The Runner's Cool Down Mile (R2R)

Another busy weekend

2012-01-27T08:06:00.001-05:00

Another busy weekend is on tap. Last weekend, I attended the extended board meeting and then I was off to the club social that night. Sunday was about recapping from my executive secretary duties and responding to the flurry of emails either club related or with the TrySports relay team. For those that don't know I volunteered to be our TrySports Relay Team Captain for the Palmetto 200. Not a physically hard duty, at least it isn't until the relay, but it is keeping fingers and brain busy working on getting enough runners for the team, figuring out the registration process, organizing members for the legs, and then there are the miscellaneous items – such transportation, lights, reflective gear, and food. But it's all fun and coming along quite nicely.

So what's on tap for this weekend – the CRC Winter Flight 8k race at Mc Alpine. I joined Aaron, Caitlin, Ben, Laura, and Mike in early December to help get the Club's first race off the ground. All of our work is about to be on display tomorrow morning at 8 AM.

If there is anyone that thinks we are not committed to this race, everyone is planning to arrive at 6am to help with the setup. Mike and Ben are marking the course this evening. Caitlin and Mike are picking up the water and food tonight. Dan is helping with the Nunn.

What else can I say, it is going to be fun and I am looking forward to it.

Btw – if you have not registered, come out tomorrow morning and sign up. The race is going to be a blast. Registration starts at 6:30AM and the race starts at 8AM sharp. The awards barring any issues should be around 9:30.

I am so looking forward to it.

So come out and see us.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Narcotics should be avoid within 48 hours of race day

2012-01-25T08:24:00.001-05:00

"You think"!

Packing way some the last stuff from Disney, I happened to flipping through the guide for the Disney races. As I was doing so, I stopped on the Medical Tips and Information page and began reading through it. Most of the information made sense. In fact, most of what they was said, I would actually consider to be common sense.

That is until I got down to the section on "Narcotics".

Here's what it said and I quote from the booklet.

"Narcotics should be avoided within 48 hours of race day due to the harm effect on performance, perception, and mental status."

"Duh", I think this is pretty obvious at least to me.

But as I think about it more; maybe there are some people that think it is okay to be loaded when they reach the starting line. I don't see how, but who knows what goes through a person's mind.

I mean, don't you have to be a little wacky to want to run 26.2 miles in the first place. LOL.

Sharing some of the crazier thoughts this time,

The Cool Down Runner

3 weeks into my downtime

2012-01-24T18:33:00.001-05:00

After Disney, I just let things go. There has been no hard running and no long running. I just put in whatever feels good. The first couple of weeks were rather ugly because my legs felt like trash. In fact, my entire body felt like trash.

When I was at Disney, the temperature was in the 80s and I was out in shorts and a T-shirt. Warm weather is so much easier to adapt to than cold weather. Returning to Charlotte, the morning temperature shocked my body with some 20 degree days.

Throw-in, I got a cold which left me dragging my body from one day to the next.

Now, I am starting to shake off the effects of the cold and my legs are feeling much better. My hamstring continues to improve. I think because I have living on the hamstring curl machine. With each curl I only allow good thoughts to enter my mind as I flex my right hamstring on the machine. Give me a few more months; my hope is it will be close to normal.

If I am writing about being normal again, then it must be time to think about some fall marathon training. Currently, 11 extremely long and painful minutes separate me from Mr. Beigay. Somehow, I need to weave some magic and see what I can do about closing the gap. I tell you know lie. He was so far in ahead of me at Disney that he was in getting a post race massage before I finished.

However, only time will tell. And after all, 40 something bodies are not expected to run as fast as 30 something bodies. But I have plan………..

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner

Elitist reputation

2012-01-23T10:18:00.001-05:00

Really smart people find ways to steer a course around controversy while others chart a course straight through horrific weather. All the while, knowing they have the fortitude to withstand the storm. One can only hope that "fair winds" lay ahead.

Delving into this subject is a sure sign that I will probably end up in some rough waters. But I cannot help myself; when I pushed the published button, my ship set sail.

More than a few times, the phrase "Charlotte Running Club" and "Elitist" have shared the same sentence. Honestly, I don't get it.

When they say it together, they make it come across as if it were a "bad thing" or something.

Is it so wrong to be successful? Is wrong for people to want to train hard and race hard? Then, do well in race? Personally, I don't feel like I am elite. Yet, I have had people say it to me. Let's be clear; I lace my running shoes pretty much the way as everyone else. I get tired. I have bad days and a few good days. I probably eat more bad foods than good foods. I love candy and chocolate chip cookies and a good Dr. Pepper when I can get one. I have a job. I have stress and yes, I have kids that I hope will grow into something better than me.

But what constitutes being elite. Is it being faster than someone else? So being faster means elite? Or is it running further than someone else? Does this mean elite?

Then why do people join a running club?

In my mind there are two reasons for joining a running club. I want to be around people who share a similar passion. Who will then help me enjoy the good days and help me through the bad days. But first and foremost, by joining a running club this likely means that I want to do more running. This then results in me running harder and further because in the running club I probably going to do more running with a group. This builds into me racing faster. Thus, the exact group that I once labeled as "elite" has helped me do something I never thought possible.

Best of all, they welcomed me in and shared their advice and their experiences. And as I start to close this post, the thought occurred to me. More often than not, I have heard people say "I don't want to run with him or her because they are too fast". But looking at it from the other shoe – I have never heard some say "I don't want to run with him or her because they are too slow". Usually, it is just "let's go run" which is what we want to do anyway.

So push the "pause" button the "elite" stuff and just enjoy the running. We will all be better for it.

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner

Extended CRC Board Meeting 1-21-2012

2012-01-22T15:42:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was my 2^nd official board meeting and first of the extended board meetings. We spent 5 hours meeting at Mike's company's offices going through a multitude of agenda items. Aaron as president took the lead in getting our agenda put together while Nicole and Emily covered the snacks.

I have been on a number of boards through the years but so far the Charlotte Running Club has more initiatives being put in flight both inside the club and outside the club than any of the other clubs that I have been a member.

Letting thought wonder around for a moment, it is hard for me to say if this is good or bad because really there is no right or wrong answer here. The members of the club elected the board members because they felt these people were the best people to do job and represent the club in a positive matter. Thus, the values of the board should pretty much represent the values of our club.

Yesterday's meeting covered a gambit of items: dates for the board meetings, volunteering at races and in the community, how to make the news letter better, how to promote the club group runs, so on and so forth.

Maybe the best exercise that we went through was exploring the club's strengths and weakness. A little introspection is always good and there were a number of items in both lists. What I like best was that we took the weakness and made those weaknesses 1, 3, or 5 year goals for the club achieve. The idea of taking weaknesses and turning them in to strengths is not new but watching the process work its way from beginning to end can be a great exercise. Watching how people turn over ideas and twist thoughts to create something new is exciting to watch.

The other facet to the board is the diversity of the group. There are mothers and fathers. There are single people. There are "un" hurried people. There are people that ran in the Olympic Trials. There are people from different generations.

What's great about this is that they bring their own perspective in to the meeting. Often they share ideas that might not have ever crossed the mind of another member. Although, stating one's opinion is not always easy and sometimes the desire to share an idea can be tempered to the point of being a little intimidating. However, CRC board as a whole does seem to do a good job of reaching out and encouraging each and every individual board member to participate.

The reality of our club is that we will only be as effective as our members are willing to be involved. Being active member is more than just reading the news letter. Members need to support the group runs, come out races, volunteer at races etc. This is not say that they have to be at every single social, group run, or club event. Would it be great? Yes. But the reality is that we all have lives and families beyond running and they come first.

But if our members strive to reach out a couple of times per month, across 500+ members, we can have one of the most active clubs in the entire area.

Share one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner

Masters Runners - busted

2012-01-19T07:15:00.001-05:00

Imagine my surprise yesterday evening, another article about a runner being busted for having performance enhancing substances in their system.

This time I was flipping through the pages of my just arrived edition of the Running Times magazine and saw the article on Masters Runners and performance enhancing substances.

A 68 year old woman was tested and found to have banned a substance in her system. Additional, the article also pointed out a few other examples where 40+ runners were caught with substances that shouldn't have been in their systems.

As I read the article I found it really hard to convict these people of the crime that they were being accused. Based on my understanding the banned substances were either suggested by their doctor or they were prescribed for medical reasons. In one case, the runner didn't even know that the banned substance was in the medicine that he was taking.

Being in the 40+ group myself makes empathizing with these people far easier. We all want to lead as healthy life style as possible. Therefore when a doctor tells us that we need a certain medicine, I for one would tend to believe him.

However, we cannot let them totally off the hook. Competing in USAT&F events, we are expected to know the rules going in to the events so when our family doctor prescribes a medicine, we need to ask questions. This is the only way to make informed decisions.

Additionally, the USA T&F provides for exception to certain drugs based off medical reasons. Again based off my reading of the article none of these people filed for this exception.

All I can say is - word to the wise, when seeing your family doctor and being prescribed a drug, ask questions. This is especially true if there's a USAT&F event on the horizon and you even remotely expect to participate in the event. Sometime asking permission is better than asking for forgiveness.

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner

Busted

2012-01-18T07:36:00.001-05:00

This morning an article came across my desktop about Martin Fagan being caught for taking performance enhancing substances.

Reading through the article made me suddenly flash back to a conversation between my daughter and myself this past weekend.

She asked if I had ever taken performance enhancing substances. Where she was getting her information or what prompted her questions, I don't know. Prying into the origin of her questions might have ended the conversation right there so I focused on answering her questions by being open and honest.

Explaining to a teenager that taking these substances will make you bigger, stronger, and faster is also wrong. It is also very hard. They don't see the world as an adult sees it. Being healthy, strong, and invincible is something they think will last forever. They see the world only for today and tomorrow is well tomorrow.

My hope is that my daughter will follow my lead and never consider taking them. The risk vs. reward is not worth it but is only part of the overall picture. After one starts down the slippery slope of taking those substances, then one has to live with one's self knowing that their performances were not all their own. Personally, living with not winning is better than winning and knowing that I cheated to do it.

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner

What to blog about?

2012-01-17T17:53:00.001-05:00

I had this really good topic that I wanted to blog about but then decided against it because of the number of people that it might offend or just the number of people that were involved in the original conversation might not like me sharing those conversations.

So for the first time in a while, I am left without too much to say.

The legs are slowly bouncing back from Disney. The miles are easy and the downtime is really good. No pressure to run long or run hard. No events on the horizon

How long has it been since I have been in this mode. Thinking back, the last time was probably 2009.

Before I started all this marathon stuff, my season usually ended in November and I would not race again until March of the next year. I spend the holiday season just letting the legs churn through the easy miles and the use the cold January and February mornings to harden the mind, heart, and legs again.

This is something that I really need to get back to doing. Living the south lends itself too easily to year around racing. And if left to my own accord, I would be racing every weekend and twice on Saturday whenever possible.

That's why tomorrow morning; I will be churning through the cold air and just putting one front in front of another. Isn't that what running is all about anyway?

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner

Say it isn’t so? My relay partner

2012-01-15T11:01:00.001-05:00

Disney added a new event this year to the marathon weekend called the Chip and Dale relay. A team of two people – one runs the ½ of the Disney marathon – running though Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Then just outside the Magic Kingdom, the first runner tags off to the 2^nd runner who runs through Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot. They finish just outside Epcot.

Or at least this is how it is supposedly should work.

On the bus ride back to my hotel after the race another runner shared her story about when the plan doesn't always worked as it should.

As the story goes, she and her teammate had agreed to do the relay. She was to run the first half while her teammate was to run the 2^nd half. Everything was going to plan, she took off hard. She ran faster than expected through Epcot. She charged through Magic Kingdom and then headed for the relay point ready to handoff to her teammate.

Here's where the nightmare occurred. No it wasn't that she couldn't find her teammate, because she did.

But at the relay point, her teammate told her she could go. She injured herself. The common sense thing to do was drop out. After all, she was completely spent from dropping a fast ½ marathon time, but no, she asked for her teammate's bib. She exchanged it for her own and promptly took off to run the 2^nd half of the marathon.

She ended up 9^th overall female even with the time lost in the exchange.

However, do to the fact the she was in the relay category and not the marathon cartegory, she got no recognition for it, medal, or age group award for running the full marathon. All she got was a hard day's work and maybe a little personal satisfaction.

As I listened to her story, I could hardly believe it. I cannot imagine running the first half of marathon leaving everything on the table only to find out that I had another 13.1 miles to run.

Bad situations occur when we least expect them. We can either let them conquer us or we can go about conquering them. In the case, she gets my "kudos" award for being the ultimate team player

By the way, this is really a true story. In the Disney results, their team is called the Disney fanatics and they actually won the all female division. Look up the bib numbers on brightroom.com 70017 and 70018. The pictures are of the same woman coming out of the Magic Kingdom and at the finish.

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner

Disney Marathon recovery

2012-01-14T15:10:00.001-05:00

After any marathon the body and the mind switch from working hard to being ready for a recovery period. I am not exception. After Disney, my runs were limited to 2 miles Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursday, Friday, and today, my runs were 4, 6, and 8. All miles were logged at whatever felt comfortable to my legs.

This is not my normal post marathon recovery. Typically, I will run 6 the day after and jump to 7 miles until the next weekend. I push the miles back up in the teens and pretty much return to normal weekly miles thereafter.

So did this change in recovery strategy work better for me?

In some ways, yes, the recovery did feel much better. Only running a couple miles before calling it a day was really nice. But it was more difficult to judge my recovery because I exchanged running for walking a ton of miles.

After running the marathon Sunday, my daughters and I headed for downtown Disney for some shopping and covered pretty much everything. Monday, we hit 3 different parks. We opened up Hollywood Studios, transitioned to Animal Kingdom during the afternoon, and finished of the evening by closing down the Magic Kingdom. Tuesday, we opened Magic Kingdom and closed down Epcot. Mike posted that he walked about 7+ miles per day. That's a lot of miles.

How many did I walk? I have no idea. I choose not to track them because seeing the actually number might cause me to have a heart attack. All I know is that the end of the day setting down and propping up my feet feels really good.

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner

Disney Marathon Recap 1/8/2012

2012-01-13T19:19:00.001-05:00

Disney is a place where "Dreams come true". Certainly on Sunday morning my dreams came true as I made my way from park to park during the Disney Marathon.

Going into Disney, my expectations were quite low. Having finished OBX running basically on one leg didn't exactly inspire confidence for the future. Then, Holiday ½ stepped on the last of my confidence. Add in, most of my runs were at a dismally slow pace and only doing a couple of long runs, Disney was looking whole lot like a hard uphill climb. Think tougher than The Bear hard.

Saturday afternoon, we arrived at the expo at ESPN's Wide World of Sports for my packet pick-up. The parking lot was full so we had to circle for about 10 to 15 minutes before finding a parking spot. Then, we followed the flow of signs and people directing as we made our from building to building and through the expo. All toll, we were probably at the expo for 2 ½ hours. I could have spent even more time looking at the stuff, but my legs were starting to feel dead. I didn't want to make push them too much.

The hotel was having a 10 oz. penne pasta dinner offering so I took them up on it. This was about 4pm. The dinner didn't leave me feeling full, but strangely, I wasn't hungry either.

The Disney marathon starts at 5:30 AM so rise and shine time was going to be 3 AM. I tried hitting the bed about 8pm but could not get to sleep. The hours were crawling by first 9, then 10, 11, 1, and 2. I would drift off to sleep and then wake up.

Finally, the clock clicked over to 3 and I was up. I felt like I hadn't slept at all. May be it was excitement or may be just being scared of going into a race so under prepared. I don't know which one it was.

My plan heading into the weekend was to drive from the hotel over to Epcot for the start but at the last minute, I changed my mind and took the bus. I figured worst case; Disney would have the buses running even if the runners couldn't get their cars out of the parking lot after the race.

My bus was warm and I didn't really want to get off when we pulled into the Epcot parking lot. There we joined the other runners making their way to the runner waiting area. I txted Mike and he was taking the bus over as well.

We met up in the parking area and chatted for a minutes. Soon it was time to drop off our bags, make a last minute pit stop, and then head for the starting line. Disney must hoard all of the porta-jons in Orlando for the weekend.

Disney is all about walking and distraction. We have to walk probably a half mile to the runner's waiting area from the buses. From the runner's waiting area, there is a good 20 minute walk to the start line.

There was barely enough light to see and I even stumbled over a cone in the middle of the road. Runners were walking ever so slowly as we were all packed together. Mike was anxious to get to the starting line. I could tell. He kept dropping my along the way. Finally, he let me know that he was going to run ahead.

Both Mike and I scored "Elite" starting corral bibs so we had the longest walk – all the way to the front of the field.

There was more space than runners in the elite corral so I started doing my dynamic stretching exercises and eyed the other runners in the corral.

First off were the wheel chair athletes and two minutes later we were off. Mickey Mouse counted us down.

During the first mile, Mike was running just ahead of me but then slowly he disappeared into the darkness. This mile was really hard for me. My legs felt stiff and tight. They simply did not want to turn over.

When we hit the first mile, I realized that I missed something. My Garmin hadn't been set with the alert to light up so while I knew I hit the mile point, I had no idea what the pace was. Fortunately, Disney had ample clocks along the course.

Miles two, three, four, five passed by. Coming to the Epcot toll booths a recorded voice warned us of a road hump ahead. In my opinion it was more like a line in the road then a hump. The ones over by the Magic Kingdom were worse because they were hidden by the nighttime shadows and only when I stumble over them did I realize what it was. Yes, some of the roads around the Magic Kingdom are dark at 6AM.

This was when I took notice of one of the female elite runners. I heard someone yell that she was the fifth place runner. We were back and forth until we entered the Magic Kingdom. She dropped off the pace or maybe I was just better at handling the slick surface. They wash down the surface in the Magic Kingdom each night so my racing flats tend to slip on the surface.

After Magic Kingdom and the 10 mile point, I didn't think that I could run any harder, but I actually didn't feel too bad.

Miles 11, 12, and 13 passed by and the sun began to give us some light. For the first time, I could see a line of runners at head of me. They were strung out in a single file line.

This is the point where I caught up to another the 4^th place female runner. She was running with another guy and I can only assume they were together since they had similar singlets.

We were all running about the same pace so I attempted to make a little conversation. May we could work together and pick off some of the guys ahead of us. I am not sure why but they spurn all of my attempts, so when we headed into Animal Kingdom, I decide to go it alone.

My strategy was simple. Run hard, and catch the guy in front of me. Recovery until I felt good. Pass and repeat the process.

Coming out of Animal Kingdom it was working like a charm. Until, these guys started passing me. I mean, they just blew right by me. My first thought, I was crashing, but at the next mile, no I was right on pace. Actually, I was a little ahead.

The next time, I got passed; I took the time to look over. These guys were running the relay so no wonder they were flying by me.

I knew when we got near the ESPN Wide World of Sports section; we had a little out and back to do. Turning on to this section, I kept an eye out for Mike. No luck, Mike had cleared this section. I thought he must be having a great race.

My legs didn't feel like they could go any faster, but they were not slowing down. Each mile passed by and I seemed to be holding the same pace.

We took a right and headed for Hollywood Studio Park. There was a small hill where they had this green army soldier outfit (think toy solder green) standing and yelling charge this hill. I took him at his order and passed two guys going up it.

We made the turn and entered Hollywood Studios. We ran down the back street next to Toy Story Mania. We ran around by where the stunt show is put on. We ran though the NY city lights. We ran over and down Main Street.

This is where something strange happened. I pass this guy and he passes me back. Okay, we can both play that game. I pass him again with more authority this time. This is where it gets a little hazy. I am front of him and said something really "smart" to me and then starts clipping the backs of my shoes.

Early in a crowded race, I would take something like this in stride. Those things happen. 24 miles into a marathon with two guys on an open road, I am not in the mood. I look back and say "not again". I guess he got a message because he dropped a way. There's a video of us running through Hollywood Studio Main Street available on BrightRoom.

Mile 25 was along the Disney Board Walk and the final mile was around the world in Epcot. I was never so happy to see that great big ball in my life. A quick glance at my watch told me that I was going to be well under my 3 hour goal.

My splits were:

33:17 for 5 miles

66:15 for 10 miles

1:26:56 for ½ marathon

2:12:22 for 20 miles

2:53:26 for 26.2 miles

My Garmin measured that course at 26.6 miles which doesn't surprise me. I am usually pretty good at running tangents, but the Disney marathon has a gazillion turns. I am sure more than one wasn't run along the shortest path.

At the finish, I wanted the moment to last forever. I had run faster than I had expected on nearly no marathon training. My time was 4 minutes faster than OBX and I felt a whole lot better.

But I did move on and found by Mike and Michael C. in the drop bag area. We talked for a few minutes before heading off in our own directions. Me, I had places to go and miles to walk the rest of the day.

What Disney did give me was a feeling that the future looks promising once I get this leg (hamstring in particular) back to full strength.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Trigger Point Roller

2012-01-06T12:02:00.001-05:00

Before heading to Disney this evening and taking a few days off from blogging there was one more post that I wanted to get out. This one is on the trigger point roller.

A couple years ago when I had a case of ITB, the foam roller came to my attention. The foam roller allowed me to isolate and work my ITB which I believe helped with my recovery. Long after my ITB returned to normal, I continued using it regularly for my quads, hamstrings, calves, and gluts.

I felt like the foam roller really helped. But, with everything these days, there always seems to be a "but". My one beef with the foam roller is that over time the foam softens and contracts. Contracting to the point, a new foam roller needs to be purchased if one wants to work the muscles with the same intensity. The rate at which it reaches this point all depends on the daily usage. For me, a new foam roller became a necessity over 8-10 months. After a while, I began to wonder what other options were on the market and that's when I came across the Trigger point rollers.

They are made a little differently. The Trigger Point rollers have a hard plastic ring at the center and are surrounded by a padding that allows me to work the muscles with different degrees of intensity. I have been using my Trigger Point roller for the last month and I am very happy with the changeover.

