Undone by a mis-selected K-cup

Dear Bro: can GMC increase the font size of its decaf label?

Today's run (street) 4.2 miles

Our trip provided three days of high energy fun but rest time was at a premium. Last night, it was a treat to finally sleep in my own comfortable bed and I looked forward to waking up feeling refreshed and ready for good long run. I got up a little before 6:00 AM and made a cup of coffee to start my engines. Instead of feeling rested and energized, I felt like going back to bed. I decided to relax for the time being, even though I wanted to get out early to beat the heat.

I couldn't understand why I felt so tired, but I managed to gather my gear for my run. I had been thinking about a six miler, possible at Bethpage, but I couldn't shake the feeling of fatigue. I decided to stay local and modified my targeted distance to three miles. I figured it would be better to do something, rather than not running at all.

The sun was still low in the sky when I finally took off at 8:30 AM. I kept an easy pace that I knew I could sustain. The humidity wasn't as bad as it was during yesterday's afternoon run, and I knew I could get through a short workout without much problem. I thought about the track workout I did with SIOR and TPP a few weekends ago when I logged some decent 400's. I tried to duplicate the turnover I used to make those sub-8:00 quarters, but the speed didn't come today.

Surprisingly enough, I was able to beat today's shortened goal. In fact, I covered more distance than yesterday, when I barely got through four miles. Still, I was unusually tired after I finished, and that fatigue continued after a cooling shower and lunch. I decided to have another cup of coffee, hoping that would wake me up and help me get rid of a dull headache. That's when I discovered the probable cause of my lethargy.

When I removed this morning's spent K-cup, I realized that I'd accidentally put in decaf version of Green Mountain Dark Magic. I had been operating caffeine-free all day, no small thing for me. I don't need much caffeine, but I definitely need it in the morning. One cup is all it takes to return me to the world of the normal. I quickly made a cup of leaded and, within ten minutes, I was energized and headache free.

Tomorrow I'll try to break out of my four mile range with a longer run. I'm not sure where I'll go, but you can be sure I'll be starting my day with an extra strong cup of caffeinated brew.

Boston fun and a scorching run

Field of dreams

Today's run (street): 4.2 miles

Although I've lived in New York for over two decades, I'll always consider myself a New Englander. My wife went to college in Boston and also loves the city, so whenever we visit Boston, it's like returning home. I've never warmed to NY sports teams, especially the Yankees, who I am genetically predisposed to despise. The Red Sox are a religion in Boston and it was gratifying to see almost

A Yankees Hater cap

everyone wearing some type clothing that had the Sox name or logo.

It was fun to stay in Kenmore Square, directly adjacent to Fenway Park. We could see the Green Monster from our room. Better still, I got to bring my kids to see their first Sox game and watch the Red Sox beat Chicago in extra innings. We had a great time, although I didn't get a chance to run while I was away. It was probably for the best, due to the sun and heat.

I considered doing a run in the Fitness Center this morning before heading back to Long Island, but there wasn't enough time. In our travels, we'd stopped into the Boston Marathon Experience store in Faneuil Hall where we were able to take pictures "finishing" the Boston Marathon. The next day we saw the actual Boston finish line on Boylston Street that's located next to Marathon Sports running store. I got a Boston Strong shirt for SIOR who actually ran (and finished) the marathon this year.

Nice try ER

The real finish line

After we arrived home, I started to feel guilty that I had not run since Monday. Although I don't like running in the afternoon (especially on such a scorching-hot day), I put on my running shoes and made my way around the neighborhood.

Mid July is not the best time to go out in the afternoon without cover from the sun. The humidity was ridiculous, but I figured I could get through a few miles. I was fine for a while, but the conditions started to wear me out and I could hardly see from the sweat pouring into my eyes. I targeted 4-5 miles but decided to stay at the lower end as the sun, heat and humidity became practically intolerable.

When I got home I saw that my kids were in the pool. After setting aside my phone, Garmin, HRM and Road ID, I jumped in with my running clothes. The instant cooling felt fantastic. Better still, the pool water rinsed me clean of my sunscreen that had become very greasy under the hot sun.

It's been a great "mini" vacation since Wednesday, and I'll try to get out early tomorrow to prevent another high humidity run. I would have loved to do a run in Boston while I was away, but I'll admit that Long Island is also pretty great when it comes to running experiences.

The paradox of high humidity and faster running

Part of today's route. Pretty. Humid.

Today's run (street): 4.5 miles

Happy 7th of July. For some reason, the company I work for has made both the 4th of July and today company holidays. That, plus working from home last Thursday, allowed me to run for five consecutive days. Counting this morning, I've covered 21 miles in that period. I wish I could do that every week.

Even though I was up before 6:00 AM today, I managed to squander the early hours and didn't start my run until a little after 8:00 AM. When I stepped outside it didn't seem all that humid. There was a slight breeze from the north that combined with the mid-70's temperature, creating what seemed to be comfortable conditions. That was an illusion.

The neighborhood looked very nice under sunny skies and the first mile of my route was fairly shady. From then on, the temperature seemed to rise by the minute, along with the humidity. I mixed up my route in an attempt to break the boredom of my local streets and found myself running up what passes for a long hill in my neighborhood. Between the treeless road and the thickening air, I moved into direct drive mode. That's when I put all resources toward getting through the distance.

