Ran the trail run with the Reston Runners again, the same course as last week but I KNEW WHERE I WAS GOING this time. The weather was about as warm as last week but not as humid, and I did much better. And no falling on the trail this time either. The route was supposed to be 14 miles (give or take a half mile), my GPS measured 12.89 miles, in 2:42 at a pace of 12:34. I love my trusty Forerunner 101, but the GPS is not the most accurate in the world. I'm looking forward to my new device at Christmas.
I was dehydrated when I finished but not too badly, and I was hot and tired, but all in all I was pleased with my performance - my target pace was 12:00. I spent some time napping and drank lots and lots of water and Gatorade G2 and took it easy the rest of the day.
There are a couple of reasons I like to know where the route is.
* Most importantly, if I don't know, I try too hard to keep up with the leaders who do know where they are going, and that makes me go too fast too early on.
* And I live for the water stops/self-service aid stations. If I miss those I am one unhappy runner.
I like to run the assigned route, but I'm not OCD about it. And I'm not really worried about getting lost - I've used the GPS to backtrack before, if that doesn't work I will inevitably run into the toll road or Route 7 or some other big landmark road to orient me, and if all else fails I can ask someone or knock on a door - there's not much true wilderness left around here.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
14 mile trail run redux
Today's run was a repeat of last week's route over the W&OD and CCT trails. Better, this week I knew where to go after the water stop so I could complete the trail without retracing my steps.
Humidity at 7am was in the 90% range, and the temperature was already in the low 80s. The CCT is for the most part a stream-bed based trail (meaning it snakes along parallel to or using the stream bed area) so there is less direct sun, reducing the heat. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of air movement or evaporation down there either and the humidity was just unbelievable!
Early into the run Tim twisted his ankle while transitioning from the road to a curb; he looked ok and could walk on it initially. He didn't pass me and I'm pretty slow so he must have gone back to his car without running the course.
Aside from the humidity, it was a straightforward run and I finished in ##:##. I drank 6 bottles of water total on the course, consumed some gatorade and very little otherwise (although there were some tasty red seedless grapes at the water stop!), and finished wringing wet. Yet I think I kept up with it, because I was only down about 5 pounds net when I got home.
So another running success story!
Humidity at 7am was in the 90% range, and the temperature was already in the low 80s. The CCT is for the most part a stream-bed based trail (meaning it snakes along parallel to or using the stream bed area) so there is less direct sun, reducing the heat. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of air movement or evaporation down there either and the humidity was just unbelievable!
Early into the run Tim twisted his ankle while transitioning from the road to a curb; he looked ok and could walk on it initially. He didn't pass me and I'm pretty slow so he must have gone back to his car without running the course.
Aside from the humidity, it was a straightforward run and I finished in ##:##. I drank 6 bottles of water total on the course, consumed some gatorade and very little otherwise (although there were some tasty red seedless grapes at the water stop!), and finished wringing wet. Yet I think I kept up with it, because I was only down about 5 pounds net when I got home.
So another running success story!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
interval training
if it is Wednesday in the summer it must be time for Interval Training at Reston Runners. Cindy is the greatest coach, so glad she's leading this again. First the usual 20 minute warm up run followed by yoga stretching. I am so tight in my hips, and my left hip is way tighter than my right. Funny how I don't notice these things just walking around day-to-day.
Today's drill is the 400-400-rest-repeat at 90% of our 1-mile pace. My 1-mile pace was recorded at 7:40, so that translates into two laps around the track at 2 minutes each and then a 2 minute rest and then we do it all over again. Cindy asked for 4 to 8 of these, and I did 4 - still have my head cold, so why push my luck - and I felt great afterwards.
Actually, I ran most of the laps about 10 seconds faster than my 1-mile pace, though I rested the full 2 minutes. Stretched some more and another successful training day is complete.
Today's drill is the 400-400-rest-repeat at 90% of our 1-mile pace. My 1-mile pace was recorded at 7:40, so that translates into two laps around the track at 2 minutes each and then a 2 minute rest and then we do it all over again. Cindy asked for 4 to 8 of these, and I did 4 - still have my head cold, so why push my luck - and I felt great afterwards.
Actually, I ran most of the laps about 10 seconds faster than my 1-mile pace, though I rested the full 2 minutes. Stretched some more and another successful training day is complete.
