A run on the road and hike at Caumsett

Take a hike!

Today's run (street): 3.9 miles

Yesterday was a tough one. Bad coughs can be exhausting, and I never got to the point on Friday where I felt strong enough to do a workout. I was determined to run today, but not if it would compromise my recovery. The weather was near perfect and, while I was still coughing, I decided to head outside.

I would have liked to do a tempo run but I settled for a more moderate pace. I'd coughed all throughout the night and morning, but not once on the run. It seemed as though every landscaper in the area had come to my neighborhood to work, so I needed to be wary of workers and equipment as I made my way past all the trucks. I used the sidewalks when things got too tight.

Even though it was a fairly short run, I felt very tired by the finish. Despite that fatigue, I was glad to return to the road. Since my bout with pneumonia in early 2010, I get concerned whenever I develop a cough like this one. In this case I'm confident that it's nothing but a cold. Extremely annoying, but nothing particularly severe.

Entrance to the Caumsett grounds

After lunch we headed to Caumsett State Park for a hike on the paved trails. It's a great park with beautiful grounds, including views of Long Island Sound. We finished our walk and spent some time in the "Walled Garden" where the kids played a scavenger hunt game using pictures taken on their cell phones. I want to return there for a run sometime, although I'll need to be prepared for a lot of steep hills.

Scavenger hunting in the Walled Garden

Workout sidelined

My chest cold now includes a deep cough among its symptoms. This cough, along with a full morning of conference calls, prompted me to postpone my workout. I was optimistic about running later, but I think I'll call it a rest day and move on. I'm hoping that skipping today's run will help my recovery. My favorite workouts are typically the longer base runs I do on weekends, so I'm counting on getting outside tomorrow.

Run turned back at the driveway

Today's run (treadmill): 3.2 miles

I watched the garage door rise to reveal a rain covered driveway this morning. It had looked dry from the window, but that was obviously an illusion. I wasn't interested in running in rain-soaked conditions that would obscure my vision and saturate my shoes and socks. I turned around and headed upstairs to wait for my wife to complete her treadmill workout.

Today's schedule was tight and I wanted to get in my run before I got caught up in business calls. I've been fighting a mild chest cold and could have used that as an excuse to skip my workout. I figured that I should at least try a run and see how it felt. I wasn't looking to push myself too hard after a couple of hard runs on Tuesday and Wednesday. I did pretty well, but I skipped the progressive speed increases.

I'm getting closer to my next race and I know I should begin tuning my runs towards speed. I'm not sure which approach to take: intervals or tempos. I can't really do speed work at the track during the week because school is still in session. If the weather is clear over the weekend, I may head to the high school. I think all the hill running I've been doing is helping to build my fitness, but I don't know if it's also helping my speed.

The hard running continues, although that wasn't the plan

Today's run (treadmill): 3 miles

Yesterday's run was fun, but it was also tough. I felt worn out afterwards and wondered how I'd feel this morning. There was no question that I'd do a workout but I didn't think two tough runs in a row would be a good idea. I needed to get into the city, so time was short. Although the weather was spring-perfect, I opted to run on the treadmill to save time.

I ran fairly slow yesterday, so I set the pace a little faster today. I had little trouble maintaining my speed, but I felt like this might end up being a tedious run. I was surprised when I saw that I'd passed the ten minute mark and, before I knew it, I had done ten more. I was in danger of missing my targeted my finish time, so I increased my speed by 2/10ths of a mile every minute until I finished.

That ended up being a very hard run and I was concerned that I'd pushed myself too much. I needed to be alert for the business conversations that lay ahead. I ended up rebounding well and had a great lunch with some industry friends, one of whom will be running the Marcie Mazzola 5K with me, along with the Dirty Sock and Cow Harbor 10K's. After ten challenging miles over two days, I think I may go for an easier workout on Thursday.

A running first: Bethpage Park to home

Before the run and all the hills

Today's run (Greenbelt Trail): 6.6 miles

Ever since my first run on the Bethpage bike trail five years ago, I've always envied those who lived near the path. How great would it be to run across the street or through your backyard onto a protected trail that runs from Bethpage State Park to the start of the Massepequa Preserve? Pretty great I thought. I knew of the Greenbelt trail north of Bethpage that runs in various forms all the way to Cold Spring Harbor. But up until recently, that was mostly dirt paths with separations between sections.

