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.