RunnerDude's Blog

Running: A Saving Grace

2012-02-01T16:51:00.002-05:00

Running is anything but Radical, it’s the saving grace for many a runner.

Through the blog, I’ve had such an awesome opportunity to meet so many amazing runners from all over the world who have used running as a means to overcome life’s adversities. Some overcame family hardships, others medical issues, and still others the death of loved ones. Some used it as a means to raise funds and awareness to the plights of various causes such as breast cancer or mental illness. And still others had monumental health issues and used running as a platform to bring awareness and support to and for their own illness. And others used running to bridge the gap from being laid off to re-employment, helping give them a sense of stability while their lives were put on hold.

When you have the time, click here to meet and read about some of these awe-inspiring individuals...heroes such as Danica, Ann, Thomas, Mel, Joe, Ashley, and David.

Your support and readership of the blog means so much. If so inclined, a vote of support for RunnerDude's Blog at The Top 100 Running Sites would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your readership!

Anaylze It! The Answer May Be Just a Spreadsheet Away!

2012-01-29T10:53:00.003-05:00

I love the Yogi Berra quote, "You can observe a lot just by watching." Although humorous, there’s a lot of truth to Yogi’s statement. Problem with running is that it’s hard to watch yourself. Which reminds me of something Thoreau said, “It is as hard to see one’s self as to look backward without turning around.” You can learn from watching others, but it’s pretty dang hard to watch yourself without tripping and causing bodily harm. And that ain’t good. So, if you’re having some issues with your running, what are you to do?

Well, you can read lots of books and there are a ton out there, many with great information (just check out the Book Review section of the blog). But, while all that info is great, it still may not apply to you and your specific issues. You can visit a running coach like me and he/she can give you great info, but unless I’m with you running every day, I’m still only able to speak to you in generalities which reminds me of something Mark Twain said, “All generalization are false, including this one.” (I love that.)

So, read the books and check in with your running coach or sports doc. All that info will make you more informed and a better runner, but then take it a step further. You need to analyze yourself. Keeping a running journal is a great way to record your running habits. For years (before the dawn of laptops, PDAs, tablets, iPhones and apps) I religiously kept a running journal. I’d record my weekly mileage and jot down information about the weather, my mood, and so on. This was a great way for me to mentally reflect on my runs. The problem was that it was hard to track any trends in my running. Good or bad.

Fortunately, today there are tons of apps and websites out there that let your track all kinds of information about your daily running. I use many of them myself. The only thing I’ve found lacking in them is they’re still not catered to me. Any running is all about me, right? LOL! Well, when it comes to figuring out why I’m having this ache or pain or that, it’s definitely all about me.

I’ve found that tracking my runs on a spreadsheet can be very helpful. Someone once said, “Half of analysis is anal.” There are no words more true. So, I’m not recommending that your speed hours tracking minute details of every run (unless you just like doing that), but if you’re having some issues and can’t seem to find the answers to resolve them, then sometimes taking a closer look at your running habits over a short period of time can really be enlightening.

Customize your spreadsheet by creating column headers for each type of run you do (trail, road, sidewalk, etc) as well as type of workout (easy, long, tempo, intervals, hillwork) and distance. Then add weather conditions, your various shoes, time of day (morning, midday, afternoon). Next, add more columns for other factors such as if you fueled pre- and post-run, stretched pre- and post-run. Then add columns for aches and pains (sore knees, sore ankles, sore hips, sore whatevers.) Finally add columns that rate the run (Jubilant, Great, Mediocre, Horrible, etc.). The rows down the first column (on the far left of your grid) are where you’ll record the date of each run.

Now you're ready to start recording your data. For a month, after each run scan across the columns and put a check mark in each column that applies to that specific run.

Here comes the fun part. The thrill of the sort! Spreadsheets are so wonderful because you can sort the data. Sort by the various column headers and see what trends appear. For example if you’re having issues with your knees, then do a sort by the “Sore Knee” column and only the runs in which you’ve checked “Sore Knees” will appear. Now you can scan the data and see what other data surfaces. You may see that every time you have sore knees, you’re also wearing that older pair of running shoes. Or, maybe it’s only on the days that you’re running on the sidewalk. Or maybe it’s the days you’re wearing the older shoes and running on the sidewalk. In either case, you can start to see certain trends and now you have something tangible to help you make modifications. This will quickly help you see patterns in your running that you can avoid or try to repeat.

The Winner of the Nike Show X1 Sunglasses Is...

2012-01-22T08:38:00.001-05:00

Matthew Halip!
Congrats Matthew!

Thanks again to SunglassesShop.com who partnered with RunnerDude's Blog for this awesome giveaway--a pair of Nike Show-X1 sunglasses (valued at $150).

The Nike Show-X1 is perfect for any sport, but particularly running. These shield lens sunglasses deliver grip, stability and comfort. They feature interchangeable lenses, adjustable temples and Nike Max Lens Technology for precise views at all angles. Ideal for training any time of year. They're also functional for winter sport, golf, tennis and cycling. The adjustable ventilated nose for stability and reduced fogging make them a great choice for runners. Only the patented design of Nike Max Optics has zero distortion straight ahead and minimal distortion across the complete curve of the lens. Other lenses only claim accuracy straight ahead. Nike Max Optics were created to give athletes superior vision in a substantially larger average field of view because sport doesn't happen in a straight line.

When you have a chance, please check out their website.

10 Tips for Injury-Free Running

2012-01-19T16:35:00.001-05:00

1. Track your shoes' mileage. Worn out shoes can often contribute to and/or exacerbate pain in the ankles, knees, and hips. Like the shelf-life of the loaf bread in your pantry, your shoes have a "road-life." Instead of time, shoes are best checked for "freshness" by the miles put on them. A good rule of thumb is to buy new shoes every 300 to 500 miles. This will vary from person to person. A small person with a neutral gate may get closer to the 500 miles while a heavier/taller runner may breakdown his/her shoes more quickly and only get 300 miles.

2. Have more than one pair of running shoes. To extend the life of your shoes, having two pair is a great idea. Alternate your runs between the two pairs. Or, you could also have one pair suitable for longer runs and a lightweight pair for your faster speed workouts. Having two pairs is also helpful when you've had a rainy or muddy run. While one pair is drying, you can run in the alternate pair.

3. Only run in your running shoes. Wearing your running shoes to work or for your daily routine, can quickly break them down. After my running shoes are past their running prime, they become my knock-about-shoes. Then when they're too worn out for that, they become my yard work shoes.

4. Have a gait analysis done. Make sure you're wearing the right pair of shoes for your foot strike. Many running shoe stores and running coaches offer running gait analysis as a service. They'll have you run on a treadmill and/or outside and analyze how your foot lands when you run. Whether you roll inward, outward, or have very little or no roll will help them determine if you need a neutral, stability, or motion control shoe.

5. Stretch, Stretch, Stretch! Pre- and post-run stretching is very important in helping prevent injury. Dynamic stretching such as walking, an easy jog, butt kicks, side shuffles, walking lunges, and high knee are all examples of dynamic stretching. If you still feel tight after the dynamic stretches, then you can do some of the more traditional static (stretch-n-hold) stretches. After your run, static stretches for the quads, glutes, calves, hamstrings, and hip flexors are appropriate. If you've been sitting at a desk all day or driving hours in the car, you can become very tight. It's important to loosen up those muscles before taking them for a run.

6. Drink up! Proper hydration is vital in helping to prevent muscle cramps. If you're dehydrated before you begin your run or if you become dehydrated during your run, you increase the risk of depleted electrolytes. Potassium (an electrolyte) is needed in order for your muscles to relax after they've contracted. If you begin your run with depleted potassium levels or you deplete them while sweating on the run and don't rehydrate while running, you increase your chances for cramping of the calves, quads and/or hamstrings.

To read Tips 7-10 click here!

Cast Your Vote! If so inclined, a vote of support for RunnerDude's Blog at The Top 100 Running Sites would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your readership!

Most Beautiful Colleges for Runners

2012-01-12T11:43:00.005-05:00

Have a kid looking at colleges that's a runner? Or maybe you're the runner and you want to be able to run when you're visiting your kid at school? Or maybe you're the high school runner looking at colleges to attend next year or the following year? If so, check out the 14 Most Beautiful Colleges for Runners as selected by Best Colleges Online.

Ranking colleges is always difficult, but definitively ranking them based on something as subjective as beauty is impossible. Bearing in mind that every true and loyal alumnus/alumna thinks his or her school is the best, we made our picks for the 14 most beautiful college campuses for runners. We did our best to pick from all four geographic regions of the country, and we assumed optimal weather conditions (you’re welcome, northeast). Here are our picks, in alphabetical order:

Northeast

Colgate University
Colgate claims to have one of the fittest student bodies in the nation. You can run inside the brand new Trudy Fitness Center, but you should run outside. Set in the beautiful Chenango Valley of New York, the campus sports gentle hills, a classy mix of old and new buildings, and the lovely, five-acre Taylor Lake surrounded by oak trees. In the fall, this place looks like a postcard.
Swarthmore College
The Scott Arboretum covers over 300 of the campus’ 425 acres and contains over 4,000 kinds of plants. In other words, the school is one giant garden. Take a jog down oak-lined Magill Walk, hit the running track on College Ave. that’s lined with flowerbeds, or do stairs at the grassy, shady Scott Outdoor Amphitheater.
Williams College
If you like to run, you’ll have plenty of company at Williams. At this small liberal arts college in Massachusetts, over half the students play a sport. And who could blame them — the 450 acres boast spectacular views of the Berkshire Mountains, coupled with beautiful architecture and well-manicured, rolling hills. Join the crowd and hike up Mount Greylock on Mountain Day.

South

College of William & Mary
If you want to run where Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe once walked, come here. One look at the buildings and it’s clear this school is historic. The impressive Wren Building is the oldest school building in the U.S. at over three centuries of age. The campus is also home to the gorgeous Wren Chapel, the elegant Brafferton building, and the picturesque Grim Dell Bridge. Take a jog around the pond and take in the azaleas when they’re in season.
Florida Southern College
FSC is another winner in the world of architecture, unsurprisingly as the campus was the only one designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. A run here will take you by the largest collection of his works in the world, including the eclectic Annie M. Pfeiffer Chapel, and the newly-restored esplanades, a 1.5-mile stretch of covered walkway.
Furman University
Furman is a runner’s dream. Originally a men’s academy, today both sexes enjoy the beautiful 450-acre campus here in Greenville, South Carolina. For a short run, there’s a two-mile trail through the woods around the sprawling lake in the center of campus. Marathoners can get their kicks on the 11-mile Swamp Rabbit Trail. Or just venture out across campus and take in the Place of Peace (a former Buddhist temple) or the Asia Garden, with its pond and bamboo trees.
University of Virginia
This campus was designed by Thomas Jefferson, and for a self-trained architect, he did an outstanding job. In 1973 the campus Rotunda was restored to his original design, and it is a fantastic landmark on this already historic campus. Stately Cabell Hall could almost be Constitution Hall, and the Chapel looks like something out of Westminster. But don’t shortchange the campus’ natural beauty — a jog through the gardens in spring or fall would be hard to beat.

Being that RunnerDude is from North Carolina and a UNC-Chapel Hill grad, I'd be negligent and rude not to include some of our State's beautiful campuses...
The University of North Carolina
At the heart of campus stands the visual symbol of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For many years the Old Well served as the sole water supply for Old East and Old West dormitories.
In 1897, the well was given its present decorative form at the direction of President Erwin A. Alderman, who described his beautification project as largely derived from the Temple of Love in the Garden of Versailles. In 1954 the well was given added beauty with brick walks, plantings, and benches. Students can bring good luck with a drink from the Old Well on the first day of classes. The perfect water stop for runners!
North Carolina State University
Enjoy a part of history when your run by State's famous Memorial Bell Tower. A letter from Vance Sykes (Class of 1907) to E. B. Owen, then serving as alumni secretary, is credited with the movement to construct a monument to those alumni killed in World War I. The memorial committee appointed Architect William Henry Deacy to design the tower in 1920. Its blending of Romanesque features and Gothic verticality are reminiscent of the towers of West Point. The 115-foot monument, called "a legend in stone" contains 1,400 tons of stone set on a 700-ton concrete base, and exceeded $150,000 in cost.
Duke University

Duke offers many places to run including Duke Forest and the beautiful Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Often spoken of as "the crown jewel of Duke University," Duke Gardens occupies 55 acres in the heart of west campus, adjacent to Duke University Medical Center. It is recognized as one of the premier public gardens in the United States, renowned both for landscape design and the quality of horticulture, each year attracting more than 300,000 visitors from all over the world.

