Brooklyn Half retrospective

On May 15, 2015 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Good luck to KWL and FS tomorrow!

Today’s run (street): 3.4 miles

One year ago, it was the eve of the Brooklyn Half marathon, the biggest race that I’ve ever entered. I’d trained hard for this half and followed a modified version of the Hal Higdon plan. I did progressively longer base runs every weekend and managed to fit in speed workouts every week. Except for the fact that I’d taken on a consulting engagement that caused me to drop my weekly mileage from 24 to 16 for the last two weeks, I’d felt prepared.

I ended up having a tough race and wound up in the medical tent after I’d finished. There was nothing I could blame it on. I wasn’t injured and the follow up I did with my doctor (including a stress test) revealed no health issues. So far, I’ve run one good half marathon and two disappointing ones. I may not be built for that distance. Perhaps I should stick to 5 and 10Ks.

Making our way to the corrals last year

I did have a great time with my friends and the experience of running a big NYRR race was not lost on me. When I think about my disappointing performance, I try to keep in mind that I held a competitive pace (for me) for the first 5K. My race went off the rails once we left Prospect Park, but the final minutes running to the finish line along the Coney Island boardwalk will remain an indelible memory.

One year later, the idea of running a half marathon is more of an abstract concept. The long winter and my ruptured disc kept me off the roads through much of the first three months of the year. The elliptical and treadmill sessions I did to maintain my fitness took a toll on my base conditioning. And as we runners know, when preparing for long distance racing, it’s all about the base.

Even though I haven’t done a run over five miles since New Year’s day, I’ve seen great improvement with my injury recovery and I’m preparing to do at least one 4+ mile run this weekend. Today was a work from home day and I only intended to run about 3 miles before settling into business mode. I ended up going almost half a mile longer. While it wasn’t a fast run, it felt a lot more natural than it did last week.

My running goals one year ago are much different than they are today. Racing is still on the table, but it will be a few months until I’ll be able to maintain a competitive pace throughout an entire 10K. I saw an announcement that the Dirty Sock race will be run for the 10th time in August. I’ve had great experiences running that race, but it’s a tough trail run. I may be better off targeting Cow Harbor in September for my return to the starting line. I just need to be careful that I don’t push too hard and set back my recovery progress.

The end of running, for now

On March 7, 2015 By Emerging Runner4 Comments

Patience is a virtue

Today’s workout (elliptical): 50 minutes

For now and for the foreseeable future, I am no longer a runner, emerging or otherwise. Like the old adage that insanity is repeating the same action but expecting a different result, I’ve concluded that running right now will only result in pain. I’m not as upset about this as you’d think. I don’t plan to change the name of this site to “The Former Runner.” I’m just hitting the pause button until nature fixes the problem.

Thursday’s treadmill run was (literally) an exercise in determination. I was sure that getting through my three mile workout would somehow prove that I could always run through this problem. The bigger issue was that it hurt. First a little and then a lot. I knew that this was no way to handle things. I ended up skipping my workout on Friday because I needed to meet an insane work deadline that used up every minute of the day. An opportunity to recover somewhat offset the guilt.

I was still sore this morning and I knew that I couldn’t repeat Thursday’s experience. My strategy was to first do an elliptical session and then test the waters on the treadmill. The elliptical session went great. No pain during the 35 minute workout and no pain after I’d finished. I hopped up on the treadmill and set the speed to 4.1 MPH, hopefully fast enough to “run” without aggravating the source of my problem.

It only took a few seconds to realize that running at any speed right now will result in pain. I further backed down the speed and switched to walking for ten minutes, playing with inclines and declines between +/- 3%. Once done, I returned to the elliptical for 15 more minutes of pain free exercise. Stepping up my effort on the elliptical did not produce any pain. Better still, the soreness from my brief treadmill “run” was completely gone.

So today’s lesson is that running hurts and ellipticals heal. I’m going to use the elliptical exclusively while my body works on whatever it is that’s causing my running pain. I’ve decided to give it three weeks before I try another easy treadmill run. This is exactly what happened between the time when the old treadmill failed and the new one was installed. I did fine in that transition, but made the mistake of pushing my speed (and my luck) and that brought me back to square one.