I often forget that when I put a little more power into my stride, my running efficiency (speed benefit as a function of expended energy) increases. This is the trick I occasionally use when a faster runner begins to overtake me in the neighborhood or on the Bethpage trail. By lengthening my stride and increasing cadence a little, I can lower my pace by a mile per minute for short periods without feeling like I'm working that much harder. 

About half the time I can hold back speedy challengers until one of us turns off to another road. Running harder, despite the humidity, helped get me to the 4 mile mark faster than I expected. The only issue is that I usually reach a point where I can no longer sustain the greater speed. Fortunately, I was able to maintain the pace and I even took it up a gear for the final 200 meters.

When I went inside to cool off before my shower, I realized that my level of sweat was equivalent to having jumped into the pool. In fact my running clothes looked like I had just done that. I have a different schedule this week that will involve some travel, so I don't know when I'll get a chance to run again before the weekend. If the timing works out favorably, I may be able to fit in a couple of mid week runs.

Two runs and a Runsketeer party

What the Runsketeers do when they don't run

Saturday's run (street): 5.2 miles
Sunday's run (street): 3.5 miles

This week has been a throwback to April. That's the last time I was able to put four runs together in as many days. I worked from home on Thursday and, since then, I've have been on a 4th of July break. My company also makes Monday a holiday, so I expect to extend my streak to five tomorrow morning.

It's been a fun long weekend and yesterday we hosted running friends TPP and SIOR (and family) for a late day summer fête. Although the "Runsketeers" get together for runs fairly often, we usually don't get an opportunity to converse until after our workouts. Those post-run Starbucks breaks have become our valued tradition. The only downside is that we're usually all pressed for time at that point. That's why it's great to get together on non-running days (more below).

I went out for a run on Saturday morning and the weather could not have been better. It was 64 degrees and sunny without the humidity we'd had a couple of days before. I wanted to cover at least five miles so I took a detour from my usual route and went west along Jericho Turnpike and then South on S. Oyster Bay Road. Due to fast moving traffic, I always stay on the sidewalks when I run on those roads. Jericho's sidewalks are well maintained, but the ones on South Oyster Bay Road are in very poor condition. It's almost like technical trail running, but instead of root hazards, it's broken concrete and mud.

I turned back into my neighborhood around the two mile mark and ran on the street from there. The average length of my local roads is a quarter mile, so it takes a lot of streets to cover five or six. When that's my goal, I usually go somewhere else for my run. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to do a destination run that included driving. Overall it was a nice workout - energizing but not overtaxing.

Our guests all arrived together and we hung out poolside for a few hours before heading inside. The kids, who ranged in age from 2 to 16 (including our two) had lots of fun and did not stop until after 8:00. I am proud to say that I had half a beer (that I split with SIOR's husband) and didn't fall asleep or lose my ability to converse. We had lots of food, great desserts and lively conversation. Even though me, my wife, TPP, SIOR and Mr. SIOR are all runners, we left that fun activity to the kids. It was great having everyone here and we really enjoyed the day.

This morning we had plans to get out early, so I agreed to cap my run at 3.5 miles for the sake of time. Weather conditions were again optimal, and I took it a little easier than Saturday. Despite the pizza, chicken, fruit salad (courtesy of TPP) and chocolate mousse cheesecake (courtesy of the SIOR family) I felt great on my run. Maybe it was the half can of Cold Smoke Missoula Scotch Ale that provided the energy (thanks again Adventure Girl!).

My Garmin lied and the truth hurts

My Garmin made up most of this route

Today's run (street): 3.75 miles

Halfway through today's run, I glanced at my Garmin and saw that I had covered two miles in about 17 minutes. That would have put me on track for my best training run in memory. I was puzzled because my perceived effort was nowhere near what I'd expect for that pace. I tried to rationalize the reasons for such a dramatic improvement in my performance compared to yesterday. It was 10 degrees cooler and cloudy, but could that account for running over a minute per mile faster?

When I got home and saw my time and mileage on the Garmin, I thought I'd rocked it. Maybe I was turning a corner with my training. After all, I used to regularly average 8:45 paces on my daily runs. Breaking 9:00 minutes on a run these days is a notable achievement for me. I hoped it was accurate and not some weird Garmin fail.

Despite that wishful thinking, it did turn out to be a badly confused GPS. For some odd reason, the Garmin put my starting point 3 miles north of where I began my run. Looking at the run data through Garmin Connect, my course appeared to have frequent 50-foot elevation changes. That's definitely not the case for my relatively flat route. I'm guessing that the low cloud cover may have interfered with the GPS signal and caused it to skip.

I Gmapped my route and was disappointed to see that I'd only covered 3.75 miles, rather than the 4.35 that the Garmin said I'd run. I wanted to run 4-5 miles today and thought I'd met my objective. The good news is that I beat yesterday's pace by 42 second per mile. The other good news is that it's a long weekend and tomorrow we're hosting a Runsketeer pool party. If the weather reports are accurate, the skies will be clear and I'll be able to get in a longer run in the morning.

The downside of minimal running shoes

Minimal shoe with maximal wear

Today's run (street) 4.1 miles

I was looking at the latest Runner's World shoe guide and noticed that the average weight of running shoes has begun to rise. The recent minimalism movement prompted most running shoe companies to develop lighter, lower and more flexible shoes to meet the new demand. I was an early adopter, switching from my heavier Brooks Adrenalins to the then-groundbreaking Saucony Kinvara. I went even more minimal with the Hattori and a pre-production pair of Brooks Pure Drifts.

