A run in the brume

On December 24, 2015 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Can you see the oncoming bus?

Today’s run (street): 3.2 miles

As the song goes, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. In terms of working, it really is. I worked from home both yesterday and today and my office will be shut down on Thursday and Friday, I’m also taking next week off. All that time translates into more time for running. This week got off to a good start with an elliptical session yesterday and a nice run this morning.

I knew we’d get rain today and it looked pretty gloomy at “sunrise.” I planned to do something but I figured I’d be doing it inside. At around 7:00 AM, I verified no rain was coming down. I dressed for the 49° temperature and headed outside. As the garage door rose, I saw that my neighborhood was enveloped in thick fog. Fortunately I’d worn high visibility gear.

Running in the fog was an ethereal experience. Like freshly fallen snow, it made everything look a greeting card photo. I appreciated the visual effect, but I needed to be careful because visibility was measured in feet today. If I couldn’t see school buses, they couldn’t see me. The roads were reasonably clear, but I did need to detour over to the sidewalk a couple of times.

A year ago, I was doing my Christmas week run in much colder weather. It’s supposed to hit 71° on Friday. Me and the Runsketeers will be carrying on our New Year’s day Hangover Run tradition on January 1st. It’s really fun to hang with my buddies before the start, but we’re usually shivering up until the horn goes off. I won’t complain if this weather hangs around until then.

Return to Brooklyn Half, without the Half

On August 20, 2015 By Emerging Runner6 Comments

Post-finish, pre-tent spot

Today’s run (street): 3.6 miles
Yesterday’s workout (elliptical): 30 minutes

I’m on day 2 of my vacation and it’s been a nice break so far. Yesterday’s plans included a stop at Coney Island which looked a lot different from the last time I was there. That’s because the last time I was pounding along the boardwalk on my way the Brooklyn Half finish line.

My memories of that time consist of 1) walls of screaming people lining the street and boardwalk, 2) grabbing the first banana and cup of water I could find, 3) making my way through the crowd toward the big (decommissioned) parachute ride where my friends had gathered after they’d finished, and 4) being “triaged” in the medical tent by a bunch of bored EMTs.

Ahh, memories. No post race-type food on Thursday. Just good old Nathan’s. Before any of that, I did an elliptical session to maintain my goal of running or otherwise working out every day of this vacation. It was humid yesterday, so I did what I could to maintain airflow, opening windows and running the big fan at top speed. That helped but by the end, the humidity won.

This morning it was back to the road. Between the workout and all the walking yesterday, my legs felt like rubber. All the same (and probably due to consuming the equivalent of 20 Kw of carb energy at Nathan’s) I was ready to run. I did what I could to mix up the route and was pleased with how I ran, despite conditions that felt even more oppressive than on Wednesday.

Tomorrow is supposed be rainy, so I’ll probably be stuck inside with either the treadmill or the elliptical. If it’s misting or only lightly raining I may go for a run anyway. The humidity is brutal, but it always is in late August. I know it won’t be long until I’m back to running in long sleeves and wool running socks.

A day late and a mile short

On August 18, 2015 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Avoid at all costs

Monday’s run (street): 3.25 miles

By a day late, I’m talking about posting today about a run I did yesterday. I broke up my vacation with a trip into the office this morning to attend a meeting that I probably could have done as a conference call. But success in business often comes from just showing up. I have no regrets except for my decision to take the Clearview to the Grand Central on my way home. If you live in the NYC area you’ll understand exactly what I mean.

My running buddy TPP is back to blogging and her post today reminded me of Monday’s super-humid running experience. Although I got out before 8:00 AM, the temperature was just shy of 80° and the humidity was a solid 80%. I’m often fooled when I go out on humid days because the moisture in the air, combined with a slight breeze, can feel cool if you’re not sweating. It doesn’t take long before reality hits.

I had a decent 5 miler on Sunday and an almost 5 miler on Saturday, so I decided to be kind to myself and forget my four mile target. I took the best route I could to get me through my minimum run distance (MRD) of three miles with a quarter mile to spare. Although the air was heavy with moisture, I did manage a decent pace that was faster than my two prior runs.

I’m back to being on vacation and though the days are are busy, I plan to get in a couple more mid-week workouts. Having a heat wave during your vacation week isn’t as bad as having to go into the office on your vacation week. But it’s not too great either.

The lost workout

On April 12, 2015 By Emerging Runner6 Comments

Onion volcanoes and warm sake –
Emerging Sister-In-Law (L), Mrs. Emerging Runner (R)

Today’s workout (elliptical): 45 minutes

In the almost-seven years that I’ve been running, I’ve prided myself on my meticulous process to record workout metrics. I can look back on Garmin Connect to see the detail about every run and elliptical session that I’ve done since early 2010. If I want to go back further than that, I can look at MapMyRun stats, or see my earliest running data on the Nike+ site. I also have years of Daily Mile records that capture different information like shoe mileage.

