Tokyo Marathon

This weekend the Tokyo Marathon will be taking place on Sunday.  There is an elite crowd of runners at the race this year including world record holder Haile Gebrselassie (making good on his pre-retirement comitment), 2 time Tokyo winner Masakazu Fujiwara, a field of sub 2:07 marathoners, sub 1 hour half marathoner Mekubo Mogusu, and my personal favorite, ultrarunner Scott Jurek.

Despite all this star power, it might be Joseph Tame who gets the most internet coverage.  Why?  He'll be broadcasting his race live via his iRun contraption.  Check out the link below.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20034795-1.html

Pretty cool, but imagine the chaffing...

Run & Race Tip #4 - Icing Basics

During our group run yesterday I realized that, while icing injuries is common knowledge to those of us who have been running for a number of years, it might not be so intuitive to people new to the sport.  So here’s a quick post on some of the basics.

Swelling is the body’s way of sending your brain an important message.  When a joint, tendon or muscle is injured there may be internal bleeding, and extra fluid is produced limiting the motion of the affected area, and causing pain when it is moved.  This forces you to rest the area while healing takes place.  Unfortunately this swelling can also cause additional damage to the surrounding tissue and can prevent expedient healing by preventing proper blood flow to the area.  Icing helps to reduce this swelling and speed up the natural healing process.

New Balance Minimus Line – Available March 1

New Balance is releasing it’s own line of “minimalist” running shoes on March 1.  The lineup consists of the Minimus Trail, Minimus Road and the Minimus Life.  Both the Trail and the Road have gotten pretty good reviews from testers (the Life is geared to be an “everyday shoe” so I haven’t paid attention to it…)  All 3 feature a 4mm drop and the awesome <=> logo (the Enginerd in me loves it.)

The 2 running shoes have thicker soles than would be found on most “minimalist” shoes, testament to the fact that shoe definitions have become very watered down and geared towards whatever is trendy at the moment.  Barefooters will gripe about the lack of ground feel such thick soles will cause and of course the 4mm drop.  But for those of us looking for a “tweener” (the dreaded transitional shoe) this might be an interesting option.

I’ve been rotating between my Asic Hyperspeeds (a size too small) and the Merrells and have been looking for another shoe to do some long runs in.  I’m interested in a little padding and enough heal to protect against the chance of returning to heal strike as my form breaks down or I start to push hard at the end of a race, while still being minimal enough to maintain proper forefoot strike with ease.  I’ve been planning on picking up a pair of Asic Piranhas (mainly because of my Asic loyalty) but after reading some of the New Balance reviews, I may have to figure them into the equation…

Check out these reviews of the Trails from those lucky enough to get the test pairs:

Barefoot Running University: http://barefootrunninguniversity.com/2010/11/17/new-balance-minimus-trail-review/

Running and Rambling: http://www.runningandrambling.com/2011/02/new-balance-minimus-trail-review-and.html

Run & Race Tip #3 - Training Log Basics

A training log is one of the most important pieces of equipment for successful training.  I have trouble stressing the importance of a good training log enough.  The training log doesn’t have to be complex, it just needs to include your mileage, time (and from that; pace) and some notes on how you felt during and right after the run (sick, tired legs, aches and pains, etc.)  The more information you keep though, the more powerful tool the log becomes, things like heart rate, hours of sleep, body weight, weather conditions and location all give you good information that can be useful later.

A good log does a number of things for your training:

Run & Race Tip #2 - Running Through the Finish

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” – Prefontaine

When you race, any race from 100m to 100 miles, you should be running to 5 yards beyond the finish line.  This is a lesson that was hammered into me as a high school runner by my father.  I could win a race by 100 yards and still get an ear full on the way home if I let up at the finish line.  He, of course, was right, and that was a lesson that maybe I didn’t learn as well as I should have, and still have to focus on.

Can you think of anything more embarrassing than getting passed at finish line when you’ve let off the gas?  Or missing your PR by a second because you didn’t gut out that one last stride?  Anyone can gut out one or two last strides, and that stride can make the difference between 1^st and 2^nd, a PR or a good run.

