Father's Day on the run

Nothing like a good run to start things off

Today's run (street): 4.3 miles

It's Father's Day and I am happy for a number of reasons. First, I'm getting to spend the day with my family doing the things we like to do together. That started yesterday when my son and I went to see the movie Prometheus. We'd waited a long time to for this movie to come out and although it didn't live up to expectations, we had fun dissecting the plot and debating the meaning of the film.

Today's activities revolve around the whole family. Before we got the day started, I went for a run around the neighborhood. The temperature and humidity are expected to rise as the week goes on, but this morning was cool and partly cloudy. I wore the Spiras for a change of pace and they felt good as I started up the road. The cool air was energizing, and there were a lot of neighbors outside who greeted me as I ran by.

I'd originally planned to cover about three miles easy, because I knew I had a big day ahead and I'll have plenty of time for longer runs this week. The run felt so good that I added some extra streets to my route that increased my total to 4.3 miles. As far as it being an easy run, I hit the accelerator at the two mile mark and that put my pace into normal training range.

I was pleased that this "easy" run turned out to be a better workout than expected. One of many reasons why this is a happy Father's Day weekend.

Central Park, eight months later

Friday's run (Central Park): 3.3 miles
Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 3.3 miles

I thought it had been a while since I'd run in Central Park, but I was shocked to see on Garmin Connect that the last time I'd run there was last October! I had assumed I'd been there more recently but after checking the blog history I confirmed that was accurate. Knowing that, I am especially happy to have returned to Central Park.

The weather was almost perfect when I got to the park. The sun was shining and the temperature was in the 60's. It took a surprisingly long time to acquire a signal on my Garmin. As soon as it locked in, I was on my way.

I began my run by going counter-clockwise along the Center Drive loop. I was surprised to see lots of runners coming from the other direction because that's opposite of the direction arrows on the bike path. I was running strongly and staying just below a nine minute pace through the first mile. By the time I reached the top of Cat Hill I had slowed a bit, but I still felt strong.

The humidity was higher than I'd first thought and I decided to limit my run to the loop below the reservoir. I gritted my teeth through the hilly sections just below the Great Lawn and Terrace Drive and enjoyed the downhill sections that followed. I continued on some the paths off Center Drive and finished on Central Park South at 7th Ave. It was a great run and my overall pace was actually faster than what I achieved on the NHP 8K.

This morning I headed to Stillwell to run the trails. I downloaded the latest 3 Non-Joggers podcast to listen to while I ran. That helped me get through some very technical and steep terrain. I ended up covering almost exactly the same mileage as I ran on Friday, but the required effort was much greater.

On my way off the trail I encountered three women who were asking people to sign a petition that would limit mowing the big field. This would help protect the wildlife and aid conservation efforts to eliminate invasive species. I was happy to sign.

I've been on vacation since yesterday afternoon. Since then, I've had two really interesting runs. I'm hoping to do a distance run in the next few days. Tomorrow is Father's Day so maybe I'll give myself the gift of running the hills on the Bethpage bike trail.

TGIFAIRICP*

*Thank God It's Friday and I'm Running In Central Park

Some work weeks go by so fast that you almost wish for another day to get everything completed. Not this week. By Tuesday afternoon I was half-asking if tomorrow is Friday. I felt terrible on Wednesday and recovered through Thursday, although the day seemed to go on forever. TGIF indeed!

After a light morning schedule, I'm planning to head over to Central Park for a run. It's been a long time since I've run there and the conditions are perfect for it. I was on the fence last night about whether I'd do today's run in the morning by my home, or run in the park. My wife said, "Tomorrow's weather will be great and next week you're on vacation. A run in the park will be a perfect way to kick off the weekend." She's smart.

My plan is to run the eastern side loop below the reservoir and, depending on how energetic I feel, continue around the water and come back along the western side. That's about a 4.5 mile run. Otherwise, I'll follow the route I used to take when I ran with JQ, Steve, Adventure Girl and others. That run involves cutting over just north of the Great Lawn before heading south. It's about 3.1 miles in total - a nice low key 5K.

It feels a lot like summer already, with empty trains and few people in the office. The sounds from the Today Show concert is reaching me a couple of blocks away. The sun is shining. I can't wait to head for the park.

Saved again by Sudafed

The little red miracle

Tuesday's run (treadmill): 25 minutes
Wednesday's run (treadmill): 25 minutes

Hi, remember me? It's been a tough couple of days and I have not had the chance to post since Monday. I was in all day industry meetings over the past few days where I presented to various groups. I needed to prepare for those presentations on the train, so I wasn't able to write my posts.

