After last week’s promising performance in the Jingle Bell Run, I gave myself permission to head to the park for some mile repeats at threshold pace today. Based on an 18:47 in a 2.9 mile race, my threshold range for 1 mile cruise intervals is between 6:45 and 7:05.
I’ll admit that I was tired this morning and it took a lot of convincing to get myself to the park. My warm-up lap felt good, but after a quick stretch I was ready to drive home and crawl back in bed. I convinced myself to complete four 1 mile repeats with 2 minute walking rests in between. Here’s how they went:
warm-up: 8:30
mile 1: 6:36
mile 2: 6:35
mile 3: 6:39
mile 4: 6:41
cool down: 8:42
Mile 4 was pretty tough and I was really feeling it in my legs. So, my threshold pace predictions were pretty accurate. I probably took the first three a little too fast. The knee held up throughout the entire workout. It was a little sore afterward, but felt better after stretching and massage with “the stick”. I felt pretty wiped out the rest of the day, but it feels good to be back in the game and to be hitting these cruise intervals faster than my planned pace for the Rock & Roll half marathon.
The annual Wednesday night Jingle Bell run has become a tradition for our family and I think I’ve run it for the last four years straight. I’ve taken it fairly seriously in the past, but there are no race numbers, no clock at the finish, and often times several walkers lining up right on the starting line. The run starts on the St. Petersburg Pier and was probably 5K at one time, but as it became more popular, I think they moved the start/finish line further toward the base of the pier to accommodate more people. Thus, I’ve learned to look at it for what it is: a fun run.
Still, with the knee on the mend, I’ve been looking for an opportunity to test it out before giving myself the go ahead to start speed workouts in preparation for the 2012 Rock and Roll St. Petersburg half marathon. So, I chatted with a few friends in the crowd at the starting line before moving up closer to the front of the pack as the jingle bells signified the start.
I went out at a brisk, but comfortable pace, not going out of my way to pass people, but accelerating whenever there was an opening in the crowd. Less than a quarter mile from the start, I heard my name called and turned around to see Meredith. I ran backward for a few feet as we briefly chatted, then turned and made my way ahead. There were still people walking on the course as I rounded the corner at the base of the pier, but I soon broke free of the pack. The knee was feeling good, so I started to pick runners off one by one.
I made it through the 1 mile mark in about 6:45, which I thought was pretty good all things considered. My legs were feeling a little sore from the week’s weight training but I was otherwise comfortable. I made my way toward the Northshore pool, passing a few runners along the way and I rounded the halfway point still feeling comfortable.
Gaps were starting to develop between runners, but I wasn’t really very concerned. I was just running on the edge of discomfort. I would accelerate past a runner, then back off slightly, revving my engine into the red briefly, then coasting for a while to recover. When I made my way past the two mile mark, my legs were beginning to feel tired but my breathing was going well, so I passed a few more runners.
When I made it back to the base of the pier, the half a pizza I had eaten just an hour before was starting to weigh on me. I was developing a side stitch, but I knew I only had a about a half mile to go. A police officer walked the median of the road and yelled out our placements. I was in 21st place, which I figured was decent, but in the back of my mind I figured I could probably pass one more person for 20th.
Although I felt myself continue to “stitch up”, I drew close to the runner in front of me, then hammered a hard acceleration. He immediately responded and we both passed the runner in front of him. Content with 20th place and not wanting re injure my knee in a fun run, I let him go and crossed the finish line in 18:47. Had it been a 5K, I would have been ecstatic, but my Garmin read 2.9 miles. The pace was still good for a sub 20 minute 5K, so I was happy with that. Better yet, my knee felt okay (and still does) so it looks like I can give myself the green light for some mile repeats next week.
It was a nice week of training:
Monday: 3 miles easy + lower body weight training
Tuesday: 4 miles easy + upper body and core weight training
Wednesday: 3 miles hard
Thursday: 3 miles easy + full body weight training
For the last year and a half, I’ve been on a minimalist kick. I’m not a hard core barefoot runner, but I do believe that a whole lot of padding in the heel of my shoe isn’t helping me a lot and I’ve noticed that running requires a little bit less effort now that I’ve been running almost exclusively in minimalist shoes for over a year.
While I’ve yet to attempt a run in toe shoes, I’ve always been intrigued by the concept of toe socks. So, I obtained a pair of Injinji lightweight toe socks and took them out for a few runs. Like the Cabbage Patch Kid I got for my 7th birthday, my Injinji socks came with a little instruction memo.
Yes, I had a Cabbage Patch Kid.
