Running in a (pre) winter wonderland

Frost on the pumpkins, snow on the lawn

Today's run (street) 4.2 miles

Yesterday was a long day for us. We were at a friend's family event for most of the day and by 10:00 PM we were ready for bed. I hoped to sleep until 5:30 or 6:00, which would be late for me, but at 4:30 AM I was wide awake. Try as I might, I couldn't fall back to sleep so I got up. I made some coffee and considered my workout.

I know that I'm not at my best right now and I'm beginning to think it's the flu shot that's contributing to my stamina issues. It's obviously not exhaustion since I only managed to stay asleep for six hours last night. I decided I'd go out for a neighborhood run, targeting the same distance than I'd covered over the last two days.

The lawns in my neighborhood were lightly covered with snow, but the roads were clear when I made my way outside. The reported temperature was 35° but with the wind it felt much colder. I wore compression shorts under my C9 running pants and added my Zensah compression sleeves over my calves. On top I wore a C9 half-zip layered with a short sleeve running shirt. I also wore a fleece hat and running gloves. Together it made for a comfortable outfit that kept me warm at the start but didn't overheat me when I got up to speed.

I took it easy in deference to my current situation and ran comfortably around the neighborhood. I was both surprised and annoyed to see more than one house watering their snow-covered lawn. I wondered if they forgot to turn off their sprinkler systems or if they were truly stupid. Aside from that I thought the neighborhood, covered in snow, looked very beautiful.

I planned a route that would cover a little more than three miles, but when I reached the point where I'd turn onto the last road, I decided to keep going straight and added another mile for good measure. I ended up running a little faster than I wanted to, but I'd still call it an easy pace. Considering that I'm not at my best right now, I'm happy with the last two runs I've done.

My next race, the Hope for the Warriors 10K, will happen in two weeks. I'll follow that with the Long Beach 10K Turkey Trot a week later. I hope to be back at full strength by next Saturday so I can break out of my 3-4 mile malaise and prepare for a longer race distance.

The agony and the not so bad

Yesterday's run (Central Park): 3 miles
Today's run (treadmill): 3 miles

I'm in a slump and I don't exactly understand why. I suspect that it's a combination of things. Since I suffered a bad fall on my driveway a week ago, I've been feeling slightly sub-par. My crash at the end of my run was probably more traumatic than I'd initially thought and, seven days later, I still have plenty of evidence of that.

I had been feeling run down by mid-week and though I did a couple of runs plus an elliptical session since the accident, I felt the need to skip my workout on Thursday. Yesterday I had plans to meet my friend CK for a run in Central Park and I thought the day and a half rest I'd have since Wednesday would deliver some needed energy. I was almost completely wrong but there were other factors at play.

First, I had gone to the company medical center in the morning to get a flu shot. I didn't think it would have any effect on my running, but perhaps it did. Second, I was rushed for time at lunch and grabbed some spicy vegetarian soup and vegetarian dumplings that didn't help my glycogen level. And third, I generally don't run well in the afternoon. So some combination of the above, plus being generally run down, made for a tough run in the park.

CK and I started our run on the lower loop near the 6th Avenue entrance to the park and we headed counter clockwise up the hill. We were moving at a good clip with CK letting me set the pace. I felt okay but was concerned about maintaining that rate over our planned 4+ mile route. Shortly after we reached our first mile, CK asked to stop so he could remove his long pants that were making him warm.

What should have been an opportunity to rest turned into a significant energy drop and as we made our way up the hill I admitted that I wouldn't be able to run the reservoir route. We modified our course by cutting across the Great Lawn and I was truly struggling to keep the pace under 10 minutes a mile. Still it was fun to run the west side of the loop towards Columbus Circle because they had put up the stands for the NY Marathon and were in the process of constructing the finish line area.

We ended up covering our three miles in about 28 minutes but it was the toughest 5K I've run in a while.

This morning, due to the inclement weather, I ran about three miles on the treadmill, starting with a 5 minute walking warm up. I did the running part at around 9:50/min, a comfortable pace, but I really felt it by the end. I'm obviously not at my best but this morning's workout felt far better than yesterday's run.

I'm not sure how far I'll run tomorrow. More than one person has suggested that I take a few days off and get back to strength. It's good advice, the kind that I'd give to others. I'm not sure I'll take my own advice though. Who can resist going out for a run on a cold October morning?

On the one day injured list

Yesterday, I suffered a minor setback with my injuries that were caused by last Friday's stumble. Most of my cuts, scrapes and gashes had been healing nicely, and my finger (hairline) fracture has responded well. But yesterday afternoon, the area adjacent to my knee (where I gashed about 10 square inches of skin), was hurting. I doused the area with alcohol (yowch!) and applied new bandages in my office. That helped, as did a coating of Dermoplast, my antiseptic of choice. Still, I felt like I should rest my leg today, so I skipped my run. I'm happy that I did.