Midwest

Iowa State University
In 1999, Iowa State was awarded the title of Medallion Site by the American Society of Landscape Architects. The campus has been praised for its use of trees and plants to tie together its mix of classic and modern buildings across the luscious 490 acres. Take a run past Lake LaVerne, through Reiman Garden, and circle back to watch the sun set on Beardshear Hall.
University of Notre Dame
This storied university is dotted with iconic spots like the famous Golden Dome. An easy two-mile jog around St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s Lakes lets you take in the waters that give the school its full name, Notre Dame du Lac. For longer routes, seek out the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, a beautiful park and replica of the famous French shrine.
University of Wisconsin
Located on the banks of Mendota Lake in Madison, UW has a wonderful campus for runners and walkers alike. The main campus is nearly 1,000 acres and features the Lakeshore Nature Preserve on the north point. The Lakeshore Path is your destination for scenic running. It takes you up and down Picnic Point, the mile-long peninsula jutting out into the lake, and down the lane known as Willow Walk, named for the shady willow trees lining the path.

West

Lewis & Clark College
Nature is the star at Lewis & Clark College. Situated on a hilltop immediately adjacent to Tryon Creek State Park in Portland, the school is a breathtaking forest vista. Students are split on whether the reflecting pool with the view of Mount Hood, the ravine area, or the Rose Garden is the most stunning place to take in on a run. Don’t miss the terrific architecture of the sixteen-sided Flanagan Chapel.
University of California, Santa Cruz
UC Santa Cruz in the Santa Cruz Mountains of sunny California has it all: redwood trees everywhere, grassy hills, incredible views, and footbridges over ravines. With 2,000 acres of sheer outdoor goodness, one might expect the buildings to be an afterthought. Instead they are an accomplishment in their own right, with each college having its own unique style.
University of Montana
With majestic Mount Sentinel rising in the background, UM in Missoula consists of 200 acres of gorgeous Rocky Mountain real estate. The wide open areas and big, blue sky are as much a part of the beauty here as the vibrant green lawns and shady paths like Memorial Row. Check out the Kim Williams Nature Trail that starts at the north end of campus takes you along the Clark Fork River.
University of Oregon
The home of the Ducks in Eugene is another Pacific Northwest gem. With 3,000 trees in over 500 varieties, you’ll find plenty of shade for runs, not that you’ll need it given the cool mountain air. Visitors are regularly stunned by how green the campus grass is. And with an array of nice, modern buildings, plus two halls designated as historic landmarks, UO celebrates both the old and new schools of architecture.

What is your favorite College Campus for running?
There are tons of schools across the country with awesome campuses for running. Some small, some large. Be sure to leave a comment and let us know about about the great colleges in your area that offer great routes for runners.

Cast Your Vote! If so inclined, a vote of support for RunnerDude's Blog at The Top 100 Running Sites would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your readership!

New Year's Resolutions: Avoid the BOMTICC Syndrome

2011-12-31T21:14:00.002-05:00

You can tell it’s the New Year. Just drive by any fitness club or fitness center and the parking lots are packed. The big box gyms are full of well-meaning resolutions of starting the year with a better, healthier, and fitter you.

Drive by the same gyms in 2 months and you’ll see tumbleweeds blowing through the parking lots. The scientific name for the soon-to-be epidemic of bare parking lots is BOMTICC Syndrome (Bite-Off-More-Than-I-Can-Chew- New-Year’s-Resolution Syndrome.) What’s the cause of this peculiar, yet predictable phenomenon? Individuals with unrealistic expectations.

Opting for a healthier you isn’t rocket science but nor should it be an impulse buy standing in line at the super market. The following 10 simple tips will help you avoid becoming the next victim of BOMTICC.

Be a savvy shopper. Be wary of the memorizing infomercials promising a rock-hard beach body in 6 weeks. Some of the latest Make-You-Fit-Quick products do provide results, but before shelling out a ton of dough, ask yourself if it’s right for you. The product may do as promised and make you leaner and stronger, but are you the type to stick to using an at-home product. Do you have enough drive and internal motivation to pick-it up and use it every day? If not, put the phone down and back away from the TV. Maybe you need to find a gym, fitness center or personal training studio.
Shop around for gyms. Not all gyms are made alike. Some are full of bells and whistles. There’s one huge chain of fitness centers in my area that has a name that puts me off from the get-go. The name itself makes me anxious. Makes me think I have to hurry and get done quickly. It’s also full of bells and whistles that are a little overwhelming. One friend described it to me as a “Chucky-Cheese for Adults.” I chuckled when I heard that, but he was right (for me anyway). The point is that some gyms provide tons of bells and whistle and that may be just what you need. Other gyms may not have all the fanfare, but may provide more personal service. So, visit more than one gym before purchasing a membership, you may discover that the big box gym isn’t for you at all.
Go small. If you feel lost in a big gym, check out some of the small personal training studios in your area that provide one-on-one or small group training. You may pay a little more because of the one-on-one instruction, but you might be surprised that in some cases, you’re paying no more than what you would for a gym membership and personal training at a big box gym.
Get Educated. If you join a gym, take them up on the free personal training that often comes with a new membership. It may only be a couple of sessions, but take that opportunity to have a personal trainer show you how to use the equipment properly and with proper technique.Also, it's worth paying for a few personal training sessions (if not more) in order to be assured that you're getting well balanced workouts and weekly fitness plans.
Set realistic goals for yourself. Rome wasn’t built in a day and you didn’t get out of shape in a day either. It will take some time to begin seeing some results. Be patient. Make a long term goal as well as several interim short term goals. For example, maybe your long term goal is to lose 40 lbs and run a 10K by this time next year. Now back up and set short term goals to help you get there. Check with your local running clubs and running stores to see if there are any beginningrunning groups starting in January in your area. Then set up an appointment with a nutritionist or join a weight-loss support group (free or ones like Weight Watchers). Maybe you want to tackle the beginning running first and then meet with the nutritionist. It’s your decision, but set your plan up in incremental steps. Baby steps.
Brace yourself. Realize that the saying “No pain. No gain.” is pretty much true. That doesn’t mean you should suffer an injury, but if you’ve been a sedentary person, you’re going to feel some discomfort when beginning a new fitness program. The good news is that you will acclimate and that discomfort will subside. Most people suffering from BOMTICC Syndrome never stick with it long enough to experience the pleasure that comes from a good workout. When anyone (athlete or couch potato) increases the intensity of their activity, they’ll feel it. This is called the gain threshold. When you begin a new fitness program, you start it with your current level of fitness. When you add the new stresses on your body, you’ll feel sore and your fitness level will actually dip a little, but if you hang in there and keep up the workouts, in about 4-6 weeks you’ll pull out of that threshold and be stronger than you were when you started the new exercise.
Get your head in the game. Exercise is often as much mental as it is physical. If your head isn’t in the game, you’re not going to be successful. Yes, you’ll have down days. You’ll have days that you “fall off the wagon.” But, if you go into the new life of fitness with a true commitment and positive mental attitude, you’ll be able to pull yourself out of the lows and get back on track.
Tell your family and friends. Saying out loud that you’re going to start a fitness program makes it “more real” to you. Verbalizing it to friends and family makes you more committed to your goal. It ups the accountability level.
Find a workout buddy. Put the word out with your family, friends and colleagues that you’re starting a fitness routine and you’d like some company. It may that little nudge your cubical neighbor at work has been waiting for. Scope out your city for weekly fitness groups or running groups. Groups can help hold you accountable. Plus, you’ll meet new people going through the same struggles. (Be careful to find groups suitable to your fitness level. Hard corps boot camps may not be appropriate for one of your first short term goals.) No such groups in your area? Check with your HR department at work and see if they can provide some fitness classes. Remind them that healthier employees means less sick days taken.
Celebrate the small steps. When you reach those interim goals treat yourself. Not with food, but buy yourself that new pair of jeans or shoes you wanted, treat yourself to a movie (smuggle in your own air-popped popcorn), or take that weekend getaway. Pat yourself on the back and acknowledge your hard work when you reach your goals (big and small).

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Thanks!

The Best Christmas Present Ever!

2011-12-23T21:58:00.004-05:00

My Christmas present came a little early this year. Actually it arrived this past Monday in the form of a voice mail message on my cell. The message began, "This is Robin from Dr. Levine's office and he asked me to call and let you know that your melanoma has been completely removed." I was so elated. What an awesome gift! I had an appointment to see Dr. Levine today (Friday) to have him check the incision and share the results from the wide excision done of a melanoma I had on my back, so getting the news 5 days early was such a relief.

Back on the 14th I posted about my experience with having the wide excision done during what I thought was going to be a consultation. Quite the shock. To read about that experience and how I discovered the mole in the first place, click here.

I posted about that experience and I'm sharing the good news now for three reasons. First, runners have a higher incident of skin cancer than the average non-runner because of our exposure to the sun. I knew this before discovering I had melanoma, but never really took it seriously. "It won't happen to me. I don't have any family history of skin cancer. I'll put on sun screen next time." I even blogged about the higher chance of skin cancer in runners. But when it came to practicing what I was preaching, I fell short. It took a brick falling on my head (actually a mole on my back) to wake me up to the seriousness of sun exposure.

Second, skin cancer, when detected early, has a very high cure rate. Runners, be vigilant about regularly checking your body for moles. Know the ABCDEs of Skin Cancer.

Asymmetry-Normal moles or freckles are completely symmetrical. If you drew an imaginary line down the center of a normal mole or spot, the two halves would be symmetrical or look the same. With skin cancer, mole or skin spots will look different on each side.
Border-A normal mole or spot has even edges. With skin cancer, a mole or spot will have blurry and/or jagged edges.
Color-A mole or skin spot with more than one hue is suspicious and needs to be checked by a doctor. Normal moles and/or skin spots are usually one color. This can include lightening or darkening of the mole.
Diameter-If a mole or skin spot is larger than a pencil eraser (about 1/4 inch or 6mm), you need to have it checked out by a doctor. This even includes moles and skin spots that do not have any other abnormalities (color, border, asymmetry).
Elevation- Elevation refers to a mole that is raised above the surface and has an uneven surface.

Use the ABCDEs of Skin Cancer as a guide in initially evaluating moles and skin spots on your body. But if you have any doubts, GO TO THE DOCTOR! Moles may never change, they make take a long time to change, or they can change fairly quickly. My mole began to change rather quickly. Problem was I couldn't see it. It was in the center of my back. Luckily my wife noticed the sudden change.

Third, you can drastically decrease your chances of skin cancer by wearing sunblock and/or sunscreen with an spf of 15 or higher. Cover as much exposed skin as possible and wear a hat and sunglasses. My dermatologist it trying to get me to set a new trend among runners by wearing a big floppy hat. I'm not quite to the floppy hat stage yet, but I'm definitely now a daily wearer of sunblock.

Below is a sketch showing what was involved in the wide excision done to remove the skin around the melanoma on my back, followed by two photos of the incision on my back after the procedure. The first picture shows the size of the elliptical patch of skin about 2.25" wide and 4.25" long that was removed.

An excision is different than shaving off a mole or freezing the mole off. A wide excision is done after the mole has been removed and biopsied. If the biopsy reveals skin cancer, especially melanoma, then a wide excision is often done to remove the skin from around the area of the original mole. The entire layer of skin (down to the muscle is removed. Then the site is sutured. My wide excision had at least two layers of internal sutures and then the outer skin was closed using steri-strips (see the middle picture below).

If you have a suspicious mole, don't let the pictures above keep you from getting it checked. I can think of a 1000 things I'd rather do than have a wide excision done, but I did it. The initial shots to deaden the area were the worst of the procedure. Honestly, I didn't feel much after that. The following week, my back was a little sore and I couldn't do much twisting or turning. My clients in the studio this week were awesome and helped out with toting weights around and re-racking them for me. I only needed the pain meds the doc prescribed me once and that was just the first night and it was more to help me sleep than for intense pain.

So check those moles frequently and slather on the sunblock!! I'm a practice-what-I-preacher now!

Sports Bras Vs. Speedos

2011-12-17T20:52:00.002-05:00

Ever wonder how running differs between the sexes? Check this out! The information is brought to you by MP3Running.com.

Running Music for a better running experience!

Twitter Road Race

2011-12-17T20:32:00.003-05:00

Doug Cassaro

The following is being reposted from fellow blogger Doug Cassaro's blog-I don't wear headphones when I run.It's such a great idea I thought I'd share his idea by reposting it on RunnerDude's Blog. Read on to learn about the Twitter Road Race.....

If you're like me, you're always trying to find a way to keep running fresh. You run a different route. You hit the trails instead of the road. You run in the morning instead of the evening. You join a running group. The list goes on and on.

I got to thinking about how it would be fun to combine the camaraderie of road racing with the powers of Twitter...a twitter road race!

Thanks to everyone's amazing feedback on Twitter, the race is on! Those that are interested in participating can register here. The 1st Twitter Road Race is going to be held on Saturday, January 21st. Race distance is a 5K.

