I will admit that performance is a rush

Yesterday's run (treadmill): 25 minutes
Today's run (treadmill): 25 minutes

I'm currently in the middle of a group of multi-day industry meetings. These gatherings are energizing, but they can take up a lot of time. In the past, I've skipped one or more workouts during these periods because of the impact on my schedule. I'm pleased that this week I've been able fit in my runs and stay on schedule.

One of this year's goals is to get outside more often on my morning runs. That wasn't an option today with a mix of freezing rain and snow coming down at 4 AM. Like yesterday, I headed to the treadmill and did a progressive speed run, pushing hard enough to get my heart rate to target.

While I do believe that moderate workouts are my best strategy, I do like the rush that comes from doing multiple speed increases over the last quarter of these runs. Right now, a little speed goes a long way.

Would you read Slow Runner magazine?

Going to the Well

Running magazines provide great utility and can occasionally inspire. When I was a new runner, I found these magazines to be a useful source for information about terminology, practices and setting expectations. But just as there are no magazines to help you become a run-of-the-mill decorator or a mediocre cook, the focus of every running magazine seems to be about improving performance. Up until recently, I appreciated that focus. Now I'm a little conflicted.

The reason for this comes from recent studies published by the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health and the Lancet. Both of these studies concluded that mortality rates for those who exercised moderately were lower than the rates for sedentary people or high performing athletes. If running greater than 20 miles per week or pacing in the seven minute pace range causes a health concern, I'm certainly not going to do that. Not that I could run a sustained 7:00 pace anyway.

I'm curious to see whether running magazines will ignore these studies or dismiss them as inaccurate. If not, will they acknowledge the facts and modify their editorial focus? After all, the topic of minimalism started getting regular coverage after Christopher McDougall published "Born to Run". Covering running without a focus on performance may be a hard sell for Running Times, but many titles already devote pages to nutrition, human interest and lifestyle.

Given the choice, I'd always choose an article about running experience over a new approach to running intervals. Maybe that's a new market segment for Rodale to cover.

Foggy morning run at Bethpage

Beware the moors and stick to the bike path

Today's run (Bethpage State Park): 5.1 miles

If there's a downside to having 40° weather in January (besides the fact that it may be caused by global climate change) is that things can get foggy. There's nothing specifically wrong with fog, but I wasn't thrilled to drive through the cloudy Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway this morning. Most people were smart enough to keep their car lights on, so the trip wasn't as scary as I'd feared. When I got to my destination, Bethpage State Park, I was happy to see that the gates were open.

It's been a long time since I've run at Bethpage. They had closed access to the park after Hurricane Sandy and I had not made it back until today. It was great to be back for a run. As I drove toward the lot, a dark mist over the golf course made it look a little like the Scottish moors.

My plan was to run five miles, starting first by going south on the old trail and turning back at the one mile point. I appreciated the first, mostly downhill, half mile but I knew it wouldn't be fun coming back up that tough hill. Once past my nemesis, I was two miles in and I crossed over to the newer section of the bike path. I had to complete a three mile out-and-back to get my total to five.

Bethpage's bike trails are rolling and, while I don't always notice the falling sections, I never miss a hill. The new, northern path has plenty of hills. Just like the southern part, it's tougher coming back than going out. I reached Haypath about a quarter mile short of my turnaround point so I crossed over and ran until my Garmin showed 3.5 miles.

I knew I'd soon encounter the three noticeable hills and I took them on. The hills are a bit steep, but the incline is fairly short and there's a enough separation between them for recovery. Once past those challenges I settled in for the remainder of the run. Before long I was back at the trail head having covered my planned distance.

Even though it was unseasonably warm, there weren't too many other runners out today. I worked hard and felt good throughout the run, but I was glad when I finished. I was also happy that I made it out of the neighborhood for a run this weekend. That was one of my stated goals for 2013. Having come into the weekend with less than ten miles logged, I'm pleased to have finished close to my weekly target of 20.

Afternoon runs are hard when you're a morning runner

I wish all races started at 10:00 AM

Today's run (street): 5.3 miles

All things being equal, I run much better in the morning than I do later in the day. The numbers don't lie and I have had enough bad afternoon runs to know it's true. I don't know if it relates to biorhythms, psychology, or nutrition (or some combination of the three). In any case, I usually avoid running during the second half of the day. The above chart is an unscientific but fair representation of my performance throughout the day.

