Category: Running

Morning Notes

lpaulriddle

We are in the midst of the most intense and prolonged early-September Mid-Atlantic heat wave that I can remember. It’s fairly common to have days in September that top 90°F, but the past two days have pushed 100°, and the heat is expected to last until Thursday. The saving grace is that the dewpoints have been a little bit below what is typical for mid-summer, making things slightly more tolerable, and there’s less daylight and lower sun angles this time of year. I did manage to get out for a run this morning. I left the house at 7:10 and ran 5 miles. I hope to get out for a swim later this afternoon.

I’m down to the last cup of the coffee beans I’ve been brewing for the past week or so. After several near-perfect pourovers, my last couple of cups have been a little bit on the bitter side. Not quite sure why that is, but I may try making the grind a little bit coarser for my final cup. Then, depending on how that turns out, I’ll decide on an initial recipe to try with my next bag of medium roast beans. I only have one half-pound bag of beans left, so it’s going to be time to buy a bag or two soon. I’ll likely go back to one-pound bags, and may check out a local roaster like Zeke’s Coffee, which the grocery store down the street from me carries.

Just a quick update: I brewed the last of the beans this evening after dinner. Exact same recipe, except I had 19 grams of beans left (so the cup was a little bit stronger) and I ground them slightly coarser at 2 turns on the JX, or grind setting 20. This turned out great, without any hint of bitterness. Once again, a small adjustment to the grind made a big difference. Curious how things will go with my next bag.

Saturday Morning Update

lpaulriddle

Here’s what I brewed this morning:

  • Beans: “Angel Albino Corzo-Chiapa” medium roast (Mexico) from Amity Coffee Roasters in Greenwood, DE
  • 18g coffee / 250g water (1:14)
  • JX: 2 rotations less 6 clicks (18 on the grind chart / 54 total clicks) Note: subsequent cups at this setting tasted bitter — better at 2 rotations / grind setting 20 / 60 total clicks
  • Water at 95°C
  • Recipe: A Better 1 Cup V60 Technique (see below)
  1. 0:00: Pour 60g of water to bloom
  2. 0:10 – 0:15: Gently Swirl
  3. 0:45 – 1:00: Pour up to 100g total (40% total weight)
  4. 1:10 – 1:20: Pour up to 150g total (60% total weight)
  5. 1:30 – 1:40: Pour up to 200g total (80% total weight)
  6. 1:50 – 2:00: Pour up to 250g total (100% total weight)
  7. 2:00 – 2:05: Gently swirl
  8. Drawdown should finish around 3:00

This turned out just about perfect to my taste. I just have to make sure to remove the spent grounds immediately after the drawdown finishes to avoid the slight bitterness I alluded to yesterday. I have enough beans left for 4 more cups, and I don’t think I need to tweak this recipe any further (although I’m slightly curious to try the beans in the French press, just to compare). I’ll likely use this recipe as a starting point for my next bag, which is also a medium roast.

This morning was beautiful, with temperatures in the upper 50s/low 60s and low humidity. With a heat wave looming, I seized the opportunity and got out just before 8 and ran 10 miles. I am hoping to get myself conditioned to run 10 miles once a week over the cooler months, and after a few more of these, I should be ready to tackle my short-term goal of running the entire BWI Trail loop, which (according to gmap-pedometer.com) is about 10.7 miles.

Brew and Run

lpaulriddle

Got a bunch of medium roast coffee beans to use up before I resupply. Here was this morning’s attempt:

  • Beans: “Angel Albino Corzo-Chiapa” medium roast (Mexico)
  • Grind: Fine – 1.5 turns on the JX minus 6 clicks (13 on the grind chart, or 39 total clicks)
  • 95°C water
  • 16-17 grams coffee / 200 grams water (around 1:12)
  • One new paper filter (dry)
  • James Hoffmann’s Ultimate Aeropress Recipe (20 second pour, 2 minute steep, swirl, wait 30 seconds, press 30 seconds)

This is essentially the same thing I brewed about six weeks ago, with slightly hotter water and a little bit more coffee. The result was similar to last time: just fine flavor-wise, but lacking in body. I guess I could try grinding even finer, or I could try my go-to inverted recipe again, although that attempt also yielded a thin-bodied cup. Maybe I’d get better results with pourover or French press. I’ll figure it out one way or another.

