What's a run worth?

What is a training run worth? Is it worth risking your life? Of course it isn't, yet I am constantly surprised to see runners who take chances or make choices that could easily lead to tragedy. Yesterday afternoon I went out to do some errands and drove along the service road that borders my neighborhood to the south. This service road is a two lane, one way street that connects traffic that comes off the highway. Cars often consider the service road an extension of the highway and whiz along at speeds approaching 60 MPH.

Yesterday, as I drove it, I encountered a runner heading in the same direction as the traffic running to the left of the shoulder stripe, within the right car lane. I found this horribly naive and stupid. Cars coming around the corner are not expecting to see runners, walkers or bikers. There are no sidewalks because the road is not intended for pedestrian traffic.That runner assumed that cars would see him and move over. Bad assumption. I looked behind me using the mirror after I passed to the far left and saw a white SUV fly by the runner and sharply move into his lane just a few feet in front. I wonder if that made him think.

When I got home I went for a 1.25 mile run with my daughter. She just got a pair of running tights and wanted to give the a try. We had a great run through the neighborhood, staying on the sidewalks just to be safe.

I'm ready to race - please tell me when!

After yesterday's race we found a pamphlet on our windshield promoting the upcoming GLIRC Ho Ho Ho Holiday Run in Bethpage, NY. It looks like fun but I'm going to pass on it because we have other things scheduled that day. Besides that, I'm looking at racing a little differently than I did a year ago and I now expect to have a special reason to run a race. I love the excitement of racing, the opportunity to compete and the energy one gets from running with others. Like politics, all racing is local. Make that most racing is local. The big races in the city put on by the NYRRs and others with big sponsorships and thousands of participants probably feel very different compared to those I've run. Even the Cape Cod Marathon, with a couple of thousand runners, felt like a small town race. I mean that in a good way.

Looking ahead to 2010, I hope to try some new things and return to some that I really enjoyed. I've looked online at the LIRRC, GLIRC and even the NYRR websites to see what has been scheduled for the coming year. I've been surprised to see there's very little visibility past February. I would think that since many of the races I've run happen every year it would be easy to schedule them for next year. If so these races aren't showing up on any calenders that I can find.

With the notion that races must have some meaning I'll share my thoughts for new races and the likelihood that I will repeat any from this year.

• Marcie Mazzola 4 Mile race. This was my first race as the Emerging Runner and it was fun except for the big hill at the beginning and the smaller but unexpected hill close to the end. It's a great cause and I do have sentimental attachment so I'll put it in the maybe category.

• LI Marathon 5K. It was a fast course and up until yesterday it was my fastest pace for a run. On the other hand it wasn't very picturesque and the field of runners was small. I'll consider the 10K for 2010 but I won't repeat the 5K.

• The New Hyde Park 8K. This was mostly a neighborhood run with parts that went along a highway service road and another main road. I came out way too fast and paid a price near the end when I had expended most of my energy by the 4 mile mark. I'd call this a no unless my friend who lives in that town really wants to run it with me next year.

• Babylon Dirty Sock 10K. A great race and a great venue. I didn't have my best run that day but it was a great weekend for family and friends. Definitely a must for 2010.

• Cape Cod Marathon Relay. Another great experience involving family and friends. A beautiful course too. The only issue is the trek which involves many hours of driving from Long Island. Next year it may be possible to see some friends and family who were out of town the weekend of the race so I have to consider it for 2010 for the opportunity to see them.

• Bridie Goldstein 5K. It was the epitome of a small town race, close to home, on streets I know well. Super convenient location and a fast field. On the other hand there are a few other races that happen around this race so I'll need to consider them as well, unless I'm willing to race twice in a period of two or three days.

I'd also like to compete in a NYRR race in Central Park next year and find new, interesting, races within a reasonable distance from home. I'm thinking six in 2010 makes sense. It was a perfect number of races this year. In the meantime I hope the running clubs start posting dates past February so I can start to plan ahead.

