Find out what to wear in the cold, where to buy it and how it helps prevent stress. We've just mailed the November edition of WalkJogRun's newsletter to just under 25,000 members. If you didn't get the memo, check it out.

Last night Jeff and I had another late night fixing some of the annoying bugs in WalkJogRun and made some other tweaks:

• Removed new ad unit when you click create route so it no longer covers the speed/pace controls on small screens
• Re-ordered the create route controls to put the most common items at the top and added the out and back control, previously only found by clicking the finish pin.
• Added a start/finish pin for out and back routes, previously the start and finish pins overlapped making it hard to click on the finish pin.
• Better zoom for more accurate search results - when you search for an address and the Geocoder has street address level accuracy, the map will be zoomed closer than city level accuracy to reflect the fact that you know where your address is on the map. We also added an initial search result pin so you can see where the Geocoder thinks you are looking for.

That's it for this week, let us know if there is anything you find tricky, have trouble with or if you just have some good ideas for the site!

Several of you reported that when you try to tack on extra mileage to an existing route or make edits to save as a new route, your original route would vanish.

It turns out this was a bug we introduced with the redesign and I've just fixed it. Sorry to anyone who has experienced this and please, please, please, keep telling us if anything stops working suddenly. Chances are, me or Jeff have screwed something up :-)

I'm happy to say that with only 2 weeks to go to the Chicago Marathon the only exhaustion I'm facing is mental and not physical. I know it sounds strange but it's a relief because I know that as part of my taper I'll be backing off the mileage and will start to feel stronger, have more time to sleep in and be ready to go.

Last weekend we did our 20 miler and I was more nervous than usual. The week before when we ran 14 miles, supposedly a back off week, I felt a phantom knee pain around mile 6. 3 miles later I felt sick to my stomach and ended up dry heaving by the side of the path. So psychologically, it wasn't the best preparation for a 20 miler! Fortunately for me, the weather was ideal for the 20 miles and I had prepared well with sleep and pasta the night before. I took 2 Power Gel pouches during the run: one at 7.5 miles and another at mile 13 and felt really strong when I finished. It was the ideal end to the incremental mileage phase and a great way to head into the three week taper.

Yesterday we ran 12 miles and again it was cooler than the rest of our summer training and I felt strong. I ran with a guy from the Team in Training crew all the way and maintained a healthy 9:20 pace until the last half mile where we picked it up to give us a run average of 9:14 per mile. My goal for the marathon is an 8:45 pace based on my Chicago half marathon time of 8:18 per mile so we'll see how that pans out ;-) Truth be told I'll just be thrilled to come in under 4 hours to beat my personal best of 4:06 two and a half years ago in the San Francisco marathon.

Until then I'll be taking every opportunity to get off my feet, get plenty of sleep and eat and more responsibly...

This weekend we were visiting family in New York and, since the marathon isn't going to run itself, we had to fit in a 16 mile run. My initial thought was to look around Central Park on WalkJogRun but for that kind of distance I only found some multi-lap routes. Since I'm not as familiar with the path network either I figured there was a good chance we might miss a turn and finish short.

There was one 16 mile route that mentioned a "Greenway" so I googled it and found out that New York City recently created a semi-complete 23 mile course tracing around the outside of Manhattan. The semi-complete parts are where the route joins traffic on the North and East of the route.

We were staying at the Marriott on the Upper East-side at 48th and Lexington so when we woke up at 5.30am to prepare it was a relief to find the deli across the street was open selling oatmeal and toasted bagels with peanut butter. One bagel, a Starbucks coffee and one call of nature later we were all set to run.

Lower East Side

Traffic was really light at 6.30am as we started South from the hotel and turned left (East) at 38th Street. After Lexington Ave we hit third, second and first before cutting under the FDR highway in search of the Greenway per the city provided map. A sign directed us to the path but we quickly ran into trouble with just water and no path. A quick scan around and we noticed we had missed the second sign and joined a rugged path heading South with the river on our left. At this point we were about 2 miles into our run.

Another couple of twists and turns later and we appeared to run into the courtyard of a waterfront condo so it appears we missed another sign, but we quickly found our way back under the highway again and picked the trail back up. At this point it is worth pointing out that it's not the best scenery under the highway with trash and a route on rough concrete with an occasional diversion through a paved park.