I left the house at 7:10 this morning and ran a little over 7.5 miles. It was not a bad run on yet another damp, overcast, humid morning. Similar to yesterday’s bike commute, I wanted to get a sense for how the bell schedules for all of the local schools will affect my route. Verdict: unless I wait until after 9:15, I’m going to be dodging kids in one place or another. 7:10 worked out OK, but there may be another window between 8:00 and 8:20ish that may work out. I may try leaving around then on Thursday.

This and that

lpaulriddle

My dream of running 10+ miles on Saturday mornings is going to have to wait at least another week, as it’s still oppressively humid out there. Today, I settled for 10K, and probably sweated out about 30% of my body weight. If I’m able to consistently run longer distances through fall, winter, and next spring, then I’ll figure out what I need to do to keep it up this time of year. At a minimum, I’ll need a way to carry 1.5 to 2 liters of water, as well as a strategy to replenish electrolytes lost through sweating.

On the pool front, after malfunctioning twice so far this season, my SWG temperature sensor has been working correctly for the past several days, but I now have a tri-sensor simulator that I can use to troubleshoot it the next time it acts up. For now, though, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I just ordered a new Skimlite R16C leaf rake to replace my old one that I bought in 2007. That’s right — the old one lasted 16 years as my only leaf net. It had a few holes in the mesh, but was still usable. Recently, though, the frame has started flopping back and forth, which is inconvenient enough that I finally took the plunge and ordered a new one. They are not cheap ($70 in 2007; $100 in 2023) but they are made to last, and when you consider that the cheaper nets only last a season or two, the Skimlite basically pays for itself over time. I expect that this will be the last one I ever need to buy.

Running/Climbing

lpaulriddle

After a hot and humid day yesterday, this morning saw a cold front sweep through and take a lot of the humidity with it. I got out for my run at about 8:30, which is later than I typically like in August, but it worked out in my favor today, as the dewpoint had dropped considerably by then. I ran a very typical weekday distance of 7 miles at a very typical pace of 10:30.

Last week’s tweaked foot nerve seems to have mostly resolved. I had no issues climbing last night. I climbed somewhere around 6-7 routes, about half on lead and half on top rope. Instead of my usual Scarpa Force V shoes, I wore my La Sportiva Solutions for all of my climbs. Although they are less comfortable than the Scarpas overall, they put less weight on the balls of my feet (because the soles have a downturned shape), which seems to help with nerve issues. Running did not aggravate the nerve at all last week, but I did feel it after 45 minutes or so on my treadmill desk.

Saturday Run

lpaulriddle

Today was a very pleasant morning for August, with temperatures in the 60s and dewpoint in the 50s. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “fall-like”, but it was definitely nice late-summer weather. I was a little bit slow-moving, and didn’t get out of the house for my run until around 8:00, but I ran 10 miles for only the second time ever, and the first time since April. Once the weather turns consistently cooler, I’d like to get to where I’m running a 10-miler once a week, so I guess you could call today a “fall preview” in that regard. The run felt great. I was starting to get tired once I hit mile 9, which I guess is to be expected. It was nice not to be completely drenched in sweat at the end of the run.

Morning Run

lpaulriddle

Crazy week here at the house, with construction out front as the county scrambles to build sidewalks before school starts, and our own driveway paving job starting shortly as well. Should be nice when everything is all finished and re-landscaped, although who knows how long that will take.