If this plan doesn’t work, I’ll visit a orthopedist to get an MRI or meet with a physical therapist. They say time heals all wounds. Let’s see if that’s true.

Running against the clock

On September 27, 2014 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Home with time to spare

Today’s run (street): 3.7 miles

Fall is a busy season, especially on weekends. All summer I could usually count on having enough time on Saturday mornings to get out for a five or six mile run without having to start at the crack of dawn. Lately, that’s not been the case, and I did the best I could with the short time I had to run this morning.

I usually run against a distance target, but today I needed to get my run done by a certain time and live with the mileage. Instead of setting the display on my Garmin to show elapsed time, distance and mileage, I kept it on the clock. I knew that no matter where I was in the run, I needed to be back before 7:15. I was fine with this because it was nice not having my average pace flashing at me every time I looked at my watch.

I was cruising through the neighborhood, feeling liberated from the Garmin’s judgement, when the watched chirped, indicating that I’d reached my first mile. I realized then that even though I didn’t have the distance display up, the Garmin was keeping track. I looked at the time and saw what was left and felt pressure to accumulate some mileage before I had to be home.

I can’t say that I significantly increased my speed once the Garmin announced my progress, but I did gain about ten seconds on each mile that followed. I managed to get home a minute sooner than my deadline. If I was late, Mrs. ER would not have been pleased.

Tomorrow I’ll try and take advantage of having more time and get out for at least 5 miles. Fall may be busy and disruptive to my running schedule, but the weather is far more running friendly.

Work versus run, guess which won.

On August 30, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Timed out

I needed to complete a big project this morning, so I couldn’t go out for my early morning run as planned. I realized that finishing that work would interfere with my run, because I needed to leave the house before 10:00 for another obligation. I decided that I’d go for a late afternoon run instead. Well, that didn’t happen, and I decided instead to give my legs a break from a week of fairly hard running.

Tomorrow I’m planning another base run that will include hills. I’m not sure about speed, but no matter what, I’ll keep it more intense than normal for a run of this type. I have high expectations for this workout, so I’m hoping that taking the day off today will help make things go smoothly tomorrow.

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.

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.”

A big change provides more time to run

On February 1, 2013 By Emerging Runner4 Comments

If it’s all the same, I’d prefer a Garmin 610

Yesterday’s run (treadmill): 3.1 miles
Today’s run (street): 3.4 miles

After 20 years with my company, I am about to take early retirement. While I’ll miss all my office friends, I’m excited to be in a position to retire while I’m still in my prime. My big decision now is what to do next. I can do something completely different, or stay in familiar territory. I’m in no rush to decide. Besides having more time to spend with my wife and kids, I’ll be able to run longer distances on weekday mornings. No more train schedules to meet.

Yesterday morning, the winds were still blowing at speeds over 25 MPH. I decided to stay indoors and did a progressive speed run on the treadmill. Today, despite the cold, I got outside and ran around the neighborhood. It may have been the lack of work stress that pushed me along today, or the fact that I had to be home in time for a business call, but I achieved my fastest overall pace in two months.

I’ve been overwhelmed with correspondence and calls related to this change, so it hasn’t exactly been relaxing. But it has been energizing. Perhaps I’ll restart my Runner’s Tech Review blog now that I’ll (possibly) have more time. I’m going to need a new pair of running shoes soon. Brooks, Saucony, New Balance, are you listening?

Afternoon runs are hard when you’re a morning runner

On January 12, 2013 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

I wish all races started at 10:00 AM

Today’s run (street): 5.3 miles

All things being equal, I run much better in the morning than I do later in the day. The numbers don’t lie and I have had enough bad afternoon runs to know it’s true. I don’t know if it relates to biorhythms, psychology, or nutrition (or some combination of the three). In any case, I usually avoid running during the second half of the day. The above chart is an unscientific but fair representation of my performance throughout the day.

I’ve felt a little off my game this week. Not exactly tired, but not as strong as usual. I skipped my run on Thursday to give myself a day to catch up. Yesterday’s run on the treadmill was fine, although I didn’t feel as energized after the run as I usually do.

