Star Treks - biking and running at Stillwell Woods

Twin Treks - two times the fun

Today's workout (Stillwell Woods): 6.5 miles (bike), 3.15 miles (run)

I'm no longer plagued with noticeable knee pain but the problem hasn't fully disappeared. I'm looking at lower impact workouts to help facilitate recovery. One way to do this is to incorporate more elliptical workouts and to do some biking. This morning KWL came by at 7:00 AM and put on a bike repair clinic, making me and my wife's (15 year old) Trek hybrids trail-worthy in less than 30 minutes. KWL rode one of the Treks instead of his high end Scott mountain bike to keep things even.

Once we made the 5 minute drive to Stillwell we unloaded the bikes and it was strange being one of the "bike guys" rather than solely a trail runner. After a couple of last minute adjustments we headed into the woods with my Garmin 210 and KWL's Garmin 800 recording our progress via GPS. It's been years since I've done more than a cursory bike ride around the neighborhood so after finding myself on hilly and rooty single-track I was a little bit nervous. I was surprised how well I was able to move along and quickly gained the confidence to pick up my speed. The trails at Stillwell were whizzing by, much different from the way it looks when I run them.

KWL demonstrated techniques for navigating rough sections and he taught me optimal body position and when it was best to rise from my seat. This helped a lot when we were going over roots, rocks and other obstructions. KWL also guided me on what gears I should use when going up a rise or negotiating a steep descent. We followed my standard running route that is mostly packed dirt but there is one section that's a mix of sand and gravel and two consecutive gravel and sand covered hills that required a lot of speed on run-up, lest you fall back or stop.

We rode for about 50 minutes and then quickly changed to running gear and headed back into the woods for a 5K trail run. It seemed much different running those trails after flying along them minutes before. I felt as though I was running in slow motion but we actually covered the first mile in under 10 minutes. By mile two the hard work of the ride was catching up with me and I looked forward to finishing. We came around for our last loop and my right quad was complaining loudly. I told KWL that I felt the same as I did at the end of the half marathon. He completed a 120 mile ride last Sunday with 102 miles done during the GrandFondo challenge and had no problems with our ride but he also felt the run.

I'm finally able to upload my activities on the Garmin to both Connect and Training Center and I've enjoyed the mountain of data that you can analyze. One feature that I like about Training Center is the capability to overlay two runs and directly compare progress via two small circles that move along the path relative to their speed on the course. It's me vs. me. I like those odds.

I loved this morning's bike-and-run combo and I know I made progress on my fitness. Mountain biking is a blast, even when you're riding on a bike that weighs twice as much as its modern day equivalent.

Blogger troubles and Garmin struggles



The lost post is still lost. Note today's date

 Yesterday's run (street): 2.5 miles
Today's run (street) 2.3 miles

It looks like yesterday's post may be gone forever. According to the status reports from Blogger, I should have seen my last post restored when the system was brought back up. This has not been the case. It's frustrating and a little scary. You assume that Google would have been competent enough to back up its servers or cache recently posted content before taking down the system for "maintenance."  I may reconstitute Thursday's post using both my original draft and a prematurely published version. Or maybe I'll just let it go and call it the Great Lost Post. Although I should say it wasn't all that great.

Editor's note: Missing 5/12 post has been restored by Google

My post: "Garmin 210 -- Upload troubles but consistent inaccuracy" referred to an unsuccessful attempt to upload run data from the Garmin 210 to Garmin Connect. I'm hoping to resolve that issue this weekend. Wednesday and Thursday the Garmin under-counted my runs by about 3.5%. This was a disappointment, but not entirely unexpected, since my prior experience with GPS tracking on my iPhone showed substantial inaccuracies. I want to see what the Garmin recorded in terms of route vectors compared to my actual path so I can better understand where the 210 came up short.

This morning I went out for a run and I followed a different route from Wednesday and Thursday's. This time the error was only 2.2%. I had discussed the accuracy issues with FS who suggested that this morning's route may have had less curves and turns which would explain the higher accuracy. I believe she has a point. I'm really hoping I can get the Garmin to actually connect to Garmin Connect so I can upload and analyze my runs. Tomorrow morning KWL and I are  planning to do a mountain bike ride and follow it with a 5K or 4 mile run. It will be the first time trying the 210 in the woods. Should be interesting.

