Good riddance February

February 28, 2010

herb mindless dribble, running , , , , 6 Comments

So, as I think back through the week, I remember the optimism I felt during the multiple days of rain. I saw how the snow and ice were being washed away from my favorite running paths. I thought this weekend was finally going to be an opportunity for something long and enjoyable. As the rain continued, the paths went from being covered with snow to being completely under water. Shrug. I’ll deal. Still better than ice. Since doing a 40 mile run a few weeks back, mostly through snow, I lost all tolerance to do any running on snow.

Then the weather forecast came and spoke of the rain turning to snow. Bah! No way it’s going to stick. pfft, the ground’s too warm and everything is already wet. Nothing is going to ruin this for me.

I look back now see how naive and delusional I was.

Thursday night the snow came and by Friday afternoon we were in a blizzard with over a foot of snow. This snow was the heaviest and wettest slop that I ever saw fall from the sky. And it was sticking despite the temperatures being over the freezing mark. The 15 foot arboretums that line along my backyard fence were weighted down from the snow and bent. Some of the trunks snapped, while others were worth saving. After spending a few hours shaking off the snow, tying them together, and getting them off my neighbor’s house, the survival of 3 of them seem to be ok, while the other 2 are left questionable.

left ones are ok, right ones are a mess.

Then shoveling my driveway was next. When done, I realized I didn’t run yesterday, Thursday, and not yet that day either. Our development gets plowed, and the streets had some puddles, but were completely cleared of snow and ice. I figured I’d get 5 easy miles in by doing 10 laps around my neighborhood, which is half a mile each.

As I was running, it slowly got darker. The street lights turned on. Not long after, the street lights turned off. How odd. As I continued, I realized all the houses were dark. I then realized the whole neighborhood was without power. Passing my house at around 2 miles, my wife called out to say she was taking our daughter out to eat and if I wanted to stop and come with. Being that I just got started, I declined and asked her to bring something home and then continued on.

I kept going and things felt quiet. I took off my ipod. The darker it got, the more it seemed that it was brighter without the street lights. Although the moon was covered by clouds, it was a full moon that still shown through. The moonlight reflecting off the snow made everything brighter than you would think. Only when there was a car with it’s brights on, did the contrast make it seem dark outside.

I finished 5. Things felt good and all the stress from the day with the snow and arboretums breaking finally melted away. I saw no reason to stop since sitting in a cold dark empty house was the other option. So I continued on thinking I would do 8. 8 turned into 10, and I had thoughts of doing 20, but decided to cut it since my family was home and I was being asked to come inside.

We were informed we would be without power until 8pm the next day. Thankfully, it came back on sometime around 3:30am. I was already up since 1:30am. Every house in sight was brightly lit at this time. Obviously they all went to bed with their light switches left on.

Saturday morning, I still had 20 to do. The original plan was the treadmill at the gym, but I thought I would try to capture some of what I had during my run the previous day. The roads were clear and it was hard to think of a reason not to do laps around my neighborhood again instead of the treadmill. Any argument against doing laps could be made an even stronger argument against using the treadmill. And, honestly, I had enough of the treadmill. I was determined to run outside this weekend.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go as seamless as I hoped. The loop has a 50 foot elevation climb and I do always go clockwise around when I do this. I decided every 5 miles I would reverse direction to break up the monotony. Still, each lap felt like it took forever. Then, after I got to 10, which was the same distance as the previous day, I realized the difference in how I felt then versus now; mainly being that I felt like I’ve been running forever and was only half way done.

I reversed direction a second time. I stopped counting laps. I stopped thinking, and instead of half mile laps going by, miles went by. I reversed direction a third time at mile 15 and realized it was the looping that was making it harder. I’ve given thought to doing a 50K next weekend which consists of a series of 2.6 mile loops. After doing 40 plus loops for 20 miles, I’m not sure I have the head for something like that for 50K.

During the run it also occurred to me how I needed to get this done because I knew how I would feel for the next few days if I did not. My previous blog post reflects the thoughts I had at this time. Eventually, I finished, and I was glad it was over. And, I realized the elevation of this half mile loop makes a tougher course than I initially thought.

