Cramming in my workouts

On August 7, 2015 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

The Dirty Sock route

Today’s run (street): 3.75 miles
Yesterday’s workout (elliptical): 30 minutes

During yesterday’s drive home I realized that I’d missed my morning workout window. I was facing another week with all my activity crammed into the last three days. I’m not likely to return to 4 AM weekday neighborhood runs, but I could run on the treadmill before getting ready for work on weekdays. And yet I don’t. As I crawled along the Cross Island Parkway, I made the decision to do a workout when I got home.

I took little time changing into workout clothes and considered both the treadmill and the elliptical for my workout. My thought process went like this: 1) “The treadmill is real running and the elliptical isn’t.” 2) “The treadmill gets my heart rate higher. I can change elevation and even simulate downhill running.” 3) “I hate the treadmill so I’m going to use the elliptical.” With that, I turned on the big fan and had a surprisingly enjoyable session.

This morning I was determined to get out earlier than I have done on previous Fridays. At 6:00 AM I told myself I’d go out at 7:00. At 7:00 I said 7:30. By the time I changed for my run and put on sunscreen it was 8:00. By the time my Garmin acquired a signal, it was almost 8:15. So once again I found myself in the prime hour for dodging recycling trucks.

The weather was promising, not too hot and hardly humid. I felt good from the start and that continued throughout the run. About halfway through my route, I saw a car coming from the other direction around a tight curve. I tucked in behind a landscaping truck until the car passed by. Coincidently, it was my landscaper’s truck and he was standing right there. We had a brief chat about how running and working in the heat kinda sucks and then I was on my way once again.

The rest of the run was relatively vehicle-free and the time went by quickly. I ran a little faster than I usually do, but it was still nothing to brag about. Tomorrow the Runsketeers will be taking to the trails to run the Dirty Sock course. It’s been over a year since I’ve run that route and I’m excited that my friends will be running it for the first time. I hope conditions will be cool and the path will be dry. It gets very humid around there in August and muddy trails are why the race is called the Dirty Sock.

Learning to love the run (again)

On August 2, 2015 By Emerging Runner6 Comments

Friend of the devil

Today’s run (street): 3.2 miles
Saturday’s workout (elliptical): 30 minutes

We spent most of this weekend in the city and that somewhat altered my running schedule. We had to get downtown fairly early for a college tour, so I did a quick elliptical session before we headed out. I figured that the amount of walking we’d do would compensate for a longer run I would have done this weekend. I’m not sure that’s true, but we certainly covered a lot of ground up and down the streets of Manhattan. This morning we visited Madam Tussaud’s. Touristy but fun. I even got to hang with my buddy Jerry Garcia.

SIOR and family were also in town last night taking in different sights. It would have been fun to run into them. She did eight miles yesterday and 15 today. When I expressed my view about running that many miles (ugh) I was sharply rebuked. I decided to try to see her point and view summer running as a positive. When we got back home I decided to cap today’s city walking with three miles of afternoon running.

I had in my head that it would be an easy workout. It didn’t feel too hot when I started and I immediately began thinking about the experience. Was I enjoying this run or was I doing what was necessary to maintain my fitness? I realized then that I am coming up on seven years as a runner and wondered if my current view of running (necessary but not particularly fun) coincides with that span of time.

Is there such a thing as the seven year running itch? The point where you’re pretty much the runner you’re going to be? There aren’t a lot new experiences and surprises when you’ve run the same basic route 1,000 times. SIOR has been running a lot longer than me and she still looks forward to fifteen mile training runs. How do I get there?

I ran my route and, like always, thought about my arm position, stride and cadence. I still care about how I run and that was an important realization for me today. The heat and fatigue from a busy weekend eventually got to me and, although the run was short, it couldn’t have ended sooner. Perhaps I need to rethink my running goals and even sign up for another half marathon. It’s not about the race. It’s about the training that I need to do to look at 10+ mile runs as fun again.

Short of time and business attire

On July 31, 2015 By Emerging Runner4 Comments

Today’s run (street): 3.25 miles

This is going to be a bad weekend for running. I’ll be tied up all day tomorrow and throughout most of Sunday. I don’t think I’ll be able to fit in a workout during that time, but I’ll be doing a lot of walking. Any chance to pick up extra miles today were dashed by a tight work schedule that limited my running time.

Not running all week and then starting up again on Friday is a bad habit that I need to break. Instead of feeling well rested at the start, I usually feel out of shape. I don’t struggle through these runs because I typically keep my distance under four miles due to time. However, feeling out of shape, at least for the first half mile, usually does not motivate me to push my performance.

