Our natural resource

Nature was the theme of the day on Friday as the whole family headed out to the trails at Stillwell for a forestry tour conducted by none other than Adventure Girl herself. My wife and kids often visit the nearby trails for hikes but they wanted to know more about the forest, plants and trees. It was a different way of viewing Stillwell which I have previously seen only while bounding over trails, roots, puddles and rocks. We had a great time and learned a lot along the way.

After the tour my family returned home to look up the samples they collected. AG and I remained at the Preserve to do some serious trail running. I'm planning to run the Dirty Sock 10K in August so I'm trying to log some trail time. AG may join me in the race although she'll be back at grad school by then so it may be hard for her to get there. We brought along the Qstarz 1300S Sports Recorder so we could record our run and later view the area we covered on a map. Stillwell has lots of trails, some with fairly challenging sections and the layout of the trails can be confusing when you're viewing them from the ground rather than from Google Earth. I had my compass and that helped a lot. AG has a much better sense of place and direction and was able to identify some trails that we'd previously covered. The last time I ran that course I'd suspected that I was circling back over old ground a few times and now I'm sure I had. We wore our Helly Hansen Trail Lizards for a true field test and liked the result. The full report is being written for Runner's Tech Review but, in short, we felt they were capable trail shoes for shorter length runs like the 4 miles we covered yesterday.

AG stayed with us until this morning and we did a 5K+ neighborhood run cutting into neighborhood #2 along the way. Today's run was at a fairly easy pace and served as a good recovery from the rigor of Stillwell. AG wore her Helly's and pronounced them less than ideal for the street. That was the conclusion I'd also reached the first time I tried them on pavement. Before AG left us for more weekend adventures she engaged in some competitive Wii play with my son and daughter. I don't remember who won but any of them can beat me. It was a great, educational and fun filled running weekend. The best part is that there's much more to come!

Into the woods

I'm beginning to think about my 10K trail race in August. The course looks interesting, it starts at the southern end of a park and the runners move north to the top, double back along the same route and return. Along the way there's a lake to get around. I really love trail running and I enjoy racing but I'm wondering how well the two will mix. The races I've run have all been road runs with even terrain and enough room for everyone to find their own lane. Trail running, I've discovered, often involves narrow paths with obstacles to avoid. What is the protocol for this? How do faster runners get by slower runners when the trail is less than a foot wide? Who has the right of way and what happens in the out and back section when traffic doubles? I don't know why I'm worrying about this now but it comes from what I've learned in the races I have run:

1. Know the course ahead of time. Even if you can't run it beforehand, familiarize yourself with the layout using Gmaps. This provides context for how far is left to go.

2. Use tools like Google Earth to detect marked elevation changes. My April race provided a few unwanted surprises that worked against my race strategy. My end of race sprint reserve was eaten up by a final steep hill 1/4 mile from the finish.

3. Despite the adrenalin rush at the beginning that prompts you to go out fast, be thoughtful about energy conservation for the first couple of miles. A speedy start can work for you on a 5K but a 10K, especially on variable surfaces, will require every ounce of reserve.

Despite my questions about the trail race experience I am very excited to participate in this event. Later today AG will be taking me, my wife and the kids on a nature walk in Stillwell Woods and we'll follow that with a trail run. We'll be putting the Helly Hansens to the test for that and report back on how they perform on Stillwell's more challenging trails.

The one after 9:09?

You might recognize the subject of this post as an old Beatle's song. For me it's a question of how I'll do the next time I go out for a run at 4:00 AM compared to the last two days. This early morning outdoor running has been a great enhancement to my overall workout program. I cannot remember the last time I got up at 4:00 knowing that I would need to endure the tedious and percussively loud whine of the treadmill. I appreciate the machine and respect that after more than a decade it still does the job. I built my running fitness with this treadmill over many months. However, respect and affection can be very different things.

