Fail Trail

I've christened today's run "The Fail on the Trail". It wasn't a bad run, it was just kind of a meltdown of preparation and mental sharpness on my part.

Like I've said in most of my recent entries, I'm not really starting my marathon training yet, since I'm shaving the first few weeks of Higdon's Novice II because I'm already ahead of the mileage, but I was still hoping to get a longer long run in this morning. 14 was my goal. I thought I'd run on the rail trail, because it would give me a change of scenery and, if I started at Brillhart, the opportunity to stop and refill my bottles at the turnaround point at Hanover Junction. Brilliant! Since I wanted to beat the heat and be on the trail around 6am, I laid all my clothes and paraphernalia out the night before. That's not just preparation, that's extraordinary preparation!

I checked the always reliable weather.com (please consider the italics to be the sarcasm font in this case), and noted that today's low was predicted to be 67 degrees. Awesome! Anything under 70 is a gift I'll gladly accept. But, when I scrolled through the hourly forecasts, none of them showed lower than 74. D'oh! That's not terrible, but a little warmer than most of my summer early morning runs. With that in mind, I considered lowering my distance goals a bit, but instead decided that the shade of the rail trail and the built-in refilling stop would be too much of an advantage to give up.

Alarm went off at 4:30, and I'm ready to be out the door at 5:20. Clockwork. Except for one little thing...I saw that I hadn't put the plug from the charger into my Garmin fully, and it had less than an hour of charge.

FAIL

I like to have Garmin, despite its inaccuracy, since it lets me monitor my pace without having to resort to math, but this wasn't a critical error -- I still have my trusty Timex Ironman Triathlon (no sarcasm here, I seriously love this watch). No problem, everything was still going smoothly. I got to Brillhart station at 6:00am, and headed southward on the trail. I was running along, everything was going fine, and I don't need Garmin when I have an awesome and reliable stopwatch... that I forgot to start.

FAIL

A bit discouraged, I started my watch. I'm estimating I was only 3-4 minutes into my run before starting it. Not the end of the world, but I bet Meb Keflezighi never forgets to start his watch.

I quickly noticed that the humidity was humiditating rather heavily, but luckily the trail has a great amount of shade and it was mostly overcast, anyway. Of course, I'd opted for the visor, even though under these conditions it's unnecessary and even a minor detriment.

mini-FAIL

Within the first mile, I was already sweating profusely. In fact, people following me on the trail probably had to swim for it. My route turned out to be not as well-thought as I'd planned. You see, Chris and I had biked this same section of the trail on Tuesday night. This had the unfortunate effect of making it seem like it was taking forever to get anywhere while running. On a bike, the Howard Tunnel seems just a few minutes past Brillhart Station. Today, it seemed light years away (Really, it's about 2 miles from where I started/finished.)

FAIL

(Isn't it pretty? Doesn't it look humid?)

Once past the tunnel, things seemed to take a turn for the better. Using my now-running chronometer and the mile markers on the trail, I could tell I was running about a 10-minute mile pace, and I started feeling better, or at least getting used to how gross I felt. There was one close call where I thought I saw a snake coiled on the trail ahead of me (EPIC FAIL), but fortunately it turned out to just be a branch with some leaves.

I reached Hanover Junction in approximately an hour. It turned out to be between and six and seven miles away from Brillhart. I took a short break to drink some water and refill both of my bottles, and then headed north (to FREEDOM!)

The way back didn't seem to take as long as the way down (In reality, it took the same time or a few minutes longer.) I was still laying down between 9 and 10 minute miles and, since the trail is picturesque but really just running in a straight line, was bored out of my mind. All I could focus on was watching for the next mile marker, just wanting to get this one over with. Finally, it seemed, I reached the cool relief of the tunnel, which was just a cooler but more humid spot on this humid run.

(Crap. Is it "Come into the light, Brian." or "Don't come into the light, Brian"?)

From there, though, it was easy. Just two miles to go. As I reached Brillhart Station, my watch read 2:03:10, so I'm estimating my full run at 2:07. It turned out, according to the distance reading from Tuesday's bike ride, to be 12.76 miles.

Good enough.

Also, People are Jerks
As I ran, I said "hi" to everyone who passed. Maybe 1 in 10 returned my hello. I don't expect to become best friends with people I meet on the trail, but I'm running, they're running, isn't the bond of shared suffering enough to warrant a friendly greeting?

Several people have told me that they've noticed that solo female runners usually won't say hi to a lone male runner. Do I look like a creepy stalker? I've never stalked anyone, and I really don't think I'm that creepy looking. So thank you to the two ladies who did return my hello, you reassured me a bit that perhaps I don't look like an axe murderer. And even if I were, where I would hide an axe while I'm running?

