Running, Vicariously, with the Kenyans

Have you ever thought about moving to Kenya to train for a marathon with the fastest endurance runners in the world?  What would that entail?  Obtaining a six month sabbatical from your job.  Purchasing jewelry to get the green light from your wife.  Taking your children out of school and exposing them to a totally different culture.  Making all of the arrangements. 

Well, Adharanand Finn did just that, and he wrote a book about it.  I am reading Running with the Kenyans: Passion, Adventure, and the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth.  It is a very interesting story.  I can identify with Finn.  His personal best for a half marathon was 1:26 before going to Kenya, so he'd slide right into our training runs.  (read his blog -http://runningwithkenyans.blogspot.com/)

Finn uprooted his family of five, including three small children, and traveled to Iten, a small, town in the Rift Valley.  Iten is a mecca for long-distance runners thanks to its high altitude, endless running paths, and some of the top training camps in the world.  There are hundreds of world-class runners living in Iten.  It is probably the only place where you could miss-dial a 2:04 marathoner’s phone number and speak with a 2:05 marathoner. 

Finn ran with Olympic champions, young hopefuls and barefoot schoolchildren.  He wanted to find out why the Kenyans dominate long-distance running and kept a record of their “secrets”.  Is it the shoes, or Kenyans’ lack thereof?  The food, or lack thereof?  The high-altitude training?  Is it the active childhood that often includes running to school and the lack of easier modes of transportation?  Is it Kenya’s pervasive running culture, their desire to win at all costs, and the simple lack of job alternatives?  The answer is yes to all.

Here are some of my observations:

There is a concentrated group of very fast runners.  They are single focused – they run, eat and rest, that’s it. 

Competition is fierce to be one of the few runners taken to major races.  The rewards are significant and life-altering for these poor athletes.  A few thousand dollars in prize money allows a runner to buy a big enough farm, with cows, to provide a comfortable future for his family.

They run mostly in groups.  The runs I’ve read about so far have not been that long, an hour to an hour and a half.  Those group runs start at a relatively easy pace, around 7:30 / mile, and get progressively faster until they are a race pace.

They train at 8,500 feet above sea level which is like us training in Woodland Park. 

Their diet is very simple and almost entirely plant-based.  Their favorite food is ugali, a polenta-like dish made from corn meal and water. 

The kids run to school, mostly because they don’t want to be late.  Teachers hit the late students with sticks.  Some run over three miles each way.  Most of them run barefoot.  In contrast, my elementary school was about half a mile from my home.  My high school was about a mile away.  I never ran to, or from, school and I wore sneakers even to the beach. 

When they are not running or eating, they rest.  By rest I mean they sit around or sleep.  One famously fast runner was notorious for sleeping 16 hours per day!  Imagine how much faster you’d be if you got over twice as much sleep as you do now.

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In other news, this week’s Phidippides track workout was the annual two mile time trial.  I ran the distance in 11:18, three seconds faster than last year. 

Spring Training

It is St. Patrick’s Day.  Opening day of the 2013 Major League Baseball season is two weeks away, the same day as the RMRR’s Spring Marathon Training Series 20 mile race.  The Easter Bunny will be hopping the next day.  The azaleas are in bloom at Augusta National.  The third Monday in April, Patriots’ Day, is a month away and the Boston Athletic Association is in full-on marathon readiness mode.

Cherry Creek State Park was full of activity this Saturday morning.  Runners and bikers deftly avoided one another the paths.  The report of rifles could be heard from the shooting range.  The air was calm and there was the buzz from the radio controlled airplanes at the airfield.  Wildlife of all sorts, real and imagined, could be seen.  A coyote bolted after its prey.  Deer were sunning themselves in the fields by the road. 

On the lake crew shells bobbed in the swells.  The air and water temperatures were about the same, 40 degrees.  It reminded me of the first on-the-water workouts we had on the Erie Canal.  The launches would power back and forth on the river to break up the ice.  With almost every stroke, we would hit a chunk of ice, sometimes missing water completely.  That first spring my hands ached from the cold, then never again.  I can only imagine what nerve damage I did to my hands.

