Thanks Podrunner!

Just in time for my attempt to break three hours at the Albany Marathon this weekend, DJ Steve at Podrunner has dropped a 185 bpm mix on us. I tried it out this morning and it was consistently driving me at a 6:40 pace, perfect!

The fellrnr's wiki

I just came across a wiki authored by an ultrarunner in NC who goes by the nom de plume of fellrnr. As opposed to my very temporally linear blog, I love the idea of a personal wiki like fellrnr's. He has posted a lot a great content about he has become a successful ultra runner including his gear, fueling, training tips, lots of running science, and the recipe for his favorite self made Go Juice. For those who have found themselves accidentally spending an hour on wikipedia clicking from topic to topic, I think you will have the same experience with fellrnr!

Upcoming races

Just got done with RAGNAR last month, pictures of the fun are soon to come. We had such a blast, that I already registered a team for 2013! Aside from that, I have got two races coming up in the next month. First (tomorrow!) is the Five Points of Life Marathon. I have run the half and the relay a couple of times before, so this will be my first time on the 26.2 course. The exciting part though is that I have volunteered through the Florida Track Club to be a pace group leader for the race, the 4:00 group, specifically. That run is then going to be the peak of training for my goal Spring race, the Albany Marathon in Georgia. This relatively flat and fast course is where I am going to make my stand and try to break three hours! The speedwork and tempo training has been treating me pretty good, so I am excited to give it a shot.

Can you run as fast as Ryan Hall?

For the NYC Marathon this year ASICS installed a video board ad in the subway that challenges you to keep pace with Ryan Hall for 60 feet. It is even more awesome when Ryan Hall showed up to race himself. The video for the full ad is "unlisted" and I cannot seem to embed it. So, here is a clip embedded below, but the whole ad is worth a watch if you click here.

The transition to 180

Back in July I mentioned that I was attempting to move my cadence up by shortening my stride and transitioning to a mid/fore foot strike pattern. At some point in my past, I heard about Podrunner, but I had forgotten until Mark from Run in America reminded me and gave me an excellent suggestion. Rather than jump right into 180 strides/min he suggested gradually increasing turnover and using steadily faster music from Podrunner to help. It has worked like a charm and I feel great!

I started off primarily on the treadmill. As little as I enjoy it, that way I could be sure I was keeping the right pace while tinkering with the cadence. Over a few weeks, I slowly pushed up the same 7:30 pace up to 150, 160, and then 170. It seemed to work pretty well, but I soon realized that I was going to need to do something about my footwear. On a treadmill, it was pretty easy to keep my foot hovering low over the ground and have a midfoot strike, but I could feel my heel nearly scraping the belt. Even though the road is only slightly more uneven than a treadmill, I figured there is no way this cadence was going to work on the road and in these shoes.

The shoes are my Asics Enduros that I have been through about 12 pairs of over the years. I got to reading more about the concept of shorter strides and high cadence which led me back to Pete, (the Runblogger) who has tons of reviews and material about these topics and more. It turns out that my Asics have a heel-to-toe drop of about 12 mm, which seems to be a bit of an industry standard. This wedge shape encourages a heel strike pattern as I have come to use. Many manufacturers are now producing shoes with lower drops (4-ish mm) and some that are bascially zero drop (like Vibrams). Anyway, it is time for a change in footwear, but I will write more on my options later.

In the meantime, thanks for the suggestion Mark, and I highly agree with the recommendations. Not only to the notion of a shorter stride, but Podrunner! The beats are great and incredibly helpful in pace-keeping. DJ Steve Boyett gives the music away for free, so if you like it, be sure to hit up his Paypal page and make a donation!

