And then it was winter

15 miles in 24° F, but at least there was close to zero wind. 

The headlamp hack

I lost my trustworthy rechargeable headlamp after about 10 months of great service. It was obnoxiously bright, and the price was right. I resisted the urge to buying the same unit because I didn't want to use a headband, even if I wear it over my hat. I felt I would spend most of the run obsessed over losing it.

So I bought a cheaper clip on. And it was a piece of shit, the illumination pattern was crap, the batteries aren't rechargeable. It's OK to show oncoming traffic that you are there, but it is useless as a true headlamp.

I learned my lesson, so I bought an exact replacement of my original headlamp. Only this time I didn't use the headband, instead I glued some velcro to the bracket and stuck it into the front velcro patch of my "operator" hat. The end result is a much better placement for the lamp without having to worry about it slipping over the hat. I wore it today for about 8 miles and it worked perfectly. I was worried about the light bouncing around, but it stayed solid throughout the dark part of today's run, about 8 miles. Once it was light enough I swapped it for my usual US-flag patch and recharged it once I got back home. 

The only downsides:

1. By wearing the headlamp over the hat you lose part of the illumination pattern, probably 60-90 degrees off the full circle.
2. It is painfully bright, please mind opposite traffic, especially pedestrians and cyclists. Around here people either turn off their headlamps to avoid blinding oncoming traffic, or purposely aim it away until passing. I prefer to aim it away.

Hello World

I am already run for today's late

ugh.

I am already late for today's run.

And while running a shoe report on my Strava API hack I realized that I should make some kind of summary at the end of the year. And I haven't used Blogger in a while, so here I am.

As of yesterday I have run 3,301 miles in 2017 and I have worn no less than 11 different pairs of running shoes. 

The return of the blood sacrifice

The blood sacrifice has been paid, the Gods have been appeased!

Landed on my chest right on mile 7.2, sidewalk is brand new, smooth seams, absolutely clean and dry, and I don't even feel like I tripped. I don't understand how the hell I ran through 5+ miles of hilly/leafy/wet paved trails and sidewalks without incident, then I end up falling on a perfectly flat and clean sidewalk.

Luckily apart from a sore right hand and a skinned right knee the only real injury is to my pride. Something tells me that the padded gloves helped me, my hand hurts like hell but nothing is broken.

Started as a recovery run, ended with my ass flat on a brick sidewalk.

No injuries but my ego is bruised, and something tells me that hand and knee are going to be tender for a couple of days. Seems my shoe caught on a brick and I tripped, landed on my left hand and knee and then I cramped, which is how I ended with my ass flat on the brick walk. #AthletesUnfiltered

Update: Within 100 yards of walking back home I got annoyed and started to run again ... and I forgot to turn on the Garmin so I cheated myself out of the first half mile or so. The hand bruise was gone before I was back home, and from what I can tell I didn't hit the knee, it's all skin scratches. It seems one has to make a blood sacrifice every now and then, and this is just my second spill of the year. So I hereby declare that this is a #bloodsacrifice run.

"My Health Matters" 5K, Herndon, Virginia

Today was my second race, and it was my first 5K. Placed 4th for my age group, 19th overall for men, and my chip time was 28:25.5, which is 2+ minutes better than what I was aiming for.

Photo by Audrey McCann Photography, http://clients.amccannphoto.com/

Tried to shoot for 20 ... ended up with 21.2

And it nearly killed my feet. I was NOT ready for this.

Update: this was my longest run of 2017.

25th Van Metre 5-mile run for Children's National Health System

This was also my very first race.

Official results are here.

First half-marathon

First 10-miler!

First 10-miler!

Pace for the run was 32 seconds slower per mile than my previous run, but I RAN 10 FRIGGIN MILES.

And of course it was hilly. 33°F, very nice and dry, very little wind.

Crossed the 10K mark for the first time

Longest run to date, and I am happy with the splits, especially with all the extra clothing and mask I was wearing. It was/is cold as friggin hell, 13 degrees Fahrenheit adjusted for windchill.

BTW, holla to the 5-6 brave #reston walking/running souls I ran across before it was even 5:30 AM. You guys/gals are awesome.