March 26, 2010 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Today’s run (treadmill): 2.4 miles, 4-6% incline

The rain kept me inside this morning but I had anticipated bad weather and planned to run on the treadmill. I recently looked at a chart that compared equivalent paces based upon running speed and inclines. It gave me the idea that I could run at a slower pace (for safety given the treadmill’s belt slips) and still get the benefits of a faster pace by increasing the elevation. My run started roughly when my Garmin refused to set correctly. I nearly lost balance when the belt slipped while I was messing with the controls on the watch. Once I got that settled I pushed both my pace and the incline to a point where I was working fairly hard. About six minutes into the run I noticed that the belt would slip most often when I ran closer to the right edge of the tread belt. Moving closer to the left, the belt becomes more stable. Given that the tread belt is barely two feet wide, the range of positions is limited. However, an inch or two makes a big difference in terms of stability.

Running uphill at speed becomes difficult after a while so I decreased the incline for a few minutes to recover and then moved through some different combinations of slower paces and higher inclines (and vice versa). I ended up covering about 2.3 miles at an average pace of 9:50. Considering the amount of effort I’d needed to get through this workout I was surprised to see that my pace was still in the nine minute range. I’m hearing about more rain this weekend but I’m hoping to get out both days to run on real hills that don’t slip unexpectedly under your feet. In a way the new treadmill simulates running on technical trails – but not in a good way.

A day in the park (industrial version)

On March 21, 2010 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Today’s run: 5.5 miles (road) at 9:19

After yesterday’s tough trail run I decided to give myself a break and run on the road instead. I didn’t let myself off easy though, my first destination was the industrial park that is located a half mile from my neighborhood. I’d been thinking about the Marcie Mazzolla race course knowing that I’ll again encounter that hill that stretches for almost a mile. I clearly need to do more hill work and while yesterday was good start in that direction it was useful to duplicate the conditions of a road race. The streets in the industrial park form a 1.2 mile loop with a steady incline when running in the counterclockwise direction. I felt strong as I set out to run from my house to the industrial park. I’d dressed in a short-sleeved wicking shirt and compression shorts that turned out to be the perfect combination, but the first ten minutes of the run were a little chilly with the wind.

As I made my way around the park it occurred to me how similar this course felt to the lower loop at Central Park. Certainly not in terms of visual stimulation (although the density of Canada geese in the industrial park was far higher than in CP) but similar in the location of the elevations and downhills. I didn’t know how I was tracking for pace and I didn’t really care. It was about the hills and I felt I was holding my own. By the time I was on the third loop I noticed that I felt stronger than I did at the start. When I reached the flat part of the loop that leads to a downhill section I felt like I had done really well. Not only that, I felt like I could do more running, so I took a detour back to my neighborhood and stretched my distance to a total of 5.5 miles.

Next week I will use some of the treadmill’s hill climbing programs in my weekday morning runs to help maintain the progress I made this weekend. My overall pace of 9:19 is acceptable to me considering that a good part of today’s workout was done uphill. I’m very glad I’m resting tomorrow!

Over the hill

On March 17, 2010 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

I looked up the course map for the Marcie Mazzola Foundation race and saw that it’s basically the same route as last year’s run. It looks as though the start has been moved to a different location and the course wraps around Heckscher Park instead of heading west and north of it as it did last year. This translates to a shorter run for 2010, 5K vs. 4 miles. What doesn’t change is the big hill that runners encounter about a quarter mile into the race. Last year I was astonished by the length of that incline. I believe the road gains elevation for almost a mile before the street levels off. Last year I did know about the hill prior to the race but I didn’t realize what a punch it would deliver. This year I hope to be better prepared for it.

Speaking of hills, I was surprised by the tightness I had in my legs this morning. Yesterday’s run was by no means difficult and, although we did scale one big hill, overall, it was a fairly flat run. I definitely need to work on my conditioning if I want to be ready for the 4/11 race. This morning I ran an easy 2.6 miles that felt good and satisfying and loosened up my quads quite nicely. Our new treadmill is due to arrive tomorrow and I’m eagerly anticipating that delivery. Our treadmill is ready to go although its high decibel howling has stopped for the most part. It’s a simple machine and our new one is more modern and technical. I’ll be pleased to have a dashboard that displays my speed and progress and I’m hoping the new unit is quieter and the motor less rough. Most importantly, the new treadmill is capable of inclines up to 15%. This will be a useful capability as I work to get ready for the big hill on race day.

