Run It Fast®

This past week I had the opportunity to attend a conference in Chicago, which of course raised the very significant question of where I might be able to run. In 2008, I ran the Chicago Marathon with my “running wife” Brad.

As an aside, I did not come up with the term “running wife.” Frankly, I am not sure who coined the term, but it is what it is. For whatever reason, the term was repugnant to me at first. But over the course of four or so years running together, including somewhere in the vicinity of 8,500 miles, I simply got over it. That’s a lot of miles together, with a lot of conversation. At a pace of 7:30 per mile, that is 63,750 (+/-) minutes.  And as you might imagine, being guys, we did eventually run out of things to discuss…o.k., not really, but there are a lot more quiet miles than four years ago.  So, back to the story since I am completely baffled as to why I felt the need to share this little anecdote.

We trained all summer in the intense heat and humidty of West Tennessee for the Chicago race.  I mean heat that was terrible.  We did speed work, long runs, runs in the rain. You dream it, we did it, for one singular goal – to get a BQ. (If you are wondering, BQ means Boston Qualifier).  And Brad did.  He ran a perfect race and earned the chance to run Boston.  And the conditions were tough on race day, hot, humid.  This was not the year that the race was cancelled mid-event, but the following year.  I won’t belabour the point.  I ran terribly.  At mile 20 or so, I stopped to ask a medical attendant where the next medical tent was. The response was something to the effect of “about a mile and half from here.”  I remember saying “surely I can make it that far.”  Beyond that, I have no memory of miles 20 through 25.  I remember the last mile vaguely.  And I remember my first ever massage following the race (FYI, never get a massage for the first time after a marathon, whew boy did I ever cry).  But despite my dissappointment, I got to celebrate with my wife (my real wife) and my running-wife (and his real wife, does that make four wives? This story just took a weird turn). Anywho…Sometimes we are hesitant to attempt to reach a goal with someone else.  There is the fear that one person won’t acheive and if not, can we really celebrate our accomplishment? Yes you can.  (Obama-flare).  We had more fun celebrating Brad’s victory than you could imagine (probably a little too much fun actually).  The great people of St. Jude just kept giving us beer – which is a nice reward for being the first two St. Jude Finishers that year.

So, this week, what did I do?  I ran the part of the course I don’t remember, of course!  Wouldn’t you?  Chinatown by the way is not fun in the cold and rain, at least not like I heard it was that day in 2008.

So my question is this: Have you ever done something or not done something because you were afraid what somebody else thought?  Of course, the answer for both people reading this is “yes.”  But why?  Why do we do this for running?  I mean for real.  There are always people faster than us.  Ryan Hall, one of my running heroes, has folks faster than he is (2:06 PR marathon).  But he runs for a different reason.  Google him and you will learn why.  There is something about running together, the shared experience, that transcends the an individual’s failure in an event.  At least, that’s my opinion today.

Comedian/Actor Drew Carey, currently the host of The Price is Right and Drew Carey’s Improv-A-Ganza, will run the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon according to Runner’s World CRO Bart Yasso Facebook update.

UPDATE: SEE HOW FAST DREW RAN HIS FIRST HALF MARATHON

The Marine Corps Historic  Half Marathon takes place on May 15th in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

It is likely not so random that Carey has chosen to run the Marine Corps race.  Drew was in the U.S. Marine Reserves for six years starting in 1980.

After a health scare Carey become serious about his diet and exercise. He has since lost nearly 100 pounds.  He will look to inspire others to do the same when he runs his first half marathon in May.

Drew tweted via his Twitter (@DrewFromTV) back on March 14th that he was planning to run the Marine Corps Half Marathon.

Random Drew Carey Fact: He was born with six toes on his right foot.

Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon Website

Huntsville native George Heeschen won the Oak Barrel Half-Marathon in Lynchburg, Tennessee on Saturday with a time of 1:17:22.

Second male went to John Thorpe (1:20:00) and third to Eric Charette (1:20:06).

Anne Myers, of McMinnville, was the female champ, finishing the 13.1 mile race in 1:34:36.

Shada Walls grabbed second (1:37:00) and Emily Rutherford (1:39:29) finished out the female stand.