Due to the rain, I was confined to the treadmill on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yesterday morning, I used Virtually Active throughout the entire workout. The package I bought ($7.99) was of the Pacific Northwest and the video showed a combination of trail, mountain and city running. I liked certain things about it, but I wished I could raise the position of the iPad. The placement was lower than the view I would have during an actual run.

I'm not sure if the video had anything to do with it, but I felt dizziness throughout the morning and this turned into an intense headache by noon. I had just finished my talk when I realized that I probably had a sinus infection and needed to take Sudafed with pseudoephedrine. I caught the next train home, took my red pill and went to bed.

Pseudoephedrine is a bit of a miracle drug, at least it is for me. I felt good this morning but I had some residual dizziness and decided to forgo my run today. I think that was a good decision. I'm considering a lunchtime run in Central Park tomorrow and I'll see how I feel at the end of the day. With the rain behind us and sunny conditions ahead, I'm hoping I'll be up to it.

Are gender-specific races sexist?

Today's run (street): 4.4 miles

My colleague and friend FS ran in the NYRR Mini 10K yesterday, and that got me thinking about gender-specific races. The Mini 10K originates back to the days when women's distance running was virtually banned by most racing associations. The mindset of the time was ridiculous, and it wasn't until the 1984 Olympics that women could finally compete at the full marathon distance. But today, there are no such issues, and the percentage of women finishers at every race distance is over 50%.

Excluding men from women-oriented races doesn't make much sense to me at this point. I suppose women-only events, like the Mini 10K, More Half Marathon and the Disney Princess races, may provide a safe experience that encourages more women into the sport. But is this practice a double standard? Or is it a matter of celebrating every women's right to competitive equality?

Allowing men into these races may risk spoiling the spirit and focus of these important events. But the exclusion of those who wish to compete mirrors the same conditions that integrated single gender races in the first place.

Base restoration, Day 1

Today's run (street): 6.4 miles

It's been weeks since I've done a run greater than five miles, so I planned for a longer run today. By the end of April (prior to the half), I was at my training peak, averaging over 22 miles a week. Right now I feel like I'm in a bit of a valley in terms of my training and performance. This is due mostly to running lower mileage weeks over the last month. I recognize that I need to refocus on my base training.

Today's route was a departure from my usual neighborhood course. After a counter-clockwise loop around the northern roads, I headed toward the local business park to run the main loop with its hilly section. On the way out, I turned into neighborhood #3 and ran a loop around those roads, finishing with a mile and a half back in my neighborhood.

I've felt slightly tired and "under the weather" since last weekend. That continued this morning, although it didn't affect my stamina. I ran about 20 seconds per mile slower than I'd planned, but I still covered my distance in a credible time.

I'm planning to rest as much as I can over the weekend in hopes of restoring my energy level. I'd like to cover another six miles tomorrow to get me to 20 miles this week. Either way, I'm happy to have run over six miles today. a good base is hard to build, and easy to lose.

This thing conquers treadmill boredom

Hope there's no virtual bears in that tunnel

Today's run ( street): 2.5 miles

Yesterday afternoon, my friend KWL suggested that I download an app on my iPad called Virtually Active. It was a great recommendation and the answer to the question I've had since the day I took up running: How can you make the treadmill experience less boring? This app certainly has the potential to make my treadmill sessions much more entertaining.

The premise of Virtually Active is simple. You place your iPad on top of your treadmill's display and the application provides the experience of (virtually) running through mountains, woods, countrysides or cities. I had my kids try it last night and my wife tried it this morning on her run. I haven't yet tried it, but I will this weekend. If I like what I see with the 7 minute sample, I'll gladly pay the $7.99 price for one of the packs that offers six runs with durations between 10 and 60 minutes.

The weather was cool and dry this morning, so I did my run outdoors. I was surprised that I could see vapor when I breathed, because the reported temperature was close to 60°. It felt cool, but not cold. Certainly not that cold.  I enjoyed my run and thought I was making good time through my regular route.

I ended up covering the course in my usual time, despite a focus on speed for the last half mile. I must have started slower than I realized. I'm hoping to get out for a distance run tomorrow. The long run training I did for the half marathon was hard to do every Saturday,  but it did improve my overall performance. I need to get back in the groove - seven miles may a good target. Perhaps I'll also do a run in the Pacific Northwest, courtesy of Virtually Active.

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.