A once and only ultramarathoner

The March/April issue of Marathon and Beyond has an article by Ben Tesdahl which I found provocative and thought I would share. His story is that of his quest to run an ultramarathon of 100 miles. Much of the first part of the story is similar to other such stories, his backstory, his early marathoning career, disavowing that career and then returning to running later in life only to find his stamina and performance have fallen off. He is reborn through Hood to Coast, but finds the experience not altogether challenging. He hears of Dean Karnazes and the ultramarathoning community and resolves to complete a 100 mile race. He tries the Umstead 100 and fails at his first attempt. He provides a lengthy discussion of his mind and the games it played with him during the second, successful, attempt at the race.

Where I really got interested though, was his description of the finish. He wondered to himself, what would his emotional state be? How would he feel after accomplishing this epic challenge? After all, this was in the middle of the woods in the Carolinas. This was not Boylston street with thousands and thousands cheering him to the finish. He did not even have any family there with him. So how would it feel?

"It was the kind of relief that you feel when walking out of the dentist's office after a root canal."

He was relieved to have a "monkey off his back" but upset with himself for having put the monkey there in the first place. This has often been a concern of mine whenever I briefly entertain the idea of training for an ultra. I do not run to impress others. I run to clear my mind, to stay fit, and while I am proud of my accomplishments, I do the races for myself. So what then, is the advantage of the next step? Is it worth the time, commitment, and risk of injury to train for ultras?

Ben would say no, and goes even further in his lessons learned. He goes on to say that he feels like most goals in life are not worth the sacrifice. He describes achievements including college, law school, and Ranger school as painful journeys with little sense of accomplishment at their end. Second, he observes that despite his best efforts at the 100-miler, his results pale in comparison to those of the race winner, who bested him by several hours.

Now while this sounds quite dour, he does take this negativity and turn it into a positive by concluding: "If I could turn back the hands of time and take all of the hundreds of hours of ultradistance training to date and trade them for the same number of hours of high-quality time with my wife and family, I would make that trade in a heartbeat."

Certainly sounds like a sentiment that is worthwhile to keep in mind when choosing a challenge for yourself. I greatly enjoy my running but would certainly admit that it comes at some cost. Thankfully, my wife is supportive, and at present, my running is in balance with our life together. Right, Erin? Erin! Where are you going?!

The Cardiosmart 5K 2011

I spent part of last week in New Orleans for the American College of Cardiology (ACC) meeting which was a great educational and professional experience. At the meeting, the ACC announced a new partnership. The ACC sponsors a patient information website called Cardiosmart. The announcement was a new partnership with Subway to promote health diet and lifestyle choices.

So to celebrate that and to revive a tradition at the ACC, a 5K fun run was organized for the meeting. The suprise on race morning was meeting Jared Fogle (yes, that Jared) from Subway. He was there to support the new partnership and to join us for the run!

We started at the World Trade Center building near Harrah's casino on the south end of Canal street. The course went out along the Mississippi down to Esplanade, which is a divided road running north/south along the eastern border of the French Quarter. About a half mile up that road, we turned around and ran back to the start/finish line.


View Cardiosmart New Orleans 5K 2011 in a larger map

My wife is my best cheerleader and when I told her I was going to run this race, the only thing she wanted to know is "was I going to win?" I told her that when I ran the 5K in Chicago with a bunch of cardiologists, nurses, surgeons, and such, that I came in somewhere in the teens with a PR about 19 minutes. Expecting a similar crowd, I told her that I had no plans to win and no expectation that I would come close. A 19 minute 5K is excellent, and I am proud of it, but there are plenty of people faster than me.

Seeing the competition at the start line reinforced my opinion. There were several men about my age with lean physiques from Germany, Ireland and (as I found out later) Brazil. Again, no expectation of a win here. Then, the horn went off.

I was right up front, but there were only about 200 runners. I got out front with two other men and after we made the first turn towards the river, I realized that it was just the three of us. This, of course, rapidly changed my estimation and my plans. This was going to be a race, and I was in contention for a win! I was running second behind a young man who turned out to be a medical student from Brazil and another man right on my shoulder. I stayed right on Brazil keeping just a couple of steps behind him, matching his pace.

