My goal heading into this race was to run 37:30-38:00. After thinking about it some more I thought sub-37:45 would be more appropriate and I even had thoughts that I was being conservative. Race morning, I awoke to temps around 40 with a slight breeze. At 7 I took the dog for a quick walk/jog and my legs felt really good. I picked up my friend Deb and we drove to the start. Actually, since I thought it’d be too difficult to find a parking space near the start, we parked across the river and walked. It ended up taking us nearly 15 minutes, which was a little longer than I had hoped for. The nice thing was that we both already picked up our race numbers and chips, so we didn’t have to check in at all. We still had 45 minutes till the start when we met up with Eric and Jim. Eric immediately proved my parking theory wrong, as he was able to park a block from the start.
I went to the baggage drop with plans on leaving my bag, going out for a warm-up, then getting my bag and changing into my race gear. The lady taking my bag was shocked that I’d want to get it back before the race started. She said something like “it’s going to be to chaotic for that.” So I went to plan “B” – throwing my stuff in Eric’s car. To make a long story short, I was kind of scrambling before the start. I ended up only getting in about 15 minutes of running with some strides.
When the race started, Eric somehow put about 5 seconds on me just by snaking his way through the crowd. That was alright because history has shown that Eric goes out too quick for my taste. With the downhill first mile, I knew it would be a quick opening mile. However, I went out a little quicker than I would have liked – going through the first mile with Deb in 5:46. Eric was already about 10 seconds in front of me. Deb and I ran together for the 2nd mile (6:01) too. We had a little cross wind, so we tried to tuck behind the people in front of us. Somehow I ended up with no one to block the wind for me, so when a guy came by soon after the 2nd mile, I jump behind him. This is also the last time I saw Deb.
About 2.5 miles in, we have our first uphill that leads over the Lake Street Bridge into St. Paul. While I’ve been running a lot of hills in practice, I still don’t consider myself a strong hill runner. I can usually maintain my effort and get up them okay, however, there always seems to be a few people that pass me. With the hill, I knew this mile would be slower (6:07). Right after the 5k (18:36) the toughest hill on the course appears. I’m able to hold my position on this hill and pass a guy on the downhill afterwards. The up hill was enough to slow my 4th mile to 6:08.
I should mention that Eric has this BRIGHT BLAZE-ORANGE shirt that he races in, so it was very easy to see him up ahead of me. When we raced in March he jumped out to a huge lead of 30+ seconds during the first 3 miles. At mile 4 I closed the gap to 11 seconds before he kicked it in to beat me by 23 seconds. The closest I got today was probably around 4 miles, when I was about 20 seconds back. I ran the 5th mile in 6:07 but it wasn’t enough to close the gap. The last 1.2 miles (7:33) included another bridge climb and a headwind crossing the bridge. I held on to finish 110th in 37:43, which was 29 seconds behind Eric’s 37:14. Deb crossed the line as the 10th woman in 38:02. Jim finished in 39:15 and was disappointed because the winner of his 60-64 age-group was only 5 seconds in front of him. Jenna, from my training group, ran an awesome race. She was the 3rd woman overall (1st American) in 35:53, which I believe is about a 16 second PR.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with this race. On Memorial Day last year I ran a flat, fast 5k in 18:44. Today I ran 8 seconds faster than that, then followed it up with at 19:07. Also, last summer I did a lot of road races and speed workouts and I peaked with a 37:32 10k on Labor Day. Finishing only 11 seconds behind that time, on a tougher course, without any speed work is a step in the right direction.
Complete results can be found here.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Friday, April 29, 2005
A FEW LINKS
Not much to report today – just an easy 5 miles – so I thought I’d throw out a couple of links on running.
Registration for the Twin Cities Marathon kicked off last night with a mile race in downtown Minneapolis. I didn't run this race, but here are the results. Keep in mind that the TCM usually fills within 1.5 to 2 weeks. So if you're thinking about running, sign up sooner rather than later.
Here’s the link to a 5-part series on Kenyan running by Scott Douglas. It’s been posted on numerous sites, so maybe many of you have already seen it. But I think it's worth posting here too.
Oh, I've been meaning to ask what the going rate is for a quality 10K around the country? I believe the race I'm doing tomorrow started out at $24 or $25. I paid $29 and I think race day registration is like $32. All of these rates seems REALLY high to me.
Registration for the Twin Cities Marathon kicked off last night with a mile race in downtown Minneapolis. I didn't run this race, but here are the results. Keep in mind that the TCM usually fills within 1.5 to 2 weeks. So if you're thinking about running, sign up sooner rather than later.
Here’s the link to a 5-part series on Kenyan running by Scott Douglas. It’s been posted on numerous sites, so maybe many of you have already seen it. But I think it's worth posting here too.
