Heat Acclimation

One of the worst parts of being a runner in the Northeast is the summer. It gets hot and humid. The heat is one thing, but the humidity is killer. I'm particularly susceptible to heat and humidity. For whatever reason, my body gets warm easily. My sweat rate is off the charts. Staying hydrated is such a challenge that twice I've ended races hospitalized with severe dehydration. But like anything, the heat is manageable. The key is acclimation. My guess is it takes two weeks of tough, pretty unfun runs to get the body used to running in soup. No matter what, you can't run as fast in hot, sticky weather, but it's helps not to feel like death is imminent. Tonight, I felt acclimated. I sweat a lot, which tells me that my body is responding to the need for severe cooling, and I felt find the whole way. The forecast calls for two days with highs of 90 and humidity. Let's see how I feel doing a long run in this stuff.

5.75 miles, 39: 50

Why to Run

When people find out I run a lot, they often ask why. I don't know the answer to give them. One of the big reasons I like it is that it's very divorced from modern life. We don't really need to exert ourselves much anymore. For all our complaints, life is pretty easy. The other week, the New Yorker published a great essay from the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami about his running. He runs every day without fail. The story is an interesting attempt to pinpoint how running is a central part of his quest to simplify his existence. He fell into it, a chance encounter after many years of late nights as a jazz club owner. I think lots of people who run have these chance encounters. I know I did, when for reasons unclear in retrospect, I decided one day to run around a small park in Washington DC in 1998. Haruki says this about it:

If someone has an interest in long-distance running, he'll start running on his own. If he's not interested, no amount of persuasion will make any difference. Marathon running is not a sport for everyone, just as being a novelist isn't a job for everyone. Nobody ever recommended or suggested that I become a novelist -- in fact, some tried to stop me. I simply had the idea to be one, and that's what I did. Poeple become runners because they're meant to.

Morning Runs

This morning, I got up early (for me) to run five miles. Runners are either early runners or not. Several years ago, when I first started working in New York, I started running in Riverside Park in the morning. My first year was in graduate school, so my schedule was, um, flexible. But with work, I didn't have that flexibility. I went for the pre-work run, because I don't think at the time I knew it was fine to run at night in Riverside. It didn't last long. Running first thing in the morning is hard. My body still wants to be in bed, my muscles are tight, and I'm hungry. I soon switched to night running, though I ran my best marathons very early in the morning. All that said, I admire morning runners. There's something admirable about getting up close to dawn for a workout. The last couple of weeks, mostly because of a hellish work schedule with lots of events in the evenings, I've run mornings. It's cooler then, and I find my diet is better because I'm just eating breakfast afterwards. My goal is to continue this through the summer, though my big test will be traveling to Cannes next week. There will be so many late nights and work to do, I'll be happy if I run three times the entire week. What I wonder is whether someone is a morning runner or not. It might just be that some people are morning people and others aren't. I used to wish there was a marathon that began in the late afternoon or early evening, because I'm big believer that the body is most primed for maximum effort then.

5.2 miles, 35:40

Running Comrades

In a week, over 11,000 people will line up in Durban, South Africa, at the crack of dawn to do something extraordinary: run 55 miles to Pietermaritzburg. The course wends through the Transvaal, covering the Big Five hills: Cowies, Botha's, Fields, Ichanga and the Polly Shortts. The race is renowned for the spirit of helping each other, sometimes runners literally carrying others to the finish.

Ever since I first heard of Comrades about five years ago, it's become a near obsession. Part of it is because the race is held in Africa. Part of it is the challenge seems almost unreal to me, just as the marathon itself was not something I thought I'd do. Running requires taking the long view, and I've tried to do that with my training. A couple years ago, I ran two 50k races. I found I could go beyond the marathon just so long as I reined myself in a bit. Right now, I'm focused on running a sub 3-hour marathon, but my ultimate running goal is Comrades. I know I'll do it eventually, maybe as soon as next year.

Hot Running

There is no beating the heat, particularly when it comes to running. Summers are great for the long days and slower pace, but the high temperatures and humidity make them not so ideal for running. A couple weeks of warm-weather running, though, gets the body acclimated. But acclimation is the hard part.

I have a particular aversion to heat. Twice I've ended up in the hospital with pretty severe dehydration during long runs, including the horrific Delaware experience where I was dragged across the finish line. I really don't deal well with heat.

I ran five miles at about 7:15 pace. Ideally, I'd do a long run this weekend, but it's not important enough to go through that kind of suffering. It wasn't pretty, and I'm still sweating an hour and a half and a shower later. The only way to deal with the heat is adjust the pace, drink tons and eat some salty food to retain water better.

5 miles, 36:13

Long Runs + Calibration

Friday marked 26 days since the marathon. The rule of thumb is one day of recovery per mile of the race. I've felt fine for some time now, but I'm cautious after races because it's really easy to get hurt. Last week, I ran over 30 miles, and I'll probably do another 35 this week. Today I returned to the long run, albeit at a level that I wouldn't consider long during training: 10 miles.

