Lance versus the World

Last week I watched cyclist Tyler Hamilton's interview on 60 minutes.  That interview is probably the most convincing thing I've seen regarding Lance Armstrong and doping.  And I'm afraid the tide is turning against him.

I'm going to draw another baseball parallel here.  In the late 90's Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa revitalized baseball with their chase of the Roger Maris's single-season homerun record.  There was little to no talk of steroids then.  Then Barry Bonds got pumped up and shattered McGwire's mark.  Then there was Jose Canseco's book, Juiced that exposed the real reason for baseball's offensive explosion in the 1990's.  It quickly became clear that our heros were not who we thought they were. 

Consider cycling from 1998 through 2006.   The 1998 Tour de France has been called "Le Tour de Dopage" ("Tour of Doping"), large quantities of doping products were found in the Festina team car and the entire team was arrested with seven of them admitting to doping and the Dutch TVM team had their hotel rooms raided by police where they found drugs.


1999 through 2005 were the years of Lance's seven victories.  Armstrong dominated the Tour de France unlike anyone in the history of the sport.  Of the second and third place finishers from those seven years, only one has not been connected in some way to doping.  The exception is the third place finisher in 1999, Fernando Escartin.

Then, after Armstrong's first retirement, before the 2006 Tour de France Operation Puerto broke and numerous high-profile cyclists were implicated and kicked off their Tour teams, including Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich and Alexander Vinokourov.  This opened the path to victory for American Floyd Landis, only to have him lose his title due to a positive drug test.

Now Lance has had numerous former teammates implicated in doping - Tyler Hamilton, Floyd Landis, Roberto Heras, Frankie Andreu and according to 60 Minutes, George Hincapie.

Lance dominated a dirty sport, with dirty teammates, yet was somehow raced clean the whole time?  Bear in mind that he didn't just beat his competitors, he dominated them.  Remember this stage from the 2004 Tour de France?


I want to believe that Lance is clean.  Just like I wanted to believe that Mark McGwire and Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez were clean.  But the evidence is starting to stack up against him.  No, he hasn't tested positive, but many other athletes have beaten testing.  And I think it's no coincidence that no one had a positive test until they left U.S. Postal or Discovery Channel.

Consider also Roger Clemens.  He has mounds of evidence piled against him, yet he continues to deny every using steroids or human growth hormone and is now facing the possibility of going to jail for his denials.  Now Lance is the subject of an investigation that he and the U.S. Postal Service Cycling Team defrauded the U.S. Government by using performance enhancing drugs.  And while his teammates have confessed under oath that they had used, he continues to deny, despite the evidence piling up against him.

What Comes First, Cardio or Weights? Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Faith, whose last-minute entry won her a copy of What Comes First, Cardio or Weights? 

For everyone who didn't win, check back on Wednesday when I have another, bigger giveaway in the works!
And thanks to everyone for their entries.

Seasoned Ultrarunners Share Advice for Surviving the Western States 100

Reminder:  You have until midnight, Saturday (or Sunday, depending on your point of view) to win a free copy of What Comes First, Cardio or Weights?

Today's post comes courtesy of  Injinji Performance Toesocks. 

 

Former Champion and Finisher Stress Preparedness and Injinji® Performance Toesocks™

 

SAN DIEGO, CA (May 24, 2011) – Long-distance runners in search of the ultimate ultra challenge need look no further than The Western States Endurance Run, a 100-mile trail event heralded as one of the oldest –  and most challenging. Held in June, this no-holds-barred competition tests the limits of physical and mental strength, taking racers on a remote and rugged course from Squaw Valley to Auburn , CA , complete with staggering vertical climbs, steep descents and 100-plus-degree temperatures.

                On June 25, hundreds of hardcore athletes will again turn out in hopes of completing the relentless race. Just how does one prepare for such a demanding course? Race veterans Anita Ortiz, 47 – the 2009 female champion (pictured right) – and Jonathan Gunderson, 33, both athletes for Injinji, the event’s official sock sponsor, offer up some personal training tips to succeed in – and survive Western States:

 

Q: When should you start training?

AO: I start in January, but I train for other things prior, so it all adds up!

JG: I start thinking about the race in early January and gear my racing schedule to peak near Western States in late June.

 

Q: How do you physically prepare?

AO: I train 4-5 hours per day, six days per week – a mix of running and cross-training. I don’t count miles; only hours.

JG: I start with a lot of cross-training, such as riding a bike on a trainer, and focus on building up my total body strength and endurance with dips, pull-ups, push-ups and core workouts with an exercise ball. To give my muscles a rest, I don’t start running until mid-January. As my running activity increases, I cut back on my gym work and train in four-week cycles that build in intensity each week. When possible, I try to run on the actual race course to get some splits on different sections and give myself a visual of what to expect on race day.

 

Q: How do you avoid injury during training?

AO: If it hurts for several days, take a rest day or two.

JG: Listen to your body and give it ample rest. Don’t take on the attitude that one missed day is more important than your consistent weeks of training.

 

Q: How do you keep your feet in prime condition?

AO: I always wear Injinji Performance Toesocks, so I never have any foot problems. From the moment I put on my first pair, I never got another blister. EVER!

JG: I check for calluses, make sure my nails are trimmed and wear Injinji Performance Toesocks. They keep my feet dry and clean.

