Several runners in my Twitter feed and on my Daily Mile account seem to like the RunKeeper app.
I tried it once and hated it, for two reasons: One, its GPS couldn't handle my country roads like MapMyRun had consistently been able to; and two, it spoke to me. I wasn't expecting that robotic observation of "one. mile. at. nine. minutes. and. fifty. seconds," and it didn't matter to me that disabling voice was probably very simple —trial over, RunKeeper loses, MapMyRun wins.
So over the weekend, I finally hooked up my wireless Internet, which in turn inspired me to finally listen to my phone's prompting to upgrade my apps. I did so ... after clearing off RunKeeper, something I apparently hadn't managed to do last fall.
MapMyRun's welcome screen looked a lot different, but the important part — the live mapping, another feature that RunKeeper either lacked or hid from a certain lazy smartphone user — was the same. Off I went, two easy, gently breezy, humidity free miles.
Then it happened. "TWO. MILES. IN. NINETEEN. MINUTES. AND. EIGHTEEN. SECONDS."
This is why I don't like to upgrade my apps. Last time, it was the garage door opener app that hit a huge snafu, deleting the account name and password that no one could remember with certainty and causing us to reset the password.
Now this time, the user name and alphanumeric password with special characters (IT gods are smiling!) survived, but apparently the price I paid was having the default set to "unexpected robot voice blaring at interval I never track anyway." For me, there isn't any especially good time to hear a voice less humanoid than a GPS one, but why every two miles? I record my single-mile, not double-mile, splits ...
Unlike RunKeeper, MapMyRun gets another chance, with the "voice feedback" setting easily turned to off. But app developers, if you're reading this, please heed this advice: Surprise noisy additions to your products don't make friends, just soiled pants.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
Web wrap-up: July 2 to July 8
Today's Web wrap-up begins on a sad note.
In a pleasant break from Syria, Sandusky and other disturbing news, I was assigned to proofread a story about a baby beluga whale rescued off the Alaskan coast. His care was incredibly expensive, and the research center that was nursing him was going to host a 5K run to help defray those costs.
I Googled the whale as I prepared to write this post, only to discover that he'd died earlier today. Poor lost little guy. RIP, "Naknek."
However, my job at a media company did yield a more cheery item for the wrap-up: Steve Cannon of Des Moines finished his 40-day streak of running 26 miles around Lake Michigan last Thursday. According to the Des Moines Register's article, he raised more than $32,000 for cancer research while doing so.
Quite impressive, especially coming from the perspective of someone who A) has never run farther than a half marathon and B) who has never even attempted any incarnation of the Runner's World Run Streak.
That's it for today. Blogging and/or running may be a bit sporadic for the rest of the week as I host the grandparents.
In a pleasant break from Syria, Sandusky and other disturbing news, I was assigned to proofread a story about a baby beluga whale rescued off the Alaskan coast. His care was incredibly expensive, and the research center that was nursing him was going to host a 5K run to help defray those costs.
I Googled the whale as I prepared to write this post, only to discover that he'd died earlier today. Poor lost little guy. RIP, "Naknek."
However, my job at a media company did yield a more cheery item for the wrap-up: Steve Cannon of Des Moines finished his 40-day streak of running 26 miles around Lake Michigan last Thursday. According to the Des Moines Register's article, he raised more than $32,000 for cancer research while doing so.
Quite impressive, especially coming from the perspective of someone who A) has never run farther than a half marathon and B) who has never even attempted any incarnation of the Runner's World Run Streak.
That's it for today. Blogging and/or running may be a bit sporadic for the rest of the week as I host the grandparents.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Seen while running: Week of July 1
On my way to the Clive Greenbelt path, this is what I see (in addition to everyone stoppin' and starin' at me):
And then once I was there, I spotted these things:
Back home, after a post-half PR of 6.5 miles, I found this. Scratch "foot model" (or LMFAO music video extra) off my list of career possibilities.
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| Every time I pass this, I think it's an abbreviated expletive aimed at the city of Clive. If anyone knows what it really is, please do share. |
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| Is this a squash shell? Whatever it is, it's been hanging around for about a week now. |
And then once I was there, I spotted these things:
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| I too was tired when I snapped this photo. Did someone create this graffiti after watching me slog by recently? |
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| Oh hey, I ran all the way to Chicago! In 88-degree weather, no less. Definitely warrants a leap into the lake. |
Back home, after a post-half PR of 6.5 miles, I found this. Scratch "foot model" (or LMFAO music video extra) off my list of career possibilities.
