Run to Win

This week last year, there was a good mix of running tips and running news.

• The first running tip that I offered was how to drink water during a race, with practical tips to keep you from having to slow down and to make sure you don’t try to drown yourself.
• The second tip that I offered last year was to warm up in spare clothes before a race. Getting your racing clothes soaked or sweaty before a race can be aggravating, so having a spare set of clothing to change out of before the race (and, for that matter, into after the race) can make you much more comfortable.
• I asked the question, “Dean Karnazes. That I was asking this question a year ago is rather appropriate, given that his new book is set to be published in another week or two.
• In running news, Jeremy Wariner set a 400m record and won a diamond at a meet in Stockholm with a time of 43.5 seconds.
• In fake running news, a graphic design student created a movie trailer for Once a Runner, which is one of the best fictional running books in the sport.
• This week two years ago, I was busy getting ready to get married but the site kept ticking over with interesting things to read.
  • I explained the difference between RICE and RID and why either method is a good way to treat your injuries. I have since learned that using anti-inflammatories can be counter productive.
  • Over in the UK, cross country running was declared a brand of abuse and was equated with bullying. It still seems a little ridiculous to myself.
  • The first half of my Shoe Maintenance Series went live while I was busy getting ready to be married. I introduced the series, and then offered up a central theme in the tips which is to keep your shoes dry when you are not wearing them. How you keep them dry is important, as well, which is why I continued on the second day by explaining how effective pulling out insoles can be and why you should remove rocks and mud after your run. The next day was the wedding itself, and then on Sunday there was one tip where I explained what to do if your shoes are sopping wet.
• This week 3 years ago, at the world championships in Helsinki, Kenenisa Bekele won the 10,000m, Bershawn Jackson won the 400m hurdles, and the United States took the top 4 in the 200 meters final. I also reviewed my casio wristwatch and the book, Run Fast: How to beat your best time every time.

In 2006, Dean Karnazes was the second person to run 50 marathons in all 50 states on consecutive days. You can now watch a documentary of his exploits on the big screen, which is titled after his book, Ultramarathon Man:
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This week last year was dominated by exercise related news, although there were a few less topical articles that were worth looking at.

• This week last year, there was a debate about whether or not you should refuel during a marathon or whether you should stick to water. I had to throw my 2 cents in. My opinion is basically the same this year as last year, although I should go back and update it with my latest opinions and experiments.
• Scott and I continued our series on alternate exercises by suggesting that you should walk everywhere. I just bought a new car, so regardless of how much exercise I want to get you had best believe that I’m parking in the least desirable areas where there will hopefully not be anybody else parking near me.
• There was a lot of news this week last year. Here are a few of the more interesting stories:
  • Bike activists create their own bike lanes.
  • 16 year old Windy Hagar married her 40 year old track coach.
  • Dean Karnazes missed setting the 24 hour treadmill record.
• This week two years ago, I suggested that you shouldn’t fall asleep in front of the television.
• This week three years ago, I reviewed the books Running with the Buffaloes and Eat to Be Fit. I also shared my Beef Jerky recipe and made on a suggestion on how to deal with migraines. Lastly, I recommended that you go for a good Beach Run.

After a few days off from the site to run the marathon (during which time I got a lot of traffic, surprisingly enough), I wrote up my thoughts and experiences from New York City while Scott began the next month’s topic on injuries.

• The first thing to note about New York City was that the crowds disappointed me. Until the last few miles, I have never seen that many people that had so little interest in what they were watching. I’m sure that they were more animated for the leaders ahead of me and for the crowds behind me, but I have never once had so much trouble trying to get a crowd to react to me. On the whole, though, the race was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the experience.
  1. Pre-Race Experiences
  2. Race Experiences
  3. Post-Race Experiences
• In other racing news, RIT placed 3^rd at regionals, while the women’s team had a team-history best 6^th place finish.
• Scott began out month of injury articles by discussing the difference between strains and sprains, as well as the most common causes of each and (more importantly) how to recover from them.
• Dean Karnazes used New York as his final marathon in the Endurance 50. Of course, as soon as he finished he decided to run home from New York. He didn’t make it, but he’s still been busy over the past year.
• This week two years ago, I answered a common question that I am asked about whether you should lift first or run first? I try to lift first whenever I can, unless there is a workout-specific reason to swap the two. I also reviewed the GMap Pedometer. It has been updated quite a bit over the past couple of years, but it still lags behind some of the other solutions that are out there and that are much better. A third article that I wrote this week two years ago discussed how important it is to act like a child on occasion in order to stay fit and healthy. Getting burned out is so much more difficult when you are actually enjoying what you are doing.