Moving from a seven-day-a-week (five on the treadmill) routine to five days running outdoors, one day of elliptical and one rest day schedule has been a big improvement. I've never been much of an outdoors person (ask my wife) but running has changed that. Give me the road and the trails (or, worst case, the track) and I'm happy. I get up excited at 4:00 AM knowing cool conditions and quiet streets await me. The only downside has been that my pace seems to suffer early in the morning, especially compared with my past treadmill experience. Where I was running 8:50 miles on the treadmill I was running 9:30 or slower outdoors. I guess it has to do with the machine providing more help than I thought.

This morning I went out fast and tried to maintain a fluid pace. I knew from experience that feeling like I was moving along quickly can be deceiving at that hour. I ended up covering almost the same distance as yesterday, 2.4 miles, but my pace had improved to 9:09. This is definitely the direction I want and I'm wondering if I can maintain this progress going forward. In the meantime it's another $20 into the Garmin fund for breaking 9:10 before the birds are up.

Banking on a Garmin 405

I've decided to target $300 for my Garmin 405 fund. As I'd mentioned previously, I'm going to contribute $20 to the fund every time I achieve a goal or perform a notable run. The goals are quantifiable but the other criteria are objective so I'll serve as both the banker and the judge. As long as I think I've earned the contribution I'll award the cash. Last Friday's 4.7 mile Central Park run was on the bubble because I didn't break 9:00/mile. On the other hand it was almost five miles, somewhat hilly with 90+ percent humidity and temperatures in the high 80's. So 9:04 overall for that distance earns the first $20. Sunday was 3.7 miles under 9:00/mi so that gets the prize as well. $40 banked.

This morning I was questioning whether to attempt my early morning run. The rain was coming down hard moments before I dressed to run. With the 4:00 AM darkness, despite my headlamp, I had concerns about visibility. I opened the garage and saw that the rain was very light, barely there in fact, so I took off hoping for the best. It really turned out to be the best, the cool breeze and the light moisture in the air felt great. It wasn't too dark and I felt limited only by the amount of time I had to run.

I ended up covering 2.4 miles at 9:16/mile. It was the fastest I've done at 4:00 AM but the judge is not awarding any prize money for that. Considering that it's tougher to go fast minutes after awakening from a sound sleep I'll concede to a goal of 9:10 for an early morning pace. Once I reach that I'll bank the money and revise the goal closer to 9:00/mile.

Erase the Bethpage 5K, bring on the Dirty Socks 10K

Last night I went online to see if registration had opened up for the Bethpage 5K. This race, held at Bethpage State Park on 7/27, is one of a series of summer races held at state parks on Long Island. I know that participation in this series is high and that people who signed up for the entire series are given priority. The race planners expect so many runners that they've asked that people carpool to the event to minimize the amount of cars and traffic. They also said that single race registration for Bethpage would only open up the week before the race. When I got on the website to get information it said "No single race registration." So, unless that was a placeholder that will be taken down today it looks like I may be out of luck for next Monday. If I am unable to participate in the 5K it will be the first month since March where I won't be racing. I suppose I could count last week's Fun Run as my July event.

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While I would love to do this 5K it would have required me to rush home early from the office and battle the crowds to make the 7:00 PM start. I think I have found a better challenge: the Babylon Dirty Socks 10K on August 23rd. This event was suggested by one of my co-bloggers on the Runner's World Loop and it looks very interesting. Most of the course is on trails and the topography is fairly flat so it could be a fast race. I have not yet competed in a 10K event so it's an opportunity to do that distance plus a trail race, both for the first time.

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This also gives me about a month to prepare and train. What better excuse for me to hit the trails next weekend?

In praise of the NB 505

At the time that I resumed running almost a year ago I only owned a single pair of athletic shoes. Those shoes were New Balance 505's; cushioned cross training/walking shoes that I'd had for years. I started my return to running by walking, covering two or three miles on the treadmill or in the neighborhood a few times a week. Up until then the 505's had served me well as the shoes I wore every weekend for almost any activity except for formal occasions.

