Training went well but the trains? Not so well

Today's run (street): 2.64 miles at 9:08

Yesterday morning a small fire at the Long Island Railroad' Jamaica Station  hub brought down the entire train system for five hours. I managed to get on one of the few early evening trains out of Penn Station and got home without too much of a problem. At 6:15 this morning the trains are still a mess and I thought about working from home when I got up. No commute would mean more time to run. Ultimately I decided to take my chances with the trains and I'm waiting with the other early birds in a cold drizzle at the train platform.

My decision to commute meant following my usual schedule and I hit the neighborhood roads by 4:00 AM. The news said it was 64 degrees but it felt cooler than that when I stepped outside. I felt moisture in the air and realized it was misting. That mist, combined with cool air, felt great as I took off on my run. I noticed that my feet, really my toes, were still sore from Sunday's race. Although the Dirty Sock course is fairly flat and the trails are well groomed I always end up with sore and swollen feet whenever I run there. I had my Brooks today and that really made a difference in terms of protection and comfort. I pounded on, feeling good, happy for the break from hot and humid running.

I followed one of my standard routes and was glad to see that I'd recovered from Sunday's race with no residual aches or pains. The experience this morning was so effortless that my thoughts drifted elsewhere and I had to keep reminding myself to maintain a brisk pace. I had a few extra minutes and considered extending my run but I chose to go straight home so I could check news reports about this morning's train situation. I ended up covering 2.5+ miles at a decent pace. Near the end of the run I passed a house with a guy standing in front -- unusual to see anyone outside at 4:25 AM. Maybe he was up early trying to grab an earlier train in anticipation of a delayed commute. Speaking of which, here comes my train now. Gotta go!

Lesson learned: start focusing on stamina and distance

One thing that became clear to me during yesterday's race was my need to put more focus on distance. The performance gains I had made in prior weeks were seductive and they caused me to think too much about only one dimension of my performance. Four miles run in the mid 8's was a welcome improvement over the mid-9 minute paces I had been averaging over the summer. With everything I'd been reading about the importance of speed work and tempo runs it seemed logical to work on improving pace, especially when measurable gains appeared. As I faced the last couple of miles on the trail yesterday morning I began to regret the lack of longer training runs over the last month. Sure, I could run a decent pace for three or four miles but what happens to my mechanics when that distance is doubled?

After actively returning to running two years ago I've steadily increased my speed and distances to the point where I run mostly in the low 9's and do weekend distances up to about 8 miles. Due to time constraints I've rarely been able to run more than 20 miles per week, with most of my longer runs happening on Saturdays and Sundays. Having a whole hour to run is a luxury and using yesterday's performance as a yardstick that only gets me about six miles. So finding enough time for real distance running is its own challenge. I've really enjoyed the long slow distance (LSD) runs where length, not speed, were the goal. That may be one reason why I prefer trail running; the course and the terrain are so variable that pace becomes less relevant. This weekend I'm hoping to get in at least one long run to help prepare for the Cow Harbor 10K in late September. Distance should help my stamina and once that's improved I can again start thinking about my pace.

Race summary: 2010 Dirty Sock 10K

Spying the finish line was a most welcome sight

Dirty Sock Run: 6.2 miles (10K) at 9:37 (net)

I had high hopes for a better performance than last year at today's Dirty Sock 10K. My training had gone well and I've been pacing regularly in the mid 8-minute range.  I took the last two days off from running and carefully timed my nutrition this morning for optimal benefit. This set an expectation that I'd beat last year's time, at least by a little. The Dirty Sock course is a (mostly) out and back route that begins along the western trail, runs north, circles Belmont Lake and returns the same way (except for the last 1.2 miles). The trails are well groomed, not at all technical, and while there are numerous elevation changes, most are within a 1% grade up or down. This is a great course to run at a moderate pace in the company of friends. Running it as a race, with humidity levels approaching 100%, it begins to feel less fun.

Our day started early and we arrived for registration an hour before the start. The earlier rain had slowed to a drizzle but I still had concerns about its return. The race setup was similar to last year and there's always comfort in knowing what to expect. I was disappointed that there were no bagpipers at the starting line this year but there were many people milling around, stretching, warming up and catching up with friends. My daughter and I took a walk up the trail to look for the starting line and when we returned we found my wife and son chatting with DaveADK, a friend from last year's Dirty Sock Run. Dave had a foot issue and is on the good side of recovering from an eye problem so it was great to see him there. A little later I ran into BJS who ran a practice run with me on the Dirty Sock course a few weeks ago. We walked back to the trail head together where I found Team Emerging Runner awaiting my return. I told them "See you at the finish line" and BJS and I made our way to the starting line. The trail is fairly wide but with 500 people queuing for the start it gets fairly crowded. When the gun went off it took us half a minute to reach the starting line and then we were off. BJS and I conversed for most of the first mile but the density of runners and the narrowness of the trail made it difficult from there.

