Fruddled Gruntbugglies

Category: Running

  • Run Notes

    Run Notes

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    A quick search reveals that this is about my 25th post with the title “Run Notes” or some close variation. I guess I need to start coming up with more creative titles, but if the shoe fits…

    Today was my 4th time running a half-marathon since September. My last was 3 weeks ago. Today’s average pace was 10:53/mile, and average cadence 175spm, both of which are right around normal for me for this distance this time of year. As with last time, I wasn’t sure I was going to run 13.1 miles when I left the house, but today was a good opportunity for it: I had no time constraints (other than my stomach), the weather was good (mid 30s, sunny, light winds) and my lower back, which has been acting up lately, is slowly improving. Overall, the run felt pretty good, in spite of my getting a late start and being a little light on sleep (long story). After stopping a couple of weeks ago, I ran with Tuli heel cups again, because I was starting to develop a hot spot on my left heel 4-5 miles or so into my most recent runs. I suspect I tried to go “cold turkey” too quickly. Today, I had no heel issues at all, either during or after the run, so it seems like my feet had adapted to running with the heel cups. I still think it’s a good idea to run without them occasionally to try to reduce my dependency on them, but I’m going to need to start slowly, e.g. only on shorter runs.

    Today, I was able to run through Troy Park. I frequently run there on weekday mornings, but I usually avoid it on weekends, as it can get super busy with youth sports (typically soccer and lacrosse). Being a holiday weekend, though, today was an exception. I like running through Troy, because it gives me more options to get miles in without having to repeat sections of my route. The park also has a few bottle fillers for refreshing my water, which for some reason, I never thought to do before this year. It’s quite convenient, because the park typically falls at around the halfway point of my runs, so I can refill there and not have to carry as much water with me. They do shut the fountains off for the winter, though.

    Today’s run sets me up nicely for potentially taking a longer run around the holiday break (I’m thinking 15 miles or so). Just need the weather and my health to hold up. I’ll probably try to get a couple of 10-milers in in the meantime, although I do have a business trip coming up, which will likely cut into my mileage somewhat in December.

  • Fall Running Notes

    Fall Running Notes

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    I feel like I am finally back in running shape after my annual summer slump. I haven’t missed a run in a while, and have been pretty consistently running 20 to 25 miles per week. This morning, I ran my usual 7-mile weekday route at 10:12/mile. My average cadence was 179 steps/minute, which is my fastest since I got my new Apple Watch. I had not been tracking cadence during the year or so that I was watch-less, and I was surprised at how much my cadence dropped over that time. During my recent runs, I’ve been focusing on trying to take quick steps and minimize ground contact. A good visualization for this is to pretend that I am running over hot coals. I’ve also ditched the Tuli heel cups I had been running with for the past couple of years. They are nice to have when dealing with heel tenderness or bursitis, but the trade-off is that they elevate the heels slightly, and they absorb a small amount of energy (which is unavoidable with any type of cushioning). They’ve definitely got their purpose, and I’ll use them when I need them, but I think running without them will benefit both my speed and my cadence.

    Incidentally, today was my first time running in long pants this season. It was about 40°F out, overcast, chilly, but not too windy. If it had been sunny, I likely would have run in shorts. I’ve been finding that with running and (to an extent) mountain biking, I’m comfortable in shorts down to around 40 (for road biking, the threshold is more like 50). In past years, I remember a lot of runs in the 40s where I’ve worn long pants, but wished I had worn shorts instead, so I’ve been doing that more often this year.

  • November 8 Post

    November 8 Post

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    Lately, when I remember, I’ve taken to reading posts that I wrote here on the same month and day in previous years. WordPress makes it easy to search for all posts on a given month and day (via the monthnum and day query string parameters) and from there, I whipped up a quick PHP script to generate the appropriate search string based on the current date. It’s interesting seeing what I wrote on a given date, say, 15 years ago (and incidentally, we’re only 10 days away from the 20th anniversary of my first post). At this point, it seems like I have written posts on most days of the year, but there are a few dates with no posts, and until now, November 8 was one of them.