A little further south, beyond the Williamsburg Bridge, it gets much better with more parks and turns into quiet city gardens, still with the litter though. Around mile 6 we reached the Manhattan Bridge and began to enjoy the scenery much more. A city art project sits on the riverside in the form of huge scaffolding fountains cascading water into the Hudson and it's a really impressive sight. We're in Chinatown so the path, at 7.30am, is now full of senior Chinese men and women performing some form of dynamic stretching in unison.

Unlike the earlier part of the run, there are more people exercising down here so it feels more comfortable than before. Past the first bridge we hit the Brooklyn Bridge in all its stone majesty and pass a Greenway sign confirming this. The Greenway signs have been fairly frequent so far but they could do with a few more, carefully placed at each point where the path veers off from the current direction. Another thing worth noting is that there are a few water stops we've passed along the way, mostly tucked away in the little garden areas so it's worth taking the diversions if you see them.

Lower Manhattan

As we run a little further down the path, we see a pink ferry shipping passengers over to Governors Island and a huge cruise ship heading into port. By the time we reach the seaport the cruise ship Norwegian spirit has docked beside the path and we duck around the administrative buildings. It's at this point I notice the large black monolithic buildings and construction boards on our right and realize we're running past ground zero. It's an immensely overwhelming experience and was something we hadn't anticipated seeing so we both run on stunned into silence.

Next was Battery Park where the sight I'd been looking forward to comes into view - the Statue of Liberty illuminated by the morning sun standing tall on our left side. As a recent immigrant from the UK it's a symbol of my life in the US and a proud moment when I think of the years of paperwork it took to earn the right to call America my home. There are plenty of water fountains and open pedestrian areas as you jog through Battery Park where the Staten Island ferry passengers wait to board and a few timely restrooms if you need to take another break...

The path turns a little further North beyond the park, passing between some of the buildings of lower Manhattan as we veer away from the water for a while. The path at this point is split into two paths, one for runners or walkers and another for inline skaters and cyclists but it's clear most runners prefer the carefully leveled, clearly marked tarmac of the cycle path and so do we. The run/walk path is less smooth with a more rugged terrain but in its favor, you'll find fountains hidden along it as it loops around public gardens back to the river again.

When you hit the river past the buildings of lower Manhattan you hit Chelsea Piers, a large entertainment facility with bowling, bars and what looks like a lot of fun. The path on this side of Manhattan is significantly more pleasant and cleaner than the west side and lots more people out enjoying the path. It's around 8am as we pass the piers and continue towards the Upper West Side passing boats and docks along the way.

On the other side of the river we can see New Jersey and as we look right into Manhattan we get a much better view of the skyline than we did from under the highway. The Empire State building stands like a guardian towering over the buildings in it's midst. We keep heading north to around 51st street and cut across the highway at a traffic light in search of Central Park. A few blocks in we realize we cut over too soon and find our way up Ninth Avenue with the help of a local.

Central Park

We hit Central Park around mile 12 at the South-West corner and make our way through the park up the left side before we spot the arrows on the path pointing the opposite way. It seems it's a one way system so we turn around and follow it back around to go with the flow. The path swoops counter-clockwise around the South side of the park and back up the East side. A group of perky runners just starting a group run plod behind us chatting loudly about their breakfast and their preparation for the long run but we're both starting to hit empty stomachs and tired legs so the constant chatter starts to annoy us. A little further the path splits with one way continuing up through the park and the other looping back around to the West side and, since we only have 3 miles to do in the park we make our turn home and run back to the South, losing our chatty friends in the process.

We follow the path back around the same loop until we hit a right hand turn out of the park with an apparent downhill slope. As we exit onto Fifth Avenue we head South past the early morning shoppers and the Apple store in our smelly running gear. After a few blocks we cut east to Madison Avenue to avoid waiting at the lights and continue south towards our hotel. As we close on 48th Street it's clear we're not quite going to hit 16 miles so we continue for another few blocks to 42nd Street and cut over again but my estimate is off so when we hit Lexington ready to head North for the remaining blocks to the hotel we're already done according to my Garmin so we call it. We walk steadily the rest of the way, stopping at a pharmacy to buy Aleve for aching knees, milk for my post run fix and then stagger through the lobby to the elevators.

Cool Down

Overall, it's been a great run for me and the stretching in the room helps ease the stiffness in my legs while I watch the wrap-up of the Olympics on sports center. Seventy five percent of the run was stunning and a welcome change to the old familiar training route up and down the lakefront in Chicago for the last 3 years.

