Unremarkable run on a milestone post

 

Today's run (treadmill): 3.5 miles

It was nice to sleep later than 4:00 AM today, and my current schedule made a 5:30 wake up seem indulgent. We needed to start our Saturday early and, despite the crisp fall weather, I ended up running on the treadmill. Our morning plans limited my time and using the treadmill saved me precious minutes. I didn't mind too much because low humidity plus the high powered fans on my Life Fitness machine would keep it pleasant.

I tend to dread treadmill runs because they are the least stimulating type of running. I say that knowing how interesting it is to run a dozen 1,600 meter ovals to cover three miles on the track. Even so, the track does offer some visual distractions and provides a real sense of physical progress. Watching TV while on the treadmill can distract me for a while, but I eventually get fed up with commercials and turn it off.

Today's treadmill run was actually pretty nice. I knew I wouldn't be on that long because of my time constraint and the first mile went by faster than expected. I started at my leisurely 60 minute pace (the speed I run when I expect to stay on the treadmill for an hour or longer) but upped that incrementally until I was in the 9 minute range. It always surprises me how easily I can run faster paces when I try. It's the effort of sustaining those paces that works against me. I can do it, I just don't enjoy it.

I got through my short-for-a-Saturday run this morning with time to spare and with a higher regard for the treadmill. This unremarkable run happened to fall on the day of my 2,000th post so yay for that. Tomorrow the Runsketeers will reunite for the first time in weeks. SIOR is taking it easy after last weekend's marathon in St. George, UT, and TPP nailed 2nd in her age group at this morning's Ceder Creek Duathlon. Even with their recovery top of mind, I'll still be hard pressed to keep up with them.

What I did on my run times 2,000

This is how it started

Today's run (street): 4.9 miles

During yesterday's run, my buddy Steve asked me the reason why I started my running blog. I told him I'd started it as a journal of my running experience and I had no expectation that, seven years and 2,000 posts later, I'd still be regularly writing about my running. Emerging Runner is still mostly about the simple experience of running, although I do occasionally venture into the areas of news, reviews and opinion.

I've made some great friends and running buddies through emergingrunner.com whose support and snark motivate me to keep running and writing. Runsketeer buddy She is Out Running will be running the St. George Marathon in Utah this coming weekend (in 95° weather). Last weekend she ran the Reach the Beach 200 mile relay. Her hilarious relay writeup should not be missed.

I managed to get myself out the door early today and kept it local, since yesterday's trail run satisfied my need to break out of my neighborhood. It was cooler and drier than yesterday, and it took me a full mile to build a mild sweat. This was the first run in recent memory when I didn't pay attention to how much distance I had left to cover before heading home.

Ignoring my Garmin was liberating, but I lost track of progress and ended up back at my house a tenth short of my 5 mile target. All the same, I strung together four good runs this week. I'm expecting the coming week to be very busy and I'm hoping that doesn't interfere with my workout schedule. With this weather, I want to get outside as often as I can.

That "women-only" thing, again

 

Today's run (treadmill): 26 minutes

Runner's World ran a story on their site today that reminded me of a post I did in June 2012. The RW article is titled "Do Women-Only Races Still Have a Purpose?"and my post was titled "Are gender-specific races sexist?" In both posts, the point was made that the original reason for having "women-only" races was to provide a safe experience for women.

I didn't write my 2012 post to debate that reasoning. I agreed that women-only races were a good idea back in 1972 when women were marginalized as competitors. Even worse, women encountered hostility from men who were clearly threatened by female competition. But in 2014, gender plays no role in the outcome of an open race and I have never seen hostility directed towards women at any event. In fact, in 2013, almost 2/3 of participants in open races are women (per the RW article).

I think what continues to bother me about women-only races is the tacit suggestion that: 1. women are still disenfranchised, 2. women have not yet achieved parity with men in non-professional competitions and 3. women need to be treated differently. This type of exclusion would not fly in other circumstances where a population's civil rights have been restricted. Can you imagine if someone suggested a "gay-only" race to the LGBT community or a race that excluded all but one ethnicity? You can say this is different, but is it really?

Despite my arguments, I appreciate that many women seem to love the experience and the camaraderie of events like the Mini-10K and the Diva and Princess Half Marathons. But I still think it supports a double standard.