So, what do you do on race day? Simple, head out the door and run the race distance! Choose which ever route you want. You get to decide how easy or hard the course is.

When you finish, there will be a form similar to the one you used to register where you can record you finishing time. I will post that form as race day nears. To be classified as an "official" finisher, you MUST submit your time on the date of the race. Also, don't forget to tweet about your run using the hashtag #TwitterRoadRace so everyone can read how you did!

I will post the results for the race within 24 hours.

The goal of this race is to create a new and fun way to connect with all the awesome runners on Twitter. It's a way for us all to run together even though we might live on separate sides of the country.

I welcome any and all comments/suggestions for this race. Please spread the word to all your followers on Twitter! I'm leaning on you guys to help get this race trending! Don't forget to use #TwitterRoadRace when you tweet!

You guys rock! Can't wait for January 21st! Happy running!

Doug
@seedouglasrun

Not Just a Statistic

2011-12-14T22:43:00.000-05:00

“Statistic.” On the surface it’s a fairly cold word. Bland data. Heartless. Void of feeling. Just a number. About a month ago, during a doctor appointment, I became a statistic. Like a light bulb that shatters from a surge of electricity when you flip the switch, I realized that all those statistics actually represent people and suddenly, way out of left field, I was one of them.

What had begun as a routine follow-up visit at the dermatologist ended up something way beyond routine. The doc was checking to see how the medicine she prescribed for some dry skin on my face was working. She was really pleased to see it had cleared up. Upbeat and chipper, she asked if there was anything else, I needed. I asked if she would mind taking a look at a mole on my back that my wife had encouraged me to get checked. The previous upbeat tempo of the earlier conversation came to an abrupt halt as if a thief had just walked into the room.

After lifting my shirt, I heard nothing. Silence. That nothingness was the thief that had crept into the examining room just a second or two earlier, stealing all the air out of the room. I couldn’t breathe. When my lungs finally expanded, I realized the doc was asking if anyone in my family had skin cancer. I said, “Not that I know of,” but soon realized that no sound was coming out of my mouth. I eventually managed to eek out an audible, response. She asked how long I'd had the mole. I told her that I had noticed it about six months ago and at the time had my family doc look at it. He thought it was okay, but said to keep an eye on it.

The mole was in the center I my back; I actually couldn’t see it. So, like so many things….out of sight, out of mind. I had forgotten about it. But earlier in the week, my wife saw me changing shirts and said, “You really need to get that checked again.” I told this to the doc and she said, “Your wife probably just saved your life.” She had me roll over, injected the area in question with something to numb the skin and proceeded to scooped out a pretty good chunk of me to send off to the lab. She wouldn’t, couldn’t, confirm anything, but said that I’d get the results back next week from the lab.

Luckily, I didn't have to wait that long. The doc called me personally the next day. The news hit me like a brick. Melanoma. The rarest and most aggressive type of skin cancer. Numb, I asked her what the next steps were. She explained that she’d make an appointment for me with a surgeon at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Hospital in Winston Salem. They would more than likely do a more invasive removal of the skin from around the area the mole was located and possibly inject radioactive dye into the area to see if it drained to a lymph node. If it did, a biopsy would be done of the lymph node. If cancer was found in that lymph node, then the surrounding lymph nodes would be removed and probably other types of more rigorous treatments would be implemented. The phone call ended with, “Your wife really did just save your life.”

Stunned….a statistic….a number, but determined I waited for the consultation with the doc at the Cancer Center at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital.

After a long 4 weeks, the consultation finally took place today. Well, I thought it was going to be a consultation. Turned out the doctor at the cancer center wanted to do the procedure today. A little shocked and overwhelmed, I headed to the operating room with my wife. I was a trooper and with my wife's support I did well during the surgery.

With a rather large hunk of me missing, I’m now the proud owner of a 5” incision down the center of my back. I’ll know in about a week if the tests come back negative. As I tell my runners when in training… "Trust. Believe. CONQUER!” That’s exactly how I plan to tackle this unexpected life-bump in the road.

About a year ago, I posted on the blog an article I’d written title “Runners!Block That Sun!" never knowing I’d be writing about me. Please read that article and re-read it if you’ve already read it. Runners do tend to have a higher incidence of skin cancer. I’m proof of that. Also, check your body thoroughly (everywhere) for moles. Have your doc check them out. If you don’t have a spouse or significant other, get a running buddy to check your back. Like I said, I can’t see the spot where mine was located. Don’t let modesty keep you from finding a questionable mole. If you’re a runner, it’s probably a good idea to have your doc check your moles at least once a year. And heed the words of wisdom my doc gave me as I left the hospital today, “You now love sun block. You will wear sun block every day. Sun Block is your best friend.”

RunnerDude's Blog is Clean!

2011-12-14T22:01:00.002-05:00

If you visited the blog yesterday, you probably got a message that warned you not to go to the blog that it was known to distribute malware. I was just as shocked as you to get such a message.

I pride myself on being very careful with the blog and very selective on the content I put on the blog. Unfortunately there are lots of "bad guys" out there up to their malicious tricks. So, I quickly got to work tracking down the problem.

I discovered that in the section of the blog where I list other running blogs that I follow, one of those blogs had been severely hacked. Having a link to that blog caused the warning to appear if you tried to visit RunnerDude's Blog yesterday.

I removed the link and resubmitted my blog to Google for review and it was cleared and put back online. So please feel free to visit the blog. I apologize for any worries this may have caused.

Because I now have a heightened sense of security, I've made the comments portion on each post on an approval basis. So, please still leave your awesome and helpful comments. I'll read each one and weed out the obvious risks.

Don't forget to enter the current two giveaways on the blog! First, if you need a new pair of running shoes, be sure to enter the drawing for a free pair of running shoes sponsored by Sears!!! (Click here to Enter!) Then if you're looking for a challenging marathon to run, be sure to enter for a chance to win a free entry to the Blue Ridge Marathon! (Click Here to Enter!)

Thanks again for your loyal support and readership!

8 Tips to Squeeze Your Runs in When You Travel

2011-12-09T12:34:00.002-05:00

Find it hard to get your runs in when you travel? With a little advance planning, getting in those runs might be easier than you think. Below are eight tips to help you squeeze in the runs while on the road.

1. Check at the Front Desk

Staying at a hotel? Check with the front desk or concierge to see if they know of any running routes in the area. Many times they’ll even have a map of a walking and/or running route in or near the hotel. They may also have information on local running groups and weekly group runs. I’ve done this several times and more times than not, they have information to share.

2. Use the Fitness Center

Most major hotels provide a fitness room. Some are better than others, but most include a treadmill. It may not be glamorous or very stimulating, but if it’s raining out, snowing, or you’re in an area not conducive to running, then treadmill is a great option. If treadmill running is boring to you, try doing increasing the incline of the treadmill to simulate hill intervals. Do 45 seconds at a 5 to 7 degree incline then 45 seconds at 0. Repeat five to 10 times. Or try doing an interval workout. Run fast/slow intervals such as 5-minutes fast and 1-minute slow for five cycles. That makes a great 30-minute treadmill workout. (Click here for a hill workout on the treadmill.) Your hotel not have a fitness room? Check with the front desk and see if there is a gym nearby. Many gyms will let you purchase a daily pass. Some hotels even have relationships with local gyms where you’re able to attend free or for a nominal fee.

3. Google Local Running Stores

Most major cities have running stores. Take a few moments to Google "running store" and the city you’re visiting. Look for listings of the independent running stores in the area. Then check out their websites. Many local running stores will post information about weekly group runs. If in doubt about suitability for your pace or fitness level, just give the store a call.

4. Check out the Social Scene

There are several social sites such as Athlinks, DailyMile, SeriousRunning and the Active.com community boards that cater to runners. These sites are free and are kind of like a Facebook for runners. After creating a profile, you can search runners by location and then contact individuals and ask if they know of any good running routes in the area. Most of these sites also contain an online log where you can keep track of your daily/weekly workouts as well as keep your with your race results.

For RunnerDude's remaining 4 tips on how to squeeze in a run while traveling, go to Active.com.

The Blue Ridge Marathon: Are You Ready?

2011-12-06T15:44:00.001-05:00

Runners, are you looking for a BIGGER challenge? Here’s an offer just for you!

Picture this -- a cool breeze at your back, the scent of blossoming flowers, “purple mountain’s majesty” in front of you…and the SEARING pain in your quads with each and every stride down this effing mountain!

Don’t come to Roanoke, Virginia to enjoy a relaxing weekend; come to see just how much the National College Blue Ridge Marathon can kick your butt.

If you’re one of the growing population of marathoners seeking challenging marathons to test your mental and physical endurance, you may have noticed a rivalry quickly building between the National College Blue Ridge Marathon in Roanoke, Virginia and the TMC Mount Lemmon Marathon in Tucson, Arizona. Both races claim to be America’s toughest road marathon.

When organizers of the Blue Ridge Marathon learned about Mount Lemmon’s claim they issued a challenge to “let the runners decide which is tougher”, and they backed their challenge by offering free entries into their race to anyone who had just completed the Mount Lemmon Marathon.

About 20 runners accepted the offer and hit the pavement this past April. After the race, organizers showed some southern hospitality by treating the Mount Lemmon runners to breakfast at Thelma’s Chicken and Waffles. Those who know Thelma’s would argue this was a bribe…and that may be the case. Regardless after experiencing 26.2 miles of elevation change, pounding rain and hail, and a course that trekked through the downtown area, followed a river, climbed the mountain, and took runners back down the mountain, runners were asked to share their experience. Here’s what they had to say:

Congrats to Brad Rennick, the Winner of A Free Entry to

the Blue Ridge Marathon! And a big thanks to the Blue Ridge Marathon race director for providing such an awesome giveway for the blog!

For more information on the two races

National College Blue Ridge Marathon Roanoke, Virginia www.blueridgemarathon.com	TMC Mount Lemmon Marathon Tucson, Ariz. www.mountlemmonmarathon.com
Three mountains to ascend and descend, totaling 7,200 feet of elevation change.	Gradual climb of 6,000 feet.

Pick the Shoe That's Right for You

2011-12-02T13:25:00.008-05:00

RunnerDude's Blog is really pleased to say that this post has been sponsored by Sears. Sears has asked RunnerDude's Blog to help spread the word about it's new initiative "Sears Fitness First" and the fact that you can find all the shoes you need to help get fit and maintain a healthy lifestyle right at Sears. Runners, you'll find brands like New Balance, Reebok, Asics and more. In addition to offering a great array of running shoes to chose from, Sears has also produced a series of videos hosted by celebrity trainer Brett Hoebel. You may remember him as one of the celebrity trainers from last season's The Biggest Loser.

Also, be sure to check out the Sears Fitness First button/link in the top right-hand sidebar of the blog for a quick link to the Sears Fitness First website.

Sears Sponsored Shoe Giveaway!
Congrats to Jay De Boer, Winner of the Free Running Shoes Giveaway Drawing Sponsored by Sears Fitness First!

Still Not Sure What Shoe is Best for You?

As a running coach who works with a great deal of new runners, I've discovered there are three camps when it comes to new runners and running shoes. Some newbies come to the sport with no clue they need a good quality running shoe. They show up in their 5-year-old knock-about-sneakers. Other new runners figure they need new shoes, so they buy what looks cool or what matches their outfit. And still others know a little about the different types of running shoes, but have no idea what they need and are overwhelmed by all the terms and lingo associated with running shoes.

Who'd a thunk that something that goes on your feet could be so technical and have become such a huge industry—about $4 billion a year in America. Buying new running shoes can be fun, exciting, frustrating, and expensive—especially for newcomers. Once you start looking for a pair, you quickly get bombarded with terms like, overpronator, supinator, motion-control, neutral, semi-curved last, curved last, midsole, yada, yada, yada. So how do you know which shoe is right for you?

To be competitive, shoe companies have added all sorts of bells and whistles to their running shoe lines. As a runner, especially a new runner, be careful not to let the cool features keep you from purchasing the shoe that best fits your foot type.

In order to do that, you need to know a little about your foot type. There's a really simple test you can do to determine this. All you need is a brown paper grocery bag, a cotton ball, and some cooking oil. Lay the bag flat on the floor. Using a cotton ball, spread a thin layer of cooking oil on the bottom of both feet (bare). Next, carefully step onto the bag to make a set of footprints.

Now examine your prints and compare them to the illustration.

