Living overseas, we do a lot of internet shopping. It's a great way to get a wide selection and still pay in $ vice paying in € or even worse in £. A company I was turned on to by a fellow running blogger The Running Warehouse.
Wide selection, quick turnaround (usually w/in a week, and we have to wait on the USPS) and they've sent me what I ordered every time! My only criticism is that some of there items only ship through UPS, not priority mail so I can't order them). Although, for those who live in the continental 48 (sorry Blunoz) they have free 2-day shipping, and free return shipping.
Even better, they've got a promotion of some sorts going on right now, and if you place an order over a certain value, you get a free reusable cloth shopping bag.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
It's Kind of Like Riding a Bike
Cross Training. I've decided to do it a bit more. The bog-standard Runner's World half-marathon plan has 2-3 days of "Rest/Cross Train" per week. I've tried to do something other than run at least one of those days.
It started off with just riding the stationary bike a the gym.
Then I moved on to doing a little strength training.
I've struck upon a better idea now (it doesn't really address the strength training though..).
Today, I cycled in to work and back home.
It was fun. Not easy, but fun.
I'd scoped the route by running it half-way from home and half-way from work. This morning I rode in for the first time. About 7.6 miles each way. I'm quite proud of myself, as the route is anything but flat. I even made it up the first big hill without too much difficulty (the same one that was at the beginning of my latest race). It was pretty much cake from there.
Right up till the end.
I'd talked with another guy from work who cycles in the same way occasionally. He'd warned me about a hill. Now, this is a hill I've 'run' up numerous times, but I'm not sure if I've written about it. It almost always ends up at the end of my lunchtime runs. It is the bane of my existence. Regardless of my intentions, by the top of this not-too-long hill I'm moving at a walking pace with a running gait.
So, for-warned is for-armed, no? Well....no. I knew the hill was coming, so I built up to max speed on the straight away leading to the hill....as fast as my wee little haven't cycled in 11 years legs would take me. Then: foiled again! What I'd failed to recall, what I didn't seem to remember, regardless of having run this way numerous times, was that the way I was going, I had to make a hairpin turn at the base of the hill, reducing my speed too essentially zero. Great plan. Needless to say, my cycle up the hill ended up resembling my runs up the hill. Walking pace, but this time pushing a bicycle.
I've decided to keep the bicycling up once or twice a week, weather and my work schedule permitting. I just need one more piece of important kit. Glasses. I swear I pulled a dozen flies out of my eyes over the course of 40 minutes.
It started off with just riding the stationary bike a the gym.
Then I moved on to doing a little strength training.
Tangent
I don't really like strength training to much. I can't explain why. I just never really have. I fall for the oldest trick in the book all the time. "I just need to get in better cardiovascular condition first, then I'll start worrying about strength training," I tell myself. Then the semi-annual PRT rears its head. I realize I haven't done a push-up since the last one. I panic. I over train. I burn myself out. I grow to dislike strength training even more. When the PRT is over, I just go back to cardio. Repeat until next PRT.End Tangent
I've struck upon a better idea now (it doesn't really address the strength training though..).
Today, I cycled in to work and back home.
It was fun. Not easy, but fun.
I'd scoped the route by running it half-way from home and half-way from work. This morning I rode in for the first time. About 7.6 miles each way. I'm quite proud of myself, as the route is anything but flat. I even made it up the first big hill without too much difficulty (the same one that was at the beginning of my latest race). It was pretty much cake from there.
Right up till the end.
I'd talked with another guy from work who cycles in the same way occasionally. He'd warned me about a hill. Now, this is a hill I've 'run' up numerous times, but I'm not sure if I've written about it. It almost always ends up at the end of my lunchtime runs. It is the bane of my existence. Regardless of my intentions, by the top of this not-too-long hill I'm moving at a walking pace with a running gait.
So, for-warned is for-armed, no? Well....no. I knew the hill was coming, so I built up to max speed on the straight away leading to the hill....as fast as my wee little haven't cycled in 11 years legs would take me. Then: foiled again! What I'd failed to recall, what I didn't seem to remember, regardless of having run this way numerous times, was that the way I was going, I had to make a hairpin turn at the base of the hill, reducing my speed too essentially zero. Great plan. Needless to say, my cycle up the hill ended up resembling my runs up the hill. Walking pace, but this time pushing a bicycle.
