Why Not An Even 4 Miles?

The route that I run most often starts in front of my house, heads into 'downtown Eureka', runs down the main street in town, and then loops back along the same path to end where I started. It's almost exactly 3 miles but I sometimes add an extension up to a cul-de-sac and back at the beginning of the run. With the extension, the route is just under 4 miles long.

I've been running this course during the week and my Nike+ app posts my runs to Facebook and Twitter. My friend, Byron decided to comment on these less-than-4-mile runs with a little good-natured ribbing:

After Thursday's 3.88 Miles:

Byron: really...u couldn't go 4?

After today's 3.86 Miles:
Byron: do u need me to come down there and walk u in for the final 0.11m? let me know

My sarcastic response:
Brad: That's where the loop ends! If God intended me to run a full 4 miles, he would have made one of the streets longer. Plus, if I accidentally go past the 4-mile mark, I might be tempted to go ahead and run 5. Then where does it end? It's a slippery slope, Byron. A slippery slope.

The funny thing is, that missing 0.11 mile actually used to bother me. I like round numbers. I like distances and times to be neat and tidy. But even running the exact same course, I get slightly different reports on my GPS over time (like the 0.02M difference in the last two runs). So I've learned to ignore that OCD tendency to stress over a tenth of a mile. I just think of it as a 4-mile run. I figure it all balances out when I later run slightly over my mileage goal and then round down in my head.

Runners certainly don't round down.

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Either way, it's a great example of how runners tend to obsess over the numbers!

Thursday
Goal For The Day: Easy Run.
Distance: 3.88 Miles.
Time: 30:01. 7:44 Avg. (7:34, 7:46, 7:42, 6:57*).
Route: Old Town Eureka Loop w/ Cul-de-Sac Ext.
Conditions: 45 degrees. 6:53AM.
Run Details On Garmin
Run Details On Nike+

Notes: I felt like I was running much faster than my actual pace. Checking my watch at the end was disappointing. Nike+ tidbit: 3.68M less and 0:05/M faster than the average of my last 7 runs.

Saturday
Goal For The Day: Easy Run.
Distance: 3.86 Miles.
Time: 29:17. 7:35 Avg. (7:36, 7:28, 7:41, 6:30*).
Route: Old Town Eureka Loop w/ Cul-de-Sac Ext.
Conditions: 47 degrees. 8:19AM.
Run Details On Garmin
Run Details On Nike+

Notes: Much warmer today. No Tights + No Gloves + No Hat = Instantly Feeling Faster. I even took the Christmas lights off of the house this afternoon in a short-sleeve t-shirt. A cold front comes in tonight and we're expecting sleet/snow. Good ol' Midwest weather!

Daily Miles: Thursday - 3.88 Miles. Saturday - 3.86 Miles.
2013 Totals:
  Run - 20.93 Miles.
  Bike - 0.00 Miles.
  Swim - 0.00 meters.

Competitive... Stalker... It's A Fine Line

Hello. My name is Brad. And sometimes I get a little caught up in competition.

This is hard for me to admit because most of the time I'm not an overly-competitive person. I play most games, sports, etc. with a primary goal of having fun. Win or lose, as long as I'm having fun and doing my best, I'm happy. But that's not always the case. Sometimes, I get a little caught up in the rush of competition and do things I wouldn't normally do. For example:

In the winter of 2011-2012, I ran the St. Louis Track Club's Frostbite Series. It's a series of five races that you can enter one race at a time, or you can enter the series and compete for an overall place in your division. You get points based on how you place in each race and at the end of the series, they give awards based on your point total from all of the races.

I've run this series before and I always track the points of people I'm competing against in my division. It adds a layer of fun to the race when you know who you're chasing and who is nipping at your heels. But I usually just check names in the results report each week. I don't really know who to look for when we line up for each race. Last year was different.

I was competing for the top spot in my division and when I checked the results, I noticed that the guy I was chasing also lived in Eureka. There was another guy about my age, in my town, running very similar times, and we were competing for points in the Frostbite Series.

So, of course I looked him up on Google.

(Hanging my head in shame.)

I wanted to see what kinds of times this guy usually runs so I was looking for other race results. What if we've been in the same town for years and have been racing each other without knowing it? I also hoped to see a picture so I could look for him on the starting line so I knew who to keep up with (it seemed that he was a little faster than me).

I realized this probably wasn't normal and Liz definitely made fun of me for stalking this guy online, but that didn't stop me.