 

Q: What helps you mentally prepare?

AO: I prepare by being prepared. If I have put in the time and done the work, that knowledge serves as my personal “mantra.”

JG: Part of the mental preparation comes from simply running long distances and giving myself the knowledge that I can and have pushed through in the past. Prayer is also important. Some of the toughest moments in a 100-mile race come when you’re struggling alone in the dark, and prayer helps keep me centered, calm and feeling like I’m never out there all alone.

Q: Any tips for handling the heat and altitude changes?

AO: Prior to race day, sit in a sauna once a day for two weeks, and stay hydrated. On race day, make sure you eat early and often so that when things get tough, you have plenty of calories on board.

JG: For the heat, I’ll use a sauna and sometimes train in quite a bit of clothing to help get accustomed. In terms of the altitude, I try to arrange my schedule so that I can be in Lake Tahoe far enough in advance so that it’s a non-factor. If that’s not possible, Aspirin can help.

 

Q: What gear is crucial?

AO: My Injinji Performance Toesocks, Salomon hydration pack and SaltStick electrolyte capsules.

JG: I’m loving my  Injinji Compression Toesocks (pictured left), which have been a big asset on the longeyr races, staving off fatigue in my calves and helping with recovery after training. I also love my Brooks Racer ST 5 shoes, which fit my physical frame and running style for long trail races – even though they’re meant for the road. GU Roctane is fantastic in providing calories without stomach discomfort or energy drain.

 

Q: What do you eat the night before and the morning of race day?

AO: The day before, I eat a steak at the noon hour and a salad for dinner. Breakfast is usually a Pop Tart.

JG: Since the bulk of carbo-loading takes place 2-4 days prior to the race window, I try to eat light the night before – maybe whole wheat pasta with red sauce. The morning of, I sip on water with Nuun electrolytes and eat a Clif Bar and a banana.

 

Q: What single piece of advice would you impart on a Western States novice?

AO: Put in the time training. You can’t fake it at Western States – the elevation and heat will eat you alive. And stay cool by getting wet in every stream crossing you see!

JG: Do your homework. With the proliferation of ultramarathon information on the Internet, there’s a tremendous opportunity to be as prepared as possible. Understand the challenge and familiarize yourself with the course. Don’t underestimate how valuable that familiarity will be when you hit rough patches during the journey.

 

For more information on Western States, visit www.ws100.com.

                Injinji® is the 2011 official sock sponsor of Western States and the innovator of the patented five-toe-sleeve Performance Toesock™ for sport, outdoor and casual use. Injinji (In-gin-ji), which means to reach one’s peak performance, is dedicated to helping athletes attain their personal best by offering a seamless, anti-friction interface that allows the foot to perform naturally from the heel to the five toes. A recipient of the American Podiatric Medical Association’s Seal of Acceptance, Injinji’s Performance Series is recognized for its ability to provide superior moisture management and healthy digital alignment. For more information on the company, visit www.injinji.com.

Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights? Quiz and Giveaway!

Alex Hutchinson's new book Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?  Fitness Myths, Training Truths, and Other Surprising Discoveries from the Science of Exercise dropped today and I have a quiz for you adopted from the book.  After the quiz I'll explain how to win a free copy of the book for yourself!

I hadn't intended to do a full-blown review on this one, but I've read the introduction and leafed through much of the rest, and I'm impressed.  This book is great for runners, but also for anyone looking to get fit.  Whatever your goal, Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights? has scads of information that will help get you in the shape you need for your sport.  There are no training plans, but instead foundational information for you to apply to what you are doing today.

Are you up-to-date with the latest fitness research, or are you still relying on the advice your high-school gym teacher learned from a textbook published during the Crimean War? Take the quiz to find out:

1. If you get a muscle cramp during a run, you likely started too fast.

TRUE: While the research is still hotly debated, the traditional theory that dehydration and electrolyte loss trigger cramps has come under fire. Instead, recent studies have found that more subtle behaviors like starting too fast and not resting up enough before a race appear to be significant risk factors.

2. You can improve your cardiovascular health by doing a few short, intense bursts of exercise – and that’s just as effective as prolonged “cardio” workouts.

TRUE: Often referred to as “high-intensity interval training,” short workouts like 4-6 times 30 seconds all out (with four minutes break) have proven to be equivalent to slower 45-minute sessions of running or biking for improving cardiovascular fitness, exercise capacity, insulin sensitivity and numerous other parameters. The catch: the shorter the intervals, the more you have to make it hurt.

3. Exercising outdoors in winter can cause asthma-like attacks in some people because the freezing air triggers a reaction in their airways.

FALSE: Winter air can indeed trigger “exercise-induced bronchoconstriction” in some people, but it’s the dryness of the air, not its temperature, that triggers the attacks. One solution is to wear a breathing mask (or scarf) that will help keep the air moist.

4. Muscles are most likely to get injured when they’re stretched beyond the limits of their usual range of motion.

FALSE: Most muscle injuries actually occur within the normal range of movement, during eccentric muscle contractions. This is one of the reasons “static” stretching, which aims to extend your range of motion, has little impact on injury risk.