Bridie Goldstein 5K - an Emerging Runner PR

RACE RESULT: Bridie Goldstein/MercyFirst 5K - 25:50 (PR)

The weather report said temperatures would be in the high 40's with winds gusting up to 50 MPH at the start of today's race. I was curious to see how that would translate in terms of running conditions. The weatherman said it could feel like freezing temperatures when the wind was that high. My wife surprised me on Wednesday with a gift of a Nike long sleeved running shirt and a pair of high quality compression running pants. I am no fan of Nike's shoes but I think their apparel is top notch. On Wednesday I was thinking that these clothes would be perfect for December's cold but this morning's weather made me think that today would be a good day to put them to use. I wore my Zoot short sleeve jersey over the new long sleeved shirt to ward of the sharp chill from the wind.

The race was was so close to home it only took us 5 minutes to get there. The winds were strong and it felt cold. Fortunately registration and the exhibits were set up inside the school so me, my wife and kids were able to stay warm up until a few minutes before the start. This year they had a category that included runners and their dogs so there were many woofs heard among the runners. Smartly, they had the dog participants leave two minutes after the two-legged start. It was chilly at 10 AM and we got off fast because the course starts downhill. I was careful to maintain a moderate-to-brisk pace as I had learned a lesson in previous races that a fast start can lead to a painful finish. The length of a 5K gave me some latitude for pushing hard compared with a 5 miler or 10K and I did make my way by a number of people over the first mile. Unlike other races, I didn't get the feeling that what lay ahead would be painful. However, I was concerned that so many cars were driving on the main roads while we ran alongside. Happily there were no close calls.

The course had a few hills that I thought might prove difficult but I came through them comfortably and even passed a few people during those segments. At one point, when I was a mile from the end, I started wishing the race was longer because I was enjoying the experience so much. I did get passed by a few people including some very fit runners who had dogs on a tether. After starting mid-pack I finished in the top 20% so for once I enjoyed the experience of passing more people than passed me. At the end I sprinted the last 100 yards to beat out two runners to the finish, one of whom had overtaken me right before that. As I ran past the finish line I saw my family waiting and cheering loudly: my payoff for that extra effort.

So November Emerging Runner beat May Emerging Runner by a decisive margin today. I'm pleased by that and proud of the six races that I've run this year. Next year I will likely race at some distances I ran in 2009 and I'll have a chance to beat myself at 4 miles, 8K and 10K. But today I'll enjoy the 5K 'victory' and will revel in the fact that my performance is going in the right direction.

I am the man to beat

I'm kind of happy that my race this week didn't fall on Thanksgiving Day. Although there's a good chance that I'll do a bigger race next year on the holiday (Garden City or Prospect Park Turkey Trot) this year I could look ahead to two separate events, Thanksgiving with family and the Bridie Goldstein 5K on Saturday.

Among the many great things that come with running is the framework for self competition and the events behind that. Races are fun because they allow people to test themselves in a way that's hard to duplicate elsewhere. We gauge our success in business different ways and rarely do we get to see direct results from single activities. The opportunity to compete in a race is appealing because the stakes are low but the rewards are high. I don't really care how I do against the people that line up with me on race day. It's fun to pass people and annoying when others pass me in a race but in the end these folks are really just background color. The real competition is with myself.

Tomorrow's race will be the first time I compete at a distance that I've previously raced. I'll be looking to challenge my PR of 8:33 per mile. I really don't know how I'll do since most of my runs are at a slower pace and I am usually pleased if I'm able to break 9:00 per mile. I've typically done better than that during races and I attribute it to the instinctive process of keeping up with traffic. Yesterday I ran 3.6 miles at Stillwell on the perimeter trail of the open field. I managed a pace just under 9:00 per mile which is good because I tend to run more slowly on dirt than on pavement. Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be high 40's with strong winds. Those winds can both help and hurt. Either way I'll be facing myself on Saturday for the first time. May the best man win.

2.6 or 26? Feels the same to me.

