Showing posts with label Brooks Cascadia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brooks Cascadia. Show all posts

Saturday, January 9, 2016

The dirt trails at Bethpage

The path is clear
Today's run (Bethpage dirt trails): 4.1 miles
Yesterday's run (street): 3.2 miles

Back to work this week. I'd hoped to get a workout in on Wednesday or Thursday, but my @#$%& schedule got me home too late both nights. I know I used to rise and run almost every day in my previous job, but I can't seem to get back in that mode. The best excuse I can think of is that my old commute allowed me to rest and recover on the train ride in. My current commute involves driving, and I try not to sleep during that time.

I worked from home yesterday and, although I had early meetings, I was able to get in a few miles before I started my work day. I didn't go out in the dark, but it was before the school bus parade had begun. After last week's springtime weather, the cold and windy conditions reminded me that it is January. I've been wearing fewer layers lately and using my lightweight ASICS running jacket to help cut the wind chill.

This morning the temperature was 10° higher and I decided to break out of my neighborhood and head over to Bethpage to run the dirt trails. I get to Stillwell frequently, but it's been a while since I've done anything at Bethpage besides running the bike trail. With no once collecting admission, I breezed in, parked in the lot, and started my run on the paved path.

I wore my Brooks Cascadias because I knew I'd encounter dirt, mud, sand, leaves and rocks. I also figured I'd use the bike trail to get me to different cut-ins to the woods and the Cascadias are very runnable on pavement. I reached the trail at the half mile point and followed the marked trail north and then east, using the color codes to choose a direction when the path split. That worked well until I found myself near the intersection of the northern bike trail and took a hard right to stay in the woods.

Bethpage runaround
The trails were in great shape despite some muddy sections and there was a lot of elevation to test my hamstrings. Bethpage's trails are rolling like the bike path, but they're not as technically challenging as certain parts of Stillwell. The main trails are wide enough to accommodate a dump truck and are as pristine as any I've seen on Long Island.

I saw a lot of other trail runners today and it was nice to run without fear of being mowed down by a mountain bike. Bikes are not allowed, although I did see a few tire tracks in the mud. I ended up covering four miles, but with tired legs and all the ups and downs, it felt a lot farther.

Tomorrow we are supposed to see torrential rain in the morning and I suspect I'll be doing my run on the treadmill. I'm glad I got out for a stimulating and surprisingly taxing workout today. Winter trail running is always a pleasure, especially this season, when the trails are free of snow.

Friday, January 9, 2015

Snow good reason to run outside

Pretty snow. Awful run.
Today's workout (run): 1.2 miles, (elliptical): 25 minutes

Just a snow flurry moving quickly through the area, nothing to worry about. That's what they were saying at 6:00 AM when I started planning my morning run. The news stations began reporting heavy snowfall had started in NYC around 6:30. I naively assumed it wouldn't reach Long Island for a while, nor did I think we'd have much accumulation. Wrong.

After a cup of coffee, I made my way upstairs to change into running gear. I saw that my wife was already on the elliptical. I also noticed that the snow was coming down pretty hard. No problem, I'd dress for bad weather and wear my Cascadias for traction. After all, running in snow is fun, right? I took one more look at the elliptical and considered that option before heading out into the winter wonderland.

This was to be my first run since New Years Day. I'd resisted the temptation to resume workouts once my sciatica pain began to lessen and targeted today to start. The soreness remains, but it's minor. I knew that the inch-plus of snow would slow me down and provide a softer surface than pavement. I hoped that both factors would help minimize the chance that I'd re-aggravate my injury.

The temperature was in the mid-20's with moderate wind. I made my way through the neighborhood, keeping to the sidewalk for safety. Between the spongy snow and uneven sections, that seemed equally risky. By the time I reached the top of the first road, my feet began to feel numb. The volumes of snow blowing around made it hard to see and I felt sinus pain where my freezing glasses touched my face.

I'd intended to run about three miles but the growing discomfort changed my mind. I redirected my route and returned to my house after covering 1.2 miles. By the time I returned home, it was almost white-out conditions. So much for a fun run in the snow. Even with my Opedix and under-layer, three top layers, a waterproof running jacket, headband and cold weather beanie, I was uncomfortably cold.

I quickly headed upstairs and shed most of those layers before jumping on the elliptical. Compared to the cold, slippery conditions I'd just left, the elliptical experience felt great. I completed a 25 minute session and capped it off with ten push ups. We had a nutritionist in the office yesterday and I talked to her about fat burning efficiency with aerobic, cardio and weight bearing exercise. The nutritionist told me that strength focused workouts are the most effective way to reduce body fat while maintaining muscle mass. Thus, the push ups.

Tomorrow should be free of snow but still still extremely cold. It warmed up into the 30's this afternoon so there's a chance the roads may be clear of snow. Last January there was so much snow that I was forced to use the treadmill for over 70% of my workouts. The current condition of our treadmill makes that an unappealing option. In the meantime, I'm back to running and that's the progress I've been hoping for.

