Weekend ending run in the Brooks GTS 10's

Brooks GTS 10

Today's run (street): 5.44 miles at 9:11 per mile

It's been a good week for running and today was no different. After yesterday's trail run at Stillwell Woods I was ready to return to the street and spend some time in the neighborhood. I've felt tired over the past few days so I planned to take it easy today and do my distance at a reasonable pace. After running in the Saucony's on my the last few outings I returned to my Brooks GTS 10's that provide a more cushioned ride. That's no dig on the Grid Tangent 4's which are still extremely comfortable (and fast) or the Kinvaras that are minimally designed shoes that trade some cushioning for far less weight. Each pair of shoes I own has a specific purpose and I cycle through them all.

I set out for a quick loop around the northeast part of the neighborhood before heading south toward neighborhood #3 that's adjacent to the industrial park. Upon reaching the park I did the main loop to get in some hill work. It's not a steep incline but it goes on for a while before rewarding the runner with a nice downhill segment. Coming out of the park, I turned left into neighborhood #3 and ran through those streets before I headed back to my neighborhood to complete my 5.4 mile route. I didn't push hard throughout the run but I threw in a few speedy tempos that helped me maintain an overall pace that was closer to nine minutes than 9:30. The Brooks are great shoes because they are so comfortable and stable while still providing an energetic response. I've had some slight knee soreness and every time I run with the Brooks my knee feels a little better. I had the same experience with the GTS 9's. Brooks makes great shoes. I'm going to rest tomorrow since it's going to be a day of meetings and travel. I'll resume my running on Tuesday morning when I return to Cambridge for my Memorial Drive run.

Last NYC run with AG, at least until August

Yesterday's run (Central Park): 3.19 miles at 8:41

Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 4.1 miles at 10:03 

I didn't think I'd be able to do my weekly NYC run on Friday but by 5:00 PM I had finished everything I'd wanted to get done this week. Adventure Girl will only be in the office one more week before she heads for the west coast for the summer. Since I'm traveling much of next week we figured we'd get in one more run before she leaves. We headed up to the park as fast as we could because my window of running was limited. We decided to run about 3 miles by following the east side of the lower loop to the upper loop, across the Great Lawn to the north and then back down to where we'd start. We wore our Sauconys, Grid Tangent 4's for me and AG wore her new Kinvaras. Those light shoes helped us move along at the fastest pace we'd ever run together, despite the hills we encountered both up and down our route. We ended our run at 5:44 PM and I needed to get back to the office in time to change and leave with enough time to make my train. We arrived at our building at 5:58 PM and I knew I was in trouble, but AG suggested I just commute home in my running clothes. Despite my extremely sweaty condition I agreed and made my way to the train, making it just in time. It was a exciting way to end what will be our last run together for many months. I'll miss these runs but I'm excited that AG will be running some awesome trails in the northwestern states this summer.

Perhaps as a nod to that I headed over to Stillwell Woods this morning for trail run. It's been a while since I spent time in the interior of the preserve and I followed a route that is opposite of my usual approach. My plan was to move along but not push it too hard. The many inclines would provide plenty of challenge without worrying about speed. The mountain bikers were out in force. I encountered quite a few riders, all of whom were extremely polite and courteous about sharing the trails with a runner. Along the way I navigated through the Snake Pit, the curiously named but difficult Little Pink Bicycle Path, the Ewok Forest and the UH OH trail. I was plenty tired and 4 miles was tough going but I was distracted by the birds and other animals making such a racket that I actually laughed. So much for the serenity of nature. I'm probably going to run in my neighborhood tomorrow and focus more about miles than speed. So far, counting Friday, it's been a great weekend of running.

Running the Charles from Cambridge and back

Longfellow Bridge (bottom), Harvard Bridge (top)

Today's run: Central Park (tentative)

I'm planning to be up in Cambridge next week for some MIT Media Lab activities. It's always interesting to visit the Media Lab and the ideas and future technologies are both exciting and inspiring. Many of those technologies have found their way into athletic gear. The science behind the Garmin and Polar foot pods, as well as the Nike+ system, came by way of the Media Lab's Responsive Environments group. As stimulating as I find MIT, my favorite part about visiting is when I'm able to run the loop over the Harvard Bridge into Boston and then return to Cambridge over the Longfellow Bridge. The entire four mile run takes place around the Charles River with views of both city skylines looming. I often see runners wearing Red Sox hats and that always makes me feel like I'm home again.

I'm so hoping for decent weather for the early part of the week. Nothing will be as disappointing as a thunderstorm that forces me to stay inside and use the hotel treadmill. I'm not going to worry about that though. I'll get to see some great people, including family and friends. Running along Memorial Drive always brings back great memories. I'd just better not forget to pack my Red Sox cap.

Consistently inconsistent

Today's run (street): 2.45 miles at 9:07

I don't think I'll ever fully understand why some runs are faster than others. I know a person who has run the same 4 mile loop for years and can usually predict his finish time within 15 seconds. I may have opened a can of worms by suggesting that he throw in some tempos to bring down his overall pace. He did that and now he's got a different perspective. Up until that point, the run itself was the accomplishment. Now, after all this time, he's concerned about pace and performance. Did I do him a favor in helping him get more out of his runs? Or did I contribute to a mindset that replaces the joy of running with the obsession of metrics? I also told him he should think about getting lighter weight shoes for a performance bump. What have I done!?

Of course it's not the shoes that make you faster. Or is it? Since switching over to the Saucony shoes last week I've had noticeable improvement in my pace, often beating my usual times by 20-30 seconds per mile. With nothing else to explain it I had to guess it was the shoes. After three runs in the 8:40-8:50 range I assumed I had moved to another stage in my running. I'd no longer be a 9-something pacer. The new normal is 8:45 and further improvement starts there. This morning I went out feeling good, equipped with the fast Kinvaras on a clear cool morning's run. My pace felt steady and strong. At the point where I thought I'd covered a mile my Garmin said .78 miles. I felt like I was running well but I wasn't covering the ground at the rate I'd assumed. I questioned whether the Garmin was properly calibrated because I had switched it from my Brooks this morning. Ultimately, I finished with an overall pace of 9:07 that is typical of runs at that time. I continue to wonder why the range of performance is as wide as it is. I don't have any problems with today's performance. It's just that with all my tracking and even with the new lighter shoes, inconsistency is the only constant.

Sole F63 - a slippery situation, once again

Sole F63, equipped with special belt slipping feature

Today's run (treadmill): 2.3 miles at 9:08

You'd think it would be easy to figure out whether it's raining without actually stepping outside to check. At 4:00 AM it's really too dark to see rain out of a window and the audial clues from the skylight were indeterminate this morning. I had already resigned myself to running on the treadmill so I started it up without further investigation of the weather. As much as I love running there are different levels of enjoyment. At the top would be a beautiful, scenic trail with groomed paths and cool weather. Below that, but still desirable, are many other scenarios involving running on trails or roads. After that is the track which has its positives but, for longer distance, can be mind numbingly boring. At the bottom (for me) is the treadmill. I can't fully explain why, but I find treadmill running very tough. Perhaps it's the tedium of an unchanging view but it's also being locked into certain pace and having the road moving under you instead of the other way around.

An added dimension to my treadmill woes is a recurring problem with the belt slipping on on my Sole 63 unit. This is a new machine that we've already had serviced to fix this problem but I noticed it again today. Like last time, I could avoid slipping on the belt if I kept to the left side. However, the tread isn't so wide that I don't occasionally cross over to the "slip zone." I did my 2+ miles just to get them done and really started wishing for drier days going forward. I'm hoping to avoid this experience until the machine is fixed...yet again.