Easy doesn't always do it after race day

Today's run (street): 5.4 miles

Between tapering and running just 3.1 miles on race day, I usually come up well short of my weekly average when I run a 5K. That was the case this week where my total miles barely cracked the teens. Despite the lower volume, I can say confidently that both runs this weekend were high quality efforts.

I usually rest the day after a race, not because it's a good practice, but because most races are on Sundays and my rest day is Monday. For Saturday races, I usually try to get out for a recovery run because I read once that an easy workout that follows a hard effort effectively forces out lactic acid that can cause leg soreness.

My lower output this week prompted me to target at least 5 miles today. The last couple of times when I followed a race with an LSD run, I found myself struggling after 30 minutes despite going slow and easy. I realized last time that running a little harder actually felt better.

I had that in mind when I went out this morning, taking the first mile at around a 9:00 pace before settling into a mid-9 pace for the duration of the run. I chose the hilliest streets in the neighborhood to get my heart rate going. After a race, almost any effort below race pace feels easy and that was the case today. I could have gone another few miles but I didn't want to overdo it. Besides, we are celebrating my son's birthday today and I needed to get home to shower before we all went out.

I look forward to tomorrow's rest day but I'm eager to start training for two 10K's in November. I have always run my best 10K times at these races and that's probably due to the cooler weather and relatively flat courses. Still, I'm planning to maintain my hill training because that seems to make me  a better runner, regardless of the elevation.

Race report: 2012 Oyster Bay Supervisor's 5K

Big crowd, 70 more runners than last year

Today's race (Oyster Bay Supervisor's 5K): 3.1 miles 
25:58 - 8:22 pace

When running a race, it's always good to be familiar with the course. I tend to do better the second time I run a particular race, as I did at today's 2012 Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor's 5K. I came very close to achieving a PR this morning, but ended up falling short by eight seconds. Still, I did break 26 minutes, if only by two seconds.

I arrived a few minutes after 8:00 for the 9:00 AM start. The temperature was a chilly 35° and I was concerned about parking too far away from registration. I was counting on parking close to the starting area so I could stay warm in my car before heading to the line. I ended up parking at the high school, which was a quick three minute walk to the registration area.

Registration went well, just like last year. The race shirt was actually a sweatshirt, this year's in grey with blue and black graphics. I returned to my car to pin my bib and fuel with Accel Gel. I headed back up with 15 minutes to spare and lined up near the start. On my way there I was passed by a runner who tripped on a loose cable while doing strides. Fortunately, his spill onto gravel didn't diminish his spirit and he was up and running seconds later.

For some reason, a large crowd of runners had assembled in front of the line, perhaps because the area had a lot of warming sun. The race starter announced that people needed to move behind the line, and a big wave of people pushed us back a little. The starter then asked that the front area be reserved for 6:00 pace runners.

The guy in front of me turned and asked (not in a nice way) if I ran 6 minute miles. I didn't answer him, but I did make sure that he saw me when I passed him going up Berry Hill Road. So there were 630 nice people at this race and one jerk. That's a pretty good ratio.

The race started right on time and I looked forward to attacking the long hill that would eventually give way to an equally long downhill stretch. I felt great from the start and the cold air helped a lot. I wore a long sleeved jersey, shorts and compression sleeves on my calves. It was the right combination of gear and I was comfortable throughout the race.

Since I was familiar with the hill, I knew where I was when we passed the 1 mile point. I came through in 8:30, over 30 seconds faster than last year. I had trained on hills and it was paying off. Berry Hill Road becomes a little steeper at the one mile mark, but I knew that and was prepared to work harder. I was surprised how many people I was passing on the hill. I almost finished in the top third today (okay, it was the top 39% percent) but that's better than my usual spot, exactly in the middle of the pack.

Once the turn onto Sandy Hill Road came into view, I knew I'd have some relief. I was careful to remember that I still needed to keep pushing for that last mile and a half. The downhill stretches did help me recover and I felt like I was running as fast as I could while still maintaining a safe stride. The last thing I needed was to overrun my turnover capability and take a spill on the course.

