Funny how this weekend (Dec 19^th) brought with it probably the 2nd or 3rd worst snowstorm I’ve witnessed since living in NYC, and yet weather-wise I had the best weekend long run in about a month. I hit the pavement a little earlier than usual on Saturday which allowed me to avoid any run-ins with precipitation. So it was just bitter cold which I can live with compared to cold and wet.

I’m a little annoyed to be dealing with the same problem of doubting myself in the early stages of my long runs. At 20 minutes in, I was already considering a point in time for an early turnaround. But 30 minutes came and I figured I could go another 15 before turning back. Then came the hour mark and I decided I still had more left for the first half.

The way back was a total breeze, with the wind (literally) at my back. One of the things I’ve picked up on as a runner in NYC is that the wind almost always blows in from the Northeast. That means if, like me and a million other NYC runners, rely heavily on the Hudson River Greenway, you should try to plan your out-and-back runs starting off by heading north so that you have tailwind for your trip back.

What else have I learned lately? Well, having never done substantial outdoor training in the winter, I’ve learned the importance of technical fabrics and layering. I’ve learned the importance of planning you workouts around the forecasts on weather.com. And being completely flexible based on when the conditions will be most forgiving.

Coming up next… Dropping back my long run milage in South Beach!

J

The marathon gods must be testing my dedication with this cold and messy weekend weather. After sending myself home early last Saturday on account of the freezing rain, at least I came into this week’s long run a little more prepared.

While we were out and about on Saturday morning, I dropped by an Asics store and picked up a pair of tight water resistant running pants. Add to that a long sleeved Under Armour shirt, a tech-fabric Champion jacket, and a baseball hat and I was fairly well protected from the nor’easterly outdoors. And even with quality gear, Sunday’s long run was treacherous.

I set out to do 17 miles, but just a few miles in, I started having thoughts of turning back. There was virtually nobody on the Hudson River Greenway and I figured that was a sign that more sane individuals knew to stay indoors. But even as the rainwater seeped up into my sneakers, I knew turning back early 2 weeks in a row just wouldn’t set the right precedent.

I soldiered up from Battery Park to about 120th street and turned around short by about 3/4ths of a mile. At this point it was getting so cold and windy that I was beginning to feel legitimately concerned for my well being. The other problem was that I was completely soaked. And all the layers of gear that were keeping me warm probably absorbed 10x their weight in water.

This made the way back much harder than I was anticipating and with about 2 miles to go, I think I hit the wall and went into marathon shuffle mode. When I got back, I mapped out the course and was just barely disappointed that I fell short of 17 miles by about a mile and a half. On the other hand, I was just happy to take a hot shower. (8:07 splits, oh well).

J

Despite unfavorable forecasts, I decided late last week that I would be doing my long run on Saturday morning… which of course turned out to be an awful idea.

I went out onto our roof deck at around 10am on Saturday morning to scope out the weather situation and decided it wasn’t that bad out. I spent about an hour getting dressed, stretching and consuming caffeine. Oh and I took a hot shower. I always take a hot shower before my long runs now. It really helps to wake me up and loosens up any muscle stiffness.

By the time I was ready to go at 11am the temperature dropped 5 degrees, the wind picked up and it was raining pretty steadily. It’s been a long time since I intentionally went out running in the rain and I was minimally equipped for the wet freezing weather. Basically I wore my regular running gear combined with a light hooded rain jacket.

I actually couldn’t have been much worse prepared. When I wasn’t wearing the hood the freezing rain was stinging my eyes. When I was wearing the hood, it cocooned my head in a sweaty humid dome. I was running into the wind, so my baggy rain jacket was like a drag chute.

The other big problem was that I was already out the door and 3 miles deep into my long run by the time I decided the conditions were just too sucky for 16 miles. I set a turnaround goal at W 40th street, which is just under 5 miles from our apartment in the Financial District.

At least the trek back home was much better than the way out. The wind was at my back, so the extra material on my jacket was more like a sail than a drag chute. The rain wasn’t in my eyes anymore. At one point I even considered staying out and finishing the 16 miles outdoors. Fortunately my better judgment took hold and I packed it in with 9.4 miles under my belt.

But that’s not where the story ends. I quickly entered my building, went upstairs to my apartment, toweled off and changed into dry running clothes. Then I went downstairs into the basement gym and banged out another 6.7 miles on the treadmill. Not exactly fun by a long shot, but I got the job done and am damn proud to have stuck with it in the face of adversity. Oh, and 7:47 splits to boot.

J

After bragging about how I’m kicking some perroneal tendonitis ass last night, I woke up with a familiar stiffness towards the back of the ball of my right ankle. And I know why.

There was a period of a few weeks where I was icing my ankle religiously. Well, not icing per se, but using this cool-pack ankle brace thing that I keep in the freezer. If you have perroneal tendonitis, go out and buy one immediately. http://www.footsmart.com/p-20267.shtml I was using it every night when I got home from work, 2 or 3 times a night. It worked like magic.

It was mildly annoying to have to remember to keep alternating between putting on the brace and then bringing it back to the freezer 20 minutes later. But a relatively small price to pay to avoid a debilitating injury. Anyway, I stopped doing it because things were getting better and I was getting lazy. I need to get back on track.

One of the main reasons I do this blog is to keep myself honest. If I say something in the public domain, I feel like I need to make good on it. Hopefully mentioning the icing process on this blog will get me back on track!

J

Another long run for the books, this weekend was a 15 miler. All in all it was probably one of the easiest long runs I’ve done so far. Either that or running in beautiful Florida weather, during an extended Thanksgiving vacation, on the perfectly carved Pinellas Trail made it feel that way. 7:42 splits. I’m pretty damn consistent.

Let’s talk about how I’ve been working through Perroneal Tendonitis, since I have been kicking this injury’s ass lately… without the help of any medical professionals might I add.

Really, the biggest change I’ve made to my routine is that I run ONLY twice a week. Now that I’m starting to beat the injury, I may start dabbling in running 2 and a half days a week…. Even 3. But that’s the big change. One tempo run in the middle of the week and one long run on the weekends. That’s been it.

And LOTS of gym cardio in between, primarily biking. I like the recumbent bike because the regular bike hurts my taint. I also do some elliptical, but less so than the bike since elliptical is a load bearing activity and places more stress on the joints. And I also walk some steep hills on the treadmill at about a 3.5mph pace at a 15 degree incline. Honestly, I attribute most of my success to all the cross training. The thing is, cross training doesn’t prepare you to be a good runner. My fix has been to over compensate by dedicating more time to it than I would to junk miles.

That’s all for now. More thoughts on injury treatment next time.

J