Final Tangent
I've decided to keep the bicycling up once or twice a week, weather and my work schedule permitting. I just need one more piece of important kit. Glasses. I swear I pulled a dozen flies out of my eyes over the course of 40 minutes.
End Tangent. End Post
Monday, May 19, 2008
Doggie Paddle
(Thanks for the title LW)
There's been a lot of rain here lately. Well, there's always a lot of rain here.
Today on my lunch run, I ended up in the middle of it, literally.
I passed the small parking lot with the amorous couple and noticed the beginnings of a puddle. No trouble, I figured, I'll stay toward the shoulder. Which worked well, until the puddle spread to the shoulder. So up I went onto the curb. Which worked well until I had to decide, thanks to my balance, whether to risk a twisted ankle or suck up the wet shoe. (Did I mention this is just where the local sewage treatment plant discharges into the stream?) Well, needless to say, I had a wet foot. But only one, which I figured was okay. A decent small sacrifice.
Until I fully rounded the corner, and saw that the puddle was in reality a small flood, completely covering the road, curb shoulders, right up to the hill side.
The only bright spots here:
Well when I say well, I mean almost well. I had a run in with a dog.
A young girl of about 13 was out walking her dog. A big happy looking guy about the size of a large border collie. Not on a leash of course. As I ran by, he trotted out to follow me with a big ol' doggie grin on his face.
While he looked friendly enough, I really didn't want to push him. So I slowed down to a slow jog (compared to the scorching pace I had been maintaining of course). And he just kept pace with me, big doggie grin and all.
So I stopped. All this time, the girl is calling her dog: "Fido, Fido, Komm!" to no avail. Eventually, she broke out the dog whistle. And the dog turned and faced her, then turned and faced me with a big "Will you let me run with you" look on his face. (Or at least that's how I interpreted it. Maybe it was German dog for "One more step and you're mine!") I think what really saved me was another runner coming from the other direction. She distracted him enough for me to slowly jog off.
Now, for some reason, I brought my drink bottle with me today. Not that it was that hot. But I guess, I could have used that to give the dog a big squirt in the face if it came down to it. That would I'm sure have either solved the problem or pissed the ever-living bejeezes out of him. Needless to say, after I was a good way clear, I gave the bottle a good test squeeze and it produced a nice solid stream of water. Would it have worked? I'm glad I didn't have to find out.
I've only had one other "run-in" with a dog while running. Back in England while running with a friend we were "threatened" by a dog. Right on one of the waterfront cycle/walking paths in Portsmouth's Northend. It was a real mean sounding thing, baring it's teeth, growling, sneering, drooling. All 10 pounds of it. I think a swift kick would have sent it spinning into the muddy low tide water.
I discussed this with the LW when I got home. We decided for 'grab the throat and choke' over 'gouge the eyes' when in extremis with a dog.
There's been a lot of rain here lately. Well, there's always a lot of rain here.
Today on my lunch run, I ended up in the middle of it, literally.
I passed the small parking lot with the amorous couple and noticed the beginnings of a puddle. No trouble, I figured, I'll stay toward the shoulder. Which worked well, until the puddle spread to the shoulder. So up I went onto the curb. Which worked well until I had to decide, thanks to my balance, whether to risk a twisted ankle or suck up the wet shoe. (Did I mention this is just where the local sewage treatment plant discharges into the stream?) Well, needless to say, I had a wet foot. But only one, which I figured was okay. A decent small sacrifice.
Until I fully rounded the corner, and saw that the puddle was in reality a small flood, completely covering the road, curb shoulders, right up to the hill side.
The only bright spots here:
- I didn't get my other foot wet as I turned around to go back, and
- I got a chuckle from the amorous lady who disengaged from her beau long enough to laugh at me.
Well when I say well, I mean almost well. I had a run in with a dog.
A young girl of about 13 was out walking her dog. A big happy looking guy about the size of a large border collie. Not on a leash of course. As I ran by, he trotted out to follow me with a big ol' doggie grin on his face.
While he looked friendly enough, I really didn't want to push him. So I slowed down to a slow jog (compared to the scorching pace I had been maintaining of course). And he just kept pace with me, big doggie grin and all.
