On November 29, I tried to go to bed early, but I had an idea. So I got up to write down some notes and went back to bed. Then I got up to take more notes. This went on until instead of going to bed an hour early I was going to bed 3 hours late…and that’s how the Runner’s Almanac began.

Fast forward 2 weeks and 2 days and I was ordering a proof. The book was put together, the cover designed, interior typeset, and now it was just time to wait and see whether what I’d envisioned in my head was going to work when it was actually on paper.

And yes, yes it does!

The proof of the book came in today, so I’ve gone ahead and made it available for purchase.

The book will appear at Amazon most likely between Monday and Wednesday of next week, but until then you can check out the book’s website, download a sample chapter if you’d like to see what it’s all about, and order it directly if you’d rather get it sooner rather than later (it would make a great Christmas gift for any runner in the family!)

Just head on over to: therunnersalmanac.com

I’d like to apologize for waiting a week before choosing a winner. I’ve got a great project in the works that is just about finished and ready to be announced that has consumed all of my time over the past couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I’d like to award the final 2 sets of IceSpikes to some deserving winners. If you took part in either of the previous two contests, you are already entered, but you are welcome to get a bonus entry into this contest now if you like by just leaving a comment below.

I will choose 2 winners at random on Sunday night at 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time so you have until then to leave a comment below.

Update: Rather than make yet another post on these contests, since this is the final one I am going to just announce the winners of the last 2 sets!

This time, there were 91 entries, and #13 and #69 were chosen, which are Jim in Wells and Marcel.

Congrats, guys, I’ll be contacting you for a mailing address!

I’d also like to announce another contest for another free set! This one will run a little longer. You have from now until Friday, December 9th at noon Eastern Time to leave a comment below. Also, for those that entered this weekend’s contest – you’ll get an automatic entry from yesterday’s or this morning’s entry and can have a bonus entry by leaving a comment on this post. (This only applies for those that entered before the deadline – future comments won’t be considered on that post, only on this one.)

If you win one of these sets of Ice Spikes, then you aren’t eligible to win again. Sorry – one set per person!

So, who did win the first set? Let’s see:

Contest Winner

The 45th comment (out of 46) was left by LaNeta Roth at 11:27 am this morning! Great job getting your entry in right under the wire, LaNeta! I’ll be contacting you for where to send your free set of Ice Spikes.

And don’t forget, until midnight tonight (Sunday, December 4th) you can get a 15% discount off of any order from their website. Just go to www.icespike.com and enter coupon code: stocking stuffer

And if you want to enter this week’s contest for the next free set of Ice Spikes, all you need to do is leave a comment below.

There are other solutions that I’ve reviewed before, such as Stabilicers and Yak Trax, but until I heard about Ice Spikes my favorite solution was to just drill sheet metal screws into the bottom of my shoes. They’re both cheaper and more effective than anything else I’d tried.

Having used Ice Spikes for a couple of Winters now, my conclusions from 2010 still hold true. Sheet metal screws aren’t as effective as Ice Spikes and they don’t last nearly as long. However, they are a lot cheaper.

How much you run and how much traction you want will determine which solution is better for you, and if you’d like to see all the pros and cons of both solutions then click here to see my full summary.

There is one thing for sure, however, and that’s that if you can get your Ice Spikes on sale or for free, then there’s no contest about which is a better option! Ice Spikes has been kind enough to sponsor quite a few races here in Southern Maine, one of which I direct and a few put on by my trail running friends.

How To Win a Free Set of Ice Spikes

They’ve also been kind enough to provide some of their product for me to give away right here at Run to Win! I’ll be giving them away throughout the month, starting today. If you are paying attention, then this weekend you can just leave a comment here on this page and you’ll be entered into a random drawing. Be sure to leave a valid email address (it won’t appear on the site) so that I can get in touch with you if you win.

As I type this, it is Saturday morning on December 3rd, 2011. This contest will stay open until noon on Sunday, December 4th (Eastern Time.) One fast acting commenter is going to get a free set of Ice Spikes to use this Winter, and you’ll still have time after the contest to buy a set with a 15% discount from their website.

If you buy anything on their website by midnight tomorrow, use coupon code stocking stuffer and you’ll get 15% off of your order. Just go to: www.icespike.com

To enter the contest: Just leave a comment below.

Where he falls short, however, is in the format that that information is presented in, at least in the Kindle edition. I haven’t seen the print edition of the book, but my assumption is that the majority of the criticisms that I have are probably a non-issue in the print version.

Even with the formatting errors, the book is still worth picking up. For the experienced ultrarunner, it’s worth browsing through for the 1 or 2 ideas that may have never occurred to you and that will make your next race more enjoyable. For the marathoner looking to move up, it provides a pretty comprehensive guide, especially if you aren’t sure how to modify your training to handle the extra distance.

Here’s my full review:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvlA7quoob4

Download This Video: MP4 – MP3 – Watch on YouTube – Buy on Amazon

Video Transcription

Click Here to Read the Transcript

Bryon recently took part in the Marathon Mastermind. You can listen to his coaching session by going over to www.marathonmastermind.com and joining in yourself.

If you want to listen in for free, you’ll have to sign up today to hear Bryon, however. His coaching session ends later tonight. There are still 4 more coaching sessions coming up throughout the rest of this week that you can listen to for free.

CLIF Bar has created the Meet the Moment website, where adventurous folks like ourselves can share our own moments and experiences with everybody else. Every moment shared will give you the opportunity to win any athletic adventure of your own choosing.

There will be 3 winners, judged on popularity and how inspirational and creative their entry is. The contest runs from today through July 31st and you can submit as many entries as you like since it will be judged on quality and is not a random draw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tNYzS_GhJU

CLIF Bar will also donate $5 for every person that shares a moment through the site, and you get to choose who gets the donation for your moment. If more than 10,000 people participate, they’ll double the amount that they donate.

The charities that you can choose are:

1. Leave No Trace
2. International Mountain Biking Association
3. Surfrider Foundation
4. Access Fund
5. Winter Wildlands Alliance

My first moment that I’ve uploaded is from my first race at elevation, the Ghost Town 38.5, pictured above. Other than hikes up Mount Washington, I’d never been that high, and the views and vegetation in the Gila National Forest were breathtaking.

You can get more information at the website, www.MeetTheMoment.com

Go upload your moment, and then come back and share the link so we can all check them out! Each one you upload will give you a chance to win the contest, and uploading at least 1 will help out a worthy cause. To get the link to your moment, just click the “View Moment Details” button after you’ve created your moment and get the link from the Share button that appears so you can copy it to the comments below.

This post has been sponsored by CLIF Bar.

GPS watches are a great toy for runners. They allow us to track how far we are running, we can get real time feedback about how fast we are going, and they can help us find our way out of the woods when we get lost.

They are one of the best training tools to be invented and miniaturized to the point of usefulness in the past decade.

Are they a necessary tool in order to be a good runner? No, of course not. You could be a good runner even without a regular stop watch.

Having a stopwatch, or a GPS watch, can help you train more methodically and can help you structure your workouts so that you can make sure you are going at the required pace (both fast and slow, as appropriate.)

