Bad Weather Pushing Back Training

Maybe it's my imagination but it seems like the weather this October has been worse than in previous years. Certainly we've had more rain than normal, and this has interfered with my training as of late. Now, I'm not opposed to running through bad weather and actually kind of enjoy it. But I'm also committed to getting through this winter without catching a cold or the flu. Going out in the pouring rain at 6 AM is a good way to get sick. So, I was supposed to run on Sunday and yesterday but it started raining here on Saturday night and stopped last night.

Thankfully, we've got a stretch of non-rainy (notice I didn't say sunny, because many of these days are forecast to be cloudy) days that I can use to actually get some runs in. I'll run tomorrow and Friday and then do a 5 miler on Sunday morning, unless the weekend is rained out for the third week in a row.

Ed. Note: I saved this post earlier last week and then forgot to finish it. So, the post from here on out was written on November 1. Everything before this was written October 27

I pretty much chalked up last week to an off week because I just couldn't get motivated in the morning and kept hitting snooze. So, by Friday I decided to get back on the horse this weekend, since I'd be able to get out the door later in the morning, increasing the chances I'd actually go. Saturday I got out for a 3.5 mile easy run and then today I did a 5 mile "long" run down into Federal Hill and then back to the apartment. Both runs went well because I made a conscious effort to slow down the pace. I tried to go slower than my mind thought was appropriate and that helped me avoid unconsciously speeding up and trying to maintain an untenable pace.

For the third weekend in a row, it rained at least part of the two days and today was no different. It was cool and already overcast when I headed out today, maybe around 50. I got halfway through my run and literally almost as soon as I turned around to start the "back" portion of the "out and back" route I had mapped out the sprinkles started. Thankfully, the rain was light, but steady, throughout the final part of the run and the skies didn't really open up until I got back indoors. But still, it'll be nice to get through this wet part of the season. Running in 50 degrees is perfect weather for a run, except when it's also rainy and windy.

Brooks, I Heart You and Your Shoes

Before I get into the new shoe issue, a quick link to an interesting blog posting. If you don't read the Well blog on the NYT website, I heartily encourage you to check it out. It's generally interesting, but it will routinely have a posting about running that is even more interesting. A few days ago, there was a posting about the age-old question of whether running will actually increase the probability of you getting sick. The post talks about several studies that were done on both mice and men (men in the species sense, not gender sense.) It's well worth reading and makes sense that a workout that tears you up will make you more vulnerable to sickness while a moderate workout will boost immunity somewhat.

Check out the post and Well blog here: Does Exercise Boost Immunity?

Now, on to the topic at hand.

My new running shoes arrived in the mail on Monday, which allowed me to take them out for a 3 mile spin on Tuesday morning. I tried them on Monday night and they fit OK...a little snug around the upper and the toe box wasn't as roomy as I'm used to with the Brooks, but otherwise just fine. So, Tuesday morning I woke up and laced up the Air Pegasae (more than one Pegasus?) and headed out. Almost immediately I felt that these shoes weren't going to work, but I wanted to give them the full 3 miles to make me think otherwise. It just didn't happen. I wanted to like them, but I just couldn't.

The Runner's World shoe review had said that runners had liked the Nike's cushioned ride, however they didn't feel markedly more comfortable in terms of cushioning than my Brooks. But, let me do a pros and cons analysis here to keep it simple.

PRO:

• Snug fit around the upper kept my foot from moving around too much (see cons for the exception to this.)
• Lightweight and had enough cushioning for me.
• Already equipped with a Nike+ chip in the shoe for my iPod, if I wanted to use it.

CONS:

• Toe box was not roomy and my toes felt cramped in the front, although the shoes were the right length. More that they felt scrunched the whole time.
• Upper was really cushy, but that made tightening the laces tough. You'd have to really pull on them to get them tight and even then, the upper is so overstuffed that you've got short laces with which to tie the shoes. This then inevitably leads to a loosening of the laces during running and so by about halfway through my run, my right foot was slipping and I could feel a hot spot forming into a blister on my heel. Luckily, the run was short enough that I avoided the blister.
• Speaking of hot spots, for some reason, Nike shoes always give me a hot spot on the side of my foot where the ball is. This happened years ago when I first bought a pair of Nike's and gave myself blisters that way. For some reason, where the insole meets the shoe hits my foot at a vulnerable spot and the motion of pronating eventually leads to a hot spot and then a blister. After just 3 miles yesterday, I was well on my way to a blister on both feet.
• Not sure what the reason is, but about halfway into the run, the outside of my right foot began to ache and got worse throughout the run. When I stopped running, the ache went away completely.