Garmin 210 -- upload troubles but consistent inaccuracy

Today's run (street): 2.5 miles

Yesterday's run, as recorded by the Garmin 210, came up short when compared to route mapping on both Gmaps and Google Earth. The variance in distance was about -2.5%. That seems close when viewed reciprocally (being 97.5% accurate) but I commonly saw less than +/-1% variance with a calibrated foot pod. I tried to upload my run to Garmin Connect so I could view the GPX and KMZ files that would show the recorded vectors against a Google map and, perhaps, reveal where the GPS capture cut corners. Unfortunately that attempt didn't work within the time I had to try it so I'll fight that battle this weekend.

I went out today and followed the same route as Wednesday, using yesterday's distance as a benchmark. Both runs felt about the same but I ran about 39 seconds longer this morning. The Garmin recorded the route .01 miles less than yesterday's distance so at least the 210 is consistent in its inaccuracy. I'm disappointed with Garmin for having such poor documentation related to uploading runs and I'm also disappointed to discover that the GPS is under-recording my distance. But I do like the watch and I'm certain that I'll get it all figured out eventually.

First run with the Garmin 210

Now it's just me, the road and 10 satellites

Today's run (street): 2.5 miles

Last night UPS delivered my new Garmin 210 and I was excited by the prospect of doing my morning run free of the foot pod and calibration concerns. The foot pod wasn't necessary but after the watches' first use I do question the overall accuracy. I bought the watch online this weekend -- the basic 210 without the foot pod/HRM bundle. I got a great price and free delivery two days later. I un-boxed the watch and plugged it in to charge the lithium battery. Setup took seconds and the watch automatically acquired the date and time via satellite signal.

This morning I was excited to try the watch. My only experiences with GPS tracking were with various GPS apps on my iPhone (bad) the QStarz Sports Recorder (worse). I stepped outside and activated the satellite receiver and the 210 grabbed its connection in seconds. My iPhone usually takes minutes to get a GPS signal. I hit the start button and off I went. My knee is still bothering me but after getting the "okay" to run from the doctor yesterday I accepted the mild pain. Three minutes into the run the pain disappeared and I was able to focus on my form. I think my stride was a little unbalanced at first but I managed to pick up my pace without a problem.

I passed mile one a short distance after my known benchmark but it was close enough to think the GPS's accuracy was in the ballpark. I covered the first mile in 9:27, mile 2 at 9:01 and the last half mile at an 8:50 pace. Those were my calculations based on careful retracing of my route on Gmaps. The 210 recorded my distance .07 miles (2.8%) less than that. I'll be curious to see if the accuracy varies consistently. I'm hoping that an examination of the GPX file overlay on Google Earth will show where the 210's GPS cut corners to end up short. Unless of course, it's actually Gmaps that's off...

Time for my knee to see the doctor

Today's workout (elliptical): 25 minutes

I'm still paying the price for over-training prior to my half marathon. I obviously aggravated something in my left knee that got worse as a result of the race. Since then I've tried to minimize impact on my knee by keeping my runs below 5 miles. Despite that, my knee continues to feel sore and I'm now experiencing pain in the heel of my left foot.

I iced my knee for about 90 minutes last night and took Aleve before I went to bed. It felt okay when I got up and though I planned to do my usual 2+ mile run this morning, I decided that a no impact workout would be a better choice. I pushed as hard on the elliptical as I would have if I'd ran and in the end I knew I made the right decision. Later today I'm seeing the company doctor (who I understand is also a runner) to get his opinion on whether my injury should be looked at by an orthopedist (please say no!).

Running difficulty? It's mostly in your head

I reached a point in both my runs this weekend where I thought "Gee, this is hard." But when I thought about it I couldn't really identify the thing that was making my run feel difficult. I wasn't having trouble with my breathing or my knee. My legs were beginning to lose energy but they weren't painful. I realized that the run felt hard because I had covered a certain distance and assumed that's how I should be feeling.

The mild discomfort I felt after four miles of steady pacing was nothing compared to the "I just want it to stop!!" feeling I'd experienced during last Sunday's half marathon. I tried to think about how I'd felt four miles into that 13.1 mile race. Four miles represented only 30% of the distance I'd prepared to cover, while on Sunday it represented my full distance. Had I previously decided to run five miles instead of four would my discomfort have started later? It's clear to me that the hardest part of running (until you reach your physical limits) is preventing a perception of difficulty from undermining a good run.

