Fruddled Gruntbugglies

Category: Running

  • Trail Running Redux

    Trail Running Redux

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    I was just searching here to see if I had ever written anything about trail running, but I couldn’t find anything. That surprised me, because I have tried it a couple of times in the past few years, and when I try something new, I often make an entry here as a way of keeping notes. Oh, well. I’m going to guess that the last time I tried trail running was about 3 years ago. What I remember most about it was that I tripped — a lot. I didn’t fall, but I stumbled so often that I stopped counting how many times something caught my foot. The experience was enough to convince me that I was too clumsy for trail running, so I stopped doing it — until this morning.

    About once a year, I run to work. I would do it more often, but it’s not as practical as I’d like. For one thing, when I’m running, I prefer not to carry a heavy pack with laptop, lunch, and change of clothes. Also, it’s 6 to 8 miles one-way (depending on route), and most days, I’m not going to be interested in running that distance twice (although I have done it before). So, running to work requires advance preparation: the evening before, I have to stop at the office and drop off lunch, laptop, and clothes. Then, I have to arrange to get a ride home. I guess another option would be to leave a bike at the office, which introduces even more logistics. But, I digress.

    This morning, the weather was really nice for a run. The only issue was, it was the first day of school for both Howard County and UMBC (Baltimore County schools get one more week of summer this year). I usually try to stay off the roads for the first week or so of classes, but I really wanted to run today. It seemed like a conundrum, but then it occurred to me that I could run the Howard County portion of my commute on trails through Patapsco Valley State Park. And thus, I decided to give trail running another shot.

    I do most of my road runs with Vibram V-Runs. I never tried them on trails, because I always just assumed that they would be awful off-road. Instead, I used minimalist hiking shoes like my Xero Mesa Trail WPs. The Xeros are great for hiking in wet and muddy conditions, but as I mentioned earlier, I tripped constantly when I tried to use them for trail running. I suspect that might be because the toe box is on the large side, so there’s more surface area to catch on roots and the like. Today, I decided to give the V-Runs a shot on trails. I was a little trepidatious initially, because the V-Runs have a kind of glove-like fit, and don’t offer much protection if I were to, say, ram my toe into a rock. I also worried that dirt and rocks would get stuck between the toes, and/or work their way inside the shoes, given their low profile.

    Well, at least today, all of my fears seemed to be unfounded. I went 8 miles, about 3 of which were on trails. I didn’t trip once, and nothing got stuck in the shoes. Granted, I paid very close attention to the terrain I was running over — there’s no zoning out in trail running, that’s for sure. The trails were damp and muddy in spots, and I wonder if drier conditions might lead to more pebbles working their way inside the shoes. Either way, it was an enjoyable run, which means I’ll likely try it again. Time will tell if trail running eventually works its way into my regular running routine, but I do have a number of routes through PVSP that I could easily do from home.

    Notes for next time:

    • The evening before, I stopped at the office and dropped off lunch, laptop, clothes, and prescription drugs.
    • For the run, I wore a hydration vest and carried a office keys, wallet, 2 energy bars, and a liter of water in the vest. Phone was in my shorts pocket.
    • Need to remember to bring Correct Toes to wear during the day with regular shoes.
    • If getting picked up, leave a small backpack in the office to avoid having to carry a lot of loose items to the car.
  • Summer post

    Summer post

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    I’ve been a bit of a slacker with regards to posting here lately. I seem to alternate through phases where I am highly motivated to write, and phases where I am totally uninteresting in writing. Actually, I’d call it “writer’s block” more so than lack of interest.

    I’ve decided to stop recording day-to-day notes about coffee here, and instead, I’m keeping a spreadsheet that I update with every cup I brew. It’s handy having detailed notes about every cup as I’m trying to dial in the best brew settings for a particular batch. I’ve only been doing this for about a month, but I think it’s helping me brew better cups. I’ll still post here occasionally about general coffee-related topics, and I may keep posting brew recipes/methods here as well.