Monday, June 23, 2008
rest time
my wife gave me her cold - I was probably already sick on Sunday but just hadn't shown significant symptoms yet - which helps explain why Sunday was such a hard run. Having Monday/Tuesday off, saline nasal rinse, and lots of sleep should help me recovery quickly.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
trail run with traumas
Ran a 14-mile trail run with the Reston Runners this morning. Starting at 7am, running some paved trails but a lot of dirt trails also on the Cross County Trail (CCT). The starting temp was around 68F, but the humidity was high, and I was sweating before I left the parking lot.
Yesterday I had spent most of the day working in the yard - you say you've seen this movie before? - and I was pretty dry when I finished. I drank a lot of water with salt in it, but didn't get the volume absorbed that I needed.
I kept up pretty much with the pack today until mile 4, then I slacked off and the lead group vanished around a corner. About mile 5 I caught my shoe on a stump in the trail and fell flat down - kept my head up, though, so no facial injuries. Some attractive abrasions on my right knee, right hand, and dirt all over myself, and I'm pretty sure I added additional injury to my right shoulder. The last two people in the running group passed me by. By this time sweat was pouring off me - it dripped off my elbows and chin like a leaky faucet, non-stop.
I made it to the water station, mile 7, but was pretty lost from there. I continued going down the trail for another half mile (the wrong way it turns out, but the others were nowhere near in any event so it didn't really matter), then retraced my steps to my car. At this point there was more walking than running, but still a jog or two.
About mile 9 I was seriously worried about passing out. I sat down on the side of the road, my heartbeat was above 190, I couldn't catch my breath, and my thinking was fuzzy. I heard some guys yelling nearby, and remembered there was a football practice underway at a field I would pass. I got up and unsteadily made my way 100 feet to the field, found some shady trees on the size, and collapsed spread-eagle in the grass on my back. I figured laying down in the cool shade would help both my heat level and my heart rate, and if I was really having a problem, then I could probably call to these guys and get medical care.
I lay there for a while - maybe half an hour? I think I dozed - until I started to get chilled. Then I got to my feet and walked the rest of the way home. My GPS showed me where to turn on the trail.
All told, it took me 5 hours to cover 14.3 miles. A good example of bad judgment given the prior day. That's the last time I'm going to allow myself to get exhausted the day before a run.
Yesterday I had spent most of the day working in the yard - you say you've seen this movie before? - and I was pretty dry when I finished. I drank a lot of water with salt in it, but didn't get the volume absorbed that I needed.
I kept up pretty much with the pack today until mile 4, then I slacked off and the lead group vanished around a corner. About mile 5 I caught my shoe on a stump in the trail and fell flat down - kept my head up, though, so no facial injuries. Some attractive abrasions on my right knee, right hand, and dirt all over myself, and I'm pretty sure I added additional injury to my right shoulder. The last two people in the running group passed me by. By this time sweat was pouring off me - it dripped off my elbows and chin like a leaky faucet, non-stop.
I made it to the water station, mile 7, but was pretty lost from there. I continued going down the trail for another half mile (the wrong way it turns out, but the others were nowhere near in any event so it didn't really matter), then retraced my steps to my car. At this point there was more walking than running, but still a jog or two.
About mile 9 I was seriously worried about passing out. I sat down on the side of the road, my heartbeat was above 190, I couldn't catch my breath, and my thinking was fuzzy. I heard some guys yelling nearby, and remembered there was a football practice underway at a field I would pass. I got up and unsteadily made my way 100 feet to the field, found some shady trees on the size, and collapsed spread-eagle in the grass on my back. I figured laying down in the cool shade would help both my heat level and my heart rate, and if I was really having a problem, then I could probably call to these guys and get medical care.
I lay there for a while - maybe half an hour? I think I dozed - until I started to get chilled. Then I got to my feet and walked the rest of the way home. My GPS showed me where to turn on the trail.
All told, it took me 5 hours to cover 14.3 miles. A good example of bad judgment given the prior day. That's the last time I'm going to allow myself to get exhausted the day before a run.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
morning run
The Southern California weather was perfect, of course, and no time is better than early morning. I left at 8am, ran 3 miles at a 9:10 pace around the old home town.
My, how things have changed. Development everywhere - and this in a suburb that was (I had thought) fully developed. Lots more traffic and auto pollution than when I grew up also. I kinda liked it the way it was, but as they say, you can never go home.