Morning at Stillwell and Caleb Smith at noon

Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 4.25 miles

Today is Mother's Day and it's been busy. I wanted to get going early but due to some ad hoc celebrating, I didn't get out the door at 7:00 as I'd planned. By 8:15 I was at the trail head at Stillwell Woods with temperatures in the low 50's and bright sun. The holiday had kept most people at home. While I love company on the trails, I was glad to have the place more or less to myself.  I saw some bikers staging in the lot but didn't encounter anyone but hikers during my run.

The woods were alive with birds, rabbits and other creatures and the humidity was so low I didn't even break a sweat until I'd completed my second mile. I wasn't paying attention to my pace but knew I was moving well and I managed get through the hills without much trouble. Due to our tight schedule I kept the run to around 40 minutes but that was sufficient for my needs. My knee is much better at this point but I still feel some soreness when I go from sitting to walking. Happily this disappears with activity and I don't experience any pain when I'm running. Keeping my distances under five miles this weekend was a good move. I'll look to add more distance next weekend.

Things were ducky on the lake at Caleb Smith

One of our Mother's Day activities today involved a return to Caleb Smith Park Preserve in Smithtown, NY. We like this park a lot. It has well groomed and well marked trails, good access to its lake and a small but interesting nature museum. Four miles of trail running and then some hiking at Caleb Smith made for an active day. Later we spent some time setting up umbrellas and furniture in the pool area, providing an unexpected but welcomed upper-body workout.

A whole different level of gear

Grand Fondo registration

Today's run (street): 4.5 miles

Yesterday afternoon I headed over to the Roseland Ballroom with KWL and another friend so they could pick up their Grand Fondo race bibs and their official Giordana race jerseys. Unlike the race event shirts we runners get, these jerseys are full zip form-fitting tops that probably cost more than the registration fee of a major 10K. Consequently, there were numerous race participants trying their shirts to make sure they fit perfectly. I suspect many of these jerseys will be worn on race day.

Clothes, bikes and gels for sale

Following the number pickup was a visit to the Expo. The scale was small relative to the RXR LI Marathon Expo I attended last week but there was a lot to look at. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences between a cycling and a running expo. Like running, cycling has its nutrition, hydration, gear, clothing and shoes. But unlike running, there is a whole other world of amazing technology -- carbon frames that cost $3,000, wheels that seem to weigh less than the spokes of my old Raleigh (and cost 10X as much), and sleek machines that rival the most exotic Italian sports cars in terms of functional design.

Focus bikes, an emerging high end brand

It was great to see all this cool technology yet I felt no emotional desire for the clothes, gear or bikes. I'm planning to get my 15 year old Trek road-ready so I can do some cross training at Bethpage and possibly Stillwell but I have no desire to buy a Specialized Stumpjumper. After all, I can buy 50 pairs of Saucony Kinvaras for the same price.

This morning I went out for my first serious run since Sunday's race. I ran on Wednesday but kept things easy and slow. Today, despite the mild soreness of my knee, I hit the road intending to cover 3-4 miles. I figured that if my knee flared up I'd shut down the run to prevent further injury. I'm pleased to say that I had no issues at all. Hours later my knee still feels good - even better than before I ran. I covered 4.5 miles at a mid-nine minute pace. Though I felt I was running faster than that I was satisfied and glad to be firmly back to running in the 9 minute range.

Protect the knee and then build the base

Half marathon finish

I went out after work with some friends and got home later than I normally do. That cut into my sleep and I decided to rest instead of running this morning. I'm very close to full recovery from my half marathon last weekend but my knee is still a little sore. I compare it to how it felt last Saturday, the day before my race. I didn't feel guilty for skipping a workout today because I feel another day without impact on my knee can only help.

I had hopes of going out this weekend and doing at least one heroically long run to mark my post-half arrival. I'm now thinking about a different approach, where I cap my distance at around four miles on each run. That way I can protect my knee as it recovers and add distance each week until I'm back to 10+ mile base runs.

I had lunch with my friend CMc yesterday and he reinforced the need to do training runs at (or longer) than my targeted race distance. This makes sense since I'd never run 13 miles before Sunday and my performance took a tumble after 11. A steady diet of 10+ mile runs at least once a week will put me in good shape to run another half, should I choose to do so. Even if I stay primarily with 10K's I'll see great benefits from that type of training. I really want to be better prepared for my next race.