My favorite feature of my GPS watch is that I can just put it down next to my computer, press a button, and have my training log details filled in for me.

Making it easy to keep an accurate training log makes it that much more likely that I will review my log and modify my training to take advantage of my many years of accumulated knowledge about what does and doesn’t work for my body.

So which watch is the best? I have a definite suggestion, you can watch the video to find out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYOaMu2T75A

Download This Video: MP4 – MP3 – Watch on YouTube

Video Transcription

Click Here to Read the Transcript

Do you have a GPS watch? If so, what brand is it? Or are you still using a regular stopwatch? Do you ever run without a watch?

Leave a comment below and let me know.

You may remember Tom from his coaching session a few years ago about how he went from a 15-year lay off from running to become one of the most competitive senior masters runners in the country, and how you can stay healthy and competitive as you age.

PacePal is a service that lets you find others that run at or near the same pace as you during training and racing, so that you can find training partners both close to home and while you are traveling. In this 5 minute discussion, we talk about the history of PacePal and some of the cool new features that are coming out in early 2011 that you are going to want to keep your eye on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XSKeZEBVqQ

Download This Video: MP4 – MP3 – Watch on YouTube

Video Transcription

Click Here to Read the Transcript

You can check out PacePal for yourself by searching for it on Facebook or by going directly to their website at: http://www.pacepal.com

This weekend, he’s going to be trying to defend his New York City Marathon title, as he joins up with some of the best runners in the world. It’s a stacked field, and it’s going to be a great race.

Along with the race, he’s also just released his new book, “Run to Overcome“. I was sent an advanced copy that I got to take a look at over the past week or so, and it’s a great story!

It follows Meb’s journey from his native Eritrea, through Italy, and to the United States where he started running out in San Diego. It follows his entire career right through UCLA and into his professional career.

The book is organized chronologically by topic. So it starts out with stories from Africa, and then it moves on to UCLA, the Athens Marathon, the New York City Marathon, and it just goes from one topic to the next.

So while the book itself isn’t 100% chronological, the general topic for what’s getting covered in each chapter is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30OFXAF6vEU

Download This Video: MP4 – MP3 – Watch on YouTube

There’s a lot that you can get from the story.

First, it’s just a fun read! You get to learn about one of the better runners in the country right now. What makes him tick. Why he does what he does. It’s just enjoyable to just sit down with the book.

It has also got some great training advice in there. He talks about what he does as an elite athlete, to try and keep at the top of his game. How he deals with injuries, and the sorts of training that he does.

So not only can you follow what Meb does and why, but you can also get some good tips that you can apply to your own training.

One of my favorite tips that I got out of it was that just because something is on paper, doesn’t necessarily mean you have to follow that exact workout, especially if you’re using just a regular canned training schedule. You always have to build in some flexibility.

So if you’re feeling really good or if you’re feeling really bad, if might be cause just to change your workout around, and to do something that’s a little bit more tailored to what you’re capable of on that day, as opposed to what’s on the piece of paper that was written a week ago, a month ago, or a year earlier.

Some of my favorite stories from the book probably have to be the stories about different races, such as the Athens Marathon and the New York City Marathon.

I think that these are my favorite stories not only because I’m a runner and I enjoy reading about running, but also because I was watching those races when they happened.

In Athens was when that crazy priest went out and jumped the course. And then in New York City as Meb went on to be the first American to win it in 27 years. It’s just kind of cool to see how those races unfolded from the front of the elite pack.

It’s also kind of neat to read about some of Meb’s failures. In the London Marathon, before he won New York City, it was just kind of silly that after he drops out of the races and manages to avoid all the volunteers trying to push him back in, he gets on the bus to get back to his hotel. And then the bus stops, and Haile Gebresellassie gets on the bus, and then it stops again, and Khalid Khannouchi gets on the bus. There’s a whole cast of characters, where even though there was a lot of great performances that day, there’s a lot of top tier athletes that just weren’t able to finish the race and had one problem or another. It was kind of funny the way he shared that story.

So if you want to learn more about the book, you can go to www.RunToOvercome.com, and that will give you all the information you want. They are running a contest, so they are giving away a book a day.

You can also get the book at your favorite book seller, or at Amazon, or any number of other places. I’m sure if you’re going to be at New York City that there’s going to be places that you can pick up a copy at the expo. And you might even be able to get it signed if you see Meb before the race.

I recommend giving it a read. It’s not super long; I was able to read it in a couple of days. So I hope that you enjoy it if you do pick it up.

I was provided an advance review copy of this book by the publisher. More info: www.RunToOvercome.com

The theory is that our bodies were evolved to run a certain way and we can help prevent injuries by using shoes that don’t mess with our natural biomechanics but still provide protection from the dangers of the road or trail.

Over the next few months I’ll be reviewing quite a few different shoes that fall into this category, starting with a new offering from Saucony.

I haven’t worn Saucony shoes since I was in high school, and the model I wore then were very heavy and quite built up. I quickly moved away from those after getting to college.

The Pro-Grid Kinvara, as I show in the video below, is definitely not a “minimal” shoe but has a very low heel/toe differential and is relatively flexible compared to a traditional training shoe. They also weigh a lot less, with a listed weight of 7.7 ounces versus an average trainer that weighs 10-14 ounces.

Here are my very rough initial thoughts after my first 3 or 4 runs in the shoes, and I will follow up with a more in-depth review once I have a few hundred miles on them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mwU8pIn2CU

Download This Video: MP4 – MP3 – Watch on YouTube

Transcription

Click Here to Read the Transcript

The Terry Fox Run alone has been held annually since 1981 and has raised over $500 million for cancer research with millions of participants from over 60 countries.

Tonight on ESPN (and throughout the next week on ESPN 2 and ESPN Classic) you can learn more about Terry Fox as they premiere “Into the Wind”, a film directed by NBA MVP Steve Nash and his cousin, Ezra Holland.

Here’s the trailer:

The film is part of ESPN’s 30 in 30, a 30 film documentary series telling stories related to the world of sports in the 30 years from 1979 through 2009.

I’m not sure if this will be streamed online anywhere, but if so then leave a comment below and let me know where because I’d like to watch the film and don’t have cable.

(More Information: ESPN – Photo Credit: Jeremy Gilbert)

(If it won’t play here, try clicking through to the hosting site, and you may still be able to watch it directly on Photobucket. Apparently too many people are watching it on my site so they’re limiting how many people can watch from here…)

Since I’ve never had them before, it seemed like a good idea during one of my long runs.

Here’s my video review where I go through my experience with them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsHN4yI-h10

According to the packaging, Gu Chomps are a wonder food.

• They have Amino Acids for added focus, rippin’ energy, and speedy recovery.
• They have Vitamin C + E, those mighty antioxidantts that combat tissue breakdown.
• They have sodium and potassium to restore electrolyte balance.
• They have an exclusive blend of complex and simple carbohydrates.

So on the back of the package it says that this packet will fuel between 1½ to 2 hours of activity if you hydrate along the way. Each packet is 60 grams and comes with about 8 of the chomps inside of it, which is 2 servings. Altogether that comes to about 90 calories, with 100mg of sodium, 80mg of potassium and 46 total carbohydrates. (That’s for both servings. Not just for one.)

