Endurance

Imagine Running in the Buff

Have you heard of the new running shoe company called Newton Running?  They are so new, that their shoes have not even shipped yet.  I just ordered a pair which should ship on April 24.  I'm hopeful that running in these will put my most common injury, shin splints and stress fractures, to an end for good.  The Newton Running shoes force you to change they way you run, versus the shoe adapting to the way you run.  See the difference?  Their theory is this....the most efficient way for humans to run is barefoot (in the buff if you would like).  Try it, I mean barefoot, not running down the street in the buff.  You will find your self running more erect, and you will strike the ground with the ball of your foot first.  Now put your running shoes on.  Many of us, especially me, are heal strikers.  Heal striking puts a tremendous amount pressure on the body and the shins.  The Newton Running shoe is shaped differently to force you to run like you are barefoot, relieving the pounding and in theory making you faster too!  We'll see if the reality lives up to the theory.  If it does, look out Nike.

check out:  www.newtonrunning.com

I'm Sold

I finally had the opportunity to put the Galloway method to the test in the most recent Chicago marathon and I have to say, I'M SOLD!  I first heard of the method at a talk that Jeff gave at the Big Sur marathon.  If your not familiar with the method, Jeff Galloway is a U.S. Olympian marathoner with over 110 marathons under is belt.   He has worked with over 150,000 average people in training for specific goals and is the inventor of the Galloway RUN-WALK method.  The idea behind the method is that you set a RUN-WALK minute ratio and stick with it throughout the race.  For example, I did a 8:1, run to walk.  This givesyour body the ability to recover during the minute walk, extending or eliminating the dreaded "wall".  Because you are not stopping the negative impact on your time is minimal and in fact Jeff would pitch that your time will improve because you will be stronger at the end of the race. 

The 8:1 ratio worked beautifully for me.  Given my stress fracture, I was unable to run for 6 weeks prior to the race.  I was extremely nervous going I had never been so unprepared for a marathon in my life.  So, using RUN-WALK I finished in 4:13 and felt great through mile 23 or so.  I was shocked.  I have to say the hardest part was the discipline of walking at the beginning of the race.  Yes, 8 minutes into the race I stopped to walk for a minute.  Fans were screaming at me to run, other runners were mumbling as they passed me, "oh, boy if he is stopping now he doesn't know what he's in for".  I took great enjoyment passing these guys later in the race.

This method turned a potential disaster marathon, which was my 10th, into an awesome experience.

Thanks Jeff!

50/50/50

Dean Karnez is about to attempt something pretty amazing, 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days.  He's calling it the Endurance 50.  Redefining what is humanly possible.  As I sit here with a stress fracture in my left shin, hoping to hobble through the Chicago marathon in a month,  I could only contemplate the Blatz 50.  50 beers in 50 bars in 50 days.

I'd encourage you to check out his blog to track progress.  If you feel up to it, you can even sign up to do a run with him.  I hear he is planning on doing 4:30- 5:00 marathons, so most could do it.  Here is the link to his blog to track his progress.  Dean Karnazes' Blog

The Good in a Bad Marathon Experience

No one really WANTS to have a bad marathon experience, but as the saying goes,  experience is something you get when you don't get what you want.  You learn a lot about who you are and what you are made of when the race doesn't go as planned -- running injured, dealing with bad weather, bad shoes, getting sick during the race, etc.  Each obstacle seems insurmountable, but somehow you figure out a way to work through them.  Usually its more of a mental challenge than physical one.  In fact, after you run enough marathons you realize that no race is perfect and that there is an unique life lesson buried in each race.  I've run with a fractured shin, blown out calf, in extreme rain and had a Chicago Marathon time ruined by a 10 minute episode in a porta-poddy at mile 20.  I was going to use the porta-poddy experience to illustrate my point, but perhaps a wee bit to personal and disgusting to share.  Instead, I wanted to share an email that my brother wrote me following his SD marathon.  Yes, he is the '70s looking dude in the picture below with the rad orange head band.

"The marathon was kind of an unreal experience.  It was hard not being able to run as hard as I know I use to be able to.  At mile 8, when the 9 minute mile pacer past me and I couldn’t keep up any longer, it was a really weird experience.  I felt like I already lost the race.  I was getting passed by old men, fat

women, and a guy with a modified walker!  I’m not kidding.  At first it sucked knowing just a month ago I would have blown past these guys no problem.  That made me mad.  But then somewhere in the race, when I realized I was hobbling and not running, I guess I accepted finishing was good enough.  It’s quite a weird experience attempting something you know your probably fail at.  All these people passing you and there’s nothing you can do about it. I wasn’t tired, the leg just wouldn’t go any faster. That was the hard part.   It’s a very humbling experience.  It’s probably good to go through this once, but I’d rather not do it again."

Big Sur Marathon April 2006

The Big Sur Marathon is ranked by many jounrals as being one of the Top 10 toughest races in North America.  It's littered with hills, and Hurricane Point is known as the toughest.   A two mile climb 600 feet straight up.  Additionally,  they shut down Route 1 and you can enjoy all of the scenery the entire way.  Check out my photo album for more pics.  But most of all I was looking forward to the race  because I was running it with my little brother Gus.  We rarely get the opportunity to hang, and this race was a perfect chance.  He had trained hard in Seattle and ready for the hills.  I train, of course in Champaign, where an occasional speed bump is the highest hill that can be found.  We had an awesome time running the whole race together from start to finish.

The trip also had a special suprise.  As you become enthralled with the sport of marathoning, you begin to identify with the super stars, the Barry Bonds' of the the sport so to speak.  Dean Karnazes, is probably the most famous ultramarathoners in the world.  I've read his book, tracked his races, just like you might check Tiger Woods' Sunday round.  I was pumped because Dean was going to speak at the Expo on Saturday prior to the race.  After his speech, like all good fans, I bought another copy of his book and go it signed.  Gus and I chatted with him for a while.  He told us he was going to run the  marathon the next day, infact, he was going to run it twice.  It was a point-to-point marathon, meaning, they bus you out to the start and you run back.  Instead of taking the bus out, Dean ran out and ran back.  As Gus and I began to climb Hurricane Point, the toughest point in the race, I looked over and saw Dean.  I said, "Hey Dean" and he rembered our name and said "Hey Rob and Gus".  We proceeded to chat and run Hurricane Point at an impressive pace passing most of the people walking.  He was kind enough to hang with us the whole way up.  After that, he took off like rabbit.  What an unbelievable experience, running Hurricane Point with Dean Karnazes.  Kinda like getting the opportunity to play a few holes with Tiger at Pebble Beach.

In all respects, I couldn't  ask for a better race experience.  A race that will be tought to top.

St. Louis Marathon

What a hidden gem.  The St. Louis marathon was one of my favorites.  With only 1,600 marathon participants, it was one of the better organized races.  Plenty of fluids and they handed out goo every couple of miles.  An extremely hilly course.  Mile 17 is a killer, about a mile straight up hill.  You see everyting St. Louis has to offer, from the brewery to Washington U.

This was a very challenging race for me.  Having run 4 marathons in 4 month, my buddies have been telling me I was do for an injury.  Well they were right.  Mile 7 by right calf popped.  I walked for a few minutes and was closing to calling it quits.  As I reached the top of a hill, I realized that it hurt more going up hills, so I started running again.  I changed my stride going up hills and it worked out ok.  I posted a 3:51 which was better than I would have every imagined.