So I stopped. All this time, the girl is calling her dog: "Fido, Fido, Komm!" to no avail. Eventually, she broke out the dog whistle. And the dog turned and faced her, then turned and faced me with a big "Will you let me run with you" look on his face. (Or at least that's how I interpreted it. Maybe it was German dog for "One more step and you're mine!") I think what really saved me was another runner coming from the other direction. She distracted him enough for me to slowly jog off.
Now, for some reason, I brought my drink bottle with me today. Not that it was that hot. But I guess, I could have used that to give the dog a big squirt in the face if it came down to it. That would I'm sure have either solved the problem or pissed the ever-living bejeezes out of him. Needless to say, after I was a good way clear, I gave the bottle a good test squeeze and it produced a nice solid stream of water. Would it have worked? I'm glad I didn't have to find out.
I've only had one other "run-in" with a dog while running. Back in England while running with a friend we were "threatened" by a dog. Right on one of the waterfront cycle/walking paths in Portsmouth's Northend. It was a real mean sounding thing, baring it's teeth, growling, sneering, drooling. All 10 pounds of it. I think a swift kick would have sent it spinning into the muddy low tide water.
I discussed this with the LW when I got home. We decided for 'grab the throat and choke' over 'gouge the eyes' when in extremis with a dog.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Cobblestone Classic
Race Report.
Yesterday morning I ran the Cobblestone Classic 5 mile run. Tag line "Where Tanks Once Tread" (To find out why, read the Tangent below). A Five mile course from Patch Barracks to Panzer Barracks along Panzerstraße.
Patch Barracks was originally called Kurmärker Kaserne and was constructed starting in about 1936, by, you guessed it, our good old German friends...
Panzer Barracks (originally Panzer Kaserne) was built around the same time. Kurmärker Kaserne was the home for the 7th Panzer Regiment...
...it had the headquarters area, offices, barracks, support facilities and the like...
...and Panzer Kaserne had the training area and shooting ranges for the Panzers.
To get from Kurmärker to Panzer Kaserne, they needed a road. Just any old road wouldn't do. Tank treads tend to be a little rough on asphalt, and they'll turn dirt roads to mud. So they came up with a solution:
Cobblestones
Great for tanks not so good for knees and ankles!
The bases were needed to support the newly re-arming German military during the run up to the Second World War. They played a supporting role in the military re-occupation of the Rhineland.
The combined USAF and RAF gave it a bit of a plastering.
The 7th Panzer Regiment didn't do that well either. It surrendered in Tunisia and finished the war in POW camps back in the U.S.
(Source note: all of the above photos came from a EUCOM history brief about Patch Barracks. I cannot attest to the status of copyright on any of them).
This is at least the 3rd running of the Cobblestone classic (which I know only b/c I saw a 2006 Cobblestone Classic T-shirt).
I've fallen off the wagon the last week. I did 11 miles last Saturday, and due to an equipment malfunction (sock position) ended up with some nasty blisters on my right foot. I ran again on Monday, only 4.5 miles and really regretted it. So I took the rest of the week off. (Which has some implications for my half-marathon training plan but in the short term really made my legs feel heavy when the race started. But it did give my blisters enough time to heal which was really what I needed.)
The race started alright. I made a conscious decision to start nearer the front this time. In past races I've spent a lot of time and effort at the beginning of the run playing dodge 'ems with slower runners, walkers and stroller pushers starting near the front. That worked out better than my past starts. (No, there were no starting guides or any order at all really to the start. Just "line-up and go". Very un-Armylike.)
The problem was I felt miserable pretty much from the start. Legs heavy, lungs weak. To make things worse the course was not easy. Pretty much immediately after leaving Patch Barracks it enters the woods, where it remains till the end, so the scenery is nice.
But there are the cobblestones. And there are the hills. It's pretty much just a series of hills for the entire 5 miles. With a nice long one at the beginning. (see the profile below). I'm not a hill running champion, I tend to slow down quickly, and get very slow as they go on.
I did have the advantage of having run almost all of the course before. I've explored most of the woods through which the course wound during my weekend long runs, except for the last half mile or so.
Needless to say, my "good start" stopped about mile 1 1/4 when the first real uphill began. I continued to trudge up the hill passing the 2 mile mark near the top of the hill at 16:16, a bit of quick and easy mental gym: 8:08 pace. Not exactly scorching.