Oh, I've been meaning to ask what the going rate is for a quality 10K around the country? I believe the race I'm doing tomorrow started out at $24 or $25. I paid $29 and I think race day registration is like $32. All of these rates seems REALLY high to me.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
COURSE PREVIEW
Today I decided to run the Get in Gear course to help prepare myself for this Saturday. I ended up running 8 miles total with 2 x 1 "mile" in 7:00 with a mile jog between. I run on these roads quite a bit, but like I said before, I’ve only run this race once. After today’s run, I may have to change the strategy I posted 2 days ago.
This is a beautiful course, of which about 3 miles follow the Twin Cities Marathon course (roughly miles 16-18 and 20.5-21.5). It starts at Minnehaha Falls Park and runs along the West side of the Mississippi River for about 2.5+ miles, crosses over the river and comes back along the East side, crosses the river again before finishing back at the park. The first 2.5 miles of this of this course should be smokin’ fast, as it’s all gradual downhill to flat. It then has a little climb as we cross over the Lake Street Bridge into St. Paul, so the 3rd mile could be a little slow. Just after the halfway point the biggest hill on the course appears, leading up to the University of St. Thomas. Even with the “free-fall” after this hill, I expect the 4th mile to be the slowest. The 5th mile is all flat and the only climb during the 6th mile the Ford Parkway Bridge heading back to Minneapolis.
Given the layout of the first 2 miles I’m now planning on playing closer attention to effort than pace. If I hit those first 2 splits in sub-6, as long as I’m not breathing like I’m running a 5k, I won’t be too worried. I think the key for me is to get to about 3.5 miles (the top of the hill) feeling decent. Then I should be able to pick up the pace and finish strong. The more I think about this race and my training, the more I think I’m being conservative with my 37:30-38:00 goal. I think I could feel like total dog shit and still break 38. I guess I’ll find out on Saturday.
This is a beautiful course, of which about 3 miles follow the Twin Cities Marathon course (roughly miles 16-18 and 20.5-21.5). It starts at Minnehaha Falls Park and runs along the West side of the Mississippi River for about 2.5+ miles, crosses over the river and comes back along the East side, crosses the river again before finishing back at the park. The first 2.5 miles of this of this course should be smokin’ fast, as it’s all gradual downhill to flat. It then has a little climb as we cross over the Lake Street Bridge into St. Paul, so the 3rd mile could be a little slow. Just after the halfway point the biggest hill on the course appears, leading up to the University of St. Thomas. Even with the “free-fall” after this hill, I expect the 4th mile to be the slowest. The 5th mile is all flat and the only climb during the 6th mile the Ford Parkway Bridge heading back to Minneapolis.
Given the layout of the first 2 miles I’m now planning on playing closer attention to effort than pace. If I hit those first 2 splits in sub-6, as long as I’m not breathing like I’m running a 5k, I won’t be too worried. I think the key for me is to get to about 3.5 miles (the top of the hill) feeling decent. Then I should be able to pick up the pace and finish strong. The more I think about this race and my training, the more I think I’m being conservative with my 37:30-38:00 goal. I think I could feel like total dog shit and still break 38. I guess I’ll find out on Saturday.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
3 IN 18
As I started today’s easy 7 miles my legs felt terrible. What a contrast from yesterday when my legs felt great for both runs. Then it occurred to me that this was my 3rd run in the last 18 hours. My “normal” two-a-days would give me 3 runs in 24 hours. I don’t know if those extra 6 hours make that big of a difference or not, but it sure felt like it today.
Who’s the coach that suggested “living like a clock” meaning going to bed, getting up, running, etc. at the same time every day? I did a lot better job of that in the winter and I think I need to get back into that routine – at least for these last 7 weeks leading up to Grandma’s. No more of this staying up late playing XBOX, then sleeping in and skipping my morning run.
Who’s the coach that suggested “living like a clock” meaning going to bed, getting up, running, etc. at the same time every day? I did a lot better job of that in the winter and I think I need to get back into that routine – at least for these last 7 weeks leading up to Grandma’s. No more of this staying up late playing XBOX, then sleeping in and skipping my morning run.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
GUILTY
No, this post has nothing to do with the Michael Jackson trial.
I slept in today but was still able to get in an easy 5 miles over lunch. It was one of those runs where I felt really strong and my form felt really good. Throughout the run I was thinking about my strategy for this weekend’s race. Since I went out too hard in 2002, I think I’m going to be more conservative this time around. Even if I go out in 6:05-6:10s, for the first half, I think I can still run 6:00 pace for the second half. That’d get me around 37:30-37:45.