Even with four of five years of use they still looked brand new and felt great whenever I wore them. They were perfect walking shoes and despite my assessment that I've put more than 600 miles onto these shoes they still serve me well since I don't use my many pairs of running shoes for anything but running. If my wife says we're going to Target or to the market I still reach for my 505's. 

It wasn't until I began adding some runs within my walks last August that I realized that the cushioning and stiffness of the NB's worked against me. I soon bought my first pair of running shoes (Nike Turbulence 13's) and moved to full time running. The rest, as they say, is history. Funny that when I've tried on NB street running shoes a few times since then I haven't loved the fit. However, my NB 460's are still a great choice for the trails.

I had hoped to hit the trails at least once this weekend but since my weekend schedule was tight I needed to stick close to home both days. Yesterday I covered 3.5 easy miles and this morning I went out early and was ready to move a little faster. It was about 65 degrees with moderate humidity and light winds so I worked a little on my speed and looked for routes with hills or long inclines.

After spending some time within the neighborhood I moved over to the western edge road and then went east to attack the lengthy hill on Jericho Turnpike before I re-entered the neighborhood. I ended up covering 3.7 miles at an 8:54 pace. I thought that was great considering the tougher than normal course. A brisk and challenging Friday run in Central Park and a rigorous run on Sunday book-ended three miles of CFMs on Saturday.  I covered a little less than 12 miles on those three days, a bit shorter than what I've been doing over that span but I'm definitely running harder these days.

LFD and CFM

LFD = Long Fast Distance
CFM = Comfort Food Miles

My hope for yesterday's run in Central Park was to cover four to six miles at a leisurely pace, accompanied by friends CK and AG. CK has been recovering from a stress fracture in his foot and the heat and humidity both provided a good case for an easy pace. We met at the statue of the Maine in Columbus Circle at the southwest edge of the Park and started off with this plan (suggested by CK):"Let's just run." Although it was hot and humid I felt energized and we covered the first mile at around an 8:30 pace. Pace is a relative thing and while 8:30 is a 5K race pace for me it wasn't much of a challenge for my companions. While I thought about the difficulty of maintaining a mid-8 pace for another four miles, AG and CK were happily chatting away without breaking a sweat. I finally managed to croak out the words "Can we slow this down a little?" and they immediately backed down the pace to about 9:20.

I appreciated the respite and we moved off of the paved course and onto the bridal path and followed it along the reservoir for a while. Our pace picked up and I tried to slow it down but in the interest of keeping up it didn't get much slower. I lost track of where we were and at one point I was concerned that we had miles to go and were still traveling north. I asked AG in an almost pleading way when we were going to cross over and go south and she laughed and said we already did that. That made me very happy. Around the 3 1/2 mile mark the odometer in my body reliably signaled the distance with some discomfort from my groin pull. I said that I couldn't do a faster pace from that point on although we were tracking well below 9:00 on the downhills. We finished near the southern end of the Park after covering 4.7 miles with an overall pace of 9:04. Considering the conditions and the length of the run it was long and fast and I welcomed the break. It took me almost ten minutes to feel recovered with the help of a cold bottle of water. When we got back to the office we conducted a taste test of Fruit2O water that will appear soon in Runner's Tech Review.

I had some good rest overnight but didn't want to push myself so I decided to do a slow recovery run, not more than 3 miles or so. I didn't care about pace and I didn't want to go out much more than 30 minutes. The run felt great and I thought about how sometimes it's hard (see above) and sometimes it's the equivalent of comfort food - satisfying, effortless and fully enjoyable. I had to rein myself in and though I slipped passed my 5K goal I finished 3.5 miles at around 9:20, surprisingly fast considering I meant to go slow. I want to do a trail run tomorrow if I can but our schedule for Sunday starts fairly early so I don't know if that's realistic. Perhaps I'll do it in the afternoon instead. A great thing about the trails is that most of the running is in tree provided shade. It may allow me to combine LFD with some CFM.