Actually, I had two: Bernard Travis and Hannibal Victor, which sounds suspiciously like Hannibal Lecter but the thing never tried to kill me or eat me. Cut me some slack. I have an older sister.
In any case, the little memo that came with the socks let me know that the best way to get a feel for the toesocks was to simply get out and about with them. To quote the memo, “your first time wearing Injinji Toesocks may feel a little funny, due to unfamiliarity with the unique fabric-between-the-toes sensation. However, after a few wears and washes, you’ll soon find that they come to feel like a second skin.”
With that advice in hand, I slipped on the toe socks for the first time…or at least I tried to. I was first introduced to Bonnie Consolo by my high school Spanish teacher. She was born without arms and with the absence of hands, she accomplished many tasks such as peeling vegetables and playing the guitar using her very dextrous feet. I’m no Bonnie Consolo. The human hand is a wondrous thing. It is a precision instrument. We often take for granted the amount of control we have over our hands and how effortless it is to quickly and seamlessly slip on a glove. The feet, are more of a blunt instrument that we pound into the ground over and over day after day for our entire lives. It’s a little hard to get those toes going in new directions.
After a minute or two of wrangling, I was able to get the toesocks on my feet and you know what? They felt a little funny. I went for a run and after a little while I forgot I was wearing them. A high knit count makes the lightweight performance toesocks durable despite their ultra-thin fiber construction. They’re composed of Coolmax, Nylon and Lycra so they remain dry throughout the run and retain their 5 toe shape through all the punishment I dish out on the road and in the laundry.
One huge advantage of toesocks is that they position the toes in a more anatomically correct position and prevent skin on skin friction that causes blisters. I was lucky enough to be born anatomically correct, I suppose (thanks mom & dad) and I’ve never had any problems with toe blisters in the past. So, I can’t really speak for the toesocks’ effectiveness in that regard. I will say that the precision stitching in the heel, the arch support and the dual welt band at the ankle do a phenomenal job of keeping the socks in place. There’s no bunching and no slippage at all.
The best thing I can say about these socks is that I really do forget I’m wearing them and I’m not sure I could say anything better about a sock. I mean, who really wants to think about their socks after they’ve put them on? “Second skin” is certainly a perfect description for the fit. The worst thing I can say is that it takes a while to put them on. Fortunately, I’m not so busy that I can’t spare an extra minute to pamper my feet. I suppose they do deserve it after all.
***Disclaimer: The Injinji Toesocks were complimentary, but the opinions expressed are all mine. ***
I’ve got a streak going! This is my second blog post in as many days.
I’ll be the first to admit that my own training has suffered since I’ve started coaching more. Lately, however, I’ve been getting back into the groove. Maybe it’s the end of the cross country season, or maybe it’s the cooler weather. Certainly the time change and the open windows have conspired to deliver sunlight to my bedroom early in the morning and that gets me out of bed earlier.
Sure I’m captaining 8 Ragnar Relay teams in 2012, but I’m not officially running any of them. So, I’ve registered for the inaugural St. Petersburg Rock and Roll half marathon. It’s in late February and it’s in my hometown! I’ve run a few 5K’s and 10K’s in St. Pete, but I’ve never run a major race in my hometown. So, that will be fun. I figure that if I ran 1:36 and change at the Wine and Dine half marathon on very little training, then I should be able to get myself back under 1:30 on 12 solid weeks of training.
That, of course means speed workouts and speed workouts mean I have to get rid of this nagging tendonitis in my left knee. So, I’ve been getting up early and hitting a yoga mat in my living room. I haven’t been doing yoga. I’ve been doing my own body weight strength training routines.
I start with the Myrtl routine (which actually isn’t mine). It’s great for attacking the basis of the tendonitis in the knee. Then, I progress to the leg routine, the upper body routine and the core routine before going back for one more pass at the Myrtl routine. I go from exercise to exercise without stopping to rest in between so it gets my heart rate going too. In a way, it’s a little like P90X.
I’ve been doing it three times a week and running easy on the in between days. Sometimes I run with the cross country team in the afternoon after doing the strength workout in the morning. I feel stronger and my knee feels more stable everyday. I can still feel odd pressure there, but the pain is gone. I think in another week, I might be able to throw in a tempo run or some cruise intervals.
I’m also leading a run group on Saturday mornings and a lot of people attending that group are doing the same race. So, it’s nice to share that common goal with everyone else. My long runs are at 10 miles and I’ll have no problem safely getting up to 15 for a few of them before race day.