I joined my team for a 10-11 mile evening hill workout, starting at Macalester College again. As I drove to the run it was raining pretty hard. Luckily, by the time we started, it tapered off. While the 40 degree temps and winds weren’t ideal, at least we weren’t soaking wet.
I started off really easy as I chatted with a gal in the back of the pack. After 15 minutes I picked it up, but I never really pushed the pace. 40 minutes into the run Jenna turned off to add-on some miles, but I followed the group back and stopped after an hour, which I’m calling 8 miles.
On the way home I felt guilty for not following Jenna and getting in a few more miles at an honest pace. It’s a balancing act of “mini-taper” vs. “training through.” Granted, Grandma’s is my main goal, so I should probably be training through. However, running a fast time this weekend can also provide a big confidence boost leading up to Grandma’s.
I slept in today but was still able to get in an easy 5 miles over lunch. It was one of those runs where I felt really strong and my form felt really good. Throughout the run I was thinking about my strategy for this weekend’s race. Since I went out too hard in 2002, I think I’m going to be more conservative this time around. Even if I go out in 6:05-6:10s, for the first half, I think I can still run 6:00 pace for the second half. That’d get me around 37:30-37:45.
I joined my team for a 10-11 mile evening hill workout, starting at Macalester College again. As I drove to the run it was raining pretty hard. Luckily, by the time we started, it tapered off. While the 40 degree temps and winds weren’t ideal, at least we weren’t soaking wet.
I started off really easy as I chatted with a gal in the back of the pack. After 15 minutes I picked it up, but I never really pushed the pace. 40 minutes into the run Jenna turned off to add-on some miles, but I followed the group back and stopped after an hour, which I’m calling 8 miles.
On the way home I felt guilty for not following Jenna and getting in a few more miles at an honest pace. It’s a balancing act of “mini-taper” vs. “training through.” Granted, Grandma’s is my main goal, so I should probably be training through. However, running a fast time this weekend can also provide a big confidence boost leading up to Grandma’s.
8 WEEKS
It’s been awhile since I’ve taken a day off, so I didn’t run today. Actually there was some more reasoning behind my decision than that.
1) My last day off was 56 days ago. The streak before that was 55 days. I’m not a big streak guy. I’d rather run fast race times than say I’ve run X miles everyday for the last 25 years.
2) Tomorrow is a single run, but I thought I’d do an easy 5 in the morning, before my evening workout. I think the easy runs loosen my legs up for the PM workouts. So I’m not really skipping a run, I’m just moving it over a day.
3) Most importantly, I got a new XBOX baseball game that I want to play tonight. Yes, I admit it, I’m a 35 year old video game junkie. I grew up with pong, space invaders, pac man, asteroids, etc. Now I’m more into the sports (baseball, football and golf) and racing games than anything else. But I only like to play the sport games when they’re in-season. Just think how much better I’d be at running if I could change all those video game hours into running hours. Nah!
1) My last day off was 56 days ago. The streak before that was 55 days. I’m not a big streak guy. I’d rather run fast race times than say I’ve run X miles everyday for the last 25 years.
2) Tomorrow is a single run, but I thought I’d do an easy 5 in the morning, before my evening workout. I think the easy runs loosen my legs up for the PM workouts. So I’m not really skipping a run, I’m just moving it over a day.
3) Most importantly, I got a new XBOX baseball game that I want to play tonight. Yes, I admit it, I’m a 35 year old video game junkie. I grew up with pong, space invaders, pac man, asteroids, etc. Now I’m more into the sports (baseball, football and golf) and racing games than anything else. But I only like to play the sport games when they’re in-season. Just think how much better I’d be at running if I could change all those video game hours into running hours. Nah!
Sunday, April 24, 2005
SOCIAL EVENT
Last night my training group had a party for 2 people that are moving to California. This was my first social gathering with the group. It was interesting to see everyone in their “normal” clothes and talk to them outside of a workout. A couple of people who I thought were very quiet – weren’t. I guess oxygen debt has a way of keeping people quiet. It was a good time, but I didn’t get home till 1:30, meaning I only got 5 hours of sleep. When you have 2 kids, 6:30 AM IS sleeping in.
I was supposed to run 10-12 miles but ended up only running 6. Kinsey wanted to come, so I pushed her the whole way. After having a bunch of days in the 60-70s and sunny, it was hard to explain to her that – even with the clear blue skies - it was cold outside. I let her wear shorts, but we had 2 blankets and a pair of sweat pants – for when she figured out that 45-50 degrees, sunny and very windy wasn’t as warm as she thought. She did – when we started heading into the wind.