    This has been the “summer of cold brew”. We have a full house currently, with both kids at home (long story), and I am the only one in the house who drinks hot coffee this time of year. The kids drink caffeinated cold brew, and my wife drinks decaf cold brew. I’ve been making it in the French press like so:

    1. Grind 3 ounces of beans at setting 10 on the Ode, or measure out 3 to 4 ounces of pre-ground coffee.
    2. Add grounds to the French press
    3. Add 28-30 ounces of water and stir until all of the grounds are wet. Then, pull the spoon out and top up to 32oz, using the remaning water to rinse grounds off the spoon (a lot will stick to the spoon, particularly when using pre-ground).
    4. Cover French press with plastic wrap, and secure with a rubber band.
    5. Put French press in the refrigerator and steep for 18-24 hours.
    6. Plunge slowly.
    7. Pour coffee through a paper filter into a glass container. For fresh ground beans, I use a size 3 V60, filter, and mason jar; for pre-ground, I use a mesh strainer, standard pleated coffee filter, and 32oz Pyrex measuring cup.

    I like to use a medium to dark roast for cold brew. Lately, Zeke’s Market Blend has been my go-to cold brew coffee. I suspect Charm City Blend, Tell Tale Dark, or any number of Zeke’s other dark roasts would also work well. They all come in 1-pound bags, and are very reasonably priced as far as coffee goes these days. I’ve also used pre-ground coffee to make several batches, but do not recommend it. It’s hard to plunge due to the finer grind, and filtering it tends to get messy. I’m just trying to use up a 2-pound bag of it we’ve had sitting in the freezer forever.

    I seem to have turned a corner with my summer running this year. I’ve been able to keep my mileage up much more consistently than previous years. I’m not running as much as I do in the cooler seasons, but I’m able to go 10K to 7.5 miles every time out, and I’m still doing a 9-12 miler roughly once a week. In past summers, there were many times where I would hit the wall and have to stop early after 4 to 5 miles. I think the “secret sauce” this year has been the homemade energy gels I’ve been making and consuming during my runs. The extra carbs and electrolytes really seem to make a big difference.

    More later…

  • Gel

    Gel

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    My occasional issues with “pooping out” or “hitting the wall” during my runs, particularly during hot, humid weather, is well-documented here. This summer, I’m finally getting around to trying carb/electrolyte gels, which is something I had been considering for a long time. Single-use, premade gels are easy enough to find, but they have always struck me as bad for the environment (the last thing we need is more throwaway, non-recyclable single use packaging). Instead, I picked up a couple of reusable 3.5oz plastic bottles (there are several brands available that are purpose-made for energy gels), and went online to find some homemade gel recipes. I found this site, which has a wide variety of them, and I have tried a couple of them so far. What I’ve learned is that you basically need a source of carbs (sugar) and electrolytes (salt). Maple syrup, honey, and fruit juices work for the former, and sea salt and pink Himalayan salt are good electrolyte choices.

    I figured that the shore, with its insanely high humidity, would be a good place to try gel out during a run, and initial results have been promising. A couple of days ago, I ran 7 miles with a 74°F dewpoint and no gel, went through a liter of water, and dragged the entire way, finishing with an average pace of 11:30, which is pretty slow on flat terrain. Today, I mixed up a 3.5oz concoction of honey, syrup, water, and salt, and ran 8 miles, going through all of the gel as well as 1.5 liters of water. It wasn’t an entirely fair test, as the conditions were more pleasant, with the dewpoint in the low 60s. However, I still worked up enough of a sweat to soak my shirt. I had noticeably more energy, particularly during the second half of the run, when my pace picked up rather than slowing. I finished a full minute per mile faster on average, and felt like I could have kept going if I had more of the gel.

    Based on my early testing, it looks like for hot/humid conditions, I need about a liter of water per 5 miles, and 3.5oz of gel per 10K or so. Speaking of 10Ks, I have one coming up on the 4th of July, and it sounds like we might be in the midst of a heat wave then, so that will provide another good data point. But, I have to say that I’m kind of wishing I had tried this sooner.

