I am a little annoyed: I laid out this route specifically to fill-in some blanks (the South Western quadrant of the Herndon Parkway) on my City Strides profile, but their server(s) crashed and my activity didn't get tracked.
Oh well, at least I still get to see it on my heat map. At least until Strava kills it because of the new awareness on how people are too goddamn stupid to setup their privacy preferences properly. Plus Strava is not doing itself any favors.
Friday, February 9, 2018
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Almost a #bloodsacrifice Run
This goddamn artic weather is testing everyone's resolve to keep running around here.
On Monday we got so much black ice that I almost landed on my ass just trying to cross Northshore Drive. And we were starting a 5-day streak challenge on Strava, and almost lost it because runs tagged as "treadmill" weren't allowed. #kissmyass
On Tuesday almost everything was clean, but we still had enough random ice patches to make it stressful. Then we got icy rain on Wednesday.
Today? Everything was dry, close to 100%, and I still managed to trip on a fucking asphalt patch on a perfectly dry piece of paved trail. Hell, it was almost level too. The funny thing is that either I was very awake when it happened, or maybe I am starting to get really good at tripping on sidewalks, because this time I didn't land on my hand, instead I sort of did I roll and my right shoulder/arm and flank took most of the brunt of the hit. I sat on my ass for a few seconds to count my blessings and I went on and ran another 9 miles.
On Monday we got so much black ice that I almost landed on my ass just trying to cross Northshore Drive. And we were starting a 5-day streak challenge on Strava, and almost lost it because runs tagged as "treadmill" weren't allowed. #kissmyass
On Tuesday almost everything was clean, but we still had enough random ice patches to make it stressful. Then we got icy rain on Wednesday.
Today? Everything was dry, close to 100%, and I still managed to trip on a fucking asphalt patch on a perfectly dry piece of paved trail. Hell, it was almost level too. The funny thing is that either I was very awake when it happened, or maybe I am starting to get really good at tripping on sidewalks, because this time I didn't land on my hand, instead I sort of did I roll and my right shoulder/arm and flank took most of the brunt of the hit. I sat on my ass for a few seconds to count my blessings and I went on and ran another 9 miles.
Saturday, January 27, 2018
It's so hard to say goodbye ...
To a great pair of shoes.
Today I retired my hardest-working shoes, a pair of Brooks Glycerin 15s that gave me 620 great miles and no injuries. And the uppers are still intact, and the bounce is still there, but the outer tread is no longer safe for running, so I have retired them to casual wear duties.
They have of course been added to the Hall of Retired Shoes.
Today I retired my hardest-working shoes, a pair of Brooks Glycerin 15s that gave me 620 great miles and no injuries. And the uppers are still intact, and the bounce is still there, but the outer tread is no longer safe for running, so I have retired them to casual wear duties.
They have of course been added to the Hall of Retired Shoes.
Thursday, January 25, 2018
The bridge over the Rubicon
Do you have a spot close to the end of your normal loops when you just run out of all motivation to keep on going? Mine is this little bridge intheWashington Plaza complex in Lane Anne, Reston, VA. It doesn't mind if I am on my 10th or 15th mile, but the second I cross that bridge I lose all motivation to keep running. I even have a name for it: the bridge of no fucks given.
Part of this is that the bridge is a forced speed bump. If I am coming from the green trail (the right side of this picture, across the bridge) then it's a forced 90° turn, over a hump, and it can be slippery. If I am coming from the top of Waterview Cluster it is a dangerous downhill sidewalk, immediatelly followed by the bridge's bump. And as soon as you cross the bridge that's a 90° turn into a constant stream of dog walkers and the groups of local residents that walk around Lake Anne on most mornings. It's almost a chicane turn, so most times it's easier to just lay out the route so I can get my mileage finished right as I hit the bridge, and I can justify stopping after I go across.