At around the 2 mile mark, my friend BL came up on my side and said hello. He's a great example of how discipline and hard work can deliver amazing results. Two years ago BL was twice the size he is today, but he started walking, and then running, and he hasn't stopped since. He races almost every weekend and is now faster than me.

The course takes a left turn onto East Main Street where the downhill ends and the road rises. It actually felt good to be climbing again. I was able to tap some surprising energy as I surged along the final quarter mile. The clock said 25:01 when I passed the 3 mile mark and I hoped to make it to the finish in 48 seconds to secure a new PR. Unfortunately, it took me almost a minute more to cross the line.

I felt great at the end and I didn't care that I'd missed a PR. I caught up with BL who broke 26 minutes for the first time today, finishing almost half a minute before I did. I was happy that he achieved a PR. He certainly earned it.

This is a great race because it gives as much as it takes. The long hill is a great challenge but manageable with training. I realized today that I should probably focus on downhill technique which would have helped me today. Still, no regrets. My next race will be the Run for the Warrior's 10K in November and I'm excited to start training for that. But for now, a little rest today and a long recovery run tomorrow will do just fine.

Following the primary rule of racing

Today's run (treadmill): 25 minutes

It's probably overkill to rest two days before a 5K race, but that's what I'm planning to do. I have gotten away with a single day's rest before some races, but I've also paid the price for running hard prior to race day. The primary rule of racing is "Don't change what works." In the same way that you'd never try a new gel or sport drink or wear new running shoes for the first time on the day of a race, there's little to be gained by changing your preparation methodology.

Today was supposed to be my last training run for my taper and I looked forward to running the streets of my neighborhood. The weather report said clear skies by morning, so I geared up and headed downstairs, ready to hit the road. Unfortunately, as the garage door lifted, I could see the rain coming down hard. I would have run in a light drizzle, but this was not going to work.

I headed back upstairs and shed my outdoor gear before hopping on the treadmill to do my workout. I ran fairly hard yesterday, especially with the 3% incline, so I locked into a comfortable pace and resisted temptation to increase my speed throughout the run. Sometimes you get more out of an easy run than an intense one. After the hard training I've done over the past few weeks, I'm going to enjoy the next two days of rest. Hopefully, that will put me at my best on Saturday.

The ups and downs of hill running

Today's run (treadmill): 25 minutes - 3% grade

Some people claim that they'd rather run uphill than down. To me, that's like saying they'd prefer to skip dessert, although I know some people who do. I love downhills because they allow me to back off on my effort during a hard run and use gravity to maintain a good pace. But every hill, either up and down, is different. I like the fact that Saturday's race has a sizable downhill section, but I wouldn't want it any steeper than it is.

Running downhill can be a challenge when the grade is high because it takes work to maintain balance, lest you begin to move faster than your legs can go. There's a whole different set of muscles at play when negotiating steep declines. I write a lot about Cow Harbor's formidable hill on James Street, but that elevation goes two ways. There's a part of Eaton's Neck Road where I wish the sharp drop would just flatten out, which it does briefly before rising for a mile on Waterside.

This morning I set my treadmill to a 3% grade and cranked my speed so that I'd get to a race-ready heart rate. It wasn't the most comfortable workout, but I was able to sustain it over 25 minutes. I can't simulate a downhill on the treadmill although some high end machines can do that. I'm not sure I need to practice downhills because every time I run at Bethpage I run down exactly as much as I go up. I just enjoy that part more.

October made me a runner

Burning up the treadmill four years ago

October has been a significant month for me in my history as a runner. Modern history I should say, because my running experience in the early '90's (and before that) is hazy and undocumented. But in August of 2008, I took my first running steps during my walking workouts. I steadily increased the ratio of time I spent running during my walks, all through September, and then into early October.

The reason I know the details of my early progress is because I'd used a Nike+ wristband and chip and I'm still able to look back at my workouts and see the histograms that show my pace and distance. It's interesting to see the first run/walks, where I traveled at about 15:00 min/mile, with short sections dropping into the 10:00 range.

A scan of the log shows that I averaged 9:34 per mile on October 21, 2008, making that my first full run over a mile with no walking. One year later I ran on a relay team at the Cape Cod Marathon where I achieved a then-personal record distance of 8.75 miles (over two relay legs). Two years after that, I took my big spill on the driveway at the end of a morning run that scraped me up so badly that I still have scars a year later. You have to take the good with the bad.

