Run to Win

2007 has come and gone, and 2008 is about to start.

This year, I ran just shy of 1900 miles, which is half again what I ran last year. I attribute that to my lack of injuries this year, with a short stint of achilles tendonitis that I managed to nip in the bud. I did not realize that I was well on pace for a 2000 mile year until right before I took 3 weeks off in November, which killed that goal.

My official total came to 1894.5 miles, but I decided to take today off from running so I will stay a little short of the 1900 mark. Next year I expect to run between 2300 and 2500 miles, helped by the number of trail miles that I plan on running to help hold off injuries.
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Rhode Island now offers two marathons with the addition of the Cox Sports Marathon in Providence. It is one of 3 races that make up the Rhode Races running festival. A half marathon will start out with the marathon, and at a separate location there will be a 5k. The race will be on May 4^th, 2008.

The course begins at Johnson & Wales and goes through East Providence, Pawtucket and downtown Providence. Charlie Breagy will be directing the race, and Eident Sports Marketing will be promoting it.

I was considering running the Breaker’s Marathon this Autumn, but now I need to consider the possibility of getting Rhode Island out of the way this Spring. I am already registered for the ING Georgia Marathon 5 weeks earlier, so I will not have to worry about being in shape for the race. It would also save on having to drive as far. Whether I decide to run or not, the Breaker’s web folks need to update their website. It is no longer “Rhode Island’s only marathon!”

This week last year, I looked back at both my training, my health, and my writing. I think that this has helped me improve all three areas this year.

• I looked at the final numbers for 2006. Last year, I ran less than 1400 miles, held a pretty steady weight and wrote 560 articles. This year, I ran over 1800 miles and my weight had even less swing than last year. I wrote more this year, and I’ll talk about this year’s final numbers a little more in a couple of days.
• The first snow run finally came by this week last year. This year, the first snow run was weeks ago. Snow is great for building strength; this year, rather than dealing with traffic I have been seeking out the snow and taking to the trails.
• I finished the workout locations series of articles by explaining how planning workouts around vacations can be accomplished.
• One of the Coast to Coast runners, Chris Schauerman, made news thanks to his undergraduate research in nanotechnology and physics at RIT.
• I continued my animated series by showinghow to do a crooked arm lateral raise. I also suggested that you loosen your watch band when lifting weights to prevent cutting off your circulation.

I have run a few marathons, and I have made a lot of mistakes.

Those are all mistakes that you don’t have to make.

There are some simple steps that you can take to enjoy your race, race well, and then recover sufficiently to enjoy the rest of your day and be mobile after your race.

I will having a teleconference call early in January, and I would like to answer the questions that you have about marathon preparation and recovery.

Go here to sign up for the call: http://www.marathoning.org/1-question.html

What is your most pressing question about how to prepare for a marathon (or any other race) in the week or days or hours leading up to your race?

Is there anything that you want to know about how to recover from your race so that you do not have to be the person barely able to move or stay wake during your post-race lunch or dinner?

I will be answering as many questions on the call as I can in an hour or an hour and a half. I’ve already received about a dozen questions (perhaps 8 unique questions) and I am looking forward to adding your question to the list!

If you have any interest in marathoning or race preparation, then please let me know what questions you would specifically like to have answered and sign up for the call:
http://www.marathoning.org/1-question.html

I will send you the call in details for the conference call early next week if you sign up for it. I will also make the recording available to those who sign up for a short period of time after the call has been completed.

I have not finalized the actual date or the phone number for the call yet, but I expect that it will be late next week or next weekend. I will make the recording available for those who can not make the call for at least a couple of weeks.

The Spirit of the Marathon is a feature-length movie following 6 runners as they train for and run the Chicago Marathon in 2005. Deena Kastor takes center stage along with 1 other professional, 4 amateur athletes and a “Who’s Who of Marathoning” that make cameo appearances throughout the film (including Joan Benoit Samuelson.)

The movie debuted last October and was well received at two film festivals, and will be screening on January 24^th, 2008 for 1 night only in 500 theaters nationwide. I have already bought tickets for my wife and I to see it in Brunswick, Maine.