Friday was unseasonably warm with temperatures around 70 degrees.  That was enough of an invitation for about 100 campers in RVs to come and hook up for the night.  But the low of Friday turned into the high of Saturday, which made for a chilly wake up.

We were commenting on the few long runs we’ve put in so far this year.  By this time last year I had logged eight runs of 20+ miles.  This was my third 20+ miler of the year.  I ended up running 21.5 miles at an average pace of 7:14 / mile.  If I could hold that pace, it would yield a 3:09:25 marathon, which I would be delighted with.  My legs were sore like I'd run a marathon on Sunday and I needed to rest.  I have two months to get ready for the Colfax Marathon and I need more long runs.

I Wanna, Wanna Shock Treatment

Gimme Shock Treatment is the second song on the Ramones’ second album, Leave Home.  It is a little ditty that lasts 1:38, which is about how long it takes me to run a quarter of a mile at my half marathon pace.  The genesis of the song is that Joey Ramone used to date a girl who was an inmate in a mental institution who didn't recognize him after she’d had shock treatment.  It is hard to find something positive in that last sentence.  Just to draw a parallel, I’m not sure I’d recognize my wife after I ran, say, 100 miles. 

I thought about that last Saturday as I was running through the Essex County Hospital Center in Verona, NJ.  I was in New Jersey for my father’s birthday.  When I was growing up the hospital was known as the Overbrook Asylum and, long before that, as Essex County Asylum for the Insane. 

The hospital was built on 325 wooded acres in 1896.  At its peak in the 1930s until the 1950s it held about 3,000 inmates.  But the introduction of the so-called “wonder drugs” for the treatment of brain disorders over the last half-century or so meant the deinstitutionalization of thousands of patients in psychiatric centers across the nation.  Gradually, the Essex County hospital lost most of its patients and started its long decline into ruination and decay.  Today it is the scene of much mischief by local hoodlums who refer to their pranks as going to “The Asylum,” “The Bin,” or “The Hilltop”.

When I was in middle school I sang in a boy’s choir and we performed at Overbrook a few times.  After one of our performances I was having a conversation with a man I thought was an orderly.  Then a nurse came, wrapped her arms around the guy and said “OK, It’s time to go.” and she escorted the patient back to his room.

I ran 14 miles on Saturday.  One of the benefits of running in northern New Jersey is that I ran through five towns: Montclair, West Orange, Verona, Cedar Grove and Little Falls.  I could run a 14 mile loop and not leave Highlands Ranch.  

My hometown, Montclair, is about one mile wide and four miles long.  On Sunday I decided to run back and forth across the town as I made my way from west to east.  This run down memory lane ended up being 10.5 miles.

I ran to Montclair State University where our high school held its swim meets.  I went into the building to have a look around.  The facility has changed little since I held the pool record in the 500 yard freestyle in 1982.

Unlike past visits where I ran on quiet residential roads and through parks, this time I ran along the main business streets.  It was early Sunday morning and there were few people about.  Many of the stores that I shopped at as a kid are still in business today. 

On this trip my father and I visited two historic sites that were prominent in the Revolutionary War era, Paterson Falls and Fort Nonsense.  When I was eight years old I saw Karl Wallenda walk a tight rope across Paterson Falls.  Fort Nonsense is where George Washington camped his men during the brutal winter of 1779 – 1780.  By all accounts that winter was worse than the winter they spent in Valley Forge, PA. 

I enjoy these visits to my hometown because I get to spend time with my siblings and because of the connection I feel with the place where I grew up.  It puts me in a good mood. 

And that’s me.  Happy happy happy all the time.

There, but for the Grace

I have often said that if you substitute any deviant behavior for running in my life, you’d probably want to lock me up.  If you have even a modestly addictive personality or are slightly obsessive / compulsive, you know how easy it is to over-indulge in the habit of running.  You hear it in the subtle choice of words.  “I want to” versus “I have to” versus “I need to” go for a run.  You see evidence of it in people’s cars, homes and cubicles.  You smell it from the well worn race T-shirts. 

