Just Because...

It's 10:00 at night.

The temperature has dropped into the 50s.

The Orioles stink again.

And there are races to train for.

So I found the hilliest three miles I could in Manchester and Mt. Wolf, and I ran them.

And it was great.

Malfunction or Just Mal"run"ction?

I'm sure you're groaning at the title, so if you're still reading, I'm sorry. But, I can't be hilariously witty all the time and after all, you didn't pay to read this. (You didn't, right?)
So I went out for my Tuesday run, which this week is 4 miles. Since I took it late at night and we have York Revolution playoff tickets tomorrow and Thursday nights, I suspect this week's 4-8-4 will become 4 tonight and 8 on Thursday morning.

This wasn't one of my best efforts. The weather wasn't quite as good as it had been for my last three runs -- 64 degrees and 90 percent humidity. Not awful -- especially with no sun to make it feel warmer -- but definitely a step down from the high 40s/low 50s that I got on Thursday and Saturday.
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Still, the weather alone doesn't explain my slower than usual pace: 4-miles in 40:46. I think Garmin screwed me, though. What it measured as one mile as I ran from the high school into downtown Manchester measured as only 0.7 miles on the way back. So, maybe I ran 4.3 miles. Either way, though, my calves were not feeling great on this one and I was a lot more winded than I should have been on a 4-mile run.

I'm not going to be discouraged by it. There are several things going on right now that I could see contributing to a sub-par run. I had a great, tough week of running last week starting with the previous weekend's 15 and ending with my faster-than-usual 13.1 on Saturday; have basically been in "panic mode" at work all September; had a great, exhausting Super Adventure Weekend (good run, day trip to Philly ending w/a night baseball game, busy Sunday of homeless kitties, York Fair, Revs Game, and Eagles game); and am struggling with either worse-than-usual allergies or a little bit of a cold that I'm guessing is related to rapidly changing weather.

17 miles on Saturday? No problem. I got this.

And because I don't have any running-related pictures today, here's an especially cute picture of Higgy the Cat.

(How is this comfortable?)

In my next blog post: Things I Ate at the York Fair

Friday Haiku, Volume XVI

Big change in weather
Fifty degrees out today.
Too cold for haiku



I went out for another middle-of-the-night run last night, and the temperature was in the low 50s or the high 40s. Bliss. For other stuff, I like weather in the 60s and 70s best, but if I had my choice I'd run every run in temperatures of 30-50F.

That said, it was a shock to the system, being my first cool weather run (by my probably skewed definitions) since, I suspect, April. For the first two miles, I found myself wishing I'd worn my light gloves or long sleeves so I could tuck my hands in. I ran 8 miles and it was nice to actually be able to enjoy the run and think about nothing, rather than be distracted by how disgustingly sweaty and gross I felt.

My approach to last night's run was a mixed bag. I must have left my Garmin turned on because the battery was dead. Though Chris offered her identical one, I took it as a sign that I should just go out and enjoy myself and not worry about pace. I did time myself with my watch, and I ran one of my most familiar courses so I know approximately where each mile "mark" is, but it prevented me from obsessively watching my pace.

But, despite my resolve to just go out and not worry about pace, once I got out in the chilly night air, it felt like I was pushing myself pretty hard. Though I'd contemplated 10 miles, my quads were aching pretty bad, and it was the middle of the night, so I decided I'd stop at 8 rather than taking the 2ish mile loop down into Mount Wolf. My fast pace turned out to be an illusion, though. My 8 miles was was at a pretty average (for me) pace of 9:54. I enjoyed the run, but I'm curious as to why it felt like I was going so much faster than I actually was. A couple theories:

1. Though I love running in the cold, it seems like I'm a little older and creakier in cold weather. Knees felt stiffer than usual and quads were much sorer than they should have been at this pace and distance. I do my IT band stretches before every run, but I have to remember to stretch the quads out more in the cold.

2. On the other hand, this could have been some leftover soreness from Tuesday's four miles at quite a bit faster than usual pace.

3. The neighborhood where I run is a pretty quiet one, but between it being 10:00 at night and not being distracted by how warm and humid I was, I was much more aware of the sound of my own footfalls than usual (which was kind of neat).

4. It really did seem like I just turned my brain off for a good portion of this run, which was nice, so I suspect that somewhere between mile two and mile five I slowed down w/o realizing it.

Whatever. It was a nice run.

It's been a good week of running. My 15, under pretty gross conditions last Saturday, gave me my confidence back and for different reasons Tuesday night's 4 miles and last night's 8 were two of my most enjoyable runs all summer. I don't think we're quite done with the heat and humidity here in Central PA, but this was a nice preview of the Fall.

I ignored Hal Higdon again this week, but my heart was in the right place (in the middle of my chest, slightly to the left side). Four miles on Tuesday was what he recommended, and that's what I did. I skipped Wednesday's 8-miles because of the rain, but then made it up yesterday, instead of the scheduled 4. Except it turned out that I misread the plan and it was supposed to be 7 miles. Oops.

