Back on the trail with Adventure Girl

Adventure on the OCA

Today's workout (elliptical): 30 minutes
Yesterday's workout (OCA Trail): 3.5 miles

It had been more than five years since I ran with Adventure Girl, but when we got onto the Old Croton Aqueduct (OCA) trail yesterday, it was like we'd never left. AG was in town from her home in Missoula for a college reunion and then some. Her schedule this week was very busy and I was thrilled that she came to my office on Thursday to run the OCA with me. Although it's less than a half a mile from my office, it was the first time I've been on the OCA since we ran it back in 2009.

The plan was for AG to accompany me home after the run so she could join the ER family for dinner. Our challenge was getting on the trail in time to get a few miles before we made the long drive back to Long Island. We'd considered running at Rockefeller State Park, but the extra driving would have gotten us home too late. Instead, we relied on AG's supernatural navigation skills and found parking that got us very close to one of the OCA entry points.

After running a steep grade north of Greystone station, we reached the trail and proceeded north. This trail runs from the Bronx to Croton and passes through a number of towns. The trail sits between residential areas yet feels as remote as being in the woods. We were able to see the Palisades and the Hudson River and shared our path with a couple of deer. We turned around when we reached Hastings-on-Hudson. Our pace wasn't especially fast, but we moved along. I gave AG details about my back injury and recovery and she told me about her adventures running an informal 54 mile ultra across the Bob Marshall Wilderness and a 50K she did in Oregon.

Our run seemed to go by in minutes and we managed to get back to my house in enough time for dinner and a birthday celebration for both AG and my son. AG is like a family celebrity and we had a great time catching up with her. All too soon we were putting her on a train back to NYC so she could continue her New York adventures for one more day.

Between the two weekday holidays and yesterday's run, I managed to get to the weekend with more miles than usual. I did an elliptical session today as a change of pace, but I'm expecting to get back out on the trail (paved or otherwise) tomorrow.

Putting the Garmin FR 35 to the test

First time with the FR 35

Today's run (street): 5.2 miles

It's October and I'm loving the cooler weather. But I wasn't loving the light rain that greeted me when I stepped outside for today's run. I considered staying inside and running on the treadmill, but I really wanted to see how my new Garmin performed. I learned later that the FR35 will actually track my distance indoors using its built in accelerometer. Better yet, no foot pod is needed, although the pod may provide a little extra performance data.

The 57° air felt chilly when I stepped outside. I decided to add a lightweight rain jacket that helped keep me dry, but I started heating up after a couple of miles. Had I run without the jacket I may have clipped a few seconds off my pace. Even with that, today's run was the second fastest pace I've held since February.

It took almost five minutes to acquire a signal on the Garmin, probably due to the cloudy and raining conditions. I had hoped that would improve with the new watch. Perhaps it will on clearer days. Despite the rough weather, I encountered a number of runners and walkers within the first few minutes. My running felt strong and I looked at my watch to see my progress. It was then that I realized that I'd set up the display to show heart rate, running time and pace, but not distance.

That was frustrating, but I was able to estimate how far I'd run by dividing elapsed time by pace in my head. The Garmin connects to my phone through Bluetooth and acts as an activity tracker. When I got home, I discovered that my run data, along with all my steps, had been automatically uploaded to the Garmin Connect app on my phone. Even without the foot pod, I still got cadence and average stride length along with pace, elevation, heart rate, route map and a few other metrics.

I'm very happy that fall is happening and I'm excited that Adventure Girl will be coming for a visit in a couple of weeks. We're going to run the Old Croton Aqueduct trail near my current office. I haven't run that trail since AG and I took the train from our office in NYC to Irvington seven years ago.

Bunnies, bikers, planes and hills at Stillwell

Low flying craft over the Field of Dreams

Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 3.75 miles

It was off to Stillwell Woods for me this morning. I had a great time there a few weeks ago with SIOR and wanted a shady route a this sunny day. I managed to get my gear in gear and hit the trail before 8:00 AM. Conditions were cool (70°) and felt even cooler in the canopied woods.

My one negative about Stillwell Woods is that some mountain bikers ride aggressively without regard to what may be around the bend. I've had my share of encounters, near misses and resentful riders who acted like the bikers owned the trail. Today was different. There were numerous bikers and everyone was careful and respectful for my safety.

