BOSTON!

I didn't plan it, but woke up right at 11 pm and flipped on the TV- surprised to find coverage of the Boston Marathon just starting.

AMAZING! I'll admit right here- I've been critical of Ryan Hall in the past for not racing more frequently, but this was simply unbelievable! Could he have run faster had he not jumped into the lead so early and run a more tactical race? I'll say probably, but how can you knock a guy that just ran the fastest time ever by an American (2:04:58)?

Kenyan Geoffrey Matai won the race in 2:03:02, the fastest marathon ever (this will not count as a WR since Boston is a downhill course)

And believe it or not, the women's race was even better. Underappreciated Desiree Davila , who was never even #1 on her team at Arizona State, showed the world what hard work can do. During the last 5 kilometers, it was clear that Davila held her form much better than her Kenyan rivals-to me it looked like they were all over the place with their arm swing. I thought all the way that Davila looked like she had a real shot at winning- just a gutsy performance. If you saw winner Caroline Kilel sprawled on the pavement after the finish, it was clear that Desiree did what she could to make her earn the victory.

Do not overlook the effort by Kara Goucher, who finished 5th in 2:24:52 less than 7 months after the birh of her son!

Tailwind or not, this was an amazing marathon. Results

Strong Tailwind Predicted at Boston

Just like 1994! I was 40 at the time and remember seeing the cups blowing by me at aid stations! Everybody ran fast that year, including me! I finished in 2:34, a time occasionally fast enough to sneak into the top 10 in the masters division. Turns out 10th was something like 2:25, with Doug Kurtis's 2:15 leading the way.

Up front, Cosmas Ndeti set the course record in 2:07:15 and Uta Pippig did the same as top female in 2:21:45. Heinz Frei set a world record in the wheelchair division in 1:21:23 as did Jean Driscoll in 1:34:22 (Boston Marathon winners)

If this weather holds, we could be in store for another record-breaking day. Good luck everyone!

A Look at Ed Whitlock's Marathon World Record

In case you haven't heard, Canadian Ed Whitlock made history again by smashing yet another age-group world record in the marathon. Whitlock, who turned 80 on March 6, finished the Rotterdam Marathon in 3:25:40, an incredible 7:50 per mile average pace! Ed's splits can be found here.

10K- 46:39
Half-1:39:50

Using the Runners World Age Graded Calculator, Whitlock's time converts to 2:08:15.

Shortly after turning 80, on March 21 Whitlock turned in a 3000 meter time of 12:00.88. Using the McMillian Running Calculator, that effort is comparable to a 12:53 two mile, 20:56 5K, 1:36:44 half, and a 3:24 marathon.

According to this Runner's World interview, Ed was recovering from a recent cold and had some time off due to a knee problem. WATCH OUT! "I'll probably run a fall marathon, too, and that will be the one where I'll go for broke."

If he stays healthy, I would not be surprised to see Ed dip under 3:20.

High Tech Gadgets at dailyburn.com

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Check it all out and more at dailyburn.com

Caffeine Does NOT Dehydrate!

To test dehydration, 59 physically fit males were given 246 mg of caffeine per day for six days. After the six-day equilibrium period, the men were split into three groups and embarked upon a five-day test period. The first group was given double the amount (492 mg) of caffeine per day, the second group acted as the control group and kept receiving the same 246 mg per day, while the third group's caffeine intake was dropped to zero.

RESULTS: Results showed no sign of a negative fluid-electrolyte imbalance in any of the test groups

dailycampus.com

MY COMMENT: As the article states, "the key to caffeine consumption is moderation"

Post Marathon Training

I'm 3 weeks post marathon, and if I were to guess my muscle recovery is nearing 100%. They say a day of recovery for every mile raced, and that may not be far off.

I've been feeling good doing consecutive, short (3-5 miles) faster than normal workouts that are progressively getting longer and faster. I start out each morning by taking Sumo for a stop and go slow 2 mile jog.