Today is the last day of February. It’s also my little girl’s 7th birthday, ending an otherwise shitty month on a happy note. I have no urge to run today so I’m taking a rest day. This will end the month with 203 miles. Not bad considering February is a short month. Not short enough though, if you ask me.

just like smoking

February 27, 2010

herb running, training , , 3 Comments

You first try one out and it makes you feel sick and nauseous and you really hate it. But you see all the cool kids doing it and it’s something you think might make you a better person if you’re doing it too. So, you force yourself to do another one. Little by little you start to enjoy it in a way. Even the parts that hurt at first now have a sort of satisfaction, especially finishing one. It gets to the point where you now need it. If you don’t have one, the day becomes hard and you’re irritable. Even on the days you don’t want to do one, you know you need it and you wont feel right until you have done it.

Long runs are just like smoking.

A video worth watching

February 25, 2010

herb health , , , 1 Comment

This guy is Dr Monte. I’ve been listening to his podcast for years and now follow him on his newer project Science2Health. He’s had a direct effect on a lot of choices I make today. You can learn a lot by listening to him.

Please watch the video, and repost it for others to see. Thanks!

The irony!

February 24, 2010

herb mindless dribble, running, training , , , , Leave a comment

Its been raining for the past few days nonstop! I’ve been very happy about it since it’s the only possibility to clear off the huge amounts of snow and ice that have been lingering on my favorite running paths for weeks. There’s no possible way it would have melted away in any reasonable amount of time with the temperatures hovering around the low to mid 30s.

This snow has been making it nearly impossible to run with any sort of speed or comfortable stride. But, just today, as I commuted into work, I noticed a nearby path was almost completely cleared off.

Then I start hearing about more snow coming. I dismiss it in hopes that it wont stick being the ground is wet, and probably not cold enough anymore.

Now, as I listen to the weather forecast, I’m hearing the snow coming tomorrow should start sticking towards the end of the day Thursday and continue on through Friday.

I contemplated taking a personal day from work tomorrow just to do my long run.

VO2 Max intervals

February 23, 2010

herb running, training , , , Leave a comment

It recently occurred to me that I’ve been neglecting to do vo2 max intervals for longer than I can remember. I’d have to go back to my log from 2009 to figure out the last time I did anything like this. I would guess that it would have to be some point before November, before focusing on the marathon. Not that vo2max intervals don’t have their place for marathon preparation, but I decided I would neglect them in favor of focusing more on target pace.

I did want to do a couple of bouts of these in preparation for the Manhattan Half on jan24, but catching strep throat (twice) caused me to miss that opportunity.

So, with yesterday being an unplanned rest day, it was a good a day as any to try them out. As usual, I would have to do these on the treadmill, since it was during my lunch hour that I was able to get my run in. The weather, however, was total shit and would be considered to be “miserable” by most. Cold rain with the temperatures in the mid 30s. Perfect for running in my opinion, and while I would have loved to do something outside, I didn’t have the appropriate clothes or place to do intervals outside.

It turns out that I think the treadmill is a perfect tool for this type of workout anyway. Certain types of runs are suited better than others for the treadmill, with long runs obviously being the worst and tempos being somewhat suitable for example.

With vo2 max intervals, I prefer to do these based on time, rather than distance, because the thought is how much time you spend in your vo2max zone is what’s important . For me, I do 5 minutes hard at 9.8mph, with 5 minutes active rest at 6.5mph. I shoot for 6 intervals total to fill a full hour. Incline on 1.5 as always, and being on the Life Fitness treadmill, I have a nice feature consisting of a button labeled speed intervals that lets me toggle between the two speeds with a single push.

I was surprised I was able to get all 6 done considering how much I’ve neglected this facet of my training. However, I never believed certain workouts just train one system. If you follow Daniels, like I do, each system is broken down to different categories, for example strength, vo2max, endurance, economy, etc. and each type of workout is designed to target a specific system. But, I believe we always use every system when running as a sort of continuum where some types of runs strengthen some parts more than others. Many might disagree and point out this sort of goes against Daniels’ philosophy, but it’s what I believe.

