Finally A Morning Run!

As this week progressed, I have felt a lot better when waking up in the morning. It looks like this infection is finally behind me!

This morning I got up early and hit the gym for a run. It's been too long since I've been able to utter those words...and even though the clock had a 5 as the first number when I left the house, it felt wonderful!!

The run itself wasn't that wonderful. After running on the harder side on Monday and Wednesday, I felt I needed a controlled easy run. My Garmin was now working (yes...it was the USB port that I was using did not power it up properly), so I could monitor my heart rate.

I ended up having to keep my pace in the 11:30/mile range to keep my heart rate low enough to constitute an easy run. It's almost painful to go that slow, but I know it is best for me right now.

The good news about all of this - I have now run 3 times this week for a total of 9.5 miles. That's more than my totals for the last 3 weeks. And I'm planning to get one more run in some time this weekend.

Earlier this week I laid out some goals. Well, I have hit 2 out of the 3. I have run 3 times (and potentially 4 if I get a weekend run). I have started the Hundred Push-Ups program. I'm on Week 3, Column 3. I managed to do a total of 78 push-ups on Tuesday and 97 push-ups on Thursday. Again, I'll try to do one more set this weekend.

The one goal I did not get to is counting calories. I have watched what I have been eating to some extent, but I know that my portions are still way too big. At least I'm now doing something to burn off the extra calories I'm consuming. I'll see how my weight is on Monday...if it's going up still I'll probably start counting calories on Monday (yeah, right!)

Two-And-A-Half-ish Miles On a Snowy Trail

The good news - I'm starting to feel much better. Finally! I'm waking up feeling almost refreshed and not continually run down.

However, I still haven't gotten up early enough for a morning run yet.

I was thinking about it on Wednesday morning and laid out my gear before going to bed on Tuesday night...but I woke up a bit too late to get the run in. So, I threw my gear in the gym bag and took it with me to the office (I worked in the Reston office on Wednesday).

The plan was to go for a run on the W&OD Trail during lunch (the trail is half a block from my office) and then go to the gym to shower (only about a mile away from the office).

I slipped out of the office around 12:30pm ready to go. Except my Garmin wasn't. Once again it wouldn't turn on. This time, I would get the "welcome screen" and then it would just disappear. UGH!!!

I had a quick decision to make - I was in my running clothes already. Do I just go for a run - no heart rate, no watch, no GPS - just to run? Or do I scrap it since I won't know how far, how fast and how hard I was running??

Of course I went for the run!

The W&OD trail near my office was mostly clear. Every so often there would be patches of the trail that still had snow on it with some tracks through the snow that I was able to use. A little over a mile into my run, though, there was more snow than pavement. And then there was a downed pine tree which had fallen completely across the path. I guess I found my turnaround point, I thought to myself.

I have no idea how far my run was. Or how long it took. Or what my heart rate was. But I still ran. I still got that great feeling of the blood pumping through my whole body during the run and that awesome high that I get about an hour after the run that you can tackle whatever life throws at you.

I sooooo needed this run...just to remind me why I do it in the first place.

As for the Garmin - I'm pretty sure that the issue is that the USB port I have been using (off of a very old USB hub) is not charging the battery well enough while it is sitting in the cradle. I have switched to another USB port and hope this clears the issue up. We'll see...I have my fingers crossed.

Finding My Way Through Irvine

I'm in Irvine, CA for business. I'm kicking off a new project with one of our largest customers. It's a great opportunity for me, even if I am only "on loan" to this other group for the time being.

I have mixed feelings about business trips - I don't mind the travel and I love being in new places. However, I also like having my routine...and business trips really messes that up.

I finally arrived at my hotel on Sunday night at 11:30pm Pacific (that's 2:30am in my home Eastern time zone). My cellphone rang at 2am Pacific with issues at one of the maintenance window activities I was managing. By the time I "woke up" in the morning, I was really tired and in no mood for a run.

After the workday, I decided to head out for dinner and watch Monday Night Football - which starts at 6pm out here. Wow! I walked over to an awesome place called the Yard House and had some very good food (seared tuna and hot spinach and cheese dip) and excellent beer (Young's Chocolate Stout and Maredsous 8). On the way back from the restaurant, I found that there was a bike path behind my hotel - and I had seen the path on my walk to the restaurant - so I knew what I was going to do for my run the next morning!

One of the benefits to running with a Garmin Forerunner (305), is that I no longer need to meticulously map out my runs beforehand to see where I'm going to go and how long it is going to take. I can just get up and go - RedG maps everything out and tells me how far I have gone. As long as I remember where I'm going - so I can get back to point A - I don't have to think too much about my route anymore.

I ended up waking up a little before 5am (this Pacific time zone stuff is killing me!). It was still dark outside so I waited about an hour until the sun started coming up. It was a crisp 50 degrees, and although there was a chill in the air it felt great running in shorts and a short-sleeve shirt again. I guess 50 degrees is cold for California since everyone else who was out on the bike path that morning was bundled up!

The path ran against a wide creek bed that was completely dry. I suppose that when it rains here, this probably flows like a river - there were lots of signs warning about flooding conditions. The trail was very nice - a wide asphalt path that went under the major streets. No worrying about stopping for traffic or watching for cars - awesome!

I ran for about a mile and a quarter, and then the path stopped at a street that it did not go under. When I got up to the road, there was no crosswalk and there was a median in the middle of the road. I guess it was time to turn back towards the hotel and then continue on past the hotel. After passing the hotel, I was able to go another mile before the path ended in that direction. So my out-and-back one way and out-and-back the other way route was a bit over 4.5 miles. I had run nice and easy at a 10:15/mile average pace.