Now that the Greenbelt has been paved all the way to Woodbury Road, I've been running parts of it from the north and other parts from the south, starting at Bethpage State Park. My dream of running from my house to Bethpage was getting closer to reality, but I had never run the full distance. That is, until today.

My friend KWL is a great runner and triathlete who finishes half marathons in 100 minutes and rides Gran Fondos, sometimes within days of each other. He and I have done many runs together, and once we mountain biked at Stillwell and followed that with a long trail run. KWL loves hills, and though I don't, I couldn't help suggesting that we run the full length of the northern Greenbelt from Bethpage to my house.

This morning we drove to Bethpage and parked my car in the lot before getting on the bike trail north. We kept a moderate pace, because it was hot, humid and we knew there would be hills. To his credit, KWL never complained about running so easy. I tried to make a case for the benefits of LSD and he accepted it. KWL is participating in a Ragner Relay at the end of the week. This race is the first Ragner staged in Canada and it goes from Cobourg to Niagara Ontario, A total of 192 miles. Each team has 12 runners who run three legs each.

A few years ago, Adventure Girl captained a Ragner team that ran the Woodstock to Bronx course and I remember the details, logistics and team management that went into that. Not to mention the fact that everyone ran about 20 miles, throughout the day and night. KWL won't need to worry about all of that, but he'll be doing all that running.

Our run today took us past the spot where I'd previously turned back toward Bethpage. There was almost another mile of running before we would reach my southern turnaround point from last Saturday. I was excited to have traveled every foot of the paved Greenbelt, but I also knew we were now at the foot of the first of three sizable hills.

With nothing to do but face the challenge, we made our way either uphill or down for the next three miles. By this time the heat and the hills were starting to get to me, but I wasn't looking for an excuse to stop. Once we'd passed the third hill I knew it was mostly down or flat the rest of the way. We reached Woodbury Road, the end of the line. Not for our run, but it was the end of the paved bike trail.

We proceeded to cross the street and run through the local neighborhood before exiting at the middle school and making our way to my driveway.  According to Garmin, we'd covered 6.6 miles with a total elevation gain of 440 feet. It sure felt higher than that. We cooled off and drove back to Bethpage to get my car. Along the way, we noted the ground we were covering and the fact that we'd just ran that entire distance.

I'm looking forward a shorter and (hopefully) easier run tomorrow. I finally got the chance to run all the way home from Bethpage, and I was fortunate to do it with great company.

Running off a pressure headache

Last November's food panty effort

Today's run (treadmill): 3.1 miles

I had another tough night due to the onset of a pressure headache. I woke up at 4 AM and treated it with the usual combination of pseudoephedrine and aspirin. That combination helps, but it doesn't quite eliminate the problem. It also makes me groggy and I spent a few hours trying to sleep with little success.

About midway through the morning, I needed to decided whether I'd do a run or skip it for the sake of recovery. I usually reserve the weekends to do my long runs, with Sunday typically being the longer of the two. I listened to my body very carefully and decided on a treadmill workout. I thought that made sense because I could dial in a comfortable speed and use the big floor fan to stay cool.

I covered my "distance" slower than I would have outdoors, but that was fine because I was more interested in the overall time I put into the workout. The act of running seemed to help my sinus pressure and, though I felt tired at the end, I also felt a little better. Later today, we're heading to East Northport to volunteer at a food pantry. We did this last November and felt great about the experience. I'm glad to have done my run today, I think it will keep me energized for the work ahead.

If you like hills, you'll love this run

Did I mention there were hills?

Yesterday's workout (elliptical): 30 minutes
Today's run (Greenbelt trail): 5.9 miles

Yesterday's weather gave me no expectations for an outdoor run on Friday. Much of Long Island received 5+ inches of rain, with measurable flooding in low lying areas. The area where we live sits 200 feet above sea level, so we rarely have floods. However, we do get our share of weather related power outages. I had a busy schedule (surprising for a Friday) so to save some time, I did an elliptical workout while my wife ran on the treadmill.

Today was a different story. Yesterday's gray skies transitioned to clear and sunny. Humidity and heat were expected later in the day, but it was comfortably cool at 8:00 AM. I'm planning to run the Greenbelt trail from Bethpage State Park to my house on Tuesday morning. My friend is coming by, and we'll park my car in the lot and then run north. When we get home, he'll drive me back to the Park to get my car. I'm excited by the idea of running that route which will measure close to seven miles.

