The Sole of a new machine

Today's workout: 25 Minutes on elliptical

Two points to those who get my headline pun. The picture is a clue. This may be the only time I'll ever say this but I'm excited by the prospect of running on the treadmill tonight. If all goes according to plan we'll take delivery of our new Sole F63 some time this afternoon. This also means that we'll bid farewell to our present unit that has served us well since 1997. I'm not particularly sentimental about inanimate objects (is a treadmill inanimate?) but I'll certainly give some respect to our Pro Form L18 that has provided countless hours of service to me and my wife.

I debated whether I would work out today or save my energy for a rare evening run with the new unit. I decided that an elliptical session was a better option than doing a final run on old L18. Yesterday's run was great and that's the way I choose to remember my experience with that long-serving machine. It will be sad to see it out by the curb when I get home tonight. It will be even sadder still to see it in the guest room because that would mean the Sole delivery people couldn't be enticed to carry the old treadmill down to the end of the driveway. I'm always up for a workout but I wouldn't be thrilled with the prospect of moving a 250 lb. treadmill down the stairs this weekend.

Over the hill

I looked up the course map for the Marcie Mazzola Foundation race and saw that it's basically the same route as last year's run. It looks as though the start has been moved to a different location and the course wraps around Heckscher Park instead of heading west and north of it as it did last year. This translates to a shorter run for 2010, 5K vs. 4 miles. What doesn't change is the big hill that runners encounter about a quarter mile into the race. Last year I was astonished by the length of that incline. I believe the road gains elevation for almost a mile before the street levels off. Last year I did know about the hill prior to the race but I didn't realize what a punch it would deliver. This year I hope to be better prepared for it.

Speaking of hills, I was surprised by the tightness I had in my legs this morning. Yesterday's run was by no means difficult and, although we did scale one big hill, overall, it was a fairly flat run. I definitely need to work on my conditioning if I want to be ready for the 4/11 race. This morning I ran an easy 2.6 miles that felt good and satisfying and loosened up my quads quite nicely. Our new treadmill is due to arrive tomorrow and I'm eagerly anticipating that delivery. Our treadmill is ready to go although its high decibel howling has stopped for the most part. It's a simple machine and our new one is more modern and technical. I'll be pleased to have a dashboard that displays my speed and progress and I'm hoping the new unit is quieter and the motor less rough. Most importantly, the new treadmill is capable of inclines up to 15%. This will be a useful capability as I work to get ready for the big hill on race day.

The return of Adventure Girl

I worked from home today instead of commuting into the city but rather than doing my usual 4:00 AM run on the treadmill, I went out to Stillwell Woods accompanied by Adventure Girl. AG came out our way to deliver a guest lecture at my son's school and we took advantage of that circumstance to cover 2.5 miles on the trails. It was the first time that I'd run at Stillwell since the XTERRA race on the 7th and the trail conditions were very different this morning. Unlike on race day, Stillwell's trails were clear of ice and snow and the temperature was heading toward 40. AG and I had not run together since last August so it was great that we had the opportunity to do this run. After a brief warm up we headed into the Preserve with the intention of following the "Black" trail that represented last week's race course. It was difficult to remember the paths I had traveled during the race and as we came upon the many forks we began making guesses as to which direction to follow.

We ended crossing over to the main open trail where the Black trail terminates and followed that back into the woods for a while. Neither AG nor I were looking for this to be a fast run and it was great to look around and talk as we ran. We didn't encounter the rolling inclines that I'd experience during the race but near the end of our run we came upon a steep, carved passage that really woke up my quads. We weren't on that for long but I was grateful for the level ground when we reached the top. I realized later that this hill is one of the 'features' of Stillwell that I've always avoided (though I went down it during the race) on recreational runs. We soon came out to the open field and did a circle along that flat dirt path before we headed back to the parking lot. In all, we covered 2.5 miles and still had plenty of energy to get us through the day. My family reported that AG's lecture went great and we put her on a train back to the city this afternoon. It was a great day for everyone and a wonderful reminder of the great running adventures I had with Adventure Girl last summer.

Head starts for the youth-challenged

It never occurred to me before I started running that a person's age, height and weight were key factors in determining pace. I'd always assumed that fitness was the sole determinant and it didn't matter much if you were 19 or 62, tall or not. I regret that I didn't track my running metrics back in the early 90's when I was two decades younger. I know I ran relatively fast and a lot of that was due to my misunderstanding of the need to develop a good aerobic running method. I would literally run a mile or more at speed while dodging pedestrians and cars through the streets of NYC. With no baseline to use for monitoring progress and with less than ideal running conditions, it's no wonder that I became discouraged and finally stopped. I did participate in a Corporate Challenge race in 1992 but I can't recall my time or distance. I wish I could remember more about that because I likely have a PR that I'll never know about.

In the current issue of Runner's World there's a piece about a race in Colorado Springs called "The Tortoise and the Hare 5K" where runners are weighed and measured prior to the start and are given head starts based upon factors like gender, age, height and weight. The writer is 37, female and 6' 4" tall (not a typo) and she described, due to her head start, how she was almost leading the race for a good period of time before the faster, lower handicapped runners caught up an began to pass her. It made me laugh to read that because in every race I've run I have encountered people who'll jet past me in the middle or near the end of a race. I can hear always hear them coming but there isn't much that I can do to hold them off. In the end it's really about maintaining a pace that works me hard enough to build fitness but not so fast that I lose the joy of the experience. I may have been a miserable 7:00-something runner 20 years ago but I'm a happy as a 9:00-something runner today.

A gloomy day makes for great running

Gloomy but rain-free morning

Despite losing an hour due to daylight savings time this morning I was happy to wake up to an overcast but rain-free sky. Even though I maintained a better than average pace during yesterday's run on the treadmill I was largely unsatisfied with the distance. I felt like I'd worked too hard to cover 2.8 miles even considering that I'd done another 1.2 miles on the elliptical prior to my run. As I ran yesterday I thought about Dean Karnazes who supposedly ran 211 miles on a treadmill within 48 hours. Acknowledging that Karnazes' fitness is at a level that allows this, I still cannot imagine how he handled the tedium of running for two full days without going anywhere. Karnazes claims that he sleeps while he runs during ultramarathons but running on a trail or on straight empty roads is different than running on a treadmill where any stumble can result in hitting the ground (or the tread belt) at speeds of over 6 MPH. I've said it before, treadmills scare me.

The conditions at 7:30 AM this morning were near perfect for a run. The temperature was just shy of 40 degrees and the strong winds from last night had calmed to a steady breeze. The air was humid which caused an odd combination of chill and warmth when I ran directly into the wind. Many times during my run my glasses fogged but it was never so bad that I needed to clean them off to see. I did not give a thought to my pace though I knew I was running slow. When I reached the 34 minute mark I thought about the way I felt on Sunday when I reached the same point during the race. It was a very different feeling running on level and stable ground with no pressure to reach the finish line. By then I knew I could maintain my easy pace for a long time so I decided go for 50 minutes and ended up covering 5.3 miles at around 9:35 per mile. At that pace I felt I could have run another five miles without a problem but I had told my wife I was going out for 45-50 minutes and I didn't want her to worry.

On days like this I sometimes think about my readiness to run a half marathon and I'm sure I could complete one with some more focused training. In the meantime I'm considering running the 10K in this year's Long Island Festival of Races and doing the full 5 mile Stillwell XTERRA in June. All in good time, today I was happy the rain held off long enough for me to finish five+ miles feeling strong and fit.