Back on track (or is it tread?)

On May 15, 2009 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

I realized last night that I had not run on the treadmill since the Tuesday after my 5K. That seems like a long time but it actually makes sense because I’ve integrated an extra long (street) run during the week and have finally started taking weekly rest days. In between street runs I’ve used the elliptical and I’ve been tracking about 19 miles per week since May.

Today I returned to the treadmill and I’ll admit I really didn’t want to use it. My last time on it had gone poorly and I really wasn’t looking forward to the tedium. Nothing has changed since the 5th, the machine still droned and the display flickered. What was different about today’s session was that I was running pain free and my new Brooks felt stable and comfortable. I was still grateful when my finish time approached but I was pleased to have covered two miles at an 8:43 pace.

Today is Friday, the start of Adventure Girls’s Ragner relay. I’m happy to report that she found a new teammate to fill out her roster of 12 and things will get started at 1:00 PM EST. I’ll be following progress through Twitter and report results. Best of luck to the team!

Treadmill depreciation day

On May 13, 2009 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

It’s so cold this morning that people are wearing gloves and winter jackets as we wait for the train to arrive. I wish I could put in a quick three miles on the road to take advantage of this perfect running weather. Hopefully the low temperatures and dry air will continue throughout the afternoon.

I haven’t run since Sunday and I miss it. I did an elliptical workout on Monday and rested yesterday. I took a rest day because I know they’re important but part of that decision was based upon my growing dislike for the treadmill. It may be related to the frustrations I’ve had with measuring my performance and the problems I’ve encountered with the treadmill display. The data from the treadmill has never really matched my other tracking devices. I could calibrate the Nike+ Sportband and the Garmin 50 foot pod so I knew that I was accurately capturing speed and distance. Recently my Garmin has become inconsistent, tracking under and then over by around 5% on consecutive days. I’m finishing my treadmill runs wondering how I’ve really performed.

Besides the tracking issues I’ve found running on the treadmill to be increasingly tedious. The more I run outside the more I dislike running inside. Besides a lack of visual stimulation (television is not a good alternative for me) I’m also finding the noise annoying. I know I should appreciate the treadmill for its convenience and consistency (surface and elevation). I’ll try to keep that in mind when I hop back on tomorrow.

Until then I will resume my training today with an afternoon run in the city. I’m hoping to make 20 miles a week until the 8K on June 7 and I do mileage better outdoors. I know I shouldn’t be so hard on the treadmill, it’s lasted us well over a decade. My wife puts me to shame in terms of the time and distance spent on the machine and she never complains about it. Still, a new quiet and modern unit with a home entertainment center and virtual reality would be nice to have.

End run

On April 15, 2009 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

I closed out my pre-race run training this morning with a 3 mile treadmill run at my hotel. Since I don’t belong to a health club it’s rare for me to exercise with strangers. I’m always amused by the subtle dynamics that occur when other people (typically men) line up next to you on the treadmill. What should be a singular and personal experience becomes implicitly competitive: “Oh, you’re running? I’ll run faster.” “You’re going 30 minutes? I’ll run for 40.”

Maybe it’s me just being competitive but I’ll admit that I do get sucked into it. I didn’t know how far I would run this morning but, having people on both sides, I knew I wouldn’t quit until they did. In fact that was the case.

I had originally considered running four miles but kept it to three due to the reoccuring soreness in my right leg. I’m pretty sure that this injury is nerve related since it has not worsened over time and continues to respond positively to anti-inflammatories like Aleve. All the same I’m planning to give it a rest after tomorrow.

Trail shoe, meet treadmill

On April 7, 2009 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

This morning, before my run, I realized that the foot pod for my Garmin 50 was still attached to one of my new NB 460 trail shoes. The effort to remove and then attach it to my regular shoes is minimal but just time consuming enough for me to think twice about it. As I’ve mentioned before, every minute counts in my early morning routine.

In the interest of time I decided to run with the 460s on the treadmill. I figured they performed well on the street so it wouldn’t matter too much if they weren’t made for running on a treadmill surface. Starting up was a little tough which I attributed to both the tread of the shoes and to some residual stiffness I have in my right leg. I’m planning to visit my orthopedist after my May race to get to the root of that problem which, at the moment, involves some slight pain and restricted mobility when starting a walk or run.

I got up to speed fairly quickly and the 460s, though not especially heavy, felt like I was running with comfortable work boots. As usual, my treadmill display shut down after about five minutes (as a technologist I am horrified by the failings of most running technologies I’ve used. But to be fair the treadmill is over a decade old) so I pushed the speed control blindly until the Garmin registered 7 MPH.

