Adjust Your Intervals!

Coming off a marathon 4 weeks ago, I am starting to get back into my normal training routine that includes 800 meter intervals on artificial turf. Prior to the marathon I could rip off 10 and keep them all under 3 min.

Yesterday, after 4 in 3:06, I realized that I am simply not ready to pick up where I left off. Rather than quitting, I took a long 4 min break, then ran another in a more comfortable 3:16, finishing off with 2 x 1 mile in 6:37 and 6:27.

In retrospect, if I'd started out with 3:15 I would have been fine, but as it is I salvaged a pretty decent workout. Friday I'll see if I can fit in some 400s at 90.

Sidenote: I am still focused on accumulating and tracking sub 7 min miles per week.

Pre Races Nutrition- Buddy Edelen

"After a lunch of cheese sandwich, ice cream and chocolate, Buddy had steak for dinner on Friday evening, June 14, 1963. He washed dinner down with three pints of stout and slept easily for 8 1/2 hours. Awake at 7:30, his pulse was 42 beats per minute. He had four soft boiled eggs, four pieces of toast, a large cup of coffee with milk and finished breakfast with two bars of chocolate."

-A Cold Clear Day account of Buddy's eating routine prior to setting the marathon world best time of 2:14:28 on June 15, 1963.

For the Tokyo Olympics, Buddy had a couple of cases of stout shipped over so he didn't have to break from his normal routine. USA officials were not amused.

Buddy Edelen- One of America's Best Distance Runners You Never Heard Of

OK so maybe you have heard of Buddy Edelen, and if so, then you can appreciate what a special talent this guy was.

How can it be that an American who set the world best time in the marathon (In 1963 he ran 2:14:38) does not get mentioned among the greats? Edelen was also the first American under 30 minutes in the 10K and 2hr 20min in the marathon- two very significant distance running milestones.

Edelen won the 1960 US Olympic Marthon Trials in 90 plus degree heat by THREE MILES! Perhaps as a result of that race or not allowing a proper recovery, a bad case of sciatica prevented him from competing for a medal in Tokyo, yet he still managed to capture 6th.

Check out his training diary prior to his marathon world best- amazing! (from South Dakota Runner)

June 1: 3 sets of 10 x 110-120 yard sprints (30 in all), followed by a swim
June 2: 10-11 miles steady, followed by a swim
June 3: 22-23 miles in 2:03-2:04, followed by a swim
June 4: 3.5 miles; 7 x sprint series of 55-110-150-220; 3.5 miles
June 5: 10.5-11 miles in 54-55 minutes.
June 6: A.M.-6 miles hard; P.M.-4 sets of 5 x 440 in 64.8, with 220 to 440 jog recovery between: "Tremendous workout."
June 7: 20 x 440 in 70-71, with a 45-second jog recovery between
June 8: Club track meet: mile in 4:23; 880 in 2:07; 110 leg on sprint relay
June 9: 22-23 miles in 2:01, followed by swim: "I am less stiff after today's run than I have been in ages."
June 10: 4.5 miles from school, then swim
June 11: A.M.-4.5 miles to school fast; P.M.-25 x 440 in 67.4, with 60-second jog recovery
June 12: A.M.-4.5 miles to school fast; P.M.-11 miles in 55-56 minutes, then swim
June 13: No running
June 14: No running
June 15: Marathon

Note: June 6,7,8 is an incredible string of workouts. No hard easy program for Buddy.


Edelen's autobiography, A Cold Clear Day by Frank Murphy, is a captivating account of this great American runner.

Sadly, Edelen succumed to cancer in 1997 at age 59.

Top 10 Running Blogs

Mine did not make the list published by Outsideonline.com. I admit that I've been lazy latey- I'll try to post more in the future! The Top 10 Running Blogs.

While you are there, the Top 10 Fitness Blogs are also worth a look.

2012 Olympic Marathon Trials Jan 14

Time is running (no pun) short on Olympic marathon hopefuls. Houston is hosting both men and women competing for the coveted top 3 spots on January 14 (houston2012.com)

Marathonguide.com offers a complete list of qualifiers topped by Ryan Hall as the top male and Desiree Davila on the women's side.

