Heading to warmer climes

I'm sure I'll find someplace to run here

Tomorrow morning I'm heading down to Florida to give a talk at a conference. The weather in NYC is miserable and it looks like that may continue into Wednesday so I'm hoping I don't encounter too many travel delays. According to my colleague KWL who arrived there today, the conference resort has some great places for running. My friend CK will also be down there and we have plans to get together for a run. My schedule is so tight that I'm not sure when I can fit that in but I expect that we'll figure it out. The weather where I'm staying is mild, ranging between 60-78 degrees so I'm packing light. No long sleeve running shirts or cold weather compression gear. I'm not a fan of business travel but the chance to run someplace near the water gives me at least one reason to like it. 

2011 Running Goals

Here it is, January 17th, and though I've already identified my business goals I still haven't published this year's running goals.  The following items represent my hopes for this year:

1. Run a half marathon

This challenge would have seemed completely out of reach when I restarted running in 2008 but now it feels like a logical and viable step. I don't have a half marathon identified but I'm likely to run the one during the RXR LI Festival of Races because the timing works and it's conveniently located.

2. Score settling

Run my best times ever on the Dirty Sock and Cow Harbor 10K's. Beat my time in the New Hyde Park 8K (44:42 two years in a row!).

3. Running tourism

Run outside of Long Island at least six times. Bonus for competing in a race outside of LI. 

4. Hit those trails

Add Caleb Smith, Sunken Meadow and one more state park to my trail running experience.

5. Performance

Run 1 mile under 7:50/mile or 2 miles under 8:00/mile.

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Today's run (street): 5.3 miles

Today is Martin Luther King Day that caps off a very nice long weekend of running. I was again constrained to my neighborhood so I tried to minimize the boredom by changing my route a little. My plan was to run an out-and-back course where I'd go for 25 minutes and then turn around and follow the route back home. Once again I had good energy and was cruising along when I felt a slight pain in my knee at almost the same moment that I was thinking how I never get knee pain. The pain increased and I worried something happened. I was starting to hobble and realized that I was at least two miles from home.

Since I'd done nothing to cause this sudden problem (except to think about knee pain!) I decided that it was likely that it would disappear just as quickly as it came. Every once in while I'll feel a sharp pain in my ankle when I walk and I just work it out with a few steps. This knee pain seemed to be the same sort of thing and after slowing down a little, the pain passed and didn't return.

Once the phantom injury was over I re-focused on my route but had gone a little off my planned course that made the out-and-back distances asymmetrical. I ended up adding some extra loops to ensure I surpassed 5 miles and I ended up with another third of a mile as a bonus. I'm hoping to get a chance to run while I'm traveling this week but my schedule is tight. I did cover almost 15 miles over the long weekend and I like the way I'm running right now. Maybe I'll have a chance to return to the trails next weekend. Hope so.

Good run on some roads less traveled

Today's run (street): 4.2 miles

After getting out for my run somewhat later than planned on Saturday, I focused on an early start this morning. The local and NYC news stations finally agreed on the temperature -- about 30 degrees -- and I went out expecting conditions to be noticeably warmer than yesterday. I dressed a little lighter but today actually felt a little colder. No matter, except for my hands that took 20 minutes to feel warm, (I wore running gloves instead of my ASICS glove/mittens) I was comfortable for the duration of my run.

I ran 25 seconds per mile faster than yesterday and this was because I focused on speed in certain segments. I've read that running a little faster than your normal, comfortable pace sometimes yields a more energetic response and actually enhances stamina overall. I think there's truth to that and I've noticed that running briskly on the treadmill and then dropping speed by 15-20% does not make my running any easier and it sometimes makes it seem harder.

I mixed up my route today, running streets that I normally avoid because they don't easily integrate into one of my standard loops. It was a nice change and the flow of the run was excellent. I ran the last mile faster than the first three and finished strong, averaging close to 9:10/mile overall. Two good runs in the chilly air have made this a great running weekend.

Finally, I heard from my running buddy Brian who told me about a friend (and Emerging Runner fan) who ran Cow Harbor while she was pregnant! That was the toughest race I've ever run and I can't imagine running it under those conditions. I'm sure that baby will be running Cow Harbor some day.

Running cold and hot

Today's run (street): 5.2 miles

How cold is cold? 30 degrees? 20? How about 13? That was the temperature that News 12 Long Island had at the bottom of the screen while I dressed for my run this morning. A switch over to channel 4 in NYC showed a significant difference: 28 degrees. I wasn't sure what to believe. I geared up for sub-20 degree weather wearing half compression shorts under compression pants, calf sleeves and four top layers. I wore my warmest fleece hat and my ASICS glove/mittens and thick acrylic socks with my Kinvaras. It felt cold when I stepped outside but not really too uncomfortable. Cold minus wind is usually tenable until you get to the single digits.

I started the run by focusing on a shorter stride that allowed me to maintain a cadence in the high 80's. This did not translate into any great speed but it got me warmed up quickly. About 30 minutes prior to my run I had a Cliff Gel that contained 25mg of caffeine. I have found that consuming a gel 30-45 minutes before a run makes the first mile a little easier. Once I hit my stride (pun intended) I decided to extend my planned route because I was really enjoying the run. I criss-crossed the neighborhood and as I got nearer to the end I was fairly warm. I wished at that point that I'd only worn three top layers. By my last mile I was pleased to note that I had enough energy to maintain a brisk pace. I still feel that my base is not as solid as it was in November when I could manage over 8 miles without a thought. I can do the mileage but my performance tends to degrade around the 6 mile mark.

I have a race coming up in three weeks and though it's only 4 miles I want it to be four fast miles. I have tomorrow and the Monday holiday to get in some distance runs and it would be great to run some trails. This week's snow will prevent that but I'm hoping to get to that soon. It was a good running start for the long weekend. I'm not really sure how cold it was on today's run but I wouldn't mind duplicate conditions tomorrow.

A compelling reason to run on the treadmill

Frigid temperatures on Long Island this morning

Today's run (treadmill): 2.5 miles

The news stations were reporting 18 degrees in NYC with colder temperatures in the suburbs this morning. The widget on my iPhone shows 14 degrees where I live. If not for the still icy roads, I would have liked to run outside today because I find really cold temperatures energizing.  But 14 degrees is not my idea of a good running experience.

Instead of the street, I ran on the treadmill this morning. I wore my Kinvaras that were a nice change from the Brooks GTS 10s that I've been using outdoors because they do a better job of keeping my feet warm. At this point I'm really convinced that a minimal running shoe is the key to better form. Of course with the chilly winter weather more substantial shoes have a certain appeal. I didn't run too intensely this morning but I brought up my speed after my first mile and bumped up the pace every few minutes from there.

My judgement of treadmill runs follows a different scale than outdoor runs. My starting point when running outside is generally positive and if the run is good things are even more positive. My starting point on the treadmill is the opposite and the best thing I can say about a treadmill workout is that it didn't suck. Today's run didn't suck, so yay! I'm really hoping to get some outdoor running in this weekend. Next week is supposed to be warmer but with rain and even some snow. I'm traveling to a warmer climate mid week so I may get to run outdoors in shorts. That would be a welcome change.