Just before I sprayed on sunscreen, my cellphone rang and I had to deal with a work problem. That put me further behind. By the time I left the house, I had only 40 minutes to complete my run and be back in time to shower before my call. Otherwise I’d have to do this call wearing my sweat soaked running shorts.

And that’s just what I did. I tried to imagine what the people on the other end would have thought if they could have seen me rather just hearing my voice. I love working from home! Although I had to wind myself up at the start, I ended up in a good place by the end. I even pushed past my comfort zone throughout the last mile and greatly improved my pace over the prior two miles.

It turned out to be a busy day so I was glad I got in a workout. I may end up doing a late afternoon run on Sunday if I feel up to it. That could be a nice way to end a very busy weekend.

High visibility bargain

On July 26, 2015 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Orange you glad I bought this

Today’s run (street): 4.25 miles

I spent an awful lot of time talking myself into running this morning. If I’d just headed out early, before all the heat, sun and humidity, I would have been a lot more comfortable. By the time I was ready to go, we were hit with a deluge of rain. I had another cup of coffee while I waited out the storm. Once the skies were clear, I was able to go out. But by then, I just didn’t feel like running.

Somehow I managed to make my way out the door. I planned to keep it simple and follow my one-mile loop as many times as I could stand it. As it happened, I could only stand it once. I changed my route and followed Jericho Turnpike west, going past restaurants and shopping centers before cutting back into the neighborhood. By the way, if you’re looking for a bargain, Rare 650 is offering a steak special for two – only $99.99!

Speaking of bargains, I found a better one at SA Elite this afternoon. It’s my favorite running store, full of great discounted running clothes and shoes. For some reason there’s never many customers and every time we go there I expect to see that it closed. My wife found a hi-viz ASICS packable running jacket for $16. Although I have a decent running raincoat, it’s a size medium and a bit snug. It functions better as a waterproof windbreaker and I always keep it in my work backpack. I ended up buying the ASICS jacket in orange — size large.

I was glad that I managed to talk myself out the door this morning. Even though it’s been a low mileage week, I felt good about all my efforts This is going to be a busy work week and I’m hoping to fit in another mid week workout. And if it rains, I’m covered.

Moving lower on the dizzy scale

On July 26, 2015 By Emerging Runner3 Comments

Today’s run (street): 4.4 miles

After another good nights sleep I’m functioning a little better than on Friday. I woke up today without feeling dizzy. Even after my run, I haven’t experienced any problems. I still feel blocked on my right side around my ear, which may be due to fluid build-up. It’s possible that I got water in my inner ear from being in the pool last weekend. That could explain my occasional dizziness over the past week.

I had some time pressure to get my run done early, although I still took my sweet time getting outside. I like to take it easy on Saturday mornings, leisurely drinking coffee and watching the news, although those aren’t conditions that motivate me to run and sweat. I do eventually get there. According to my Garmin data, I didn’t actually start my run until 8:43 AM. Fortunately, the weather was still a balmy 77° with an 8 MPH breeze and only 57% humidity.

Since I skipped my workout yesterday, I considered covering a little extra distance today. I ended up keeping my run to around four miles because I didn’t want to overdo it. That was a good decision and I ended up having a good, energizing run. The run itself started as it typically does, with the first few minutes setting the tone for the entire workout. I usually start off feeling uncomfortable, probably due to the high degree of anaerobic breathing that happens before my body switches over to aerobic.

The rest of the run went fine and I was back home in time to stay on schedule. Today has been busy and I was happy to get my run in after missing it yesterday. I’m glad the dizziness has gone away. I just hope it stays gone.

Nothin’ doing

On July 25, 2015 By Emerging Runner4 Comments

I don’t know why, but I’ve been tired and dizzy over the last couple of days. It may be due to an inner-ear thing, or possibly caused by a sinus infection or allergic reaction. I haven’t suffered from allergies in the past, but I think I may have recently developed some pollen sensitivities. Whatever the cause, this condition has sapped my energy this week.

I was looking forward to a good week of activity and had enough energy on Wednesday afternoon to do an elliptical session when I got home from work. I was a little dizzy before that workout but seemingly fine afterward. Thursday was rough because the dizziness came back and my schedule was filled with meetings and presentations. Somehow I got through it.

I got a full eight hours sleep last night and expected to go out for a run this morning before I started my work day. Unfortunately the dizzy feeling and fatigue returned and I elected to wait until later, hoping that I’d snap back. By late morning I resigned myself to making this a rest day. I’m hoping I feel better tomorrow. No matter what I do, at least I won’t be leaping across and jumping from buildings like SIOR will be doing on Saturday.