Pricewise, the form rollers run between $8 and $31 depending on their length. Trigger point rollers come in one size about 13 inches. Only two colors seem to be predominating: black and orange all while running about $33 dollars each. Each roller comes with a 1 year warranty which is longer than the typical foam roller last for me.

My suggestion is once your foam roller wears down consider moving over to the Trigger Point roller. I am convinced; it is worth it.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Post Disney Marathon Training

2012-01-05T13:00:00.001-05:00

With Disney being the first week of January, my training is almost a continuation of the training at the end of 2011.

Only when the Disney is complete, will I start looking at 2012. However, I am not going to immediately jump into another training cycle. After Disney, there will be roughly 3 weeks left in January so for those three weeks; my plan is to have no plan. Each day will be what it is. If I feel like running longer, I will run longer. If my legs are tired, I might just run a mile. Why? Well, for the last few years, I have just stacked one hard training period after another. The transition went from hard running to hard cycling and then back to hard running. Partly, I attribute this to my hamstring injury last fall.

There is an old tire commercial which talks about riding on "borrowed time" once the tires wear down to the threads. In some way, my body has worn down to the threads. May be the time has come to let my body renew itself.

My hope is that 3 weeks will do it, but we will see.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

The Cool Down Runner

Dressing for cold weather

2012-01-04T10:24:00.001-05:00

Someone once told me that dressing for a warm summer day is easy. All you need to do is wear as little as possible and hope you don't get arrested for indecent exposure. The same cannot be said for running in the winter time. During those cold frigid mornings, the only exposed part of my running body will most likely be my eyeballs. Everything else will have at least one layer and some parts will be covered in multiple layers.

Many years ago, a friend of mine looked into my closet and asked why I had all this ski clothing when I didn't ski. I replied "I am a runner and runners learn very quickly how to stay warm during the winter time".

This is why I keeping coming back to this topic year after year when the weather really starts to turn cold. Dressing correctly can make the difference between a good run and a chilly experience. And, I do mean CHILLY experience.

Every runner is a little different in how they handle the cold temperatures.

Me for example, if my hands are cold, I am ready for the run to end quickly. This is true even if I am only 30 to 45 minutes into a run.

Usually down to 30 degrees, I will go with hat, shorts, light jacket, and light gloves. If the wind is blowing, I might opt for a wind vest and maybe a little heavier pair of gloves. The wind more than the cold can cut right through any clothing and chill the body at its core.

The core body and the legs are usually the warmest because this is where most of the work is being done and most of the blood is flowing.

Once the temperatures hit the 20s, I like add in tights and may be a little heavier jacket but one that I can unzip. If I am running into the wind, I'll have it zipped up to my neck. When the wind blows at my back, I'll unzip it to let the excess heat escape. I wear the tights because old and tired muscles are more easily pulled when the mercury heads south. Another way to think of it is; having warm and toasty legs can be the ounce of prevention against a serious injury.

Below 20, I convert over to mittens instead of gloves and possibly tights made of a slightly thicker material. Having the fingers together creates more warmth than having them separated into individual fingered sleeves. I might even cover up most of my face if the weather is really bad. I have even been known to grow a beard.

If temperatures are cold enough, I will even put those hunting heat packets into my gloves. I always keep a few handy.

As far as my feet are concerned, pretty much I just wear my usual running socks. Like my legs, my feet just never seem to get cold.

With the thermometer hovering around 18 degrees this morning, developing a cold weather dressing strategy needs to start now.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Rain Gear

2012-01-03T13:56:00.001-05:00

With every week this fall there seems to be at least a few days of rain that I have to suffer through. This got me thinking about rain gear. This fall I picked up a Brooks Silver Bullet Jacket which is supposedly rain and wind resistant. These jackets run about $150 dollars each.

I have used it for several of my runs and "yes" up to a point it works. On windy days the jacket definitely keeps the wind out. Rainy days the jacket does up to a point. On one particular day, I was out for about 2 and ½ hours and between the rain and my body heating up, I was soaked on the inside of the jacket.

Thus, I am pleased with the Brooks Jacket and its ability to repel rain for shorter runs, but I wondered if there were other rain repellant jackets on the market.

A little browsing occurred and I came across four other jackets. Well, actually, there were five jackets. Most everyone knows of the Gore-Tex jackets. Gore-Tex is a membrane that has nine billion microscopic pores per square inch. Each pore is 20,000 times smaller than a molecule of water. But the pores are 700 times larger than the water vapor dissipating from our bodies.

Gort-Tex is pretty good and pretty pricey. That is until I looked at other comparable products.

Columbia "Flyin' Dry" has its own technology for keeping runners dry and comes with a price tag of $250 dollars. There is the Rab "Streatch Neo Shell" which will probably keep you dry in a rain storm. The price is "wait for it" - $365 dollars. Next up is the Mountain Hardwear "Dry Q Elite Quasar Pullover". This is jacket is one of the lightest that I could find on the market. This could have something do with the fact that a runner's wallet has some $375 dollars removed from it. Honestly, who knew that staying dry and comfortable comes with such a hefty price tag. My last example is the the Mammut "Flesturm Half Zip" jacket which uses some of the Gore-Text technology. This jacket can be yours for an eye popping $390 dollars.

To think, initially my Brooks Jacket at $150 dollars was thought to be expensive. When I actually looked around, I realized resistance to water is very expensive. Maybe I will just limit my rainy days runs to an hour and keep the other 250 in my pocket.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Disney Marathon is this weekend

2012-01-02T11:52:00.001-05:00

2011 wasn't a banner marathon year for me. I started strong early on at Boston but faded late in the race with a cramping hamstring. For the Hatfield and McCoy Marathon, I did a few long runs, tempo runs, and intervals. Thus I thought I could proclaim that I was ready. And maybe I was for everything except the sweltering heat of race morning. Then, I moved to OBX where I literally ran 26.2 miles on one leg while dragging the other leg behind.

Let's just say confidence is not high going into the Disney.

Since OBX, I have done one race which was a disaster and one tempo effort if you could call it a tempo effort. Otherwise, I have just logged miles and waited on my body to come right and feel like running again.

This brings me to this coming Sunday morning. I'll be lacing up my flats and taking the tour of the Disney properties by foot. First, I'll run through the Magic Kingdom. Then, I will make my way through Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Finally, I will finish with a circuit of the world at Epcot. And to think, they don't require me to have a park hopper for it.

What kind of time do I expect? Truthfully, I don't know. Even my easy runs leave me feeling like I am dragging and my hamstring has only recovered about 40% of the strength that it had prior to my injury.

Definitely, I will be taking a conservative approach to the race and will not be chasing hard after Mike.

If I hit the ½ way point in 1:30, I will be very pleased. Then, my focus will become to run 1:29:59 for the 2^nd half. Then, I could walk away feeling much better about where my training is going.

Time waits for no man and I have my date with the roads of Disney Sunday morning 5:30 AM.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Treadmills, heart rate, and more

2012-01-01T16:26:00.001-05:00

Last month, one of my post described my time spent running on a tread mill during a rainy day here in Charlotte. Not sure if this triggered this chain of events but I like to think so. Anyway, Eddie Pennebaker emailed me on Facebook. For those not familiar with Eddie, he builds and sells Eddie's Rollers. I did a write up a while back on his rollers. I have one and use it regularly. In case anyone is interested, here's Eddie's email address.

Back to his email, Eddie described that his 7:30 pace running on the treadmill felt much faster than the 7:30 pace he achieved during his outdoor runs and he ask if I experienced the same feeling. He also asked if my heart rate was higher while running on the tread mill.

So we exchanged a few emails where I described my thoughts on the subject. But after thinking about it more, I thought Eddie question was a question that might interest more people. Thus, I am taking the content from our emails and turning it into a post to start the New Year. With colder weather just around the corner, more than a few of us will head for those indoor flat sweat boxes called tread mills.

I'll break Eddie's question into two parts. The first part will address the question on the pace feeling faster on the tread mill and the second part will address the part about having a higher heart rate.

Does the pace on a tread mill feel faster? My answer to this question is always "yes, it does" for a few reasons. First, when I jump on a tread mill, I know what pace that I want to maintain so I crank down the settings to that pace. Basically, I am going cold turkey to hard running and I have not let my body warm up to this pace. Thus, my first few miles will always feel a little like I am sprinting and I cannot get enough air into my lungs. Usually, after a few miles, the effort starts to even out as my body catches up. But then comes the question, I don't feel that way when I run out side. Why is that? Well, whether I realize it or not, my earlier miles are probably slower than I think, but after my body warms up I tend to run a little faster so the average is somewhere in the middle. There are other factors such as wind and hills that can play havoc with running out doors. A tail wind can certainly push one along while indoors running in place there is no wind.

Now, there is another reason that has less to do with me and more to do with the tread mill. Unless, you have a tread mill at home, you will probably go some place like the "Y" to use one. Tread mills depending their maintenance cycle can lose their accuracy. Meaning 7:30 pace might actually be 7 minute pace. There is an unscientific way to check it. Set the tread mill on 8 minute pace when watch the distance and the time. If it takes 2 minutes to do a quarter mile then the tread mill is decently accurate. If it takes less or more time to do a quarter mile, then you know the tread mill is off. This can be applied to other paces and distances but 8 minute pace and 2 minute laps make the math pretty easy. And, if you find that it is off, then you have to adjust the pace accordingly to your needs.

To address the second part of Eddie's question is my heart rate higher while running on a tread mill? Here I am assuming that as a runner we would be trying to run equivalent paces indoors vs. outdoors. Also I know that there are a number of factors that can affect my heart rate, but the time of year seems to be the most prominent one. Setting aside a runner's current physical condition, heat will play the biggest factor one's heart rate. During my tread mill run a few weeks ago, my heart rate was clearly higher than it is normally outside. Why? Well, the ambient outside temperature in Charlotte averages from the 30s to 50s this time of year. And, my body gets accustom to running in those temperature ranges. But let me take my running indoors where the temperature is 72 or higher and suddenly I am trying to adjust to heat wave. My body will compensate by raising my heart rate, flushing more blood to the skin, and my perspiration rate will go into overdrive. This is pretty much what happened during my recent tread mill run. My running shirt was dripping wet by the end of my 12 mile run. Aside from doing a few more runs in doors there is not much you can do about it. Run slower is an option, but then who wants to run slower on a tread mill. I usually want to finish it as quickly as possible.

The one question that I couldn't address is what happens during the summer months. After weeks and weeks of running in the 90s, I suspect that 72 degrees in doors on the tread mill would feel great and my heart rate would be much lower.

Just some additional food for thought as you enter the New Year.

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner

’11 Year in review mirror

2011-12-31T08:10:00.001-05:00

Not sure how long this "year in the review" will be. I even had thoughts of skipping it, but in each of the past three years the reflection helped with the planning for the year to come. Thus, the writing started with a single word, then a sentence, then a paragraph, and before I knew it; it was done. Besides one needs a little reflection because reflection is good for the running soul.

I often tell people that I rarely repeat the same mistakes. However, being human means we all find ways to create new mistakes. We are an ever learning species.

'10 saw me sign up for the Boston Marathon for the first time. This meant the spring of '11 would be spent in preparation for it.

At first, my training plan put together this aggressive racing schedule leading up to Boston. Plenty of 8k through ½ marathon races would be used to harden the lungs, heart, and legs.

For a reason that I cannot seem to recall now, I reversed course and spent the "Spring" logging tons of miles, lots of tempo runs, and intervals.

Boston arrived and I spent the morning huddled in a tiny tent talking to Nathan and Mike for the better part of 2 hours. By race time, I was ready to go.

The gun sounded and I lost track of Nathan and Mike in the crowed. Hitting the first in just over 6 minutes, I was only looking forward.

Looking forward, falling forward, hearing the screams at Wesley College, feeling the agony of spent legs crawling up heart break hill, my legs finally cried "uncle" on the downhill side.

22 miles were completed but that was as far as my left hamstring had agreed to go. A cramp occurred so I slowed.

Those last 4 miles were as tough as any that I had ever run or so I thought. Nathan passed me about mile 25. I was expecting to see Mike any second.

Finally came the finish line and cheering people and my first Boston Marathon was under my belt. Definitely this was a memory that I will treasure forever. Boston turns out for the runners like no city that I have ever encountered.

Fast forward through some Duathlons and Biathlons which I for whatever the reason didn't seem to enjoy as much this year. Maybe I am ready to try a Triathlon instead. The thought does seem to intrigue me.

With the Belmont 5k came a win. Winning a race always creates a special memory no matter the size field or the quality of the competition. For on this particular day you were the fastest person on that course. No one can ever take that away from you.

Summer rolled in along with the summer heat. Summer track started and an opportunity to run another marathon.

For many years, the Hatfield and McCoy summertime marathon had been held in mid June and had always caught my attention.

I throw in a few long runs and a few hard workouts and signed up. Believing one is ready and knowing one is ready are definitely two different mental states.

Hanging out at the prerace dinner the night before, a familiar face walked up – Bobby Aswell. To be on honest, I wasn't too surprised. Bobby runs marathons like I run recovery runs – almost every day.

Race morning was decent. The temperature was about mid 60s at 7AM.

The first couple miles were downhill and felt really easy. Then the climbing started. The road went up and up. Up to this point, this was probably the steepest and longest hill that I have climbed in race and definitely in a marathon.

Going down the other side wasn't any easier. The road was just as steep and the pounding into the quads was unrelenting.

By the time, the ½ marathon point came, I was already looking for the finish line. And, the course didn't get any easier.

The road narrowed to a cart path and then disappeared into a rutted out trail. Then, the course opened back on to a golf course and crossed a swinging bridge. The rains came with just enough water to wet everything down making for a nice sauna when the sun came out. And come out it did. I was drinking at every aid station and still felt like I was running in a furnace.

Miles 20 to 26 were a complete haze. There was this long hill that wasn't on the profile at 24 miles. This mile was probably in excess of 8+ minutes. I don't really know. Like I said, this was a hazy period of time for me.

I thought about quitting but there was no one to help. I thought about walking but it would only take longer to reach the finish.

Finally, I turned the corner and crossed the finish line. The hallucinations must have set in for when I saw the temperature on the local bank's sign, I couldn't believe it. Ugh, no wonder I was suffocating in the heat. The sign displayed something like 92 degrees.

An older lady asked me if I needed help to which I replied "Yes, I need a place to set down and cool off".

Two hours passed while they tried to stuff me with water and Powerade. It didn't work and all came up. I mean I felt awful. I couldn't even stand up. That is when the doctor came over and said "let's give him an IV". This was the first IV that I have ever had. Man, did it help. 2 IV bags went into my arm and within 20 minutes, I felt great.

This was also the point where I vowed to never run another summertime marathon.

The month of June also saw me do a cycling TT at Charlotte Motor speedway and complete the entire summer track series.

July rolled around and my bucket list needed to check off a couple of items: The Bear and The Scream.

First was The Bear. We started at foot of Grand Father Mt. and ran to the top. Up and up we went. I never ran a mile faster than 7:15. There was a point where I looked up the Mt. and saw Mike running a couple of switch backs ahead. When I completed the final switch back, the climb up the finish line was maybe the worst of all. Stepping across the finish line, I went from trying to run to walking without any effort at all.

My goal was to break 40 minutes and to get a cup. Both were accomplished.

Next up was The Scream. Race morning was cool and with a slight drizzle. My legs were heavy at the start but after 2 miles Mike and I were still together. Then, the downhill section started and I started throwing all kinds of crazy surges at Mike. One mile we hit 5:21. Mike can run those miles but I cannot. He put a nice little gap on me during miles 6 – 11 but I like to think that I was pulling back some time over those last 2 miles. We only finished about 40 seconds apart.

Two low points were hit at Blue Points 5k and cycling Team Time Trial. At Blue Points I just couldn't get going. My legs just would not turn over. At the cycling team time trial, Justin, Meredith, and Jeremy were my teammates.

I knew Meredith and Justin were good. I learned how good they were and how old it made me feel.

Tour De Elvis saw me have a little bounce back with a mid 17s. The Greek fest 5k saw a little more with a 17:16.

Coming off these two races I was looking forward to the Charleston Distance Run. The Charleston Distance run was race that I did several times when I lived in West Virginia. It was one of the biggest races around and one that everyone looked forward to running each fall.

This would be my first attempt in many years to run it.

Megan, Jinnie, and Stan had been talked into running it with me. Funny scene happened as we drove over the course the day before. The Distance run has this hill called "Capital Punishment Hill". The hill is probably a mile to a mile and ¾ long. One would think Megan had never seen a hill before because she curled up in this little ball staring up the hill from inside the car.

Race morning the temperature was anything but cool. Warm and humid conditions were not the makings for great race conditions.

I was ill prepared for this race and was struggling long before we returned the flats of down town Charleston.

The last 6 miles were in the "get to the finish" mode. Looking back now, the time really wasn't that bad considering the heat and humidity.

After the distance run, my ramp up to OBX was to start.

Megan and I were doing a workout at Mc Alpine. The last interval was a mile repeat. I finished it off in something like 5:48 but I felt a tweak in my hamstring. Tweaks happen all the time and I didn't think too much more about it.

A few days later my hamstring was really tight but I raced on it anyway. By the next week it was really impacting my running. I could not do anything hard without pain, but I raced twice the following weekend.

For the next couple of weeks, I tried to do some workouts but mainly I just ran on it. I was practically living with an ice bag attached to it.

Then I tried to do the Salem Lake 30k. This was an experience in misery because I couldn't really run. Heavy rains poured before during and afterward which made the course a muddy mess.

Another week off, then I crafted a plan of racing short races on Saturday and running easy miles the rest of the time. I was holding out hope it would improve enough by OBX.

Hindsight tells me that I should have just rested it right from the start. I didn't.

OBX, I was took some Advil and ran 10 miles pretty hard. Then I slowly spiraled downward to the finish. Megan had a great race and Mike, while being sick, turned in a gutsy performance and beat me to the finish by 7 seconds.

Running OBX didn't seem to hurt my hamstring too much but clearly it didn't help it any.

My final race of the year would be the holiday half marathon in Huntersville, NC. I am still not sure why I signed up for it because I struggled from about 3 miles onward. For the next week, I was left icing my hamstring and nursing some really bad blisters.

'11 saw me do some 25 running races, 4 cycling time trials, 4 duathlons/biathlons, and reach the 4000 mile plateau in early December. Through these many races, most of my time seemed to be spent having more valleys than peaks this year. The good news is that my hamstring is on the mend. My blisters are healing.

As I look head into '12 and ponder what the New Year holds. I know my '11 season was a season of a few good races but lots of struggles. Getting older hasn't helped but something else I realized. Back in '07, I ran 3407 miles and completed in 34 running races. I seem to be racing just as much. However, the extra mileage has not produced the rewards that one might expect. I literally ran 2 extra months of mileage in a 12 month period this year.

So for now, I will set here and gaze into my crystal ball looking for images to guide me back to good running form in '12.

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner

The Story of Fatigue

2011-12-24T22:19:00.001-05:00

Long ago in a far off land there lived a people in the kingdom of "it". Within this kingdom there was a particular village that I want to draw your attention to. This village was called "Runnerville"

Now, for the most part the towns' folk of Runnerville were simple people. They lived simple lives.

They lived healthy. They ate healthy. They drove green cars and recycling everything. Everyone drank water and not one water bottle went to the landfill. Everyone carried home their groceries in reusable bags.

But what made them the healthiest is that they loved to run. To tell you how much they loved to run, they named streets after runners. There was Frank Shorter Blvd which crossed Gold and Silver Avenue. There's Meb Blvd which cross Silver Avenue. There is the Bill Rogers Rd which is just 4 blocks long. Then, there is the downhill auto bond freeway named after Ryan Hall. His road intersects with Kenyan way which ends at Victory Lane.

They even named their children after famous runners. Just yell Kara or Ryan and at least 20 kids would a come running.

Runnerville was abound with parks and trails. One of the biggest parks in town was called Marathon Park. Everyone loved running in Marathon Park for it had everything a runner needed. There were long straight sections for running intervals. There were straight mile long hills. There were loops around the park so long that a runner could do a 30 mile run and never need to retrace his steps. Every path was marked in 200 meter increments and there was a restroom located every 3 miles. Runnerville runner's just loved their park.

After years and years spent holding just 5k, 10k, and 15k races in the park. The local running club decided to do something spectacular. They decided to hold a marathon. Now, everyone in town was super excited about the idea and almost everyone jumped on board to help out.

That is all but one person. His name was Fatigue A. Miles.

Fatigue didn't live like the other people in Runnerville. He was about average height and slightly overweight. He had big hands and feet that turned slightly outward when he walked. His house was a one story flat with all of the windows boarded up. He drove a big diesel truck – a 12 cylinder job which bulged thick clouds of black smoke.

But what made Fatigue most different from the other people of it was he hated exercise. Walking from his lazy-boy to the refrig left him winded. When taking out the trash on Friday morning, he had to bring along a chair so he could rest at the curb before walking back. Yes, Fatigue was out shape because he didn't enjoy running like the other residents of Runnerville and he didn't like it that they enjoyed it.

So when the flyers circulated about town that a marathon was to be held in two weeks, Fatigue was beside himself. How could they hold a marathon in his town and even want to run right down his street. No, this couldn't happen. He had to prevent it.

Just so you know, this was not the first time that Fatigue had railed against sporting events. Every year in the days leading up the New York, Chicago, and Boston Marathon he would send a very strongly worded email to the Race Directors detailing the pitfalls for running and ruining one's health.

When the emails didn't work, he would protest. He carried a sign before, during, and after races – shouting in large letters the "Hazards of Running". And, on one occasion he had attempted to block the start of race by having a sit down in front of the starting line. His cries to cancel the race could be heard over the noise of 5 bands and the cheers of the racers as he was handcuffed and dragged away by the local constabulary.

Now that a marathon race was going by his very doorway, he had reached his limit. He would do what he must but there would be no marathon. But how; how would he stop this marathon from occurring?

Then, the idea hit and he knew what he must do.

There was a precious few days before the marathon was to be held so he had little time to waste.

Pushing out of his lazy-boy and heading for his workshop at the back of his house, he started to work. He would not sleep. He would not eat. He would work day and night to make his plan a reality. He would do whatever he must. The pounding, the sawing, the wielding, the many trips to the local hardware pushed him to his physical limit, but he had no choice. The marathon shouldn't happen. It couldn't happen not on his watch.