There was one guy in particular that I thought was a jerk. He was definitely a better runner than me, catching up to and passing me after starting at Brillhart a few minutes after me and then pulling way ahead of me. I said hello as he passed, and was greeted by a stony silence. At what I believe to be the 5-mile mark (based on a previous bike ride along this course), he turned and passed me going the other way. I said hello again, and this time was glared at for my troubles.

Well Mr. Cool, I'll have you know that while you may be (much) faster than me, I continued on to Hanover Junction and back again, and I believe that makes me the better man.

So, that's the end of today's rant. Am I off-base here? What's proper running etiquette in this situation -- hello or no?

Friday Haiku Volume IX, The NFL Edition

Fleecing time is here.
I'll trade this verse to Cardinals.
For a high draft pick.



I'm very excited that the NFL players and owners finally came to an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. I look forward to football all summer, and a strike-shortened season would be worth nothing to me. How could the championship of such a season be considered legitimate?

This is not a football blog, and for my own sanity's sake I dare not ever create one, but I couldn't resist poking a bit of fun at the Arizona Cardinals today. I think the Cardinals probably gave up too much for Kevin Kolb, a player who I do think will be an ok QB, but who doesn't have the track record to rate a pro-bowler and a 2nd round pick in trade.

**************************************************************************************************
I'm also excited about the week of running that I had -- the extreme heat warning was lifted, and I got 10 miles in on Tuesday and 10 miles in on Thursday. I'm not sure yet when I'll start my training plan, but if the weather is nice on Saturday I may try for a longer run either here at home or on the rail trail.

The Life and Times of the Adidas Supernova Sequence II -- A Product Review

When we first met the Adidas Supernova Sequence II, I was in the throes of IT Band Syndrome, barely able to run 5 miles due to knee pain. Now, almost 7 months, 7 races, and almost 600 miles later, it's well past time to retire them. Since I may run Saturday's long run on the rail trail, which would be new to me, I'll probably hold off on breaking out a new pair of shoes until I'm back in my usual environment.

Saying goodbye is never easy, especially to the shoes that have carried me through my first marathon, my 10K PR, and my mile PR, and helped me recover from injury. So I won't. I'll bump them down to being my casual-wear sneakers, and I'll remember their glory days as I'm walking around the York Galleria. Or not. They're just shoes. I'm sentimental but not that sentimental.

At any rate, I've put more than enough miles on the Sequence IIs to owe them an attempt at a product review. I must warn any readers right away that all my other running shoes have also been Adidas, so I can't adequately compare other brands.

Comfort
I've never had a great first impression of any Adidas shoe that I've tried on. So, why do I keep buying Adidas? Because I trust that once they're broken in a bit and I'm used to them that I'll like them, and since I've had mostly good luck with them, I'm reluctant to switch. My experience has always been that when I try Adidas running shoes on at the store and compare to other brands, they just don't feel as soft and cushion-y. I can't evaluate how well the sole is providing cushioning while I run compared to others, but I just don't think the interior padding of the shoes are as soft.

That said, I've always felt like they fit the best. When I bought the Sequence IIs, I tried shoes from several manufacturers including Brooks, Saucony, and Asics. I tried the Adidas on first, and wasn't impressed. The other pairs all felt like they had more cushion both as I stood and when I jogged on the treadmill. It wasn't until I tried again, with a different shoe on each foot, that I realized that the Sequence felt the most comfortable to run in. Again, I admit that familiarity (similarity to the Glide, my previous shoe) probably played a role in my selection.

Performance
While running, I would again describe the feel of the Sequence II as firm and supportive. would also describe them as feeling heavy compared to the Glide.

I am not as cognizant of having proper form as some runners, but I feel the change in footwear from the more neutral-cushioned Supernova Glide to the more stability-focused Sequence changed me from more of a heel-striker to more of a midfoot striker. A look at the soles of the Sequences shows that this may not be as accurate as I'd thought, but they also have at least 100 more miles on them than is recommended.

(Maybe I AM heel-striking a bit.)

My orthopedist, PT, and the people at the specialty running store didn't really come to a consensus on how much I was over-pronating, so I don't have strong feeling one way or another as to how well they addressed that issue. I will mention that it was my orthopedist who recommended that I move to a shoe with more stability, and since the inflammation of my IT band subsided around the end of February, I haven't had any more problems with it. It's impossible to say how much the Sequence had to do with that. I suspect the shoes played a role, but that stretching and foam rolling made most of the difference.