Solid print—you're what is known as an overpronator. This usually means you have a very low arch or "flat feet." When you run your foot tends to roll too far inward. Pronation in itself is not a problem, but runners with flat feet, tend to pronate too much and need a more rigid shoe that provides stability or good motion control.
Slight curve—you're referred to as neutral. This means you have a regular arch and you're a normal pronator. You're the lucky runner in that you can run in most any type of running shoe. A bigger or heavier neutral runner may want a shoe with some stability, while a smaller/lighter runner may benefit from a neutral shoe with some cushion.
Large curve—you're an underpronator (or a supinator). Basically, underpronators have high arches. Underpronators can experience too much shock in the leg because the excessively high arch prevents normal shock absorption. A regular arch will collapse a little during the foot strike absorbing some of the shock. To help aid in the shock absorption, underpronators need a neutral shoe with extra cushion.

Another test you can do is to have a running buddy check your stance. Stand upright in bare feet. Be sure to stand in your usual standing posture. Don't try to correct anything. Have your buddy stand behind you and observe the position of your lower legs and ankles. If your ankles roll inward like the first picture, chances are you're an overpronator. If your stance is pretty straight with no inward or outward lean at the ankle, chances are you're neutral. And, if your ankles tend to roll outward like the third picture, chances are you're an underpronator.

None of these self-checks are 100% foolproof, they're just merely simple checks to help lead you to the right shoe. The best option is to visit your local running store and have them check your footstrike and running gate. And the best test of all is to buy a shoe that feels great from the get-go.

Another thing to keep in mind is the height of the shoe's heel. A shoe with a bigger heel-to-toe drop tends to promote heel-striking which can lead to injury, if it's severe. Traditional running shoes on average have a 12-13mm drop from the heel to the toe. A shoe that has a heel-drop lower than that will help to promote more of a midfoot landing, helping you work more with the road as you run instead of against it.

Once you've determined your specific needs and you're ready to try on some shoes, be sure you do it in the afternoon, after you've been on your feet all day. You'd be surprised how much difference there is in your feet from the beginning of the day to the end. If you buy shoes in the morning you may be surprised that they feel too tight when you go for your afternoon run the next day. Also, make sure your shoes fit snugly in the heel and give you enough room in the toe box. Buying a shoe is often a lot of trial and error, but hopefully this information will help you find the shoe just right for you.

When should you replace your shoes? Rule of thumb is your shoes should be replaced about every 300-500 miles. This varies from runner to runner. A larger runner may breakdown his/her shoes more quickly and may need new shoes closer to the 300-mile mark while a lighter runner may make it closer to the 500-mile mark.

More Great Holiday Gift Ideas for Runners!

2011-11-30T07:30:00.000-05:00

Is your spouse, significant other, sibling, best friend, boss, colleague, or neighbor-down-the-street a runner? Are you at a loss for what gift to give them for the holidays? If so, then check out the gift suggestions below. From the practical, to the indulgent, to the whimsical, there's something for every runner in your life. Check it out!

INKnBURN

This new line of technical running tops shorts, and other running apparel is perfect for the art lover, tattoo lover, or someone who just likes to add a little flare to their running attire. I've tested the shirts, shorts, and sleeves and they wear great. INKnBURN uses fabrics that are moisture wicking, light and they breathe -- helping you stay comfortable as you achieve your peak performance. Their proprietary technique for getting art on their apparel creates vivid and powerful designs that you can’t feel, and that do not compromise the performance of the fabric. Their designs are all about personal strength and performance. Don’t disappear into the crowd... Distance yourself with INKnBURN and the Art of Running.

Knuckle Lamps

With the innovative Knuckle Lamps, you get two lights that provide 45 lumens per light, a wide beam, included batteries, free shipping, a 5-year warranty, and a money back guarantee. What more could you ask for? I've tested these lights and they work great. I was worried that them beams may move too much and bother me, but what I got instead was a wide steady beam. They fit securely over your knuckles in a way that you don't have to "hold" them. They just stay in place. They are also very light weight and you forget they are there once you begin your run. So, if day is running in the dark, keep him safe and get him a pair of Knuckle Lights.

Loop Nano

The Loop Nano is a one piece silicone watchband that seamlessly integrates the 6th generation iPod Nano into a high-end time piece. Together they become a single entity, their form and function wrapped into a truly unique comfortable, and stylish wrist watch.

Hood to Coast

On January 11th, 2011, runners and athletes nationwide made their way to see the world’s largest relay race in movie theaters for a Special, One-Night Only screening. The special showing was such a hit that an encore showing took place in February, 2011. Now this awesome documentary can be purchased on DVD and Blu-ray. HOOD TO COAST is an inspiring new documentary that follows four teams with various levels of athletic ability on their epic journey to conquer the world’s largest relay race. Some run to test their personal limits, some to overcome personal obstacles, and others leap in blindly looking for a way to shake up a complacent life. As we follow these four teams, we realize that winning isn’t everything in a film that takes a celebratory look at personal motivation and attempting the extraordinary. Hood to Coast is among my favorite documentary and running-related movies.

You can order a 2-Disc Special Edition DVD ($21.95) or Blue-ray ($27.95). Includes over 95 minutes of extras. Free shipping! Click here for more info.

Hood To Coast Movie Trailer #2 for Race Website from Film For Thought on Vimeo.

FlexMassager

This cool "low-tech" tool is a must-have for any runner. Touted as the "Portable, Personal Massage Tool" it's exactly what it promises to be. The FlexMassager is the brain child of Steve and Lee, a father and son team who both enjoy outdoor activities and endurance sports. They needed something that was lightweight and compact enough to take on a backpacking trip, but could also provide an amazing massage. After about a year of tinkering in their garage, the FlexMassager was born. It provides deep tissue massage as well as a softer skin massage, and it can fit in your running bag easily! Or, just toss it in your car to have handy after your long run. I personally have a FlexMassager and use it frequently after runs. I also keep it by be desk in the studio. It's great for relaxing tense muscles from sitting at the computer too long. I also use it on my feet to prevent from getting plantar fasciitis. Click here to find out more about the FlexMassager.

Amphipod Hydration Belt

If your runner is a distance runner he/she definitely needs a source of hydration on those long runs. I've never been a big fan of hydration belts until I discovered the Full-Tilt-Velocity belt by Amphipod. The belt allows the bottle to lay flat and stay secure. No jiggles. I promise. The Amphipod bottles are great too. They do not leak. I've had one bottle from a handheld model for over 8 years and it's still as water tight as the day I bought it. Check it out!

Personalized BibFOLIO

Almost every runner that races keeps their race bibs as a memento of their hard work. Usually they get stuffed in a drawer, in a shoe box, or in a file folder. Surprise your runner with a truly unique gift, a BibFolio. This one-of-a-kind display holder will house their bibs so they they can be displayed proudly and viewed often. There are several styles to choose from, many of which can be personalized with your runner's name and/or photograph. I have a BibFolio of my own, and it truly is a cool way to keep track of your races. Check them out here!

Feetures! Elite Socks

I've worn many different brands of socks, but by far, my favorite is Feetures! Every runner needs socks and can never have enough. I've worn several styles from Feetures and love them all, but my favorite is the Elite. It's their most technically advanced sock. The Sock-Lock support system works to make your foot and sock one. The light cushion of the sock features high density cushioning in just the right spots. The Power Arch is anatomically constructed to provide targeted support where it's needed most. Anatomical right and left foot design enhances fit, delivering maximum protection by helping to eliminate blisters. iWick fibers wick moisture to keep feet dry and odor free. Stinkless socks? That's enough reason to buy them right there! Check them out!

Saucony's ViZiPRO High Performance Reflective Clothing and Gear

Where competing high-visibility apparel falls short, ViZiPRO shines. Made with soft, moisture-wicking Drylete, crisp reflective accents and high-quality stitching makes this night-time line extremely comfortable to wear. I personally wear the Epic Run Vest and love it. It's breathable, yet at the same time keeps the penetrating wind and cold out. It's perfect for all the night time winter running I have to do. From shoes, to gloves, to vests, to jackets, to hats, check out the entire line.

Sprinter Headlamp by Black Diamond

Along with reflective gear (so motorists can see your favorite runner), your runner also needs to see where he/she is going! The Sprinter Headlamp by Black Diamond is a great option weighing only 3.5oz. It has a very bright light (around 70 lumens) which well let you see about 150 feet ahead and best of all the light is focused on the ground right around your feet and a few strides ahead, perfect for runners. The headlamp also comes with a blinking red light positioned on the back strap making it a great safety feature. Probably the best feature of all is that the lamp is rechargeable. There's no batteries!! Check it out here!

Lululemon Athletica Apparel

My favorite: Run Response Short

About a year ago, a running buddy of mine had on a really cool pair of running shorts. They had pockets and the legs were a little longer and slimmer than most running shorts. The fabric looked awesome too. I didn't recognize the brand symbol so I asked him about them. He told me they were his Lulus. I said, "What?!" He said the brand was Lululemon. He was on a trip with some running buddies and the ladies in the group took him and the other guys into the Lululemon Athletica shop. They told him the company was known for their great yoga apparel, but that they had really great running clothes too. He tried on a the pair of shorts and was sold. Shortly after, I ordered a pair too. They are awesome. Recently Lululemon sent me more styles to test out and they too are amazing. (Stay tuned for my upcoming review.) Their clothes are a little pricey, but the quality and comfort is amazing. Check them out!

TASC Running Apparel

Another one of my favorite lines of running apparel (Thriv) now has a new name, TASC Performance. TASC stands for "Technical All Season Comfort" and I couldn't agree more. The company originated with one mission - the reinvention of performance apparel. After 2.5 years of research, development, and engineering, they brought the performance market something completely new and revolutionary with their first generation Bamboo Performance Technology line - Thriv. TASC Performance has taken that original technology and incorporated new fabric structures, fiber blends and technical details and is now staging a coup d' etat on the performance apparel industry. The other great thing is they now have Men's size small!!! (I'm a little dude and originally the Thriv brand only offered mediums as the smallest size for men, but that's all changed.) There are many different styles for men and women to choose from. I've recently tested and really like the Hybrid Fitted SS Crew. This shirt (see photo) has a snug fit making it perfect for a base layer. It's moisture wicking abilities are awesome. That's saying a lot coming from a guy who starts to sweat as soon as his foot hits the ground. The fabric is very soft and non abrasive. I like the snugger fit of the SS Crew as a base layer because it really helps prevent chafing. Don't worry, there are looser fitting options too. Go ahead...check them out!

Great Stocking Stuffer Ideas!

Ultra Pocket Hat
The Ultra Pocket Hat from Gone For A Run has two zippered pockets perfect for keys, gels, ID, money, etc. The pockets feature a velcro closure and holds contents securely and comfortably. Its aerodynamic construction, ventilated mesh side panels, reflective safety piping, moisture wicking material along with these patented outer pockets make this hat a top choice for athletes.

WristSTASH
The WristSTASH Sweatband Wrist Wallet, also from Gone for a Run is also a great option. You can easily slide your money, music, key and credit card inside and then zip it up to keep it secure. It's woven from soft recycled cotton terry. The Terry cloth is also great for wiping the sweat off your face and forehead during a run.

Shoe Pouch
The Shoe Pouch from RoadID is another a great option. The pouch is versatile, durable, and will keep its contents dry in its water resistant ripstop nylon pouch. It easily attaches to your shoe laces with a velcro strap. Also, if you already own a Sport ID from RoadID, you can easily attach it to the Shoe Pouch having it double as a form of ID as well as a storage place for keys and money.

Micropack Land Sport Pack
The Micropack Land Sport Pack from Amphipod is a great option for key storage while on the run. The patented lock-on design of this handy pocket/pouch clamps directly to waistband, securely attaching without confining or chafing. You can stash keys, cash, ID, credit cards, energy food or sunglasses while on the run without bouncing and jingling.

NipGuards

NipGuards have revolutionized the market for protectdion against painful nipple chafing and abrasion. Ask any runner, they'll know what you're talking about. Over 1 million NipGaurds have been successfully used since 1999. Each disposable pair of NipGuards is good for one workout-typically a long distance run or compteition.

Grabber Hand Warmers

Does your runner suffer from cold hands on winter runs? It can really make a long run miserable. Air-activated, Grabber Hand Warmers keep hands and fingers toasty for over 10 hours. New and Improved! Now 20% larger and lasts 40% longer! These handy portable heat generating packets fit in the palm of your hand. Perfect for those long cold runs! Check them out! You'll also find Foot Warmers too!

PR*Bar
Every runner needs pre- and post-run nutrition to support support their activity. I've recently tested and reviewed PR* Bar and highly recommend them to runners. If you're looking for a nutrition bar that tastes good and really does provide a great source of energy and will help improve performance, then give PR*Bar a try. They're even the offical bar of the U.S. Olympic Team! Check them out!