The pendulum has swung the other way and new companies like Hoka are building market share with 12+ ounce ultra-cushioned models. These trainers remind me of 70's era platform shoes and I wonder about their stability. I like to stay as close to the ground as I can when I run. The downside to staying in the minimalist camp is that, when you buy less shoe, you'll likely wear it out faster than a conventional model.

I just noticed that my year old Saucony Vittaras (now with 425 miles on them) are starting to show some serious heel wear. These are low platform running shoes, with a 4mm drop and are very lightweight because the out-soles are mostly soft EVA with a small amount of carbon rubber. I love the shoes, but I'm concerned that this wear will lead to a shift in the way that the shoes land. That could affect my stride and possibly lead to injury. I'll need to replace them soon, but I'm not going to move to the Hokas.

I ended up working from home today which allowed me to get in a rare Thursday morning run. I didn't get out as early as I should have, and it was 80° and very humid by the time I set out. I could tell from the start that this would not be a performance run. Although the air was thick, I had no trouble breathing. I didn't feel weighed down, but I couldn't generate the will to push very hard.

With hurricane Arthur making its way up the east coast, I'm not sure what my options will be for running on Friday. I can always use the treadmill, but the machine (like my Virratas) is wearing out quickly. Since the treadmill is my wife's running method of choice, I don't want to contribute to its demise. With such a limited window for running, I may be forced to use it.

Taking on hills and challengers at Bethpage

Halfway there on Sunnyside

Today's run (Bethpage bike path): 6.4 miles

It was back to Bethpage this morning, where I went for my longest run of the week. I arrived early and parked in my usual parking spot near Haypath Road. It was the beginning of another beautiful day and there were already plenty of people out on the trail. My Garmin acquired its signal very quickly so I was off and running seconds after locking my car.

The Bethpage bike path is isolated, but in a good way. With trees on both sides of the trail, it sometimes feels like a paved path through the woods. I felt good, but I wasn't sure how I'd hold up through my 6+ targeted miles. I have an aversion to hills and, as a result, I tend to avoid certain sections of this path. I originally planned to run to the route 495 underpass and turn around there. Instead I decided to take on the worst of it by following the trail all the way to the top of Sunnyside Boulevard.

Rise along the bikeway north of Washington Ave

What's tough about the section from Washington Ave to Sunnyside Boulevard is the roller coaster-like changes in elevation over a mile and a half span. I figured that if I wasn't going to burn up the trail with my speed today, I might as well challenge myself with some hills. I kept reminding myself to run the mile I was in instead of dreading the other hills that I would soon encounter.

I was about a mile away from finishing when a runner came off the road and fell in behind me on the trail. I felt a need to step up my pace so I wouldn't get overtaken. It was a good test of my fitness and I was determined to hold him off. After a while I stopped hearing his footsteps. I don't know if he fell back or went off trail (most likely) but he never passed me. No surprise, that was the fastest mile of my run.

We had guests coming midday, so I needed to wrap up quickly and head back home to take care of a couple of things. Today's experience went a long way towards restoring my running excitement. Too bad I probably won't get back on the road until late next week.

Running excitement waning, but not the commitment to run

Today's route

Yesterday's run (street): 4.25 miles
Today's run (street): 5.6 miles

I just passed 1,800 posts and it took me a lot longer to get to that milestone than I would have expected. That is due to a drop in my blogging frequency and it relates directly to my reduced number of runs per week. This year has brought changes to my running, both in terms of outlook and performance. It's not a matter of losing interest, but my level of excitement has definitely waned.

Yesterday's run in my neighborhood was the first I'd done since last Sunday's trail run. I went out only because I had to. My schedule allows just three days a week for running and I need to make those runs count. But instead of feeling the joy of the run, these days I'm only feeling the obligation. Still, I didn't hesitate to prepare and get outside. While I no longer question my commitment, I miss the excitement and anticipation of the experience.

This morning I targeted five miles and went a little longer than that. I couldn't face another run through my neighborhood. After a loop around some nearby roads, I headed over to a nearby business park. My level of engagement was higher today than yesterday. The weather at 7:00 AM was nearly perfect. I did a couple of loops around the park and noticed a wooded section that reminded me of the Central Park lower path.

I ended up running through an adjacent neighborhood before returning home. Tomorrow I hope to run a little longer, perhaps at Bethpage. I do like running there and with the long straight trail, I can detach from the run and think about things (or, better still, not think about anything). I usually gain back more interest in my running by the end of my Sunday workouts. Too bad I have these long gaps between Sunday and Friday.

Low flying planes at Stillwell Woods

Glider club at Stillwell

Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 4.1 miles

I naively thought I'd avoid the soccer crowd at Stillwell by going on Sunday instead of Saturday. Nope. When I arrived this morning, Stillwell's lots were overrun with cars and I could see people streaming in from the high school parking lot across the street. I considered turning around and finding another place to run, but I decided to try parking at the far end near the trail head. I was in luck and found a spot next to some people who were staging their bikes for a ride.

I was feeling a little run down so I stayed on my usual loop and took it easy. There were many mountain bikers on the single track but no close calls. I almost tripped on a high root exactly where I'd almost tripped the last time I ran there. I'll have to pay better attention next time I'm at that point on the path.

There were a bunch of cars gathered on the large field. As I got closer, I saw that they were flying large model gliders. One flew across the path that runs around the field and just barely cleared the tree line. It freaked me out to see a plane with a ten foot wingspan pass overhead without making a sound. I began to feel tired by then, so I capped my run after four miles.