My legs felt pretty good. I’m sure the soft surfaces of yesterday’s run helped a lot. This should be a pretty easy week as I drop down to 55-60 miles – sort of a mini-taper before this weekend’s race. Although Get in Gear is Minnesota’s largest non-marathon, road race, I’ve only run it once. In 2002, I ran a similar time for The Human Race in March as I did this year. That year I went out too hard at Get in Gear and held on for 39-flat. I’d like to break 38 this year and would be really happy to run 37:30 or faster.
I was supposed to run 10-12 miles but ended up only running 6. Kinsey wanted to come, so I pushed her the whole way. After having a bunch of days in the 60-70s and sunny, it was hard to explain to her that – even with the clear blue skies - it was cold outside. I let her wear shorts, but we had 2 blankets and a pair of sweat pants – for when she figured out that 45-50 degrees, sunny and very windy wasn’t as warm as she thought. She did – when we started heading into the wind.
My legs felt pretty good. I’m sure the soft surfaces of yesterday’s run helped a lot. This should be a pretty easy week as I drop down to 55-60 miles – sort of a mini-taper before this weekend’s race. Although Get in Gear is Minnesota’s largest non-marathon, road race, I’ve only run it once. In 2002, I ran a similar time for The Human Race in March as I did this year. That year I went out too hard at Get in Gear and held on for 39-flat. I’d like to break 38 this year and would be really happy to run 37:30 or faster.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
TRAIL MIX
I did the first part of my long run today while watching the Trail Mix. My training group had 3 people running the 25k, including our coach, a mixed relay team and a member on another relay team. This is a very hilly trail race that consists of a 12.5K loop. After watching the runners start, I ran around on the flatter section for an hour. Prior to the race I told Mary I’d run the 2nd lap with her. She came through the halfway point in 1:04 and looked strong. When I joined her, her 8:15 pace was a shock to my system. Even though I’d been running around, it took awhile to get into a rhythm.
In 1997 I ran this course in 2:00:22, prior to my 3:17 at Grandma’s. 8 years was long enough for me to forget how tough this course is. One of the hills is long, narrow and rocky. It leads to the top of a ski hill and probably takes 3-4 minutes to get up. Once at the top, you crest the ski hill and go down a very steep slope. Shortly after that there’s a section with wood chips. While great on the legs, the wood chips absorb all the energy out of your legs.
All of our hill training must be paying off because Mary ended up running even splits. She passed two women in the last 5k to finish in the top-10. Our coach ran well, finishing 2nd in the 45-49 age-group, Jose ran a 2:17 and the relay team took 2nd in the mixed division.
I ended up running around for 2:57 and called it 21. The only “bad” thing is, with all the standing around to cheer and talk with everyone, it took me three and a half hours to run for that long. So for my last two 20 milers I’ll make sure to run them as continuously as possible. Overall for the week I ended up with 82 miles on 9 runs.
In 1997 I ran this course in 2:00:22, prior to my 3:17 at Grandma’s. 8 years was long enough for me to forget how tough this course is. One of the hills is long, narrow and rocky. It leads to the top of a ski hill and probably takes 3-4 minutes to get up. Once at the top, you crest the ski hill and go down a very steep slope. Shortly after that there’s a section with wood chips. While great on the legs, the wood chips absorb all the energy out of your legs.
All of our hill training must be paying off because Mary ended up running even splits. She passed two women in the last 5k to finish in the top-10. Our coach ran well, finishing 2nd in the 45-49 age-group, Jose ran a 2:17 and the relay team took 2nd in the mixed division.
I ended up running around for 2:57 and called it 21. The only “bad” thing is, with all the standing around to cheer and talk with everyone, it took me three and a half hours to run for that long. So for my last two 20 milers I’ll make sure to run them as continuously as possible. Overall for the week I ended up with 82 miles on 9 runs.
Friday, April 22, 2005
SUBTITLES
Shouldn’t be Surprised
I went to bed last night just before 10. Katie, who has suddenly developed separation anxiety, was crying by 11:30. She was fine as soon as my wife or I went in to check on her, but as soon as we left, she started crying again. At 1:00 I tucked her back in then pulled up a sleeping bag and slept next to her the rest of the night. It seemed to have worked as she didn’t make a sound the rest of the night.
Since I only had 1:30 of sleep before Katie woke up, it felt like I’d just taken a nap and I was wide awake. While I was lying there I was thinking “I shouldn’t be so surprised how well my workout went tonight.” Last year was my highest mileage year ever and I had my best summer of road racing since college. After finishing my last race of the summer in September, I took a week off before building my mileage back up. In the 7 months since then, I’ve averaged over 280 miles/month or 65 mpw. Through September of last year, I averaged 50 mpw. So hopefully I’m developing capillaries, mitochondria and other things at a cellular level that I can’t see that will make me faster.