  • Cadence Reset

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    I’ve been dealing with sciatica for going on two weeks. It’s on my right side, and it started two Fridays ago. I am not sure what caused it. That day, I climbed in the morning, but didn’t do much else physically for the rest of the day. The next morning, I woke up with sciatica. Maybe it was something I did in my sleep? Who knows. It is the worst when I first get up in the morning. Lying down on my back and/or sitting in a sofa or armchair seems to bother it, as does bending down to my right with my knees straight. Cycling does not bother it at all, but it has played havoc with my running mechanics. The first few times I ran with it, I felt like I was favoring the right side and slapping my foot down. My average cadence fell by about 5 steps/minute, and my average pace has slowed by about a minute per mile. In general, it has made running seem laborious, like I have to expend more effort to get the same amount of output. This past Tuesday, after slogging through 3 miles, I decided to consciously try to shorten my stride length and increase my cadence. When I had my old Apple Watch SE a few years back, I used to always average 180 steps per minute or above. With my current watch, though, I have never once hit 180spm. Instead, I seem to average anywhere between 173-175spm. It didn’t seem like my mechanics had changed, so I wondered if maybe Apple had changed the algorithm it uses to measure cadence. That is possible, but I also think my overall cadence has dropped over time, so I thought I’d try to reset it. The second half of Tuesday’s run felt better, and I finished the run with an average of 175spm, which is 4 or 5 steps per minute more than what I’ve averaged since the sciatica hit. I ended up with a hotspot on my right heel, but I think that was more a result of my biomechanics being off due to the sciatica. In any case, as of today (Thursday) the hotspot is gone.

    Today, I set out trying to maintain a high cadence for my entire 7 mile run. It went pretty well, but I started to tire about 2/3 of the way through, and it was difficult to keep the step rate up for that portion of the run. I ended up with an overall average cadence of 178spm, which is not too shabby by recent standards. My overall pace was still off by about a minute per mile, but the run felt better, and if I can get my biomechanics back in order, my pace should follow. I still have yet to top 180spm for any run over 5K with the new watch. I’m not convinced that Apple’s algorithm hasn’t changed, but I think that’s going to be my goal for my next several runs. Hopefully, the sciatica will eventually go away as well, which will certainly help.

  • Inaugural Paddle of 2026

    Inaugural Paddle of 2026

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    For the second time in three years, I have managed to get out on the water in April. The weather has been wild, with some days topping 90, and others barely hitting 60, and April is always a busy month with family and house obligations, so it can be challenging to find time to paddle. Today, I went out before work, launching at Solley Cove Park and paddling about 5 miles round-trip on Marley Creek. Along the way, I checked on 10 geocaches that I hid in the area last year. The weather could not have been better, with sunny skies, air temperature in the upper 40s to low 50s, water temperature around 60, and very light winds. I wore a wet suit over swim trunks and a hat. I had brought a jacket, gloves, neoprene hoodie, and pogies, but ended up not needing any of them.

    This past Saturday, I ran the “Pints for Patapsco” 10K through the Patapsco Valley State Park Avalon Area. I last ran this in 2024, when it was an untimed 8-mile run dubbed the “Open Gate Gallop”. Last year, I missed it due to our European cruise. The run is now timed (though billed as non-competitive) and officially starts and ends in the park, with the leg to/from Guinness used for warmup and cool-down. And, of course, there’s beer at the end. 🍺 I did pretty well, placing 116th out of 400 runners. My only goal was to complete the 10K in under an hour, which I did, averaging about 9:05/mile, which is super fast for me. In fact, my watch says I set PRs for both 10K and 5K distances. Although I am not very competitive, and typically prefer running solo, I do find that I like running races every so often, as a way to occasionally push myself to go faster. In fact, I just signed up to run the Arbutus Firecracker 10K the morning of July 4, for the first time. That race has been on my radar for several years, but for various reasons, I never ended up registering for it. It will be interesting to see how it goes for me running in the July heat.

  • Random stuff

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    I’m battling off-and-on dizziness again, similar to what I had back around the end of last year. Still unsure what causes it. As with last time, it’s not room-spinning vertigo, just more of a spacey, lightheaded feeling. Various things I’ve considered as possible causes:

    • Allergies/Environmental
    • TMJ issue (chewing/clenching/jaw tension)
    • Low blood pressure/low heart rate
    • Low electrolytes
    • Dehydration
    • Migraine
    • Eyestrain/squinting or possibly vision issue (do I possibly need glasses?)
    • Positional vertigo/motion sensitivity
    • Something I’m eating

    I’ve noticed that I rarely wake up dizzy. I often first notice it while eating breakfast, meaning that chewing/clenching (TMJ) or possibly diet could be factors. I suspect that the only way I’ll ever get to the bottom of it is to try to be scientific, keep notes on diet/environment/etc., and try to find some kind of correlation.

