10.48
1:23:42
7:59 pace
First run with new toy - ran from home to the 095 trail marker at Fountain Drive. You can see it on the map here.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas - Halfway Point
Took today off - muscle soreness all over for some reason, and not a lot of sleep last night. Woke up at 7:00 to find Doug sitting on the bed next to us, patiently waiting to celebrate Christmas.
On the running front, Doug got a pair of Nike+ running shoes, which he wants to try out tomorrow. Doug and Barbara were overly generous and gave me the Garmin Forerunner 405. It's a very slick piece of equipment, that looks like sports watch, but has a built in GPS to record your runs. It connects wirelessly to the PC and maps your route, along with all the data you could ask for - pace, elevation, temp, wind speed, heart rate. It should resolve any worries I have about the accuracy of my distances with the Nike+. Barb, Doug, Mom and Bob also gave me some winter running gear which I'm looking forward to using.
Coincidentally, Christmas happens to be the exact halfway point between my birthdays. Happy to say that I'm 133 miles ahead of schedule, so am not worried about getting through bad weather, illness or injury that may happen over the winter.
Merry Christmas to Dad and Kathy, and any other family or friends who have endured these repetitive and obsessive running posts! I hope you had as happy and warm a holiday as we did here in Philadelphia.
On the running front, Doug got a pair of Nike+ running shoes, which he wants to try out tomorrow. Doug and Barbara were overly generous and gave me the Garmin Forerunner 405. It's a very slick piece of equipment, that looks like sports watch, but has a built in GPS to record your runs. It connects wirelessly to the PC and maps your route, along with all the data you could ask for - pace, elevation, temp, wind speed, heart rate. It should resolve any worries I have about the accuracy of my distances with the Nike+. Barb, Doug, Mom and Bob also gave me some winter running gear which I'm looking forward to using.
Coincidentally, Christmas happens to be the exact halfway point between my birthdays. Happy to say that I'm 133 miles ahead of schedule, so am not worried about getting through bad weather, illness or injury that may happen over the winter.
Merry Christmas to Dad and Kathy, and any other family or friends who have endured these repetitive and obsessive running posts! I hope you had as happy and warm a holiday as we did here in Philadelphia.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Christmas Eve - 8 miles (633 total)
8.13 miles
1:07:25
8:17 pace
In the forties by 11:00 today, although this morning it was so icy that I wiped out on the bike when I hit the brick plaza in front of my work. Slid on my back several feet and got some applause and whoops from another guy picking his way over the ice.
Ran to the four mile point on the rec path, then all the way back by the same route plus a little extra. As usual for this point in the week, legs were hurting on the way out, so I kept the speed down. Will take Christmas off, and possibly won't run until Monday in New York City, since I've exceeded 20 miles for the week already.
1:07:25
8:17 pace
In the forties by 11:00 today, although this morning it was so icy that I wiped out on the bike when I hit the brick plaza in front of my work. Slid on my back several feet and got some applause and whoops from another guy picking his way over the ice.
Ran to the four mile point on the rec path, then all the way back by the same route plus a little extra. As usual for this point in the week, legs were hurting on the way out, so I kept the speed down. Will take Christmas off, and possibly won't run until Monday in New York City, since I've exceeded 20 miles for the week already.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Sunny, Cold - 7 miles (625 total)
7.21 miles
57:51
8:01 pace
26 degrees
Nice out today, despite the cold weather. Sunny and less windy than yesterday. I left behind one layer of shirt, and was very comfortable. Ended up extending the run a bit despite some pain in right leg - five miles is just not very satisfying at this point. Hope I did not ruin my chances for a run tomorrow.
57:51
8:01 pace
26 degrees
Nice out today, despite the cold weather. Sunny and less windy than yesterday. I left behind one layer of shirt, and was very comfortable. Ended up extending the run a bit despite some pain in right leg - five miles is just not very satisfying at this point. Hope I did not ruin my chances for a run tomorrow.
Monday, December 22, 2008
First Winter Run - 6 miles (618 total)
6.07 miles
47:03
7:44 pace
22 degrees
It was 16 degrees when I got in to work at 7:00 this morning. Hard to believe that it was 65 a week ago. I wasn't sure if I should skip it today, but by 11:00 the thermometer had broken 20 and I decided to try.
Wore one short sleeve, and two long sleeve shirts, and long running pants, along with headband and gloves. The sun was out and it was quite nice except for the wind, which was particularly strong on the bridges crossing the river. I had to take off one of the long sleeve shirts at the halfway point. Pushed the pace slightly to keep under 8 minutes, but not too hard, since my shins still hurt after two days off.
