Pouring without raining

 

Todays run (street): 3.5 miles

 As expected, I woke up around 5:30 AM to the percussive sound of rain on the skylight. This continued for at least an hour, but by 8:00 AM, conditions had improved enough for me to venture outside. The skies were dark and overcast and I couldn't tell whether the rain had completely stopped. Surprisingly enough, my Garmin grabbed a signal almost instantly and I was off.

I hadn't gone more than a few tenths before I felt a cascade of water drops as I rounded the first corner. Despite the rain, I decided to keep going. Interestingly enough, the "downpour" stopped as quickly as it came, and I realized the "rain" was merely droplets of water shaken off the trees overhead. I continued along, getting intermittently splattered every time I ran under a group of trees.

My route today was three 1.15 mile loops that started and finished in front of my house. As time went on, things began to dry and the tree showers became less frequent. The sun started showing through the clouds, but not enough for me to regret leaving my sunglasses at home. It was a decent run and I was pleased that the weather hadn't relegated me to the treadmill today.

Tomorrow is supposed to be dry all day and, if I get out around 8:00 AM, the humidity level should be a tolerable 52%. That would be a big improvement compared to all my other runs this week. If I get in eight more miles over the next couple of days, this could be my highest mileage week this year.

Return to Brooklyn Half, without the Half

Post-finish, pre-tent spot

Today's run (street): 3.6 miles
Yesterday's workout (elliptical): 30 minutes

I'm on day 2 of my vacation and it's been a nice break so far. Yesterday's plans included a stop at Coney Island which looked a lot different from the last time I was there. That's because the last time I was pounding along the boardwalk on my way the Brooklyn Half finish line.

My memories of that time consist of 1) walls of screaming people lining the street and boardwalk, 2) grabbing the first banana and cup of water I could find, 3) making my way through the crowd toward the big (decommissioned) parachute ride where my friends had gathered after they'd finished, and 4) being "triaged" in the medical tent by a bunch of bored EMTs.

 Ahh, memories. No post race-type food on Thursday. Just good old Nathan's. Before any of that, I did an elliptical session to maintain my goal of running or otherwise working out every day of this vacation. It was humid yesterday, so I did what I could to maintain airflow, opening windows and running the big fan at top speed. That helped but by the end, the humidity won.

This morning it was back to the road. Between the workout and all the walking yesterday, my legs felt like rubber. All the same (and probably due to consuming the equivalent of 20 Kw of carb energy at Nathan's) I was ready to run. I did what I could to mix up the route and was pleased with how I ran, despite conditions that felt even more oppressive than on Wednesday.

Tomorrow is supposed be rainy, so I'll probably be stuck inside with either the treadmill or the elliptical. If it's misting or only lightly raining I may go for a run anyway. The humidity is brutal, but it always is in late August. I know it won't be long until I'm back to running in long sleeves and wool running socks.

A day late and a mile short

Avoid at all costs

Monday's run (street): 3.25 miles

By a day late, I'm talking about posting today about a run I did yesterday. I broke up my vacation with a trip into the office this morning to attend a meeting that I probably could have done as a conference call. But success in business often comes from just showing up. I have no regrets except for my decision to take the Clearview to the Grand Central on my way home. If you live in the NYC area you'll understand exactly what I mean.

My running buddy TPP is back to blogging and her post today reminded me of Monday's super-humid running experience. Although I got out before 8:00 AM, the temperature was just shy of 80° and the humidity was a solid 80%. I'm often fooled when I go out on humid days because the moisture in the air, combined with a slight breeze, can feel cool if you're not sweating. It doesn't take long before reality hits.

I had a decent 5 miler on Sunday and an almost 5 miler on Saturday, so I decided to be kind to myself and forget my four mile target. I took the best route I could to get me through my minimum run distance (MRD) of three miles with a quarter mile to spare. Although the air was heavy with moisture, I did manage a decent pace that was faster than my two prior runs.

I'm back to being on vacation and though the days are are busy, I plan to get in a couple more mid-week workouts. Having a heat wave during your vacation week isn't as bad as having to go into the office on your vacation week. But it's not too great either.

