Run turned back at the driveway

On June 13, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Today’s run (treadmill): 3.2 miles

I watched the garage door rise to reveal a rain covered driveway this morning. It had looked dry from the window, but that was obviously an illusion. I wasn’t interested in running in rain-soaked conditions that would obscure my vision and saturate my shoes and socks. I turned around and headed upstairs to wait for my wife to complete her treadmill workout.

Today’s schedule was tight and I wanted to get in my run before I got caught up in business calls. I’ve been fighting a mild chest cold and could have used that as an excuse to skip my workout. I figured that I should at least try a run and see how it felt. I wasn’t looking to push myself too hard after a couple of hard runs on Tuesday and Wednesday. I did pretty well, but I skipped the progressive speed increases.

I’m getting closer to my next race and I know I should begin tuning my runs towards speed. I’m not sure which approach to take: intervals or tempos. I can’t really do speed work at the track during the week because school is still in session. If the weather is clear over the weekend, I may head to the high school. I think all the hill running I’ve been doing is helping to build my fitness, but I don’t know if it’s also helping my speed.

You have 28 minutes…Go!

On April 26, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Beat the clock

Today’s run (treadmill): 3.1 miles

That annoying thing called a schedule forced me onto the treadmill this morning. I lost track of time and realized that I wouldn’t have enough time to do an outside run and still make my first appointment. My only hope was to get it all done in less than 30 minutes. Since I’ve “retired”, I’ve made three miles the minimum distance for my weekday runs. If I was to meet that rule today, I would have to run fast.

I hit the start button and set my speed a full MPH higher than usual. Surprisingly enough, that pace seemed sustainable and I looked at my HRM for guidance, in terms of how far to push. I don’t really trust the treadmill display’s accuracy, so I mostly go by perceived effort. When I run a 9:20 pace on the treadmill, it feels like 9:00. I really should put a new battery in my Garmin foot pod to compare speeds and see whether there really is such a margin of error.

I watched the clock as I nudged against my critical time window. I knew I needed to meet or beat 28 minutes to get in a full 5K distance. When I got to the 20 minute mark I punched my speed up to 7.1 MPH and rode that pace until I’d reached 3.1 miles. My heart rate was at around 88% of max by the time I finished, and I was about as sweat-soaked as a person could be when I turned off the machine.

I quickly toweled off and drank a big glass of water before changing into dry clothes. I was fortunate that this wasn’t going to be one of those Skype conference calls that would have required me to look more presentable. I did let the time get away from me this morning, but running hard got me back on schedule. I’ve been wanting to do some speed work lately, but haven’t been motivated to do it. Sometimes motivation comes in unexpected ways.

A practical replacement for a postponed race

On April 14, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Ran it in spirit

Today’s run (treadmill): 3.25 miles

Today was the scheduled date of the Marcie Mazzola 5K that was postponed last week. I’m not into racing as much as I’ve been the last few years, so I didn’t look for another race to run in its place. While I love the whole experience of racing, I tend to put too much time and attention into the preparation. Lately, I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to run without having to focus on either distance or speed training.

I’m still feeling guilty for not running one of the RXR LI Marathon races. A quick check on the site shows that registration is still open. But the price to run the LI Half is almost $63 (including “convenience” fee). I’ve run it the last two years, and I think I’m ready for a change of half marathon scenery. Frankly, I would rather put the $63 toward a pair of Saucony Virratas, that are high on my wish list.

Virrata – just a credit card away

In deference to the Marcie 5K, as well as a lack of time to run this morning, I picked the treadmill over the street. I figured that if the race was still happening, today would been a fast run. Instead of playing with the treadmill’s controls, and increasing speed as I went along, I gunned it from the start. There are times when this tactic doesn’t work, and I need to back off a bit. Today the fast pace felt sustainable, and I even increased my speed over the last mile.

By the end, I felt like I’d run a 5K. It may not have been the Marcie 5K, but it was no ordinary treadmill workout either. I could have made it even more like that race by ramping up the elevation of the treadmill (to simulate the big hill on Woodhull Road), but that seemed a little much. After all, I didn’t even get a tee shirt for doing all that hard running.

Fast week, faster run

On April 2, 2013 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Green light, please proceed with speed

Today’s run (treadmill): 3.2 miles

This week is going by fast. I cannot believe tomorrow is Wednesday. Yesterday was a blur, involving much work that would contradict the notion that I have retired. The good news is that I’m liking the situation, especially since it only involves dealing with the Long Island Railroad a few times a week. Monday is my usual rest day, and I greatly disappointed my Fitbit by falling short of my daily goals by a substantial margin. I made up for that a little today.