After a week off and a couple of shake out runs, here is what my progression looks like over the last 2 weeks (the marathon was on Mar 21)

March
28th...3 miles at 7:51 pace
29th...3 miles at 7:07 pace
30th...4 miles at 7:35 pace
31th...4 miles at 7:20 pace

April
1st...4 miles at 7:24 pace
2nd....5 miles at 7:11 pace
3nd....8 miles at 7:30 pace
recovery day
5th....3 miles at 6:27 pace
6th....5 miles at 7:28 pace
7th....5 miles at 7:27 pace
8th....5 miles at 6:43 pace
9th....6 miles at 7:01 pace

So much for the hard easy principle, but following a marathon I don't want to go too hard anyway. This is consistent, middle of the road training short enough to allow recovery yet hard enough to provide a good stimulus.

My hope is that when longer runs and sub 6 min pace intervals resume, workouts will be slightly faster with no increased effort. The only glitch to that theory is warm weather- All bets will then be off for maintaining a faster pace for long runs.

Note: I wear light weight trainers or racing flats on the days I try to average sub 7 min miles- it makes a significant difference.

Bill Squires is One of a Kind

If there was a Squires specialty, it's what he calls "pickups"--surges of anywhere from 1 minute to 5 miles, done especially during long runs (and on the Newton Hills when preparing for Boston). Rea says that Squires wanted her to incorporate pick-ups into every run, even on recovery days. Says Beardsley, "On my Sunday runs, in those 22 or 24 miles, I'd do everything I'd done in the previous six days on that one run--surges, hill repeats, tempos. I'd get done that and if I'd nailed it, that gave me so much confidence and strength."

Running Times article about legendary marathon coach Bill Squires (Squires, Boston and the Zoopy Zoopy)

MY COMMENT: Based on how well his runners performed, the out-spoken Squires may have been the best marathon coach the U.S. has ever seen. It sure makes me wonder what he could do with the talent we have in America today.

Don't Run After Marathons- Consider Yourself Injured

I had some blood work done 48 hours after the Seoul Marathon 2 weeks ago to evaluate the follow enzymes levels, which when elevated indicate muscle tissue damage.

enzyme.........value...........normal

CK..............1471...............(21-232)

AST...............158..............(16-51)

LDH...............836...........(299-603)

CK-MB..............46.............(0-15)

According to the lab report, "the MB function is relatively specific to cardiac muscle. CK-MB progressively rises to peak values approximately 18 hours after myocardial infarct."

The lab performing the test must have been spooked since they repeated the test before calling the doctor!

These values are normal following a marathon. I found one old study that measured CK in several runners before and after running the Boston Marathon in 1979. They found CK values averaged 4,433 in runners who ran under 3:30, and 1,432 in runners who ran over 3:30 (these were taken 24 hours after the race, my blood was drawn 48 hours post). Creatine kinase elevations in marathon runners: relationship to training and competition.

So unless you are one of those who have a running streak going, what would be the point? Take some time off to heal up! I took about a week.

I would like to see these values in some of those Marathon Manics who run up to a marathon a week, and sometimes 2. They have amazing recuperative powers!

Age-Graded Marathon Results

I took a look at the Age Graded Calculator at runnersworld to see how my marathons compare over 5 decades.

YEAR.....TIME......AGE....AGE GRADED SCORE........AGE GRADED TIME
1977.....2:25:27....24.........85.9%...............................2:25:27

1984.....2:29:09....31.........83.75%..............................2:29:09

1994.....2:34:40....40.........82.69%..............................2:31:04

2001....2:45:40.....48.........82.7%...............................2:31:03

2011....2:59:27.....57.........82.91%..............................2:30:40

I have to run 2:53:30 in order to get back down to the 85% range.

Lost 1972 Marathon Result Found!

I have Runner's World's Booklet of the month titled "1973 Marathon Handbook". It lists times run by U.S. Marathon runners in 1972. Page 74 lists David Elger with a 2:51:17 marathon -letsrun.com poster Orville Atkins

How do you lose a marathon? By lose, I don't mean get beat. Back in July of 1972, I ran the Whitewater Marathon, but until now had no verification. Before the days of big city races other than Boston, there existed a handful of small town marathons like this one that went by the wayside years ago, and unfortunately many of the performances have been forgotten.

I never forgot that I ran 2:51, but had no finisher certificate, race result, or even a medal to prove it. I wasn't even 100% sure of the year until now.

