A hard workout inspired by a movie

On December 2, 2013 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Hey Hollywood, I have an idea

Today’s workout (Elliptical): 40 minutes

I never think that elliptical sessions are as difficult as running, but occasionally I’ll finish a workout that has my legs vibrating like a tuning fork. That was my experience today, although I didn’t plan it that way. We had early morning plans that threw off my run schedule and I almost took today to rest instead of tomorrow. I felt off-cycle most of the day and by mid afternoon I was ready for some type of activity.

The temperature had risen measurably since yesterday and I considered doing a neighborhood run. But the convenience of the treadmill drew me upstairs. Before I reached it, I was distracted by the elliptical. It’s been a while since I’ve used the machine and since I’m tapering for next Saturday, I thought it would be good to work on a few different muscles. I set the resistance to medium and hit start.

It took me a few minutes to start sweating and that inspired me to work a little harder. About halfway through my session, I noticed the display metric that indicated the amount of energy being expended. I decided then that I would not let it drop below a certain number (a la the movie Speed). Happily, maintaining that level distracted me from the effort I had to expend to do it.

I set an even higher target for the last five minutes, hoping to simulate the anaerobic experience that comes at the end of a race. The last two minutes felt endless, but I kept the effort meter above the danger zone. After I finished, I moved to the treadmill to cool down for a few minutes at an easy pace. My legs were definitely worked out and I was glad to have completed a vigorous training session. I’ll go out for five or six miles either tomorrow or Tuesday before stepping down my taper before the weekend,

Heat, treadmill and potassium

On September 4, 2013 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Electro-like

Today’s run (treadmill): 3.1 miles

Fall isn’t here yet, but it might as well be. The pool’s been closed and the kids are back in class. The morning had a different feel with new early schedules and I’m already feeling more energy coming from the business side. As for the fall bringing better running weather, it looks like that will have to wait for the real fall.

The morning was surprisingly busy. By the time I wrapped up my early work, a thunderstorm was moving through the area. If I was going to get a run in, it would have to be on the treadmill. It felt extremely humid and I was glad to have the big fan. I set the speed high from the start and hoped for the best. The first mile went by quickly, with little problem from either the heat or the pace.

Pretty soon after that, the humidity started getting to me. My wife thoughtfully turned down the AC, but the heat was draining. I told myself, “Less than two miles to go” and focused on CNN to distract myself from the tedium. The trouble with the treadmill is that there’s no place for subtlety in your pacing. You’re locked in and unless you play with the speed controls, it’s a monotonous experience.

I thought I’d never reach my targeted “distance” but finally it came and I recovered with a tall glass of water and some dried apricots. I noticed the other day that they’re high in potassium so I thought, why not? That seemed to work and now I have a nice alternative to gels for those long weekend runs.

An object of neglect provides the perfect workout

On September 1, 2013 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Today’s perfect choice

Today’s workout (elliptical): 30 minutes

Yesterday’s run affected me more than I realized, and I found myself exhausted by the end of the day. This morning I woke with a pressure headache that was quickly dispatched by my standard cure of aspirin and Sudafed. Unfortunately, pseudoephedrine and running don’t mix well, so I decided to put off my workout until later.

Once the day got going, I started to doubt whether I could fit in a workout. I generally dislike afternoon running, especially when I plan to run again the next morning. I remembered that tomorrow is my weekly rest day, so even with a late day run, I’d have plenty of recovery time. All I needed to do was figure out a workout. Given yesterday’s tough going, I didn’t think a speed run was advisable. I also didn’t want to do a recovery run outside, in conditions that matched Saturday’s oppressive humidity.

Then it hit me – the elliptical, that I’ve neglected for months, would be a perfect workout. I decided that a hill simulation, done at moderate speed, would provide a good a balance. I set up the floor fan, put the speed on high, and set the machine’s resistance to 80%. Once I got past the first few minutes, it was smooth sailing and the time went quickly from there.

It’s often hard for me to focus on cross-training, because I always prefer to run. But after today, I won’t be so quick to dismiss the elliptical, especially on the day after a really difficult run.

