Taking a deferred rest day

I was plain exhausted this morning and quickly decided not to run. I figured that since I only took one rest day after my race, I was entitled to another this week. It wasn't a hard decision to make. It's an opportunity cost scenario: What's worth more to a tired runner, an incremental run or another day to recover? I wouldn't say my guilt meter is at zero for skipping my workout.  But it's pretty low.

What's depriving me from better running

By the way, today is National Running Day!

Today's run (treadmill): 25 minutes

I usually take two days off after a race to allow my leg muscles to properly recover. It may be due to my mindset about Sunday's 8K that I didn't follow tradition and skip yesterday's run. I felt like my post race plan didn't warrant the usual rest, because it was a C- effort on my part. I initially congratulated myself for toughing it out and finishing with a respectable time, but the experience was disappointing. The only thing that made it special was having my family with me.

Yesterday's run was good, as is typical after a bad run and a day of resting. This morning I opted for a treadmill workout so I could get started and finished more quickly. That left a little more time to rest before starting my day. I ran fine but without much enthusiasm. My only goal was to finish and check the "workout done" box.

Runner's World tweet this morning: "Chronically sleep deprived? It will impact your running. Try for 8 hours/night." I had to laugh because 8 hours is roughly the amount of sleep I get over two nights. I wish I could do an experiment comparing my running performance after I sleep for 8 hours a night for two weeks. I'm certain there would be measurable improvement. If only I had the time to do that.

Bare feet but not barefoot

Today's run (street): 2.5 miles

This morning, as I stood waiting for my Garmin to acquire its signal, I thought about a few things. First thing was the weather. The temperature was hovering around 50 degrees but it felt even colder due to a chilly breeze from the west. Second, I'd noticed the moon was shining so bright that I really didn't need my headlamp, even at 4:00 AM. The third observation was that I felt reasonably comfortable standing sockless in my new secret pair of test shoes, that are designed to be used with or without socks.

There are people who dislike socks (or shoes for that matter) and prefer to be barefoot as much as possible. I'm not one of them. The idea or running without socks has never appealed to me and the one time I tried it (with my Hattori's) resulted in bad chafing from a hot spot on the upper. But on Saturday, when I was selecting the shoes that I'd wear for Sunday's race, I tried on the test shoes sans chaussettes and was amazed by how comfortable they felt.

The test shoes are tight on the side opposite my big toe and I've managed around that by wearing the thinnest socks I have. When I tried the shoes without socks I felt like I'd gained some room. I considered choosing these shoes (sockless) but I didn't want to try something so risky on race day. I decided that I'd try going sockless a day or so after the race.

While my feet felt fine as I waited to run, I knew I wouldn't understand the experience until I put my shoes to pavement. I could tell as soon as I'd taken ten steps that a lack of socks would not be a problem. I made my way up the road feeling both energetic and comfortable.

With the cool air and low humidity, it was a pleasant running experience. I felt like I was moving better than I had on Sunday, and I had no problems with rubbing or chafing. However, even without socks, these shoes still felt a little too tight during the run. It was interesting to run this way and, with the very minimal shoe design and no socks, it's probably the closest I'll ever come to running barefoot. For me, that's close enough.

Reflecting on a mediocre race

The gloom of a dark, rainy Monday matches my mood perfectly this morning. One more weekend day would have been nice, even with this wet weather. Despite an hour's nap on Sunday, I think I need a recharge. I'm fairly certain that yesterday's race-day struggles relate to either a lack of sleep or fighting off a virus. I'm not sure there's anything in my training or preparation that I would have done differently.

While I am disappointed to have missed a PR by a large margin, I'm not down about my performance. One bad race is no longer enough for me to worry about my fitness or potential. I've been fortunate to experience most of my bad runs during training sessions, with the 2011 half marathon being a key exception. But yesterday felt like a really bad run.