Later today, I took a look at Google maps to figure out if this path goes further than that street where I stopped on my way out. It ends up that if I go up to the street, turn right and go about a tenth of a mile, I'll be able to pick up the path to go under the road and continue on. And there's a long network of paths after that. So...it looks like I'll be good for a longer run tomorrow and/or on Thursday. Woo hoo!

Long Run - Sans Watch

I woke up Saturday morning ready to get in a long run before heading to synagogue with the family - like I normally do. I was planning to do somewhere in the 7-8 mile range and decided to run to the Rio center and either around one half of the lake (for about 7.6 miles) or around the lake one and a half times (for 8.3 miles).

The weather was still a bit on the chilly side - about 50 degrees - and overcast and misty with a few drizzles. Not beautiful, but not too bad for a run either.

I had laid out all of my clothes and gear the night before, but when I went to turn RedG on, he wouldn't wake up! This had happened once before - at the Rockville Twilight 8K race during the summer - but since then he has been trouble free. I decided I would just grab my old Polar HRM watch since I knew the total distance of the route and I wasn't so concerned about mile splits. I found the Polar watch and it was totally blank - the battery had died.

So off I went on my run - no watch and no heart rate monitor. I can't remember the last time I ran without a watch....I mean I'm so addicted to my running log that I NEED to have at least my distance and time, right?

The only piece of technology I had with me was my iPod shuffle. I had loaded some Idan Raichel albums onto the shuffle - good tunes to get lost in while going on a nice, long easy run.

I must tell you, the first mile or so was really strange. I'm always checking my HRM feedback every few minutes just to make sure I'm not overtraining or if I can pick up the pace a bit. I got to where I normally check my mile 1 split and there was nothing to check. Really. Strange.

However, I finally got into a groove. I was free to run - and I ran hard. There were a few hills that I decided to attack - and there was nothing telling me to slow down - so I never stopped.

When I got to the lake at Rio, I decided to go for the extra lap around the lake. Why not? I had no idea what time it was. I had no idea how fast I was running. It was just me, the drizzle and my tunes. What's not to love about that!

It's still a bit strange that my RunningAhead running log only has a distance for my run - no time, no pace, no average heart rate. However, I must say that after the first two miles or so, I really didn't mind running without the watch. Perhaps I'll do it more often when I'm not training for a goal race.

New Battery For My HRM and Marathon Pace Run

I've been complaining about the fact that RedG's heart rate monitor has been giving me some crazy readings for the past few weeks. Mostly on the first mile or mile and a half and then it's fine - but I'm afraid that this is when I will need to use my HRM to control my pace the most on November 1.

I finally decided to get a new battery yesterday. Installing it was very easy - just turn the cover with a coin, pop the old battery out, put the new one in and put the cover back on...or so I thought.

I was all ready to go out for my run today (at lunchtime which was first thing in the morning for me today...) - I looked down at RedG and the Heart Rate field was blank. The little heart icon on the top was alternating flashing with an "X".

Now I felt like crap. Why do I always have to go toying with things to make them "better" and I end up breaking something and having to spend more time and/or money to fix them!

I had no MacGyver moment for this one. I ran upstairs to get the Owner's Manual (I know...very unlike me. I'm used to tinkering with things for a good 10 hours before resorting to the manual). A quick search of the manual and I was looking at the HRM troubleshooting section and it mentioned something about "pairing" devices. Got it - when I swapped the battery, somehow RedG thinks the HRM strap is a new device. I navigated through the Garmin menu to re-scan for the heart rate monitor strap, and now the heart rate field was no longer blank. HOORAY!

The new battery seems to work, too. Mile 1 of today's run (mostly uphill) I had an average heart rate of 144 and max of 157. No more readings in the 180s while I'm doing a slow jog :-)

My goal today was a 6 mile marathon pace run. I'm shooting for a 4:40 marathon which is a 10:40/mile pace. Most of my runs lately have been a lot faster than this, so the goal today was to SLOW DOWN.

I got into a nice rhythm during the first mile. I chose to do my normal 6 mile loop in reverse so I could go uphill for most of this mile - just like going uphill on the Verrazano Bridge during the first mile. However, my rhythm was just a tad too fast as RedG chirped a 10:20 at me. Mile 2 was mostly downhill, and although I felt like I slowed down, I ran another 10:19.

I decided that I had to make an effort on the next mile to really slow down and get my pace in the 10:40 range. The next two miles were 11:05 and 11:10 - and I was now on pace! And my average HR was still in the 140s. Woo hoo!

One thing toward the end of the run did concern me a bit. Mile 6 which is pretty much all uphill, I ran in 10:35, but my average HR was 165 (max of 179). I'm all for attacking the hills, but I'm hoping that something like this in the middle of the NY Marathon (i.e. the 59th Street Bridge) doesn't gas me for later on.

Overall, I ran the 6.25 miles at a 10:37/mile pace. My average HR was 151. Not too shabby, but I was hoping for a lower heart rate with this pace. Perhaps it was the warm weather (72 degrees at noon when I ran) or perhaps it was the lack of sleep this week.

To put myself at ease, I took a look in my running log at the last time I ran this route. In late June I ran this as a long run. The temperature that day was also 72 degrees. My pace was 11:25/mile and my average HR was 154. It is nice to see how far I have come in 4 months of training... even on a "bad" day!

Speedwork Or No Speedwork?

I wasn't feeling like I could handle a speedwork workout today.

I don't know if it was the lack of sleep (went to bed late last night after Israeli Dancing and woke up early as my little one has a fever), the fact that I got my flu shot on Monday and my body is adjusting to that, or if it just because it is a cold, gray, blah type of day.