But does that equation work the other way?  What happens if you substitute running for the deviant behavior?  On Saturday morning’s long run (my first 20 miler of the year), Scott told me about a group organized by Nick and Shane Sterner (father and son) at the Denver Rescue Mission.  This is an inspiring story and it is worth taking a few minutes to research. http://www.cbn.com/700club/features/amazing/Sterner031108.aspx   They lead Activity Inspired Rehabilitation, an organization confronting homelessness and addiction through distance running.  The program introduces homeless people to running and shows them how to change their focus and live productive lives.

Here are the principles behind the program:

-Goal Setting helps participants stay focused on becoming healthy and productive members of the Denver community.

-Incremental Accomplishment through training and races builds self-esteem and self-confidence as program members create new identities.

-Health and Fitness Training creates lasting change in the health and fitness levels of AIR members, building a foundation for a lifetime of health and self-sufficiency.

-Positive Connection With The Community changes the way members feel about themselves, allowing them to make a positive connection to the people around them and become role models for others in need.

In 2010 23 men participated in the Rock-n-Roll Denver Marathon and Half-Marathon as part of the Denver Rescue Mission Marathon Team.  Preparing for and running a marathon changes you physiologically and psychologically.  For those who participate in Shane’s program, these changes bring them back to life.

We have all had the experience of running alone in the last few miles of a marathon with only our thoughts for company.  In some ways it is like a vision quest.  We all know the feelings of pain that pass over us as we try to reach our goal.  We know that we do not suffer alone.  There are those who have suffered more than we have.

Zen Time

We exercise.  Our reasons for engaging in this activity are as varied as our personalities.  As a doctor friend of mine bluntly stated “you stop, you die”.  But the other day I asked myself, as I rolled out of bed at 4:35 A.M., why at this hour, the last edge of night, not quite early morning?

At this hour:

Before the first cup of Joe – this, my natural shot of endorphins. 

Before the intrusion of the news of the world – of meteors and wars and scores and who’s dating whom. 

Before the rush - when the air is still and the noise a low hum. 

Before the hassles and responsibilities - when my time is my own.

While running, I try to focus on my breathing, on my feet as they strike the ground, on how my body feels, on the sights and sounds around me, and on my thoughts as they occur.  I try not to think about the past or the future, but try to remain in the moment.  Running is a quiet time, to think about my life and what is important to me.  It is my way of attaining enlightenment and it is my form of personal expression.

My athletic aspirations are beyond my actual capabilities, but in this world I am unaware of this discrepancy.  It is a time to dream with my eyes open.  There are races I plan to run and performances I hope to achieve.  While I may not reach my goals, we miss all the trains we don’t race to catch. 

Then to the east the aurora rises.  The older I get, the more I enjoy the dawn, the more I need it.  It is a blessing to be engaged physically, to be alive as those positive ions crest the horizon.

Don’t Tread on Me

You would not believe the silliness that pours into my email inbox.  As an Active.com member each Wednesday I receive a collection of articles under the Active Runner banner.  One of this week’s articles was titled “Treadmill Workouts Made Easy” written by Marcus Eichhorn.  As a member of the Society for Human Resource Management I receive a weekly collection of articles and this week there were three treadmill-at-work related articles written from the Human Resources perspective.  I took this as a sign that I should write about treadmills. 

 

Eichhorn’s article asked five questions. 

• When do you start your watch at the beginning of an interval?

• Do you start your watch as you increase speed, or do you start your watch when the desired speed is reached?

• When do you start your watch for the recovery period?

• Do you start your watch when you are decreasing speed or when you reach your cool down speed?

• What percentage of your heart rate or 5K time should you try to obtain while performing the workout?

The only one of those questions I've ever contemplated is the last one.  I must not take my running seriously.  I do consider the effect of air resistance on my pace when I’m running.  When I’m on the treadmill I increase the incline to one percent to compensate for the lack of a headwind.

Two of the human resource related articles were “How Treadmill Desks Can Improve Your Health and Productivity” and “Your Treadmill Desk Is Hurting Your Productivity”.  In the same bundle of articles!  So, which is it; better or worse for your productivity?  Undaunted, I waded into the confusion.

“How Treadmill Desks Can Improve Your Health and Productivity” by Lisa Evans.

