Running views and visualizations

On November 2, 2013 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Sure looked like fall along the trail

Today’s run (Bethpage): 6.25 miles

The Hope for Warriors 10K next weekend prompted me to head to Bethpage this morning for a base run. I’ve plateaued on distance since Cow Harbor, having completed only a handful of 5+ mile runs since that race. After a week of rainy and windy conditions, today’s clear, dry 57° weather made a run at Bethpage very appealing.

More scenes from today’s run

When I arrived I saw that the right side of the lot was fairly full. There were lots of people with bikes and I wondered if there was a cycling event planned. I don’t think it was anything that formal, although there were a lot more bikers on the trail than I usually see. Considering the density of cyclists on the path, along with many runners and a good number of walkers, I encountered few reckless riders.

With my headache and sinus pressure gone, I felt good energy along the trail and felt less intimidated than usual by the big hills. That isn’t to say that I particularly enjoyed them. My plan was run 5K south and turn around at the 3.1 mile mark. It works for me to break a middle or long distance run into parts. For that same reason, I like to familiarize myself with a race course before running it for the first time. It’s always valuable to understand the challenges of the course before you face them for real.

New Garmin Connect cadence graph

I didn’t dog the pace but I wasn’t looking to simulate race conditions either. The purpose of this run was to get a 10K distance under my belt close to the real thing a week from Sunday. When I downloaded my Garmin after the run, I saw that they’d changed the data visualization on Connect and added a new metric: average stride length. Better still, the site has a pop-up that helps explain SPM and running dynamics. I felt good when I read this in the explanation: “The data values in the green, blue, or purple zones are typical for more experienced or faster runners.”

Good context on cadence

Ideally, I’ll see less green and more blue data points as I work to increase my cadence. Races tend to bring out our best performances (my recent history excepted) so I might even get myself into purple territory next week.

Making my last taper count

On October 17, 2013 By Emerging Runner3 Comments

A serious threat to pant-kind

Today’s run (street): 3.1 miles

As much as I love running, business needs to come first. For that reason, I was unable to get in my workout yesterday. I was in the city all day for meetings so the opportunity for a run didn’t surface. I’m temporarily boycotting my Fitbit because the holding clip has deteriorated to the point where I fear it will rip my pants when I wear it. Without it, I don’t know how much distance I covered yesterday on foot, but I’m estimating it was between 4 and 5 miles.

Today I had no excuses. Without a commute into the city, I had enough time for one final run before Saturday’s 5K. Although I’ve heard that I need to do weekly speed work in order to avoid embarrassing myself on race day, I think I’ve prepared well for the race. I decided that a good hard run over three miles would be a nice way to end my taper.

I took off at a brisk pace and tried to maintain that turnover throughout the entire run. The difference between this type of workout and a race centers on two factors: the influence of other runners and the psychology of competing in a timed event. Without those two things, my expectation was to see a very good, but not spectacular performance today.

That’s exactly how it came out. I’d kept my heart rate around 85% max and covered the distance in a little over 28 minutes. For me, that was exactly on the mark. I could have pushed harder and dropped my pace into the 8:00 range, but I didn’t see any reason to do that. 9:06 was a decent average under the circumstances. I’m making no predictions for Saturday. A lot of it will come down to how I feel on race day morning.

Bethpage run and a surprise in the mail

On October 12, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

A Garmin it’s not

Today’s run (Bethpage State Park): 4.5 miles

I’m in the middle of some high intensity work related to a new project that’s requiring some focus over the weekend. This morning I felt a lot of pressure to get out early for a run. I needed to be back in time to accomplish some work before shifting gears toward my son’s birthday activities. I couldn’t face another run in the neighborhood, so I went to Bethpage to run the hills.

With my 5K coming up in a week, I have a limited amount of time to train and I wanted to make today’s count. The weather could not have been better and that helped motivate me up the hill toward the start of the newest part of the bike trail. I felt very good and moved along at a decent clip. At least I thought it was decent until the first of many runners passed me like I was standing still. There was an extraordinary number of capable runners this morning and I wondered if there was a low key race going on.

Overall, I was pleased with my performance on the hills and I’d maintained a pretty good pace. Some of that came from running the last mile at my most sustainable speed. I would have liked to cover a another mile today, but I was concerned about staying on schedule.

Yesterday I was surprised to receive the above watch in the mail, the result of my renewing my subscription to Running Times. I didn’t even realize it was coming. I spent many years with a large magazine publisher and I know subscription premiums can be a little chintzy, but his one brings it to new level. The watch seems to work fine (no running features besides a stopwatch) but the metallic bezel is actually “chromed” plastic. But I’m not complaining. After all, I can always use another stopwatch.