More are expected to sneak in this weekend at the Las Vegas Half.

How do the Pros Warm-up? Lots of Drills and Dynamic Flexibility!

Elites know that a warm-up pre-race sends the message to the body that something's coming and it had better be ready. That's why their warm-ups are timed down to the minute for the start of the race. Here four top Americans share their warm-up strategies for their respective distances.

Source: runningtimes.com

MY COMMENT: I should pay more attention but to be honest I rarely do any of this before running- maybe after if I have time.

Is Your Warm-up Too Long?

I think most individuals warm-up because everyone else does and believe that it improves performance. It is likely impossible to find a competitive athlete that does not warm-up today. The shocking thing is – despite how common warm-up is prior to competition, there is very little scientific evidence to support its use. -Is Your Pre-Race Warm-Up More Harm Than Good?

MY COMMENT: I remember years ago in college jogging for 30 minutes followed by a series of strides before a 6 mile race! Clearly I wasn't doing myself much good and in fact probably raced slower as a result.

This particular study uses a 30 second cycling sprint as a performance test- not very similar to a distance race, however as coauthor Elias Tomaris explains "our study has demonstrated that it is possible to do too much warm-up for a sprint event. The connection between our study and longer distance events is unclear."

My suggestion is to experiment with varying length and intensity of warm-up prior to hard interval workouts and less important races and try getting a feel for how your body reacts. My gut tells me you don't need to be doing more than 800 meters of jogging followed by a few short 50 meter strides at race pace until you feel comfortable.

Can Skechers Help You Run Faster?

Meb indicates that running in Skechers has altered his foot strike, and that the shoes have allowed him to ditch his orthotics for the first time in many years.

American Wins World Cross Country!

MY COMMENT: What a fantastic race by Craig Virgin, one of the best American runners ever, who remains the only American to win a world cross country title (Virgin won 2x- 1980 and 1981!).

Heat Exahusion!

Not the first time I've seen something like this.

Greg McMillan Suggests Running "Tall" to Improve Form

The first lesson that our coach taught us was to "run tall." It's the easiest cue to use for runners and will clear up about 90 percent of form issues. It's a simple idea that when consistently implemented results in significant improvements in running form -mcmillan.com




MY COMMENT: He is right- many of us develop bad habits like hunching over (we get hours of that daily!) Check your form in the reflection next time you run by a window.

Greg McMillan is a distance coach and contributor to Running Times magazine. Check out his site for more great articles on running.

Race Ryan Hall!

This is great! Get a real appreciation of how fast Ryan's sub 5 marathon pace actually is!

Run Sprint Interval Training Improves Aerobic Performance but Not Maximal Cardiac Output

Abstract: Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise

Repeated maximal-intensity short-duration exercise (sprint interval training, SIT) can produce muscle adaptations similar to endurance training (ET) despite a much reduced training volume. However, most SIT data use cycling, and little is known about its effects on body composition or maximal cardiac output (Q˙max).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess body composition, 2000-m run time trial, V˙O2max, and Q˙max effects of run SIT versus ET.

Methods: Men and women (n = 10 per group; mean ± SD: age = 24 ± 3 yr) trained three times per week for 6 wk with SIT, 30-s all-out run sprints (manually driven treadmill), four to six bouts per session, 4-min recovery per bout, versus ET, 65% V˙O2max for 30 to 60 min·d−1.

Results: Training improved (P < 0.05) body composition, 2000-m run time trial performance, and V˙O2max in both groups. Fat mass decreased 12.4% with SIT (mean ± SEM; 13.7 ± 1.6 to 12.0 ± 1.6 kg) and 5.8% with ET (13.9 ± 1.7 to 13.1 ± 1.6 kg). Lean mass increased 1% in both groups. Time trial performance improved 4.6% with SIT (−25.6 ± 8.1 s) and 5.9% with ET (−31.9 ± 6.3 s). V˙O2max increased 11.5% with SIT (46.8 ± 1.6 to 52.2 ± 2.0 mL·kg·−1·min−1) and 12.5% with ET (44.0 ± 2.0 to 49.5 ± 2.6 mL·kg−1·min−1). None of these improvements differed between groups. In contrast, Q˙max increased by 9.5% with ET only (22.2 ± 2.0 to 24.3 ± 1.6 L·min−1).

