BE THE CHANGE

In a recent post, I mentioned the food documentary Forks Over Knives. Much of that movie talks about Dr. T. Colin Campbell and his book, The China Study. I was able to pick this up at my local library and just finished the other day. Dr. Campbell points out a lot of interesting things that really got me thinking. He talks about his study on animal proteins, including cows’ milk and the cancer rates he saw in mice. He talks about how strong the meat and dairy industries are and how they are able to control everything from the USDA’s food pyramid to what gets served in our schools’ lunches. He talks about how the pharmaceutical companies basically control the hospitals and doctors. Then, of course, there’s the influence each of these industries has over our government.

I admit I found this book fascinating, but I also wanted to keep an open mind. After reading, I starting searching the internet for what others were saying about this book. Of course, there was a lot of praise out there. And, of course, there was a lot criticism as well.

I just pulled one example of each in order to present both sides of the “argument”. I don’t want to come here and say “Eat this, not that. Or Else.” I mean, what credibility do I have? It hasn’t even been 3 weeks since I gave up meat. Instead, I want to encourage you to at least think about what you put in your mouth and how it relates to your health. And to do some research on your own.

Granted, this request probably sounds weird coming from someone without any health issues, who exercises a lot, and, at 5’10” and 145 pounds, is well within the normal range of BMI. Unfortunately, while I may be “normal”, we all know that the vast majority of Americans are overweight or even obese. We hear about this all the time! You can’t turn on the news without hearing about America’s poor health – even though we’re spending more on health care than any other country in the world!

How can that be? How can we spend more and more on health care, but get sicker and sicker?  As Dr. Campbell says, it should be called a disease care system instead.

I find it interesting that people all (now) seem to agree that smoking leads to higher rates of cancer. Yet, people don’t seem to think that the foods they eat and drink have any bearing on their health. Sure, we agree that eating like crap can lead to obesity. But, isn’t it at least feasible to think that the foods we eat and drink (namely the animal-based proteins that Dr. Campbell writes about) can also lead to diabetes, cancers, autoimmune diseases, etc.?

Again, I encourage you to at least think about it. Watch some food documentaries, pick up some books at the local library, visit some websites and read the comments. Learn about the meat, dairy, and pharmaceutical industries and the health care system and how (I believe) they’re all connected in some way to many of the major problems facing the U.S. and the world.

Quote of the day;

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

ALL BUT FORGOTTEN

Just a short post because I said I'd try to post at least once a week.  It's been just over 2 weeks without meat and things are going well.  The real challenge came last weekend during back-to-back guys' nights out.  Burgers and beers have always sounded good, but I opted for the Portabella Mushroom burger one night and the Veggie burger the other night.  And last night we grilled out at home and I replaced the Johnsonville brats that I normally eat with spicy black bean burgers that were yummy. 

Tonight I have another happy hour.  Luckily the place we go has a nice salad bar, so I'll choose that over the sliders, pulled pork and nachoes. 

April turned out to be my biggest running month since last June.  I ran 164 miles and biked an additional 136 miles.  I also did 6 core workout and lifted 4 times.  The number of core and lifting workouts has been slowly dropping since I was all gung-ho in January.  The good news is that I'm still doing something a couple of times a week - because typically these types of workouts would be all but forgotten by this time of the new year.

PHOTO EVIDENCE

I thought it'd be fun to look back at some before and after photos.  Back in the summer of 2011 I attempted P90X.  Actually, I call it P60X because I only lasted 60 days, instead of the 90 days the program is supposed to go for.  Anyway, I thought I took photos at the beginning and after one and two months, but I couldn't find any 60 day photos.

So the first two photos below are from the start of the program and the second two photos are after one month.  At the time, I blogged that the results were indistinguishable.  While I was stronger, it was hard to see visual evidence.  Looking back, I think part of the issue was that I wasn't doing any cardio work at the time, due to injury, so P90X basically just replaced running.  Also, I didn't adjust my diet at all.

Fast forward to the last two photos which I took yesterday and I think you can see more of a difference than anything I did during P90X.  While I'd love to say this is just from changing my breakfasts from cereal to Nutriblasts or from switching to a plant-based diet.  However, I just added the Nutriblasts at the beginning of April and I've only been without meat for one week.  I think this really all goes back to the start of the year when I started trying to mix in some salads and avoid all the sweets at work.  In addition, I also started adding in a second workout each day.  Basically, I'd try to do my cardio in the mornings, as usual, but then at lunch time I'd go into our fitness center and alternate days of core work with days of lifting weights.  Of course, x-c skiing all winter doesn't hurt either when it comes to things like triceps, abs and shoulders.

After gorging from Halloween through Christmas, I was up to 158 pounds.  Yesterday I weighed in at 145 pounds.  Best of all, I feel great.  Yesterday I had my longest run in probably 7 or 8 months.  I made it 15 miles at 7:45 pace and felt great at the end.  That gave me 50 miles for the week on 6 runs, plus an hour long spin class - and of course, 2 sessions of core and 2 sessions of weights.

July 2011 - before start of P90X

July 2011

August 2011 - after 28 days of P90X

August 2011

April 2013 - 145 lbs

April 2013

MAKE A RESOLUTION

The new experiment that I alluded to in my last post has to deal with eating more of a plant-based diet and minimizing the amount of processed food. I don’t want to put a title like vegetarian or vegan on it at this point, but that’s the direction I’m heading.