For instance, reps are designed to target economy, yet I believe economy benefits from almost every workout, especially long runs which are on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. A long run could not possible be more different from a repetition interval.

But, in any case, I’m happy to get these intervals back into my repertoire, for at least balance if nothing else. I believe the only way to become fast is by running fast. Whether they are reps or vo2 max intervals, they accomplish that, maybe each strengthening one of two particular systems more than the other. In fact, I happen to log both of these types of intervals in the same way, as well as my races which are 4 miles or less.

I think going forward ill be alternating one day a week for tempos of some sort and one day for vo2max intervals on the next week. Long runs on the weekend as usual and at least one day or more at marathon pace in between. Easy runs on days for the rest of the week.

Three beers during lunch

February 18, 2010

herb mindless dribble, running 5 Comments

I met with a friend for lunch who is another runner. He’s someone who happens to have some very significant accomplishments in his running resume. More than you might even imagine.

He mentioned something about someone we both knew in common referring to a PR in a marathon that this person recently achieved. It was a PR that surpassed mine considerably, but one that is realistically within my reach. In fact, its not faster than the long term goal I have my eyes set on. I mention this because, although I am extremely impressed by the PR he was able to pull off, I dont see it as something that puts him in another category as myself.

My buddy mentioned that he can only dream of being that fast. This made me think for a minute, and although I don’t often say much, my thoughts race quite fast. So fast, that I get lost in them focusing more on what I’m thinking than conveying what it is I’m thinking; so I wasn’t able to articulate how he already knew what it felt like to run that fast.

At this point, I sort of had an epiphany. As runners we already know that we are all chasing a PR and that we are all similar on that level. I’ve always believed it to be true, and understood that its the drive, determination, effort, and work we put into ourselves that makes us a runner, not how fast we are. After all, genetics play quite a bit in what we’re able to do in this sport and I’m often left wishing I had a better hand from the deck. Nonetheless, I make do with what I have just as everyone else across the whole pack.

But, while I realized that I was able to relate to what it felt like to run that fast, I initially thought it was because I knew the pace he ran and it was a pace I often run in training. I know the effort involved for that. But it sort of clicked at that point, that the effort feels the same for anyone pushing for a PR when it’s the most they can possibly run at a given distance.

Running the speed I can run today feels the same as running the speed I was able to run years ago which was much slower. The guy who runs twice as fast as me feels the experience no different than I, just as the guy running half the speed as I do feels it.

What I wanted to say at that moment is that he already knew what it’s like to run that fast. It feels no different that what its like for him when he runs his best possible marathon. The struggle and the effort certainly feels the same.

I know this is no great revelation. We’ve all heard it before. But, for me, I suddenly understood even better why speed is not what defines us as runners. Rather, its that feeling of running which we all seek to experience, and the fact that we all experience it the same way. Only other runners can understand this.

Apologies if the kumbaya is a bit much. Blame it on the three beers I had. Here, check this out in order to balance things a bit. It’s very entertaining :)

The OCA Adventure

February 17, 2010

herb running, training , , , , , 4 Comments

I’ve always loved point to point runs. There’s a certain simplicity about it in that you’re able to look back and have a solid understanding of the distance you’ve travelled. Often, I’ve run 20 or so miles in loops and zig zags and laps and when looking back on a map you can’t really comprehend the distance travelled as easily like you can with a route that is point to point.

There isn’t much of an opportunity to do long runs which are point to point because of the logistics involved of starting in A, ending in B, and then having to return to A. Routes which are a giant loop where you don’t run over the same ground twice is usually the next best thing. Out and back is another option, but when you’re pushing hard and still only on the out part, it makes things mentally hard because its obvious you’re not even halfway there.

The OCA is a trail which is well-known to run down Westchester from Croton all the way to NYC, albeit, with some parts non-contiguous. I’ve logged a big chunk of miles over a portion of the OCA that runs through Rockefeller State Park; one of my favorite areas for running

A few times, I’ve wandered out of Rockefeller and went north looking to see where the trail would take me, only to come to a disappointing abrupt stop with confusing instructions on where to pick it back up. I was never successful in finding the next part by myself, or with others.