Tracking well through the taper

On September 15, 2013 By Emerging Runner8 Comments

4 minutes of intensity

Today’s run (track): 3.1 miles – 1 mile warm up, 10 x 100m, 1.6 mile recovery

Nothing like 52° weather to make speed work bearable. I went to the track early this morning to run intervals, but I didn’t decide on my workout until I got there. I started with a mile warm up and followed that with 10 x 100 meter repeats. I finished with six more laps around the track, three at an easy pace and the last three somewhat faster.

Overall, it was a decent workout and I managed to run my 100 meter splits at 6:50 while maintaining a heart rate around 80% of max. I would have like to see better paces after the repeats, since my leg muscles were theoretically “activated.” Residual fatigue was the likely culprit and my overall pace for the full distance run was 8:58.

Tomorrow will be a busy day in the city for me and I’ll forgo my workout, since Mondays are my usual rest day. I’m thinking I’ll do one more easy base run, one more short fast run and then rest. I had two good race-oriented workouts this weekend with acceptable results. I’m not sure I pushed as hard as I could either day but I didn’t want to invite injury less than a week before the race.

Arduous base run and an impromptu trail

On September 8, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Lots of cross country teams on the trails today

Today’s run (Bethpage bike and dirt trail): 6.1 miles

Tough run today. I went to Bethpage to get in some base miles and a little hill practice. From the start, my level of energy told me that this would not be a high performance workout. My intention was to make it a variable run: 20 minute easy warm up, 20 minute tempo and a moderate pace to the finish. I even intended to cap the workout with a couple of runs up the big long hill at the start of the older bike trail.

As I made my way the hill leading to the north trail entrance, I knew that I’d be hard pressed to manage the planned tempo. I felt a buildup of excessive lactic acid in my leg muscles and I tried to keep my form correct. I hoped that my stride would soon loosen up. I picked up the pace around mile one, where the biggest downhill section starts. I gained more speed down the hill, but soon encountered the two uphill sections that come just before the Haypath crossing.

Once I got to the other side, I made a split second decision to duck into the woods and follow the dirt trail that runs roughly parallel to the paved trail. I was surprised by the number of twists I encountered along this path. It went on much longer than I thought it might. As expected, the dirt trail terminated at a point on the paved trail, just south of Old Bethpage Rd.

The run in the shady woods invigorated me, and I ran the last of my northern route to Old Country Road. Instead of crossing the street to continue on the bike trail, I followed the sidewalk south about a few tenths of a mile before turning back toward the paved path. At the point, my energy level had dropped to the point where I struggled to maintain speed. I decided to dismiss the plan to do hill repeats at the end of the run.

Th only thing left to deal with were the three consecutive hills that come a mile north of the trail head. I locked in a cadence, shortened my steps and made it through the first one, and was grateful for the slight slope that comes before the next one came. I knew I was less than a mile from the end, so I maintained the fastest pace I could until I reached the end.

Today’s run felt far harder than the 7+ miler I did last weekend or yesterday’s hilly workout. I suspect that today’s difficulty was driven by too much hard effort over the prior six days. I’ve decided to take both Monday and Tuesday off from running this week to help me recover a little. I’ll probably do another core session on one of those days and/or some upper body exercises. I didn’t love the run today, but I’m glad I put in the miles.

Can you really improve your running speed?

On September 7, 2013 By Emerging Runner8 Comments

Looping the loop

Today’s run (Business Park): 4.8 miles

I’m beginning to wonder how much one can actually do to optimize running speed. When I first started running, I was averaging 12 minute miles over the first full month. Two months later, I was breaking 10 minutes a mile. When I completed my first full year, I was averaging 9:15 per mile, with occasional dips below 9:00 on shorter distance runs.

Four years later, despite holding consistently to a six day running schedule, I’m still averaging about those same paces. The good news is that I’ve managed to keep my performance at the same level. The bad news is that it now takes a lot more effort to do that. My goal has always been to average below 9:00 a mile and I’m wondering if I’ll ever get there.

As I focus on speed, I’m realizing how difficult it will be to get to my targeted pace. After taking a break from performance to run the trails on Friday, I headed over to the local business park to run the big loop. This route provides a lot of elevation gain and loss (+/- 1,040 feet), which I thought would be helpful training for Cow Harbor.

