To tech, or not to tech...well, that's not really my question.

There's an ongoing debate among some runners regarding being tethered to an electronic device versus running unencumbered by anything other than the raw desire to run. For me the debate is a pretty simple one. I run more when I have a purpose, like a marathon on the horizon, which means having a plan of some sort to follow. This in turn means tracking mileage, which means I need a device of some sort - GPS watch, foot pod, whatever. End of debate.

However, I also enjoy running more when I have music, which means another device..until I got my iPhone. I've been using the iPhone with Nike+ GPS to track time, and distance, (and using the Nike+ web site to track goals, challenge friends, and then I use my Garmin GPS watch as backup for distance and time, to track my heart rate and to check my pace every couple of minutes.  It's these last two that put me into MY quandry. For me the decision isn't should I tether myself to a piece of technology, it's which piece of technology I should use.

My quandry was set in motion by the death of my Garmin Forerunner. I was never all that happy with the new Garmin. Thge batter life was terrible, the main function button broke just outside of the warranty period leaving a small metal nub as the only way to get the thing going or change views. Last Saturday, after charging it all night I went out for a run. When I pushed the mode nub to get it to acquire the GPS signal, it died. No muss, no fuss, just dead. When I got back home, the watch would not charge, would not connect to the PC, nothing. It was well and truly dead. My iPhone got me through my run the forced absence of my little wrist buddy made me realize how much I missed knowing my pace. I only checked it every two or three minutes but it was enough to know if I was ahead or behind my pace and the Nike plus announcement every mile was not enough. I also missed the heart rate monitor, which I input into a (yet another) website. This site used the mileage, time, heart rate and my other demographic data to calculate calories burned more accurately.

So the dilemma - what GPS watch should I replace the dead one with, and how much am I willing to pay? The good ones all seem to be around $200, the cheap ones are $150 (and you know how my cheap one turned out). After doing some research, I have decided not to replace it. I've tried several iPhone apps that have significantly more functionality than Nike+, but the one I have settled on is iSmoothRun. Some things I really like about it:

• Tracks time, distance, calories (same as Nike +)
• Uses/shuffles your defined running playlist (same as Nike +)
• Tracks your shoes and the mileage associated with them (same as Nike+)
• Links to Twitter & Facebook (same as Nike+)

Here's where the differences start to come in:

• It costs $4.99. Nike+, Run Keeper, and others are free. Jog Log is $.99.
• Uploads data TO the Nike+ website...or emails it, sends to dropbox, Daily Mile, RunningFreeOnline, Training Peaks, Run Keeper, Strava, Garmin Connect or 2Peak. If you're alreasy married to one (or more) of these data repositories, this makes uploading data automatic.
• Customizable Audio Cues. You can turn off or on announcements for Pace, Cadence (with an optional sensor), Heart Rate (more on this later), Time, Distance and Average Pace. Nike+ has a fised set of cues. Other apps, like Jog Log, also have very customizable cues.
• Adjustable Cue timing.  While Nike+ can tell you your data in intervals as low as a quarter mile and up to 2 miles, iSmoothRun will do quarter mile increments up to a mile, then mile increments after that up to 5 miles. Nike+ will offer cues every minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes or 15 minutes, and iSmoothRun does announcements in time intervals from a minute up to 20 minutes. In testing, I found 3 minutes met my needs to adjust my pace frequently enough to meet my targets. Nike+ can't do that.
• Heart Rate monitor - This cost me $60 on Amazon. iSmoothRun connects to Blue Tooth Smart heart rate monitors like the Polar H7 natively through the iPhone 4s without the need for an additional sensor. This will be come increasingly common, but this app has it now.
• Accelerometer picks up when the GPS signal is dropped. This is more accurate than some apps that use cell towers to track during gaps in GPS, or more importantly if you want to use the app while on a treadmill (I know, I know, the 'mill has all the data displayed, but again, you can upload to your data repository of choice directly from your phone and not worry about what's on the treadmill. You will, however, have to live with a margin of error in your mileage. The app I found to be closest to this one in terms of features, Jog Log, did not have an accelerometer feature.
• Ghost runner. This is a big feature missing from Nike+. You can set, say, a marathon target of 4:30, and the ghost runner runs that pace. An audio cue tells you at each interval how far in front or behind the Ghost you are.

That's the gist of it. For $65 for the cost of the app and the heart rate strap I now have an app that gives me audio cues, tracks my heart rate, plays my music and syncs my data, all without my having to look at my watch or take my eyes off of the trail, and it's less than a third of the cost of the GPS watch I was looking at.  Now, it's time to get to running!

Better Late Than Never!

This post is loooong overdue. The Denver Marathon was over a month ago and I haven't posted on how it went.