It all started innocently enough. At work, I was asked to be on a wellness committee aimed and making our employees more aware of some of the benefits we offer, as well as, expanding those benefits. One of the things we do is hang up poster throughout the building on different topics, such as, drinking or texting while driving, eating better, exercising more, etc. One such sign, located by a microwave, simply said “Food Matters”. As I was heating my lunch up one day, a co-worker came by and said, “That was a good movie” as she pointed at the sign. The sign was so simple that I did realize it was a movie.

That night I went home and watch it. It definitely got me thinking, but I wouldn’t say it was a come-to-Jesus moment. It did lead me to seek out other food documentaries like, Get Vegucated, Fat Sick & Nearly Dead, Forks Over Knives, Fire Engine #2 Diet, Mad Cowboy. These documentaries typically focus on either the health benefits of a plant-based diet or the cruelty to animals (and environment) side of the argument. If I had to pick one, I’d go with Forks Over Knives. However, if you’re obese and looking for a “solution” then Fat Sick & Nearly Dead is worth 90 minutes of your time.

Probably not surprising, I’m more concerned with the health benefits. We constantly hear about the Western Diet and the correlation between our health care woes. We hear it so much that it’s hard for me to think anyone in this country isn’t aware that “food matters.” We just don’t want to do anything about it. We like the taste of our meat, dairy, sweets, chips, etc. And we like the convenience of our highly processed, pre-packaged food. But as any of the documentaries will tell you, these foods are high in calories and low in nutrients.

I like to think I was eating healthy. Breakfast typically consisted of a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, or similar cereal, with a banana and milk. Then I’d have yogurt for a morning snack. Lunch was usually leftovers from the previous dinner or canned soup if I was in a pinch. Almost every lunch also included carrots, pretzels and an apple. Dinners didn’t include a lot of red meat, but we like chicken and probably eat brats once or twice a week in the summer. There’s frozen pizza most Friday nights. Once in awhile we’ll throw in canned veggies like peas or corn.

It’s hard to go from all that to plant-based over night, but like I said, I’m heading that direction. One thing eliminated is the cereal and milk for breakfast. I’ve replaced that with a NutriBlast. Basically, it involves filing a “blender” half with leafy greens and half with fruit, plus you can throw in some nuts, seeds, powder, etc., and add some water. It’s a simple as that.

Other than that I’ve just been keeping an eye on processed foods. Instead of eating a granola bar or graham crackers after lunch, I’ll reach for some extra fruit. I think this is a process like running. It’s hard to know where to begin at first, but once you jump in and start seeing some results, you can’t wait to proceed even further.

Today I was thinking about all the New Year’s Resolutions about getting healthy that have probably already been forgotten. I think people would have an easier time keeping these resolutions if they educated themselves about healthy eating, at the time they were making their resolution, rather than just saying, “I’m going to eat healthy”.

Of course, you don’t need a new year to make a resolution.

NEW EXPERIMENT

Given that it's been over 6 months since my last post, I highly doubt anyone will see post, unless they're using some kind of website to track me.  Anyway, as I commented on my last post "maybe after 7 years of blogging I've run out of things to say."  That may be true with running, but I have a new experiment in mind and I'd like to use this blog to document the process.  More on that in a minute, but here's recap of what's been going on.

As I stated in my last post, I'm really focusing more on exercising, rather than "just" running.  Sure there are days where I think to myself that I should crank things back up and see what's still left in the tank.  However, things are going pretty well with 4-5 runs per week, plus x-c skiing in the winter and, typically, 1 spin class per week.

Probably the best news is that my knee is fine.  If I had to place a percent on it, I'd say it's like 98% healed.  I feel it from time to time, mainly while x-c skiing.  I think what finally helped it the most was actually backing off my PT.  Right away I was gung-ho and doing my exercises every day.  Like any other muscle group, I needed to rest and let the training load "soak in".  Once I got into a routine of 2-3 strengthening sessions per week, things progressed quickly. 

While I'm not running a ton, I have been mixing in tempo runs and intervals, like 400m and 1 mile repeats.  All of these types of workouts have been done on the treadmill.  My long run is at 13 miles, which is fine because the only race I have on the horizon is the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon.

One of the reasons I haven't been blogging much, other than not having anything to say, is that, since January, I've been trying to incorporate strength training over my lunch hour.  It was during my lunch hour that I did most of my blogging.  Now I'm spending that time in our fitness center, alternating days of core work with days of lifting.  My core work involves following one of McMillan's Core Strength Training for Runners DVDs, which I watch on a mini DVD player.  I've also added in some other core exercises that I found through Pinterest.  As weird as it sounds, most of these are from women's magazines, like Self.  I've done the McMillan DVDs in the past, but usually I peter out after a month or two.  But this time, my New Year's Resolution seems to be sticking and I'm happy with the results.

Another part of my New Year's Resolution was eating healthier.  That's been going okay, but it could be better.  That's where this "new experiment" that I mentioned at the beginning of this post comes in.  Lots of little things have occurred recently that have me thinking about my diet more than ever.  I want to make some changes to my diet and I thought firing this blog up again would be a great way to document the experiment.

