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2010 race season begins in 2 weeks–here is a map of our run

February 15, 2010 in Running, Training, Triathlon | 1 comment

2010 race season begins on February 27th at the Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth TX. Sara and I will be running the half. It has been hard to keep our running consistent due to the barrage of snow recently–not to mention the lack of longer runs. Below is our running route. Nicest thing about this map is the 13.1 miles are already plotted, much easier than trying to find new ways to add the mileage up in my usual mapping system, walkjogrun.

I am going to use this race as a test and tune up prep for the National half (notice the cycling jersey on one of the featured runners in the main pic–ha!) on March 20 (local people, I hope you’ll come root us on in DC). Texas family & friends–I will be watching the crowd and looking for you with the eye of the tiger–and am hoping to see you all there!

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So, you think you’re a “tough guy’?

February 15, 2010 in Running, awesome | 1 comment

Over Christmas my brother told me about a race in the UK called the Tough Guy Challenge, which involves some pretty crazy obstacles such as, live wires, freezing lakes, fields of flaming hay and crawling through abandoned sewer lines. I intend to keep my training focused on getting to an Iron Man but have told my brother this is something I would do, if he does as well, at some point–just hope to not break anything.

Check out the video!

Drop a comment if you know of any races like this in the states.

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Training update: January Stats, battling snow and running into the President

February 8, 2010 in Cycling, Running, Swimming, Training, Triathlon | No comments

Ok all, the race season is lining (filling up) fast and starts this month with a half marathon down in Ft. Worth on the 27th. My confidence for completion is good but for getting the time I want not as high–getting my longer runs in has been tough now that DC has decided to have some heavy winter weather….Gym is open today so gonna try and make up some mileage for the recent 2 day loss. Although, I try to imagine that the 2 hour shoveling sessions have to count for something other than just sore muscles in my back.

Why is running in DC unique and fun (when we can actually get outdoors)? We have some great areas to run that feature beautiful sites and National monuments–and also the possibility of having your run stopped when the President is on his way back home. Lyle and I were out for a 7 miler last week that took us out past the White House and then back again on the return, however on the way back we were stopped on our path so the Presidential motorcade could get Mr. Obama back to the White House. We waved, it was pretty cool. Only in DC….

Finally, the January stats–bike is low due to lack of regular commuting and outdoor weekend riding (too damn cold). We have been doing regular Saturday morning spin (sufferfest) classes though. Swimming has not been has regular as I would like, again a mix of weather and work not cooperating as nicely as they should. But running was pretty good til snowmaggedon hit this week. We have been keeping at least one day/week dedicated to core and weights, the core building is definitely paying off, I feel much lighter when I run and the lower back cramping I was suffering from last year is not affecting me as dramatically–of course we’ll see how that goes once the weather warms up and we start hitting the brick workouts.

January 2010

  • Swim: 3.43 miles
  • Bike: 42.22 miles
  • Run: 95.45

So far February is off to a slow start, but hopefully we can start ramping it back up.

Upcoming races:

  • Cowtown half-marathon: February 27
  • National half-marathon: March 20

5 mile lunch run–ankle pain lingering

December 2, 2009 in Running, Training, Triathlon | No comments

I did 5 miles on a treadmill today, battling a cold so need to run in the cold rain on top of it (although the treadmill is my least favorite activity in a gym). I ran at 8:25 pace, around 3.5 miles in I started to feel the ankle pain again. I slowed down to a walk for a bit then eased the speed back up. I finished strong but will note that it is definitely not just the road slope causing the issue, can’t get flatter than a treadmill.

The new shoes seem to be helping because the pain is not as pronounced but I am afraid since I let it escalate I may be battling the lingering tingling until I get through teh marathon–got to keep the mileage up. New appraoch is gonna be slow runs, all except for one short run a week.

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Running philosophy: easy, light, smooth and fast

December 2, 2009 in Cycling, Running, Training, Triathlon, Zen | No comments

I have been reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall and am greatly enjoying the book. I am about half-way through so don’t send me any big reveal comments. I just finished the heavy chapters about the Leadville 100 and the Tarhumara influences and of course the author has finally met Caballo Blanco. The Caballo’s philosophy he imparts on the author when they went for a first run together really stuck with me: focus on making it easy, once it’s easy focus on being light, then smooth then you will be fast. He notes, that if easy is all you get–then that is pretty good.

