Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Year's Eve Easy Run

Today's plan calls for an Easy Run.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Easy Run. Dist: (6.02)mi. Pace-avg: (14:55). Speed-avg: (4.0)mph. Speed-max: (5.6)mph. Burned: (662) Calories. Headlight.


Plan: Run (3.0)mi. @ a (17:45) pace for a total of (53:17)min.
Actual: Run/walk (4.0)mi. @ an avg. (14:07) pace, bracketed by a (1.0)mi. warm-up walk, and a (1.02)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: Honey Stinger Waffle (Honey); Mid-run: GU Roctane (Pineapple); Post-run: dinner.

Good run tonight. It was nice very cool out tonight at (50) deg. F. when I started. The outside temp now is down (41) deg. F. I had a good run/walk/run out in the park with my headlight lighting the way, but once I passed the bridge the fog was think enough I had to take off my yellow glasses so I could see better. The headlight was almost like high-beams in the fog. People were already setting off fireworks, and maybe even firearms, in the surrounding neighborhood. And on the return leg of my run I definitely caught the heavy odor or reefer in the park.


Time to get cleaned up and see if I can find a New Year's Eve party I can crash.

Splits: Mile (1): (13:05); Mile (2): (14:24); Mile (3): (14:49); Mile (4): (14:16).


Other News: In search of a New Year's Eve party...



-Lancer!!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Post Xmas 2011 Easy Run

2011-12-28, Wednesday

Today's plan calls for an Easy Run. Actually, that was Tuesday' plan, but I'm doing it tonight, anyway.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Easy Run. Dist: (6.03)mi. Pace-avg: (15:32). Speed-avg: (3.9)mph. Speed-max: (5.6)mph. Burned: (620) Calories. Running lights, Headlight.

Plan: Run (4.0)mi. @ a (17:45) pace for a total time of (1:11:02)hrs.
Actual: Run/walk (4.0)mi. @ an avg. (15:11) pace for a total of (1:00:42.93)hrs., bracketed by a (1.0)mi. warm-up walk, and a (1.03)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: GU Energy Gel (Mandarin Orange); Mid-run: (water); Post-run: very late dinner of Xmas left-overs.

Tonight's run went well: I finally bought the Gore Running Wear Essential Jacket I was checking out at Fleet Feet in Stockton. The big advantage to buying it in the store: I could take it home and use it the same night. And since I was in Stockton I went to REI and checked out the hydration packs again, and also the Petzl headlights. I decided on the Petzl Tikka XP2 and a Petzl CORE rechargeable unit to go with it. While the CORE was charging I loaded the (3x) (AAA) batteries that the headlight can also use, and I headed out the door.

For tonight's run I wore my Nike long sleeve running shirt, my new Gore Running jacket, my Mizuno Thermal beanie, and my new Petzl headlight; I also wore the usual Under Armor ninja hood, Nike Pro Combat compression shorts and my Nike running pants, along with running socks and my Brooks running shoes. During my warm-up walk to the park I set the Petzl for flashing white mode. It was pretty cool to see the reflective street signs and Bots Dots flashing with my light. Once in the park I switched to the high output white beam with the diffuser. I was really impressed with the brightness of the maximum setting; it's bright even when using the diffuser. The economy white mode was a little too dim with the lights in the park, but once deeper into the park, without lights, the economy mode was sufficient for running; I kept it on the high-output mode, anyway.

One of the creepier things I noticed with the headlight, as opposed to my usual Knuckle Lights running lights, was the number of glowing eyes I saw off the bike path; it was pretty surprising. I am fairly certain all of the eyes I saw belonged to the resident feral cats. On the return path I noticed at least one cat appeared to have only one eye.

My new running jacket worked out well. I ended up buying the black version because it was the only one in size XL; the blue one in Large was just a little too snug. And since I bought the black one, I decided to wear my yellow and black Brooks running shell over it, to improve overall visibility. The Gore jacket has a lot of reflective piping and stripes, but I felt better wearing the bright yellow shell with its own reflective details. The overall comfort level was cool, but not cold. On the return leg of my run I noticed my torso was pretty damp with sweat, but I did not feel too chilled by this. I believe the starting temperature this evening was about (41) deg. F. at 2345 hrs., and remained the same when I returned home.

Splits: Mile (1): (14:02); Mile (2): 14:33); Mile (3): (16:33); Mile (4): (15:45).

-Lancer!!