My run took me about a 2 hours and 40 minutes, so I definitely got my 1½ to 2 hours of energy out of it. I didn’t have any trouble whatsoever. They gave me plenty of energy. I drank a little bit over a liter of water throughout the course of the run, and probably about 2 liters of water total between during the run and right afterwards.

I felt pretty good the entire way. They tasted all right. This was the Orange (no caffeine) flavor so taste-wise, I thought they were fine.

Chewiness-wise, they were okay when I was taking one at a time. At one point I took 2 of them and that was just a little bit too much. So if you do try them, I’d recommend only having 1 chomp at a time as you’re running. Just take one every once in a while and you’ll be fine.

One of the things that I really didn’t like about them was that there’s no real easy way to get into the package. As you can kind of see in the video above I wound up having to bite it open. I had sweaty hands and there’s no notch at the top or bottom to make it easy to tear open, and I wasn’t able to get it open using the flap on the back.

That can be pretty easily gotten around just by cutting it before you start your run or race, but I didn’t notice that before the run and all in all it would be a little better if there was an easier way to get into it by default.

Whether I would use these again, I’m not really sure. I think for the amount of benefit that they’ve given me, I don’t know if I could justify the price when there’s much cheaper alternatives available. But I didn’t have any problems with them, so if I saw these along the edge of a race course I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to grab a package.

Have you tried the Gu Chomps before? If so, what did you think? And if you haven’t tried them, then what’s your preferred alternative, if you have one? Leave a comment below and let me know.

(Download: MP4 – Buy Gu Chomps at: Amazon)

I was asked this recently by one of my runners who’s getting ready for her first marathon. I’ve tried quite a few different products such as Gus, Power Gels, Shot Blocks. My favorite products for training and ultramarathons tend to be more towards actual foods, such as pretzels or bananas or gummy bears, things like that.

But when I’m actually in a marathon, I like a specific gel product made by Crank Sports. There are 2 reasons that I like them better than anything else and that is because they tend to have more calories and none of their products have any caffeine in them, which is something I tend to avoid.

Here’s a video that shows what I just got in my latest order of Crank:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv0mo_zyh2M

If this doesn’t prove I actually use the product, I don’t know what will!

Crank has 4 different flavors, and each case has 32 gels per case. The packets are a little bit larger than what your average gel packet will be because they have half again as many calories. This doesn’t really bother me. I wear race ready shorts and they fit into the mesh pockets really well, so they’re pretty easy for me to carry. I’ll usually take 4 to 5 of them with me during a marathon, and I might eat between 3 and all 5 of them during the race.

I like to eat them by biting the tab off as I’m coming up to a water station. I take out as much of the gel as I easily can, usually by biting half way through the packet and pulling my teeth along the outside. That will get most of it out of the packet, and since it does have 150 calories I don’t care if I don’t quite get everything that’s in the packet.

Obviously what you eat is going to depend a lot on your own nutritional needs and on what your body can handle, so you might want to try something different.

Another product that Crank makes that I just started using, the first time I placed an order they actually sent me a couple of trials versions of their e-Fuel, which is more like a pre-made drink mix. You just mix this in with 20 ounces of water and it creates a liquid, as opposed to taking in a gel while you’re running.

This is a bit more inconvenient while you’re actually competing unless your carrying a camel-back or your own water bottle, but in a loop race (such as the Great Cranberry Island 50K which is where I actually got around to finally using one of these after a few years) it works out really well because you are able to just stop and take a sip whenever you pass your drop bag. Each one of these packets is 1 water bottle full, and that’s nutritionally equivalent to 3 of the actual gel packets.

When you order a case of them, it also comes with a water bottle if you need one.

If you are looking for your next product that you want to try, I recommend giving the Crank e-Gels or the e-Fuel a test. They work for me, but make sure you test any nutritional product in a long run before hand because you just need to find the one that works for you. There are a lot of great products out there, of which Crank is just one.

Have you ever tried Crank before? If so leave a comment below and let me know whether you liked it or not. And if you have a different product that you prefer, leave a comment letting me know what that is and we’ll see what you think and what you’ve tried and what works for everybody. Maybe there’ll be something on there I haven’t tried before that I can order up and test for myself.

(Download: MP4 – More Info: Crank Sports – Photo Credits: Zach Klein – Dave Milsom)

It sounded like an interesting story that he had, so I picked up his book, Iron Heart: The True Story of How I Came Back From the Dead.

I just tore through it. He has a great story and you can’t help but be inspired when you listen to it or read about.

Bryan was a weight lifter and a competitive swimmer when he graduated from high school. He was driving home from swim practice, and his Camaro just got completely smashed by a dump truck.

There was very little left to it, and there was very little left to him. Every organ in his body was damaged. Hi heart was moved to the other side of his chest. His lungs were both collapsed. His spleen had to be removed. His liver was punctured, and he wound up being put into a chemically induced coma for 2 months.

When he woke up, which is where the story of the book starts, he has no idea where he is and he cannot move. He can’t even blink his eyes. He’s listening to all the doctors around him talking about how he’ll be lucky to live, and how if he does live, he’ll probably be a vegetable for the rest of his life.

The story follows his progress through the hospital. First, starting to blink, and then being able to move his fingers, and eventually until he was able to talk again.

Everytime he was given a new challege, they would say “Well, you’ll never be able to walk again” or “You’ll never be an athlete again.”

He just went through physical therapy. He started walking again. He started body building again, and he even became a personal trainer. And then he eventually got back in the pool. He went to college and swam for Saint Mary’s.

One day, he was watching a special on the IronMan Triathlon and he thought, “Well, let’s see what it takes to get into that.” Completing an IronMan had been one of his childhood dreams, so he got in touch with the producers, told him his story, and promptly forgot about it.

About 2 months later, he heard back from them saying, “If you can prove to us that you are able to finish, then we’ll get you one of the media spots in the race.” And basically what he had to do was finish a half Iron Man about 2 weeks later. All he had to do was finish and he would have his spot. And in total, he had about 6 weeks to go from back to being a body builder and a personal trainer to having to get to the starting line for his first Iron Man.

All he wanted was to finish that Iron Man in 17 hours, which was the cut off. And he was able to do it. He finished in about 14 hours.

It’s just a very inspirational story. I highly recommend you pick up a copy of the book and take a read. And if you take a look at this video and news documentary, it will show you what exactly he went through and give you an idea of what the book is all about:

You can find a copy of the book at your local library or at Amazon.

Rather than relying on opinions, she decided to get to the truth of the matter…

Okay, I had to prove it to myself. If it was just a matter of high humidity that gave me a super soaked shirt, then I didn’t want to continue to speak negatively about the Atayne shirt’s wicking properties, SO…

I did a little experiment with the help of my bachelors-in-chemical-engineering husband, Casey. Thanks, Brock, for the idea.

The Experiment

I took 5 different brands of shirts, and ran on the treadmill in each one for exactly 5 minutes after a 10 minute warm up. I weighed the shirts in grams before the run, immediately after the 5 minute run, 5 minutes after the run, and 10 minutes after the run.