Thoughts on my upcoming 5K

On November 20, 2009 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

I’m working from my home today and due to my schedule I was not able to run this morning. So far this week, even including Sunday, I’ve run less than ten miles. I don’t know if I’ll have a chance to get out today so this will likely be a low mileage week. That may be a good thing since I spent most of last week feeling tired during my runs. I’d really like to go out for a long trail run this weekend for a change of pace but I also feel like this is the last chance I’ll have to train for my 5K. I looked up the layout of the course and saw that it’s relatively flat but there are a couple of good hills along the way. It may be a good idea for me to try some hill training at the industrial park at some point. I also plan to get home early on Wednesday so perhaps that’s the time to do that as a last hard workout prior to the race.

Saturday will be the last time I race in 2009 and it will be the 6th time I’ve participated in an organized race this year. Saturday’s 5K will be the second time I’ve raced that distance this year so I have an opportunity for a new PR. The last time I raced a 5K I did it at 8:33 and won 2nd place in my age division (it clearly wasn’t a competitive field) so I’d really like to beat that time if I could. On the other hand it might be fine to go out and just have fun and enjoy a race close to home with my family there to cheer me on. Right now my competitive spirit is winning so I think I’ll do that hill training. I need to look at the race calendar to see what’s happening in early 2010.

Over the Moon(s)

On October 18, 2009 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

This morning I was determined to get out and do hill training despite calls for wind, rain and flooding. I dressed appropriately, including a great ASICS lightweight running jacket that I bought at the Expo before my 5K race in April. It felt much colder than 44 degrees when I stepped out to run. The skies were dark gray and I could not get a lock on a GPS signal with MotionX but I hit start anyway, then pressed go on my Garmin and headed out. I made a bee line to the industrial park and chose the steeper circuit running counter-clockwise which takes you uphill about 2/3rds of the run and downhill the other third.

I had planned on doing a couple of circuits and heading back since the weather was getting worse every minute. I had brought along a package of Luna Moon Energy Chews, described by the manufacturer as “provid[ing] women athletes with essential carbohydrates, electrolytes and vitamins for increased energy while exercising.” I bought them at Target despite the gender bias of the packaging since the only gender-neutral choice was Sharkies. In comparison, Sharkies Organic Energy Chews contained much more sugar per serving.

I had been thinking about how I typically feel tired and depleted after 30 minutes but usually rebound after five minutes or so. I experimented with the energy chews, trying 3 about midway through my run. I can’t say how much they helped as I felt no energy surge after eating them but I did a third circuit up the hill and I don’t know if I would have been able to do that unaided. I was feeling tired and soggy by the time I finished the third loop but happy the hills were behind me for the day. I headed back home and saw that I’d completed 4.75 miles at 9:09, a good part of that uphill. I used the Active Wrap on my quads this morning (heat) and I’m thinking that helped loosen up my muscles that were still recovering from yesterday’s 6.5 miler. Today was probably the last run I’ll do over 4 miles until Sunday’s race and I feel good about my conditioning going into my final week’s taper. I’m curious to know what weather conditions we’ll face on the 25th. If it’s cold and wet I know I can handle it. Hot and humid, that’s another story.

Training as the clock runs down

On April 22, 2009 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

It’s less than 10 days to my next race so I’m pushing as much as I can to prepare. I had a shorter window to run this morning so I tried to make the best of it. I’ve declared a goal of running my upcoming 5K under 26 minutes and since I don’t have very long to prepare for that I’m focusing every workout on a specific aspect of the race.

Today I focused on speed – not tempo level speeds – but I tried to maintain a faster pace than I normally achieve during my weekday workouts. I only had 18 minutes to run this morning and I needed to build in a few minutes for cool down so I ended up running 15:22 for 1.79 miles for an overall pace of 8:35. It wasn’t as hard to do this as I thought it might be. My first 5 minutes were actually a little slow, closer to a 9 minute pace, but I ran the last mile around 7.4 MPH. I’ll admit that running fast for less than two miles on a flat surface is not the same as running a 5K under road conditions, but I think I can build on that.

Tomorrow I plan to follow the hill climb program on my elliptical. I don’t know how the grades will be on the 5K course but I don’t want to find myself struggling on hills like I did last Sunday. This weekend I’m thinking about a long street run on Saturday, perhaps expanding to neighborhood #3 for the first time and attacking those hills. On Sunday I’d like to go to Stillwell Woods and run the trails to take advantage the softer, more challenging surface.

AG said that Lululemon is sponsoring another group run in Central Park on Tuesday so that may be a good opportunity for a post-weekend long run before May 2nd.