Tomorrow's weather should be much better than today's gloomy mess. I'm planning to meet my friend CK in Central Park for an afternoon run. It's hard enough keeping up with him when I'm at my best so I'm not sure how well I'll do under these circumstances. But since I've only covered nine miles over the past week, I'm up to the challenge.

Female competition as a civil right

Deena Kastor won and lost the American marathon record

Today's workout (elliptical): 25 minutes

There is an inspiring article in today's NY Times about Dr. Julia Chase-Brand, a woman who broke barriers by competing in races during a time when the Amateur Athletic Union forbid female competitors. The article describes Dr. Chase-Brand's challenge to assert her civil rights, while she disproved the ridiculous notion that running is dangerous for women. On top of that, she was also forced to endure statements like "Women don’t run. You run. What are you?"

It's unbelievable that these discussions still happened into the 1960's. The sport of running has so many great women competitors. These days, you'll often see more woman runners than men in local races. Yet there are still some bad practices related to gender, like the recent ruling by the IAAF stating that World Records for women can only be attained in women-only races. Just what are these people afraid of?

World's shortest endurance run

Today's run (street): 2.5 miles

I woke up with my usual disbelief that I'd be outside running in the next fifteen minutes. Although I ran on Sunday, this was my return to the 4:00 AM darkness, where bad things can happen if you don't pay proper attention. With my injuries healing, but still stinging, I got up, put on my running clothes and headed out the door.

Sunday's workout wasn't great, but it confirmed my ability to run. Two mornings later, I expected more, but I experienced tightness in my muscles and in the skin around my injuries. This discomfort forced me to adjust my stride a little and the result was sub-par, mechanical gait that prevented me from generating much speed. I focused on enduring the run, knowing above all else, that getting through a workout is preferable to skipping one.

At the end of my run, I approached my driveway carefully and managed to avoid the raised edge that tripped me up on Friday morning. I completed my usual route in a minute longer than normal and that gave me a 25 second per mile slower pace. Considering the circumstances, I'd call that a decent outcome.

Coming today on Runner's Tech Review

I'm back to my regular running schedule and that means a rest day today. I am mending well and yesterday's run assured me that my injuries will not get in the way of my workouts. I plan to be out again tomorrow morning, ready to face the road again at 4:00 AM.

It's been a long time since we've posted on Runner's Tech Review, but we'll have a write-up on Invisible Shoe running huaraches on the site by the end of the day. It was interesting to see how Adventure Girl and I took to this minimalist footwear and, perhaps, a little surprising what each of us thought about the shoes. Let's just say that I won't be giving up my Hattori's anytime soon.

Post-accident run with a much better ending

Today's run (street): 4.45 miles

Yesterday was a long day, we went to Boston to visit family and came back last night. We were pretty exhausted by the time we went to bed and I'd hoped that it would lead to a good night's sleep. With my scrapes and bruises from Friday's accident still mending, it was a little hard to get comfortable. I woke up groggy and with a headache, but I was determined to get outside for a run.

I wore a pair of loose running pants to protect the bandages on my calf and knee and a long sleeve running shirt to cover my elbow bandage. With my left middle finger in a splint and bandages across the back of both hands, I probably looked worse than I felt. I'd taken a couple of aspirins and a Sudafed and, while I felt strong at the beginning, I think the Pseudoephedrine was sapping my energy as I ran.

Despite all the damage caused by yesterday's roll and slide on concrete and blacktop, I was fortunate to avoid any injury that affected my ability to run. I purposely kept my pace easy and that helped me get through the distance. I followed a meandering route that had a few roads with slight elevation and I realized that I'm liking running hills more and more. I may be ready to return to the monster hills at Stillwell.

I headed back toward home after passing four miles and when I reached my driveway I was especially careful to avoid the raised edge that sent me sprawling on Friday. Having missed my run on Saturday, my weekly mileage will be lower than normal for the week.  No matter, I was glad to get back on the road and finish the week with a good running experience.

Laying on my driveway at 4:25 AM

One fall, many injuries: (knee, elbow, shoulder, both hands)

Today's run (street): 2.5 miles

Most of today's run was pleasantly routine but it ended badly. I'd expected colder weather when I laid out my running clothes last night, including long sleeves, long pants and running gloves. The local TV station showed 55° this morning so I opted for short sleeves and running shorts. In retrospect, I wish I'd gone with the original gear.

I ran my usual loop and besides the mild but persistent pain in my lower Achilles, I felt pretty good. By the first mile my Achilles pain had disappeared (as it usually does) and I concentrated more on leg turnover. I had read that arm motion influences cadence and I tried to run with more upper body movement to see if it had a measurable effect on my speed. I'll look at the Garmin read-out to see how my pace compares to earlier in the run, after trying that method.