I was ready for a lunchtime run outside, but I didn't want to go to the track for an interval workout and I didn't want to put it all out on the line like last week's tempo run.

So I decided to make it an easy run. The plan - start at Fitness First, go across Quince Orchard Rd to Great Seneca Hwy, down Great Seneca to Muddy Branch, across to Rt 28 and back up to Fitness First. I was thinking it was somewhere in the 6-7 mile range...in the end Garmin told me it was 5.4.

BTW...I think I have come up for a name for my Garmin. I will now refer to him as RedG (pronounced Reggie, right?) in the blog instead of "my Garmin", "the Garmin", "Garmin Forerunner 305", etc. Not as cute as some of the other bloggers' pet names (Little G, Garmy, etc.) but the name definitely fits.

As I have been finding out too often, sometimes plans go by the wayside.

I thought I was taking it easy during mile 1. The heart rate monitor is still a little messed up at the beginning of my runs (note to self - change that battery already!) so I couldn't judge how I was doing by heart rate...so I was just going by feel. Well, that easy pace that I felt was 9:38.

OK...well, I'll slow down during mile 2, right? The heart rate monitor is now working and I'm in the low 140s / high 130s for a good part of it. Yes, it is downhill but I'm sure I'm going a bit slower.

RedG chirps out 9:05. Same thing for mile 3 (also mostly downhill) - 9:10.

I guess this is a tempo run, boys and girls!

So I started hoofing out miles 4 and 5. Both of these are mostly UP-hill (for those who live in the area - Route 28 from Muddy Branch to Quince Orchard). Splits were 8:41 and 8:39.

The final (up-hill) 0.4 was run at a 8:47 pace.

So much for an easy run... I'll try again tomorrow morning!

Time To Taper

It's taper time!

Last week was my final 40 mile week of the marathon training calendar. Now the weekly mileage totals will decrease until the marathon itself.

The training plan that I have been following shows the next two weeks' mileage as 28 miles and 19 miles. I find that much of a decrease a bit too drastic. My normal training base was 20-25 miles a week before I started marathon training, so going below this level may not be the best thing. Plus, before last year's marathon the taper left me feeling sluggish - plus I put on a few pounds during the taper.

My plan is to have a 30-32 mile week this week and a 25 mile week next week. I also am going to start counting calories so I don't add extra weight this time around. The calorie counting will give me something else to obsess about rather than "why am I not running???"
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This morning's 5 miler was almost scratched. My older son had some bad dreams and came into our room a little after 3am and 4am (no more Halloween-type shows for the next few weeks!). I didn't think I would wake up in time to get out the door by 6am given how I felt when I brought my son back to his room. But my younger son woke up around 5:40am and woke us up as well, so I got my running clothes on and headed out the door.

Another cool, dark morning. I laid out a long sleeve shirt and shorts - which was perfect. I had a bit of uncertainty as I started given how my last run went. To add some fuel to that fire, the HRM part of my Garmin has been giving me really high readings during the first mile of my runs...this started happening last week. Luckily, after the first mile or so, the heart rate readings go back down to normal. I'm going to see about changing the battery in the chest strap and see if that will help.

This morning's stats - 5.5 miles in a 10:01/mile pace with a 149 average HR (with the first mile overstated, so my average HR was really a bit lower).

Bonking In The Sun

The title says it all. I didn't complete my 22 mile run today. I stopped at 20 miles. Actually, I pretty much stopped at 18.5 and walked most of the rest to 20 miles.

So...what happened?

First of all, weather was a big contributor. It was 70 degrees when I started, and 86 degrees when I called it quits.

I think nutrition/hydration had a bit of a factor too. I was so concerned about how to handle the morning of the run and during the run that I forgot to eat extra carbs and drink extra water yesterday and the day before. I felt depleted around mile 14...way too early.

A few other contributors - my first two miles were a bit fast - 10:19 and 10:09. The Garmin also has mile 10 at 8:06...I'm pretty sure the Garmin messed up somewhere - part of this mile was in the Air Rights Tunnel in Bethesda...I would assume that Garmin would extrapolate distance when the satellites were back in range, but perhaps it didn't extrapolate so well?

Elevation was also a factor. The first 9 miles were net uphill 400 ft. This may have tired me out a bit. My route started at Dupont Circle Metro station, went towards Georgetown where I got onto the CCT trail, into Bethesda and over to Chevy Chase where I got onto the Rock Creek Trail and then to Veirs Mill Road. My car was parked on Veirs Mill Road near the Rockville Metro - about 2 miles from the trail. Of course I did not run those last two miles - I hopped on a Metro Bus and took it to my car. Here's a link to the route.

I won't go through all of the details of the run, but here are a few highlights (and lowlights):

• The time of day of this morning's run - I started at 10:25am by the time I got downtown - is almost exactly the time I'll be starting to run in NY for the marathon. I ate my pre-run fuel at 8am and this seemed to work as well. I also wore my Alzheimer's Association singlet which I'm hoping to wear for the race!
• I fueled up this morning with a cup of coffee - black with sugar - and a big piece of injera - an Ethiopian bread. I picked up the injera yesterday at a nearby Ethiopian restaurant. The idea of injera came to me yesterday afternoon. I was thinking what the elites probably fuel up with before their long runs, and I remembered that many of the elites are from East Africa, so I decided to try it out. I think this worked out well - it filled me up, digested easily and I did not have any stomach pains during my run.
• There were three times that I had to "double back" due to going the wrong way. The first time was when I needed to leave the CCT trail and get onto the Rock Creek Trail. I accidentally continued on the CCT trail because I knew the Rock Creek Trail was straight ahead - except for the fact that that part of the CCT trail was on a bridge/overpass a good 50 feet above Rock Creek and the trail. Oops!
• The other two times I had to double back was in the 18th and 19th mile. It was very frustrating. I'm not sure whether there was bad signage or if I was just to out of it to realize there was signage.
• As part of my fueling strategy during the run, I decided to bring some food to go along with my GU. I brought a Cherry Pie Larabar. I like Larabars because most of them have less than 6 ingredients - and I can recognize all of the ingredients. It seems more like "real food" than many of the engineered energy bars. The Cherry Pie Larabar's ingredients are Dates, Almonds and Unsweetened Cherries. That's all. I opened the bar at mile 15 - it was a welcome distraction for almost the entire mile....and it probably got me through miles 16 and 17.