In addition to all this, I can look at the Emerging Runner archives for measured mileage on every run. All this data recording takes time, and over the last year my record keeping has gone from meticulous to casual. I stopped recording my runs in Daily Mile last July and most of the time I don’t even wear my Garmin when I’m on the elliptical. It’s because of this that I cannot remember whether I did a workout on Friday.

I’ve been on vacation this week, but my time off has been more busy than relaxing. On top of that, I needed to go into my office on Wednesday. That made this vacation more like a couple of long weekends. Friday afternoon my brother and his family came to stay for a few days and my dad and his wife came out on Saturday afternoon. Later we went out to a local hibachi place and had a great time, but I don’t recommend the lukewarm sake administered via a squeeze bottle.

With all that going on, I didn’t have the opportunity to do a workout on Saturday, because our guest room is also our fitness room. It’s also my office. Maybe we should take page from the local elementary school and call it the multi-purpose room.

So I may have done an elliptical session on Friday morning. I know I did a workout this afternoon. My pain from the herniated disc has been manageable, although it does give me a small zap if I move my leg in a certain way. I’ve been applying heat and that seems to help. It’s no worse after today’s elliptical session than it was before I started.

My biggest concern is that I’m returning to a week of commuting. That means three hours a day sitting in a driving position. I’m convinced that driving has been a factor in this disc compression. My standing desk (or as they put it, “stand up desk adaptation”) gets installed on Monday. I’m hoping that will help me counteract all that drive time. I’ll know more about the problem on Friday after my MRI.

Running along the Shining Sea Trail

On December 28, 2014 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Watch out for turtles!

Yesterday’s run (Shining Sea trail): 4.2 miles

We’ve just returned from a mini vacation to Falmouth MA. This is a favorite spot for the Emerging Runner family and we’ve been going there for years. The last two times we’ve visited the Cape, I’ve taken advantage of Falmouth’s Shining Sea Bikeway that goes 10.7 miles from North Falmouth to Woods Hole. Yesterday I covered 4.2 miles of the path and saw some beautiful sights.

The trail was created along the former Plymouth and Vineyard Sound Railroad line that was built in 1861 to run trains from Sandwich to the southern tip of Falmouth. Train tracks are usually constructed on level terrain so the converted bike trail is fairly flat. While the trail did gradually slope up and down at various points, the grade was small. This made the shifts in elevation barely noticeable.

Park and run

Getting to the trail is easy with numerous access points along the way. Last year I entered at the northern trail head and ran a five mile out and back route that brought me through a few cranberry bogs. Yesterday I entered the trail farther to the south where I could park my car and jump right on the path. It was similar to how I access the Bethpage trail after parking on Colonial Road. The Bethpage trail is scenic, but the Shining Sea Bikeway provided some truly stunning views.

I want that shirt

Soon after I started, I saw what appeared to be a dog sitting on the side of the trail wearing a yellow jersey. When I got closer I realized it wasn’t a real dog. I was amused to see that jersey was an event tee from the famous Falmouth 7 Mile road race. Not long after that, I saw the first of many ponds and marshes that appeared along the trail. The areas that didn’t face water were densely lined with trees on both sides, making the experience more intimate than Bethpages’s more open space.

Swans and ducks on Oyster Pond

I imagined that this all looks pretty much the same as it did 100 years ago to people riding the train to Woods Hole. There were a lot of people on the trail yesterday morning walking, riding and running. My route took me to the mid-point of the trail, where I turned around and headed back. If I’d had more time, I would have added a couple more miles. The straight flat trail made me feel like I could run all day.

The only downside of this workout was that it amplified the soreness I’ve had over the past few weeks. We did a lot of walking yesterday and I was concerned that I had re-aggravated my injury. Instead of running when I got home this afternoon, I went for a 3 mile walk around the neighborhood. So far so good.

If it’s better tomorrow morning, I’ll try to go out for a few miles in the morning. I have an early obligation so I’ll need to get out before sunrise to fit it in. I wish I could run on the Shining Sea Bikeway again, but that will have to wait until our next Cape Cod visit.

Berkshires, Vermont, treadmills and loops

On July 27, 2014 By Emerging Runner6 Comments

Seemed like a good idea at the time

Today’s run (street): 6.4 miles

Our treadmill is in tough shape but it still does the job. Our technician recently told us that it could go at any time. My wife depends on the treadmill for her daily workout and I’m a lot rougher on the machine than she is. I only use it as a last resort because I don’t want to contribute to its demise. I did use it on Tuesday, because we were leaving on a trip that morning. Time was tight and I wasn’t sure how (or if) I’d have an opportunity to run while we were away.