While Fatigue was preparing, the people of Runnerville was also making their fair town ready for the marathon. The streets were cleaned. The lights were polished. The miles were marked. The porta-potties rolled in on the back of a flat bed truck. Hundreds of thousands of T-shirts were printed. Race numbers with the runner's names were prepared.

The vendors from the Shoe companies, running apparel companies, food companies were just a few of the people arriving into town for this big event.

This would be the biggest event to take place in Runnerville ever.

On the night before the big event, Fatigue was putting the final touches on his plan.

For this plan to work, he would have to remove every running related item from the town of Runnerville. To do this, he built the largest dump truck ever created. Just imagine if you will, the largest dump truck in existence and then multiple it by 10 times. In fact, just filling the tank cost him $567, 432.12.

When he cranked it up, the engine spewed exhaust into the air so black that one could not see their hand in front of their face for a half mile.

While Fatigue was making ready, everyone else in town was running the marathon so they were all off to bed early. Around, 10 pm he started silently slipping into each home in Runnerville and taking all of the running related items. Every singlet, running-T, shorts, socks, and shoes he took. He grabbed all of the petroleum jelly and body glide that he could find. He took the food from the frig. He took the oatmeal, peanut and almond butter jars. He took every ounce of sports drink that he could find. Gatorade, Powerade, Nunn it didn't matter. He loaded up on the bagels and bananas. He snatched up the gels no matter what the flavor or brand; he took it. He even took the last roll of toilet paper from the holder. One would think this would put runners in a world of hurt.

But Fatigue wasn't finished just yet. When there was nothing runningwise left in the house, he crept over to the alarm clocks for each family and turned off the alarm. What could be crueler than waking up late for a race?

When he had visited every home in town and removed their running stuff, he knew there was one last thing left to do.

So he drove over to the starting line, mashing everything in sight with the large rubber tires acting like four individual steam rollers. Once there, he loaded up the banners, the tables, the water, the fruit, the timing equipment, the mile marks, and the race numbers. And before leaving, he even scraped up the paint used to mark mile points and the start/finish line.

As he rolled out of town, there was nothing left in Runnerville that told of a city ready to host a marathon.

He would drive this stuff over and dump it in the nearby landfill where this huge waste of material would never be seen again. The road was bumpy and the springs on the dump truck creaked under the massive load as he ever so slowly rolled along.

As he left the city limits and headed up a mountain road, a freakish little smile came across his face. He had done it. He had stopped this exercise thing called a marathon in its tracks.

Reaching the dumping site, he turned the truck around and backed it up to the edge. Nearly 4 hours had passed since he had left. He thought he would take one last look at Runnerville down below before dumping this load.

He opened the cab door and climbed to the top of the truck so he could get a better view of Runnerville.

The marathon was to start in 20 minutes but he expected to see no one out. All should be worried and scampering around their houses wondering where their running stuff had gone and why their alarms didn't go off.

His eye must be seeing things. There was a huge crowd of people in Marathon Park. He scrambled to the cab for his binoculars. Yes, there were tons of people in Marathon Park. They were wearing boots, jeans, and coats as they were warming up. They had makeshift numbers made using notebook paper and a sharpie. A new line has been drawn across the road with two letters beside it "S/F" for start and finish.

And what astonished Fatigue the most, they were happy. Everyone one was smiling and ready to run. Why was this he thought? He had removed their running stuff. They should be miserable.

That's when the thought finally hit him. No matter how bad things are, people don't run because of the material stuff. Yes, the running stuff does make it easier and nicer, but more so, they run because it makes them feel better and it makes them happier when they do it.

He knew right then and there that he couldn't dump this stuff. He had to return each and every item back to its rightful owner.

With one hand he swung back into the cab and revved the engine. Down the road he went. Taking each turn at breakneck speed with the wheels scrapping the edge he was barely staying on the road.

He arrived back in town barely 10 minutes before the race.

Pulling up at the race start, he slowly climbed from the cab. Eyes down and chin on his chest, he begged for their forgiveness and explained the error of his ways.

To his surprise, the people of Runnerville forgave him. They immediately started passing out everything from the back of the dump truck. Within 5 minutes and with everyone's help every item was returned to its rightful owner.

The town's people were so sure that Fatigue had changed his ways that they invited him to race and give him the number one. To which, he gratefully accepted.

That day, he ran for the first time and finished the marathon in 5 hours and 7 minutes.

As he crossed the finish line, they put a finisher medal around his neck and asked him how he was able to do it. The lifting, the pushing, the hard work making the dump truck, the running to the local hardware store, he had been training his body.

Exercise in and of itself is good, but when combined with a goal, a purpose, then the hard work all makes sense.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Final 22 miler in the books

2011-12-23T21:18:00.001-05:00

Boy was I glad the rain stopped today. With a holiday weekend fast approaching, I did not want to push my final long, long run before Disney into this weekend. When this morning broke sunny and clear, I headed out the door.

Man, I hope Disney isn't too warm. I felt like I was melting even with the temperature barely crossing the 60 degree mark.

However, the best part of the run was I finally returned home with no additional blisters to fix. After OBX and the Holiday Half marathon, each and every week was spent going from one blister to the next. Getting through any type of workout without getting one seemed impossible.

That is until today.

I have gone to coating down the blistered area with liquid bandage. The stuff smells like modeling glue, but the stuff does the trick. Pretty much, I found that it is a one application per run usage. Between running and showering, the liquid bandage is gone. This might seem strange but I am happy to coat it again and again if I don't get a blister. The simple things in life are all that is important.

If you have not finished your shopping hurry up, tomorrow is the last day.

Also tomorrow look for the post on "The story of Fatigue".

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

59:59 then a treadmill expects a cool down

2011-12-22T08:10:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I learned two new things. First, the treadmills at the Y only go to 59 minutes and 59 seconds before they automatically convert over to a cool down run for 5 minutes. The second, if running on a treadmill is going to become a habit, my iPod needs a longer play list.

Going to the Y treadmill was my way of avoiding the rain yesterday. And, a lot of good did it do me. Running outside, I would have almost assuredly gotten soaked. Running inside, I pretty much got the same result. Crank up the heat to 72 degrees for an hour and half and the perspiration comes rolling out. Leaving me soaked with sweat dripping from my shorts and shirt. Yes, there was a towel handy. Well, the towel was handy at the start. Within 30 seconds, it fell to the floor and once running I don't stop.

Those who know me know that I don't run with an iPod. I am not fawn of the wire dangling against me. But with a 12 mile run staring me down, the silent movie version of Y TV overhead, and the distance counter on the treadmill O so slowly accumulating the miles, my mind need something to lose itself for a while. Out came my iPod.

Listening to music does help and really helped with the miles between 6 and 12. Getting lost in the song and mentally singing along helped to pass the seconds turning into minutes and the quarters turning into miles.

Running at the Y is kind of like having a group run with strangers. Being on the treadmill for a long period of time, gives the opportunity to see many people come and go. Many often stare either at the amount of perspiration dripping on to my treadmill or at the display on the treadmill. Most don't say anything. Leaves me wondering what they really think when they see me running.

Luckily, running on a treadmill is not a frequent occurrence for me, but who knows, I might become a regularly. If I do, I'll need more songs.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Higher strung, more intense personality

2011-12-21T10:29:00.001-05:00

During my Facebook browsing last night, one status update jumped out that interested me. Mark Hadley posted a piece on his Runner's Mental Predisposition Theory. No need for me to try to explain Mark's theory, because I couldn't do the expert enough justice. I do suggest reading it at the above link.

What interested me the most was trying to figure out where I fell within his theory? Self analysis is often a good thing and can be somewhat of a humbling experience. Maybe not as humbling as someone else's analysis but still good idea all the same.

Reading through the four quadrants and the attributes associated with each, I tried to fit myself into one of the four quadrants. My guess is that no one person fit perfectly into a quadrant so I tried to find the quadrant with which I shared the most attributes.

Quadrant #1:
• Higher strung, more intense personality (High Strung doesn't sound like but intense I would say so)
• Ability to stay aggressive and focused during lactate accumulation (I'd say sometimes)
• Becomes increasingly passive and distracted as energy system fatigue builds (Nay, not me)
• Under-performs training level in races over 60 minutes in duration (I'd say that I am the opposite here)
• On par or over-performs training level in races under 60 minutes in duration (I wouldn't say this is necessary true)
• Excels at shorter distance races (800 to 10k in length) (Maybe I getting order is the reason, but don't feel I exel here)

Quadrant #2:
• Extremely confident, self assured personality (I'd like to think so at least where running is concerned)
• Ability to stay aggressive and execute race plans in either fatigue situation (stay aggressive yes, execute is a strong word, I like the word adjust race plans better so yes)
• Ability to race on par or better than training level at all race distances (I'd say yes. My training pace rarely approach my racing paces)
• Can excel at any race distance and often has large race range (not sure about this one. 800 and a mile efforts hurt. Mentally, I wish they would go faster but most of the time they simply refuse)

Quadrant #3:
• More laid back or easy going personality (Outside of running, I would say yes)
• Ability to stay aggressive and focused during energy system fatigue (I'd say yes)
• Becomes increasingly passive and distracted as lactate accumulates (I am trying to stay open minded that maybe a little bit of "yes" here)
• Under-performs training level in races under 60 minutes in duration (I'd say yes)
• On par or over-performs training level in races over 60 minutes in duration (I'd say yes)
• Excels at longer race distances (half marathon to marathon) (Again, I'd say yes)

Quadrant #4:
• Apathetic personality (Definitely a "NO")
• Becomes very passive during lactate accumulation (I'd say no)
• Becomes increasingly passive as energy system fatigue builds (I'd say no)
• Underperforms training level at all distances (I'd say no)
• Does not particularly excel at any race distance (I'd say no)

Somewhere between quadrant 2 and quadrant 3 is where the Cool Down Runner falls. Being confident and self assured are attributes that I strive to achieve. Executing my race plans within reason. A race plan is only as good as your ability to adjust. Races never unfold exactly as one would expect them. Adjusting to the ebb and flow of a race is a key attribute and comes from your confidence in your ability.

I race at all distances but not always running well at all distances. However, I attribute this to a corollary to Mark's Theory. One can race well at all distances but to excel at any one distance, one needs to specialize. Thus, one can run decent race times over a number of different distances but may not have exceptional times. Only once they specialize will they get close to their maximum potential

Laid back and easy going personality is something that I hope comes out when I am not racing. Usually, for training runs and workouts, I am pretty flexible when it comes to getting it done either solo or with a group.

I like to think that my number of solid marathons efforts show my ability to handle energy system fatigue.

For races less than 60 minutes, I'd say that I race on par. Usually, I don't ever exceed my expectations.

Really, the last 2 bullets of quadrant 3 show where my forte lies. I like to think that I excel at these two bullets.

As for quadrant 1 and 4, maybe a little of me is present in quadrant run. I would like to think that quadrant 4 and I don't share any attributes, but perspective is everything.

So this is my read on myself. Anyone else that reads this and feel differently leave a comment with your thoughts. Maybe I am just blinded by my rose colored sunglasses.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Front loading the week

2011-12-20T17:48:00.001-05:00

The biggest holiday of the year is almost upon us and means time for family, food, watching TV, and above all resting.

For runners rest really only happens at two times in our lives. We are either injured or died. Injured can mean valuable rest that leads to a new PR. The latter of which there is no return, but just leads to one long extended rest.

Therefore in Holiday spirit, there will be no missed runs this week, but Saturday, Sunday, and perhaps Monday will be recovery days.

To make them true recovery days, the first few days of this week are being frontloaded. This means lots and lots of miles.

The miles will not necessarily be hard. The miles will not be unnecessarily long. There will just be a buildup which then justifies giving the body some downtime over the weekend.

For everyone out there running now, bulk up on the miles over the next few days and then enjoy a nice recovery during the weekend.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Charlotte Running Club Holiday Lights Run

2011-12-19T09:51:00.001-05:00

Last night, a little after 5:30 PM the Charlotte Running Club members headed off in what is fast becoming a tradition during this time of year – Our Club's Family Holiday Lights run through the Dilworth area. Pretty cool event, it being my first time. Enjoyed seeing a lot familiar faces and meeting lots of new faces.

Even better entire families come out including children and pets. Many were dressed in holiday attire from antlers to green,red,and white socks.

While the air was a bit nippy, most everyone was able to warm their self with some hot chocolate and cookies.

I want to give out a major Kudos to our Social Director – Emily for making this happen. Most of us just want to run, but somebody has to step up and organize these events. Emily is our go to person and makes it happen.

For anyone missing this event, please plan to put it on your social calendar for next year. This is a must "do" event.

Photos from the run can be found here on Facebook.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Add 2 miles training program

2011-12-16T23:09:00.001-05:00

After my blisters nearly brought my running to a crawl (in running terms), my miles took major hit. Thursday, my daily mileage tally stood embarrassingly at 2 miles. Friday, 4 more miles were put under my belt. Saturday, I found time to get in 6 miles. From there, I could feel a pattern forming and vowed to keep it going into the next week.

That is at least for a few days into the next week. Sunday, my legs carried me 8 miles. Monday, the miles put in were 10. Tuesday morning I found time to join the Miner's run and only stopped once I hit 12 miles. Wednesday morning, my legs were feeling trashed as I attempted to run some paltry miles around the PDS track to reach the grand total of 14 miles. Come Thursday morning, the daily mileage total got bumped up 2 more miles to 16 miles.

Today, did I do 18 miles? Actually, no, I did not. Why? Well, tomorrow, I planned to do 22 miles. Something tells me jumping over 18 and 20 is probably a bad idea, but the runner's mentality tells me that I am capable of anything if I set my mind to it.

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner

Is the day over yet?

2011-12-13T19:26:00.001-05:00

Is my day over yet? I hope it ends soon so I can move on to tomorrow. Complaining about it being a long day is probably not the most ideal way to justify my paltry mental attitude. Mike was up and heading toward the Miner's Run before my alarm clock even thought of raising a roar that would come to resonate throughout my room.

Miner's is one of the best ongoing runs in Charlotte. However, I have been skipping the Miner's Run lately for two major reasons. First, 5:30 AM comes long before the crack of dawn to run but even earlier when one has to drive across town. Add to it, the mercury is only able to reach numbers which make me think about just one thing. A warm and cozy bed being the best place to stay until the sun has at least crested over the horizon.

The other reason has less to do with the start time and the temperature but rather with something that we all preciously need – sleep. Lord knows that I need all of the beauty sleep that I can get. Each day that passes I am looking less and less like my twin - Fabio. But of course, even if I slept like Rip Van Winkle, I don't think my looks would come to match Fabio. Looks aside, slumber time gives the body a chance to repair most of the damage that comes from the day's hard work. The blissful time between dusk and dawn allow the rest needed so we can once again train to our fullest when the day begins anew.

Is my day over yet? Yes, I think it is. My post is now complete.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Club Mileage Programs

2011-12-12T11:00:00.001-05:00

Being around Charlotte for a number of years, I have become a member of several running clubs. Many of which have club mileage programs.

So what exactly is a Club Mileage Program? Well, these clubs track the member's mileage participating in the program and once they reach their goal mileage for the year, they receive a recognition award.

I have participated in these programs off and on over the years but never really thought much about why. At least not until, I got into an email exchange with Ben on the topic last night.

Exactly why did I do it? Was it for the award? Surely, this wasn't the reason. I have collected numerous awards during my 28 years of running.

Writing my response, I finally had to put some of the reasons down in an email.

Partly, I guess I do it because to some extent it gives me some recognition for all the miles that I put in during the course of the year. But more so, I do it because I am held accountable, but in reality no one is putting direct pressure i.e. "peer pressure" on me. I know I have this goal and want to reach and even surpass it. One has to be accountable to one's self first.

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner

Foot Locker XC Meet Streamed Live

2011-12-11T11:08:00.001-05:00

Wow, how life and times has changed? Yesterday, I was able to use my Smartphone to stream live the Foot Locker Girls XC meet from San Diego, CA. Mark has posted the link on Facebook and using the link, I went to a web site where the XC meet was streamed live video right to my phone. I saw Alana being introduced and was able to watch as the race unfolded.

Some people might feel that this makes them feel too connected but not me. I love where technology is going and the ability it gives me to watch events real time from anywhere – anywhere that I am.

Now, if the guys involved with the Olympic Trial Marathons would wake up and give us the same type of access, I would be very appreciative. Wake-up NBC, throw in some side by side commercials but let the races be web cast.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

TrySports Ambassador Team Social

2011-12-11T10:46:00.001-05:00

Social are occasions for seeing new faces, old faces, and faces that I really need to remember. On Thursday night, we had a little social gathering for our Ambassador team. Some of them I see on a regular basis because they are either work at TrySports or run races. But there is always a few that I may have only met once a few years ago.

When this happens, I have to reintroduce myself and then apologize for not recalling the last time we met. This makes me wish that I had prefect memory recall.

But our social was good with lots of stories told, good food eaten, and a good time had by all.

Having socials are also good for another reason as well. Most of these people have only seen me in my running or cycling attire so a change in venue gives me an opportunity to see other people dressed for their day jobs.

One of the shows my daughters like to watch is "What not to wear". The show transforms people who normally dress down to being dressed up. Usually, the transformation is significant.

This is how I view these socials. Take away the running shorts and singlet and replace them with a dress or jacket/dockers and I am left wondering who this charming person is. Fortunately, I am bright enough to quickly realize who it is – at least in most cases.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Blister – Oh so tender

2011-12-08T11:59:00.001-05:00

After years of running my feet are pretty tough. Lots of miles will do that to them. But sometimes even the smallest pebble can feel like a boulder when I step on it.

That's what's happening right now.

Somewhere along the road to Manteo I developed this huge blister on my right foot. This was not the first blister to mark my completion of a marathon race, but this current OBX blister has been the most lingering.

For 3 weeks, I ran on a sore blister which was just about healed. Then, along comes the Holiday Huntersville ½ marathon. Here I created a new blister and reopened the old one.

Seems like since September, the only luck I can get is bad luck where injuries are concerned.

I mean a blister is a blister and it isn't like I have never had one before nor ever run on one before.

Sunday, I ran. Monday, I ran and so on.

By yesterday, instead of getting better, it was getting worse. I could barely put any weight on the middle part of my foot. I tried running on the outside part but after a while, this part even started hurting.

Now comes the gross part. You might want to skip the rest.

After my run, I knew I needed to open it. The trouble was; the blister is hidden under a large callus. This takes me back to a Tom Hanks movie – Castaway. In the movie Tom Hanks has a bad tooth that needed to come out so using a pair of ice skates and a rock, he knocks out the tooth. The scene hurts just watch in the movie and what I was about to do was probably going to hurt as well.

I sterilized a needle and prepared to open it. One of three things were about to happen. Water would come out. Blood would come out. I would hit a nerve. Of the 3 options, I hoped it was not the last.

No leather strap, I just gritted my teeth and plunged in the needle. No blood came out but a lot of water and pus. No wonder my foot has been hurting.

Next there was some squeezing to encourage all of it to come out and then applied some antibiotic cream.

My foot is oh so sore today. I may try to do just a few miles. I have to keep my streak going.

Otherwise, I am trying to stay off it. Maybe a couple of real easy day are what I need anyway.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

CRC Board Meeting #2

2011-12-07T10:47:00.001-05:00

Last month came my election to the CRC board which meant that I was now obligated to attend the monthly meetings. Not that I couldn't attend before because all board meetings are open to the entire club as far as I know. But being on the board comes with the responsibility that one needs to attend the meetings.

Thus, the December meeting rolled around last night at 7 PM and was held in the lounge at the Dowd YMCA. Having the meeting at the YMCA actually allowed me to combine two activities.

Shortly after 5pm, I headed for the Y with my workout bang in hand. A good hour and 15 minutes worth of easy cardio and strength training works wonders. A quick shower and up stairs to the lounge area for our 7 PM meeting.

Aaron, Billy, Ben, Mike, Emily, Caitlin were all in attendance.

Aaron handed out a copy of the agenda and we went through the items line by line.

Financial Update
Holiday lights run
CRC Winter Classic Update
CRC Race Series Update
Renewal Process
Nominating 2 additional members
Prez/VP/Treasurer/Sec roles assignment
Jan- day long working session

Billy reviewed the details of the club finances and updated us on the status of the club getting a P.O. Box.

Our "holiday lights run" was discussed and some thought was given to maybe altering the route to one with more lights. Emily is following up and will report back with more details about the course. Btw – this is schedule for later this month so stay alert and come out.

CRC Winter Classic update was pretty quick as only Emily and Caitlin hadn't been active in those discussions. The web site is just about ready with race information as well as registration. There is also the ability for mail in registration by printing out the forms to your local printer. The course has been documented. But like any race there many other tasks to complete.

CRC Race Series Update – This topic was discussed briefly but in large part was put on hold. Really, this is a separate meeting unto itself. I like the idea of a CRC race series so might just have to setup and help on this one.

Renewal process – there was some discussion about how the process currently works and what the vision is for this in the coming years. There is going to be opportunities at the upcoming runs where you can renew your membership in person. The other option is to mail in a check and of course there is the online registration option.

Nominating of 2 (at large) board members – This is one of the more interesting attributes of the CRC club. The board has the ability to choose 2 additional at large members. No other club that I am in allows this.

There were many good names discussed as possible candidates for these two positions. I could tell there was a lot of thought going into the nominations.

Board roles – most everyone agreed the board roles assignments for '12 would be pushed back until January when the two at large members could attend.

Day Long Working session – Although the club has only been around for a short time, these day long working sessions a couple of times per year seem to have become a tradition. Having not attended one, I am interested in seeing what these meeting involve.

That's about it.

The meeting lasted just over an hour. Billy was taking notes so he will post a more detailed account where ever the club keeps them. I am new so I am still learning.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Follow up on the Huntersville Half Marathon

2011-12-06T10:57:00.001-05:00

Late last night or really, early this morning depending on your point of view – 12:15 AM to be exact, I got an email from Bear Robinson. He is the race director for the Huntersville races this past weekend. In the email, he made apologies for the lack of medals, shirts, and beanies for the race participates. He went on to say that he was well under way in getting those items for the people that didn't get them on race day. I ran run enough races to know that I cannot fault a guy for running out of stuff when his race gets a huge number of participates last minute.