First I want to thank my unofficial coach, Dana Roueche for all the tips, advice and encouragement. I put a lot of time into the training cycle and by the end I was exhausted and filled with self doubt.  Had I done enough? What else should I have done? I had such a horrible experience last time - what if that happens again? Dana got me to relax and focus on the plan for the race rather than what I had or had not done in preparation for it. In fact, his turn by turn guide to the course was very helpful as I felt like I knew the course before I had even run it. So - Thanks Dana!!

One of the most valuable things Dana got me to do was look pretty hard at was the pace I was planning.  Based on my training plan and a nifty app called PaceCalc, I was convinced I was training for a 4:10 marathon. This would have meant 9:30 pace throughout the race. I had run up to 8 miles at 9:30 pace in training...but no more. In hindsight, there was no way that running 9:30 for 26 miles - in fact, had I tried it I might (probably would) have had a horrible day.  Instead I set my sights on a more realistic target of 4:30 - 4:35, which would be a pace of 10:15.

On race day I was ready. This year, unlike last year, I was able to remain healthy all the way up to the race. I was able to do the full taper, my legs felt fresh and I was good to go. There is a tendency to go out too fast and kill your chances of finishing strong, so I paid close attention to my pace early on and I hit the first mile in 10:05.  Right on track! I soon found the pacers for 4:30 and I fell in with them at about mile 2. I had my energy gel stops mapped out and I sailed through the first half in 2:11 - about a minute off of a 10 minute pace. Easy, peasy lemon squeezy.

Then around mile 16 I started to slow.  Mile 17 I hit at a 10:09 clip, then I had to wait for a port-o-let at mile 18, and I never got close to a 10 minute pace for the rest of the day. I did hit 20 miles much faster than I did in training (by 20 minutes) but I was pretty much out of gas at that point. It was 13 and 14 minute miles after that...walk a tenth, run a tenth, and so on for the last 6 miles.  In the end, I finished in 4:52 which was far off of my 4:35 target, but in reality it was a successful day.

First, in the Colorado Marathon in 2011 I hit 19 miles and was in physical pain. My knees felt like I had rocks in them grinding at the bones, and I was not capable of running. I wound up walking in the last 5 miles and finishing in 5:45; so lopping 53 minutes off of my previous marathon was pretty impressive, even if I do say so myself.

Second, as I touched on before, I was healthy all the way up to the marathon. Last year I was sidelined with a case of plantar faciitis that kept me that from running much for the last month before the marathon. And while I was in agony last year and gimping my way in, this year I wasn't hurt, my tank was just empty. I was able to run a couple of minutes, and when I was out of breath I'd walk a couple of minutes. For the record, I did run the last half mile to the finish - there was no way I was walking over the line!

Lastly, last year I barely was able to run afterwards due to my aching knees - in fact I ran a total of 48 miles from May until December, and it wasn't until mid-May this year that I decided to do another marathon. This year I have run more than 80 in the month since, and I am already looking at doing another next year.

For next year - I will focus more on a 10:15 to 10:30 pace, which would put me at 4:28-4:35...I think the pace setters were going a little too fast. And I need to fuel differently before the race so I have more gas in the tank at the end. I'll be another year older, but I will also be wiser, and that seems to be as important as physical conditioning. See you out there next year!

What I learned from a 16 year old girl

I went out Monday for 4 miles in my Vibrams.  I've been running in them once a week, low mileage, to help strengthen my ankles and knees and the supporting muscles therein.  I've had no problems in them at all, but I've been adding time in them gradually.  Monday was different.  I was only a mile and half into the run (a 4 miler) when I started feeling a hotspot on the ball of my right foot.  I knew what was coming so I headed back, but by the time I got home I still had developed a half-dollar sized blister.  I was really fretting about it because it hurt to just walk in my dress shoes at work all day.  How was I going to keep training with this thing on my foot?  I was thinking about the 16 miles I have coming up this weekend and the thought of 16 miles on blistered foot doesn't sound like any fun at all.

Then I was watching the Olympics this week.  I don't remember her name, but one of our gymnasts has a broken toe.  She is still competing, and has it all taped up.  When the reporters asked her about it, she said "It's only a toe."  I've broken a toe before.  I could not have done what she's been doing with a broken toe, but I figured that she's been training long enough that she can tune out the pain.

So I thought about that in relation to this blister.  Yes, it hurt.  Yes, it's in an inconvenient spot on my foot.  But I have been running more these last two months than I have in my life.  Last week was my biggest mileage week ever at 29, and will be eclipsed by a 32 mile week this week.  Surely my body can handle a little blister.

I shifted my 8 mile run from Tuesday to Wednesday to give the blister some time to settle down.  By Tuesday morning the fluid had gone from it.  It no longer hurt when I walked.  Tuesday night I had all but forgotten about it.  I ran my 8 miles Wednesday and it didn't bother me in the least.  4 more miles at race pace Thursday, no problems.  Today the skin covering the blister has dried out more and is not sensitive at all, and I am actually looking forward to my 16 miles tomorrow.