I guess the longer your running history, the more you'll have to look back on every month. Still, I'll always look at October as a most important month, because that's when I truly became a runner.

Rapid recovery run

Today's run: (street): 4.9 miles

The weekend weather has been highly cooperative for running. The rain held off until the afternoon on Saturday and today was a repeat of that pattern. This morning it was especially cool outside as I made my way through the neighborhood. But it wasn't so cold that I couldn't run in shorts. The temperature was around 50° and dry. Compare that to Chicago where they were reporting 38° for the start of the BoA Marathon.

After yesterday's fun on the hills, I didn't want to run too hard. I took it fairly easy at the start and focused on the purpose of this workout. I needed to recover from muscle strain and get in a few more miles before I taper down next week.

I appreciated the weather as I made my way through the first mile. I felt surprisingly energetic at that point and hoped that would continue as I went along. I only checked my heart rate a couple of times but noticed it was higher than I expected. I later realized that was because I was running about 25 seconds per mile faster than I thought I was at that time.

I'd originally planned to cap my distance at four miles but I felt so good that I changed course and added almost a mile to my total. Once I calculated my overall pace, I realized that I'd achieved the level of fitness I'll need for Saturday's 5K. I'm hoping to maintain that level until race day. Right now I'm feeling ready.

Attacking the hills at Bethpage

View of the recently re-opened bike trail head

Today's run (Bethpage State Park): 5.3 miles

I was up very early with hopes of getting to Bethpage before 7:00 AM. I couldn't get my act together and ended up stalling until almost 8:00. Although I felt okay, I was experiencing some of the symptoms that caused me to cut my run short yesterday. I debated whether to stick around and run closer to home, rather than heading to the park.

This is the last weekend I have to train for the upcoming 5K and I knew that I'd be better off running at Bethpage because it provided the best resource for hill training. When I arrived I saw a crowd of people setting up for the "Lean on Me" 5K Walk and Talk that benefits the Breast Cancer Network. It looked like it was going to be a fun event.

Walking and Talking today at Bethpage

My plan was to run the longest hill of the bike trail a couple of times. The hill goes on a bit, one trip up and down equals a mile. After I reached the top for the second time, I headed north and ran the upper trail to Haypath Road and back. Like the rest of the bike trail, the upper section is rolling and it has a few hills. One hill is fairly steep, but its relatively short length makes it manageable.

Once I got by those hills it was easy running and I reached the end having covered 5.3 miles. When I got back to the trail head I saw that the crowds had grown at the Walk and Talk event and the music was booming. I hoped the rain that was predicted to move in would hold off and I'm guessing that it did.

Despite feeling a little off, I had a decent run and the hill practice will hopefully pay off next Saturday. I'm not sure what type of workout I should do tomorrow. That will be determined by the weather and the way I feel. I probably should do some speed work before I taper off, but I don't want to push hard if I really need the rest.

From bad to worse and then worse again

Today's run (street): 1.1 miles

Today's workout started badly and got worse. Everything started out fine, I changed into my running clothes and was out the door ahead of schedule. I felt fine as I waited to get my GPS signal, but when I took off I noticed my energy level was a little below par. My legs felt heavy and my stride felt flat. I decided to press on in hopes that I'd loosen up and rebound after the first downhill section.

Instead of feeling better, I began to feel worse and around the half mile point I started to feel queasy. I decided on the spot to run straight home. When I reached my house I discovered that I'd locked myself out for the first time in four years. I had to call my wife to come down and let me in. I'm sure she was alarmed when the phone rang at 4:00 AM, but at least it wasn't because of anything bad. Of all days to do that.

As a result, I'm going into the weekend a little short of my targeted mileage, but I hope to make that up tomorrow. My plan is to run the big hill at Bethpage a few times to prepare for the race the following weekend. I recovered quickly from this morning's incident and I'm hoping to feel much better on tomorrow's run.