It's Thanksgiving Day morning and I've spent some time thinking about whether I should finish my race-taper with a final run, an elliptical session or simply take two days rest. Yesterday was a busier day than expected, my son accompanied me to the office and at lunchtime we spent a lot of time walking around mid-town. I was wearing my new loafers that lack arch support and also rub against my small toes so my feet were in tough shape when I got home at 5:00 PM. I didn't run that morning because I'd originally thought I'd get home earlier in the afternoon and I'd do a run then. When I did get home I felt tired and largely unmotivated to run. After some self-debate I decided to go out for a few miles in the hope that exercise would stimulate some energy. I set out for a neighborhood run and covered 2.6 miles at a mid-9 pace. Through most of the run I felt like I was running uphill carrying a pack, my legs felt weighed down and I was genuinely fatigued. When I arrived back home and looked at the time and distance I saw that I covered the same distance as a typical 4:00 AM run but it felt far longer. It's an exaggeration but you could have moved the decimal point on my distance reading one position to the right and I wouldn't have felt much different.

I've decided to head over to Stillwell Woods a little later this morning to do some laps around the big field. Four times around equals 3.4 miles, a perfect last run before my race, on a forgiving surface. This morning Adventure Girl will be running in the Turkey Trot in Prospect Park in Brooklyn with a friend from the 182 mile Ragner Relay race team she captained earlier this year. I would love to do that race some time. I understand Prospect Park is an amazing place to run and that the event is really well done. Today I'm happy to just get out and enjoy the Stillwell course. I'll rest on Friday and then run the Bridie Goldstein 5K on Saturday.

Best guess how to dress

This weekend I played around with the Runner's World feature that provides suggestions on how to dress for different weather conditions. I was curious because I sometimes underestimate how many layers I should wear during a run in the cold. Since I'd rather be too cool than too hot my default has been to wear clothes that will be comfortable for most of the run, even it that meant a chilly first mile. This has worked most of the time but I've been fooled once or twice when the wind turned a mildly uncomfortable run into torture. I thought that the RW "What should I wear?" widget would be a helpful way of determining the right set of gear. My experience with the app was mixed. Though it did represent a logical set of clothing and accessories based upon specified conditions it seemed like there was little difference on recommendations whether the temperature was 15 degrees and mild versus -15 degrees and windy. From experience I know those conditions require a completely different set of gear.

I went out this morning for an easy 2.3 miles. I wore both short and long sleeve tech jerseys and tight running shorts with my Brooks lightweight running hat and gloves. That was probably more than the RW app would recommend  but it was comfortable for the 48 degrees. I plan to run tomorrow and then do a final 30 minute+ run on Thursday, rest on Friday and race on Saturday.

So exercise and healthy eating is not enough?

In reading through New England Runner Magazine I came upon an article by a nutritionist about the balance between activity and diet. The writer's point was interesting, summed up with this quote: "[M]any runners burn far fewer calories than they realize, they are actually couch potatoes the majority of the day." Her position is that the average person sits over nine hours per day and even competitive runners exist in a cycle of activity, rest and recovery where R&R may be proportionately much higher than exercise. According to the article, a study of senior citizens showed that one additional hour of exercise a day with no additional food intake yielded no reduction in body fat. Supposedly the subjects failed to lose weight because they slept more and were more sedentary throughout the day.

If this is truly the case I'd expect to see more runners with weight problems. Perhaps there are. It's hard to gauge the fitness of other runners by sight. Aside from the ripped Ironman tri-athlete types who clearly focus on constant activity it's challenging to know just by looking. I'm thin and run with what I think is good form but I've been passed in races by people who I would never guessed were runners (and competitive ones at that).

So fitness is clearly more complicated than exercise and diet. All the same, I did lose a good deal of weight that way. I suppose I could introduce even more activity into my daily routine to better balance the sedentary/active ratio. In the end it would only mean my new pants, shirts and suits would need to be replaced yet again. Frankly, I'd prefer having a percentage point or two of body fat over another round of clothes buying and tailoring.