Additionally, in his email he sought feedback from the runners both good and bad on how to improve the race for next year.

All things given, his efforts were pretty effective for a first year race. I'd give him an "A" for his race director efforts

His email did allude to some requests from the Town of Huntersville. He didn't give any details, but I could give a couple of good guesses and it would have to do with crossing Highway 73.

Starting the race near Fleet Feet and crossing 73 probably wasn't a big issue but having runners crossing back in ones and twos put a busy highway at a standstill. I know when I crossed the intersection; the traffic was backed up a good ways in both directions. Thus, we probably delayed more than one person from getting to Starbucks on time – sorry, just a little sarcastic humor on my part.

As for changes, I have a few recommendations.

First, let's tackle the issue of crossing highway 73. Having the race start and then within a quarter mile cross 73 should not be a major issue for the Town of Huntersville because it would only tie up traffic for a few minutes. As well the roads are wider and it makes things much easier as the race grows. The bigger question is how to get runners back across 73 without tying up traffic. There is the option of moving the finish across 73 and maybe into the parking lot with Jason Deli. Another option that comes to mind is extend the greenway path under the bridge that carries 73. Then, the runners could come up the back way and still finish near Fleet Feet. I like this idea the best.

There is one other change that I would like to see. Today, we don't have enough out and back courses. The opportunity to see the runners ahead and behind is always something that I liked. Changing the ½ course to be out and back would not be too difficult. Not to mention, the change would reduce the number of water stops, course monitors, and other traffic congestion issues. Particularly, the sections we ran along Gilead and Stumptown Roads. Trying to give runners a place to run using cones to provide a small running space on a two lane road just doesn't make sense. Besides, I wan run through the area enough; we could easily get a 6.55 mile course one way.

However, I don't want to end my post on a negative note.

When it is all said and done, Bear and his team deserve a big pat on the back for a job well done. Congrads Bear.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Large boulders don’t roll up hill easily

2011-12-05T20:22:00.001-05:00

Yes, if one were to decide to push a rather large boulder uphill, they shouldn't expect the boulder to go up easily.

After my debacle during the Huntersville half marathon I finally gave in and said enough was enough. Trying to race, trying to put in training miles, all the while trying to recover was just too much.

Not to mention the huge OBX blister that was healing very nicely only to be reopened during the ½ . If there is such a thing as shooting ones' self in the foot, then I have been doing it.

For now, any expectations that I had for racing have been shelved. And other than maybe jumping into a workout to help Megan as she finishes her prep for the trials, my hard running will be kept to a minimum.

I'll do Disney as a long run in January and the look forward into '12. I will focus on getting my hamstring healed and with it hopefully a return to good running form.

On the marathon front, an extended break may be just the ticket that I need.

The last 4 years have seen me complete 10 marathons and a 50k. Then, there are the numerous half marathons, 10 mi., 15k, 10k, 4 mi., 5k, cycling races, and Duathlons. Looking back on it now, I feel like I lite the candle at both ends with a blow torch. Things seemed to have burned quickly.

Someone one said – "Getting to the top is hard work. Staying on-top means working even harder".

More than once I have looked toward the mountain top and salivated over it. Not that I wanted to be on top again, but that I craved the hard work necessary to get there. Maybe in another post, I'll explain why – someday.

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner

Huntersville ½ marathon – recap – Dec 3 2011

2011-12-03T19:06:00.001-05:00

Disappointing is probably a little too strong of a word to describe my effort today but that is how I pretty much feel. Going into the race I was expecting something in the 1:24 range but the effort just never materialized.

The start was delayed several times and most everyone was bouncing around trying to stay warm. When we were finally sent on our way, my breathing was unusually labored. The first mile was in 6:20. Mike, Chris, Megan, and Caleb were taking it out pretty slow so I was settled in behind them.

During the 2^nd mile, we were doing a little more pulling and the breathing pushed to being heavy. Mile 3 and the first part of mile 4 were not bad. My legs were feeling decent.

Then, the hills started.

My hamstring wasn't having any of it and I was starting to slow. By mile 5, I realized things were not going to go well. Mile 6 and Mile 7 passed as we headed up Stumptown Rd.

After the neighborhood loop, I felt the first wheel come off. By 10 miles, both wheels were gone and I was riding on the rims. The last 3 miles were as much a mental torture as a physical one.

Before this race, I had decided on switching up my racing flats. After getting a bad blister on my right foot at OBX, I thought going in a different direction would be the right course of action.

Hindsight, it was probably wasn't. My right foot got another blister just in a different spot from the ones I earned at OBX. Thank goodness for small favors.

Crossing the last major intersection, I was all but done and the body was more than ready to be finished.

Navigating between the buildings seemed to take forever before the finish line finally came into sight. Time for racing was over and the time for walking was about to begin.

Mike came up to ask if I was alright and my response - "yeah, just having a bad day".

Disney Marathon is a little more than 5 weeks from now and normally, my training would usually look pretty promising.

However, since this hamstring injury occurred, my racing has gotten progressively worse. Today's race pounded the final nail in my coffin. The best thing to do is stop racing and go back just running aerobic miles until my hamstring and body "come right". That is except for Disney. 100+ dollar entry fee is pretty hard to throw down the drain so I will go, run, and take the unpleasantness that comes with it.

2011 is nearly over and I am ready to put it behind me. Come on 2012 and show me something promising; I am ready for it.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

A 4000 mile year in sight

2011-12-02T08:34:00.001-05:00

When I started this year, I set a goal for myself to run at least 4000 miles. That means, I would need to average at least 10 miles every day for 365 days in a row. For the better part of this year, my goal seemed achievable and maybe even easily reachable. Then my hamstring reared its ugly head like a troll requiring payment before letting me pass.

More than once the last three months, I had all but given up hopes of reaching it.

Now, with the arrival of colder temperatures and the day light hours growing ever shorter, my goal of reaching 4000 miles seems so close that I can almost taste it. Hopefully, it will not be like sticking my tongue to a pole in sub zero weather. Ouch, even the thought hurts while bouncing around my brain.

Tonight, I ran the totals for November and came up with 300 miles. This leaves me just 171 miles short.

Unless I get run over by a reindeer or maybe Santa's sleigh, I got an excellent change of hitting my mark.

Reaching 4000 miles would be quite an accomplishment for me. Most years, I will run somewhere in the neighborhood of 3500 to 3800 miles which in and of its self is a lot of miles, but 3800 just doesn't have the same ring to it as 4000.

Without really understanding why, running 4000+ miles in a year just seems to put one in a different category.

Exactly what that category is well, I am not sure.

By the way, the sound you might be hearing are the bells starting to warm up. Ring, ring, ring, 4, 0, 0, 0.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Putting on a race

2011-12-01T23:15:00.001-05:00

Who knew that putting on a race could be so complex and so expense? Well, to honest, I kind of expected it to be expensive and of course nothing in this world is easy any more.

But as I sat through our meeting this evening, I was just taken back by cost of every little item that it takes to put on a race and the number of people needing to be involved in the race planning and organization just to get it on the calendar. Let alone the number of people needed on race day.

The logistics in and of its self are mind boggling from the number of water bottles for the race to the number of porta potties needed - from the mapping out of the course to the breakdown of awards. And these are some of the easier discussion points. There is the entry fee to charge and flyers that need to be approved and so on and so on. The list of tasks needing to be completed is only slightly shorter than Santa's list of kids getting presents this year.

Is there wonder why most race directors have white hair or if they have any hair at all?

Yet, races continue to pop up like dandelions in my yard. Almost every weekend there is a new race on the calendar.

And apparently there is no shortage of individuals either who don't know any better or are just to plain stubborn to realize (I count myself a little of both) the sheer volume of work that goes into making a race successful.

A while back, I wrote about saying "thanks" in one of my post. Today, I say "thanks" to the race directors of the world for all you do that gives me a safe race to run and marvelous experience.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

The Endless Season

2011-12-01T09:12:00.001-05:00

I was flipping through on my Running Times magazine and found myself reading about running the endless season. Baseball, they play what – 163 games – seems like it takes forever. Basketball, they play something like 83 games not counting the playoffs. Pro basketball goes on forever as well. And then there is NASCAR which has about 60 days off between the end of one season and the start of another season.

However, none of them can touch running i.e. road racing. The road race season pretty is available to all of us 365 days per year from Jan 1 through Dec 31. We can usually find a race just about every Saturday morning and most Sunday mornings. Depending on the time of year, a race will spring up on most any week day.

Being one that races way too often and trains just as much, I have to admit that I need some down time from time to time.

The hard part is finding it. There are so many good races around and even more coming. I just read about Peter putting on this moonlight run that starts at the Badin Drive-In and runs to the top of Morrow Mt. The race starts at like 10:45 PM at night. Now who would not want to put something unique like this race on their racing schedule?

Oh well, I guess I am doomed to my running desires and will be running and racing for the rest of my life.

Now, if I can find a little downtime and get this hamstring working a little better, I would enjoy it even more.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Oatmeal and Almond Butter

2011-11-30T12:20:00.001-05:00

After my nutritional clinic a few weeks ago, I made a mental note try on the suggestion of mixing oatmeal with Almond butter. When I first heard it described, my first thought was "yuck". How could one mix these two foods? Maybe I am just too old school in how I view foods or maybe I am just too different.

But I am also someone who is willing to step outside my tiny little box and try something.

Yesterday morning, I mixed up a nice bowl of oatmeal and then mixed in the a little almond butter. Then, after giving the oat meal and almond butter a chance to intermix, I started to chow down.

I am not going to rush out to either invest in an oatmeal factory or start growing my own almonds, but the taste was better than I expected. Maybe even a lot better than expected and I will probably try it again.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Foot Locker

2011-11-29T08:26:00.001-05:00

Saturday morning started early so we had time to circle back and catch the Foot Locker races at McAlpine. I cut my run short at 10 miles and then only caught the open and freshmen races before heading out. But it was cool to see so many people out racing on a great Saturday morning just days after Thanksgiving. I wish I could have stayed to see Alana's race. From the Facebook post, she appeared to have a solid race that earned a trip to the San Diego next month. Gotta love winning a trip to the warm weather of southern California in the winter time and getting a race thrown in for free. Good Luck to her as she prepares for it.

Also I have to give a "shout out" to see Steve. He raced NY marathon, Thunder Road Half marathon, Turkey Trot 8, and the Foot Locker 5 and ran them all with real good times. Staying healthy is worth just about anything.

Lastly but not the least, I have to give Jamaar a shout out. He was doing his long run Saturday morning, but thought enough of his fellow runners to bring presents. He handed out Peppermint Stick Gu courtesy of Run For Your Life. Thanks Jamaar for the "Gu" and bringing the holiday spirit out to our runs.

Turkey Trot 8k Recap

2011-11-24T14:20:00.001-05:00

Over the last few years, I have run the Annual Charlotte Turkey Trot 8k race. Each time the lungs have burned and the legs shook and refused to run any faster. This morning was entirely different. I was just getting warmed up during the first mile. I cruised easily through the 2^nd and 3^rd miles as if I was the only person on the course. The 4^th mile felt as if I had a couple extra gears that I could use if I wanted them. The 5^th mile was up hill and into the sun but I was all alone as I stroll smoothly and easily across the finish line.

That's what it is like when you are run the course an hour and half before the actual race.

Today was not about running but rather watching others run.

First I saw Butch who is working toward getting another Running Journal Title as well as running a marathon in Charlottesville, VA next week. Saw Rocky both before and after his race. He mentioned that his hamstring was giving him trouble as well. He ran just under 26 minutes. I wish my hamstring gave me that kind of pain.

Saw Billy Shue. No race for him. He was riding Chris' mt. bike along the course. He also mentioned that he and Carolyn are now an official "item". Couldn't have happened to a better guy. I think his smile touched to each ear.

Saw the Staley family and the Seavers. Saw Chris, Glen, Michelle, Thomas, Matt, Alex, Pete, Jerry C., Steve S., Chuck, and Aaron. Saw Dan. He said look for Val. She is dressed in pink. Just for the record Dan, there were 8000 people racing and at least 3000 were wearing pink. Sorry, I never say her.

Sorry and a bunch of other people.

As much as I like racing sometimes it is nice to watch others race.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Hamstring Curls

2011-11-22T12:01:00.001-05:00

Setting here typing on my key board, I am trying to come up with a good analogy for my current hamstring experience. In all honesty, there doesn't seem to be a single parity that looks just right to me. So when nothing fits, sometimes the best approach is to just move forward without one.

With any injury the muscle is weakened and my hamstring injury is no exception to this rule.

What I didn't know was how much the injury had weakened it.

That is, not until last Friday when I went by the Y.

I crawled on to the hamstring weight machine lying in the prone position and tried doing some very simple hamstring curls. I put 30 pounds on it and first attempted it with my left leg. No issues, I was able to do it. Then, I tried it with my right leg. I couldn't budge the weights. I then lowered the weight to 20 pounds and still no luck. Finally I removed all of the weight from it and still nothing.

Certainly I was feeling a little dejected at this point. I am right handed and thus right leg should be the dominate leg. Under normal conditions, my right leg would have been able to curl more weight than my left leg.

Clearly, this little exercise illustrated how much strength that I had lost and why my recovery/running has been such a struggle. This little test also showed me how much work that I needed to do.

As I laid there wallowing in my own despair, I resolved to spend at least 2 days per week in the weight room working my hamstrings.

Strength is not given but is earned.

Now, my road is clear in front of me. Hamstring curls will be part of my weekly routine going forward for the foreseeable future.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Megan’s Clinic @ Fleet Feet

2011-11-21T20:46:00.001-05:00

After running nearly 12 miles of running with Megan and Jeff over the Huntersville ½ marathon course, I wondered over to the Fleet Feet store to listen in my Megan's Clinic.

Megan is a registered dietician and was giving the group of runners gathered plenty of insights to help them with their training, pre, and post race diets. In fact, I learned a few things myself like – how much water I should be drinking and how often, some things about making better food choices, what to eat with my oatmeal, and oh, yeah, what state doesn't have a McDonalds in the capital – New Hampshire – right?

All kidding aside, the clinic was very informative both in the information that Megan provided and in the questions that were asked during the clinic.

Adding further evidence that a good diet is very important, one of Megan's clients was at the meeting – Jack. Jack stood up and gave a personal account of the 50 or so pounds that he had lost since Megan has been helping him with his diet.

That's the type of evidence that is hard to ignore.

Make me want to eat better. I fall of the wagon way to frequently.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

15 miles + 2 x 3k Turkey Trot

2011-11-21T20:04:00.001-05:00

I thought I would share a little of how my morning went today.

The day started off pretty good since I had it off from work. Next up, Megan and I headed out on the McAlpine Greenway for 15 miles at 7:30 pace. I started to get a little tired toward the end especially when she dropped the pace under 7 minutes for the last mile. My hamstring and hip just didn't have the get up and go. One of these days, the healing will be complete and once again, my legs will feel like digging at the dirt beneath my feet.

After we parted, I headed over to CDS to run with my daughters. The school was doing a 3k race for each grade so after chasing one lady around for 15 miles, I moved over to chasing 2 other young ladies for two 3k races.

Becca's race was first up and when they said go, she launched off the line like a rocket sprinting down the road. Maybe a quarter mile later, I finally caught up to her. My legs struggled to resume running after my earlier efforts.

Becca's is only 9 years old and doesn't run much beyond what they do in her class. But she stayed strong. She stopped at both water stops along the course and was the first girl in her class to finish.

And just as I was finishing Becca's race, Natalie comes sprinting up to me and tells me that her class is about to start their 3k race. No rest for the tired, I jog over to the start again. Natalie and I are standing there as they give us a few last minute instructions.

I say to Natalie – let's take it out slow. To my surprise, she listens to me. Possibly it is the first time ever. The rest of her class takes off sprinting, but by ½ mile, we are passing her class mates in droves.

Natalie's runs the entire away and doesn't take any water. She finishes as the 2^nd girl in her class – just behind the first place girl.

The school was lucky today because this morning was absolutely perfect for them to have this run. Most likely, they will have this for years to come.

For those that don't know my daughters don't really run. So a few weeks ago, they told me about their schools Turkey Trot race and asked if I was come down and run with them. There were a few butterflies in my stomach when they told. I have been waiting years to hear them ask me this question.

I try to be different from most parents. I don't push my daughters to do sports. If they ask me about trying a sport, I tell them that I will support their efforts. Running really has never been one of the sports that they have wanted try. They seen me run well and win races, but they have also seen me limping around and icing down various parts of my legs. Definitely, I am not a poster child for a running endorsement.

That's partly the reason that I was so ecstatic about running with them today.

Running may never be the sport they enjoy doing but as long as they are active and healthy, I will be happy with whatever they have a passion to do.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Charger Tune-up

2011-11-20T20:08:00.001-05:00

After heading off to Santa Scramble last year, I was back helping Ben Hovis with his Charger Tune-up at the PDS track yesterday afternoon. The high school boys and girls headed for Foot Locker next Saturday morning were going through one of their final few workouts.

Ben had organized the runners into 4 boys' heats and 2 girls' heat. He did his best to coordinate the runners so they would be running with others of comparable times.

There were some boys that went under 10 minutes for 2 miles and a couple of girls that went under 11 minutes for two miles.

One of the most interesting aspects to me is watching them run. When I am running other people, I don't notice their gait quite as much. This is probably because I only see them from one perspective – behind.

But while watching these kids make their way around the PDS track, I marveled at how easy they make running a 9:50 mile to 10:50 mile look.

As for the support crew, Mike, Andrea, Megan, and I helped with the timing and tracking runners during each of the events. We left Ben free to start the races and help provide prerace and inrace commentary.

Other than the initial hiccup during the first heat with my using of the Ben's Mac, the timing went smoothly.

I shot a little footage that I have posted here. Forgive the fact that I was a little slow flipping over my camera.
Watch live video from Cool Down Runner on Justin.tv

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

CRC – 11-20-11 Board Meeting

2011-11-20T19:44:00.001-05:00

Okay, I have to admit this was the first CRC board meeting that I have attended. Thus, I was a little unsure of what to expect.

A few people wondered in after a short group run and Aaron was soon calling the meeting to order. He went over a bunch of stuff including who had been elected to the board for the '12 year.

The top four vote getters will serve a 2 year term while the remaining 4 members will serve a 1 year term. My understanding is that the '12 board will also choose 2 additional members from the at large group to complete a 10 member panel for the board.

The '12 board members are listed below:

2 year terms
- Ben Hovis
- Caitlin Chrisman
- Billy Shue
- Aaron Linz

1 year term
- Bill Shires
- Mike Beigay
- Emily Barrett
- Jamaar Valentine

Other topics discussed include budget, a timing clock, due amounts, RRCA membership, and USA T&F membership.

Billy Shue gave a breakdown from his treasurer perspective. Aaron then went over a few more things and opened the form for questions.

He adjourned the meeting and everyone then milled around for a short time discussing a multitude of topics.

There are roughly 600 members by my last count in the club and according to Aaron about 47 percent of them voted in our election. That's a higher percentage than the number of people voting for president in our last election. I will not take this tangent any further beyond saying people must think more about who is running our club than who is running our country.

On a personal note, I appreciate everyone that voted for me and I want to maintain an open door policy. If there is something that you would like to see in the club, let me. I make sure it gets discussed in our board meetings. On the hand, if there is something does not seem right; let me know that as well. All topics are fair game.

Our club will only be a good as the members that are involved in it so it is up to each and every one of us to voice our opinion.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

North Meck Cyclo Cross Series

2011-11-18T08:04:00.001-05:00

Having a rest week this week has left me board as can be so Tuesday I decided to ride up to North Meck Park and check out the North Meck Cyclo-Cross Series.

The series takes place each Tuesday night in November except for the week of Thanksgiving.
This past Tuesday was shorts and t-shirt weather so around 6pm I drove up to the park. The races were already in full swing.

Rob Morgan, one the bike mechanics from TrySports who frequently rides in these events, filled me in on the details.

Basically, they have a 1 mile long course mapped out with huddles where each cyclist needs to dismount and run over. Otherwise, they ride their bikes.

The course navigates around the baseball fields at the park.

With the lights turned on under the night sky, the settings for the race make it pretty cool to watch.

They have multiple races and welcome riders beginning to advance.

Makes me want to dust off my mountain bike and try it in two weeks.

For more information on the series check-out the following link: North Meck Cyclo-Cross Series.

The races are timed and awards are given.

They even provide food as you can see by the below picture.

Video From the North Meck Cyclo-Cross by the Cool Down RunnerIf you are in the area, the next event is slated for the 29^th of November.

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner

The aroma from waffles fills the air and makes you hungry just watching.

Thanks for running our marathon

2011-11-17T11:14:00.001-05:00

Having only run a small number of marathons in comparison to other runners, my perspective is not as broad as most. However, during my most recent OBX marathon the people along the course were saying something that I hadn't heard while running any other marathons.

Typically, people along the course yell encouragement to the runners as they pass them by. Often, the phrases might be "Good Job", "Looking Good", "Almost there", "Finish Strong", "finish is just ahead" to list a few.

The people along the OBX course were shouting something different. They yelled "thanks for running our marathon". How different is that?

When people use a word that I am not familiar or say something unique, my ears will suddenly close around what they are saying. Words used outside the norm are used for a specific reason and attention should be drawn to them. These people definitely captured my attention.

In this case, those five little words can make all the difference in one's day.

Far too often the word "thanks" comes flowing out of our mouths with no explanation. Making it almost to a point where most people expect it and all the while ignoring it.

But when one adds an explanation to the end of the word "thanks", there is clearly a difference. The explanation provides the person on the receiving end with a clear and specific reason for your appreciation. Intern, they will get that "warm glow" that comes knowing that someone is really acknowledging their efforts.

To the people along the OBX course last Sunday morning, I want to say "thanks for making me feel at home in your community." even if it was for the day.