Part of this is that the bridge is a forced speed bump. If I am coming from the green trail (the right side of this picture, across the bridge) then it's a forced 90° turn, over a hump, and it can be slippery. If I am coming from the top of Waterview Cluster it is a dangerous downhill sidewalk, immediatelly followed by the bridge's bump. And as soon as you cross the bridge that's a 90° turn into a constant stream of dog walkers and the groups of local residents that walk around Lake Anne on most mornings. It's almost a chicane turn, so most times it's easier to just lay out the route so I can get my mileage finished right as I hit the bridge, and I can justify stopping after I go across.
Monday, January 8, 2018
Stockholm Syndrome and this week's weather
From Wikipedia:
Right as we are all getting used to this ridiculous cold, but we were blessed with mostly clean sidewalks, roads and paved trails, seems like we are going to get a nice coat of ice over the whole damn town overnight.
I never thought I would get annoyed at seeing the temperature go above 18°F. It borders on the ridiculous.
Stockholm syndrome is a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy during captivity.I keep thinking about this as after so many days of ridiculously cold weather, running under negative windchill and getting icicles on my friggin eyebrows, I was actually annoyed at seeing the temperatures climb a hair over melting, right as a god damn freezing rain storm is about to hit us.
Right as we are all getting used to this ridiculous cold, but we were blessed with mostly clean sidewalks, roads and paved trails, seems like we are going to get a nice coat of ice over the whole damn town overnight.
I never thought I would get annoyed at seeing the temperature go above 18°F. It borders on the ridiculous.
Saturday, January 6, 2018
Thursday, January 4, 2018
The Bomb Cyclone
Running conditions were gorgeous as long as you stuck to the paved trails, which had a nice blanket of powdered snow. The sidewalks were OK until the plowing started. The brick on the Reston Town Center was terrible, so were the RTC grid streets, mostly due to shitty plowing.
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Icicle run
This thing with the cold is not even funny. It's about 11 degrees warmer than yesterday and it is absolutely dry.
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
A day late for Strava Badge Grind Day
"Strava Badge Grind Day" is usually the first of the month, I always try to knock out the 10K and Half-Marathon badges on the first of the month, but with the negative wind chill factors on New Year's Day I chickened out and didn't run.
And spent the whole day suffering terrible cabin fever.
Today it the wind chill was -4°F but I decided to let the 10-minute rule play out.
The 10-minute rule: if you don't want to run, go run for 10 minutes and decide if you want to turn around home or keep going.
I was nervous about the trail and sidewalk conditions, since my normal 15-16 mile route has a large amount of sidewalks that I can't avoid. 10 minutes would be plenty to figure out if the sidewalks and paved trails were a lost cause, in which case I could either turn around and go back inside, or switch to one of the local street loops that will give me 6-10 miles on very low traffic streets.
Lucky me, the sidewalks were mostly clean, and the trails were at least 85% clean, and almost no black ice, most of the ice was very visible.
And spent the whole day suffering terrible cabin fever.
Today it the wind chill was -4°F but I decided to let the 10-minute rule play out.
The 10-minute rule: if you don't want to run, go run for 10 minutes and decide if you want to turn around home or keep going.
I was nervous about the trail and sidewalk conditions, since my normal 15-16 mile route has a large amount of sidewalks that I can't avoid. 10 minutes would be plenty to figure out if the sidewalks and paved trails were a lost cause, in which case I could either turn around and go back inside, or switch to one of the local street loops that will give me 6-10 miles on very low traffic streets.
Lucky me, the sidewalks were mostly clean, and the trails were at least 85% clean, and almost no black ice, most of the ice was very visible.
2017 summary video, courtesy of Strava
Here's the final version of the 2017 video. I had posted a preliminary version that was missing two days worth of data.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
2017: A year in review
After 20 years not running, and a couple trials (up to 3 miles) in December, on January 1st I ran 5 miles straight for the first time. And it didn't kill me.
I ran 3,416 miles in 2017. I was on my feet a little longer than that, but those 3,416 miles are true running. And yes, I walked too, but based on my movement percentages I never finished a run with less than 99% movement.
