Google Enabling Offline Access! (Super Geeky)

This is pretty amazing. One of my major gripes about Google Calendar and Google Notebook (that you can only use them when you’re online) may be answered soon. Looks like Google is rolling out a new service called Google Gears that will allow you to store data for various Google applications (right now only Google Reader is supported) offline, on your hard drive. Then, when you get online again, you can synchronize any changes. This is great for anyone who uses Google Reader to read their RSS feeds and travels a lot (now you can read your RSS feeds while on the plane!). Eventually, if they make it work with Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Notebook… I think this could be a huge blow to Microsoft Outlook. I know that I’d probably switch from Outlook to Google Calendar/Gmail in a second if they 1) do actually implement this offline access thing well, and 2) implement better mobile device integration.

Launch: Access your Google Reader feeds offline with Google Gears [Lifehacker]

RUN: 3 Miles (Easy Run)

Course: Sunnyside Out-and-Back.

Nuthin’ special to report, except that it feels a little strange to me that 3 miles is considered a “recovery” or “easy” run for me now, and I’m still just starting out.

RUN: Track Intervals-5×800m (The One Where There’s A Mugging & I Get Chewed Out)

Course: East 6th Street Track

Lots of drama at today’s track workout.

I showed up to the track a little early to change and warm up a little. When I got there, I saw a guy I recognized from the club; it looked like he was running with a black eye at first. Then I realized there was blood trickling from under his eye and his scalp. Turns out he had just been mugged in broad daylight by some random person. Instead of doing what any sensible person would do (take care of his cuts and swollen eye) this guy’s running laps. On top of that, he wants to do the speed workout, but his cuts keep reopening and he’s bleeding all over the place. Finally, one of the other club members who is a nurse physically drags him off the track to go get ice for his eye, which is nearly swollen shut at this point. As a rule I kind of feel like runners are a little bit not right in the head, but this guy was taking it to a whole new level. I think it was his way of dealing with the shock (with some pride and male ego mixed in) – he felt like if he didn’t finish the workout, the mugger somehow “won.”

We had a different coach for today’s workout. The workout was to run five 800m intervals. I felt really strong during the first two intervals, my times were 2:57 and 2:59. Then my legs quit on me during the third one and I hit the line at 3:07, at which point the coach came over, asked me what my split was, and said, “There, you see? You just ruined your workout. You’re done. You’re not running this next one. You need to be running consistent times, or negative splits, or else the workout is useless.” I felt like a high-school kid getting chewed out by his coach. But then again, when the coach is Sid Howard, an 67 year-old who, on his 60th birthday, ran 800m (a half mile) in 2:14.75 (that’s two minutes and fourteen point seven five seconds) to capture the age group world record in that distance, a little bit of shame and a whole lot of respect for his running knowledge seems to be an appropriate response. So I jogged a lap to recover some more, and I finished the last interval in 2:54. You just don’t question a world record holder on his own turf.

After the 800m intervals, we ran 300m sprints to work on our form. Of course, I couldn’t keep up with Sid, despite the fact that he’s 37 years older than me. Most guys his age are… well, actually, I don’t know what most guys his age are doing, but certainly they’re not out on tracks blowing past young whipper-snappers less than half his age. I can only hope that I’m half as fit as he is when I hit 67.

After the 300m sprints, Sid suggested we do some field drills, like the kind I used to do in high school. In fact, field drills used to make up a significant portion of my track workouts, since I was a jumper/hurdler. So I welcomed the chance to do something that I used to be pretty good at (I was always a much better jumper than I was a runner/hurdler). After going through the series of high-knees, butt-kicks, backwards strides, cross-over steps, and bounding, I recovered some confidence and got a little boost to my ego as I discovered I’ve still got some spring in my legs and one of my fellow runners complimented me on my jumping. Maybe instead of being a runner, I should take up jumping as my athletic activity of choice. Too bad it doesn’t translate into vertical leap, otherwise I’d be a much better basketball player (setting aside my lack of ball-handling and shooting skills).

RunGeek: Training Logs (Long post)

One thing that definitely sets the hard-core runners apart from regular fitness runners: the training log.

I’m not talking about a running journal, like this blog, where you might write down your mileage and how you felt on the run and maybe reflect on the deeper meaning of life. I’m talking about a goal-oriented fanatic’s detailed record of miles run, time, average heart rate, max heart rate, outdoor weather conditions and temperature during the run, which shoes you were wearing… the list of things some people record goes on and on. This data gets collected religiously over time, and then plotted onto graphs and charts that break down the runs into easy runs, interval runs, tempo runs, races, cross-training… you name it, someone has tried to to analyze it in a chart.

Why would anyone get so wrapped up in breaking down the very primal act of running into cold objective data? Well, the most obvious reason is for competitive runners who are trying to track their training progress. Having a detailed log of your training can help you create a plan as you lead up to a big race or event. Also, it helps you figure out what worked and what didn’t after the event. The running journal helps you analyze particular runs – it helps you remember specific injuries, route, gear that’s working for you and gear that isn’t, etc. The running log is about analyzing trends over time using objective data, to see how you’re improving (or not). Many people combine both into one place, and often people use the two terms interchangeably to mean either or both. But I make a distinction because one is about subjective recollection, and the other is about objective data.

I think it would be really easy to get carried away with this data collection, and like most data-point collection moments in my life, I’ve spent more time than I care to disclose searching for the perfect running log to record my running data. I started out thinking this running journal was going to be it, but then I realized that I don’t want to mix my data with my subjective thoughts about particular runs – and besides, what kind of geek would I be if I kept data points buried within a journal, with no way to analyze them properly with some kind of table, chart or graph?