My second run of the week happened at our hotel in the Berkshires. I did a little more than three miles on their Precor treadmill and really appreciated the experience. There’s a big difference between running on a mid-range consumer treadmill like our Sole F63 and a fitness center grade treadmill like a Precor. The Precor felt more solid and stable and I seemed to be able to run faster on it than on our home unit.

When the time comes to replace the Sole, I’ll consider investing in a brand like Precor. They actually have a few models under $2,000, which is still pricey, but could prove to be a better value when amortized over a longer period. Our Sole F63 was recommended by the leading consumer product rating company, but after four years steady use, it’s totally worn out. The Sole can be folded and put away to save space, a feature we’ve never used. I think we’ll go with non-folding unit next time, because those units are probably more durable.

I didn’t get a chance to run the rest of the week, but we covered a lot of ground in western Massachusetts. We also spent time in northern Vermont with my brother and his family who took us to (among many places) the Ben & Jerry’s factory. It was great seeing them, along with my mom who was also up visiting. Due to all that, I haven’t posted since last Sunday.

Loop-de-loop

This morning I got out early in hopes of beating the humidity. I ran six one-mile loops around some adjacent roads because I wanted to be close to home if it started to rain hard. Despite the repetition, this route was perfect for the workout I had in mind. The miles seemed to go by faster than they do on a more spontaneous route. I was better able to focus on my thoughts while I ran on auto-pilot.

In terms of performance, I did much better than expected. The humidity that I’d hoped to avoid was high from the start, but the low clouds protected me from any direct sun. My running volume for the week is even lower than normal, but I will begin to pick up mileage by re-introducing 4:00 AM workouts next week. I’m glad I got out early today. The rain never came, but the humidity has continued to rise.

Boston fun and a scorching run

On July 11, 2014 By Emerging Runner5 Comments

Field of dreams

Today’s run (street): 4.2 miles

Although I’ve lived in New York for over two decades, I’ll always consider myself a New Englander. My wife went to college in Boston and also loves the city, so whenever we visit Boston, it’s like returning home. I’ve never warmed to NY sports teams, especially the Yankees, who I am genetically predisposed to despise. The Red Sox are a religion in Boston and it was gratifying to see almost

A Yankees Hater cap

everyone wearing some type clothing that had the Sox name or logo.

It was fun to stay in Kenmore Square, directly adjacent to Fenway Park. We could see the Green Monster from our room. Better still, I got to bring my kids to see their first Sox game and watch the Red Sox beat Chicago in extra innings. We had a great time, although I didn’t get a chance to run while I was away. It was probably for the best, due to the sun and heat.

I considered doing a run in the Fitness Center this morning before heading back to Long Island, but there wasn’t enough time. In our travels, we’d stopped into the Boston Marathon Experience store in Faneuil Hall where we were able to take pictures “finishing” the Boston Marathon. The next day we saw the actual Boston finish line on Boylston Street that’s located next to Marathon Sports running store. I got a Boston Strong shirt for SIOR who actually ran (and finished) the marathon this year.

Nice try ER

The real finish line

After we arrived home, I started to feel guilty that I had not run since Monday. Although I don’t like running in the afternoon (especially on such a scorching-hot day), I put on my running shoes and made my way around the neighborhood.

Mid July is not the best time to go out in the afternoon without cover from the sun. The humidity was ridiculous, but I figured I could get through a few miles. I was fine for a while, but the conditions started to wear me out and I could hardly see from the sweat pouring into my eyes. I targeted 4-5 miles but decided to stay at the lower end as the sun, heat and humidity became practically intolerable.

When I got home I saw that my kids were in the pool. After setting aside my phone, Garmin, HRM and Road ID, I jumped in with my running clothes. The instant cooling felt fantastic. Better still, the pool water rinsed me clean of my sunscreen that had become very greasy under the hot sun.

It’s been a great “mini” vacation since Wednesday, and I’ll try to get out early tomorrow to prevent another high humidity run. I would have loved to do a run in Boston while I was away, but I’ll admit that Long Island is also pretty great when it comes to running experiences.

Good day for a run and a great day for a party

On June 21, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Morning scene, before the fun and frenzy

Today’s run (street): 3.7 miles

Happy summer! School is done and both kids are kicking off vacation this week with pool parties. Wednesday, my son had his soon-to-be 9th grade buddies to the house. That one was easy. No decorations, basic snacks and no structured activities. My daughter is hosting a bunch of 15 year-old girls today and the planning has been far more intense. To be fair, it’s also a birthday celebration for her. My duties were to set up the music downstairs and to get the pizza later. My wife is taking care of everything else, which means it will probably go very well. Sounds like it is.

