Washington DC Mall Route

Rich and I are in Washington, DC this week to interview people for a new IT position we have in our DC office. We ran together this morning for the first time. I goofed up setting the alarm on my iPhone, and set it for 5PM instead of 5AM. When I woke up at 6AM, 15 minutes after our appointed meeting time, I scrambled to get ready. Everything worked out in the end. As I was walking down the street to meet Rich in front of his hotel, I beheld a hilarious sight-- we were dressed exactly the same. Same sleveless red shirt, same black running shorts, same Asics Gel Kayano 14 running shoes. Luckily I'm MUCH better looking than he is, or people would have thought we were twins. I wanted to do 5 or 6 miles this morning, and Rich only wanted to do 4. I told him 4 would work, but since I had the Garmin, I... uh... extended it a little. We started on my usual DC route-- down 16th St. through La Fayette Park to the White House, around the side of the White House down 17th St. to The Mall, west on The Mall past the Vietnam Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial, and then back east down the reflecting pool. When we got to the Washington Monument, Rich said he was feeling good so "we" decided to run all the way down to the US Capitol. I've never actually gone that far, so it was a fun treat. The track along The Mall had an annoying undulation that made the running a little tough. When we got to the Capitol, we walked a lap around the foutain out in front of it, and then ran back east toward the Washington Monument. After a brief stop at a water fountain, we kept going to 15th St. I told Rich that we were going to attack the hill on 15th St. that runs alongside the Treasury. At the bottom of the hill, we shifted into high gear and started charging up the hill. About halfway up, we passed a couple that had seemed very far ahead when we were at the bottom of the hill. Guess they didn't know we were racing. In yo face, suckas! Except for the humidity (man was it soupy), I really enjoyed this mid-week run. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 20 ft Location: Washington, DC Elev. Gain: -13 ft Date: 08/27/08 Up/Downhill: [+118/-131] Time: 06:20 AM Difficulty: 1.8 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 4.72 miles Time: 0:41:53 Speed: 6.8 mph Pace: 8' 52 /mi Calories: 763 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 32 -0' 20 7.0 +0.3 -43 ft 2 11' 25 +2' 33 5.2 -1.5 +4 ft 3 9' 11 +0' 19 6.5 -0.2 -7 ft 4 15' 23 +6' 31 3.9 -2.9 0 ft 5 10' 31 +1' 39 5.7 -1.1 +26 ft end 13' 00 +4' 08 4.6 -2.2 +6 ft Versus average of 8' 52 min/mile

