Showing posts with label Trail Runner Magazine.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trail Runner Magazine.. Show all posts

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Near witness to the Pauli Exclusion Principle

Today's run (Bethpage trails): 5 miles

This morning I was reading Trail Runner magazine's trail shoe review and decided, that's it - I'm going to run on a trail today. Although it was early, I wasn't sure whether Stillwell's lot would be packed with cars, due to the dozens of soccer games that are played there on Sunday. I was also concerned about taking on too much technical terrain after yesterday's basketball hoop assembly.

I seemed to have avoided damage from putting so much pressure on my lower back yesterday, although I felt slight discomfort in my upper hamstring during today's run. It was nothing that would limit me, more like a message from my body reminding me to be more careful.

Since I wasn't looking to do a full trail run this morning, a hybrid of trail and pavement would be a good combination. The best place I could think of to do that was the Bethpage trail just north of the park. I headed over to Runsketeer base camp (sadly with no other Runsketeers today) to park near Haypath Road.

Dirt path going north, paved trail going back
I quickly got a signal on my Garmin and ran over to the eastern trail head off of Haypath to begin the first half of my run. The dirt trail parallels the paved bike path, but it feels like you're in the middle of the woods most of the time. The path is largely straight and it reminded me of Trailview in that respect. But Trailview is more technical, while this trail was mostly packed dirt. I encountered some gnarly roots that jolted me momentarily, but I didn't come close to actually tripping.

I followed the dirt trails all the way to Washington Ave., jumping over to the bike path only to cross Old Bethpage and Old Country roads. Once on Washington, I ran to the 495 underpass that leads to the part of the bike trail that runs parallel to the Sunnyside Boulevard exit. I turned around at that point and followed the bike trail back.

There were lots of cyclists and walkers on the path, but not that many runners. I encountered some trail bikers on the wooded path. They appreciated that I moved over for them and each rider told me how many others were behind them as they passed by from the opposite direction.

On my way back, I ran into perfect conditions for an accident. A group of women walking together (and blocking most of the bike trail) were 20 feet ahead of me. I saw two cyclists heading toward them at a high rate of speed and another biker coming up from behind. I could tell the single biker planned to thread the needle to the left of the women. What he couldn't see because of the curve of the trail, were the two other cyclists who were planning to pass through the same gap from the other side.

The Pauli Exclusion Principle states that no two identical particles can occupy the same space at the same time. I expected to see that theorem tangibly proven all over the Bethpage trail. Through some miracle, the two riders coming from the south got through about ten seconds before the rider who was behind me got there. I was astounded by this. The women were blissfully unaware that they came very close to becoming a 7-10 human split.

The rest of my run was happily drama free. I completed five miles, satisfied that I got in some good trail time. With Wednesday's elliptical session and three decent runs, I'm pleased with my progress this week. I'll aim for another weekday workout next week, perhaps an afternoon neighborhood run. There aren't that may spring days left and I'd like to take advantage of them as much as I can.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

D'oh, a deer!

Rainy conditions on Stillwell's trails
Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 4 miles

Yesterday's workout was focused on speed and intensity so I thought I'd go for an easier run today. It's been a while since I've visited Stillwell Woods and a trail run sounded like a good idea. Just for fun, I downloaded a podcast from 3nonjoggers.com. This is a trio of trail runners who record a weekly hour-long running-related program. I read about them in the April issue of TrailRunner magazine.

I have not run with a music player in years, but, with my new pocket-rich running shorts, I thought I might today. I'm glad I did, as the podcast was funny and interesting and I certainly recommend it. While I feel that listening to music or podcasts is dangerous on the road, at least I won't see any cars on the trail. Mountain bikes, yes. Deer, yes. But no cars.

I mention deer because I had a close encounter with one this morning. I was moving along nicely on a twisty section of singletrack, when my eyes caught a flash of beige about five yards ahead. Apparently I had surprised a large deer grazing in the woods. The deer jumped onto the path in front of me and took off very quickly. I literally said "What the @#$%!" when I saw it. Although I'd seen deer on my runs in the past, I'd never seen one at Stillwell.

Besides the deer sighting, there wasn't much happening on the trails this morning. It was raining lightly when I started and the rain intensified for a while during my run. The canopy overhead protected me, but I still got fairly wet. My only company besides the deer were three bikers who passed me on my way up a steep rise. The tables got turned when they sputtered out before reaching the top and I just kept going. To their credit they cheered me when I went by.

Ready for future recovery
Later in the day I returned some Adidas recovery slides that my wife bought to surprise me. It turned out that she ordered the wrong size, simply because she listened to what I told her. They are Adidas Superstars with a very comfortable foot bed. I look forward to wearing them after my next run.

Tomorrow morning we'll be at the Memorial Day parade to watch my son march with the school band. That will preclude a long morning run, but I'll probably do a treadmill workout as I begin my taper week. I've had some interesting experiences on the road, track and trail this weekend. Might as well add the treadmill to the mix.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Weekend video report: The Emerging Runner Hill Challenge


Today's workout (treadmill): 24 minutes

Saturday has been a busy day and an early morning appointment prevented me from getting out for my run. That was too bad as conditions were perfect at 8:00 AM when I would have run. By the time I got free, it was already well after lunch. I had just read about TrailRunner Magazine's Hill Challenge that is going on at the Outdoor Retailer show right now in Salt Lake City. I thought that might be the perfect workout for me, given my limited time.

The TrailRunner hill challenge pits two people against each other on treadmills where they compete to see who can cover the most distance in 15 minutes while running at a 10% incline. 15 minutes seems like a short enough time to endure almost anything but I'm not a 20-something super athlete and I know my limits. Instead I did the Emerging Runner Hill Challenge which involved running 24 minutes with increasing speeds and inclines in the first half, followed by decreasing speeds and elevation during the second.

I began the run at 4 MPH with a zero incline and at 00:59 bumped to 1% and 4.1 MPH respectively. I continued this way until I reached 10% and 5.1 MPH which I held for a couple of minutes. After that I decreased by .1 MPH and 1% incline until I finished. I kept my Amphipod hand bottle filled with icy water at the ready and drank liberally throughout my workout. I was sweating profusely by the 10 minute mark and, despite the increasingly easier conditions the run still felt like hard work. 

It was great to complete a hard workout in less than 30 minutes -- perfect for the time I had. Thanks to my daughter (and camera person) I was able to file this weekend's video update. I hope to get out for a long run on Sunday. Let's see if the rain will hold off, at least throughout the morning.
 

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