Conclusions: Despite a fraction of the time commitment, run SIT induces similar body composition, V˙O2max, and performance adaptations as ET, but with no effect on Q˙max. These data suggest that adaptations with ET are of central origin primarily, whereas those with SIT are more peripheral.

MY COMMENT: More evidence of the benefits attributed to high intensity low volume training. This particular study suggests the benefits of sprint interval training (SIT) are "more peripheral", meaning neuruomuscular, biomechanics or leg muscle adaptation was enhanced rather than improvement in oxygen delivery.

These subjects trained 3 x week, 4-6 repetitions of 30 sec sprints with 4 min rest. I think there may be a place for this in the training program of any runner looking outside the box for an edge to improve run time.

Marathon Consistency

Check out my split comparison betweeen March and November Seoul marathons, both run in the rain:

........ Mar.....Nov

10K: 40:57...42:57

20k: 41:34...42:05

30K: 42:09...42:38

40K: 44:32...43:33

42K: 2:59:27...3:01:20

While it appears that I went out too slow in November, clearly I did a much better avoiding that slowdown the last 10K. I still think the course was long, probably in the first 10K.

65 Men Age 50-59 Sub 3 Hours in Korea!

Check out my official place in the recent JoongAng Marathon (race number 11051 in the second box).

Overall: 272
Age Group: 75

Splits:

10K: 42:57

20K: 1:25:28 (42:31)

30K: 2:08:06 (42:38)

40K: 2:51:39 (43:33)

42K: 3:01:20

Sixty five men in the 50-59 age group were under 3 hours, along with 137 in the 40-49 group. That's 202- not leaving too many more under 40 finishing in front.

My hunch is there are more than a handful of these guys that have run sub 3 hours in 5 decades.

Unconventional Marathon Taper

I knew early on last Sunday's marathon that I was feeling very good, and fortunately I was strong enough to maintain a (relatively) strong pace through the entire 26 miles.

Many factors go into a good marathon- long runs, tempo runs, intervals, diet, weather, hydration, etc. One often over-looked piece of the puzzle is a proper taper.

First of all, besides the obvious identify what are you trying to accomplish with your taper. You want to go into your marathon fully glycogen loaded, hydrated, and rested. You want an abundance of healthy, oxygen-rich red blood cells. You also do not want to taper down so much that your blood volume begins to drop or you begin to lose fitness.

I have no idea if what I did in the week prior to this marathon was optimal; all I know is it certainly did not hurt me and I felt great on race day.

Sun: 9.5 miles easy

Mon: 5 miles in 35 min (7 min pace)

Tues: 6 x 800s in 2:55, 2:53, 2:51, 2:54, 2:51, 2:49 with 2 min recovery

Wed: 5 miles at 7:20 pace feeling a little tired

Thurs: 3 miles in 18:44 pushing it pretty hard

Fri: 2 miles in 12:30 again pushing it

Sat: easy warm-up then 1 x 800 in 2:57 followed by 2 x 30 sec of hard running

Sun: race

See this post for some of the research behind this protocol.

The Measurement of Road Race Courses

Ever wonder how marathon courses are measured? Here is how they do it!

Measurement procedures outlined in this booklet are those prescribed by IAAF/AIMS for the measurement of IAAF and AIMS races. The IAAF will only recognise times on courses measured by this system for world records, qualifying times for Championships, etc. All races wishing to apply for an IAAF Road Race Label must have been measured by an approved A or B Measurer.
- The Measurement of Road Race Courses

3:01:20 at JoongAng Marathon in Seoul

I honestly had no idea going in how this marathon was going to turn out- I've had the worst hacking cough ever for 2 months now, making just about every training run an ordeal. It's only the last couple of weeks have I been able to ramp up any kind of intensity on 800 meter repeats, and as usual I don't have much in the training log over 13 miles.

