Wasted on the Way

Summer swim league is in full swing which means my Saturdays are spent at the pool cheering my girls on.  I sure miss the group long run.  This Saturday I managed to squeeze in 12 miles.  I got up at my usual 4:40 am and ran eight miles, incorporating a four mile tempo run at 6:21 / mile pace.  This week’s meet was a home meet at the Northridge Recreation Center in Highlands Ranch.  There was a gap between events which afforded me the luxury of running a bonus four miles on the treadmill where I added a 4 x 400 meter workout.  Ah, life’s simple pleasures.  

 

There is some scientific evidence that explains my happiness. The Denver Post published and article this week entitled Drug addiction helped by running, other exercise, study shows.  To sum it up for you, researchers found that dogs appear to gain a “high” from running, similar to the well known “runner's high” experienced by people who run frequently.  The researchers measured neurotransmitter levels in humans, dogs and ferrets as they moved on a treadmill to “determine neurobiological reward levels”.  That way they could quantify the “runner’s high”.

Scientists have found that the “runner’s high” is due to the release of neurotransmitters into the bloodstream - one of these neurotransmitter groups, known as endocannabinoids (eCBs) has the same chemical structure as THC, the chemical responsible for the high people get from marijuana.  What I’m hearing is cannabis in the middle of those eCBs.

Researchers put humans, dogs and ferrets on a treadmill set at a pace fast enough to simulate running.  Afterwards blood samples were taken.  In analyzing the results, the researchers found elevated levels of eCBs for both the humans and dogs, but not in the ferrets.  The researchers note that both humans and dogs are part of a group known as cursorial animals - animals that have long legs meant for running.  Ferrets on the other hand, are not cursorial, thus they don't gain any pleasure from running long distances.  Another reason it sucks to be a ferret. 

The researchers theorize that neurobiological rewards are a part of the evolutionary history of animals with long legs meant for running and strong lungs - they helped keep them fit.  Running, particularly when not necessary, they suggest, kept such animals in tip-top shape allowing them to escape predators and to hunt efficiently.  It is possible that humans might have evolved faster if they’d known about periodization. 

I can relate to the runner’s high.  There is the interval after a long run (20+ miles) when the dopamine and serotonin receptors are burned out.  The symptoms are the vacant, 1,000 yard stare, the slow response time to requests and the inability to follow a train of thought.  I call it Running Induced Brain Strain, or RIBS.  Which reminds me; Mary made some tasty ribs Wednesday for dinner.  I ate about two pounds of them.

Built for Speed – Built to Last – Built for Style

Rock stars are born, not made.  All the leather, hair product and auto-tuning in the world couldn’t put me on America’s Top 40.  It is the same with me and sprinting.  My hips just don’t move like that. 

The US Outdoor Track & Field Championships are being held this week and it is obvious; sprinters, too, are born, not made.  But an odd thing happened.  Officials decided to run the men’s marquee 100 meter finals opposite the normal direction – right to left, from the viewpoint of the main grandstand, instead of left to right – because of a strong wind that would have been against the runners if they had run the normal direction.  What if they ran the Boston Marathon from east to west?  Picture the course in reverse.  Sign me up for that!

With the wind assist, Tyson Gay won the 100 meters with the fastest time in the world this year – 9.75 seconds.  The camera shot that is so impressive is the one that parallels the runners.  Watching the 100 meter dash begs two questions.  How do they run that fast?  What can we (distance runners) learn from sprinters? 

Here’s what we can learn from the biomechanical traits of sprinters.  When their feet land, the shin is perpendicular to the ground, therefore avoiding a heel strike and “breaking” with each footfall.  Sprinters’ feet spend less time on the ground which contributes to faster recovery.  It is more like their feet bounce off the track rather than sinking into the road like I sometimes feel my feet do.  Sprinters achieve this by driving their knees up and getting off the ground as fast as possible.  Their leg strength enables them to produce more force into the ground which makes them move faster.

The other thing we can learn from sprinters is to develop a speed-work mentality which means more rest between intervals.  Having more rest means we can practice running with better form.  Sprinting does help improve marathon performance.  It helps us run the longer intervals faster which helps us run our tempo runs more efficiently which allows us to conserve our energy in the ½ and full marathon distances.