I'll share what little things occurred that got me thinking about this, but it'll have to wait till my next post because this is already getting longer than I expected.  I doubt I'll be blogging everyday, like I did about running.  However, I'll try to post at least once per week to share my findings, my struggles, my successes, etc.

Let the experiment begin...

EXERCISING

Someone actually left a comment recently asking if I were alive and running. The answers are ‘yes’ and ‘technically, yes’.


Yes, I’m still alive – as you can tell by me actually updating my blog.

Technically, I am still running. I had 14 miles in September. It took 4 runs to get in the kind of mileage, but I managed.

Since my last post was 2 months ago, I suppose I should back up a little. After that post I ran 15K race, where my time was close to my marathon pace – not because I was doing a MP workout, but because I’d lost so much fitness with my achy knee. The following weekend I ran the Ragnar Relay. I had a blast and our team came in 4th. The following week I ran a 20 miler because I still had TCM on the brain. Even though I was running, I couldn’t get consistent and my mileage bounced around between 25 and 45 miles. And motivation was seriously lacking.

At the start of September I realized that I didn’t want to run TCM just to finish and that I’d lost too much fitness to do anything other than try to finish. Plus, my knee still wasn’t 100% and I didn’t want to run TCM which would delay my recovery even further.

In the process I’ve discovered a new term for cross-training. It’s called exercising. I’ve just been exercising; biking, elliptical, spin class, walking the dog, roller skiing, etc. I’ve only recently added in runs of 2-3 miles and that’s been mainly to test my knee. It actually feels better when I run, but it still aches afterwards. Biking seems to be the best exercise for my knee. Of course, that makes sense given the lack of pounding.

In the meantime, I’ve been busy coaching the 3rd – 6th grade youth cross country program. We had 50 kids out for the team, including my youngest daughter. It was another great season and we’re already looking at ways to improve it for next year.

There you have it, that’s what I’ve been up to in the last 2 months.

TWEET TWEET

Wow, my last blog was like 3 weeks ago. At the time I gave the following update regarding my training, “Overall, it’s been going really well.” Unfortunately, that all changed overnight. Two days after that post I went for an easy 5 mile run and felt a stabbing pain in my right knee – the same knee that’s had a dull ache for over a year. I was only stabbed a handful of times in the first couple of minutes, then it went away. I took the next day off and then the following day had a tempo run planned. The run started out with same way and after the stabbing pain subsided, I managed 10 miles with 6 at 6:50 pace.

Well, obviously, something wasn’t right, so I made an appointment with the one and only Dr. Voight. It took a week to get in to see her and I didn’t run that whole time. The good news is that she thinks I just have tendonitis in my distal quad tendon and recommended PT and said I could resume running.

Soon after that appointment, we went on vacation to Michigan where I ran roughly every other day – nothing long or fast. I had my first PT appointment yesterday and it sounds like my left glute is weak, which is causing the problems in my right knee. I have a bunch of exercises to work on this and I’ve started wearing kinesio tape. So hopefully I’m on the path to recovery.

I should report that I ran my first 20 miler on Sunday, so things aren’t all bad.

One other thing that’s new with me (and I never thought I’d say), I’m on Twitter. You can follow me @MinnesotaRunner. I haven’t figured everything out yet, so I mainly retweet, rather than come up with my own tweets. With the Olympics going on, I really like the interaction or behind the scenes look you get from the athletes.

Regarding the Olympics, I’m about to give up on NBC’s primetime coverage. I’ve been trying to avoid social media during the day and then watch during primetime. However, I’m tired a sitting through gymnastics and beach volleyball, in order to get to see the heats of the 100m dash. I’m finding I’d rather follow Facebook and Twitter and if I can catch events live on NBC’s live app, I’ll do that. Otherwise, I’ll watch the highlights on their Olympics app.

Quote of the Day;

“Desire is the most important factor in the success of any athlete.” – Willie Shoemaker

TRAINING UPDATE

If you’re interested, I posted my final thoughts and photos regarding the Track & Field Trials on the MDRA blog. Since they flew me out there, it seemed to make the most sense to post that article there.


Wow, I haven’t shared anything regarding my training for about 3 weeks. Overall, it’s been going really well. The biggest “glitch” came with travelling to and from Oregon, when I ended up taking an extra day off each of those weeks. As a result, my overall mileage was at 56 and 58 miles, instead of the 62 and 63 I was supposed to be at. Not a big deal, but it comes into play when I’m supposed to be making the next bump into the mid-to-upper 60s.

One other small change I made last week was splitting my medium-long run into two runs, since the weather was so nasty. I guess my focus is on staying motivated and not getting run-down.

My best workouts lately were an 18 miler in Eugene on Pre’s trails, 9 miles with 5 at half marathon pace on July 3rd, and 18 miles with 10 at marathon pace last Saturday. This has been a cutback week, then I’ll try to crank into those mid-to-upper 60s next week.

Finally, I’m trying to apply my direct marketing background to the electronic world and help promote my favorite store. So if you’re on facebook, please “like” TC Running Company. It doesn’t matter if you’re not local, I’ll try to include info that’s relevant to all runners and include some fun, interactive posts. Also, if you prefer Twitter, follow them at @tcrunningco.