Friday, November 28, 2014

Post-Thanksgiving Stillwell trail run

Taking the "More Difficult" path
Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 3.7 miles

Unless you work in retail, the day after Thanksgiving is like an unofficial holiday. Much of the world went shopping for bargains today but I chose to go out in the freezing cold for a trail run at Stillwell Woods. I'm not sure why runners choose to be uncomfortable, but it's a factor in every run. You know you're going to sweat, feel the burn in your legs and (if you did it right) end up both exhausted and depleted.

I thought about that after the first of many close calls at Stillwell this morning. I was running on a muddy trail in 33° weather when my toe caught a root and I nearly lost my footing. I somehow kept upright through that and promised myself I'd pay closer attention to obstructions on the path. Besides the slippery mud, the trails had long sections covered with leaves that hid potential hazards. My Brooks Cascadias provided great protection and traction - far better than any other trail shoes I've owned.

Stillwell was almost empty. I didn't see any mountain bikers until I was taking my last steps leaving the trail head. There was a young couple running briskly toward the woods when I arrived. We crossed paths twice and they gave me big hellos both times. If there were any other runners today, I didn't see them.

Just for fun, I deviated from my normal route a couple of times and encountered some steep terrain. Due to the grade, I actually did better on the uphills than the downhills. One trail had lots of packed sand and many sharp rocks the size of softballs. Once again I was grateful to have the Cascadias that have both a rock plate and a beefy toe guard.

Today's route
I tried to be careful but my toe would occasionally catch something on the path, forcing me to prepare to hit the ground. I was fortunate that I didn't fall once. It would have been a muddy mess. I wasn't aiming for a long workout today and made my way back after I'd covered about three and a half miles. I finished feeling like I'd worked off some of yesterday's calories and the ever changing (but forgiving) surface of the single-track made my legs feel energized.

I'm probably going back to the road tomorrow, but I haven't decided where. Rob's Run is happening at Stillwell on Sunday. I'm sure that would be fun, but I've had my fill of those trails for now.

Monday, May 26, 2014

SA Elite bargains: Cascadia, coat and curry

Trifecta
My new schedule doesn't provide much flexibility for running during the week, so I considered using my Monday rest day for my first workout of the week. I'll admit that I've taken it easy since the half marathon, running only three times last week for a total of 12 miles. That was due primarily to a lack of time in my work schedule, plus a couple of days that I'd planned for recovery.

The weather this morning was sunny and cool and I felt like getting outside. Despite having limited running time, I decided to walk around the neighborhood. It's a different experience walking roads that I usually run, and a little strange to be "the walker" when the occasional runner passes by. But when you walk, you notice details you never see on a run. You can also appreciate the smell of the spring air a lot more when you aren't focusing on using oxygen for fuel. I ended up covering about three miles. Very pleasant.

We didn't have a very Memorial Day themed holiday today, although we almost got caught in the middle of the Westbury parade. Our destination was The Gallery at Westbury Plaza on Old Country Road. This shopping center had four places of interest: SA Elite (for me), The Paper Source (for Mrs. ER and the kids), Trader Joe's and Noodles & Company.

I've been wanting to return to SA Elite, a Sports Authority specialty store that only carries adult running clothes, shoes and gear. My Brooks GTS-10's, that had a 600 mile career as my primary running shoe and perhaps another 800 miles as my weekend casual shoes, were due for replacement. I went looking for a shoe bargain, like the one I got on my Saucony Virratas last year.

As soon I walked in, I spotted a very nice Brooks running raincoat, but it was priced at $85. A lightweight coat like this is my white whale, and I've been looking a long time for a replacement for my ASICS rain jacket that has a broken zipper. Whenever I look at these jackets, they always seem to be too expensive, in weird remainder-type colors or either size small or XXL. I soon found an ASICS packable jacket priced at $40 but discounted to $29.95. This jacket had a hood (bonus), was available in my size, and looked good. Sold!

Next, I headed to the shoe section, first to the clearance section where I found a pair of Brooks Cascadia 7's priced at $39.99. They were a half size too large, but that would have been okay for wearing as a casual shoe. Unfortunately the Cascadia 7's were the color of vivid green camouflage and Mrs. ER rejected them for anything but running. After trying on a pair of well-priced ASICS Nimbus-14's that didn't fit as well as I'd hoped, I spotted a pair of Cascadia 8's in conservative blue and grey. $47.97 and my size. Ring 'em up!

After that, we headed next to Noodles & Company, where we could all have the genre of food we wanted as long as it was noodles. Or soup. Or salad. I had the Bangkok curry noodles. Fantastic. This is my new favorite place.

This was a great long weekend, with perfect weather. I'm not a fan of shopping, but today was really great. Now that I have the Cascadias, I'm definitely thinking trails next weekend.
 

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