5. It’s impossible to determine your maximum heart rate without actually pushing to your maximum.

TRUE: The old “220 minus your age” estimate for maximum heart rate is long dead. But even revised formulas like “208 minus 0.7 times your age,” while more accurate, are still off by more than 10 beats for one in every three people. The only to truly determine your max is to go there.

6. Light weights and lots of repetitions is the best way to tone muscles without bulking up.

FALSE: “Toning,” in the sense of light exercise to make a muscle look taut, simply doesn’t exist. If you’re poking a muscle that feels soft even when it’s flexed, that means you’re poking fat, not “untoned” muscle. To make your muscles stand out, you either have to lose fat or make your muscles bigger – and light weights won’t help unless you do enough reps to reach (or approach) failure.

7. Lifting weights is a more effective way to strengthen your bones than weight-bearing exercise like walking.

TRUE: The old idea that any weight-bearing activity builds bones has given way to a new understanding: strong muscles pull on the bones they’re attached to, and the bones respond to that tension by getting stronger. Jarring impacts like hopping or running also stimulate bone growth – but standing around or walking, not so much.

8. The harder you exercise, the lower the proportion of fat your body burns.

TRUE: A leisurely walk might burn 85 percent fat and 15 percent carbohydrate, while a vigorous run could be using 30 percent fat and 70 percent carbohydrate. But don’t be fooled: you’ll be burning so many more calories overall at higher intensities – including more fat calories – that you’re still better off exercising at moderate intensity for weight loss. It’s the number of calories that matter, not the percentage of fat.

9. If you have a sedentary job, you need to exercise for at least 45 minutes to counteract the negative health effects of sitting at your desk all day.

FALSE: Recent studies have found that prolonged sitting causes harmful changes in your metabolism – and those changes are entirely independent of how long you spend at the gym each day. Instead, frequent breaks, like standing up for at least five minutes every hour, are recommended.

10. By the time you feel thirsty, your body is already dehydrated enough to affect exercise performance.

FALSE: In fact, a recent study found that the fastest finishers at a marathon tend to be the most dehydrated. This remains a highly controversial topic, but several studies have found that simply drinking when you’re thirsty may allow your hydration level to drop, but won’t affect performance.

11. A fast start is essential to maximizing performance in a 5K or 10K race.

TRUE: Surprisingly, an analysis of every world record ever set over 5,000 and 10,000 meters found that, in 63 of the 64 examples, the first and last kilometers were faster than every other kilometer in the race. So starting fast may give you an advantage, as long as you quickly settle in to a more sustainable pace after the first few minutes.

RESULTS:

9-11 correct: Excellent! You’re making the most of your workouts.

5-8 correct: You’re on the right track, but are still stuck with some outdated habits.

Fewer than 5 correct: Uh oh – time to get caught up on the last few decades of exercise science.

So did you do well?  Lousy?  The good news (or maybe bad news) is that your chances of winning are not affected by your quiz results.  Leave a comment on this post by midnight, on Saturday the 28th (it's Memorial Day weekend, so comment early) and I'll choose a winner randomly (via random.org) and announce a winner on Sunday.  Winner must be in the United States.

If you don't win, Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?  is available on Amazon.com.

Who is Vin Mazarro and What Does He Have to Do with Running?

Last week Kansas City Royals pitcher Vin Mazarro was put into a game against the Cleveland Indians in the third inning.  To say he had a bad outing is an understatement.  Most relief pitchers will get pulled from the game when their manager sees them struggling.  Usually after a couple of runs are scored.  Sometimes before any runs are scored.  But Royals manager Ned Yost left Mazarro in long enough to give up 14 runs in 2 1/3 innings.

(AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

I don't write much about baseball here because you don't come here to read about baseball, and frankly I don't follow it all that closely.  But I think there are some interesting parallels to distance running that are worth pointing out.

When is enough enough?
For Vin Mazarro to give up 14 runs he had to be willing to pitch long enough to give up 14 runs.  Something that hadn't been done by a relief pitcher since 1942.  Something that hadn't been done in so few innings in 110 years.  He could have feigned injury or just plain walked of the field.

But instead he grinded it out.  He looked for ways to get batters out and it was just not his day.

I've had some pretty bad days out on a race course.  I was scorched and slow in my first triathlon, finishing near the back of the field.  Erie was hot and miserable and I could feel my muscles wanting to cramp up every time I ran in the last 10K, I don't think anyone would have blamed me for throwing in the towel and taking a half marathon finish.  The JFK 50 was a death march for me - I was undertrained and mentally unprepared for the distance.

I stuck it out for those races, but I think there are times when you need to take a DNF.  I think about Dean Karnazes' mantra, "run when you can, walk if you have to and crawl if you must."  He's never been embarassed by losing, but his DNF at Badwater when he passed out on the side of the road and woke up in a hospital left a bad taste in his mouth.  Personally, I think if you pass out on the side of the road and wake up in a hospital bed, you should be happy to be alive, not wringing your hands over a DNF.  You can still go back and try again with those lessons learned (as Karnazes did, eventually winning Badwater).

Okay, so Vin Mazarro wasn't exactly in a life-threatening situation, but giving up 14 runs dinged up his image an may have cost him the ability to finish the season in the big leagues - he was sent down to AAA Omaha the day after this outing, and he probably wasn't fit to pitch for a few days.