Lessons?  Pain is temporary and your body is capable of recovering from things quickly.  Don't make too much of little things.  Trust that your training has your body ready for what you need it to do, and most importantly, it's ok to adjust 'the plan' to accommodate the unexpected.  And next time I run in the vibrams I am bringing my travel size body glide.

My biggest week....

Bake 3 hours @ 90 degrees and you have 1 tired zombie

 

I'm roughly halfway through my training plan for the Denver Marathon and this past week was one of my biggest weeks mileage wise ever.  I rolled over 25 miles with a 13 miler on Thursday, and I did not track the distance I ran on Saturday while chasing people up and down hills in Lakewood at Run For Your Lives.  I may have had a bigger week last year, but I certainly did not run 4 days during the week last year and volunteer for 3 hours of 90 degree heat-fueled zombie transformation.  If I did three days a week last year I was lucky.  So I wanted to look back at week one of my training and compare to this week to gauge the progress I have made.
Week 1:
Mon:  3 miles, easy pace
Tues:  3 miles, easy pace
Weds:  Strength/Core
Thurs:  3 miles, tempo pace
Fri:  Rest
Sat:  5 miles, long pace
Sun:  Cross training

11 miles total, with some biking, yoga, and weights/core exercises.  Now let's look at week 8:

Mon:  5K test run
Tues:  6 miles, race pace
Wed:  3 miles easy + Spartan Workout
Thurs:  13 miles, long pace

Fri:  Rest
Sat:  Run For Your Lives!
Sun:  Cross training
25 miles total (with probably 2 more miles of hill repeats on Saturday).

For the elites, and even the gazelles around Boulder, this is maybe not a lot of mileage, but for a mastodon like me, it's a lot.  And here's the great part - it felt great.  I have no more aches or pains than I had that first week.  In all honesty, I probably have fewer aches and pains than I had that first week.  I have only missed a couple of running workouts, which I think makes a huge difference.  I've not made every Wed/Sun workout, but I've done more of them than I did last year.  Halfway through training and I am feeling very positive about my progress.  It's fun to be in better shape now than I was 8 weeks ago.  It's fun to be 6 pounds lighter (24 pounds less stress on the knees with each step) and it's fun to know that the best is yet to come.

It's not the heat, it's the humidity

I got a decently early start for this morning's 12 miler. We had some rain last night so the temperature was down a bit from this last couple of weeks (64 degrees vs. 70+ the last two weeks). However, when I stepped out of the car I started sweating immediately. According to Longmont's Weather Underground the humidity stood at about 90%. I started out and the humidity was immediately oppressive.

 I was trying a new app today, called "Zombies! Run!" which mixes dialog in with your music. The intro is that your helicopter has crashed on it's way to a safe zone after the zombie apocalypse has happened. The people in the safe zone talk to you, and you pick up materials and supplies along your run to the base, and there are a multitude of missions to go through. Sample:

 "Hello...running person. I don't know you but I have you on camera. There's a small army of zombies to your left...you need to get to move faster." At one point there was a zombie moaning in my left ear. It was creepy! That was also my fastest split of the day.

 Since this was my long run I was keeping my pace between 10:40 and 11:40. They went like this:

1. 10:40 
2. 10:30 
3. 10:27 
4. 10:14 - Zombie! Run! 
5. 11:30 Mile 5 is where I felt the humidity get to me. Ate a fuel gel. 
6. 10:55 At this point I was doing the math in my head as to whether I was going to make it back, or have to walk it in. 
7. 10:52 Surely I was going to run out of energy at this point...but the gel kicked in and I got a second wind. 
8. 10:52 Ok, staying consistent. 2/3 of the way there. 
9. 10:55 Around this time the sun came out so now it was hot AND humid. I knew at any time I was going to run out of gas. 
10. 11:04 Starting to feel the heat.  I made a bargain with myself. If I could run 5 minutes I would walk 30 seconds. This is also the point at which I had run the farthest since the marathon last May. 
11. 10:35 Run 5/walk 30 seemed to work really well! I still had enough juice to close this thing out. 
12. 10:56 It was hot, humid, and it was over!

A couple of other things I did differently today was, firstly, I wore my hydration backpack so I had PLENTY of water, and on a day like this that had to make a difference. Secondly, I put Nipguards on, and that made such a big difference compared to the last couple of weeks.  Once I get sweating, I don't stop and on my longer runs I started getting some chafing issues. All of this is why I much prefer run in 40 degree weather rather than the summer heat. So...hydration pack, Nipguards, gel packs and zombies. 12 miles, done!