    I ran on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday (today) this week. Monday was 6.5 miles. I felt stiff for most of it, hit the wall at around mile 5, and cut the run short by a half mile. For mile 6, I could only manage a pace of 13.5(!) minutes/mile. Tuesday’s run was 7 miles, and the best of the three. I paced myself well and finished strong. Today was also 7 miles, and better than Monday, but the finish was not as good as Tuesday’s. It was, however, my fastest average pace of the week, at 10:50/mile, which is still about 20 seconds/minute slower than what I consider my average pace under ideal conditions. The dizziness does affect my running to an extent, but I don’t think it’s directly responsible for “hitting the wall”. My working theory is that the latter is related to electrolyte/hydration imbalance, and something else is causing the dizziness.

    This winter’s house project is upgrading our home LAN. I am running low on ports (particularly PoE ports) so I’m adding an additional 8-port switch in a different part of the house, which will give me more capacity, and allow me to shorten a few wire runs. I’m also going to start upgrading some of the wiring from Cat-5e to Cat-6, starting with the “backbone” that runs from the FiOS ONT to the router and from the router to the switches. I’ve also replaced our old AP-AC-Pro wireless access points with new U7 Lites, which support WiFi 7. Once the new switch is in place, I’m going to move one of the old APs into the garage, to provide better coverage for outdoor cameras, and eventually support a smart garage door opener. Lastly, I may put an AP in the basement family room, and I want to clean up the wiring in the closet around our existing switch. We will see how much of this actually gets done. 😄

  • Cool Runnings

    Cool Runnings

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    We are in the midst of the longest deep freeze here since probably the 1990s. I remember in the winter of either 1993 or 1994, we had a very similar weather pattern to the past week’s, with a disruptive snow/ice storm and a long ensuing stretch of below-freezing temperatures. Just like this year, schools were shut down for at least a week (probably longer, actually). I remember going in to UMBC one day while the campus was still closed, just to shake off the cabin fever. Fortunately, as I’ve previously written, I have a couple of low-traffic back roads near me that I can use for running, as most of the sidewalks around here are hopeless at the moment. Last winter, I ran once when the weather was under 20°F, and so far this winter, I’ve been out 3 or 4 times in those conditions. Based on what I wrote last year, I made a few tweaks to what I have been wearing:

    • Relaxed fit Kühl running pants over 32°F synthetic leggings (same as last year)
    • Injinji Snow calf-height toe socks, Correct Toes, and Xero Mesa Trail WP shoes with Tuli heel cups (same as last year, plus the heel cups)
    • Smartwool neck gaiter with The North Face fleece headband (vs one-piece fleece balaclava last year)
    • REI long-sleeve merino wool base layer shirt (vs 32°F synthetic base layer last year)
    • REI lightweight liner gloves (vs heavy winter gloves last year)
    • Top layer variations:
      • Long-sleeve polyester/rayon/cotton athletic top + Patagonia R1 jacket
      • Long-sleeve lightweight bamboo/polyester/spandex hoodie + R1 jacket
      • R1 jacket + Arc’teryx Norvan Gore-Tex outer shell with hood

    Same as last year, I used Vaseline on exposed areas of my face (mainly cheeks and nose) and it worked great as a wind barrier. I’m going to try to remember to do this any time the temperature is below freezing and there’s any wind. I just have to remember to wash my face afterwards.

    Overall, I tried to improve on things that I noted were issues last year, and I think I succeeded. The gaiter with headband worked better than a heavy 1-piece balaclava. My feet stayed nice and comfortable, and my hands also were perfectly comfortable with just the thin gloves (I even took them off a couple of times). The wool vs synthetic base layer was a push comfort-wise, but wool is more odor-resistant, and I’m able to wear the wool base layer for more runs before I have to wash it.