Describing running in 419,000 words

 

Today's run (treadmill): 3.2 miles

It's amazing to me that, with today's entry, I've posted on Emerging Runner 1,700 times. Based on my average word count, I've published the equivalent of Brave New World 6.5 times over. It's interesting how quickly these posts have added up. Still, I'll need to post 509 more times before I reach the word count of War and Peace.

The incredibly cold weather kept me inside today so once again I used the treadmill. The lack of humidity kept me comfortable and I found it fairly easy to distract myself by watching the news. I can't remember the last time I ran outside, but it may be close to a week ago. I worry that using the treadmill all the time might change the way I run. On the other hand, it does force me to shorten my stride. That's something I want to do on the road as I work to increase my cadence.

The price of self esteem is apparently $7.99

Divide it by two and we'll talk

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the 1,500th Emerging Runner post. It all started here.

Happy Boston Marathon Day. I grew up in the greater Boston area and have always felt tied to this event. The Boston Marathon used to be held on April 19th (Patriot's Day), which happens to be my birthday. That was, until Massachusetts began observing the holiday and running the race on Mondays. It was great that the Boston Marathon route went right though my hometown, and we could watch the runners go by from a hill behind our house.

I never thought about actually running the Boston Marathon (or any marathon for that matter) because it seemed like an impossible thing to do. Even now, the thought of running a full marathon seems abstract and unlikely. Having crossed the line on a couple of half marathons, I cannot conceive of running that distance twice, all at once. It's no longer impossible for me to imagine it, but I'm not willing to commit the time and effort that would be required. I fully admire those who do run marathons, but I'm sticking with halfs.

The Jan/Feb issue of Running Times featured a product that runners can use to brag about their marathon accomplishments. I'm not talking about the ubiquitous 26.2 decal. Apparently anyone can buy one of those, no questions asked. ProvenSport (I'm not including a link because I think this is a stupid idea) will only sell their $7.99 decals to people after they, "...validate every achievement and certify [your] legitimate bragging rights." This, for only $5 more than that unverified 26.2 decal!

I'm also offended by the poorly designed product

I know that every runner's motivation is personal and racing supports our self esteem. Those oval race decals are fun, and they don't bother me when I see them on cars. I never question the veracity of the statement, and have never thought once about the owner's possible finish times. Those who need to push the point of broadcasting to the world that they ran a marathon really, really fast probably need more than a decal to address their own self esteem issues.

1,100 ways to say "I ran"

Today's workout: (elliptical): 25 minutes

It would have been cool if today was 11/11/11 instead of 11/12/12, because this is the 1,100th post on the Emerging Runner. It's amazing to think that since November 18, 2008, I've published approximately 275,000 words about one thing: running. But with 726 keywords in my tag cloud, there's been a lot more to talk about than that.

Rain, rain, go away

The rain this morning was only surpassed by the wind and I stayed indoors for my workout. I originally planned a treadmill run but decided to maintain my schedule that includes an elliptical session on Thursdays. I'm hoping that the rain moves out by tomorrow morning so I can get outside for my morning run. It doesn't look too promising. I snapped a photo out my office window at 7:15 AM and it looks like a monsoon at midnight.

1,000 posts later and I'm still Emerging

Today's run (street): 2.5 miles

Almost three years ago I published my first post on the Emerging Runner blog. The subject of the post was "Yeah, I'm a runner", a tongue and cheek joke I have with my wife about things I did one time (rock climbing, sailing a 12 meter yacht, fly fishing) and then bragged about it for weeks. But, in running, I was determined to be more than a dilettante. I was ready to commit.

I started running after changing my diet in August of 2008, controlling portion sizes of my meals and making better choices with food. At the same time, I started walking, first on the treadmill and then out in the neighborhood. A month into it I started looking up the road and challenging myself to run to the corner. Soon it was a full street and eventually my walks became runs.

It took about six weeks for me to transition from fitness walking to running, and my commitment was helped along with the strong support of my family and friends. I liked I how felt after I ran and I was fortunate to begin to lose weight quickly. By the time I started the blog in November 2008, I had lost over 30 lbs. No magic diet, pills, shakes or fasts. It was simply eating less and doing more.

I started the blog as a journal to record my progress and as a way to tap into the community of runners. Over the last three years I've received many valuable suggestions, tried most, and adopted some. Even today, I welcome advice from runners like Paul, Dave, Adam and Brian who generously share their expertise and experience.

