running and photography

January 11, 2013

Let me tell you a little story.

One friday, late last year, I decided to join my mom, and all of her old lady friends for lunch. After we had finished our meals all of my mom’s friends demanded that they updated their contacts. So they all pulled out their phones, and yep you guessed it they all had marvelous smart phones, androids, iphones – you name it. I immediately felt left out and embarrassed to even pull out my phone. I should be the one with the nice iPhone, and they should be the one clueless on how to work theirs. But nope they weren’t. After that- I had, had it. It was time for me to become trendy and get a smart phone.

So in October of 2012, I got an iPhone 5. Finally, I could recycle my old piece of crap phone and upgrade to a smart phone. Yes, I was the only 20 something year old that had not done this yet, but better late than never.

bad picture of me. but great picture of my iPhone 5.

Before I use to never run with my phone. What was the point? But now that I have my iPhone 5, I never run with out it! Although, there are tons of cool running and music apps, my favorite part of my iPhone 5 is the camera. This phone takes amazing pictures. Before, I would go on runs, and sometimes see something really cool, that I wished I could take a photo of, with the iPhone 5 now I can. I have become obsessed with instagram as well- follow me @dorseyml.

Anyway, I don’t take photos on every run, but I took a couple over the past 2 weeks. This is what I have been running by…

Most of these are taken on the south side of MVT.

This photo was taken during my run on January 3rd, 2013. Although, it was cold, look at that sun streaming. Cold, but refreshing, and soaking in that Vitamin D.

This photo was taken on my morning run on January 4th, 2013. Look at those ducks!

This photo was taken during my morning run, on January 10th, 2013. On this day, it was 53 degrees out. It felt amazing running. The sun reflecting on the water almost looks like ice – but its not.

This photo was taken today, January 11th, 2013. It was 50 degrees, but felt colder because it was lightly raining. I was craving a run, so even those it was raining I was ready to hit the trail. Running forces me to get outside, during the winter while most people are cooped up inside. Don’t be scared of bad weather. A light rain even in January, can feel quite refreshing.

I will start up training for longer races in mid February. So all of these runs, were fast, easy runs, between 5k- 5 miles. However, this weekend is suppose to be 65 degrees so I might throw on some shorts and go on a 10 mile run.

I also wanted to let you guys know that I didn’t feel it necessary to set a New Years Resolution for running, because I am always setting running goals. However, the one thing I do want to do, is record/log my miles. I do this anyway. I use to log them on runnersworld.com, but even since I began running with my garmin I log my miles on garmin connect. But I have never evaluated my mileage. What I mean by this is…

If you had asked me, “How many total miles did you run last month?”

I wouldn’t be able to answer that question- because I have no clue. So this year I will continue to record my mileage, but I will actually keep track. I have just become really curious of how many miles I run a year! So lets see how many miles I can run in one whole year. I am really excited about this new goal/challenge.

Questions for You…

Do you run with your phone?
What is your favorite thing about your smart phone?
How many miles do you run in a year?

photography and 11.5 mile Training Run

November 17, 2012

“How many of you like to run with a phone or something else to capture images of your run?” –Newton Running

Above is the facebook status of Newton Running, and it already has close to 600 likes. I am happy to know that I am not the only one who enjoys taking photos during my runs. I will admit that I was late to jump on the smart phone wagon. I know, call me crazy, but about two months ago I bought my first smart phone, the iPhone 5, and I am in love. This phone goes everywhere with me, even on my runs.

really bad picture of me. but great picture of my new iPhone 5.

I use to run, carrying nothing with me. But I always regretted it when I came across something really cool I wanted to record- by snapping a photo or video of. But now with my new phone I am able to do that. My two favorite new apps are Instagram and Map my Run.

I just started using Map my Run. I still use my Garmin, but I am just experimenting with a couple new apps. I just wish Map my Run recorded your Cadence, because I think my Garmin’s Cadence my be inaccurate. I just downloaded an app to measure cadence, but I have yet to try it.

11.5 Mile Training Run

Anyway, lets get to it. I felt pretty good on my 11 mile run. L came and picked me up yesterday morning. We headed down to the south side of the MVT. I felt cold at first so I had my gray Nike fleece on, but I new I would warm up, although it was 48 degrees out, the sun was bright.

After the first mile, I ditched my fleece on the side of the trail, I knew it would still be there on the way back.

2.5 miles on the MVT. Looking over the GW parkway. It was a Beautiful Fall Day!

L and I continued on. I like the south side of MVT because it is so beautiful. Although, it is a paved path, you feel like you are on a trail run. You also run so close to the Potomac River that you could fall in. I also like it because it is much more hilly. Annapolis will be all hills so it was a good practice.

In it for the long run!

When we headed back and I hit mile 10, I realized I was making better timing then I thought. We ended up finishing in 1:48:00, running an average of a 9:23 min/mile. I would like to run an average of a 9:00 min mile for the race. Which I am pretty sure I can do. I am still debating on which shoes to race in though… Distance U are lighter, and I feel faster in them. The Gravity are a bit heavier, a little more supportive, but sometimes I feel like I am dragging in them towards the end.

RUN ANALYZE

SUMMERY from my Garmin

Distance: 11.5

Time: 1:48:00

Average Pace: 9:23 min/mile

Best Pace: 8:46 min/mile

Calories: 938 C

Cadence: 96 – which can’t be accurate. I use to have a cadence of 160, which is lower than average, but not that low.

Future Goals

The plan for this week is up my weekly milage a bit! I am going to have plenty of time to get some good runs in with days off thanks to the Thanksgiving Holiday. I also plan to strength train, stretch, and continue to work on form.

Questions for You

Does anyone know of a good Cadence App?
What is your favorite running app?

Daily Work Out

October 27, 2012

Today, Friday, October 25th, 2012, I ran a 5 mile loop on the Mount Vernon Trail. Because it is my day off, I didn’t feel obligated to wake up early and rush out the door to get a run in. So I headed out around 11:45.

The trail was gorgeous. Fall is finally here, and it seems like all the leaves have changed overnight. We are also expecting a hurricane to come through so the skies have been overcast and the air has been breezy- perfect running weather, in my opinion.

My run felt really good, averaging an easy 8.30 to 9 minute mile in my Newtons. I also am just beginning to get use to my new iPhone 5. But I brought it along with me, and was able to take some really cool photos.