Top 10 Finisher’s Oak Barrel Half Marathon

1. George Heeschen 1:17:22
2. John Thorpe 1:20:00
3. Eric Charette 1:20:06
4. Shane Thread 1:20:54
5. Jason McKinney 1:23:33
6. Shane O’Neill 1:28:43
7. Michael Mathis 1:28:48
8. Jeremy Aydt 1:28:51
9. Shawn Cissell 1:29:27
10. Matthew Heiser 1:29:47

Link to Full Oak Barrel Half-Marathon Race Results

The Oak Barrel Half-Marathon is presented by Jack Daniels No. 7.

Photo by Monte Lowe

Say you eclipse five state records in one race; say they were yours to begin with; say you run a 15K at 5K pace. Then you try to explain it. But you can’t explain it. It sounds like a lie, but it is true. So you end up calling it a miracle. What else could anybody call it? You might as well put that word in the title, too.

I reprised this race again on Saturday, just four days ago, but not with the miraclous results of that earlier time. At Saturday’s start, Running Journal magazine with this story in it had just appeared. That timing was no accident.

Read the full story by Dallas Smith by clicking HERE

ELITE runner Ian Sharman set a Guinness World Record Sunday by running the 33rd Napa Valley Marathon in a Spider-Man costume.

It is the the fastest marathon time every recorded in a superhero costume according to Sharman’s Facebook page.

Sharman stated as well on his Facebook page, “‎2:40 in the rain in Napa for a new pointless, but fun, Guinness World Record for fastest marathon dressed as a superhero. Won’t wear the Spidey costume again since I almost suffocated.”

Sharman set a U.S. record last month for the fastest 100 mile time when he ran a 12:44:33 at the Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Trail Race (story).

10K in Knoxville 2010

Most of you may know I am taking a mini-break from running while healing from Plantar Fasciitis in my right foot. I’m almost there, kids ;-). I have been running a little here and there, but I’ve consistently been listening to my foot while running these past few months. I also listen to my foot the days following a run, because it speaks to me and tells me how it’s feeling.

Taking a break from running has helped me look inward with regard to my running. Looking back at 2010, running seemed like such an outward event. I am still every bit the runner I was last year, but probably haven’t even run 20 miles this year. Funny, I’m not too bothered by that.

I firmly believe that listening to your body is the key that will determine the life of your running career (or hobby, or whatever it is). If you don’t take heed and really listen, you may be forced to take a short, or long, or indefinite break from the sport, hobby and passion that you love. I can’t say there was anything in particular that could have led me to believe I would develop Plantar, but I also can’t say I was listening very closely to any issues that may have been developing as they happened.

The injury itself is really not too big of a deal, and as long as I keep up my massages, stretches and icing, I should be back on track to run the Palmetto Half Marathon on April 16^th (one of the best half marathons I’ve ever run … hummm, I think I say that about almost every half marathon I’ve ran, ha, ha, ha)! Seriously, the Palmetto Half is an amazing event.

I truly believe this break from running will make me an even stronger runner when I get back to it. I already know it has made me a smarter runner because now I know how to listen better and what to listen for, and I won’t think twice about taking a week of if I feel I need to. If my body tells me that is what it needs.

It’s not about “racking up the mileage” for me anymore, or seeing how many races I can squeeze into one month, or how many half marathons I can run in a single year. It’s about being a smart runner, a runner who listens, so that I can be a runner for as long as there is breath within me. Or until my legs just give out at 90-something years old ;-).

In the mean time, I have been spending hours at the gym focusing on building muscle and gaining strength. Fitness is a huge part of my life, so if I can’t run I will find something else fitness-related to keep me healthy and active until I return to the pavement. And even then, I think strength-training will be much more a part of my fitness regime than just running alone.

Building Strength and Preventing Injury: Lessons from Cross Country

Jason Fitzgerald (or Fitz) is the founder of Strength Running, a 2:44 marathoner, and online running coach. He loves running the trails, strong coffee, and cycling. Strength Running unleashes Fitz’s passion for helping runners achieve their best and prevent running injuries. Subscribe to get instant updates from Strength Running.

Cross country is like the middle child of distance running: often forgotten and undeservedly ignored. Typically reserved for high school and college runners, cross country offers numerous benefits that aren’t often utilized by runners training for track or road races.

Nearly all aspects of cross country – from hill workouts, avoidance of the track, and a focus on a long base period – provide injury prevention lessons.

Here’s how you can learn from cross country and build running strength while avoiding injury:

Skip the track and hit the dirt. In college, we only ran about 25% of our fast workouts on the track. In high school, none of them were on the track. Instead, we chose to run on grass fields, wooded trails, dirt paths, and crushed gravel that gave our legs an even more forgiving surface than the hard track.