This morning I woke up at 6:45 AM, a full hour later than usual for a Saturday. I clearly needed the sleep and was happy to lose a little time to gain the rest. Due to that, the morning schedule was compressed and I lost my window to run. Other things took priority and it wasn’t until after lunch that I finally headed outside.

Today’s plan was to go to Bethpage, but I didn’t feel like taking the drive over there. I wasn’t pleased about my late start and I really wanted to get my run done as quickly as possible. At around 2:00 PM, I finally had my act in gear and started off. My targeted distance was five miles. Normally that would be easy, but I was concerned that the later hour would make it tough.

The weather felt cool, even though the reported temperature was 45 degrees. A very light rain was falling and I considered wearing my running raincoat but I feared overheating. I ended up putting on my Zensah calf compression sleeves for warmth and that was a good call. Plus they have an energizing effect that I’d hoped would help.

In terms of performance, it wasn’t the worst five miles I’ve run on a Saturday. My pace was acceptable but nothing to brag about. For some reason it was really hard to tie together five miles of roads today. The run seemed to take far longer than 52 minutes, but I didn’t have any issues with stamina. I occasionally picked up the pace during the run. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to help my overall time.

Running at 2:00 PM wasn’t the disaster I’d feared, but I suspect that I would have done better had I gone out earlier as planned. Tomorrow I hope to get to Bethpage and execute on my goal of doing one non-neighborhood run each weekend. Even if I can’t for some reason, at least today’s later run provided a different expereince. And for runners who train almost daily, a little difference can go a long way.

Rejecting rest is easier when you have options

On November 20, 2012 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Today’s run (treadmill): 25 minutes

This morning was a time of quick compromises. I set out my running clothes last night anticipating a cold morning run. Occasionally, I’ll wake up an hour before I need to get up and then struggle to fall back asleep. I usually win that struggle, but the ensuing sleep cycle puts me out until my alarm buzzes. This leaves me groggy and without much energy.

Today I had one of those mornings. My first thought was how much preparation time I’d lost by sleeping to my alarm. I usually wake up ten minutes prior to that and take the opportunity to start earlier. The time it takes to put on layers of clothes, a hat and running shoes (plus my SPIbelt, reflective vest and headlamp) is longer than you’d think. Add to that the wait time needed to acquire a GPS signal, and suddenly I’m up against my time budget.

After waking up this morning, my mind went first to the easy solution: a rest day. Sleep induced logic argued that I’ll be off on Thursday and Friday leaving me time to make up the miles with longer runs. I then remembered that on Thursday we’re doing the 5K Turkey Trot and I’ll be running that at an easy pace with my family. Knowing that I’d lose another hard workout on Thanksgiving, I rejected taking a rest day.

The next best option was to run on the treadmill. Running shorts, shoes and a HR monitor were all I needed and in just a few minutes I was off and running . I started easy and it took almost ten minutes of speed increases to get my heart rate into my targeted zone. By the end, it felt like a good workout and I managed to salvage about five minutes of additional downtime before my shower. A quick compromise was better than an impromptu rest day. At least it was today.

2:03 is fast for a marathon but not for the LIRR

On November 5, 2012 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

LIRR, eat my dust!

It has been a while since I’ve been in the office and it’s nice to be back. Our building is running at half power so it’s a little chilly, but it isn’t so bad that you can’t work. My commute seemed to take forever this morning. The Long Island Railroad is running on a modified schedule and this morning it stopped in places that I didn’t even know existed.

It usually takes me an hour and twenty minutes from the time I leave my house to when I walk into the building where I work. Today it took me two hours and three minutes, exactly the same time that it took Geoffrey Mutai to finish the 2011 Boston Marathon. Fifteen of those minutes were spent walking uptown from Penn Station, a distance of one mile.

Out of curiosity, I Gmapped the straight-line distance from my temporary home to my office building and came up with 30.7 miles. That meant that my commute this morning – car, train and brisk walk averaged 4:00 per mile, while Geoffrey Mutai pulled off his marathon record at 4:41 per mile. Practically outrunning a train is pretty impressive, unless you’re talking about the LIRR.