What have I written about in a thousand posts? A look at the "tags" list on the left side of the blog will answer that question. I mostly write about my runs, but I also like to share what I've learned from other runners. I'm out almost every day, and after three years, I've seen a lot of things on the roads and trails. I often wish I'd stayed with my running back in the '90's because I'd have all that experience to draw on by now. Then I think that I might have developed bad knees from all that running and I feel better for my more recent return.

One thousand post, hundreds of runs and twenty races later, I still feel like I'm an emerging runner. Every run is different and I'm still learning new things. Running gives me a reason to write and writing demands content, so I'm motivated to run. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog and for connecting through email and comments. It's great to have friends who share this passion. I'll keep writing if you'll keep reading.

I've talked about 600 things

600 words about one thing

Today's workout (elliptical): 25 minutes

As unbelievable as it seems, I'm coming up on my one thousandth Emerging Runner post. Based on my publishing frequency, that milestone should be reached some time in mid-September. What's interesting is that post number 1,000 will also coincide with the third anniversary of my return to running. I guess that makes sense since I started this blog as an online journal to record my new experiences as a re-engaged runner.

A quick review of the site's subject categories shows approximately 600 descriptive terms for the 950 posts to date. The most frequently applied tag is (no surprise) pace. 600 tags is a lot, and I think it shows that running is surely not a one dimensional subject. It would probably be interesting to create an actual taxonomy to reveal the true richness of the sport. But then again, I'd rather spend my time running.

The popular crowd

Emerging Runner traffic

Today's run (treadmill): 2.5 miles
Every once in a while I look at the stats on the Emerging Runner and I'm always intrigued by the long tail distribution of targeted hits. Although I can't account for posts that are read through the top level domain (http://www.emergingrunner.com/) the tools tell me which individual posts (those that come through another source like Google or links from other websites) are most popular. It gives me a sense of what people are interested in reading.

The top ten posts, in order of aggregate hits are:
1. Road test - the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10
2. A new Nike+ Sportband problem
3. Tubes, zig-zags, bounces, shocks and resistors
4. Saucony Tangent 4: Fast and comfortable
5. Super minimalist running shoes for less than $20!
6. Nike Sportband - A farewell to armbands
7. New posting on Runner's Tech Review - ATAYNE
8. For the love of Sudafed
9. Many thought running caused my pneumonia
10. 8 miles at Bethpage, NYC Marathon Expo visit

Although these are my most popular posts I have many others that I think are good. If I can ever find the time I may go through the archives and post my ten favorite posts, regardless of popularity. In the meantime I am glad that so many people are interested in the ones above.

Crazy Days

This week is a bit intense for me in terms of business schedule. Consequently I'm not able post with regularity but I'll catch up later this week. I had higher hopes than this for my 800th post on the Emerging Runner, but this is it!

My 500th post!

Today's workout: 2 mile tempo at 8:41 per mile

It's hard to believe but today's post is the 500th since I started The Emerging Runner in 2008. I like having a bit of history to look back upon. My original goal for this blog was for it to be a journal of my experience returning to running. I do use it for that and I find it helpful to occasionally look back on what I was doing a year ago to see if I've made any progress or if I'm looking at running differently. I'd say there's been progress and my view of running hasn't changed a bit. Both good things.

With all my hill work and trail running over the last week I felt that I needed to do a more speed-focused workout today. Last night I mapped a run that measured exactly 2 miles that I planned to cover at 5K race pace. One reason I kept the distance down to two miles was to motivate myself to run faster than I normally would at 4 AM. Another reason for the exact two mile route was to quickly compare the distance MotionX was mapping compared to my actual, known distance.

The run went well. I didn't expect to hit a record breaking pace because I generally run about 15 seconds per mile slower at this early hour. The run felt fast and I knew I'd do better than normal (and I did) but I was still disappointed with my 8:41 pace. MotionX, the GPS app I've been using on my iPhone, was again way off. It measured the run at 1.86 miles. It's easy to see why it does that. Looking at the map trace from the GPS signal shows a number of vectored corners and shortened paths that add up to less total distance. This confirmed that the GPS always under-counts distance and today's margin of inaccuracy told me that it was off by 7%. That's disappointing and it's the primary reason that I didn't buy a GPS watch to replace my Garmin 50. I've been told that the Garmin GPS watches are far more accurate than the iPhone but I'll stick to the foot pod for now.