USATF Championshilps

USATF Championships start today with mostly preliminary heats. Sergio Reyes is running the 10k tonight at 7:55pm PST. It should be streamed live on www.runnerspace.com.

California State Track Meet

I finally looked at the results from the California State high school track meet and there was some phenomenal performances. California always has many of the top track athletes in the country. I think it is a combination of good weather for year round training and a HUGE population of high school kids. When my high school came out to CA for meets from neighboring Nevada, even the top kids from my school seemed to be only above average.

Four performances in particular caught my attention in the distance events.

First, Amy Weissenbach an 11th grader from Harvard-Westlake won the girls 800m in 2:02.04! That time is the 15th fastest female American time so far this year! All the women faster than her are professionals. She is faster than any NCAA runner so far this year (NCAA championships is this week)!

Second, Jantzen Oshier a 12th grade boy from Trabuco Hills ran the 1600m in 4:00.83. He has lead the list of top boys milers in the country all spring but 4 flat is incredible! He will be in the High School Dream Mile this weekend with Lukas Verzbicas (who just smashed the HS 2 mile record in 8:29), Billy Orman (who won the AZ 3200m in 8:48), Elias Gedyon (8:50 at CA state 3200m), Amar Moussa, and the Rosa twins. The question may not be who will break the 4 minute mile, but how many?

Elias Gedyon is my third highlighted athlete. He was second to Oshier in the 1600m at CA state in 4:04 and won the 3200m in 8:50! That is possibly the best double in the country. The last person to win both at the CA state meet was Meb Keflezighi!

Finally, Sarah Baxter, a 9th grader from Simi Valley, won the girls 3200m in 10:13! How fast will this tiny little girl me in 3 years? Amazing! The great thing about her is that her parents and coaches seem to be holding her reins back and not extending her seasons by adding more and more races, even though she probably could win all of them.

Congrats to all these kids. They are truly amazing! See all the CA state track meet results here.

News and Links

I did not make it down for the Oxy High Performace meet, but it sounds like this will be an annual event so maybe next year. There is no other meet in the country, except maybe Pre Classic, that attracts so many top tier runners.

The meet was highlighted by some quick 800s. Two women went under 2:00 which doesn't happen too often in the US, and two men went under 1:45!

The 1500s were a little slower than last year but won by Katie Follet and Andrew Wheating. Katie is tearing it up this year and ran a PR in 4:07.44. Andrew won in 3:36.46 in his season debut in an open event. Neither were A standards but solid performances.

Here is the link to all the race videos and interviews.


I wrote about the US World Championship marathon team recently. Today runnersworld posted a link to Nick Arciniaga's blog that he started to document his training for the marathon in Daegu. He discusses his teammates and their chances of a team medal! Hopefully he updates it often. It will be fun to read his insights on marathon training. I posted a link to his blog on the blog list to the right.

Shout outs!

I have been meaning to give a shout out to Clay Patten who finished his second LD50 last weekend. He is in great shape and had an awesome first 35 miles before having trouble with his asthma and hiking the last 15 finishing in 10:45 (he was on pace to run 9:45). It is hard to believe that it was a year ago when I ran my first ultra out there. My time last year (30th place) would have put me 38th place at this years race. It is becoming more and more competitive and I hope to do it again. Trail running is some of the best and most rewarding running out there, with beautiful views, challenging terrain, and a sense of accomplishment after every run. Keira Henninger put on a great race this year with 50mile, 50k, and 30k options.

The winner of this years race was 24 year old James Bonnett. Running Times did an article on him a few years back as an up and coming ultra runner who had run his first trail marathon at the age of 9 and was 23rd at Western States 100 at the age of 19!


I had a few friends run the OC half marathon last weekend too. Justin Patananan was 4th in 1:10:37 and Neil Small ran a huge PR finishing 11th in 1:15:33!

Here is a link to my finishing video and pictures. You can see how windy it was at the finish in the video.