I knew it also existed somewhere south, past sleepy hollow high school, but until recently, I’ve been unsure of how to get to it.

I’ve ran on some random portions in Yonkers, which had a lot of similarities to the northern portion. They were both trails. They were both on dirt. But, other than that, it was difficult to comprehend it was the same trail. I’ve always wanted to understand how the disparate parts connected.

When I heard Tony was organizing a group run to do such a thing, it was something I knew I wanted to participate in before I even heard about it. It also gave me an opportunity to go further than 26.2 miles which I’ve never done.

As we started in the morning, it didn’t feel like a long run. It felt like an adventure. The first task was finding the trail from the train station where the group met. That was not without it’s bumps. At one point the group got split by some overzealous participants. Next, the group as a whole ran past the bridge we were supposed to cross. Keeping the group together was like herding cats. In the end, directions were asked, which sent us out on a highway, but eventually got us to the damn.

The missed bridge and our route right passed it


Upon arriving, the views were pretty magnificent. Being that we were so close to the damn, we decided to climb up to the top where the OCA truly starts. It was at that point where the odyssey began. Starting out in the morning, looking at the view, and visualizing finishing in midtown Manhattan was sort of mind-boggling.

All in all, the trip was much smoother than I could have imagined. Finding the OCA connections between using the garmin and the map, was easily achievable. The snow was also manageable for the most part. For the majority of the way, the snow was packed and runnable with some additional effort. There were some exceptions to that, most of it being on a section in Scarborough, and a lot of it being in Yonkers where it was shin deep and more of a struggle.

How do you possibly cover all the highlights of a 40 something mile trek in a single blog post? I think if I had to pick one, I would have to mention how we hit a dead-end in Vancortlandt park. The map showed this trail going right to the edge of the park, and presumably, out of the park. Even the snow tracks continued to the dead-end and it wasn’t obvious that we were headed into a dead-end until we actually hit it. There was no choice but to turn back, which is the worst feeling when you’ve spent the entire day moving and have already covered over 30 miles. So back we went, and we figured our way out and off the path and into a parking lot. The area didn’t feel very pedestrian friendly and it gave no obvious exit points that we should take being on foot. Nor did we know for sure where on the map we were. So, Pete bravely asked some guy, who I’m sure was named Bubba, what street the one we could point to was.

“Excuse me, do you know what street that is over there”

“uh, yeah” (stupid toothless smile with a blank stare)

“Well, what street is it?”

“uuuh.. hmm, its uuhhh, hmmm, I dunno” “heh heh heh, Sorry” (same stupid toothless smile)

It’s at that point I realized we were no longer in Kansas.

Well, we found our way out, met up with Steve, who safely navigated us out of the south Bronx and into Manhattan. It was never made clear to me how he knew the area so well, but it was clear he knew where to go and how to get there.

Once in Manhattan, we ran through some of the rougher areas. We knew we stuck out like sore thumbs. One of us pointed out the fact that we were running through the neighborhood in tights did not help the situation. I jokingly mentioned we should just tape targets to our backs. Nonetheless, we survived and when we hit Central Park, I immediately felt like I was home amongst my own kind, all of which were also wearing tights.

Not long after, we arrived at the NY Library by Bryant Park. Six of us total made it to the end, five of which completely on foot. , Steve, Tony, Eric, Pete, Susan, and myself. There was some satisfaction in that I was able to get there. I can’t say I ran the entire way. It was explained to me, in ultras, in which this distance fits that genre, that there is time spent walking. So be it. I can accept that. I don’t know how many miles exactly I covered, nor do I know exactly which of those were spent running. Some say 43, some 44. I stopped my garmin on occasion and even forget to restart it once or twice. It’s not what’s necessarily important for this adventure. It was more about getting there than it being a training run. I’m just really glad to have had the opportunity to do this with others. And, in the end, no one was forced to eat each other.

I’ll run it entirely, or something like it, at some later point.

Boy, am I tired!

February 15, 2010

herb running 5 Comments

Today, I ran 41.82 miles today from the Croton Damn to the New York Public Library on 41st and 5th ave. All of it was along the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail in Westchester, and then along the South Country Trailway through Van Cortlandt Park and the streets into the city. I never want to run on snow again!