Running long takes a lot out of you.  You can't race a marathon every week.  You can run a marathon every week, but you won't have a peak performance.  In the Tour de France there are sprint specialists whose goal is to win flat stages.  They know they don't have a chance to win the overall race, so in the mountains they "pull the pin" and just try to finish within the time limit.  They save their legs for a better day.  I think sometimes in races, we have that situation.  When I look back at the Harrisburg Marathon last fall, I sometimes think that's what I should have done; taken it easy when I realized things were not going my way and signed up for another race. (This is easier said than done with marathons filling up so quickly these days.)  By limiting the muscle damage and recovering quickly I could have had a much better race a few weeks later.

I think the line is fuzzier than we think when regarding DNF's.  (Andy Jones-Wilkins has some interesting thoughts on the topic.)  Some, maybe even most runners think they're always bad, but I think there are times when you need to take a DNF to protect your health or maybe just your next race.  I think someone who is racing marathons or ultra's once a month should probably be more willing to DNF than someone (like me) who runs only two or three a year.

I don't think Vin Mazarro had a choice.  In a team sport you need to do what your coach or manager says for the greater good of the team.  But boo on the Kansas City Royals for sending him to Omaha the day after - talk about adding insult to injury!

Pittsburgh Marathon Race Report (2011 Edition)

I'm always watching the weather.  Mostly because I want to know what to wear on my lunchtime run.  But leading up to a race I become an amateur meteorologist.  I don't just check the weather, I check it from several websites and compare.  This mostly happens when I am looking for hope.  Like hope that it won't pour marathon morning.  I didn't find any hope from the forecasts.

The entire weekend was set to be a washout and Sunday morning in the C corral, it started to drizzle about fifteen minutes before the start to the race.  Some people wear a garbage bag or a throw-away long-sleeve t-shirt or jacket before a race.  I didn't.  I just had a bottle of water (this little tidbit plays an important role later) which I sipped at as much as I dared.  I was concerned about the humidity, so I wanted to be as hydrated as possible at the race start.

This was the first race I've participated in that started in waves.  The elites and the A and B corrals all started "on time" at 7:00 AM, then they ushered the C (and presumably the D and E corrals to the start and we were off about six minutes later.  (This was not the case in 2009 when the nine- and ten- minute milers merged into a confusing mass that covered the first mile in about nine and half minutes) As we were moving towards the start line, my eyes darted right and left for port-a-potties.  There were none.  They were all back behind the corrals.  I had no hope of getting to one before the race started.

As I'm sure you remember, my plan was to run the first ten miles at about a 8:45 pace, climb THE hill, hit the "lap" button on my watch (to reset the average pace) and glide nine-minute miles the rest of the way to the finish.

Well, it didn't quite work out that way.  With an achingly full bladder, I stopped at the first port-a-potty on the course.  Not at the first mile, not the first block of port-a-potties, but the very first one I saw.  And of course it was occupied.  So I waited.  And waited.  I started to wonder if maybe it wasn't a runner in there at all, and was actually a homeless person seeking shelter from the overnight rains.  Finally, the poor guy came out (he was a runner) and I was able to take care of my business quickly and get out and on my way.

That delay started to mess with my head.  And it apparently messed with my Garmin Forerunner, because it read 1.2 miles at the first mile marker - nearly twelve minutes after I had crossed the start line.  This was messed up.  I was running with a group of runners going much slower than me, way behind the pace I wanted to be going and to top it off the Garmin was already 20% off.  This was the opposite problem that I had at Harrisburg last Fall.  I flounder for another mile, then had an epiphany.  Hit the lap button.

I hit the lap button and just tried to work on averaging an 8:45 mile until THE hill.  I lost a little time at the port-a-potty, but I had a buffer in my plan for just such an occasion and the time lost was well within that buffer.  I checked my pocket for the Clif Shot blocks I had carried with me.  GONE.  No worries, there would be plenty of GU on course and I still had the PowerBar Gel and a couple of FRS chews to get me through.

30 minutes in I got hungry.  Rather than wait and stick to my gel-on-the-hour plan, I downed my power gel.  Now I was down to just my FRS chews and whatever GU I could get on course.

It went a little slowly at first, after a water stop my average pace was down to 9:30, but I was whittling away at it.  And passing a TON of people.  I didn't consciously try to make up the time, but just have fun, drink plenty and give high-fives to any spectator with their hand out - including a guy in a Buzz Lightyear costume.

Aside:  at mile 10 there were a bunch of people in superhero costumes giving high fives and cheering the runners.  I may be wrong, but I think one of them was Brian Sell dressed as Superman.  It sounds like something he might do.

By the time we reached the point where the half-marathoners broke off from the marathon course I had my average pace (post-rest stop) down to 8:35 per mile.  A little fast, but I was feeling good and could chalk that extra ten seconds per mile to making up that early delay.  Having the half marathons leave the marathon course opened up the course nicely and the reduced congestion instantly relaxed me.  From here on out I'd have a lot less "East-West" running to get around slower runners.  And I was still well behind the 4:00 pace group.

As we crossed the bridge over the Ohio River, I tried to relax and steel myself for THE hill that was coming.  I planned to run until I was even the slightest out of breath, then walk the rest of the way.  No need to walk.  I reached the steepest part and continued jogging the rest of the way up.  There were Nike signs with the slogan "kill the hill" on it at the final turn towards the top which became something of a mantra for me as I reached the crest.  That was it?  That was THE hill that slowed me to a walk in 2009?  THE hill that I allotted an extra three minutes to climb?  My average pace had only dropped a few seconds per mile over the course of the climb, but I hit the "lap" button on my watch anyway.