Happiness on the Stillwell trails

Click Replay to watch my route animated

I was bound and determined to break out of my neighborhood for a run this weekend. Yesterday's run was great but I've been missing the trails a lot. This morning I headed over to Stillwell Woods for a change of pace and I figured that a few hills could only help my conditioning. For those not familiar with Stillwell, here is a nice pictorial that I found online. The weather was beautiful, mid-40's with sun and no wind. I set out with only one goal: to go farther north than I'd ever gone before on that course.

Stillwell is a dense collection of tracks with many turnarounds and many technically challenging ascents and descents. There are lots of areas within the preserve that have different surfaces (sand, rocks, dirt/mud). I don't have the greatest sense of direction but I can guess fairly accurately based on the position of the sun and the time of day. At least I thought I could. I consciously focused on my start position in relationship to where I was headed. The trails split often and taking a left fork will often as not wrap around and take you completely in another direction after a few hundred yards. Despite my guess that I was heading northeast, I was on a southeast vector until I recognized a trail and changed direction.

Eventually I headed east and north and achieved my original goal. I chose a number of single track trails that I would have avoided in the summer because of the narrowness and overgrowth. I encountered some steep rocky hills that my Helly Hansen Trail Lizards dispatched with ease. It was quite by accident that I came so close to the northeastern corner because I thought I was heading back to my point of origin (west) as I made my way east. I stopped after about three miles to let a bunch of mountain bikers through a tight area and I checked my compass to discover I was far off from where I expected to be.

After heading back I reached the large open field that sits west of the treed majority of the preserve. After all that dense woods and uncertain navigation it felt like I was on a plane that had broken through heavy cloud cover to reveal the airport below. I felt so strong and energized that I ran past the exit to the athletic field in favor of tearing across the open field for a mini-cross country run. I ended up running around that open field one more time and I used a runner in the distance to pace me until I exited where I'd originally started. In all I covered a little less than 5 miles and still felt like I had more to give. I'm really fortunate to have an amazing place like Stillwell so close to my home.

A recovery run turns speedy

I had a tough day on Friday that included lab tests from my annual checkup. As the day went on I realized that I was too worn out to do my daily run. After getting a decent night's sleep I woke up early and considered my running options: long or short, street or trail, near or far. I've wanted to run at Caumsett State Park in Lloyd Neck which is drivable in less than 15 minutes (and probably much less at 6:00 AM on a Saturday) and thought today might be the day. On further thought, with yesterday's blood tests, I was concerned about pushing too hard while running alone so I decided to stay local and just run in the neighborhood.

My thought was to run at whatever pace felt okay because I wanted to cover at least four miles. I wasn't interested in any hill training this morning so I set a course through my main neighborhood with the thought that I'd do some loops close to home and expand my distance based upon how I felt. I did a five minute elliptical session prior to the run to gauge my energy level and I think that served as a nice warm-up to my workout. For a change of pace I took along my iPhone and ran MotionX to capture the route via GPS. I started by trying AllSport GPS but I couldn't acquire a signal so I switched apps. The MotionX did an okay job but, as usual, it was off because it cut corners. My Garmin said I covered 4.4 miles at 9:00/mile and I Gmapped the run and that said the route was actually 4.53 miles for a pace of 8:46. That's more like it. I liked the feel of the run and I felt that I could have gone a bit harder if I needed to. Perhaps the energy of the race will allow me to pick up 15 seconds per mile next Saturday for a new PR.

Thoughts on my upcoming 5K

I'm working from my home today and due to my schedule I was not able to run this morning. So far this week, even including Sunday, I've run less than ten miles. I don't know if I'll have a chance to get out today so this will likely be a low mileage week. That may be a good thing since I spent most of last week feeling tired during my runs. I'd really like to go out for a long trail run this weekend for a change of pace but I also feel like this is the last chance I'll have to train for my 5K. I looked up the layout of the course and saw that it's relatively flat but there are a couple of good hills along the way. It may be a good idea for me to try some hill training at the industrial park at some point. I also plan to get home early on Wednesday so perhaps that's the time to do that as a last hard workout prior to the race.


