Fun on Foot Running, Walking Blog

Queens Half Marathon 2010 – A Brutal Affair

Administrator — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 21:27:23 +0000

This morning was the Queens Half, on a brand new course, centered around Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Establishing a new course this year was an excellent idea. At last year’s Queens Half, centered at College Point, it was so difficult to get to the start and home from the finish that many runners had their starts severely delayed and their day’s plans seriously disrupted.
The new course is really excellent. You get to the start/finish area via the 7 train. The runner passes all the interesting sights in the Flushing Meadows vicinity. It is also a pleasantly flat course, ideal for fast times and PRs on a normal day.
But today was no normal day. The race (thankfully) started at 7:00 am. However, the official race temperature was 86 degrees and humidity was 63%.
I ran my worst time ever in a half marathon (and I am not particularly out of condition). Compare that with last year’s Queens Half (run in September) where I ran my personal best. Every other runner I spoke to had similar thoughts – this was really a brutal run.
NYRR and their volunteers did an amazing job in supporting the event. There were water stations (almost all with Gatorade as well) at almost every mile. Problems today were definitely not attributable to the race organizers.
NYC weather is surprisingly nasty this summer. Keep cool, runners!

Registering for the Boston Half

Administrator — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:16:31 +0000

Today at 9:00 am was your opportunity to register online for the October Boston Half Marathon, limited to 5,000 registrants. Like so many others, I duly went to the website precisely at 9:00 am, filled in the form with the enormous number of details required, and felt good when it accepted the form and offered me the waiver page. I then hit SUBMIT. The result, a minute or two later, was that my browser advised that the website had an error.
Since I had a long run scheduled today, I did not have the time to fight BAA’s faulty website any more. After my run, no surprise, the registration had closed.
This is typical of BAA, who have no ability (maybe no desire?) to conduct a real community event. Compare with NYRR, who go to such lengthy measures to ensure that all the NYC community have a fair chance to participate in their events.
I look forward to comments from others…

A Long Hot Running Week in New York

Administrator — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:06:20 +0000

Today Sunday ended a very intense few days of city running activities. Last Sunday was the 5-mile Fathers Day run. Thursday evening was the American Heart Association 3-mile Wall Street run, Saturday was the Pride 5-Mile Run in Central Park, and today was the Achilles Hope and Possibility 5-Mile Run in Central Park. All four of these races were qualifying races for the 2011 New York City Marathon so all were popular for that reason in addition to the fundamental support causes of each event.

Having just moved back to New York for the season, Nola and I were no exceptions to the involvement. We both ran the Wall Street and Pride runs and volunteered to work the Achilles run. All were fun but all suffered from one negative factor – heat and humidity far higher than we runners like.

What impressed me most was the unrelenting strength of most runners in failing to let the heat and humidity dampen their spirits. If you run a little (or a lot) slower on hot humid days than on runner-perfect days, that is just normal. Perform as well as you can under the circumstances, and feel satisfied with your result. Your performance will undoubtedly add to your longer term strength and stamina building.

Brooklyn Half Marathon – Not Easy but Not to Be Missed

Administrator — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:18:42 +0000

This past Saturday I ran my second Brooklyn Half Marathon. This is a popular New York City event with a character of its own. It starts in Prospect Park where runners are subjected to a quite hilly seven-mile double loop of the park, followed by a six-mile flat run along Ocean Parkway to Coney Island where it finishes on the boardwalk.

This year the weather was warm and very humid but not excessively hot. Nevertheless I struggled immensely in the last few miles of the event and was far from satisfied with my final time. I could put that down to my own form not being up to scratch coupled with the stress of waking at 4:00 am with a 3-hour time zone shift (that meant it was 1:00 am to my body) to get the subway to Brooklyn for a 7:00 am start. However, I was surprised to learn at the finish how many other runners were equally dissatisfied with their performances.

Despite those feelings, I was delighted to link up with my old running club (the Reservoir Dogs) and the partying that followed at Coney Island immediately after the race, involving not just my club but apparently most of the 7,000 finishers, made everyone quickly forget their times and feel good. There is something about this event that makes it one not to be missed!