The rest of the day was spent celebrating my daughter's 16th birthday. She's having a Sweet 16 next week, but today it was family-only. It was a great long day and a good weekend of running. I really want to add another day to my weekly running schedule, but so far it's been hard to make that work.

Spring into summer, all in one run

One run, two neighborhoods

Today's run (street): 6.4 miles

This morning's workout was either the last run of spring or the first of summer. Summer officially started at 6:51 AM EDT, so I crossed over seasons at some point. Either way, it was perfect running weather.

I wanted to cover at least six miles and considered doing a long trail run at Stillwell Woods. Even though I'd be getting there early, I was concerned about parking because of all the Saturday soccer games.  I wasn't in the mood to drive to Bethpage or to Babylon, where I've been wanting to return to run the Dirty Sock course. I settled on my neighborhood, even though I prefer to run 6+ mile distances outside of its tight boundaries.

Mindset is really important when starting a run. It is much harder to run six miles when your original intention was to run less. I like to think out my route ahead of time to set an expectation of progress as I move along. It's difficult to cover more than four miles in my neighborhood before I begin repeating roads. I pre-planned a side route into neighborhood #2 to extend the distance. It's all houses and cars, but by going into another neighborhood at least the houses and cars are different.

I enjoyed today's run because it was cool, dry, sunny and quiet. I saw a few other runners, some walkers and a couple of cyclists along the way, but it was still too early for most people to be out on a Saturday morning. Tomorrow's weather should be just as nice and I'm still thinking about a trail run for tomorrow. I just don't know where to run.

The sad demise of our Sole F63

Anyone want a crappy treadmill with a brand new console?

Today's run (street): 4.4 miles

A treadmill is a substantial thing, a sturdy platform built for running. Treadmills are expensive because they are engineered to hold up over time. A good example of this is our ProForm L15, a modestly priced treadmill that we bought in the mid-1990's. Although it was used daily, the ProForm was a workhorse that served us well until February 2010. A bad example of this is the Sole F63, that has reached the point where replacing its worn parts will cost 70% of a new unit. And not a moment too soon. From what we were told, these parts are in serious need of replacement.

That was the assessment made by our treadmill repair guy whose opinion we trust. Adding to that, we paid $200 a month ago for a new console (the fourth one since we got the unit) and we needed to pay the tech for his house call to get the bad news. What's frustrating about our experience with this treadmill is that we've done all the right things to ensure a good outcome.

I had such high hopes when we got the F63 four years ago. Our due diligence included much research and a personal recommendation of the brand. My wife made sure the unit was professionally serviced and she was meticulous about following owner maintenance. In the short time that we've had it, we've experienced a motor failure, serious issues with tread slippage and the aforementioned console problems.

The treadmill still works, but it makes a huge racket due to the degraded rollers and failing frame. It could go tomorrow or in six months. The question is whether we should invest in a better brand of treadmill. The cost could be substantial, but the value of doing that would be that pro grade treadmills often come with long or even lifetime warranties. Between my wife and I, we use our treadmill a lot.

I'm now at the point in my week where I jam all my running mileage into three days. This morning I went out for the first time since I ran 400's with the Runsketeers on Sunday. The long rest period helped, and I felt great from the start. I wouldn't call today's run effortless, but it was certainly a pleasent experience. The temperature hadn't broken 70° and the sun wasn't too intense at 7:15 AM. If not for business obligations that required me to cut my run short, I would have gone for six miles.

I'm not sure about this weekend's running. A trail run would be fun. I'll see how I feel in the morning. No rain is scheduled for Saturday, so at least I won't be forced to continue torturing our ailing treadmill.

Father's Day track workout with the 'skeeteers

After 14 laps of father's day fun

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PETITE PACER

Today's run (track speed work): 14 x 400's = 3.5 miles

Happy Father's Day! I'm certainly a happy dad, and I've had a great day. The morning started with a track workout with my running buddies. I usually do these workouts on the local high school track so traveling to SIOR's town was a nice change. My local track runs around the football field and is very isolated, while this track is located within a neighborhood and it felt somewhat quaint.

SIOR ran from her home and I saw her running on the road as I pulled up to the track. TPP was already there, and we started our workout a little after 8:00 AM. The weather was sunny and the temperature was still in the low 60's.

On SIOR's suggestion we alternated easy and hard quarters. Our original target was 12 laps (3 miles) but we all ended up running 14. We took off easy and I was able to hold a conversation as I ran. After one lap we dropped a gear and switched to race pace. I liked this method, using a jogging lap for recovery rather than stopping for a minute between hard laps. It kept my heart rate up and made it easier to transition to the faster paces.

SIOR and TPP burned up the track the first couple of times around and I envied their speed. I did fine, averaging somewhere within the 7:00 minute range on my fast laps. I can move along when I know that I only need to endure a hard effort for two minutes or less. TPP had a case of "Too much fun the night before-itis" and took it easier on her later laps. It was no surprise to anyone that SIOR flew through her laps. At one point I tried to catch up to her, but I didn't make much progress.

Me and SIOR finishing an easy lap

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PETITE PACER

Per tradition, we followed our workout with a visit to Starbucks. SIOR and TPP caught up on Game of Thrones and we covered a lot of subjects. Interestingly enough, there was little mention of running. I needed to cut it short because I had some Father's Day activities. My wife and kids were going to take me to Lemonleaf Grill for lunch, but it didn't open until 1:00 PM and I'd worked up quite an appetite from all that speed work. We ended up at Quetzalcoatl in Huntington, so it was Mexican rather than Thai. But it was really good, as usual.