    I had initially been thinking about running the BWI loop this morning, but I decided I didn’t want to deal with all of the people on the trail on a mild day, so I ran on familiar roads around home, and ended up going 13.1 miles. It was my third half-marathon of the season, and I averaged 10:48/mile. I am dealing with some extensor tendonitis in my left foot, but running doesn’t really affect it much (walking and climbing seem to be the main culprits) and other than that, I have no major physical issues right now. I had plenty of energy, and finished stronger than last time I ran this distance (Oct 19) so it seems like I am getting back in shape for longer runs.

    It is getting to be time to winterize the pool. The pool has lost a lot of water the past couple of winters, making me suspect a leak, but it never seems to lose water during the summer. This afternoon, I went to check the Chlorine and water levels, and was surprised to find that the water had already dropped to about 3/4″ below the tile line. This fall has been dry and windy, so It could be due to evaporation, but it’s never dropped that much so early in the off-season. The silver lining is that it saves me work, as I won’t need to pump water out of the pool to winterize the skimmers. However, I don’t want the water level dropping too low to support the cover if we get snow this winter, so, I’m going to have to keep an eye on it, see how much it drops, and add water if needed.

    Last topic for the day is blood pressure. I have a family history of high blood pressure, and I keep mine in check with all of my exercising, but I’ve still had to take a low dose of BP meds since about age 35. The best way to stay on top of BP is to monitor it regularly at home, but I have always had kind of a phobia about taking my BP. Even thinking about it would cause my heart to start racing, and as a result, my BP would shoot up and I could never get an accurate reading. Last month, a BP scare at the doctor’s office prompted me to buy a new monitor, a Withings BPM Vision. It connects to the wifi and records all of my readings in the Withings app (and Apple Health). This has been great, because it turns out that my phobia isn’t about the actual process of taking my BP, but rather viewing the results. With the BPM Vision, I can keep the machine covered while I take my BP every day, and then wait until much later and review all of the results in the app. This seems to have done the trick: for the most part, I am now much more relaxed when I take readings, and by viewing (say) a week’s worth of readings at a time, I get a better overall picture of my BP rather than worrying about individual readings. So far, so good.

  • Fall Fun

    Fall Fun

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    I ran my second half marathon of the season yesterday. My goal is to try to run that distance about once a month from October through April or so. I definitely think it’s doable, but every time I run a half, I wonder to myself how the heck people run full marathons. Maybe that will seem more attainable over time as I work on my conditioning for longer runs. I was trying to take it kind of easy yesterday, and the run felt pretty good, but was very slow, with an average pace of around 11:40/mile. The only discomfort I felt was the pesky ache in the top of my left foot, which I’ve had on and off for years. Not sure what causes it, but it never seems to get any better or any worse. Massage gun, stretching, and trigger point release with a golf ball all help somewhat, and I’ve just kind of learned to live with it. Other than that, I can tell my body is getting back into shape for longer runs, as I feel fully recovered 36 hours later and ready to run again tomorrow morning.

    This morning, I got out for my annual paddle on the tidal Patapsco, launching at Southwest Area Park (which was quite busy on this balmy October morning). I paddled upstream and back for a total distance of 5.6 miles. The water was as high as I had ever seen it. At 3 hours past high tide, it was up near the top of the concrete boat launch ramp, and the adjacent pier looked like it had been underwater at high tide. I suspect that the culprit was onshore flow from a strong south to southeast wind. I had to turn around just past MD 648 due to time constraints, but I’m curious how far upstream I could have gotten given more time. Usually, I can make it to around the MD 295 overpass, or I-695 if I’m lucky, before the water gets too shallow to continue. I’ll have to see if I can get here another time when conditions are similar.

  • New Apple Watch

    New Apple Watch

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    This week, I finally took the plunge and bought a new Apple Watch. I bought my first watch, an SE, in late summer 2022. It served me well for almost 2 years of regular running, biking, and swimming. Then, last summer, it died a few hours after the first time I took it in the pool. Although I missed a lot of the watch’s features, I was a little annoyed to get less than 2 years out of it, so I held off for a year and a half before buying another one. The new watch is a series 11. Considering what these things cost, I’m really hoping this one lasts longer. I did spring for the AppleCare plan this time around, and I don’t think I’m going to swim with my watch any more.