I'm going to try to not let this failed attempt at 22 miles get me down about New York. I felt pretty good after my 20 miler - in much cooler weather. I'm hoping the temperatures in NY will be cooler than today and that will likely give me a few more miles (8 more hopefully!) to run.

Back To The Track

It's speedwork Wednesday today. I decided to hit the track instead of the treadmill - since I have been working a lot on pacing, I wanted to be cognizant of my own pace instead of having a rubber mat set the pace for me like I did all summer.

Actually, it has been more than just "the summer". My training log tells me that the last time I was at the oval was in August of LAST YEAR. YIKES! I guess it kind of makes sense as I have been hesitant to go to the track with my Garmin as I felt that it would be really inaccurate in distance. Well, Garmin was a bit inaccurate - I ran 8.45 miles and Garmin had me at about 8.7 - but who cares! I'm able to go into my log and put in the exact distances anyhow since I hit the lap button when I finish a particular interval or recovery. Plus, Garmin did pretty well mapping my run :-) No more avoiding the track on account of the Garmin...

The weather was a bit on the chilly side for lunchtime (65 degrees) and there was some wind as well, but I can't say I minded a bit. It was nice to be in the cool air while I was heating up in my workout.

My plan for today - Yasso 800s - 10 x 800m with 400m recoveries, targeting a 4:40 for the 800m (a 9:20/mile pace). The Yasso 800 wisdom is that if I can do this workout, I should be able to run a 4:40 marathon - which is my goal for New York.

After my warm-up, I started out a bit faster than 4:40, and my first interval was 4:36. I slowed it down a bit for the second interval and came in at 4:39. Nice! However, that was the closest I would get to 4:40 today. The next intervals were 4:35, 4:29, 4:28, 4:27 and 4:18!

I had three more intervals to go and I was still feeling pretty good. I decided to try and slow down the next two and get closer to 4:40 and then go as fast as I could on interval number 10. Interval 8 was 4:33. On interval 9, my first split around the track was 2:08 - too fast. I tried to slow myself down, but I guess halfway around the track I got my groove again and ended up with another 2:08 for a 4:16 800m split.

Interval 10 was all guts. I started out really fast, but then reminded myself it's 800m - not 200 or 400! My first 400 split was 2:03. Could I beat an 8:00/mile pace? I got a bit faster as I started my second loop, rounded the turn and tried to pick up the pace even more down the straightaway. As I was rounding the last turn the wind picked up - I was charging into a strong headwind as I dug in and crossed the line. Garmin flashed my lap time of 3:51! My last 400m was a 1:47 (a 7:11/mile pace).

I really amazed myself on that last interval. Not that I was able to hit a 1:47 for 400m or a 3:51 for 800m. I know that I can do that if needed. I just didn't think I could do it after already running 7.5 miles.

The average time for my 800m intervals was 4:25. I know that this does not mean that I should be shooting for a 4:25 marathon time. I'm afraid that if I try to raise the bar too much on my goal that I will tire myself out and bonk like I did last year. So, I'll still be shooting for a steady 4:40 in New York.

Training runs like this and my 20 miler this past weekend are giving me some good confidence in reaching that goal!

18 Mile Long Run / Parks Half Marathon

For my 18 mile run today, I parked 5 miles from the start of the Parks Half Marathon, ran to the starting line and then ran the race.

My plan was to treat this as a marathon pace run. A little faster than a long run, but slower than I would normally run a Half Marathon. My target pace was 10:40/mile - which corresponds to a 4:40 marathon.

I set my alarm for 5:15am, but thanks to my younger son, I didn't need to rely on the alarm. He came into our room at 4:45am needing to go to the bathroom (which he can do on his own, but for some reason likes to wake us up in the middle of the night anyway...). I decided to get out of bed then and get an earlier start. I got into my running gear (including my UofM Alumni tech shirt - which was a great conversation piece during the run, especially after our big win over Notre Dame yesterday...GO BLUE!), made some instant coffee, went to the bathroom (the reason for the coffee, right?), ate a pre-run banana and headed out to my car. As I left my door, I saw a brightly shining moon and Orion up in the night sky....beautiful!

I parked at the Rio shopping center. As I was pulling into the Kohl's parking lot, I saw someone walking on the sidewalk in shorts and a t-shirt. Another crazy runner, I thought. However, I soon realized that this guy was actually heading home for the night - not heading out for the morning like me. Oy!

Since I was wanting to watch my pace today, I changed my Garmin main screen from 3 fields to 4 - adding average pace to my normal trio of elapsed time, current HR and distance. Later on I found out that by doing this, the elapsed time will only show HR:MIN and not HR:MIN:SEC when you go over 1 hour. It shouldn't really be that big of a deal, but I'm just so used to seeing the seconds on my elapsed time. If it continues to bother me, I may have to just leave average pace off the main screen and make myself hit the up button to see it on the next one. I'll need to make this decision in the next few weeks - I don't want to tinker with this during the NY Marathon.