An end to tepid hydration

My formally stingy bottle

Today's run (Bethpage bike trail): 5.1 miles

The Dirty Sock 10K was held today, but I opted to go solo with a run on the north end of the Bethpage trail. Last weekend the Runsketeers owned that route, so it would have been redundant to return for the race. Besides that, today's weather was fairly unpleasant for running. Garmin said the "feels like" temperature was 83° with 62% humidity. If it was that hot and humid on the bike trail this morning, the Dirty Sock course must surely have been oppressive.

I didn't feel like doing another neighborhood run, so I headed to Bethpage with no particular plan except to start on Colonial Road. After a mental coin toss, I chose to go north as far as the Washington Ave overpass, that would get me about five miles out and back. It was the usual mix of walkers, runners and cyclists on the trail, although I did see a guy on an ElliptiGO about halfway through.

I carried an 8 oz. bottle of spring water that quickly warmed to body temperature in my hand. I was concerned about dehydration, so I continued to drink from it even though it provided no refreshment. Later in the day, I looked at insulated running hydration bottles in a couple of stores, but I'm always underwhelmed with what I find in stores.

I've been frustrated with my expensive Ultimate Direction bottle that, up until today, refused to give up any water no matter how hard I squeezed it or chomped on the bite valve. I challenged my kids to figure out the problem this afternoon and of course they did. So now I have a great, insulated 21 ounce bottle to take with me on my next long run.

There and back

My five miles went by fairly quickly, probably because I know the path so well I know exactly what's left to cover at any time. I don't need to go into the office tomorrow and I'm hoping to demonstrate some discipline and get out early before the heat comes. Is it time to return to the track for some speed enabling repeats? Probably. Will I? Maybe.

Neighborhood run and some kicks to the head

Today's run (street): 4.6 miles
Yesterday's workout (elliptical): 35 minutes

Another week has gone by and, once again, I squandered my chance to fit in a mid week run. My excuses are weak, I've been busy at work and Thursday's commute home took 2 hours, leaving little time for a workout. I was concerned that I wouldn't even have time to do anything exercise-related on Friday, even though I was working from home. I managed to fit in an elliptical session before dinner and felt better about my workout delinquency.

Although I count on my 3 to 4 mile Friday runs to jump start my weekend activity,  I was perfectly fine deferring to the elliptical. I'm on vacation most of next week and I expect to run almost every day except for Tuesday, because I need to go into the office for an important meeting.

I got out this morning and had a nice run around some local roads. I'm still surprised when I look at my performance numbers that don't match my perceived effort. If I ignore what the Garmin is saying, my runs feel the same as they always have. I spent a lot of time running around the northern end of the neighborhood and crossed paths a few times with a woman who was walking on the right side of the street. I refused to acknowledge her each time, because I get mad when people do that and I'm really petty.

My perpetual motion friends, SIOR and KWL, both did long runs through Manhattan and Queens today. I think they may have done different organized events. I would have joined them but I had a family obligation plus they were talking about 14 mile routes (as if). Conditions were pretty pleasant when I went out  and I'm hoping that was also the case for them.

Earlier this week, my son came upon a bunch of old photographs of mine that have been in a box on a shelf for decades. Many of them were amusing, especially these three from the early 80's of me sparring with a friend.

Standing sidekick

Jumping front kick

Reverse spinning crescent kick

I don't think I'll ever get that flexibility back, but I miss the workout. The above pictures were Tang Soo Do techniques. My preferred style is an Okinawan form called Uechi-ryu that doesn't have big kicks. I can probably still do that. I've been thinking about going back to practicing some Uechi forms as a way to build anaerobic conditioning. I'm pretty sure I'll prefer that to track repeats.

Runs go by fast in good company

 

Today's run (street): 3.8 miles

Running with friends, even when I'm not technically running with friends, is always a positive experience. I've had numerous running partners over the past eight years and I can't remember a single run that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. As a result, some of the longest runs I've done have felt much shorter. It's all due to the company I keep.