“I simply went about my normal routine and training,” said Kastor, “and they followed and filmed as we went. I did not find it distracting. In fact, it was motivating.”

“I was struck by the similarities for us as we prepared for the Chicago Marathon,” she said. “Everyone had hurdles and setbacks, and everyone struggled through long runs—it was so similar despite the different levels of training and pace.”

“I went into that race very confident—I don’t know where that came from—but I was supremely confident,” Kastor recalled. “I ended up winning by only five seconds, and I hit the wall for the first time.”

Here is the trailer for the movie:
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A couple of years ago, I reviewed The New Rules of Lifting by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove. It is one of my favorite exercise books and I have tailored quite a few of my lifting routines after ones that were provided in that book over the past couple of years. A common question that a lot of people were asking the authors, though, was how to adjust the workouts so that they would be appropriate for women.

Now, there is a New Rules of Lifting for Women. I have not read the book yet, so I do not know how different that it is from the original book. According to Lou Schuler, most workouts that would work for men will also work for women, except that instead of gaining bulk they would just get in shape and look better as women do not have as much testosterone as men do.

Ryan Lee interviewed Lou Schuler last week about writing the book, and they discussed why he wrote it and some of the influences that Schuler had. You can listen to the 12 minute interview at Ryan’s site or by clicking play here:
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Enjoy some time with your family this holiday season; it is what I am doing!

Merry Christmas!

In a continuing collaboration with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we will be writing about taking advantage of your location for the month of December. This week, I will explain why you should take advantage of your local trail system.

This past Summer I wrote about the Trail Running 101 presentation put on by a couple of the local ultramarathoners. I recommend re-reading that article for specific tips about how to run trails and why you should.

There are two major reasons that I run trails that I would like to focus on today. The first is the lack of traffic, and the second is the strength and injury resistance that running trails can build.

Major Advantage 1: The Lack of Traffic

If you are anything like myself, then most of your miles are on the roads. Running on the roads means that you have to deal with traffic. Running on the trails means that you get to avoid the majority of that traffic.

A lack of traffic means that the air is probably going to be cleaner. It means that your run is going to be quieter. And most importantly, it means that your body is not going to get rammed into by a hunk of metal that is 20 times more massive.

Running on the trails does not mean that there will be no traffic. In the Summer, your local trails may have other runners, mountain bicyclists, and dirt bikes on them. In the Winter, you’ll see snowmobilers and skiers and snowshoers on the trails. All year round you will find animals on your trails. Most trails will still be far less trafficked than most of the routes you could run on the roads, and the majority of that traffic is far less obnoxious.

Major Advantage 2: Building Strength

Running on the trails involves far less repetitive motion and impact on your legs. Because you are constantly placing your foot differently with each step on most of the trails that you will find, you are not going to develop overuse injuries as swiftly as you would on the roads.

When you are running on a well maintained road, you can easily zone out and settle into a nice stride where each step is indistinguishable from the last step or the next step. On the trails, you need to avoid (or find) the rocks, keep yourself from stepping in holes or tripping on branches. Turns can come much more frequently than on the roads.

Every step that you take involves the buildup of kinetic energy. When your foot lands, that energy is either absorbed by the surface you are running on or it is returned through your legs upon impact with the surface. In reality, a percentage is always absorbed and always returned. When you run on asphalt, more kinetic energy is going to be returned through your legs, which helps you take the next step with that leg. It also increases the impact on that leg.

Running on grass or dirt causes more of that kinetic energy to be absorbed by the ground. You need to work harder to take each step on grass than on asphalt, and there is less impact. This means that you will be less prone to injury, and it also means that you will build up more strength.

Running through snow covered trails is even more work. A Winter spent running trails through snow can leave you with strong, injury resistant muscles come Spring. It is a great way to build your aerobic base.

Run Trails Today
Whether your trails are covered in snow or not, you should take the opportunity to run on your local trails on a regular basis. I try to run at least once or twice per week on the trails, sometimes more. Look for a local trail running club in your area to learn your way around.

Build up a good aerobic base, build up good lower body strength, become more resistant to injury, and have some fun.