Sublimating my competitive nature

I was pleased to see that the Emerging Runner captured the #5 spot for the top 100 blogs on Runner's World for April, May and June. My competitive side wants me to rank higher but I'm in good company and the top four blogs deserve their positions. I let my competitive nature get the better of me earlier in the week when I took off ahead of everyone in Wednesday's Fun Run. I had given clear direction that the event was about fun not competition yet I could not resist the combination of short distance, low humidity and a downhill stretch. This morning I thought about competition and how running is mostly about competing with one's self. After a race I do check the results but I never think twice about who finished before me. I monitor my pace and distance when I train because it's fun to know what you accomplish when you work so hard.

In terms of monitoring performance, I've wanted a Garmin 405 GPS watch for a long time. I do have the Garmin 50 with foot pod and HRM and it works great so why change? For one thing it would be great to track speed and distance with maximum accuracy. It would also allow me to capture elevation through the run. It has a built-in compass which would help with trails. The 405 also has export capabilities for overlaying runs on mapping applications. I thought that I might challenge myself and hold off buying the Garmin 405 a little longer until I've met certain goals. When a goal is met I'll put a certain amount of money into a fund. When I reach the amount it will cost to buy the watch I will. A goal could be reaching 25 miles on a non-vacation week, maintaining a specific pace or reaching a distance goal. No matter what, by the time I'm done I'll feel that I have justified buying it.

This afternoon AG and I are doing our end-of-the-work week run with one of my two running advisors, CK. CK is a master runner who's competed in marathons and many distance races. He's a few years older than me but much faster. CK runs in the low sevens and regularly beats the neighborhood 20-somethings in his town's annual Turkey Trot. It will be humid and near 90 degrees when we go out to Central Park. Today my competitive nature will have to take a back seat to just keeping up with two fast and experienced runners.

Good things in small packages

Tuesday afternoon I was delighted to receive a pair of AKG K321 In-Canal Bud Headphones from the manufacturer. In the past I have written about running with a music player and my position on that has been quite negative. For one thing I'm reluctant to carry anything at all when I run so the thought of bringing along a device that weighs a third of a pound is unappealing. I've run with the Qstarz 1300S unit a few times, carrying the device in a holder that straps to my upper arm, so I've become a bit more tolerant about the idea. I've also had bad experiences with ear buds in general, their shape and my ear never seem to be compatible. I also have some hearing loss in one ear and that has taken away some of the pleasure of the headphone experience.

This is not my review of these headphones, only an initial impression. I will be posting a full review in Runner's Tech Review after I've had a chance to take them out on a few runs. I don't have my company-provided 3GS yet (I'm going to miss my Blackberry but I need the iPhone for research) so I borrowed my daughter's iTouch to try out the K321's. My first impression was "Hey, how come this doesn't hurt?" The ear buds conformed to the shape of my ear and felt fine. This was a good sign. I began playing a song and noticed that the balance was better than the outside-of-the-ear headphones that I usually use. Despite my asymmetrical hearing it sounded very natural. I haven't run with the headphones so I don't know how the fit will be when I'm bouncing down the street or following trails. Honestly, I don't think it's something I'd use for trail running anyway - I don't need any distractions when I'm doing that. More to come on those.

The other surprise I received in the mail this week was a nice plaque from the Long Island Marathon for my 2nd place finish in my age category in the 5K. I can't remember the last time I earned an award like that other than something related to business. I will display it proudly in my guest room next to my plastic Fun Run medallion.

A run most fun

Today was so busy that I haven't had a chance to post. Part of this is due to our summer outing, a picnic in Central Park that tied me up a good part of the day. The picnic itself was nice but the best part was being "race director" for our division's Fun Run/Walk.

Race director implies it was a race and I was very clear that it was strictly non-competitive (although I ended up breaking my own rule by starting out at a virtual sprint). We had a large field of participants at our starting point at the south end of the Mall in Central Park. Our course was 1.5 miles around most of the park's lower loop.