The more uneven trail and grass surfaces helped us improve our coordination and allowed us to run more total mileage. And let’s not forget that the consistent left turns on a track can cause muscle imbalances that often lead to injury.

Tracks are very useful tools to run workouts, but often you can spare your body by choosing other venues.

Focus your workouts on hills and tempo runs. For most of our cross country season, our bread and butter workouts were hill repeats and tempo runs. Cross country demands leg strength and a huge aerobic engine, both of which are improved with hills and tempo workouts.

Ideally, run your tempo on a soft surface off the track, like a dirt path. Tempos increase your body’s aerobic capacity – or put in a sexier way, they help you run faster without getting so fatigued. And everybody wants that!

Hills are perfect for developing leg strength (like you’d get from the gym) and speed (like you’d get on the track). There is less impact on your legs in uphill running and it reinforces proper running form, so they prevent overuse injuries and help you become a more efficient runner.

Run more volume! Too many runners think they can run fast on the track and in their local 5k without running a lot of miles. That’s simply not true. To maximize your potential for your goal race – and your long-term development as a distance runner – it’s important to run as much as you can within the limitations of experience, safety, and desire.

To increase mileage, back off on the intense workouts. Learn from the previous lesson and switch a fartlek or interval session to a hill workout. Replacing grueling interval workouts with volume will help you become a faster runner in the long-term. High total mileage was always reinforced during cross country season and often took a backseat to fast workouts during track. Don’t make this mistake.

Barefoot strides are your best friend. During the high school and college years, cross country training and racing happened over the summer and fall. We took advantage of these warm months and ran barefoot strides after most of our distance runs.

Barefoot strides are one of the most effective injury prevention strategies that you can implement in your training. They strengthen your feet and lower legs and reinforce efficient running form. Sprinting also recruits many more of your muscle fibers, improves form, and makes running slower seem easier. Start with two 100m barefoot strides on a well-manicured field and progress to 6-8 over a month or two of training.

Preparatory mileage is crucial to success. A lot of new runners don’t give the base phase of training enough attention, or devote a few weeks to easy running before they start with harder workouts. This is a mistake and they’re missing a big opportunity to improve their fitness.

A college cross country season starts at the very end of August, but training begins usually in late May. During these three months, the majority of focus is on easy running: building an enormous endurance base that will support the harder workouts and races that come in the fall.

This long period of easy base mileage includes strides, but rarely any structured workouts before August. It’s more difficult to get injured during easy mileage – and easier to get injured if you skip this base phase of training.

I’ve run 8 seasons of competitive cross country in high school and college (and another “season” after college with two more races). They’re by far my fondest memories of running: serene trails, long runs in summer heat, and the feeling of morning dew on your bare feet.

Cross country is sometimes the forgotten middle child of running, but let’s look at the lessons it provides and learn from them. I think we can all prevent an injury or run a little faster if we take these lessons to heart.

[image: easylocum]

Retired Memphis dentist Jon Simpson has never run in or competed in an endurance race in his entire life.

However, Simpson has run at least a mile every day for 39-years and counting. His impressive streak, which is the 6th longest of it’s type according to the U.S. Running Streak Association, started way back in 1971.

Heck, Jon doesn’t even measure his miles by car or high-powered GPS. He just gets out and runs for at least 30 minutes every day.

Jon started running, several decades ago now, to strengthen his right leg which is affected by polio.

Read More About Jon Simpson’s Streak at The Commercial Appeal

Congrats to Joe on his impressive streak!

Kenya’s Mary Keitany destroyed the half marathon World Record at the RAK Half Marathon today in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE when she ran a 1:05:50.

Lornah Kiplagat had set the World Record back in 2007 at the IAAF World Half Championships in Italy with at time of 1:06:25.

[Read More on Mary’s Historic Race]

Way to Run It Fast Mary!

An elite field showed up in Huntsville, Texas this Saturday for the 2011 Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Trail Race that included Scott Jurek, Anton Krupicka, Karl Meltzer, Liza Howard, Zach Gingerich and a young pup by the name of Ian Sharman, who not only won the race but set a course record by 32 minutes with a time of 12:44:33.

Liza Howard was the first female finisher with a blazing time of 15:33:09

Here is a look at the top finishers from 2011RR100:

Elites Scott Jurek and Zach Gingerich dropped out and did not finish RR100.