Also in abundance today were cottontail bunnies. I stopped counting after ten. Some of them were as big as raccoons. There was a lot of stuff to look at besides the fauna, including a group of glider enthusiasts who had assembled in the center of the big field. These gliders have wingspans of 10' or more and they look huge as they float above you while you run.

I took a couple of detours off my normal loop, one of which put me in front of a very steep climb. I managed it well, and I'll give much credit to my Brooks Cascadias for getting me over that hill. My detours took me through some rough winding paths that had so many sharp edged rocks it felt like I was running over a herd of stegosauruses. That's one of the reasons I love Stillwell. If you want scenic, hard packed trails, there are plenty to choose from. If you want extremely technical terrain, be careful what you wish for.

Forty feet to the top

The Emerging Runner family Skyped with Adventure Girl later in the day. She and a friend had spent their afternoon running trails up a 6,000 foot mountain outside Missoula, Montana. Adventure Girl got bitten twice by a dog during that run.  As wild as that all sounds, it was just a typical Sunday for her. My run up a 40 foot rock covered hill at Stillwell can't compare with that, but in the moment it felt like a mountain.

I'm glad I got away from the neighborhood for today's run and it felt good to be challenged with some difficult terrain. If the summer is as hot as it's supposed to be, I think I'll be spending a lot of weekends in those woods.

Eco challenged and rainy run

Imagine this car much dirtier

Today's run (street): 3.5 miles

Yesterday's run (street): 5.3 miles

Yesterday was extremely busy and I didn't get a chance to post anything about my run. Although I'd made a goal of breaking out of the confines of my neighborhood at least once every weekend, I didn't have time to do that on Saturday. I decided to cover some less familiar ground on local roads to make the route more interesting. And it was a little interesting.

After running a mile or so around my own neighborhood, I headed over to the adjacent business park to run the main loop. On my way out of the park, I noticed a rough looking Delorean making its way slowly up the road belching thick black smoke. Obviously a problem with the flux capacitor. With all the gleaming Deloreans shown in the news this past week because of Back to the Future time travel date, this seemed ironic, not to mention environmentally unfriendly. I thought those things ran on garbage.

Soon after that, I began to notice that many people's homes still had their sprinkler systems going despite the pact that we're in late October and the temperature was in the mid 40's. It seemed to be the day for eco-criminals, but the beautiful fall weather helped offset my annoyance. I covered more than 5 miles, which was my plan, and got home in time to stay on schedule. Our evening plans kept us out late, so the blog had to wait.

This morning I was hoping to run at Stillwell Woods or at the wooded trails at Bethpage, but the possibility of rain discouraged that. When I stepped out around 8:00 AM for a run in my neighborhood, the light rain was beginning to increase in intensity. I considered getting my waterproof running jacket or even taking my workout indoors. I decided to stay out despite the wet conditions. The rain was steady, but it wasn't a downpour. I did regret that I had my Kinvaras on instead of a more water friendly shoe.

Rainy run

I ended up fairly soaked, but it was more rain than sweat. I had one experience with a driver who was frantically trying to get his car into the drop off circle of the middle school so he didn't have to park in a lot that was 50 feet further away. As I ran through, I could tell he was focused solely on getting past the other cars. I yelled "Hey!" so loud that he practically slammed on his brakes. These people drive like animals and that's an insult to animals.

The Emerging Runner family caught up with Adventure Girl via Hangout  a little later and it was great to see her. She recently ran a 54 mile unsupported Ultra! That's 40.9 miles farther than I've ever run at one time. I think I'll make a goal of running longer than I ever have in a single run. That would be 13.2 miles. Hey, I may even go for 14!

Adventure running is where you find it

Adventure starts here

Today's run (treadmill): 26 minutes

I used to be an adventurous runner. By that I mean I didn't do 90% of my runs within two miles of my house. I'm far less adventurous nowadays, because I have far less time and fewer opportunities to try new experiences.

My job used to be located in mid-town Manhattan and that opened the door to my love of city running. At least once a week I'd run in Central Park, across the Brooklyn or GW Bridge or up and down the West Side Highway. I'd often run around cities that I would visit on business trips. I ran wooded trails whenever I could find them, and I found a lot of them. I even did a marathon relay race on Cape Cod as part of a family vacation.

My frequent running partner (Adventure Girl) introduced me to a lot of different running venues. After she moved to Montana (where she does trail running in the woods with real live bears) I was left on my own to run in the city. Although I found other running buddies, I pretty much stuck to Central Park. On weekends I'd venture out to Belmont Lake to run the Dirty Sock race course or to other local but interesting places. Now it's mostly just Stillwell Woods or the Bethpage Bike trail.