On the positive side, I've done some solid work- the Pyeongtaek half marathon under 1:30 coughing all the way, a 1:30 half by myself in a workout, a sub 70 ten mile run, multiple sub 7 pace shorter runs of 5 miles or so, including one week with 40 total sub-7 min miles, and recently a 6 x 800 meter workout starting at 2:55 ending at 2:49 on turf.

JoongAng is a big race- 13,500 plus in the marathon, and according to my race number, I was assigned to section "D"- 4:40 or slower. I was told by American friends that they were starting each section seperately, and if I moved up I would be disqualified. There goes any shot at a sub-3, or so I thought. As soon as I saw the guys with the ropes clear out and the masses converging to the front, I realized that would not the case today.

I was able to move up as far as the 4:20 pacer when I heard the gun, and fortunately by the time I crossed the start I was free to run unimpeded. That's where the controversy begins.

International races, as everybody knows, use kilometers, and I prefer miles on my Garmin. I had a feeling that things weren't quite right with the kilometer splits, but I kept my focus primarily on ave pace with the GPS. Early on, I felt very, very comfortable and gained confidence as the miles clicked away. Why did those kilo splits seem so slow? I recall my 10K split at 43 min (that's 6:55), yet I definitely remember seeing 68 min at 10 miles on my GPS (6:48).

Back in my prime, the third 5 mile split was always the fastest in my best marathons, and that was what I had in mind today. I missed the 15 mile split, but do recall seeing 1:25 or 6 at 20K and even 2:08 at 30K, so at least I was not slowing down (now I realize that is only 6:53 pace).

My GPS told me I was still running a stong 6:47 mile pace at 20 miles, prompting me to believe that I was in good shape for a sub 3, despite mile after mile straight into an annnoying wind. As I pushed though those last few miles, I felt confused because on one hand my GPS was telling me I was on pace yet the kilometer splits were not adding up.

Sure enough, as I reached the stadium I had a hard time believing that the Garmin registered 26.2 miles and I was just approaching the Olympic Stadium entrance.

As good as I felt today, I'm pretty sure that I broke 3 hours, that my GPS was accurate, and this course is long. I stopped the GPS at 26.21 miles outside the stadium, while another American friend of mine stopped hers at the finish on 26.37 miles. Even THAT seemed short to me since my 3:01:20 would only translate to 6:54 pace.

The bottom line is that I am very happy to have run as well as I did, I can't run any better in the shape I am in now, but I am even more happy that I've already run a sub-3 this decade. The lesson here is while the GPS is a valuable tool and in fact may be more precise than the actual marathon kilometer marks, it does not determine your final pace or distance- unfortunately.

Sidenote: James Kwambai of Kenya won the race in 2:08:50. His personal best is 2:04:27. David Kemboi Kiyeng of Kenya finished second in 2:09:21. He won this race last year in 2:08:15 and has a PR of 2:06:30.

High School Cross Country-Inside Look at a Great Program: Stevens Point Area High School

We can celebrate the fact that we ran a good solid race and only 6 teams in our state finished ahead of us. All of our guys ran times close to their season average and our 16:50 team average was close to our season average of 16:47. In the 22 times we have run the state meet on this course we have only finished with a faster average 8 times. The state meet has been run here for the past 24 years and during that time 7 teams have won the meet with a slower average than the one we ran today.

I've been following progress of the Stevens Point Area Cross Country team all season at SPASH CC- coach Donn Behnke, a teammate of mine at UW-Stevens Point, has established somewhat of a dynasty with 9 Wisconsin state titles and 6 runner-up finishes. Check out the JV results, and you'll see how Donn is able to reload and stay competive year in and year out. The depth is amazing! The JV team has won every Wisconsin Valley Conference (WVC) meet since 1977! The varsity lost once- in 1987, and I think that is the year Donn did not coach.

This year SPASH finished 7th at the state meet- almost a disppointment by SPASH standards, but the future looks bright.