New Theory
With last night’s workout and Katie’s “episode” it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I slept-in today. Instead, I slugged my way through a very easy 5 miles at a not-so-marathon-pace of nearly 9 minute miles. During these 45 minutes I developed a “new theory” – when the wind speed (25) is half of the air temperature (50), it doesn’t make for ideal running conditions. Okay, maybe I’m not going out on a limb there.
From 3 to 2
With less than 2 months till Grandma’s, I’ve been trying to figure out what shoes I’m going to wear. I’ve been thinking about either 1) adidas RATs Racers, 2) New Balance 833s or 3) Nike Skylons. I’ve worn RATs Racers for my last 3 or 4 marathons and I did last night’s workout in them. I like how light they are, but I think this time I’m going to go with a little more cushion. Being a spring marathon, I’m a little more concerned about trashing my legs for the rest of the summer. I really like the feel on the 833s, but I’m not sure if they have enough cushioning either. So right now, I’m leaning towards the Skylons.
I went to bed last night just before 10. Katie, who has suddenly developed separation anxiety, was crying by 11:30. She was fine as soon as my wife or I went in to check on her, but as soon as we left, she started crying again. At 1:00 I tucked her back in then pulled up a sleeping bag and slept next to her the rest of the night. It seemed to have worked as she didn’t make a sound the rest of the night.
Since I only had 1:30 of sleep before Katie woke up, it felt like I’d just taken a nap and I was wide awake. While I was lying there I was thinking “I shouldn’t be so surprised how well my workout went tonight.” Last year was my highest mileage year ever and I had my best summer of road racing since college. After finishing my last race of the summer in September, I took a week off before building my mileage back up. In the 7 months since then, I’ve averaged over 280 miles/month or 65 mpw. Through September of last year, I averaged 50 mpw. So hopefully I’m developing capillaries, mitochondria and other things at a cellular level that I can’t see that will make me faster.
New Theory
With last night’s workout and Katie’s “episode” it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I slept-in today. Instead, I slugged my way through a very easy 5 miles at a not-so-marathon-pace of nearly 9 minute miles. During these 45 minutes I developed a “new theory” – when the wind speed (25) is half of the air temperature (50), it doesn’t make for ideal running conditions. Okay, maybe I’m not going out on a limb there.
From 3 to 2
With less than 2 months till Grandma’s, I’ve been trying to figure out what shoes I’m going to wear. I’ve been thinking about either 1) adidas RATs Racers, 2) New Balance 833s or 3) Nike Skylons. I’ve worn RATs Racers for my last 3 or 4 marathons and I did last night’s workout in them. I like how light they are, but I think this time I’m going to go with a little more cushion. Being a spring marathon, I’m a little more concerned about trashing my legs for the rest of the summer. I really like the feel on the 833s, but I’m not sure if they have enough cushioning either. So right now, I’m leaning towards the Skylons.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
ALA BECK
Since my morning run was only scheduled to be 5 miles today, I slept in and ran it during my lunch break. My cold still has me all stuffed up, but I felt okay once I got going.
This evening's run was a 10 miler with the middle 7 "at pace". I decided do this workout on the dirt track, ala Beck, near my house. During my warmup I thought I'd try running 2 x 3 "miles" @ 6:40 pace or 2:55 marathon pace with a 400 meter jog between the sets. Once I started the workout, I checked my splits every 400 meters and I was surprised by how easy 6:40 pace felt. I kept clicking off the miles and decided not to take a break after 3 miles. Instead I'd go 6 miles straight. The miles continued to go by quickly I still felt good, so I just did all 7 that I had planned. My splits were 6:38, 6:42, 6:39, 6:39, 6:41, 6:40 and 6:48 (I lost focus - thinking about what I was going to write for my blog entry :-) ).
Needless to say this workout has me pretty fired up, especially since last week's 6:52 pace felt much more difficult.
This evening's run was a 10 miler with the middle 7 "at pace". I decided do this workout on the dirt track, ala Beck, near my house. During my warmup I thought I'd try running 2 x 3 "miles" @ 6:40 pace or 2:55 marathon pace with a 400 meter jog between the sets. Once I started the workout, I checked my splits every 400 meters and I was surprised by how easy 6:40 pace felt. I kept clicking off the miles and decided not to take a break after 3 miles. Instead I'd go 6 miles straight. The miles continued to go by quickly I still felt good, so I just did all 7 that I had planned. My splits were 6:38, 6:42, 6:39, 6:39, 6:41, 6:40 and 6:48 (I lost focus - thinking about what I was going to write for my blog entry :-) ).
Needless to say this workout has me pretty fired up, especially since last week's 6:52 pace felt much more difficult.