My route today mimicked part of that run. I cut through the middle school and then through neighborhood #3, before reaching the start of the newly paved bike trail. Unlike the previous time I ran this way, I had some expectations about the hills I'd encounter. I learned later that I should have expected more.

The part of the bike trail that goes along Sunnyside Boulevard starts flat, so the going was fairly easy at first. There are still orange webbed "fences" set up on the path where they continue to do construction, but it's simple to step around them. More difficult are the three unpaved sections that are either 10'x20' rectangular mud patches, water filled puddles or beds of sharp rock. Getting around them was slightly difficult, but it wasn't the biggest challenge of the morning.

Do you like hills? I don't! About halfway through Sunnyside, the elevation begins to increase at a 5% grade for the next half mile and then down again. The next three miles followed a similar pattern. It was a little like running the big hill at Bethpage over and over again. Along the way I saw a number of cyclists who were struggling as much as me (or more) to get up these hills. And they had gears!

Per plan, I went as far as Washington Ave. before turning around for the second half of my run. At this point, I've run most of next Tuesday's route. There is still a .7 mile section in between today's turnaround point and the farthest I've gone north from Bethpage. I look forward to experiencing that new ground next week. I hope it's all downhill.

A good run today - but why?

Today's run (street): 3.6 miles

I thought about yesterday's NY Times article when I went out for my morning run. As I took off, I realized how much I've focused on mid-foot landing at the start of every run. Today would be different. Let my foot fall where it may!

It was another perfect running day. I appreciated the experience, and was pleasantly surprised to see few cars and buses on the road. I went out earlier than normal because I had business in the city and needed to catch a morning train. My stride felt completely fluid and I wondered whether I was running more efficiently by not attempting to land on my mid-foot. It could also have been the cool, dry weather that was making the run feel easier.

Moving along this way, I'd hoped to see at the end that I'd compiled an amazing time. No luck there, it was just slightly better than my normal moderate pace (faster than easy, slower than brisk). Still, it was an improvement of 15-20 seconds (per mile) over what I'd averaged this past week. Was it the decision to run without thinking about where my foot landed? Or was it that I had some additional energy today? Perhaps it was the fact that I pushed just a little harder this morning.

Mid-foot running, what used to be right is wrong

Coffee bad good, land on your mid-foot heel

Today's run (street): 3.25 miles

There are some things that are constantly reported by the media in terms of safety and/or health benefits. Coffee is one. Years ago I read that consumption of coffee is tied to nervous system impairment and hyper-stimulation of the adrenal glands. Recent studies now position it as a super-food with minimum health risks related to the over-consumption of caffeine.

Another subject is barefoot-style running. Back in the olden days (pre-80's), running shoes were minimal in design and people suffered injuries when running. The answer to that was generation after generation of over-built and highly cushioned running shoes with corrective technology to control pronation. But the injury rate remained exactly the same.

Following studies at Harvard University and publication of the book Born to Run, minimal shoe design returned to the marketplace and an emphasis was put on mid-foot landing and "natural" running style. These shoes have captured almost 10% of the market and I'll admit that I've bought into it as well.

Today, the New York Times published an article in their Well blog, with research supporting heel striking as the "more physiologically economical running form, by a considerable margin." What!?? I was very surprised to read this, because the minimalist approach seems more logical. Why wouldn't a shoe that supports a bio-mechanically correct stride be the better choice?

According to the studies, heel striking seems to facilitate more efficient energy expenditure. This is the opposite from everything I've read before about the subject. I'm not sure what to do with this new information. I'll probably continue to use lighter, flatter and more minimally constructed running shoes because I prefer them. Besides that, despite all my efforts to run with an efficient mid-foot stride, my outsoles still show quite a bit of heel wear.

Summer is coming, but spring running is here

Work in progress

Today's run (street): 3.3 mile

Our house has been taken over by tree service people, who are taking care of some much needed trimming. The pool is now open, but the water color is closer to Pantone 364C than sky blue. That should clear up after a few days of shock treatments. The only thing left is to replace the fence on the outward side of the pool that was damaged by overzealous county workers doing Sandy repairs. The new fence goes up next week. Summer is coming.

Happily, it's still spring, and the humidity and gloomy skies have finally moved on. I went out for my run this morning, right after the last school bus exited the neighborhood. There aren't too many days in the year where running conditions are near perfect, but today was one of them. It may have been the lack of heat, or perhaps the cooling breeze that made my start effortless. This run came after my one weekly rest day, so that could have been a factor as well.