I set my 10K and mile PRs in them, but I wouldn't say I feel faster or slower in them compared to any other shoe I've ever owned. Perhaps something lighter would make me feel faster on race day, but I can't deny that the Sequence seems to have been a good all-purpose running shoe for me.

Durability
Excellent. The outside of the shoe, the insole, and the interior cushioning have held up very well over the past 590-odd miles. I can't say as much for the soles, but in their defense I put well over the recommended mileage on them.

I do most of my running on roads and sidewalks, and left the Sequences behind for my Mud Chasers misadventure, so I can't really say how they'd hold up on rougher terrain.

(Adidas Supernova Sequence II: 0 miles)

(Adidas Supernova Sequence II: 592 miles)

(Not looking too bad, almost 600 miles in.)

(Still a little bit of tread on the tires -- if you ignore that heel.)

Conclusion
I would absolutely consider buying another pair of Adidas Supernova Sequence. Perhaps I already did.





I'd show you more, but that would give me one less thing to blog about next week.

42nd and Pine

I complain about the heat. A lot. I admit that. But the past few days have been ridiculous. We're talking highs of 105 on Friday, 100 on Saturday, and about 97 yesterday. I would suggest that on Friday and Saturday it felt even hotter due to the bright sunshine and high humidity.

We weathered, sometimes with good cheer even, the heat and had a great, busy, sweltering weekend in Philadelphia with friends from Wisconsin, and while I was there I was hoping to get a run in. After all, Philadelphia is where I lived for a year starting in June 1999 and where I made my first attempt to become a runner. It wasn't a very good attempt. I recall on my first or second evening in my apartment going for a run in 95-degree heat. I made it about 2 blocks.

More often, when I went somewhere in my car, I would park at the garage at 36th and Chestnut where I kept my car and attempt to run from there to my apartment at 42nd & Pine. I never made it the whole way -- I specifically recall a freezing night where I made it about 2 minutes before my lungs were just in terrible pain from the bitter cold air and my ankles in complete agony from running in what were probably worn-out, extremely cheap sneakers. I never would have imagined that this would become my favorite weather to run in!

Returning to the present, we sweated out a crazy 18-10 Camden Riversharks game on Friday night, and since it was still 95 degrees at 11:00 at night when the game ended, I decided that there was no way I was going to try to run on Saturday morning.

According to the forecasts on display in our hotel lobby, Sunday looked like it would be a little cooler, but I would still guess it was approximately 80 degrees when I stepped out of our hotel at 5:15am yesterday morning. Still, I took off westward from 15th & Locust, the site of the job that had lured me to Philly, but choosing to turn and run up Chestnut Street since I was familiar with it from some adventures in the Philadelphia Half Marathon (except that it was about 40 degrees cooler then!) and I knew it had a bridge.

(30th St. Station as seen from the Chestnut St. bridge)

I ran up Chestnut Street and turned onto Locust Walk when I got into the University of Pennsylvania Campus, which I was somewhat familiar with since my sister attended Penn while I lived at 42nd and Pine. Once through the campus, I turned left and then made a right on Spruce, passing Allegro, my old favorite pizza place.

(No, I didn't stop for a cheesesteak. Maybe that would have helped)

I made it the few blocks down to 42nd Street and turned left. At the corner of 42nd and Pine, a familiar building:



I took a few extra steps on Pine Street to scope out the rear of the building, where my apartment is visible on the first floor (the window you see directly above the two garbage cans was my kitchen):


It never looked like much from the outside, and seems a little worse for wear 12 years later, but I had once felt at home in my little studio apartment. It was a weird feeling to be back on this corner. I wasn't really sentimental about it. There were no roots put down, no neighbors that I'd ever said much more than "hello" to, no sign that I'd ever lived here, and my memories are mostly just of playing video games and cooking turkey burgers and my indoor counter-top grill (Not the one endorsed by the boxer). It was just an odd, deja-vu type feeling, it all looked and felt so familiar, as if it had been much less than the 12 years since I'd walked down this street.

Still, when it's 80 degrees before 6am, there's no time for reminiscing. I'd reached my old apartment about 30 minutes into my run, and I was definitely feeling the heat. I headed back up Spruce Street in the direction of my hotel. After a two-block climb back to 40th Street, it was all downhill to the Schuylkill River, at which point i made a right onto Walnut Street since there's no bridge on Spruce. I took Walnut back toward the downtown and after passing Rittenhouse Square, turned around at Broad Street, a few blocks past my destination, in hopes of stretching this run to an hour.