Goodbye foot pod, hello Garmin 210

Not sure what I want more, the watch or the displayed performance

Today's workout (elliptical): 20 minutes

I'm thinking again about buying a GPS watch. My frustrations with using a foot pod are rising due to accuracy issues and, except for treadmill runs, a GPS solution may be preferable. I started using the Nike sensor back in 2008 to track my performance. It worked fairly well once I got the hang of calibrating it but this technology was only accurate when paired with Nike shoes (that have a well to secure the chip). I don't like Nike shoes and, besides that, the wristband that captured the feed via RFID link was poorly made. After replacing it twice I asked for a refund and bought a Garmin FR50.

The FR50, and later, the FR60 are a great design. I truly love the watches and their easy synchronization with Garmin Connect. My key issue is with the foot pod that uses an accelerometer and needs to be tuned for every shoe. Since I'm a bit of a shoe freak and often switch between pairs it usually creates issues with calibration. I manage these issues through ad hoc adjustments that never quite coincide with my true distance. I've done my share of runs using GPS apps on the iPhone and the results are universally bad, although they offer some good features other than tracking.

With all that I'm reading good things about the Garmin 210, a less complex version of their 400 (and now 600) series GPS watches. The 210 lacks some of the features that the higher end watches have but the 210 does support a foot pod sync (for indoors) and wireless connectivity to a heart rate monitor. I'm going to start pricing out this watch. Father's day is coming!

First post-half marathon run

Today's run (street): 2 miles

This morning I returned to road running for the first time since Sunday's half marathon. Yesterday's elliptical session yielded good results and it gave me the confidence to push  a little more today. I'd already tested the soundness of my knees and legs with some strides up and down the corridors of my office yesterday morning. It was just after 7:00 AM and there were few people around so I didn't feel ridiculous running the few hundred feet in my black oxfords. That "running" confirmed my belief that I was ready to do it for real.

Although the temperature was showing 58° on the local news channel it felt colder than that when I stepped outside. The driveway was wet and I thought it was raining but that turned out to be runoff from my neighbor's sprinkler system. I started easy with short strides and a relaxed cadence but everything seemed to be in working order. The first half mile was run deliberately, but with a runner's form. As I ran that first segment I thought about my last half mile on the race course and how hard it was to simply propel my legs as I came through Eisenhower Park toward the finish line. My stride felt much more natural this morning.

I ran the second mile 1:20 faster than the first and this further validated my belief that moderate activity after a long run helps restore muscles, speeds recovery and increases performance. I'll go out for a long run this weekend and then take some time to run intervals. I'm curious to see if building my base and also training for speed will yield the performance that has eluded me lately.

Hair of the dog

Today's workout (elliptical): 15 minutes

I know what's good for ya!

It was no surprise to experience a recurrence of knee pain yesterday after covering so much ground on Sunday. On top of that, my quads, hamstrings and calves felt uncomfortably tight every time I went from sitting to walking. I'd read an article about recovering from a half marathon that suggested that a short amount of moderate activity the second day after this long run would help restore flexibility to muscles. I think there's something to that claim.

Yesterday KWL and I went out for lunch and, afterward, walked over to SBR, a triathlete shop on 58th Street. KWL is riding the 100 mile Grand Fondo NY challenge on Sunday. This race starts on the GW Bridge in Manhattan and goes all the way to the top of Bear Mountain and back. He's thinking about participating in a run-bike-run duathlon the following weekend. After we'd covered some distance around midtown I noticed that walking made my legs feel much better.

With that reinforcement I elected to do a moderate elliptical session this morning. I kept my speed in check and set resistance to the low-middle range. After 15 minutes I felt like I'd accomplished the goal of activating my leg muscles, raising my heart rate and generating a sweat. I could have gone longer but I decided less would be more. I'm feeling very good after that. If this continues (and the rain holds off), I may go for an outside run tomorrow morning.

The day after 13.1

Okay, another new race distance has been crossed off the list and I look forward to returning to my normal training schedule. I'm not surprised that my legs feel a bit stiff and sore this morning. It's a nice reminder of yesterday's effort.

The winner of yesterday's half marathon probably crossed the line just a few minutes after I'd reached the 10K point at around the 60 minute mark. It struck me that while 13.1 miles is a long distance to cover, my bigger accomplishment was pounding the pavement for over 140 minutes. That's 2+ hours running at more than double my resting heart rate. Daily Mile calculated that I burned about 2,000 calories during the race. That's like going a day without eating!

