Distance Running Tip- Workouts Faster than Race Pace

I always say, it's very simple, if you want to run this pace in the marathon or the 10k or the 5k, you can't just come from the top down where you just try to do stronger stuff. It's like trying to say, I want to run 26 miles at 5-minute pace, so I'm just going to keep running 30 miles a day at 6-minute pace, then 5:50, then 5:40, 5:30, you know, from the top down. I'm just going to get so strong doing all these pace runs closer and closer to marathon pace, or maybe a little faster than marathon pace or 5k pace. The key is sometimes you've got to attack from the bottom, and do stuff so much frickin' faster that that pace is a jog, and so it costs you less energy. -sportsillustrated.com interview with Alberto Salazar

MY COMMENT: The key of course, how often, how fast, and how long. Just my opinion, but once you've got the endurance, one workout a week should be dedicated to running intervals or tempo faster than your planned race pace. For the marathon, this probably means 800 meter repeats or longer. And for me, the upper limit is 5 miles.

Are Runners Athletes?

Out of the 37,000 duffers that will pollute the streets of our fair city this Sunday - November 7th - maybe 500 are athletes. The elite runners are something to watch. They are so lean they look almost alien. Them I admire. They are in an actual race. It is the 36,500 other fools that annoy me every year. -C.J. Sullivan quoted in a Huffington Post article by Dave Hollendar Are New York Marathoners Athletes?

Turns out Sullivan was just getting warmed up. He goes on to say this: "Marathons are the last refuge for those that couldn't cut it in other sports. Any knucklehead in decent shape can train and then run 26 miles in under 4 or 5 hours. It means you are in shape. It does not make you an athlete."

" And then you hear that if you finish - no matter what - you are a winner. Well that is just plain wrong. You lost by hours, sluggard. No one cares that you finished two hours behind the lead pack. You are not a winner. Just a real slow runner."

For the record, in 2009 at New York Joshua Hunsberger took 500th place in 2:53:05. The rest, according to Sullivan's definition, are not athletes.

How to Run Fast

This article is a MUST READ! The Perfect Stride, published in the New Yorker, has me thinking.

The fastest finishers had a higher thigh drive, for one thing; at its apex, their femur bone was almost parallel to the ground, like the front legs of a bounding deer. They also slapped the ground so quickly with their forefoot that the contact seemed almost incidental

Salazar believes that a runner striking even slightly in front of his body will experience a momentary hesitation while the hamstring labors to pull his torso forward over the grounded foot. “It’s like having a square wheel on your car,” Salazar said. “Each time it comes around, there’s a moment where the car will lurch.”

Athlinks.com

I stumbled on athlinks.com yesterday, a great resource for race results. I plugged in my name and found 20 race results going as far back as 2003, many that I had totally forgotten about. It's a great place to keep a permanent record of all your races!

Training Update

As those of you who work full time are aware, sometimes you have to adjust your training in order to fit everything in. After a 6:30 am class on Tuesday, I have a window of opportunity to get in a short workout before starting the rest of the day. Last week I got in a swim, and before that I did 5 mile loop around base.

Tuesday I did something new. Realizing that I train excusively on flat roads, I decided to hit the treadmill for some uphill running. The primary risk to any runner attempting hill repeats is calf/achilless strain, so for this reason I kept the speed at a constant 6 mph (only 10 min per mile!). After a five minute warm-up, I did 8 x 2 minutes at 8% elevation, then finished up with a quick cool-down. 3 miles total in 30 min.

I definitely enjoyed this short but somewhat challenging workout, and look forward to building on it. The treadmill even gave me total feet climbed- I think it was 785. Just another measuring stick!

Wednesday I felt it was time to ease back into flat intervals, so after a couple of miles with the dog went back out for some 800 meter repeats. Since it's been 2 weeks since my last interval session, the goal today was not to run blazing times, but get in a good quality workout with short rest.

The first 800 was a slow 3:14, however after the first 4 or so I was running them in 3:07-3:08 consistently. This turned into a very good workout for me- in full sweats (it's getting cold here!), I did 10 x 800 meters averaging 3:09, with just 60 seconds recovery. This was a much better workout than I could have done with a continuous tempo run.

I am done with the hard stuff until Sat, when I hope to attempt another 17-19 miles. I'm feeling good about my progress and praying that I don't get sick anytime soon.

Running Form

Coach Alberto Salazar has been tinkering with Ritz's running form. It all makes sense, but let's see how he does in New York next week!

Confessions of a Drug Cheat

Wow! The Confessions of Eddy Hellebuyck is an amazing inside look at doping by world class marathoners.