Quote of the Day;

“I would rather have won this race than be President of the United States.” – Thomas Hicks on his 3:28:53 marathon win in St. Louis in 1904

TRACK & FIELD TRIALS PHOTOS

Well, the trials have come and gone. I can honestly say it was the best sporting event I've ever gone to – way better than I ever imagined. As a distance runner I was really looking forward to the 1500m, Steeplechase and 5,000m races. However, I really enjoyed the women’s high jump, long jump, and javelin too - as well as the sprints.

When I have more time I’ll post some thoughts around the meet, but right now I just want to share some of my favorite photos from the weekend.

Mt. Hood from the airplane.

Historic Hayward Field

Jordan Hasay

Galen Rupp

Lauren Fleshman

Allyson Felix

Men's 1500m team; Manzano, Wheating, Centrowitz

This is where I stood for most of the meet!

 

Panoramic view of King Estate Winery

Finally, here's a video after the women's 200m that proves I was really there.  32 seconds into the video I appear behind Allyson Felix's right shoulder.

BEING HELD RESPONSIBLE

Last week I was concerned with getting in my 15 miler with family in town. I ended up getting up at 5:30, ran 16 miles, and was back just as everyone was beginning their day. Motivation is a good thing!

That gave me 59 miles for the week.

On Friday, I picked up these sweet shoes at TCRC. I pulled them right out of the box and used them for my 16 miler.  Love 'em! 

Nike Lunar Glide 4

I leave for Track Town tomorrow. I was originally thinking that it’d be difficult to get my training in while I’m there. But then it occurred to me, there probably isn’t a better time/place for me to get my training in. Each day’s meet doesn’t start until the mid-afternoon and I don’t have any real responsibilities while I’m there. So there shouldn’t be any excuses.

With Pfitz, Wednesdays mean mid-week, medium-long runs. Today that meant 14 miles. When the alarm went off at 4:45, I really wanted to go back to sleep. I didn’t sleep well and Scott was out of town, so no one was holding me responsible. But I knew my week would be shot if I didn’t “git ‘er done.” I headed back to Hopkins and ran on the Ron Daws 25K course again. The inner loop (along Dominick Road), combined with the outer loop (along Baker, Rowland, Bren, and Shady Oak) is exactly 7 miles. I ran that twice which allowed me to re-fill my water bottle halfway through my run. I counted at least 8 hills on each lap, so it’s a lot of “fun”. While it’s tough getting motivated for these runs in the middle of the week, it’s always a great feeling when I enter them into my log book.

Finally, I’ll close with a couple of Trials-related links. First, Lauren Fleshman continues to provide great quotes. Check out this article after she made the finals in the 5,000m despite only being able to sprint due to IT Band issues.

Locally, Bruce Brothers wrote a nice piece on 1500m hopeful, Gabe Anderson. If that’s not enough, Carrie Tollefson interviewed Gabe in this video;



Quote of the Day;

“Being a good athlete is about being delusional and forgetting the gravity of situations you are about to enter. I had been exceptional at tuning that out for so long. I had to decide with this being as good as it gets, do I still want to do this.” – Lauren Fleshman

HERE WE GO

As if I don’t have enough running-related “work” on my plate, I’ve been updating the MDRA blog lately too. I started to provide a single source for all the race results from the previous week – instead of having runners scour 12 different sites looking for their results. I’ve also been previewing some of the Olympic Trials events that have Minnesotans in them.

I never fully recapped last week’s training. I ended up running everything as prescribed by Pfitz’s plan; Sunday – recovery day, Monday – 5 easy miles, Tuesday – 8 miles with strides, Wednesday - 12 miles, Thursday – 5 miles, Friday – 9 miles, Saturday – 16 miles with 8 at marathon pace. 55 miles for the week.

This week isn’t over, but I might as well recap that too. Sunday – recovery day, Monday – 5 easy miles, Tuesday – 11 miles, Wednesday - 13 miles, Thursday – 5 miles, Friday – 9 miles with 4 at 6:39 pace. Tomorrow I’m supposed to run 15, I have family coming into town tonight, so we’ll see what I can get accomplished.

Wednesday’s run was a confidence booster. No, it wasn’t a hard workout or anything. However, it was 80 degrees with a dew point of 67 at 5:45 AM. I sucked it up, strapped on my water bottle belt, and hit the Ron Daws 25K course.

Even though it was perfect out this morning, 62 degrees and calm with a dew point of 57, I ventured inside for my run. The last time I tried a tempo run outside, it didn’t go as planned. I cut it a mile short and had no idea what pace I was running. Today I wanted to make sure I had a good workout, so I hopped on the treadmill. It worked because I felt great and ran a solid tempo.

Let me close the week with a couple of random things I’ve seen lately. Did anyone notice that Rob Finnerty earned the Olympic Trials A-standard in the 1500 last week, running 3:38.60. You may remember that Finnerty broke Garry Bjorklund’s 39-year-old record for the mile, running 4:01.09. Oh yeah, that was just over 4 years ago. Nice to see he’s coming around again. You can see his recent race below;


Watch more video of Rob Finnerty on flotrack.org


Last week I mentioned that Alex Ratelle passed away. Jack at raceberryjam.com paid Alex a tribute and laid out many of his unbelievable stats.

