Showing posts with label temperature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label temperature. Show all posts

Monday, December 26, 2016

Good track run despite the hurdles

High school track, population: 1
Today's run (track): 3.6 miles
Yesterday's run (street): 3.4 miles

If you live in a country that puts a "u" in the words color and favorite, then I wish you a happy Boxing Day. For everyone else, I hope you are fortunate enough to bring this year to a close by taking this week off from work. That's what I'm doing. We have some fun days planned this week. If the weather holds out I'll get to run in a more interesting place than my local neighborhood.

Sunday morning was cold, but I got out on my local roads. I probably over-layered for the 35° "feels like" temperature and broke my rule about dressing for my second mile. Due to that, I ended up covering my distance rather slowly. But I did get out there for the fourth day in a row.

Adding to my streak, I headed over to the high school this morning for a change of scenery. I figured the cold temperature (25° real-feel with the wind) and early hour would keep most people away. Aside from some work trucks in the parking lot, I had the track to myself. Unlike yesterday, I picked the perfect gear for today's conditions. I even left behind one of my layers, knowing I'd eventually get too warm.

Since I had the place to myself, I had my pick of lanes. There were a few hurdles set up that were probably placed by the coach for track practice. I elected not to run over them since I wore my Opedix which were a little restrictive. Not that I had any chance of clearing one. With no one else on the track, I looked for distractions.

I noticed that someone had left hand weights in the shot put area. The owner correctly assumed that no one would come by and steal them today. I also noticed a couple of groups of people setting up to play tennis on the nearby courts. I shook my head as I drove by them on my way out as my cars's display said it was 30°.

I ran faster today than on Sunday and managed to string five runs together It was the longest streak I've had in months. That may end tomorrow, but I'm hoping to start a new one on Wednesday.

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Not every run is stimulating

Four miles in da hood
Today's run (street): 4.2 miles
Yesterday's run (treadmill): 2 miles

Friday morning was cold and blustery and I needed to get out early for an errand. Due to major time constraints, I opted for a quick treadmill run that I figured would be better than postponing my workout until later. I wasn't sure how long my work day would go and it was also my anniversary. I didn't think it would be polite to delay our dinner by doing an early evening run.

I ended up running a couple of treadmill miles and loved that the Garmin FR 35 captured all my metrics without a foot pod or chest strap. I should have gone all out during that short workout, but I chose to start off at my current pace. I bumped up the speed once I reached the second mile and I finished in the mid nine minute range. It was a good use of the small window of time that I had.

This morning's schedule was a little more flexible and the weather was decent. It was 39° when I went out and I wore track pants and two light layers on top. That would have kept me comfortable throughout the run, but the temperature rose four degrees in the 40 or so minutes I was out there.

I'm still not used to starting strong since most of this year I've lacked energy during the first minutes of my runs. I expected to go easy today and was prepared to run a little slow. Somehow I ended up doing better than normal. I'm improving but still running half a minute off my targeted pace.

Today's run was pleasant but my neighborhood roads were not very stimulating. The only interesting thing on my route was the work being done using heavy equipment at the middle school. Steamrollers are cool. I hope to go somewhere more interesting tomorrow and cover about five miles. I may do even more if conditions are good.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

A choice between boring and freezing

Today's run (treadmill): 3.2 miles
Yesterday's workout (elliptical): 30 minutes
Last Sunday's run (treadmill): 3.2 miles

It's cold. The real feel in my town is -5° and it's going down to -16 tonight. I'm doing my best to avoid the freezing weather. I haven't been in a blogging mood so I didn't post anything about last Sunday's run. Here's my writeup for 2/7:

I got on the treadmill and ran 3.2 miles and then stopped.

I worked from home on Friday. I would normally do a neighborhood run before beginning my workday, but due to our tight morning schedules, my wife and I had the same time window for our workouts. She doesn't care for the elliptical and I don't mind it, so we divided up the machines and exercised together. It was like having our own version of Equinox in the guest room. The only thing missing was the juice bar.

This morning it was even colder. The sidewalks are still covered in snow so there was no way I was going to run on the street. I liked the change of pace using the elliptical on Friday, but I really felt I needed to run today. The heat in the house was not energizing and I stalled as long as I could before facing the treadmill. I didn't expect to enjoy the run.

And I didn't. Treadmill running would be tolerable if there was a way to turn off  my brain or redirect it from a constant thought-stream that usually goes like this: "OMG is this boring...I can't believe I'm still on the same minute...why do the news stations have so many commercials..." I find treadmill running very tedious without the sense of progress I get when running outdoors.

To distract myself and combat my treadmill frustration, I challenged myself and pushed my speed to the edge of tolerable. Actually, that was only true for the last half mile. Most of my run involved self pity. I ended up having a pretty good run which is different from have an enjoyable one.