"His room was like a pharmacy full of banned drugs. Besides the EPO and clenbuterol, I also saw Winstrol [the brand name for the anabolic steroid stanozolol] and Anavar [the brand name for the steroid oxandrolone]."-

-Canadian Bruce Raymer referring not to Hellebuyck but Russian Leonid Shvetsov who trained in Albequerque with Helleybuyck and set the course record at the 56 mile Comrades Challenge in Sough Africa by averaging a startling 5:48 per mile!

Fantastic article by Shawn Barber of Runners World. If I were Hellebuyck, I'd be signing a book deal and looking to make a movie. Shvetsov denies ever using performance enhancing drugs.

Longest Span Between Sub 3 Hour Marathons

36y 4d...Doug Kurtis (12 Mar 1952, USA)
35y175d...Kerry Green (05 Apr 1954, USA)
34y279d...Dave Elger (1953, USA)
34y133d...Don Ritchie (06 Jul 1944, SCO)
34y119d...Mark Lohman (18 Apr 1958, USA)
33y184d...Steve Smythe (18 Mar 1958, GBR)
33y162d...Reno Stirrat (19 Apr 1954, USA)
33y161d...Antonio Arreola (24 Aug 1959,USA)
33y135d...Doug Jacobson (08 Apr 1956, USA)
32y373d...Laurence Olsen (14 Nov 1946, USA)

I finally got around to contacting Ken Young at the Association of Road Racing Statisticians (arrs)

Now if I can only find results from the Whitewater Marathon in 1972 or 73(I recall 2hr 51 min but not which year), I could move up.

Dave's Training Log Update Oct 24-30

Sun: 10 mile race
Mon: 3 mile jog
Tues: 3 mile jog, 2 mile jog in the afternoon
Wed: 3 miles with Sumo, then 8 miles. Felt ok
Thurs: 3 miles with Sumo, then 7 miles. PM: 2 miles with the kids. Felt good.
Fri: 2 miles easy with Sumo.
Sat: 2 miles with Sumo, then 17 miles in 2 hr 18 min.

The last 3 weekends I've run a half marathon, 10 mile tempo, and 10 mile race. To break out of that rut today I got in a total of 19 miles. Can't wait to see how I feel tomorrow! Even though I only averaged 8:10 per mile on the GPS, I feel this was a good workout. My first 2 miles were around 9 min pace, the next 1-2 were around 8 min pace, followed by several miles in the 7:30 range. My last mile was 10 min.

Total miles for the week = 62

I don't advise any kind of tempo or interval workouts the week following a long race like that. Normally I just take it as I feel with an objective to keep my weekly total miles from dropping, especially if I have more races on the calendar. The extra miles today put me over 60. If I can keep this going and add an interval workout, watch out!

Dr. Mark Cucuzzella: Marathoner

His marathon best is 2:24 and has run under 2:35 for a marathon 22 of the last 24 years including a 2:34 in the 2010 Boston Marathon at age 43 -chirunning.com

MY COMMENT: Dr. Cucuzzella is tough! I wonder if he is a candidate for the 5 sub 3 in 5 decades club? Perhaps not yet.

Ritz Sounds Ready for New York

“Before I was a 13:16, 27:35, and 1:01:26 guy,” Ritzenhein said. “And I felt like I was a 12:56, 60-minute guy, but until I did them I really wasn’t. Saying it is easy, doing it is another story. My times before probably meant that I should be a 2:09 guy if I could figure it out. But now my times tell me that if I can get it right I can run 2:05. The numbers don’t lie. It is easy to say you can do it, but until I do I am still a 2:10 guy. I hope to change that soon.” - running.competitor.com
MY COMMENT: I love his attitude! He's not going to run a 2:05 at NY, but he's up for the challenge of running against the best and sounds ready for another PR (personal record).

Subway's Jared Running New York Marathon

In June he ran a half marathon in Minneapolis. He’s been running 20 miles in a single day. He’s training very, very hard. -promomagazine.com

The guy has lost 245 pounds eating subs. I think he'll make it.

Marathons and Heart Damage

The results showed that during a marathon, over half of the segments of the heart lose function, Larose said. The reason turns out to be an increase in inflammation and a decrease in blood flow through the muscle. -msnbc.msn.com

MY COMMENT: They also noted the fitter you are, the less the damage. Dehydration was associated with greater damage. Deaths during marathons are extremely rare, especially in the absence of atherosclerosis, however as the author notes "People should not enter a marathon lightly. Training needs to be well done… You can't cheat the marathon."

Race Update: Camp Humphreys 10.6 Mile Race

Last night I did race on Camp Humphreys that started at 9 pm- coinciding with the Army 10 Mile start in Washington D.C.

How did I do? Perfect weather, and like my half marathon two weeks ago, I took it out at a pace that was probably beyond my fitness- 30:40 though 5 miles (boy would I love to get into an 8K and try and break 6 min per mile!)

I managed to hang on and finished up averaging 6:20 per mile (67 min for 10.6 miles), matching the exact pace I averaged in the half.