I got a good reminder of this at the Miami ING Half Marathon.  I coasted the last stride and got beat by another runner at the line who was giving it everything he had.  Results wise it didn’t matter much – chip time I beat him by 15 seconds, but every time I look at that finish photo I get to see him pushing past me.  Those last couple of strides were the difference between a great finish photo and an embarrassing reminder.

Why does this matter?  Well it doesn’t really if you’re just out there for a run, but if you’re racing, or trying to give it your all, of course it matters.  Letting up at the finish line, regardless of whether someone’s near you or not, means you left something out there on the course.  You should never be satisfied at racing less than your best.  If you’re not gutting it out to the very end and dry heaving just past the finish line you haven’t run your best race, and for that race, you’ve sacrificed the gift.

2012 & 2013 Boston Marathon Qualifying Times Released

The Boston Athletic Association released the new Boston Marathon qualifying times as well as a new rolling registration on Wednesday.  The qualifying times and registration process had been under review since the 2011 Marathon sold out in just over 8 hours…

For 2012 the same standards will remain in place but a rolling registration will take place with faster qualifiers able to sign up first.  This makes sense if the idea is to make the Boston the most prestigious Marathon event.  According to the Boston Marathon Blog (link below) first day registration will be open to registrants that beat their qualifying standard by over 20 min.  That means for 2012 men (18-34) have to hit a 2:50 and, in 2013 with the adjusted standards, a 2:45 (6:16 pace.)

Yikes!  Time to hurry up and get that Boston in, or at least a BQ.  Always nice to have in the back pocket when people start talking about Marathons…

4:30am Run - Part 3 End of the Week

I Jedi mind tricked my way out of the camp this morning.  I had seen a trail not far from the camp’s gate that I wanted to check out, so as I got to the gate this morning I willed the guard not to notice me, or at least not to care.  “I’m not the one you’re looking for.”  Really I just waved and took the dismissive nod as “whatever, stupid gringo” and I sped off into the dark before he’d have a chance to realize what I was doing.  Unfortunately that was about the highlight of the adventure.

About 30 yards down the trail, just around the corner, I came to a stagnant stream about knee deep.  I was tempted to cross but just at the edge of my flashlight beam I could see the dark out line of a crocodile.  Or a log.  Whatever it was, along with the “beware of crocodile” road signs I had seen, the rustling in the bushes and the eerie shadows my weak flashlight was casting I decided I’d already had enough and headed back.

Unwilling to completely forgo my excursion I ran a mile down the road hoping to hit the turn off to a smaller road that lead up towards the hills surrounding the mine.  After a mile I still couldn’t see the turn off and I wasn’t having fun running on the rutted shoulder of the road, in the dark, hoping some passing mine car wouldn’t stop to tell me what I was doing was unsafe (in Spanish) so I headed back to the camp to finish my run on the now boring, but well lit streets.

Overall the week wasn’t terribly exciting, but I did manage to get out for 5 runs totaling about 35 miles.  Better than I had expected and much better than the 0 miles I would have had even a month ago.

Run & Race Tip #1 - Carbo Loading

A very familiar concept to most distance runners, but does it really work?  Maybe not as much as many runners think.  While it’s important to make sure you have enough carbs in your diet, your muscles can only hold so much glycogen (carbohydrate calories stored in the body - about 60-90 minutes worth).  So as long as you’re doing a good job replenishing glycogen stores before and after hard workouts those pre-race pasta parties really aren’t helping much.  But what if you were able to coax your body into overloading on glycogen?  The answer is simple – your performance in endurance races would be improved, and it turns out it IS possible to temporarily boost your glycogen stores.

Veronica recently sent me this article on carbo loading strategies.  Definitely worth a look if you’re running in events longer than an hour…  http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/carbo-loading-managing-your-glycogen-intake-without-overloading-on-glucose-65

Basic idea; intense workouts increase your muscle’s synthesis of glycogen.  Studies have shown that an intense workout of even just 3 minutes (if done correctly) can start this increased synthesis.  Follow this workout with 24 hours of a high carb diet and no exercise and muscle glycogen levels can be boosted as much as 82%.  Also realize that this glycogen synthesis is greatest right after workouts, so it’s important to start refueling soon after your cool down.  Something to think about before your next long race or workout...