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In the end, he won the series and I placed second. I had a new runner to keep an eye on and life went on.

Then, last fall, I ran a 5K here in Eureka. While I was waiting at the starting line, the guy from Frostbite turned to me and said, "Hey, Brad. How's it going?" He recognized me on sight and started some small talk. Maybe I'm not the only one that's a little competitive. I don't know if he just paid attention during the Frostbite Series or if he did some internet searching of his own, but he knew who I was.

Jump ahead to this morning. I was out for a run on the new trail that connects to Kircher Park. On my way into the park, I passed that same guy as he was running out. Again, he recognized me (this time, I didn't recognize him at first) and said, "Hey Brad! Not running Frostbite this year?"

Not only do I feel a little better about taking notice of my competition, I feel a little better about my internet searching (definitely not stalking). That night, I had a friend request from him on Facebook. Of course I accepted and Liz and I had to laugh at how much I seem to have in common with this guy based on his profile.

Hopefully, we'll meet up for a run sometime and I look forward to some more races with him since he seems to be running better than I am right now and it'll give me another reason to push myself.

Sunday
Goal For The Day: Easy Long Run.
Distance: 5.44 Miles.
Time: 41:41. 7:40Avg. (7:28, 7:22, 7:49, 7:44, 7:50, 3:28*)
Route: Kircher Park Trail Loop.
Conditions: 40 degrees. 2:24PM.
Run Details On Garmin
Run Details On Nike+

Notes: My hamstrings felt really tight early but loosened up later in the run. I'm still feeling a little mentally lazy. Much warmer today. It was nice to shed the tights. Nike+ tidbit: 2.64M less and 0:10/M faster than the average of my last 7 runs.

Nike+ Badge: "Talk About A Triple Threat. You were active 3 times this week.

 

 

Daily Miles: 5.44 Miles.



2012 Totals:
  Run - 13.19 Miles.
  Bike - 0.00 Miles.
  Swim - 0.00 meters.

Off My Game

I'm really feeling the effects of all that time off... physically and mentally.

I've gone for stretches of time without running before and while I might be a little rusty when I start back up, I usually get back into a groove fairly quickly. But I don't usually feel this far from my baseline.

I was surprised to have sore quads Wednesday after running less than four miles at a pretty relaxed pace on Tuesday. That kind of run hasn't made my legs sore in years. On one hand, it felt good to have some sore muscles again... a nice sign of real work being done. On the other hand, I wish it had been a harder workout that caused the soreness.

And today's run was a sign of how rusty I am mentally. I started out at a slow, easy pace... and then got slower and slower. It wasn't a fatigue issue or that I couldn't go faster. It was just a lack of motivation to make myself go any faster. I was perfectly content to basically jog the last mile. My mental metronome is dramatically slower than it used to be.

(I don't think my brain woke up for this morning's run.)

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Granted, my only two runs since the break have been with temperatures in the 20's so I've been bundled up which tends to slow me down. And today was an early-morning run which never feels as good. But I would still expect to be running these distances at least a minute faster per mile.

So my only goal for the next couple of weeks (possibly for all of January), is to run at least 3 days a week. I can run them as easy and relaxed as I want, but I need to get my base back. Then I can regain some speed and work on my mental game.

Friday
Goal For The Day: Easy Run.
Distance: 3.89 Miles.
Time: 33:02. 8:29 Avg. (8:10, 8:16, 8:34, 7:59*).
Route: Old Town Eureka Loop w/ Cul-de-Sac Ext.
Conditions: 25 degrees. 6:10AM
Run Details On Garmin
Run Details On Nike+

Notes: Tuesday's run was about 3 minutes slower than I usually run this course. Today was 2 minutes slower than Tuesday. I know better than to jump back into things too quickly, but I probably don't need to go quite so easy. Nike+ tidbits: 4.45M less and 0:50/M slower than the average of my past 7 runs.

Daily Miles: 3.89 Miles.
2013 Totals:
  Run - 7.78 Miles.
  Bike - 0.00 Miles.
  Swim - 0.00 Miles.

The Good Kind Of Slow

I flipped things around today and went for my run first and then spent the afternoon on my boat.

A lap around the Lake is just over 3 miles so I planned three laps to get in the 9-10 mile range. Next week, I'll peak at 10-12 miles and then start a week-long taper going into the half marathon.

The weather has been great all weekend and this morning was more of the same. Most people haven't started migrating to the Lake for the weekends yet, so it was nice and quiet for my run. Long Runs aren't supposed to be too fast, they're more about mileage and I was in the mood to take it easy so I took my time looping the Lake.