Saturday will be the last time I race in 2009 and it will be the 6th time I've participated in an organized race this year. Saturday's 5K will be the second time I've raced that distance this year so I have an opportunity for a new PR. The last time I raced a 5K I did it at 8:33 and won 2nd place in my age division (it clearly wasn't a competitive field) so I'd really like to beat that time if I could. On the other hand it might be fine to go out and just have fun and enjoy a race close to home with my family there to cheer me on. Right now my competitive spirit is winning so I think I'll do that hill training. I need to look at the race calendar to see what's happening in early 2010.

Easy does it, apparently

I'm thinking about how best to use the nine remaining days before my 5K on the 28th. I've had some second thoughts about this race that I've chosen over two others: the Garden City 5M Turkey Trot and the 5K Rob's Run (XC) 5K Race that's run by the GLIRC. I believe all three races are held on different days but I'm not yet at the level where I can run two (or three) races within days of one another. I chose the Bridie Goldstein race because it's local but, most importantly, because I didn't feel ready to run it last year at this time. My view of a 5K is much different now but I still see it as a challenge because I want to do better than my previous 5K pace of 8:33.

I celebrated a year and a day of the Emerging Runner with an elliptical session this morning. I wore my Garmin and HRM to see how a moderate workout on this machine compares with my daily run in terms of pulse rate. It turns out that it doesn't, despite ratcheting up the resistance I averaged about 15% lower overall compared to a typical run. I guess elliptical work is easier unless you set the machine high and maintain a faster speed than I normally attain. Maybe not as rigorous as a run but I still worked up a good sweat this morning.

Yeah, I'm STILL a runner

One year ago I posted my first entry for the Emerging Runner website. The headline was "Yeah, I'm a runner" which was a bit tongue and cheek because, at that point, I was about as much a runner as I was a blogger. In that first post I said "Actually I'm not much of a runner at this point but I want to be much better...I'm going to use this blog as a journal to remind myself of my progress and my definitions of success in the early stages of running. I'll talk about the technologies I'm using and the goals I'm setting." One year later I can, without irony, call myself a runner and a blogger.

It's been an amazing year since I first began documenting my experiences as a returning runner. Since November 18, 2008 I've participated in five races (plus a Fun Run), ran from NYC to Brooklyn and back, from NY to NJ over the GWB, followed the loops and the bridle trail in Central Park and traveled the Hudson bike path from midtown to Chambers Street. I've seen deer grazing as I ran the trails along the Old Croton Aqueduct and have been fortunate to discover great trail running close to home at Stillwell Woods, Bethpage and Belmont Lake. I've experienced the most beautiful ocean views during runs at Rehoboth Beach and on Cape Cod and I've seen Boston and Cambridge at dawn from the Harvard Bridge on the Charles River. I've run with friends and I've run alone and I've loved it both ways.

Along the way I've met great people through emergingrunner.com and through the Runner's World Loop. My humble site has grown to include columns by the Sedentary Man and Adventure Girl's Running Gone Wild. We even have a running product site with Runner's Tech Review that has gained some good readership. So 378 posts and 11,000 visits from 84 countries later, the Emerging Runner dotcom moves into it's second year. To commemorate that I've changed a few things because change keeps things interesting. It's been a great year and I have many people to thank for that. I'll start with my wife and kids for being so interested and supportive about both my running and blogging. They are great running partners in so many ways. I'll thank Adventure Girl for everything she has taught me and for helping me make the city my second running home. Thanks to my brother who has been a faithful reader and commenter, to my dad for indulging me in my running stories and to my friends who make me feel good about what I am doing and what I have accomplished.

So a year has gone by and I'm still running. I ran today at 4:00 AM and enjoyed the peace and energy of the experience. The suffering not so much. I see running differently one year later but the core of it remains the same. Yeah, I'm a runner and I think that's a pretty good thing to be.