Month: June 2010

When I stepped on the scale before today’s long run, I weighted 175 lbs. When I stepped on the scale after today’d long run, I weighed 170 lbs. I sweat a lot in today’s heat, which was around 78 degree per Weatherbug. Humidity was around 60% but it felt non-existent. I ran in the afternoon, which provided a nice amount of shade but the sun was pretty hot. I did 12.31 miles at a 7:52 pace. That is considerably slower than last week’s long run on Friday, that was also in 64-66-degree weather.

I ran in my new Wave Precision 11s, but to avoid tingling I left them looser on my feet than usual. That may have been why I ended up with blisters, which developed in the middle of my run. The added room presumably left room for my foot to slide around a bit and cause blisters. Other than that, nothing in my body bothered me. That’s great!

I did hit E for Empty about 3/4 the way through my second loop of Central Park. I had a PowerGel and some water-fountain water but I could barely get any speed. I was decimated to my base state of “Keep one foot going in front of the other, Ben,” when I was just about to start walking. For this reason it was a great run since it challenged me to endure. I picked up a little speed toward the end but not too much. Part of the motivation was trying to catch Elizabeth Corkum, who had begun her long run just a little before me. I never saw her, and I learned she waited for me until about 5 minutes before I finished. Darn!

Why I hit E had a lot to do with the heat, but possibly also because on set yesterday, I didn’t get to eat very much. My lunch (dinnertime) timed out weirdly so I basically skipped lunch, and for some strange reason crafty did not come around much with food after lunch. This meant I was the most starving I ever remember being in recent memory, come the end of the evening. At wrap, I cabbed back home and got Oglio & Aglio with Chicken from Euro Delights–which I’m also eating right now as I type this because I’d gotten so demolished in my energy (and I have a race in the morning). The lesson is: Make sure you’re consuming calories! Being so hungry yesterday didn’t help me, it seemed.

I did the first loop at a decent clip, finishing it just under 47 minutes. The second lap was slower and I stopped twice for water breaks but they didn’t last very long. What I didn’t do in today’s long run was to listen to NPR’s On the Media, which in the past seems to have slowed me down. I did load it onto my mp3 player, but I decided against listening. I’ll listen another time!

I didn’t get out to run yesterday as I filled my day with menial tasks, but today I got out for a run. Garmin decided to weird out and start late in recording my path. I actually ran my typical 6.3-mile path today but Garmin only picked up inside the loop in Central Park, plus it was spazzing out in the first couple miles about my pace. So the results today are misleading.

I don’t know what the difference between Avg. Pace and Avg. Moving Pace is, but you’ll see there is about a 30-second difference. I felt I was going at a decent clip today so I’m inclined to think I averaged 7:33s but later splits were around 7:45s. I definitely felt rested and relatively stressless considering the weather. It was 71 with about 60% humidity but it didn’t feel at all like that kind of humidity, possibly because of the nice gusts of wind. It was mostly sunny and peaceful and it felt great to be out.

Apart from Garmin being my nemesis this run, I had a second nemesis: The Spibelt I got from my brother when I was in Alpharetta. I tested it today by bringing my cell phone with me and putting it in there. I also decided to hook my headphones into it, too, to listen to music from my phone rather than via my Sony Walkman mp3 player. It really was a bit clumsy given how I run. First, I run shirtless and roll my shirt up and put it in the front of my shorts. This creates a bulge that caused some problem with the secure hold of the Spibelt. Second, I wear an Amphipod on my back around the waist, and the Spibelt was trying to pull that up, which was a bit annoying. Third, I was fumbling a bit with my phone to change music and not get it wet from sweat. I brought the phone in case I got any casting calls I’m expecting, but none came in. It was nice to test to see just what the issues were, which might be not that big of a deal if the call I’m expecting is important and the run is, too.

As for my feelings, I lightened rather than tightened my laces on my new shoes, and as a result I didn’t get any tingling. I had no leg pain, and my comfort in running today was attributable perhaps to rest, perhaps to the hills I did in Alpharetta, and perhaps to the lack of humidity. Other than that, I don’t know!

I was going to do 2 laps of Central Park but looking at my training over the next couple of days, I thought against it. As a result of my trip and its stresses, I’m a bit scattered and lacking focus about my training. I should be averaging about 40 miles a week by this point, and I’m not. I’m not too worried about that, but I need more solid focus. Let’s get focused, Ben.

Oh, and I hit the gym for abs, arms, and shoulders. That’s it. I have some foreboding tasks ahead of me and they’re already draining my attention. I keep wanting rest and time when I want to be wanting productivity and happiness.

With my mind set on attempting a 10K this morning in Alpharetta, GA, I was stretching in my blowup bed when suddenly, SNAP SNAP SNAP!, I pinched a nerve in my neck!

I had flashbacks to the night I was petsitting at an apartment when SNAP! happened in the middle of the night, almost completely incapacitating me in bed next to a pit bull. Fortunately, today’s pinched nerve was not nearly as bad because I could move. I believe this nerve was the late result of carrying a heavy bag on my shoulder in the airport (awkwardly, at that), coupled with the strange support an air mattress provides. Oh yeah, and that stretch I did.

I popped a couple ibuprofen and put a cold pack on my neck and rested on it for about 20 minutes. Then, I resolved to head out. Tricked that it was cool out, I got outside and it most definitely was not. It was a silent heat comparable to yesterday. After I finished what turned out to be 6.35 miles, I found out the heat index was 91. Boy did it feel like that. The actual temperature was 84 degrees with about 74% humidity. Plus little shade and loooooong hills. Here are the details from this morning’s run:

The most notable feature of today’s run was that I stopped around the mile 4 marker to retie my shoes. I was getting really uncomfortable tingling sensations in my feet, presumably from having tied them too tightly. (As my brother explained, the Wave Precision 11 design features fewer overlays, meaning fewer things stitched to the outside to block in your foot. With a freer foot, I may have overcompensated in my tying. Of note, my brother seemed to have tingling in his feet in the same shoe yesterday, so maybe there’s something to tying too tightly.)

Also of note was that my lower legs were sore. This soreness was more prominent in the first 1-2 miles. It was more in my left ankle area than my lower right leg. To deal with it, instead of thinking of it as a possible injury to be easy on, I used marathon logic and tried to distract myself from the pain. It seemed to work. It’s tough to say if ibuprofen also had something to do with the maintenance because of its anti-inflammatory properties.

As for time, I did 6.35 miles in 54:19. Doing 8:33s is not fast, but one must consider the heat, the intense sun, as well as the extended hills. If you look on the elevation graphs after clicking View Details above, I climbed (I think) about 150 feet over the course of a mile on the way back, not to mention some of the other climbs I had. It would be a great place to train for hills. Up that big hill, my pace dropped to more than 10:00s which surprised me a bit. Once I mounted the hill, I was doing sub-10:00s but I thought I was doing faster than the 9:30s or so I was seeing on my Garmin.

On my way back, I added a little intersection (rather than backtracking over the parking lot shortcut we used yesterday) in order to do at least a 10K. It worked. When I finished, I was relieved to have gotten in this run in this heat. I hope today’s training in difficult conditions shows up in my training this week in NYC.