Tuesday Night Easy Run

Headed out for my Easy Run tonight after dark.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Easy Run. Dist: (5.70) mi. Pace-avg: (16:21). Speed-avg: (3.7)mph. Speed-max: (5.1)mph. Burned: (610) Calories.

Plan: Run (3) mi. @ a (17:27) pace for a total time of (52:23) mins.
Actual: Jog (3) mi. @ a (14:29) pace for a total time of (43:26.06) mins. Bracketed by a (1) mi. warm-up walk, and a (1.7) mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: a strawberry yogurt and some Pringles Original about (2) hours beforehand; Mid-run: Gu Roctane Orange-Vanilla; Post-run: Dinner!

So I went out tonight after dark, partly because I was being lazy, and partly because the temps were in the high nineties. Also, I really wanted to try out my running lights with fresh batteries. As it happens the alkaline Duracell batteries I installed in the lights after Sunday's Long Run made the lights enormously brighter than with those Carbon-Zinc batteries. Those batteries that were shipped with the lights may have been running down while sitting on the shelf, and reading a Wikipedia article about them indicates they do not have a very long shelf life.

Now that I have the new batteries in, and completed an all after-dark run, I can say that the KnuckleLights(tm) live up to the advertising more than I had previously expected. It almost feels like you are running in a larger pool of light. I was even able to see more than five (5) feet in front of me when I pointed the lights down the path. I'm not sure I could even see that far with the previous batteries. I definitely feel safer running with brighter lights at night.

Tonight I was able to jog continuously for three (3) full miles. It felt good to finally make it that far without having to walk during the "Jog" phase. The splits in TC show:

Mile (1): (14:07)
Mile (2): (14:30)
Mile (3): (14:48)

I don't really know what it means yet, but that's OK.

Anyway, better stretch out and eat.

-Lancer!!

Long Run Sunday No.7

Went out for my Long Run today.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (12.38)mi. Pace-avg: (17:00). Speed-avg: (3.5)mph. Speed-max: (6.2)mph. Burned: (1358) Calories.

Plan: Run (10) mi. @ (17:33) pace, for a total time of (2:55:34) hrs.
Actual: Jog/Walk (10) mi. @ (16:49) avg pace, for a total time of (2:48:06.62) hrs. Bracketed by (1) mile warm-up and (1) mile cool-down walks.
Fuel: Pre-run: (2x) PowerBar ProteinPlus (Reduced Sugar) Bars (Chocolate Peanut Butter); Mid-run: (1x) pack of Sport Beans (Grape), had half the pack at around (3.5) miles in, then the rest on the return leg around mile (6) or (7); Post-run: Banana-Chocolate-Strawberry-Honey Smoothie (homemade), then dinner of leftover pizza and salad.

Finally got in my Long Run, even though it was later in the day than originally planned. It went pretty well overall, though my running lights crapped out on the return leg. Pretty sure it is the batteries, but I will have to check that out later.

OK. I just replaced the batteries that shipped with my KnuckleLights(tm), Panasonic Carbon-Zinc AAA batteries, with some good old-fashioned Duracell Coppertop AAA batteries. I tested them in the dark backyard and the light appears to be even brighter than with the Panasonic batteries. SWEET! Now I am really looking forward to using these on my next after dark run. I hope there will be even more depth of field visibility when jogging over uneven blacktop, et al.

While I was still on the return leg of my training run I was ambivalent about trying to jog in the dark, even though I had my SureFire with me. Once I got past the fenced off orchard and onto flatter ground I decided to give it a try. Dark as it was I was still able to see the dashes on the blacktop. There was plenty of ambient light pollution for some visibility, even without the running lights. I did use my SureFire for illumination from time to time, but not quite as often as in the past.

I met some goals today: I was able to jog continuously for (30) minutes or more on two parts of this evenings run. On the outbound leg I "jogged" [fast-walked, speed-wise, but it felt more like jogging] for (2.42) miles over (37) min. @ about a (15:33) pace. And on the return leg  I "jogged" (2.04) miles over (31) min. @ about a (15:33) pace. Both times I was trying to maintain the pace for a full (3) miles, but fell short.

I didn't eat much today before my run. For breakfast I had (2) slices of wheat toast with creamy peanut-butter, and two (2) mugs of tea with honey. I drank a good amount of water during the afternoon. Then I had the (2) PowerBars about one hour before my run. I did not feel weighed down and heavy at all during the run, but I was a bit worn down during the final cool-down.

OK, better stretch out before my muscles get too cooled off. Good night!

-Lancer!!