Our starter organized us well and I had the walkers leave five minutes before the runners to help everyone finish a little more closely together. With the call of the start we were off with three of us pulling out ahead. I took off very fast but AG caught up with me quickly. The rumor was that AG and I would battle for the finish and though we did end up leading the pack most of the way we were challenged by a colleague, MK, who came up fast from behind. MK stayed with us for the rest of the run and at the one mile mark the volunteer at the water/timing station announced that our split time was in the high 7:00's.

We brought it in at close to an 8:00 pace overall and the three leads finished together so there was no winner. In truth AG and MK could have finished ahead of me but they were courteous and didn't leave me behind at the end. My ego thanked them. We had some good showings with a few non-runner's who ran and finished impressively. Afterward we joined the larger group at the picnic where we handed out finisher medallions and trophies to people for "best form", best outfit, etc.

It was a great experience putting this together and the participants seemed to enjoy it a lot. Perhaps the Emerging Runner 5K isn't such a bad idea after all.

Does form follow function?

Last night, on my way down to Penn Station, I observed a runner making his way through the crowded mid-town streets. I wondered, with all the great places to run in NYC, why he picked Time Square at rush hour. What I noticed about this runner was how inefficient he looked as he ran. His stride reminded me of Elaine's dancing on Seinfeld with both feet splaying left and right and his elbows were swinging like a race walker. It made me wonder whether this was an extreme example of pronation or supination or just poor technique.

I began thinking about my own form and as I came into Penn I began watching my feet to see if they did anything strange when I walked. They looked fairly straight and I questioned whether that was due to my conscious observation. Walking with my head down was not smart because I almost ran into some people so I stopped the experiment without reaching a conclusion. I tried to look again during this morning's 4:00 AM run but quickly (and smartly) chose keep my eyes focused on the road.

There are a number of running stores in NYC that have treadmills and video cameras that allow sales people to capture a person's stride so they can recommend a specific shoe or shoe type. A ten second walk across the floor was all the analysis done to put me in my Brooks so I really don't know if I'm an efficient runner. I'm thinking about my next pair and whether I want to price shop for what I think I want or if it's worth paying more to find out what I really need.

Thanks for your opinion but I love running

Our neighbors hosted a party yesterday to celebrate their son's graduation. I was talking with a few people when my neighbor walked over and mentioned that he hadn't seen me running in the neighborhood on Saturday. I told him that I'd done a run on the trails at Stillwell instead. I said that he should join me there some time but he smiled and said he'll stick with walking on the treadmill. This exchange prompted a few people to ask me about my running. One person (predictably) reacted as if I'd said that I'd spent the morning killing baby dolphins. "The only time you'll catch me running is when the beer truck is leaving." Hey, thanks for your opinion. Others were more gracious about it but still implied some negativity with statements like: "You're going to ruin your knees" and "Walking is just as good." I told one person that running shoes have evolved to the point that knee problems are unlikely as long as you replace your shoes after four or five hundred miles. He said that he had better things to spend his money on. You just can't help some people.

I've learned long ago that these negative reactions are mostly a projection of people's insecurities. Their negativism likely comes from guilt that they aren't able, or willing, to do the work. I remember when I was very active with karate some people would either poke fun of it verbally or do dumb things like pretend to shoot me with their finger to show that even the best martial artist is powerless against a gun. My point back to them was while they could pretend their finger was a weapon, mine actually was. After a while I'd just agree with them because it wasn't worth discussing.

In truth, I'm pleased that so many people find running to be a distasteful activity. Although I like seeing other runners on the road or on the trails I also like that most of the time it's a peaceful solitary experience. So when people drive by and look at me running with a miserable expression on my face, they can feel good about why they don't subscribe to this crazy sport. For me, I may look unhappy but I love it nonetheless. So in a way we all win!