Here's map of my route. I was out for an hour and two minutes, and during that time only got about 5 and a half miles, which was about all I could take in those conditions. Except for the weather, it was a nice trip down Memory Lane for me. Not counting my failed attempts at running in 1999 and 2000, I'd only run a few times in Philadelphia, and it had been either in races (2 half marathons and 1 Broad Street Run) or boring laps around Rittenhouse Square while training for my first 5K.

For someone who hadn't lived in this neighborhood and didn't need to revisit old, yet boring memories, I would suggest running the other direction, toward the Delaware and the historic sights of Old City instead or perhaps the jogging/biking path along the Schuykill. Philadelphia's downtown is very flat, so it seems like it could be a nice place to run. Just not during a record-breaking heat wave.

As predicted, last week was the lowest mileage week I've had in months. Of course, I rested on Monday and Tuesday for a one-mile race on Wednesday, and then the heat crushed me on Thursday and Sunday morning. I ended up with less than 13 miles, a weekly total less than my best individual run the previous week. The forecast for this week looks a bit cooler, with overnight lows in the 70s or even high 60s, so I hope I can come back strong.

Friday Haiku, Volume VIII

Summer, you have won.
All my resolve melts away.
This week I yielded.


I surrender.

We've had 100 degree temperatures over the past few days and predicted to continue through the weekend. It was 78 degrees at 5:00am yesterday morning. I kept a slow pace but cut my run short by 4 miles (6 mile run, down from a plan of 10). I've acclimated to the heat quite a bit compared to where I was a month ago, but I'll never get used to that that.

Last Friday, I ran 14 miles. I won't total that this whole week.

It's a setback, but not as bad as it sounds. I still had my great run last Friday, 10 on Sunday (which I count as part of last week), a one-mile PR (that I am very sore from) and six in some of the worst conditions I've ever run in. I'm anticipating another heat-shortened run tomorrow morning as PA continues to get pounded by an extreme heat advisory lasting through the weekend, I might even skip that.

There's a time for maximum effort, but this isn't it.

Race Report: 2011 Miller's Mutual Harrisburg Mile

Last night was the Harrisburg Mile, a summer race that's become something of a tradition for us. Chris and I started running it in 2007, my first year of racing, and we've run it every year since except for 2009, when a scheduling conflict prevented us from racing.

The Harrisburg Mile course runs straight down Front Street along the Susquehanna River, beginning at Maclay Street and ending at Boas Street. It's really very scenic, but I always fail to appreciate it until after the race because A.) I'm running as fast as I can and B.) It's usually ungodly hot.

This year would be no exception. With temperatures in the high 90s yesterday and a heat index (again, according to weather.com) of 98 remaining at 7pm, I think this was my hottest Harrisburg Mile yet. (2007 gives it a run for its money, 2008 was a little less hot but oppressively humid, and last year we got a little bit of relief). We were already hot by the time we'd walked from our car to the starting area. I'd set a fairly aggressive goal for myself of a sub six-minute mile, but conditions were not favorable. I kept telling myself "It's only a mile. It's only a mile."

My heat went off at 7:15. About five minutes prior, the starter called people up to the start line. With heats going off every 10 minutes (or less in the case of the Corporate Challenge heats), there's no time for screwing around. With a faster goal than years past, I debated where to start. There is chip timing, but I knew that a six-minute mile was at the extreme edge of what I could do, and so I didn't want to get caught behind too many people, nor did I want the people that were shooting for a faster finishing time to trip over me. I overheard a few other people say there trying to run sixes, so I stood near them in the third or fourth row, only about 10 feet -- if that -- back from the starting line.

The starter called time remaining till start until only a few seconds remained..."Hold...hold...GO!" And so I went. To meet my goal, I needed a pace of 10mph. Looking down at Garmin, I saw that I was right on pace, far, far outside my comfort zone. I hit the quarter mile sign right at about 1:30, but I couldn't quite hold the 10mph pace and so I hit the half mile sign at 3:10. I don't remember seeing the 3/4 mile marker, honestly the race is really a blur. I was giving it everything I had and it was as hot as hell, my only comfort was that it would be over quickly. As I saw the finish line, I knew my 5:59 or better was not going to happen, but a pretty significant PR was still well within reach. I tried to increase speed at the end, but there wasn't anything left for a sprint to the finish -- the whole race was my sprint to the finish.

6:21.

That's a PR by 23 seconds, but 22 seconds short of my goal. My average speed was 9.45 miles per hour (compared to 8.9 last year). I'm happy with that, especially considering that it was run during a heat and air quality advisory -- more Brian-unfriendly running conditions could scarcely be found. But on the other hand, this just reinforces a lesson that I need to learn or a choice that I need to make: If I am going to care about PRs and finishing times in shorter races, I need speedwork. I've clearly reached the limits of how far I can go with a strategy (or lack thereof) that's exclusively focused on running distance and then "run as fast as I can" during the shorter races.