The first half-marathon
I hit the half-marathon mark sometime in March. I hit the mark right in front of the McDonnalds at the Herndon K-Mart plaza, and I had misjudged how much time I had available to run, so there I was 3 miles away from home, no juice left, and I was already 15 minutes late for work (I telecommute). I called Ivette and she picked me up. In the whole year I only had her pick me up twice, the second time was due to a heat wave, I ran out of steam on mile 15 and I played the "fuck it" card. I stopped at Trailside Park in Herndon, got a Slurpee and a cinnamon roll and chilled in the park until Ivette picked me up.
The Wall
Hitting mile 13 was also my introduction to "the wall." I had no clue that glycogen depletion was a thing, but I wasn't surprised when I complained at the runners store that I was running out of juice somewhere between miles 10 and 13, without any pain or breathing discomfort. I just ran out of juice.
They asked me if I was eating. That's when I had to learn about eating WHILE I ran. I experimented with both gels and chews and eventually settled on gels simply because they are easier to dispense. I tried a lot of CLIF, GU, Gatorade, Honey Stinger products. The Gatorade chews are dirt cheap, but they are a royal pain in the ass to dispense so I quit using them. CLIF, GU and Honey Stinger are awesome, but I eventually settled on two CLIF products, one that has 100mg of Caffeine per portion, one that has 50mg. I originally stacked these in 5-mile intervals but eventually I found that I was doing a lot better with 45-minutes between snacks.
And no more wall. Now my limit is usually how much abuse I can inflict on my feet. My lungs are never a problem, even after 20+ miles, and my legs just get stiff. But my feet just kill me after mile 20.
The Uber Ride of Shame
I took the Uber ride of shame three times. The first time I ran out of fucks after 15 miles, which meant walking from Herndon, VA and I wasn't ready to do that. That was also my very first Uber ride, which I enjoyed a lot even if the driver couldn't navigate worth shit.
The second Uber ride of shame was funny because I ran into Ivette (my wife) right as I was getting ready to order the ride, and she had been thinking about bailing out from HER walk, about 3 miles away from home. Our driver was excellent and he actually knew the town very well.
The last Uber ride of shame was a preventive measure. My ankle started to act up a little under 3 miles from home, and I didn't think it was wise to walk it. This time my Uber driver knew the town so well that he actively argued against the voice prompts from his GPS, something that both Ivette and myself do in our own cars ("are you kidding me? why would I drive through THAT at this time of the day?"). The ankle was strained a little bit, it actually hurt more walking than running, which to this day makes no sense. I wore KT tape for about two weeks, but most of the relief was needed for walking, it really didn't hurt when I ran, and it eventually went away.
My Town Keeps Getting Smaller
My understanding of the size of my town changed dramatically over the past year. Every time I am out in the car, the "uh, I have run through here" moments keep happening farther away from the house. This reached crazy proportions when I actually managed to run across route 28 and back for the first time, it really felt unbelievable at the time. Later I managed to run three miles further West, which put me at the Ashburn Village Boulevard. I other words, I was now running from Reston to friggin Ashburn and back.
I also ventured towards the East and made the Vienna run on the W&OD (14-mile round trip from Lake Anne, can be stretched to about 16 miles if you hit Beulah Road) so many times that I got bored of it. Anyone that has seen my map routes comments on how I am always turning all over the place, I do this because it keeps me from being able to see further than a quarter mile or so away. When you are riding the W&OD between Ashburn and Vienna it is very straight, the only real variety that you get is the elevation changes due to the pedestrian bridges, the dangerous street crossings and a few nice hills between the Dulles Toll Road and Vienna. It also becomes a cyclist superspeedway during the nice weather months, so you are one of hundreds running, with a dozen or so cyclists zipping by at very high speeds every few minutes.
The longest run for the year was about 21 miles, I ran to Smiths Switch Station on the W&OD and back. It destroyed my toes. I now wear silicone toe caps which in theory should help me avoid the major mangling I went through in that particular run.