Quote of the Day;

"BELIEVE. Belief overrides confidence %100 of the time. Every champion waivers in confidence, it can be lowest right before the biggest wins. Mine was. No champion however waivers in their belief of who they are and what they can accomplish. Solidify your belief and use it! Doubt your doubts. Embrace your fears and insecurities believing in yourself and your greatness. Lean into every emotion, feeling, nerve ending as it transpires appreciating the opportunity. Above all...Trust yourself! Your instincts are organic, you know what to do and how to do it. Believe THAT!" – Arielle Verhaaren, 2012 BMX Olympian

WEEKEND AT GRANDMA'S

I probably say this every year, but I love Duluth and I love Grandma’s Marathon weekend! Even though I wasn’t racing at all, I still went up to work the expo, watch, cheer, party, etc. A normally awesome weekend was even better this year with the inclusion of the USA Half Marathon Championships.

One concern I have with my own marathon training, is trying to get it in while on the road this summer. I decided to do Friday’s run in Duluth, opting to run along Skyline Drive as well as the Superior Hiking Trail.

View from Superior Hiking Trail near Enger Park

Getting in 9 miles was relatively easy. Saturday’s 16 miles with 8 at MP would be more difficult. I knew if I waited until after the races were done, I’d never get it in. Instead, I got up with my marathon buddies and headed down near the finish line to start my run at 6:15. I ended up running the course in reverse, staying on the sidewalks – even though it often meant running around people. I did an easy 7 miles before dropping down to MP. I was able to watch the Championship race go by. I saw Abdi in the lead around the 9 mile mark and Kara in the lead at mile 7. After a couple of more miles in reverse, I turned around and started to run with the runners from the regular half marathon – again staying on the sidewalk. This worked out great because I was able to use the racers to help with my workout without being in their way. I ended up running the 8 miles at MP between 7:13 and 7:34 pace.

After watching the half marathon finishers for awhile, I biked out to Lemon Drop Hill. While I was there, Abdi and Kara were out for a cool down and I snapped this bad picture.

Abdi and Kara cooling down.

I spent the next couple of hours cheering and taking more photos. In typical marathon fashion, some of my friends ran great and some not so great.

Later that evening I was able to weasel my way into the dinner/award ceremony for the Championship event. Don’t ask me how I manage to do these things. The only thing I can think of is that “I know people.” Anyway, it turns out that I sat right next to where the awards were going to be handed out and I got a couple of better photos of Abdi and Kara.

After the awards we headed downstairs for desserts where the hob-nobbing continued. I shook hands with Abdi and I think I have him convinced to move to Minnesota – given that, I believe, he’s 3-0 in Championship races in the state. I should have asked for a photo together, but I thought that would be awkward.

Top men finishers in the Half Marathon Championships.

Top women finishers in the Half Marathon Championships.

Just a few final thoughts on the weekend. Thanks to Heidi from MDRA for the room, Bob from Grandma’s Marathon for the hospitality, Adam and Kelly from TCRC for the great RV party, and Kim for inviting me to hob-nob. Race of the weekend vote: Michelle Frey’s 1:11:45ish, which was good for 3rd place. Finally, that view coming over the hill into Duluth never gets old.

Quote of the Day;

"I love Minnesota.” – Abdi

WEEK #1 RECAP

Thought I’d start off with a recap of my first week of training for TCM.

Sunday - Plan: 5 miles – Actual: 5 miles

Monday - Plan: Day off or Cross Train – Actual: 2 x 21 mile bike rides

Tuesday - Plan: 9 miles w/ 4 @ tempo – Actual: 9 miles w/ 3 @ tempo

Wednesday - Plan: 11 miles – Actual: 9 miles

Thursday – Plan: 5 miles – Actual: 11 miles

Friday – Plan: 9 miles – Actual: 5 miles

Saturday – Plan: 15 miles – Actual: 16 miles

Total – Plan 54 miles – Actual: 55 miles

Pretty solid week overall. You can see that I switched things around a little on Wednesday – Friday. This was so I could run with Scott on Thursday instead of our typical Wednesday run. The week also included 3 core workouts for McMillan’s DVDs.

Other than that, I have a bunch of links I want to share today. First, off all the people I wish I’d interviewed, Alex Ratelle would be at the top of the list. Unfortunately, he died on Sunday at age 87. If you’re not familiar with Alex, he was an age-group ace for many years in Minnesota. One example, running 2:30:40 (5:45 pace) at the age of 56. Since I didn’t get to interview him, how about an interview with Olympic hopeful, Heather Kampf?

And speaking of Olympic hopefuls, here are a couple of other articles worth checking out on Katie McGregor and Gabriele Anderson.

Finally, here’s a great article on Chris Lundstrom.

Quote of the Day;

"Marathons had become pretty predictable.” – Chris Lundstrom on his decision to branch out to ultras

EQUALLY INEFFECTIVE

With a goal on the distant horizon, I will try to post more frequently. If nothing else, it seems to help keep me motivated.

I forgot to mention a goal for TCM. Right now my recent race results point to about a 3:15, which I believe corresponds with my BQ. Not that I have plans to run Boston again, but a BQ isn’t a bad carrot to have in front of me. Of course, I hope to improve throughout the training cycle and getting down to 3-oh-something would sound better than anything above that. Thoughts of another sub-3 aren’t even on my mind.