I think the last time I posted about a Ragnar Relay, I used 3 full posts. Don’t worry, I’m not going to do that this time. After all, I didn’t really run this one. I was just the captain. As most of my loyal readers know, I’ve dedicated my life to bringing runners together for social running opportunities. While I’m always open to suggestions, the thing that has worked the best is getting a bunch of strangers together to run relay style for 200 miles in some of the most beautiful places in the country.
The 2011 Tennessee Ragnar Relay was my first such attempt and it couldn’t have gone much better. I announced that the Digital Running Club was putting a team together way back in June. Interest was slow at first and I started to doubt whether I might pull this off. By the time we reached the early bird deadline for the relay, we had 5 people signed up for the team. I had also promised all those people their money back if the team didn’t fill up by October 1st.
So, I took a very deep breath when I forked over a non-refundable $1200 to register the team for the relay. Fortunately, interest grew after the early bird deadline and the team filled with all 12 members only a day or two in to September. Now, you might think that putting a team of 12 strangers together could go very wrong. I was worried, for instance, that one or more of the team members would not show up. I figured that if that happened, I would just fill in. Then, of course there’s always the worry about how people will get along. Would there be drama in the vans?
Everyone got along great and they all became fast friends. Here’s how it all turned out in video form:
If you like that video, please, please, please vote for it by clicking HERE, scrolling past the sign up form (you don’t need to fill it out) and clicking the little “vote” square underneath our video. We’ve got a solid hold on second place, but we need to catch the Trunk Monkeys for the win. If we win, we’ll get a free entry into next year’s relay and I’ll sweat much less when I register the team. Go. Do it now. You can come back and read the rest of this later.
I did manage to get an 8.2 mile run in during the middle of the night. I decided I was going to escort John, our fastest runner through his nighttime leg. I followed him closely for about a mile and then he turned it up and dropped me. He ran that leg in just over 53 minutes. I think I squeaked under and hour. If it had been my leg, I would have been happy with it, but it’s always pretty sobering when they guy you’re pretending to escort comes in 8 minutes before you.
It was funny later when I heard people talking about the “young sleeveless guy” passing everybody on that leg. Sleeveless me passed 6 people. Fully sleeved John passed 11. Clearly they did not even see him run by.
I’m so excited that this relay went off so well, though I did learn a few things for our next relay. The Florida Keys Ragnar Relay team is full and it’s only a month and a half away from lining up at the starting line in Miami! We’re headed to Arizona for the Del Sol Ragnar Relay in February and we’ve still got a few spots left on that team, so be sure to sign up if you’re interested.
Last month, I ran surprisingly well at the Disney Wine & Dine half marathon. One of the reasons I had low expectations for that race was that I had previously injured my left knee trying to out sprint a high school runner at the end of cross country practice. I was experiencing inflammation on the lateral part of that knee and had only maxed out my long runs at 12 miles. Both of those workouts were painful.
Shortly before the race, Hyland’s sent me a package of goodies. Enclosed was a huge bag of samples of their Muscle Therapy Gel containing Arnica. I had never heard of it, but the package read “Natural Pain Relief”, so I slathered the gel all over my left knee before I departed the hotel for the race.
The inflammation in my knee disappeared almost immediately. Honestly, I didn’t think much of it because I’ve used other products before that just seem to mask the pain with another sensation. This gel, however, is different. It’s a little runnier than most gels or creams but it’s not greasy or sticky and it dries quickly. Unlike other topical pain relief products, it has no detectable odor.
I ran the half marathon pain free until the 10 mile mile mark. With all the waiting around we did before the start, that was about 4 1/2 to 5 hours after I applied the gel in the hotel.
The next morning, Raffi woke up with a pain in her neck (not my fault). Since we were planning on hanging out at the Epcot Food & Wine festival all day, she wanted to be comfortable. I suggested she try the muscle therapy gel. She did and she described the same almost instantaneous relief of the pain in her neck and shoulder.
Being a studious scientist, I did a little research when I got home. It turns out that Arnica montana (also known as Wolf’s Bane) is a poisonous plant native to mountainous regions of Europe. It contains derivatives of thymol, which have anti-inflammatory effects. In fact, a study published in 2007 showed that Arnica gels were just as effective as daily ibuprofen use for relieving pain in patients with osteoarthritis and had fewer side effects. Another study showed that people with arthritis of the knee who used Arnica gels twice daily for 3 weeks experienced significant reductions in pain and increased mobility.
I’ve never been a fan of long term usage of ibuprofen because of it’s associated risk of myocardial infarction and stroke in addition to the potential for hypertension – not to mention the gastrointestinal effects. So, having an all natural alternative that actually works well is awesome. To be fair, Arnica gels do cause mild allergic skin reactions in a small percentage of people and they should never, ever be used on damaged on broken skin. All in all, however, Arnica gels are a safe and effective alternative to ibuprofen and I’m happy I’ve still got several Hyland’s Muscle Therapy gels left over. I only I hope I won’t have any reason to use them!