Finally at the top, I sped up a bit as the course leveled out for a little bit and then began a slow relatively steady descent. I was able to maintain that pace, running next to a co-worker who had a GPS watch. It said we were running sub 6:00 pace. It lied. No way. We were holding an on/off conversation, which I cannot do at a sub 6:00 pace. Besides, we were maintaining pace for waaaaay too long for me to be sub 6:00. Even counting the downhill.
If you look at the elevation profile below, it was the second to last hill that really did me in (the one that starts at mil 4.3 or so). I think I pushed the pace a little too hard going up, trying to run with the same guy. Consequently, I didn't have much left.
To make matters worse, I started hearing a slapping footfall behind me. Getting closer. And closer. Soon enough, a scrawny little 11 year old boy just screams by. Very disheartening. About 5 miles in and passed by an 11 year old.
Then came the coup de grace to my race. Where was the finish? I just felt I had to be nearing the 5 mile end. We turned off the main trail that I'd run before onto a side trail I was unfamiliar with. As we curved around in the woods, I was really needing that 5 mile end point. My legs felt dead. My lungs weren't much better.
Then around the corner!
(Commence inner dialogue)
A sign! 5 miles!!! Joyous day!
But...wait....where ...(pray tell) is the finish line??? Refreshments????? The END??!!!!
Ahhh, [expletive deleted] race organizers!
Can't even advertise the real [expletive deleted] length of the [expletive deleted] race!
Yeah, but they sure can find a [expletive deleted] hill to make us run up.
Must have been a [expletive deleted] Marine again. [expletive deleted]
(End dialogue)
Well, eventually I did see the end, around a corner up a hill (of course).
Finish time: just over 42 minutes. Pace actually slower than my PB 10k time.
But honestly, with the hills, I'll take it. And it was fun. Just wish they'd said it was 5.something miles, not "5 miles".
Yesterday morning I ran the Cobblestone Classic 5 mile run. Tag line "Where Tanks Once Tread" (To find out why, read the Tangent below). A Five mile course from Patch Barracks to Panzer Barracks along Panzerstraße.
Patch Barracks was originally called Kurmärker Kaserne and was constructed starting in about 1936, by, you guessed it, our good old German friends...
Panzer Barracks (originally Panzer Kaserne) was built around the same time. Kurmärker Kaserne was the home for the 7th Panzer Regiment...
...it had the headquarters area, offices, barracks, support facilities and the like...
...and Panzer Kaserne had the training area and shooting ranges for the Panzers.
To get from Kurmärker to Panzer Kaserne, they needed a road. Just any old road wouldn't do. Tank treads tend to be a little rough on asphalt, and they'll turn dirt roads to mud. So they came up with a solution:
CobblestonesGreat for tanks not so good for knees and ankles!
The bases were needed to support the newly re-arming German military during the run up to the Second World War. They played a supporting role in the military re-occupation of the Rhineland.
Kurmärker Kaserne didn't make it out of the war too well:
(Nice bullet holes above)
(Nice bullet holes above)
The combined USAF and RAF gave it a bit of a plastering.The 7th Panzer Regiment didn't do that well either. It surrendered in Tunisia and finished the war in POW camps back in the U.S.
End Tangent.
This is at least the 3rd running of the Cobblestone classic (which I know only b/c I saw a 2006 Cobblestone Classic T-shirt).
I've fallen off the wagon the last week. I did 11 miles last Saturday, and due to an equipment malfunction (sock position) ended up with some nasty blisters on my right foot. I ran again on Monday, only 4.5 miles and really regretted it. So I took the rest of the week off. (Which has some implications for my half-marathon training plan but in the short term really made my legs feel heavy when the race started. But it did give my blisters enough time to heal which was really what I needed.)
The race started alright. I made a conscious decision to start nearer the front this time. In past races I've spent a lot of time and effort at the beginning of the run playing dodge 'ems with slower runners, walkers and stroller pushers starting near the front. That worked out better than my past starts. (No, there were no starting guides or any order at all really to the start. Just "line-up and go". Very un-Armylike.)
The problem was I felt miserable pretty much from the start. Legs heavy, lungs weak. To make things worse the course was not easy. Pretty much immediately after leaving Patch Barracks it enters the woods, where it remains till the end, so the scenery is nice.