Hudson Riverside Park Trail Complete

Administrator — Sun, 23 May 2010 18:53:46 +0000

Yesterday the final link in the trail along the Hudson River edge in Riverside Park, New York, was opened. This last link fills in the section between W 83rd and W 92nd Streets, where, until now, it was necessary to divert inland onto a trail in Riverside Park east of the Henry Hudson Parkway. The new trail section was something of a challenge since it necessitated the construction of a platform built on piers over the river, owing to the closeness of the highway to the river at this point.

This means that we now have an excellent paved multiuse trail right on the riverbank from Dyckman Street near the top end of Manhattan down to the docks at W 59th Street. At W 59th Street this trail connects to the continuing trail southward, mostly a little removed from the river bank, all the way down to Battery Park.

If you want a good map of Riverside Park, get the paper map produced by the Riverside Park Fund, which we sell for $2.00 at www.funonfoot.com. You really need this paper map since Riverside Park is too tall and thin for a printable online map to work.
(c) Warwick Ford, 2010

Orange County Marathon, Half, and 5K

Administrator — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:32:55 +0000

On Sunday, Nola and I ran in these Orange County, California events. Still emerging from our mostly-non-running winter in the Rockies, I took on the half marathon and Nola the 5K.

It is an exciting course. The half marathon spans the cities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. It was one of the most pleasant I have run, including a stretch on the ocean shore plus some beautiful terrain through the nature reserve around Newport Bay. The course is mostly flat, although there are a couple of very nasty little hills. The marathon extends in a loop from near the end of the half into the cities of Irvine and Santa Ana to end at the same finish line.

My main warning to runners contemplating this event in the future is that the logistics are complex and you need to give good attention in advance to where you stay and how you get around. The start and finish lines are several miles apart and the shuttle services between them are tenuous, not aided by the many street closures that occur. We stayed the night before the event in a hotel near the marathon/half start and had our own vehicle. We were very happy we did it that way.

Bottom line, I finished the half in a respectable time but, more importantly, Nola won her age division in the 5K for a GOLD MEDAL!

Warwick Ford

Calories Burned Per Mile

Administrator — Wed, 05 May 2010 01:42:41 +0000

One figure we runners and walkers need to know is the number of calories our bodies burn while out on-foot. One reason it is important to many of us is the weight-loss factor. If I know that today’s run or walk burned more calories than I would intake by drinking a beer or eating a cookie, I shall feel no guilt about consuming a beer or cookie after the exercise.

However, for endurance athletes (including marathoners) the rate of calorie loss is important for another reason. It helps us know what carbs we need to store before and intake during a run, allowing us to better plan our race days.

The answer has always been a bit of a mystery to me, since there are so many calorie calculators on the web and even devices like treadmills tell me how many calories they think I burned. But, amazingly, these different sources of answers frequently disagree with each other. Furthermore, many of those calculators present their answers in an unhelpful way – for example, they will tell me (for my body weight) how many calories I would burn in 30 minutes of exercise running at 8 miles per hour. Unfortunately, I do not run in 30 minute segments and I do not think of running speeds as miles per hour.

But I do know my body weight and I do know the mile pace I run on every outing and I do know how far I go. The calorie-related figure I really need to know is how many calories I burn per mile. I decided to pin down that figure for different body weights for the paces we typically run or walk.

I have put together the table we need and included it in a new free article on our website at www.funonfoot.com/resources.html I recommend you read the full article since there are a few provisos around the final figures given, plus supporting information.

Use these easily memorized figures in planning your next endurance run.

Treadmills – Love Them, Hate Them

Administrator — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 03:42:33 +0000

I have never got to love treadmills. I find them deadly dull and usually located in a hot, stuffy environment. The outdoors is so much better. However, I do often find myself on a treadmill – when the weather is really rotten outside or when I am stuck overnight in a hotel where there is no outdoor running option (happens all the time on those highway overnight stopovers). At those times I am grateful to know that a treadmill is at hand.

I know that not all runners share my negativism about treadmills. I have friends who laud the treadmill as a great training environment. You have the ability to set up precisely the training run you want, with hill gradients and speeds and repetitive programs that, quite frankly, you just cannot replicate with any accuracy on the outdoor trails.

