Memorial Day Weekly Recap

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I only had one run last week and this weekend we were busy nearly every minute. Here is the run down.

Wednesday May 20th: I ran 8 miles on the Rancho Vista Loop. For you locals that is 45th to Towncenter, left to 30th, right on Rancho Vista and back to my house (M-12 and 51st). I have to run around the neighborhood a little to get 8 exactly. Yes, I am one of those freaky Garmin users. I have always really enjoyed that run on Rancho Vista. I reminds me of coming up to the AV to visit the Cranes before we lived here. They lived on N-8 and Andi and I would run up N-8 all the way to Rancho Vista and then back around to 30th (this was before the golf course was there). It also has plenty of shoulder (sometimes dirt) to run on and some good rolling hills to train on. This morning it took me 62:37 (7:49 pace).


This weekend we had windy mornings on Saturday and Sunday (at least in Quartz Hill). Saturday morning I chickened out and hopped on the treadmill for 8 miles at 8:00 pace.

Sunday I decided I would run long wind or no wind. It turned out to be not so bad. I went back on the old Rancho Vista Loop once by myself, then swung by home and picked up Andi (we had baby sitters) and repeated the loop again. I then finished with two extra miles around the neighborhood, which I might use for my birthday run, and ended the morning with a total of 18 miles! I was going to stop at 17 but didn't want to end on a prime number. Total time was 2:25:29 or 8:05 average pace. I felt great after the first 16 but there is a good hill on that mile loop that I did twice at the end and I pushed the pace a little (7:30 and 7:45 on the last two miles). I was spent after 18.

The key would be whether or not I would be overly sore the next day. Today I ran around Quartz Hill. The course from my house was by Lane Park, then over to QHHS, up to Mayflower Gardens, and back home. Total distance was 6 miles, time 49:12, average pace 8:12, and I felt like I could have gone farther. I felt great the rest of the day, no ill effects. This was a positive weekend of running for me mileage wise on my way towards my 30 miler on July 5th.

Total 3 day mileage was 32 miles!



Finally, I told you I would give you my take on stretching. I got a few (2) comments on my readers stretching habits. There have been many articles recently showing that stretching does not prevent injury. There is also literature that shows static stretching decreases performance in jumping or power events. There is other literature that shows that correct stretching does increase range of motion. One article even showed that the runners tested that were "tighter" were more effictient runners. I personally think that there are way too many confounding variables to consider when doing this type of study. In other words, way too many pieces of the puzzle that you cannot control or want to try to control. For example, biomechanics, medical history, strength, footwear, terrain, mileage, what all these people do when they are not running, and whether or not they are stretching correctly. It is too hard to make a correlation with stretching and injury. I have read that somewhere near 70-80% of runners get injured at some point, some stretch and some don't. Some stretchers still get hurt and some non stretchers do just fine. I personally do little to no stretching and definitely nothing consistently. I don't think it would prevent me from getting injured and I don't think it would improve my perfromance. One training addition that I do believe has helped me log more mileage without injury is a good core strengthening program. Hip and core weakness has been shown to be present and may be the cause of many runners with hip and knee trouble. My last two "injuries" include shin splints from improper footwear and a calf strain from lack of sleep and dehydration. Dean Karnazes who has run hundreds of miles at a time also says he never stretches and never gets injured (this is NOT the reason I don't stretch, just another opinion). The importance of stretching is totally individual. There are way too many factors to consider. A good physical therapy assessment including gait evaluation and footwear recommendations is the best way to go.


And lastly, the LA Marathon was today and Wesley Korir won in 2:08:24 which not only was the fastest LA Marathon ever but is now the fastest marathon ever run IN CALIFORNIA!! The weather was good I hear with temps in the mid 60s due to a marine layer, and little to no wind. I don't think the race will be on Memorial Day next year. It will hopefully be back to a non holiday Sunday in March like it was when I ran in 2004 (3:15) and 2005 (3:38).