Running off a pressure headache

Last November's food panty effort

Today's run (treadmill): 3.1 miles

I had another tough night due to the onset of a pressure headache. I woke up at 4 AM and treated it with the usual combination of pseudoephedrine and aspirin. That combination helps, but it doesn't quite eliminate the problem. It also makes me groggy and I spent a few hours trying to sleep with little success.

About midway through the morning, I needed to decided whether I'd do a run or skip it for the sake of recovery. I usually reserve the weekends to do my long runs, with Sunday typically being the longer of the two. I listened to my body very carefully and decided on a treadmill workout. I thought that made sense because I could dial in a comfortable speed and use the big floor fan to stay cool.

I covered my "distance" slower than I would have outdoors, but that was fine because I was more interested in the overall time I put into the workout. The act of running seemed to help my sinus pressure and, though I felt tired at the end, I also felt a little better. Later today, we're heading to East Northport to volunteer at a food pantry. We did this last November and felt great about the experience. I'm glad to have done my run today, I think it will keep me energized for the work ahead.

If you like hills, you'll love this run

Did I mention there were hills?

Yesterday's workout (elliptical): 30 minutes
Today's run (Greenbelt trail): 5.9 miles

Yesterday's weather gave me no expectations for an outdoor run on Friday. Much of Long Island received 5+ inches of rain, with measurable flooding in low lying areas. The area where we live sits 200 feet above sea level, so we rarely have floods. However, we do get our share of weather related power outages. I had a busy schedule (surprising for a Friday) so to save some time, I did an elliptical workout while my wife ran on the treadmill.

Today was a different story. Yesterday's gray skies transitioned to clear and sunny. Humidity and heat were expected later in the day, but it was comfortably cool at 8:00 AM. I'm planning to run the Greenbelt trail from Bethpage State Park to my house on Tuesday morning. My friend is coming by, and we'll park my car in the lot and then run north. When we get home, he'll drive me back to the Park to get my car. I'm excited by the idea of running that route which will measure close to seven miles.

My route today mimicked part of that run. I cut through the middle school and then through neighborhood #3, before reaching the start of the newly paved bike trail. Unlike the previous time I ran this way, I had some expectations about the hills I'd encounter. I learned later that I should have expected more.

The part of the bike trail that goes along Sunnyside Boulevard starts flat, so the going was fairly easy at first. There are still orange webbed "fences" set up on the path where they continue to do construction, but it's simple to step around them. More difficult are the three unpaved sections that are either 10'x20' rectangular mud patches, water filled puddles or beds of sharp rock. Getting around them was slightly difficult, but it wasn't the biggest challenge of the morning.

Do you like hills? I don't! About halfway through Sunnyside, the elevation begins to increase at a 5% grade for the next half mile and then down again. The next three miles followed a similar pattern. It was a little like running the big hill at Bethpage over and over again. Along the way I saw a number of cyclists who were struggling as much as me (or more) to get up these hills. And they had gears!

Per plan, I went as far as Washington Ave. before turning around for the second half of my run. At this point, I've run most of next Tuesday's route. There is still a .7 mile section in between today's turnaround point and the farthest I've gone north from Bethpage. I look forward to experiencing that new ground next week. I hope it's all downhill.

A good run today - but why?

Today's run (street): 3.6 miles

I thought about yesterday's NY Times article when I went out for my morning run. As I took off, I realized how much I've focused on mid-foot landing at the start of every run. Today would be different. Let my foot fall where it may!

It was another perfect running day. I appreciated the experience, and was pleasantly surprised to see few cars and buses on the road. I went out earlier than normal because I had business in the city and needed to catch a morning train. My stride felt completely fluid and I wondered whether I was running more efficiently by not attempting to land on my mid-foot. It could also have been the cool, dry weather that was making the run feel easier.

Moving along this way, I'd hoped to see at the end that I'd compiled an amazing time. No luck there, it was just slightly better than my normal moderate pace (faster than easy, slower than brisk). Still, it was an improvement of 15-20 seconds (per mile) over what I'd averaged this past week. Was it the decision to run without thinking about where my foot landed? Or was it that I had some additional energy today? Perhaps it was the fact that I pushed just a little harder this morning.

Mid-foot running, what used to be right is wrong

Coffee bad good, land on your mid-foot heel

Today's run (street): 3.25 miles

There are some things that are constantly reported by the media in terms of safety and/or health benefits. Coffee is one. Years ago I read that consumption of coffee is tied to nervous system impairment and hyper-stimulation of the adrenal glands. Recent studies now position it as a super-food with minimum health risks related to the over-consumption of caffeine.

Another subject is barefoot-style running. Back in the olden days (pre-80's), running shoes were minimal in design and people suffered injuries when running. The answer to that was generation after generation of over-built and highly cushioned running shoes with corrective technology to control pronation. But the injury rate remained exactly the same.

Following studies at Harvard University and publication of the book Born to Run, minimal shoe design returned to the marketplace and an emphasis was put on mid-foot landing and "natural" running style. These shoes have captured almost 10% of the market and I'll admit that I've bought into it as well.

Today, the New York Times published an article in their Well blog, with research supporting heel striking as the "more physiologically economical running form, by a considerable margin." What!?? I was very surprised to read this, because the minimalist approach seems more logical. Why wouldn't a shoe that supports a bio-mechanically correct stride be the better choice?

According to the studies, heel striking seems to facilitate more efficient energy expenditure. This is the opposite from everything I've read before about the subject. I'm not sure what to do with this new information. I'll probably continue to use lighter, flatter and more minimally constructed running shoes because I prefer them. Besides that, despite all my efforts to run with an efficient mid-foot stride, my outsoles still show quite a bit of heel wear.

Summer is coming, but spring running is here

Work in progress

Today's run (street): 3.3 mile

Our house has been taken over by tree service people, who are taking care of some much needed trimming. The pool is now open, but the water color is closer to Pantone 364C than sky blue. That should clear up after a few days of shock treatments. The only thing left is to replace the fence on the outward side of the pool that was damaged by overzealous county workers doing Sandy repairs. The new fence goes up next week. Summer is coming.

Happily, it's still spring, and the humidity and gloomy skies have finally moved on. I went out for my run this morning, right after the last school bus exited the neighborhood. There aren't too many days in the year where running conditions are near perfect, but today was one of them. It may have been the lack of heat, or perhaps the cooling breeze that made my start effortless. This run came after my one weekly rest day, so that could have been a factor as well.

Before I knew it, I'd passed my first mile and I was tempted to do a true distance run, rather than a standard weekday 3.x mile workout. I reminded myself that, although I follow a flexible schedule these days, I still have work to do. Especially on a day like today, when business will keep me in the city late into the evening.

I enjoyed my run today and finished with an overall pace that was lower than any run I've done in the past week. The great weather certainly helped that happen. I enjoyed the run a lot and, like so many great things, it was over all too soon.