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Much Better 12-miler

Thank goodness for runs like this. It makes up for last week. Barry asked at the end of the week if we could run on Sunday instead of Saturday. Turns out he IS mortal, and the miles he has been accumulating left him more sore than usual. We also discussed cutting back the length of the run to 10 miles or so. Slight digression: We went to the Diamondbacks game last night. During the 8th inning, they showed women's beach volleyball gold medalist Misty May-Treanor on the jumbotron. She hammed it up, smiling and waving and throwing some hang ten gestures. She even pulled her gold medal out of her purse. I realized that she was sitting in our section, about 20 rows in front of us. After the game, she hung around the concourse signing autographs. She had her gold medal around her neck the whole time. We saw her at the men's beach volleyball finals on Thursday night, so she must have flown directly from Beijing to Phoenix on Friday. I wonder if she lives in the area. By the way, renew those Diamondbacks season tickets for 2009. Anyway.... The alarm went off at 4AM, and I got dressed and ready to go. I filled my fuel belt up with a 50:50 mix of Gatorade instead of just water. A big reason I tanked so bad last week is that I wasn't properly hydrated. I drove to where the canal crosses 12th St. and left some Gatorade and water for us, and then drove to Barry's house. I queued up the latest Podrunner mix, called Waiting for the Sun. It's 167 BPM, which is a faster tempo than I prefer. But I decided to give it a shot. It was a good one. I listened to the Dark Designs mix again on the return leg. That remains one of my favorite Podrunner mixes. As we set out, I could tell right away that I felt better than I had the previous week. I felt no nagging aches and pains, and we settled into a good pace right away. As the nights get longer, the first part of these runs are darker and darker. As with the previous few weeks, I had to watch the unlit trail along the Bridle Path to make sure I didn't slip and fall. When we turned onto the canal, I was still feeling really good. The sun wasn't quite over the horizon yet, so we had some relief there. And, just as we approached 7th St., a heavenly breeze kicked up out of nowhere. It gently blew in our face, and it was an awesome and unexpected treat. When we reached 12th St., I looked over to Barry and gestured to see if he wanted to keep going. Without hesitating, he pointed ahead. So on we went. We reached 16th St. and turned right around. Just as we did, the breeze died. The sun was just about up at that point, so it felt like the temperature had suddenly increased 20 degrees. Bummer! But we got back to our water at 12th St. and I still felt good and strong. After filling up and... uh... emptying out, we set out for the return leg. I still felt good, and we managed to keep our pace at around a 9:15 mile. We got back to the Bridle Path and headed south. The trees offered a little relief from the sun. Our pace remained pretty consistent. Unlike last week, where I was dreading each coming step and couldn't wait for the run to be over, I settled into a pain-free zone, just listening to the music and watching the scenery. As we crossed Bethany Home, Barry picked up the pace a little. I thought for a second about keeping up with him, but I resisted the urge, intent on maintaining the 9:15 pace. As I turned onto Barry's street, I kicked it up a little, and finished feeling strong and happy. That was a stark contrast to how beat up and spent I felt last week. We went to Vicki's pool for a swim (aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh), and then I headed home. I get to run in Washington, DC this week and then Barry and I will attempt a 13-miler next weekend. Big fun! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 0 ft Location: Phoenix, AZ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 08/24/08 Up/Downhill: [+0/-0] Time: 06:10 AM Difficulty: 0 / 5.0 Weather: A Few Clouds 90 F temp; 35% humidity 90 F heat index; winds E 7 Performance Distance: 11.80 miles Time: 1:51:37 Speed: 6.3 mph Pace: 9' 28 /mi Calories: 1765 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 38 +0' 10 6.2 -0.1 -- ft 2 9' 28 +0' 00 6.3 -0.0 -- ft 3 9' 19 -0' 09 6.4 +0.1 -- ft 4 9' 16 -0' 12 6.5 +0.1 -- ft 5 9' 14 -0' 14 6.5 +0.2 -- ft 6 9' 18 -0' 10 6.5 +0.1 -- ft 7 14' 35 +5' 07 4.1 -2.2 -- ft 8 9' 22 -0' 06 6.4 +0.1 -- ft 9 9' 30 +0' 02 6.3 -0.0 -- ft 10 9' 59 +0' 31 6.0 -0.3 -- ft 11 9' 23 -0' 05 6.4 +0.1 -- ft end 9' 28 +0' 00 6.3 -0.0 -- ft Versus average of 9' 28 min/mile

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Return to Form

For every run like Saturday, there are at least 4 like today. This morning's run was one that makes me remember why I do this. I woke up this morning feeling a little sore from yesterday's spinning class. I thought for a minute about punting my run, Saturday's debacle still fresh in my mind, but I mustered some energy and got and got dressed. I knew as soon as I walked out the door that it would be a good morning. My legs felt pleasantly sore and... strong. After walking a half mile or so and stretching, I set out. I usually have a route in mind when I start, but not today. I figured I would just run east for a while, and then a different direction, and then another and then head home. As I started, I listened to my legs. I felt a brief twinge in my shin, but it went away after a few steps. My quads felt sore from biking. But I said (half aloud), "Good morning legs. Are you guys up for a run?" They seemed to be amused that I was talking to them, because they quickly loosened up. I turned east on Encanto Blvd. and then headed south down 16th Ave. to Palm Lane. I turned east on Palm ran as far as it went. They have some streets permanently blocked off in the Willo neighborhood, and I turned north when I reached on of these barriers. As I was running, I was constantly checking in with my body, and everything felt great. Lungs? CHECK! Shins? CHECK! Hydration? CHECK! With all systems go, I continued winding through Willo at a fun, but not killer, pace. As I crossed 7th Ave. at Encanto Blvd., I didn't even think about heading home. I headed north on 7th Ave., and then west on Thomas. After taking a tour of the 2-block Margarita Place neighborhood, I headed south on 15th Ave. As I headed up my usual home stretch on Virginia, I decided to really turn it up for the last quarter mile or so. As I crossed 16th Ave., I turned it up. When I turned onto 17th Ave., I really opened it up. My Garmin claims that I ran the last 200 yards or so at a sub 5:00 pace. Usain Bolt better look out! When I was done, I felt good and strong. I was sweaty, but not the energy-sapping sweat I've been feeling for the last month or so. Hooray for running! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 0 ft Location: Phoenix, AZ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 08/20/08 Up/Downhill: [+0/-0] Time: 06:16 AM Difficulty: 0 / 5.0 Weather: A Few Clouds 85 F temp; 40% humidity 85 F heat index; winds SE 7 Performance Distance: 4.11 miles Time: 0:36:16 Speed: 6.8 mph Pace: 8' 49 /mi Calories: 584 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 44 -0' 05 6.9 +0.1 -- ft 2 9' 21 +0' 32 6.4 -0.4 -- ft 3 8' 50 +0' 01 6.8 -0.0 -- ft 4 9' 09 +0' 20 6.5 -0.3 -- ft end 5' 58 -2' 51 10.0 +3.2 -- ft Versus average of 8' 49 min/mile