This morning I was able to fit in a short, humid treadmill run before I started my day. As I was taking out my heart rate monitor, my long dormant running headlamp fell to the floor. I picked it up and thought about my daily adventures running the streets of my neighborhood at 4:00 AM. Not an exotic locale, but in the 300 or so runs I did in the dark, I saw a lot of very interesting (and occasionally scary) things on those runs.

This past weekend, my Runsketeer buddies had a Facebook discussion about an adventure marathon that takes place in Utah, with a course that starts at 4,000 feet above sea level. Before I knew it, they were talking about flights, rental cars and accommodations. I think they are serious about doing this race. While that race is not for me, it made me think about broadening my horizons. I think I'll check the batteries in the headlamp and see where that takes me.

10K training run on the old Bethpage route

I'm going to stick with the SPIbelt

Yesterday's run (treadmill): 35 minutes
Today's run (Bethpage State Park): 6.2 miles

It's been a busy weekend but I did get in a few runs. Yesterday morning I had to get blood drawn as part of my annual checkup, so I elected to do a moderate length run on the treadmill. I've learned from past experience that losing blood, even small amounts like this, can effect your stamina. I didn't suffer fatigue at any point in the run but I capped my time at 35 minutes. I needed to reserve some energy for the day ahead.
 
The Emerging Runner family headed into the city to see my dad, along with my aunt and uncle who are visiting from France. Later, we were excited to meet up for dinner with Adventure Girl, who was in town this weekend for a friend's wedding. They are all great people and we had a great time with everyone. I was glad that I didn't push myself too hard in the morning, because I was exhausted by the time we arrived back home.

I headed over to Bethpage State Park this morning to get in some extra miles and to take on a few challenging hills. I love the new trail extension to the north but I had not run it in the southern direction in a long time. I headed down the bike trail feeling energized by the crisp fall air, but I was regretting my decision to take the RooSport to carry my phone instead of my SPIbelt.

The RooSport hangs over the top of your running shorts and stays secure with magnets that connect the inside and outside flaps. I had some issues the last time I ran with it, but I thought it was related to the shorts I was wearing. I had on different shorts today but, from the start, I felt like the pouch was slipping. I feared that it might disconnect and fall off, so I took it off and ran with it in my hand.

Other than that, my run went very well. I covered the first three miles barely breaking a sweat. My heart rate was only 84% of max despite the hilly route. On my way back I boosted my glycogen with half a GU Roctane that I had diluted 4:1 with water in my gel flask. The helped take the edge of the first of two challenging hills that need to be managed on the way back.

There were less runners and running groups today than I expected to see. Friends TC and FS, who are running the ING NYC marathon in a couple of weeks, are doing their 10+ mile workouts this weekend.. I thought I'd see more marathoners doing the same but it was mostly cyclists, including a woman who was riding a tall unicycle.

After last week's 14 mile total (due to running the 5K race and two less training workouts), I wanted to get back up to 20 miles this week. I think I might have made it but I'll have to check Daily Mile. I have a month to train for my next race, the Long Beach 10K Turkey trot. Today's 10K base run was a great start to that training.

Coming today on Runner's Tech Review

I'm back to my regular running schedule and that means a rest day today. I am mending well and yesterday's run assured me that my injuries will not get in the way of my workouts. I plan to be out again tomorrow morning, ready to face the road again at 4:00 AM.

It's been a long time since we've posted on Runner's Tech Review, but we'll have a write-up on Invisible Shoe running huaraches on the site by the end of the day. It was interesting to see how Adventure Girl and I took to this minimalist footwear and, perhaps, a little surprising what each of us thought about the shoes. Let's just say that I won't be giving up my Hattori's anytime soon.

Weekend running: Bethpage, NY Marathon and time travel

I decided to skip yesterday and today's workouts to give myself a chance to further recover from my cold. I learned from my bout with pneumonia that running, instead of resting, can be a bad trade off. I originally planned a run with JQ for lunchtime but he needs to attend a meeting. I could run alone but it's probably better for me to rest. I've suffered a painful sinus condition over the last couple of days and thankfully I'm feeling much better this morning.

I'm planning to meet Dave tomorrow at Bethpage for a long run, probably seven or eight miles. I haven't done a run over six miles since Brian and I reran the Cow Harbor course a couple of weeks ago so it will be good to catch up on my miles. After this weekend I'm racing the next two (11/14 & 11/21 -- both 10K) and I'm running a 5K on Thanksgiving with my wife and kids. Another good reason to take today to rest.