Yesterday was a difficult day for me. My coughing reached an apex (I’m hoping) and I spent most of the day on calls. I’d decided early on that I didn’t have time to run. With the way I felt, it seemed a better idea to skip my workout. I just looked at it as a recovery day. I was hoping later that my cough was receding, but it was back in full force overnight. It does seem better today.

Although I probably spent two hours trying to get to sleep last night, I felt well enough this morning to get outside. The weather was sunny and not yet hot, so I set off in the hope that my lack of sleep wouldn’t affect my running performance. I don’t think I set any personal records today, but I didn’t feel bogged down either. I even extended my distance a little, figuring that I should get in more mileage since I had the time.

It’s been a busy week for business, but I covered most of today’s interactions before lunch. People rarely schedule meetings on Friday afternoons in the summer. The exceptions are my business colleagues in LA, SF and Seattle who have three more hours of morning than I do. So far, it’s been quiet, except for all the yelling and splashing by the pool.

I’m a little more than a week away from the Marcie Mazzola 5K and haven’t done much to prepare, besides following my normal running schedule. I figure I can just turn up the jets on race day and get through it since it’s only 3.1 miles. That assumes, of course, that I can live with my worst 5K time ever.

NE recap and a return to the run

On March 26, 2013 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Ambivalence in Vermont (Go Sox, boo Yankees!)

Today’s run (treadmill): 3.2 miles

The problem with vacations, even short ones, is that you often end up less rested by the end than you did at the start. This weekend was like that. We returned home exhausted, but for the best possible reasons. Our weekend started with a visit to Vermont, where we were excited to spend time with my brother, sister-in-law and their adorable 6 year old boys. They’ve recently moved to the greater Burlington area. Besides being visually beautiful (it’s adjacent to the Green Mountains) there’s plenty of places for trail running. Unfortunately, my injured hip disqualified me from doing any of that this weekend.

Green Mountain highway view

Green Mountain Coffee HQ

Minuteman Centennial statue, erected in 1875

After spending midday in Stowe on Sunday, we finished up with a visit to the Green Mountain Coffee visitor center in Waterbury. We said our goodbyes there and headed south through New Hampshire, bound for my home state of Massachusetts. The rest of our trip took us to Concord, where we visited the Old North Bridge and battleground and then to Plymouth. That brought back memories of my primary school visits there, many years ago.

I was hoping that I’d make up for a lack of running by walking longer distances while I was away. I fell short of my daily goals, but only by a small amount. My decision to skip my run yesterday morning worked out well. I still felt some residual muscle soreness today, but didn’t think an easy run would invite further injury.

I was a little gun shy about running on the road today, since my last two street runs had ended rather abruptly. I compromised by doing a treadmill run and closely monitored my hip for signs of weakness or pain. I set the speed to a moderate pace that didn’t cause me to sweat until I’d reached the 15 minute point. Performance was my least concern. I began to feel slight discomfort at the two mile mark and decided to limit my distance to about three miles. I planned to stop right away if the soreness increased.

The good news is that I completed my run without any additional discomfort. It was good to get an aerobic workout done after three days away. I’ll probably do an indoor workout tomorrow, either on the elliptical, or on the treadmill again. Either way I’ll take it easy. I’m hoping that by Friday I will be back to form. If not, I still have my appointment with the sports doctor next week.

Running through a headcold is usually the best medicine

On December 28, 2012 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Today’s run (treadmill): 30 minutes

Without fail, I always experience some health related issue during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. With the exception of the accounting team who are called upon to close out the the year, my company pretty much shuts down during the final week. I usually take this week off and, in the past, have suffered the flu, pneumonia or colds during this time. This week it’s a mild head cold and I hope it stays that way.

The fourth quarter of the year is usually the most stressful, and I’m sure that’s why I get sick when things come to a halt. I started taking flu shots a couple of years ago and that’s probably paid off more than I know. Since my current cold is limited to stuffiness, sneezing and an occasional cough, I’ve chosen to ignore the symptoms and keep my running schedule. I’ve already covered 14 miles this week and the weekend is still to come.

We needed to get out fairly early this morning, so I returned to the treadmill to save a little time. I’ll admit that when News 12 stated that it felt like 20° outside with wind-chill, I decided to “protect my health” and run indoors. I didn’t push too hard at the beginning, but I steadily increased my speed and finished running with my heart rate at the low end of zone 4.

I still haven’t got out of my own neighborhood to run this week, like I usually do when I’m on vacation. Maybe I’ll do a trail run this weekend and I’ll look forward to the LIRRC 5-Mile Hangover fun run on Tuesday at Eisenhower Park.