For those of you reading my post today instead of giving the short "thanks" to someone, try giving the long "thanks …….." to someone and see how much better that it makes them feel.

Sharing One thought at a time

The Cool Down Runner

Unofficial Aid during a marathon

2011-11-16T10:33:00.001-05:00

This morning I wanted to share something that happened during my running of the OBX marathon. At the time, I was more frustrated by it than I am now, because I was in the moment and being in the moment tends to heighten one's level of concerns.

I was just a few miles into OBX when I joined into this group – running with 3 other guys. Nothing really new about this, runners will often form packs and work together during race. As I was running with them, I took note that they must all be running together for reason since they each were wearing the same type of singlet. It was easy to assume they were together as part of some greater plan.

We chatted briefly – exchanging names and goals for the race.

Then, we settled in for long haul of working mile after mile.

Maybe 4 or 5 miles into the race, this guy rides up on this bike and starts handing them fluids and gels. A few miles later he appears again and then during the trail section he appears giving them aid during the race. At this point, I had dropped back so I cannot say if he continued this trend throughout the race. And, I will not make any assumptions either way.

Whether they sensed my concern at this rather overt effort of support is unknown. They did offer to share their drinks with me.

Similar to the group mentality when doing something contrary to one's expected belief system, viewing the action from an individual's perspective the action is viewed negatively, but if everyone shares in the wrong, the behavior somehow seems acceptable.

For my part, I respectfully declined their offers. Drinking some else's fluids could have a detrimental effect on one's race performance.

But really to me, I have principles that I followed. I want to live and fall by my own accord.

If this type of aid had been offer to every runner in the race, then I would have gladly accepted it. But in this case, the aid was being provided for only a few and my conscience would not allow me participate.

Being clear about this is important. Taking gels, fluids, etc not provided by the race itself is acceptable but in my opinion under only one condition. I have to have them with me from the start. When the gun goes off, what I have is what have for the race.

For example, during my marathon I often take Power Gels, but I will only take the Gels that I am carrying or if it is offered by the race support crews.

After the race, I talked to those guys a couple of times. They seemed like nice guys. But I didn't mention the support along the course. Sometimes, the best approach is move past it.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

OBX Marathon 11/13/2011 Recap

2011-11-15T07:35:00.001-05:00

Standing on the edge of a very long journey and looking forward at the road ahead, the thoughts of this being a bad idea were still prominent in the back of my mind. But the gun sounded and we were off. From that point I focused on doing what I could and then taking what was given to me. That's how my OBX marathon experience unfolded.

But let's take a step back and look at the entire weekend. Mike, Megan, and I headed out to OBX on Friday. Many hours of driving passed quickly as the conversation jumped from topic to topic to topic. Of my 4 trips to the Outer Banks, this was by far the easiest. Mike took on the chore of designated driver and Megan kept the conversation moving. While I had the good fortune of having the hours pass listening. But every once in a while interject some bit of banter or what I felt was an interesting bit if information. Either way, they humored me all the while.

We arrived in the afternoon and swung by the house to change. Before heading out for our run, we dropped by the Expo to pick up our packets. Lots of interesting stuff to see at the Expo, we didn't stay long. Time for a run, we headed for the trail section of the marathon course. 6 miles on the dirt felt good to the feet but to me felt hard on the body.

Grocery store and then we headed back to the house for dinner and a running movie – The Long Run.

Saturday we headed over to the activities occurring as part of the OBX weekend – 5k, 8k, and kid's fun run. We followed this with another swing by the Expo. I picked up some gloves – just in case Sunday morning was a little too cold for my hands.

Then, it was back to the house and another running movie – The Runner – starring David Horton and his PCT (Pacific Coast Trail) speed run of the trail. Dinner followed and then another running movie Hood to Coast Relay.

Watching this movie drew us into the experiences of several teams that were running the relay from Mt. Hood to the beach of the Pacific Ocean. From this movie a quote would come that changed how our Mike and I now view the world. The quote goes something like this – "You only regret what you don't do". And, this single quote would have a major impact on the rest of our weekend.

Mike who had been battling a cold all week spent most of Saturday on the couch sleeping. He had pretty much convinced himself into not running OBX.

Come race morning, both Megan and I encouraged Mike to take his stuff to the start. Maybe it was the previous day's extra sleep or the atmosphere of the impending start, but Mike and I were talking about him running and I said something about the quote from the Hood to the Coast Movie – "You only regret what you don't do". He admitted the same quote had been bugging him as well. By the time that I returned to the car from a rest room break, (Longer than expected – I caught up with Pete Kaplin for a quick conversaton – he was making a run at the 55-59 age group record) Mike was pinning on his number. He would run with Megan and just see what happens.

With the echo of the gun passing in the distance, the 3 of us along with 1400+ runners began our adventure by foot to Manteo.

The opening 3 miles have a slight uphill grade to it. There was a pack of 3 guys and I quickly dropped in with them. We hit the first mile in 6:26 and I could feel the twining of my hamstring and waited patiently for it to seize up at any time.

After two more miles, we topped out and were running on the flatter sections of the course. I tried to relax and stay comfortable. The miles were not difficult but the 6:08 to 6:15 pace was tapping into my reserves.

We made our way through the greenway section and got a great view of the intracoastal water way. Then we back in the neighborhoods and soon we were running by the Wright Brothers Monument.

The miles were growing heavy on my legs. We passed 10 miles and in the dirt road and trail sections of the course. By this time, we had caught up with the 3rd place runner and were running as 5 guys strong. Miles 11 and 12 passed in 6:32s but they were starting to open a gap on me. Any other marathon, I would have tried to find the energy to stay with them. However, my hamstring kept telling to hold what you got.

A couple of more guys came up and passed me just before the half way point. Then, we were back out on the roads. This is the point where OBX gets out on the open highway. Long stretches of road where one can see for miles. Also this is the point where the runners are no longer shielded from the winds by the houses. They have no choice but to take the winds head on. On this day, the wind was blowing about 8 to 12 mile per hour. The force wasn't enough to stand you up, but the drag was felt throughout my body.

I had been alone since the half way point. My miles had dropped to 6:45 pace. I kept thinking – just hold what you have. Don't push, but just don't slow down.

I negotiated the final two neighborhood loops at 6:45 pace and 20 miles soon passed. The road really starts to open up here. We begin a 3 ½ mile trek over the intracoastal water way and over the 4% grade bridge.

The wind really starts to wear on the runners including me at this point. Plus, not having done much hard running since August, I felt like I was at the mercy of the running gods. My pace pushed over 7 minutes. With no houses to shield us, the wind chills the body and causes the legs to tighten. Things are helped along as the lactic acid makes the muscles feel stiff and the feeling of fatigued grows.

My trek up 4% grade was struggle. Then, these two women on bike came up saying first woman – please move the right. I didn't have the heart to look back – more than anything; I just wanted to be finished.

But I did wonder who it was. Potentially, the lead woman could have been Heather. She works out of the TrySports store at Wilmington, NC. I thought about asking one of the women the bike what the lead woman's number was. I knew Megan's Bib number, but I wasn't really expecting it to be Megan. Her goal was about 2:59.

Then the pass occurred. Glancing to the left, I see that it is Megan. She was looking strong and tells me to come on. I believe I mumble something unintelligentable back to her. She soon moves away and I am left alone with my thoughts of just getting the finish. Off the bridge, I feel another runner starting to pass me. Mike is having a decent day for a sick guy after all.

He passes me and I try to stay with him, but legs just will not respond.

Turning off 158 for Manteo, the wind is finally at our backs for the first time in 25 miles. More instinct than mental strength guides me through this mile. Mike is a short distance head of me and I see he is running the wide side of the road. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why.

Closing through the final mile, I realize that I am actually closing a little on Mike. We pass 26 miles and hurt has already passed the point of screaming. Mike is just ahead but I decide effort is not worth the additional pain.

Mike crosses the finish line 7 seconds in front of me. He immediately goes for the wheel chair and they wheel him to the Medic tent. I follow grabbing some water and getting my medal. Pain of running has ended but the body was still struggling.

Going back to the quote " you regret what you don't do". Mike didn't regret running the race. He finished 2^nd in the Open USA T&F NC marathon Championship and I finished 3^rd in the Open and won the USA T&F Master's marathon championship in 2:57:04 and 13 overall. Do I regret not chasing him down – regardless of the pain – may be a little, but I was also very happy for him and have great respect for his effort and his determination.

We both battled our inner demons and finished only 7 seconds apart. Megan scored the open women's title and USA T&F NC Women's Marathon Championship title. By the way, Pete just missed the 55-59 NC age group record but did grab 3^rd place in the USA – T&F NC Master category. Good Job Pete.

After the awards ceremony, we made our way back to the house.

Megan and Mike headed over to the ocean for a little ice bath. I tried to talk myself out of it. Soaking in the salty ocean water, let me be first to say if you don't already know this, the Atlantic Ocean water is cold – very cold – 50 degrees cold. I was the last one out and my feet and legs were absolutely numb.

From there, we cleaned up and started our drive back to Charlotte which was filled with music, talk about the race, and a ton of other stuff – making the ride feel far shorter than it actually was.

When all's said and done, the day was a good one for the Charlotte Crew.

Setting here now and getting a chance to reflect upon the race, my right hamstring really never did melted down. Many times, it felt like it was close. A few times, I could feel my left hamstring wanted to cramp. The other factor that was brought home to me is my right hamstring is still not extending properly. My right foot got a blister just behind the mid foot which is a strange place to get one. My suspicions – the cause is a change in landing patters due to my overly tight right hamstring.

In reality the missed two months of good training was really what made me suffer to the end. That and I clearly went out too hard for the conditioning of my body.

Don't get me wrong. I was happy that I finished and didn't break down into a walk. That was my worst fear going into the race.

At the end of the day, I finished OBX standing on my own two feet and was able to walk away. That's a good effort any day of the week.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Packing for Race Weekend

2011-11-10T09:23:00.001-05:00

Packing early must be a woman thing. Megan asked me earlier in the week if I had started packing for OBX. When I take my daughters to Disney, they start packing at least 2 weeks beforehand. Pack, unpack, and repack again. Check, recheck, and double check.

Me, I follow the typical male tradition and pack at the very last minute. I don't know why; I guess it is just something in my DNA. Anything else I don't have; I buy. LOL.

But whether you pack early or wait until the last minute, making sure that you have everything that you need is very important. Forget your singlet or shorts and you are in a little trouble. Forget your racing shoes and you are deep hot water. There is no getting around it; you are in trouble.

Thus, I thought for this post, I would create my OBX packing list (at least the main items) so here goes:

Brooks T7 Racing racings
TrySports Tri Top
2XU Compression shorts
2XU Compression calf sleeves
5 Gels for race day
2XU Quad Sleeves
TrySports Jacket
Brooks running tights
Brooks NightLite Racing socks
Advil
Lubricant
Bio Freeze
Gloves
Kinesio Tape
2 extra pairs of trainers for Friday and Saturday's runs
Extra Running Clothes and Socks for Friday and Saturday's Runs
Phone, computer and power cords
Tooth brush, etc.
Nunn
Extra Bag for race morning
Running Movies for the trip down
The Stick
Wipes

As you can see the list gets pretty long, pretty quickly so I had better get started packing now.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

2X Quad Sleeves

2011-11-09T13:08:00.001-05:00

Last week I was in TrySports looking for a new pair of compression shorts for OBX. As I was browsing through their selections, I noticed a new item on their shelves – 2X Quad Sleeves. As I thinking about it, I guess that I have seen people wearing them; I just didn't realize what they were wearing.

Quad sleeves could be worn under your compression shorts or you could just wear them with regular shorts. They function pretty much like arm sleeves.

Jeremy helped measure my quad so we dial in the right size. Unfortunately, TrySports didn't have a pair in my size in their store. But they staff was great in tracking down a pair at another store. They then had the sleeves shipped to charlotte for me – no additional cost.

I have them now and plan to test them out tomorrow morning. If the test goes well, I will wear them on Sunday morning during the race.

A little extra compression on my hamstring will allow me to run a little further and crossing my fingers all the way to the finish.

Definitely, I want to give a shout out here to Jeremy and the entire TrySports staff for going the extra mile in getting me a pair of 2XU Quad sleeves before OBX.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

A little encouragement is always good

2011-11-08T13:39:00.001-05:00

This morning we were talking about our race plans for OBX. Megan, I guess, is getting a little tired of me whining during our runs or maybe it is just the discouraging way that I am saying it. Usually, our conversations are the other way around. I am the one telling her that each workout is but a step in the climb up the pyramid toward your goal race. Maybe my turn has finally come to take some of my own medicine.

Up until now, I have been worried about when my hamstring will come unglued.

I promise to now shift my focus to the positive. I am going to run within myself from the start to the finish Sunday morning. If my hamstring hurts more, I will adjust on the fly and keep going. Ice and rest will await me in Manteo.

I have to admit one thing. Four weeks ago, I couldn't do our workout. I just hobbled back to the car. Three weeks ago, I did ½ of our workout. Last week, I again did half the workout. Each of those previous 3 weeks, I tried to hide the pain with Advil. I have not taken any Advil since Saturday. Today, we ran 10 miles in 75 minutes. Yes, I could feel the discomfort in the hamstring, but nothing like the previous weeks.

There are always positives in every situation. Just sometimes, I have to work a little harder to find them.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

OBX Marathon – the mother of all core melt downs coming

2011-11-07T12:56:00.001-05:00

I was watching the NY marathon yesterday and happened to flip over to Facebook during the race. Someone had posted that the women's leader was either going to set a world record or have an epic melt down during the 2^nd half of the race.

So I watched the rest of the race with interest to see how she would run.

For the record, I would be happy to melt down the 2^nd half of any marathon and still run 75 minutes for it. I don't know about the rest of the world, but 75 minutes isn't even room temperature. I don't really consider that a melt down at all.

Anyway, with the inspiration of NY in the rear view mirror, my attention now turns to OBX this week.

Maybe it is one of the dumbest things that I have ever done, but I am stilling planning to go to OBX and still planning to run the marathon.

For anyone interested in seeing a monstrous melt down, all they need to do is watch my race this coming weekend. The question isn't if my hamstring is going to crumple in the dust, but when will it crumple. Will it be at the 5k, 10k, 10 mi, or the ½ marathon?

Personally, I am giving pretty good odds that it will happen between 10 miles and the ½ marathon point.

So why do it? Well, why not?

Remember the tire commercial where the guy shows a balding tire and says you are riding on borrowed time. Meaning, your tire could blow out at anytime.

I am taking this commercial a step further. My tire has already blown out and I am now driving along on that little donut of a tire that they say you should only drive at speeds no greater than 35 mph but you are still trying to do 65. Yep, that is me.

So you should look for me in the passing lane at OBX limping along somewhere between 0 miles per hour and 65. I will probably be closer to 0 than 65.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Athletes for Alex 5k Recap 11/5/2011

2011-11-05T19:40:00.001-04:00

A few years ago, a little boy named Alex was riding with his parents when another driver hit their car. Alex died as a result of the accident, but his memory is now living on through the people in that community. Today's 5k race was to raise money to create a soccer field which when built will be named for Alex.

Often I believe I am the same person that I was 20 years ago or even 10 years ago, but I am not. Time has changed who I am and how I see the world. It has made me all too aware of how short life really is and that we need to live each day to the fullest. Every child should have the opportunity to grow in to adulthood and losing even one child hurts us all.

This morning I was racing in the Athletes for Alex 5k in Lincolnton, NC which is just about 40 minutes from my house.

Riding by the bank, the temperature read 31 degrees. With the wind blowing, the temperature felt even colder. I don't know how many layers that I had on but it didn't feel like enough.

We all headed for the starting line at 9am. But due to timing issues, we got delayed for about 20 minutes. The temperature didn't warm up much in those 20 minutes, but I sure did cool down. The wind was blowing right across the starting line and chilled my previously warm limbs to the bone.

Finally, word came and we were ready to start.

We ran across this field in front of the school and then over to the track before heading out on the road. Standing around let my hamstring cool off enough that it was very unhappy when I tried to shift it into high gear.

My first mile was 5:46, and then 5:43. The last mile turned up hill and into the wind. My hamstring didn't like the hill at all and felt like it had a huge knot in it. I slowed over the last mile and finished with a time of 17:50 which was first overall.

The guys from Racing Toes and Big Kahuna Timing put on a pretty good event. Plenty of food and water were available after the race including sausage biscuits, Powerade, cold tea, and coffee. Along the course, they were giving out bottles of water, bananas, and apples within sight of the finish line. They opened the doors to the gym so we had a warm place to stretch and a clear need – warm bathrooms.

They even had a 2 bike rides and a kids biathlon for a full day of events.

I give them a lot of credit for providing multiple forms of exercise so they have something for everyone.

Sharing One thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

One “key” found

2011-11-03T14:13:00.001-04:00

I'm changing into my running shoes as Ben comes out of his house this morning. It seems they have worked out the details for Megan to have a car for the day since she was in the losing mood yesterday. First, she lost her house key during our run. And, based on Ben telling of it, she lost her car key later in the day or evening. I am not sure which.

Talk about having double trouble. That's a lot of bad luck for one day.

I don't ask too many questions of Ben – figuring that I will get the full scoop over my 16 mile run with Megan. Sure enough, she goes into the details. Honestly, I am not sure how she does this stuff. It just seems to happen to her. I mean she even gets chased by an Owl while the rest of world only get chased by dogs. I am surprised that she even goes outside at all. LOL. (just a little good natured teasing here)

Anyway, cutting to the chase, we split up at 16 miles and I head back to my car which I had parked at Ben and Megan's house. As I am doing the cut through, I notice something red lying on the ground. I don't know – instinct or just nature curiosity, I kick it with my shoe. Sure enough, it is a key.

Okay, first thought, does everyone in this neighborhood make a habit of losing their keys?

Bending down to pick it up, I realize it's a Honda car key.

Pushing the lock button on it, the lights on Megan's CRV flashed. Okay, that was pretty much expected once I realized it was a Honda key.

Next dilemma, 20 minutes before Megan gets back, so should I leave the key where she will find it? I scrapped that idea pretty quickly, I just waited.

Better to put the key in her hand, than leave it on the front door stoop. She might miss it. Then, she would go and buy another key if I didn't reach her by phone beforehand.

Sometimes, it is just better to not be in a hurry and never leave a stone unturned.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

6 x 1 mile and 4 x 800

2011-11-02T13:47:00.001-04:00

My hamstring has been feeling better and is allowing me to "somewhat" take on a few harder workouts. With this in mind, Megan and I headed to the track for another "monster" workout early this morning.

Her Coach sent a workout of 10 x 1 mile with 1 minute recovery. At first, I thought it was 10 by 1 minute which is not that bad. Thinking about it now, 10 x 1 minute seems downright easy compared to 10 x 1 mile with a 1 minute recovery. Ugh. We would probably have left blood, sweat, and tears on the track except that it was 30 degrees. Everything was frozen including the blood in my veins.

Okay, I had already agreed to do this workout so I had to decide on how much.

I finally settled on 6 x 1 mile with 4 x 800 which in its self is a pretty hard workout.

Megan and I would alternate leading miles for the first 6 x miles and then, I would lead out the first 800 of each of the last 4 miles.

My hamstring for once was not fighting me too badly, but I had no punch in my step.

I hit the first one in 5:58, then 6:00, 6:03, 6:13, 6:08, and 5:58 – each with a 1 minute recovery. All through these, my heart rate was running really high and was not recovering in 60 seconds.

I then lead out each of the 4 x 800 just under 6 minute paces. They were not quite as hard. The extra recovery helped. But I really felt like I was struggling to keep my head above water.

Megan, on the other hand, was killing the workout. The only mile which she did 6 minutes was the 2^nd one. The remaining intervals she ran below 6 minute pace. That's a pretty tough workout even if you don't factor in the fact – she only took a one minute recovery. She essentially ran a 10 mile effort just under 59 minutes for a workout. I couldn't have done it even if you have given me 5 minutes between each repeat.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Pre race showers

2011-11-01T12:25:00.001-04:00

Okay, before you go off and think I am heading off to races – stinking that is not the point here.

Maybe there are some people showering before they run races and maybe some people don't.

If I am racing in the morning, I topically don't shower. For whatever the reason, the shower leaves me feeling rather sluggish or maybe a better description is feeling lethargic. When I start running, my legs just have that heavy feeling.

What got me on to this topic has been – you might have guessed it – my hamstring. A hot shower seems to make the transition from walking to running much less painful. I am all about less pain. So while my hamstring feels better, the rest of me feel like junk.

Interestingly, outside of this hamstring issue if I am running an afternoon race or doubling – two races in one day, I don't seem to get the same feeling. In fact, many times, I will run the afternoon race faster than morning – assuming the courses are comparable.

Maybe I will start trying some of the heat packs. This could be another option.

Also I welcome any other ideas as well.

-btw – I always shower the night before.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

The weird and the strange

2011-10-31T17:31:00.001-04:00

Today must be Halloween because I don't think anything could have been more weird or stranger. Megan and I were getting in some miles on the McAlpine greenway this morning. On the paved section past Margret Wallace Rd, we see this stuff on the trail. Puddles look a whole lot like blood. And, not just a little bit but a long string of it - like it was gushing out. I have never seen anything like it before.

Not knowing was up, I check both sides of the trail. Nothing was in sight. But strangely, I see the remnants of brick house across the stream – mostly just the fire place and chimney – very eerie looking. Now, I have run at Mc Alpine "oh say – a thousand times over the years" never having seen that chimney.

But it gets better.

Then heading back toward Old Bell, we see arrows made out sticks on the ground. All were pointing west. Not just one, but several along the way. Like someone was enticing us to go in a particular direction.

As we go a little further, the crows seem to be circling overhead and making all kinds of noise.

At this point, my 10 miles are about up so I head back to the car. Megan continues on but later tells me she see a dead bird.

This is way too much strangeness for me in day.

I am just glad we got away unharmed.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Brooks Silver Bullet Jacket

2011-10-30T16:22:00.001-04:00

Charlotte turned cold and rainy Friday night through Saturday morning so this turned into the perfect time for me to try out a new jacket that I recently bought – the Brooks Silver Bullet Jacket.