    I’m finding that I like to run with a hood in below-freezing weather. The one time I ran without one, I was missing it. The lightweight hoodie worked well, as did the Gore-Tex shell. In the future, I wouldn’t mind getting a jacket similar to the R1, but with a hood.

    My 2 most recent runs were 10K and 8 miles, respectively. I still work up a pretty good sweat each time, and I’m still having issues with my energy dropping off during the second half of the runs. Could be hydration, could be electrolytes, could be pacing, could be something else. Running with a hydration pack could be an option, but I’d need to figure out how to keep the hose from freezing. An insulated water bottle would be too bulky to carry, and my soft water bottle would be a solid block of ice after 30 minutes.

  • My week so far

    My week so far

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    For the past few years, I have been climbing Monday nights, which made it really difficult to bike commute Mondays due to the tight timing. I would get home around 5:30, and have to wolf dinner down and go right back out the door to get to the climbing gym by 6:45. That was not much fun, so I typically ended up telecommuting Mondays. This year, we’ve switched climbing to Tuesdays, which opens Mondays back up for bike commuting. That’s what I did this past Monday, and it was something of an adventure. An accident had shut down I-95, pushing tons of traffic onto the back roads and creating gridlock everywhere. Had I known it was going to be so bad, I would have taken one of my mountain bikes and ridden trails. But, once I got past one particularly bad stretch of road (and rerouted to avoid another) I was able to get to work fairly painlessly and without mishap.

    I ran Tuesday morning, climbed Tuesday night, and then ran again this afternoon (Wednesday). I typically don’t run in the afternoons, but today, it worked out well. The weather was overcast and mild (around 50℉), and with rain forecast for tonight followed by a cold snap, I wasn’t sure what the conditions would be like on Thursday. Today, I was able to run in shorts. I’m always trying to work on my running form, and today, I decided to make an effort to lower my hips, lift my legs, and bend my knees more. I tend to overstride a bit with my left leg, which causes my left hamstring to get tight and sore, and probably also contributes to foot issues like extensor tendonitis. Bending the knees more prevents the overstriding, and my hamstring seemed a lot happier today. It also seemed to make me a little faster. Maybe I’m onto something, or maybe not, but I’ll try it again with my next run and see how it goes. As for the timing, I left the house at 3:50, and it worked out fine. There was somewhat more traffic on the roads than at 8:30am when I usually run, but it wasn’t too bad. I may switch to afternoons for a little while during the cold snap, to try to get out during the warmest part of the day.

  • Happy New Year 2026

    Happy New Year 2026

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    I can’t believe it’s already 2026. Time flies. In a way, I’m a little happy to turn the page from 2025. My father passed away just after Thanksgiving, which was not unexpected, and (in a way) almost a blessing after a prolonged battle with Parkinson’s. However, I don’t think the loss has really hit me yet. It seems like I had a much harder time around the end of 2024 when I lost my cousin and one of our cats. I suspect that this time around, it’s going to be more of a delayed thing than 2024, which seemed like a gut punch. Time will tell, I guess.

    I have started 2026 with runs on two consecutive mornings. I’m currently on pace to run 3403.6 miles this year, but I suspect I’ll fall somewhat short of that. 😀 I often have issues with keeping hydrated in the winter, which might seem ironic. The problem is that this time of year, I tend to forget to drink after (and during) exercise, because I’m not all hot and thirsty. However, running generates a considerable amount of body heat, and I do sweat when I run in the winter, even when it’s below freezing. Lately, I’ve taken to weighing myself right before and right after my runs. Yesterday’s run was 7.3 miles, and today’s was 11.3, and both days, I lost almost exactly 2 pounds of water weight during the run, which is more than I would have expected. When I searched online for post-exercise rehydration recommendations, most sources said to drink between 16 and 24 ounces of fluids (water + electrolytes) for each pound lost. That means I should be drinking 32 to 48 ounces after a typical wintertime run. Obviously, I can’t chug that amount down in 15 minutes, so I’ll need to start disciplining myself to drink it slowly over a couple of hours, which could be a challenge. I think that is going to be my new year’s resolution. It will be really interesting to do the pre- and post-run weigh-ins during the summer, when I sweat a lot more.