This stuck with me the way some of the early lessons in Chi Running have as well–running should be a practice not an end within itself that pulls you into the immediate of now. Now, I can’t deny my mind wanders when I run–I think its when my thoughts are most lucid and creative–the thoughts spawn when I begin to realize how all things are connected and how I am flowing through it during a long run, a small ripple on the tide of the universe.

The glue in all the disparate parts is doing a thing to simply do the thing–be it running, cycling, swimming, working, writing–do it don’t think about where you want to be or how it is a stepping stone or else you miss what you were doing. It’s late and I am rambling, bottom line–enjoy it and don’t worry about where you think you need to be with your endeavor just focus on the current on the moment.

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New running shoes: Mizzuno Wave Rider 12 and A new road bike for Sara!

November 28, 2009 in Cycling, Running, Training, gear | No comments

I have decided to try a new pair of running shoes to see if a little more support will take care of the ankle pains I am having, so I purchased Mizzuno’s Wave Rider 12. It was not easy to abandon a newly purchased pair of running shoes–these items are not cheap, but in the interest of injury prevention Sara helped me rationalize the need to try something else.

I have sent an e-mail to the Kahru company to see if they offer any kind of return on the shoes–I’ll let you know if I hear anything from them. I think they are good shoes and my left is totally fine but my right does slightly pronate and the Kahru Fluid ride is truly a neutral shoe with no arch support–so the high arches and slight pronation on my right foot were amplifying in the Kahru’s.

I am falling a little behind on the marathon mileage but hopefully the shoe change helps solve the ankle issue and this possible ongoing cold goes away so I can get back on track.

Other exciting news: We just bought Sara a road bike today, we purchased a Fuji Team Carbon bike from Performance bikes in Rockville. We got the bike at over 50% off the original MSRP, which made the deal way too sweet to pass on. She doesn’t have race pedals and shoes yet, we’ll get those closer to the summer once she is comfortable riding again. We are picking the bike up tomorrow and heading out for our first ride as a couple–I’m stoked!

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Ankle pain: shoes, form or just the road?

November 27, 2009 in Running | No comments

So, I have been running in my Kahru shoes for over a month now and have developed pain in a new area I had never previously experienced pain while running, the outside of my right ankle. I am trying to isolate what is causing the issue. The training I am doing for the Cowtown Marathon in February is slow running focused on form–I’ll worry about speed after February. What I have noticed with my right foot is that it feels like I land to heavy on the inside of my right arch which may be causing the pain…Now, here is what I have also noticed as potential factors.

The road: one of my main staple runs is to head past the White House and down 15th towards the Mall (this is close to where I work so it is a typical weekday path for me), the sidewalk on 15th slopes this is where I started noticing the session of my foot strike trying to compensate with what feels like a slight twist. On my training run yesterday with Sara in Rock Creek I had the same sensation on some sloped portions of the road.

The shoes: The Kahru’s are new to me but I thought I would give them a shot but perhaps I am not as totally neutral in my foot strike as the shoe demands. The shoe is specifically designed for runners that land with a heel strike–then uses a fulcrum technology to transfer the momentum. I tend to focus on keeping a mid0foot strike, lessons from Chi Running. The shoe also has very little int he way of lateral foot strike stability. Do I return to my trusted Brooks? Do I head to a running store for analysis (will I even get someone to help me on Black Friday…)

Form: I am trying to focus on form, I know when my foot is rolling but can not say for certain it is the cause of the pain in my ankle, also I try to focus on what I am doing differntly between the left foot strike and the right–the left is totally fine, I need to keep working on this and also, perhaps, finally finish Chi Running….

Certainly I am no stranger to pain and pretty much just expect and accept it but doesn’t mean I like it. I also don’t want to push something that will become debilitiating and keep me from my fitness goals and competing, this would be the worse case of all. I think I am going to start with a visit to a running store and perhaps not running today. I’ll let you know what I uncover.

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