Up coming local events for track fans

Hey track fans! There is some exciting events coming up in the SoCal area that I wanted to bring your attention to. On Sunday April 10, Chris McDougall (author of Born to Run) is leading a barefoot/trail run in Griffith Park along with a book signing of Born to Run. The event starts at 1:00pm at A Runners Circle Running Store in L.A. Scott Jurek will be there too!

There are two track meets that would be worth watching this weekend too. The Arcadia Invitational starts tonight and will be live on runnerspace.com. This is always one of the best High School meets in the country, especially on the west coast. Last year the boys 2 mile had something like 16 kids go under 9 minutes! The other event started yesterday is the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner Kersee Inviational at UCLA. There will be some top athletes there and JJK will be there too. Saturday at noon they scheduled a "walk with Jackie." I don't know what that means but it should be a good time. They are running the mile Saturday afternoon.

Next weekend there are two more track meets worth checking out. The Mt SAC Relays will also have some of the top runners in the country and a few Olympians I'm sure. That is April 14 and 15. UCLA is also hosting a dual meet with Oregon at Drake Stadium in L.A. on April 17th which sounds really exciting. Running events start at 1:00pm and should conclude by 3:00pm. Here is the schedule.

Finally, the USC and UCLA dual meet is at USC on May 1st. This is always a fun meet as there is an intense rivalry between the two schools. The Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford is the same day and always attracts some of the best runners in the country. Flotrack should have it streamed live.

Oh, and of course the London Marathon and Boston Marathon are on April 17th and 18th respectively and both should be great to watch with top Americans in both races.

Race Results

Andi and I after the 2005 LA Marathon. We ran 3:38:42!

There was a lot of great performances this weekend all over the world. Everyone who completed the LA Marathon on Sunday put up with some crazy conditions to get their finishers medal. Some of the times out there were incredible based on the wind and rain that they had to deal with.

9:48:42 Kelly Gneiting broke the Guinness World Record for "Heaviest Person to Complete a Marathon" by crossing the finish at the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday.

5:17:04 Fran Cowart finished her first marathon at Los Angeles. Way to go Fran! See Clay's blog for details.

3:43:53 Chuck Fieland continued his streat of LA Marathons. He has run many different courses in many different conditions.

3:24:23 Dale Lister some how dealt with the conditions better than most and ran a BQ minus 10 minutes to almost certainly secure his spot at the Boston Marathon in 2012.

2:36:14 The McRunner, a man who ate all 3 meals at McDonalds for the past month and raised $27,000 dollars for Ronald McDonald House, also ran a PR at L.A. During this time his cholesterol and body fat dropped! He was also running 100+ miles per week.

2:27:03 Amy Hastings of Mammonth, CA was 3rd at L.A. and ran the 3rd fastest debut marathon for a US female ever! This made her 3rd fastest on the trials qualifiers list and 8th fastest American female of all time! I heard that 6 of the top 8 US females EVER are expected to run at the US trials in January. EXCITING!

2:06:35 Markos Geneti won the L.A. Marathon with a course record and the second fastest debut marathon EVER! How he did that in those conditions is beyond me. There is something to be said for being a first timer in the marathon. It either humbles you, or you are so naive (because you don't know what it will feel like late in the race) that you can go out hard and don't look back. I know I exceeded my expectations when I ran my first L.A. marathon in 2004 in 80 degree weather, in 3:15:12.


Also this weekend, Galen Rupp was 3rd at the NYC half marathon in a world class field with a time of 1:00:30, and he fell at one point in the race! This was ALSO his first time at the distance. Again, I think ignorance is bliss. Salazars group did great with Mo Farah winning the men's race and Kara Goucher 3rd in the women's race. Alberto Salazar coaches all three athletes.

Shalane Flanagan was 3rd at World Cross Country and lead the US Women's team to a bronze medal. This was the first medal by an American woman since Deena Kastor in 2003.

Finally, there was a World Record in the marathon last week! Michael Wardian broke the World Record for a marathon dressed as a super hero when he ran the Lower Potomac Marathon dressed as Spiderman in 2:34:56!