We ran along that way and after about a mile, the guy behind us could not keep up and dropped back. We stayed steady through 2 miles. I could feel some burn coming on in the legs, but I had my breath and figured now was the time for my move. Turning off of Esplanade, back towards the river, I surged out front. Not trying to dust the guy, just enough to test his stamina to keep up with my slightly faster pace. At first he kept on my shoulder, but after a few hundred feet, I heard his breathing fade as he dropped back.

I focused on the tempo, trying to keep the pace I was now setting for the field. The really incredible thing to me was the pace bike out front, showing me where to go, warning me about the train tracks and cracks in the road. I have never been leading in a race before and it was surreal. The course had a couple of 90 degree turns that gave me an opportunity to look back without having to turn 180 degrees and I could see that I had secured a healthy lead. No need to push at this point, just maintain the lead and Brazil was going to have a tough time catching up. On the last turn onto Canal, he was several seconds behind me and all I had to do was not trip on the streetcar tracks.

I crossed the line in 19:05, in first place, and won my very first race!

After the race and catching my breath, I had a great conversation with a couple of the other top men, and the top woman finisher who comes from a running family (her mom ran in Olympic qualifying trials for the marathon in the past!) I stuck around figuring that they would likely make some announcements and hand out some awards, which I had already seen at the tables full of goodies and drinks. The awards were Mardi Gras masks, mounted on plaques and looked very festive. Unfortunately, someone else took them! I saw someone with them after the race, but I figured he was some race official or organizational leader. When the PA crackled several minutes later announcing "if anyone has the winner's plaques please return them", I looked to where the man had been sitting and he was gone.

The race was obviously much more fun than having another plaque to hang on the wall, but it certainly was disappointing that someone would abscond with the plaques like that. The race sponsors did kindly take my address and said they would mail me another, once they could get it made, so I'll post a picture when it comes in the mail.

Additional note: results are now posted on Cardiosmart's website.

The Extra Mile, now with extra Galloway

The Extra Mile podcast has joined up with Jeff Galloway on a new venture to spread the word about JG's Run-Walk-Run methodology for distance running. Since his visit to Gainesville, I have incorporated RWR into my long runs and I feel like it has helped me greatly by reducing recovery time, making long runs more enjoyable, and helping me to keep the overall pace nice and slow on long runs. The intent with the new podcast appears to be to give runners some help and coaching through a 30 week program to prepare to run a fall marathon for 2011.

McRunner excels at LA Marathon

In the spirit of the twinkie diet and in contrast to Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me, a man by the nickname of McRunner completed the LA Marathon today in 2:36, a new PR for him. For 30 days prior to the race, he ate nothing but McDonald's. Of course, during those thirty days, he ran 349 miles. He had a doctor following him, and of the lab values he posted, his lipids did not seem to look any worse than pre-Mickey-D's. The other reason for McRunner's diet choice is to promote the charity he was running for, the Ronald McDonald House. He did a stellar job, raising some $27,000 for the charity. Congratulations on the fundraising and the PR, but please do not fault me for not wanting to follow your new diet!

Bad advice on marathon training

Lifehacker is an interesting website which, on occasion has some nice posts on interesting ways to tackle everyday problems. Recently, they posted an article on how to "Hack a Marathon". I have not provided the link, because I do not want to encourage anyone to visit the site thus providing ad revenue for such as post since it is not a post on how to hack a marathon. Instead it is a reposting of another blogger's experience running a marathon without any training. If you would like to read a post from Lifehacker about running, try this one instead.

The original posting is also titled "How to hack a marathon", the advice provided is not much more than a list of things that they, and many other marathoners do, to prepare for and endure the race. Thankfully, the original author now has a disclaimer on his website conceding that it is not a good idea to run a marathon without any training.

Can it be done? Yes. He did it. Should it be done? No. It is a great way to do some true damage to your body, and if the conditions are outside the norm (very hot or cold, rainy, etc.) you could get seriously ill. It should go without saying, but since that is clearly not the case, let me say: please do not try to run a marathon without training.