The Data

My Analysis

The New Balance and Atayne shirts had 2g of sweat evaporate out, with Brooks at 1g, and the others not at all – after 10 minutes of ‘air time’.

One big difference I saw while running is that the Atayne shirt is quite heavy and definitely felt hotter – I almost felt like I was putting on a jacket (compared to the others), especially when compared to running in the lightest, the Nike shirt, in spite of the fact that Nike didn’t wick/dry as well.

In any case, that was enough for me feel that with all the other plusses about the Atayne company (green, Maine company, community service) and shirt (design, odorless, colors, softness), I can give my full support towards Atayne for this project and any other race that we put on!

…I can admit when I’m wrong!

By the way, I lost 69 grams or 2½ ounces of sweat in just the shirts in 25 minutes — drink up!

…and now I have lots of laundry to do…

Sandy

(Photo Sources: Sandra Walton – Sasha Wolff)

Many of the lessons could easily be learned on your own, but knowing what to expect and following a plan from somebody that has helped others learn to run barefoot is certainly easier than muddling through yourself and hoping you don’t get injured.

I also held a contest to give a copy of the book away, where the only criteria to enter was to share your own experience or lack thereof in the comments. If you were one of the people who entered, then you had a 1 in 22 chance of winning.

After a quick visit to Random.org, the winner has been chosen!

Here is the winning comment:

Chiraag Says:
July 13th, 2010 at 7:56 am
I’m curious about what is the right time to experiment with barefoot running: should I have years of experience first, so that I have a better understanding of my gait with shoes?

Congratulations, Chiraag! I’ll email you for your postal address so I can get a copy of the book to you.

As for the answer to your question, that depends entirely on you.

A new runner may actually have an advantage over an experienced runner in learning to become a barefoot runner because they won’t have as many bad habits and won’t feel they have to try to maintain their current speed or distance on their normal runs, so they’ll be less likely to get hurt as long as they don’t try to go too far, too fast.

So, if you are interested in running barefoot, then just start no matter what your experience level. I’ve found that running barefoot has improved my running form even when I’m wearing shoes, which leads to feeling better after my runs and recovering faster from them.

I personally don’t believe that I need to run barefoot all the time, I only run barefoot as a part of my training and still do the majority of my racing while shod.

(Photo Credit: Marylka Yoe Uusisaar – Book: The Barefoot Running Book)

Overview

Jason splits the book into 4 main sections for the different levels of experience you will find yourself as you become a barefoot runner.

First is the Pre-Barefoot Running section, where you will learn how to build up some strength in your foot in legs, get used to sensory overload from nerves that have potentially been ignored for a significant portion of your life, and to help improve your foot-eye coordination.

The next section is about Starting to Run Barefoot, which gives tips on how to actually start running, the types of terrain you may encounter and which ones you should start out by running on, and the basics of barefoot running form.

The third section covers Intermediate Barefoot Running and focuses on how to add hills and new types of terrain to your running, how you can start speeding up and running further, and the common injuries that barefoot runners experience.

The last section is on Advanced Topics such as racing, trail running, and extreme weather.

Jason also discusses handling hecklers and the 4 types of people that you will encounter and interact with as a barefoot runner, ranging from the non-runner and inquisitive running peers to hostile runners that think barefoot runners are an affront to nature.

What I Like About the Book

The book is very short at 61 pages and can be read in a single sitting or two. For the most part, Jason stays right to the point and offers his experience and advice in an easily digested format. He labels all of the different theories, activities, and hazards that you should be aware of which makes it quick and easy to find information later that you want to refer back to.

I think that Jason’s exercises for the beginner barefoot runner are a good way to introduce yourself safely to running without getting hurt. His 6 guiding principles to barefoot running are reflected throughout the book, which are:

1. There is no 1 right answer
2. You need to experiment to see what works for you
3. Your body is the best teacher
4. Patience is required
5. Running relaxed is key
6. You should be having fun and enjoying yourself

As somebody that has used barefoot running as part of his training since the early 90s, I especially like his last point.

Running barefoot is just a lot of fun, so make sure that you don’t let running become a chore.

What I Didn’t Like About the Book

There are only two things that I didn’t really care for in this book.

First, Jason is definitely zealous about barefoot running and is eager to share his positive experiences and expertise with others. For the most part, he does this well, and his advice on how to deal with people that heckle you (shared both from himself and from others in the barefoot running community) is certainly useful and worth a chuckle or two.

In a few places throughout the book it definitely seems more like a crusade, though. I don’t mind sharing the benefits of barefoot running with others, but I don’t feel the need to convert anybody to it that has no need nor interest.

Second, Jason is a pretty funny guy and I’ve enjoyed his humor in some of the videos that I’ve seen him post. Unfortunately, I don’t think that the humor translates into print quite as well.

Rather than laughing at some of the jokes and self-deprecating humor, I found myself rolling my eyes instead which distracted me from reading more than anything else.

Where To Find More Information

The Barefoot Running Book is available for purchase at Amazon as either a print publication or as a Kindle e-book.

You can find more information about Jason at his website, The Barefoot Running University, where he offers workshops, articles, and links to barefoot and ultramarathon resources around the web.

I will also be giving a copy of the book away next week.
Just click here and leave a comment to enter the contest.

(Photo Credits: Jason Robillard – Mike Baird – Seema K K – Mike Day)

All you need to do is leave a comment below sharing your experience (or lack thereof) with barefoot running.

You have until Tuesday evening (July 13, 2010) at 8:00 pm EDT to leave your comment, after which I will choose somebody at random. Only 1 comment is allowed per person and is subject to any applicable laws where you live.

You can purchase the book for yourself at Amazon, or read my review about what the book contains and what I think of it.

If your comment doesn’t appear right away, then it is probably because this is the first contest you’ve participated in here.

First time commenters are moderated to help keep spam from overtaking the site. So…welcome to Run to Win, and thanks for your patience, I’ll approve it ASAP!

Update: Contest Winner Announced

They are a more effective way to get some traction in slick conditions and cost a lot less than some other solutions such as Stabilicers or Yak Trax.

Can there be anything better?

Well, maybe.

The folks that make Ice Spikes sent some trial packages over to a friend of mine so I got to test some out (and they were nice enough to give a few sets away during my 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge) so myself and the other Trail Monsters have been testing them out for the past month and a half.

Here is the claim:

ICESPIKE™ is a simple, effective and lightweight solution to inadequate traction devices. ICESPIKE™ ends frustration with clumsy and cumbersome strap-on attachments. ICESPIKE™ ice spikes are easily installed on the sole of any shoe or boot. Each ice spike provides outstanding traction and is unsurpassed in hardness and durability. The ICESPIKE™ system includes thirty-two patented ice spikes and one precision ICESPIKE™ tool for installation. ICESPIKE™ is a semi-permanent non-slip grip shoe system that can’t fall off, break, get lost or left behind. Outfitted with ICESPIKE™, any footwear can be winterized into ice safety shoes or ice safety boots. Don’t be discouraged by winter ice and snow – with ICESPIKE™ you are always ready and able to navigate any conditions with confidence.

Click here to skip straight to my comparison of the two options.