I finished Running on Air by Bud Coates.  Through years of observation and research Coates noticed that the greatest impact stress of running occurs when your foot strike coincides with the beginning of an exhale.  This means that if you begin to exhale every time your right foot hits the ground, the right side of your body will continually suffer the greatest running stress, making it more vulnerable to injury.  All of my injuries have been on my right side which is the side I used to exhale on before changing my breathing pattern. 

Now I use a 3:2 breathing pattern when running easily and moderately, that is, I breathe in for three strides and out for two.  When I start running faster (or harder up hills), I switch to a 2:1 breathing pattern, that is, I breathe in for two strides and out for one.  By alternating the exhale and foot strike, the theory goes, risk of injury is lessened.  It was easy to make the transition to the 3:2 pattern, but when I shift to the 2:1 pattern it is almost like I am hyperventilating.  This gives me something else to obsess about. 

Happy Birthday to Me!

Numbers are arbitrary.  13.1 – 26.2 – 49 – 50.  It is the meaning we attach to them that matters.  Few dates are sacred.  Just because calendars start on January 1, doesn’t mean you have to wait until the New Year to start something. 

It is the same with distance.  The foot as a unit of measure has existed since the Romans ruled the world, but the actual length varied from country to country.  If marathons were based on my bare foot, they would be 25.1 miles long.  Oddly enough, that is about how long the marathon was prior to the London Olympics in 1908, when the Princess of Wales moved the start within the private grounds of Windsor Castle (so her children could watch the start) and the finish in front of the Royal Box.  If I were King, you’d all run marathon PRs.  If you vote for me, all of your wildest dreams will come true.

Charlemagne tried to standardize the foot as 1/6^th the distance between the tips of the fingers on his outstretched arms, but that never caught on.  Here’s an interesting idea for a handicap race; a 10,000 foot race based on each runner’s foot size. 

A meter is one ten-millionth the distance between the equator and the North Pole.  The first idea of the meter came about in 1668, but the length was not universally recognized until about 1790.  This is one reason why Phidippides died after he ran from Marathon to Athens.  There was no meter and, therefore, no 10,000 meter race for him to use as a tune-up for his marathon.  Poor guy.

I celebrated my 49^th birthday this Tuesday with a Phidippides Track Club workout; 3 times – 1200 meters / 400 meters / 200 meters.  What a great way to start my 50^th year on Earth.

On Wednesday Mary and I attended the national showing of Spirit of the Marathon II:  Rome.  It is an inspiring movie.  It follows seven athletes as they prepare for, and run, the Rome Marathon in 2012.  These are not elite athletes.  They are ordinary people leading ordinary lives, but their stories echo the challenges we all face.  It made it so much easier to get up early Thursday morning to go running. 

My daughter saw a preview for the film which prompted one of her friends to quip, “Do you think anyone ever goes to see movies like that?!”  There were about 50 people, including several from the Rocky Mountain Road Runners, at the showing. 

There was an introduction to the movie by Jeff Galloway (1976 Olympian in the 10,000 meters).  I remember when Jeff spoke at a Phidippides workout in 2001 while on tour promoting his book Marathon – You Can Do It!  He advocated a run / walk / run protocol to ensure a successful first marathon.  I could have used that advice several years earlier when I ran my disastrous first marathon.

The workout that day was a goofy “mystery workout” in which each runner in the group draws a slip of paper which they kept a secret from the others on the group.  On each slip were a number, and a distance to be run.  I drew #1 with a 200 meter work interval.  I can’t even imagine what Jeff thought as I bolted ahead.  But he gamely ran the whole workout with us.

I've just finished reading The Gluten-Free Edge by Peter Bronski and have just started reading Running on Air by Bud Coates.  The Georgetown – Idaho Springs ½ Marathon is eight weeks away; time to focus my training.

Life’s Like a Movie

Sequels are almost never as good as the original.  That thought came to mind as I watched The Hangover Part II the other day.  It was à propos because I am feeling the effects of a running hangover.  It is understandable and you may have had a similar experience.  You train hard and focus on a race.  Race day comes and whether your performance lives up to your expectations or not, there is the emotional vacuum afterwards.

There is an antidote; the next race.  My next race is the Georgetown Idaho Springs ½ Marathon on August 10^th.  I have never run the race and my goal is to match the time I ran for the Platte River ½ Marathon – 1:21:45.  While I am focusing on a good performance, I am also using it as a tune up for the American Discovery Trail Marathon on Labor Day. 