I'm wondering if I should plan to go out tomorrow morning or take another day's rest before resuming my training schedule. At this point I'm not sure whether I'm better off getting back on the horse, or letting the horse rest a little longer.

2012 New Hyde Park 8K race report

Crossing the line later than I'd hoped

Today's run (New Hyde Park 8K): 45:30

I ran the New Hyde Park 8K this morning for the fourth consecutive time. It wasn't a disaster, but it could have gone better. No PR today.

I'd done all the right things to prepare -- steady training, speed work last weekend, and two days rest prior to race day.  I wasn't feeling 100% yesterday, but I did some light upper body work followed by some core work that seemed to help. I didn't have a great night's sleep but I felt fine this morning. More rest would have been good.

The weather was perfect when we arrived at the Denton Ave. school where the race begins and ends. There was a little miscue with my registration and they couldn't find my race package. Fortunately, they did have my proper tag and bib number. The crowd seemed smaller than last year, but a quick comparison with last year's results shows there were slightly more people running today. But the feel of the race was different this year, lacking its usual excitement and energy.

Feeling okay after the start

We assembled for the start under sunny skies, I took a position about 20 feet behind the line. After one false start, we were on our way. I was looking forward to running this course and I felt fine for the first few minutes. I started feeling the effort soon after that, far too early in the race. Still, I had little trouble keeping up with the crowd. I was concerned about sustaining my present pace over five miles.

I came through mile 1 at 8:32 and struggled with a couple of small hills before the route spilled onto New Hyde Park Road. I wasn't even near the 2 mile mark when I began to struggle. New Hyde Park Road rises for a while before dropping ahead of the turn onto the service road for the Long Island Expressway. I stopped at the first water station and took water. Usually I'll slow down but keep moving, but in this case, I came to a standstill. That cost me at least 30 seconds, but I'm glad I did it.

The stretch along the service road was tough, but I held my pace for the most part. The shaded stretches were a godsend, but after coming up the hill leading to Shelter Rock Road, it was all sun. I had filled my gel flask with two Roctanes that I took between miles 3 and 4 and I believe they helped get me through the end of the course without a bonk. At mile four I was disappointed to see that my cumulative time was far behind my goal time. I was hoping I might (at least) come close to my prior finish times.

The last part of the course routes through a neighborhood leading to the field behind the Denton Ave. school. By the time I turned off Shelter Rock Road I was ready for the end and was visualizing the green field where the finish line is located. I wasn't struggling by the last mile, but I knew that this race would not go down as a great performance. I was disappointed to see the clock showing 45 minutes when I finally reached the field, and crossed the line at 45:30.

I'm not sure why today's run was so difficult, but I definitely wasn't on my game this morning. I averaged a 9:10 pace which I'd consider good on a training run, but I missed my target of running sub-9:00 race.

Rather than settling the score in 2013, I'm thinking that I might look for a different race next June. I don't have the same affection for this event that I have for some other races, and I'm primed for a new challenge. Still, I got a great workout and I was able to share the experience with my wife and kids. Every race can't be a personal best and I accept my performance without complaint. Racing is about challenging yourself, and today, it was a struggle. But at least I tried and I toughed it out. I win.

Creature of (racing) habit

Crossing the line at last year's NHP 8K

This year I'm running a few races for the forth consecutive time. One of those races is the New Hyde Park 8K that takes place tomorrow morning. Long Island, where I live, offers numerous racing events, mostly 5K's, between March and July. Every time I attend a race I'm handed fliers (or I find them on my windshield) that promote an upcoming race. But for some reason I find myself running in the same races every year.

I suppose this has something to do with the comfort of knowing what to expect from the experience. It also helps that I get to know the course a little better with each race. The NHP 8K is a nice, well organized event with a fast (if unremarkable) course. The first time I ran it, in 2009, I went out too fast and almost bonked around mile 4. Last year was a much better experience.

