Grande no whip Hot Chocolate

How will a grande no whip hot chocolate at 4:00pm affect my running time this evening? I guess I'll find out soon.

Mobile App

I just downloaded the official Google blogging app in the hope it'll help me keep thing up to date.

Blogged from my iPhone. Lulz...

The Beagle doesn't approve though.

Personal Bests, Racing and Hurricanes

Well, where have I been? This blogging lark is tough to keep going, I think I have a new found respect for those that have the discipline to write day in, day out.

The last time I made any update on the running situation, I was still a few weeks away from my first 5K of the year. Well the day came and went, actually 2 days before Sandy hit, and I beat my 2010 time by more than a minute - a scorching 27:46.1! I had lofty ideas at the start of the summer of beating 25 minutes, but it's hard to be disappointed 2 years older and after about a year and a half of really not running at all.

Before my run, I was getting quite hopeful of a much better time. I managed some new personal bests, although I am now questioning the accuracy of the GPS on those runs. My iPhone 3Gs may have been a little less than perfect in tracking my progress. I now have an iPhone 5 (oh yes!) which might be a little more accurate.

Here is a graph of my average speed up to and including race day (October 27th).

GPS Accuracy is questionable

My celebration after this race was short-lived, as 48 hours later, the largest storm ever to emerge from the Atlantic Ocean headed towards the north east coast, and New York was subjected to an 11.8 foot storm surge, which crippled the city and boroughs for several days. In fact even now, 2 weeks later at the time of writing, much of my neighborhood is without power.

The Morning After - Van Brunt, Red Hook in Brookyn, NY

Fairway Supermarket in Red Hook, 1 day after Sandy

A week after Sandy, snow in Red Hook

The public housing in Red Hook has been hit most badly. The most vulnerable people in the neighborhood have had the least luck, with no power, running water or heat, many people have been using their stoves to keep warm. The police have flood-lit much of the neighborhood with powerful lights that make the homes resemble prison buildings.

With no power, heat or water, much of the neighborhood is uninhabitable

While it's really the least of anyone's concerns, including mine, a blackened neighborhood after a storm has meant that running during the week, now that the days are much shorter, isn't really viable. Many streets are cluttered with the left-overs of people's belongings or debris washed up from the ocean.

This isn't here anymore!

Not much of a hindrance in the day, but virtually impossible to see at night

If you're interested to know more about Red Hook and the effects of Sandy, visit RestoreRedHook.org

Residents and non residents alike support Red Hook

Thanks Stinky Brooklyn of Boerum Hill for supporting Red Hook

But, having written all of that, there is about 2 hours of light left now. Time for a run!

Vacations

Do you run on your vacations? I went on a 2 week road trip with my wife and beagle, we drove from New York City to Wyoming (and back), which is a really long way. We covered more than 5,000 miles, and while we did some high-altitude hiking (10 - 11,000 feet or so) and some biking in the Tetons (and good 8,000 feet) which couldn't have done any harm exercise wise, I didn't get any running in. I did take my running shoes, and even took my Runner's World iPhone armband, almost as vital as running shoes, but alas they never saw daylight.

This is a really long way. I mean, a really long way.

Before I took my 2 week extended rest, I did one run "free of the couch" which was a reasonable 2.8 miles in about 27 mins. It's short of my 5k pace by quite some margin, and my focus between now and October 27th is to gain some speed. Beating 30 mins is a must, beating my 28 mins 48 seconds is a target, and coming in close to 25 mins is a stretch target. I have 3 weeks!

Will my legs and lungs be reliable as Old Faithful?

My two runs since I got back have told me I am up against it somewhat. To beat 25 mins, I have to average 8 mins/miles. During this whole exercise, I haven't even come close.

Going in the wrong direction...

It seems there are 2 ways I can target going faster - one is to put in more mileage and another is to run faster, more often. So this week, I am going to do 3 miles a day, starting today and target 26 mins minutes by the end of the week, Sun - Friday. Take the weekend off and then next week, run 4 miles a day for 5 continuous days, and then the final week, before race day, follow this chart from Runner's World for a 25/min run.

Runner's World, June 2012

No pressure, eh?

Middle Age Fitness Helps Prevent Age Related Diseases

A new study has found that age-related diseases can be significantly delayed my aerobic fitness in middle-age, even if you have never previously exercised regularly.

http://nyti.ms/ONn3I0

New York Times

Free from the Couch - Week 8

Week 8 is the last 3 lessons of Couch to 5K, and the final ramp up to running 5K in 30 mins. Since lesson one, this helpful little app has slowly been building me up to getting a 5K run in less than 30 minutes. During the final week, it has you running for 25, 28 and then 30 mins at full running pace.

The 25 mins run was the toughest for some reason. My first mile was around 10 mins with the second mile around 9:30 and the last 0.6 miles at the same pace. Overall time was 9:39 per mile for 2.6 miles.

The 28 mins run was slower still. A first mile of 10:10 seconds (truly pedestrian) and a further 1.8 miles at just slightly less than 10 mins, for a 2.8 mile return on 28 minutes.

No more Couch

Today was the final lesson - I had to hit 3.1 miles, and had to run faster than any previous time . After 1 mile, I hit 9 mins 3 seconds, and the second mile amazingly 8 mins 50 seconds, with only the 3rd mile being slow at over 10 mins. Overall I managed 3.1 miles in 29:30, so a good 30 seconds to spare. But there's still a lot not going right.

In the first two runs this week, I lost control of my breathing and heart rate within the first 5 mins, killing my first mile time. In the last run (this evening) I got a side stitch after about 1.8 miles, which really killed my pace to virtually walking speed; hence the 10 mins+ 3rd mile. Funnily enough, I am not hugely tired in the run, but I am finding that my mind is drifting at times and my breathing becomes very shallow, leading to the stitch and/or breathlessness.

So after 8 weeks, and quite honestly not truly believing I'd get here after my very first post I am in reaosnably good shape to run 5K in 30 mins or less. I now have about 6 weeks before my first race, and to knock off 4 and a half minutes from my time - which means upping my average pace by about 3/4 of a mile per hour.

Plateaued at 6mph? 

Easier said than done... Well tonight I celebrated with a bacon cheeseburger and beer! Next run is couch free.

Returning to the Wall

3 days ago, for the first time, I was unable to complete one of the workouts. 2 miles @ 9:27 was enough for me to hit the quit button and cut the run short. I felt like Casey Seeger (C-gar!) in An Officer and a Gentleman where she is unable to get over Sgt. Foley's wall. Today, I returned. Veni, vini, vici.

Even though I defeated the wall, it seemed difficult. Again after just over two miles, I got cramp in my shoulder (of all places) and a stitch started forming in my stomach. I saw the quit button again, but this time didn't reach for it.

So what's going on?

Well, for the last 7 weeks, I have trained my body to run for about 20 mins, and hit about 2 miles. Even though in the early workouts, much of that was walking, the conditioning psychologically has been "2 miles" or "20 minutes", whichever comes first. Even the loop I have slowly carved out in Red Hook is, more or less, 2 miles. I can break it up into manageable chunks; just this road, just this corner, OK half way, now just head back, just one more corner. I'm always ready for the finish line, and not really focused on the run itself.

At this point I am torn, as I only have 3 workouts to do, I really ought to finish. However I should also break out of this repetition before I decide this is only routine. Perhaps 2 weeks of doing 2 laps (which would be 4 miles) at a much slower pace before going back to 3.1 miles and getting my 5K time. At this point I am not sure.