I started my run - nice and easy. Average HR for the first three miles were 137, 138, 138 (the other two miles were 145 and 144, so they weren't so bad either). The Garmin showed an average pace over the 5 miles of 10:40...perfect! Except later on, when I downloaded my stats into RunningAhead, it shows my pace as 10:42/mile. Not such a biggie, but I'm started to get a bit frustrated about the accuracy of the Garmin....especially when I am using it to keep me on the right pace to reach my goal!

A few comments about the early run - it was definitely dark, and there were some areas that were not well lit (and one point where the sidewalk goes into the woods for a bit - woods where I know coyotes have been seen). I must say, I like running early in the morning, but I'm not such a fan of running in the dark alone.

The other thing is that although the coffee had it's desired affect before leaving home (and thus, not needing to use the port-a-john while on my run), it also gave me some pretty bad acid reflux. I was hoping this would go away at some point, but I was still feeling it towards the end of the half marathon as well.

I got to the starting line of the Parks HM about 25 minutes before the start. I bumped into a few people I knew - my running buddy from last week's 17 mile long run - HH - two "virtual" running buddies from RunningAhead who I knew would be at this race - Trent and Jellyfish - and my sister who was running her second half marathon.

I lined up with my sister and we left in the wave that was for the 10:00/mile and slower group, which started at 7:06am. I ran the first mile with my sister - hitting another 10:40 pace and average HR of 141. Mile 2 started to get downhill and I was trying to not get boxed in the crowd, so my pace was much faster - 9:50. After that, I made myself slow down and got into a rhythm.

I pretty much ran this race on feel - I was trying to watch my pace and HR, but didn't pay too much attention. At the half-way mark, my average pace was around 10:30/mile and my HR was in the high 150s. But I felt really good.

I actually felt so good, that around mile 9 or so, I was still chipper as ever while thanking the volunteers for volunteering for the race. One of the other runners made a comment that I was in way too good of a mood this far into the race! I ended up speaking to her for the next mile and a half - she was starting to get really tired and needed a little push to keep her going (or at least someone to speak to and keep her mind off of how much she likely wanted to stop...).

By the time we got to the last 2 miles - on the gravel Georgetown Branch Trail - I was still feeling really good. My average pace was at 10:39/mile - and even though I had already run 16 miles that morning, I felt that I had enough in the tank to put it into a higher gear and go. The Garmin shows that I ran the last two miles in 18:32, but it did lose the satellite while under the Air Rights tunnel so that may have messed up the distance part of the calculation (actually, it shows I did mile 13 in 8:04 - which I'm sure is not right). Either way, I was able to finish up strong with a chip time of 2:18:59.

Later on that morning (after showering and changing of course!) I met up with Trent and Jellyfish at the Silver Diner for brunch. It was nice to meet these folks in person and hear their running stories. Their take was that if I was able to run this course in less than 2:20 - and after running 5 miles already - that I should have no issues running a 4:40 in New York. The NY marathon is flatter and the weather will be cooler. However, I definitely need to ensure that I pace myself well - as it is in any longer distance race, if you go out too fast you are doomed at the end.

In summary - it was a great run capping off a week where my runs didn't feel so great. Still, I had my highest mileage week of the year - close to 37 miles - and I have two more really high mileage weeks before the marathon. I'm getting more confident that I will be able to reach my goals in New York - running a more balanced marathon and running it in 4:40.

Running In The Dark

Sherry and I ran the Rockville Twilight 8K last night. It was Sherry's first race longer than a 5K - so for her it was more of a "can I do this" instead of a "how fast can I run this" type of race. My plan was to run with her - start and finish the race together, run at her pace and be her cheerleader through and through. No pressure for me - just an enjoyable evening run.

The race starts at 8:45pm - after the sun is down. This is normally because July in Maryland is extremely humid and quite hot. Last year's race was run in 90 degree temperatures. However, last night was beautiful - race time temperature was in the mid-70s, low humidity and a breeze. Sherry was a bit chilly before the race started and was questioning whether a sleeveless running shirt was a good idea (I reminded her that once she started running that she would heat up and she'd be comfortable).

The first 3 miles of the course consisted of two loops through a Rockville neighborhood. Some of the neighbors were on their lawns cheering, however, most homes did not have their exterior lights on. This made for a really dark course. It was not what I was expecting. The name of the race is Twilight - shouldn't there be some "light" in a Twilight race??

However, there was another reason I was running "in the dark" last night. I had brought my Garmin Forerunner 305 to the race, and when I tried to turn it on when we arrived - nothing happened. Dead. Kaput. OH NOOOOOO!!!!! I had charged up the watch yesterday afternoon - keeping it sitting in the docking station at my computer until I saw the "Battery Charging is Complete" message. What the heck happened????

So, while we were running, I had no watch to see what our time was - no feedback on our pace. I had decided not to wear the heart rate monitor before leaving home since I was going to be running at Sherry's pace...I didn't need to know what my HR was for pacing purposes (plus, I knew we were going to be hanging out with some friends at the after-party, and I didn't want to be wearing the HRM strap for so much time). The only thing we had to judge our pace were the clocks at each mile marker. How archaic? How annoying!

BTW, Sherry did great! There were times during the first 2 or 3 miles where Sherry wasn't sure she would be able to do it. There was a pretty long hill during the fourth mile where we had to stop and walk for a bit. However, we finished together in a chip time of 53:46 - an average pace of 10:50/mile. Her first race over 5K. Way To Go Sherry!!!!