Workout pending…

On July 31, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Today started early and was spent in the city. Last night I’d considered pulling out my headlamp and reflective vest and doing a 4:00 AM run, just like old times. But reality prevailed when I got up and I decided to forgo my workout. While nostalgia has its place, so does sleep.

By the time I got home, it was a sunny 86 degrees (according to my car’s display). That discouraged me from going outside for an afternoon run. I’m still considering a climate controlled workout on the treadmill later, but then again, it may be better to wait and resume tomorrow. With my friend Chris coming by for a Stillwell run tomorrow, I’m going to need to conserve some energy. His idea of an easy run differs greatly from mine.

An eight mile workout on top of another

On April 11, 2013 By Emerging Runner4 Comments

Supremely lucky

Today’s workout (elliptical): 30 minutes + 8 mile walk

It’s another beautiful day in NYC, but I ended up doing my workout indoors this morning. No matter what, time always seems to influence action. I needed to make a mid-morning train and I’d squandered the early morning hours putting the final touches on my new business website. The elliptical made the most sense in terms of time efficiency, so I picked that over the road and the treadmill. If I’d known how much walking I would do today, I may have skipped my workout altogether.

My travels took me all around NYC today. With exception of a subway ride from Penn Station to Chamber Street, I walked up, down and all around. When I got back to Penn at the end of the day, my Fitbit showed 18K steps and 8 miles walked. My feet were fairly sore, but that’s what recovery shoes are for. I put on a pair the second I got home.

The purpose of my trip downtown was to visit the Manhattan County Clerk’s office at 60 Centre Street. I needed to do some legal work related to my new business. The Clerk’s office is located in the basement of the Supreme Court building, and it looks like it hasn’t been renovated since the 19th century. Seriously, go there and see for yourself.

It turned out that the filing (and its sizable fee) was unnecessary. Except for the cost of a subway ride, I came out well ahead. I walked from Centre Street to midtown, and eventually, back to Penn Station. Today showed that not every workout needs to involve aerobic intensity to make an impact. Sometimes it’s a matter of taking some steps – maybe eighteen thousand or so.

Sixteen staircases on the Bethpage trail

On February 26, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

This morning it was full

Today’s run (Bethpage State Park): 4.2 miles

The next couple of days look to be windy and wet, so this morning I figured I’d go someplace where I could enjoy the outdoors. Although the warmer weather has melted most of the snow, I didn’t want to deal with the muddy trails at Stillwell just yet. I decided to go to Bethpage and hoped that the gates were open.

When I arrived, I saw a large maintenance truck parked in front of the gate and feared that access would be restricted. I then saw that the gates were open, and as I made my way in, I noticed a couple of people running on the path. The trail head was blocked off with a webbed fence and a sign saying “entrance closed.” Like everyone else, I ran around the sign and headed up the hill toward the original trail.

Despite seeing two runners as I drove in, the trail was almost empty. That wasn’t a surprise, as it was a Tuesday morning, not the weekend when I usually run there. I liked the quiet but I wasn’t loving the run for the first mile. My legs felt leaden and I wondered if I should have taken an extra day’s rest after my race.

I started the day with my Fitbit and was curious to see what data it would capture during my workout. After I reached the one mile point, I turned around and headed back in the other direction. I wasn’t looking forward to running up the big hill, but at least I’d be doing it while I was relatively fresh. Once I made it to the top, I continued east and reached the entrance to the new section. I had covered two miles and my legs still felt like they were carrying ankle weights.

Bethpage is hilly and the route is rolling. Most of the time you are either running uphill or down. The first segment of the new trail has a series of hills that are individually short, but collectively challenging. I ran down these hills until I reached three miles, where I turned around and went right back up. Once I got past the worst of it, I noticed that my legs were feeling a little more flexible.

Once I finished my run, I looked at the Fitbit and saw that I’d covered about 7,000 steps and climbed the equivalent of 16 staircases. The activity meter on the Fitbit (a flower) was full to the top. It also captured my distance accurately, along with calories burned. I liked that the Fitbit, unlike the Garmin, is always on and ready to capture activity at any time. But the Garmin provides valuable data that the Fitbit doesn’t record, so I’ll use them together.