12 miles with Clay (1:29:54)

I didn't run on Saturday. It was cold, windy, and raining. Call me a wimp, it just didn't look like fun to run. Thought about the treadmill but never got around to it.

Sunday morning I met Clay at the aqueduct at 6:30am. It was in the low 30s/high 20s and breezy up there. I didn't even get out of my car. I just rolled down my window and said, "Lets drive back to your house." So we did, and ran 3x3 mile loops around his neighborhood. It was nice to get frequent breaks from the breeze/wind as we zig zagged through. We threw in a few faster miles around 6:45 but mostly cuised at 7:45 pace. Clay finished at 9 miles and I continued for 3 more around Lane Park for a change of scenery.

Total mileage for today was 12 in just under an hour and a half or 7:30 pace avg.


Track news:
I forgot to post last week that Bernard Lagat broke the US indoor 2 mile record running negative splits and finishing in 8:10. He now owns US records for indoor 1500m, mile, 3k, 2 mile, and 5k. He also has US records for outdoor 1500m, 3k, and 5k!
In the same race Lukas Verzbicas just missed the HS indoor 2 mile mark by 3 seconds running 8:43!
Update: Galen Rupp broke Bernard Lagat's indoor 5k US record this weekend running 13:11.44!

Kenyan, Mary Keitany broke the women's half marathon world record by 35 seconds running 1:05:50! That has a 2:18 equivalent marathon effort! She also broke the 20k world record en route! Mary is running the London Marathon in April so watch out!

Finally, the high school shot put record went down this weekend at the Simplot Games in Idaho. Ryan Crouser broke the record with a throw of 77ft 2.75in. See the throw here. His story is he won the high school state championship as a freshman, then broke his foot and required surgery last year. He did a lot of upper body strength training and conditioning during his recovery. This year is his return to throwing and he PR'd by 3 ft to break the record.

Leona Valley Trail Races! October 8th

The Leona Valley Trail Races website is up and running with registration open. Check it out!

If you scroll down a little you might see a familiar face! I sent Keira a bunch of photos to use from Clay and my LD50 training and she used one on the home page.

She also used my maps and elevation charts on the website. It is going to be a great event with something for everyone. 5k to marathon distances. Here is my rundown of each event.

5k: The course is an out and back on the fire road starting from the Lake Hughes Community Center. All the races have the same starting line. The turn around point at 1.55 miles is at a sharp turn in the road creating an awesome "lookout" point, where you can see down the canyons toward Santa Clarita. This first 1.55 miles is the steepest portion of the road up to the PCT which makes for a challenging initial climb and a fast return back to the finish. It would be a great intro to trail running as the road is wider than the PCT but far from even footing surfaces.

10k: The benefit of running this course is that you actually get to make it to the top of the fire road, 3.4 mile climb, to a full aid station. This is also the intersection of the PCT and more gorgeous views of the canyons. There is about 800ft of elevation change in the first 3 miles which makes for a challenging climb and again a quick decent on the out and back course. Because it is 3.4 miles to the aid station, the 10k is actually 6.8 miles instead of the normal 6.2 miles, but who's counting?

Half Marathon: The first 3.4 miles of the half marathon is the same as the 10k but then the runners get to turn right on the PCT (Pacific Crest trail, which runs from Mexico to Canada). On the trail you follow the switchbacks down a thousand feet over 3.3 miles, to Lake Hughes Rd. where there will be another full aid station. This is the turnaround point. The course then follows the switchbacks up the same route and then back down the fire road to the finish. This is a very challenging course with over 2000ft of ascent and descent over the half marathon. The total distance on the course is 13.4 miles.

Marathon: If you want to maximize your time on the PCT then the marathon is the way to go. Once at aid station #1 runners will make a left turn and run toward grass mountain where there is another intersection with the PCT. Runners will follow the PCT for 2 miles back to the first aid station and then down the switchbacks to Lake Hughes Rd. There the course crosses the road and acends 1500ft over the next 4 miles to the turn around. This is a "gnarly climb." which runners immediatlely descend on. The last 6.7 miles is the same as the half marathon finish. Cross Lake Hughes Rd., up the switchbacks and down the fireroad to the finish. This marathon course is very challenging due to the amount of elevation change in the second half of the race. The marathon course is 26.6 miles.