If you’d like to try it for yourself, Hyland’s is giving away samples of the gel. All you have to do is check out Hyland’s Fit Talk on Facebook, “Like” the page and let them know that Coach Brian from the Digital Running Club sent you. They’ll contact you and send you a free sample.
Alternatively, you can follow them on Twitter, then let them know that @RunCoachBrian from @DigitalRunning sent you. They’ll get in touch for your mailing info so they can send out the free sample.
Edit: The giveaway will close on Sunday 11/13/2011 at 11:59 PM ET. You will be contacted on Monday 11/14/2011 for the mailing address where you’d like to receive your free sample.
***Disclaimer: The Hyland’s Muscle Therapy Gel was complimentary, but the opinions expressed and background research are all mine. ***
Did you know that the typical running shoe has a 10-12 mm drop? Do you even know what that means? It means that the shoe places the runner’s heel 10-12 mm higher than his or her forefoot. That’s all about to change, though.
Recently Saucony has discovered that an 8 mm drop allows runners to adjust their stride in order to land mid-foot without sacrificing cushioning or stability. A mid-foot strike greatly reduces impact when compared with a heel strike. At 8 mm, a runner’s ankles, calves, knees, quads and hamstrings are in better alignment allow these joints and muscles to better absorb the impact of the road.
Check out the following video, which introduces the new shoe geometry:
Is this the perfect marriage of minimalism with cushioning/stability technology? Time will tell, but you can decide for yourself by heading over to Saucony’s Facebook page where you can enter to win a pair of Saucony 8 mm running shoes. Hurry because the offer end on November 8th.
Tonight, I’m packing for a trip to Tennessee for the 2011 Tennessee Ragnar Relay. I’m not actually running, but I’m very excited about experiencing the event as driver of van #2 for Team 196 Proof. It’s the first of many overnight cross country running relays that I get to participate in over the next 12 months. I’ve been planning this relay since June and it’s kind of hard to believe it’s actually going to be happening on Friday morning.
Tomorrow morning is the district championship meet for the cross country team I coach. Both the boys and the girls should easily make it through to the regional championships and both teams have a pretty good shot at being district runners up. Who knows, if the day goes well, perhaps one of them might even pull out the district championship. The meet is at a very familiar course and the weather looks to be perfect. It should be fun.
So, after packing tonight, I’ll be coaching the district meet in the morning, then hopping on a plane to Nashville, then driving to Chattanooga. On Friday morning, the relay will start and we’ll run 196 miles to Nashville where we’ll celebrate Saturday night. On Sunday morning, I come home. I call that a fun weekend.
After that, time will undoubtedly speed up as Thanksgiving comes and goes, then Christmas and New Years and on to the Florida Keys Ragnar Relay. The next two months are going to rock!
I’m not a big fan of wearing hats. I’ve always found them to be itchy and I hate the way they trap so much heat. They say 45% of body heat is lost through your head and I say, “good riddance!” The cooler you can make me while I’m running, the faster I can run.
As most of you know, however, I’m a bald man with a strong family history of skin cancer and I live in St. Petersburg, Florida -the sunniest city in the United States (according to the Chamber of Commerce). If I value my long term health, or at least the unblemished, shiny finish on my dome, then wearing a hat while I’m running is a necessity.
For years, I’ve been wearing hats of various technical fabrics. Some were solid and thin, others were thicker and made of a tight knit mesh. They’ve served their purpose and I’ve yet to develop a single blemish on my head. I thought I’d reached the pinnacle of running hat technology and I was satisfied to go on running wearing these same hats for the rest of my life.
Then, someone suggested I check out Headsweats hats. When my new Headsweats Race Hat arrived, I immediately knew it was different. I was struck by its feather light weight and I couldn’t wait to take it for a spin. After some adjustments to the sizing during cross country practice that day, I quickly forgot the hat was there. Not only is it lightweight, but the airflow through the shell kept me cool and dry. My other hats take hours to dry after a long run, but this hat remains pretty dry the whole way and it’s completely dry minutes after I remove it.
The Race Hat is made of 100% Coolmax polyester fabric. It weighs less than 2 oz. The plastic rear buckle is secure, but easily released with one hand. The adjustable strap is durable and very easily tightened with one hand while wearing the hat. Loosening the fit can quickly be done with two hands while wearing the hat – or even with one hand and some focus.