The jacket is advertised to be both wind and water proof.

Saturday morning arrived with the temperature in the very low 40s, windy, and rain falling. This is the type of morning that most of us runners dread – being cold and soaked on a long run.

With a new jacket, it is always "IFy" what to wear. But I was feeling lucky and went only with a short sleeve running shirt. The first hour went by with the rain falling but I was still dry and warm on the inside and finished up the 2^nd hour pretty much the same. I pulled off the jacket when I finished and my shirt was pretty much dry.

I was very happy with the results.

I posted the link here if you want to check out the jacket for yourself.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

On my own terms

2011-10-29T11:37:00.001-04:00

Two early morning group runs and two times I have been hit with the same suggestion. Have you ever thought about taking a day off?

This suggestion was embedded within our conversations about my so slow in healing hamstring. Maybe it was my whining about my hamstring being slow healing that brought on this suggestion. I don't know. I didn't ask.

But my reply is always the same.

The short answer is – Yes. And I have had this thought of ending my running streak on more than one occasion. However, most of the time, I just dismiss idea. After so many years of going out the door every day, going for a run is as close to breathing for me as I can get.

I don't think about it. I just do it. Not too many of us can say that.

But if I ever do decide to end my running streak, I don't want it to come as the result of an injury or in some way being coerced in to missing a day.

I want it to be on a day where I decide it is time to end it.

I want it to be a day where I end it on my own terms.

I just have not reached that day yet.

Sharing one thought at a time,

The Cool Down Runner

Icy Hot Patches

2011-10-28T14:18:00.001-04:00

Hoping the pain will be helped by applying a topical anesthetic, my hamstring has had copious amount applied to it in the past several weeks. Most topical anesthetic come in a gel form that can be applied by rubbing it on the skin. However, the side effect to these gels is that it leaves your hands covered with the residue which is great for opening up the nasal passage but not so great if you touch your eyes or mouth.

In my never ending search for a better way, I tried the icy hot patches. I peeled of the back and applied it to my hamstring. The result was nothing on my hands and some nice heat being applied to my hamstring.

In fact, I didn't even notice that it was still on. I pulled on my compress shorts and was out running when I reached down to rub my hamstring. That's when I realized that it was still on. The patch didn't roll up under my compression shorts nor did it come off from sweating during my run.

They are little more expensive compared to the gel products but for a race or run where you don't have a place to wash your hands, they could be a great alternative.

Before wrapping this up, I have one more thought to share. For guys, don't try applying them if your legs are hairy. It is hard to see when if I am wearing my compression shorts, but I shaved down my hamstring. The patches work much better when applied directly to the skin. They don't stick very well to hairy legs. In addition, their removal is made vastly easier if they are not pulling out your hair. Trust me, I have tried it both ways and the latter works much better.

Sharing one thought at a time

Cool Down Runner

Pepsom Sports – Epsom Salt

2011-10-27T09:12:00.001-04:00

Every day, I try to learn something new. Usually, it is a new word to add to my vocabulary. Yesterday, I got something a little different. I don't know. Maybe I have had my head in the sand like an ostrich, but I never heard of soaking in an Epsom Salt bath to reduce swelling and soreness. After nearly 30 years of running, this was a new one on me.

I did some "googling" and found a lot of people seem to believe it works. I was pretty surprised at the amount of circumstantial evidence. People seem to believe it cures just about everything.

But I am game for anything that will help my hamstring.

Yesterday evening, I went by WalGreens to pick up a bag. WalGreens' sells the Pepsom Sports in 1 pound bags. Essentially, the concept is to put 2 cups into a hot bath water and soak in it for 15 to 30 minutes.

Did it work? Maybe it is too early to tell. Maybe I need more than one treatment. But I did come out smelling fantastic. Spearmint filled my entire house and I have to admit; I sleep like a baby last night.

Sharing one thought at a time,

Cool Down Runner

½ a workout but a good one

2011-10-26T11:28:00.001-04:00

Jogged slowing away from Ben and Megan's house this morning and headed for the PDS track. Ever had that feeling in the pit of your stomach that leaves you wondering if you can do something or not, that's how I felt heading for the PDS track.

My hamstring draws up in knots pretty much anytime that I try to run hard on it. Therefore agreeing to join Megan for some intervals probably isn't the best way to make it recover faster.

On the other hand, maybe I would survive it.

Megan had about 10 miles of intervals planned which I knew was way too much for me. So I agreed to do ½ of each one. I would run the first half of each interval. She would continue on to finish it out. 5 miles in intervals was still probably too much for me, but at least I was getting extra recovery time between each. I would continue running but at a slower pace and then run the recovery with her.

Megan was doing 2 x 2 mi, 4 x 1 mi, and 4 x 800. I ran 2 x 1 mi., 4 x 800, and then 4 x 400.

The workout went pretty well for both of us. She was ahead of her target times on all of the intervals and I was just happy to be able to complete a workout and still be able to walk and not limp away. 2 weeks ago, I couldn't even finish the workout. I was moral support only.

Today was much different. Because I was only doing ½ of the interval, I was totally recovered before the next one and Advil was doing its job by masking most of the hamstring ache. I could tell, however, toward the end that the effort and the mileage were starting to add up for Megan. She would finish the interval and bend over – putting her hands on knees. Running 10 miles progressively faster was taking a lot out of her. But never once did I hear her complain about it. We would finish the recovery interval and go right into the next hard interval.

For myself, I am keeping my fingers crossed that things continue along on the same path and in another two weeks, my hamstring will be even better.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Dumbest Goals Ever

2011-10-25T10:49:00.001-04:00

Butch, Megan, and I were waiting for the awards after the Changing Leaves 10k Saturday morning. I was telling Butch about my hamstring issues. I explained that I had been struggling with it for about 6 weeks now. Butch offered up some really good advice. Why not cut back my mileage to 30 or 40 miles per week. His advice was meant in the best possible intentions. Yes, I am sure cutting back my mileage further would certainly help with my hamstring recovery.

However, good advice has to be weighed against my goals.

My goals included running both OBX and Disney marathons. But it also included another dumb goal - running 4000 miles this year. This latter goal has me dragging myself far longer than I really should be.

But this also takes me back to another piece of advice that I got long ago. Thinking about this advice now, makes me think how dumb that advice really is.

This precious piece of advice was "if something hurts, keeping running on it. If it really is a problem, the hurt will become bad enough that it stops me from running".

What can I say, I have lived by this advice ever since. And this has contributed to slower recovery times and probably slower race times.

Writing about dumbest goals slowing recovery times, it makes me wish that I hadn't ever started this running ever day goal.

Is taking a day off really going to affect my performance that much?

This just goes to show that the Cool Down Runner is a man of contradictions.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Changing Leaves Changing Lives 10k Race Recap 10.22.11

2011-10-24T10:26:00.001-04:00

There were a number of races around Charlotte Saturday morning but I had kind of set my sights on the Changing Leaves Change Lives 10k at Mc Alpine. The race met a number of the things on my requirements list: early start 7:30, flat course – based on the map the course was flat, and close home – only a 30 minute drive time.

You might have guessed it; things didn't work out exactly that way.

As many of you know, I like to recon the course before a race. This being a 10k, I was not up for a full 6 miles of warm up so Megan, Ben, and I covered the last 3 miles. Pretty much the course was as we expected until we came by the McAlpine hill. The map showed the course passing by the hill but the marking on the course sent us up the hill. But hey, what can I say. The course is the course. I don't like have a nice nasty hill at 6 miles of 10k, but everyone else has to run it too.

Registration was slow getting off the ground as can be expected with any first time race. They were doing their best. It was dark at 6:30 when registration opened.

We finish our warm up and I had about 10 minutes before the 10k starts. I hustled back to my car to change clothes and shoes.

Back across the bridge and I headed to the 10k start.

Queen City Timing was doing the timing for the event. But strangely, I didn't see them anywhere. We learned that their truck had broken down on the way to the race. So things were being delayed.

I talked with one of the ladies with the race to see what the plan was. She told me they were going to start the race shortly and would refund anyone's entry fee that wanted it because of all the issues they were having. She then asked I was still going to run. I smiled back – "yes, of course". If they were going have the race, I wanted to run and that I didn't want my entry fee back.

First time races always have some rocky waters to cross before the smooth water starts. This was not my first "first time race" so I put the distractions aside and moved on.

The 10k start was delayed about 30 minutes which under normal conditions wouldn't have been too bad. But with my hamstring hurting, it was just enough time for it to cool down and tighten up. I kept trying to jog in place and flex it with only minimal success.

So we are standing around waiting the start of 10k and Ben is talking about how fast he was going to run the first mile. Something about, he plans to run 6:30 for the first mile. Not sure if my face showed it, but mentally, I am thinking "used car salesman".

They give us the countdown and Ben shoots out from the start. Kris and Megan fall in right behind. My hamstring is balking like you wouldn't believe. We pass under Monroe road, Ben's already pulling away. I pass Kris and am following Megan. She tells me that I am not allowed to draft and drops the pace – opening probably 10 meters on me. Who me, draft off of someone – really, the thought never entered my mind. LOL.

I realized right away Hamstring "1" running any harder "0" so I focused trying to get it to relax.

My first mile is 6:04. Megan is maybe 10 seconds in front. Ben is, well, Ben is too far for me to calculate. That's when I set a goal for myself. I know we have the out and back section to Margret Wallace Road so I will try to make that junction before Ben finishes it.

We continue and make the right turn to loop through lower Boyce as it is drawn on the map. Yet, another surprise awaits me here. We are not doing lower Boyce but upper Boyce. I turn left heading up the hill with my hamstring screaming loudly in protest.

Mile 2 is covered in 6:29. Back out of the woods on the main path I knock down a 6:14 3^rd mile and 6:22 4^th mile. Mile 5 out and back is 6:28 and Mile 6 is 6:17.

Yes, I did achieve my goal but just barely. Ben was coming back to the bridge before the main path just as I was crossing the Bridge.

Megan was a good distance a head me and I was a short distance ahead of Kris.

I endured the final hill and headed for the finish: 41:03.

My garmin measured the course at 6.5 miles which probably wasn't too far off.

Looking at the race, I was happy and dejected. My hamstring got me through the race but time was disappointing.

Megan, Ben, and I went for a cool down run afterwards. And, you guessed it the topic of conversation was the course. We were all surprised with the little detour on to upper Boyce. I really didn't want to go around through upper Boyce. If I could have, I would have skipped all of the hills.

Definitely, this race hit a few bumps in the road, but still, they made the best of it. Everyone had a good time. I got what I wanted out of it. They raised some money for a good cause. In the end, is there anything else that is really important?

By the way, the results listed the 5^th runner as unknown but it was Butch.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Men vs. Women – running conversations

2011-10-21T10:14:00.001-04:00

Up to this point, when I went for a run with someone else, not much thought is given to whether they are male or female. They were someone that wanted to run with me and that was enough or at least I thought it was.

That was until yesterday when I ran with Megan and Val. We had a conversation somewhat related to this topic which afterward left me wondering.

Did I treat runs with just women or included women (since being a guy, it would never be an all women run.) and men differently than runs with just men?

Well, let's see.

If I had been running with Ben and Dan yesterday, what would be our topic of conversations? We would have probably talked about Ben's Cross Country team. Maybe how his class is doing with the iPods'. Maybe we would have discussed his Team's upcoming meet next week. We would have definitely talked about Dan's move back to Charlotte and probably his new job. And, I am just throwing out the things that I can think about off the top of my head.

Would this have been any different running with Megan and Val? To some extent, the answer is yes and no. There were some topics that potentially would have overlapped - Ben's team's meet next week, Val's i.e. Dan's move back to Charlotte but there would be things that would be different. Like Megan and Val discussing Ultra distance running. Although, this isn't necessary a man vs. women thing as much as it is they have different interest than their husbands.

Honestly, how I view other runners - male or female depends a lot on how well I know them. For example, when I meet someone new, there is a "more of a get to know you period".

People like to learn about each other but we talk general terms – where they are from? What do they do? Where they went to school? How much they run – so on and so forth?

Where, with people that I know the conversations are much more specific. We are more likely to talk about their job assignments, their kid's activities, events happening their lives, pets, upcoming races, etc.

Although, I do have to admit one thing; I am not a huge talker and never have been. I tend to be a much better listener. Listening – really listening – is the only way to get to know someone.

In end, I guess I do have different conversations depending on who runs with me. But I like to let their interest drive the conversations and just listen.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Ouch – what popped?

2011-10-18T15:24:00.001-04:00

About 5 miles into my run, things are going along okay. I am just enduring another painful hamstring "stinging" run.

Suddenly a truck pulls out from a drive way in front of me. I make an abrupt halt and end up on my bad leg on my toes.

All of a sudden, I feel a pop in my hamstring. "Ouch" comes flying out of my mouth. I come to a stop.

The truck pulls out and I am left standing there testing my hamstring. I slide my hand down my hamstring half expecting to feel a knot from a toren muscle. Hoping I hadn't done any permenant damage. Nothing.

I flexed it a few times. No pain.

Okay, let's try running on it.

First, I go a few slow easy strides. Then I run a little faster.

I finish out my run seemingly no worse for the wear.

First, thing I did upon returning home was ice it down.

I wonder what tomorrow holds.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Another day passes

2011-10-18T11:08:00.001-04:00

This morning I was checking out my bike and realized it was starting to gather dust and cob webs. The same can be said for my running shoes – more dust.

Since this hamstring issue struck, my running has been on the only do what you must schedule and keep the ice bags coming.

Not exactly how I planned the weeks leading up to a fall marathon – if there is a fall marathon.

I guess if it is any conciliation, I am feeling more rested than ever and my house is cleaner than it has been this year.

I spent yesterday evening racking the leave up in my yard.

Honestly, sometime, I forget what it is like to have a normal life and not pour everything into work and running.

This evening I will be mowing my yard and cleaning out the gutters.

Hopefully, I will beat the rain that they say is coming.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Nomination for CRC Board 2012

2011-10-17T10:26:00.001-04:00

Recently, I got an email from Aaron our CRC president telling me that I had been nominated for the CRC Board in the upcoming elections. He also asked if I was willing to accept this nomination.

Almost everyone is more comfortable being in the crowd. You can say what you want. You can do what you want. You can go where you want.

There is no pressure. There are no expectations and probably the best reason to be in a crowd is no judgment.

Often, I wonder why anyone would want to be President of the United States. While I do think it would be a really cool job and you would have a really nice bubble to live.

Your every word and action is scrutinized by someone and most of the time; you have a nearly impossible task of making everyone happy.

That's just the way it is.

Which brings me back to – how should I respond to Aaron's email – "Accept" or "Decline".

I chose to "Accept" for one single solitary reason.

For our club to continue to grow and carry on the successful tradition that Aaron, Caitlin, Billy, and Jay have laid down for us, our entire club needs to step forward and take on active roles in it. Only with a strong, vibrate, and active membership can our club ever expect to prosper. This is the main reason that I accepted the opportunity to be the club's results specialist. Gathering results is not necessarily a glamorous task, but it is an important task. Seeing a club member's name and time in the club news letter gives our members recognition for their accomplishments. If other members feel my being on the board will continue club's rise, then I am willing to take on this role and the responsibilities that come with it.

As I am sure the other candidates will be.

Here's the list of candidates as of October 14, 2011

Val Matena
Aaron Linz
Jamie Dodge
Chad Randolph
Billy Shue
Mike Beigay
Ben Hovis
Jamaar Valentine
Scott Helms
Bill Shires
Caitlin Chrisman
Emily Barrett

Also if you choose not run for a position on the board, be sure to exercise your voting rights. This way you have at least an indirect say in the direction of our club.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Flat & Fast 5k Race Recap 10/15/11

2011-10-16T09:59:00.001-04:00

Continuing with my much abbreviated marathon training plan, I was off racing in a 5k yesterday. This week, I headed down to south Charlotte for the Flat & Fast 5k. This race was held at the Steele Creek YMCA just off Tryon Street by 485.

The course description said the race was flat and fast. After running, I am in agreement with their assessment. There is one very slight incline during the first mile and that was pretty much it. The last ½ mile goes gently downhill back to the Y.

The course takes the shape of a Y. We start and head along one street to pick up the main course. We then return along a Tryon Street back to the Y.

The course was coned off and had plenty of volunteers and police presence. I give them a thumbs-up on the course design.

Standing at the starting line, I was looking up the street and here comes Jay Rao with his son and daughter. I hadn't seen Jay since Summer Track which seems like eons ago.

They count down the start to the race and we are off. For a small race, 175 runners, they took off similar to the way people took off at the Big South 5k. Although, I am now beginning to think it is me and not them. I am just going out so much slower.

Tony Rao takes has a solid lead over me before the mile. We both make the turn around and start meeting other runners still coming out. I meet Jay who is battling Ryan still headed for the turnaround.

I am not making up any distance on the Tony.

My hamstring is not cooperating very well. I feel the tightness and at the same time, I feel a weakness in it. Sometimes, during the weak moments, the hamstring doesn't slow the forward leg swing well. This causes my quad to full extend and I land on my foot awkwardly.

Mentally, I have no trust in it.

The other thing that I am starting to notice is tightness in my ITB. Because my running gait is different, I am favoring my right hamstring, I am aggravating other areas. In this case, my ITB seems to be getting the worst of it.

Crossing the finish line, I was so frustrated that I don't stop my Garmin. 5:43, 5:47, and 5:46 were my splits – 18:14 2^nd OA. Cardiowise, I don't feel pushed at all, but physically, my body was just struggling. Mentally, it is just so exhausting to block out my hamstring issues.

Finished off a 3 mile cool down and headed home.

Hard to believe, I posted in September about having a perfect day. Four weeks later, my view of the world has totally changed.

Maybe another week and things will look better.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Thoughts about scratching from a race

2011-10-13T14:09:00.001-04:00

From time to time, we all go through injuries which cause us to think about scratching from a race. Today, I finally had to admit to myself that I am thinking about scratching from OBX. I was out running this morning and I just felt like I was dragging my right leg along.

OBX is just a little over 4 weeks away. What really makes me think in 4 weeks that I am going to be able to run a marathon?

How demoralized does one have to be to finally admit there is a problem?

Has my hamstring improved? Yes. Can I run a 5k on it reasonably well? Yes.

Can I run a marathon on it? Today, my answer would be no. We all know that a marathon taxes the muscles to the extreme. Taxing a muscle that is not working properly is going to show up sooner in the race and hurt even more.

In a 5k maybe in a 10k, you can push aside the discomfort for a while, but in a marathon, it is highly unlikely.

Wednesday morning Megan and I were just warming for our workout. The pace wasn't hard, but my hamstring was already starting balk. By the time we hit the track to start the workout, I was already struggling.

I don't want to scratch but I don't want go out there and struggle all the way to the finish.

Maybe I should scratch?

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

More about ties

2011-10-12T12:48:00.001-04:00

Sometimes Pandora box gets opened and I never know where a topic may lead. In this case, Richard Hefner commented on my post about wearing the chip on your shoe. His comment was thought provoking and so I decided to do a follow up post.

What Richard was saying – even the slight of thing can impact your finish time. If I wear my chip on my right shoe, but the left shoe crosses the finish line first, there is that split second lost.

Now, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't make much difference to most of us, but as you can see from my race last weekend, it could.

Richard made a really good point about which foot crosses the finish first. Yet, I am still unsure how to perfect my stride such that I always cross the finish line chip foot first. More thought needs to be given to Richard's idea.

However, Richard comment did point me to another place where I could conceivably grab an advantage. This is at the start. Now, if you are not on the starting line, I am not sure this would help you, but for those that do like to be right up front, it is food for thought.

Normally, I wear my chip on my right foot. I am right hand dominate and therefore my right foot dominates. When I start a race, my left foot is always forward next to the mat, and my right foot is back and ready to supply the first push of power out of the gate. A secondary reason I do it this way is since I don't have the chip on my left shoe, I don't trigger the timing software that a chip is in its zone of coverage. Thus, I could be a few inches closer.

But using Richard's idea, I am now thinking about reversing things. By putting the chip shoe first, I could gain a split second. My first stride over the mat would be with the chipless shoe and followed by the shoe with the chip. This slight delay should actually reduce my chip time over my gun time. One never knows, this could make the difference at the end of 3.1 miles.

Now most of you are out there saying that I am extending more effort than it is worth and maybe you are right. But just wait until you are the one coming up 2^nd in a two horse race.

In being totally forth coming, none of this would have helped me in Saturday's race. Queen City Timing uses chips on the bibs. Myron and I started side by side. I just got out leaned at the line. Run the tangents. Pump the arms. Now, I have to remember to either lean at the finish or get my chip shoe across first.

Who says running is an easy sport?

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

When Runners tie

2011-10-11T15:43:00.001-04:00

Have you ever wondered how they know which runner comes first when two runners have identical finish times in race? Wonder, yes, but given the notion much thought, I'd say - no.

That is until last weekend when the Big South results were posted and Myron Lowery and I were given identical finish times.

Now, I do know a little about how times are determined. I know that all finish times are round up to the next full second.

But I didn't know how the timing software handled when runners tie. Who get placed ahead of whom?

So after the race, I set off to find out.

Since Myron and I provided a good example for illustration purposes, I reached out the Dennis Joffe who does the timing for Queen City Timing. If anyone knew how ties were broken, he would. He did the timing for the Big South 5k.

Later in the weekend, I sent off an email to Dennis and he got back to me today.

Here's what I learned.

In deed the timing software does keep a more accurate time for runners than is published in the results.

Actually, it keeps two places better both the 10^th and 100^th place of precision.

Dennis was kind enough to go back and dig up Myron's true finish time 17:29:34 and my finish time which was 17:29:41.

Thus Myron beat me to the finish line by 7 hundredths of a second. If it were any closer, we might think we were running the 100 meter dash.

So the next time, you and another runner have the same time in the results but he is listed ahead of you. The timing software marked his time just a fraction of a second better than yours.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Race weekend commentary

2011-10-11T12:09:00.001-04:00

Last night I finished gathering the Charlotte Running Club results from this past weekend's races. I don't know if it is interesting or not, but I thought I would share some of it with you.