47:03
7:44 pace
22 degrees
It was 16 degrees when I got in to work at 7:00 this morning. Hard to believe that it was 65 a week ago. I wasn't sure if I should skip it today, but by 11:00 the thermometer had broken 20 and I decided to try.
Wore one short sleeve, and two long sleeve shirts, and long running pants, along with headband and gloves. The sun was out and it was quite nice except for the wind, which was particularly strong on the bridges crossing the river. I had to take off one of the long sleeve shirts at the halfway point. Pushed the pace slightly to keep under 8 minutes, but not too hard, since my shins still hurt after two days off.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Cold and Rainy - 10 miles (612 total)
10.56 miles
1:26:15
8:09 pace
35 degrees
Legs felt much better today than on Wednesday, but I took it easy and tried to keep the speed down and run carefully to avoid putting too much stress on them. Will have two days off, so hope to be in good shape on Monday.
Steady rain the entire way; was comfortable nonetheless until after I stopped, and had to walk a bit and wait around soaking wet for a sandwich. Was chilled quite a bit by the time I got back to the office. Wore some tights for the first time, with shorts, both long and short sleeve t-shirts, gloves and headband. By the time all this was soaked, was probably carrying a couple of extra pounds of water weight.
1:26:15
8:09 pace
35 degrees
Legs felt much better today than on Wednesday, but I took it easy and tried to keep the speed down and run carefully to avoid putting too much stress on them. Will have two days off, so hope to be in good shape on Monday.
Steady rain the entire way; was comfortable nonetheless until after I stopped, and had to walk a bit and wait around soaking wet for a sandwich. Was chilled quite a bit by the time I got back to the office. Wore some tights for the first time, with shorts, both long and short sleeve t-shirts, gloves and headband. By the time all this was soaked, was probably carrying a couple of extra pounds of water weight.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Call the Waaambulance - 5 miles (601 total)
5.69 miles
49:05
8:37 pace
The relatively fast run with Chris yesterday took a toll. Legs were super painful today, and I had to keep a slow pace. I may try to finish up my 20 minimum for the week tomorrow, or I might just eat some of my surplus and take a full four days off before next Monday.
Went back to the track, presumably a little easier on the legs there, and also I was worried about the Nike+ calibration. Looks like it is still pretty accurate - I gained only .06 mile after four miles on the track. That's 1.5%, and I expect that number shrinks to zero or so when running at my normal 7:30-8:00 pace. I'll leave it calibrated as is for now, then try it again in mid-January when the track reopens, and hopefully I'll be able to run at a more representative speed.
49:05
8:37 pace
The relatively fast run with Chris yesterday took a toll. Legs were super painful today, and I had to keep a slow pace. I may try to finish up my 20 minimum for the week tomorrow, or I might just eat some of my surplus and take a full four days off before next Monday.
Went back to the track, presumably a little easier on the legs there, and also I was worried about the Nike+ calibration. Looks like it is still pretty accurate - I gained only .06 mile after four miles on the track. That's 1.5%, and I expect that number shrinks to zero or so when running at my normal 7:30-8:00 pace. I'll leave it calibrated as is for now, then try it again in mid-January when the track reopens, and hopefully I'll be able to run at a more representative speed.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Summer Ends - 4 miles (596 total)
4.1 miles
30:26
7:24 pace
41 degrees
Got Chris to come out today for his first run in a couple of months. We just went down to the track. It was about 25 degrees cooler than yesterday. Snowing now, about two hours after we returned.
According to iPod we ran just over 4 miles. Chris counted laps and came up with a quarter mile less than that, so I'm hoping that my iPod is not grossly out of calibration. Tomorrow is the last day the track is open until 1/5/09, so I'll try to stop by and calibrate it. I did run one lane out from the quarter mile lane, but I would not expect that to pick up that much distance.
The pace always picks up a bit when running with Chris, so that was good; stopped after four miles to get back to work in time for a noon "meeting" - a group of us watching Battlestar Galactica every Tuesday over lunch. This job is nerd heaven.
30:26
7:24 pace
41 degrees
Got Chris to come out today for his first run in a couple of months. We just went down to the track. It was about 25 degrees cooler than yesterday. Snowing now, about two hours after we returned.
According to iPod we ran just over 4 miles. Chris counted laps and came up with a quarter mile less than that, so I'm hoping that my iPod is not grossly out of calibration. Tomorrow is the last day the track is open until 1/5/09, so I'll try to stop by and calibrate it. I did run one lane out from the quarter mile lane, but I would not expect that to pick up that much distance.