You could say that three mantras dominated my thinking for the first 19 miles of the race. The first was "patience."  I couldn't make up those lost minutes at the port-a-potty quickly without burning myself out.  I had 25 miles to make up that time.  The second was that Nike sign:  "kill the hill."  Then after that successful slaying of the hill, the mantra was "way too fast".   For the first half mile after THE hill, my average pace was 8:10.  Whoops!  I slowed down, but I just couldn't get myself down to those 9-minute miles I had planned.  I was back at an 8:35 average pace and feeling really comfortable.  So I went with it.

It was only a couple miles after halfway that I passed the 4:00 pace group - about the same place I was passed by them in 2009.

I was making sure to take water at every aid station and had a gel after 30 minutes and 90 minutes.  My plan was to take my FRS chews at 2:30, then a final gel at 3:00.  The second gel I picked up at the aid stations was a pineapple flavored GU Roctane.  I've never had Roctane, and even though it was a "no-no" to try something new on race day, I pocketed it to use as that 3-hour mark gel.

After the aid station at mile 17 I saw my friend Brad running up ahead.  Fresh off his finish at Boston a month ago, he was pacing his brother, Kevin in his first marathon.  Brad looked fresh as a daisy - as if we were in mile 3 instead of 17.  Kevin, not so much.  He didn't look like he was necessarily struggling, but he wasn't looking strong.  I chatted with Brad for a bit and he mentioned he had been looking for me, knowing that I was planning to start the race at an 8:45 pace.  I told him how good I was feeling and that I was just rolling with this 8:35 pace. It was clear that they weren't going to match my pace so I went on ahead after a little less than a mile of their company.  After the race I learned that Kevin had collapsed and had a seizure at mile 25 from dehydration.  Fortunately, that's all it was and he was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon.

When I reached the 19th mile marker I was still feeling great and did some quick math.  If I kept up this 8:35 pace I would easily finish in under 3:50.  Keeping a pace in the last few miles of a marathon is never a guarantee, in fact 95% of the time you can count on dropping off your pace considerably in those last few miles.  But I decided that if I could catch the 3:50 pace group that I would plan to finish ahead of them rather than hold back.

A little past 20 miles I got the first signs of dehydration - my head was starting to feel cloudy and a baby headache was forming.  A bit later I took that GU Roctane and every drink of water I had after that began to clear my head.  As I mentioned before, I had never tried Roctane in training, but after that experience I am SOLD!

At Mile 21 I saw them.  Then in the long downhill in the 23rd mile I passed them.  I had forgotten that Pittsburgh had the opposite of heartbreak hill in the 23rd and 24th miles.  I think they did quite a bit of damage to my quads (I was still sore a couple days later), but the boost they provided was well worth it.

I kept waiting for the wall.  The point where I just wanted to stop and walk.  Where nothing was a good enough motivation to keep running.  There was no wall.  And I was passing everybody.  Just after the 25th mile marker there was a water stop and even though I was in a hurry to get to the finish, I grabbed a cup, got out of the way and walked and sipped, just taking it all in.

Aside:  I'm always amazed at the number of 4-hour marathoners who insist on running while they drink their water.  Not even really drinking, more like throwing it in their face and hoping some will trickle down their throat.  On a day like Sunday, when it's humid and you're going to be out there for four stinking hours, the seconds you save by running while drinking won't make up the slow down you experience if you get dehydrated.

I had never felt so good in the last mile of a marathon.  I didn't stress about my time - going under 3:50 was assured.  I just let myself relax, enjoy the cheering crowds and let my tired, but still strong legs glide to the finish.

Oh, and I was still passing everybody.

I crossed the final bridge and began the last half-mile dash to the finish line set between PNC Park and Heinz Field.  3:48:12!  A PR by nearly 17 minutes.

My experience on Sunday makes this one of my favorite marathon medals!

After the finish, I grabbed some a lot of water, a foil blanket, a banana, some pretzels, and a smiley-face cookie for Beth and headed to the "family reunion" area to meet Beth and hurry back to the hotel to make our 12:00 check-out time!   

I had signed Beth up to receive text alerts for my 10K, halfway, 20-mile and finish line splits.  They told quite the story:  at 10K my average pace indicated a 4:00:23 finish and that projection dropped steadily the whole way until the finish line.  The funny thing about having such a great race, though is that I learned very little from it.  Except that I think I can probably do it faster.  3:40 here I come!

Book Review: Run Your First Marathon by Grete Waitz and Gloria Averbuch

Last month, the great Norwegian marathoner Grete Waitz lost her battle with cancer at the age of 57.  Her legacy consists of not only nine New York Marathon victories, two victories at the London Marthon and gold medalist at the 1983 Marathon World Championship but also the founding of Active Against Cancer, a Norwegian charity that raises funds "for cancer hospital equipment and low active training centers for patients in cancer hospitals."

I am often skeptical of advice given by elite athletes to help beginners, because I believe their experience is so different from adults who may have been sedentary for many years and have only recently begun running and want to try the marathon.  But Waitz's experience coaching beginners and the sound recommendations in training quickly overcame this bias.