I’m not sure if Pfitz had two 90 minute bike rides in mind when he wrote “day off or cross train” in his schedule. But that’s what he got. I’m sure that won’t be the norm, but the situation fit yesterday. Today’s workout called for 9 miles with 4 miles at 15K to half marathon pace. My Garmin wouldn’t turn on this morning, so I ended up doing this workout by feel along the Greenway. One thing I learned is that I have to start carrying water on every run now. It was only 62 degrees, but I was sweating pretty good. I have to admit that I kind of wimped out as I ended up shutting the tempo portion down after only 3 miles. I’m so used to doing these on the treadmill now, that I think I was pushing a little too hard.

I brief update on my weight, I’ve been bouncing between 148 and 150 pounds lately. That means I’m down a good 8 pounds from where I was in the winter. I probably won’t be able to drop much more without tightening the reins on my diet even more and I’m not sure I’m willing to do that.

One final observation when it comes to bikers. I don’t care whether you wear a helmet or not. However, I think you look like a dork when you are riding your bike and have your helmet dangling from your handle bars. I saw that during Saturday’s run. Also saw a kid wearing his helmet unbuckled – like that’s going to help at all. I’m not sure which is worse – probably equally ineffective.

Quote of the Day;

"It was a big ego trip. All the kids I hung around with were impressed. But then I took about a five year layoff.” – Don Kardong on a 4-mile run when he was 10 years old

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING

Technically speaking today is the first day of my TCM training plan, not yesterday. Pfitz calls for 1 day off or cross training day per week. Today happens to be that day – what a great way to start a new plan!? I decided it was another great day to commute to work. This time I parked at Fort Snelling, so the total ride was just under 21 miles. I nearly rode my tri bike, but decided to stick with my mountain bike. I’m considering selling my tri bike - again – so if anyone is interested in hearing more about it, let me know.

As I’m biking this morning, I was thinking, who doesn’t love the Twin Cities? All but the last 2-3 miles of my commute were on bike paths. And the scenery included Fort Snelling, Minnehaha Falls, Lake Nokomis, the Parkway, Lake Harriett, and Lake Calhoun.

My running friends will be happy to hear that I bitched out every runner on the bike paths – like any other biker would do. I’m just kidding, but it is interesting to get a view from “the other side”. When you’re cruising along at 15+ m.p.h., you pass a lot more people than when you’re just running 8 m.p.h. I can see how it’d be easy for them to get frustrated with having to weave in and out of runners and walkers.

Speaking of new training plans, I took my (nearly) 9-year-old out running yesterday. She wants to go out for the cross country team I coach. We start in early August, so I’d like to be able to get her close to running 1 mile non-stop before then. Yesterday we started by running for 2 minutes and then walking for 1 minute. After two repetitions, she wanted to increase it to 3 minutes of running. We did that two more times before running one last minute. In total we run 11 of 16 minutes. Seems like a good start. Of course, the challenge will be to keep doing that (and adding more) a few times each week.

Oh yeah, yesterday I alluded to an exciting vacation that I have planned this summer. I’m pumped to announce that I’m heading to Eugene to watch the second section of the Track & Field trials. I was able to get a press pass through MDRA and they picked up my airplane ticket. So a huge thanks goes out to Heidi and MDRA. The one bummer is that I’ll miss some events that I'd really like to see, including the 10,000m, 800m and the triple jump. However, I’ll get to see the 1500m, Steeplechase, and 5000m. It’s hard to believe, but the trials start two weeks from this Friday. I’ll be heading out on June 28th.

Quote of the Day;

"Great job…And now, get your head ready to run under 13:00.” – Coach Sam Bell to Bob Kennedy after he ran 13:02

"ROUGH" WEEK

Last week ended up being extremely “rough”. Of course, Monday was Memorial Day so I had the day off from work. Wednesday morning was Track & Field Day for Katie, so I took the morning off to attend that. And Friday I got to chaperone Kinsey to the Minnesota Zoo. Since the school is only like 2 miles from the zoo, all the fifth graders got to ride their bikes there and back.


I guess summer has officially begun. Looking at my calendar, out the 15 weeks or so of summer, I think I have 8 weeks where I’ll have to work 5 whole days. Otherwise, I’ll be out of the office at least part of the week – including an exciting vacation that I’ll announce tomorrow!

Today also marks the 18-week point from TCM. I’ve decided on following Pfitz’s 18-week plan that tops out at 70 MPW. I’ve had success with this in the past and look forward to having some structure to my training. Overall, there are some spots where it’s going to be tough to get in the training – especially with all the vacations I have planned this summer. For example, in just two weeks, I have a 16 miler with 8 at marathon pace planned. Well that’s the same day as Grandma’s Marathon, which I plan on watching. It’s not impossible to get it in, but it’s definitely more difficult than a typical Saturday run from home. Then there are a couple of 16 to 18 milers on the schedule when I’ll be with the family. Finally, I’ve been recruited for a Ragnar team, which will consists of 3 hard runs in the span of a day or so. Apparently, Pfitz never considered this when he put his schedules together. So, although I have my marathon scheduled laid out, I’m sure I’ll be making adjustments all throughout the summer.

One of the nice things about Pfitz’s program is that it’s not really much different from what I’ve been doing lately. He starts out at about 55-60 MPW with Wednesday runs of 11-13 and long runs of 15-16. And his workouts consist of 4-5 mile tempo runs. It looks like that 16 miler with 8 at MP will be the only run that’s really “new” to me during the first three weeks.