According to keeper of the data Ken Young, my span between sub 3 hour marathon now stands at 38 years, 271 days.

http://www.arrs.net/TR_SSpan.htm

Camp Humphreys Youth Running Club

I have so much fun with these kids! They never tire of relays and other games.

Fluid Replacement Does NOT Lower Body Temperature?

Our research, which for the first time measured internal body temperature continuously during an actual race, revealed no evidence that fluid intake makes runners cooler or improves performance.'

The highest body temperature observed (41.7°C) was recorded from a runner replacing the greatest amount of his sweat losses (73%) and therefore being the least dehydrated of the study sample. (my guess is fitness level had something to do with this).

-sciencedaily.com

This is the first time I've ever seen measurement of body temperature change using a technique other than rectal.

When you think about it, the evaporation of sweat from skin is what actually cools you down during a race, but when your fluid levels get real low...?

...while fluid losses led to an average fall in body mass of 2.3kg (about 3% of body weight), the athletes’ core body temperature averaged only a modest 1˚C above normal resting temperature, while other measures of dehydration, including plasma levels of sodium and urine concentration, stayed within normal ranges. -peak performance

If you read on, note that when fluid loss reaches 5% of your body weight, as in severe dehydration, rectal temperatures do rise.

Post Marathon Allergies: More Common than you Think

As almost 40,000 runners get set to take part in this year's London Marathon, a new study has found that one in three will suffer from allergies after the event. -sciencedaily

As the article points out, this was London, host of the 2012 Olympic games.

"The Olympics are taking place during the peak grass-pollen period," she says, "so, if almost three out of ten people are potentially allergic to this common aeroallergen, it is a priority to have Olympic athletes tested before the games so an appropriate treatment regime can be put in place."

New York City Half Marathon and Galen Rupp's Mask

This was a great race but did you see the mask worn by Galen Rupp? I've never seen anything like it in a world class race, and I'm waiting for an explanation (according to USA Track & Field it was "to ward off an asthma attack").

The letsrun posters are having a field day with this one.

You can watch a replay at New York Road Runners TV!

Precooling Strategies and Improvements in Cycling Performance in the Heat

"...a wide range of precooling methods, which involve exposure to cool air, cool water and ice, have been shown to reduce deep body and skin temperatures, increase heat storage capacity and improve exercise performance in hot conditions." -ACSM Sports Medicine Bulletin

MY COMMENT: Sunday prior to the Seoul Marathon I stood around for a long time with minimal clothing in wind, cold, and light rain. I was freezing to the point that I finally jammed into a crowded fast food joint to warm up for a few minutes, then had to go out again for another 20 minutes before the race actually started.

World Record Marathon!

10th Annual US Open Sumo 2010
Originally uploaded by Pat's Travelogue

No, nobody ran under 2:03:59, but former Sumo wrestler Kelly Gneiting, from a Navajo reservation in Arizona, is probably correct when he claims to be the heaviest "runner" to ever finish a marathon.



Gneiting, who believes his latest challenge will be easy because he 'floats like a cork', ran the Los Angeles marathon in just under 10 hours at the weekend - dropping from 405lbs to 396lbs in weight during that time.

And afterwards the 40-year-old revealed he now wants to hike from the Dead Sea to Mount Everest - and swim the 21-mile Channel.

'I honestly think I am one of the best athletes in the world,' he told the LA Times before the race.

"I was really struggling in the last five miles, but I said to myself, 'If I have to crawl, I will,"

I like his spirit, but not quite ready to call him the best athlete.

Geb Gets Hit!

Watch this amazing footage of Hallie Gebrselassie, getting struck in the back as he crosses the finish of a World Junior Track and Field Championship race in 1992.

5 Decades of Sub 3 Hour Marathons

I can't tell you how much extra motivation there was to join 5 Decades of Sub 3 hour marathons! Here is my list.