There were 4 races in the Charlotte area that had published results: 2 x Lung Strong races, Live Well 8k race, and the Big South 5k race.

Of those races, the Lung Strong and Big South races were the biggest. The Lung Strong 5k and 15k races had a combined number of runners over 800. Similar, the Big South race had just over 800 runners. The Live Well 8k had a little over 70 runners.

All together, over 1700 people were taking to the streets on Saturday morning.

Here's another interesting fact. There were more women running than men. In the Big South race of the 844 runners, 480 were women. In the Lung Strong 5k women out numbered men 207 to 111 while in the 15k which being a longer distance one might expect to have more men. No, women again outnumbered men 248 to 256. Whether the race is large for small, the trend seems to be the same. The Live Well 8k had 73 runners with 44 of them being women.

I don't know; for some reason, I would have though the numbers would have been reversed.

Where did all these runners come from? Well, one would expect they would be local and this would be a good assumption. All 73 runners in the Live Well 8k were from NC. 718 runners in the Big South 5k were from NC. There 483 and 297 from the Lung Strong races from NC.

Where did the rest come from? Eye balling the results, there were runners from WV, LA, TX, and SC just to name a few.

There is a ton of more information that could be extracted, but hey, only have so much time and the above should give you enough to ponder for now.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

You can’t handle the truth!

2011-10-11T08:02:00.001-04:00

In the earlier 90s there was a film starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson called "A Few Good Men". One of the scenes from the movie has Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson going at it in a verbal sparring competition. From their monologue was delivered one of the best lines ever "You can't handle the truth!".

As runners we sometimes don't want to believe the truth. For instance, yesterday, I was getting my Monday evening hamstring treatment when the lady working on my hamstring said "Your hamstring is a mess".

Honestly, I know this but I want to believe it is better than it is. Hearing the cold hard facts stated out loud is a keen to getting a bucket of cold water dumped over my head. No, I didn't respond with a sarcastic comment. In fact, I didn't say anything. I just let her words pass silently away.

I can handle truth and accepted it.

I just don't have to like her opinion.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Big South 5k Race Recap 10.8.2011

2011-10-10T20:56:00.001-04:00

While quite a few people were driving north of Charlotte to Lake Norman for the LungStrong races, I was actually headed in the opposite direction. Yes, I would be attempting fate and further injury to my badly abused hamstring by running the Big South 5k.

Over the last year, many people have sung the praises of this race from the organization to the food from the awards to the fast course. Also with TrySports being a major sponsor, this race was certainly must do for me.

With an 8 am start time I was whipping into the parking lot by side TrySports just before 7am. Julie, one of our fellow TrySports Ambassadors, and I had agreed to run a few warm up miles together. Being more focus on Tri events, Julie rarely does a 5k and wasn't sure how well she would do. Earlier in the week, she ran the course in 23 minutes. Thinking back now, I probably had more confidence in her than she did. I just knew she would go faster. After all, there was no swim or bike legs before the run and she would have a huge group of people to help tow her long. When I saw her after the race, she was all smiles after having run just over 21 minutes. I knew she could do it.

After finishing my warm up, I was headed back to the car to change into my racing flats. As I was passing by the TrySports store, this lean looking runner caught my eye. I had seen him before. As I got closer, I recognized him – Ryan Woods from Boone. He had made the trip down to Charlotte – by passing a lot of races just to do the Big South 5k. This speaks to the word getting out about this race.

Got the starting line where I saw Glen, Jeremy, Kaitlyn, Karin, and Chris. To side bar for a second, after the Salem Lake 30k my brain was in a funk or at least that is the reason that I am giving for putting Karin in my post race recap but calling her Kathy. So I extended my apologies for the mistake and had corrected my post – Karin - it will be going forward.

We are all getting on the starting line when here comes Mike Kahn – fresh off his fast time the week before and sporting his TrySports jersey. I didn't even realize that he was running 5k. Fortunately, when Mike registered, he got his name added to our TrySports team. This may have been the luckiest move of the day for us.

The Big South commissioner gave us few words. As he is doing so, Dennis is walking down the front of the starting line. There is more than one young kids standing on the starting line. He asked one if he is going to run 5 minute miles. Honestly, I think the kid said yes. This kind of funny if I don't think about it too long.

Finally, we get the countdown and we are off.

Maybe I should say blast off. People were sprinting by me like we were running the mile. Jeremy goes by saying something about "are you coming".

Maybe he should try running on one leg for a while. This is the first time that I have really engaged my hamstring and it wasn't happy. The middle of the hamstring knotted up and was yanking against the attachment under the glut. Let's just say for the rest of the race, I wasn't enjoying ideal racing conditions.

At the start, I had picked out one other Master's runner – Myron Lowery. He pulled out in front of me during the first mile, but I caught up to him just before the downhill section. I tried opening a little distance but wasn't having much luck. Lucky for me, James Gregory was barely 10 yards in front of me. I kept trying to close the distance on him but I think I was just pulling Myron along as well.

We cut the Target parking lot and at one of the corners, I took a quick peek. He was maybe 5 yards behind.

The thoughts of keeping him at bay looked pretty good. That was until the course gave me one of the cruelest turns possible. Instead of continuing straight and then left and being right at the finish, they made us turn right and go around the block. This left me with a good 100 yard to go on a downhill finish. I tried but my hamstring just was not cooperating. I couldn't get my legs or at least the right leg to turn over any faster. Myron caught me right at the line. We actually had the same times posted in the results.

With my best effort to not look dejected, I have him a congratulatory acknowledgment for his fast close. I had to respect his ability to dig deep and make up those yards. He earned it.

After the race, I caught up with Mike Kahn for cool down run. Well, I was running a "cool down run", Mike on the hand was practically floating along after his 16:23 PR. He now has a time faster than Billy Shue. I can see lot battles between those two in the coming years.

Lots of people told me the Big South course was fast. I am not sure about fast but the design of it is pretty good. The course starts out climbing then flattens out before climbing just a little more. Around 1.5 miles it crest over the top then goes downhill or flat the rest of the way. The downhills do seem to occur in the right places where I needed them Saturday.

Definitely, this will be a race that the Cool Down Runner puts back on his schedule for next year. I suspect lots of others will as well.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

My Bike is gathering dust

2011-10-09T20:23:00.001-04:00

On sound advice, I have given up riding my bike for at least the time being or at least until after OBX. Because of my hamstring struggles and the way the cycling works the hamstring, riding the bike has been deemed counterproductive to the healing process.

Thus, my bike is leaning against the wall and has hats and coats hanging from it. Somehow, they have materialized on the bike in less than a week. This is eerily like the stuff that has turn up on my tread mill.

I miss it. I like going out the door and exploring on my bike. I can cover so much more area on bike than I can by running.

But if I want this hamstring to be recovered in time for OBX, I can do little more than glance over at it and think good thoughts with the beautiful October days passing by.

Please hamstring - heal faster.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Big South 5k Team Award – TrySports Team

2011-10-09T20:09:00.001-04:00

There were 13 teams entered in the Big South 5k Team competition and fortunes were smiling down on the TrySports team. They were able to take the top honors with a combined team time of 49 minutes and 54 seconds for their top 3 runners which averaged out to a 16:38 pace. This was 4 plus minutes ahead of the second place team.

Below is a breakdown of the team's performance is displayed below.

Team Name: Trysports

Total Team Time: 49:54

Top 3 Average Tim: 16:38

Team Members:

1 16:01 Chris Lamperski

2 16:23 Mike Kahn

3 17:30 Bill Shires

4 ( 18:08) Glenn Carroll

5 ( 19:36) Jeremy Walton

6 ( 21:05) Julie Kelada

7 ( 33:09) Kaitlyn Walton

The team was led in by Chris Lamperski who is returning to Charlotte after winning the Wine Glass ½ marathon last weekend. Pacing close behind Chris was Mike Kahn. Mike showed unbelievable speed early on pushing Chris through the opening miles before closing out the race with a 16:23 time and a personal 5k record. Glen Carroll is fast rounding into shape with an 18:08 time and was followed by newly wedded and setter of a personal 5k record Jeremy Walton in 19:36. This was the first time that Jeremy has dropped his 5k times under 20 minutes. The ladies made a solid showing as well. Julie Kelada, who had run the course earlier in the week in 23 minutes, was worried if she could do it. Julie showed she can do it. Kaitlyn, Jeremy's new bride, showed that being married has not slowed her down.

All team members either work for TrySports or are on the TrySports Ambassador team.

Congrads on an awesome Team effort guys.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Top 10 Reasons to quit running

2011-10-07T16:33:00.001-04:00

This is the back side of my previous post.

10. You have enough T-shirts

9. You are tired of running through your neighborhood.

8. You find there is life outside of running

7. Your body finally gets a chance to rest.

6. You realize that it is okay to wake up after the sun has risen.

5. Getting out of the chair after lunch on Sunday is easier. – no long run

4. You have more closet space without those pesky running shoes and your closet smells different

3. You can finally take the towels off the driver's side seat.

2. Your spouse doesn't have to work her schedule around your run. Sorry, I had to include this one.

1. You finally realize that every meal doesn't have to include pasta.

Random thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Top Ten Reasons to be a Runner

2011-10-07T16:20:00.001-04:00

You can thank David Letterman for this post. I was watching his count down when I got my idea to do something similar for runners.

10. You can cross in the middle of the street and have a really good chance at beating the traffic.

9. You can wear the same clothes that you wore in high school. Okay, may be college.

8. You get to buy a new pair of shoes every couple of months.

7. People always think you are really healthy.

6. Gives you a reason to get up at 4 AM to meet other people to run for a couple of hours. – call it a bounding experience.

5. You are willing to pay a huge amount of money for a Saturday morning breakfast with access to stale bagels and flavors of Powerade or Gatorade the some store couldn't sell.

4. You don't have enough T-shirts to wear

3. Runners are known as really smart people but sometimes do really dumb things.

2. Finally learn what being "hot and sweaty" really means

1. You can eat all the calories you want and never gain a pound – at least some people think this is the case.

Random thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Downtime for the Soul

2011-10-06T14:16:00.001-04:00

People talk about why they don't see individuals out running any more. Why don't they come out to group runs, do speed work, or see them at races any more?

I have often wondered the same question myself from time to time.

With no single right answer, one is left to ponder.

I suspect at times family takes a precedent or their job or anyone of a number of things. More often than not, I believe they just tire of the rut that comes with hard training every day. The getting up at 5 AM to get in their run. Having the Saturday morning's weekly race to attend which is always followed by the ritual of a Sunday morning long run to finish. The endless effort to schedule life around a task that to others outside of running doesn't even see as having any value and leaves us dragging to recovery for the rest of the day.

Admit it, how many days in a row can anyone of us eat the same food every day. Burgers, fries, and drink get pretty old pretty quick.

There was a time in the early 90s where things were busy and running wasn't really a priority in my life. Perhaps these were some of my best times running ever. Never a care was given to how hard the run should be or how far it should be.

Mostly, the runs were governed by how I felt. If I had something going on, my run was short and easy. If the weather was nice, I might go 12 or 15 miles. If the legs felt tired, I would run easy. I never created a plan and never followed a schedule. I simply headed out the front door and went where ever I liked.

Running can consume your life if you let it. But it is okay to step back and press the reset button on life.

Taking a little downtime was is not only good for the mind and the body, the time away is good for the soul.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Manifesto of an injury

2011-10-06T13:42:00.001-04:00

When any injured runner starts down the road to recovery, they begin the testing process. As soon as the eye lids push back the brain immediately goes to check the recovery progress of the injured body part.

The day progresses and injury is checked before each movement. It is checked again before the run and checked with each step during the run. Am I going to hard? How much does it hurt? Can it take any more? Will I hurt it too much? This is followed by the post run check to see if too much was given and the recovery progress will be delayed even longer. The remainder of the day is spent testing to see if the run caused too much damage. The evening is spent trying not to push it any more than necessary.

Finally, the last thought before heading off to slumber land is will it be any better tomorrow than it was today.

Then the process is repeat again tomorrow.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Runners don’t smile enough

2011-09-30T09:09:00.001-04:00

Kathi Belk was kind enough to share some photos from a 5k race that she put on in memory of her son a few weeks ago. She tagged the photos of me on Facebook which promptly dropped an email into my inbox.

Like any person, I always enjoy when someone shares a photo of me.

In this case, she shared a couple of photos from the start and a couple coming to the finish.

Runningwise, they looked like the usual photos of people getting ready to run or running.

But the thing that struck me the most was that I wasn't smiling. Now, this isn't the first time that I have noticed this occurring. I have probably a hundred or so photos taken during various races over the years and not one of them has me smiling.

I don't know. Maybe once I step to the starting line, I go into my serious mode and it does leave until I finish. I wish I could explain it.

Maybe what I really need to do is lighten up and start enjoying the race instead of trying to race so hard.

But in either case I do appreciate Kathi sharing her photos

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Willing to trade one slightly injured hamstring

2011-09-28T12:13:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, I stressed my right hamstring. A week later, I dumped more stress on it. Then, a few days afterward, I practically felt like I broken it.

Now, sitting becomes very uncomfortable after just a short period of time. Driving is equally as hard because my hamstring is constantly going from a relax state to a contracting state. Thank goodness for cruise control.

My hamstring muscle simply will not totally relax which causes it to pull on the attachments under the Glut. The start of every run now is a session in mental toughness. Try to relax. Eventually, once the hamstring warms up, the pulling on the attachment eases up. The remainder of the run is filled with a dull pain from a hamstring because it just will not relax. My lower forward leg swing is limited.

And believe me, I am trying. I am stretching it. I am icing it several times per day. I went to see Mike at Performance Therapy. I use the stick and foam roller on it. I wear my compression shorts around to help with the swelling.

But I am impatient and want this thing to heal faster.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Shoes stories

2011-09-26T09:23:00.001-04:00

For some odd reason this morning my brain was thinking about running shoes. This intern took me back to a couple of shoe stories that I thought that I would share – funny ones or at least I think so.

Both of the stories happened within the last few years so it could me mean that old age is finally setting in.

Both occurred during early morning predawn runs.

On the first one, I was meeting some people at Old Bell for a run at McAlpine. Several people had already arrived when I pulled up. As you might expect, I was talking with them while changing out my shoes. Then, we all headed out for our run. For the entire run something felt different. I just couldn't put my finger on it. At least not until, we finished and I was changing out of my running shoes. That's when I noticed it; I was wearing two different brands of shoes: one Brooks and one New Balance. Not one person noticed it during the run or if they did they didn't say anything. I noticed, but it took my 2 hours to figure it out. To this day, I have not made that mistake again.

The 2^nd interesting story occurred a while back. Like I said earlier this was on an early morning run so maybe it is not my mind that is going but my eyes. Anyway, as usual I changed into my running shoes at the start of the run and headed out with the group. In the interest of over sharing, I usually only wear a pair of running shoes once a week, but after wearing them a few times, I tend to remember how they feel. In this case, my shoes felt like they had a lot of extra room. This is ironic because most running shoes are usually snug at the start and tend to stretch a little while you are wearing them, but not a start of this run. By the end of the run, I did notice that my legs felt a little more beat up than usual. My first thought, the shoes might be ready to turn out to pasture. But when I pulled them off, that's when I figured it out. No insoles. I had just been running on the rubber in the bottom of the shoes. To this day, I don't remember why I removed the insoles or didn't notice they were not in the shoes before putting them on.

Just so you know - One of the things that I strive to do is not make the same mistake twice, but it doesn't stop me from making new ones.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

3 Types of pain

2011-09-25T15:13:00.001-04:00

As I battle this hamstring issue, the topic of pain is ever present in my mind. No one likes pain and most of us do everything feasible to avoid as much of it as possible. This brings me to the topic of today – types of pain.

Being a runner, I find that there are three common types of pain that I have encountered: race pain, post race pain, and injury pain.

Race pain or rather race discomfort as some people might see it is the hurt that comes with pushing our bodies to the absolute limit of our ability. Going into any race, hard workout, or long workout, we all know that there will be some level of discomfort before we finish. But mentally, we are able to easily deal with it for one particular reason. We know that once our endeavor is over the pain will cease for us. Crossing the finish line will allow us to return our bodies to a homeostasis mode. With the Salem Lake 30k finish just in front of me, I knew finally my suffering was just about over.

Post race pain is the result of a hard race or hard workout. We pushed our bodies to the brink of breaking and the soreness that results lets us know that our bodies are working to repair themselves. Like the pain from racing it is somewhat temporary. The soreness will leave us anywhere from a few hours to a few days. A long run leaves me tired for a few hours and then I start to bounce back. On the other hand, a marathon leaves me sore for 2 to 3 days after the event. Subsequently, life starts to return to normal.

In both situations, our minds deal with the pain appropriately knowing that in short the pain will disappear. Most of us never dwell upon it longer than a few seconds to a few minutes because we know that this type of pain is totally temporary.

Injury pain is something totally different. We know it and we feel it. Unlike the other two types of pain, there is no expectation that the pain will be gone tomorrow. We deny it. We battle it. Finally, we accept it. Only once we accept it do we start down the road to true recovery. The damage has been done and the body needs to repair itself. The mentally challenging part to the pain is the constant reminder that is being sent to the brain with every movement. No matter what we do, the body moves and the brain is told again and again with each muscle flexion that we can no longer do the activity that we love as well as we want. And we wonder, how long will it take.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Salem Lake ??k Race Recap 9/24/11

2011-09-24T15:21:00.001-04:00

One should never write a recap after a tough race. Too much of the frustration will bleed through the recap.

Admitting this up front will let you know what type of post this will be.

Got to Salem Lake early this morning so I could pick up my race packet. Also I was picking up Nathan, Mike, and Megan's race packets. They had made the decision for one reason or another not to run today. Maybe I should have taken their decisions as my que to do the same thing. But I digress.

Charlotte Running community was out in force with Carolyn, Michelle, Chris, Butch, Allen, Kevin, and Adam. Patrick also showed the colors for the Gaston County Running club. He said something about a bet with Heather and Brian. I hope he won. Kent, Billy and Chris's girl friend Karen were providing the cheering section for us.

Just before the race started, thunder was rumbling across the landscape. Rain arrived just behind the thunder. Luckily, I had a plastic poncho in the back of my car to pull over my racing outfit. Heading for the start, I had more than a few jealous looks.

I gave the poncho to Karen. At least someone could stay dry.

We got a few last minute instructions and updates that the course had been changed. Due to the rain over the last few days, the part of the course on the greenway was flooded. The 30k would still happen but we would be making loops around the lake. The race director told us that once we hit a certain water stop that we would reverse the direction.

We took off from the start Carolyn and Michelle plus a bunch of others were out front of me. My hamstring was hurting really bad and I was trying to get it to relax. Good luck making it happen in a cold pouring rain.

The first few miles passed uneventfully. I was running with Adam who is headed for Steam Boat marathon in a few weeks. We hit the back side of the lake and it was a mess. I was slipping and sliding. Adam slowly pulled away as I tried to just stay up right.

Let it be said that my Brooks Green Silence go well on the road but not in the slick mud.

We came through the start finish point at 7 miles and I have never wished more that I would have signed up for the shorter race. I was about as miserable as a runner can be. I had no motivation at all. In fact at the start, Adam said something to me about what I wanted to do. My reply was "finish and get back to my car". Clearly, my tone was I would rather be somewhere else. Like I said, I had no motivation to run.

The 2^nd time around the lake was worse. Having several hundred runners cut up of the trail there was no place to find any good footing.

Somewhere around 13 miles Carolyn went by me along with another runner from Charlotte. However, his name escapes me at moment. She looked like she was handling the adverse conditions rather well.

About this time, I was starting to wonder where we were turning around. I had expected to see Adam coming back to meet me. No one had past me running in the opposite direction so I thought maybe I miss understood how we were running the course.

Okay, I little side bar here to share some in-race fireworks. This guy, honestly I don't know him, starts going off because we missed the turn around. I mean really going off. He was using a number of cuss words. Carolyn says something to him about shutting up. There were a few exchange and then quiet. Now, I don't know Carolyn all that well but I was a little taken back. I was not expecting that type of response from her. Honestly, I understood the guy's frustration about the course, but I choose to not express my frustration in the same matter. To his credit, he did come back by me and apologize. I hope he did the same to Carolyn.

So coming around for the 2^nd lap and knowing the distance was going to be off, quitting was at the top of my mind. My hamstring was just stinging.

But as we past the start/finish again, the race director says do "two down and two back". I took a deep breath and thought "I can do two down and two back". During those 4 miles my mind drifted as the miles churned by and probably would stayed in the distance if Chris hadn't come by me. Just have seeing him going by pulled me back to reality and slowly I started picking up the pace again.

My goal going into this race was to run under 2 hours and 10 minutes. I slipped in with a 2 hours and 9 minute time. I have to give Chris credit for my finishing effort. Thanks Chris. –Btw, I cannot believe you didn't introduce me to Karen.

After the race, the back side of my TrySports Jersey was covered in mud. Taking my shoes, my feet were a tint of orange from the mud. Peeling down my calf sleeves, finally allowed the mud, grit, and/or dirt to fall from my calves. This is probably the dirtiest that I have ever been after a race.

I walked back to my car, changed clothes, and headed home. I was already trying to put this effort behind me.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

How the CRC Results are determined

2011-09-22T20:38:00.001-04:00

After each weekend, I pulled race results for the local area races and scan them to see which Charlotte Runner Club members were out racing. This task came my earlier in the summer and I am starting to get the hang of it. Actually, massaging data is something that I do on a regular basis at work so this is really just an extension.

Being that I like an open door policy, I thought I would share a little bit about the process so others knew what each it is like.

First order of business, I have a list of race timing services websites that I have collected. For example, Run for Your Life post their results online. Once they do, I pull them down to my local PC. There I transform this information into something that my program can then understand and scan for CRC Members.

The output from this scan is a list of CRC members that ran this particular race, where they finished, and what was their finish time.

This sounds fairly easily doesn't it?

Well, yes, and no.

There are a couple of different parts to this weekly task.