    The new watch seems pretty nice, and it has a bunch of health features that I will make good use of (EKG, high blood pressure detection, sleep tracking, heart rate monitoring, etc). I also prefer the workout tracking on the watch to the Polar app I had been using on my phone. I took my first run with the watch this morning, and quickly realized how much I had missed having one. The first thing I found out was that my cadence has slowed over the past year and a half — I used to average around 180 steps/minute, but today’s run was 160 steps/minute. I enabled cadence alerts for my next run, which will hopefully help me get that number back up. Another thing I noticed was that, like my old watch, this one tracks distance differently than the Polar app. Specifically, with the watch, I had to run about 1/10 of a mile farther to hit 7 miles than I did with the phone and the app. Not sure if it’s an algorithmic thing (e.g. one tracker sampling the GPS more often that the other), a GPS accuracy thing (the watch has its own GPS receiver), or maybe a little of both. I’m also curious which of the two is more accurate.

    Although the watch is 2mm larger than my old SE (46mm vs 44mm; the other option was 42mm, which seemed too small) I was happy to learn that it uses the same size bands. I bought my SE with a silicone adjustable sport band, so I changed things up and ordered a textile “sport loop” band with the new watch. Initial impressions: I prefer the look and feel of the textile band, and its hook-and-loop closure allows for more fine adjustment than the pin-and-holes closure on the silicone band. The latter, though, is easier to put on and take off, and more sweat-proof. I ran with the textile band today, and when I was finished, it was wet from perspiration, which means that it would likely get “funky” after a few runs in the summer humidity. I suspect I’ll end up using the silicone band for workouts, and the textile band for everyday wear and potentially sleeping. I also have a handmade leather band for more formal occasions.

  • Run and Swim Notes

    Run and Swim Notes

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    Today was my first run of 13.1+ miles since May. The weather is finally getting amenable to longer runs, and I’m slowly getting myself back into shape for it. I’m going to try to keep up with last year’s routine of one longer run per week, typically 10-12 miles, and a 13-15 miler once per month or so. Today’s run felt pretty good, with no discomfort anywhere (as long as I stayed relaxed) and I averaged 10:50/mile, which is surprisingly fast for me for this distance. Several hours later, I’ve got a little bit of residual soreness on the outside of my left heel, which is the same area that has bothered me off and on all summer. I’m hitting it a lot with the massage gun, which definitely helps it, but it’s something I’m going to need to keep an eye on. I think it will become less of an issue as I get re-acclimated to running these distances after my annual summer mileage drop-off. The route I chose today was an experiment that took me down Landing Road from Ilchester to Montgomery. I don’t think I’ll be running there again. It is too narrow, with too much speeding traffic and poor sight lines. It was definitely the least enjoyable portion of the run.

    I swam this afternoon, matching my latest swim of 2024. I’m still 4 swims behind 2024’s total swim count, mainly because of the weather in late August that cost us a week of swimming. Based on the weather forecast for this week, I think there’s a pretty good chance I’ll end up eclipsing 2024’s total swim count. Things start to look a little dodgy at the end of the week, so we’ll see if we can stretch the pool season any later than that.

    My right shoulder has been bothering me after swimming lately. I suspect it’s a combination of poor technique and also more breaststroke/butterfly/front crawl strokes since I stopped doing backstroke for the season. Since I seem to have resolved my kicking issues with the front crawl, maybe it’s time to pick the backstroke back up and cut down a bit on the forward strokes. All the same, today I took things pretty easy, trying to stay relaxed and avoid overextending my arms, and it seems to have helped things. Next season, I really want to work more on technique to avoid the various swimming related issues I’ve had this past summer. As with most other activities, I think it’s possible to get away with poor swimming technique to a point, but swimming (almost) every day is another story.