If the timing works I'll head downtown around noon to the Jacob Javitts Center to visit the NY Marathon expo. My friend FS is running it for (I think) the third time and I'm excited for her. She and her husband are great competitors and they do many NYRR races. They also run marathons and half's in different parts of the country along with the occasional 100 mile bike run. I'll be cheering for her on Sunday. Also notable this weekend is a special run that Adventure Girl is leading at Yale. She's taking her Harriers running group out at 1:45 AM on a long run with the goal of returning to their starting point before they even left! Note that daylight savings time starts at 2:00 AM : )

High Altitude Adventure (Girl)

Today's workout: Unscheduled rest day

Adventure Girl is taking on running at great heights in her latest post on Running Gone Wild. Reading about her experiences at 4,200 feet is making me wonder how I'll do on the trails in Colorado this summer. Perhaps I'll practice running while holding my breath for long periods of time. Just kidding - but I'm curious to find out if there are ways to practice for higher elevations.

No running for me today. The weather has laden me with a sinus pressure headache and I chose to grab some extra sleep this morning. I'm planning to do my final week's run tomorrow (maybe one more on Friday if I feel strong) and then rest on Saturday for Sunday's race. That's the plan. At least the elevations at the New Hyde Park 8K don't approach those in Bend, Oregon.

The return of Adventure Girl

I worked from home today instead of commuting into the city but rather than doing my usual 4:00 AM run on the treadmill, I went out to Stillwell Woods accompanied by Adventure Girl. AG came out our way to deliver a guest lecture at my son's school and we took advantage of that circumstance to cover 2.5 miles on the trails. It was the first time that I'd run at Stillwell since the XTERRA race on the 7th and the trail conditions were very different this morning. Unlike on race day, Stillwell's trails were clear of ice and snow and the temperature was heading toward 40. AG and I had not run together since last August so it was great that we had the opportunity to do this run. After a brief warm up we headed into the Preserve with the intention of following the "Black" trail that represented last week's race course. It was difficult to remember the paths I had traveled during the race and as we came upon the many forks we began making guesses as to which direction to follow.

We ended crossing over to the main open trail where the Black trail terminates and followed that back into the woods for a while. Neither AG nor I were looking for this to be a fast run and it was great to look around and talk as we ran. We didn't encounter the rolling inclines that I'd experience during the race but near the end of our run we came upon a steep, carved passage that really woke up my quads. We weren't on that for long but I was grateful for the level ground when we reached the top. I realized later that this hill is one of the 'features' of Stillwell that I've always avoided (though I went down it during the race) on recreational runs. We soon came out to the open field and did a circle along that flat dirt path before we headed back to the parking lot. In all, we covered 2.5 miles and still had plenty of energy to get us through the day. My family reported that AG's lecture went great and we put her on a train back to the city this afternoon. It was a great day for everyone and a wonderful reminder of the great running adventures I had with Adventure Girl last summer.

Nearing the finish line

Today is the last day I'll be in the office until January. Like many businesses, my company effectively shuts down for the week between Christmas and New Years. We still have some staff in and we're producing content and closing the books but the feeling is different than other times of the year. I've always liked this end-of-the-year time. Until the economy tanked we always had office decorating contests and lots of holiday food from suppliers. I'm fine with the way it is now. Christmas treats, no matter how good, are one temptation I'm happy to avoid.

With the windchill adjusted temperature hovering around 10 degrees this morning I decided to do another treadmill workout. I smartened up bit and started slower than yesterday. That made a big difference in terms of experience. Instead of my run being a frantic and hard charging effort, today felt more like (dare I say it?) a jog. The minutes went by much quicker and around 2/3 through the run I stepped up the speed and really pushed it for the last three minutes. Still, I was almost a minute per mile slower than yesterday's overall pace. What really mattered is that I got my workout done and I had the sweat to show for it. I'm hoping to return to the street tomorrow if conditions turn favorable. Otherwise it's back to the elliptical or treadmill. They're not my first choice but it's nice, at least, to have a choice.

By the way, check out new stuff from Adventure Girl who is on a skiing tour of NY state, northern Vermont and eastern Quebec. Sedentary Man has a new column about Steampunk, a style genre that he explained to me at last weeks holiday party that I still don't quite get but there's some cool looking stuff!