Another good site about glycogen: http://www.exrx.net/Nutrition/Glycogen.html

4:30am Run Part 2 – Jungle Town

It’s actually more of a resort town IN a jungle, and it was more like 4:50am run, but same thing.  I managed to get out the door early again this morning.  It was a struggle because they keep the building air-con on so low it was cold getting out of bed (for a now thin blooded Miami kid), but getting outside into the warm humid morning felt pretty good.

It’s a bit strange running though a small enclosed town.  It’s probably bigger population wise than many small towns in the US.  I’m guessing several hundred over a thousand people, plus there’s a gym, 2 pools, tennis courts, soccer field, movie theater, bowling ally, supermarket and hotel.  Yet all of this is packed within a fence surrounded by jungle – a small mining town disguised as a resort.  A route all the way around the outside is probably just short of 3 miles, so I got a pretty good feel of the place doing an 8 mile run this morning.  The FARC used to be pretty big in this area, and though I’m told there’s no danger anymore, I’m not sure how they’d feel about the gringo going outside the fence.  Even within the fence running the in dark can have it’s “on edge” moments – rustling in the bushes 9 times out of 10 is a bird or cat, but I don’t really want to know what might come out that 10^th time…

I’m surprised I don’t see more people out running in the morning here.  You’d think in a small town like this where everyone works for the same company and lives in close proximity, people would take advantage of this quite time.  Instead I saw 2 other runners, 1 armed guard and his dog and got to enjoy the sounds of a jungle waking up in the early morning solitude of the camp.

As much as I’d like to get out of the fence I think I’ll continue to do my laps in the relative safety and peace of this fenced in resort town and look forward to getting back to Miami and more running freedom.

4:30am Run - Motivation

Sometimes you have a run that you’re just proud of.  Sometimes that’s because you hit some milestone, exceeded some goal, or you proved something to yourself.  I was pretty happy with my Wednesday run this week.  I set off with a goal of 10 miles, 7:20 pace, and negative splits.  I met all of them running the 10 at 7:08 pace with a 2 min negative split and never felt like I was straining, all while practicing drinking and fueling (something I never do.)

This morning I was happy with my run for a completely different reason.  The run was not long (only 4.5 miles) and it certainly was not fast (8:20 pace).  Instead I was happy because I actually RAN.  I’m traveling on business and in an area where running just isn’t easy (a small mining camp in Colombia.)  Even a month or 2 ago that would have been reason enough for me to blow off running for a week and a half – not even bring my gear, but today I woke up at 4:30 (I’m not a 4:30am person) to get a few miles in before I met my hosts at 6 for what will be a 15 hour day by the time we’re done.  It may not seem like much, but if I can put in 25-30 miles during this trip it’s that much more than I would have had before, and that much less conditioning I’ll lose while I’m down here – and for me something that makes me proud and motivates me to run this week.

Finding those little things to be proud of can help you keep running, and keeps the running interesting.  It doesn’t always have to be a PR, or a great run – it can be finding a new route, seeing a great sunrise, or even just getting out.

UPCOMING MERRELL TRAIL GLOVES REVIEW

I’m a gear junkie.  That’s the only way to explain the pile of camping gear that takes up most of my walk in closet.  I’ve reviewed camping gear in the past, but never running gear – the beauty of running was the need for relatively little gear (especially for 5Ks.)

My recent decision to start looking at Marathons and potentially Ultras along with my desire to go to more minimalist / barefoot running has (perhaps ironically) gotten me looking at new running gear.  I went out and got a pair of Vibram 5 fingers but returned them before running in them after discovering that wearing them around the house caused my toes to start to go numb because my feet just don’t fit the 5 finger mold.  Looking at other minimalist options lead me to Barefoot Jason’s review of the Merrell Trail Gloves released in Feburary (http://barefootrunninguniversity.com/2011/01/04/merrell-trail-glove-review/  It should also be noted that Jason is working with Merrell on their barefoot resources – check out Merrell’s site.)

Excited about these shoes I ordered a pair as soon as they were available and received them yesterday.  Obviously it will take me some time to put on enough miles to truly review these shoes, but I thought I’d post the sizing portion of the review early since that seems to be a big question for those looking at these shoes.