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Tough Running in Central Phoenix

This was the toughest run I've done in a long time. I was talking to Barry after the run, and he is dreading the arrival of cold weather. He LOVES this hot, humid weather. I, on the other hand, function more poorly as the temperature and humidity increase. The humidity was "only" 42% today, but with the temperatures in the low-90's, I knew I was in for a tough run when I walked out the door. The night before the run, I thought about sticking to 10 miles. But the tough guy in me told the sissy in me, "Shut the hell up! We're doing 12 miles!" I looked at Google Maps and figured out that, starting from Barry's house, running up Central, and then along the canal, the 6-mile point is at 16th St. just north of Glendale Ave. That even looks far on a map. "Oh well, let's do it!" I thought. I left home at 4:30 in the AM and stashed some water at our turnaround point. Thankfully there were fewer drunks out on the road than there were last week. I arrived at Barry's house a little before 5:00 and stretched a little. My shins felt a little achey before the run, but I figured they would eventually loosen up and/or go numb. When we started out, it was still pitch black. There was no sign of the sun. While good for beating the heat, it makes it a little hard to see where you're going when you're running down the Bridle Path. We had a big storm the other night, and the rain cut lots of new ruts into the path. I spent the first 3.5 miles looking down at my feet to make sure I didn't step into any of them and twist an ankle. We made it to the canal without incident, and turned south. At this point, the sun had peaked up over the horizon and was beginning its relentless pounding. I realized at this point that I had already emptied 2 of my 4 water bottles-- and we hadn't even run 4 miles. I had a 16oz bottle of water waiting for me at the turnaround, but I wondered whether that would be enough. As we ran along the canal, we saw lots of people from Team in Training (TiT) running in the opposite direction. We saw their water jug at the intersection of the canal and the Bridle Path. I figured they started at Granada Park and were running to the Bridle Path and back. That's about a 6-mile loop. I felt a little jealous because if that's all I was doing, I would almost be done. I fought to keep cool and hydrated, but I could tell I was losing that battle. I just felt overheated and drained. We slogged it out and made it to the turnaround. I felt relieved to make it that far. Barry looked at me and said, "You look a little beat." I started to dread the return 6 miles. After refilling my bottles, eating a Gu and, uh, taking care of some personal business behind a bush, I mustered some positive thoughts and we set out again. "This too shall pass," I reminded myself. As soon as we set out, I could tell that the 6 miles back were going to be a real slog. I was feeling extremely hot and my shins were still pretty achey. I couldn't seem to slake my thirst. I remembered that there was a water fountain at Northern Ave., so I stopped there briefly to fill up my water bottles. I had already drank all the water I picked up at Glendale by then. I started to feel a little dispirited. My spirits were raised a little when we reached the Bridle Path again. "Only 3.5 more miles!" I thought. But the sun was fully up at this point and I was miserably hot. The teporary happiness I felt melted into a sort of glum resolve. "I will finish this," I thought. "But it ain't gonna be fun." I settled into a sluggish pace (about 9:45) and marked the run by the cross streets we crossed (Northern, Glendale, Maryland, Bethany Home, Missouri). I could tell Barry was feeling great. He would occassionally run ahead-- only to run BACK and fall in time with me again. I finished the last of my water with about a mile to go. I had pretty much stopped sweating, so I could tell I was extremely dehydrated. Any positive vibes I had felt were long gone, but I gritted my teeth (literally) and resolved to finish this damn run. I finally caught a glimpse of the Circle K at the end of Barry's street, and my spirits were lifted a little. I usually try to kick the last section of this run, but I was running on fumes and it was all I could do to keep from walking-- or stopping altogether. We finished at 1:54:50. Pace-wise it was fine, but that run beat the hell out of me. I normally feel somewhat elated at the end of a long run, but not today. I was glad to be done, but I felt spent emotionally. We went to Vicki's pool for a dip, and she commented that we seemed less chipper than usual. I soaked my legs in an ice bath when I got home, and drank a gallon of water during the day, but I fought a vicious headache and achey muscles for the rest of the day. I'm glad I was able to fight through a rough run, but I would probably end my running "career" if every run were like this. Thankfully most of them aren't. I can't wait for autumn and cooler weather! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1207 ft Location: Phoenix, AZ Elev. Gain: -3 ft Date: 08/16/08 Up/Downhill: [+118/-121] Time: 06:00 AM Difficulty: 3.5 / 5.0 Weather: Partly Cloudy 89 F temp; 42% humidity 91 F heat index; winds E 7 Performance Distance: 11.77 miles Time: 1:54:50 Speed: 6.2 mph Pace: 9' 45 /mi Calories: 1792 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 46 +0' 01 6.1 -0.0 +19 ft 2 9' 53 +0' 08 6.1 -0.1 +26 ft 3 9' 38 -0' 07 6.2 +0.1 +29 ft 4 9' 36 -0' 09 6.2 +0.1 +19 ft 5 9' 24 -0' 21 6.4 +0.2 +3 ft 6 15' 09 +5' 24 4.0 -2.2 0 ft 7 9' 48 +0' 03 6.1 -0.0 0 ft 8 10' 31 +0' 46 5.7 -0.5 -3 ft 9 9' 50 +0' 05 6.1 -0.1 -23 ft 10 9' 58 +0' 13 6.0 -0.1 -29 ft 11 10' 45 +1' 00 5.6 -0.6 -26 ft end 9' 31 -0' 14 6.3 +0.1 -19 ft Versus average of 9' 45 min/mile