I need to get my knee back in shape but soon after that I will resume my long distance training. Even if I don't run another half marathon this year, base building will certainly help me be more competitive during my 10K races. The pain of yesterday's last few miles is already fading. I'm starting to think about the next half that I might run.

2011 LI Half Marathon race report

Minutes before the start

Today's run (LI Half Marathon): 13.1 miles (10:50/mile)

Today's race was a new experience for me in two ways. It was my first half marathon and the longest distance I've ever run. My performance was nowhere as good as I'd hoped it would be, with an overall pace of 10:50, but I don't really care about that. I expected to do better because I thought I'd done all the right things to prepare. I didn't run for the seven days prior to the event, followed my hydration and fueling plan to the letter, started slowly to reserve energy and worked to maintain good running form. But the results speak for themselves.

My greatest concern for today's race was whether my knee had recovered from my last long base run. I'd definitely hurt something on that 8.25 mile run and, even this morning, it was still a little sore.  My knee became a problem about a third of the way in. I'll get to that later.

I arrived early (6:30 AM) but Lot 6 in Eisenhower Park was already halfway filled up. I wore some layers over my race shirt to stay comfortable prior to the race which I stowed in a backpack at the starting point. UPS nicely provided bag transport to the finish line. I brought electrolyte drink in my hand bottle and added some extra salt. I didn't want to use that before the start but I couldn't find any water and I felt dry. Rather than keep searching for water, I got into the very long line for the Port-a-potty's. This is often an issue at races. It seems like everyone queues up behind a group of them but a few never seem to be used. It wouldn't be a popular job but race organizers could do better by managing the bathroom lines and resources. As a result, there were dozens of runners who took it upon themselves to use the fields that paralleled the starting area for relief (below).

Open sourced bathrooms

The race started on time. I brought my iPhone with me and used MotionX GPS because it has a feature that sends emails every 5 mins with a map and your current position. My wife and kids couldn't join me today but they were able to follow my progress this way. I also had my Garmin and I hit "start" as I stepped on the mat at the starting line. The Garmin's distance calibration was really off but the stopwatch feature was accurate. I followed the crowd, taking the first three miles in just over 30 minutes (actual). The crowd kept things tight but it was close to where I wanted to be at that point. I felt good.

I hadn't realized that the course wound back around Nassau Coliseum so I was puzzled to find us going opposite to the direction I'd expected. Before long we spilled out to Merrick Ave. which borders Eisenhower Park to the west. All was going well until I reached Old Country Road and turned right. My knee, which had felt perfect from the start, began to protest. The pains were sharp and I worried that, with nine miles left to go, I could be doing real damage to my knee. I considered dropping out but I slowed down and the pain was reduced to the point where I felt I could continue. I continued to moderate my pace to ensure that I wasn't doing damage.

We ran through downtown Westbury and it was fun to to see it by foot since I'm usually driving it. They've done a nice job revitalizing the storefronts. I had taken a GU Roctane 30 mins before the start and planned to take another gel at 5 miles so I consumed a GU Expresso Love just before we reached Jericho Turnpike. Along the way I'd been taking sips of the electrolyte mix and grabbing water at every station. I think this combination of fuel and liquids helped me most of the way.

I wasn't running fast but I never stopped throughout the entire race. My heart rate was where it should have been and that's another reason why I'm puzzled by my slow pace. I think I did fairly well for the first 10 miles but the last three were very difficult. The segment that we ran on Jericho went well enough and I was glad to turn onto Brush Hollow Rd. because I had fooled myself into thinking the hard part was over by then. We made our way up the on-ramp to Wantagh Parkway which was a tough hill at that point. We followed that highway for about a mile and a quarter and hit another hill before breaking off Old Country Road where the full marathoner's split off to follow their route.

We quickly turned on Carmen Avenue which represented the 10 mile point but less than a mile later I saw the 24 mile marker for the full marathoners and (in my race fog) deduced we were suddenly at mile 12. In fact it was mile 11. At this point I was fading and all the gels, electrolyte fluid and water stops were not helping me the way they had previously. We entered Eisenhower Park 1/4 mile before the real mile 12 and my calves started cramping painfully. I thought for a moment about stopping and decided "not now, not ever." There's nothing wrong with walking in sections but I didn't want to do that because I feared it would drop my heart rate and make it all the harder to resume.