I took yesterday off to let my hot spots go away (they did) and ran this morning in my old Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8's. Shockingly, I had no problems at all. No aches, hot spots, slipping, scrunching, etc. Nothing. My new Adrenaline GTS 9's arrived today, and I've learned my lesson.

Brooks, I'm sorry I ever doubted your fit for my foot. I will be a Brooks man for the rest of my running days. I heart you. You had me at "Motion Control." I should never have doubted you and your ability to make an outstanding shoe for an affordable price (while the Nike's were $50 with a filched discount code, the Brooks were only $16 more expensive, which is roughly what I'd spend in Neosporin and Band-Aids to nurse my blisters, I estimate.)

2009 Baltimore Running Festival Race Report

Another Baltimore Running Festival wweekend is coming to an end and this one was just as enjoyable as the past three in which I've participated, although my attempt at setting a new 5K PR fell short again.

Annie picked me up at the office on Friday evening (I went in early so I could leave a little early) and we headed over to M&T Bank Stadium to pick up our race packets and check out the expo. The race organizers have improved the registration process every year and this year I think it went very smoothly...at least for us, of course. We got our shirts (pro: made from 100% recycled plastic, yet looks and feels like normal cloth...very cool; con: logo was minimal and it's the same color as the 2007 shirts) and wandered around the expo a little. We didn't buy anything, but the expo had grown in size and I would imagine that either next year or 2011 will have to be held in a bigger space (convention center would be a good space given that 20,000 runners ran a race this year.)

The next morning, e got up and hopped on the light rail, which runs right to Camden Yards and about 250 yards from the starting line of the 5K/marathon. Got warmed up and e were off right on time at 8:30 AM. There were nearly 2700 people running this race, so that added time to everybody's race, I think. The course was much the same as wwhen I ran it in 2007, although we made a few more turns up around Dolphin Street before turning onto Eutaw Street to head south back to the stadiums and finish line. About 1.75 miles of the course was heading uphill at some degree, with the steepest inclines coming in the first mile I would say.

I made a conscious effort to head out slowly, with the idea being that once we turned for home, I'd drop my pace and try to make up that time coming home. Good news is that I was able to do that. Unfortunately, there were so many runners that even the three lane streets of downtown Baltimore were clogged. So, I spent almost the entire race dodoging people and wweaving through traffic to pass people. I didn't even bother with the water stop, but had to again dodge people suddenly veering from the left side all the way to the right to grab water or Gatorade.

As we came down Eutaw Street, I picked up the pace and was pretty tired coming into Camden Yards, but kept going. I pushed hard over the final tenths of a mile and was practically sprinting when I crossed the finish line, which was good. I was totally spent and saw little purple blobs in my vision, so I take that as a good sign that I didn't leave too much out on the course.

I still didn't beat my 5K PR, but I think some of that was the slow start going uphill as wwell as the bobbing and weaving that I had to do throughout the 3.1 miles. I finished in the 33rd percentile overall and the 52nd percentile in my age group, which I take as a moral victory of sorts, considering that the winners of races tend to come from my age group.

Annie did well too, and cut another minute off her time, averaging 10 minutes per mile, which is great considering she just started running and it was pretty humid and warm outside for the race.

So, another great running weekend in the books and now it's training until the Cincinnati Thanksgiving Day Race in late November. I've mapped out my plan for increasing my mileage and long runs up to 6 miles by the time the race rolls around, so I'm confident I'll make it the full 10K. But in terms of beating that 5K PR, I think I'm going to have to find a small 5K sometime in the new year or even next spring so I don't have to worry about crowding on the course and can really focus on beating the time. We'll see; it's a work in progress.

On Streaks and Kicks

A post in today's New York Times "Well" Blog talks about runners who have run in multiple consecutives races (i.e. Streakers, in the running sense of that word.) It's a brief but interesting look at three runners, two in New York and one in Chicago, who have been running those respective marathons for over three decades since their inception.