I made my way past many runners and felt like I was doing better than I did last year. I caught up with DaveADK who was cruising along well and then I caught up with a group of other runners as I ran under the route 27 viaduct. Soon after I encountered race officials on bikes who were yelling "Move to the right!" as the lead runners came by on their way back from circling the lake. By the time I reached Belmont Lake I was feeling the humidity and the effort and while I was tired I knew I had enough left to complete the course. How fast I could do that was another story. I ran in my Helly Hansen's today because I thought the rain would make the trails too muddy for my Brooks. The trail condition stayed excellent throughout the race and I would have done fine in the Adrenalins after all. No harm done, the Helly's did a great job too.

I grabbed water a couple of times, they had an impressive number of water stations that helped greatly in the humid conditions. I had brought a box of raisins as a late race booster and had a small handful  as I passed the mile 5 marker. I think that made a difference because I was growing fatigued and a few people were passing me. I resumed my pace and re-passed some that had overtaken me, all the time thinking that I was about to run the longest 1.2 miles I'd run this year. Just like last year it seemed to take forever to travel the scenic last mile of this race, past the lower lake and over trails that wound and wound until FINALLY, I saw daylight and heard the race announcer on the PA. Unlike last year when I felt like I could not have run another foot longer than necessary to finish, this morning my speed just felt constrained near the end. As I approached the finish line I saw my daughter and then my wife and son and crossed the line with almost the same time as last year. Dave and BJS followed me in very soon after, hard efforts all around.

I'm sure the humidity had something to do with my slower than expected time. It was truly brutal but everyone was up against the same conditions this morning. It was my 10th race since returning to running almost two years ago and I left the event feeling good about competing, even though I really only compete with myself.  As soon as I see my family waiting for me at the finish line the memory of hard effort gives way to a feeling of accomplishment and that's why I do it. Before I know it, I'll be running the Great Cow Harbor 10K. It will be my first 10K on pavement and the course presents some real hill challenges. I need to increase my distances on my longer training runs to get more performance into the last few miles. That's for another day, now it's time to relax and enjoy the feeling of a good race run hard.

Thoughts on Sunday's Dirty Sock 10K

I just got word this morning that my friend KWL ran his first 10K and broke 9 minutes per mile. Excellent. He's a sub-nine minute runner so I'm not surprised by his achievement but today's 6.2 miles was also a personal distance record. To date, the only race I've run at that distance has been the Dirty Sock Run and I get to do that again tomorrow morning. I didn't run yesterday and I'm not planning to run today. I've learned after running nine races over the last 16 months that proper rest before racing is a key component to the conditioning process. All the same I feel a certain tension today. It's not because I'm racing on Sunday, I'm certain it's because I depend on my daily run to keep me balanced and free of stress.

We were planning a hike to Bear Mountain on Thursday but I wasn't feeling well that day. Instead we plan to revisit Caleb Smith State Park this afternoon for a hike. I had considered an easy two or three mile run today, but I'm thinking a low impact activity like hiking will be be a far better activity. I'll probably finish the day by following the Lolo Jones core exercises that I have found useful for flexibility. After three weeks of running with a focus on performance and a couple of days off from running I'm satisfied that I've properly prepared for tomorrow's event. I'm still thinking about my racing gear, pre-race nutrition, caffeine ingestion, hydration and pace strategy and I'm looking forward to seeing some running friends at the race. I don't know if my training has been good enough to help me beat last year's time tomorrow but I'll find out soon enough.

Wrong turn at Stillwell

Yesterday's run (Stillwell Woods): 5.17 miles at 9:29

I had a tough time getting going on Thursday despite going to bed relatively early and sleeping past 6:00 AM. I realize now that it was related to a combination of a sinus condition and an issue with my glasses. At the time it was a mystery as to why I was so darn tired. It was hard to get moving and it took me two hours to finally get out for my run at Stillwell Woods. My plan was to follow the relatively flat eastern loop within the woods running it three times to get some mileage in before I rest until race day. If all had gone according to plan I would have totaled 6 miles at a fairly brisk pace before declaring the end of my taper. Things didn't go according to plan.

I was still feeling a little sluggish when I set off on the trail but the canopy shielded me well from the sun and the breezes channeled through the trees were cool and invigorating. The trails at Stillwell are not well marked and I'm often thrown off course. After my first loop I made a slight mistake that put me on a shorter trail back to my starting point. No harm done but it did disrupt my three loop plan. Once back on track I continued to follow the planned path but for some reason I chose the wrong trail at around mile four and the trail led to a low lying area surrounded by four steep paths. This forced me to go up one of these trails that are angled at 40 degrees or more. I picked the one that I thought would put me back towards my intended route and I managed to get up despite the fact that I was running in my Brooks GTS 9's. This hill climb took a lot out of me and once I reached the top I re-oriented myself and ran another mile back to the trail head. That last mile was at 10:16 and frankly I was surprised I broke 11:00 by the way I felt.

I was exhausted and dizzy at the end and probably overdid it on the run. I'm hoping that despite that rough experience I gained some marginal conditioning that will help me on race day.  I'll know soon enough. In the meantime I'll rest and recover and hopefully peak at 8:00 on Sunday.