Run Your First Marathon is a comprehensive guide for those who are new to the sport to take the first steps towards conquering their first marathon.  It used to be that the marathon was only for runners who were bored with shorter distances and looking for a greater challenge.  Now, however it seems the marathon is for everyone with non-runners often training for a marathon as their first race.  Waitz accommodates even those runners with a 12 week walk-to-run program that will help those "starting from scratch" get the fitness necessary to begin her beginner's marathon schedule.

The 16-week schedule that leads up to the marathon is pretty typical of beginner marathon programs, but is designed to be flexible, with no days attached to mileage, just four numbers in each week for the runner to target.  I would recommend a longer lead-up in training for a beginner that would include runs longer than 20 miles (to build confidence and mental tenacity for a beginner), but I also acknowledge that most beginners programs don't have runs longer than that which thousands of beginners have used with considerable success.  I do however, like that she recommends regular walk breaks for beginners.  This is one thing that I thought was a great strength of Jeff Galloway's programs and am glad to see he is not a lone voice among marathon training experts.

Waitz goes over many other topics in running, including stretching and strengthening, keeping a training diary, and nutrition - giving sound advice in all topics.  She also went over how to pick out shoes where she seemed to largely rely on advice given to her by a shoe store owner which tended to steer her readers towards stability shoes.  This is fine in the "old paradigm" of running footwear, but I believe we have entered a new paradigm that relies on the foot functioning naturally, making stability footwear unnecessary.  She discounted the value of minimalist shoes (or "lightweight trainer" category) for beginners - I think a bit too hastily. 

Overall, Run Your First Marathon is an excellent introduction for beginners not only into marathon training, but also running culture with references to running for charity, running clubs and what to expect on race day itself.  If you have already run a marathon or two, this book probably isn't for you.  There's no mention of speed work, and only a very brief section on improving your marathon experience the second time around.  But if you are new to the sport and want to run 26.2 miles - this book can get you there.

Garbage In, Garbage In

Eating right is hard to do.  It's so easy to eat fast food and pre-packaged junk.  I mean who has time to cook their own meals using fresh ingredients all the time?  Not that many people.  Okay, maybe we do have the time, but taking the time is tough.  Not to mention the fast unhealthy stuff doesn't taste half bad.

I remember an article from the Spring of 2006 in Bicycling magazine where Dave Zabriskie was interviewing Floyd Landis.  While popping chocolate-covered gummy bears, Landis mentioned that "you can't do everything."  He was referring to weighing his food (like Lance Armstrong did), and he's right (although even though he didn't do everything, we now know what exactly Landis did do to win the 2006 Tour de France).  It's nearly impossible to have a perfectly restrained diet and to do every piece of training that the experts recommend and keep yourself fueled, happy and sane.

There's an old saying that if want to eat a whale, you do it one bite at a time (or maybe it was a joke or riddle...).  I think the same holds true when you're trying to improve your health.  You don't just start an exercise program by heading out the door for a thirty mile run (unless your name is Dean Karnazes).  Likewise, you don't just change your diet by quitting sweets and going raw vegan in one day.  Eventually you'll break, you'll binge and you're right back where you started.

You start with the little things.  And you can do that in a subliminal way.  I've found the days I'm eating best is when I'm getting a steady education on what to eat.  Whether its an article on the paleo diet or watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (coming back to ABC on May 27).  It's like it puts an extra filter in my head when I'm deciding what to pack in my lunch or where to go for some quick eats (can't go wrong with Neato Burrito).  So more often than not I'm going to make a good decision if I'm getting a good media influence.

Now, let me hearken back to my college days when I watched a lot of The Simpsons and Comedy Central.  Homer Simpson and overweight comics professing their love for all-you-can-eat buffets, not exactly positive nutritional role models.  I ate lots.  40 chicken wings in one sitting.  Six frozen burritos in a contest.  And don't get me started on the egg nog!  It wasn't just garbage in, garbage out, it was garbage in, then more garbage in!  As a result, I got big.

Today, I have far from the perfect diet.  Just ask the Reese's Pieces (movie-theater sized box) and Mike and Ike's (likewise) I bought on Wednesday.  Oh wait, you can't.  Because I ate them.  On Wednesday.  Wednesday wasn't the best day for me nutritionally.  But I made up for it the rest of the week with my packed lunch salads and greek yogurt.  It's hard to make good decisions all the time, but if you get the right information in your head, you can at least give yourself a fighting chance.

Pittsburgh Marathon Preview (2011 Edition)

I've gone over several ideas on my strategy for this coming Sunday in my head, and I think I've finally settled on one that will work.

You see, Pittsburgh's course is somewhat unique.  The first eleven miles or so are incredibly flat (before the course change, it was about 12 miles), and the half marathon course returns back to downtown before the course gets to the hilly section of town.  So the half marathon course is a completely different experience than the full marathon.

With that in mind, my pacing for the first ten miles is going to have to be a little faster than the rest of the race to get the best possible time.  Okay, I'm not really going for best possible, but this is one race where I can actually "bank" a little time without paying the piper near the end.  A little time.  So my plan is to do the first 11 miles at an 8:45 pace or thereabouts.

