Working out like the ancient Greeks

Last weekend I caught a few minutes of an interesting show about the ancient Olympics. The narrator made an interesting point about athletic conditioning, then and now. Back in ancient Greece there were no Bowflex or elliptical machines for training. Those tools were unnecessary because virtually everything back then required physical work. The average citizen's body was probably far better conditioned than his or her equivalent today and the athletes, using stones instead of free weights, were likely on par with today's best athletes. I thought of this as I attacked the snow at the end of my driveway at 4:00 AM this morning. It was the fourth time since yesterday afternoon that we went through the process of shoveling the driveway and walk. The town plows had succeeded in walling us in with icy packed snow but my wife and I, with our ergonomic shovels, have this down to a science and we cleared the driveway in time to catch the 4:30 news.

Neither my wife nor I plan to do our usual workouts today. We figured that all that shoveling is a good substitute for the exercise we get on our runs. I felt a kinship with the ancient Greeks who may have helped build their fitness by clearing snow so they could get their chariots out of their garages. That is if they even had snow. Maybe it was volcanic ash. Well, you get my point.

Since this is the year 2010 I have no choice but to rely on fitness equipment for my conditioning. After about 3,000 hours of service it is becoming clear that our treadmill is nearing the end of it's useful life. On the suggestion of fellow Runner's World blogger RunningChick I looked at the Sole models which are highly rated by Consumer Reports. RC and her husband did lots of due diligence before choosing the F80 and they've been very happy with it. My wife and I decided to buy a well rated but lighter duty model, the F63, that has some really great features. I'm excited to get it and we're hoping that our old but reliable (1998!) ProForm L18 will last a few more weeks until we take delivery of the new unit. Aside from the 100+ decibel wailing of the motor it seems to be okay.

Running with traction devices is not snow good

Snow has been the story of the day. Predictions that 12-16 inches of snow would hit Long Island made me decide to work from home today. With Skype, high speed networks, VPN and cellphones I can do anything at home that I can do at the office except get coffee from the Keurig machine in the pantry. Before I started my run I decided to try the traction slip-ons that I recently bought at TJ Max. They are made of rubber and after slipping them over the front of the shoe they can be stretched tightly over the rear for a secure fit. On the bottom are steel studs across the front foot and heel that supposedly provide traction on snow and ice.

I set out for my run and quickly noticed that amount of snow was too high to let the snow treads make much of a difference. Further, while the treads were stable front to back they were very unstable from side to side. It was a lot like running on sand and after 1.3 miles of discomfort, I became concerned that I was putting too much strain on my ankles and knees. I decided to head home thinking I would have been far better off just running with trail shoes.

I wasn't ready to give up before completing my workout so I headed upstairs and fired up the treadmill. I ran about 2.4 more miles at 9:14 per mile, the fastest pace I've maintained since my recent bout with pneumonia. Although it was a busy day with conference calls and other business related matters I managed to get out and shovel the driveway a couple of times. My wife set the pace and we got through a good amount of snow fairly quickly with my daughter helping as well. I'll admit that I actually enjoy shoveling snow. That said, I am hoping that we're seeing the tail end of the storm so that tomorrow's commute will go smoothly. In terms of activity, I'm not quite done for the day. We'll be heading out around 9:00 tonight for one more round of shoveling. No complaints here.

I fear the worst for my treadmill

I started the day with an unremarkable 21 minute treadmill run. In the morning time seems elastic. The time I take to pour coffee and prepare for my run goes by very quickly. Each time I glance at the clock it seems like another minute or two has passed and I see my very short window for exercise slipping away. Once on the treadmill time seems to stand still. I have a television on in the room for distraction but it's of limited benefit because the treadmill motor drowns out the sound. I'll often run for a while while thinking about things before I steal a glance at the clock only to see that I'm on the same minute as the last time I looked. Back when I was focusing on my speed this would be very discouraging because it meant hard effort without apparent progress. At least now, as I maintain a more moderate pace for my recovery, it's more about boredom than pain.

As I stepped out of my post-run shower this morning I heard my wife on the treadmill in the guest room. Nothing unusual about that except the noise emanating from the treadmill sounded like a helicopter that was attempting to land on the house. I couldn't understand why this was happening. I had just used the machine and it behaved the same as it had over the last 12 years. That could be the problem - 12 years is a long time for a treadmill, especially one that's been used daily (often twice daily) for over a decade. But every problem is also an opportunity and I can now feel good about replacing this venerable machine with something more modern and high-tech.

We're supposed to get some measurable snow overnight tonight so I'm concerned that I'll be constrained to indoor running. If the treadmill goes down completely I'll be forced to trade my weekend running time for the elliptical. I did buy some snow treads for my running shoes so it may be an opportunity to try them out. See? Every problem has an opportunity, you just need to look for it.