First foray up and down the Massapequa Preserve trail

On July 20, 2015 By Emerging Runner5 Comments

Uphill in both directions

Today’s run (Massapequa Preserve trail): 6 miles

This morning the TV weather people were having a field day about how hot and humid it would be today. Hot and humid are two of my least favorite words when it comes to running weather. It was no surprise, since they’d been talking about that since Friday because of the the NYC Triathlon that was happening today. I knew I’d also need to deal with those conditions, as I planned to meet up with SIOR to run the second half of my six miler in the Massapequa Preserve.

Running with SIOR, even when she’s doing her easy long runs (14 miles today), is really more like running after SIOR. Still, misery loves company and it was fun to meet up on the trail and run for a few moments together. She waited up for me a couple of times and we had a nice recovery pause at one point. Although we only talked for a few minutes, we managed to cover some pretty gross subject matter. You have to know SIOR to understand that’s not at all unusual.

During my half marathon training periods, I would frequently run as far south as the Preserve, but I’d never made it to the start of the trail head. Today, that’s where I started. I parked in the Massapequa train station lot and quickly got onto the bike trail. My hope was that the expensive Ultimate Direction water bottle I’d bought a couple of years ago would be just the thing to keep me hydrated. I remembered having trouble with the bottle’s bite valve when I first got it and tested it today before I left the house. FAIL. I brought along a couple of Poland Springs water bottles instead.

The start and finish point

The Massepequa trail is verdant and has lots of dirt side trails. It also has tenth of a mile markers, unlike the Bethpage trail. I started my run shortly after 9:00 AM and the trail was already full of people. Many more cyclists than I’m used to seeing on the northern end. The trail seemed pretty much uphill until I reached Linden street, located just south of the Southern State overpass.

Once I cleared that challenging rise, I ran another half mile until I saw SIOR coming from the other direction. In order to get her full 14, we ran north another quarter mile and turned around. SIOR said the last three miles were mostly downhill and that made sense because it seemed pretty much uphill until that point. Here’s the thing I noticed about Bethpage (and apparently the Preserve): it always seems uphill, no matter which direction you run.

On the way back, I kept expecting to see the path sloping down gently and easing me through my final three miles. Strangely, the trail seemed mostly uphill the whole way back. It was like an MC Escher painting come to life. I knew there was nothing to do but run until I came to the end of the trail. Once I saw the bridge over the pond, I knew I was getting closer. When I saw that I was mere tenths away from the trail head, I was thrilled.

SIOR was already in her aircraft carrier-sized SUV when I caught up with her. She offered to drive me over to my car and the blast of AC that hit me was extremely welcomed. I must have looked like hell because she kept asking me if I was alright. She and her family were heading to the beach and I was heading home to spend time with the family in the pool.

TPP was in NYC because her paramour/trainer JC was participating in the NYC Tri (as was our friend KWL). Both of them did really well. We missed TPP, but then again we always do. I’m hoping the Runsketeers can all run together soon. It’s almost August and we agreed to do it once a month. So far so good.

Crabby on Friday, better today

On July 18, 2015 By Emerging Runner7 Comments

Don’t eat at Joe’s

Yesterday’s run (street): 3.5 miles
Today’s workout (elliptical): 40 minutes

I work from home most Fridays and that experience (no commuting or multiple meetings) usually provides a nice segue to the weekend. My responsibilities have ramped up in recent weeks and Fridays have become a blessing in terms of catch up time. Except for yesterday, where I started at the crack of dawn and didn’t stop until close to the crack of dusk.

My one concession to the Friday workday madness was to break away for a short time to do a neighborhood run. Once I was satisfied that I addressed some overnight business issues, I quickly changed into running gear and headed out the door. The humidity and temperature were both surprisingly low and I looked forward to a pleasant experience.

It’s much nicer running on Fridays without buses and school drop-off traffic. But the recycling manics remain. These guys drive their ten ton truck around my neighborhood streets like it’s a Porsche, exceeding the posted speed limit by 20 MPH and ignoring stop signs. Whenever I hear the roar and rattle of the truck, I make a beeline to the sidewalk. Even though there are 5+ miles of road in the neighborhood, I always end up encountering them at some point on my route.

Except for the truck, the run went fine. I had some slight breathing issues when I tried to push my pace, and I’m thinking that my aerobic threshold may have dropped over the last couple of years. If that’s the case, it would explain my measurable reduction in speed. I had hoped last weekend’s intervals would have gained me some improvement, but perhaps a mile of repeats at around 92% of max heart rate was not enough to make an impact.