THE TOTAL RUNNER
Ealier in the week Alison wrote an entry about what’s next for her. As I read it I thought “that’s exactly what I do.” After a goal race, when I’m just getting back into the swing of things, running comes first. Then as I get more consistent I start adding other “things” to my training, like eating right, stretching, strength training and mental training.
Last year I tracked my eating using Fit Day for awhile and I found my diet usually fell into the 60/20/20 range (carbs/protein/fat). Since I tend to eat a lot of the same foods, I’m pretty confident my diet is fairly healthy.
Stretching and strength training are the first things I usually slack off on. As I get older, I tell myself I need to pay more attention to them - more for a healthy lifestyle than to help with my running. Strength training is like coffee and sex, there are articles supporting and refuting all 3 when it comes to enhancing athletic performance. I tend to agree that strength training should be sport-specific. I also think there’s something to all this talk about core strength, core power, core performance, etc. So this is the first year I’ve done any type of ab work.
Since college, I’ve been intrigued by the mental side of sports. It’s interesting that we hear about it all the time with top athletes, yet very rarely read anything about it in the top running or triathlon magazines. To me sports psychology is more than just having a positive attitude. It’s about the ability to relax, visualize, focus, build self-confidence, etc. If you’d like to learn more, you can get a used copy of The Total Runner for less than a buck. Another option is Running Within.
I often wonder if the Tiger Woods, Michael Jordans or Lance Armstrongs of the world apply some of the techniques in these books or if the mental side just comes naturally to them.
Last year I tracked my eating using Fit Day for awhile and I found my diet usually fell into the 60/20/20 range (carbs/protein/fat). Since I tend to eat a lot of the same foods, I’m pretty confident my diet is fairly healthy.
Stretching and strength training are the first things I usually slack off on. As I get older, I tell myself I need to pay more attention to them - more for a healthy lifestyle than to help with my running. Strength training is like coffee and sex, there are articles supporting and refuting all 3 when it comes to enhancing athletic performance. I tend to agree that strength training should be sport-specific. I also think there’s something to all this talk about core strength, core power, core performance, etc. So this is the first year I’ve done any type of ab work.
Since college, I’ve been intrigued by the mental side of sports. It’s interesting that we hear about it all the time with top athletes, yet very rarely read anything about it in the top running or triathlon magazines. To me sports psychology is more than just having a positive attitude. It’s about the ability to relax, visualize, focus, build self-confidence, etc. If you’d like to learn more, you can get a used copy of The Total Runner for less than a buck. Another option is Running Within.
I often wonder if the Tiger Woods, Michael Jordans or Lance Armstrongs of the world apply some of the techniques in these books or if the mental side just comes naturally to them.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
IT'S BAAAAACK
I woke up with a sore throat and stuffy nose this morning. I had an inkling yesterday that I was coming down with something. It doesn’t help that Katie was sick over the weekend – and we shared a spoon. Hey, it was ice cream and I thought she just had a tooth coming in. Oh well. Once I get up and get moving I don’t feel too bad.
It does make me wonder if all my mileage is taking a toll. I’ve never run more than 2,800 miles in a year and right now I’m on-pace for about 3,500 this year. If I had to choose between getting a cold or getting injured, I’d take the cold any day.
I managed an easy 7 miles this morning in just under an hour.
It does make me wonder if all my mileage is taking a toll. I’ve never run more than 2,800 miles in a year and right now I’m on-pace for about 3,500 this year. If I had to choose between getting a cold or getting injured, I’d take the cold any day.
I managed an easy 7 miles this morning in just under an hour.
MORE ON BOSTON
Doug Kurtis wrote up a review of OLNs marathon coverage too.
Some of the race reports I saw on coolrunning.com were titled things like;
Beaten Back by Boston Again!
Another Boston Meltdown
Another Crash & Burn in Boston
One runner actually had a great race, running 2:54 to PR by 9 minutes. That's very impressive.
Some of the race reports I saw on coolrunning.com were titled things like;
Beaten Back by Boston Again!
Another Boston Meltdown
Another Crash & Burn in Boston
One runner actually had a great race, running 2:54 to PR by 9 minutes. That's very impressive.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
WORK RELATED
My work department went bowling tonight. We hired a new Chief Marketing Officer about 2 months ago. Apparently he’s trying to create a fun work atmosphere. I have yet to formally meet him, although he apparently knows my name since he says "hi" in the halls. I skipped the only staff meeting he’s had so far, since it occurred a half-hour after I leave for the day. I also skipped bowling, since my team trains together on Tuesday night’s. Actually, I probably would have skipped it no matter what night it fell on. But having it on a Tuesday gave me a “legitimate” excuse. A former co-worker might call those CLMs – Career Limiting Mistakes (or is it Maneuvers?).
