Some Sun and some Run

Prior to yesterday, it had been snowing for three days! :( I lost my free YMCA gym membership on the 17th so I couldn't run my 6 miler scheduled for this weekend indoors or outdoors.
Yesterday, however, the sun came out and was shinning warm and strong. It melted about 3/4 of the snow and then today, the sun was working on melting the rest.
Although it felt like summer, I still didn't feel like running! This kinda shocked me because usually the sun pulls me outdoors. I decided to get my running clothes on and take the dog out on a walk to get my blood flowing. That helped wake me up and put a little energy in my step.
Anouk (puggle) was so happy to be walking: tail up and bouncing, tongue out, panting.... bliss!
Once we got home, I hopped into my car and drove an exit down where the neighborhoods have sidewalks. My neighborhood sucks on so many levels... tight hills, sidewalks that disappear and reappear, country roads where drivers can not see a runner because of the hills and overgrowth as well as a lack of shoulder for someone to safely move over for on coming traffic.
So, although this neighborhood is just as boring and the views are basically middle class mid-west suburbia, it's safe and there's a grassy area on both sides of the sidewalks. I try to run in the grass most of the time. Usually I only pop over to the sidewalk if I'm going uphill and want to bring my heart rate down. Since I don't have easy access to real trails here, I feel like running in the grass strengthens my legs and works my stabilizer muscles enough to simulate trail running. You also have to pay attention to the ground just like trail running... there are frequent dips, holes and uneven terrain that could be a quick ankle twister. Also, I can tell my heart rate jumps up pretty quickly due to having to push off ground that gives rather than hard concrete. Lastly, I hope that by opting for the grass I am pounding the pavement less which hopefully means less chance for injuries that road running seems to produce.
I had scheduled 6 miles but only got in 5. In addition to taking days off due to weather, on Thursday I only got in 2 miles so my legs were really feeling this workout. I also didn't have any coconut water so my Nathan was filled with plain water and my legs cramped up pretty good the last mile. The sun felt hot and at 60 degrees outside it probably felt like 80 running - I even got a light sun burn (reminder: start wearing sunblock)! I decided that since this coming weekend calls for 10 miles, I'd give myself a break and not push my legs now.
Usually, I hate snakes but seeing this little guy sunbathing on the side walk made me think that maybe Spring is here to stay and Summer is around the corner!

How To Train in a New Heart Rate Zone

Ummm.

The things you see on your daily run in suburbia.

Today I was minding my own business, running the along most boring side walk in a neighborhood near mine. As I was coming up the hill, I saw a guy standing in the middle of the side walk facing the houses on the opposite side of the street. He set up, drew up his arms, which held an archery long bow and arrow and was shooting these across the street, across the opposing yard and into his fence!

I couldn't believe how serious the bow and arrow looked. It freaked me out actually. I dawned on me why the Indians used it - it's so fast and effective! It just sinks right into the target with smoothness. As I passed by him I got a chill. I don't know why - he wasn't unfriendly. He didn't say anything and did pause his shooting but I just felt...... a little scared. He could totally turn on me in a second and take me out with that thing! It might as well have been someone shooting a gun in the street.

Maybe I'm over -dramatic but I felt uncomfortable about it. It also seemed a little unsafe. What if an animal or kid came into his yard or was playing beyond his fence and he couldn't see them? What if he accidentally aimed wildly? He should take it out to a field in my opinion.

Anyway, that definitely took my run out of boredom and into a new heart rate zone!

A Slow 10

After a night where I didn't get to sleep on time, got woken up at 2am, then continuously woken up every hour due to snoring, I suprisingly got up to the alarm buzzing. 5:15am and something was already going right.

I got down to the Parcours Lake Trail and ended up parking in a new area at the trailhead. This allowed me quick access to my car between laps - and it was going to take a lot of laps. I planned to loop twice, stopping at the car every two and a half miles. This scheme worked out beautifully - I was able to switch Powerade zero for water, pick up 2-3 Shot Bloks and nibble at my Lara (raw) Bar as I was hungry.

