Once around the neighborhood

Today's run (street): 3.6 miles at 9:15/mile

Today's weather has turned dark and gloomy and I'm expecting to see the predicted cascades of rain starting at any time. The morning's skies were brighter but the temperatures were colder and I made the mistake of putting on too many layers for my run. I have been pushing myself more than usual over the last couple of weeks but I haven't focused as much on my speed as I have on hill training. I'm racing the Marcie Mazzola 5K in two weeks and I want to tune my conditioning for the killer hill at the start of the race. At least the race organizers were kind enough to design the course so that the hill is at the beginning rather than making it a dreaded obstacle near the finish.

Last night we got together with friends for dinner. Our hosts are fantastic cooks and this led to some untypical overindulgence at mealtime. Adding to that, I had my monthly beer (a Budweiser of all things!) and more calories came later when we all celebrated my wife's birthday with homemade desserts. Due somewhat to that, I wasn't exactly raring to get out and run this morning. We're traveling tomorrow and I probably won't have a chance to do a workout before we leave so I needed to get in a run today. I decided to start by running the three mile perimeter of our neighborhood. Along the northern road (Jericho Turnpike) there is a hill that goes on for a third of a mile. I thought that would provide a good challenge within a fairly low key run and I was pleased by how easily it went compared to the last time I tried. After reaching the apex of the hill I turned into the neighborhood proper and finished with a total distance of 3.6 miles. I was sweating quite a bit by the time I got home, having broken the cardinal rule about dressing for the second mile rather than the first.

9:15 isn't exactly burning up the road, but given that I completely ignored any thought of pace I was happy with where I ended up. It was a successful weekend of running and I'm glad to have done a good series of hill workouts over the last nine days. I look forward to my rest day tomorrow and I hope to get in at least one trail run as we visit the Berkshires for a few days next week.

If I'm on vacation why am I working so hard?

Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 4.75 miles

Winter showed up again on Long Island this morning - 28 degrees with a steady breeze from the east. This is my first day of vacation and I decided to start things off with a trail run at Stillwell Woods Preserve. I have no issues running in weather like this because my body temperature usually regulates after a few minutes and that was the case today. After a week of workouts that focused on inclines, (both on the treadmill and elliptical) I thought that Stillwell would be a nice change of scenery.

The morning sun was very bright at 8:00 AM when I set out for my run and as I made my was past the trail head I noticed a number of frozen puddles on the main path. I maintained a moderate pace to conserve energy that I knew I would need once I encountered the many steep inclines along the trails. I took a different route than I normally take to get into the interior of the Preserve and was rewarded by about eight minutes running on relatively flat, narrow singletrack. Shortly after that I hit a cross point and I needed to decide which way to go next. Using the position of the sun to help navigate east worked well until the trail switched back and forth a few times. I ended up on a path that terminated south at a fence. I had a pretty good idea from previous runs that this path was going to end but I wanted to attack the steep hill that led up to the end of the trail. Once I got to the top I saw a path that led east. The trail was steeply banked and it twisted around a ledge. I imagined that only a serious mountain biker would dare take on that narrow ledge, one false move would result in a quick drop about 20 feet below. Once I made it down I immediately encountered another steep rise that went on for a while. I gave up any pretence that I could run the whole thing and hiked the last hundred feet until it leveled before rising again.

Once I got past this and a few other challenging hills I returned to the mostly flat trails and headed west, guided by the shadow from the sun. I was pleased that I was able to navigate today without really getting lost and I confidently found my way out to the open field. I did one lap around on that path and then headed out to the athletic fields and finished by running around three of the baseball fields before returning to my car. As usual, Stillwell provided a tough challenge and it forced me to consider my true level of fitness. Don't tell anyone, but I think I did more work today than I did all week in the office!

It's all uphill from here

Today's run (treadmill): 2.4 miles, 4-6% incline

The rain kept me inside this morning but I had anticipated bad weather and planned to run on the treadmill. I recently looked at a chart that compared equivalent paces based upon running speed and inclines. It gave me the idea that I could run at a slower pace (for safety given the treadmill's belt slips) and still get the benefits of a faster pace by increasing the elevation. My run started roughly when my Garmin refused to set correctly. I nearly lost balance when the belt slipped while I was messing with the controls on the watch. Once I got that settled I pushed both my pace and the incline to a point where I was working fairly hard. About six minutes into the run I noticed that the belt would slip most often when I ran closer to the right edge of the tread belt. Moving closer to the left, the belt becomes more stable. Given that the tread belt is barely two feet wide, the range of positions is limited. However, an inch or two makes a big difference in terms of stability.