My friend Brian had warned me that the 2+ mile run through Eisenhower Park would seem long and he was right. OMG it took forever to get to the finish line and the last mile felt like running in peanut butter. I kept telling myself "just go, just keep going" and eventually I reached the winding safety cone path that led to the finish line. My heart sank when I saw my finish time. I was hoping to beat 2:06 but I was nowhere near that time.

Oh, this? It's nothing really.

But I finished! I was fairly disoriented as I walked along the post-chute pathway, following those who had finished right before me. I must have looked bad because a race volunteer came over and said "are you alright?" I said yes but I wish she had given me some water. Our line wound past volunteers handing out finisher medals (my first ever BTW)  and into a tent where they handed out string backpack race bags containing fruit and a bagel. I explored the Finish Line Festival but was anxious to return home to see my family. I called my wife and she and the kids were hooting it up, congratulating me. They had just seen me cross the line minutes before on the latest MotionX update. Seconds later the iPhone died due to the GPS drain. Perfect timing.

I got home and was greeted with excitement by my wife and kids. The kids made me great cards commemorating the achievement. I noticed that on my pre-race "To Do" and checklist that my wife had added "Run 13.1 miles" and it was checked off. It was an amazing morning and a new and exciting experience. Will I run another half marathon? Possibly, some day. I have to forget how hard this one was before I do that. Will I ever run a full 26.2? I just can't imagine it!

Tomorrow I earn the shirt

Do the clothes make the man?

My friend Brian, who has run his share of races, sent me a note regarding tomorrow's half marathon. He said: "Remember to Take in the Moment. 1/4 or 1/2 way through the run you'll be saying to yourself...."I'm really doing this."

I thought that was a really good perspective. I've run many races at this point but a half marathon represents important new ground. I'll admit that I liked collecting my race number last night at the Expo and receiving the dark orange technical race shirt that the marathoners and half marathoners get. But picking up the racing shirt is one thing, earning it on the race course is another. It was a nice surprise to also receive an LI Marathon racing hat and some excellent running socks.

Tomorrow morning I'll line up to run my longest distance to date. That means that once the gun sounds I'll spend the next two-plus hours racing along a 13.1 mile course. By now I've thought through my pacing strategy, my race day hydration, nutrition plan and fueling. My knee feels much better than it did a week ago but it's still a little tender. I finally feel ready to take this on. At least as ready as I can be. After six weeks of training, with a focus on building my base, I'll face my biggest racing challenge yet. You only get one first experience at every distance. I will definitely follow Brian's advice tomorrow and take in the moment as often as I can.

The value of a single workout

Today's workout (elliptical): 25 minutes

What is the value of a single workout? Can one exercise session make a difference? As I wait for Sunday, holding off from my daily runs to protect my knee, I'm thinking about the marginal value of a workout. Whether I ran Mon-Wed this week as planned or rested (as I did), it's unclear which choice would have prepared me best for my race.

My knee is still sore but the pain is abstract. It doesn't hurt to put pressure on my leg but there's enough soreness to remind me that recent damage was done. Earlier in the week I ran through some core exercises to keep active even if I couldn't run. Those sessions were useful but they didn't provide the same satisfaction that I get after a hard workout.

This morning I decided that I'd waited long enough. I spent 25 minutes on the elliptical using one of the lowest resistance settings but I worked up a good sweat and reinforced my aerobic conditioning. Today's session probably did little in terms of helping my fitness but psychologically it was a highly effective workout.

Resting is as hard as running

Tapering for this race has been tough. My knee is still exhibiting some soreness but I know I still have 3+ days of recovery prior to the half marathon. I wanted to get in one more run before Sunday but decided that protecting my injury is a far better strategy. I know that I shouldn't lose much conditioning after holding off from running for eight consecutive days but I'm struggling with the idea that I might. This lack of aerobic exercise is making me grouchy. I suppose it's better to have a negative response to rest than to embrace the sedentary lifestyle.

Getting strategic

This is my fourth consecutive day without a run. It's probably the longest I've gone without running since recovering from pneumonia over a year ago. My knee has responded well to the icing and compression and is much improved today. If it wasn't so close to race day I would have tried an easy run this morning. I felt like I needed to do some type of workout when I got up so I did a series of core exercises that included push ups and sit-ups. I'm not sure how much benefit I got from all that but I did work up a sweat.