The good news is that I feel pretty good heading into the program. I finished May with 205 miles, which is a little low, mainly due to my calf “injury”. But I’d rather start my marathon training feeling good than have squeezed in 30 more miles the last week or two while still battling some aches and pains – which I’m sure more of are right around the corner.

Quote of the Day;

“Not since Bob Kennedy have we seen an American-born male distance runner run in a pack believing they could compete and run with anyone.” – Letsrun.com recap of Galen Rupp’s 12:58 5K performance at the Prefontaine Classic

IT'S WEIRD

I’m guessing that, when it comes to injuries, I’m no different than any other runner. Whenever the topic of an injury comes up, I’m willing to bet that the words “it’s weird” are included 99% of the time. Actually, what we’re experiencing probably isn’t weird at all – it’s normal. It just feels weird to us. For example, a couple of weeks ago I had a flare up in my lower back. After sitting for long periods of time, I could barely stand up straight. The weird thing with that pain is that it didn’t bother me when I ran. And it went away almost as quickly as it arrived. It probably helped that I jumped on it and went to see Jenna, the healer of all things soft tissue – and more.


As awesome as Jenna is, there are some instances where I try to be self-supportive and treat my injuries myself. Like with my recent calf issues, where I spent 3 days of cross training and foam rolled the crap out of it. Friday I decided to test it out with an easy 5 mile run. Things seemed to be going okay, but then I felt a little tweak going up a hill. I backed off the pace and managed to make it back to the office. In hindsight I wish I would have worn my compression socks, but I didn’t want to look like a dork running from my office.

Saturday morning I had mentally prepared myself that my run may turn into a walk if I had indeed tweak my calf. The weird thing is that I felt fine and was able to run 9 hilly miles on the trails of Hyland. Perhaps wearing compression socks made all the difference. As the day went on, I kept waiting to feel pain in my calf, but it never appeared.

So it feels like I may be recovered – at least temporarily. Talking with Kevin on Saturday’s run, we basically determined that there’s always going to be something “wrong”. The days of long pain-free stretches are probably over. Honestly, I think it’s good to acknowledge that and to be aware of that. It was just last summer the I got so frustrated with an achy knee, that I shut things down in the summer. Hopefully, accepting that this is the way it’s going to be from now on will help keep me from shutting things down again. It’s hard to run a fall marathon when you don’t train during the summer.

Unfortunately, tweaking my calf on Friday was enough to make me bail on the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon. I ended up giving up my slot to another runner. And I decided to skip today’s 5K today too, even though it’s an MDRA Grand Prix event.

Quote of the day;

"The 'spikes' it is finished for me.  I am 39.  I have failed to qualify for the Olympics.  And there is a very strong younger generation in Ethiopia now.  I tried to qualify for my fifth Olympics. And I don’t regret trying to do so.  I simply came up against stronger rivals on Sunday.” - Haile Gebrselassie

CALF ISSUE

It seemed like there was a stretch of about 6 years where I blogged every day or at least every week day. That’s hard to believe, given how little I’ve been blogging lately. What the heck did I used to write about so much?


My calf that cramped during my last race recovered quickly, only to cramp again during my run on Monday. That made me curious. If a muscle cramps, is it more susceptible to future cramping? I’m not overly concerned – yet. However, I’ve been laying out a training plan for TCM and that’s supposed to start in early June. Plus, I’m supposed to run a 5K on Memorial Day. I’ve also managed to weasel my way into the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon and it’d be nice to be able to run that. I’ve been foam rolling like crazy, along with wearing my compression socks as much as possible – including at work.

I jumped on the elliptical machine yesterday and today I commuted to work on my bike – at least part of the way. I drove to Lake Nokomis and then biked 17 miles from there. Of course, that means another 17 miles tonight. I really like commuting by bike, however, it means I won’t get home until after 6:30 PM.

Quote of the Day;

"I would never use Rod Dixon as a pace man. Off the track, we are good friends, but on the track we are very competitive. It’s me for me and Rod for Rod.” – John Walker

NEW PRAGUE HALF MARATHON RACE REPORT

It’s been 5 years since the last time I ran the New Prague Half Marathon. In 2005, I was in arguably my best-ever post-collegiate shape. I ended up running 1:21:49 at New Prague, a post-30 years old PR by 1:15. Of course, I wasn’t hoping to run that fast this year, but I was hoping to dip under 1:30 after running 1:32:30 at the Winter Carnival half.


Typically, it’s windy whenever I’ve run this race. The fact that it’s run amongst the farm fields usually makes the wind worse. Plus, the course is a big square, which means that you have to run in each direction for nearly 3 miles before getting any sort of break from the wind. Well, we didn’t have to worry about that this year as we got a break from the wind for the entire race. Conditions were right around 60 degrees, sunny and only a slight breeze.

From all my days of trying to break 3-hours, I know that I need to run 6:52 pace if I want to break 1:30. This is a pretty low-key race, so it was nice to recognize a few familiar faces before the start, plus it helps with pacing during that first mile when you’re trying to settle in. As the gun goes off, I’m trying to gauge myself against those around me. I’m just behind Michael and Willie, both who’ve kicked my ass all year long. I wonder if I’m going out too hard. But I’m also with Jim, who I figure will run in the mid to upper 1:30s. And the gal I finished just ahead of at Get in Gear is right in this pack. I feel comfortable, so I figure I’m right where I need to be. Finally, we get to the mile and I see 6:53 – nearly perfect!