Running the same races, year after year, has its benefits (including the fact that it provides a way to benchmark performance), it's also fun to try new events. Last year I ran the Town of Oyster Bay and Ho Ho Holiday runs (both 5K's) for the first time. These races were worth repeating and I plan to do that this year. I'd like to try a new race this year, but I'm not sure where or when I could fit another into my schedule. After all, I'm not going to give up my Cow Harbor or Dirty Sock weekends for anything else.

Roctane run at City Sport

I'll defer testing until after the race

Just like last year, the Friday weather before the NHP 8K is beautiful. So once again, I'm missing out on a great city run. However, it's important to stick to what works and that means two day's rest before a race. I'm expecting to get home a little earlier than normal today and I'll probably take time to run through some core and light upper body exercises.

Yesterday, I went over to City Sport to restock my supply of GU Roctane. I'm planning to mix one or two gels with water and carry that in my gel flask during the race. Last year I carried a small water bottle the entire race, but didn't open it and probably didn't need it. But it will be good to have this at the ready, in case I need some help at the end.

In addition to the Roctanes, I bought a regular GU in the new Peanut Butter flavor. I won't experiment with that until after the race. The Golden Rule: never try new things on race day. City Sport also had GU "Just Plain" flavor that I'm guessing tastes mostly like sugar. I took a pass on that. One more day until the race. It will take more than gels for me to perform to expectations. But every little bit helps.

Self doubt at the end of my taper

Today's run (street): 2.5 miles

If this morning's run was a typical training workout, I would have been pleased by my performance. I pushed my speed somewhat, ran well and ended up pacing 20 seconds per mile faster than normal. So why complain about that? While I concede some performance due to the time of day (4 AM), I was hoping to finish this morning's route a full minute faster than I did.

I was speaking to my friend CK yesterday and mentioned the 8K on Sunday. I told him my goal target for time and pace and he said I should do that easily. Easy for him to say, he can run 7:00 miles any day of the week. When I was running this morning, I felt like I could push it another 10%, but after that it would be a challenge. When I returned to my house at the end of my run, I questioned whether I could even sustain the pace I'd run today over double the distance.

Last year I averaged 8:40 per mile for the ~ 5 mile NHP course. It was both a PR and a great surprise, since I'd paced 9:00 the prior two years. I've run well in races this year and did some speed work over the weekend, but I haven't done a run greater than 5 miles since May 19. I'm hoping the energy of race day, plus two days rest, decent weather and a performance mindset, will help me reach my goals on Sunday.

Where can I get a SAG card?

Making the scene, literally

Today's run (treadmill): 25 minutes

Only in NYC can you get to your office and not be surprised to see camera and lighting trucks setting up along the street. They're filming a major studio movie here and the subject matter relates to one of my company's iconic brands. This is the second time they've filmed here in the last few weeks and I have a great view of the action from my office window (see above). Hmmm, I wonder if they need any extras?  

This morning I did a treadmill run because the weather report had predicted rain. I'm not sure it was raining when I got up to work out, but the humidity indoors was extremely high. This was my penultimate run before the New Hyde Park 8K, so I increased my effort by adding some incline through my progressive speed workout.

I felt fine the entire run except for my feet that are still sore at the bottom. In an odd way, the soreness helped, because it took my mind off the hard effort of running in the heat and humidity. As strange as it sounds, I think that made a difference. Despite the hot conditions, my run seemed to go by quickly and it never really felt like it was too much to bear. One more run to go and my taper is complete. Then onto Hollywood. I mean New Hyde Park.

Getting to the bottom of my foot pain

Bottom Lateral Ouchiitis

I wore my new recovery slides yesterday in the hope that they'd help alleviate the persistent soreness I've had at the bottom of my feet. This is not plantar fasciitis, because the pain is specific to the inside lateral part of my feet, just below the toes. I'm pretty sure the cause relates to all the long pounding runs I did at Bethpage to train for the half marathon earlier this month. I've reduced my weekly mileage by 10% since completing that race and have only done one run longer than 8 miles since that day.