FYI: Awesome Valentine's Day post by Mark Remy!

10K THRESHOLD RUN

Today was one of those great days that reminds me why I love running. Well number one I felt great, but also I got to run with Clay and Dale who were running intervals at the Joe Walker track. Their goal was to run 6x800m in 3:20 or less. I didn't feel like running intervals but wanted to run with Clay and Dale so I decided to just keep running at that pace while they were recovering and pick them up again for their next 800. It gave them exactly a 1:1 work to recovery ratio. I ran another two laps while they ran one recovery lap. We helped each other out. I pushed them on thier 800s and and they helped keep me going toward the end of this long threshold run. We cheered each other on, took turns leading the group, joked around a little, and all got in a great workout. We all even got progressively faster as the workout went on. I think they finished with 3:10 and 3:08 for their last 800s! One of my favorite things about running is that we all have some common ground/pace and we can run together. You can modify any workout to make it a group run. I enjoy pacing other runners and working together. Clay and Dale helped me today just as much as I helped them. Thanks for a great workout guys. "There is no satisfaction without struggle first."--Marty Liquori.

In the past few years I have paced some friends to some great times.
I paced Clay to a 19:36 5k 2 years ago.
I paced Dale to a half marathon time trial of 1:37:52.
I paced Ron to a mile PR of 6:53.
I paced Dan to a half marathon time trial PR of 1:31:04.
I paced Andi to a 21:19 5k last year.

By the numbers: I didn't know how long I would be able to keep up that pace today. At first I was hoping to make it 4 miles, but at that point I felt very relaxed so I decided to push on and take it one mile at at time. I went through 3 miles in 19:30. The last two miles were tough as the pace continued to quicken and I realized that I could make it 6 miles and might as well make it an even 10k. My Garmin said I hit 10k after 24 laps and my time was 38:30. I continued for my 25th lap and finished in 39:56! I am not sure which is more accurate the Garmin or the Joe Walker track. After talking with Dale and Clay I think the Garmin might be closer in which case I am amazed that 38:30 felt as comfortable as it did. On the Garmin my last three miles were under 18 minutes! Total mileage for today was 9.


"In races and training, a runner experiences fatigue, hunger, and thirst and learns to go without to achieve their intrinsic goal of running long and hard. Similarly in life, a runner learns what’s really necessary to be done in support of their (naturally intrinsic) pursuit of happiness." --Dominic Grossman (ultrarunner)


Some great links today to share:
First the Dallas Marathon has a challenge with some of the top local high school athletes to run the marathon as a relay with the elite men. 10 boys running 2 miles each and 6 girls running 1 mile each against the elite men. Hopefully the kids can maintain a 5:15/mi pace to keep up. What a fun experience for those kids!

The army is changing some of its training requirements. They are focusing more on diet and adding new exercises for core strength and flexibility but cut out the 5 mile endurance runs which, "officials say can lead to injuries in new recruits who aren't accustomed to the mileage." WHAT! I think they will be disappointed in the fitness of their recruits. I know they have a high incidence of injuries in boot camp, specificaly stress fractures, but if they would just progress these kids gradually and not make them run 5 miles in army boots their injury rates might not be so high. I think this is a mistake.

Two other articles:
First one about new research on altitude training.

Another on older training methods when recreational running first started and used for fitness and competition. It is fun to read some of the old misconceptions. The New York Times even printed this warning, "to take part in a Marathon race is to risk serious and permanent injury to health, with immediate death a danger not very remote." It took a bunch of crazy runners to prove otherwise. I'm proud to be a "crazy runner."

Born to Run movie?

Has anyone read Christopher McDougall's "Born to Run?" In this video Jake Gyllenhaal discusses barefoot running with David Letterman and talks about how he just happened to go check out the Leadville 100 this year. Is there a movie in the works? Nothing official yet.