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| Left foot, covered in popped blisters. I didn't even know I had those. |
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| Right foot, covered in blisters and topped with calluses. Friday night fun, this particular evening, was exfoliating. |
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Not another post about the heat wave
Everyone who's stepped outside or consumed some form of media is probably not only tired of the heat wave, but also of hearing about it.
I think I'm even tired of complaining about it and railing about it, so in the vein of a Phoenix resident's tips for coping, I'll focus on what I've learned this week. Warning: If you're, like me, a cold weather runner desperately combing the Internet for a magic bullet ... I don't have it.
* Des Moines' trail system isn't awesome merely for the bathrooms it features (hey, when nature calls ... ) — it's awesome for the frequency of water fountains. On a related note, it might be time for me to give my Simple Hydration water bottle another try.
* Listening to my body has gone from being veteran runners' wisdom to something completely automatic. It's not a choice. I wish I could say that's because the switch has clicked and I've become a zen runner, but it's actually more like the human body flipping a lever and going into survival mode.
Example: Runs on July 3 and 4 averaged paces around 10-minute miles for the first two (downhill/flat terrain). They flew up past 11-minute miles for the second two (series of uphills) and reached 13:20 during what was apparently my toughest run. The stop-and-walk breaks aren't a matter of me being mentally weak, at this point; they're my body preventing me from overheating.
* There is no "good time of day" to run. Even though the figure on the thermometer almost doesn't matter — it's oppressively hot and muggy, period — I've been checking. We had 88 degrees at 10 a.m. on July 4; on July 6, 99 degrees at 8:15 p.m., 97 at 8:45 p.m. and 96 at 9:30 p.m.
But look at these numbers from my runs on those days: an average of 10:27 per mile over 4 miles on July 4, with the slowest being 13:20, versus an average of 9:56 per mile over 6.5 miles on July 6, with the slowest being 10:50. Plus, after returning from the shorter run, I had to spend probably twice as long in the A/C before I stopped sweating and could take a shower.
The difference was heading out midmorning versus later in the evening. Maybe the heat melted my brain so I don't remember how intensely I suffered during the July 4 run, but I can say with certainty that while I might not have hated running during the midmorning adventure, I know I liked running during the late evening adventure. (Sundown, by the way, comes closer to 9:15 or 9:30 p.m. in Des Moines right now, so the majority of this run was not done in the dark.)
* The last and most uplifting nugget: I'm adjusting. Or getting used to it. Or being worn down by it.
This isn't like "Green Eggs and Ham," where I hated summer runs before I tried them. This is more like being scared of driving on interstate highways until I graduated from college and had to choose between never visiting people outside the Rockford, Ill., metro area and dealing with merging/others merging at 65-plus mph.
To be serious for a second — and honest — I'm pretty proud of myself for choosing the "learn" option (in both situations) instead of the "hide" one. I haven't reached the full-on addiction like the folks I see running around asphalt-heavy, shade-free downtown at 1 p.m., and I don't plan to, but I'm able to suppress the urge to hunker down in the A/C for at least 40 minutes a day, a few days a week.
Take that, climate change. Actually, don't take that, and certainly don't read that as a challenge to throw even more devastating and drastic changes at us.
I think I'm even tired of complaining about it and railing about it, so in the vein of a Phoenix resident's tips for coping, I'll focus on what I've learned this week. Warning: If you're, like me, a cold weather runner desperately combing the Internet for a magic bullet ... I don't have it.
* Des Moines' trail system isn't awesome merely for the bathrooms it features (hey, when nature calls ... ) — it's awesome for the frequency of water fountains. On a related note, it might be time for me to give my Simple Hydration water bottle another try.
* Listening to my body has gone from being veteran runners' wisdom to something completely automatic. It's not a choice. I wish I could say that's because the switch has clicked and I've become a zen runner, but it's actually more like the human body flipping a lever and going into survival mode.
Example: Runs on July 3 and 4 averaged paces around 10-minute miles for the first two (downhill/flat terrain). They flew up past 11-minute miles for the second two (series of uphills) and reached 13:20 during what was apparently my toughest run. The stop-and-walk breaks aren't a matter of me being mentally weak, at this point; they're my body preventing me from overheating.
* There is no "good time of day" to run. Even though the figure on the thermometer almost doesn't matter — it's oppressively hot and muggy, period — I've been checking. We had 88 degrees at 10 a.m. on July 4; on July 6, 99 degrees at 8:15 p.m., 97 at 8:45 p.m. and 96 at 9:30 p.m.