Dog attacks, can happen to anyone

This report is a couple of weeks old, but I thought it was still worth pointing out for a public safety reminder. While I have been lucky enough to not be attacked by dogs at any point when I am out running, it really can happen to anyone, anytime. On Jan 8 of this year, Paula Radcliffe, the current women's world record holder for the marathon at 2:15:25, was reported to have been bitten by a dog while out on a training run. Reportedly the dog was being walked by an older man who lost control of the leash, permitting the dog to chase and attack Radcliffe.

Thankfully, the injury was described as being minor and Radcliffe said she has no need or desire to change her training plan, which includes targeting a fall marathon to qualify for the British Olympic team and the 2012 London Games.

Dog bites are all too common. The CDC reports 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs annually. Their website unfortunately does not really provide any significant advice on prevention or what to do if you are attacked other than to "remain still". The American Veterinary Medical Association sells a pamphlet on the subject, but it is not freely available. The AVMA does, however, offer an extensive paper on community based programs for dealing with dog attacks. One of the more extensive resources I found on the subject is over at WikiHow.com. The source material that they reference is pretty thin, so I am not sure if it is effective or recommended, but it seems like reasonable advice.

Some tips:

• While I have never been bitten, I have been chased. Just slowing to a walk and quietly moving on is usually very effective until owners can gain the dog's attention.
• Wikihow suggests a variety of methods to assert dominance without being threatening. Such as, forcefully say "no" or "go home" but do not look the dog in the eye.
• Use whatever is nearby to help shield you, sticks, your bike if you are cycling, or even just a thick sweatshirt over your arm if you are lucky enough to have one. 
• If you must strike the dog, Wikihow suggests that hitting the skull is usually not effective since they are often very thick bones, but the base of the skull (ie: the back of the neck) is most likely to get their attention and scare the dog off.

If you are bitten, definitely seek medical attention! Dog bites can be very dangerous if they become infected so make sure to see a doctor right away.

Marine runs marathon in gas mask

In a rather interesting article from Fox News, Marine SGT Jeremy Soles ran the MCM this year with a gas mask that increases the work of respiration by at least 30%. He described it as if he was running while breathing through a snorkel. He managed to rig a water pack such that he could get some hydration and Gu during the run, but otherwise didn't take the thing off during the whole race.

Why, you might ask? He has a nonprofit (TEAM X-T.R.E.M.E.)which supports wounded veterans by performing feats of physical prowess, such as running a marathon in a gas mask. That and I'm guessing because he is a bad-ass, based on his appearance in the photo accompanying the article.

Tidbits from the NYC Marathon

The NYC Marathon was two weekends back, and if you missed it, Meb didn't repeat as Men's champion, but an American woman, Shalane Flanagan took second place in her marathon debut!

There's been plenty of stuff written and posted about the race, but here are a few of my favorite tidbits:

The marathon race physician talks about the preparation for the race: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/sports/08medical.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

From the NY Metro, time lapse photos of the runners:



Haile Gebrsselassie retires!!



Or maybe he won't: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/sports/16runner.html?src=un&feedurl=http://json8.nytimes.com/pages/sports/index.jsonp

Chilean Miner to compete in NYC Marathon

Just when you thought your marathon training program was brutal, painful, and difficult to stick to, enter Edison Pena: Unless you've been living underground, you probably heard of the miners trapped in Chile over the past few months and Pena is known as "the runner", the miner who ran underground until concerns about mine stability forced him to stop. He was invited to spectate the NYC marathon by the NYC RRC, which he declined and instead asked for an entry into the race which he will be running this year.

Good Luck!

Runner's Round Table Episode 104: Endurance Relays

I am getting together a team of runners for the RAGNAR race to Key West and will be hosting the Runner's Round Table this week with several people (Mark U, Chris, Colin, and Amanda) who have run such relays before. Join us at the table if you'd like to hear us chat about the subject.

UPDATE: Audio is now posted and available here. Thanks to Mark, Chris, Colin, and Amanda for all the wisdom, I'm really looking forward to our race!