My, how things have changed. Development everywhere - and this in a suburb that was (I had thought) fully developed. Lots more traffic and auto pollution than when I grew up also. I kinda liked it the way it was, but as they say, you can never go home.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
ITP 2008 Session 1
So for my Wednesday run I had my first workout with the Interval Training program (I did the program two years ago, a high point of my running summer). Coach Cindy Carlyle is fantastic; apparently she is also quite a competitor in the triathalon world.
The day was a 2 mile warmup, supervised stretching (which my shoulder prevented me from doing enthusiastically), 2 training 400s, a "best mile", and then 2 to 4 400s at the best mile/4 pace with equal minutes of rest. Then a cool down lap or so. Temp was about 95F with moderate humidity still leftover from the heat wave. A great workout.
My mile time was 7:40:45 - not as speedy as I might like given it was a single mile, but not disreputable either.
The day was a 2 mile warmup, supervised stretching (which my shoulder prevented me from doing enthusiastically), 2 training 400s, a "best mile", and then 2 to 4 400s at the best mile/4 pace with equal minutes of rest. Then a cool down lap or so. Temp was about 95F with moderate humidity still leftover from the heat wave. A great workout.
My mile time was 7:40:45 - not as speedy as I might like given it was a single mile, but not disreputable either.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
hot, humid, "trail" run
I ran with the Reston Runners on a "trail" run this morning.
We are in the middle of a heat wave here, the 7:00 temp was 77F with 79% humidity. We started at about 7:05, ran about 13.5 miles in a loop, and finished in the 9:30 neighborhood (I forgot to look at my watch when I finished). The finish temp was about 87F with 59% humidity. The overall high today was almost 100F.
I drank over three bottles of water and some gatorade and I still lost 6 pounds over my starting weight. I was completely soaked and my shoes squished with water! The good news (and there always is, isn't there?) was that I was still perspiring and absorbing the liquids I was drinking, so I wasn't dehydrated as I so often am during these hot-weather runs.
It was a "trail" run because about 5 miles of the run was on the W&OD trail. Otherwise it was all sidewalks.
I spent the rest of the day drinking water, and as of 10pm I am still not quite back to normal...
After the run I saw something I had never seen before. I was stretching and saw a big bird go into a tree nearby. This was not some pigeon, but a big bird that didn't belong in a tree - it looked like an owl perhaps or a hawk - I just didn't get a good look at the head. It fluttered around inside the tree, down below the branch line, and then back up. I thought perhaps it was injured because of the way it was acting so I went closer to investigate. When I got within 15 feet of the tree, a chimpunk leapt out of the branches and ran for the tall grass. In an instant a hawk dropped from the tree and was on top of him. The hawk glanced at me, then carried his breakfast away with him into the tall trees.
We are in the middle of a heat wave here, the 7:00 temp was 77F with 79% humidity. We started at about 7:05, ran about 13.5 miles in a loop, and finished in the 9:30 neighborhood (I forgot to look at my watch when I finished). The finish temp was about 87F with 59% humidity. The overall high today was almost 100F.
I drank over three bottles of water and some gatorade and I still lost 6 pounds over my starting weight. I was completely soaked and my shoes squished with water! The good news (and there always is, isn't there?) was that I was still perspiring and absorbing the liquids I was drinking, so I wasn't dehydrated as I so often am during these hot-weather runs.
It was a "trail" run because about 5 miles of the run was on the W&OD trail. Otherwise it was all sidewalks.
I spent the rest of the day drinking water, and as of 10pm I am still not quite back to normal...
After the run I saw something I had never seen before. I was stretching and saw a big bird go into a tree nearby. This was not some pigeon, but a big bird that didn't belong in a tree - it looked like an owl perhaps or a hawk - I just didn't get a good look at the head. It fluttered around inside the tree, down below the branch line, and then back up. I thought perhaps it was injured because of the way it was acting so I went closer to investigate. When I got within 15 feet of the tree, a chimpunk leapt out of the branches and ran for the tall grass. In an instant a hawk dropped from the tree and was on top of him. The hawk glanced at me, then carried his breakfast away with him into the tall trees.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
DNS
Totally bummed out. When I got up this morning I walked around and tested my Achilles tendon, it was sensitive in the same place. I keep on thinking that the last time this happened it was 3 months to full recovery. Do I want to run this 10K and risk blowing my entire summer training? Or skip this 10K and fully recover in a few weeks? I stretched some more and tested it and decided I would pass on this one.
DNS with mitigating circumstances.
DNS with mitigating circumstances.
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