Another day, another reason to run

I was really, really tired this morning when the alarm went off.  It's been a long work week and I didn't get to bed when I wanted to, etc, etc.  I was seriously tempted to snooze the alarm and run tonight, but that is an even less attractive proposition than getting up and running.

I was pondering that on my run this morning.  Thursdays are my tempo/hard run days, and I am getting to really like them.  I have always trained this way:  I try to run at less than a 10 minute pace, and if I have gas in the tank I run faster.  In other words, I would run as fast as I could for as long as I could.  I hadn't yet embraced the paradox that to get faster you need to go slower.  Easy pace, tempo pace were not terms in my vocabulary.

I'm very internally competitive, so one of the reasons I like the easy pace days is that they give me permission to run slower than I would otherwise.  I'm also liking my hard run days for the same reason - they give me permission to go for it.  My trial 5K was (for me) a blistering 8:24 pace.  At the end I was well and truly spent.  Today, 14 days later, I ran 8:42 for 3 miles and it honestly didn't feel that hard.  Well - I was slow to warm up, so the first mile was a little rough, but I ended with a 8:18 pace for the final mile, and it felt easier than the 9:24 I ran for the first mile.  At the end of the run I felt like the dogs you see in the park with the slobbery wet tennis ball in their mouths.  I was having fun not paying attention to my pace and just running, and even though I get a sense of satisfaction in marking the check mark on my training plan, today was about running as fast I wanted just because I could.

That feeling carries through into the work day too.  I got to work a little later than normal, but knowing my workout was done already had my head clear and I could focus on work without worrying about getting my run in later.  The mental freedom running provides is a fantastic boon, and is another thing that keeps me rolling out of bed early in the AM to lace up my kicks.  As nice as sleeping in can be, it's never made my day easier to get through.  Now if I can get to bed earlier, then I'll have the best of both worlds!

What are your thoughts on the subject?  Are you an early riser, or a evening exerciser?

Feeling the burn....

I've completed 5 weeks of training now.  In these 5 weeks I've logged 84 miles and run for almost 14 hours in total.  For the elites, this is a week's worth of training, but for a mastodon like myself, it's a lot.  And I'm feeling it.

My summary page from the iPad app "Run Journal"

This is where rest days and my bi-monthly massage are great.  I'm also using ice packs on my knees, not because I need them, but precisely because I don't need them, and I want to keep it that way.  I also see the wisdom of the back-off week.

For example, this past Saturday I had my first real long run, a 10 miler that I did half on concrete/asphalt and half on gravel or dirt trails.  It's my first 20+ mile week, up from 18 the week before, which is a pretty big jump from week to week.  This week my long run is 7 miles - three miles less than this past week, a mile less than it was two weeks ago.  Total mileage will be 19 for the week, and I'm betting that the 7 miles on Saturday will feel easy and leave me with fresher legs for week 7 which goes up to 24 miles with a 12 miler on Saturday July 7.

My Home Page on the iPad's "Run Journal"

I did want to touch on my 10 miler from this weekend for a minute.  I started at the 119th street trailhead for the St Vrain Greenway and warmed up on the gravel side path for the first mile, then turned south and headed for the Left Hand Creek trail.  Because the city has the trail torn up at Main Street, a big chunk of the trail is a detour on Missouri Avenue but that's no biggie - it's either going to be concrete on the trail or asphalt on the road.  When the trail hits Sunset there's another crushed gravel path that is well shaded (a relief at the end of my run as the temperature had climbed into the 70's).  That path goes for about 3/4 of a mile, then crosses Hover and the trail becomes the Lobo trail.  It's a nice wide dirt trail the winds through farmland and parallels the railroad tracks (for at least as far as I went this weekend).  It is a nice and well maintained trail.  I was rounding a corner, getting clear of a stand of trees with Collective Soul's "The World I Know" driving me forward.  The chorus was crooning "So I walk up on high / And I step to the edge / To see my world below" and there in the middle of the trail was a golden eagle.  It had a chunk of something in it's talons and it was just standing there with it's wings slightly spread and it's beak open about an inch, just staring straight back at me.  I stopped in my tracks and there we were, about 20 feet apart, me not moving and him just standing there daring me to get closer.  Just as I was wondering how long this standoff would last he decided to take his snack and get moving.  He spread his wings, and with a few flaps was soaring up and over the trees to my left.  It's moments like that one that make me love running.  It could be the sunrise lighting up the front range at the precise moment I crest the hill by Union Reservoir, or the eagle, or any of a number of other things.  They don't happen too often, which is good or they would lose their value.  Their rarity more than makes up for sore muscles, hurting knees and blistered feet (though I haven't had those in a while).  Most importantly, they do NOT happen when you sleep in or sit on the couch.  You have go out and chase them down, and that is what running is all about.  How's that for a moment of zen?