Helly Hansen Trail Lizards are also good for snow shoveling

I fibbed a little in yesterday's post when I said I didn't like shoveling snow. I actually like it a lot. My technique is not unlike LSD running and when I get into the zone I often find the orderly progress relaxing. This morning my wife and I came out to a foot or so of snow that had accumulated after the 3" we'd shoveled last night. In about an hour we managed through it. The biggest challenge was finding places to put the snow that we lifted off the driveway and walk. There was a lot to displace.

We have guests coming over for brunch a little later this morning so I'm glad to have got some exercise in beforehand. I was happy to do some upper body work as well. I wore my Helly Hansen Trail Lizard running shoes while I shoveled and found them to be remarkably comfortable as well as very stable in the slippery conditions. The shoes don't have any water proofing but the snow is dry and fluffy so that wasn't an issue. I'm really tempted to go out later for a run in the neighborhood with the Trail Lizards. I'll hold off for now because there are still snow plows on the road and I don't want to have to dodge them, especially with no sidewalk escape route. If I don't make it outside I'll consider an elliptical session or perhaps a workout on the treadmill. I can always look out the window and enjoy the snowy scenery.

Way off track

As I backed out of my garage this morning to head to the track I noticed that the temperature display in my car said 42 degrees. In the seven minutes it took to reach the track the reading had dropped ten degrees and with strong winds I figured the chill brought that down at least ten degrees more. I was prepared for the weather but not for what I saw when I arrived - the entire track was covered in icy snow. I got back in the car and headed straight back home.

It's been a couple of weeks since I'd run outdoors due to snowstorms that seem to happen every weekend. I was determined to get back on the track or street so I hit my neighborhood roads which were sandy and dirty but mostly clear of snow and ice. After a few weeks on treadmill duty it was disconcerting to encounter freezing cold winds but it really felt like running. I thought about some of the runners I've heard from recently in places like Michigan where it's been 5 degrees. If they're out there running I really can't complain. I ran 3.6 miles and felt strong throughout the run and finished better than I have in a long time. Maybe my conditioning has improved.

I was happy that my starting struggles did not follow my return to road running. I thought the wind resistance and hills would slow my speed but I was surprised to see I ran 20 sec./mile faster than I'd been averaging on the treadmill. I'll do another neighborhood run tomorrow to see if I can exceed 4 miles, a distance I'm hoping to achieve at least once a weekend until my April race.

The persistance of treadmill memory

My apologies for writing such a bad Dali pun as a headline but I have discovered something interesting about treadmill data. The cold weather and snow that we have experienced this past week has forced me to spend a lot of time running indoors. The treadmill is clearly a subject for discussion as most people view it either as an enabler or a necessary evil but you can't argue with its convenience. After using it as my third choice after street and track for months I realized that my basic assumption of its measurement accuracy is flawed. I've always assumed that maintaining a constant speed on the treadmill will accomplish the same for the runner. In other words, assuming the reading is accurate, when the treadmill says 7 MPH you're running 7 MPH.

The treadmill forces you to run (as long as the tread is moving you'd better be running) but there can be a measurable variance in treadmill speed and runner speed. I noticed this on Saturday when I had a strong start and after a mile my Sportband showed my distance about .05 miles ahead of the treadmill's. Throughout the run I saw that gap begin to close and at 2.7 miles the treadmill distance began to exceed the Sportband distance. This intrigued me and also annoyed me because I knew I'd need to run a little extra at the end to achieve my planned distance. After thinking about it I realized it makes sense. You don't have to run the same pace of the treadmill as you run on it as long as your feet are moving. There is a minimum speed you'll need to maintain lest you get swept off the tread but there's some latitude there. My experience showed me where I peak in terms of pace and where I begin to lose speed over time. Knowing this will help me better tune my performance by pushing my crossover time further and further into my run.

I was hoping to run on the track today but, like yesterday, we've received another few inches of snow. I ran about 3.5 miles yesterday on top of Saturday's 3.6. I may shoot for longer distance today or go the other way and cross train with the elliptical and the shovel.

Snowed Out!

I've usually viewed a blanket of snow on a weekend morning as a positive thing since it's visually beautiful and it doesn't interfere with my daily commute. This morning I was hoping to do a long outside run but I didn't want to take the chance of slipping on the pavement or the track. So today I'm forced to run on the treadmill where I can watch the snow through our guest room window. Maybe I'll open the window to bring in some cold air and create a faux outdoor experience.

The real disappointment is that my son and I won't be able to run on the track today. He's too young to run on the treadmill but he's been using the elliptical. It's not so much the exercise, it's that we really enjoy the experience of running together.