Run to Win

Just yesterday, Kara Goucher was considering the London Marathon. It took about a day or so, but her coach, Alberto Salazar, has talked her out of running.

The AP is listing her possible attempt at running London 6 days after Boston as having been unprecedented, but I know that that isn’t true. At least 5 people ran both in 2005, when London fell the day before Boston.

Pam Reed not only ran London and then flew over the pond to run in Boston, but also ran from Boston to Hopkinton before the start to get over 50 miles in on the day.

While it is probably the wiser move for Kara not to run next weekend, it still would have been awesome had she managed to have another great performance in such a short span of time.

(Photo Credit: Roger Morse – Less Info: Associated Press)

Try to imagine that you have an honest chance of winning the Boston Marathon.

You run the marathon, and there are still 8 women in the lead pack past 20 miles because the pace is so slow (remember, you have an honest chance of winning!)

Then imagine that you are outsprinted in the last mile to finish 5 seconds behind the winner and 4 seconds behind 2^nd place. You ran a great race, but you fell a little short of your own expectations.

What is your first thought?

If you said, “Kick back and party, then go run the London Marathon in 6 days,” then you just might be Kara Goucher…(video after the break)
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After the Boston Indoor Games, Kara Goucher went for a leisurely Sunday Run along the Boston Marathon Course. Not willing to miss a chance at building a circus, the media was there to watch her leisurely 7:00/mile jog along the last 20 miles of the course.

Here’s a video that the folks at Flotrack put together in preparation for the race coming up in a few weeks:

I’m very much looking forward to watching the race on Patriot’s Day. It will be exciting to see how the Americans stack up this year against the field, with Ryan Hall running as well as Kara.

Tomorrow evening is the Boston Indoor Games, a great event put on down at the Reggie Lewis Center every year. If you are planning on being there, then keep an eye out for me as I’ll be there with both my still and my video camera!

The Games will not be televised live, but will be on ESPN on Sunday from 4:00-6:00. If you haven’t made your picks yet, you have until 4:55 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday to choose who you think is going to score in tomorrow’s meet.

I am very excited about the meet. When making my picks, I saw that Kevin Sullivan is racing in the mile, so I had to make that pick despite thinking that he probably isn’t going to be able to beat Alan Webb.

Kara Goucher should put in a good 3000m as she gets herself into shape for the Boston Marathon, her goal race for 2009 and which has not been won by an American (man or woman) since 1985.

I’m also looking forward to watching Shalane Flanagan in the 5k and Galen Rupp in the 3k.

I also noticed today that the USATF Indoor Championships are also in Boston this year, so I am going to have to see if I can arrange my schedule to let me get down there again at the end of the month.

See you there!

Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 meter runner Kara Goucher has announced that she is going to make her marathon debut at New York City this year, and that she has been planning on running it since she rode in the media vehicle during last year’s race.

“Last year when I watched the race first hand, I decided I wanted to run in New York,” said Goucher. “The ING New York City Marathon is one of the most prestigious, and the course is challenging, so I’m excited for my first marathon to be this one. I have a strong emotional connection to New York, as it is where I was born, where my family lives, and where my father passed away. This one will be personal for me and my family.”

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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, the second part was about nutrition basics and fueling, and the third part was about selecting proper footwear.

The fourth part of this series introduced you to the 3 athletes on the panel, and this final part will summarize their thoughts on training, teamwork, and racing as they answer the questions posed to them by the people in attendance.

What do you wish you knew in high school that you know now?

Lauren Fleshman only had 2 paces in high school, workout and racee. In college, she had 3 paces, workout, maintenance, and racing. She had a much better idea going into each workout what the goal was, and sometimes that was just to prepare for the next workout. She also would like to have known in high school how much better she could recover from two-a-days than doing 1 longer run throughout the day. In college she would run double 3 or 4 times per week.

Matt Lane would like to have known how important consistency in training was, especially having grown up in Maine where consistent running can be more difficult than elsewhere.

Matt did not run on the indoor track team, and instead competed for the ski team. Unless you are Ben True, skiing is not a complete substitute for running. It gives you great cardiovascular fitness, but it just doesn’t translate onto the track.

Matt would basically not run a single step between November and March, and his high school track times suffered as a result. He considers himself by far the slowest guy in the top 10 at Foot Lockers for his track times.

Matt wishes that he knew that running even once or twice a week would have been good enough to allow him to maintain his running fitness between the cross country and track seasons. Going for 5 or 6 weeks at a time without a run just didn’t allow him to do that no matter how well he was cross training. In the Summer, he did not have that same problem, which is why he did so much better in cross country.

Louie Luchini wishes that he had known what a difference a high volume workload can make, and wishes that he had done some harder workouts in high school.

His biggest problem with the extra volume, though, is that he sleeps too much and morning runs are out of the question for him. (Much to the chagrin of his coaching staff.)
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A little over a week ago, I was offered the opportunity to review one of Nike’s new workout mixes that you can load on your iPod and use to guide you through a workout. There was only one problem with this…I don’t have a working mp3 player, and never wear headphones when I’m working out. This actually worked out pretty well, though, because I was able to convince the guy at Nike to let me give it to a few people that belong to my email newsletter to review. Within a few minutes of sending the email out, I had a dozen people asking for a review copy.

The workout is 40 minutes long and consists of 13 popular songs. Throughout the entire time, Kara Goucher coaches you through a timed fartlek run. Whether this is appropriate for you is an individual decision, as evidenced by the two very different reviews that I received and that you can read below.

First, I’d like to remind you that if you listen to any sort of music while you are out running to remember to pay attention to your surroundings, especially when you are running with traffic.

Second, if you are interested in purchasing the workout you can do some through the iTunes store for $12.99. (That link will open iTunes directly on your computer if it is installed.)

If you would like more information about it, you can stream the entire workout over your computer by visiting the Nike+ Music site and clicking on Kara Goucher’s album cover. You can listen to the entire workout through the website, but you will not be able to download it. There is an option where you can download a short sample that you can put onto your iPod.

This first review is from Steve Spiers of Run Bulldog Run. He took the workout outside for a run last Thursday, and here are his thoughts on it:
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