1977 Sept 25 2:25:25 Mayor Daley Marathon,Chicago
1984 (date?) 2:29:09 Lakefront Marathon Milwaukee
1994 Apr 19 2:34:48 Boston Marathon
2001 July 14 2:45:40 World Athletics Veterans Association Marathon, Brisbane
2011 Mar 20, 2:59:27 Seoul Marathon

More on the Seoul Marathon

Fanned by northeast winds of 2.9 meters per second amid temperature as low as 2.9 degrees Celsius, the rain caused runners’ muscles to stiffen. Temperatures were as low as 3.4 degrees around 10 a.m., when the race was over, and the wind chill factor fell to negative due to gusty winds.

Promising Korean runner Kim Min suffered hypothermia at the 25-kilometer point and was taken to the hospital by an ambulance. Kenyan runner Sylvester Teimet, who won last year’s event with a time of 2 hours, six minutes and 49 seconds, and compatriot Boniface Wambua Nduwa gave up early in the race. -The Dong-A-Ilbo

My 5K splits were as follows:
5K.....20:32
10K....20:25
15K....20:58
20K....21:07
1/2....1:27:44
25K....21:00
30K....21:09
35K....22:43
40K....21:49

424th place

Go here and enter 10039 in the second box.

Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco picked up $80,000 winning in 2:09:11. On the woman's side, Robe Guta of Ethiopia took home $50,000 with a winning time of 2:26:51.

Seoul Marathon: 2:59:27!

I just joined the 5 decades of sub 3 hour marathon club! Can't wait to find my official results in print- this came by text.

20 x 400! 6:45 per mile ave

I knew I had to run on Sunday, but didn't feel like it. Saturday was an easy day, so I had to do something- tempo- forget it. 800s- not interested. Long run? Not the week before a marathon.

So I settled on 400s at a pace I could handle- around 90 seconds. I did them on artificial turf running 1 lap plus another straight 100 or so on the inside of the .2 mile track.

I began easy, hitting my 400 plus a few meters in 93, jogging 45 seconds back to the start. After 10, I noticed that my average time on the GPS was right at 7 min per mile. OK- I decided right then to see if I could take that down a few notches, not by running the 400s faster but by picking up the pace on my jogging recoveries.

By the time I finished 20, my average speed was 6:45 per mile for 6.5 miles. That's a good workout for me on a day I didn't even feel like running.

Kick of the Week on Flotrack

I love these short clips posted on Flotrack. Wow!

Watch more video of Flotrack's Tasty Race and Kick of the Week 2011 on flotrack.org

Eight Days Until Seoul Marathon!

"The hay is in the barn." - Bill Bowerman

Not much more I can do to boost my fitness for this marathon. Looking back at what I did in the week prior to my last sub 3 hour marathon (March, 2009), there was a 4 mile time trial on Tuesday in 20:38 (see post here), the exact same time I did prior to another sub 3 at Seattle.

Last week I did 10 x 800 in 2:53.9 ave with 90 seconds recovery, and yesterday I did 5 x one mile in 6:16, 6:07, then 5:57 three times in a row, all with just 75 seconds recovery. Breathing is not a problem and recovers quickly but I have no extra gear in my legs to run faster.

I'll attempt that 4 miler on Tuesday.

Can Stronger Breathing Muscles Help Your Running?

An Indiana University study found that strengthening inspiratory muscles by performing daily breathing exercises for six weeks significantly reduced the amount of oxygen these same breathing muscles required during exercise, possibly making more oxygen available for other muscles.-ScienceDaily

Inspiratory Muscle Training (IMT) in this particular study involved forceful inhaling through a hand held device 30 times, twice a day, for 6 weeks. While researchers did not actually demonstrate an improvement in athletic performance, "when the study participants mimicked the breathing required for low, moderate and maximum intensity activities, the inspiratory muscles required around 1 percent less oxygen during the low intensity exercise and required 3 to 4 percent less during the high intensity exercise."

This study Training Breathing Muscles Improves Swimming Muscles' Performance reported "improved respiratory endurance and surface and underwater swimming times by 38 percent and 26 percent, respectively" in subjects who underwent 30 minutes of IMT five times weekly for 4 weeks.

That makes me think I could benefit from this training because try as I might, I seem to use up air faster than most when scuba diving.

So other than maybe sucking hard through a straw a copule times a day, what else can you do to strengthen your breathing muscles? How about playing the harmonica?

Secrets of Super Endurance Runners- The Tarahumara

I think it's the Corn Beer!