I woke up to a more humid morning than I had hoped for, but it was nicer out than Tuesday, and I was able to get out for my regular run. I went 8.6 miles, which is a little bit farther than I usually run on weekdays. My legs were pretty fresh since I didn’t run on Tuesday. I ran at a relaxed pace, and it felt pretty good. I’ve had a slightly irritated nerve in the ball of my right foot since Monday or so, and I was a little bit concerned that it might affect my running, but it did not bother me at all. I’m not sure how the nerve got tweaked. My only guess is maybe it happened while climbing on Friday or Monday. I’ve had the same issue with the left foot at times, and it has always just kind of gone away on its own eventually. The only real issue I had today was a touch of queasiness that hit at about mile 7.5. I don’t know what brought it on. It passed after I stopped and walked for a couple of minutes, and I felt fine for the final mile of the run. I do have to say that the humidity is starting to get a little old, but I say that every summer around this time.

Morning Update

lpaulriddle

Not a pleasant morning at all here in central Maryland, so I opted to run in the pool. More storms later today in this already extremely stormy and wet summer. How long until autumn again? 😀 I’ve written before about how the benefits of owning a pool don’t quite make up for the expense and hassle required to maintain it, but I will say that it’s great to have the pool as an exercise option on days when I don’t feel like doing anything else outdoors. If the storms hold off long enough, I also hope to get out to swim later this afternoon.

I’ve settled on this recipe for what remains of my bag of dark roast beans I bought last May:

  • Beans: Lost Dog “Mocha Sidamo” Ethiopian dark roast
  • JX: 2.5 turns (75 total clicks, or 25 on the grind chart)
  • 80°C water
  • 14 grams coffee / 180 grams water (around 1:13)
  • One new paper filter (pre-moistened)
  • Recipe: “Basikairoo” (inverted: add 50g water, swirl aggressively for a few seconds, top up to 180g starting at 1:00, invert at 2:15, press for 30s starting at ~3:00)

This is only slightly tweaked from when I first brewed this recipe. It produces a good cup fairly consistently, with only slight variations in strength. I wonder if the length of time spent “swirling” makes any difference in the finished product. The recipe specifies 3 seconds, but I haven’t been timing it.

Run Notes

lpaulriddle

The good news this morning was that I got out early for my run, as it’s forecast to be 92 today with high humidity. The bad news is that I only got around 4.5 hours of sleep. I woke up around 2-2:30 and couldn’t settle back in. In spite of that, the run wasn’t bad. When I initially went outside at 6:30, it felt less oppressive than I had been expecting. I ran 6.8 miles at a rather slow pace, but felt pretty good throughout. I feel like I have been doing a good job lately with keeping my cadence up in varying conditions. The weather slowly warmed up as the sun rose, but there was more shade due to the low sun angle, and it was still fairly tolerable out when I finished the run at 8:00. I can’t complain, especially for being short on sleep.

Niner

lpaulriddle

I ran 9 miles this morning, for the first time since June 15. I was surprised that it had been that long, especially given the cool weather we had during the second half of June. Today, the temperature at 8:00am was around 70, and the weather was overcast and muggy. I got 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night, and had a smoothie, cup of coffee, and some water before heading out. I ran at a relaxed pace of 11 minutes/mile on average, and my form felt really good throughout. All things considered, it was a great run. I expect that my pace will pick up a bit as we get into cooler weather, and I am looking forward to taking some longer runs this fall.

I used up the last of my “private house blend” coffee beans from German St Coffee and Candlery this morning. I bought these beans back in May. I used a bunch of them for cold brew, and also tried them in the French press, with pretty good results both times. After some initial failures, I eventually found an AeroPress recipe that produced a really nice cup with them, and I’ve been brewing this recipe exclusively for the past week or so, just in an effort to use up my older beans (plus, it was cool to be brewing consistently good cups of coffee with the AeroPress — maybe I’m getting better at this). Next on the list are the two bags of Lost Dog beans that I also bought in Shepherdstown in May.