  • Mid September Musings

    Mid September Musings

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    We could definitely use a bit more rain, but the dry weather has made for good mountain biking conditions in early September. Unfortunately, the summer growth is still pretty thick, particularly on the Baltimore County side of PVSP, and I’ve picked some poison ivy up the past couple of times I’ve ridden on that side of the river. After sparing the eastern part of PVSP for several years, wavyleaf basketgrass is now flanking the trails almost everywhere, so I have to be mindful not to bring the seeds home with me, lest the crap end up in my yard (I’ve already got some coming up near the pool equipment, which I pull up diligently every summer, and [knock on wood] have managed to keep from spreading so far). The trail that runs east from Belmont Woods Rd down to Rockburn Branch is in extremely poor shape nowadays, having suffered from severe erosion for years, and it’s becoming difficult to ride cleanly. But other than all that, everything is great. 😊 Today, instead of my usual commute to work, I took a 14-mile round trip through the Howard County side of Avalon, including the Bloede Dam Trail and Bloede Extension, which runs from Garrett’s Pass down to the river west of the former Bloede Dam site, and then out to Ilchester Road. This was only my second time riding this trail. It’s definitely one of the more technically difficult trails on this side of the park, featuring a lot of rock gardens and rocky descents. I did fairly well on it today, staying on the bike more than I did my first time out (a couple of winters ago). I think it will be good practice to try riding it a little more often. I also rode Ridge Trail eastbound from River Road, which is another butt-kicker. It’s nice to be getting back out on my mountain bikes more regularly.

    We’re also getting into peak paddling season, and I’m trying to get out on the water every week or so, although I haven’t been all that successful recently. This past Tuesday, I went back to Marley Creek with the paddleboard and went 4 or 5 miles, which is my longest outing on the SUP thus far. On the return leg, the headwind was kicking up to 20-25 mph (about 10-15 mph more than forecast) and I was really struggling against the wind. The board handled the choppy water fairly well, but I had to kneel down for the last 1.5 mile or so, which was a bit hard on my knees. Had I known it was going to be that windy, I probably would have gone another day instead. Next week, I may try to take my annual paddle on the tidal Patapsco. The tides look most favorable later in the week, so we’ll see how that works out with my schedule.

    The sunny weather has also been good for swimming. September can be a fickle swimming month, as all it takes is 2 days or so of overcast, dreary weather to kill the season. My front-crawl kicking seems to be improving, which I say because my calves don’t seem to be getting as tight any more. Next up is to try to improve backstroke kicking, but that’s a project for next year.

    Lastly, most of the issues that dogged my running over the summer (as chronicled in earlier posts) have cleared up, so I’m back to running 20-25 miles a week, and slowly upping my mileage for my weekend long runs. My goal this season is to try to run an 18-19 miler by early spring. We’ll see if it happens.

  • Run Commute

    Run Commute

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    I’ve often thought that running could be a good way to commute to and from the office, if I could figure out a way to make it practical. I ran to UMBC once in 2024, but didn’t bring much of anything with me, and got a ride home. Today, I decided to see if I could run both ways, and the answer was… yes, sort of. It was a perfect day for a run, with sunny skies and low humidity. It was also the last work day before school starts and traffic increases on the back roads, so I wanted to take advantage.

    My original intent was to run in the morning and walk/hike a more direct route home. Yesterday, I stopped at the office and dropped off clothes, hiking shoes, and the non-perishable portion of my lunch (nuts, granola bar, dark chocolate, and apple). For the run, I used my Osprey vest with the rest of my lunch stored in the compartment where the hydration reservoir usually goes. My other small items (Airpods, prescription drugs, Correct Toes, etc) went into the zipper pocket. For water, I used my hand-carry soft water bottle. The route I chose was 7.8 miles. It’s much hillier than my usual route through Elkridge, which makes it more challenging, but I did fairly well. At the office, I put compression socks on to help recover.