I ended up running 1.81 miles at an 8:50 pace. Although the use of these shoes on the treadmill was not ideal they’re proving themselves to be a great buy. Tomorrow I’ll aim for the same distance with the Nike’s to compare experiences. I’m betting that under the same conditions, with the right shoes, I should be able to improve on that pace.

Treadmill and elliptical, Viva la différence!

On April 6, 2009 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

I reverted to the elliptical this morning and welcomed the lower impact workout after three days of long runs. While the net benefit of a 22 minute workout may approximately equal that of my usual weekday treadmill run I never feel as though I work as hard on the elliptical. I read an article some months ago that compared the differences between treadmill running and elliptical workouts. Besides the obvious differences in leg motion and the involvement of the arms with the elliptical, the article maintained that the two activities were approximately the same.

If that’s the case, why does the elliptical seem so much easier? According to research I’ve done, while the two workouts burn approximately the same amount of calories per hour (assuming treadmill speed and elliptical resistance are equalized) the lower impact on the user’s joints with the elliptical creates a perception that the user is doing less work. That makes sense to me. What also contributes to the difference is that the treadmill sometimes seems a barely tamed beast. At speed, the user must maintain a precise pace and correct position on the tread or risk a serious accident. The noise from a treadmill can also be very loud and that can contribute to tension and perceived effort. The percussive motion of running can cause vibration, so much so that my clock often turns or even falls off the night table when I turn up the speed.

On the other hand the elliptical is whisper quiet (except for mine that occasionally makes a clacking sound when it becomes unbalanced at certain speeds) and this allows the user to watch television or listen to music at a normal level. You can even close you eyes and drift into an alpha state as you operate the machine. Try that on a treadmill. I also find that on longer sessions I can spread the pain a little by making minute adjustments between the efforts I put to the leg part versus the arm part as I maintain a certain rate. It’s much more civilized.

At the end, even as I completed my workout this morning drenched with sweat, I still felt that I was missing something. Perhaps it’s that running is more aerobic and just plain harder to do. I love that I have a choice between the two machines. The treadmill will always be the preferred challenge and the elliptical will always be a great compromise in terms of doing a workout or taking a rest day.

Treading lightly

On March 31, 2009 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

This morning I needed to run to reset my conditioning. I hadn’t run since Saturday at the hotel and though my pace for that run was good it took a lot of effort to get through it. I’m still fighting a cold and that’s contributed to fatigue. After two days away from running I figured I had rested my leg enough to get back on the treadmill. I felt good and was hopeful that I had made progress in terms of my injury but as I started to run my leg felt very tight and there was some sharp pain. I kept my pace around 10:00/mile for the first few minutes in the hope that I would warm up enough to loosen my muscles and ease the pain. Once I started to feel more flexibility I increased the speed and by the 8 minute mark there was neither pain nor stiffness so I kept increasing the speed in the hope of getting a decent overall pace.

I ran a total of two miles and really poured it on near the end of my run. My overall pace was 9:01 which pleased me because, according to my Garmin, the first mile was run in 9:40. That meant I ran below 8:30 for the second mile. I strongly feared that this extra exertion would do some damage but my leg is no worse today than it was the prior two days with no running.

Tomorrow morning I will do some light stretching before I run to try to head off the initial stiffness. If I could do two miles at the same pace as my second mile today I’ll consider myself back on track in terms of race training.

The Exhausted Runner

On March 28, 2009 By Emerging Runner3 Comments

We’re staying at a hotel this weekend and it’s raining outside so my Saturday run was accomplished indoors. The hotel has Life Fitness treadmills and I was impressed that the speed on the treadmill’s display almost exactly matched the readout on my Garmin 50. To my left and right were a couple of women doing workouts and updating each other with facts like, “I just ran up a 70 foot hill!” I felt bad when I hit the speed button to get to my 7 MPH pace because the noise level interrupted their communication.

The treadmill’s display had multiple ways to view progress and I chose the “trail” view that showed a 5K course with markers in 1K increments. It wasn’t virtual reality but it was a good distraction. The fitness center was really hot so I was sweating very early in the run. I was tired at the one mile point and it got worse as I went on. I kept a moderately fast pace and ended up running 3 miles at 8:54/mile.

After the run I was very tired, much more than after yesterday’s run. The heat had much to do with that. I’m a little concerned about running in the warmer weather as we move from spring to summer. At the very least I’ll need ensure that I pre-hydrate before longer runs.