The weather isn't supposed to be much better tomorrow and we have a full day planned, I expect to be back on the treadmill in the morning. Yay.

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Strategic standing and overheated running

The scene of the summit but we had less chairs.
Today's run (street): 3.7 miles

Work took over all aspects of my life this week. I hadn't done a single run since last Sunday, but I spent a couple of days on my feet at a leadership summit. We did a lot of strategic exercises, so at least I got a mental workout. The summit was held in the ballroom of a beautiful mansion called the Tarrytown House. The days were a grind, but the food was awesome.

My schedule prevented me from getting in a weekday run, so this morning I knew it was time to pay the piper. Unfortunately, I was exhausted when I got up at 6:00 AM and did a rare return to bed after having coffee with my daughter. I didn't get my butt out the door until almost 11:00 and wondered at that point if I'd have the energy to get around the neighborhood.

The temperature was 45° with a "real feel" of 41, but it felt much colder. Due to that, I overdressed. I felt fine through the first mile, but then the heat started to build. I managed to get through the run, but I wasn't ready to do a lot of distance. Next time I'll leave off the extra layers.

It's a three day weekend so there's time for me to get in a couple more runs before I go back to work. I hope I'm feeling more energetic tomorrow. If so, I'll probably head to Stillwell or back to Bethpage. So far no snow in January and I need to take advantage of that as much as I can.

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Recovering on the Bethpage trail

Today's gear. Black is the new black.
Today's run (Bethpage Bike Trail): 5.6 miles

As the song goes, what a difference a day makes. The work week was exhausting and I counted on Saturday for recovery. Unfortunately, I felt ill all day with a pounding sinus headache that persisted throughout the evening. This morning I woke up feeling one hundred percent better and looked forward to getting outside. While Saturday's perfect weather gave way to much colder temperatures today, conditions were still great for a run.

According to the local station, it was 33°, so I pulled out my Opedix running tights, Alpine Design quarter-zip top and ASICS lightweight running beanie. Not my warmest collection of gear, but good for today's weather. I also wore my Saucony Triumph ISOs thinking they would be warmer than the Kinvaras. It turned out they aren't and next time I'll remember to wear wool socks.

I wanted to cover 5+ miles so I went to the Runsketeer staging area off Haypath. I ran south to Bethpage Stage Park and turned around at the start of the north trail. The Bethpage bikeway is a rolling path with a couple of steep but short sections between the park and Haypath Rd. I know the constant elevation change is great for conditioning, but I always dread those hills.

I ran north all the way to Old Country Road, passing many walkers along the way. Most were bundled up against the cold. There were surprisingly few runners and cyclists so the path was relatively clear. My gear kept me perfectly comfortable with the exception of my feet that felt the chill when the wind was blowing.

Today's route
I would have liked to cover another .4 miles to make it an even six, but I ended up back where I started and felt good about how I'd run. Yesterday's workout contributed to my fatigue that lasted throughout the day, while today's run is still producing energy. One day made a huge difference, and I'm happy to be ending the weekend feeling this great.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Winter running in mid April

Thick frost on the lawn this morning
Today's run (street): 6.25 miles

Yesterday's schedule was rough and it involved an early morning drive to a client north of the city. This meeting and other obligations disrupted my training schedule and they caused me to miss my weekly speed work. I considered doing those repeats today and moving my long run to Thursday, but I didn't want to space my base training runs too close together.

I was surprised to see that the temperature was only 32° when I got up. At least yesterday's driving rains were gone, so it was just a matter of bundling up. I've gotten used to running in 40 degree weather so I was concerned about a possible recurrence of cold-related breathing issues, but they didn't materialize. I dressed for the frigid temperature and set out to cover 6 miles or so.

Complex route
Longer runs in my contained neighborhood are hard to do unless you don't mind covering the same streets multiple times. I mentally mapped out a route that would minimize these redundancies and took off running at an easy pace. I knew that it would be cold, but I didn't count on the stiff breezes that accompanied it. According to my Garmin data, the winds were at 14 MPH, making it feel like 24° outside. Nothing like pushing your way up a long sloping road with freezing wind buffeting you the entire way.

The run itself was fairly easy. I have no doubt that the Brooklyn Half training is contributing to my endurance. I picked up the pace on the last mile and ran it almost a minute faster than the previous 5. That told me two things: I can run faster when I need to do it and I can find speed at the end of a middle-long distance run. Speed is a relative term of course. My "fast" pace today did not match race target. But it is progress and I'm all for that.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

10 degree running is still better than the treadmill

Today's run (street): 4.6 miles

It was important to me to get outside for my run this morning. The weather had kept me indoors since last Sunday, including yesterday's treadmill session. I always feel a little cheated when I miss the opportunity to run outdoors on a weekend day. I switched on News 12 while I got my running gear organized and the temperature at the bottom of the screen showed 10°. I grabbed a few extra layers and got ready to go outside.