    Around midday, I got to thinking that maybe I could also run home. I had never taken two 5+ mile runs in a single day, but the combined round-trip distance (around 13.5 miles) was still shorter than my longest single-outing run (15 miles), so I figured I could do it. I took a more direct route of 5.5 miles, which was faster, but the downhill portion along Gun Rd was much steeper than I’d like. While I had no problem completing the run, I feel like I overdid things a little bit, and I didn’t feel the greatest when I got home. Several hours later, though, I’ve recovered and seem to be fine. I suspect that I need a little more time to re-condition myself to running longer distances, which is fairly common for me this time of year.

    The verdict here is that I think I can do this more often, but I’m probably going to need to limit it to cooler weather. Also, on the way home, I’ll likely avoid Gun Rd and run through Relay, which will add a mile or so to the total, but is a much more enjoyable route.

  • Midsummer Notes

    Midsummer Notes

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    With July passing into August, we’ve passed what I call the halfway point of summer, and are now looking towards school starting, Labor Day, and the eventual changeover to fall. August started out with pleasant weather, but now we’re getting back into a hotter, humid, summery pattern. August can get pretty hot, but psychologically, it always seems like there’s more light at the end of the tunnel during an August heat wave than in July.

    I’ve been in a bit of a rut the past few weeks with my right calf/right foot issue which I first noted in my July 21 post. The calf gets super tight and sore, and I get foot pain on the outside of the heel area. From my experience in 2020-2021, I know enough to know that the foot issue is not plantar fasciitis/fasciosis. For a little while, I was convinced that it was bursitis, as the discomfort is in an area which several web sites identify as a bursitis hot spot (although in general, most of what I read online seems to focus more on the forefoot area rather than the heel). The symptoms are somewhat consistent with bursitis, but I also tend to favor the calf when it is tight, which may be leading to tissue hot spots that I feel in the foot/heel area. This all started up shortly after swimming season began, which makes it easy to blame on my kicking form, which I know is terrible. As a precaution, I’ve stopped swimming freestyle and backstroke for now, and have doubled my breaststroke and butterfly reps (which I really feel in my shoulders afterwards). I’ve tried icing the foot, which theoretically should help if it is actually bursitis. The calf seems to respond well to the heating pad. Last week, I cut my running mileage down significantly, running 5K on one day and 4.5 miles the next. Lastly, I’ve been using a massage gun regularly on my calves and feet, which helps a lot, as long as I don’t overdo things.

    To make a long story short, it seems a little better this week. The calf is much better today, and unlike last week, I’m walking around barefoot and not favoring it. This morning, I was able to run 7 miles (my usual weekday morning distance) in spite of the return of the heat and humidity this week. I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing the past few days, and see how things go.

  • New VFFs

    New VFFs

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    I broke in a new pair of Vibram V-Runs this morning. It’s my 4th pair since 2020. I bought my first two pairs at roughly the same time in 2020, but didn’t start running regularly in them until spring 2022. Both eventually developed holes in the heel, and after holding on to them for way too long after I retired them from running, I finally tossed one pair last winter, and the other just last week. I bought my third pair at the beginning of 2024, and they’ve been my go-to running shoes for the last year and a half. No holes yet, but like the previous two, I suspect I used them a little bit past their expiration date. The featured image shows the soles side-by-side with the brand-new pair, and you can definitely see the difference in wear. I bought the new pair back in March, and they’ve been sitting in the closet waiting for me to decide it was time to switch. Today was the day. Assuming I keep up with my running, I should probably plan on replacing these every year or so. I’ll likely end up buying another pair around the end of next winter or so.

    Really tough run for me this morning. I got my 7 miles in, but I seriously hit the wall at around mile 5. Saturday, I made it 11 miles, but was totally wiped out at the end. Not sure whether it’s a hydration/electrolyte issue, a mild virus, or something else. My diet has not been the greatest over the past few days (eating out a lot) but I doubt that’s the sole cause. It’s not the weather, either, as it’s been much nicer the past several days than most of the second half of July. I am also still dealing with the calf tightness and outside-edge-of-foot achiness on the right side that has plagued me for most of the summer. As with previous years, everything will probably eventually resolve itself as mysteriously as it started.