We had a good turnout for tonight’s run – meeting at Macalester College in St. Paul. From there we headed over to the hills in the Highland Park and Mac/Groveland areas. Even with the good turnout, not many were pushing the pace – probably because many of them are racing either a 25k or a 50k relay on the trails of Hyland Park this Saturday. I’m not racing - I'm opting for a 10k on the 30th instead.
Just like last Tuesday, I ended up chasing Jenna all night. I didn’t feel quite as good as last week, so it felt like I was way behind her. We ended up running just over 70 minutes. It was probably more like 9.5 miles than 10, but I don’t really like “halves” in the log book, so 10 it is.
Speaking of work, I was in a meeting this morning and found out the guy sitting in the cube across from me is my boss’s boss. He’s been here a couple of months too and I knew he was a VP, but I didn’t know that my boss reported to him. I guess you can tell how much I care about titles and career paths.
We had a good turnout for tonight’s run – meeting at Macalester College in St. Paul. From there we headed over to the hills in the Highland Park and Mac/Groveland areas. Even with the good turnout, not many were pushing the pace – probably because many of them are racing either a 25k or a 50k relay on the trails of Hyland Park this Saturday. I’m not racing - I'm opting for a 10k on the 30th instead.
Just like last Tuesday, I ended up chasing Jenna all night. I didn’t feel quite as good as last week, so it felt like I was way behind her. We ended up running just over 70 minutes. It was probably more like 9.5 miles than 10, but I don’t really like “halves” in the log book, so 10 it is.
Speaking of work, I was in a meeting this morning and found out the guy sitting in the cube across from me is my boss’s boss. He’s been here a couple of months too and I knew he was a VP, but I didn’t know that my boss reported to him. I guess you can tell how much I care about titles and career paths.
THE MORNING AFTER
Well, it’s the morning after Boston – is there a pill for that? I followed a handful of people on-line and it wasn’t pretty. It looks like most people ran at least 8 minutes slower during the second half of the race. I haven’t talked to anyone yet and have only read one race report, so I’m not positive what happened. While it wasn’t 85 and sunny like last year, it was 70 and sunny at the start – less than ideal.
I “ran” last year in those miserable conditions and I’ve said if I knew how to get back to Boston, I’d have dropped out around mile 8. I ended up running 3:50, which was 52 minutes slower than my qualifying time. I wonder what that record is. The “nice” thing about running so slow is that I recovered a lot quicker than normal. As a result, I was able to apply my marathon base to a summer full of short races and ended up running my best times since college. So if Boston didn’t live up to your expectations, there could be a silver lining.
I watched OLN’s coverage last night. Are you telling me there’s not a U.S. distance runner with a communications degree or the desire to commentate? Instead we have a long jumper (Carol Lewis), high jumper (Dwight Stone) and Lewis Johnson. I’m not sure Mr. Johnson’s background, but I’d venture a guess that it’s not distance running. Here are some observations:
4-5 miles into the race, eventually women’s winner, Catherine Ndereba, is about a minute behind the leaders and Carol thought the race was over. I think anyone who’s run a marathon, let alone on the Boston course, would know that a minute with 20+ miles to go is nothing.
Early in the women’s race Carol said something like “the weather is picture perfect today, you couldn’t ask for anything better.” Then her very next sentence is “The runners probably wish it were 10 degrees cooler.” Well, which is it? I guess it was perfect for sitting on your ass, but too hot to be running.
Throughout the race I kept wondering why Ndereba was wearing that black headband that covered her ears. It looked more like a winter headband than a sweatband. After she won, I figured out why. It was to protect her head from the laurel wreath that they present to the winners. Why didn’t they just place a crown of thorns on her head?
Note to the BAA: these runners have tiny heads. You might want to scale back the size of the wreaths a little. It was more like a necklace for the men’s winner.
Anyone see when they introduced us to the top elite runners? It was like when they introduce the starters for Monday Night Football. They showed each runner standing around in the same John Hancock turtleneck and BAA jacket as they gave a little bio of them. Well, they showed the runners face for about half a second, then the camera start zooming in and moving from left to right and up and down. It was very annoying. Just hold the camera still.
It was nice to see Alan Culpepper crack the top-5. I knew his results from following on-line. If I hadn’t, I’d have been more upset by OLN’s coverage. Is it that hard to mention the top Americans a few times over the course of 2 hours?
Okay, this is probably too long of an entry already. I'll just close by saying I ran an easy 5 miles with strides this morning and my legs felt much better. I have a hard workout planned with my team this evening too.
I “ran” last year in those miserable conditions and I’ve said if I knew how to get back to Boston, I’d have dropped out around mile 8. I ended up running 3:50, which was 52 minutes slower than my qualifying time. I wonder what that record is. The “nice” thing about running so slow is that I recovered a lot quicker than normal. As a result, I was able to apply my marathon base to a summer full of short races and ended up running my best times since college. So if Boston didn’t live up to your expectations, there could be a silver lining.