Another crazy side-effect of all of these miles is that my "home" zone is now a 2-mile bubble. If I am running 16 miles and I hit the area within my "home" zone I relax, I am home. I am going to make it fine no matter what. Even at my lowest speed it means I'll be there in less than 25 minutes, which is the equivalent of being just around the corner. So I run towards route 7, then to Sterling, down to the W&D and back home, and right as I see the Reston Town Center I hit my "home" zone. This is when just 100 pounds ago the idea of walking from my house to the Reston Town Center would freak me out because of the (then) seemingly impossible hills I would have to climb if I took the trails.
Racing
I raced twice: a 5-miler charity run in Ashburn, which was so-so but I beat my goal time, and a 5K in Herndon, another charity run, which was a blast. Still, I didn't click with racing so I stopped signing for them. I already run 6-7 days a week, those races basically mean I have to waste hours to drive there and back when I can just spend those hours running.
Shoes!
I ran through a ridiculous amount of shoes through the year, and I learned a lot about my "right" shoe and how to get the most bang for my buck. I posted a very long analysis here.
I also ran through some extreme weather. It varied from terrible blizzards early in the year, to 1200% humidity during the worst of the summer, then terrible wind chill that is still happening today. For today's run it hit 2° F when adjusted for windchill, which was rough, but I still think it was nowhere as hard as running in 100% humidity.
Gear
I started the year with my faithful Fitbit Charge 2, which helped me walk off 70+ pounds without feeling like I was doing a lot of work. But for running it simply didn't measure up. So I switched to a Garmin Forerunner 235, which so far has been fantastic.
I also learned the importance of having a great headlight, and I lost my first one when it slipped off my hat. I tried to replace it with a clip-on that didn't measure up, so when I replaced it with another of my original favorite design, I got the idea of using Velcro to stick the lamp to my hat instead of using the supplied head band. I have now run a couple hundred miles with this arrangement and the lamp has failed to fall off the hat.
I ran 3,416 miles in 2017. I was on my feet a little longer than that, but those 3,416 miles are true running. And yes, I walked too, but based on my movement percentages I never finished a run with less than 99% movement.
The first half-marathon
I hit the half-marathon mark sometime in March. I hit the mark right in front of the McDonnalds at the Herndon K-Mart plaza, and I had misjudged how much time I had available to run, so there I was 3 miles away from home, no juice left, and I was already 15 minutes late for work (I telecommute). I called Ivette and she picked me up. In the whole year I only had her pick me up twice, the second time was due to a heat wave, I ran out of steam on mile 15 and I played the "fuck it" card. I stopped at Trailside Park in Herndon, got a Slurpee and a cinnamon roll and chilled in the park until Ivette picked me up.
The Wall
Hitting mile 13 was also my introduction to "the wall." I had no clue that glycogen depletion was a thing, but I wasn't surprised when I complained at the runners store that I was running out of juice somewhere between miles 10 and 13, without any pain or breathing discomfort. I just ran out of juice.
They asked me if I was eating. That's when I had to learn about eating WHILE I ran. I experimented with both gels and chews and eventually settled on gels simply because they are easier to dispense. I tried a lot of CLIF, GU, Gatorade, Honey Stinger products. The Gatorade chews are dirt cheap, but they are a royal pain in the ass to dispense so I quit using them. CLIF, GU and Honey Stinger are awesome, but I eventually settled on two CLIF products, one that has 100mg of Caffeine per portion, one that has 50mg. I originally stacked these in 5-mile intervals but eventually I found that I was doing a lot better with 45-minutes between snacks.
And no more wall. Now my limit is usually how much abuse I can inflict on my feet. My lungs are never a problem, even after 20+ miles, and my legs just get stiff. But my feet just kill me after mile 20.
The Uber Ride of Shame
I took the Uber ride of shame three times. The first time I ran out of fucks after 15 miles, which meant walking from Herndon, VA and I wasn't ready to do that. That was also my very first Uber ride, which I enjoyed a lot even if the driver couldn't navigate worth shit.