Warrior Training Bracelet

These cool leather training bracelets are made to wear while running, cycling, working out, sweating, racing, or all day long. Each features a positive and powerful keyword or phrase to help you train, perform, and live with greater strength of body and mind. Mine says "Persevere." Check them out at EndorphinWarrior.com

Yurbud Earphones
For as long as I can remember, I've had a hard time finding earbuds that would fit my little ears. Finally I discovered Yurbuds! Yurbuds twist lock into place for a secure fit that never falls out even under the most intense workout conditions. I know. I've tried it! They're ergonomically designed to avoid nerve rich areas of the ear and they're made with medical grade silicone. And best of all, they keep the sweat out! Check them out!

Note: The runner gift recomendations above are purely based on my personal opinion. I was not paid by any of the featured companies to list their products nor was I encouraged in any way to write a positive review or to list positive comments about the featured products.

No-Cost and Low-Cost Key-Storing Tips for Runners!

2011-11-27T18:34:00.001-05:00

One of the most annoying and pesky parts of running, has nothing to do with running. It has to do with your keys. Where do you put your car or house key while you're running? Believe me I've had my fare share of locking myself out of the car at the park and having to call home to be picked up. And unfortunately, unless your car is a 20-year-old junker and you're trying to get it stolen, leaving the key on a tire or in the bumper isn't really a wise idea. It's the first place most thieves look.

Below are several ways (frugal freebies and ready-to-purchase products) to help you safely keep track of your keys while on the run.

1. String it! Secure your key to your running shorts by sliding one end of the draw cord (in waistband of your running shorts) through the hole in the key. Pull the key all they way down to your waist band, then tie a half-knot with the same string just above the key. Next, use both strings to tie a bow as if you were tying a kid's shoe. Double-knot the bow for extra security. The double-knotted bow and the half-knot on the one lace gives you three layers of security!

2. Lace it! If you don't like the feel of the key at your waist, then try using basically the same method but on a shoelace. Remove one lace from the last hole, slide the key onto the lace, then thread the lace back through the last hole. Next, tie your shoe and double knot the bow. If the key bobs up and down while running, try sliding the end of the key beneath one of the criss-crossed laces.

3. Pocket it! Most running shorts today have a little key pocket inside the waistband. This is great, however many times it's either too big or too small. Unless the pocket is zippered, don't rely on the pocket alone for securing the key. Reinforce the opening with a safety pin. (PS: Lululemon makes a great men's running short with a small side zippered pocket.)

4. Hair it! Ladies (or men), if you have long hair, you have the perfect place to store a key! Secure your key to a stretchy hair band by pulling one end of a head band through the key hole to make a small loop on the other end of the key hole. Then insert the other end of the stretchy band through the small loop and pull. Viola! The key is secured. Now use the band as you normally would to put your hair into a ponytail. Don't have long hair? No problem! After securing the key to the band, slip it onto your wrist and wear it like a bracelet, or just safety pin the band to your shirt or shorts.

5. Buy it! Today there are several different products on the market aimed at helping you keep track of your keys! Check out some of my favorites below! These inexpensive options also make great holiday and/or birthday gifts for the runner in the family.

The Ultra Pocket Hat from Gone For A Run has two zippered pockets perfect for keys, gels, ID, money, etc. The pockets feature a velcro closure and holds contents securely and comfortably. Its aerodynamic construction, ventilated mesh side panels, reflective safety piping, moisture wicking material along with these patented outer pockets make this hat a top choice for athletes.

The WristSTASH Sweatband Wrist Wallet, also from Gone for a Run is also a great option. You can easily slide your money, music, key and credit card inside and then zip it up to keep it secure. It's woven from soft recycled cotton terry. The Terry cloth is also great for wiping the sweat off your face and forehead during a run.

The Shoe Pouch from RoadID is another a great option. The pouch is versatile, durable, and will keep its contents dry in its water resistant ripstop nylon pouch. It easily attaches to your shoe laces with a velcro strap. Also, if you already own a Sport ID from RoadID, you can easily attach it to the Shoe Pouch having it double as a form of ID as well as a storage place for keys and money.

The Micropack Land Sport Pack from Amphipod is a great option for key storage while on the run. The patented lock-on design of this handy pocket/pouch clamps directly to waistband, securely attaching without confining or chafing. You can stash keys, cash, ID, credit cards, energy food or sunglasses while on the run without bouncing and jingling.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T08:17:00.003-05:00

Just a note of thanks to all the readers of RunnerDude's Blog ! Your support of the blog is overwhelming and means so much. The blog now reaches people in over 90 countries on 6 continents! Your feedback, comments and readership is appreciated more than you could know.

Looking ahead at 2012, I'm excited about all the runners and their personal triumph stories I'll get to share with you. I'm excited about all the upcoming running and fitness product reviews I'll give you the scoop on as well as lots of exciting prize and product giveaways.

I hope I've provided you with good running and fitness tips the past year and look forward to providing more in 2012. I always welcome your ideas for posts. Be sure to send them to runnerdudeblog@yahoo.com.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations to Cindy Houser, the winner of the RunnerDude's Blog Reader Appreciation Giveaway Drawing and the $100 RunningWarehouse.com Gift Certificate. Thanks so much to all who entered the drawing. Happy Holidays!

Guest Runner Chef: Matthew Halip

2011-11-20T11:56:00.002-05:00

Matthew Halip, a 22-year-old student at Guilford College, is one of my personal training and running clients. Matthew's a member of the Lacrosse Team at Guilford college and he's also training for his first marathon-The North Face Endurance Challenge taking place in San Francisco in just a couple of weeks. This is a bear of a marathon with a 4,519ft elevation gain!! This is a race where it's mandatory to check in at each aid station. Matthew can handle it though. He's a great young man, in awesome physical shape and has a good head on his shoulders. I've been very impressed with his ability to handle the workouts, his race training, lacrosse practices and school (it's his senior year). I discovered that Matthew has a flare for cooking. Actually he said it's a passion for his entire family. So, I asked him to share with us one of his favorite recipes he likes to prepare when in training. Read on to discover his tasty chicken and vegetable dish.

Matthew's Healthy Chicken-n-Veggies

This is a very simple chicken and vegetable dish, similar to stir-fry but significantly healthier, in the sense that I don’t use a pre-made marinade or soy sauce (both of which have a high sodium content).

Main Ingredients:

Chicken breast
Carrots
Corn
Broccoli

(Most any combination of vegetables will work.)

Coating for Chicken:

Chili Powder
White granulated pepper (black pepper will work. I only use white pepper because I think it looks better)
Sprinkle of salt
Garlic powder (use garlic if possible I just didn’t have any in stock, but no more then 4 gloves- it will take over the dish)
Onion powder (use an onion if possible I just didn’t have one in stock)
All spice

Simple-n-healthy vinaigrette sauce:

olive oil
honey
Dijon mustard

Mix olive oil, vinegar, 2 teaspoons of honey, and a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. The rule of thumb is 2:1 of olive oil to vinegar, but depending on your preferences you can change the ratio (I prefer mine more acidic).

Directions:

Roast the chicken breasts at 350° F anywhere between 15-20 minutes (all ovens are different) or until he internal temperature reaches 165° F. Ten minutes before the chicken breast is cooked, put the vegetable combination in a frying pan and drizzle with vegetable oil (or olive oil). Cook on medium. Make sure you take the chicken out of the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before the vegetables are finished cooking. Once the chicken sets, cut into cubes and combine with the vegetables. At this point, pour the vinaigrette over the dish and let cook for no more then 2 minutes. Once the chicken absorbs the marinade, take off the stove and enjoy.

Saucony 8mm: They Read My MInd!

2011-11-19T13:28:00.001-05:00

For the past year or so, I've been reading so much about the barefoot and minimalist movement. One consistent thing that crops up in both camps as well as even the traditional running shoe camp is that the traditional 12mm to 13mm drop from heel to toe may be contributing to (if not promoting) heel striking which over time can spur on several running related injuries. But, if you're like me and have some foot issues, barefoot is not an option. Even the minimalist shoes (for me) tend to only work for moderate length runs.

Recently I've been dealing with two dropped metatarsals in each foot which has caused the second toe on each foot (the one beside the big toe) to hurt. I feared one may even have a stress fracture. Luckily that wasn't the case. Here comes the quandary. My minimalist shoes helped relieve the pressure on the ball of my foot, but prompted other issues on long runs. My more traditional shoes provides the needed support on the long runs, but put me up on my heels causing more stress on the balls of my feet.

So, what's a biomechanically challenged runner supposed to do? I had been thinking for several months, "Why can't you just lower the heel keeping the integrity and original support provided in a traditional running shoe? Why do only minimalist shoes get the lower heel?" Well, I think Saucony had a spy planted in my head, because I'm happy to announce that they're launching a new line of shoes with my thinking as the basis for the shoe. Okay, well, it was their thinking. :-)

Their new 8mm line is actually taking existing shoes (the Progrid Guide 5, the Powergrid Hurricane 14, the Powergrid Triumph 9) and reducing the height of the heel-to-toe offset from the average 12mm to 8mm. This is awesome news! Now it will be easier for you to land further midfoot, striking with less impact, giving you greater stability and control.

This lower heel will provide for great alignment. At 8mm your ankles, calves, knees, quads, and hamstrings are in better alignment and are better able to absorb the impact of the road. Also, just the fact that you'll be able to have more of a midfoot landing will allow you to work with the road, not against it, creating less impact.

The lower heel will also provide great suspension. The new alignment puts you in a more spring-like position, and works with you body's natural ability to coil and rebound.

Better control, alignment and suspension spells greater propulsion allowing you to run stronger and longer.

Saucony is sending me a pair of the 8mm Powergrid Triumph 9. My running shoe of choice is the traditional version of the Triumph so, I'm very excited to see how a shoe I already love will work with a lower heel-to-toe offset.

So, stay tuned! As soon as I've received the shoes and put in several good runs of different distances and intensities, I'll be posting my review. I'll also be giving away a pair of shoes from the new Saucony 8mm line.

It's so cool when your wishes come true!

My First Marathon: Jeff's Story

2011-11-06T10:08:00.001-05:00

Jeff started exercising for the first time in his life in June 2009. Eventually he got into running and he's been improving ever since. He lost 65 pounds running and has completely changed his lifestyle for the better.

Jeff's first marathon was the Bayshore Marathon 5/28/11. Below is his story of that special day.

Short version:
Stats: 4:12:17 finish time
1/2 split: 1:53:38(8:40 per mile pace)
Second half split: 2:18:39(10:34 per mile pace)
Pace: overall 9:38 per mile
Place: 800 out of 1,462 finishers
Ranked: 589 at the 1/2 mark
Ranked: 884 at the second half(that means a lot of people passed me!)

Long version:
Wow....what a race weekend it was. We started off on Friday by driving up to the cottage. I had a half day off work so we could get up there a little early and beat traffic. That was a good decision! We had a nice dinner at home. I didn't want to eat out that night just in case I ate something that did not agree with me. It was six of us that went up including my Brother-in-law, Sister-in-law to come and cheer us(my running buddy and I) on along with his wife and my wife.

our awesome dinner the night before

I did not end up getting into bed until 10pm and we had an early morning getting up at 4am! I think I probably slept 4 hours total since I was tossing and turning all night.

We got up at 4am and I did my usual routine of foam rolling and eating a half banana and a granola bar to get me started along with some water. My running buddy made some oatmeal for himself and took it along when we left but he forgot to eat it so he had no breakfast before the race!!! Holy cow!!

We left about 5am from the house and it's a little over an hour drive to Traverse City. We got there a little after 6am and traffic was starting to build up. My running buddy picked up our packets the day before so he knew the best place to park. It worked out great because we were really close to the race start and also did not have much traffic where we parked. This was one of the great things about running in a smaller marathon. On the way over, it really started to rain hard but stopped when we got to the race. Unfortunately, a few minutes before the race it started raining again. It was not a hard rain but a misting rain. I tried to stay under a tree until the race started. Because the race was a small one, only 2200 marathon runners max, I was able to jump into the race start at the last second and off we went!

It was almost a "ready, set, go" kind of start instead of a gun and big hoopla. We started right next to the high school track and wound around the streets in the college campus there. There were a few turns to start us out which was good to keep our pace a little slower starting. I saw Ken from TNT Coach Ken and while I did not have time to talk to him much, I assume he was there supporting all his runners with the TNT. You could not miss him with his red and white polka dot hat and since he is tall, he stands out. He was doing a bang up job pumping up everyone!! He asked me how I was doing and I said good and that I would let him know in about 4 hours! He said I'd be drinking a beer by then! Haha! Ah, my goal of four hours. I'll get back to that one.

So there we were, starting the longest race I have ever did....in the rain. All was not lost because at least the weather was in the 50's and it was not really windy either so it could have been much worse. I chose to wear short sleeves, shorts, arm sleeves and light gloves. It's a good thing I wore the arm sleeves because with the rain, it helped keep me a bit warmer.