When I got back, Liz made ham and cheese biscuits for our Mother's Day breakfast and we ate out on the screened-in porch. It was about as relaxing as a morning can get.

Then I got back to work. A quick trip to the store for some final supplies and a little more work and my boat was ready for a quick test.

(At least she floats... that's always good!)

The test went well and I got a head start on the decorations so I shouldn't have to do a ton of work on the holiday weekend.

It was great spending Mother's Day at the Lake and it was a productive weekend all around!

Sunday

Goal For The Day: Long Run.

Distance: 9.35 Miles.

Time: 1:11:33. 7:39 Avg. (7:49, 7:23, 7:21, 7:40, 7:53, 7:36, 7:28, 7:42, 7:58, 2:39*).

Route: 3 x Lake Loop.

Conditions: 58 degrees. 8:20AM.

Run Details On Garmin

Notes: It would have been easy to stop after the second lap but I'm glad I went for all three. The last lap felt very relaxed and was the pleasant kind of running I had been missing this week.

Daily Miles: 9.35 Miles.

2012 Totals:

  Run - 358.60 Miles.

  Bike - 0.00 Miles.

  Swim - 8,250 meters.

Quick And Easy

Memorial Day is coming up and that means it's almost time for our annual build-your-own-boat race. Liz and I made a trip down to the Lake House this weekend to get a jump on building my boat (and to relax by the water).

I spent the afternoon working on my boat and the basic frame is pretty similar to some of the other boats I've built in the past. Everything came together relatively quickly and this kind of frame is becoming easier and easier to build.

(The fruits of my labor.)

When it was getting close to dinner time, I put the boat building aside for the day and went for a quick lap around the lake. I've run around this lake so many times, it's also becoming an easy routine and it was relaxing to run the familiar loop after a day of construction.

After 3 easy miles and a quick shower, I slipped on my new compression sleeves, had a delicious roast and veggies for dinner, and put my feet up for the rest of the evening. It was a good day!

Saturday
Goal For The Day: Easy Run.
Distance: 3.11 Miles.
Time: 21:31. 6:55 Avg. (7:04, 6:55, 6:49, 0:43*).
Route: Lake Loop.
Conditions: 72 degrees. 6:48 PM.

Notes: Hooray for negative splits!!!

Daily Miles:
2012 Totals:
  Run - 349.25 Miles.
  Bike - 0.00 Miles.
  Swim - 8,250 meters.

Sore And Slow

One of the benefits of using FiveFingers is they strengthen your calves, feet, and other stabilizing muscles. The down side? You make yourself sore in places you're not used to being sore.

Most of my training runs leave me feeling tired but rarely am I very sore. Today I'm both. I only ran 1/2 mile of sprints yesterday but I'm definitely feeling it today. Between using different form while sprinting at top speed and using my muscles differently because of the shoes, yesterday's short workout was enough to leave me aching a little today. But it's that good kind of ache... not really  painful... just enough to let you know you worked hard.

To work some of the stiffness out, I ran easier today. I still ran a hilly course, but I took my time on it and didn't push the pace. Just some easy middle-distance to loosen things up. I thought I would run about 4 miles, but I didn't have a specific route in mind when I left the house so by the time I was finished wandering around town, I ran closer to 5. My pace was surprisingly consistent throughout the run even though the first couple of miles were more stiff. By mile 3, I felt pretty relaxed.

I made it home right before some nasty storms rolled in. There were parts of St. Louis hit with baseball-sized hail and possible tornadoes. Luckily, the worst of it missed Eureka and I was home before the torrential downpour hit town.

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(A tent near Busch Stadium collapsed injury dozens of people. One person died.)

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(A sample of some hail damage in St. Louis.)

Saturday
Goal For The Day: Easy Run.
Distance: 4.73 Miles.
Time: 35:43. 7:33 Avg. (7:36, 7:14, 7:34, 7:35, 5:42*).
Route: Cul-de-Sac Ext/Deep Vally Loop.
Conditions: 69 degrees. 5:02PM.
Run Details On Garmin

Notes: Spent most of the day registering for baby stuff. An easy run helped with the overwhelmed feeling and loosened up some sore muscles. Got home just before some nasty storms and just in time for a great dinner with friends!

Daily Miles: 4.73 Miles.
2012 Totals:
  Run - 298.20 Miles.
  Bike - 0.00 Miles.
  Swim - 7,450 meters.