Despite the cold, the skies were sunny and that made it extra frustrating when it took over five minutes for my Garmin to acquire a signal. The roads were much clearer than yesterday and, once on the street, I settled into a comfortable pace. The first half mile is a gentle uphill slope and I was dealing with headwinds for most of that section. The chilly wind made my eyes water and it was uncomfortable where my glasses touched my face.

Once I made a change in direction, the sun (minus wind) made it more tolerable. I didn't push too hard because my layers were keeping me comfortable. I targeted four miles for my run and set a route that would get me to that distance. Around the forty minute mark I saw that my performance was tracking below target, so I stepped it up a little. 

After yesterday's hard effort I didn't care all that much about running fast today, but I was still a little disappointed with my time. Despite the high treadmill frequency this week, I managed to cover my distance goals, including nine miles this weekend. The weather is supposed to get warmer next week so I'm hoping to get out at least once in the morning. The elliptical should be arriving soon, so I'll finally have a cross-training option for my morning workouts.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Running clothes can have other lives

Today's run (treadmill): 25 minutes

Once upon a time, I would run outdoors in the coldest of weather, every day of the week. If the temperature was below 20 degrees, I'd add extra layers and (perhaps) a balaclava to protect my face. These days, I'm more apt to choose the treadmill for weekday runs. Weekends are a different story. I can go out a little later and spend more time preparing for the cold. I'll still run outdoors even with temperature reaches the low 20's, but I'm not sure about anything colder than that.

The thermometer on my car's display showed 10 degrees as I made my way to the train station this morning. New York City is barely warmer than that. Knowing that I'd need to endure the near-zero temperatures as I stood on the platform, (wind-chills were in the single digits) I turned to my running clothes for help.

A nice thing about running gear is that can be both lightweight and warm (or cold) depending on circumstance. This morning I substituted my usual cotton tee shirt for a long sleeve compression jersey to use as a base layer. I wore a pair of Wrightsock Coolmesh socks that are snug fitting under regular dress socks. I also wore my ASICs Serpent running windbreaker, that is surprisingly warm, between my shirt and suit jacket.

I was perfectly comfortable as I waited the eight minutes for the train to arrive, helped along by my heavy wool coat, scarf and earmuffs. The socks, base layer and jacket really did make a difference and I appreciated the fact that they added no bulk whatsoever. As I ran on the treadmill this morning in shorts and a light shirt, I dreaded the cold I'd soon be facing. Thanks to my running clothes, it all worked out just fine.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The quick and the cold

Today's run (street): 2.5 miles

This time of year it's hard to judge the weather for running. Last night's report showed temperatures in the mid-40's that would seem positively balmy compared to the 35° conditions at last Saturday's race. This morning I dressed in a similar way to Saturday, with a long sleeve shirt, shorts and calf sleeves. When I stepped outside to start my run, I was hit with a wave of cold that made me consider going back inside to add another layer.

I decided to accept the cold as is, following the practice of dressing for your second mile. The cold can be a good incentive to get quickly up to speed in an effort to raise body temperature. It was odd to be running through the frosty air while lawn sprinklers were spraying water all along the street. I avoided that freezing mist as much as as I could.

A quick check of my heart rate motivated me to pick up my pace. I was starting to warm up, but sweating was beginning to work against me, amplifying the chill. I continued on at a moderate speed and was later surprised to see that I'd paced 30 seconds per mile faster than I felt I was running. My best race times seem to come in the colder months so clearly there's a correlation between cold and performance. I wonder if my pace would have suffered had I added that extra layer prior to my run.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Back to the 4:00 AM thing

Today's run (street): 2.5 miles

I've been busy with post-vacation business and have not had a chance to post until now. Later this week my division will be holding its summer picnic in Central Park and I've organized a 1.6 mile non-competitive run/walk. I'm hoping we get a good crowd of participants like last time.

It was back to 4:00 AM running this morning. After so many hot and humid days, I was fortunate to have temperatures in the high-50's. These conditions were further helped by the cooling mist from lawn sprinklers along my way. I didn't break any speed records this morning, but I was proud of myself for getting up and out again at that early hour.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

A late day run after a busy weekend

Today's run (street): 3.35 miles

It's been a very busy weekend seeing lots of friends and family. I didn't get a chance to run yesterday but I got out late this afternoon and ran a little over 5K. Temperature is posted as 82° but it feels much warmer. The humidity also felt higher than the 60% that's listed on the Weather.com. Considering that I'm a morning runner who likes the cold, I managed a credible mid-9 pace. It's going to be a busy week at the office so I'm glad I was able to get in a hard run today to help me transition from play to work.
 

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