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Back On Home Turf

I am running in Phoenix again. Ugh. We drove back from Carlsbad, CA on Saturday. I stayed up until 10:30PM to watch Michael Phelps swim the 400m medley (he won the gold medal), so the alarm going off at 4AM felt even earlier than usual. I'm going to miss running at a normal hour like I did in Carlsbad. I suppose the weather will be nice soon enough. I emailed Barry while I was on vacation to find out if he wanted to run on Sunday. "Sure," he said. "Usual time?" I replied, "Yep." We didn't talk about distance, and figured I'd see how I felt in the morning. After a week of good runs and swimming in the ocean, I felt good. I dropped some water where the canal crosses Northern Ave. That would be a 4.5-mile turnaround, and I figured we would go further if we felt like it. It's worth mentioning (to me) that there are more drunks out at 4:30 Saturday night (Sunday morning) than there are on Friday night (Saturday morning). I passed one dude on Thomas Rd. who sat at a green light for a good minute or so, oblivious to the fact that it had changed. I drove next to another fellow who was driving very slowly and cautiously-- a good sign of being drunk. And on 7th St. from Thomas Rd. up to Northern Ave., I drove next to a guy who would drift into the center turn lane, stop 50 feet before intersections, etc. Obviously lit. Anyway, I managed to avoid all of them and made it to Barry's house a little before 5AM. Before we started, we both revealed that we were both hoping the other would flake out. :) I took that as a good sign. Today's soundtrack would be the 144BPM Paradox Alley Podrunner mix (which DJ Steve Boyett describes as mellow and intense). This wasn't one of my favorite mixes, soured for me in part by the techno version of "My Sharona." After some stretching, we set off down Barry's street and then turned onto Central Ave. It was still pretty dark, so the run along the Bridle Path was a little challenging. I ran with my eyes trained firmly on my feet to make sure I didn't trip on anything. Despite this, our pace was good and I felt really strong. As we got to the canal, the sun started peaking up over the horizon. We turned south on the canal and headed toward 7th Street. I felt particularly good along this stretch, and even experienced a mild runner's high. Wheeeee! As we approached Northern Ave., I looked over at Barry and could see that 9 miles wouldn't be even close to long enough for him today. So we pressed on and continued toward 12th Street. When we reached 12th St., he asked if I wanted to go one more (intersection). That would have been 16th St., which would have added another mile-plus to our run. I was worried about adding too much distance, so I declined. Maybe next week! We headed back to Northern Ave. and picked up our water. We were both perspiring extremely heavily. After a brief respite, we set out toward Central, and then continued back down the Bridle Path. We fell into a good groove along this section, and I experienced another small runner's high. As we crossed Bethany Home Rd., I saw a runner ahead of us and picked up our pace to see if we could catch him. Nope. But I continued the increased pace, and picked it up even more as we turned onto Barry's street. I finished with a strong kick. Amazingly, we finished at about 26 seconds different than the last time we ran that route. A quick post-run swim in Vicki's pool made my legs feel good. Barry told me he is probably going to run The Other Half with Bill and I, and is strongly considering running the P.F. Chang's Rock&Roll Marathon. Cool! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 0 ft Location: Phoenix, AZ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 08/10/08 Up/Downhill: [+0/-0] Time: 06:05 AM Difficulty: 0 / 5.0 Weather: Partly Cloudy 85 F temp; 56% humidity 88 F heat index; winds E 7 Performance Distance: 10.33 miles Time: 1:39:27 Speed: 6.2 mph Pace: 9' 38 /mi Calories: 1618 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 47 -0' 51 6.8 +0.6 -- ft 2 9' 36 -0' 02 6.2 +0.0 -- ft 3 9' 36 -0' 02 6.2 +0.0 -- ft 4 9' 31 -0' 07 6.3 +0.1 -- ft 5 9' 27 -0' 11 6.3 +0.1 -- ft 6 13' 43 +4' 05 4.4 -1.9 -- ft 7 9' 04 -0' 34 6.6 +0.4 -- ft 8 9' 35 -0' 03 6.3 +0.0 -- ft 9 9' 58 +0' 20 6.0 -0.2 -- ft 10 9' 14 -0' 24 6.5 +0.3 -- ft end 8' 54 -0' 44 6.7 +0.5 -- ft Versus average of 9' 38 min/mile