The interesting thing is I might have figured out the Nike SportBand. After I posted about how disappointed I was with the accuracy of the SportBand, the director of Nike's Run NYC replied to the post. That's awesome. He suggested I need to calibrate it because -- and this is the part I really liked -- I run at a faster pace than it's optimized for. I went for a five-mile run yesterday, including the four-mile Central Park loop for calibration. The SportBand was off .3 mile again, and it was pretty easy to adjust the calibration once I found the option. (It's hidden after you hit a little "i" button in the corner of the uploading window. Today's run came up at 10.33 miles and 1:15 for a 7:15 pace. That's more like what I run. What's great about it, for me, is that Nike reached out to me directly. I'm not sure how Ple1 found my blog, but he seems to have helped solve my problem. Nice job by Nike.

Recovery + Strength

It's now been three weeks since the Flying Pig. Whether it's experience, fitness or some combination, I've had a pretty easy recovery. I took five days off after the marathon. Some people believe in forcing blood through the muscles to aid repair, but I'd prefer to do that through walking lots. My body wasn't ready for pounding, particularly with a couple unfortunate blisters. This past week, I ran about 26 miles. I'll probably get back to 30 this week, assuming I don't go out after work unexpectedly and squeeze in at least one run at the beach.

I'm plotting out the next marathon. It looks like Philly again, in late November. This works for me because I need a few more weeks before training again. I'd like to get stronger, something I always say but rarely follow through on. At the amount I'm running now, I have energy enough to do lots of strength and flexibility exercises. I'm extending my active-isolated stretching, while adding in some Pfitzinger core workouts. Next up, if my work schedule cooperates: a strength-and flexibility training class. I'll be happy if I can maintain 30 miles a week through the end of June while also getting stronger.

4.5 miles, 32:56

Where I run: Riverside Park

Despite being described by The New York Times as "the new Short Hills" because of the influx of families with small children, the Upper West Side has some advantages. The biggest, for me, is easy access to New York's two best parks, Central Park and the less famous Riverside Park. The latter is my favorite. I think it used to be a lot scruffier, and there is still the odd whiff of pot smoke during the evenings or lunatic vagabonds. For most part, it's great: lots of trees, dirt paths and even a bird sanctuary. I decided to try out the Nokia N95, which is hopelessly complicated for me, and finally join Flickr. All the photos are the stuff I see during my regular 5.75-mile run there.

5 miles, 36:49

Running Social

Running is inherently a big solitary, but lately I've checked out stuff online to make it more social. I've played around a little with RunnerSpace, which is what you'd expect. Runners Lounge is pretty similar. I decided to try out a new feature at FriendFeed, a service for sharing blog posts, links, photos, etc. The feature, FriendFeed Rooms, lets you set up areas devoted to particular interests. So began the Going Long room at FriendFeed. Just three hours old, it now boasts three members. This is truly the Long Tail.

7.1 miles 1:01 (Nike SportBand stats, so who knows)

A Sense of Pace: Internal Odometer vs Technology

I've gone running twice with the Nike+ SportBand. Both times were on a route I normally run during long-run recoveries. I figured the route is 5 miles. That felt right to me. But Nike+ told me the run was 4.72 and 4.69, putting my pace at 7:37 and 7:45. Uh-uh. I just didn't buy it. Yes, I'm still just 10 days or so from the marathon, but those runs felt faster, closer to 7:20 pace.

Tonight, I put my internal feel for distance and, more important, pace against Nike+ technology. Nike could argue it's not completely fair because I don't run in Nike+ shoes. Instead, I put the sensor in a pouch that attaches to the top of my Asics. Yesterday, on Twitter, I estimated that Nike+ was off .25 mile. My body told me it was a five-mile run to the Bridle Path, not these 4.72 and 4.69 miles that Nike said. To test the accuracy, I ran to the park, then started Nike+. I did the four-mile loop (technically, a USATF-measured 4.04). Nike+ told me 3.71 miles. I was pretty much exactly right about the distance. My internal odometer kicked Nike+'s ass.

It got me thinking about technology, something I write about quite a bit. For the most part, technology is great, even awe-inspiring the things it enables. Yet at the same time, I feel it's alienating people. We overlook the very simple things about life. It's why I was hesitant to add Nike+ to my regimen. Running is so basic, so elementary, so free of what Noakes calls "society's false privileges." My best miles in the marathon tick off one after the other, completely alike although unique. The times in the miles never vary too much. When there's a misplaced mile marker, our pack knew it because we had a sense of pace, developed with the most amazing piece of technology: our bodies. Bill Bradley, the former senator, was the subject of a great book called A Sense of Where You Are. The title came from the way Bradley, a basketball star at Princeton, described to the author how he always knew where he was on the floor without looking at the basket. He'd spent so much time practicing and playing that he developed an innate sense. We all have that, I believe, but we often don't trust it.

5.2 miles, 35:30

How to Avoid Running Injuries

An inevitable part of the running experience is injuries, fearing them and getting them. Treating injuries sucks, mostly because it's hard to figure out whether there's really an injury beyond normal aches and pains. After all, pain is part of the deal with running. A good rule of thumb is whether the discomfort is localized (ie, not a general soreness over an area) and affects the stride. If it does, time to treat it.