The temperature was 59 degrees when I went out 8:00 AM, and that provided great conditions for taking on the hills. I did two laps around the park before ducking into an adjacent neighborhood for another mile. With the great weather, I was surprised to see only two other runners out this morning. One woman was circling the park counter-clockwise while I ran it the other way. She was running with traffic and we passed closely. I wonder if these people ever connect the reason why I run on the left with safety. I’m guessing they don’t.

I made it back home in time to make an early obligation. When I mapped my run, I saw that I’d averaged 9:27 a mile. Despite my focus on speed, my performance is still lagging on longer runs. Tomorrow, I’m planning on doing a fairly long tempo run, followed by hill repeats. Only one more weekend after this to train for Cow Harbor before I taper. I’m doing the best I can to prepare, but there may not be much more performance to gain.

Stalling for time, but getting it done

On September 6, 2013 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Well, I did finally run

Today’s run (Street): 3.9 miles

For no good reason, I just couldn’t get myself out the door this morning. I finally did, but it wasn’t for lack of stalling. I knew that every minute I spent taking care of “just one more thing”, it was getting warmer outside. And yet I found plenty of distractions that kept me from starting my run before 11:00 AM.

We had a family dinner last night and got home late, but I still got up fairly early. I got right into work and that delayed me from focusing on my run plan. I usually prepare my gear while my wife starts her treadmill run, and get back home around the time she’s finishing up. I knew I was in trouble when I heard the treadmill’s motor slowing for her cool-down while I wasted more time. At that point, I considered taking a rest day. Somehow, I found myself getting dressed for a run.

The run itself felt a little harder than yesterday’s, and I wondered if I should allow myself a break with an easy recovery run. But I was committed to the tougher option, so I focused once again on my speed. I mixed up my route and even added an extra half mile to get closer to four miles today. In the end, I did good, but not great. The important thing is that I ended up getting the run in. Even if it took a while to get out the door.

Just me and the road, and the cars, and the buses

On September 4, 2013 By Emerging Runner3 Comments

My worst nightmare

Today’s run (street): 3.3 miles

After three consecutive indoor workouts, I was finally able to get outside today, and it was beautiful. The sun was bright and the temperature was cool. While I waited for the Garmin to acquire a signal, I noticed a breeze that actually made it feel cold in the shade. I knew once I got started that any feelings of being cold would disappear, but it was nice to start out that way.

Due to a scheduled call, I had to get my run done in a certain amount of time. I could have gone out earlier, but we live close to both an elementary and a middle school and I didn’t wish to compete with all the buses. By the time I hit the streets, a few buses still remained, but car traffic had picked up. You can’t win, but you can run on the sidewalk. I ended up yelling at a guy who rolled through a stop sign as I approached the intersection. To his credit, he sheepishly said “sorry.”

I continued my focus on speed and moved along, although I was having some trouble with my form. I didn’t feel like I was getting good turnover and I was concerned that I’d end up with a disappointing time. Still, I knew that I was making the effort. Most of the time, that will yield a satisfying result.

I ended up averaging 9:05, which surprised me in a good way, because I expected I’d be about 15 seconds slower per mile. My speed described a bell shaped curve, with the first and last half miles being the fastest. So far my training strategy is working, but I still haven’t put fast and long into the same run.

I really should have thought this through

On August 31, 2013 By Emerging Runner6 Comments

Accidental self portrait after the run

I was trying to get this shot of the new gates and info kiosk

Today’s run (Bethpage State Park): 7.4 miles

As I made my way along today’s Bethpage route, I came up with various titles for this post. At the two mile mark, it was something like, “Great base run at Bethpage.” By the time I’d reached my turnaround point it was, “Oh the humidity!” By the time I reached the end of my run, the above title popped into my head.

Today was a base building run to help prepare me for Cow Harbor. With all the focus I’ve been putting on speed, I didn’t want to neglect the fact that the Cow Harbor course is 6.2 miles and hilly. I thought that Bethpage’s bike trail would be a great place to duplicate those properties. Cow Harbor’s race day weather can be oppressively hot and humid, so today I hit the trifecta for simulating conditions.

I didn’t plan a particular distance this morning, although I knew I’d run at least six miles. Once I arrived at the park, I decided to run a mile on the north trail before changing directions so I could do the bulk of my distance on the older, somewhat more challenging section. I had little trouble getting through this first part. It was cloudy and 73 degrees, so despite the 89% humidity, it didn’t seem so bad.

My new-found speed allowed me to pass numerous runners. This was gratifying since I’m often passed by club runners who populate this trail on weekends. My pace for the first couple of miles was on par with what I’ve been running lately, and I felt encouraged. By the time I reached mile three, I started to feel the effort, especially as I took on a couple of tough hills that come before the Plainview Road roundabout.