The post characterizes the pursuit of streaks in running as akin to obsessive, and I think I would agree with that assessment. I would venture to guess that the general personality of long-term runners (those who have been running for a year or more consistently) is in the neighborhood of Type A. I know that while I may not be as consistent a runner as I'd like, my desire for order in my running (creating a plan, mapping my runs ahead of time, registering early, etc) puts me in the ballpark of Type A. And I have to admit, there's some intangible attraction in potentially running the same race every year, creating a multi-year streak.

The only streak I have going right now would be the Baltimore Running Festival, which is this Saturday. This will be my third year running in the festival, although I've run two different races each year (5K in '07 and half marathon in '08.) So, it is a more technical streak. However, I think that until I get my fitness to a level where I can keep running half marathons or longer every single year, my streaks will be limited to the festival or to shorter distances.

A second streak that I have going is the Celtic Solstice 5 Miler held every December. This will be my third year running that race as well, and since it's only 5 miles, it's doable at a range of fitness levels. Once we move away from Baltimore in a few years' time, I'll have to make a choice as to which race I come back here for each year (assuming we move farther away than DC or Philadelphia.) I think I'd choose the running festival if I'm running the half or full to make it worth the weekend trip, but that could change.

In other news, I think I'm finally going to splurge a little and get some new running shoes. Although my current shoes aren't ready to be retired just yet, as they've only got about 380 miles on them. Even though shoemakers say you should replace your kicks every 400 miles, I think that's just a good way for them to get people to unwittingly trade in perfectly good 400-mile shoes for perfectly NEW 0-mile shoes at a fat margin.

Anyway, I'd like to have two pairs of shoes I'm running in at any given time, with the idea being that I'd be replacing one pair as the other was still in the early mileage days. I figure if I get a new pair now, I've still got probably another 200 miles in my current pair, which will be good for replacing them sometime in 2010.

I was going to just go with the next generation in the Brooks Adrenaline series (which is now called Defyance), but my go-to website, Runners Warehouse, won't have them in stock in my size for another 30 days, and really, I don't want to wait a month or more for shoes. So, I'm going to instead try the Nike Air Pegasus +26, which got good reviews in Runners World in August and are very affordable for running shoes: MSRP of $75. Turns out Runners Warehouse has them in stock in my size (just one pair left) and they're discounted down to a cool $58.00. Combine that with a little searching on the web for a coupon code that garnered me another 15% off, free 2 day shipping and no tax and I picked up my new shoes for just $50.00 total. Not bad when most running shoes run twice that or more. Now, the true test will be how they feel, but Runners Warehouse has free returns too, so I don't have to pay to send them back if they don't feel right.

All in all, not a bad deal in my opinion, as until I have more discretionary income, I don't see the point in spending tons of cash on things you pound into nothingness anyway. I don't even like buying running shirts and instead just make sure the races I run hand out free tech t-shirts instead.

So, with new shoes on the way and set to be here on Monday, I am going to try to find some nice discounted shorts at the expo tomorrow night, and maybe a long sleeved running short to add to my collection, as I could still use a few more cold weather shirts considering we're into October now!

Freedom's Run 5K Race Report

Bottom Line on the Top Line: A well-run, well attended inaugural race with a largely flat course with a HUGE hill around the 2.6 mile mark that made times slower than usual.

We're back from WV and from running the Freedom's Run 5K on Saturday morning so here's my race report.

We left Baltimore on Friday night around 6 so we could pick up our race packets before the 8PM cut off in Shepherdstown. With some rainy weather and general traffic on the way up there, we walked into Shepherd University's swanky new Wellness Center at 7:54 PM and literally picked up our shirts and packets minutes before they took everything down and cleaned up. The shirts are pretty nice and I like the design, is that was a definite plus.

The next morning, we got to the race a little early (about 8:10) and parked without any trouble. It helped a lot that I know Shepherdstown like the back of my hand so we didn't wander around in the car looking for parking lots. But there were volunteers and signs around so I can't imagine people had too much trouble with finding parking anyway.

The full marathon had actually already started in Harpers Ferry, WV earlier in the morning (around 7:30, I think) but the half, 10K and 5K were all starting around 9AM. Everything was centered around the football stadium and they had several tents set up for coffee, day-of packet pick-up, etc. I think they were expecting fewer people for the races than they got because there were only a handful of port-a-potties, but Annie waited just about 5 minutes in the line so not too bad, really. I think somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 people signed up for this race, which is good news for its future. The weather was perfect for running, in my opinion. Mid 50's, just a slight breeze, no clouds in the sky and no rain in the forecast. Perfect!