I'm thinking a lot right now about my strategy for hydration and nutrition during the race. I'll carry electrolyte drink in a hand bottle and also rely on the water stations to supplement my supply. I've used GU Espresso Love and Roctane gels and I like them both. Per discussions with friend FS, I'll plan to take one 30 minutes prior to the start, another at around 4 or 5 miles and the last one at the 10 mile mark. My friend and accomplished marathoner CMc stressed that I should start slow and work up my pace as I go. Sound advice on all counts.

Marginal improvement

I've been holding off on activity since Friday because my knee is still tender and I don't want to do anything to aggravate it further. Yesterday afternoon I'd had enough of sedentary living so I ran through a series of core exercises and added some sit ups and push ups to the mix. I wouldn't call it a hard workout but at least it was something.

I've returned to work and have been wearing a flexible knee brace most of the day. There is still noticeable soreness in my leg and the pain seems to be primarily located just above the medial side of the meniscus. The pain has lessened but I still feel some occasional twinges when I move my leg laterally. I'm becoming more optimistic that I'll have sufficent recovery by the weekend. It is disappointing to have an injury so close to an important race but that's the way it goes sometimes.

The RICE stuff

The good news is that I seem to be doing everything right in terms of treating my knee injury. The bad news is that I seem to actually have an injury. I had hoped the pain was just soreness caused by a couple of longer than average runs this week but I obviously aggravated the tendons around my knee. Most of Friday's run happened on dirt trails and I would have expected that surface to cushion the pounding but the previous day we'd hiked a good distance and the day before that I spent 35 minutes on the elliptical using its highest setting. I'm a little nervous that I won't sufficiently recover for the LI half marathon that takes place one week from today.

I'm resting today and if my knee doesn't feel perfect on Monday I'll rest again tomorrow. If my recovery requires a hiatus from all workouts between now and next Sunday I'm prepared to do that. Besides, at this point I don't think additional short distance running will build any more conditioning. On race week a taper helps maintain fitness and rest is already part of that strategy. I've been practicing RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation and I'm definitely noticing some improvement. I'll continue to follow that process and hope for the best.

Taper plan & knee pain

Ice me!

I know I've pushed a little harder than normal over the past week, including two 8+ mile training runs, but I was surprised to wake up with a sore knee this morning. I'm not even sure if it's my knee or the muscles surrounding it, but it's clear that after ten days of runs and workouts I need to take a day to recover.

As predicted, the rain is coming down hard this morning. I'm actually happy about that. Nothing to tempt me to step out for a few miles. Rest is both prescribed and necessary. I'm using the Active Wrap cold packs to ice my knee and the areas directly above and below it. I'm not sure whether to run tomorrow (if the weather gets better) or if I should give my legs another day of rest.

I'm being more conservative about this taper than usual. Right now I'm thinking that I'll hold off this weekend and do easy runs on Monday and Wednesday, with a tempo run on Tuesday. I'll then rest on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and limit my activities on those days to walking or core work. I'm hoping that additional rest days will pay off. Eight days to go and counting...

Finally, I'm excited that my running buddy Brian will be joining me at the LI Half Marathon. He ran it last year and carried a video camera, documenting what turned out to be a difficult race. I'm thinking he'll have a better time of it this year. I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep up with Brian and another friend, TC, who just ran the Hook Half Marathon in under two hours.

A last long run before the half

Trail head to Southards Pond

Today's run (Belmont Lake State Park): 8.35 miles

After yesterday's tough hike (on top of a truncated morning speed session) I really wanted to give myself a day to recover. The weather for Saturday is not promising. It's supposed to rain the first half of the day and I wanted to get in one more long run before I tapered for my upcoming race. I decided to run the trails along Southards Pond and Belmont Lake in Babylon. These trails make up the Dirty Sock 10K course, one of my favorite places to run and a perfect spot for a training run.

I started at the trail head that serves as the exit to the Dirty Sock finish line and as I ran I thought about how two of my four hardest races were run on this course. Part of that related to the late August dates of the Dirty Sock race and the heat and humidity that comes with that. Today it was cool (42° F) and dry, so I had little concern that the weather would affect my performance.