The interior of the Race Hat features a thin Coolmax terry headband. This not only keeps sweat from dripping into my eyes, but virtually eliminates the itchiness I’ve felt with other hats. Just looking at this hat, I would never have believed that it would be so much better than anything else I’ve ever worn, but I’m not exaggerating when I say that I haven’t worn any of my other hats since this one arrived.
Yes, that’s a little gross but because the Headsweats Race Hat wicks moisture away so rapidly, it doesn’t smell bad. It’s easy to wash too. I can refresh it with a gentle soaking in my bathroom sink, then hang it on the shower curtain and it’s dry in less than an hour. For a more thorough washing, I just throw it in the washer with the delicates and then let it dry on the drying rack.
At $20, the Race Hat is a bargain. It comes in a variety of colors and it’s highly customizable for all you coaches and race directors out there. I wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone who regularly runs or performs any physical activity in a hat.
Editor’s Notes:
1) The “45% of heat lost through the head” myth has been debunked. It was originally based on an army experiment where subjects in arctic suits spent time in cold weather. 45% of their body heat was lost though their heads because it was the only body part that was exposed.
2) St. Petersburg is the sunniest city in the United States only according to the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. Actual research shows that Phoenix, AZ is the sunniest major city in the United States, though nearby Tampa, FL is #11!
***Disclaimer: The Race Hat was complimentary, but the opinions are solely mine.***
This post has been a long time coming. Half a year ago, I lost my good friend Nancy to leukemia. I always admired Nancy in many ways. She was and still is the strongest woman I’ve ever met. When she left for Boston to get her bone marrow transplant, I hugged her and told her I’d see her in a few months. I never doubted that. I’d never seen anyone or anything beat her. Even when the calls from her husband indicated that things had taken a turn for the worse, I still never doubted she’d come home and throw a big party in her backyard.
Finally, in March when her backyard was filled with people gathered to remember her I still half expected to hear “Sweet Home Alabama” cranked up over the outside speakers and to see Nancy come dancing out of the house with her wine glass in hand and a big grin on her face.
She didn’t.
We had buried her that morning.
She was gone.
Nancy was a successful business woman. She joined a major company right out of college and worked her way up to a top executive position. I think she enjoyed working. I’m not sure if she liked the work itself or just the challenge of being the best. She was certainly competitive, but also gracious and organized. She kept a box full of birthday cards filed by month and she pre-filled them when she had time. Although she was deathly ill in the hospital, I received my birthday card right on time. My daughter received hers, signed by Nancy, two months after Nancy passed away.
Although Nancy was quite a but older than me, she died too soon. It got me thinking about my own mortality much more than the deaths of my grandparents in the last few years. I started to wonder what I’d do if I knew I had only a few months to live. Every morning, I’d wake up, lie in bed for a while then get up and look at myself in the mirror. I asked myself if I were going to die next week, would I want to do what I had to do that day.
Too often, the answer was ‘no’.
So, I made some changes. Unless the task I “had” to do and didn’t want to do was absolutely 100% urgent, I didn’t do it. Instead, I used that time to do something I did want to do, or something that would get me one step closer to living a life where I could wake up, ask myself the same question and regularly answer ‘Yes!’
Recently, after Steve Jobs died, his famous Stanford commencement address was broadcast repeatedly through all social media channels:
At about 9:25 in that video, he says:
“…for the past 33 years, I’ve looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, ‘if today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ and whenever the answer has been ‘no’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something”.
Wow! I’ve never been a huge Steve Jobs fan, but that hit home. Everyone’s commenting on how profound that is and I’ve been doing it for months! Score one for Brian! I wonder how many people who’ve posted that video on their Facebook or Twitter accounts aren’t really happy with their jobs or their lives, were inspired by that video, but have yet to take one step to change their own lives. I don’t mean to take a “holier than thou” attitude, but really the universe is always going to throw you some unlucky times and some lucky times. As in poker, I think the trick is to minimize your losses when you’re unlucky and maximize your gains when you’re lucky. It’s not about the cards you’re dealt. It’s about what you do with them.
So, I’ve been putting more effort into digitalrunning.com and it’s been fun. Because of it, I’ve gotten to do a lot of things I love to do and I’ve been able to call it “work”. One thing I do know now is that when I wake up in the morning, sit next to my wife in the driver’s seat of a 12 passenger van full of runners eager to run 200 miles relay style, look at myself in the rearview mirror and ask myself if I’m going to die today, do I really want to do what I’m about to do, the answer is most definitely ‘Yes!’.
What would you like to change? How are you working toward that goal?