To give the Ice Spikes a good and fair test, I wanted to compare them directly against a normal pair of screw shoes.

Since I had recently purchased 2 new pairs of my favorite trail shoes, I outfitted one pair with screws and one with the Ice Spikes.

The Ice Spikes come with a “precision ICESPIKE™ tool for installation”, which is basically just a screwdriver with a hex head.

A cordless drill is much easier and faster than using the screwdriver that comes with them, but I got to test both methods since the battery in my cordless dies after about 3 minutes of use and I made the screw shoes first.

A screwdriver is much more time consuming than using the drill. But, it works fine.

So, the next question is, how good is the grip of the ice spikes? They look much more aggressive than the standard #6 hex head screws that I normally use, but how much better grip can it give you?

Running Conditions

On dry pavement, they clicked and clacked the same as the sheet metal screws, but weren’t really noticeable under my feet. This is no different than the sheet metal screws.
Advantage: Both

In powdery snow conditions, both the sheet metal screws and the Ice Spikes provided plenty of grip and I had no trouble running through those conditions.
Advantage: Both

In sheer ice conditions, the real beauty of the Ice Spikes came through. While running next to friends using normal screw shoes during 1 More Fat Ass for Sunshine (a 50k run I organized at the end of the challenge) I had no trouble while they were still slipping and sliding around. Conditions were very slick. I also found I had no trouble lake running a few weeks ago despite the slick conditions, and have done quite a bit of slipping and sliding on the occasions that I’ve gone out with the normal screw shoes now that the ice is only patchy.
Advantage: Ice Spike

On non-snow covered trails, the sheet metal screws and the Ice Spikes seem to both dig up the ground; I’m guessing that the sheet metal screws are causing less of an impact but I didn’t look to closely on the few times I’ve run through open fields that weren’t frozen solid with either pair.
Advantage: Neither

Cost

When considering the cost, sheet metal screws are certainly much cheaper. If you buy screws by the hundred (which I do since I provide screws to the folks I coach when the roads are slick) then it costs about 50 cents to a dollar per shoe. If you go and just buy the individual screws, then it won’t cost more than $2 per shoe unless you are really getting ripped off. Ice Spikes cost $25 for an intro pack with 32 spikes and the screwdriver, or $15 for a refill pack of spikes, which comes to about $5 per shoe.
Advantage: Sheet Metal Screws

Mileage

Now, that isn’t the whole story, of course…Ice Spikes are supposed to last longer than sheet metal screws, so depending upon how many you lose and how many miles you run, the effective price may actually be less.

During this test, I did not lose any Ice Spikes and only lost 1 sheet metal screw.

However, at least 2 of my friends have lost most of their Ice Spikes. I think that a lot of that has to do with putting them into shoes that had previously had sheet metal screws in them.

As for why that is, my guess is that the screws were thicker so that is why their spikes got lost so easily.

I’ve only had them this one season so I can’t say with certainty yet if removing them and then replacing them will cause the same issue with the spikes falling out. I know that I’ve not had that trouble with normal sheet metal screws.

So, if you want to put something into shoes which have previously had screws, you are probably better off using sheet metal screws again. If it is a new pair of shoes, you can choose either without having to worry. If the shoes previously had Ice Spikes, then let me know how it works out for you, you’ll probably be fine with more Ice Spikes.
Advantage: Neither

So how fast do the Ice Spikes wear down compared to the sheet metal screws?

Is it realistic to expect to get the 500 miles their website claims they’ll last? How long do sheet metal screws last?

When I took these photos, I had about 90 miles on the Ice Spikes and about 79 miles on the sheet metal screws.

I’ve found that my sheet metal screws usually last around 100-150 miles depending upon which part of my foot they are on; now that the pair of shoes with sheet metal screws has around 115 miles on them I’ve already replaced about a half dozen screws per shoe and just haven’t found the time to replace the rest.

You can see in the pictures how much less wear there has been on the Ice Spikes. Even the ones that have seen the most wear are still providing plenty of grip. Based on what I’ve seen, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect 200-500 miles depending upon placement and the terrain you run on.
Advantage: Ice Spikes

Summary 

So which are you better off purchasing, sheet metal screws or Ice Spikes?

They seem to be pretty equivalent when you count the features, so you need to see what’s more important to you.

Both products will help you keep your feet when it’s slick, but Ice Spikes will provide more traction in the icier conditions.

From a price standpoint, sheet metal screws will probably be cheaper, especially if you don’t run very far during the Winters and can get through an entire season without having to replace any screws. If you rotate shoes or have different shoes for different conditions, then sheet metal screws will almost certainly save you money.

If you do run a lot, though, the Ice Spikes might be the better choice because even if they come out a little more expensive than the sheet metal screws, they will give you more even traction throughout the season and will save you the hassle of having to replace them constantly. As sheet metal screws wear down (providing less traction) and have to be replaced the price does begin to even out.

Sheet metal screws can be bought online at Amazon.com or by going to your local hardware store. You can learn more about Ice Spikes or purchase a set at their website: www.icespike.com

Did you know that you can find me on both of them?

Here are my pages:
http://twitter.com/RunToWin
http://www.facebook.com/RunToWin

For about a year and a half now, I’ve been putting up a quote of the day that is related to running, or motivating yourself to run, or giving you another reason to laugh about running.

If you have been following me for any length of time, then almost every weekday that isn’t a holiday you’ll have seen the quotes.

If you think back to last March (2009), you may recall a coaching session that I did with Mike Brooks.

It is not yet available for sale, but I am going to be giving away copies of the coaching session in conjunction with the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge! Thanks to Mike, I am raising money for Camp Sunshine, so it seemed fitting to give away our coaching session.

In order to win one of the 5 digital copies, all you need to do is go to this article and leave a comment:

http://www.1moremileforsunshine.com/79/you-can-win-a-free-coaching-cd

If you want an extra chance to win the physical CD (I’ll even pay for the shipping costs) then in your comment you just need to leave a guess as to how many quotes you think I’ve offered up in 2008 and 2009. (My cut off date for counting them was on January 1st!)

Even if you don’t want to make a guess in order to win the physical CD, any comment is eligible for the digital versions. I’m closing the comments on this page since you need to leave your comments over at the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge website in order to be eligible to win.

And while you are over there, take a look around and check on my progress. I’m now 6 days into the challenge…only 25 left to go!

Fast forward a year, and in June of 2009 Steve published his first book, 7 Weeks to 100 Pushups.

It’s a very quick read, and the programs offered in it seem even more accessible than the ones on the website. You should be able to read it in one or two sittings without any trouble.

The first thing that you’ll notice about the book is that it is 7″x9″, which was not what I was expecting when I ordered the book. It has more of the feel of a training log than a book that you would sit down and read.

The advantage, of course, comes from the book staying open on the floor in front of you on the page with that day’s workout, so that you can easily see how many pushups you should be doing for each set. (Unless your cat is wanting to play and keeps closing it on you, anyway.)

7 Weeks to 100 Pushups is divided into 4 parts:

Part 1 is an overview, which explains a little about the history of the pushup and why it is such a good exercise to take part in. There are a couple dozen success stories from folks that have used Steve’s program and some beginner’s tips frequently asked questions. Trivia about the pushup is sprinkled throughout this section.