The second Uber ride of shame was funny because I ran into Ivette (my wife) right as I was getting ready to order the ride, and she had been thinking about bailing out from HER walk, about 3 miles away from home. Our driver was excellent and he actually knew the town very well.
The last Uber ride of shame was a preventive measure. My ankle started to act up a little under 3 miles from home, and I didn't think it was wise to walk it. This time my Uber driver knew the town so well that he actively argued against the voice prompts from his GPS, something that both Ivette and myself do in our own cars ("are you kidding me? why would I drive through THAT at this time of the day?"). The ankle was strained a little bit, it actually hurt more walking than running, which to this day makes no sense. I wore KT tape for about two weeks, but most of the relief was needed for walking, it really didn't hurt when I ran, and it eventually went away.
My Town Keeps Getting Smaller
My understanding of the size of my town changed dramatically over the past year. Every time I am out in the car, the "uh, I have run through here" moments keep happening farther away from the house. This reached crazy proportions when I actually managed to run across route 28 and back for the first time, it really felt unbelievable at the time. Later I managed to run three miles further West, which put me at the Ashburn Village Boulevard. I other words, I was now running from Reston to friggin Ashburn and back.
I also ventured towards the East and made the Vienna run on the W&OD (14-mile round trip from Lake Anne, can be stretched to about 16 miles if you hit Beulah Road) so many times that I got bored of it. Anyone that has seen my map routes comments on how I am always turning all over the place, I do this because it keeps me from being able to see further than a quarter mile or so away. When you are riding the W&OD between Ashburn and Vienna it is very straight, the only real variety that you get is the elevation changes due to the pedestrian bridges, the dangerous street crossings and a few nice hills between the Dulles Toll Road and Vienna. It also becomes a cyclist superspeedway during the nice weather months, so you are one of hundreds running, with a dozen or so cyclists zipping by at very high speeds every few minutes.
The longest run for the year was about 21 miles, I ran to Smiths Switch Station on the W&OD and back. It destroyed my toes. I now wear silicone toe caps which in theory should help me avoid the major mangling I went through in that particular run.
Another crazy side-effect of all of these miles is that my "home" zone is now a 2-mile bubble. If I am running 16 miles and I hit the area within my "home" zone I relax, I am home. I am going to make it fine no matter what. Even at my lowest speed it means I'll be there in less than 25 minutes, which is the equivalent of being just around the corner. So I run towards route 7, then to Sterling, down to the W&D and back home, and right as I see the Reston Town Center I hit my "home" zone. This is when just 100 pounds ago the idea of walking from my house to the Reston Town Center would freak me out because of the (then) seemingly impossible hills I would have to climb if I took the trails.
Racing
I raced twice: a 5-miler charity run in Ashburn, which was so-so but I beat my goal time, and a 5K in Herndon, another charity run, which was a blast. Still, I didn't click with racing so I stopped signing for them. I already run 6-7 days a week, those races basically mean I have to waste hours to drive there and back when I can just spend those hours running.
Shoes!
I ran through a ridiculous amount of shoes through the year, and I learned a lot about my "right" shoe and how to get the most bang for my buck. I posted a very long analysis here.
I also ran through some extreme weather. It varied from terrible blizzards early in the year, to 1200% humidity during the worst of the summer, then terrible wind chill that is still happening today. For today's run it hit 2° F when adjusted for windchill, which was rough, but I still think it was nowhere as hard as running in 100% humidity.
Gear
I started the year with my faithful Fitbit Charge 2, which helped me walk off 70+ pounds without feeling like I was doing a lot of work. But for running it simply didn't measure up. So I switched to a Garmin Forerunner 235, which so far has been fantastic.
I also learned the importance of having a great headlight, and I lost my first one when it slipped off my hat. I tried to replace it with a clip-on that didn't measure up, so when I replaced it with another of my original favorite design, I got the idea of using Velcro to stick the lamp to my hat instead of using the supplied head band. I have now run a couple hundred miles with this arrangement and the lamp has failed to fall off the hat.
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