While not officially a step-back week, this weekend is a step-back. It says "half marathon" on Sunday instead of a Saturday long run. I think that means I'm supposed to either be in a race or simulate race pace. But, since I treat the marathon as a long, slow, distance run, I'll probably just treat this as a regular long run, even though I've "raced" two half marathons previously.

Throwback

It's been a long week. I know it's only Tuesday (well, Wednesday morning now technically), but it's been a long week. Despite feeling like crap for most of the day and despite -- but also because of -- a very stressful two days of work, I had the great idea of trying to get my Tuesday four miler -- just like Hal Higdon wants -- in at 11:00pm. My resolve wavered as I got ready...I just didn't feel up to it. But I decided I'd feel better about myself if I at least tried. Turned out to be a great idea.

Since it was shorter than my usual distance, I set out without my hydration belt. No water, orange Gatorade, or Sports Beans. I also decided I was going to run it as fast as I could.

It turned out to be 4 miles in 35:22, an 8:50/mile pace. Not as low as I'd like to be for a 5K, but considerably better than the last time I recall going out with the goal of running 4 and keeping my pace under 9:00, which was a lunchtime run back in January, before my IT band trouble.

More importantly, though, this was fun. It was nice to have a run that was over in under 40 minutes, rather than over an hour and a half. It was enjoyable to just turn my brain off and focus on running as fast as I could, rather than worrying about pacing myself for the long haul. It was a throwback to the summer of 2008, when all I did was two laps around Cousler Park several times a week and try to break my personal records.

I've longer distances than I ever thought I'd attempt back then; I'm proud of that and have no plans stop running longer races, but I do think that summer was when running was the most purely fun.

Every week in my marathon training, I've got runs on Tuesday and Thursday that don't ever get longer than 5 miles. I admit, I really don't care that much about how fast I run the marathon. I think just by getting in more 20-milers in training I'll be better conditioned and between that and smarter pacing early in the race, I can shave off a decent amount of time. I'm not that worried about tempo runs or speedwork (Novice 2 doesn't have speedwork, anyway). But I think I'll take one of those short runs every week and just go as fast as I can.

National Running In the Middle of the Night Night

Apparently, yesterday was National Running Day. No, I'd never heard of it either. And this is confusing to me since May was apparently National Runner's Month. (Maybe that's the point...a month of revelry leading up to National Running Day?) National Runner's Month seems to have been concocted by Dick's Sporting Goods, which certainly has a financial interest in encouraging people to run, while National Running Day seems to have been started by the New York Road Runners three years ago.

This is only the third year of the holiday, so don't feel bad if you haven't heard of it yet. I'm sure as it grows in popularity Running Day tv specials, celebrations, and sales will start earlier each year, and every mall in America will have a guy in a Bart Yasso or Jeff Galloway suit so that kids can line up to get their picture with him and tell him what they want for National Running Day. Or not.

At any rate, I missed National Running Day. A crazy day at work + legs still feeling extremely worn out from Monday's Insane Humidity Adventure=no running.

Except then I went outside to take the trash out, and realized that for the first time all week the oppressive humidity and heat had abated just a bit. It was still warm, and it was still humid, but it was neither scorchingly hot nor did I feel I needed scuba gear and flippers. After the not so Brian-friendly running weather we've had this week, it felt heavenly.

So at about midnight, I laced up the Supernova Sequences, put on my dorky reflective gear, and headed over to the high school, starting point of my favorite night running route. National Running Middle of the Night Night, a holiday holinight for insomniacs who work from home and are desperate to avoid the heat, was born.

It turned out to be a good idea, but the execution left a little to be desired.

(Light up headgear? Check.)
(Stylish reflective clothing? Check.)


(Charged Garmin batteries? Charged Garmin Batties?)

I know that I went 7 miles, since I ran one of my usual routes. I have no idea of my pace, since poor, neglected Garmy died after about a mile. It felt fast, though, which is all I have to go on, and it was a bit liberating to run without obsessively checking my pace, time, and distance every two seconds.

Despite my technical difficulties, it was a nice run and I think that if I'm going to be doing any long runs in July and August, the middle of the night is probably the best time for them from a weather and temperature perspective. I could probably do this once a week. Sacrificing more sleep than that would probably make it a challenge to function as a contributing member of society. (No jokes, please.)

Creature of the Night

"Be careful," said my wife, Chris. "Don't do anything silly." What? Do you mean something silly like run 10 miles in an hour and 35 minutes through Manchester and Mt Wolf in the middle of the night with my goofy headlight and a bright yellow-green shirt so shiny it could wake the dead?

I've really enjoyed nighttime running lately, for a variety of reasons. First of all, I don't have to get up early. That's always a plus. Throughout the year I've not done as well at getting up to run before work in the morning. Earlier in the year, since I work from home, I could go for a run at lunch. Lately, we've finally gotten some very welcome warmer weather, but since my preferred running temperature is really 30-50 degrees, my best options are morning or the middle of the night.

But, in addition to the temperature, I enjoy the atmosphere of running at night -- the peace and quiet and the way the landscape is different from the day.

And lastly, I like the faux elite-ness it conveys upon me -- I may never qualify for Boston, but I'm the fastest one in Mt. Wolf in the middle of the night.


But I'll carry some holy water and a crucifix just in case...