Andy Gapin

Tonight was definitely one of those off nights. I thought I was going to end up running in the rain which I would have been okay with since the temperature was about 51, but the rain stopped for a while so I was able to stay mostly dry except for not being able to avoid some puddles and wet ground. I started off at what felt like a race-pace, I really thought I was running faster than I should have been, but when RunKeeper chimed in at the one mile mark, I found out that I was actually running a ton slower than I thought I was. I was only at a 7:30/mile. The rest was a little faster, picking up the overall pace for the four miles up to 7:20, but I still can’t believe how much faster I felt like I was running. Oh well, I guess it happens. The run was tough though. I had some minor cramping, not a lot of energy, and not a lot of breath. I was glad when it was over.

The fiancée didn’t run tonight because she’s been battling some shin splints for the past couple weeks. We think she came back too hard and too fast from her ankle injury. It’s starting to get down to the wire for the half marathon in January so she’s going to take this week off and come back next week with 2 2-mile runs, a 4-mile run, and a 10-mile run (she ran the 8 with me the other day)…we hope. Hopefully, she’s pain-free and that’s not too much for her shins, but we’ll see.

Scheduling the long run of the week the day after a five-mile race may not have been the best of ideas, but we needed to fit it in somewhere. I knew that after running as hard as I did yesterday that I should keep it slow and easy today which is exactly what I did. The pace was much slower than I would normally run, but that’s okay, it was about distance, not time. It worked out, I felt good the entire time, no pain, no fatigue.

When I stepped out of the house, it felt warm, I thought I was going to be too hot in a long sleeve shirt and shorts, but as soon as we turned the corner on to the main road, the sun disappeared and we never really saw it again. I spent the entire run being cold. My core was tolerable, but my hands and arms were freezing. I wish I had gloves on. I was so cold that after hitting the 8-mile mark, I needed to keep running back to the house to stay warm.

Today was the Westfield Turkey Trot 5-mile race through Tamaques Park, which was actually one of the parks that I trained in for the RU Unite half-marathon earlier this year. It’s a nice little park with a .8 mile loop so it’s good for short runs, but anything more than a few miles gets really boring.

Today was chilly and windy, not the most fun weather for standing around waiting for a race to start. Because of the high winds today, gusting up to 30 mph, it was hard to decide what to wear, but I stuck with what I would normally wear for a 39 degree run. I was freezing while waiting for the race to start, my toes even went completely numb. It was actually hard to fight the feeling that I didn’t dress warm enough, but I knew once I started running, I’d warm up. I was right. My toes didn’t thaw out until after the second mile, but by the the time I finished the first mile, the rest of me was plenty warm. By the end of the race, I was dripping sweat.

The course wasn’t too shabby. The race started with a lap and a half in the park and then continued through residential Westfield with a final half lap in the park again. The course was marked well and the race was organized, the only real complaint to be made was that the race wasn’t chipped. That means that at the end of the race, you have to run down a chute and stay in order. People grab the tag at the bottom of your bib which sometimes means that you’re standing there for a few seconds waiting for them. Unfortunately, this was another run with a dry-heaving finish for me. I nearly puked on the girl taking the tags at the end because I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Anyway, my performance…

My goal was 35 minutes and as you can see from the title, I beat that pretty decently. I started off feeling strong, but slowed a little as the race continued. Overall, my pace was 6:47 which is pretty solid for me, but I ran for a mile and a half with a side cramp that did not feel good at all and my legs were tired. The gusts of wind made it hard to breathe, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Even though I was slowly slowing down throughout the race, I finished strong with as much of a sprint as I could muster. 33:56 put me at 53rd overall out of 843 total runners. I was third in my age group. And best of all, since I’ve never run a 5-mile race before, that time was my PR.

Even though it was windy out, it was a good race and a performance I can be happy with. I would definitely run it again.

For the second year in a row, we hosted Thanksgiving at our place for our families and I think it was a success. Unfortunately, my mom was unable to make it this year, but good times were had and good food was eaten. And of course, I had the camera out all day.

With all the food that will be eaten today, I knew that the run I planned on doing yesterday should be shifted to this morning. Unfortunately, the weather was crappy, but I persevered. It was under 40 and drizzly, but at least the heavier rain held out until after I was finished.

I started off quick, but lost steam with each mile. Overall, my pace was still fast, but required a bit of a push towards the end to keep.

I said I’d try to get some sort of a post up, so here ya go!

I plugged in the MacBook Pro and started it up after work. No problems. Looks like I get lucky with the water. Anyway, after cleaning the house and prepping a few Thanksgiving dishes for tomorrow (we’re hosting), including the turkey, I popped my memory card into my computer to unload what was on there.

I forgot I had taken these shots of the cat the other night. It was the first time we saw her sitting up on the banister at the top of the steps. I knew it was only a matter of time before she decided that she’d give it a shot, but I was surprised it took so long. I grabbed my camera and fired off a bunch of shots. I didn’t do any post production to any of the shots except to apply one of my favorite presets. I just left it at that…which usually doesn’t work out, I normally need to do some further work.