I think I can improve my marathon time with more long runs in advance of race day and smarter pacing on race day (slower throughout the race so I don't hit the wall as hard), but if I'm going to beat this time next year or keep lowering my 5K PRs then I need to hit the track. I might be able to gut out a slightly faster 5K PR with my current approach, but I don't think I can beat a 6:21 mile without speedwork. I'm so close being under six. I can do it. Do I want it badly enough?

As I've talked about here before, I'm not sure of the answer to that. I care about my performance, but I also need to keep running enjoyable for me or I won't do it. Still, I think a finishing time under six minutes is worth some track work.

You win this year, Harrisburg Mile. But I'll be back.

5:59 or bust.


Review
The Mile is unique among all my races -- the only one that really feels like a sprint -- and that's what makes it fun. That's not it's only redeeming quality, however. The scenery is nice , though like I said I had such tunnel vision that I hardly noticed it. Crowd support is also good, the Mile has been going on since 1982, so it really is a strong tradition in the Harrisburg community with lots of spectators.

Another positive, of course, is that there's "free" beer at the end. That's always appreciated on a 90+ degree evening. This year the race was part of the Michelob "Race to the Ultra" series, which meant that there was Michelob Ultra signage EVERYWHERE and that this was the beer of choice at the beer tent. I always think Michelob Ultra's marketing is funny -- it's the beer that tries to pass
itself off as a sports drink. Unlike past years the post-race party area was very well set-up and the line moved very quickly.

(Yes, I raced to the Ultra. There, I said it. Can I get my corporate sponsorship check now, please?)

Race organizers also rose to the challenge of the extreme heat by having cold water at the starting area, which in my case likely made a huge difference as I realize I probably didn't hydrate well enough during the day yesterday, and ample water at t he finish, which was not the case when my heat finished last year. Running out of water at a race in July? That's a huge error that was thankfully corrected this year.

The swag for the race was also excellent, which is typical of the Mile. In the past we've gotten a drawstring backpack (I know they're super cheap, but this one has a zipper pocket and has come in handy on my occasions), a fairly bland but ok t-shirt, and a sleeveless shirt that's one of my favorite beach or pool shirts. This year, another t-shirt, but at least it's different from the previous years' designs, and it's colored. Not bad.

But, the star of the giveaways, the thing that takes this from good to awesome are re-usable cups from Dunkin Donuts that can be refilled with iced coffee for 99-cents per refill for the rest of the year. We get Dunkin iced coffee almost every week, so this is a good perk.

The only area for improvement that I would mention are that the clocks get re-set very quickly between heats. If someone runs a 10-minute mile pace or above, it seemed as if they didn't see their time when they crossed the finish line. This wasn't the case in any previous year that we've been there.

Oh -- and the heat. Any chance of it moving the Mile to April? No...I didn't think so, but it was worth a try.

The Gun Show is Canceled

Remember that post a few months ago where I decided I was going to start lifting again? No. That's ok. Anyway, the point was that after lifting pretty regularly for the past six years (though the title of this post and my "Welcome to the Gun Show" shirt are both meant ironically) and on and off for the past 14, I'd completely stopped after January of this year, but as of that post on May 9 I was going to start again. Nope. I lifted all of three times that week but then not again until this week, over two months later, and I noticed a loss of strength just since May. D'oh.

I'm not sure why I can't get back into the routine. It's not the most fun thing in the world, though neither is running the same neighborhood course over and over again. A gym membership, where at least I would have to get up and walk around to different stations would break up the monotony a bit, but in the past the extra time needed to go to and from the gym has been enough to prevent me from going.

(This shirt was always meant as a joke.
But I don't think I can even wear it in jest, now.)

Busy schedule? I find time to run and bike and watch reruns of "Futurama." I usually give the cat his medicine at 7:00am, that's plenty of time to work out before work. Too tired? I manage to get myself up much earlier than that on running days. Every excuse I can come up with is invalid. I just need to shut up and do it. (I lifted this morning, so this blog entry isn't taking away from lifting time.)

Maybe there's just not enough motivation. I sign up for running events all the time, but it will be the proverbial cold day in Hell before I would be entered in any feats of strength competition. But, I am going on a beach vacation later in the year. So even though I might not have motivation now, I know I will by then, at which point it would be too late. Thus, I'm going to try to start lifting again at least two times a week for the next month (long enough to create a habit).

So consider the Gun Show not canceled, just postponed.