It's been a great Father's Day spent with friends and family. I am so glad that I got to see my Runska-buddies and do that workout with them in such beautiful weather. The day isn't finished and I'm looking forward to more family activities this evening.

Addressing my need for more speed

My experience today

Today's run (street): 5.1 miles

I'm back into a three day running cycle and I ran in the neighborhood yesterday and today. My morning schedule was tight, so I needed to get outside early. Fortunately, it was still relatively cool and (bonus) not as humid as Friday. I had no route or distance in mind, but I did want to cover at least five miles.

Like yesterday, I started with good energy and tried to establish a faster pace from the start. It seemed a lot faster than it was. I still find it curious that putting in the same effort compared to a year ago will typically yield a 30 sec/mile slower pace. I'm not planning on doing any races before Dirty Sock, so I'm not really upset about that. Still, I'd like to gain that time back if I can.

Tomorrow the Runsketeers will get together for our first group track workout. I look forward to seeing how fast these two speedsters can run when they don't need to reserve energy. I'm not going to be able to cover as much distance tomorrow as I would on a typical Sunday, so this week's mileage total will be extra low. But track miles are quality miles. If I can figure out a way to add one more workout a week to my running schedule, I can get back to pre-commuting weekly volumes.

Humid, hot and foggy, but still a great run

Today's run (street): 4.4

Today was crazy busy, but my saving grace was working from my home office. At least I saved a lot of commuting time. I got in my run (my first since last Sunday) and though I went out early, I was already behind schedule by the time I got back home. I should add at least one more run during the week to maintain my targeted level of fitness, but for now I need to keep the schedule I have.

The weather hasn't been good for running lately. This morning it was 67°, humid and foggy. Rain seemed imminent, so I decided to try my new running raincoat. The jacket isn't vented and I knew I might regret wearing it, since I knew it would trap heat. Still, I was curious to experience running with it.

Surprisingly enough, I stayed fairly cool for the first couple of miles. Better still, I felt strong from the start and maintained great form throughout the entire distance. I ran faster than I expected and probably would have improved on that had I left the jacket at home. The lack of ventilation had trapped sweat and my running shirt was completely soaked by the time I finished.

Perhaps it's the rest time I'm getting by not running Tuesday through Sunday each week that helped me today. I'm time-pressed again tomorrow, and I'm not sure how I'll be able to get in my miles. One way or another, I'll get out there. When I do, I hope to see a continuation of today's good performance.

Not a step back, but not what you'd call progress

Disappointing cadence

Today's run (street): 4.6 miles

I wasn't sure what to expect on today's run but I hoped I would find it easier to reach my targeted performance numbers after seeing some improvement yesterday. To my dismay, I felt less energy this morning and I hoped that I'd rebound during the run. Although I did quickly get into rhythm, I found even the first couple of miles difficult. I wasn't sure if I'd started too fast, or if I was simply too tired.

I've read numerous times that an ideal (non-competitive) pace will allow a runner to maintain a conversation while still providing some level of challenge. For most people, that's 75-85% of max heart rate. A check of the data from today's run showed that I stayed primarily between 76 and 79% of max for the first 3.75 miles. Even though I was primarily at the lower end of the HR scale, the going felt difficult.

My response was to pick up the pace and, for the last 3/4 of a mile, I kept heart rate between 80-86% of max. In terms of technique, I adopted an almost bouncing stride that I hoped would translate to greater speed. It did, but it still fell short of today's expectations. My cadence, even after using my new form, never got out of the middling range. The one upside is that getting my HR into the higher 80% range is good preparation for harder workouts.

I don't know if I can return to doing 8:00 minute range training paces, but even if I can't, I still have lots of room for improvement.

Flexr running bottle, I hardly knew ye

Have you seen me?

Today's run (Bethpage bike trail): 6.25 miles

This morning I met up with my running buddies to take on Bethpage's northern bike trail. We haven't run together since the Brooklyn Half (technically, only TPP and I ran together that day), so it was fun to regroup. Now that the weather is warming up, I've been thinking that I need to carry water on longer runs. I've had little luck with running bottles, but a company called Flexr Sports had sent me one that interested me, so I decided to try it today.

SIOR was waiting on the trail when I arrived at our rendezvous spot. I told her I was thinking of carrying the Flexr bottle today (she has one as well) but I was concerned about the weight (my bottle held 21 oz.) and its lack of a hand strap. I tossed it back in the car, but SIOR mentioned the rising heat, so I decided to take it along after all.

TPP arrived at that moment and we quickly decided to go north. I wanted to cover six miles today, TPP was thinking 6-8 miles and SIOR, who had already run a mile, was thinking about going beyond the Cold Spring Harbor Labs publishing building. We ran together long enough to hear the details of SIOR's missing kitten saga (everything turned out fine!), but we separated by pace soon after that.

In terms of pace, mine was the slowest. That didn't discourage me, but I wished I could get closer so I could participate in the conversation. Of course, if I did push myself to their pace, I wouldn't have been able to contribute anything but gasps and grunts. My friends waited for me to catch up at the road crossings and that proved valuable for planning the next stages of our run.