The biggest challenge is pulling down the data. Each race timing service tends to have their own way of doing things. For example, Run for Your Life uses Active.com. Queen City timing uses what appears to be an in-house results engine. Lee Timing uses still another format.

Basically, what I am saying is that each timing service has their own formats and these formats can range from HTML to straight text to a pdf.

This is the point where sites like "Athlinks.com" should get a lot of credit. I deal with a few timing services. They probably deal with thousands and each probably with their own format.

So I have the data down and cleaned up so I can now scan it for CRC members. And what I mean by cleaned up, is there is no extra spaces, tabs, and comma etc in the racer's names.

The scanning process is straight forward. We pull a name from the member list and scan the race results to see if we find this particular name. When we do, we pull this user's statistics out and put in another file.

This part has its own set of "gotchas" here. Upper and lower letters doesn't matter because I can correct for it. But if someone is registers for a race as "Mike" but puts in the CRC member list "Michael", his results don't get included. This is has happened to Mike Kahn at least once that I remember. I hope Bobby doesn't mind but I will use him as another example. Sometimes Bobby registers as "Bobby Aswell" and my program finds him. Other times, he registers at "Bobby Aswell Jr" so my program skips right over him. For a while, I think he was alternating it back and forth so I just added both variations in my member list. This is an easy fix as long as I remember to do it to each club list that I get.

The other "gotchas" that gets me on a regular basis is new club members. Since I don't know when someone new joins the club, I periodically go out and pull a new club list. Other times, I get an email from Caitlin or Aaron letting me know that I missed someone. This means I need to pull a new list.

The last "gotchas" that I have seen is when someone shows up in the results but didn't run the race. Some people just have common names like "John Smith". If this other "John Smith" runs a race, then our club "John Smith" gets credit for it.

At the end of the day there is only so much anyone can do. If I ran a race or seen that someone ran a race on Facebook, then I will do a little fact check to see if they showed in the results. But our club has nearly 500 members and I don't know all of them personally nor am I Facebook friends with all of them. I'd also say 99% of the time, my programs scan successfully.

But if I happen to miss someone, always please let me know. There could be any number of reasons why, but we do our best to make sure their name gets pulled.

If we know about the local race, we should be able to pull a member's results and include them into the news letter.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Performance Therapy

2011-09-22T13:57:00.001-04:00

The hardest part of any running injury is trying to figure out whether it is an injury that you can work through or it is an injury that you need help resolving.

I am at the point where I have 8 more weeks before OBX. Missing any training at this point means a lack luster performance. Worse, I can just see Mike B. running off into the distance as the sun rises over the dunes in Kill Devil Hills. It will happen someday, but when it does, I want it to be when I am running hard and not hobbling along.

Thus, I would be hugely disappointed in myself if I didn't do everything possible to return to normal as soon as possible.

The outside help I am talking about is seeing Mike at Performance Therapy.

Based on my understanding from talking with Mike, my hamstring needs some work. I didn't need any convincing here and I am guessing the work that he is talking about is A.R.T.

He didn't say no to running or not to run. Again I am guessing he knows that I will be going out the door to do it. He did say that it would slow the recovery process. And, I expected as much.

But I am a good listening and I will be following his recommendations for icing and stretching.

Let's see how the next week shakes out.

Thought from the Cool Down Runner

The things we do to just to tread our miles

2011-09-20T12:38:00.001-04:00

They say there is a fine line between insanity and genius and runners appear to be an example of a group that straddles that fence. Take me for example; this little hamstring injury has me hobbling along.

The genius in me says to take it easy and rest your hamstring. The body will heal its self. It just takes time.

While the other side says, no, now is the time to go out the door and get in those miles. You have a race and marathon coming up. You have to be ready.

Ugh.

I guess in this case I am leaning toward insanity.

I will ice my hamstring. Throw some Bio-Freeze at it before my run and tape up the hamstring.

Out the door, I went.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Recovery Week on deck

2011-09-19T09:36:00.001-04:00

My last recovery week was three weeks ago heading into the Charleston Distance Run. Two weeks later, my training has been filled with recovery runs, a long interval session, a surge and recovery workout, 2 medium long runs, and 2 x 22 long runs. That's about 190 miles of running; plus I threw in some cycling as well. Truly, more effort than I am accustom to putting out at this point in my training cycle.

Most likely, this is what led to my sore hamstring. To describe how it feels, one has to have run a marathon. It doesn't out and right hurt, but is more like a dull ache all the way up and into the Glut. To me it feels like the last 10k of a marathon where the hamstring begins hurting and feels like it is going to cramp at any minute.

So what am I doing about it? Well, I am still running but I am trying to not alter my stride. As we all know, running with one injury can lead to another and another and another. It becomes a vicious cycle. Thus, I am trying to become "one" with the pain as it exists in its present form. Although, I can assure you that it isn't workout out all that well for me or my hamstring.

Otherwise, I am sporting an ice bag on my hamstring and my Glut. I am stretching it out. In addition, I threw some Ibuprofen at it on Saturday to survive those two races. But I don't like doing it. Inhibiting the pain makes me think that I can run harder which will not do anything to make my hamstring better. However, during yesterday's 22 mile effort I persevered without any Ibuprofen. Those last miles were really hard and it took some encouraging getting to Mike run on. But I do appreciate his willingness to run with me. I was just doing what my hamstring would allow me and living to run another day.

Now, this week is another recovery week for me and ends with the Salem Lake 30k race Saturday morning.

Going into this race I was hoping for some cool temperatures and the possibility of running a solid fast time. With this hamstring bothering me, I have to tailor back my race goals. Thoughts of running less than 2 hours are out of the question. My goal now is maybe 2 hours and 10 minutes. Surviving a 5k with a bad hamstring is doable. Surviving a 30k with a bad hamstring seems less doable.

A wise runner would probably skip this race and run short and easy all week. I just wish I knew one.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Belk’s Brigade 5k Recap 9/17/11

2011-09-19T08:45:00.001-04:00

After racing Saturday morning race, I really wanted to hit the Apple festival in Lincolnton, NC. Called my Dad and he didn't want to go. There was too much walking involved. Called my daughters and they didn't want to go either. They had been to Scarowinds until late and were sleeping late. They were still in bed and it was after 11 AM on a Saturday morning.

So with no one willing to hit the Apple Festival, I shifted gears and decided that I would just go racing again. Tired, sore, a strained hamstring would not deter me from doing something other than setting at home all afternoon.

Shortly after 2pm I headed over the Concord way to the location of the Belk's Brigade 5k.

The Belk's Brigade 5k is in honor of Christopher Belk who passed away in 2008. The race is put on by his parents and the proceeds go toward the local school and bible club. To honor someone memory - definitely this is a worthwhile cause if there ever was one.

Megan rolled in a few minutes after I did. Shortly after we had registered, Mike rolled in along with his parents and daughter. I think Mike conned his parents into coming so he wouldn't have to push the baby jogger. At least, this was my suspensions any way.

With bibs numbers and chips assigned, Lee Timing was the official timer of the event, the three of us headed out for a little course recon.

The course has 3 turns on it. The first mile is in the middle of a nasty hill that starts out steep and then transitions into a continuous climb. All totaled it was about a mile of climbing. The course then makes a 2^nd turn and goes either flat or slightly downhill for the next mile. The third mile has a sharp downhill followed by a long climb up to the finish.

This course was way more difficult than my morning race. Things were not helped by the wind which blew into our faces both on the flats and the last climb heading up to the finish.

As we were pulling back in to the parking lot from our warm up, but who do we see. No, it wasn't Santa Clause, but close. Stan has made the trip over. Running a 10k race in the morning was not enough for him. With Jinnie working late at TrySports, Stan was out and about town.

A little side note here. Stan was practically a celebrity at the race or maybe I should call it Stan's family reunion. My count is probably off a little but I think at least half the field was related to him. Stan, correct me if I am wrong. It sure seemed like it.

Okay, back to the recap.

The race was to start at 5pm but was delayed because EMTs were needed for an emergency at the football field.

Stan, Mike, Megan, and I kept doing striders in a nearby field. Each of us was trying to keep our legs warm because the wind was whipping through the start area.

While we were waiting, this young kid was also doing striders near us. Mike kept eyeing uneasily. Not sure if Mike had a worried look on this face or not. But not one to be too shy, I introduced myself. Quentin was a student at the school and was on the cross country team. I also found out that he had been at XC practice that morning. It is always good to pick up as much tactical information as possible.

The race wasn't delayed too long but long enough. With the 10 miles from the morning, warm up and striders, I was starting this 5k with about 15 miles and one very sore hamstring in my legs. David gave us a countdown and we were off. We left the school parking lot and Quentin fell in behind Mike and I was a close 4^th.

The downhill section before the big hill was enough to get me into 2^nd place. As we climbed the hill, Mike was looking over his shoulder at me. There were too many miles in my legs for me to make any type of serious challenge to him, but I at least tried to make him think about it. And for whatever reason Mike was running the wide side of every turn. I was down on the yellow line running the tangents and would have been across it if I thought it was okay. But to no avail, Mike was increasing his lead with every stride.

I hit the 2^nd turn and peek out of the corner of my eye. I could whip the sweat from my brow now. There wasn't anyone in sight. I headed down the long stretch to the 3^rd turn. Again, I peeked out of the corner of my eye. I don't see Quentin or Stan, but I do see Megan. She was looking strong and had definitely closed some space between us.

I guess I am showing my age here because I learned a new term that day- "chicked" and what it meant. For those of you like me, here's what it means. When a woman passes a man in a race – the man's been "chicked". For the record, I have been "chicked" more than a few times. In all honesty, I am not ashamed of it. If she is faster, so be it. I don't mind chasing "fast" women. Although, my dad did warn me about chasing fast women. Not sure if this exactly what he meant when he said it however.

Anyway, if Megan was going to catch me, I was going to make her work for it. My hamstring was practically screaming at me to stop. I told it that I would but not until I reached the finish line.

No looking back going up the hill. I didn't want to give her any more encouragement. I was pretty sure that she saw me looking back at the 3^rd turn.

Mike picked up the win. I finished 2^nd overall in the race. Megan was 20 seconds behind me in 3^rd.

Another 2 miles warm down, Megan and I were pushing 20 miles for the day. Mike pulled down 10 miles for the day and appears to have recovered quite well from the Blue Ridge Relay.

Looking back across the entire day, we had solid intense efforts, a double workout for the day, and covered 20 miles of running.

Megan is starting to shake off some of rust that builds up from not racing. Racing efforts and training efforts in my opinion are treated differently by the mind and the level of effort exerted i.e the tolerance of pain is higher for a race. Up to this point, I think she has been well under the red line of effort in these races. When she does open it up, I suspect I am going to get "chicked". LOL.

Thought from the Cool Down Runner.

Boys and Girls Club 5k Recap 9/17/11

2011-09-17T11:53:00.001-04:00

Another Saturday, another short tempo run was on the agenda. I was kind of up in the air about where to run this workout/race since there was a plethora of races in the Charlotte area this weekend. Megan was up for the same workout and wanted to do the Boys and Girls Club 5k race. So why not, a race is a race.

The Boys and Girls Club 5k was a first year event so it came with the usual issues: limited number of bathrooms and a course that took in more sidewalks than I would like, and no chip timing. But they did have plenty of course monitors which in my opinion was a good thing. Getting lost on a course is never any fun.

The guy blew an air horn and we were off and running. I was hesitating at the start because my hamstring has been sore all week. The more I dig it the more it hurts.

So we head out from the school and I hear foot steps behind me. At this point, I don't know who it is. We go into a parking lot but they are so close that I cannot catch a glimpse of them. Finally, we make a hard right turn and out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of pink. Okay, I now know it is Megan and not some other runner.

We go up the hill and past the mile mark. Then, we turn into this business park and Megan makes a move to go by me. The thought went through my head – "go girl". If you are feeling the MOJO, go for it. We made the turn along 160 followed by another right turn which took us back to the finish. The wind was now at our backs which made me feel better. My hamstring was stinging pretty bad.

Between the downhill and the tailwind, I finally get a gap on her. Yes, getting a gap even a few seconds on her is getting harder and harder. From my perspective, one of the best sounds that any runner wants to hear when he is racing is the absence of foot strikes and hard breathing behind.

And, for the 2^nd week in row, I am just barely in front of her at the finish. Makes me think that I am glad I don't have to race her at the trials. 26 miles is a long time to have someone chasing you. And, I could be assuming too much here. The roles could be reversed.

What am I doing now? I am icing down my hamstring. If this is what it takes, I am good with it.

30k is next week and it is a recovery week. Crossing my fingers my hamstring comes right by next Saturday morning.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

2011-09-15T17:14:00.001-04:00

Over the last few weeks or so I have had some comments come my way that started the wheels turning in my head again. Here's a few examples – "I wish I was as thin as you", "How do you stay so fit", "I'll bet you can eat anything", and "I wish I had zero body fat like you". Really, when I look in the mirror, I don't see ZERO body fat. Maybe 15% body fat. But does anyone actually have ZERO body fat? Yeah, I agree it was just an expression.

Sometimes I wonder if other people get these same types of comments and if they do, what would be their response?

Most of the time, I just shrug off these comments. To be honest, I get a little embarrassed by them and more often than not feel a little undeserving of them. Occasionally I will try to make "light" of the situation by replying with some comedian like come back – "be careful what you wish for – you will be sore, tired, and eating more lettuce than a rabbit".

Honestly, I think we are all a little guilty of thinking the "grass is greener somewhere else". I freely admit I do. But of course I am a little shy about telling someone else that I like really like how green their grass looks. Call me old school, but just because I think something, it doesn't mean that I should say it.

Not sure what type of person that this makes me. I hope someday to find out.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Life flashing before your eyes

2011-09-14T13:59:00.001-04:00

Last night I picked up my daughter to help her with a school project. While we were working on it, she was telling me that she wrecked her bike. She's okay, but she went on to say that when she wrecked, she saw her life flash before her eyes. Now the comedian in me wanted to tell her that it was short film. After all, she is only 12. There is a whole lot of life yet to live. But the Dad in me gave her a hug, a kiss, made sure she was okay, and enjoyed the moment. She will not be 12 forever and will not always want to share those things with me.
Later in the evening, I was thinking back to what she said – about "life flashing before your eyes".
Now, I have heard other stories of people saying that right before some major event, their life flashed before eyes. Usually, based on what I remember these situations occurred when the people were in a near death experience. I have to say near death because if they had died, then how we know. But this is a side bar discussion.
Chances are highly unlikely that my 12 year daughter would have died in her bike accident. And, I am so glad that she didn't. But from her perspective, maybe she believed that she might. This raised a question in my mind. I have been in numerous accidents over the years and have never had my "life flash before my eyes".
I wondered if it was because I always believed that I would survive.
They say that runners have this mentality that they are invincible. They expect to succeed by shear "Will Power".
Because I do have a runner's mentality and might just have a little of the "invincibility complex", I do expect to survive.
Just for the record, in my accidents I either remember seeing the accident happen or see nothing. And, I saw nothing because I closed my eyes. But never have I seen "my life flash before my eyes".
Just another one of life's questions left to ponder when the mind has a free moment.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Surge and Recover workout

2011-09-14T13:20:00.001-04:00

Oh, what a difference a week makes. Last week, my feet were digging at the soft dirt that we all know and love as McAlpine Greenway. My workout went awesome. This morning, those same legs seemed to have deserted me as I once again ran across the same piece of earth.
To give up some background info here, I have to share. Megan has started her build up in her Olympic trials training and I have more or less signed to be her mid-week punching bag. Not that I am complaining, the workouts are tough which only intern makes me better a.k.a faster. In a sense, I get as much or more out of it as she does.
Last week we did a session of 3 miles hard – 1 mile recovery, 2 miles hard – 1 mile recovery, and then 1 mile hard. My legs couldn't get enough of it.
This week was little something different. Depending on how one looks at the workout, we did 10 x 800 with 800 (hard) recovery or 10 miles with surge and recovery. We alternated between what I will call an easy 800 and a hard 800. Each one gets little faster.
At the start, our pace felt pretty easy. This got me thinking that I have this workout licked. But as the workout wore on, my legs were really starting to feel it. On the last ½ mile, my legs needed to run sub 3 minutes. Not happening. I crossed of the last ½ mile in 3:12. Megan was at least 15 to 20 seconds in front of me. Not that this struck me as odd, but she wasn't even breathing hard when I came up to the finish. I on the other hand found the last ½ to be run in what I will term a vacuum. Not enough oxygen going in my mouth through my lungs and out into my legs.
In retrospect, this was a good workout and I need to focus on that part. I'm in the middle of two 90 mile weeks so expecting a 46 year old body to suddenly have a huge explosion of speed is a bad expectation on my part.
Sometimes the mental aspect to running is tougher than the actual workouts. But it all comes down to believing in the workouts, the training, and my ability to a make it all pay off on race day.
Wait, when was the last time that all of the planets aligned. LOL.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Race Awards

2011-09-13T19:15:00.001-04:00

Should someone actually go up to a race director and complain about the quality an award they won in a race. Personally, I would consider this to be in poor taste. Only a small percentage of people actually win awards in any race. For someone that gets their first award or doesn't get one very often, they look upon the award as a treasure item. I really don't have any right to destroy that feeling they have. In my opinion, this is the scenario where one just walks away. If I can look at an award and recognize its quality then other runners will most likely do the same.

More often than not, knowing I am right is enough. Saying that I am right will not improve the situation.

Does this make this make me a hypocrite for discussing this topic? I hope not. It is like being caught between a rock and a hard place.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Camp Care 5k Recap 9/10/11

2011-09-12T11:08:00.001-04:00

Saturday morning was to be a 10 mile workout with 3 miles of up tempo effort. This is all part of my fall marathon plan to get my wheels turning over faster than my expected marathon pace. So realizing that I could do solo effort somewhere or do a race, I opted for a race.

Camp Care 5k fit the bill perfectly. The race organizers were utilizing the McAlpine 5k course for their race. The cost was agreeable - $25 dollars. The start was 9 am which was a little late for me. But what the heck, I got a chance to sleep a little later.

Picked up my packet and then did my usual course preview. Even thou, my workouts earlier in the week had me covering the same terrain, recon on race is still important.

I came back to my car, changed over to my Brooks ST Racers (since I was treating this as a workout instead of a race, I left the racing flats at home), and then headed back to the start for some last minute hard striders.

Going into the race I set upon a game plan. I wanted to get out fast for the first half mile and then settle for the next 2 miles. The last ½ mile would hopefully be run at the same pace as the first half mile.

No cannon firing this week – just a command to go.

My first ½ mile was in 2:41. This was slower than I wanted and my legs felt extremely heavy. The next 2 miles I focused on settling. I eased back going up the hill and took my time coming down the other side. The hill on the McAlpine course and I have never had much in common. This explains why my second mile was 5:55.

Since there are no quarter mile marks on the 3^rd mile, I guessed there was a ½ mile of running between coming out of the woods and the 3 mile mark. My 3^rd mile was covered in 5:46.

The overlapping of slower runners made the last tenth a little tricky but I was able to hit the finish line in 17:57. I have to admit this was faster than if I had done this solo somewhere else.

Basically, this was more strength running than anything else. I didn't back down for the race. In fact, Friday I had covered 10 miles of running including a Tabata and another 20+ riding. For the week, I will hit 90 miles.

Before the event, I didn't know much about Camp Care, but listening to them describe their goals and achievements I have to remark at their wondrous efforts. The world is tough place and every kid should have an opportunity to excel in it.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

3, 2, 1 – we are done

2011-09-08T12:58:00.001-04:00

Cross two runner related elements and one gets a jump start to their confidence. This morning certainly helped jump start my confidence.

First, walking out the door the weather was perfect – clear, dry, and cool. Add to it, a solid workout with fast splits and the confidence that it gives is practically overflowing.

And, as I was settling into my chair for work, my legs were all too happy to rest and begin their recovery. Yes, the running work day was off to a good start.

Megan and I started with a several miles of warm up. Then, we started the first 3 mile interval from Old Bell. My legs were trying to settle into our expected pace. The bridge kept asking the engine room for more power. The requests were by and large being ignored because the boilers were slow to come online.

But no fear, by the end of our 3 mile effort the boilers were online and producing power. Next, there came a 1 mile recovery before we were off again on the 2 mile interval. The pace was definitely faster but then it was not overwhelming. Like with any interval workout there is a time to be focused yet relaxed. We had reached this point for me; I was focused on the effort while trying to stay as relaxed as possible.

With the first two intervals in the books, we were already running ahead of schedule. Believe it or not, I was actually looking forward to the last 1 mile interval.

For our final mile, we ran the first mile of the 5k course in reverse so we could grab our quarter splits. Pressing my Garmin split and saying "go", Megan bolts head. We hit the first quarter and we are well head of our projected pace. Making the last turn and heading back to the 5k start, I finally pull even with her.

There is no backing down now. The finish line was ½ mile away and the only sounds in the air were foot strikes against earth and hard breathing from hard running.

Crossed over the mile point and slowed to easy pace to recover. I was left wondering – how many perfect days can one man have.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner

Recovery Weeks

2011-09-06T09:47:00.001-04:00

Last week was to be a recovery week for me. All of the miles were easy with the exception of a little up tempo workout on Wednesday and then a race on Saturday. Usually on recovery weeks by Thursday or Friday my legs really start to bounce back. For whatever reason, this didn't happen last week. Yeah, my legs were feeling better, but there wasn't that bounce in my step.

So when the first couple of miles passed during the race Saturday and the pit of my stomach was already telling me it was not going to be my day. Once that fact is finally accepted (about the top of Capital Punishment Hill), there wasn't much to do but try to salvage the best day possible. This is what I did.

Now, not all of the blame can be laid on my lack of recovery. The race day weather conditions were not ideal with warm temperatures and high humidity. A runner's nightmare scenario occurs when these two get combined. The legs basically feel like junk.

But the body is only half the equation. The mind is the other half. With fewer hours running and riding, my brain was freed from those dubious chores. My brain seems to have gotten the break that it needed or at least I hope it did. Mentally, I feel like I am ready to get back to some good hard workouts.

Now, if my brain can just convince my body of this same thing, I should be good to go.

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner