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!

High School Cross Country: When do you step in?

I would not gotten this kid help after the 5th runner on my team swept by.

8th Grade Boys Run 4:43 Mile!

Stretching Before Running

The most significant risk factors for injury were a history of chronic injury or recent injury in the past four months, and a higher body mass index (a measure of body fat based on height and weight).

In addition, the runners found that starting -- or abandoning -- a pre-run stretching regimen was more hazardous than just sticking with a usual routine.

-yahoo health

My comment: Don't make any sudden changes in your normal routine!

Branched Chain Amino Acids May Help Distance Runners

(image from wikipedia.com)

BCAA supplementation increases resistance to fatigue and enhances lipid oxidation during exercise in glycogen-depleted subjects.
-Branched-chain amino acids supplementation enhances exercise capacity and lipid oxidation during endurance exercise after muscle glycogen depletion. Looks like subjects did a long glycogen depletion exercise bout followed by a short, maximal stress test the following day. (note only 7 subjects in this study)

Good summmary of branched chain amino acids at HealthNews

New Rules for Lifting Abs

Forget crunches and take a look at these New Rules for Lifting Abs. Great ideas for developing core strength. Can you hold the plank position for 2 minutes?

I'm ordering New Rules for Lifting Abs!

Life at These Speeds

“Definitely my favorite book! A beautiful tribute to all runners, and a reminder that being true to yourself is more important than setting records.”

—Alan Webb, national record holder for the high school mile, at 3:53.43


I bought Life at These Speeds years ago but reread it on vacation. A little far-fetched but well written. 800 meter runners out there might especially enjoy this one!

Back from the Phlippines!

Following a hot 10 x 800 meter beach workout- I was wasted!


I just returned from 4 days in Boracay- a nice break from the frigid temperatures and a chance to get in at least a couple of quality workouts.

It was hot so I was out the door by 6 am every day. While I didn't run many miles (8 was my longest day), I did a couple of quality beach workouts including 10x 800 in 3:09-3:12 (except the first two in 3:15).

The question is, will this break hurt my chances of running well in the Seoul Marathon on March 20, less than 4 weeks away? I'm hoping not.

B.A.A. Announces New Boston Marathon Registration Procedure

In 2012, the BAA will institute rolling admission for qualifiers with the fastest runners being allowed to enter first. The field will be filled with the fastest of all qualifiers.

Then, in 2013, the BAA will make it more difficult to qualify by lowering time standards by five minutes across all age groups and both genders. -boston.com

Steve Magness Hired by NIKE

Steve Magness, who ran 4:01 for the mile as a high school senior, probably dreamed of getting a NIKE contract one day. But never in his wildest dreams did he expect to get one as an employee, and not a runner.

Magness, who has a degree in Exercise Science, maintains a Science of Running blog and occasionally publishes in Running Times, received an unexpected phone call from Alberto Salazar, who just happened to need an assistant and liked what he'd seen from Magness. “I’ll tell (Magness) this is what I’m doing, and he can look at it and give me the scientific basis for it,” Salazar said.

Magness will also be assigned with tracking the daily data from the runners in Salazar’s group and analyzing every aspect of training, diet, sleep, etc.

And he can also be where Salazar isn’t, so that when athletes fly in different directions for races fewer of those trips will be made alone.

So before he knew it, Magness was on a plane accompanying NIKE runner Galen Rupp to Germany. -trackfocus.com


MY COMMENT: I think this is a good investment by NIKE, and probably cheaper than the Cyrotherapy Space Cabin they purchased last fall. In case you didn't know, Salazar has cardiac disease, high blood pressure, and who knows what else going on, so Magness can take some of the pressure off during peak racing season.

Workout Update

Sumo has been a faithful running buddy since October 1998!












I guess I need to use my garmin for every run and enter it into dailymile.com. I don't see a way to enter post dated miles.

This was another very good week for me.

Sun: 3 miles with Sumo, then I did 2 laps around Camp Humphreys hard, finishing up 10 miles at 67 minutes. Felt good. 13 miles, 10 under 7 min/mile

Mon: I was pleasantly surprised that there was no soreness today. I did an easy 2 in the morning and after work with Sumo. 4 miles total

Tues: 2 miles with Sumo, then 5 miles at the outdoor track. Running on the artifical turf I averaged 6:20s for the first 3 but each mile was progressively slower as leg fatigue set in. Normally I would have just shut in down and jogged some more but wanted to see how my legs would feel pushing it for 2 more. I took no more than 3-4 minutes to remove a layer of sweats and reeled off 2 miles on the track under 12 minutes, only feeling tired on the last lap. I can't explain how I was able to come back so well. 7 miles total, 5 under 7 min/mile, 2 under 6 min/mile.

Wed: 2 miles with Sumo, then 8 miles in 55 minutes. Felt pretty good but I had to push pretty hard the last mile, especially against a moderate wind to keep it under 7 min pace. Another long tempo in the books! 10 miles, 8 under 7 min/mile

Thurs: 2 miles with Sumo, then 6 miles easy in about an hour.

Fri: 2 miles with Sumo, then 4 x 800 on the rice paddy roads near my place. All were run within 1-2 seconds either side of 3 minutes with 1:40 rest. I had to run nearly flat out to hit my target, and cannot explain why the track is so much easier (I use the GPS there also). I will remeasure this distance one more time and hope it's a little long. All I know is on these road 800s I have to dig much deeper and breathing becomes a limiting factor. On the track, leg fatigue plays a greater role. 4 miles with 2 under 7 min/mile and 6 min per mile

Sat: 2 miles with Sumo, then 16 miles in 2 hr 19 min. Legs were beat but that's the purpose! I had intended on giving a shot at 15 miles under 7 min but threw that idea out the window with wind chill in the single digits this morning. Can't wait to see how my legs recover. 18 total miles.

Total for the week was 64 miles, with 25 miles under 7 min per mile and 4 at 6 min per mile.