I watched OLN’s coverage last night. Are you telling me there’s not a U.S. distance runner with a communications degree or the desire to commentate? Instead we have a long jumper (Carol Lewis), high jumper (Dwight Stone) and Lewis Johnson. I’m not sure Mr. Johnson’s background, but I’d venture a guess that it’s not distance running. Here are some observations:
4-5 miles into the race, eventually women’s winner, Catherine Ndereba, is about a minute behind the leaders and Carol thought the race was over. I think anyone who’s run a marathon, let alone on the Boston course, would know that a minute with 20+ miles to go is nothing.
Early in the women’s race Carol said something like “the weather is picture perfect today, you couldn’t ask for anything better.” Then her very next sentence is “The runners probably wish it were 10 degrees cooler.” Well, which is it? I guess it was perfect for sitting on your ass, but too hot to be running.
Throughout the race I kept wondering why Ndereba was wearing that black headband that covered her ears. It looked more like a winter headband than a sweatband. After she won, I figured out why. It was to protect her head from the laurel wreath that they present to the winners. Why didn’t they just place a crown of thorns on her head?
Note to the BAA: these runners have tiny heads. You might want to scale back the size of the wreaths a little. It was more like a necklace for the men’s winner.
Anyone see when they introduced us to the top elite runners? It was like when they introduce the starters for Monday Night Football. They showed each runner standing around in the same John Hancock turtleneck and BAA jacket as they gave a little bio of them. Well, they showed the runners face for about half a second, then the camera start zooming in and moving from left to right and up and down. It was very annoying. Just hold the camera still.
It was nice to see Alan Culpepper crack the top-5. I knew his results from following on-line. If I hadn’t, I’d have been more upset by OLN’s coverage. Is it that hard to mention the top Americans a few times over the course of 2 hours?
Okay, this is probably too long of an entry already. I'll just close by saying I ran an easy 5 miles with strides this morning and my legs felt much better. I have a hard workout planned with my team this evening too.
Monday, April 18, 2005
HAPPY PATRIOT'S DAY
Yes, it’s Patriot’s Day today a.k.a. the day of the Boston Marathon. I don’t know that many people running this year. Those that I do, I hope you have a great race. I’m more of a “great race” person than a “good luck” person. I figure if you’ve done the training, luck plays a very insignificant role in the race. If you haven’t done the training, then lucks not really going to help you anyway.
Remember that heavy feeling I had in my legs on the hills yesterday? Well it was with me the entire way today. Good thing I only had 6 miles planned. Hopefully, they’ll bounce back before tomorrow’s workout. Plus I’m supposed to run 75-80 miles this week and I rather not do that with the legs I ran on this morning.
Remember that heavy feeling I had in my legs on the hills yesterday? Well it was with me the entire way today. Good thing I only had 6 miles planned. Hopefully, they’ll bounce back before tomorrow’s workout. Plus I’m supposed to run 75-80 miles this week and I rather not do that with the legs I ran on this morning.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
ON THE TRAILS AGAIN
Since I wasn’t able to run with my team yesterday, I wanted to go a little harder today. That meant leaving my 40 lb. daughter and baby jogger at home. 10 minutes into my run I decided to do a mile around a dirt track, just to see what my easy pace is these days. That ended up being 8:05, so I figure the 8:20-8:30 pace I’ve been using for my very easy runs is fairly accurate.
I was thinking about running on the trails for about an hour before heading back to the track and running another timed 3 miles near marathon pace. However, as soon as I set foot on the trails, I knew there was no way I’d be going back and running 12 laps on the track. This was my first time on the trails since last fall and it was great to be on them again. How can you not like running on trails? I’d do it every day if I could.
Despite yesterday’s rain, the trails were still in really good shape. I felt pretty good on the flats, but my legs felt really heavy every time I went up a hill. Since leaving the track I had picked up the pace a little and I was probably running 7:45s. I stayed out for just over 1:40 and called it 13 miles.
I was thinking about running on the trails for about an hour before heading back to the track and running another timed 3 miles near marathon pace. However, as soon as I set foot on the trails, I knew there was no way I’d be going back and running 12 laps on the track. This was my first time on the trails since last fall and it was great to be on them again. How can you not like running on trails? I’d do it every day if I could.
Despite yesterday’s rain, the trails were still in really good shape. I felt pretty good on the flats, but my legs felt really heavy every time I went up a hill. Since leaving the track I had picked up the pace a little and I was probably running 7:45s. I stayed out for just over 1:40 and called it 13 miles.
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