It used to be easier for me to run with other people, because our paces would generally match or I would adjust to other's slower paces. I've lost a lot of speed over the past few years and I've now become "the slow one." Whether I can come back from that is another story. In the meantime, my "group running" is usually done mostly on my own, with a mile or two spent with friends who slow down to accommodate me.

Even with that, I still enjoy group runs because much of the experience involves the planning, the meet-up and the moments where we do interact. Yesterday, while my friends did multiple loops around the lake, I followed the trail back anticipating our reunion at the trail head and the time we'd spend together afterward.

A shared experience can be defined a number of ways. I may have covered half of my miles by myself on Saturday, but I still felt connected to the group. Time went by faster than it would have if I'd done this adventure on my own. The après-run coffee provides a chance for everyone to interact when it's not possible to do that on the road or trail. Yesterday I ran my longest distance to date in 2015 and it seemed to take less time than the two shorter runs that bookended it.

Today's run around my local roads was perfectly fine. Conditions were great and there were enough runners out this morning to make me feel like I was part of something. I'm very pleased with my activity this week, both in terms of running volume and number of workouts. I hope I can maintain that level going forward.

The Runsketeers take on the trails!

TPP, brat (aka, SIOR), ER, KWL

Today's run (Dirty Sock route: Belmont Lake): 6.5 miles

Adventure called and the Runsketeers responded this morning with a loop or two (or three) around Belmont Lake. KWL, SIOR, TPP and I planned to meet around 7:00 AM. I was the laggard of the bunch as they were all hanging out together by the time I arrived. I tried to explain the Dirty Sock course -- how it starts at the western trail head and branches off toward Southards Pond before dipping south to the eastern exit. After getting a collective, “what the hell are you talking about?” look from my companions, I suggested they just follow the trail as best as they could.

We began to walk to our starting point and bossy SIOR said, “Can we start running now?” So we did. Doing that, as well as running back to the western trail head when I finished, accounted for my additional third of a mile on top of running the full Dirty Sock route. We ran together at the start and then TPP and SIOR picked up the pace and went on ahead. KWL stayed back with me and we ran together and chatted until we reached Belmont Lake.

While KWL turned on the burners, I kept my moderate pace and circled the lake. About halfway around, I ran into SIOR and TPP who were running the lake clockwise. I soon saw KWL coming back on his way to catch up with the others. I again saw the three of them near the end of my loop. TPP ended up doing two lake loops and the others went around for a third time.

I am officially the least popular Runsketeer

The Dirty Sock route can be challenging when the path is wet and the humidity is off the charts. Neither was the case today. Just in case, I'd packed my gel flask with a mix of water and a Roctane Expresso gel. I haven’t used gels in over a year, so the one I had was well past its expiration date. I didn't realize that until I took my first swig and got a mouthful of coffee flavored grit. I finished it nonetheless.

I think the gel helped, because I felt a bit more energetic after ingesting it. Curiously, I detected an aftertaste that reminded me of alcohol and I wondered if the gel had fermented in its pack. Probably not, because a little alcohol goes a long way with me and I didn't feel any related effects. However, I did start to crave pizza.

I ran along the southern end of Southards Pond and went south for the last half mile of the route. This last section used to frustrate me when I did the Dirty Sock 10K because the trail seemed to go on forever. The greatest moment of that race was when I started to hear Terry Bisogno announcing runners as they crossed the finish line. I didn't get that today, but when I came around the final bend and saw the emerald green field ahead of me, I was pretty darn happy.

My route today

I extended my run to our starting location and waited of the others who were looking to cover more miles than me today. I ended up going over to the playground to get some shade and a minute later TPP appeared. We found a shady area close to where we'd see KWL and SIOR when they exited the woods. TPP and I caught up a little before our buddies arrived.

As tradition dictates, we headed to the closest Starbucks which had a very comfy seating section. After receiving gifts of coffee and pumpkin bread from SIOR and TPP respectively, the four of us recapped our run. Three of the four of us went over the moon about KWL's Apple Watch Sport that he was wearing. I am defiantly anti-Apple, and didn't join in that love fest. However, KWL did manage to take a remote selfie using his watch to control SIOR's iPhone, which was a pretty neat trick.