Even with decent weather, I ended up feeling depleted. I had a fast shower and then it was back to work for the rest of the day. We had planned a family dinner last night at Joe’s ~~Crap~~ Crab Shack which recently opened in our area. We’d gone to one in Orlando years ago and had a great time. We all looked forward to this dinner.

I don’t know if I happened to be getting sick (perhaps my hard run and the long day standing in front of my laptop were responsible), but by the time we left the restaurant, I was feeling awful. The experience at Joe’s was interesting. Here is my recommendation: Don’t eat at Joe’s Crab Shack. At least don’t eat at the one in Westbury, NY.

We arrived at the place before the busy hour and although the room was more than half empty, we were told we’d have to wait for a table because they didn’t have enough servers. My wife wanted to leave, but we were all hungry and chose to stay, since they managed to “find room” for us in the back. This back area resembled the dining room of a highway truck stop circa 1973. The photo at the top shows the room full of invisible diners we needed to walk through to get to our table.

The greasy fish I had was terrible and no one else liked what they’d ordered. By the time we got home, I was feeling sick and had to lay down for a few minutes. I rallied enough to go out back for our Friday night fire pit and even managed enough of an appetite for a S’more. We have seen some interesting things on these nights, like an extremely porcine raccoon “sneaking by” atop the fence. Last night we were again dive bombed by a bat, who perhaps thought the pool was a pond.

This morning I was time-pressed because we had an early appointment at a local college. I probably could have fit in a short run, but I was still feeling iffy and decided to do today’s workout on the elliptical. Despite my opening windows on both ends of the room for air flow, it was humid as heck. Even so, the workout was pleasant. Some people don’t like the elliptical, but I do, mostly because it’s not a treadmill.

Tomorrow I’m heading to Massapequa Preserve to meet up for a Runska-run. I’m hoping that I’ll be in ready shape for the six miles I plan to cover. The heat and humidity are supposed to be off the charts, so I’m not planning to do these miles very fast.

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.

Beefs and intervals on the track

On July 11, 2015 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Making great strides

Today’s run (track): 3 mile run, plus 8 X 200

Although my pace throughout last Sunday’s Bethpage run was s-l-o-w, I was encouraged to see my speed improve once I started running with SIOR. Unfortunately, my speed dropped again once she who was out running brought her pace back to target. Left to pace myself, I’d defaulted to a lower performance level.

My orthopedist told me that my ruptured disc won’t return to its prior state on its own and he warned me of pushing my speed too hard. I’ve been very careful to avoid circumstances that would aggravate my lower back and my recovery has been excellent. The near trip I experienced during a trail run last weekend didn’t cause a relapse, so I decided it was safe to push the envelope a bit this weekend.

My morning schedule was tight so I needed to get out for an early, fast workout. When I arrived at the track there was the usual mix of people — mostly walkers and others who were alternating between running and walking. I had no plan, other than to run intervals that I would start after some warm up laps. I ran clockwise, on the inside (right) lane, to help counter-balance my usual running position on the left side of the road.

GPS inaccuracy: I swear I stayed on the track the entire time

After I’d completed my second lap, I noticed a guy wearing a singlet on the track about 100 meters in front of me. He looked like he was about to start his run, but pulled up short behind a man who had been walking laps. Once I reached them, I heard the runner arguing about the walker’s rudeness. In the seconds that I passed them, inferred that the walker had bumped into the other guy and failed to apologize.

I continued on my way but noticed that they were still in a heated conversation when I circled back toward where they were standing. I was prepared to give them the, “C’mon guys, let it go” speech but they stopped on their own before I reached them. I continued rounding the track until I’d completed twelve laps and saw that the singlet guy had started running 200’s. Instead of taking a short rest or running a slow jog before resuming, he slowly walked 200 meters to the next starting spot and rested a few minutes before resuming. I ended up doing two 200’s for every one that he did.

My feeling of superiority was quickly dashed. A young woman, who was also running strides, overtook and passed me like I was walking. At that moment, I was running a 7:15 pace. No matter how fast you run, there’s always someone faster. In my case, that’s usually everyone else.

I’m pleased that I got in some speed work today. I haven’t checked Garmin Connect, but I think that was my first interval session in 2015. It was a pleasure to see the histogram on Connect that showed my cadence firmly in the green zone throughout most of the workout and my average stride length ten percent longer than usual. Mostly, it was great to see a mile split in the low 8 minute range for a change.