The last section of our route, between Washington Ave and Sunnyside Boulevard, is very hilly going north. It's so hilly that I tend to use the LIE underpass as my turnaround point instead of taking on that challenge. But the Runsketeers don't shy away from hills, so I dutifully followed them up and over. TPP has had some recent struggles with endurance and speed (as have I) but today she moved along very well.

TPP and I reached Sunnyside after SIOR, who had continued on further north. We turned around at that point (3 miles) and headed back to our starting point. We knew SIOR would catch up to us eventually. Soon after we crossed Old Country Road, we were all reunited when SIOR ran into us like a freight train from behind. She is very speedy.

Although both of my friends got out in front of me after that, I picked up my speed and ended up covering the last 1.2 miles in a pace range that I haven't seen in a long time. It felt great to run harder as I got to the end and I enjoyed being cheered in by my buddies who had already finished. We took our traditional selfies after that. My skill in that area seems to be getting worse.

Um, how do you use a camera?

I ended up liking the Flexr bottle for its squeezable (rather than rigid) construction and its cap that worked much better than my Ultimate Direction bottle. I did wish it had a hand strap, but the shape helped make up for that somewhat. The bottle retails for about $11 and has disposible liners. I think it's a bargain.

Flexr has removable liners - nice idea

Unfortunately, I had placed the bottle on the back bumper of SIOR's car during our photo shoot and then forgot about it. Too bad, I was really starting to like it. We kept our other tradition of post run coffee at Starbucks and it was great to catch up. Soccer mom SIOR needed to leave first, but TPP and I hung in for a while and talked about running shoes and proprioception, a word I bungled badly, although TPP could pronounce it perfectly.

It was a great day to run and to be with running friends. I wish I'd remembered to take my Flexr bottle, but it won't cost a lot to replace. In the meantime, I'm pleased with my progress. I didn't run fast, but I was faster than yesterday. As long as things keep going in that direction, I'm okay. Speed work soon. I think that's the only way to return to past performance levels.

Uncooperative Garmins can't spoil a good run

And taking its sweet time doing it

Today's run (street): 4.25 

Despite Wednesday being National Running Day and finally getting access to my company's fitness center, I haven't been running. Work is the culprit and I haven't figured out how to get in my weekday workouts without reverting back to 3:30 AM runs. Ironically, I can be extremely flexible in terms of my morning timing, but I prefer to be on the road very early to beat the heavy traffic.

I did attempt to use the fitness center yesterday but traffic was terrible and I got in a little late. The result was a fairly crowded locker room, along with the realization that I lacked both a combination lock and soap for my après-run shower. My wife has since packed both items in my gym bag, so I'll be better prepared next time. I still don't like sharing a locker room with co-workers, but I'll have to get over that.

I worked from home today and that provided an opportunity to do a run around the neighborhood. Once again, it took an annoyingly long time to get a signal on my GPS. I was concerned because I had some calls in the morning and every minute I waited (it actually took ten) was a minute less that I could run. The progress bar finally made it all the way across and I was on my way.

In the past, my first run after so many days away would almost guarantee a great experience. I wouldn't define today's run as great, but it met my need. It didn't hurt that the weather was perfect. I haven't looked at the Garmin data yet, so I don't know my splits. Overall, I did better than I expected.

Tomorrow is a Runsketeer group run and I'm looking forward to seeing my Runska-buddies for the first time since we ran the Brooklyn Half. I'm not happy to be cramming all my week's running into three weekend days, but it's the only option I have right now.

Cascadia 8's take on Stillwell Woods

A happy sight

Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 4.1 miles 

Although I bought my Brooks Cascadia 8's with the intention of using them as casual shoes, I couldn't resist taking them to Stillwell this morning. I have a perfectly nice pair of Helly Hansen Trail Lizards that have been my primary trail shoe over the past few years. Even so, I was curious to see how the Cascadias performed on Stillwell's tough trails.

The Cascadia 8

It's been over a month since I've done any type of trail running, so I was excited to hit the trail head leading into Stillwell Woods. The Cascadia's fit is generous for my shoe size, and I was concerned that it might create some lateral instability. Within a minute of my start, I could tell that would not be an issue.

The first thing I noticed about the shoes was the rock plate that provided less flexibility than the lighter weight Trail Lizards. On the positive side, I was able to plant my foot anywhere on the trail without concern for the jarring impact of roots and rocks. I normally need to step gingerly along certain areas at Stillwell, but the Cascadias absorbed everything in their path.

I didn't get adventurous enough to test vertical ascents out of the Viper Pit today, but I had no problems with the steep, scree covered sections that I encounter along my usual loop. Once I became confident that the Cascadias could handle any terrain, I shifted focus from watching the trail to enjoying the sights. That nearly cost me a face plant when my toe caught a high root and I almost went down. I was glad to have quickly restored my balance and suddenly grateful for the substantial toe guard.

The temperature was a few degrees higher than yesterday, but the tree cover kept me cool throughout the run. The Stillwell caretakers had recently trimmed the high grass adjacent to the single track that runs around the open field. That was great. When that grass gets high, it presents a real tick concern.

Overall, I ran easy and kept my heart rate between 81-84% of max. It was nice to be back in the woods and I appreciated the way the Cascadias performed. I'm thinking about adding more trail runs to my schedule while the weather remains cool. It's been a long time since I ran the Dirty Sock course in Babylon, so that might be a nice change of venue for my next outing.