But there are the cobblestones. And there are the hills. It's pretty much just a series of hills for the entire 5 miles. With a nice long one at the beginning. (see the profile below). I'm not a hill running champion, I tend to slow down quickly, and get very slow as they go on.I did have the advantage of having run almost all of the course before. I've explored most of the woods through which the course wound during my weekend long runs, except for the last half mile or so.
Needless to say, my "good start" stopped about mile 1 1/4 when the first real uphill began. I continued to trudge up the hill passing the 2 mile mark near the top of the hill at 16:16, a bit of quick and easy mental gym: 8:08 pace. Not exactly scorching.
Finally at the top, I sped up a bit as the course leveled out for a little bit and then began a slow relatively steady descent. I was able to maintain that pace, running next to a co-worker who had a GPS watch. It said we were running sub 6:00 pace. It lied. No way. We were holding an on/off conversation, which I cannot do at a sub 6:00 pace. Besides, we were maintaining pace for waaaaay too long for me to be sub 6:00. Even counting the downhill.
If you look at the elevation profile below, it was the second to last hill that really did me in (the one that starts at mil 4.3 or so). I think I pushed the pace a little too hard going up, trying to run with the same guy. Consequently, I didn't have much left.
To make matters worse, I started hearing a slapping footfall behind me. Getting closer. And closer. Soon enough, a scrawny little 11 year old boy just screams by. Very disheartening. About 5 miles in and passed by an 11 year old.
Then came the coup de grace to my race. Where was the finish? I just felt I had to be nearing the 5 mile end. We turned off the main trail that I'd run before onto a side trail I was unfamiliar with. As we curved around in the woods, I was really needing that 5 mile end point. My legs felt dead. My lungs weren't much better.
Then around the corner!
(Commence inner dialogue)
A sign! 5 miles!!! Joyous day!
But...wait....where ...(pray tell) is the finish line??? Refreshments????? The END??!!!!
Ahhh, [expletive deleted] race organizers!
Can't even advertise the real [expletive deleted] length of the [expletive deleted] race!
Yeah, but they sure can find a [expletive deleted] hill to make us run up.
Must have been a [expletive deleted] Marine again. [expletive deleted]
(End dialogue)
Well, eventually I did see the end, around a corner up a hill (of course).
Finish time: just over 42 minutes. Pace actually slower than my PB 10k time.
But honestly, with the hills, I'll take it. And it was fun. Just wish they'd said it was 5.something miles, not "5 miles".
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Call me Corrigan
It all started a few weeks ago. I went for a long run on a new route. I was going to meet the LW and Little Man for his soccer game. I wanted to do about 8 or 9 miles, but the field is only about 5 miles away. So I went to a convenient online mapping service, scouted out a route. Looked simple enough, and I ran it.
It started well, but I'd run most of the beginning of it in pieces before. The trouble came when I entered new territory. You see, it wasn't on roads, but trails. There are plenty of trails around here. Most of them are probably better described as forest roads, because they are so wide, they are however, closed to traffic which makes it a very attractive place to run.
But they're just not marked very well. So needless to say, I went a little astray. My 8-9 mile run turned into a 9.5 mile run. Not too bad. Except it was cold and rainy.
(And his game ended up getting canceled:
Fast forward one week. I'm in North Carolina for a conference. I ran the first morning (it's great to be time zones ahead so you can wake up early and go for a run without the misery of waking up early.) It was a nice short one. No problems, just a little drizzle at the end. Over the course of the next two days I find a running route map outside one of the conference rooms. Eureka! It's perfect. I take a look that night and find a nice 6ish mile loop to run the next morning.
Great plan. 6ish mile loop. On trails. In the dark. In an area I've never run in before. Can you see where this is going? I think the best thing that can be said about that run is that I couldn't find the trails in the dark, therefore I didn't get miserably lost trying to follow them. My 6ish mile loop became a kinda 4ish mile loop with spokes shooting off it! Here's the loop, you just lose a bit of the frustrating "shoot, dead end!" aspects of it.
Fast forward to this morning. Not wanting to repeat my past mistake, I took a very close look at the route online. I saw where I'd gone wrong: I needed to take a left immediately after the house by the train tracks, last time I'd gone straight. So armed with that, and a list of the names of the three trails I needed to hit, I was off.