Part 2 is made up of the 6 different schedules. The number of pushups you can currently do in your initial test determines which schedule you should start on. The 2 beginner programs are each 10 weeks long, while the intermediate and advanced programs are each 7 weeks long. All of the workouts are between 5 and 8 sets.

Part 3 contains 15 variations on the pushup that you can use to further challenge yourself, including different positions that you can use and different props that can change how the angle you work out at or the stability of your body while doing the pushup. There are large pictures and step by step instructions for each variation.

The Appendix is split into 4 parts:

• The Warm-Up Routine
• The Post-Workout Stretching Routine
• The Preliminary Program
  (for those not strong enough to do a pushup)
• A Training Log for recording your workouts

The appendix seems rather strange to me, as the preliminary program would make more sense near the start of the book rather than at the end, and the warm up routine and stretching routine should bookend the actual pushup programs.

Of course, if all of those sections were placed earlier in the book, then the pushup routines would not fall near the center of the book and it wouldn’t stay open to the page you want it at when you are working out, which I assume is the reason that they were pushed off to the back.

I enjoyed reading through the book when I first got it, but I am interested in little trivia items related to fitness. If your only interest is in the pushup schedules themselves, I’d still recommend picking up the book.

Will you be able to do 100 consecutive pushups within 7 weeks? That depends upon you and how strong you are at the start of the program and how well you improve throughout. You will certainly be stronger at the end of the program than you were at the start, and if you don’t make it to 100 pushups the first time through then you can always move on to the next advanced program.

How well did the program work for me?

Before I answer that, I’ll go briefly into my own pushup history.

In 2006, I was in relatively good shape. Pushups were a part of my lifting program, but certainly weren’t the bulk of it. One day, I randomly tried to see how many pushups I could do and managed 46 before stopping.

In August of 2008, I hurt my hip pretty bad during a road race and stopped lifting weights for about the next 10 or 11 months. When this book was published, I picked up a copy and decided that I’d use it to get back into shape. On June 29^th, I did 23 pushups in my initial test, which isn’t too bad for having not done any lifting most of the past year and for cutting the test short a little when my wife had me giggling while I was trying to do the pushups. A week later I started the Advanced 1 program in the book.

Over the next 8 weeks (as life got in the way and I took an extra day of rest now and again) I managed to complete every workout, and did at least a few extra pushups at the end of the last set each day. For the most part, I kept going until I was uncomfortable and not until failure, but it was always past the minimum I needed to do so I was happy with it.

The only exceptions were in my last few workouts of the last week, where it was a bit of a struggle to reach the full number of pushups. The only workout I actually failed to complete was the very last one, where I was supposed to do at least 60 pushups in the last set and I got noodly-armed after 57 pushups and could only get about halfway back up on the 58^th. Having done 179 pushups in the previous 7 sets before starting that last set, I expect that when I start the Advanced 2 program next week that I’ll be able to do quite a few more pushups in my final set and will get into the high 70s or low 80s (if not higher).

Now that I’ve been through the program once, I definitely notice a difference in my body. My muscles are a little more defined, and I definitely feel stronger.

I broke my foot halfway through the program and haven’t been able to run for the past 4 weeks or so, and I’ve managed to only lose about 3 pounds in that span of time. (When I stop running, I normally shed weight at 2-3 pounds per week unless I’m sick, in which case I might lose more.)

Have you done the 100 pushups challenge? Have you read the book? Share your experiences or thoughts below if you have. If you are interested in purchasing the book, you can buy the book at Amazon.

If you’re familiar with the book, then you’ll get a kick out of Chris’s appearance on the Daily Show last night (click through for video):

Upon returning to Maine Running Company, Bart signed copies of his book, My Life on the Run and gave away training logs, Runner’s World magazines, Powerade, and pizza. One lucky runner even got a free pair of Saucony running shoes. (They had their tour bus there and were performing gait analysis and shoe fittings.)

Bart told a few jokes and described some of his varied experiences in different races and cultures before settling down to chat with folks individually (video after the jump):

It was a pleasure to finally meet Bart; I had an opportunity back in January but I missed his talk at the expo because of the traffic and he didn’t arrive to the race until after I started and was gone before I finished. (His wife ran the marathon while I ran the 50 miler.)

Have you read My Life on the Run or met Bart before? Share some of your favorite stories in the comments below if so.

Now you, too, can enjoy the excitement of 30 miles in the snow but without all the wet feet and scraped shins!

The next TMR Fat Ass is scheduled for March 28^th at Bradbury Mountain.

The Millrose games will be televised live on ESPN2 tonight from 7-8:30 p.m. It will also be televised tomorrow on NBC, January 31 from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. ET. If you’d like to play along with Fantasy Track, then you have until 5:40 p.m. tonight to make your picks.

Here are the details on how that works:

How it works

Fans create their ultimate track and field team each week by going to www.visachampionshipseries.com and selecting the athletes they believe will compete well at that week’s meet.

Each Visa Championship Series meet is “virtually” scored, with 10 points going to the first-place athlete in each event, 8 points to the second-place athlete, 6 points to the third-place athlete and so on down to sixth place. The selected athletes score points for your team.

During the 2008 indoor season, after the conclusion of the AT&T USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, Jim Dunaway’s team from Austin, Texas, had scored the most points during the Indoor Visa Championship Series. He won a grand prize trip for two to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field, courtesy of Visa. David Donley won the overall second-place prize, a $250 Visa Gift Card and Nike gift bag, including but not limited to a Nike/USATF spike bag, jacket, t-shirt and cap. Anthony DeSain won the third-place prize, a $100 Visa gift card and Nike gift bag.

2009 Indoor Pick-N-Win Fantasy Game

Grand Prize: One Grand Prize winner will be awarded a $2,000 Visa Gift Card and a Nike gift bag, including but not limited to, a Nike/USATF bag, jacket, t-shirt and cap. Approximate Retail Value: $2,100.

Second Place Prize: One Second Place Prize winner will be awarded a $250.00 Visa Gift Card and a Nike gift bag, including but not limited to, a Nike/USATF spike bag, jacket, t-shirt and cap. Approximate Retail Value: $350.

Third Place Prize: One Third Place Prize winner will be awarded a $100.00 Visa Gift Card and a Nike gift bag, including but not limited to, a Nike/USATF spike bag, jacket, t-shirt and cap. Approximate Retail Value: $200.

Three Weekly Prizes: Each game week, a Nike gift bag containing a Nike/USATF spike bag, jacket, t-shirt and cap, valued at $100, will be awarded. Weekly Prize winners will be determined by the top score achieved during the appropriate week from among all eligible entries (excluding the Grand Prize winners) received by the online deadline.

Pick-N-Win Fantasy Game New Features

• Invite a Friend: From the Pick-N-Win website, players have the ability to email a friend the Fantasy Game link and invite them to participate.
• News Page: Athlete scratches and additions to start lists will be updated on the news page.
• Facebook: From the Pick-N-Win site, players can click on the Facebook link and go to the USATF Facebook page to discuss strategies with other players and interact with their competition.

