Camelbak works much better than I thought

Now that summertion has come to Michigan, my long Saturday runs are getting hot and humid.  I’ve been carrying a water bottle but I really hate the water sloshing in the half-full bottle and switching the bottle from hand to hand.  So I found a Camelbak FlashFlo on craigslist and got it.  Even though I bought it I was still expecting it to be a hassle to use and had low expectations.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  After a few mid-course adjustments to the belt I found a comfortable position and didn’t even feel it.  Plus as I drank and the reservoir became less full, it flattens out so NO SLOSHING!

If you don’t have a good hydration system that works for you (hiding bottles behinds trees ahead of time always seemed liked to much work), then check out the FlashFlo fanny pack type.  You will be surprised.  

Running lets you explore new cities

In the last three weeks I’ve had to make two business trips to California.  The business part of each trip went fine but one of the best parts of each was the running. 

In Costa Mesa, I ran about five miles around an area that included the Orange County Performing Arts Center, concert hall and theatre.  Running is a great way to explore areas like this. I could see all sides of these beautiful buildings as I ran around them which I could not have easily done in a car.  From there I ran through some residential developments under construction which again, would not have been possible if driving.

Last week in Rancho Cordova, near Sacramento, I did about five miles around a commercial park.  It was 6:00AM local time and I was surprised to see so much activity. Lots of early risers getting to their  offices. 

The weather for all my runs on these two trips was ideal.  Warm but not hot (at least not at 6:00AM) and not a cloud in the sky.

Exploring new cities while running adds a fun, interesting element you can’t get at home.  Just remember to pay attention to your route so you can backtrack.  Getting lost in a new cities would add a whole other level of excitement,   

I turned 50 - Yeah, a new age division!

Friday was my 50th birthday and Saturday morning was my first 10k of the season.  Perfect timing.  I got to compete in the 50-54 year old division.  My first goal was to break 50 minutes and my second was to break 49 minutes.  I got close to the second with a 49:17.  The race was the Oak Apple Run in downtown Royal Oak, MI.  A well organized race in its 32nd year.  I’ve probably run it 25 times including the first one - and I have the 32 year old t-shirt to prove it.  I would have worn it this year but it apparently shrunk a little over the years.

It feels great to still be running after all these years.  I pray that God will keep me healthy to run for many years to come. 

 

A Perfect day for 11 miles.

It rarely gets any better than this.  Saturday, no morning commitments, 51 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and my training schedule called for an 11 mile long (slow) run.  Life is good.  I debated about using the ipod shuffle because I haven’t been using it for a few weeks.  I decided to go with the tunes this morning and it was the correct choice.  (How great is the shuffle? I went from Steve Miller to Weezer to George Thorogood to the Jackson Five).  I headed up through Royal Oak and into Clawson then over to Main street and all the way back.  I was a little surprised to see so many other runners and walkers this morning but I guess I shouldn’t have been.  A perfect day like should bring everyone out.  

Is softball cross-training?

Softball started this week.  Our team is the “fun” men’s team from my church.  We like to win and we try but we’re more interested in the camaraderie and exercise.  Nothing too serious.  Since I run about 25 miles a week I didn’t think I’d need any real adjustment to get in shape for softball.  Wrong.  Sprinting the bases apparently uses different muscles than distance running and swinging a bat definitely uses different ones.  So after the first game (which we won 26-9) I was a bit sore.  But it felt good.  I love distance running but it we great to get out on the baseball field again and hit and throw.  And catch up with some guys I haven’t seen all winter.     

Map Your Route. It’s easy.

Many experienced runners can judge their pace as they’re running in order to judge their distance.  I’m getting better at that but I still like to confirm the distance of my training runs.  In the past that meant driving the car to retrace the run and checking the odometer.  Now there are great online mapping tools that make measuring your route easy. 

Last Saturday I wanted to do a 9 mile run.  I have a 9 mile route that I’ve run before I felt like running a different direction.  So I quickly logged onto runnersworld.com and went to my training log.  RW has a great online log.  I’ve been using it since the first of this year to track my workouts.  It’s super easy to use and let’s you view your progress in charts or graphs.  It also has a  mapping tool similar to a Google Maps feature, but even easier.  I selected the road map of my city then with a few clicks I had a 9 mile route laid out.  Plus I knew where the mile markers were so during my run I could check my pace.  A few minutes later I was heading out the door in a new direction.