The view was really nice. There was a water view almost the entire run up and back from the peninsula. There were also some really nice homes to look at as well so the view helped keep my mind off running. As far as the crowd support, it was good in pockets. There were several spots, especially the water stops, where people were cheering. One spot in particular was really crowded(several hundred people) I think around the 14-15 mile mark. I love when there is a crowd that can help keep me going. I pumped my arms up and the crowd went wild! The first half of the race went really well. I ran it in 1:53:38 which ranked me 589 through the half. Unfortunately, that was too fast as you see from my final time. I should have dialed it back just a notch. I think that 10-15 seconds per mile slower would have been better for me in the long run.

The course was an overall flat course with some rolling hills thrown into it. The only real hill was at the end of the split and even that was not that bad. One thing I did not like was the way many of the road were slanted to one side. In my opinion, it made it much harder to run instead of being on a flat surface.

My wife said they almost missed the shuttle bus to get there but they were able to get there and only waited about 10 minutes for me to run by. My running buddy was also about 3 minutes behind me at that time. Before that my running buddy and I ran probably at least 16 miles together when I got my second wind and picked it up a little so we got separated for a bit. I'm really glad that they did not miss us so we got some support when we were starting a really difficult part of the race.

One thing I would have liked was a little more crowd support after the 20 mile mark. It was fairly scarce the last six miles except for the last half mile of the race. I can say this, the supporters that were out there were troopers. Since it was raining much of the time, it must have been miserable to be out there. Probably the worst cheer I heard was "you're almost there". As many of you know, when you are at mile 16, you are NOT almost there so tell your support crew not to say that to marathoners looking at 10 miles more to go. Haha!

So as I continued to run, I was starting to slip on my times each mile beginning with mile 17 where I ran a 9:01 mile but I was able to keep it under 10 minute miles through mile 22. I figured if I could at least keep a 10 minute pace, I would meet my four hour goal. Unfortunately, when I got to mile 23 I ran out of gas and started walking. That got me at 13:09 mile for mile 23. I knew after that point, I was not going to make four hours. At that point, I was just telling myself to keep going. I walked some and ran some and walk some and ran some. I kept going. I even got back to a quicker mile of 12:51 at mile 25 but really struggled at mile 24 and 26. In the last half mile, my calves started cramping up and I could not run. Then.....I saw Ken again!!!!! My leg was really cramping and Ken said WOW, I can see it moving!! Haha! I said, yeah, I can feel it!! Haha! He pushed me and helped me get going again and I was able to pull out running to the finish line. I also saw my support crew again just after Ken and my wife got a picture of this too!

I was completely out of it at this point at about 26.1 miles!

The announcer announced my name which was a nice finish and said, you are a marathon finisher! We finished on the high school track. Garmin time - 4:12:55(forgot to turn off my Garmin) Official time: 4:12:17; placed 800 out of 1462 finishers

The last four miles of the race were the hardest thing I ever did physically. It was incredibly hard to finish but I just kept my mind to it and kept going. It did not help that I saw a kid being taken into an ambulance at about 22 miles(hopefully he was ok). Also, right at the end, just as I was entering the track, I heard a supporter say "that guy looks bad". I wished I had the energy to say something but I kept on going! My brother in law did say afterwords that I looked beyond tired! From mile 23 on, I kept thinking of my #1 goal - finish, just finish and then my #2 goal, finish in 4:30:00. So that is it, I was able to meet two of my goals but not the four hours. Given the rainy conditions and that it's only my first marathon, I'll take that automatic PR and be very happy with it!!

Marathon completed, check!
Moomers ice crea

My running buddy finished about six minutes behind me so we practically ran the entire race together. I'm really glad that I was able to train and run with him as it helped keep me motivated throughout the process.

After the race, they had all kinds of food....cookies, chips, pretzels, ice cream, bananas, oranges. They also had a place to get a massage but the line was too long to wait for it. My running buddy and I brought a change of clothes so we took a shower after at the Phys. Ed building and went to lunch with everyone. It was nice having that shower available after the race. My wife asked me if I would do another one and, at that time, I said I could not make that decision so soon after finishing.

The pub we went to for lunch was crowded with all the racers and so many people were wearing their medals, including me and my running buddy! I ate like I've never eaten before. I also drank more water that day than I have ever drank before. My body just soaked up the water and continued to ask for more. We also stopped at the local running shop, Running Fit and I bought myselfdrank more water that day than I have ever drank before. My body just soaked up the water and continued to ask for more. We also stopped at the local running shop, Running Fit and I bought myself a hat.

Waiting for food in Downtown Traverse City!

Having a beer that evening!

Finishers Medal

Overall I thought it was a really great, well organized race. While I would recommend it and would do it again, my thought is that I want to train for my next marathon during summer so the next one will likely be a fall marathon. Yes, that's right folks, I've decided I WILL do another one next year. I've got to get under that 4 hour mark! God help me!

Be sure to check out Jeff's blog Detroit Runner!

How To Create Your Carb-Load Plan

2011-10-31T19:36:00.001-04:00

Even non-runners have heard of carb-loading. They might joke about how runners get to drink all the beer and eat all the pasta they want. But there's a lot more to it than just gorging on bagels and beer.

Glycogen is the main source of energy for long endurance runs. Carbohydrates are stored as glycogen in the liver and in the muscles. Your body can store about 2000 calories worth of glycogen. That's enough calories to provide energy for about 18 miles of running. Once this supply is depleted, the body starts to burn fat. Sounds like a good back-up plan, but the problem is that the body takes longer to metabolize fat for energy.

Ever hear of “hitting the wall”? That’s when a runner's body shuts down mentally and physically. The cause is often from depleted carb stores. There’s just nothing left in the tank; hence the importance of fully stocked glycogen stores before the race. It’s also important to keep these stores refueled during the race by drinking sports drink and/or ingesting other quick carbs such as energy gels, chews, or beans about every 30 to 45 minutes during the race.

Back to carb-loading…past thinking had runners ingesting lots of carbs the entire last week of the taper. I’ve found that the last three days prior to the race is plenty of time to make sure you’re fueled up for the big day.

During this three day-period before race day, your carbohydrate intake should increase to 70 to 80 percent of your total daily caloric intake. That doesn’t mean you’re taking in more calories, it just means that of the calories you’re taking in, 70 to 80 percent need to be comprised of carbs.

Not all carbs are alike, Knowing the differences and eating the right kinds at the right time during the carb-loading phase can make a huge difference. Complex carbs are comprised of unrefined whole grain foods such as whole grain breads, legumes, brown rice, and whole grain pasta. Simple carbs are foods made of refined and/or processed grains such as white bread, regular pasta, white rice, packaged cookies, cakes, and doughnuts. Fruits are technically simple carbs too, but they’re very nutrient dense and I would never put them in the same category as a doughnut. Keep in mind that eating a banana will provide quick energy because your body will process it very quickly, while a low-fat bran muffin will sustain your energy needs a lot longer.

There’s no specific menu to eat for this carb-loading phase. There are so many factors involved—likes, dislikes, allergies, digestive tolerance, and on and on. What works for one runner may have another runner praying to the porcelain god (or more accurately the plastic port-a-john god) the entire run.

There are however, some good rules of thumb to follow. The first rule of thumb is to test your nutrition well in advance. It's best to try new foods when you're not in training. If you are training, it's best to test new things early on so you'll know ahead of time what does and doesn't work for you. Then stick to what you know works when it's close to race day.

It's also important to avoid the "Try me! Try me!" barking of the sales reps at the marathon expo. Although the marathon expo can be an exciting place the day before the race, try really hard to avoid much (if any) taste-testing. You never know what may throw your stomach for a loop. Save your sample for after the race

Now that you know the different types of carbs, you need to know when to eat them. To find out what to do each of the three days prior to race day [click here] go to the rest of my article on Active.com.

Your support of the blog with vote at The Top 100 Running Sites is greatly appreciated.

How Fitness Can Aide in Cancer Treatment

2011-10-30T21:15:00.004-04:00

Studies have shown that it is important for individuals who are fighting illness to keep physically active, maintain a positive attitude, and eat a balanced diet. These attributes are known to improve the extent of recovery and the duration of recuperation.

It is natural for an individual to become fatigued and lethargic when battling cancer. The disease and treatment, as well as the emotional toll can be difficult to handle. It may be the last thing that a person wants to do, but being active can improve the coping ability and energy levels of the individual suffering with cancer. This is true for people with cancers that typically have low survival rates like pleural mesothelioma and epithelial mesothelioma and for people with cancers that typically high survival rates like breast cancer and testicular cancer.

Cancer is a stressful condition and unfortunately, stress has been linked to poor outcomes when treating health issues. Physical activity addresses this problem in several ways. A person will experience the release of “feel good” chemicals that lead to a better emotional state as a result of participating in exercise. The added circulation aids the immune system in combating cancer and healing after treatment or surgery. While a person is participating in the activity, it provides a period of distraction for other pressing matters.

The immune process of an individual is elevated when daily physical activity is completed. Anatomically, this is due to the features of the lymphatic system, which mirrors the vessels of the cardiovascular system and relies on it to achieve transportation to every area of the body. A healthy vascular system equates to the ability of the immune system to function at an optimal level.

Participating in physical exercise enables a person to maintain energy. This simple fact has a large impact on a person who is fighting cancer. Battling fatigue is a strain that an ill person should not have to deal with in addition to the disease and treatment, this situation has a negative effect on the person’s outlook and stress management.

Body motion leads to a better tolerance of pain in most people. This enables a person to cope with symptoms and procedures much more easily.

People who remain in motion naturally keep healthier weights and have better blood chemistry levels when tested, showing a better overall function of the organs.

Fitness when dealing with cancer does not mean a person should be able to run in a marathon. Each person is different. Participating in yoga, Tai Chi, gardening, or walking the dog is enough for some people. Discuss an appropriate activity level with the attending physician.

Liz Davies is a recent college graduate and aspiring writer especially interested in health and wellness. She wants to make a difference in people’s lives because she sees how cancer has devastated so many people in this world. Liz also likes running, playing lacrosse, reading and playing with her dog, April.

My First Marathon: Vinny's Story

2011-10-29T21:25:00.003-04:00

I started running in February a few years ago, after I quite smoking in late November the year before. Like a lot of people out there, I ran in high school and always thought about a marathon. I found Team in Training and joined up not only raise some money but to keep my motivation in perspective. I figured, if I wanted to quit at anytime, I could think about the people that I was raising money for and it would keep me going. I also dragged my sister, Theresa, into the meeting and she signed up for a half marathon.

I joined the team for the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon in June. A local half marathon fell at about the halfway point of our training. Our marathon group got to train with the half-marathoners for the race. It was a huge group (about 30 of us) running together every weekend and getting to know each other. I heard a lot of great stories and made a few friends.

Midway through the training season, the half marathoners had run their race and weren’t around anymore. At that point it was just us full marathon runners (only about a dozen). The first time seeing that few of us was a little different for me. I was used to being surrounded by groups of people talking and being part of conversations. So, I started my run and struck up a conversation with a woman who was running about my pace. I had noticed her before and she always ran with her Mother. I didn’t know anything about her at all, but I had about 18 miles to run (my longest run at that point) and I REALLY needed someone to talk to. I didn’t know what to say, so I just said the first thing that came to mind, “So, you left your mother back there huh?” That was around mile 2. I found out through the next 16 miles of our run, her name was Nichole.

During our run we talked about different things, mostly nonsense just to keep the run and the conversation going. I found out she ran in high school, and this was her 4th full marathon. I told her about my life, how I also ran in high school, and how I had smoked for the past 13 years. I explained to her how much I loved a local cross country course. Her eyes lit up and she began to tell me all about her memories of it as well. We made plans to meet there for a practice run on our own during the week. In my high of running my first 18 miler, I totally forgot to get Nichole’s number. Thankfully, she wasn’t as winded from the run, and pulled me aside to exchange.

Midweek we met at the course, Sunken Meadow State Park. We went out again on a run, and didn’t stop talking. We only ran for about 6 miles this time, but still had the same great conversations and laughs. We continued our Saturday runs together, with the team around us, but we also met mid week by ourselves. After our Wednesday runs, we would stop and get something to eat, to “re-fuel” but more-so to continue our conversations.

Race day finally arrived. We started the race together, running and talking as usual. Somewhere around mile 12, I started feeling it. We were moving faster than I was used to. We were talking way too much, and I was in pain. We both were feeling it. The next few miles were very quiet. I managed to make it to mile 16 before saying, “Go ahead without me, I need to stop for a minute”. I’m pretty sure Nichole knew that we wouldn’t meet up again, but I was determined.