But look at these numbers from my runs on those days: an average of 10:27 per mile over 4 miles on July 4, with the slowest being 13:20, versus an average of 9:56 per mile over 6.5 miles on July 6, with the slowest being 10:50. Plus, after returning from the shorter run, I had to spend probably twice as long in the A/C before I stopped sweating and could take a shower.
The difference was heading out midmorning versus later in the evening. Maybe the heat melted my brain so I don't remember how intensely I suffered during the July 4 run, but I can say with certainty that while I might not have hated running during the midmorning adventure, I know I liked running during the late evening adventure. (Sundown, by the way, comes closer to 9:15 or 9:30 p.m. in Des Moines right now, so the majority of this run was not done in the dark.)
* The last and most uplifting nugget: I'm adjusting. Or getting used to it. Or being worn down by it.
This isn't like "Green Eggs and Ham," where I hated summer runs before I tried them. This is more like being scared of driving on interstate highways until I graduated from college and had to choose between never visiting people outside the Rockford, Ill., metro area and dealing with merging/others merging at 65-plus mph.
To be serious for a second — and honest — I'm pretty proud of myself for choosing the "learn" option (in both situations) instead of the "hide" one. I haven't reached the full-on addiction like the folks I see running around asphalt-heavy, shade-free downtown at 1 p.m., and I don't plan to, but I'm able to suppress the urge to hunker down in the A/C for at least 40 minutes a day, a few days a week.
Take that, climate change. Actually, don't take that, and certainly don't read that as a challenge to throw even more devastating and drastic changes at us.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
My sixth check-in on the Rock River 1000 Mile Challenge
With the year halfway done, here's how I'm doing on Daily Mile's Rock River 1000 Mile Challenge.
Obviously, I should be at 500 miles ... and I've logged 461, or 39 off pace for the year.
I know objectively that this is a somewhat significant gap, as far as catching up goes, but when I think of how much I avoided summer runs in the past few years, I feel like patting myself on the back, high-fiving myself and buying myself a celebratory drink.
After all, I logged about seven-ish miles for the two weeks after my half marathon, which had put me within three miles of being exactly on track. Those two weeks were spent recovering from the race and moving 300 miles for a new, improved job, so I don't have any reason to berate myself.
That fortnight is responsible for about two-thirds of my shortfall; over the course of the following month, I came up short a few miles a few weeks, and that's it. So I'm well on my way to establishing the habit of running four-plus miles regularly, and I'm working on going past that more often.
Will this get me to 1,000 miles by Dec. 31? Maybe, maybe not — I have to average closer to 21 miles per week for the rest of the year. But it's not outside the realm of possibility, and I'm on track to break 900 if I maintain the status quo. That would still be worth celebrating.
Past monthly check-ins: January through April (at Get Running) and May (at Little Runner, Bigger City).
Obviously, I should be at 500 miles ... and I've logged 461, or 39 off pace for the year.
I know objectively that this is a somewhat significant gap, as far as catching up goes, but when I think of how much I avoided summer runs in the past few years, I feel like patting myself on the back, high-fiving myself and buying myself a celebratory drink.
After all, I logged about seven-ish miles for the two weeks after my half marathon, which had put me within three miles of being exactly on track. Those two weeks were spent recovering from the race and moving 300 miles for a new, improved job, so I don't have any reason to berate myself.
That fortnight is responsible for about two-thirds of my shortfall; over the course of the following month, I came up short a few miles a few weeks, and that's it. So I'm well on my way to establishing the habit of running four-plus miles regularly, and I'm working on going past that more often.
Will this get me to 1,000 miles by Dec. 31? Maybe, maybe not — I have to average closer to 21 miles per week for the rest of the year. But it's not outside the realm of possibility, and I'm on track to break 900 if I maintain the status quo. That would still be worth celebrating.
* * *
Past monthly check-ins: January through April (at Get Running) and May (at Little Runner, Bigger City).
Monday, July 2, 2012
Web wrap-up: June 25 to July 1
Running Is Funny: An Army Jogs on Its Stomach. Mike shares the vision of a Pennsylvania man who launched a series of races, called Jog 'n Hog, based on the Krispy Creme Challenge. Each race's eating portion is tailored to the city's particular specialty.
I liked this post because of the regional delicacies it described: pepperoni balls, ice cream and clusters of caramel/nuts/chocolate. And I thought it was worth sharing because of the call for what your city's food item would be.
Des Moines is apparently known for steak de burgo and Graziano's sausage. My former residence, Rockton, would have to feature Dairy Haus ice cream, and my true hometown, Roscoe, would definitely serve up pizza from Pietro's; extending to my home metro area, we could pig out on Edwards Apple Orchard donuts, anything from BeefaRoo or Swedish pancakes.