Technology. Gotta love it.

  

Songbirds make a difference

Running in mid-April should mean shorts and t-shirts, or long-sleeve t’s at the most.  But this morning when it was 32 degrees and dark outside it was hard to tell April from February.  And then, about a mile into my run, I started to realize something was different.  Sure, the roads were dry which was rare in February, but that wasn’t it.  Was there a hint of daylight starting to creep into the horizon?  Maybe just a hint, but that wasn’t the difference either.  It was the birds! A steady stream of songbirds were active at 6:15AM.  I have no idea what type of birds they were but it sounded like quite a variety.  All I know is I sure don’t recall hearing them in a long time, like months!  Maybe there were birds singing all winter and I just didn’t notice but it doesn’t matter.  To me the birds singing changed this morning’s run from a cold late-winter run into a cool, early-spring run.  And that made all the difference.

 

How warm to dress in Spring?

Deciding what to wear when running this time of year can be tricky.  The early morning hours are still very cool but the temperature can change 10 degrees or more during your run.  At 7:45AM today the temperature read 32 degrees as I was getting ready to run so I dressed for 42.  (I learned a few years ago to dress like it’s 10 degrees warmer than it really is.  Your body temp will make up the difference.)  Warm up pants, long sleeve Under Armor Heat Gear under a t-shirt, knit cap and gloves seemed right.  After about 3 miles I took off my gloves and stuffed them in my pockets.  After about 6 miles, as the sun was now above the tree line, I was feeling pretty good about my choice of dress.  When I got back home after finishing my 8 miles, the temperature read 41 degrees, the sky was nice and bright and I had worked up a good sweat but didn’t feel over heated. 

Trial and error is the best way to learn what works but here are some tips:

Dress like it’s 10 degrees warmer - Have pockets in your pants to hold gloves or hat if you don’t need them - On cool days warm up inside before you head out so your body doesn’t have to warm up in the cold air - Invest in the proper gear, Under Armor and similar technology really does wick moisture away.  I used to be “old school” in sweats that held heat and sweat but now I love the new gear.

    

 

Be patient - big increases can cause pain.

Saturday is “long run day” for me as it is for many runners.  That’s the day I push further than usual.  During the week I vary my miles from two to five depending on the day, but this time of year, on Saturday I could set out to do six, seven or eight miles.  The problem is now that the weather has started to at least resemble Spring (40 degrees is a start) I want to push further.  This past Saturday was a perfect example.  The training plan I’m following to get ready for a late May 10k called for eight miles on Saturday. I was on the road before 8:00AM and feeling good.  I went through downtown Royal Oak, past the coffee shops where early risers were reading their newspapers, past the grocery store where SUVs were already jockeying for parking spaces and past the golf course where small piles of snow were still visible in the shade of the bushes.  Four miles out I turned and started back but my mind was already telling me I should go further.  I felt good, the weather was clear and dry, and I had time.  As I got closer to home I was very tempted to add a mile on to the end of the run.  Or maybe go for ten.   But, I knew from articles in Runner’s World as well and from past personal experience that would be a mistake.  Whenever I increase my mileage by more that about ten percent in one week, my knees ache the next couple of days.  And as I get older the pain is worse and lasts longer.  So, as much as I wanted to press on and add mileage, I decided to listen to the experts (and my body) and stop after eight miles as planned. 

The next day when my knees were fine I was glad I had been patient.  Increasing mileage slowly over time is not always easy to do but it is good advice.       

Finally, dry roads!

It’s been a long, cold winter.  But that’s not really the problem for most runners.  Oh, sure, I’d prefer a nice sunny, 72 degrees but I don’t mind cold weather running either.  It’s the ICE and SNOW that’s the killer.  I can’t count the number of times this winter when I planned to run outside only to wake up to snow and ice covered roads.  As a younger runner I headed out into the white stuff without a second thought.  Now that I’m in the Masters division of the local races, I find myself being a lot more cautious of my footing on slippery roads.  That caution makes me change my running form and posture and that’s not good.  So, I’ve been logging a lot of my miles on the treadmill this winter.  Until Saturday.  At 6:00AM Saturday the roads were clear.  So I headed out for the best run in weeks.  And that crisp 30 degrees never felt so warm!