Then comes THE hill.  It really is deserving of a name because it is a beast.  My plan is to just let that hill take its pound of flesh, then hit the lap button to reset my pacing when I'm over the top.  When I ran Pittsburgh in 2009 it added about three minutes to my time for the first half of the course.  So while I was hitting a pace just below 9:00 per mile before the hill, I still hit the halfway mark spot on 2 hours - which meant that I needed an even split to make four hours.  Which did not happen.

After THE hill, the course is generally downhill, but still hilly.  If I can comfortably hit 8:45 miles for the first 11 miles, then 12 minutes for the mile that includes THE hill, I would expect that I could maintain a 9:00 per mile pace for the remaining 14.2.  That adds up to a 3:56:05 race time.  Which gives me a cushion of 3:55 to keep me under 4:00.

Truthfully, I think I have a 3:45 in me.  But probably not at Pittsburgh, and as they say, "you have to crawl before you can walk."  The four-hour marathon has been a bugaboo for me for the last three marathons I've run.  At Erie I was beaten by Hurricane Ike and the 80-degree temperatures that the storm pushed into Northwest Pennsylvania at seven AM.  At Pittsburgh I was beaten by the hills.  And at Harrisburg last fall I beat myself with poor race strategy and the lack of a watch.

I've been taking big chunks out of PR's at 5K, 5 miles and the half-marathon lately, but the marathon is a different beast, and you have to respect the distance.  So this time around I have one goal: 3:59:59.  Anything less than that is bonus.  Anything more than that...well, okay - I'll be somewhat happy with a PR (under 4:05:04), but the real goal is getting a time with a three in front.  I can shoot for 3:45 at Steamtown or Erie in 2012, but for now it's all about getting under four hours.

Okay, now that I've gotten the intense time-focused portion of the post over with (which would be totally unnecessary if I had gotten things right in November), let's talk about everything else I'm looking forward to.

One thing about Pittsburgh is that the city utterly embraces it's sporting events.  Whether it is the Steelers, the Penguins, the Pitt Panthers or the Pirates (okay, maybe not the Pirates so much these days), the city backs their athletes enthusiastically.  The same is true for the marathon.  I was amazed at the number of spectators on the course - not just downtown, but also Homewood, East Liberty and Shadyside.  Last time I ran this race I got such a boost from the kids lining the streets looking for high fives from 4:00-plus marathoners.  The energy surrounding the Pittsburgh Marathon could not be matched by the smaller races I've done in Harrisburg and Erie.

There's also the expo - Harrisburg and Erie didn't have much in the way of an expo.  Actually, they really didn't have anything.  Pittsburgh will has an extensive list of vendors, from 26.2 Apparel to Jeff Galloway to Xtreme Teeth Whitening MD (Whaaaa?).  There's a good chance that if I forgot anything I need, I can get it at the expo.



Adele is going to be at Beth's parents' place for the weekend, so after the marathon we're going to all meet up at the Pittsburgh Zoo to enjoy some time walking around admiring the wildlife there.  I hope the polar bears are as active as they were in 2009!

Flowers, Garage Sales and a Mother's Day Hike (and Anti-Monkey Butt Powder Winner!)

Congratulations to Mike J on winning the Anti-Monkey Butt Powder!  Check your inbox for an e-mail from me on how to get your bottle!

This week, I skipped every early morning workout I had scheduled.  But I don't feel guilty.  Well, not too guilty, anyways.  This is for two reasons: 1. I'm supposed to be tapering. and 2.  I did plenty of other stuff to make up for it.

Monday Beth and I bought some flowers and plants for our yard, including a blueberry bush and a honeysuckle vine that we're hoping will climb up an old ladder that we bought a few months back.  So far the blueberry bush looks to be doing great!  The jury's still out on the honeysuckle.

Of course Adele was a big help in planting our annuals:

This left me pretty pooped Mondy night, so I ended up skipping my Tuesday strength training and Wednesday speed session.

Thursday and Friday nights were spent getting ready for our garage sale.  There was no way I was getting up at 5 AM to pump iron after staying up after midnight pricing baseball cards!  We don't have much in the way of pictures (that is we don't have any pictures) from the garage sale due to it being a total flop.  We netted about 38 bucks (when you factor in the cost of the newspaper ad) and still have tons of stuff that we don't want.

For Mother's Day when I asked Beth what she wanted to do, she told me the Clarks Outlet shoe sale.  No surprise there, and I don't mind having a look there so I was ready to go after church.  But when she saw the beautiful weather we were having she changed her mind and said she'd rather go for a hike somewhere.  I suggested Boiling Springs to Center Point Knob on the Appalachian Trail and it was a go.

Unfortunately, I wore a pair of hiking shoes that I didn't have full-faith in and paid the price.  A nasty blister on each heel.  Fortunately, this is a taper week and I have seven days to toughen those patches of skin up before the Pittsburgh Marathon.  Despite my raw heels, we had a great time and spent a few minutes resting up at the top before heading back to the car.

Of course, once we had Adele out of her backpack carrier she didn't want back in and so we let her walk a while down the trail.  Most of the time she had to hold someone's hand though, since all those rocks and roots are tough for little legs to get over.