Debate highlights distract me from the incline

Today's run (treadmill): 25 minutes

Last night's debate went past my bedtime, so I took advantage of my indoor run today by watching the highlights and recap on the early news. The Emerging Running covers a lot of things, but politics isn't one of them, so I'll hold my comments. I'll admit that hearing what was said (or straining to hear over the din of the treadmill and fan) made the time go by fast.

Since the Town of Oyster Bay 5K has a very long hill at the start, I made elevation the theme for today's run and put the incline at 3% for the duration. Despite the humidity and extra incline, I still struggled to get my heart rate to target range, though I reached it about five minutes before the end by increasing my speed.

I feel like my conditioning is a little above average right now and that's making me hopeful that I'll run competitively on the 13th. I hope I can keep up this level of performance all the way through next weekend.

Gaining speed by pushing HR

Today's run (treadmill): 25 minutes

The threat of rain and fog kept me indoors on the treadmill this morning. The big fan positioned in front of the machine negated the high humidity (for the most part). I spent little time getting up to speed before locking into a sub-9:00 pace for the duration of my run. I wish I had thought to use my heart rate monitor earlier than August because I've found it to be a far better method of improving my pace than simply monitoring my speed on the Garmin.

My current treadmill method is to steadily increase my heart rate by increasing speed every couple of minutes until I reach Zone 4, usually in the last few minutes. I can accelerate that by increasing incline but right now I'm more focused on pace. I'm planning to run with my friend CK on Friday at lunchtime and I hope the harder efforts I've been putting in will help me keep up with him. Either way, I know it will be a challenging workout.

Nice performance despite some sleep-running

Today's run (street): 2.5 miles

It felt humid when I changed into running clothes this morning and I saw that the temperature was about eight degrees higher than yesterday at that time. I was already sweating when I put on my heart rate monitor and a quick check showed normal readings just before I started. I haven't downloaded the run to Garmin Connect, but I expect that I'll see an even HR pattern across the timeline when I do.

I'm never quite sure how I'll feel before I take the first few steps off my driveway each morning. Some days it feels as though I'm carrying sandbags around my ankles. Other times my stride feels fluid and my energy level feels high. This morning it was much more the latter, although I did feel some twinges in my leg muscle as I pushed up the first street's slight incline.

My response to those twinges was to apply more power. Despite my harder pace, I was doing a little sleep-running and found myself nearing the one mile mark sooner than I'd expected. A check of my Garmin showed that I was still running below my targeted heart rate. I picked up speed once again, but finished slightly below my goal of reaching Zone 4.

My overall time was good and, since I've been monitoring my heart rate, my average pace on these morning runs has dropped close to 15 seconds per mile. I have one more weekend to train for the Oyster Bay 5K so I'll need to make every run count till then. This morning was a good start. I hope I feel the same tomorrow.

Heart rate spikes and my HR monitor

Mystery spikes at the beginning of my runs

I started using my heart rate monitor again in late August and it's helped me understand how much (or how little) work I'm putting into a run. Instead of looking at my Garmin and checking my pace for that moment, I now display my heart rate and adjust my effort depending on what I see. I've learned that my default pace happens when I'm running in the zone 2 range, far below what I would have thought.

Now, when I see that my heart rate is still in the "easy" zone, I'll pick up the pace to cross the threshold to the next level. I aim to reach zone 5 by the time I finish most of my runs and I usually get there.

I was looking at the readings from yesterday's run and noticed that my heart rate was holding close to 100% of Max through the first three minutes. From there it dropped precipitously down to 76% for no apparent reason. I had seen this happen before, my first few minutes of the Cow Harbor 10K show a spike to 100% of Max before dropping to 80% at the five minute point.

In the case of Cow Harbor, I was pumped up for the race and had consumed a 2nd Surge gel with caffeine right before the start. In contrast, yesterday's run was low key, with no gels or caffeine to influence my physiology. In both cases I felt no different between the high and normal readings. Since it doesn't correlate to my condition, I'm thinking the reason is completely benign.

In both cases the humidity was low and I had not wet the HRM sensor before I linked it to the Garmin. Without moisture from sweat, the readings were probably unreliable. After a few minutes of running (and sweating) they dropped to an expected level. I'll test this theory tomorrow by ensuring the contacts on the HRM are wet before I start my run. I'm pretty sure I'll see a smoother curve along the timeline.