After some remarks from the race director, during which we learned that they were sending a bunch of race shirts to troops in Afghanistan who were running (actually due to the time difference, they'd already run) 26.2 miles in Afghanistan. Pretty awesome. Quick rendition of the national anthem and the countdown began. The half marathoners took off at 9:00 AM sharp (kudos to the race director for being punctual...some races start 10-15 mintues late which is aggravating) and the 10K folks were off five minutes later. The 5K was last since it was the shortest and fastest of the three, and we started at 9:10.

The 5K was crowded at the beginning, as 357 people were running it. So that slowed me down at the very outset. As I crossed the bridge, I tried to stay slower than I thought was acceptable since this was my first race in close to a year and I'm rusty. Also, the farthest I've run since starting up again is 4 miles so it's not like I had the endurance of a a half-marathoner to pull from. Anyway, we turned onto the C&O Canal access path after crossing into Maryland, which is a switchback trail curling under the bridge down to the towpath. Once I got to the towpath, it was narrower and gravel for the most part. I picked it up a little bit going out and began passing people, although I had to pass on the right because the 10K leaders started whizzing by us on their return trip to West Virginia.

I could feel about halfway out to the turnaround that I wasn't running as fast as I had hoped, but I didn't want to go any faster for fear of flaming out way too early. We turned around and started heading back to the bridge and I passed Annie on the way. She was doing really well and ended up finishing 10th in her age group (out of 29 total) and shaved another 90 seconds off her time. She's catching up to me fast so I need to get on my horse! Anyway, we hit a sign on the path that said "1 mile to go!" and I looked down at my watch to see that I had already surpassed the 20 minute mark. Crap. No way was I going to run a mile in under 7 minutes to beat my PR. I was bummed, but quickened the pace until I got to the access path, which I now had to go back up. It was monstrous and I had to walk because it got so steep at one point. That added some time, for certain. But I got to the bridge again and really tried to lower my pace.

I had assumed that we'd cross the bridge again into WV and immediately turn left and head onto the football field to the finish line. Hence, my pushing my pace beyond comfortable. I thought I'd be able to hold that pace to that point. Unfortunately, I got to the stadium and realized that we had to run around it and come in the back, at which point I flamed out...it just deflated me to see that I had so much farther to go. As I approached the stadium, I passed some more people and got to the field. Even though I was in pain (flashes of me barfing at the 50 yard line danced in my head), I kept the pace decent. Of course, some woman sprinted past me in the final 20 yards, and it was one of the people who had been walking just 50 yards before that, which pissed me off. Way to go; you mis-ran the entire race and walked for 5 minutes to build up enough steam to sprint across like you'd been running that pace the entire time.

I call shenanigans on that runner and anyone who does the walking the last quarter mile and then sprinting across the line. That's not finishing strong; that's running the other 96% of the race poorly.

That may sound harsh, and I certainly don't consider myself a running purist, by any means. But come on...the object is to run the whole 3.1/6.2/13.1/26.2 miles effectively, not sprint out in the beginning, stumble to the last 0.25 mile, walk half of it and then sprint across the line and make the runners who tried to maintain a consistent strategy throughout the race look like chumps.

And yes, I know people aren't thinking that way when they do it and yes I know I'm probably being unreasonable in my bitching, but as Eric Cartman says, "Whateva! Whateva! It's my hot body. I do what I want!"

Noetheless, the finish on the football field was pretty cool and I was moderately happy with my time and effort. I think I just need to run more 5Ks and get more practice racing to feel out a better pace next time. They had lots of fruit, but little else after the race, which is all well and good, except I like to have something substantial after a race, like a bagel with cream cheese or something. And while there were bagels, there were no toppings to be had so I ate a few bites of a cold wheat bagel and hrew it away. They also didn't have anything other than water, which further bummed me out. I could have gotten a Roaring Lion energy drink, but I wanted Gatorade or something that would actually replenish something in me and not wire me up again. Hopefully next year they'll have a better spread afterwards.

Annie and I milled around briefly before walking back to the car and heading home, as we weren't going to buy anything at the post-race party since we'll be going to the Baltimore Running Festival Expo this Thursday.