In regards to my Garmin, when I got home I put the watch in its charger (hooked up to my computer) and nothing was happening. Normally, as soon as I put it in the charger I see the "Battery Charging In Progress" message. I thought I was royally screwed. However, this morning, I checked it and it shows "Battery Charging In Progress". I'm thinking that I may need to charge the Garmin via the AC outlet instead of the USB/computer input before a race. Just to make sure...

Run For The Shelter Half Marathon Race Report

I'll spare everyone the suspense now (and hope you'll all continue to read anyway...), but I met my "B" goal for this race with a new PR - 2:13:22!!!!  That's a PR by 2 minutes and 32 seconds!!!

As I mentioned in my last post, I laid everything out the night before so I could get out the door quickly and get to the race on time.  One thing I neglected to mention was that I was wearing a new shirt (I know...it's not good to try anything new out on race day) - my Wolverines Run shirt!  The Alumni Association of the University of Michigan is sending out free running t-shirts to Alumni Association members who are running marathons.  (OK...so this isn't a full marathon, so I kinda cheated the system, but I did run a full marathon last year and didn't know about the program then...)  Either way, I got a bunch of "Go BLUE!" and "Go Michigan!" cheers from fellow runners and spectators of the race (and only a few "Go Buckeyes" from obnoxious Ohio State fans) - so that a bit of a pick-me-up during the race.

I woke up before my alarm around 5:45am and got out of the house rather quickly.  There were very few cars on the road, so I got out to Leesburg around 7:15am.  So, I had 45 minutes to kill before the 8am race start (or so I thought).  Luckily, I brought a book, so I read for about 20 minutes and then got out of my car for a 20 minute pre-race routine - warm up jog, hit the porta potty one last time, take my GU 15 minutes before race time, etc.  At around 7:55am, I noticed that no one was gathering near the start yet.  What's going on???  I asked around and found out that the race start was 8:30am - not 8am!  So I had another 30 minutes to wait before the race got started.

I actually bumped into a friend of mine from my teenage years (we were both in BBYO together) who was also running the race.  He just got back into running this year and was running his second half marathon (his first was the National Marathon last month where he ran a 1:50 - a full 25 minutes faster than my best...so we would not be running together today!).  It was great to catch up with him, but as people finally started lining up for the start, he went towards the front and I hung out in the middle-to-back of the pack. 

Finally, the race started a tad after 8:30!  The course started at the 4H Fairgrounds and wound down the road for 0.1 mile to hit the W&OD Trail.  The race then went west on the W&OD trail for 6.5 miles and then came back.  My first thoughts at the start of this race were, "oh no, we're going downhill for the first 0.1 mile - that means the last 0.1 at the end is UPHILL - UGH!!!"

The course was rolling hills, but not too bad.  The elevation graph from my Garmin shows an elevation differential of about 200 ft over the course.  The first mile was a lot of uphill while the second mile was mostly down (I didn't remember this while I was trying to pick up the pace on mile 12...where did this uphill come from?).

My main concern was keeping my HR relatively low - under 155 - for the first half of the race and then getting faster on the second half.  Even if I ran a 2:20 or 2:25 today, if I did it with a negative split, I could have pride in the fact that I ran a smart race.

I kept to the plan pretty well for the first four miles:

- Mile 1: 10:37, avg HR 153

- Mile 2: 9:37, avg HR 152 (downhill, remember?)

- Mile 3: 10:04, avg HR 154

- Mile 4: 10:20, avg HR 155

Miles 5 and 6 started to climb uphill a bit (which I didn't mind so much as I knew that this would be coming downhill very soon).  I also started to get into the camaraderie of the race - I ended up speaking to one of the Buckeye runners about Big 10 Football, and I started to cheer for the faster runners who were now making their way back from the turnaround.  My heart rate started to climb up a bit, but unfortunately not with any gains in pace due to the hills:

- Mile 5: 10:57, avg HR 158

- Mile 6: 11:11, avg HR 151

- Mile 6 to Turnaround: 5:57 (10:04/mi pace), avg HR 159

After the turnaround, I felt really good.  I had run at a pretty relaxed pace, I had fueled and hydrated well (there were 3 water stops on the course - which meant 6 stops in total for the out-and-back - and two of them had GU!!!) and although I knew I had 6.5 more miles to go, I felt confident that I could pick up the pace.  I started to turn it up a notch and started to pass many of the runners who had passed me in the opening miles.

Unfortunately, I no longer have the splits at the mile markers.  You see, I didn't realize that when I hit the lap button on my Garmin at the turnaround point, that now the Garmin's auto-lap feature would count miles from the last lap.  I finally hit the lap button again at the 11 mile marker so I could get my splits for miles 12 and 13.

- Mile 7.55 - 10:17, avg HR 164

- Mile 8.55 - 9:34, avg HR 166

- Mile 9.55 - 9:59, avg HR 168

When I hit the 10 mile marker, I saw that I was at 1:44 and change.  I new that if I could finish out with a 30 minute 5k, that I would have myself a new PR!  I still felt like I had gas in the tank unlike my experience that the Parks Half Marathon this past September, and my legs did not hurt like they had in previous runnings of Riley's Rumble Half Marathon.  Time to turn it up a notch and finish it out strong:

- Mile 10.55 - 10:03 avg HR 174 (can we say uphill??)

- Mile 11 - also 10:03/mi pace, avg HR 178

- Mile 12 - 9:56, avg HR 181 (more uphill...grr)

- Mile 13 - 9:08, avg HR 185 (finally downhill! and pushing it)

- Last 0.1 - 7:42/mi pace (uphill, that is...) avg HR 193 (isn't my max HR 186 or something??)