So a little while back I started using FitnessJournal.org, which has a nice clean interface. Unfortunately, as I started to become more serious about running and as I started to think about entering races and establishing goals, I realized that FitnessJournal is not really a runner-oriented log, but more of an overall fitness log. Many runners use it, as do triathletes and others, but for me the deal-breaker was the limited ability to generate useful tables and charts with my data to give me really useful information about my running at a glance. In fact, FitnessJournal seems more oriented towards tracking how much time you spend on fitness activities, rather than distance. It’s too bad, because I really did like the virtual journey map function (which, by the way, I will no longer be using). For anyone who is looking for a good way to keep an online journal of all of their various fitness activities and their nutrition, I highly recommend it, though.

Then I thought about using Excel, but I really only have a white-belt in Excel Geek-Fu, so creating my own Excel log would have taken a lifetime. I found a really good Excel-based running log online that was created by a runner/optometrist who clearly has some serious geek chops. This Excel file is definitely the result of some thought and testing, and I am in awe of its creator. I started playing with it and was amazed at all of the pre-generated charts that track various trends in your running history. It also has a very nice planning tool to help you plan your training in advance and then compares this to your actual training to see if you’re meeting your training goals. Then came the inevitable “Do I really want to have an offline-only setup that requires me to carry a file around on a thumbdrive and requires me to find a computer with Microsoft Excel?” dilemma. I may come back to this log some day when I decide to earn my yellow belt in Excel so I can tweak with it a little bit.

So finally I stumbled upon RunningAHEAD.com, which was created by runner/programmer originally so that he could track his own running history. In the developer’s words:

“Like I said before, I started keeping a record of my daily runs using Microsoft Excel back in 2003. The advantage of using Excel was I can create graphs to my heart’s content. Aside from the obvious daily/weekly/monthly distance graphs that some sites offer, I would like to see how my pace is affected by temperature, or if I run better at a certain time of day.

As I accumulated more data from runs, it became more tedious to create the graphs. It would be nice to be able to create the charts with a few key presses. It was then that I decided to move to a web based solution.

…I showed it off to my friends and coworkers and they urged me to make it publicly available. Some of them suggested charging money for its use so that I can recuperate the amount of time and money that I spent on it. I wanted it to be free because I had fun creating it, and it can be my contribution to the running community.”

I challenge you to find a truer friend to all geeky runners out there. Anyway, as someone who was looking for a simple – but complete – tool to track all of my running history that can easily be analyzed using easy-t0-use charts and graphs, this website hit the nail on the head. It also has a pretty active community of users who share knowledge and tips through a discussion forum, and has a mapping tool that allows you to plot your own courses, share them with others, and search for courses that others have mapped out. And it’s free!

Anyone who wants to track nearly every detail of their runs, give RunningAhead a try. You won’t regret it.

RUN: 4 miles. (Easy. Rest is good.)

Course: Jackson Heights scenic route.

Did a pretty easy run this morning.  The weather is starting to get kind of warm; I may have to rely strictly on morning and evening runs soon if I want to avoid heat-stress/heat-stroke.  7:00 AM is still a pretty comfortable time to run.

My legs felt better than they have in a long time, so it looks like the two days off really helped.

RUN: 0 miles. (rest/hectic schedule)

Between family stuff, more car problems (flat tire – had to put the spare on) baby showers and a meeting, I would have had to run at 10pm in the rain… Hmmm… pass.  I’m not that hard core.  Yet.

More rest for my legs.

RUN: 0 miles. (Rest)

I should be doing a long run today, based on my training schedule, but I’m going to cut out the long run this week.  Family stuff and car troubles ate up my whole day, and I don’t feel like trying to do a long run in the dark on Saturday night.   Besides, the rest will probably be good for my legs, and it’s not like I’m lacking in mileage.

RUN: 2 miles (recovery)

Course: Sunnyside Out-and-Back

Nothing special to report, except that I’m sore as hell from weightlifting two days ago (squats, hamstring curls, calf raises) and the tempo run yesterday, so the early part of my run today was kind of painful.

RUN: 4.8 Miles (Tempo Run)

Course: Westside Bike/Pedestrian Path
Mind: Car exhaust sucks.
Body: Car exhaust sucks.

Today I did a continuous tempo run. What’s a tempo run? Basically you just try to sustain a pace that’s faster than your normal “easy” runs, but slower than your race pace, over a set distance. The point is to run as close as possible to your anaerobic threshold without exceeding it, with the goal of raising that threshold so you can run faster and farther before muscle fatigue hits you. It’s a staple workout of endurance sport athletes and I’m hoping to make it a regular part of my training.

This was my first conscious tempo run; though now, as I learn more about it, I realize that a lot of my running before I became more educated on the subject of running was actually run at tempo training pace. The problem before was that I didn’t know what I was doing, so I’d push myself hard, get tired, stop, and then the next time, I’d do the exact same thing, without building up my endurance with longer, slower-paced runs. For more info on tempo runs, check out this article from Runners World.

I ran along the Westside Highway, where there’s a pretty decent cycling/pedestrian path that goes all the way up the west side of Manhattan. Unfortunately, you’re basically running a stone’s throw (or less) from a pretty busy highway almost the entire way, which is not very fun.

And just for my own records: shins still a little tender, feet are feeling much better.

RUN: 3.2 miles (recovery)

Course: Sunnyside Out-and-Back

Nothing special to report, except that it’s definitely nice to have someone to run with and be able to chat on those easy recovery days.