This week last year I had marathons on my mind.

• The Chicago Marathon just can not catch a break these past few years. This year there was the debacle with the heat and canceling the race, but last year Robert Cheruiyot slipped on a race decal and split his head open. His momentum carried his torso over the line, though, and he still won the race. The videos that I linked to last year are still available if you somehow missed this story.
• Dean Karnazes ran the Maine leg of his Endurance 50 with his 31^st marathon in as many days. I got to watch the start and finish of it, but I did not run. (Photos)
• Dallen thinks that weekly mileage is a good predictor of when you will hit the wall. I disagree with that assessment, as I have managed to avoid hitting the wall pretty consistently and my weekly mileage is much lower than his. I think that the wall is based more on your fueling strategy as long as you have a basic level of fitness for the distance.
• In non-marathon running news, Dirigo won the masters cross country championship for the 40-49 category after defeating the Genesee Valley Harriers. One of my college teammates now runs for them, but neither of us are masters yet so we didn’t race. One of my current teammates, Tom Ryan, won the 50+ race in 16:25.
• Scott and I continued our series on rest with an article on this site about rest between workouts and cross training. Giving your body a chance to repair itself is important if you ever want to improve in your sport.
• This week two years ago, I described what hyponatremia is and why I do not think that it is worth as much attention as people spend on it. I also reviewed the Marathon Rookie eBook and website, which I believe is a pretty good primer on gearing up for your first marathon.

This week last year had more of the same with race results and NFL picks. I also discussed:

• A video demonstration of how to tie your shoes so that they do not come untied while you are running is one of my most linked to articles on this site. I use the runner’s knot every day and have yet to have a pair of shoes come untied since I started using it a few years ago. I also listed a few exercise related How-To articles that were written on other sites around the same time.
• I reviewed Chariots of Fire, which must be the most well known running movie ever made.
• Dean Karnazes began the Endurance 50 and ran his first of 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. This year, Brad Alsop is running a marathon every day between the 4^th of July and Veteran’s Day on November 11^th. So far, he has run 82 of the 131 marathons in his efforts to raise money for the Injured Marine Semper Fi fund.
• I learned how to mix up my pushups with medicine balls, which has become my standard method over the past year. I also offered a race tip: run a bit early in the morning before a race to properly loosen up your body.
• Two years ago, I climbed Mount Washington and I wrote about gym etiquette.

This week last year I had marathons on my mind.

• I wrote a lengthy article that explains why 50 Marathons in 50 Days is impressive. The sport can not really afford to be insular, and people like Dean Karnazes and Sam Thompson can much more easily relate to the “average” runner than somebody like Scott Jurek or Robert Cheriyout.
• On a personal note, it took 5 weeks of low mileage to decondition. I managed to regain that level of fitness in the two months that I had before the New York City Marathon, though, so it was only a temporary setback. I also began lifting weights with a wedding ring on, which has surprisingly enough brought in quite a bit of search traffic to the website.
• The B.A.A. published a press release that they were going to move up the start of the Boston Marathon by 2 hours to 10:00 a.m. I predicted that there was going to be a blizzard due to the earlier starting time (despite my approval of moving the race up), and I was not too far off of the mark. A Nor’Easter blew through right before the race.

In a continuing collaboration with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we will be writing about training and media influences throughout the month of August. I would like to start the discussion about how much the media colors our perceptions of athletes, specifically referencing Dean Karnazes.

Dean Karnazes is almost a household name.

He has inspired hundreds if not thousands of people to change their lives and become more fit. He wrote a humorous look at how an ordinary person can train himself to do extraordinary things in his book, Ultramarathon Man. He has raised a lot of money for various charities through his extreme feats of endurance. He is very personable, and a master at promoting both himself and his causes.

He also rubs a lot of people in the ultramarathon community the wrong way. His often blatant self-promotion gets on a lot of people’s nerves, and even Karnazes himself will be the first to admit that there are people out there that are much better than him at some (or even most) of the events that he competes in or stages.
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