One option is to have your own treadmill in the basement or garage. This might be especially attractive in winter. If you are contemplating this, be sure to check out this website: www.runreviews.com. It has a comprehensive set of independent reviews of the wide range of treadmill products available. In fact, even if you are not about to buy your own treadmill, check out this site to help you decide which machine to use at your gym.

I have to admit that, if I could get my mind to accept routine treadmill exercise, I might benefit from better hill and speed workouts than I get in my present varied outdoor sessions. I really should get to like treadmills more, if not love them. I’ll work on it!

Warwick Ford, April 11, 2010

Announcing Philadelphia Running and Walking: A Guide for Athletes and Fitness Seekers

Administrator — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:40:21 +0000

Philadelphia is an excellent place for running and on-foot exercise. However, to take full advantage of the environment, there is much to know. Good local knowledge helps competitive athletes find stimulating training routes, helps recreational joggers or walkers motivate themselves to exercise more, and helps visitors or newcomers get outdoors quickly and confidently.

Philadelphia Running and Walking pulls together everything that Philadelphia runners and walkers need to know in one compact package, sized to carry with you on foot. It describes the best training and exercise routes – from the Delaware River to Valley Forge; from Pennypack Park to FDR Park. It includes commentary, directions, photographs, and maps with mileages, restrooms, public transit, and other features important to runners. It also describes the major annual on-foot events – races, fun runs, and walks – and introduces the region’s major running clubs.

“Part of the appeal of running is discovering new sights on vacations or in your hometown,” said John Crews, Male Winner of the 2009 Philadelphia Marathon. “Philadelphia Running and Walking provides a great starting point for your next run in the city. It is an excellent resource for recreational joggers to professional runners looking for a place to run in Philadelphia.”

The authors, husband-and-wife team Warwick and Nola Ford, both runners, explored and handpicked all the routes themselves. This book follows up their popular 2009 New York guide Fun on Foot in New York and their 2007 Boston region guide Fun on Foot in New England.

One of the Fords’ objectives is to help make running and walking enjoyable, to minimize stress and help readers get outdoors more. Where possible, routes are designed to take in historic sights and also have a good eating and drinking establishment at the end. Jutta Merilainen, Female Winner of the 2009 Philadelphia Marathon, said this about Philadelphia Running and Walking: “A must for anyone who wants to get the most out of Philly. Run and fun echo from each page. Irresistible!”

Several prominent local runners support this new guide. “This book is invaluable to anyone visiting or moving to the Philadelphia area, or to any runners bored with their old routes and looking for something new,” said Bob Schwelm, two-time Olympics Trials marathon qualifier and 2009 number one world marathon ranking for age 50+. “Diners need Zagat. Runners need this guide!”

ISBN 978-0-9765244-3-4 Full details at www.funonfoot.com

Rail Trail Developments in Poughkeepsie and Ulster Co, NY State

Administrator — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:41:33 +0000

On October 3, 2009, the defunct Poughkeepsie-Highland Rail Bridge was opened to the public for bicycle and pedestrian use as the Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park (www.walkway.org). This completed the loop route foreshadowed in Fun on Foot in New York, using the sidewalk of the Mid-Hudson Road Bridge and the new Walkway connecting through downtown Poughkeepsie and Highland in Ulster County.

To do this loop refer to our description and map for Route UN1 Poughkeepsie-Highland in Fun on Foot in New York and connect in the new Walkway, from Haviland Road in Highland to Washington Street and Parker Avenue on the north edge of downtown Poughkeepsie. The resultant loop is 3.6 miles.

Other nearby rail trail developments in Ulster County are planned including, most notably, a new linear park connecting the Town of Gardiner, the Town and Village of New Paltz, the Town of Rosendale, and the Town of Ulster. This project involves the restoration of yet another high-level railroad trestle, perched 150 feet over the Rondout Creek in Rosendale. The Wallkill Valley Land Trust is undertaking this project. We have posted an article about this development on our website. To read it see www.funonfoot.com/resources.html

These developments, in combination with each other and nearby trail developments, lead us to believe we will soon find one of the most outstanding paved trail networks in the state here in Ulster County and Duchess County. Please support the organizations leading these efforts.
Warwick Ford, March 2010