I’ll write about it more tomorrow. I just got home about an hour ago and I’m exhausted.

Below is a picture the 38 or so miles form Croton Damn to the end. It doesn’t count the 3.5 miles from the train station to the start of the damn. This was a ton of fun!

Croton Damn to the NY Public Library

Snow = tough running

February 13, 2010

herb running, training , , , , 8 Comments

Wow, is it tough running in the snow. I managed a little over 16 miles in snow at Rockefeller today. It was the slowest 16 miles I ever did and probably the toughest. I was averaging 8:30 min miles in the beginning but quickly ran out of steam at averaged 9:28 by the time I was done. The effort felt harder than 7:20′s. I wound up taking 2:32:37 for 16.13mi. Enough to count as a long run I guess.

There’s absolutely no choice but to go slow to avoid all the ankle twisting and slipping. Not that I wasn’t constantly slipping and twisting my ankles. But, there were still parts that were enjoyable, like the flat areas where the snow melted away on the bridle paths; so that there was no snow. Mostly though, it was just a lot of work to get nowhere fast. I don’t know how others do it.

I wore four layers in anticipation that I wouldn’t be going fast and didn’t want to get cold by going slow, but by the time I was done, I sweated through all four of my tops. What makes this scary is that I’m planning to run with a group on Monday to do 41 miles along the entire OCA in very similar conditions. What I thought would be a nice enjoyable relaxing run for 7 hours with some interesting people will probably turn out to be an all day death march for me. But, I have no choice. It’s not like I can skip it. I already wrote in my planned log for the week in ink. If I used pencil, I could have erased it, but who knew.

16 tough miles in the snow

Snow day

February 10, 2010

herb mindless dribble, training , 4 Comments

Ok, so we finally got hit big time with a lot of snow. It was predicted days ago, but this time it actually came through. Just last weekend we got the same scare but my area missed out completely without even seeing a flake.

So, today was a work at home day and when I woke this morning the snow was already coming down and sticking. I decided to get out early (8:00 am) and get about 8 miles out of the way while the weather was still bearable. This would be about 16 laps around my development which conveniently measures out to .49 miles per lap.

I actually looked forward to running in this. You might find this surprising because we all know snow really sucks for running, but this was the kind of snow that was fresh, dry, clean, not too deep, and not too slippery. Very enjoyable. Give it a day or two and it will turn to slush or ice and will be a sh*t show for running.

Before starting out, the Garmin turned on with a low battery warning. At first I decided to hold off for 30 minutes to recharge it, but then realized I’m on a measured course and I don’t care about pace in this weather. So I just took it off and intended to count out 16 laps while running.

After 8 laps, I knew I was going to start losing count. So when completing a lap, I dragged my foot across the snow to mark the number of laps I’ve done. When I had about three laps left the snow plow came by and erased all log entries I made. I knew I had only three left, but while running the last three, I actually kept forgetting if I was on lap x or x+1. Weird how the longer I go the more my mind wanders and I begin to forget until I realize and then ask myself “where am I now?”

So with the recent weather and the recent bouts of strep throat, my confidence for Boston is slipping a bit. I really contributed a lot of the success I had in NYC to the hard and fast long runs I did at target marathon pace. By this time, I was hoping to have gotten a few in. I still have March left so we’ll see how it goes. But if things don’t quickly turn around in terms of training opportunities, Boston is going to be a fun run with no goal. I’m fine with that.

So the snow is still going at the moment and the local news channel seems to insist on covering nothing else but the snow. It’s almost embarrassing how the newscaster keeps repeating at every opportunity how the Yonkers school system is going to be closed tomorrow. And I repeat, the Yonkers school system will be closed for Thursday, tomorrow. By her tone you would think there’s nothing more important in the world than that. Meanwhile, the reporter out “in the field” is busy turning an umbrella upside-down on camera so we can see how much snow she’s catching with the ongoing precipitation. Well, yesterday was worse. Reporting on the readiness of snow plows, salt piles, and the contents of shopping carts belonging to people buying milk eggs, and bread was far less interesting.

Maybe tomorrow will be another snow day.

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