Running uphill at speed becomes difficult after a while so I decreased the incline for a few minutes to recover and then moved through some different combinations of slower paces and higher inclines (and vice versa). I ended up covering about 2.3 miles at an average pace of 9:50. Considering the amount of effort I'd needed to get through this workout I was surprised to see that my pace was still in the nine minute range. I'm hearing about more rain this weekend but I'm hoping to get out both days to run on real hills that don't slip unexpectedly under your feet. In a way the new treadmill simulates running on technical trails - but not in a good way.

Back to 4:00 AM street runs

Today's run (street): 2.35 miles at 9:18/mile

After about three months of weekday morning runs on the treadmill I returned to the outdoors for my 4:00 AM workout. I'll admit I was a little nervous about going back to the dark streets as I laid out my gear last night. Before, when I was doing these runs daily, it became a familiar routine. This morning it was almost like doing it for the first time. I much prefer to run on ground that isn't moving and our new treadmill is exhibiting some erratic behavior (more on that below) so my best choice right now seems to be running outdoors.

My run went well. I recently read in an article in Running Times magazine that early morning runs like this will yield slower paces. I ran in the lower 9:00 range but, as I've said in the past about these runs, it felt faster than that. I tried to run on streets that have higher inclines because my upcoming race is all about a big hill and I want to be ready. Along the way I encountered a person walking their dog, a surprise to see at 4:15 AM. It really was nice to be back outside and, unless we get rain, I plan to do it again tomorrow.

After a disappointing conversation with a cranky customer service person at Sole yesterday I was concerned about how the company would handle our issue with the slipplng belt tread. After submitting an online form my wife was contacted by the Sole support person who told her that our machine was part of a group that had bad motors (lucky us) and it will be replaced. I can't wait for that to happen! My wife continues to use the machine without much problem and until the motor is replaced I will too. But only if it rains.

Polly Pocket, your running shoes are here!

Today's workout (elliptical/high resistance): 25 minutes

This past weekend I stopped into our local bike store, Bicycle Planet, which was displaying big signs in their windows that said "Clearance Sale." But I wasn't looking for bike gear. This store carries performance apparel from makers like Sugoui, Pearl Izumi and Craft along with other quality brands that specialize in cycling. I was hoping to find a bargain on long sleeved tech shirts that I could use on cold morning runs but even with the sale the clothes were pricey. There were some heavier jerseys with zip fronts that were well priced. Since cyclists ride 3-4X faster than I run they clearly need the wind protection. These jerseys were nice but they didn't meet any current needs so I ended up leaving empty handed. I'll be back soon with my Trek bike which needs a serious tuneup.

The next day we paid a visit to the outlet stores and I did my usual rounds at Adidas (poor selection of running clothes, no bargains on running shoes) and Nike. Nike had little running apparel on display and, for what they had, the prices weren't compelling. I don't care for Nike shoes but I was curious to try a pair of Zoom Equalon 3's that were on special for $80.00. I didn't like the fit and I guess I'm a little biased since my last experience running with Nike shoes was fairly negative. I stopped in at Reebok because it was there (did you know Adidas owns Reebok?) and, again out of curiosity, tried on a pair of their top of the line stability shoes.

Every time I try on Reeboks I understand why no one I know runs in them. The shoes I tried on Sunday felt clumsy, with an awkward transition from heel to toe. As I was leaving I noticed a display for the new ZigTech shoes. They only had smaller sizes to try but I looked at the display models and wondered what the fuss was about. The shoe is bizarre to begin with - a weirdly shaped boot with a strange wavey-springy out sole that doesn't seem fully attached to the shoe. In pictures the shoe looks interesting. In real life it looks like something you'd find on a Polly Pocket doll. I left the outlet stores without a single purchase but with a renewed respect for the gear and for shoes from the real players like Brooks, ASICS and Mizuno.