The pace always picks up a bit when running with Chris, so that was good; stopped after four miles to get back to work in time for a noon "meeting" - a group of us watching Battlestar Galactica every Tuesday over lunch. This job is nerd heaven.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Miami North - 6 miles (592 total)
5.77 miles
44:30
7:42 pace
65 degrees
Another mid-60s December day - sunny and breezy out. Ran out to the Art Museum parking lot again, but tried to cut some distance out of the beginning. Since I wasn't stopping for lunch on the way back, however, it still ended up a little farther than I was planning. Next time I won't backtrack to the beginning of the path, and I think that should be pretty close to 5 miles even.
Planning to do 4 or 5 days this week, but my legs were still achy even after the weekend off. We'll see how they feel tomorrow.
44:30
7:42 pace
65 degrees
Another mid-60s December day - sunny and breezy out. Ran out to the Art Museum parking lot again, but tried to cut some distance out of the beginning. Since I wasn't stopping for lunch on the way back, however, it still ended up a little farther than I was planning. Next time I won't backtrack to the beginning of the path, and I think that should be pretty close to 5 miles even.
Planning to do 4 or 5 days this week, but my legs were still achy even after the weekend off. We'll see how they feel tomorrow.
Friday, December 12, 2008
High Water - 5 miles (586 total)
5.57 miles
44:06
7:53 pace
Started my 5 mile routine today. Since I take a slightly different route back, and stop about half a mile from the office in order to pick up lunch, I may have to experiment with the route to bring it a little closer to 5 even. I took a bit more direct route than usual to drop to the rec path at Market Street, and turned around at 3 miles, at the far end of the Art Museum parking lot. Monday I think I'll turn around at the same place, but drop to the path at Chestnut Street instead. I think that will cut about .3 miles off the total.
After the heavy rains the past couple of days, the river was higher than I've ever seen it. One section of the path was completely underwater, and lots of trees and streetlights were standing in the river. There was a constant strean of large branches, logs and a couple of fallen trees floating downstream. I saw two footballs.
Legs were painful. Hope two days off is enough to do four or five days in a row next week.
44:06
7:53 pace
Started my 5 mile routine today. Since I take a slightly different route back, and stop about half a mile from the office in order to pick up lunch, I may have to experiment with the route to bring it a little closer to 5 even. I took a bit more direct route than usual to drop to the rec path at Market Street, and turned around at 3 miles, at the far end of the Art Museum parking lot. Monday I think I'll turn around at the same place, but drop to the path at Chestnut Street instead. I think that will cut about .3 miles off the total.
After the heavy rains the past couple of days, the river was higher than I've ever seen it. One section of the path was completely underwater, and lots of trees and streetlights were standing in the river. There was a constant strean of large branches, logs and a couple of fallen trees floating downstream. I saw two footballs.
Legs were painful. Hope two days off is enough to do four or five days in a row next week.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Indian Summer - 10 miles (580 total)
10.42 miles
1:23:37
8:01 pace
66 degrees
Forty degrees warmer today than it was for Monday's run 48 hours ago. This might be the last opportunity to run in mid-60s weather until April. Wet and windy - would have been positively hot otherwise. Legs were a bit tender, so I tried to keep the speed down. Was aiming for about 8:00 and came pretty close.
I'm thinking about doing just 5 miles Friday, taking the weekend off, and then trying to run four or five 5-milers next week. I wonder if that would be harder or easier on my legs. It would be nice to get into the habit of running 5 times a week, then gradually increasing distance for each run until I'm doing 10-milers again. My hope would be to get to 50 miles/week by 6/26.
1:23:37
8:01 pace
66 degrees
Forty degrees warmer today than it was for Monday's run 48 hours ago. This might be the last opportunity to run in mid-60s weather until April. Wet and windy - would have been positively hot otherwise. Legs were a bit tender, so I tried to keep the speed down. Was aiming for about 8:00 and came pretty close.
I'm thinking about doing just 5 miles Friday, taking the weekend off, and then trying to run four or five 5-milers next week. I wonder if that would be harder or easier on my legs. It would be nice to get into the habit of running 5 times a week, then gradually increasing distance for each run until I'm doing 10-milers again. My hope would be to get to 50 miles/week by 6/26.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Winter Preview - 10 miles (570 total)
10.01 miles
1:15:20
7:31 pace
26 degrees
Much colder today - low twenties at 6:00 this morning biking in to work, and the thin running gloves were not warm enough on the bike. Almost decided to put off running until tomorrow, when it is going to break 50 degrees, but I already took the weekend off.