You can find all these items at
http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/VisaChampionshipSeries/play/

Fantasy Game timeline:

• The game kicks off with the historic 102nd Millrose Games (Jan. 30) and continues through the Reebok Boston Indoor Games (Feb. 7), Tyson Invitational (Feb. 13), and the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships (Feb. 28-Mar. 1).
• The first deadline for players to make their final 102nd Millrose Games picks is Friday, Jan. 30th at 5:40 p.m. ET. The game will conclude on Feb. 28 at 11:55 a.m. ET.

Plenty of the women in the group that I coached over the Summer wore them pretty regularly, and they certainly have a following.

That said, I could definitely see going for the martini water stop »

(Hat Tip to Isabelle for emailing me the video!)

Once a Runner will officially be released in the 2^nd quarter of next year, and runners have been waiting for years for the book to be printed again. For a (very) limited time you can get an early copy of the book at the Maine Running Company, as a case of the books has arrived in stock.

If you want to pick up a copy, I recommend that you don’t wait to get over there and buy one. I don’t expect them to last very long.

Patrick Mouser created a series of trailers for the film version of Once a Runner as a design project, but unfortunately they aren’t based on a real film. As John Parker said when he spoke at the Maine Running Company last year, the easiest money he ever made was selling the film rights to the movie every time they expired because nobody ever got around to making it:

Now, for the proof:

Greg and Rick have already won copies of the movie, which leaves 3 left. You still have a few hours to win today’s copy by clicking here or one of the last 2 copies by joining my newsletter before tomorrow:

(Click here to skip over Fred’s life and the plot summary and straight to the movie review.)

About Fred Lebow

The movie begins by describing the running scene in the 1960′s, and introduces Fred as an outsider who gets involved with the running community and helps to move them from the Bronx to Central Park after traffic and crime begin to get to the point where its no longer safe to run. Fred worked in the fashion industry selling cheap designer clothes, but his real passion was for running. He built up the Central Park marathon and made it successful, and really wanted to bring running to the the masses.

Fred helped empower women in the sport, creating the first long distance women only event that was wildy successful. He began his interactions with the media by convincing a group of PlayBoy bunnies to promote and compete in the 6 mile race.

After a couple of years, the marathon in Central Park had outgrown its course. There were too many runners for the officials to keep track of what lap everybody was on in the 4 loop course of the park. New York City was suffering from a financial crisis, and the problems with crime and arson were at an all time high.

Fred used the tough times to help sell the city on a race that went through all 5 boroughs, and used a lot of smoke and mirrors to bring everything together. He did such a great job convincing everybody that he had the numbers he needed, even before he did, that they all came together and actually put the fantasy he was spinning into reality.

“26 miles, 385 yards, no one was mugged, no one was hit by a taxi. For the city of New York and Bill Rodgers, the marathon was a resounding success.” — Dick Schaap, NBC News, New York

The first 5 boroughs marathon helped to revitalize the city. There were 2000 runners, the sponsors came through with plenty of race support, and Fred empowered all of the neighborhoods to come out and cheer on the runners and to clean up their streets for the race. Fred brought in Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter, the 2 best American marathoners in the country at the time and used them to promote their rivalry through the media.

Halfway through the movie, the marathon has been run through New York a few times and Fred has become a full time race director. You get to see some of the wacky races that he put on, and are introduced to some of his innovations. Some of the innovations stuck, such as the pasta dinner, and others have largely disappeared, such as the world’s largest urinal trough.

“I can still hear the voice of the commentator, ‘Who is number 1173? She’s going to win the race, set a world record…’”

Grete Waitz almost wasn’t invited to the race. She was a European track star who had never run more than 11 or 12 miles at a time, but Fred brought her to New York and helped to define her career from that point forward. Despite saying she’d never run another marathon after that first win, she went on to win the race 9 of the next 11 years.

Fred built up his own fame and reputation as well, as he went under the assumption that in order for the club and the race to be famous, it needed somebody who was famous at the helm.

He was a schemer and a manipulator, and was often referred to as a dictator or as the “running czar.” He thrived on people criticizing him as long he managed to get publicity out of it, and he had no trouble handling the media and controlling what went out through his antics.

Despite being best friends with Bob Bright, the founder of the Chicago Marathon, Fred and Bob had a rivalry in the media and were thought to be bitter foes. Fred knew that the more coverage their rivalry received and the more the two races competed with one another, the larger they would both become.

The last 10 or 15 minutes of the movie chronicle Fred’s diagnosis of brain cancer, and his positive attitude in fighting it. He was absolutely sure that he would beat it, and defied his doctor’s diagnosis that he only had months left to him by living for another 5 years. He measured out the distance in the hospital hallways, and would run laps between surgeries.

“He got to feel what everybody who ran his race felt.”

In 1992, Fred finally got to run in his own race for the first time. The movie ends with him crossing the finish line with Grete Waitz, both of them wearing their ages as their bib numbers, with a very obvious crowd that followed him for the entire distance.

About the Movie 

I really enjoyed watching this movie. The first 2 to 3 minutes are very slow and the music is very in your face and forced, but once the story moves beyond running in general and begins to focus on Fred’s life and his contributions to the sport it becomes very engaging. For the most part, the music does a good job of setting the mood for a scene without calling attention to itself.

The movie did two things exceedingly well, and that was the use of old video footage and photographs.

It was very cool to be able to see actual video footage of the majority of the events as they took place, especially for the first running of the marathon through the entire city.

The use of photographs was also well done, often seeming to be more video footage despite being stills. The photos were given a life of their own as they were on screen.

Throughout the movie, there were shots of political cartoons of the day and newspaper headings and articles flashed onto the screen, which give you a good sense of the times and how the world was reacting to Fred and his race.

Many of the interviews were filmed for this movie, but there were also interviews of Fred from years past and of other prominent people that were featured in the movie. I especially enjoyed some of the live news coverage from the races, especially the bloopers from Bill Stewart as he tried to describe the finish line and Fred making fun of Tom Brokaw for not finishing a marathon whereas his wife had.

The DVD of the movie goes on sale on October 28^th (available for preorder at Amazon) and there are some limited screenings next week from October 29^th through November 6^th in New York City, the week before the marathon this year. There are also screenings in Philadelphia and Israel this weekend.

I’d like to thank Carly Weisenberg of Screen Media Films for providing me with a screener’s copy of the film, as well as 5 copies of the DVD that I will be giving away through the website next week. Come back on Monday for your first chance to win one yourself!

Table of contents for Jeff Galloway Clinic

1. Jeff Galloway speaks at the Maine Running Company
2. Jeff Galloway Clinic » Building Endurance
3. Jeff Galloway Clinic » The Magic Mile
4. Jeff Galloway Clinic » Running Faster
5. Jeff Galloway Clinic » The Run-Walk-Run Method
6. Jeff Galloway Clinic » Food & Training
7. Jeff Galloway Clinic » Audience Questions

Jeff Galloway recently came into the Maine Running Company for a short clinic and to share some of his experiences. This is a continuation of my write-up on the event based on the notes that I took. All of the articles will be linked to down at the end of the article as they appear on the website.