Now I'm hungry for home.
Another Mother Runner: Time to Talk Dirty. Sarah lists punny slang terms that describe mud race phenomena. I did the Warrior Dash last year, so this sounds pretty familiar as well as accurate. My favorite? "Souv-in-ear – the keepsake dirt you find in your ear three days after the race." For me it wars more like souv-in-toenail, but that's much less catchy.
Well: What Runners Can Learn From Cheetahs/Running Is Funny: Other Things Runners Can Learn From Cheetahs. The New York Times article (first link) is highly scientific and discusses the mechanics of how cheetahs and greyhounds move so fast. What humans can learn from them, it says, is that strong thighs and lighter shoes probably help, but that "there’s no indication" that the critters' lolling tongues boost speed. Michael Jordan probably would beg to differ, and judging from some of my hot-and-hilly runs, I'd say it's at least worth a little psychological boost. That's probably just a child of the three-peat era talking.
Mike's post, the second link, is easier to digest. Lots of pictures of cute cheetahs of all ages and sizes. Also, there are far-more-practical tips from cheetahs: I don't think I'll struggle putting "Cuteness trumps speed" (I've gotten some hollas recently, sunscreen, sweat, grimace and all) and "Recovery days are very important" into practice.
RW Daily: Congrats to Our 1 Millionth 'Avid Runner'!. Mark Remy points out, correctly, that articles never describe "runners" without using the adjective "avid." He explains the distinction:
I liked this post because of the regional delicacies it described: pepperoni balls, ice cream and clusters of caramel/nuts/chocolate. And I thought it was worth sharing because of the call for what your city's food item would be.
Des Moines is apparently known for steak de burgo and Graziano's sausage. My former residence, Rockton, would have to feature Dairy Haus ice cream, and my true hometown, Roscoe, would definitely serve up pizza from Pietro's; extending to my home metro area, we could pig out on Edwards Apple Orchard donuts, anything from BeefaRoo or Swedish pancakes.
Now I'm hungry for home.
Another Mother Runner: Time to Talk Dirty. Sarah lists punny slang terms that describe mud race phenomena. I did the Warrior Dash last year, so this sounds pretty familiar as well as accurate. My favorite? "Souv-in-ear – the keepsake dirt you find in your ear three days after the race." For me it wars more like souv-in-toenail, but that's much less catchy.
Well: What Runners Can Learn From Cheetahs/Running Is Funny: Other Things Runners Can Learn From Cheetahs. The New York Times article (first link) is highly scientific and discusses the mechanics of how cheetahs and greyhounds move so fast. What humans can learn from them, it says, is that strong thighs and lighter shoes probably help, but that "there’s no indication" that the critters' lolling tongues boost speed. Michael Jordan probably would beg to differ, and judging from some of my hot-and-hilly runs, I'd say it's at least worth a little psychological boost. That's probably just a child of the three-peat era talking.
Mike's post, the second link, is easier to digest. Lots of pictures of cute cheetahs of all ages and sizes. Also, there are far-more-practical tips from cheetahs: I don't think I'll struggle putting "Cuteness trumps speed" (I've gotten some hollas recently, sunscreen, sweat, grimace and all) and "Recovery days are very important" into practice.
RW Daily: Congrats to Our 1 Millionth 'Avid Runner'!. Mark Remy points out, correctly, that articles never describe "runners" without using the adjective "avid." He explains the distinction:
"Avid runners are people who run and then talk about it, even to people who don't run and don't care. Also, avid runners wear race T-shirts instead of giving them to Goodwill."Hurray! I'm an avid runner, because I talk about it to people who neither run nor care! Thanks, Mark.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Seen while running: Week of June 24
Last week while running, I made some new friends ...
... saw some natural and man-made art ...
... had flashbacks of the upper Midwest (home sweet home) ...
... and watched sweat pool on every square inch of me.
Overall, a good week in running, even with the hiatus for extreme heat, and even with the not-extreme-but-just-intense heat.
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| Somewhere along 50th Street, providing me a nice catch-your-breath break. |
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| "Paths Unite," by James Bearden, on the Clive Greenbelt Trail |
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| Walnut Creek, seen from an overlook with a bench, looked awfully inviting on a muggy summer evening. This was the night I checked out the Clive Greenbelt Trail on foot. |
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| Also the name of a neighborhood in Rockton, Ill.! This one looks a little swankier. |
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| Just like in Stevens Point, Wis., near the Schmeeckle trails, Clive has phallic brick structures near its rec path! |
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| That is a bib of sweat forming on my shirt. |
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