I was preparing to hit the stop button on my Garmin when I reached my driveway and took a sliding spill along the blacktop. Apparently, my foot caught the edge of the concrete section that leads to the street. I remember falling and hitting the ground, my headlamp flying off and clattering on the ground. It was still very dark at 4:30 AM but I could see a lot of blood and the middle finger on my left hand was numb.

I collected my headlamp and righted myself. It took me three tries to key in the security code to open the garage door and I concentrated on keeping the den floor clean from blood once I'd made it inside. I washed my wounds and sprayed liberally with Dermaplast. Once I saw the extent of my injuries I went upstairs to tell my wife who was up and attending to the damage in an instant. She is a Red Cross volunteer and has been trained to dress wounds. That came in very handy today.

I soon realized that the bandaging required for the size and amount of cuts and bruises that I'd received would greatly limit my mobility. Besides that, my finger was aching and I wondered if I should go for X-Rays. I decided then to work from home today, since I wasn't able to shower and probably couldn't manage well on the train and subway.

I'm feeling better after ibuprofen and icing my finger. I can't believe how quickly a routine run could turn into a day-changing event. It could have been far worse and I was fortunate that if I was to trip, it would happen in front of my house. I won't be running tomorrow but hopefully by Sunday I'll be ready to (carefully) return to the road.

My definition of victory

Victorious

Today's workout (elliptical): 25 minutes

I had lunch yesterday with one of my running mentors, a man who has competed for decades. I told him about Saturday's race and we laughed about my sprint to the end, where I beat out another runner by a second. That made me think about why I race and what I expect from the experience.

I know that there are many runners who line up at the start of a race expecting to win, or to place high in their age division. I know a few of those people, some of whom read this blog. I admire and envy them but I know that I'm never going to be a front of pack finisher. I'm not conceding that I'll never have another age-place win, but I usually come in right in the middle of overall finish order.

Despite the fact that I'm barely competitive in my own age category, I do get a lot out of competition. Every time I pass a person in a race, I feel like a real competitor. This past weekend, when I held my own on the hills while many started walking halfway up, I felt like my training had paid off. And yes, as I sprinted toward the finish and held off a young runner who may have thought he'd blow right by me, I felt like I'd won my own mini race.

I've often thought about racing while out on a training run and tried to imagine other people around me, pulling me along. That never resulted in a noticeably faster performance and I think that's because only real competition brings out the best in us. There are few things in life that feel better than crossing the line to see that you've beaten your targeted finish time. I don't worry about those who finished long before me in races, because I define victory many different ways.

Flat out on the treadmill

Today's run (treadmill): 2.6 miles

It's frustrating when thunderstorms move in after days of perfect running weather. I anticipated wet conditions this morning and planned a treadmill run for the morning. We are still having issues with our Sole F63, but the company has responded well. They sent us a replacement console that I installed and that fixed the problem with the speed control. However, the incline function is popping an error that requires recalibrating the treadmill. I can easily do this but the process to go into programming mode isn't working.

Sole is sending some additional boards and cables that will hopefully allow me to get past this issue. In the meantime the unit works great as long you you only want to run level. That was good enough for me this morning, I started at an easy pace and worked up to the mid-8:00 range by the end of my run. It was a good workout, and though I don't really like running on the treadmill, I'm glad I had that option today.

I wish I felt as good as I ran

Today's run (street) 2.5 miles

I always expect to run well after a couple of days off, especially when my last run was a race. I guess it's the combination of muscle fibers tuned for speed and the benefits that come from additional rest. That was what I'd hoped for when I began my run today.

I was actually excited to get out this morning, two days away from running will do that. I imagined that I was again charging up Berry Hill Road as I headed up the first street. I was moving fast and felt some oxygen debt that sometimes comes from transitioning to aerobic breathing from anaerobic. The recovery from that process didn't come quickly and I found myself wishing that I'd reach the top of the street so I could level off and head down a little.

I suspect my laryngitis is a symptom of a cold or virus that I'm fighting, and this definitely affected my running this morning. But as I ran along feeling a little queasy and under-oxygenated, I was also ripping through the course at about 30 seconds per mile faster than usual. By the time I'd reached my second mile I had settled down enough to focus more on the run. I finished almost a minute faster than normal for that route.

Why I ran so well while feeling unwell is a mystery, but it could be a result of my race conditioning carrying through, despite other factors. I was glad to return to the road today and though I didn't love the experience, I did like the results.

Two days and no running

I spent most of Sunday feeling like I was on the verge of a cold. I decided early in the day not to run at all and was glad later, when I began feeling worse. Lots of rest and a little extra sleep last night went a long way. I'm feeling much better this morning. However, I'm suffering from laryngitis so my voice is still pretty bad.

I'd like to get in a city run while the weather stays comfortable and dry. Most days make this an impossibility due to my schedule, which has become busier with the fall. A Friday lunchtime run would have been great to do this week but I've got a conflict this week. I'm looking forward to getting back out on the road tomorrow morning after two days rest. Happily, my Achilles seems to be cooperating.