Despite growing evidence that my smooth base run was about to get rougher, I tried to maintain a brisk pace. The trail between miles three and four trends slightly down, so I was able to keep going without a lot of extra effort. By the time I passed four miles, it became clear that my glycogen level was depleted. I did my best to hold on while my body figured out what to do next.

Between a lack of fuel and the overwhelming humidity, I was hurting. Why, after seeing the weather report showing close to 100% humidity today, did I forget to bring a water bottle? My pace had slowed 90 seconds per mile compared to the start, and I switched to a more mechanical stride in an effort to just keep going. I nearly bonked at mile six, but instead slowed my pace even more. I needed to prepare for the dreaded hills that make up most of the last mile leading to the trail head.

By the time I reached the biggest and longest hill, I was moving slowly. But I was moving. I even passed a woman on a bike who was struggling to get up the hill. About 4/5ths of the way to the top, my energy began to return and I stepped up my pace enough to put me back into target range. I was thrilled to run the final section of trail leading to the lot. Stopping never felt so good.

It was a very tough workout and I’m still feeling the effects seven hours later (although I did participate this afternoon in our family’s annual obstacle race – a summer tradition). I don’t know if today’s experience was due to fitness gaps or if it was more about the weather. Last weekend I ran almost the same distance and performed much better, so it probably had more to do with conditions than conditioning. Next time I’ll think about going out so fast on a base run and I’ll definitely remember to bring along water.

Full contact running on the Bethpage bike trail

On August 25, 2013 By Emerging Runner10 Comments

Today’s run had its ups and downs

Today’s run (Bethpage State Park): 7.25
1,600th Emerging Runner Post!

Speed is one thing and endurance is another. I’ve made progress on my pacing over the past week, but that was with distances ranging from 3.1 to 3.4 miles. Doubling that distance reveals opportunities for improvement. This morning’s workout confirmed my need to focus on base mileage. The good news is that I’m not as far off from my target as I thought.

Bethpage at 7:30 AM is usually a quiet place, but when I arrived, the parking lot was 3/4 full. Judging from the streams of people with stadium chairs and kids walking with soccer balls, I assumed there was a tournament or clinic happening at the athletic fields. It didn’t look like they were charging for parking, so I was lucky to get there before the whole lot filled up.

According to News 12 Long Island, the temperature was 64 degrees and, at that hour, the bike trail was mostly in shadow. I wore my new Virratas for the first time on pavement (yesterday’s run was on the track), and they felt very good. I had none of the problems I’d experienced with the Kinvara 3’s (when new) during my half marathon training. Then again, those issues could have been with my feet, not with the shoes.

My first half mile was a little rough, and I wondered if I was pushing myself too much following three consecutive hard workouts. I decided to ignore the discomfort because the transition from anaerobic to aerobic breathing is sometimes difficult. Once I hit the first mile, I knew I would be able to manage the planned distance.

Bethpage’s bike trail is rolling, and the north trail is predominantly uphill, all the way to the end. Me and my friend KWL ran it all the way to Woodbury a couple of months ago, and that was brutal. Today, I viewed the hills differently, because I knew all the elevation I was experiencing on the way up would come back as downhills on my return. Yet there were times when the trail seemed to run uphill in both directions. While that was true, I had few troubles along the route.

My plan was to run as far as Washington Ave, turn around and come back, a distance of about 7.25 miles. I had the path more or less to myself on the way north, except there were some reckless riders zooming along without helmets. That’s a dangerous decision when you’re exceeding 20 MPH on downhills. By the time I changed direction for the return leg, there were numerous other runners, walkers and even more cyclists.

At around the five mile point, where the path is only wide enough for three people, I saw a man and two women running in my direction. They were running three across. As they came closer, I decided we had a math problem. I kept expecting the woman on the left (who was lined up with me) to drop back or move up to her right. But fifteen feet away, they were still spread out across the trail.

I moved as far to the right as I could go without spilling onto the shoulder, so I stood my ground. The woman tried to squeeze by, but she miscalculated the space and her arm caught the point of my elbow. I have very hard bones so I’m sure that hurt, although I didn’t feel a thing except contact. It was too bad that we’d bumped, but she saw me coming for at least 30 seconds.

The remainder of the run was contact-free and I felt like I was moving well throughout every section. I focused on shorter strides on the two final hills, and tried to maintain my normal cadence. In the end, It was my longest run of the year. I barely squeaked in under 10 min/mile but this run wasn’t done for performance. This week has been about speed, distance and a few hills. I’ll need to keep it up this coming week. After all, you’re only as good as your last run.