I muscled through what I guess what my “wall” as they put it. Being the Rock-and-Roll series there were lots of people cheering and running. I found a group of Elvis runners, pushing a stroller with a boom box playing nothing but Elvis tunes. I stuck with them for a while. I have to admit, it was pretty cool, and it kept me going. Around mile 24, I did it. I caught up to Nichole. I saw her next to one of the coaches from Team and Training. She was having a very hard time. They were helping her through the end of the run. I wanted to stop and check on her, but one of the coaches assured me she was okay and started to run next to me for the next mile and a half pulling me into the end of my run. Once I crossed the finish line, I was relieved, it was over. I had officially finished a goal I had since high school. I walked around in a daze, and found a spot to sit and just plopped down. After sitting there for a few minutes, I heard my name. Nichole found me and was looking for me to congratulate me. We talked about the run and what we experienced on our 10 solo miles. Then we caught up with the rest of the team.

Later that night, we all went out for drinks and dancing and celebrating. Nichole and I broke away from the rest of the group and went to another bar. We spent the night dancing and having a great time. Some point in the night we kissed, kept dancing and enjoying each other. When we got back home, we kept up our routine of running for a few hours followed by eating and talking for a few more. Eventually we made our relationship "official."

It’s been over two years since then. We've run a few marathons together; even worked our way up to ultras and moved on to 50k, 100k, 50-mile and 100-mile races. We run a lot in the mornings together. We spend our dinners talking about our run, or how we can get our times down. We plan our vacations and long weekends around a race. We look for new local trails to run around and spend time it. We finally got into NYC this year and will be running it together.

My life completely changed because of my first marathon. I found a passion in running that keeps me going, and I found a woman that I can spend my life with who has the same passion. Running has become one of the biggest parts of my life and Nichole has become more than just my running partner, and my partner in life. She is my “sole” mate.

PR* Bar: Great Taste, Nutrition, and Performance!

2011-10-24T15:21:00.001-04:00

Several months ago I received some new nutrition bars to sample called PR* Bar. I’ve been sent a lot of bars to sample and most do what they propose they do, but the trick is making one that actually tastes good. There have been a few that fall into that “tastes good too” category, but not many. PR* Bar is one of the few that has made the RunnerDude cut for both tasting good and delivering what it promises.

Companies are all about slogans and flashy phrases and PR*Bar has one that says “Think of PR*Bar as Fuel for your Dream.” Sounds a bit lofty and I first, I thought, “Hmm…that’s a big statement.” Basically PR*Bar is pulling in the idea of a PR “Personal Record” being something that’s specific to you, your goals, your progress and your results.

I kind of like the idea that a company wants to help me with my personal fitness goals, not promise that I’m going to look like the fake fitness model hired to say “look what this product did for me” and then in fine print you read the model never even use the product.

So, I decided to give it a try. I also noticed that PR*Bar is the official performance nutrition bar of the U.S. Olympic Team. Must be pretty good if our top athletes are using it.

PR*Bar promises that it’s “fastburn formula” eliminates hunger, increases mental focus, and optimizes performance by controlling blood sugars and using body fat for fuel. PR nutrition was the first company to offer 15g or protein in a 200 calorie bar. It’s also gluten-free, all natural, and kosher. It’s also free of sugar alcohols and it’s trans fat free.

All that healthy and free of “this and that” usually spells “Tastes Nasty” but PR*Bar actually tastes great. It’s a far cry of the cardboard chew available when I first started running over 25 years ago. The bars come in 9 flavors—Apple Pie, Chocolate Mint, Double Chocolate, Chocolate Peanut, Iced Brownie, Yogurt Berry, Granola Oatmeal Raisin, Granola Peanut Butter Berry, and Granola Peanut Butter. My favorite is the Chocolate Mint. I’m not much of a fruit-flavored bar kind of guy, but the Apple Pie and Granola Oatmeal Raisin is pretty dang awesome too.

The PR*Bar Fastburn Nutrition Program is personalized for you based on your lean body mass, individual requirements, and training. Anyone interested in losing body fat, enhancing athletic performance, building lean muscle, a great tasting bar, or improving his or her nutrition will benefit from the use of the PR*Bars and the Fastburn Nutrition Program.

Here’s the science behind the bar:

The PR*Bars are designed to enhance your body’s natural ability to burn body fat while maintaining or increasing lean body mass. A diet high in carbs (like many athletes have) can store as much as 40% as fat. Diets low in protein can leave you weak and without the nutrients you need to help rebuild lean body mass. Low-fat, low-protein diets can cause you to feel tired and crave sweets.

A diet high in carbs and low in protein and fats increases your blood sugar levels. This causes your body to release insulin. If you have elevated insulin levels it can prevent you from burning stored body fat. You’ll just be burning the sugar from carbs for your energy. If you can stabilize your blood sugar and control the insulin levels, then your body will release glucagon which helps your body’s ability to use stored sugars as well as access body fats that can be burned for energy.

The company also provides a Fastburn Nutrition Program that if used in conjunction with the PR*Bar, the company says will help you achieve impressive results. You select the plan based on your height and activity level. The best part is it’s FREE! I can’t speak on to the nutrition program, but I did use the bars and really like them.

To use the bars, simply have one with some water a couple of hours before your run or workout. I also discovered that they make a great mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack. It provides the energy needed to pick you up and get through the day without mindless snacking. If you have time, unwrap a bar and microwave it for about 25 seconds. Makes it taste even more awesome.

So, if you’re looking for a nutrition bar that tastes good and really does provide a great source of energy and will help improve your performance, give PR*Bar a try. It has the RunnerDude seal of approval and oh yeah, the U.S. Olympic Team likes them too.

Note: While PR* Bar did provide samples of their product for me to test, I did not receive any payment for this review and was not encouraged to write a positive review. The post is a reflection of my personal use with the product.

Running Form: A Work in Progress

2011-10-21T15:26:00.003-04:00

A couple of years ago I purchased a copy of Danny Dreyer's book, Chi Running, and that was the first time I really began thinking more about the mind-body connection of running as well as proper alignment of your body when running. I began implementing many of the key components of Chi Running in my own running and found them to be very helpful.

Over the years, my copy of Chi Running has become a bit tattered. I've referred to it often and even more so now that I'm training/coaching runners. I even traveled to Asheville, NC to interview Danny for the Blog.

Recently, Danny informed me of a study being done at UNC-Chapel Hill by MAJ Don Goss on the biomechanics of running particularly Chi running. So I eagerly contacted Don and set up an appointment. So glad I did, because it was quite the adventure and the result was quite the eye opener. My running stride has gone from that of a heel striker to more of a mid-foot (flat foot) strike, which Chi Running advocates as a more biomechanically efficient from of running. I've also worked hard on pulling in my stride and shooting for more of a foot landing under the center of my body. This enables you to work with the oncoming pavement rather than against it. It allows for more of a push than a push-then-pull that heel striking promotes. It also requires less muscle activation, so it should take you longer to fatigue.

So, how did I do? Well, the test was on a rather odd treadmill. It has two belts...one for each foot. It was rather awkward to run on. At first I ran with my feet on separate belts and then at one point both feet on the left and then both feet on the right belt. It's a rather narrow belt and was hard to keep my balance. Okay, sounds like I'm making excuses, but it was rather "unnatural" to run on. On top of that I' was wrapped in ace bandages at the waist, thighs, and calves. Probes were attached to the bandages as well as my feet. Don explained that these were sensors that the computer would read and then be able to analyze my stride and foot strike.

The outcome of the test was that I'm not exactly the poster child for Chi Running when I run at a faster pace. I tend to revert back somewhat to being a heel striker. Not as severe as I once was, but the videos below do reveal that I tend to land more on the back of my foot (particularly the right foot) than landing midfoot as I do when I'm running at a more moderate pace. I would like to have some one video tape me running outside to compare, because of the odd belt set up of the treadmill and the balance issues I felt, I really never felt able to get much of lean going during the test. So, like I said earlier, not making excuses just now curious what I look like running faster on the open road. The video shows what it shows, and that's good. Just means I have more work to do. While my test may not be able to be included as an authentic Chi Runner, I learned a lot and now know what I need to focus on.

Below you can see me running with all the probes in place. I'm running on just on of the belts in the video (the left-side belt).

The video below is the computer's interpretation of my running form. I kind of felt like I was in a Disney Pixar production. LOL!

When Last Place Is Better Than First

2011-10-20T21:27:00.005-04:00

The other day, Steve, a member of my beginning running group at the Volvo North America Headquarters told me that he was learning to “celebrate the small gains.” He just discovered during our post-run stretching that he could balance on his right ankle. Something he’s never been able to do. He also shared that he's had fewer calf cramps and has improved his breathing. Steve's excitement over seeing his running pay off in other areas of his everyday life was pretty cool. Earlier the same day, another client at Volvo (Debra, in her 50s) who is in the Fitness Walking group shared a similar experience. While at a recent weekend beach excursion, she was able to pull the family's wagon full of beach “stuff” up the dune to her car to the amazement of her husband. Keep in mind that not too long ago Debra had a hip replacement.

What many don’t understand is that Steve's and Debra's experiences are what fitness is all about…celebrating the small gains. Before you know it those small gains add up to huge life-changing gains. Getting up off the couch and taking that first walk really can lead eventually to completing a marathon. It all starts with that first step.

New York City Marathon co-founder Fred Lebow once said, "In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that." That was definitely the case this past weekend for myself and a client of mine, Rhonda. We ran the Triple Lakes Trail Half Marathon in Greensboro, NC and came in last place.

Distraught? Let down? Disappointed? Hell no! I’ve run a lot of half and full marathons over the past 25 years. My half-marathon PR is 1:30 (not too shabby). But the Triple Lakes Half Marathon at a finish time of 3:58:59 will stand out as one of the most inspirational and moving races I’ve ever run.

Rhonda and her husband Row came to me several months ago. Rhonda was on a mission. She was turning 50 and wanted to run a half marathon to celebrate this milestone. Row was along for the ride to support, Rhonda. Many 50-year-olds run half-marathons, but what set Rhonda apart was that she was not a runner and had over the years endured 7 knee surgeries. Rhonda has a passion for tennis and has played most of her life. It has taken a toll on the knees. I could see she was determined and after passing her fitness assessment, we set to work on achieving her half-marathon goal.

The first session we had, I took Rhonda and Row out for a run/walk. I noticed that Rhonda was heel-striking and knew this would more than likely aggravate her knees. So, I showed her how to land with more of a mid-foot foot strike underneath her body. She took too it immediately and said after that very first session, “That’s the first time, I’ve run without pain.” That one small change made all the difference in the world.

Rhonda and Row continued the run/walk workouts on their own, hitting the trails most weekends. They also continued their training sessions with me coming every Sunday afternoon for a 1-hour workout. We worked on building upper-body, core and lower-body muscular endurance. While Row (in his mid 50s) was initially along for the ride to support Rhonda, he discovered he enjoyed the workouts as much as Rhonda. I’m not sure who was inspired the most, Rhonda and Row doing the workouts and getting stronger every week, or me watching them get stronger each week.

Rhonda watched how Row had taken to the workouts and was really improving as a runner and she wanted him to run the half-marathon at his own pace and do well. She also knew he wouldn’t leave her alone to run the race on her own. I realized this too and offered to run the race with Rhonda. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

I met Rhonda and Row early on race day and the journey began. It was a chilly morning. Both Rhonda and Row were over dressed and each had a Camelback hydration unit strapped to their backs. Looking around they laughed realizing they were overdressed and were probably over “watered” too for a half. I told them they had on layers they could remove as they heated up and better safe than sorry with the water.

It wasn’t long after the starter gun sounded that Rhonda and I were in last place. We held on to that title till the very end. Rhonda’s goal from the very beginning was to finish. Time didn't matter. All she wanted to be able to say after finishing was, “I gave it my all, I finished, and I finished strong.” And that she did.

We kept up a 4-minute run 2-minute walk for a good portion of the race. The course was tough, covering four different trails. The last segment was on the Owls Roost Trail which is quite hilly and has several technical sections. The challenging terrain began to tug at Rhonda’s knee, so we walked a good portion of this final trail and enjoyed the beautiful morning, deep in the woods, winding around gorgeous Lake Brandt.

Rhonda said that at each milestone birthday she’s done something adventurous. At 25 she went sky diving. At 30 she went to Greece. At 40, she and some girlfriends went to Vegas (I’m sure it’s never quite been the same) and at 50 she ran this half-marathon. She’s already contemplating what to do for the big 60.

Towards the end of our half-marathon journey, the full-marathon runners began to pass us. First just one, then two, then the first female marathoner. Each time, Rhonda gave a shout out, “Looking strong” “Keep it up” “You’re amazing!” All I could think was, “No, Rhonda. You’re amazing.”

We crossed that finish line almost 4 hours after starting and I’ve never had a smile so big on my face as I did throwing my arms up with Rhonda’s in victory as we crossed that finish line.