Jeff Galloway tells stories at the Florida Track Club

I recorded this video at the Florida Track Club meeting on October 19. In this, Mr. Galloway tells a story of some early experiences as a founding member of the Florida Track Club and running Olympic Trial races with Frank Shorter and Jack Bacheler.

A quick run and walk with Jeff Galloway

This week I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Galloway here in Gainesville. He came to town to announce the start of a Gainesville based Galloway run-walk program with the goal race being the Run with Donna half in Jax in the Spring. He started his afternoon at Gainesville Running and Walking in Tioga Town Center, where he did a run/walk of about 2 and a half miles with a group of some 30 runners. Later he came to the Florida Track Club meeting and shared stories, wisdom, advice, and some laughs with us about his decades-long running career (including as a founding member of the Florida Track Club and colleagues with the likes of Frank Shorter and Jack Bacheler).

Having not seen him talk before, I don't know how many of these stories are common ones for him to tell but some of the things he discussed or opined on include:

• What's the fastest competitor you've ever had improve their time with run-walk?
• Improvement from 2:32 to 2:28
• What's the ideal post-run snack?
• 80% carbs, 20% protein
• What about ice baths?
• Ice is cruel but a bath at 20 degrees below body temp lasting 15 minutes with 3 hours of finishing will speed recovery
• What's up with barefoot/minimalist running?
• It has come and gone 5 times during his running career and is a great way for rookies to get seriously injured, but might help some people if used judiciously
• What's the best way to improve time?
• Based on thousands of runners, increasing the distance of the long run! Jeff estimates that increasing the long run from 20 to 26 will cut time by an average of 15 minutes and further increasing to 29 will cut another 11 minutes!
• What do you recommend for speedwork?
• For marathoners: Mile repeats at 30 seconds below race pace with 5 minute walk breaks
• For half marathoners: 800 yd repeats at same speed with 3 minute walk breaks
• For both, build up to 14 repeats
• What about stretching?
• There is no evidence that stretching prevents injury for distance runners and some evidence that it is harmful. Therefore, he does not recommend it as a routine practice (I've got a future post coming about one such study, sponsored by the USATF)
• There is evidence for stretching prior to sprinting, football, and other high-injury risk sports
• Your run-walk programs only call for 3 days a week of running, is that enough?
• Tony Sandoval won the trials for the 1980 Olympic Games, which the US boycotted, during the following year, he was an medical intern and only ran three days a week, or about 35 miles a week and maintained endurance enough to finish in 2:14 at a Nike Oregon Track Club event.
• How is running slow on the long run supposed to help me run faster on race day?
• Jeff observed that over 25 elite Kenyan runners that he has interviewed all start their long training runs around 10 min/mile and never go faster than 3-4 mins above race pace, typically about 8:30. He said he didn't feel the need to question the wisdom of these runner's strategy.
• What is the benefit of run-walk on recovery?
• Jeff usually runs marathons at a :30/:30 ratio, finishing in 4:45 to 5:00 and then has enough energy and minimal soreness such that he can continue to walk all afternoon if need be. He never spends Sunday afternoon collapsed on the couch or in bed napping for recovery. (ed note: really? awesome!)
• Other Observations
• Expect to lose 0:30 per mile for each 5 degrees over 60
• Identifying goal pace is CRUCIAL and if done correctly can reduce the rate of injury to nearly zero
• Random wisdom
• Our PE instructors and coaches ingrained into us as young children that walking during a run was tantamount to admitting failure and anyone who did so is a loser, so it is no wonder that we so strongly resist the urge, when it has such benefit!

So, those are the notes I took. I really enjoyed the talk. I found Jeff gracious and willing to stick around for quite some time after the event signing things and answering everyone's questions. His career and the run-walk method could obviously fill several books of text, but this is how it went down in Gainesville on Tuesday the 19th!

I've got a video I'm going to post later, so stay tuned for more.