This was a very low key event and for me nothing more than a good hard workout. A few days ago I thought that I was lacking speed, but I am also very aware that I have not run farther than 14 miles. In other words, I have lots of work to do!

What else did I learn? I have to find a better combination of inserts and long distance racing shoes. I am no longer comfortable with these discontinued Brooks Burn and broken down PolySorb inserts (I have some new ones on order!).

My cardiovasular fitness is great, however my legs were definitely fatigued on that second lap around Camp Humphreys- something that can be improved with a weekly longer run. I also am going to spend a few minutes a week in the gym for some leg press work.

One more point: The day after my half marathon two weeks ago, my legs were very sore. Today, the soreness is minimal, a sign that I am indeed getting stronger.

Dave Elger's Workout Log Update

Sunday:...4 miles easy, 8 miles bike, swim 1,000
Monday:...2 x 2 miles in 12:18 and 12:15 total 8 miles
Tues:.....3 miles, then 5 miles in 35, 2 w kids total 10
Wed:......8 miles
Thurs:....6 x 800, 8 total
Fri-......easy 6 miles
Sat-......easy 4 miles

Summary: 48 miles with two quality interval workouts. Pretty good week.

What Goes Into Marathon Course Measurement?

The device, a contraption that a 9-year-old boy helped to develop in the early 1970s, allowed Katz and Jones to measure 26 miles 385 yards along the most direct path that America's best distance runners will follow at the United States Olympic men's marathon trials in New York on Nov. 3. Most of the course -- all but about 1.3 miles -- will be run on the roads of Central Park. -nytimes.com

I hate inaccurate courses! This is not rocket science- you measure a stretch of road and accurately calibrate a bicycle, and off you go.

Ryan Hall is Looking for a New Coach!

Hall and his wife, Sara, who also trained with Mahon at the Mammoth Track Club in Mammoth, Calif., for nearly five years, have not yet announced a new coach, but they will be moving from Mammoth, said Ray Flynn, Hall’s agent. -nytimes

Will Hall follow the path of Dathan Ritzenhein and Alan Webb to Oregon and the land of Nike? Hall is paid a substantial sum of cash to run in Asics, so to make it happen Nike would have to step up and buy out that contract.

For as good as he is, I've never seen a top American distance runner get criticized as much as Ryan Hall (myself included) for his infrequent racing.

He's a great, relatively young talent, so hopefully we'll see a rejuvinated career in a new environment.

For the latest news, keep an eye on thestepsfoundation.com

Distance Running Tip: Check Your Progress

Yesterday I did 6 x 800 with 90 seconds recovery, a workout I last did exactly 4 weeks ago on Sept 21. Here is the comparison.











Sept 21......Oct 22

2:54........2:54
2:55........2:53
2:52........2:51
2:54........2:51
2:51........2:52
2:57........2:56

2:53.8......2:52.8 ave

It doesn't look like much, especially for the amount of work I've put in the last 4 weeks. It's a bit unusual that again I fell off pace on #6- most runners, including myself, always have something left for the last one, but I was exhausted!

Let's take a look at Monday's workout-

2 x 2 miles in 12:16 and 12:18 with 5 minutes rest.

Two months ago I did this one in 13:10 and 12:55.
Last month I improved to 12:29 and 12:27.

I'm coming to the conclusion that my strength is now ok at 10K pace and beyond, but 5K speed is just not there. Looking back, it's a nobrainer that I just haven't done any training at 5:45 pace, so how can I expect a breakthrough? Perhaps in my 20s I could get away with it, but not anymore.

I have a 10 mile race this weekend, so working on speed will have to wait a week.

Weights and Flexibility Training Provides Boost for Top Kenyan

“Between 2006 and 2008, I was running OK, but I decided that something was wrong with my training. I decided to go back to Eldoret, and I adapted to new training. I started working in the gym, doing weights and flexibility training. It made a big difference. In April (this year), I went to Barcelona, where I’d run 27.32 (10k) in 2009. I ran 27.04, and it felt a lot faster”.

-Kenyan distance runner Josphat Menjo who basically came out of nowhere to run sub 13:00 for 5,000 meters and 26:56 for 10,000 meters (the year's fastest time) by himself (no pace setters or close competition). globerunner.com

I'd love to see his workout regime!

Boston Marathon- CLOSED in One Day!

Time to tighten up on those qualifying standards. Plenty of very disappointed runners out there- wow.

Boston Athletic Association"... is concerned about maintaining quality not quantity"

Distance Running Tip- Check the Weather!

If all goes well on December 5th I'll be running the Angkor Wat International Half Marathon in Cambodia.

A quick check at the average weather for early December revealed no surprises- humid and probably warm. Based on the winning time in 2009 of 1hr 13:26, my guess is the course is relatively flat (the guy won by 5 minutes), so I'm not too concerned about hill training. I am also inclined to believe this race has an early start time (can't find it on the website).