After lunch, my wife and I went to a local park for a walk and I picked up enough steps for me to modify today’s goal to 13,500. My wife already has me beat, and I can see it will be hard to keep up with her. But today was a great start.

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.

Debating "You’ll never regret a run"

On November 28, 2012 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Today’s run (treadmill): 25 minutes

I often quote the line, “You’ll never regret a run” to make the point that the effort to exercise is always worth it despite how you might feel. Just this morning my wife said the same thing to me about her workout. Ironically enough, I may have found the exception to the rule today, having completed a treadmill run and suffering the consequences of that decision.

It’s hard to differentiate between feeling tired because you’ve just woken up and feeling fatigued for other reasons. This morning I went through my routine of preparing for the treadmill (30° outside temps made that an easy decision). Though I felt groggy, I expected that feeling to pass once I got going. That happened, but soon after I’d cooled down I was ready to return to bed for more sleep.

Since my schedule is tight on weekday mornings, I had to ignore the dizziness and feeling of weakness. I left for the train, hoping that I could get a decent seat and take a nap. The LIRR is running less trains due to Sandy-related issues and the cars get very crowded, but I managed to secure a good spot and slept for 20 minutes.

I’d hoped that would solve the problem but my fatigue continues. Despite some strong coffee and analgesics I’m still hurting. I don’t know if running on the treadmill was best thing for me this morning. Had I not done that, I could have taken an extra 30 minutes to rest and avoided the physical impact of running. If I skipped my run, I’m wondering whether I’d be feeling any better. Or would I feel worse due to the guilt of missing a workout? I’m taking solace in the thought that while I may regret today’s run, I would definitely have regretted skipping it.

Benefitting from the indoor option

On October 24, 2012 By Emerging Runner3 Comments

Today’s run (treadmill): 25 minutes

There was a period in 2010 when I avoided the treadmill for a period of months. It didn’t rain most mornings when I planned to run and, if it did, I’d use the elliptical instead. I hated the treadmill because it was tedious, hard and a little bit scary to use. In spring of 2011 we replaced our twelve year old machine with a Sole F63 and I began to view treadmill running somewhat more positively.

It seems like the frequency of rainy mornings has increased since that period in 2010 and there’s no elliptical option because the machine has been down for parts throughout most of the year. That has put me on the treadmill one or two times a week. Today’s iffy weather put me there again this morning.

I didn’t really enjoy yesterday’s run that took me over a mile to find my stride. Today’s was much different, even though I was very tired when my alarm jolted me awake. I briefly considered taking another rest day but reason (i.e., guilt) prevailed. This morning’s progressive speed run landed me within my desired heart rate zone and the time went by quickly. A good workout is a good workout, no matter what the surface.

A little love for the treadmill

On October 19, 2012 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Today’s run (treadmill): 25 minutes

I’ve been running well lately, but I found yesterday’s workout disappointing. It may have been my mental state at the time of the run, but I didn’t enjoy the experience at all. I usually associate tedium with the treadmill and prefer the changing conditions that happen when running outdoors. Thursday’s run felt like a maintenance effort, nothing more. But, as the saying goes, “I’ve never regretted a run.”

Knowing that heavy rains would be sweeping over Long Island by morning, I planned for a treadmill workout and actually looked forward to a change from the road. As I’ve written, the treadmill provides two advantages over street running (along with numerous disadvantages): instant availability and the option to introduce variables at the touch of a button.

I like that the time I take between waking and running on the treadmill is almost half of what it takes to gear up and get outside to run. I can sometimes save as much as ten minutes, which becomes ten more minutes to relax after my workout is completed. The treadmill allows me to custom design my workout by varying incline, and speed. The speed flexibility is key. If I want to run slowly outdoors, I need to either shorten my route or risk getting behind schedule. On the treadmill, I can jump off when I get behind and already be home.

I still prefer the trails and the road to the treadmill, but I liked my workout this morning. I followed my usual practice of starting easy and working my way up to race pace using my heart rate as a guide. The best part was when I finished. One minute after after hitting the stop button I was downing my coffee and preparing for another long day.