If the Emerging Runner developed products

On March 18, 2009 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

It was great to do an outside run yesterday but it was back to the treadmill this morning. I’m still struggling a little with soreness around my right hip and it took a few minutes of warm-up for that to dissipate. Once I felt more comfortable I increased my speed and ended up running about 2 miles at 8:52/mile. I want to get these shorter runs closer to 8:30/mile but I’ll take some pleasure in knowing that an 8:52 pace is a full minute faster than what I was doing four months ago.

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While I ran today I thought about treadmill running vs. street, track and trail running. I am a fan of the treadmill but I’m not a fan of its limitations. If I created my own treadmill I’d do the following:

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– Build the tread wide enough to move laterally. I don’t know if there are limits to how wide the tread can be relative to factors such as power and weight capacity but most treadmills are narrow to the point of claustrophobia. I like when I get to run in hotel fitness centers because some high end units provide a wider track.

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– Speed sensing. I know from tracking my performance with Garmin Connect that my running speed varies from minute to minute. On the road it’s no problem as the speed of the runner is relative to a static surface. On a treadmill you are running variable paces and the treadmill is running at a steady pace. This translates into constant subconscious adjustment by the runner to regulate to the speed of the moving tread. Plus the constant concern that you’ll either overrun the unit or fall back so far as to pull the safety cord. It would be great if the treadmill could detect subtle changes in cadence or pace and adjust the tread speed accordingly. If the runner wanted to sprint the treadmill would follow. Sure you can accomplish the same by constantly adjusting the speed control but that’s tedious and imprecise.

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– Use an electric eye or motion detector to control emergency shut off. Running with a cord attached to your shirt or shorts is another contributor to treadmill claustrophobia. Plus, based upon conversations I’ve had with people, many don’t use the cord for this very reason. It’s like seatbelts vs. airbags: active versus passive protection.

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– It’s not the first time I’m mentioning it but how about a virtual reality screen to simulate outdoor running? The video can interact with the treadmill so that it automatically goes to inclines on hills, etc. I don’t know how to simulate different surfaces (muddy trails, dirt, macadam) but I’m confident the Emerging Runner Laboratories would figure that out.

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It’s possible that some of this technology already exists in the higher end units. To do what I’m suggesting above would likely add thousands of dollars to the cost. With advances in screen display and sensing technologies it’s not unrealistic to think these features could be offered at a reasonable cost. Call now, operators are standing by!

Less time? Run faster

On March 4, 2009 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

I found myself running behind schedule this morning and was unhappy to see that I had far less than 20 minutes to do a run that included time to warm up and cool down. At the same time I was concerned that I would not meet my (self imposed) minimum distance of 1.5 miles for a weekday run. Since time can’t be controlled the only lever I had to play with was speed. I cheated a bit and got to my normal run pace in less than a minute before further cranking up the speed.

Now speed is relative, a fast pace for me would be an easy or even slow pace for an experienced runner. Indoors, I generally run at a 6.4 MPH tread speed which works out to about 9:22/mile. Today I ran closer to 7.2 MPH completing 1.62 miles in a little under 14 minutes for an 8:30/mile pace. That’s where I want to be. It was hard work to maintain that pace, my average pulse rate was almost 6% higher than at my normal pace. According to what I’ve read I can even push that higher rate 9% to be within 80% of max. Having the HRM has been handy in helping me understand the effort I’m expending relative to other workouts (e.g., elliptical) and now I’m seeing that it’s a good indicator for understanding how much further I should push to attain desired speed and pace.

My challenge now is maintaining that faster pace for longer than 1.62 miles. Completing a 5K at 8:30 would be great but I have work to do.

Happiness is a warm treadmill

On March 2, 2009 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

This morning I awoke to a foot of snow in Cambridge. From my hotel window I watched the plows working to clear streets and paths in Kendall Square. I went down to the fitness center for a run and indulged myself by selecting a treadmill with a personal TV screen.

I started my run and watched through the window as the snow blew almost parallel to the ground. People were walking in shovel-width paths that appeared to be two feet high at the sides. I watched the school closures on TV, virtually every school in the area is cancelled but happily MIT is open so my travel wasn’t wasted.

I ran about 25 minutes at about 9:20/mile. It felt like a good weekday workout. I think my wife had a better workout though – she went out to shovel our driveway at 5:30 AM where we got more than a foot on Long Island. I’m trying not to think about my travel back to NY later today.