Before I knew it, I'd passed my first mile and I was tempted to do a true distance run, rather than a standard weekday 3.x mile workout. I reminded myself that, although I follow a flexible schedule these days, I still have work to do. Especially on a day like today, when business will keep me in the city late into the evening.

I enjoyed my run today and finished with an overall pace that was lower than any run I've done in the past week. The great weather certainly helped that happen. I enjoyed the run a lot and, like so many great things, it was over all too soon.

Which side should you run on a bike trail?

My halfway point on the northern trail

Today's run (Bethpage State Park): 6.5 miles

I managed to get out of the house fairly early this morning and got to Bethpage just after 7:00 AM. The heat was moderate at that time and conditions were pleasant at the start. I'd taken along the cooling bandanna in anticipation of the rapidly increasing temperature and I think it helped. The morning sun was low enough to be blocked by the trees, so the first miles on the northern bike path were well shaded.

As I made my way up the hill leading to the trail head, I thought about the New Hyde Park 8K that was due to start at 8:30. I've run the last four races, but I decided to skip it this year. I didn't really like my experience in 2012. It's a fine event that I've enjoyed in the past, but I felt it was time for a change. Besides that, I don't feel prepared for competitive running right now.

My first steps on the bike trail felt odd. Had someone told me that I'd gained 30 lbs. overnight, I probably would have believed them. It was Virtual Heaviness Syndrome, as explained here in simple terms. I didn't feel especially tired or low on energy, my body just felt heavy. I figured I'd propel myself along and hope for the best.

There were a surprising number of cyclists on the trail and a smaller number of runners and walkers. I got plenty of "on your left!" warnings from approaching bikers. I began to wonder, after all these years, whether I should be running on the left side of the bike path, just like on the road. After studying the other runners and walkers, I decided there are no rules, but people generally keep to the right. I read later that runners should stay to the far left, but I think that person had a cycling-centric view. Probably wishful thinking, rather than accepted practice.

I was originally planning to run all the way to Washington Ave. and turn around, but that would have put me past 7 miles (out and back) and I wasn't looking to do that today. Instead, I turned around where the trail showed 3.1 miles, making my total run (including segments from the trail to the lot) 6.5 miles. I ended up gaining strength as the run went on and finished strong.

I really like the the Bethpage trail because the out and back route makes base run distances seem more manageable. There are lots of hills and you feel like you're getting a workout, but it's never intolerable. I was able to stay relatively cool today by going early, but by mid summer it will be tough going. Fortunately, the wooded trails run directly below and/or adjacent to the paved trail, so I'll be able to duck onto the dirt paths for some relief from the sun.

Hard to run and hard to start (talkin' 'bout my generator)

Good reputation, but hard to start

Today's run (treadmill): 3.2 miles

So much for running early today. Knowing that the temperature would exceed 90°s, I'd envisioned running the Bethpage bike path at sunrise. But the morning got busy and, before I knew it, it was past 8:00 AM. By then, the temperature had risen to the low 70's and I considered going out for a run. After seeing on the news that a big storm is expected for Sunday, I needed to test the generator.

After five minutes of futility, my "high quality" generator failed to turn over. I bought this unit because the research said it's a great unit. However, since we got it, starting it has been a problem. Without delay, my son and I took it to Home Depot to let Mike the technician look at it. I had to leave the generator behind and hoped it wouldn't be an expensive service issue.

Somewhat helpful

I considered a neighborhood run when I returned home, but the weather was already past the point of bearable. I almost abandoned my plans for a workout entirely, but my wife said I'd regret that later. I took the opportunity to test a recently purchased cooling bandanna while I did a run on the treadmill. I figured that I could further optimize my cooling using the big fan.

I'd say that the bandanna was marginally helpful, but the heat and humidity were brutal. The protection from the sun and the breeze from the fan made the treadmill a good choice. I got through the run with little time to spare. We were getting together with some people right after lunch and I barely had time to cool off in the shower.

Later in the afternoon, Mike called and said, "Bad news, it's going to be an expensive repair and it's not covered by the warranty." I was thrilled when he told me he was kidding. It was just $20 for labor, oil and additional gas. I hope the storm doesn't materialize and that I can get in a decent run tomorrow. But if it does storm, at least I know the generator will start.