Prevention is obviously the best cure. I get asked how I avoid injuries. After all, I run a lot -- probably 1,500 miles a year -- frequently on hard surfaces. Plenty of people have predicted knee and hip replacements in my future. Up until now -- knock on wood -- I've fared alright. Here are my commonsense tips for avoiding running injuries.

1. Efficiency. Yes, we're all born to run. I was reminded of this again when in Cincinnati for the marathon. My friend Tom, who tried to poison me with jambalaya, has a daughter about 18 months old. She's just starting to walk. Elena's impulse, though, is to run. But just because running is natural doesn't mean it doesn't require thought. Running is hard on the body. Your body weight comes crashing down on joints and tendons with each stride. Even Lance has said how hard running is because of the pounding. The best way to mitigate the trauma: lower the force. You do this by paradoxically taking shorter strides. Look at the best runners and you'll find they're very economical. The goal is to have your feet off the ground for as little time as possible. Aim for short strides. Don't bounce. Repeat: never bounce. It also helps not to carry around a lot of weight.

2. Soft Surfaces. There are many great parts of living in New York City. One of the downsides is the dearth of running trails. I still try to do as many miles as possible on softer surfaces, dirt paths in Riverside or the Bridle Path in Central Park. The softer the surface, the less trauma. A modest proposal: We turn the golf courses into runner parks.

3. Stretching. Yeah, there's a school of thought that stretching is actually bad for you. Don't buy it. Stretching done incorrectly is bad for you. Lots of people treat is like a battle, grimacing while yanking their leg is a direction it clearly doesn't want to go. Since I came down with a tendon injury three years ago, I've done Active-Isolated Stretching. It's really helped me improve my flexibility, which was never great and became more constricted with all the miles. The principles of AIS are that the key to stretching is to isolate a muscle and apply quick (two seconds) pressure to slowly increase the range of motion. There's a rope involved. A father-son duo put on a class about it for the New York Road Runners.

4. Core Strength. My near-term goal for the summer is to get stronger. My upper-body strength is pretty pitiful, and it hurts me at the end of races. Injuries commonly happen when there's a set of muscles that's getting a lot more work than another set. (OK, this is a little outside my realm, but something like this is true, I'm sure.) There are lots of regimens for building strength. I do Pilates exercises in my apartment, a site the people across the way must love because it's typically shirtless after a run.

5. Patience. This is the hardest to follow. Lots of people fall in love with running. They're like your friend who meets a girl and all of a sudden is always over her place. That works out sometimes, but often ends up a mess. Lot of injuries happen when people try to do too much too soon. The marathonification of running has made this worse. Casual or non-runners decide they're running 26.2 because they had a four-mile run and it's a life goal. Running marathons is hard and the distance requires respect. I ran for two and a half years before training for a marathon. It wasn't the first race I'd run, but a gradual progression from four miles to five to 10K to a few halves. I realize there will always be "marathon tourists," the people who run for six or nine months to slog through 26.2 in five hours or so, like they're climbing the Eiffel Tower. That's pretty uninteresting to me, particularly if they don't stick with running. Doing marathons is just the byproduct of running as an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, not just physically but mentally.

Tracking Runs via Nike+ SportBand

Despite my day job covering how digital technology is changing media and advertising, I'm a bit old school with my running. One of the great things about running is its simplicity. You only need sneakers, although shorts and a shirt are probably a good idea. Sure, I run with a $30 triathlon watch, but that's about it. I've been of two minds about Nike+, the system that lets runners record and share workouts through their iPods. On the one hand, I've admired it as a legitimately revolutionary step toward marketing as a service, something I've written about quite a bit. Yet as a runner, it never appealed to me. Why? First, I don't believe in listening to music while running. I used to say it was for "the mentally weak." But more seriously, I think it's dangerous, not because of muggers necessarily but the more dangerous runner foe: cars. Taking away one of your senses is dumb. And it's true that "real runners" typically don't listen to music while running. Music is often used as a crutch by people who say running is "boring." Since running is the one time of the day I'm truly alone with my thoughts, this leads me to conclude those people are the boring ones. It's also an artificial stimulant. I see people surge when some song comes through their ear buds. Fine and all, but not exactly an efficient way to train.

With all that in mind, I figured Nike+ was properly aimed at the mass-market lifestyle runner. Then the SportBand came out. This intrigued me because it did away with the iPod in favor of a watch-like band. The idea of easily tracking my workouts is very appealing. On Saturday, I dropped $60 for the system. I don't run in Nikes, so I got a little pouch that attaches the sensor to the top of my Asics, rather than the built-in opening in Nike shoes. I know Nike wants to sell shoes through this system, but I can't think of many people running for years who would suddenly switch shoes. It just doesn't happen, unless you've had injuries. So far, I'm underwhelmed. The chart above shows my run today. After nine years of running, I figure I have a pretty good sense of pace. There's no way it was that slow. I ran today more at 7:30 or a little below. The graph also has all these peaks and troughs that don't make sense. It would have me believe one mile was 7:02 and another 8:13. I'll keep trying it to see how accurate it is. Right now, I think my regular watch and knowledge of the distance works just fine.