Cross Country Championship Weekend

I managed a cold for the first few days this week and was too tired to run. I did get out on Thursday for an easy 5 and felt pretty sluggish. The clock is ticking now for Surf City so I better get back on track. I can't use the half marathon recovery excuse any more.

This is a big cross country championship weekend.
Saturday is the CIF championships for California at Mt. SAC, where the top teams will go on to the State Meet. GO DESERT CHRISTIAN!!

Saturday is also NCAA Championships. The Division III championships are at Iowa's Wartburg College. My alma mater Cal Lutheran qualified one male and female runner for the race. Both DI and DIII races can be watched live. Here is the link to the DIII video page.

5 mile @ Steady State

Steady State Run, Tempo Run, Threshold Run, LT Run, what the heck is the difference? Greg McMillan would say the Tempo Run, Threshold Run, and LT Run are all the same. A Steady State run is some where between an "easy" pace and a threshold run. I would argue that a Threshold run is a Steady State run. It is any run where you hold a pretty consistent high aerobic pace for a set amount of time. Are you still confused?

I didn't plan on running faster this morning, but I started out feeling good and went with it. I ran my Rancho Vista loop that is exactly 7.5 miles, but I always make it an even 8. After my first mile 8:16 I started picking up the pace. The next 5 miles were 7:18 (feeling pretty good), 6:56 (still feeling strong), 6:50 (keeping it steady), 6:42 (let's not get too crazy here), 6:54 (this is my last one). Then right before the 6 mile mark my right calf gave me a quick, "slow down or else!" and I listened. I finished in 8:01 and 8:19 and had twinges again the rest of the day. "Whew, that was close." Total time was 59:15 (avg pace 7:24) for 8 miles. I was feeling great for 5.5 of that steady state run.

These calf strains seem to be contagious this year. Olympian, Blake Russell just pulled out of the NYC marathon due to a calf injury.

Found this interesting article and endurance calculator that computes your carb calories needed to run a certain time in a marathon and then how many carb calories you should "load up on" prerace. I'm not sure I totally understand it but it is interesting to read and play around with.

Ryan Hall is splitting with his coach Terrance Mahon after a disappointing year. Rumor is he is still staying in Mammoth. I am a little surprised actually. His 4th place and American best time in Boston didn't seem too disappointing to me. Of course everyone wants to win or be on the podium. Dropping out of Chicago was a big deal though.


OK YOU HAVE TO READ THIS ONE!

And finally, another great Thirsty Thursday with Jack Daniels. Maximizing performances with age.

"Stepping outside the comfort zone is the price I pay to find out how good I can be. If I planned on backing off every time running got difficult I would hang up my shoes and take up knitting."--Desiree Davila

Is anyone reading this thing?

I hope there are some people out there reading this blog besides my local running pals (you know who you are)! There is some darn good stuff out there for runners these days and I only post the best stuff I find. Anything I post here is either very entertaining (to me anyway) or educational. Please share this information with anyone you think would benefit from it. Today is one of those great educational posts.

I recently posted some comments on the RW running doc's post on kids running marathons. Then I found this recent post from Coach Jay Johnson on Metabolic changes vs Structural changes. The gist is that "metabolic changes occur faster than structural changes…and that’s usually why you get hurt." The entire post is worth a read, probably twice. Clay, this is exactly what we talked about today when we were discussing Scott (large engine weak chassis)! This is probably blog worthy for the DCXC blog. Even the comments on Coach Jay's post are all worth reading.

It reminds me of Greg McMillan's philosophies on his new DVD "McMillan's Guide to High School Cross Country." In this video he says we all have two gauges, a musculoskeletal gauge and a cardiovascular gauge, and we are always looking at the wrong gauge to progress training. He is saying exactly what Coach Jay states on his blog, "The point is simply that the athlete gains aerobic fitness (or even anaerobic fitness/tolerance) quicker than their structure – their bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments – can handle that fitness."

So what do both of these great coaches do to make sure their athletes musculoskeletal system can keep up with their cardiovascular system? Form drills, general strengthening (GS), and core training! Greg McMillan has a 3 level DVD program on these topics and Coach Jay posts short GS videos on his blog all the time. Check them out!