Overall, I was glad that I ran this race, as it was well-run and organized and the course was beautiful and very challenging at parts. It was well-attended, which was both good and bad, as the course was crowded due to there being so many runners, but it also wasn't me, Annie and two other people running the thing or anything. The post-race spread was disappointing, so hopefully they'll improve that next year. In sum, I'd run this race again next year, although by then I'd hope to be ready for the half marathon so I could get to see more of the course.

Taking the Legs Out for a Spin

After some thought and rumination, I've opted to approach tomorrow's Freedom's Run 5K as an opportunity to PR at the distance for the first time in over two years. My reasons:

1. As I said on Saturday, the course tomorrow is going to be pretty flat, with an uphill coming at the very end (maybe the final couple tenths of a mile, max) and the start is on a decline, which should help me out as well. Compare that to Baltimore next Saturday, which is essentially 1.6 miles uphill and then 1.6 miles downhill. Unsurprisingly, the last time I ran that course was the '07 Baltimore 5K and I missed a PR thanks to those hills. So, with the generally flat course and optimistic weather forecast (partly cloudy, little chance of rain, mid 50's at race time), this is a great opportunity to lower the bar a little bit.
2. This is the first 5K I've run in over a year and my PR still dates from 2007 so why not try to extinguish that record? A two year old PR that isn't all that special to begin with needs to be erased.
3. I've neglected racing in a 5K for over a year and have put up disappointing numbers each time. Since running in my first road race ever in July '07 (and setting a default PR), I've run just two 5Ks: the Kelly Shamrock 5K in March 2008 and the Cheetah Run 5K in Cincinnati in August 2008. The Shamrock race was not a good effort considering I had to dodge people the whole time and the time for the Cheetah 5K was unreliable at best. So, I need a solid, reliable 5K time and tomorrow should give me that opportunity.
4. I feel confident enough in my body now that I've taken it slow and gradually ramped up my mileage over the past two months that I can handle running hard for 3 miles. I'm interested in taking the legs out for a hard spin tomorrow and seeing how I do during the race, how I feel after the race, and how I feel on Sunday.

So, those are my reasons for attacking the Freedom's Run tomorrow. I'm excited about it and am hoping the next four hours of work pass quickly. Once we get back from WV I'll post a race report with the results. If nothing else, I'm hoping for a cool race shirt!

Last Minute (for me) Racing Decision

I got some good runs in last week, although I moved some workouts around due to laziness and overall exhaustion from work, but I feel OK with getting three runs in and not four. This week's plan got a bit adjusted last minute, but should come out to four runs, hopefully.

Initially, I had decided to make the Baltimore Running Festival 5K on 10/10 my first race since starting up with running again. However, I had seen advertisements for a race called Freedom's Run, being held just about 15 minutes from my parents' house in West Virginia. It sounded like an awesome race and they are offering a full, half, 10K and 5K. I had hoped to be ready to run a 10K by October, but am pleased that I have adhered to my main goal of taking it slow and adding distance very gradually. I think that has helped me a lot, and I'm about 30-45 seconds faster on all my runs this year than I was last year, which is great.

Anyway, Freedom's Run is being held this upcoming weekend, but I didn't think that I'd be able to do it, which bummed me out since I've yet to run a race in my home state. Plus, you get some serious swag for the race: a technical t-shirt, a water bottle with hand strap, free stuff sack, and a beer mug (for 21+ runners, of course.) Pretty nice for a $25 5K entry fee, right?

As fate would have it, we had a free weekend this weekend (no friends visiting or auditions in NY or mountains of work, etc) so we decided it'd be a nice weekend to head up to WV to see my parents since we are going to be in Cincinnati for Thanksgiving this year. So, Annie and I will get to run the 5K after all, which is awesome.

So, I'll get to test out my training to date on Saturday. Based on the elevation profile of the course, it should be somewhat fast, although the hill at the end is going to be murder. But by then, I'm hoping I'll just not care and will run through the pain.

Tonight, in between watching the first installment (TiVoed, of course) of Ken Burns' documentary on the national parks and reading some investment research for a new company I'm covering, I'll think about a race strategy and decide just how hard I want to run this race. Do I want to aim for a PR, considering how flat much of the course is? Do I want to just run it kinda hard and save up for Baltimore in two weeks? Do I want to treat it like a training run and just enjoy it so I can do a longer run on Sunday?

My initial reaction is that I want to run it hard and try to PR on it because the Baltimore 5K is much hillier. So if that's my overall attack, what is my underlying strategy? So many questions, but nonetheless, I'm excited to be running a race this weekend!