I'll overdress with extra layers for a couple of weeks prior to this one and hope to acclimatize, although it won't be easy to overheat running in November.

Weekly Training Summary for Oct 10-16:

Sun- 14 miles (half marathon race)
Mon- 3 mile jog, swim 800 meters, mix of 100s, and kickboard
Tues- 5 mile jog total, 4 miles bike
Wed- 10 miles easy
Thur- 8 miles easy, travel to Daegu
Fri- travel home from Daegu, swim 900 meters including mix of 150s and kickboard
Sat- 10 miles, middle 5-6 run at sub 7 min miles.

49 total miles run. Not bad coming off a half-marathon and some sore quads. Except for the last 1-2 miles, that Saturday tempo workout felt good. Interesting that I sort of crashed and burned close to 9 miles, close to the same point I began to struggle in last Sunday's half.

I also noted my pre run weight at 130.2 lbs, slightly heavy after a day and a half of inactivity and a sign that my muscles were loaded with glycogen and water. Despite the fact that it wasn't that warm out, I was mildly surprised my post run weight fell to 126.2- a 3% drop.

Run For the Money- Chicago was Amazing!

Watch the exciting finish of the Chicago Marathon between Olympic Champ Sammy Wanjiru and London winner Tsegaye Kebede as they fight to win the $500K prize for winning the World Marathon Majors along with another 75K for winning the race. Think money was not a motivating factor- just watch!

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

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"Truly emptied, Kebede would cross the line in 2:06:43, 19 seconds behind Wanjiru's 2:06:24. Wanjiru collapsed to the ground, propped up and fed water by waiting race volunteers, showing an unusual amount of fatigue after what can only be described as a once-in-a-career effort. The Kebede/Wanjiru duel has to be considered one of the greatest and most dramatic late-race marathon battles when one considers the caliber of the two runners and the career and earnings-defining nature of the race. Wanjiru faced the toughest the world had to offer (namely, Kebede) and overcame deficit, doubt and fatigue to claw his way to an amazing victory. What a classic race."

Read more: http://www.letsrun.com/2010/chicago1010.php#ixzz12E2czi7M
Buy your shoes from LetsRun and save 15% everday http://www.letsrun.com/save

Distance Running Tip- Dealing with Post Run Muscle Soreness

My legs were surprisingly sore the day after my half marathon, a sure sign that I ran beyond (distance and pace) my preparation.

The best explanation on muscle soreness I've located can be found at Time-to-Run. As the article states, the muscle and connective tissue are damaged, and you should not attempt to run again until that soreness subsides.

That doesn't mean you should sit on the sidelines until the pain is gone. To the contrary, I recommend daily non-running related physical activity such as swimming or cycling to maintain cardiovascular fitness. Although you won't elevate heart rate, I think even walking is a lot better option than doing nothing (not in terms of speeding recovery but to prevent deconditioning).

Do anti-inflammatories help? According to one study using eccentric weight lifting to induce soreness, the level of pain and even Creatine Kinase (the marker for tissue damage) is reduced, however the ability of the muscle to perform did not recover any faster sportsinjurybulletin.com (the fact that ibuprofen appears to reduce CK levels quicker makes me think ibuprofen is not a bad option).

You can try some gentle work using The Stick, or Foam Roller, but the best advice may be to reduce the level of damage you suffer in the first place through training. Stuff like eccentric leg presses or downhill runnning may help some, but the bottom line is you probably need to do hard, long runs. In other words, races.

Think about those Marathon Manics who able to run back to back marathons every weekend and even two on a weekend. There is definitely something different about those folks. It's not that they are able to recover faster, but I believe they've been able to train themselves to the point that they experience minimal tissue damage. Running a marathon every week will eventually do that, at least compared to runners who race a marathon twice a year. But outside of that amazing group of folks, who is willing and able to do it?

1:24:13 for 10th Place and 10 Kg of Rice!

I FORGOT MY GPS! Splits as I remember were 19 min at 5K (6:07 pace), around 39 min at 10K, and 59 min at 15K (6:20 pace). The wheels came off the last 2-3 K (finish ave was 6:24).

What did I learn today? Clearly I went out too fast for my current condition, but with no real long runs behind me I know I have room for improvement. Early on I got caught up running nearly the first 8K with another American who ran 1:18 in Sept and eventually finished 5th today- It wasn't until after 5K that I knew I was in over my head- I should have let him go earlier but sometimes you hold out hope for a miracle, and those rarely occur without putting in the work.

This race had the longest straight away finish I've ever seen! Check the link- the finish was clearly visible after the last turn which looks to be nearly 1.5 kilometers away.

Great Website For Coaches of Young Runners!

Check out this New York Road Runners instructional website for coaches of young runners. Congrats to NYYR- this is outstanding, and not only for kids!