It's stressful to find and plan a route in a city you don't know and harder still when that run is with someone who is running 16 miles for the first time ever but the reward was well worth it. So much so, that when we run our 18 miler in two weeks in Boston, we've decided to change our game plan to allow us to run from Brookline into Cambridge and enjoy some of the sights of Boston instead of plodding around the suburbs.

I ran the Chicago Distance Classic yesterday as part 2 of my 3 race season with Team in Training. After my Indy Mini PR of 1:58:20 I had a good head start on my training with 14 weeks between races to see how much faster I could get. The Team in Training Summer program features speedwork, stretching and ab work on Wednesday nights and so I pushed those sessions pretty hard.

Over the last 14 weeks we've done hill repeats, yasso 800s, strides, intervals and pickups around one of Chicago Lakefront's only hills at Montrose harbor. My pace had gradually been increasing while my heart rate was dropping over the same easy runs week to week and I felt really strong.

After studying my runners world training diary and pouring over the Garmin workout logs I decided to start with the 8 minute mile Chicago Endurance Sports pace group for a finish time of 1:45. I started in the first wave as a consequence and left with the first batch of runners. I stuck it out for the first four laps with splits of 7:46, 7:55, 7:46 and 8:02 but realized I was out of my league when I peaked at my Garmin to see a Heart Rate of 175 bpm, a rate typical towards the end of my workouts so I slowed down to 8:13, 8:01, 8:05 and 8:06 for the next four. At that point I hit the gusting wind from the north and was pegged back to 8:17, 8:54, 8:02 and 8:17 for the next four miles. The last mile and change to the finish I had nothing left in the tank and slugged through at 8:54 to finish with an overall chip time of 1:48:38 - another PR!

I'm really excited because it's one day later and I don't feel like I've been hit by a bus and ready for the next 9 weeks of training to take me to the Chicago marathon where, through my time in this race, I have secured a corral start! I'll throw it out there now so I can remember it but the Greg McMillan Running Calculator predicts that based on my half marathon time, my current level of fitness would indicate a 3:49 marathon. That would be 17 minutes faster than my 2006 San Francisco marathon finish and a PR so I hope it works!

Anyone else run it? What did you think of the course, the weather and the organization?

Woohoo! 393 miles in 2008 so far and the rest since June 2006 means I'm a member of Nike's 1000 miler club.

Two updates this week of note. The biggest announcement is that after meeting John Bingham and Coach Jenny to discuss the site last week, they asked WalkJogRun to be the official map provider for the Chicago Distance Classic Half Marathon! I took the map provided by the route certifier and created the 13.1 mile route. There will be updates to come including aid stations, sponsored water stops and bathrooms but for now it's live at WalkJogRun.net/cdc. I'm running it again this year and looking to beat my Indy Mini time of 1:58:20...

The other announcement is a bug fix. When creating routes you may have noticed that if you clicked to add a turn marker on top of one of the blue route marker lines, it wouldn't register. Last night I changed some code to make it possible to click on the lines to add turn markers.

I had some downtime at my conference in DC so I worked on WalkJogRun and knocked out some frequently requested features.

Draggable turn markers

When I work out a route before my run with WalkJogRun I usually don't stress about the detail of every click but when I come back I typically tidy it up to maake it more accurate. Up until now that involved hitting the "delete last point" button to back track to the point where I need to make changes, finish the route and hit save to update it.

Now you will see yellow dots at each turn in the route to allow you to drag them around the map and reposition them to be more accurate. You can move the start and finish icons now too. It was an instant winner for me because I created an out and back route using the "return to start" link on the finish marker bubble and was able to drag the return section markers to take a slightly different route on the way back.

Scroll wheel zoom

Last summer I turned on the scroll wheel zoom feature of Google Maps so you can control the zoom of the map with your mouse but it caused problems because it kept pounding the web server asking for a list of routes for every click of the mouse wheel and so I disabled it again with the intent of working out how to make it work.

Since viewing routes across the whole of the US is really a passing curiosity for most visitors and not the purpose of their visit, I added a rule that it would only show routes when you get to a certain zoom level on the map likely to be used to work with routes. This reduced the stress on the server and made it possible to turn the scroll wheel back on again. Give it a shot!

One of the most common comments I get about WalkJogRun is from people who tell me they are glad they don't have to drive their routes any more to work out how far they go. 212,000 routes represent 1,354,000 miles. At an average of 30 miles per gallon that is 45,133 gallons of gas! I realize that technically not every visitor maps their route out and measures it with a car but I'm glad to be helping just a little.