I mean it’s been a while since I’ve posted cat pictures so it’s okay, right?

Alright, so it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. This is the longest I’ve gone that I can remember, actually. There hasn’t really been much to post.

I was going to post a review of one of the four new hot sauces I ordered a couple weeks ago, but then I went and spilled water on my computer last night. I don’t know what’s been up with me, but I’ve been really clumsy lately with my ubiquitous water cup that’s always next to me at home. I’ve spilled it about three times in the last couple of weeks. Last night, I got a bit on my MacBook Pro. I don’t think it’ll be too bad, it was really only a few drops that got near the keyboard, but I shut it down and unplugged it to be safe. I’ll let it dry out a little more before turning it back on. I wanted to take the battery out too, but of course, Apple makes that a pain in the ass. I unscrewed the bottom panel only to find out that the battery was held in with Torx screws and I don’t have a screwdriver for them. Oh well. I think the computer will be okay though…I hope. I really can’t afford to replace it right now. It seemed fine while I was shutting it down except for the trackpad which was acting a little funny, but that will probably be fine once it completely dries. Ugh.

But yeah, I ordered four hot sauces and a couple of them are insanely intense. I wanted to write a review of the hottest one, but that will have to wait since I need to my MacBook Pro to access the photos. Not that I don’t have any other computers to use, I have plenty, but…I’ve got nothing. Man, I even have some videos to post with the review too. Look for that soon…if you care.

Let’s see, what else has been going on? I lost about two weeks of my life to trying to find the perfect backpack. I get obsessed with the weirdest things sometimes. I’m asking a lot from a single bag, but I need something that can carry my camera with a couple extra lenses, my laptop, and a day or two worth of clothes. It also needs to work as an everyday bag too, so it needs to be pretty compressable. And it has to be designed to work as a camera bag so I don’t have to shove another camera bag into it like I do with my current bag (Pakuma Akara K1 with a Tamrac Compact Zoom inside). The bag needs to have waist and chest straps, be built well, and allow quick access to my camera. I seached all over the place to find something that wasn’t too big, but was big enough for what I want to carry. I wanted something that looked half decent too and didn’t scream “hey! I’ve got a camera!” or “hey! I look like a complete jabroni wearing this, check it out!” In addition to all of that, I plan on taking my camera snowboarding with me a couple times this upcoming season so it should be somewhat waterproof. I don’t plan on doing anything crazy with it. I’ll probably just take it with me for one or two runs and mostly park myself in a good spot to take photos of other snowboarders. Then I’ll put it back in the car and get back to having fun. After all of that, I think I may have found the perfect bag, but it seems that the shipping will be a little delayed. When I get it, I’ll probably review that too.

Other than that, not too much going on. Thanksgiving is tomorrow and we’re hosting for the second year in a row. I can’t wait to eat everything in site.

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for now. I’ll get those reviews up soon (maybe) and maybe some other stuff. We’ll see what I’ve got, but I don’t like this lack of posts thing one bit.

I got up this morning for a little four mile run before work. The entire run was pretty much pain free except for some tightness in my right calf for the first half mile. I felt like I was running awkwardly, but once that tightness subsided, I felt like I got into my groove.

Since it was short and I was running alone, I bumped up the pace to near race pace. My overall pace clocked in at 6:56/mile which is 16 seconds slower than the pace of my fastest 5k. Not bad, but I don’t think I could keep that kind of pace for much longer, I really burned out. By about a quarter of the way into the fourth mile, I had to slow myself down a little and catch some air. I’m hoping for a better performance in thise weekend’s 5 mile turkey trot, but we’ll see.

Still, for hopping out of bed, not eating anything at all, and running out the door, it wasn’t a bad run…I think this is the fastest 4 miles I’ve run to date. My goal is to be able to sustain this pace for 13.1 miles come April’s half marathon at Rutgers, but for the half in Disney in January, 7:15-7:30/mile would make me happy.

Today was the long run for the week. I kept the pace slow and stayed with the lady the entire time, but somehow this ended up being a pretty painful run. I don’t know what it was, but I was having ankle pain, calf and knee soreness, and some slight hamstring tightness starting around mile 3. Most of it was pretty tolerable, but it wasn’t good.

An 8 mile run shouldn’t have been this painful so I’m not sure if I should be worried or just consider it to be one of those weirdo off days. I guess that decision will have to wait for next weekend.

Today was a 6 mile run before work. It was tough getting up and out of bed, but I made it. The temperature was 39° so I went with running tights under shorts and a long-sleeve technical shirt. I was freezing at first, but after the second mile, I was plenty warmed up. By the end of the run, I was dripping sweat.

I started off slowly at 8:30/mile for the first three miles. I was running with the lady and that’s her pace. She kept it the entire six miles which is great for her, much better than before her injury, actually. Much more consistent too. At the 3rd mile mark, I picked up my pace to 7/mile for the second half of the run. The overall pace was a bit slower than some of my other 6 mile runs, but with the faster pace of miles 4-6, I definitely felt like I worked pretty hard. I’m slightly sore now.