Training While Traveling Article by Scott Jurek

This article seemed pretty timely after my trip to Mexico last week, the canceled trip to Colombia this week and NY vacation next week...  Enjoy.

The Long Run: Train Or Bust

Updated: Aug 10th 2011 1:43 PM UTC by Competitor.com

Ultrarunning star Scott Jurek shares his tips for logging miles while traveling.
Written by: Scott Jurek

Photo: Scott Draper

It was a classic case of air travel gone wrong. In 2001, my team and I were stuck in the Vancouver International Airport for an extra 12 hours while on our way to the Hong Kong Trailwalker 100K. In an instant, we lost half a day and missed out on a training run on the course. It would have been easy to grab some dinner, curl up on the airport floor and call it a day, but my teammate, Ian Torrence, had a better idea. Before I knew it, we were running along the sidewalks of the departures entrance. Although the 90-minute run took place alongside roaring planes spewing jet exhaust, we made the best of things and didn’t miss our training run. I maintain a busy travel schedule amid training for the world’s longest and toughest ultramarathons; combining pre-travel planning with adaptability is my strategy for running while on the road. Before leaving home, I front-load training. My advice:

• Plan the week preceding travel as a higher volume week and the travel week as a recovery week.
• Do quality sessions such as tempo runs, hill workouts and long runs the week before travel.

If I’m traveling some place new, I try to research the area so I know what to expect when I arrive:

• Use the Internet to research running routes; I like www.mapmyrun.com and www.usatf.org/routes.
• Search for restaurants and grocery stores to save time and fuel right.
• Check the weather forecast to pack appropriately. This may appear to be a no-brainer, but you’re more likely to skip a run if it’s pouring and you forgot a running hat and waterproof shell.
• Research nearby running specialty stores and running clubs to join group workouts and explore hidden routes. Before a trip to Asheville, N.C., I contacted resident trail running legend Will Harlan, who gave me a great tour—complete with lessons on botany and history—and workout on a local trail.

Upon arriving at my destination, I gather additional information from the hotel staff to confirm my research and get advice from locals that may not be available online or in English. When I traveled to Tokyo in February, I stayed one mile from the 5K path that circles the Imperial Palace. I went for a run to shake off the jet lag as soon as I got settled, sightseeing during the less hectic late-night hours.
A busy schedule that changes on the fly can obliterate training plans. Here’s what I do:

• Look over the next day’s schedule and plan when a run will fit; it’s often best to train first thing in the morning before obligations pile up.
• For tempo and specific pace workouts, a GPS or speed-distance watch is an important tool for knowing splits on routes without mile markers.
• Evenings are a good time to squeeze in a flexibility or short strength session. If a hotel gym is not available, consider a portable gym unit (such as TRX or resistance tubing) that packs easily.

Remember, even the best plans need to be flexible:

• Make do with the time and environment: Thirty minutes of running in traffic can be better than a zero for the day.
• Make the most of unexpected schedule changes. Have running gear on hand for unexpected opportunities to train.
• Factor the day’s stress into whether getting out for a late-day session is worthwhile. Sometimes rest and sleep may be the best choice.

While it may not take the form of running alongside an airport tarmac, training during travel can be something to dread or a fun challenge to embrace. Running in a new environment and being adaptable may be just what you need to stay motivated.

About the Author:
Based in Boulder, Colo., Scott Jurek is a seven-time winner of the Western States 100-mile trail run. Read more from Scott every month on the back page of Competitor Magazine.


http://running.competitor.com/2011/08/inside-the-magazine/the-long-run-train-or-bust_34677

The Second Running Boom is Now!

Part of an interesting article found on runningusa.org


Road race participation - with more female and male finishers, more races - has more record growth

Posted Thursday, 21 July, 2011
From Ryan Lamppa, Running USA

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - (July 21, 2011) - The Second Running Boom, despite the slow U.S. economy, continued in 2010 with an estimated 13 million finishers nationwide, an all-time high, and the largest percent increase (10%) in road race finishers that Running USA has ever reported to-date. Fueling this growth is the increase in half-marathon, 5K and marathon finishers, female finishers, the increase in charity running and a growing interest in the sport from the general population.

Put simply, more and more Americans are finding that running is an inexpensive, convenient, social sport to help them stay healthy and to tackle a new challenge or goal. As Running USA's National Runner Survey reported, today's runners are motivated to stay in shape, stay healthy, have fun and relieve stress. As new and returning runners enter the sport and road races, we will continue to see a tremendous amount of growth in overall finisher totals, as experienced in the last two years.