I got my signed release form in the mail from my doctor yesterday and I'm now able to use my company's fitness center. Not that I love treadmills, but they have very nice equipment. Best of all, they have showers, so no more post-workout towel downs with Wet Ones, like I used to have to do at my old office.

Six miles on the BBT

Today's run (Bethpage Bike Trail): 6.2 miles

Now that I'm back to daily commuting, weekends have become more essential. My consulting schedule provided a lot of time flexibility during the week, but I now need to use Saturday and Sunday for most personal tasks. Included in this is running. At this point, I'm cramming in all my week's running between Friday and Sunday so I have to make every run count.

I debated this morning whether to run the trails at Stillwell, or return to Bethpage (for the first time since Brooklyn) to run the bike path. I'm anxious to try out my new Cascadias, but I was was concerned that Stillwell's parking lot would be overrun with cars because of all the Saturday soccer games. So Bethpage was the better choice.

I parked along Colonial Road and got onto the path just north of Haypath. It was 63° and sunny with low humidity. I headed north and immediately encountered a number of cyclists coming from the other direction. There was a pronounced wind coming from the north that made progress difficult on hills. I reminded myself that the wind would work to my advantage after I reached my turn around point.

Although the bike trail goes all the way to Woodbury Road, I usually turn back at the LIE underpass. This gets me to 4.5 miles before I pass by the spot where I usually park. That was the case today and I continued south until I'd covered most of the northern trail. The run itself was very pleasant and I moved along well through it all. Unlike most times, cyclists far outnumbered runners. In fact there were so many bikers, I though there might be a cycling event happening.

I ran by feel today and was once again puzzled by my pace. I'm confident that I could have matched last year's pace for a 6 mile training run had I'd pushed harder. However, what seemed like something I once could do with a normal effort now requires a race day mentality. Still, I was happy with today's performance and I really enjoyed being outside on such a beautiful spring morning. I'm still thinking Stillwell for tomorrow. I hope this great weather continues.

Stress testing in sixteen steps

Not as fun as it looks

Today's run (street): 3.4 miles

Despite my resistance to the idea of taking a stress test, I finally acquiesced and went through it this week. My experience at the end of the Brooklyn Half provided the impetus to do it. Actually, it was strong encouragement from my wife, the Runsketeers and my friend KWL that made me go through with it.

If you've never gone through a stress test (this was my third), you should know that it's not particularly stressful. But it sure takes a long time. I don't know if the process is universal, but at my doctor, the process goes like this:

1. Arrive at doctor's office at your scheduled time.
2. Wait an hour to be called in.
3. Wait for the doctor in the exam room. You can pass the time by reading your chart on the computer display (at least that's what I did).
4. Have a conversation with the doctor about how you ended up in the medical tent after running a half marathon. Hint: his response will always be, "I want you to run a stress test today."
5. Have an EKG.
6. Have blood taken.
7. Have an heart ECHO sonogram.
8. Go to stress test lab and wait.
9. Get your first injection of thallium, a radioactive isotope that's used as a trace agent during the imaging process. Very reassuring.
10. Go into the imaging room and get scanned for 12 minutes.
11. Go into another sonogram lab and have carotid arteries checked.
12. Go into the room with the medical treadmill, where the technician attaches electrodes all over your body attached to a belt unit that you wear during the process.
13. Start at walking pace, with the goal of getting heart rate over 140. She ended up putting the incline to 16% and the speed to over 5 MPH to get me there.
14. Get your second injection of thallium and wait.
15. Get your second imaging to compare to the first after exercise.
16. Go home six hours after you arrive.

The good news is that you do get feedback throughout the process. My doctor said my EKG and ECHO were fine, the sonogram tech said the same about the carotid check and the treadmill technician said I didn't have a single missed beat during my session. I needed my doctor to review the imaging results. If there were concerns, I would have got a call yesterday. All of that, and no issues.

So why am I running so slow?

My doctor's office should now deliver my clearance form so I can use my company's fitness center. I can then do workouts in the morning when I get into the office. Without that, my options are either to go back to 4 AM runs, or work out when I get home from work. I worked from home today and got in a few miles before I started what turned out to be a busy day. It's the weekend now, and I hope to give those Cascadia's their first experience on the trails either tomorrow or Sunday.

And all this time I thought I was running!

 It's official!

This past Sunday I wrote a post about my declining pace performance. I showed a graph with speeds in MPH based on GPS watch data. My Garmin often under-counts my distance, so the speeds on the graph are probably 3.2-4% slower than my actual average speed. I was a little surprised to see a comment that seemed targeted to the lowest pace on my graph. The comment said, "The official name of anything below 5.5 is 'walking.'''

This is good to know, because all this time when I was running 10-something paces for ten or more miles on the Bethpage trail, I thought I was actually running. But what about those race-walkers that reach paces in the 6:00/mile range? Very confusing. Technically, I believe it is considered running when both feet leave the ground, versus walking, where one foot always remains on the ground.

I know this commenter was just being sarcastic (if a little mean). Perhaps he/she can clear up some other questions for me, such as, "What's the official difference between rapping and singing?" In the meantime, I'm declaring anyone who calls themselves a runner to be one. And no matter what speed they actually run, it's still running.

SA Elite bargains: Cascadia, coat and curry

Trifecta

My new schedule doesn't provide much flexibility for running during the week, so I considered using my Monday rest day for my first workout of the week. I'll admit that I've taken it easy since the half marathon, running only three times last week for a total of 12 miles. That was due primarily to a lack of time in my work schedule, plus a couple of days that I'd planned for recovery.