Any one coaching, training, or advising young runners should read all these posts and probably order some of McMillan's DVDs. They are inexpensive and FULL of great information. Please comment on what your thoughts are. Agree? Disagree? Have a question? Want more information? Let me know!

Rest of the week

I did run 8 miles on Wednesday morning. I run a lot by feel, and Wednesday I wasn't feeling it. I finished the 8 miles in 72 minutes (9 min pace). It was pretty slow, but I got through it and felt better the rest of the week. It seriously took me nearly 5 days to fully recover from that 18 mile trail run. It probably didn't help that I flew down the hill the last three miles. So what should I do now, I am headed back up to Lake Hughes in the morning to map out the half marathon course on the Garmin for Leona Valley Trail Races. It is an out and back course shaped like a V (up to the top, down the other side, turn around and head back. The elevation chart should look like the letter M. The course is a little long, 13.4 I think. We'll find out for sure tomorrow.

Another great Thirsty Thursday this week.

Also another great article on Joan Benoit Samuelson with a cool picture from Chicago.

Finally, the new Sports Doc at Runners World answers the question, "Should kids be running marathons?"

I agree with all the Doc's points. If progressed conservatively there is no reason kids can't run long distances. The Doc says, "The adults I know who ran marathons as 10- to 12-year-olds and are now in their 40’s and 50’s have no known problems." Look at the east Africans. These kids run sometimes up to 6 miles to school and then back home every day, with smiles on their faces. There is a reason why they dominate the distance events and that is early aerobic conditioning. He also states, "There is no evidence that long distance running causes any permanent growth plate injury in child or adolescent runners. The growth plate is vulnerable to injury, but probably at much greater risk in the contact and collision sports–football, basketball, soccer, ice hockey, and others that we actively promote for child participation–than in pain-free distance running for a child." I personally think that races farther than 10k should be limited until high school age and marathoning can wait until college age. At least that will be the rule for my boys.

How old were you when you ran your first marathon? Half marathon?

I was 15 when I ran my first half marathon (1:32) and I was 24 when I ran my first marathon (3:15).

3 mile recovery run

"You don't stop running because you get old. You get old because you stop running." --Dipsea Deamon

I usually don't run on Mondays. I think there are many people that don't run on Mondays, but they should. The vast majority of us do our weekly long runs on the weekend, or at least a good chunk of mileage on the weekend. I am no different. I ran 9 on Saturday and 18 on Sunday for a total of 27 for the weekend. Most of us are so stiff and sore from the weekend that we just sleep in and take Monday off. What we should be doing is a recovery run or at least cross training. The recovery run, although usually stiff and slow, will do just that, help you recover buy increasing blood flow to the same muscles that are tight and sore, thus helping flush out all the crap and restore a normal homeostasis.

So today I got out for a 3 mile recovery run. It was slow, not quite a shuffle, but close to it. It should be at least two minutes slower than marathon pace. I was actually suprised how I felt. Symmetrical soreness, a phrase I came up with for normal post hard workout or long run soreness. My run yesterday was nearly twice what I was used to. I am most sore in my calves but they feel equally sore, ok maybe the right is a bit more sore than the left, but they are close. This recovery run will help set me up for better workouts this week.

Keira Henninger had a nice post on her blog about our run yesterday. Thanks again Keira. Looking forward to more trail runs!


Here's a nice article about Joan Benoit Samuelson's race at Chicago. She's AMAZING!

Michael Wardian (world record holder for the marathon while pushing a baby in a baby jogger), just won the Hartford Marathon this weekend in 2:24:38. Why is that so amazing, well it is his 6th marathon victory this year and he was 11th at Twin Cities last weekend in 2:21:13!