Only Madison West and LaCrosse Logan had better 6th runners than Hatton.

Only Madison West, Logan, and Marquette had better 7th runners than Hansen.

Arrowhead’s average time of 16:09 is the best average ever on this course. The previous record was set in 2008 when we averaged 16:23 for 1st, and Madison West 16:21 for 2nd.

Despite running an average time of 21 seconds faster Arrowhead scored only 11 fewer points than last year, an indication of the quality of the field and the fact that 8 of the top 10 runners were members of qualifying teams.

We are one of only 5 teams to return 6 runners for next season.

Of the 9 teams that return at least 5 runners we have the lowest point total (after removing seniors) with 103, Logan is next with 110, and then Waukesha South with 154.

Of the teams with 4 returners Logan has the best total with 64, we have 66.

Of the teams with 3 returners Arrowhead has the best total with 33, we have 36, Craig 39, and Logan 40.

Any high school coaches out there looking to see how it's done can start by surfing through SPASH CC

Newton MV2 Zero Drop Shoes- 5.5 oz!

Check out the Newton MV2 here, and a review by runblogger. The MV2 is a "zero-drop" shoe, meaning the heel and forefoot are level.

Ed Whitlock Does It Again! 3:15:54 at Age 80!

Eighty year old Ed Whitlock continues to defy age by averaging 7:24 per mile in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon last weekend. That's another in a long string of age group world records Whitlock has shattered along the way. According to the Runners World Age Graded Calculator, Ed's time is equivlant to 2:02:10.

Training Update- 40 Miles Run at 7 Min Pace or Under!

Sun: 3 miles x 5 in 20:47 ave with 3 min recovery, all on turf. 16 miles total

Mon: 7 miles easy

Tues: 8 x 800 on the track- felt good the last 4 but not really sure how fast other because the last 2 according to the GPS were 2:45 but seemed short. I think all were at 3 or under. 6 miles total

Wed: easy 5 miles

Thurs: 5 miles in 35 min pm 2 miles jogging with the kids

Fri: 3.5 miles in 24 min

Sat: 13.1 miles in 90 min

MY COMMENT: This was an amazing week- Despite coughing fits even while running (especially when I stop) I feel decent running. Although I cheated by including 2 long fast days in one week, my total of 7 min miles or under was 40! Can't wait to get healthy!

Sick for 6 Weeks

This is definitely the longest stretch of sickness I've ever experienced. One week of apparent food poisoning, followed shortly by chronic coughing that shows no sign of improving. I got checked out and was told it was viral- most days I feel pretty good, but every once in a while kind of run down. The one constant has been the coughing- to the point where I sort of tweeked my back, rib or some combination last week. I cough on every run, sometimes to the point of initiating a gag reflex, and I've had to stop for minutes at a time almost every time out.

This has got to end, hopefully soon. I am in decent shape, but periodically question my sanity during long or hard workouts when I am forced to stop.

This is no fun.

Marathon Training- The Final 4 Weeks

It's also clear that the basic foundation of the last month should be intensity, not volume. Running lots of miles and fitting in last-second long runs would further stress already wounded muscles. It's better to let muscle fibres recover by gradually reducing their weekly dose of impact forces. Although at first glance the principle of running intensely during a recovery period seems peculiar (why wouldn't rapid running also stress the muscles?), it works well for several reasons. First, research has demonstrated that intensity is a much more potent producer of fitness than mileage. Since you are trying to boost your fitness dramatically in the last month, intensity is the more attractive option
-Marathon training: planning a 30-day running programme

MY COMMENT: Interesting!

What Should Runners Eat? racingweight.com

One analysis of the diet of seven elite male Kenyan runners found that they consumed extremely high amounts of carbohydrate—76.5 percent of calories—and very low amounts of fat (13.4 percent of calories) and protein (10.1 percent of calories). -racingweight.com

MY COMMENT: William Sherman referenced in this article was a classmate of mine at Ball State so this must be true!

Many other intersting articles that I need to read at racingweight.com, including this one on a topic that has intrigued me forever- The Straight Dope on Salt