The treadmill desk is based on the concept of incorporating movement into your daily work routine.  It is the brain-child of an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic.  That doctor says “People feel more energized, productivity improves, people with back and joint problems get better, and people feel brighter,” when they exercise.  I completely agree with that statement, but is a treadmill desk the best solution? 

The article mentions a desk that costs approximately $4,000 and has a two mile per hour maximum belt speed.  The LifeFitness Club Series treadmill costs about the same, but has a maximum speed of 12 mph.  So, on a dollar per mph basis, the LifeFitness machine is six times better. 

“Your Treadmill Desk Is Hurting Your Productivity” by Vivian Giang.

This article begins by conceding treadmill desks have health advantages that will help reduce the risk of obesity and heart disease, but goes on to say they may have an adverse impact on how efficient you are with your work.  It quotes a study (by the very same Mayo Clinic) that typing speed and accuracy decrease by 16 percent when compared to a standard desk.  In another study conducted by the University of Tennessee, researchers found that “treadmill walking resulted in up to an 11 percent deterioration in fine motor skills like mouse clicking, and dragging and dropping, as well in as cognitive functions like math-problem solving.”

In my opinion, workouts and work should be separate; just like church and state. 

My treadmill interval workout this Tuesday was 4 X 1 mile repeats at a 6:10 / mile pace with a ¼ mile recovery plus 4 X ¼ at 11 mph with a ¼ mile recovery.  I’ve been doing intervals workouts on the treadmill to get ready for the Phidippides Track workouts which start in less than a month.  Also, on Monday I registered for the Georgetown – Idaho Springs Half Marathon.

In other news, the February edition of the RMRR Trophy Series was held this morning.  It was a seven mile race along the Platte River.  I covered the course in 44:12 – eight seconds faster than last year. 

In the Beginning

Before babies can walk, they must develop muscle strength and coordination.  They do this by learning to sit, roll over and crawl.  Then they begin to pull themselves up and stand.  As a baby’s legs get stronger, they can bounce themselves up and down by balancing on their feet.  By the time they are nine months old, most babies can pull themselves up and walk around the room by holding onto sturdy furniture.  

Within six weeks of taking those first steps, most babies learn to balance themselves and even bend at the knee.  By the time they are 15 or 16 months old, babies can usually toddle around with push-and-pull toys.  Most children have become pretty good at walking by the time they are 18 months old.  This is how we learn to walk.

I thought about this as I watched a swimmer with no legs below the knees compete at my daughter’s high school league championships.  She qualified for the championships in the grueling 500 yard freestyle event.  She starts from the blocks and does flip turns.  It was an inspiring performance. 

In that same event was a girl who is about to undergo chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.  That girl recently had five inches of her lower intestine removed.  She swam a State Championship qualifying time which was her third fastest time ever.  It was a heroic swim. 

Once a child masters walking, the next developmental milestone is running.  Running requires a high level of balance.  So, after they learn to walk, most kids practice standing on one foot.  Then it’s just a matter of time before they are jumping, skipping, hopping, and galloping, all of which help them learn how to use their muscles to run.  This is how we learn to run. 

I thought about this as I watched a mother running with her young son on the Highline canal.  The kid was about five years old.  It was a heartwarming scene.  The temperature was about 30 degrees and this kid was clearly having fun. 

Once we learn to run, we want to run faster and father.  It is a primal instinct of ours.  Two things determine how fast we can run: stride rate and stride length.  There are a few things we can do to increase stride rate.  One way is to do consistent speed work.  This can take the form of intervals on the track or fartlek runs.  An example would be running 100 – 200 yard repeats at a fast pace with a recovery of equal distance. 

Another way is to run in place with a metronome.  The goal is to run about 180 steps per minute.  This exercise translates into faster leg turnover which leads to faster times.  This is how we learn to run fast.

I thought about this as I was watching the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix which was held at the Reggie Lewis Center on the campus of Roxbury Community College near Boston.  Mary Cain, a 16 year old, smashed the USA high school and junior records for the two mile and 3000 meter runs.  We think we run fast until we see people who really do run fast.