The pain is not terrible and it hasn't prevented me from running. But this pain, like the mild soreness that I've had with my Achilles tendon, is persistent and it can be uncomfortable at times. I've looked up my symptoms for lateral foot pain and, for runners, it seems to be a form of tendinitis. I'll continue using the recovery shoes and will also try to be more disciplined about soaking my feet with peppermint oil soap this week. I'm scheduled for a fast race on Sunday and I'm hoping to reduce the negative variables as much as I can.

Hot run before a cool parade

A memorable parade on Memorial Day

Today's run (street): 3.9 miles

We needed to get out a little early this morning to get our son to the staging location for the Memorial Day parade. It was fun to see him come by, playing with the school band. After seeing friends and neighbors, it really felt like a small town event. By the time the parade was done, we were all ready to begin our Memorial Day lunch. Sure feels like summer, even if it hasn't quite arrived.

I'd planned to run on the treadmill knowing that we'd be under some time pressure in the morning. But the skies were bright at 7:00 AM, and I knew I couldn't stay inside. Instead, I geared up for an outdoor run and I considered the temperature (67°), but not the humidity (oppressive).

There was a breeze from the north when I started my run, and that made the air feel deceptively cool.  It soon became apparent that it was going to be hot. I tried to follow roads with tree shade on the left side but the sun was strong and so was the heat. I made the mistake of checking my pace nine minutes into the run, and that prompted me to speed up my progress. Normally that's desirable, but with the humidity, I may have been better off maintaining my prior rate.

As bad as it was, I didn't feel it was too hot to run. I capped my distance at 3.9 miles, but that had more to do with my limited time than to the heat. I ended up with an average pace that was 25 seconds per mile faster than my first mile. Since today's a holiday I decided to run today instead of taking my usual Monday rest day. I'll probably rest tomorrow and run on Wednesday and Thursday, before I take my usual two days off before my race.

D'oh, a deer!

Rainy conditions on Stillwell's trails

Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 4 miles

Yesterday's workout was focused on speed and intensity so I thought I'd go for an easier run today. It's been a while since I've visited Stillwell Woods and a trail run sounded like a good idea. Just for fun, I downloaded a podcast from 3nonjoggers.com. This is a trio of trail runners who record a weekly hour-long running-related program. I read about them in the April issue of TrailRunner magazine.

I have not run with a music player in years, but, with my new pocket-rich running shorts, I thought I might today. I'm glad I did, as the podcast was funny and interesting and I certainly recommend it. While I feel that listening to music or podcasts is dangerous on the road, at least I won't see any cars on the trail. Mountain bikes, yes. Deer, yes. But no cars.

I mention deer because I had a close encounter with one this morning. I was moving along nicely on a twisty section of singletrack, when my eyes caught a flash of beige about five yards ahead. Apparently I had surprised a large deer grazing in the woods. The deer jumped onto the path in front of me and took off very quickly. I literally said "What the @#$%!" when I saw it. Although I'd seen deer on my runs in the past, I'd never seen one at Stillwell.

Besides the deer sighting, there wasn't much happening on the trails this morning. It was raining lightly when I started and the rain intensified for a while during my run. The canopy overhead protected me, but I still got fairly wet. My only company besides the deer were three bikers who passed me on my way up a steep rise. The tables got turned when they sputtered out before reaching the top and I just kept going. To their credit they cheered me when I went by.

Ready for future recovery

Later in the day I returned some Adidas recovery slides that my wife bought to surprise me. It turned out that she ordered the wrong size, simply because she listened to what I told her. They are Adidas Superstars with a very comfortable foot bed. I look forward to wearing them after my next run.

Tomorrow morning we'll be at the Memorial Day parade to watch my son march with the school band. That will preclude a long morning run, but I'll probably do a treadmill workout as I begin my taper week. I've had some interesting experiences on the road, track and trail this weekend. Might as well add the treadmill to the mix.