It was a great run for all of us and I was excited to share one of my favorite running locations with my best running buds. KWL is officially our d'Artagnan (although that honor is shared with TPP's JC). I look forward to more runs with these guys. I may even do Cow Harbor after all.

Cramming in my workouts

The Dirty Sock route

Today's run (street): 3.75 miles
Yesterday's workout (elliptical): 30 minutes

During yesterday's drive home I realized that I'd missed my morning workout window. I was facing another week with all my activity crammed into the last three days. I'm not likely to return to 4 AM weekday neighborhood runs, but I could run on the treadmill before getting ready for work on weekdays. And yet I don't. As I crawled along the Cross Island Parkway, I made the decision to do a workout when I got home.

I took little time changing into workout clothes and considered both the treadmill and the elliptical for my workout. My thought process went like this: 1) "The treadmill is real running and the elliptical isn't." 2) "The treadmill gets my heart rate higher. I can change elevation and even simulate downhill running." 3) "I hate the treadmill so I'm going to use the elliptical." With that, I turned on the big fan and had a surprisingly enjoyable session.

This morning I was determined to get out earlier than I have done on previous Fridays. At 6:00 AM I told myself I'd go out at 7:00. At 7:00 I said 7:30. By the time I changed for my run and put on sunscreen it was 8:00. By the time my Garmin acquired a signal, it was almost 8:15. So once again I found myself in the prime hour for dodging recycling trucks.

The weather was promising, not too hot and hardly humid. I felt good from the start and that continued throughout the run. About halfway through my route, I saw a car coming from the other direction around a tight curve. I tucked in behind a landscaping truck until the car passed by. Coincidently, it was my landscaper's truck and he was standing right there. We had a brief chat about how running and working in the heat kinda sucks and then I was on my way once again.

The rest of the run was relatively vehicle-free and the time went by quickly. I ran a little faster than I usually do, but it was still nothing to brag about. Tomorrow the Runsketeers will be taking to the trails to run the Dirty Sock course. It's been over a year since I've run that route and I'm excited that my friends will be running it for the first time. I hope conditions will be cool and the path will be dry. It gets very humid around there in August and muddy trails are why the race is called the Dirty Sock.

Learning to love the run (again)

Friend of the devil

Today's run (street): 3.2 miles
Saturday's workout (elliptical): 30 minutes

We spent most of this weekend in the city and that somewhat altered my running schedule. We had to get downtown fairly early for a college tour, so I did a quick elliptical session before we headed out. I figured that the amount of walking we'd do would compensate for a longer run I would have done this weekend. I'm not sure that's true, but we certainly covered a lot of ground up and down the streets of Manhattan. This morning we visited Madam Tussaud's. Touristy but fun. I even got to hang with my buddy Jerry Garcia.

SIOR and family were also in town last night taking in different sights. It would have been fun to run into them. She did eight miles yesterday and 15 today. When I expressed my view about running that many miles (ugh) I was sharply rebuked. I decided to try to see her point and view summer running as a positive. When we got back home I decided to cap today's city walking with three miles of afternoon running.

I had in my head that it would be an easy workout. It didn't feel too hot when I started and I immediately began thinking about the experience. Was I enjoying this run or was I doing what was necessary to maintain my fitness? I realized then that I am coming up on seven years as a runner and wondered if my current view of running (necessary but not particularly fun) coincides with that span of time.

Is there such a thing as the seven year running itch? The point where you're pretty much the runner you're going to be? There aren't a lot new experiences and surprises when you've run the same basic route 1,000 times. SIOR has been running a lot longer than me and she still looks forward to fifteen mile training runs. How do I get there?

I ran my route and, like always, thought about my arm position, stride and cadence. I still care about how I run and that was an important realization for me today. The heat and fatigue from a busy weekend eventually got to me and, although the run was short, it couldn't have ended sooner. Perhaps I need to rethink my running goals and even sign up for another half marathon. It's not about the race. It's about the training that I need to do to look at 10+ mile runs as fun again.