As I was passing the clock at the finish line, it was reading 1:13:38 (or something like that...results still aren't posted).  Garmin time was 1:13:22.  Since it took me a good 20 seconds to get to the starting line - and this race is not chip timed - I think I'll take my Garmin time for now :-)

One thing that I'm a bit perplexed about.  My Garmin measured the race at 13.19 miles - not 13.1.  Also, the Garmin hit mile splits earlier than where the race had the mile markers...starting with mile 2.  I'm not sure if this is a race measurement thing or that my Garmin is a tad off (given that a lot of the trail I ran today was wooded, I'll say it was probably a Garmin thing).

So, I'm not sure if I ran 13.1 or 13.2 today, but it was definitely a PR.  Even with taking a ten day running break three weeks before race day due to bronchitis.

I'll take it easy again this week.  I have nothing else on the race calendar - so I have some work to do!!!

Back To The Working Week

Back to the working week after a busy weekend. I'm not sure which has been busier lately - my weeks or weekends...

Saturday morning was a short "long" run. I'm on a step-back week on my training plan, so it was only a 6 miler...I'm going to start doing that distance mid-week now, so I hate calling that a long run. However, it was nice to be able to sleep in a bit and not run as long on a chilly morning. I'm starting to get my pace back after last week's blood donation...I'm probably about 90% there now.

The best thing about the weekend run? When I got back I just plugged my Garmin into the computer and the data was uploaded into RunningAHEAD! Yeah Garmin! Yeah RunningAHEAD!!!

I think my push-up stamina has also been impacted by the blood donation. I went to do my Week 6 exhaustion test both Saturday and this morning, and I was only able to do 41 push ups. OK...if you had told me 4 months ago that there would be a time where I would say, "I could only do 41 push-ups this morning...what happened?" I'd thought you were crazy. So...I'll continue to do the exhaustion tests a few times this week until I get back up to the high 40s/low 50s.

This morning we had a pretty big snow for these parts. I knew this was coming - and I knew I was supposed to be in Northern Virginia today - so I started early. By 5:30am I was shoveling (a few hours later Sherry has told me she can't even tell that I shoveled!), and it took me about an hour and 20 minutes to get to the Fitness First in Reston, VA. I did my easy 3 miler on the 'mill - 32:07, 146 avg HR. Now it's off to work.

The rest of the week looks like this - 6 mile pace run tomorrow, 3 mile easy run Thursday and 11 mile long run on Saturday morning. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back running outside by the weekend. I don't own a pair of YakTrax and I don't plan on getting them for the 2-3 times a year that it snows in the DC area each winter.

Garmin Integration at RunningAhead!!

This morning I was out to Virginia for work again, so I packed my gym bag and ran on the W&OD Trail - for the first time with my Garmin.  Not that I need the Garmin so much on that trail, since there are mile markers every half mile (does that make them half-mile markers?).

Anyhow, it was a nice morning.  About 50 degrees with a slight wind.  Shorts and a long-sleeved running shirt kind of weather.

I ran an easy 5 miles - 2.5 miles out and back.  Then a quick shower at the gym and off to work.

I went to log in my run later in the day on RunningAhead, and I saw the following note on the site:

• RunningAHEAD is proud to announce integrated support for the Garmin Forerunner! You can now upload data from your Garmin GPS directly to RunningAHEAD. With a few mouse clicks, all your data will be converted into workouts and saved to your training log.
  Simply connect your Garmin GPS to the computer, go to the import page and click the Upload button. You'll be able to see detailed graphs and a map of your workouts in seconds. Recording your data has never been this easy!
  

Awesome!!!!

I tried it out and it really works very well.  Everything transfers over - splits, maps, heart rate...it's all there.  Now, the only runs I'll need to put in manually are my treadmill runs.  Nice.

Saturday Morning Long Run

Once again, I'm back on track for my Saturday morning long runs.  Today was a 9 miler through Old Towne Gaithersburg.  It was a bit on the chilly side - 26 degrees when I left the house at 6:45am - but not unbearable.  I made sure that I did not go out too fast and convinced myself that I would eventually warm up - and I did, of course.

The first mile was tough.  I couldn't get into a rhythm.  I'm not sure what was going on, but I felt kinda choppy and not finding a comfortable groove.  It kinda sucks when after the first mile of a 9 mile run you're asking yourself "when is this going to end???".  Luckily, I started to feel good rather soon - as I don't remember wanting the run to end anytime after that.

The final stats were:  9.02 miles (same in Running Ahead as my Garmin - wow!), 1:37:22 = 10:48/mile pace.  Average HR 154 / Max HR 170.

My final mile was my fastest - 10:14/mile pace...and I was actually trying to get myself to slow down and relax during the last mile :-)  So, although I'm not in tip-top shape to PR a Half Marathon right now, I'm in good enough shape to finish - and likely to finish strong.

Tomorrow is a rest day and then I'm going to try to get my running schedule to be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  This makes the most sense for my current schedule of other activities (mainly Israeli Dancing where I'm up later on Tuesday night).  Hopefully, I can stick to this and not get sick again!

Push Ups and Easy Morning Run

Last night I did Week 5, Day 2 of the Push Up Challenge. This was the first time I was doing 8 sets instead of 5 (since last week I messed up and didn't see that I was supposed to do 8 sets instead of 5...). I actually was able to follow the program exactly, with the exception of the last set which calls for "Max - at least 45" and I could only do 35. I ended up doing 175 push ups - 19, 19, 22, 22, 18, 18, 22, 35.

Holy Cow!!!