The problem of not having a day that starts at 3:30 AM is that I end up having less day to work with. Even though I’m getting up at 5:30 AM now, my workouts and runs are colliding with morning commitments. Much of that is my own fault. Instead of rolling out of bed and then right out the door for a run, I’m taking time to have coffee, watch the news and see the kids off to school. At that point, it’s a competition to see if I can fit in a run before my first call, meeting, or appointment of the day.

This morning I had an early call, but I had the flexibility to push it forward enough to allow a treadmill run. It was sunny outside and the temperature was in the 40’s when I was ready to start. Even so, I stayed indoors to save the precious fifteen minutes I’d need to stay on schedule. Today’s run was a bridge workout, where I would introduce speed in a way that would protect my recovering hip.

I started at a pace close to where I finished on Sunday’s run, and started increasing my speed once I’d been running for 15 minutes. I’ve had no issues with my hip since last Friday and, after two pain-free runs, canceled my orthopedist appointment that was scheduled for this morning. Today felt like just another treadmill run and I think I can go a little more aggressively tomorrow. I hope I’m not fooling myself into thinking I’m healed when I’m not. Listening to my body helped me recover fairly quickly. Now it’s saying, “Go for it.”

Viva revolution (per minute)

On March 28, 2013 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

In my case, best divide by ten

Today’s workout (treadmill): 40 minutes

Today’s session wasn’t tough, but it was indeed a workout. The elliptical machine provides low impact, moderately aerobic conditioning with great cardio benefit. There is a small percentage of people who despise the elliptical, while many have told me that they find it far easier than running. I’ve observed that the elliptical challenge varies greatly with the level of resistance I choose. Level 2 is a breeze, while level nine is a hill climb.

Owing to my hip issue (are you as tired of reading about this as I am writing about it?) I set the level at 3 and focused on keeping my “speed” above 55. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I suspect it’s revolutions per minute. I ended up at close to 2,200 revolutions by the end, so the math works. I do miss my old BH Fitness elliptical that actually displayed distance, MPH and effort expended (by watts). That’s what paying 3x as much gets you. Plus construction that doesn’t feel like a metal tinker toy.

At the end of my session, I noticed that my hip felt fine. Happily, that hasn’t changed throughout the day. I’ll assess its condition tomorrow and will hopefully be ready for a neighborhood run. I won’t count on that, but it would be great to be back on the road again.

Close to greatness, but only by coincidence

On March 5, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

One of my celeb hangouts

Today’s run (street): 3.4 miles

I didn’t post yesterday. When that happens it usually means one of two things: either I didn’t run or I had no opportunity to write during the day. In yesterday’s case, it was both. I was in the city most of the day and had some good meetings. I met an industry friend for coffee at Bouchon in Time Warner Center and we shared a table with John Lithgow and his wife. Later, I had lunch with another friend at the Harvard Club where Bill Clinton was (supposedly) holding court on the third floor. In any case, I didn’t see him.

Okay, enough obnoxious name dropping. Yesterday’s time in the city did remind me of what an interesting place New York can be. I love having more time now, but I do miss the energy of the place. I’ve been going into the city a few times a week and it’s a nice balance, rather than the daily grind of a 6:26 AM commute.

This morning I was not at all excited to go out running. In fact, I used every excuse to stall before I finally made it outdoors. The 30° temperature made me seriously consider the treadmill or the elliptical. Knowing we’d be getting some precipitation tomorrow and Thursday, I decided I needed to run outside while it was clear.

I bundled up so I wouldn’t be too uncomfortable as I stood waiting for my Garmin to acquire its signal. The roads were clear of buses and there were few cars. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing hard from the northwest. I cringed every time I moved in that direction, but I lucked out a few times when the wind was behind me while I ran along a road with an incline.

I’m not achieving particularly fast paces on my daily runs, but that doesn’t bother me much. I factor in the bulk of having additional layers of running clothes and the prevalent headwinds. After the Snowflake race in February, I figure I can generate some additional speed when I really need it.

Treadmills aren’t always portals to boredom

On February 18, 2013 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Today’s run (treadmill): 3.2 miles

For all my complaining about the treadmill as a portal to mind blowing boredom, I’m sure spending a lot of time on ours. Back in 2011 I managed to go almost six months without using the machine. This was a well timed period between spring, summer and fall when it never seemed to rain at 4:00 AM. On those rare occasions where the weather interfered, I’d default to the elliptical machine.