2010 U.S. Road Running Snapshot:

• 2010 had the highest percent increase in overall finisher totals (10%) in nearly three decades. Growth such as this hasn't been seen since the pre-Second Running Boom in 1992 (9.2%) and recently, 2009 (9.0%), and based on preliminary totals, 2011 should also show above average growth as well in this country.
• Females now account for nearly 6.9 million finishers nationwide (a record number) and represent 53% of event fields, compared to only 25% in 1990 which had 4.15 million overall finishers, while males in 2010 also set a new high with more than 6.1 million finishers in U.S. road races.
• Total U.S. running events exceeded 22,800, an all-time record high.
• 2010 produced a record annual increase (tie with 2009) in total finishers for the Half-Marathon (24%) and nearly a 9% increase in Marathon finishers, which is the second largest percent increase for the classic distance in the past 25 years.
• For the first time ever, the Half-Marathon now claims more finishers than the 10K, ranking #2 next to the 5K in finishers. Females continue to dominate the Half-Marathon race field with 59% representation.
• The 5K is still handily the road race "King of the Hill" with nearly 4.7 million finishers (yes, another record) and had 36% of all finishers in 2010; the universal 3.1 mile distance has been #1 in the U.S. since 1994 when it surpassed the 10K.

See full article here: http://www.runningusa.org/node/76115#76910

Lucky Runners - Running with the Bulls

Yesterday marked the first of 8 days running with the bulls in Pamplona - the most popular running of the bulls in Spain.  The week start off relatively safely with only 4 being taken to hospitals, and no gorings. 14 people have died in this event since record keeping started in 1924 (2 years before Hemingway wrote "The Sun Also Rises", which brought international fame to the event) including 2009's fatal goring of a Spanish man.

The event only takes about 2 and a half minutes and is about 825 meters start to finish.  Not bad 800 times for the running conditions - I'm sure adrenaline plays a part...

Marathon Training Plan

I finally have my Chicago Marathon training plan put together.  (I think...)  We'll see how it goes!  Check it out on my training blog: http://trainrunwin.blogspot.com/2011/06/marathon-training-plan.html

Nutrition: Keep Your Bananas Longer

All runners know that bananas are an important staple in your running diet. If you didn’t know, here’s your news flash; bananas are an awesome running food. Bananas have a natural anti-acid affect on the body and help calm the stomach, making it easy to eat bananas right before or during exercise. Research has shown that 2 bananas serve up enough energy for 90 min of strenuous exercise and bananas are a natural source of potassium - an indispensable mineral which aids oxygen transportation to our organs, helps to regularize heartbeat as well as fluid levels in the body and can help combat the muscle cramps runners sometimes get after strenuous workouts when electrolyte levels are low.

So the question is not if bananas should be in your diet, but rather how do we keep bananas around longer so they’re there when we need them…

Running & Race Tip #6 – Dealing With the Heat

**I started this entry last week, but after last Saturday’s events in Chicago I think some of these points become even more important.

I just read an article by Joe English, professional marathon and triathlon coach, where he mentions the “4 H’s of Hurt” – Heat, Humidity, Head wind, and Hills. Welcome to South Florida; you may only have to deal with 3 of them, but you have to deal with them constantly (no hills in South Florida). As summer bears down on the US “normal” people in South Florida (and the rest of the country) begin cowering indoors to the comfort of their AC units, but runners are still hitting the streets, braving temperatures in the 90’s and high humidity.

Heat can make even easy runs feel hard, and if you’re not ready for it, can be devastating to your race results. Heat forces your circulatory system to work harder to regulate muscle and core temperatures (more blood flowing to outer extremities for cooling reduces volume of blood available to be pumped per heart stroke), reducing it’s ability to efficiently supply nutrients to key muscles, it induces dehydration, and reduces your ability to push yourself (survival theory – your brain limits your body from pushing to injury) In worst case scenarios, if you’re not careful, heat and humidity can even be deadly. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t excel with the mercury starts rising, it just means you have to do more to be ready to combat they heat.

Chicago 13.1 - 1 runner dead, 10 more hospitalized

An unfortunate and stark reminder than heat can indeed be deadly to distance athletes.  During the Chicago 13.1 on Saturday (part of the 13.1 race series), 11 runners were hospitalized with one dying as race temperatures reached a humid 86 degrees.  Temperatures were already hitting 75 as early as 4:30 in the morning and the race started under a yellow flag at 7:13 meaning temperatures were not ideal.  The condition was downgraded to red and then black during the race, effectively ending the race at 9:15 as no more times were recorded and runners were encouraged to stop and take the shuttles back to the finish line.

Race organizers were prepared for the heat this year with 10 aid stations, 2 spray stations and a wet towel station along the 13.1 mile route, unlike the Chicago Marathon in 2007 when aid stations ran out of water and nearly 300 runners were hospitalized under similar conditions.  Unfortunately, even with the precautions taken, the race time temperature were just too extreme to provide for a safe race.

Chicago Tribune Article