Short of time and business attire

 

Today's run (street): 3.25 miles

This is going to be a bad weekend for running. I'll be tied up all day tomorrow and throughout most of Sunday. I don't think I'll be able to fit in a workout during that time, but I'll be doing a lot of walking. Any chance to pick up extra miles today were dashed by a tight work schedule that limited my running time.

Not running all week and then starting up again on Friday is a bad habit that I need to break. Instead of feeling well rested at the start, I usually feel out of shape. I don't struggle through these runs because I typically keep my distance under four miles due to time. However, feeling out of shape, at least for the first half mile, usually does not motivate me to push my performance.

Just before I sprayed on sunscreen, my cellphone rang and I had to deal with a work problem. That put me further behind. By the time I left the house, I had only 40 minutes to complete my run and be back in time to shower before my call. Otherwise I'd have to do this call wearing my sweat soaked running shorts.

And that's just what I did. I tried to imagine what the people on the other end would have thought if they could have seen me rather just hearing my voice. I love working from home! Although I had to wind myself up at the start, I ended up in a good place by the end. I even pushed past my comfort zone throughout the last mile and greatly improved my pace over the prior two miles.

It turned out to be a busy day so I was glad I got in a workout. I may end up doing a late afternoon run on Sunday if I feel up to it. That could be a nice way to end a very busy weekend.

High visibility bargain

Orange you glad I bought this

Today's run (street): 4.25 miles

I spent an awful lot of time talking myself into running this morning. If I'd just headed out early, before all the heat, sun and humidity, I would have been a lot more comfortable. By the time I was ready to go, we were hit with a deluge of rain. I had another cup of coffee while I waited out the storm. Once the skies were clear, I was able to go out. But by then, I just didn't feel like running.

Somehow I managed to make my way out the door. I planned to keep it simple and follow my one-mile loop as many times as I could stand it. As it happened, I could only stand it once. I changed my route and followed Jericho Turnpike west, going past restaurants and shopping centers before cutting back into the neighborhood. By the way, if you're looking for a bargain, Rare 650 is offering a steak special for two - only $99.99!

Speaking of bargains, I found a better one at SA Elite this afternoon. It's my favorite running store, full of great discounted running clothes and shoes. For some reason there's never many customers and every time we go there I expect to see that it closed. My wife found a hi-viz ASICS packable running jacket for $16. Although I have a decent running raincoat, it's a size medium and a bit snug. It functions better as a waterproof windbreaker and I always keep it in my work backpack. I ended up buying the ASICS jacket in orange  -- size large.

I was glad that I managed to talk myself out the door this morning. Even though it's been a low mileage week, I felt good about all my efforts This is going to be a busy work week and I'm hoping to fit in another mid week workout. And if it rains, I'm covered.

Moving lower on the dizzy scale

Today's run (street): 4.4 miles

After another good nights sleep I'm functioning a little better than on Friday. I woke up today without feeling dizzy. Even after my run, I haven't experienced any problems. I still feel blocked on my right side around my ear, which may be due to fluid build-up. It's possible that I got water in my inner ear from being in the pool last weekend. That could explain my occasional dizziness over the past week.

I had some time pressure to get my run done early, although I still took my sweet time getting outside. I like to take it easy on Saturday mornings, leisurely drinking coffee and watching the news, although those aren't conditions that motivate me to run and sweat. I do eventually get there. According to my Garmin data, I didn't actually start my run until 8:43 AM. Fortunately, the weather was still a balmy 77° with an 8 MPH breeze and only 57% humidity.

Since I skipped my workout yesterday, I considered covering a little extra distance today. I ended up keeping my run to around four miles because I didn't want to overdo it. That was a good decision and I ended up having a good, energizing run. The run itself started as it typically does, with the first few minutes setting the tone for the entire workout. I usually start off feeling uncomfortable, probably due to the high degree of anaerobic breathing that happens before my body switches over to aerobic.

The rest of the run went fine and I was back home in time to stay on schedule. Today has been busy and I was happy to get my run in after missing it yesterday. I'm glad the dizziness has gone away. I just hope it stays gone.