Once again, the weather kept me inside today. 22 degrees plus wind chill made for an uninviting outdoor running experience. I could have bundled up and gone outside but I wanted to focus on my speed. I don’t run as fast with lots of layers and I’ll need to figure that out for the race on Saturday. I’m hoping for a mild turn in the weather and I’ll stay inside the registration area as long as I can to minimize the amount of time spent in the cold prior to the start. Those five minutes waiting for the gun can get downright chilly.

This morning’s treadmill run started fast and I didn’t let off my speed until I’d finished. I increased pace incrementally over the last five minutes, pouring it on at the end to simulate the finish of a race. I’m feeling primed at this point and I’m looking forward to returning to the road tomorrow. I’m still not a treadmill lover but, with these speed focused runs, I’m rarely bored.

Housebound, but still pushing race pace

On February 10, 2013 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Today’s run (treadmill): 3.25 miles

Warming trend

The roads have been cleared but they’re still too narrow to run. The sidewalks are completely inaccessible. So, once again, I hit the treadmill this morning. I wasn’t very excited to do another indoor run but I had little choice. Yesterday I went for 5 easy miles, but today I needed to step it up.

We had late morning plans so I had a limited time to run. I figured that I’d go about 30 minutes, a pretty short workout for a Sunday. To get over 3 miles I knew I needed to push my speed. That meant starting at a pace close to where I normally finish and building speed further through the last mile.

Despite yesterday’s restful workout, my return to speed went seamlessly. I had no trouble maintaining a brisk pace throughout the 30 or so minutes that I was on the treadmill. I ran hard, covered my distance and finished feeling like I’d been racing. The difference between today’s effort and a race effort was about 20 seconds per mile. I didn’t want to go all out, but I did want to get my heart rate up into zone 4. I ended up just about there by the end.

With this snow, I’m not sure when I’ll feel comfortable going back to the streets to run. I’m hoping for warmer temperatures and sunny skies over the next few days. According to the weather reports, I may get my wish.

Blizzard conditions outside and hard running inside

On February 8, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Ready or not, here it comes

Today’s run (treadmill): 30 minutes

The snow is upon us and, as the local weather guy just said, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” The wind is blowing and I’m worried about losing power. Despite all the contingency planning, I have little reason to believe LIPA and National Grid will be up to the task. I’m glad we have a generator that can power a hot plate and heater (plus TV, laptop, phone, and coffee machine) but I’m hoping we won’t need to do that.

It wasn’t snowing when I was ready to run this morning, but conditions had already turned unpleasant. The wind was building and there was intermittent rain. My wife did her daily treadmill workout and I followed her once she’d finished. Due to the weather, I had no intention of going into the city today. I was able to conduct a lot of business from the comfort of my home office/guest bedroom/fitness room.

I got right into my run, starting at a brisk pace and speeding up further as I got closer to the end. It’s true that the more you run faster paces, the easier it is to maintain them. I don’t think the treadmill display is close to accurate. A 9:30 pace feels super fast and a 9:00 pace feels like a sprint. Technically, I ran a 9:19 pace, but it felt harder than the 8:45 I ran outdoors a few days ago.

I may do a combination elliptical and treadmill workout tomorrow. If we don’t have power, my only option will be the elliptical without display or resistance. I’m hoping that we’ll get through this storm free of disruption to both power and running.

Early morning run at a more reasonable hour

On February 6, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Today’s run (treadmill): 25 minutes

Today has been an interesting day. It was my first time back in the office since last Wednesday and I was definitely in a different mode. I can’t say that I miss the old schedule. Waking up at 3:30 every day is (hopefully) a thing of the past. I had so many great conversations today that I barely made a dent organizing my office materials. I’m sure I’ll make much better progress tomorrow.

This morning’s workout happened at a far more reasonable hour than normal. 5:00 AM is early for many, but it allowed me almost 90 minutes more sleep than I’d usually get. Once again, I hit the treadmill hard, starting at a speed that I usually wouldn’t reach until I’m five minutes to the end of the workout. I’ve found that when I’m consistently running faster paces I establish a new benchmark for my normal speed. Somehow, over time, I always end up reverting back to my equilibrium pace.

Still, today was another great run and I’m not sure if it has more to do with a renewed focus on speed or simply getting more rest. It’s probably a little of both. I’ll probably do another treadmill run tomorrow (or an elliptical session) and get outside for Friday’s workout. That’s contingent on whether we get the 6″-12″ of snow that’s predicted to fall prior to the weekend.