Running election scenarios on the treadmill

Today's run (treadmill): 25 minutes

This is a running blog and not a platform for my views on politics. However, today's treadmill run had me thinking about the scenarios that would play out based on the results. In an effort to get going on my run as quickly as possible, I resisted the temptation to flip on the TV or look at my smartphone to see the election outcome. So at 3:45 AM I was distracting myself from my run, wondering whether we'd have a new president or a shift in the control of Congress or the Senate.

I finished my run by 4:10 and a few minutes later I had my answers. I'll admit that I was pleased with the results, and especially happy that both Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock lost their respective races. That's not a partisan view, plenty of my Republican friends feel the same way as me. 

My positive perspective from the election and a pretty good treadmill run was dashed when I reached my local train station. I discovered that the train that I'd planned to make was canceled due to equipment problems. That meant a half hour's wait in the cold, followed by a train packed like sardines. 

It's day nine and still no power to my home, long lines at gas stations and the LIRR running on a "modified" schedule. But in the long run, everything will return to normal. Although for the LIRR, normal is never all that great.

Treadmill beggars can't be choosers

Slipping and squealing but soft underfoot

Today's run: (treadmill): 2.6 miles

When LIPA announced that it could take seven to ten days to restore power after Sandy came through, I thought they were setting up expectations so they could exceed them. After the criticism LIPA took about its response to Hurricane Irene last year, I wondered if their projections were exaggerated so they'd look good when they beat them. I'm obviously naive.

We are still without power eight days after losing it. I'm used to keeping our cars in the garage but we are parking outdoors while we stay with our hosts. That meant five minutes of scraping ice off the windshield this morning in 27° weather. Earlier this morning, the steam from my shower set off the smoke detector, waking everyone up at 5:30 AM. We miss our house.

I used my mother-in-law's treadmill this morning because I wasn't comfortable running in their neighborhood at 4:00 AM. The neighborhood itself is safe, but I didn't want their security people to be alarmed by a crazy person with a headlamp running around this community. The treadmill is a Nordic Track and the tread platform has a little give compared to our Sole's. The Nordic Track machine was in need of maintenance, judging from the occasional squealing and slipping of the belt. The slipping did decrease after a few minutes.

I discovered that the machine would not go any lower than a 1% incline, but in the spirit of making lemonade from lemons, I took it as a challenge on top of just pushing my speed. I ran faster on this treadmill than I usually run on our home unit, but you can't compare machines that may be calibrated differently. With any luck, our power will come back tomorrow and I can return to the road. That is, if the coming storm doesn't force me indoors, once again.

2:03 is fast for a marathon but not for the LIRR

LIRR, eat my dust!

It has been a while since I've been in the office and it's nice to be back. Our building is running at half power so it's a little chilly, but it isn't so bad that you can't work. My commute seemed to take forever this morning. The Long Island Railroad is running on a modified schedule and this morning it stopped in places that I didn't even know existed.

It usually takes me an hour and twenty minutes from the time I leave my house to when I walk into the building where I work. Today it took me two hours and three minutes, exactly the same time that it took Geoffrey Mutai to finish the 2011 Boston Marathon. Fifteen of those minutes were spent walking uptown from Penn Station, a distance of one mile.

Out of curiosity, I Gmapped the straight-line distance from my temporary home to my office building and came up with 30.7 miles. That meant that my commute this morning - car, train and brisk walk averaged 4:00 per mile, while Geoffrey Mutai pulled off his marathon record at 4:41 per mile. Practically outrunning a train is pretty impressive, unless you're talking about the LIRR.

Still no power, but the running hasn't stopped

Gas lines: the downside of using generators

Today's run (street): 5.4 miles

It's day three in our temporary home and our quality of life between today and last Friday morning is measurable. We stopped back at the house to get some needed items and though we hoped to find the power restored, our house was still dark and cold. We are probably (at least) three days away from getting our power back. That's created some strain on the gasoline supply and we saw long lines of people queuing up to fill portable gas containers (above).

I'm concerned about having a much longer commute to work tomorrow. At least I'll have a hot shower to start me off. I certainly appreciated having hot showers after the three runs I have done since we've relocated to "The Greens." This morning I went out with a plan to cover about five miles. Just for fun, I decided to run yesterday's route in the opposite direction.

The temperature was in the mid-30's when I started out, but my City Sports running pants and two layers on top kept me comfortable throughout my run. I felt strong from the start and maintained that energy as I made my way through the neighborhood. The hills were in different locations today, but the net elevation was the same. When I returned to the house, my mother-in-law presented me with a couple of slices of challah french toast, fresh off the griddle.

The work week starts tomorrow and I hope that the trains are running on time. I'll probably do some treadmill runs over the next few days. With any luck, we'll be back in our house before the end of the week.

Running in the Greens

Verdant

Yesterday's run (street): 4.5 miles
Today's run (street): 5.2 miles

We're staying at our in-laws for what looks like the duration of the power outage. The accommodations are first rate and we're appreciating the heat, hot water and electricity. My running schedule has been disrupted this week by the storm, but I've managed to cover almost 14 miles, with 9.7 of them on the streets around our temporary location.

Yesterday's run was a nice change from my neighborhood streets. Our hosts live in a gated community called "The Greens" that is meticulously landscaped. While the homes are fairly similar, the colors and architectural features vary throughout neighborhood. There are a couple of long roads that bend around, creating an approximately two mile loop. I ran variations of that route over the last two days for different distances.

I felt great on both runs, the roads varied in pitch all along the route. I wouldn't call them hills, but some roads provided rolling elevations for short periods. The tough part of the run came during times when the wind was hitting me head on. Between the chill and the force it was hard to maintain a smooth stride. I ended up averaging mid-9:00 paces both runs. Without the wind I probably would have gained 10-15 seconds per mile overall.

I plan to head out again tomorrow for my second weekend run. There's a chance that we could regain our power by the time I have to return to the office, but I'm not counting on that. If we need to stay longer I'll use the treadmill during the week because I forgot to bring my headlamp and reflective vest from home. Oh well, using a new treadmill is always a fun experience.

In other running news, I was surprised to learn that the NYC marathon was canceled. I completely understand the reasons behind the decision but I feel badly for my friends who were planning to participate. It's easy to second guess someone else's timing, but I think it would have been better to call it off a few days earlier. That way more out of town runners could save their travel expenses and free up hotels for displaced residents. I'll miss watching the race, but I respect the organizers and the mayor for doing the right thing.