We actually have a rather large pack of about 10 people as we make our way to mile 2 in 6:55. There’s a hill during the next mile and I lose the pack a little. I’m okay with that as I enjoy running by myself. At this point there are 2 high school kids about 15 feet in front of me, with the bigger pack just in front of them. The kids are chatting away as if they’re just out for a jog – must be nice!

Between miles 2 and 6, I remain in the same position, having rattled off splits between 6:49 and 6:58. The course is constantly rolling. There seems to be more up hill than down, which makes gauging my actual pace a little difficult. Afterwards Jim joked, “Where were the downhills.”

By now we’ve been traveling east and south of town. I’m looking forward to getting to “mile” 6.5 because we turn west and start heading home, which is a nice mental boost. It’s also at this time where the pack starts to string out and I am able to start catching some people. The first person I catch is Michael. This is another mental boost because I think he’s been in every race I’ve run this year – and beaten me every time. The mental boosts transfer to quicker splits of 6:43 and 6:48 for miles 7 and 8. During this stretch I pass 5 more runners. I also pass a little girl cheering. She tells me that I’m “almost done” even though I have over 4 miles left. “Cute!”

I get to mile 9 feeling pretty good. I can see the gal that I ran next to at Get in Gear up ahead of me about 30 seconds. Typically, I like to run a smart race and save something in the tank for the last 5K. If that was the case today, I think I can catch her. However, within a mile I’m not feeling so hot. We go up a fairly large hill and I lose significant ground to the runners in front of me, along with any mojo I had when I was passing other runners.

At mile 10 I take a look at my overall time and see 1:08:50. Quick math tells me that that’s 70 seconds less than 7:00 pace, which is 6:53. I am right on track for 1:30. Given the way I’m feeling, I figure I’ll be closer to 1:30:30. During the next mile I keep repeating, “Get me to mile 11, get me to mile 11…”. The remaining 5K is too much to comprehend, but I can deal with the last 2 miles.

Somewhere around this point my left calf begins to cramp. In 30+ years of running I can’t think of ever getting a cramp, other than a side-stitch. Every time people tell me they start to cramp in a race, I just kind of nod my head because I had no idea what they were talking about. I guess now I can relate. I finally get to mile 11 in 6:59. Now I tell myself to hang on for another half mile or so because that’s were the next turn is. I make it and take a quick glance over my shoulder. I know, I know, the race is in front of me, looking back only encourages the runner behind me, blah, blah, blah. I guess I just had to know how many runners I should expect to pass me during the last mile. It looks like only one guy is close enough to catch me. At least that seems like the best case scenario at this point.

Mile 12 passes in 7:05. I figure if I can run another 7:05, the guy behind me will have to run 6:50 to catch me. I remember that this is an MDRA Grand Prix event. Plus, given the rather small field, there could be age-group awards on the line, so I try to hold him off. We make a couple more turns and he doesn’t seem to be gaining. Then with about a quarter-mile to go I hear footsteps – at first they’re behind me, but very shortly they are in front of me. If nothing else, this guy help push me harder than I would have if he weren’t in the race.

While he pushed me during that last mile, there’s no way he pushed me to the 6:17 split that I saw on my watch. I figured the mile markers were probably just off a little throughout the course. Not a huge deal, but what it did mean is that I was no longer on pace to run 1:30:30. As I approached the finish line I saw 1:29:40, which meant I had to pick it up even more to sneak under 1:30. I managed to do so by 2 seconds. Good for 28th overall and 2nd in the 40-44 age group.

The 1:29:58 is 2:29 faster than my Winter Carnival Half Marathon, so things seem to be going in the right direction.

If you’d like to read about people setting PR’s, be sure to check out Nichole’s and Steve’s reports.

QUICKER THAN NORMAL

Surprise! I’ve actually been feeling pretty good lately. Saturday was my longest run since Grandma’s Marathon last year, as I made it 18 miles. Without a spring marathon on the horizon, I’ve been keeping my long runs around 16 miles. In addition to bumping my mileage, it was one of my faster training runs that I can remember recently. After running the first 4 miles solo as a warm-up, I joined my normal Saturday group and proceeded to click of 7:30 miles. Best of all was that things felt really comfortable until that last 2 miles. I ended up taking Sunday off and closed out the week with 55 miles.


This morning I woke up with a stiff lower back and was wondering if I’d be able to run at all. After a sluggish first mile in 8:36 I started to feel really good again. I ran an out-and-back course and without even thinking about it, each of the first 6 miles was faster than the previous; 8:10, 8:03, 7:59, 7:54, 7:53. Again, this felt really comfortable, so I tried to pick it up a little bit more during each mile and finished with 7:48, 7:31, 7:28, 7:21.

It seems like a lot of other people with similar race times as me train a lot faster than I do, so these splits probably seem really slow. However, for me, they’re a lot quicker than “normal” so maybe things are turning around. Either that or I just ran too hard and now I’m screwed for this weekend’s half marathon.

Quote of the Day;

"The long run is the single most important ingredient to marathon success.” – Bob Glover