Felt pretty good - pace felt just moderate, but it turned out to be about as fast as I've ever run a ten miler. Wore my Nike headband/ear warmer for the first time, but took off the gloves at the halfway mark. Was marginally comfortable with my light, long sleeve EMS shirt over a cotton tee.
Glad I decided to run; now I won't be scared the next time it's in the twenties. It doesn't get much colder than this in Philadelphia. I think there are usually only a handful of days when it doesn't make it into the mid 20s. Back when I had the bike commute to East Falls, I would take the bus whenever it was below 20 degrees. I can probably get away with making that my running test as well.
1:15:20
7:31 pace
26 degrees
Much colder today - low twenties at 6:00 this morning biking in to work, and the thin running gloves were not warm enough on the bike. Almost decided to put off running until tomorrow, when it is going to break 50 degrees, but I already took the weekend off.
Felt pretty good - pace felt just moderate, but it turned out to be about as fast as I've ever run a ten miler. Wore my Nike headband/ear warmer for the first time, but took off the gloves at the halfway mark. Was marginally comfortable with my light, long sleeve EMS shirt over a cotton tee.
Glad I decided to run; now I won't be scared the next time it's in the twenties. It doesn't get much colder than this in Philadelphia. I think there are usually only a handful of days when it doesn't make it into the mid 20s. Back when I had the bike commute to East Falls, I would take the bus whenever it was below 20 degrees. I can probably get away with making that my running test as well.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Strawberry Mansion - 11 miles (560 total)
11.43 miles
1:27:46
7:40 pace
Feeling pretty good today - as usual, the only part that feels stressed is my lower legs. Did not feel the need to hold back the pace. After 2 miles, thought I felt a sharp pebble in my shoe, so paused to take it out - was actually an old rusty safety pin sticking through the sole. Another quarter inch and I might be looking at tetanus shots.
Went just past the Strawberry Mansion Bridge; a few hundred yards farther than last time. It might have been smart to do a shorter run today, and save some wear and tear for a longer run Sunday, but gave in to the temptation to break the 560-mile mark.
Might do a short run with Chris on Sunday instead - he has been letting his ankle heal for about six weeks, but has been doing some hardcore biking on the weekends.
1:27:46
7:40 pace
Feeling pretty good today - as usual, the only part that feels stressed is my lower legs. Did not feel the need to hold back the pace. After 2 miles, thought I felt a sharp pebble in my shoe, so paused to take it out - was actually an old rusty safety pin sticking through the sole. Another quarter inch and I might be looking at tetanus shots.
Went just past the Strawberry Mansion Bridge; a few hundred yards farther than last time. It might have been smart to do a shorter run today, and save some wear and tear for a longer run Sunday, but gave in to the temptation to break the 560-mile mark.
Might do a short run with Chris on Sunday instead - he has been letting his ankle heal for about six weeks, but has been doing some hardcore biking on the weekends.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Comeback Trail - 11 miles (548 total)
10.98 miles
1:26:07
7:50 pace
The strange followup to Sunday's run was that I have been unusually sore ever since. The kind of deep muscle soreness (as opposed to other aches and pains) that you might get after squatting all day weeding or otherwise using unfamiliar muscles. I guess that's a result of running in the cold and wet after being sick and eating very little for a few days.
Feeling a bit better today, and set the Nike+ for eight miles, since I wasn't sure how I would feel once I started. It is the first nice sunny day in a while, but colder - about 39F when I started. Tried out my new gloves for the first 3 miles.
Kept the speed down - resisted the urge to push - but went a bit farther and turned around at the St. Joseph's Prep Boathouse at exactly 6 miles. Finished up in front of Franklin Field, but would have run a few more yards if I had realized how close I was to 11 miles even. Was also relieved to see that the old pace is back and that the speed setback Sunday wasn't permanent.
1:26:07
7:50 pace
The strange followup to Sunday's run was that I have been unusually sore ever since. The kind of deep muscle soreness (as opposed to other aches and pains) that you might get after squatting all day weeding or otherwise using unfamiliar muscles. I guess that's a result of running in the cold and wet after being sick and eating very little for a few days.
Feeling a bit better today, and set the Nike+ for eight miles, since I wasn't sure how I would feel once I started. It is the first nice sunny day in a while, but colder - about 39F when I started. Tried out my new gloves for the first 3 miles.
Kept the speed down - resisted the urge to push - but went a bit farther and turned around at the St. Joseph's Prep Boathouse at exactly 6 miles. Finished up in front of Franklin Field, but would have run a few more yards if I had realized how close I was to 11 miles even. Was also relieved to see that the old pace is back and that the speed setback Sunday wasn't permanent.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