Today’s article deals with Jeff’s notions on building speed.

Running Faster

“There are no health benefits for running faster. It’s only for the ego.”

If you want to run faster, then you need to do some sort of speed work. Jeff allows for a leap of faith pace projection for goal times to train for in a race by cutting 30 seconds off of pace dictated by the Magic Mile pace time.

Jeff has 3 types of faster running in his workouts.

First, he has his runners do acceleration gliders as part of their normal workouts. These promote leg turnover and help you get your momentum going. They aren’t speed work, they are just drills, so they should be very short and should not leave you at all fatigued.

Second, for marathon training, he likes to add mile repetitions at the leap of faith goal pace. Note that this is the pace that is about 30 seconds faster than the pace dictated by the Magic Mile, not what you hope to be able to bring your pace down to over the span of the next few months to a year. He recommends running for 3 minutes and walking for 30 seconds until you have finished running the mile repeat, and then walking for 5 minutes before the next repeat.

Jeff recommends that you do your mile repetitions on the opposite weekends from your long run. You may work up to as many as 14 mile repeats, if your long run is up to 28 or 29 miles. Otherwise, you should do half of the number of mile repeats as you do in your long run. Again, note that these are not all out miles, they are based on your projected race time.

Third, Jeff likes to do race rehearsal runs. For a marathon, he will have his runners do a 3 mile run at marathon goal pace so that they can get used to running (or run-walk-running) continually at the pace that they expect to race at.

For races shorter than the marathon, Jeff suggests that you do 400 meter repeats. For the 5k, you should do 12 to 15 repeats, and for the 10k you should work up to 15 to 22 repeats. Your pace should be 8 seconds faster than your quarter mile race pace, or about 40 seconds faster than your mile race pace. For example, if your Magic Mile was 10 minutes, then your 5k race pace would be 10:33/mile, which means that your 400 meter race pace in your 5k would be 2:38. Take 8 seconds off of that, and you should run your 400 meter repeats in your workout in 2:30.

The long run builds endurance, but speed work builds the ability to run at a hard pace.

(Event Photos)

Table of contents for 2nd Maine Cross Country Clinic

1. 2^nd Annual Maine Coach & Athlete Cross Country Clinic (Part I: Injury Prevention and Treatment)
2. 2^nd Annual Maine Coach & Athlete Cross Country Clinic (Part II: Nutrition Basics & Fueling for Performance)
3. 2^nd Annual Maine Coach & Athlete Cross Country Clinic (Part III: Biomechanics & Footwear)
4. 2^nd Annual Maine Coach & Athlete Cross Country Clinic (Part IV: Meet the Athletes)
5. 2^nd Annual Maine Coach & Athlete Cross Country Clinic (Part V: The Athlete’s Panel)

The 2^nd annual Maine Coach and Athlete Cross Country Clinic was on August 18th, 2008 at the University of Southern Maine. This is the third part of my reporting on the clinic; the first part was about injury prevention and treatment and the second part was about nutrition basics and fueling. This part covers foot and biomechanical structure and the selection of proper footwear.

Selecting Proper Footwear

The third presentation of the night was from the owner of the Maine Running Company, John Rogers. John’s career in the running business started in product development for Nike and Mizuno, but he retired from doing that to start a specialty running store here in Southern Maine about 4 years ago.

“We try to find the right shoe for people.”

John and his employees use a 6 step fitting process to make sure that they are getting fitted with the proper shoes when they come into the store.

The 6 steps consist of determining information about the runner and his or her running habits, as well as some specific tests to help them determine what each athlete needs.

This 6 step process includes:

1. Determining the approximate height and weight of the athlete.
2. Determining how much the athlete is running on a daily and weekly basis.
3. Determining what shoes the athlete has worn in the past.
4. Determining if the athlete uses orthotics or similar devices.
5. Testing the athlete’s foot with a digital scanner.
6. Doing a visual assessment of the amount of pronation from the athlete when they walk or run.

The correct shoes for each athlete may be different. You should first find the best shoe that you can, and only once you have chosen that shoe can you begin to worry about the extras such as orthotics. If you need to wear orthotics but you put them into the wrong shoes, then the orthotics are not going to help any.

If you need help choosing shoes, speak first with your coaches who might have experience with different types of footwear and are going to know a lot about your running style. Once you have gotten their advice, you can visit the running store and speak with a local specialist who can narrow down exactly what you need.

Be an active participant in the fitting process. Always operate under what John refers to as the Doubt Factor: If you have any single doubt on a shoe, then don’t buy it.

Once you have bought the shoe, then write the date that you bought it in the insole. Your shoes should be replaced every 4 to 6 months, or every 400 to 600 miles, depending upon your running style and the model of the shoe and the environment that you run in.

Shoe Categories

“We’ve come to a point in the industry where everybody is making high quality shoes.”

There is basically a model of shoe for everybody, these days. The big companies got into a habit of over-teching and over-building their shoes in the past few decades, but that trend has turned around and the industry is moving back towards minimalist concepts. Many trends are even going so far as barefoot running, or as close as you can get and still have something to sell to the consumer.

Neutral shoes are the fastest growing category in the footwear industry, which has been helped by the orthotics manufacturers. Neutral shoes are for a high rigid arch and can come with either moderate cushioning or maximum support.

Stability shoes are still the largest category of shoes on the market. They are appropriate for mid or late stage pronators and for duck footed folks.

When choosing racing shoes, you should apply the same sorts of philosophies towards your shoe selection as you would for trainers. Find something that will suit your needs for the different circumstances that you will be racing in and pick the correct racer or lightweight trainer that will suit your needs.

John is also a big fan of rotating your shoes, although he does not have a preference on whether or not you should rotate the same style of shoes or different styles. That will be an individual decision that will be different for each runner.

The race went out very fast, with Tyler Jasud (01:40:37) and Noah Schonenberg leading the way with a blazing fast sub-5:00 first mile. Noah fell off the pace within a quarter mile after that, but Tyler maintained the front position for the entire race to cross the line first in 16:38.

Scott Gorneau (01:43:43) used his 17:05 finish to bring his series time down by over a minute, but Tyler still has over a 3 minute lead on him. Fortunately for Scott, Tyler is still in school and isn’t eligible to win the shoes.

Heather Pagano (01:53:02) won the women’s race in 18:45 for 9^th place overall. Not only did she finish in 9^th, but this was her 6^th race so she jumped straight onto the leader board in 9^th overall with an almost 11 minute lead over Katie Davisson (02:04:00).

I ran hard during the race, working my way up to 2^nd for most of the run. I would have had to work harder than I was willing to to catch Tyler, though, and Scott overtook me with a little less than 2k to go and beat me handily by 5 seconds. My series time did drop by over 2 minutes, which moved me into 4^th place overall. I don’t expect to race or run any more of them as anything but interval workouts, so I don’t expect to improve too much going forward this year.

(Full Results – Leader Board – Photos)

Unfortunately, there’s no screen time scheduled right now for Maine, so I won’t get to see this when it comes out. Hopefully I’ll get an opportunity to see it later in the year, though. Current screenings and more information can be found at the website: 50marathons.com

(Hat Tip: STTB)