She eventually got tired and we got her back in the carrier - only to have her out again.  Then she refused to walk or go back in the carrier so I ended up carrying her the traditional way for about a half mile back to the car.  But we had a blast and Adele keeps talking about the "duht" (dirt) and how "money" (muddy) mommy and daddy's shoes were.

So that's my excuse for not getting up at my usual less-than-sane workout time at all this week.  Totally worth it!

"Runner" Tased at Cincinatti's Flying Pig Marathon

Quick Reminder: Don't forget to comment on last Wednesday's post before midnight on Saturday for a chance to win a bottle of Anti-Monkey Butt Powder!

Last Sunday Brett Henderson of St. Paris, Ohio  (not to be confused with Brent Henderson of Titusville, PA who won the last two Oil Creek 50K trail runs) decided to run Cincinatti's Flying Pig Marathon.  Naked.  He didn't have a a bib number and was wearing a pair of borrowed shorts that were too big and kept falling down.  So he ditched them.

He defended his actions by saying they were part of "running culture" - the idea that you overcome whatever comes at you and finish the race.

There is a LOT wrong with what he did and said so I'm going to take this piece by piece.

He Ran Without an Official Bib

Running a race without registering and obtaining an official race number (or "banditing a race" is a no-no. It's essentially stealing.  You're taking water, food and possibly medical attention that other runners had paid for.  Permits are issued based on the number of race participants, so you put future races at risk by increasing the number of participants (illegally).  If you want to run a race, pay the registration fee and get an official number.

He Borrowed a Pair of Shorts

I have to ask, how serious of a runner can you be if you don't even own a pair of shorts to run in?  Worse yet, he borrowed a pair that were too big.  And went "commando" (again, in borrowed shorts). So you can tell he had a specific race strategy going into this thing.

He Thought the Police "Were Going to Manhandle Him"

Here is the exact quote:  "At one point, the policeman charged me and told me to stop running or he was going to Tase me, and I could sense his aggression and rage and I thought the police were going to manhandle me."  He should have thought that they were going to tase him.  Because they said they would.  And then they did.  It seems that common sense is not something that Mr. Henderson possesses.

Running Naked is Part of "Running Culture"

What kind of freaky running culture is he talking about?  I guess there's the idea that you do everything you can to finish - and I would even dispute that, but come on - don't break the law!  There are naked races.  But not in major urban marathons!

"All the Other Runners" Encouraged Him

I highly doubt that "all" the other runs were encouraging.  And those that were probably heard what the cop said and wanted to see someone get tased. 

He did this in San Francisco and Nobody Cared Then

Because he was in San Francisco.

Training Update

Two months ago I posted about the breakthrough I've experienced over the past year or so.  I'm happy to report that that breakthrough is continuing.  After my sixth consecutive PR at the Chambersburg Half, I've really ramped up the "quality" workouts.

My concern about incorporating speedwork was that I'd feel too run-down afterwards to get the total mileage that I felt I needed to have a good marathon.  No such thing has happened.  I've been doing weekly "Yasso 800" sessions, with a 9 x 800 session last Monday and a 10 x 800 session planned for Wednesday.  I've managed to do each repeat between 3:20 and 3:30 (with a few falling outside that range), indicating a sub 3:40 marathon time - well below what I have planned for Pittsburgh.

Long runs have also gone well, although I did have a hiccup last weekend while recovering from some kind of stomach bug, I skipped my last 20-miler.  But I do already have a 20-miler under my belt, at a pace nearly as fast as the average pace that I ran Harrisburg last fall.  Inspired by this Running Times article, instead of doing two fast-finish long runs, I changed them to marathon simulator runs - doing 16 miles at marathon pace.  I did the first at an 8:39 pace and the second at 8:33.  The first I felt I had another 10 miles in me, the second I'm not so sure.

That sounds like a lot of hard training, and for me, it is.  But one of the things that I've noticed in this breakthrough I've experienced is my recovery has improved vastly.  It used to be that after a long run the outsides of my quads would be sore for a few days and I definitely wouldn't run the day after.  Now 24 hours after a long run, I feel fresh and often do 5-8 miles as a shakeout before headed into another week.

Something else has accompanied this breakthrough, at least in these last few peak training.  I've been incredibly hungry.  Constantly.  Breakfast rarely satisfies me past 9:00 AM, and I'm usually hitting at least two snacks in the morning.  I used to be fine until about 10:00, get a snack, have lunch then there's a 50/50 chance I'll need something around three.  Now it's two snacks in the morning, lunch then by about 2:30 I'm hungry for more.  Usually I can hold off a second afternoon snack by telling myself I'll be home at 5:00.  But once I get home I grab something to hold me over until dinner.  I've always been a snacker, but lately it seems like I'm torching these calories, since I haven't gain any weight at all.

My mileage peaked this week at 50 miles.  It was supposed to peak last week at the same number, but the afforementioned stomach bug interfered and I ended up with an extra rest day and about 29 miles short of my goal.  This week I had planned on 40 miles, then upped that planned number to 48 due to the lost training from last week, then partway through my run this evening I realized an extra two miles would give me 50, a weekly amount I've reached only once before - the week I ran the JFK 50.

I'll save my goals and strategy for Pittsburgh for a later post, but I'm definitely going to be conservative this time around and save the blazing fast time for a later race. So the way training has gone thus far, I feel confident of reaching my goal this time around.