I've felt a little off my game this week. Not exactly tired, but not as strong as usual. I skipped my run on Thursday to give myself a day to catch up. Yesterday's run on the treadmill was fine, although I didn't feel as energized after the run as I usually do.

This morning I woke up at 6:45 AM, a full hour later than usual for a Saturday. I clearly needed the sleep and was happy to lose a little time to gain the rest. Due to that, the morning schedule was compressed and I lost my window to run. Other things took priority and it wasn't until after lunch that I finally headed outside.

Today's plan was to go to Bethpage, but I didn't feel like taking the drive over there. I wasn't pleased about my late start and I really wanted to get my run done as quickly as possible. At around 2:00 PM, I finally had my act in gear and started off. My targeted distance was five miles. Normally that would be easy, but I was concerned that the later hour would make it tough.

The weather felt cool, even though the reported temperature was 45 degrees. A very light rain was falling and I considered wearing my running raincoat but I feared overheating. I ended up putting on my Zensah calf compression sleeves for warmth and that was a good call. Plus they have an energizing effect that I'd hoped would help.

In terms of performance, it wasn't the worst five miles I've run on a Saturday. My pace was acceptable but nothing to brag about. For some reason it was really hard to tie together five miles of roads today. The run seemed to take far longer than 52 minutes, but I didn't have any issues with stamina. I occasionally picked up the pace during the run. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to help my overall time.

Running at 2:00 PM wasn't the disaster I'd feared, but I suspect that I would have done better had I gone out earlier as planned. Tomorrow I hope to get to Bethpage and execute on my goal of doing one non-neighborhood run each weekend. Even if I can't for some reason, at least today's later run provided a different expereince. And for runners who train almost daily, a little difference can go a long way.

At long last: 2013 running goals

Today's run (treadmill): 25 minutes

I realized last night that I never posted last year's running goals. In prior years I had done that on the blog, but I guess I just forgot to do it for 2012. I'm not sure what goals I would have set last year, beyond hoping to improve my half marathon time and participating in a race I'd never run before. I did both of those things last year, so I guess I achieved something. This year I'm thinking about the following as my 2013 running goals:

1. More weekday running diversity.
For practical reasons, my running routine has become less and less adventurous. My weekday 4:00 AM runs were once daily adventures where I'd run on different streets each day and then scramble to get home in time to stay on schedule. This devolved into running the exact same route, every day, to stay within a rigid time frame. Worse, some time last year I stopped doing outdoor runs on weekdays in favor of the treadmill to minimize prep time and maximize recovery time

Goal: Run outdoors at least once a week before work. Establish at least one alternate route to take every other week.

2. More NYC running.
Way back when, I'd frequently run in Central Park, on the West Side bike path or even over bridges to New Jersey or Brooklyn. Regular running partners Adventure Girl and JQ have left the east coast and I've had trouble finding running buddies who are willing to commit to workday runs.

Goal: Monthly runs in Central Park, with or without a partner.

3. Break the neighborhood running habit on weekends.
Just like my slide to predictable routes and then to the treadmill on weekday mornings, my weekend runs have become fairly mundane workouts that take place mostly around my neighborhood. My excuse has been that local runs save time (which is in short supply on weekends) but boring running really undercuts the experience.

Goal: One run outside of my neighborhood every weekend (weather permitting).

4. Return to racing.
Event date changes and race cancellations due to Hurricane Sandy disrupted my running momentum. I am completely out of the racing habit and don't have a race on the schedule until Marcie Mazzola in April.

Goal: Run at least one race prior to April's event. Bonus: Run a different half marathon than the RXR LI.

5. Participate in a group run (club organized or otherwise).

Goal: find a an open meet-up, local club run or organize one myself. 

Unlike years past, I've decided not to put in any performance or distance goals this year. If I meet my race goals, performance will take care of itself. I have run enough distance at this point to know I can run more. Besides that, I'm not sure running more than 13 or 14 miles is really that beneficial to my health.

Now that I've posted these goals, I guess I need to start working on them. This weekend will present my first opportunity to do that. Bethpage, here I come.