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Carlsbad Coastal Run

08/08/08. Crazy eights. Today is the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing (北京), China. I'm looking forward to the swimming events, the diving, some of the track and field, some of the cycling (I dig that pursuit event) and, of course, the distance running. I woke up late again today to the sweet, sweet sounds of a silent house. I love vacation. I decided to run about 5 miles today. I walked from our vacation house to the corner of Tamarac Rd. and TSoMN. I did a little stretching and queued up the Dark Designs Podrunner mix, about which DJ Steve Boyett says, "After luring you in with some nice opening tracks from Deep Forest and Absolute, it becomes a mostly tribal mix that will push you along with some serious percussion." True dat. I particularly like the Absolute track, "Dance Music Programme (Pogano in Heaven Mix)." The percussion of the tribal portion of the mix does, indeed, provide a good beat for a good run. After stretching a bit, I headed south along TSoMN. There were quite a few runners out this morning. My legs felt really good today, probably because of all the swimming in the ocean I've been doing. I fell into a nice cadence in time with the music. After a brief downhill, the long uphill began. I attacked the hill with gusto, passing a few runners on the way up. I maintained the same pace when I crested the hill. After a few hundred yards, the terrain turned into a long downhill. The bottom of the hill would be about 2 1/2 miles, so I picked that as my turnaround spot. I spied a public restroom near the beach and took advantage (whew!). The first part of the route back was the uphill side of that long hill. The music of the Podrunner mix helped push me up the hill. I focused on the traffic light at the top of the hill and chugged up at a good pace. I kept up that pace along the top of the bluff, and then began the descent down the other side. At the bottom of the hill, there is a slight uphill to the finish at Tamarack Rd. A female runner who was running toward me stopped and did her turnaround about 200 yards ahead of me. Great! A bunny! Unfortunately, I passed her pretty quickly. I picked out a walker who was only a short distance from the traffic light. I turned it up to 11, and reached the light just before the walker. Boo ya! I did some stretching and walking, and then headed home. We drive back to Phoenix tomorrow morning. I'm sad to be leaving Carlsbad, but at the same time, I'll be glad to get home. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 0 ft Location: Carlsbad, CA Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 08/08/08 Up/Downhill: [+0/-0] Time: 07:22 AM Difficulty: 0 / 5.0 Weather: Overcast with Haze 70 F temp; 81% humidity 70 F heat index; winds Calm Performance Distance: 5.19 miles Time: 0:45:43 Speed: 6.8 mph Pace: 8' 49 /mi Calories: 846 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 30 -0' 19 7.0 +0.2 -- ft 2 8' 44 -0' 05 6.9 +0.1 -- ft 3 13' 18 +4' 29 4.5 -2.3 -- ft 4 9' 02 +0' 13 6.6 -0.2 -- ft 5 8' 40 -0' 09 6.9 +0.1 -- ft end 8' 24 -0' 25 7.1 +0.3 -- ft Versus average of 8' 49 min/mile

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