    I have been dealing with dizziness for the past week or so. It is not full-on, room-spinning vertigo, but more just a kind of foggy, swimmy-head, slightly queasy feeling that comes and goes. This is something that seems to affect me once a year or so, and I’ve never been able to figure out what causes it. Eventually, it always seems to go away, just as mysteriously as it started. I’m going to try to take notes here when it occurs, to see if I can figure out a common thread to it. This time around:

    • It started last Saturday after an 11-mile run. It did not start right away, but rather after I had been lying down for an hour or so post-run. When I got up, I felt dizzy.
    • Anecdotally, it seems to happen a lot in the winter and spring.
    • It seems to bother me more when I am home than when I am out.
    • I have been taking Amlodipine for years for blood pressure, with little to no side effects. Just before this latest episode started, I switched from 2×2.5mg Amlodipine per day to 1x5mg/day. Same dosage, but a single pill instead of 2 pills. Thus far, there has been no significant change in my daily morning BP readings, but I’ll check again next week.
    • Similarly, I have not noticed any reduction in tolerance for exercise or anything like that. It’s a huge annoyance, but doesn’t significantly affect my ability to go about my day-to-day routine.

    More later…

  • Back home from Denver

    Back home from Denver

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    I spent most of the past week in Denver, which is the city I tend to visit most often on my business travels. By my count, this was my 7th trip to Denver since 2014. I suspect that Chicago Midway is the airport I’ve flown to (or through) the most times, but DIA is a close second. The big difference this time around was that I flew United Airlines instead of Southwest. I’m trying to choose a go-to airline for future international travel, and United has a big hub at Washington/Dulles with lots of direct flights overseas. They are also part of Star Alliance, so we can use/earn miles with a number of different carriers. I have to say that I had a pretty good experience on both legs of my flight, so things are looking up for United.

    Today was my 4th consecutive day running. In Denver, I had planned to run on Tuesday and Thursday, and then run at home today, which would keep me on my regular 3-day-a-week schedule. It turned out that I was too tired to run Tuesday, so I ran Wednesday instead. Thursday, I had planned to take a long walk in the morning, but decided to run instead, because the extensor tendonitis (or whatever it is) in my left foot tolerates running better than walking. Then, I reasoned that I might be too fried to run on Saturday (today) because I’d be getting home late on Friday night, so I took a short run Friday as well. I indeed was fried this morning as predicted, but the weather forecast is calling for snow tonight into tomorrow morning, and I figured I wouldn’t want to run right after it snowed. So, I sucked it up and ran today.

    Running in Denver went as well as can be expected. My runs all started in the pre-dawn darkness. I mostly ran on the network of trails along Cherry Creek and the Platte River, as well as Colfax St. and the 16th Street Mall (which is mostly devoid of people before sunrise). Wednesday’s run was 7.2 miles, and Thursday’s and Friday’s were around 4.75 miles each. Each run featured 2 or 3 stops to find geocaches (two activities I often combine when traveling, but rarely at home). Temperatures each day ranged from the upper 30s to mid 40s, which was warmer than back home. Wednesday’s was the best run of the 3, probably because I didn’t get the best nights’ sleep the following two nights. As would be expected, I was a little shorter of breath than usual, due to the elevation. By Friday, I was starting to adjust, but by then, it was time to go home.

    Today, I was really slow to get moving in the morning, and had a headache. I thought about skipping running, but with the weather (and plans for later in the day) likely to keep me from running Sunday, I figured I had better get out there, if only for the sake of my mood and well-being for the rest of the weekend. So, I had some coffee, played a little Bach on the piano, and hit the pavement at around 3:30pm. The run went much better than I had been expecting. I seemed to have tons of energy, and I ran 10K at a pace of 10:00/mi, which is my fastest pace in at least a year. I’m not sure where my energy came from. Maybe it was the different time of day, or the coffee (a great roast from India that I picked up in Denver — post forthcoming), or the high-elevation conditioning from the past week. Whatever it was, I’d love to bottle it up somehow. It will be interesting to see how my next few runs go. The only thing I can say for sure is that I won’t be extending my streak to 5 days. 😄