I reached Southards Pond quickly and soon connected to the main trail that took me under the RT 27 trestle where a flutist was playing the Hollies' song "Bus Stop" (Bus stop, wet day, she's there, I say / Please share my umbrella). It's not the first time I've run through there accompanied by flute music but it was still an unexpected pleasure.

The path winds quite a bit from there and eventually goes under the Southern State Parkway that sits just south of Belmont Lake. I ran around the lake taking in the water view, trees, ducks, swans and geese. I was feeling good so I ran a second time around the lake before heading south on the trail. When I reached 4 miles I took my first sip of Gatorade G2 and continued to do that every half mile from then on. I've discovered that this technique works well for me and I plan to do this during the half marathon.

My run back to the trail head was unremarkable and I felt that my conditioning was adequate for 13 miles. The only concern I had today was with my feet -- my small toes got mashed in my Kinvaras and I worried about how they'd do if I had to run another 5 miles. I plan to run in the Mirages during the race which will help in terms of support and structure but I need to figure out a way of protecting my toes.

Now it's time to step down the rigor and prepare for the 13.1 miles that lay ahead on May 1st.

Quad pain? How about a 5 mile hike!

My daughter takes the lead as we head toward the water

Today's workout (track intervals + hike)

I had hoped to repeat the experience of Monday's interval training and headed to the track with family in tow and stopwatch in hand. After a short warm-up around the track my daughter and I ran a few timed sprints. Before long my left quad began to protest loudly. It didn't feel so much like an injury as it did a warning and I quickly backed off. I circled the track again a couple of times at an extremely easy pace and then called it quits. My wife completed her workout on the track and we headed back home.

After lunch (and icing my quad) we headed to Caumsett State Park for a hike. Caumsett, which is located on 1,750 acres in Lloyd Neck, sits directly below Long Island Sound. It's only about 15 minutes from our house yet we'd never been there. The Empire Passport certainly makes it easy to explore new venues since there's no admission fees to dissuade you from visiting. We were amazed by the white-capped waves and ocean spray as we made our approach to the park entrance. We began our hike after looking at the map and headed north along one of the main paved trails.

Due to its adjacency to the Sound, the winds were strong and a little chilly, but that didn't bother us much. At the 1.5 mile mark we reached a mansion that is the former home of Marshall Field III. Directly behind this building are rolling grounds that flow sharply down to a pond that's circled by a dirt and sand path. Directly north of the pond is the beach line of the Sound. The kids played a little on the water but the winds were fierce so we headed back to the pond trail and followed it to another main trail that eventually took us back to our starting point.

We covered about five miles and about a third of that was on hills. It was a great workout for everyone and I had ideas about returning for a long run tomorrow morning. I will admit that the idea of doing a long run with those hills and that wind is a bit daunting. I'll see how I feel tomorrow when I get up. I'd actually prefer a rest day on Friday but with bad weather predicted for Saturday and Sunday, Friday may be my last opportunity to run a measurable distance before the LI Half.

For the record I did not eat cat

Misfortune cookies

Today's workout (elliptical): 35 minutes

Last night my family took me out to a local Chinese restaurant for my birthday and we had a great meal and a great time. We kept things going when we got home with ice cream and fortune cookies that were ostensibly packaged up with our dinner's leftovers. They gave me the honor of opening the first fortune cookie and it read "You just ate cat." There were a number of other questionable fortunes in the other cookies that were actually purchased online by my family. I found it all very amusing.

My plan today was either to rest or return to the track for some speed work. Yesterday we'd stopped by Sports Authority and I bought a stopwatch to help me with speed drills. The stopwatches on my iPhone and Garmin work fine but they are not easy to use when you do both the running and the timing. The unit I bought was $15 and it will be easy to carry as I run intervals.

When my wife started her daily treadmill run this morning I decided to join her on the elliptical to focus on some under-worked muscles. Anticipating a short session I set the elliptical to its highest resistance setting and figured I'd go for about 10 minutes. At the ten minute mark I chose to continue and worked the machine in reverse which was very difficult.

Reversing the direction was toughest on my upper body and my arms were aching five minutes in. I switched back to forward motion and continued for another 20 minutes, still at the highest resistance level. I finished feeling like I'd made some good progress in my conditioning.

I'm thinking about speed work tomorrow though I'm due for a rest day soon. There's only a few more days left for hard workouts before my half marathon taper. I need to make every one count.