One of the other remedies for the marathon hangover is to find out what motivates other runners, looking for ways to become a better runner yourself. 

I asked five questions of two athletes I respect – Lenny Laraio, who won the Colfax 10 Miler, and Nicole Mohobian, a repeat winner of the Cheyenne Mountain Xterra ½ Marathon. 

The questions were:

The number of days they ran the last seven days.

Their total mileage.

Their longest run for the week.

Their shortest run for the week.

Whether they thought they had run too many, too few or just the right amount of miles.

Lenny ran 64 miles over six days last week.  His longest run was 17 miles and his shortest run was five miles.  Nicole ran 17 miles over three days last week.  Her longest run was seven miles and her shortest run was five miles.  Interestingly, both were pleased with their mileage for the week. 

Lenny will be competing in the Estes Park Marathon which will be held on June 16^th.  Lenny is a focused, dedicated runner.  Nicole is Director of Public & Client Relationships for Impact edVentures.  Nicole competes in many activities and uses running as a way to build overall fitness.  Both have very positive attitudes towards running and are fun to run with.  They are inspirations for others. 

You can’t just keep running more miles and expect to get faster.  Father time is always trying to drag us down by decreasing our muscle mass, muscle strength and aerobic conditioning.  I am looking forward to the Georgetown Idaho Springs ½ Marathon.  What’s your next sequel?  Life’s like a movie.  Write your own ending.
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Here  are photos of Ryan Turbyfill and me at a recent Phidippides track workout, our tag-team 400 meter relay repeats.

Of Rice & Beans and Reservoir Dogs

The Bolder Boulder was last Monday and several members of the Phidippides Track Club and Rocky Mountain Road Runners placed in their age groups.  Seeing so many fellow athletes achieve great results underscored the value of training with others. 

Lee Troop, who is 40 years old, finished 3^rd in the Bolder Boulder Citizen’s race.  He had these insights after the race.  “Training is easy.  But it’s all the other things you’ve got to learn to make you a better racer, a better person.  A lot of the things we prescribe are to make them better people.  If they can be better people and be more content with what they do, they’ll get more out of their training and racing.”  Amen to that.

I remember the first, and only time I ran that race.  Through most of 1993 and into the spring of 1994 I ran by myself.  The only speed workout I did was a six mile fartlek run a couple of times each week.  I ran an A wave qualifying time at the 1993 Governor’s Cup and decided to register for the Bolder Boulder.  My brother-in-law was completing his PhD at CU Boulder and lived about a block from the start.  Mary and I crashed on his floor the night before the race. 

Memorial Day 1994 was a hot day.  I ran the 10 K course in 37:01, good enough for 10^th in my age.  What if I got some advice on shoes and trained with an organized group?  I went to the Runners Roost on Colorado Boulevard and they fitted me with a pair of Nike Air Pegasus.  They told me about the Phidippides Track Club which held track workouts close to my office. 

So I showed up at the Belleview Elementary School track one Tuesday evening.  You would think that a 37 minute 10K time would have put me in Group 1 with the faster runners.  It didn’t.  Group 1 was full of the likes of Glen Mays who finished 4^th (31:59) and Rob Welo who finished 11^th (32:43) at the Bolder Boulder.  I settled into group 2.

A year later I had lowered my time in the 10K by two minutes, which enabled me to hang in the very back of group 1.  But, by that time, Glen, Rob and most of the other fast guys had moved on.  Such is life.

People have been asking me what I eat.  The core of my weekly diet consists of: 

2 ½ cups of corn meal (pre-cooked)

2 ½ cups of brown rice (pre-cooked)

2 cups of rolled oats (pre-cooked)

3 cups of beans (cooked)

4 eggs

20 bananas

10 apples
6 baked potatoes 

I eat a lot more than this and I do eat meat, but in limited amounts; about 4-6 ounces of either chicken, pork or beef (that’s in total, not per day).

People also have asked me about my weekly mileage, the kinds of workouts I do and if I cross-train.  So far this year I have averaged 45 miles of running per week.  I typically run four days per week.  My workouts are:  one long run of about 20 miles; a track workout which consists of repeats of 400m up to a mile; one hill run of about 13 miles and either a three – four mile tempo run or a fartlek ladder run. 

For cross-training I swim two or three times a week with the Highlands Ranch Masters.  These workouts, which are each about 4,000 yards long, help my legs recover and give me additional aerobic training. 

Want to know more?  Just ask me.