My First Half - 2011 Miami ING

I had planned my first post to be about my running history – what I’ve done, what my future plans are and why recently my views on running have changed.  Yada yada, no one cares (not that anyone cares about reading about this race either...)  Suffice it to say I’ve been running for many years, but have never really raced anything longer than a 5k (okay, 5 - 8k fun runs and 1 - 10k about 8 years ago.)  I had no desire to run longer – I was all about the speed.  That changed this winter, partly due to reading Born to Run, partly due to other factors, and I signed up for the Miami ING half marathon a week before the race and totally unprepared.

I say unprepared because I had had almost no training for the last month due to an Achilles injury – one I gave myself by deciding to start the New Year off right with a 15 mile run I was also unprepared for.  After about 2 weeks off I came back with a week of VERY light training and the Sunday before ING went for a normal run and surprised myself.  With an altered stride (to help take pressure off my Achilles) I went through 7 miles at just under 7 min pace – maybe I had a chance at that 1:35 half I needed to get into the B coral at the Chicago Marathon (my goal race for the year.)  Still suffering the effects of my slight runner’s high, I signed up for the ING before I had stopped sweating from my Sunday run.

For the week before the race I went over my ill-conceived race strategy – just go out easy and keep it just under 7 min pace for the first 7-9 miles and try not to die too bad at the end.  Not exactly the race strategy I would have had back in my competitive high school running days.  I figured with this race plan my last miles could be closer to 7:40 pace and I could still get in under the 7:15 pace required for my goal time.

RACE DAY

The day of the race was somewhat cooler, but beautiful running weather.  I woke up at 3:30 in the morning to get ready and walk the 2 and a half miles from my apartment to the race start at the American Airline Arena.  At about 5:30 I shucked my sweats, checked my gear, and made my way through the crowd to the corals.  This would easily be the largest race I’ve ever run in – I’d heard numbers around 21,000 participants (roughly 16,000 finished – 12,861 finished the half.)  It was a different prerace routine for me – no real warm up (don’t need much for a race this long right?) and no stretching – I’d just read that pre-run stretching can actually do more damage than good – another post on this sometime perhaps.

The race started with a hand shot flare and a gradual shuffle towards the start line – not what I’m used to in 5ks with a sharp crack of a starter gun and a sprint to get position in the first 100 yards.  It was a bit of a challenge for the first half mile or so finding running room.  I ran a good part of it on the sidewalk scattering the few spectators there to see the race off.  By the top of the MacArthur Causeway the crowd had thinned enough that we were at least able to breath and hit our normal running stride.  For the first 5 miles I just tried to run relax, enjoy the sunrise over the ocean and cruise ships, and couldn’t help but smile.  The smile was in part due to running my first race in over a year, enjoying the great weather, the thrill of passing people by the dozens and realizing how easy the running was feeling despite putting in a couple of sub 6 min miles and averaging about 6:10 for the first 5 miles – slightly ahead of goal pace…

I was just having fun and enjoying running past all the spectators who were out cheering for anyone and everyone.  I was having fun until about mile 9 anyway, that’s when I started realizing this was a longer race than I was truly prepared for – and runners I had passed in miles 6-7 were nipping on my heals again.  At the same time I was realizing I still had a ways to go, I was realizing my average pace was good for A coral at Chicago – new race goal set.

A Jamaican guy and I started going back and forth in our own mini race, at one point as I passed him I said “common – let’s go get the next guy!”  It was actually a lot of fun running with him – though short lived.  After passing that next guy the Jamaican took off for good as I hit the wall in the 10^th mile dropping to a 6:41 mile.  It was about that point I actually wondered if I was really going to be able to finish the race without walking, however it’s amazing what a cheering crowd can do for a suffering body.  The cheering crowd and knowing I was in the last couple of miles helped me to finish relatively strong, ending with a chip time of 1:23:28 – almost 12 minutes faster than my goal and good for a A coral start at Chicago.

It wasn’t a particular spectacular race, but for me a great start for what should hopefully be an interesting year of running, full of fun races and serious marathons.  It also had several lessons learned:

o       I need to learn how to drink water while running without feeling bloated.

o       Never discredit the importance of cheering spectators.

o       It’s amazing what a competitive attitude can do for you on race day.

o       Consistent pacing could have shaved quite a bit of time off my finish.

o       I’m not yet ready for a Marathon, but I will be.  Goal: BQ.