The weather stayed on the cool side of warm/hot until about 9am when the sun was looking high in the sky already and feeling hot. Luckily, by that time I was 8 miles into my run and the last loop wasn't affected much due to being under tree canopy.

This was my first run using the Garmin Forerunner 405. I was pleasantly suprised that the GPS worked so well through the forest. My old Timex Ironman would always lose connection repeatedly and guesstimate my course. I had my distance, pace, heart rate, etc all at my finger tips. I checked my heart rate every time I felt the need to walk and found out I was hitting 171-176. This is pretty much my red zone because 185 is my max heart rate. So before I even had this watch I was able to listen to my body enough to slow down... yay me. I also realized that I'm not able to keep pace very well on trails. When I ran paved trails, I was always the person to watch pace and keep it consistant at 12 min/mi. But, on dirt paths, the terrain is inconsistant and your legs really never get used to the rolling earth. I'd go from a 9 or 10 minute pace to a walk and everything inbetween as I ducked under branches, skipped over roots and pinecones, bounded up stair-rocks and half slid down small declines. This is an issue I probably need to tease out - maybe trying to just go slower and stay on pace as much as possible. I think there is an alarm setting where it will let you know if you're off pace -which would probably help train me to be more consistant.

When I got home, my data was uploaded, and I was able to look at the stats: pace (varied), distance (10 mi), lap splits, heart rate, calories (945!), elevation changes and an awesome map of the 10 miles (pictured above). Overall, I'm super happy with this watch. There are a few settings I need to tweak, but otherwise it was easy to use and gave me the info I like to see.

Although I was on technical trails, it took me 2:41 to finish. I ran the Georgetown to Idaho Springs, Colorado in 2:45 in 2004. So that was 3 extra miles and a 1,000ft elevation change, altitude sickness (8500 feet), a bloody nose, and rolling landscape in the same amount of time. So either I was better condidtioned back then, or this was really technical, OR I just had an awesome race buddy back then. Naomi Rademeyer, from Pretoria, South Africa. I think we met about halfway though the race. She told me a bit about her lifestory which included escaping from Africa due to the violence and oppression. She moved to Englewood, CO with her husband and children but had left behind some family - I believe her fathers and brothers. She said in Africa, you can't just sign up for a race, you have to be fast enough to gain entry. And she was full of awesome tips like when going down hill, try to relax your body and run in a controlled fall. I think of her help everytime I'm going down a decent hill now.

Anyhow, I am really confused by my time and actually worried a did a lot more than 10 miles. My 8 mile run took 1 hour 30 minutes. And I had not only driven that distance to check the milage but I also plotted it out online (out and back twice equaled 8 miles). The other thing is that when I run this loop for my week days runs, it usually takes me 50 minutes to go around twice. An hour run for me right now is usually at least 4 miles. I had to loop this baby 8 times with each lap amounting to 1.3 miles. So if that's correct, my mid-week short runs are only about 3 miles since I go around twice. 3 miles in 50 minutes?? Something is off... either this trail is SO technical that I really do go that slow or I'm off in some other way. I need to use my Garmin on a marked trail and test to make sure it's accurate. I know that I only had 25% accuracy on the satelite read. I saw that, and kinda tried to figure this out during my run noticing the time but thought I just couldn't do the math while running. Now, I'm still trying to figure it out and it's not adding up.

Another note of interest.... after my 8 mile run I had some soreness. Really, I had some worries like my heel was tight and felt pulled (esp in the morning) and I had some knots in my calves and I think I had to ice my knee. This time, I did take a quick ice bath (which melted too fast due to the water being too warm) but I don't know if that is the reason or what, but I have NO side effects. The main difference with this run is also the terrain - most of my 10 miles were on soft pine-hay and dirt packed trails. Really cushioned. The 8 miles were done on road and off the side of the road in the grass and gravel. Anyway, going along with my worry about distance and thinking I could have actually done more than 10, doesn't seem right when my legs feel this great. A little tired but no aches. Sooo... ice bath? Pine needle hay terrain? I dunno, but something was working for me during this run.