Category: Runs

I like running two “sans loops” in Central Park. Remember that “sans loop” is my term for a loop without Great Hill. I did two sans loops today, totaling a mileage of 10.52. In 85-degree weather with 50% humidity, over that distance I ran 7:25s (not bad!), which I accomplished in 1:18:09. My splits were generally around the 7:30 range, with some exceptionally fast miles coming in at 7:05 and 7:04. (The first may have been a hiccup after hitting stop to go on a bathroom break.) And I did 8.0 miles in 59:28, by my watch. Here are the deets, which I’m posting late because I forgot to do my blog entry before bed:

Nothing injury-related to report, though earlier today in new shoes I felt a twinge in my left foot, roughly equivalent to plantar fasciitis pain. We’ll see about that and those shoes!

I had hoped to get this run out yesterday, but much to my dismay, I downloaded a horrible virus on my computer and ended up pissing away my free time on a pricy tech support call that culminated in the recommendation to back up what files I can and reinstall the operating system tomorrow. I did all the time-intense backup as I passed out, and I got up early this morning to commence the dreaded reinstall. Fortunately, though, the tech support technician was able to make a relatively easy fix and get around the problem. And I was able to get some of the tech support charges refunded! Not to mention, many of my files backed up.

So life and crisis got in the way of yesterday’s training, which I just bumped to today. I used Gatorade’s 01 bars in the last couple days, and notably just before today’s run. VERY TASTY! And I used Gatorade’s 03 vanilla protein shake after today’s run. Also pretty tasty. Also had a protein shake of my own concoction, but I couldn’t drink the whole blasted thing. Did I mention drinking a lot of coconut water, too? God, I love that stuff cold. (I was drenched in sweat after today’s run.)

Still on Naproxen 500, which I’m avoiding taking before my runs. Have a few more days to go on that. And I’m wearing my compression socks to bed. In the meantime, I’m wondering, Can I make 10.5 miles my new standard? It’s fun to run.

Just shy of running 16 miles this evening in Central Park. I did 3 “sans loops”–that is, full loops sans Great Hill. I even added the East Drive feeder entrance to the park as my finish! But I only ended with 15.98. No worries, though, because my training schedule recommended 15 miles.

I ran 7:46s for 2:04:10. It seems I’m close to my level of training last year, only it’s a bit hard to compare because I had generally faster times last year but also better temperatures. Tonight’s 76 apparently had about 70% humidity but honestly it felt pretty cool the whole way. It wasn’t one of those miserably humid days but quite nice. Here are tonight’s deets:

My body was fairly cooperative, only barely feeling a grabbing sensation in my left ankle. But anywhere from 3 to 7 bugs entered my mouth during this run. I was hocking up a storm, not always because of bugs but sometimes. I stopped a few times for water and consumed on 1x caffeine PowerGel, which did seem to kick in. My splits were a little up and down though I generally felt fast; it’s interesting when it’s dark that I feel faster than sometimes my Garmin reveals.

At home, I took a weak ice bath (I made it wrong, adding the ice while the water was running–warming the ice–but also not having enough water to cover my full legs). I also had one of my better protein smoothies, figuring out that I need to have the soft ingredients at the bottom of my amazing blender and the hard ingredients near the top. Now I feel I’ve mastered it! I also had some refreshing coconut water, and I’m continuing to crave it.

As I’m typing this, I’m now eating Haagen-Dazs Cranberry Blueberry sorbet. Pretty yummy. I theoretically earned it; I burned over 2,200 calories in tonight’s run!

I passed a guy at the base of Great Hill who looked as if he was about to start a run. Based on his legs, I could tell he was a superior runner. I guessed he was going just to do hill work. However, I was wrong. As I climbed Great Hill, he eventually overtook me. A quarter-mile later, I caught him and overtook him. A quarter-mile later, he caught me and overtook me. I came within striking distance of him over the next mile and a quarter, but eventually he got ahead of me as I turned off for a water fountain. The guy I chased helped me to run one mile at 6:51, and another mile at 6:44. This, in 86-degree weather, fortunately with humidity around 30%. (It felt a little more humid than that, but a wind did cool things some.) I did 6.28 miles today in Central Park in 45:53 (7:18s), my second-fastest time over that distance this year. The fastest distance was in 74-degree weather. Here are today’s deets:

No injuries at all, though just as I was leaving my apartment, I felt some twinging in my left knee around where the IT band problem I had was. Nothing developed though.

And I thought of doing 8 miles, even 10 miles today. Given my speed, I figured that was a good enough workout for today.

There you have it!