The weather this morning was sunny and cool and I felt like getting outside. Despite having limited running time, I decided to walk around the neighborhood. It's a different experience walking roads that I usually run, and a little strange to be "the walker" when the occasional runner passes by. But when you walk, you notice details you never see on a run. You can also appreciate the smell of the spring air a lot more when you aren't focusing on using oxygen for fuel. I ended up covering about three miles. Very pleasant.

We didn't have a very Memorial Day themed holiday today, although we almost got caught in the middle of the Westbury parade. Our destination was The Gallery at Westbury Plaza on Old Country Road. This shopping center had four places of interest: SA Elite (for me), The Paper Source (for Mrs. ER and the kids), Trader Joe's and Noodles & Company.

I've been wanting to return to SA Elite, a Sports Authority specialty store that only carries adult running clothes, shoes and gear. My Brooks GTS-10's, that had a 600 mile career as my primary running shoe and perhaps another 800 miles as my weekend casual shoes, were due for replacement. I went looking for a shoe bargain, like the one I got on my Saucony Virratas last year.

As soon I walked in, I spotted a very nice Brooks running raincoat, but it was priced at $85. A lightweight coat like this is my white whale, and I've been looking a long time for a replacement for my ASICS rain jacket that has a broken zipper. Whenever I look at these jackets, they always seem to be too expensive, in weird remainder-type colors or either size small or XXL. I soon found an ASICS packable jacket priced at $40 but discounted to $29.95. This jacket had a hood (bonus), was available in my size, and looked good. Sold!

Next, I headed to the shoe section, first to the clearance section where I found a pair of Brooks Cascadia 7's priced at $39.99. They were a half size too large, but that would have been okay for wearing as a casual shoe. Unfortunately the Cascadia 7's were the color of vivid green camouflage and Mrs. ER rejected them for anything but running. After trying on a pair of well-priced ASICS Nimbus-14's that didn't fit as well as I'd hoped, I spotted a pair of Cascadia 8's in conservative blue and grey. $47.97 and my size. Ring 'em up!

After that, we headed next to Noodles & Company, where we could all have the genre of food we wanted as long as it was noodles. Or soup. Or salad. I had the Bangkok curry noodles. Fantastic. This is my new favorite place.

This was a great long weekend, with perfect weather. I'm not a fan of shopping, but today was really great. Now that I have the Cascadias, I'm definitely thinking trails next weekend.

The history of my running speed

Directional declines

Today's run (street): 3.6 miles

I decided to do some data mining on Garmin Connect to compare my historical averages with my current performance. In order to keep the information consistent, I only used data captured from one source, my Garmin 210 that I bought in 2010. I know I've lost a lot of speed over the past year and my interest was in seeing whether my recent history is an aberration, or if it merely reflects a long term decline.

Charting the trends reveals a changing relationship between race speed and overall speed. My average pace has followed a linear decline, but my race paces have dropped measurably since 2012. Up to 2012, I generally paced 7.5% better in races compared to my overall average. After 2012, that gap has closed and is now almost equal to my training run times.

As I often say when working with business data, these findings are only directional. The Garmin data, acquired by GPS, has a variable margin of error. I tried to correct for that as much as I could, but the numbers do have some skew. I only selected runs I'd tagged as "street running" to filter out slower trail paces and faster track paces. It's also important to note that the 2014 data is only through May 25, not a full year.

In terms of these findings, I'm not happy to see declines, but at least the drop-off has not been as sharp as I'd suspected. I did today's run as a tempo, taking it easy through the majority of the distance and picking up the pace more at the end. The last mile was a minute faster than the prior few, and I finished feeling great. I wish I could tap into that speed more often, but based on my recent race performances, it's a little more complicated than just trying a little harder.

Running in the right direction

A subtly better run 

Today's run (street): 4.4 miles

This morning's run was 25% longer than yesterday's and 1% faster. In other words, better. What the numbers don't show is how I felt during and after the run, and that's real reason why I was pleased with today's workout.

Friday's run was the first one I'd done since the Brooklyn Half and, after five days rest, I'd hoped for a good rebound. What I actually got was a rough 3.4 miles featuring a cranky stride and more fatigue than the distance should have produced. Rather than benefiting from an (almost) full week's recovery, I felt as if I had over-trained. I don't know if it was related to the run (or a fairly intense week at the office), but I was tired for the remainder of the day.

This morning was sunnier than Friday and a little breezier. I didn't get out as early as I'd planned because I got caught up watching an episode of Lillyhammer with my son. Worth the wait. Once I got outside, I was ready to run. There was no delay with the GPS this time, 20 seconds and I was good to go. The air smelled of cut grass and something that might have been mesquite. I took off in a direction that bypassed the landscaping crew trucks that were parked up and down the road.

I had targeted four miles for my run today without any particular route in mind. I encountered some runners and walkers along the way and I observed a number of people packing up their SUV's for what I guessed were Memorial Day getaways. I felt relaxed and tried to open up my stride as the run progressed. Overall, I slightly improved on yesterday's pace.

I may go out for a little more distance tomorrow, depending on how our schedule goes. While I didn't see a dramatic improvement in performance over yesterday's, I certainly had a more encouraging experience. I finished the run feeling strong and had no after-effects like I did when I finished Brooklyn. After feeling a little down about running this week, my motivation is on the rise.