Yeah. Well little did I know, there were TWO left turns, only one of which was marked on any map, and you just couldn't see the other on any overhead imagery I could find. (Anyone think of asking Google if they could do a winter global overlay? No pesky trees to block trails.)
So needless to say. I got to do a bit more exploring. Due to my natural sense of direction (LW suppress that snicker), I found my way back to the main cobblestone trail and finished up. Nine miler becomes 11 miler. But....I didn't miss the Little Man's soccer game, or my name would be Mudd.
The good thing is, I've found quite a few neat paths through the woods, and with the summer coming it will be just lovely to explore some more.
Kit notice:
I bought an Amphipod Hydration belt online. I figured with running longer distances in the summer weather I'd need something more than the single 20 ounce Ultimate Direction bottle I had. (I'd gotten that one free a couple of summers ago in Hawai'i when the Ultimate Direction sales rep was in the shop when I went in to buy some new shoes). I really liked the bottle in the Ultimate Direction set up, but holding it in my hand just got a little annoying. So I bought the belt and ran with it this morning. It was great. I was worried about bounce, but there was none. I had to do a little tweaking with bottle position, but luckily that's not too hard. Over all very satisfied after one run. We'll see how it goes as the summer progresses.
It started well, but I'd run most of the beginning of it in pieces before. The trouble came when I entered new territory. You see, it wasn't on roads, but trails. There are plenty of trails around here. Most of them are probably better described as forest roads, because they are so wide, they are however, closed to traffic which makes it a very attractive place to run.
But they're just not marked very well. So needless to say, I went a little astray. My 8-9 mile run turned into a 9.5 mile run. Not too bad. Except it was cold and rainy.
(And his game ended up getting canceled:
- Name at end of alphabet
- last call on roster
- didn't get the call before LW left the house
- Glad coach wasn't there, I'd have been bailing LW out of prison.)
Fast forward one week. I'm in North Carolina for a conference. I ran the first morning (it's great to be time zones ahead so you can wake up early and go for a run without the misery of waking up early.) It was a nice short one. No problems, just a little drizzle at the end. Over the course of the next two days I find a running route map outside one of the conference rooms. Eureka! It's perfect. I take a look that night and find a nice 6ish mile loop to run the next morning.
Great plan. 6ish mile loop. On trails. In the dark. In an area I've never run in before. Can you see where this is going? I think the best thing that can be said about that run is that I couldn't find the trails in the dark, therefore I didn't get miserably lost trying to follow them. My 6ish mile loop became a kinda 4ish mile loop with spokes shooting off it! Here's the loop, you just lose a bit of the frustrating "shoot, dead end!" aspects of it.
Fast forward to this morning. Not wanting to repeat my past mistake, I took a very close look at the route online. I saw where I'd gone wrong: I needed to take a left immediately after the house by the train tracks, last time I'd gone straight. So armed with that, and a list of the names of the three trails I needed to hit, I was off.
Yeah. Well little did I know, there were TWO left turns, only one of which was marked on any map, and you just couldn't see the other on any overhead imagery I could find. (Anyone think of asking Google if they could do a winter global overlay? No pesky trees to block trails.)
So needless to say. I got to do a bit more exploring. Due to my natural sense of direction (LW suppress that snicker), I found my way back to the main cobblestone trail and finished up. Nine miler becomes 11 miler. But....I didn't miss the Little Man's soccer game, or my name would be Mudd.
The good thing is, I've found quite a few neat paths through the woods, and with the summer coming it will be just lovely to explore some more.
Kit notice:
I bought an Amphipod Hydration belt online. I figured with running longer distances in the summer weather I'd need something more than the single 20 ounce Ultimate Direction bottle I had. (I'd gotten that one free a couple of summers ago in Hawai'i when the Ultimate Direction sales rep was in the shop when I went in to buy some new shoes). I really liked the bottle in the Ultimate Direction set up, but holding it in my hand just got a little annoying. So I bought the belt and ran with it this morning. It was great. I was worried about bounce, but there was none. I had to do a little tweaking with bottle position, but luckily that's not too hard. Over all very satisfied after one run. We'll see how it goes as the summer progresses.
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