"That’s the thing about running: your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful your life is." --Kara Goucher

9 miles fartlek style

I have been feeling pretty good this week and taking advantage but trying not to over do it. The temps were in the low 50s when I left the house and set out to run the "Rancho Vista Loop." It is 7.5 miles but I tacked on some extra at the end and finished with 9 miles. I was running a fartlek style run which means "speed play" in Swedish. I would pick up the pace for a while, then ease off, then pick it up again, not for any set time just when I felt good. Funny, the miles splits afterward ended up being pretty even and it looks like a tempo run on paper. Splits were 8:21, 7:32, 7:03, 7:23, 7:05, 7:11, 7:15, 6:57, 7:04. Total time was 66 minutes for 9 miles or 7:20 average pace. I was running 6:40 pace on some of the "hard" segments.

I have a long trail run planned for tomorrow. I am running the new Leona Divide 30k course with race director Keira Henninger. This is one of those do as I say, not as I do, as it will be a big jump in long run mileage (an on the trails to boot), but it was an opportunity I didn't want to pass up. I hope the calf holds up.

Good luck to Tom and Dan Ham running the Portland Marathon tomorrow! I think they are guarenteed rain but hey it is Portland, right? Can't wait to hear all about it.

Chicago Marathon is also tomorrow. They have an incredible field assembled for the men and women. Make sure to check it out. Joan Benoit Samuelson is also running with the goal of running her third sub 2:50 since turning 50! I even read one article that said she might try and run a Olympic Trials qualifier (the B standard is 2:46).

Bizz Johnson Marathon is a trail marathon in northern California is also tomorrow and is on my list of races that I would like to do some day. It looks like a beautiful course (and all downhill!). Actually all three of these races are on my "to do list."

8 mile morning run

It was a little windy this morning, it is also colder in the morning (high 40s). This gave me an excuse to use my arm warmers and skull cap. I probably didn't need either one but it kept me warm for the first few miles. The other reason for the skull cap is to hold my ear buds in my ears. I guess I have misshapened ears because I have never found a pair that actually stays in my ears. So during the summer I rarely run with music. Today I did, and the cap goes over my ears and holds the ear buds tightly in place. Does anyone else have this problem?

Well I had a good run. I ran away from the wind toward Ave K. It is usually less windy past Ave M, but all downhill so I then turned around and ran back uphill to my house. I added another short hill closer to my house and my calf felt about 90%! I finished the 8 miles in 61 minutes exactly! The second half was faster than the first even though I was running uphill! I was feeling stronger after each mile today.


Ave you ever run an inagural marathon? It is kind of cool to say you ran the first race like, "I ran the first LA Marathon." I didn't really, I would have been 6 years old for the first one! Well, they had the inagural Camarillo Marathon this weekend and I guess it didn't go so well. They ran into quite a few problems. Check out the write up in the Ventura County Star.

Also don't forget to check out Thirsty Thursdays with Jack Daniels this week.

Finally, check out this interview with Peter Gilmore and Magdalena Lewy-Boulet on running nutrition (pre-workout, pre-race, carb loading, marathon fueling, and post run recovery).

One more post on Sergio Reyes' win at TC

I found one more nice slide show and article from the race, and here are a few good photos I found.



The face of complete exhaustion and complete elation at the same moment!

More on Sergio's victory at Twin Cities

Here is the first article from the Star Tribune in Minnesota on Sergio's victory.

And a nice slide show with two great pictures, one of Sergio with the American flag and one of Sergio and Aimee.

By the way, Sergio's win today qualifies him to run for Team USA at the World Championships Marathon 2011 in South Korea!

Watch the finish line video again to see Sergio cross the finish line and be greeted by his wife Aimee!

Upgraded to Hurricane Karl

I have been upgraded to a hurricane! Look out! Today I read, “Karl is expected to strengthen steadily and possibly rapidly.” I hope that is true. For me, not for Mexico.

Hurricane Karl forms in the Gulf of Mexico.

I missed a beautiful morning today. Staying up too late. I may go tonight or tomorrow morning.

Check out this new article fro the UVA Center for Endurance Sport blog on foot and ankle biomechanics. It is a very good read.


The Rock n' Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon is loaded with the best in the work for men and women this weekend. It will be worth checking out. Ryan Hall and Shalane Flanagan are running for the U.S.