Aug 14, 2006

2.5 miles on trail, 6 miles, 3 miles, 3 trails miles, 9 miles, 3 miles

Haven't updated in a couple of weeks, so here are all my runs for that period (I do update my paper logbook)

I didn't run for three days because of an epic heatwave..

On August 4, I did something new - trail running. I've never run on trails before, and let me tell you, it's a lot of fun. It is quite intense - you have to watch out for rocks, roots, and wildlife. You have to duck under branches and avoid deep puddles and mud. I am going to add hills soon, too. It will be great. The heat was still on, but it was starting to break a little. Still, the humidity was stifling.

On Aug 5, I did 6 miles - two laps around Rockland Lake. It was very hot outside and I ended up pretty severely dehydrated. Time was 79 minutes - slower than 13 minutes/mile, which really is a testament to how exhausted I was.

The heat and lack of water taught me that I'd better stash some water at the car when I'm doing runs longer than 4 miles or so, and take a drink when I pass. I also bought a case of gatorade at costco and I'm using that during runs to help with the energy and also to aid in recovery. I used to wait a couple of hours after a run before eating to help with weight loss, but that's a controversial position - some physiologists argue that when you wait after a run before refilling with carbs, you hijack recovery to the point that you can't work out with as much intensity on the next run. So I tried it - gatorade provides water, electrolytes, and high-glycemic carbs, all of which set me up for quick recovery. Now that I've run a few times with this, I'm finding that it really helps - both during the longer runs and with runs the next day. As you'll see, my times are also improving quite rapidly - which may be a result of this strategy.

On Aug 8, I did 3 miles at Rockland Lake. Time was 31:15. Humidity was low and temp was just 78º. It was a great run. I started out slow, because of tight muscles, but from miles .5 to 2.5, I really had a great kick. Ran out of energy towards the end though, so the last half-mile was the same speed as the first half-mile.

On Aug 10, I did about 3 miles of trail running at Ramapo Reservation. The run was immediately after a rainstorm that was quite intense, and it didn't help that I ate half of a hamburger immediately before the run. The run was therefore harder than it should have been. There was a low mist in the air, and a lot of puddles, particularly on the single-track trails that I ran on. I ran for 40 minutes, but took it really slow, so I estimate 3 miles.

On Aug 11, I ran three laps around rockland lake - 9 miles. 1 hr, 52 minutes (just shy of 12.5 minutes/mile). Conditions were perfect. 71º at the beginning of the run, 79º at the end. Humidity non-existent. Unlimited visibility. Light breeze. Swans on the lake. Deer (which already have small antlers - winter is coming!) by the path. My training schedule this week called for an 8-mile run, (3, 3, 8, 3 - 17 total), and I do have a 4 mile variation of the rockland lake loop that I could have run two laps of, but I didn't feel like doing that route - I just wanted to stay on the 3-mile path. So I did an extra mile - 9.9 miles is now the longest distance I've ever continually run without walking. On this run, I pass the car twice, which allows me to stash some gatorade every three miles, which I took advantage of. It really helped, and I was never seriously uncomfortable during the run (although when I finally got to the car, it was all I can do not to lean over and fall asleep right there.) All in all, a great run. I'm very happy with it.

I also passed 100 miles total on this run. Yes, since I started keeping track two months ago, I've run 100 miles. That's nothing, however - my training schedule calls for 200 miles in 6 weeks - but that's still a few months away. (:

On Aug 13 (yesterday as I write this), I did 3 miles around Rockland Lake. For those of you who don't know, I've had a goal for over a year now to run this course in under 30 minutes. It was after church, so alex was in the car with the (sleeping) baby, and I didn't want to keep them waiting too long. So it occurred to me tha this was a perfect opportunity to see if I can finally reach my goal. I hauled ass. I passed the first mile in 9½ minutes! But I knew I couldn't maintain that intensity for two more miles - I was already pretty tired. So I slowed down to what I thought was about a 10-min/mile pace and kept that going for about then next mile and a half. At that point, just a half-mile away from the goal, I was exhausted. I had to slow down, and for a few hundred meters, I did. I picked it up a little bit towards the end, but I knew it wasn't a 10-minute pace. When I finished, I calculated my time to be 30:20. Just 20 seconds away! If I were able to maintain the intensity a little longer, I would have reached the goal!!

Oh well.

This week my training schedule calls for 4-4-6-4. (4 miles, 4 miles, etc.) For logistical simplicity, I am going to do 6-6-6 instead.. The following week, I have a couple of 3 milers - and I'll see if I finally can reach my goal then.

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