I started thinking about the fact that I did 175 push ups. I had never, ever, ever done that many push ups in one day before - let alone in 20-30 minutes. Even if I do not get to the eventual goal of doing 100 consecutive push ups, I at least can take satisfaction in the accomplishments I have made along the way. I'm still going to continue the program - and I hope to hit 100 push ups one day in the next few weeks - however, I believe that I've pretty much achieved the intent of this program already.

This morning, I went for an early morning run. My kids had woken up early (somewhere around 5:30am??) and started playing together in my older son's room. I heard them stirring so I rolled out of bed, checked the weather (41 degrees - good for shorts and a long sleeve running shirt), and got out the door a little before 6am.

The Garmin took a while to find the satellites this morning. Kind of annoying when it is dark and on the chilly side.

Since it was dark, I was listening to music (Ben Kweller this morning) and I didn't want to look too much like a dork watching my watch and counting footfalls, I decided not to monitor my turnover on today's run. I think it's better to do that at the gym on a treadmill with an in-your-face timer looking right back 'atcha. I did concentrate on taking smaller steps to make my turnover quicker - even without counting the footfalls. I really think this helps my overall form - my posture seems better and my heart rate doesn't elevate as much.

Today's stats: 4.47 miles in 48:53 - 10:57/mile with an average HR of 150. Compare that to the last time I ran this route on Sunday (afternoon run and after lunch so it's not such an equal comparison) 51:09 - 11:33/mile with an average HR of 160.

And Then Again, Maybe I Will Get That Run In...

Right after I finished my previous blog post - at about 2:45pm this afternoon - I went upstairs and found that everyone else in the house was napping.

I had eaten a small lunch only about an hour before, but I didn't feel like I was still digesting - so I decided that I would go for a quick run.  Woo hoo!!!!!

I decided to run my 4 mile neighborhood loop - the maps on RunningAhead had it mapped at 4.43 miles - Garmin says 4.44 miles!  It's nice to know that the maps at RA are pretty spot on.

For some reason, I couldn't get my heart rate down to an "easy" level (in the 150s or below) after the first mile.  I guess I still have a ways to go before getting back to normal after having to take the time off for being sick.

Overall, my run was 51:09 - an 11:32/mile pace with an average HR of 160.

I also finished up Week 5 of the push up challenge.  Well...sort of.  You see, as I was doing the last set of the week's push ups, I noticed something odd.  When all of the other weeks labeled the push ups Set 1, Set 2, Set 3, etc., this week threw in a few "Sets 1&2", "Sets 3&4", etc.  So, I was supposed to do 8 sets of push ups each day, and I only did 5.  I thought it was a bit odd that the number of push ups I was doing was decreasing...  Anyhow, today I did 115 push ups - 18, 20, 17, 20 and 40!  If I had followed the program correctly, there would have been an additional 55 push ups in there - and I likely would not have been able to do 40 in the last set.  Next week, I'll be more careful and try to follow the plan.

First Garmin Run!

I was intending to rest today and run for the first time in over a week tomorrow.  However, since tomorrow we're hosting a Super Bowl party and we'll be setting up a lot yesterday, Sherry wanted me to run today instead of tomorrow.

What I didn't realize at first is that there will be at least a 20 degree difference.  My run today was in 30 degree weather, tomorrow is supposed to be 50 degrees (perhaps I'll steal a run in tomorrow too...we'll see how things are going).

Although the weather was on the cold side, I was really looking forward to this run.  It was the first with the Garmin Forerunner 305!

I did my neighborhood lake route - 3.24 miles when I mapped it out previously...Garmin says 3.18 miles.  I guess I'll be running into this pretty often.

The thing I liked best about the Garmin was that it gives your splits as you hit each mile.  I happened to look at the watch at all three splits - 11:07, 11:00 and 10:58.  Pretty consistent.  Average HR was 155 bpm.  Not a bad run for a first time back.

I'm definitely looking forward to more runs with my Garmin!

Garmin Arrived!!!

My Garmin Forerunner 305 arrived yesterday. The problem is that I've been so busy that I have hardly had a chance to look at it. :-(

I did charge it up last night and set up the User Settings. I'm going to have to spend some time reading the manual this weekend as it is a pretty intimidating piece of equipment right out of the box.

I'm hoping to take it on its first run on Sunday. The temperatures are supposed to be a bit warmer and I can use the calorie burn in the morning in preparation for the Super Bowl chowdown that evening!!!

A Good Scale Day!

Ironically - since I did not run much last week due to being sick - I had a good scale day this morning.  Scale showed a 2 pound improvement over last Monday's weigh in.  NO WAY?!?!  WAAAAAY!!!!!

I'm not sure what happened exactly, but here's a few guesses:

• I've been eating soup for a bunch of my meals since I've been sick.  It probably has less calories than the normal meals I would have eaten
• We didn't eat out at all this weekend.  Restaurants seem to always have huge portions and additional fat/calorie content vs what we would make at home.
• There was no football yesterday, so my ass wasn't on the couch eating munchies and drinking beer
• I've been gaining muscle tone with the push ups I've been doing and the added muscle has burned off some fat
• It's just a fluke...I'll see those two pounds back next Monday

Either way, I looked back in my weight log and found that I hadn't been down to 167.5 since before Rosh HaShannah.  I'll definitely take it!

In the health department, I'm still sick but feeling better.  My nose is very stuffy and I've got a lot of "gook" floating around.  However, I'm not coughing much anymore.  This has been the weirdest cold - usually things start in the sinuses and go down...this time it started in my chest and came up.  I'm hoping to rest for the next few days and get back to running by the end of the week.  Just in time for my Garmin Forerunner 305 to arrive!!!