My First Marathon: Chris's Story

2011-10-17T06:59:00.001-04:00

My (Chris Hazzard's) first marathon was Los Angeles 2011 (only 6 months ago!). Prior to training for LA, I was not a runner; I was a guy who occasionally ran short distances for exercise and didn't enjoy it. In fact it was painful. I would go on a running kick, and jog two or three days a week for a few weeks and then fall off and not run (or really exercise at all) for months on end. When I did run, it was never more than two or three miles, which when you are not a runner, is just long enough to make you really not want to do it.

This all changed (slowly, mind you) last October when my brother-in-law, Geoff, threw out the idea of running the LA Marathon together in March. He had run the Honolulu marathon a few years before and had been wanting to run another, and he knew that I was interested in running one. Now, when I say 'interested' I mean that in the vaguest of ways. It was something I thought about as a bucket list item. I knew many people who had run a marathon and figured at some point I would too. That was it. Though nervous at first, with Geoff's encouragement I began training. We used Hal Higdon's Novice 1 program and once the running became routine, I started to enjoy it. Something about the challenge of pushing toward a goal that I wasn't sure I could conquer really drove me.

When the day of the marathon finally came I was nervous but extremely excited. The camaraderie and excitement of everyone waiting in the coral at Dodger Stadium was contagious. The weathermen had predicted rain and as of that morning it was overcast but holding off. Cloudy and cool, the day seemed perfect. The announcer said the gun would go off in two minutes. And that's when it started. The rain. It had held off until now, two minutes before the start of the race. On cue the entire crowd let out one unison groan - there's something amazing about 19,000 people all sharing a reaction. On top of the weather, Geoff had hit the insane marathon traffic getting off the freeway and didn't make it to the start by the gun, so I ran without him knowing we'd find each other on the opposite side of the finish line.

When the gun went off we finally started moving and I couldn't believe it was actually happening; I was running a marathon. The rain was steady but not unmanageable, however that didn't last. The steady rain quickly turned into a downpour. DOWNPOUR. The type of rain you try to avoid driving in. For the first ten miles I took care to not step in puddles thinking I would be able to keep my feet fairly dry, however this became a ridiculous exercise. Somewhere between miles ten and eleven I ran through a river on Hollywood Boulevard and gave myself over to the fact that I was going to get wet.

This was a turning point for me. The first ten miles had been fun, but as soon as I let go of any concept of what dry was the race became a lot more fun. This was good, because the rain somehow got worse. Around the halfway point it hailed for a brief period (at least I think it was hail - it hurt like hell). Yet the attitude of the people I was running near was not put off by the weather at all. Instead we saw it as a challenge. When the rain would pick up there would be loud screams of delight like cheering for your favorite band, and sometimes even laughter. At several points I saw others look to the sky and say, "Is that all you got?" The experience was incredible.

I finally crossed the finish line with a time of 4:43:06 and an incredible feeling of accomplishment. My first marathon redefined what it meant to be wet and the horrible weather only added to my overall high of the race - I knew I would never forget it.

The best thing to come out of my first marathon is that I am now a runner. I caught the running bug, big time. A few months after LA, in July, I ran the San Francisco marathon (this time actually getting to run with Geoff and we both set PRs! 4:29:46) and I just completed the Long Beach Marathon (my third), which was on October 9th. Running has grown to become something I love, it's my time to think, to set goals and to push myself. I've got a lot more marathons in me, but I will definitely never forget my first, LA 2011.

Winner of the Saucony Cortanas is...

2011-10-16T09:28:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Wayne Ball, the winner of the Saucony Cortanas! A Big thanks to all the participants in the contest and an even bigger thanks to Saucony for providing such an awesome giveaway!

Next Product Review/Giveaway

What would you like RunnerDude to review next? Do you have a particular running-related product that you'd like RunnerDude to "test drive"? Send me your ideas to runnerdudeblog@yahoo.com and I'll see what I can do. Be sure to put "Product Review" in the subject line of the email. Thanks again for all your support. If you're so inclined, cast your vote for RunnerDudes blog at The Top 100 Running Sites. Thanks!

And the Winner Is.....

2011-10-10T18:46:00.008-04:00

And the winner of RunnerDude's Blog's Ugliest Runner's Feet Contest and the $75 RunningWarehouse.com Gift Card is Steven Pavao of Hilo, Hawaii. Steven says his feet have been in a constant state of black, falling-off toenails as long as he's been running and he's run 25 marathons to date! Congrats Steven!

A big thanks to all the other entries. You guys and gals certainly had some gnarly looking feet. Also a big thanks to all the readers who voted!!!

New Contest!

Don't forget to enter for a chance to win a free pair of Saucony Cortona running shoes! To learn more information about the shoes and how to enter [click here].

Shoe Review: Saucony's New Cortana

2011-10-05T09:17:00.000-04:00

If you're wanting a more flexible responsive shoe, but tend to be a mild to moderate overpronator and still need a little support and guidance, the you may want to check out Saucony's new Cortana. It's gotten rave reviews and won several awards including "Best Debut" from Runner's World Magazine, September 2011 and "Best New Shoe" in Running Network's 2011 Fall Shoe Review.

I've always been a big "the proof is in the pudding" kind of guy, so while reviews go a long way with me, I still like first hand experience to make my final decision. Saucony sent me a pair of the Cortana about two months go and I've been testing them ever since. In this case the "pudding" is pretty dang good.

While not really a minimalist shoe, this shoe is like a souped-up racing flat. It's very flexible, but also provides a touch of guidance. It contains Saucony's PowerGrid technology the entire length of the shoe which is what provides great cushioning. The other feature that I really like is the 4mm heel-to-toe offset. This "close-to-the-road ride" really helps promote more of a midfoot or forefoot strike. The shoes are very light weight at only 10.7 oz.

I've run exclusively in the Cortana since I received them in August. I've done short tempo runs, speed work and longer runs up to 14 miles. In each case, the shoes were very supportive while at the same very flexible and cushy. The only thing that was a drawback was the the upper began to fray pretty quickly near the ankle area. For a shoe in this price range ($145), I expected the upper to last a little longer. Now this may be due to my particular stride, but I've not had other Saucony shoes' uppers wear so quickly. I think it's just the particular fabric used. The fraying doesn't affect the shoe's performance at all however and wouldn't keep me from purchasing a second pair.

So, if you're looking for a low profile, flexible, responsive and cushy shoe, I highly recommend the Cortana! And.....you're in luck! Saucony is giving one free pair of the Cortana away to one lucky RunnerDude's Blog reader!

WIN A FREE PAIR! To enter, simply send an email to runnerdudeblog@yahoo.com. Put "Cortana" in the subject line and your full name in the body of the email. You have until Saturday, October 15th to enter! Each email will be assigned a number in the order that it was received. Then the TrueRandomNumberGenerator will be used to select the winning email number. The winner will be announced on the blog on Sunday, October 16th. Good Luck!

My First Marathon: Peter

2011-10-02T10:22:00.000-04:00

I'll say it upfront: I finished in 3hrs, 29mins, and 56secs. My aim was 3 1/2 hours, so that number looks like the perfectly executed race. Read on...

Preparation, if that's the right word, consisted of me only doing one thing different from my weekly running. Hearing somewhere that I should do a 3 hour run 3 weeks before, I did. After 2 hours, I had to loosen my shoelaces 3 times as my feet were swelling up. So I also heard that taking Advil would help. Some say take 1 before the start, others say 2 halfway through, then another 2 at 3/4 distance.

I did a taper of sorts in the week leading up, ate a little more, then really went to town on that old wives' tale and had a huge bowl of beef tortellini the evening before. All the above added up to getting me into the shape below:

Left home at 5am as the year before. Damp cold this time, so the blue gloves again. My aim was 3hrs 30mins, which would mean matching the previous year's half marathon pace. I found a feature on marathonguide.com called "pace bands", which you can print off after entering your target time. It states what your total time should be at each km, useful tool for anyone wanting to keep a set pace. A-Chang stood on the left of the course, so as to get a head-start on the dash to Starbucks.

One touch lesson I learned for this race: Have a bathroom break before leaving home and at the event start. I only went at the event start, and there was more, erm, left. Even if you don't need to go, take a "CC" to make sure anyway. CC stands for "confidence crap". Once the race was underway, things went well; first km was as expected, way too quick, upon which I dialed the pace down. After about km 4, I felt ~~movement~~ rumblings. Oh s***. As it happened, I had been comfortably going 10-15 seconds per km quicker than goal pace, so had a couple of minutes in hand when I decided at km12 to use the port-a-potty at the roadside drink station. This wasn't going to hold for another 2+ hours, I reasoned, plus the stop is at the bottom of Shaganappi Trail, the course's major (though not all that tough) hill. While doing my business, I knew I wasn't the only one when I heard some loud steps, the next door slam and a muffled "dammit!"

There will be no more problems from here on, was my firm, errant belief. Anyway, up the hill, and past Market Mall for the first time at around km20, the leaders came past the other way, about 8km ahead. 2nd place looked a bit like one of those alien photos with his shaved head and orange compression socks.
It had got pretty quiet by now as the half-ers had long since turned around - there were 3 times as many of them. It was quiet enough to remember a rabbit running across in front of me, giving applause to a steel band, and a high school kid doing violin practice on his front garden as I went past.

Varsity is not a neighborhood I know all that well, and it was here that my feet started to swell. 2 Advil and I felt my feet deflate a bit. After this, and just before Market Mall again, I got to 27km which was the furthest I'd ever run. Only 15 more. "What a bloody long way to run" I said, as the crowd of runners passing Market Mall for the first time in the opposite direction from me got quite thick.

As I descended Shaganappi Trail, last place was coming up it, followed by a police car. Shortly after, I overtook the 2 last placed half-ers, followed by 2 officials on bikes. They were smoking. The 2 runners, that is. By now, at around km30, my legs were starting to feel empty, running more on momentum than energy. Countdown the bridges. Crowchild. Pedestrian bridge. 14th. 10th. C-train. Prince's Island. Centre Street. Edmonton Trail.

It was between 10th and the c-train bridge, around 30 seconds ahead of schedule that my right hamstring suddenly got shorter and my right foot nearly kicked up into my backside. A few quiet "ouch"s, and straightening it, I hobbled to the roadside. I did several angry stretches, then a deep breath and made myself break out of a too tempting walk. I had to run with my right leg straight, like a clichéd pirate. A couple of hundred meters later, and it just relaxed so normal running could restart. A medic on a bike pulled alongside, "how you doin'?" "Good" I said, somehow smiling at the same time.

Last drink station, and as I drank this last cup of Gatorade, my brain told me that it was going through my stomach and trickling into my muscles. Weird. Must've been part imagination, part muscle fatigue.

With 2km left, I phoned A-Chang. She had apparently won her race to Starbucks, found an armchair, then dozed off. My phone call woke her up. The finish line wouldn't be too crowded by this time though.

I was now roughly 40 seconds behind, so decided I was going to still achieve my aim despite all that had gone before. Now then, some people might say "come on" to themselves or something like that. Not me. No, for some reason my internal mp3 played the end music from Top Gun, voiced over by Yoda telling me, "Do or do not. There is no try." Something in that last Gatorade perhaps.

I overtook a couple of runners at the end, and I recall grunting on the finish straight as I saw the clock.

It was satisfying therefore to have clawed back time lost from mistakes made, something I hadn't done in a running race before. All this at my first attempt at the "king of distance races".

One final tip I acted on was to avoid sitting down straight after finishing. Junk food never tasted so good once I finally did.

Be sure to check out Peter's blog, A Touch of the Runs!

Cast Your Vote for the Ugliest Runner's Feet !

2011-10-01T18:04:00.003-04:00

Drum roll please...brace yourselves for some pretty gnarly looking feet! Below are the brave souls who bared their soles for the chance to win a $75 RunningWarehouse.com gift card. Take a look at each photo. Study them carefully and make your decision as to which pair of feet should be crowned Ugliest Runner's Feet!

To cast your vote, look to the right of this post and click on the letter that matches the photo shown below that you feel is the ugliest pair of runner's tootsies. You have until 12:00AM on October 9th to cast your vote. The winner will be announced on the blog on Sunday, October 9th. Best of luck to all the participants!

Your support with a Vote for RunnerDude's Blog at The Top 100 Running Sites is greatly appreciated.

When Do I Run At Race Pace?

2011-09-15T21:17:00.001-04:00

As summer draws to a close, many runners are in the heat of their fall marathon race training. Cooler temps and decreasing humidity are being celebrated. The tempo runs, intervals, and hill workouts are in full swing, and the really long runs have begun.

Many training plans have runners running short-n-easy, long-n-slow, and hard-n-fast. The shorter easy runs keep the weekly mileage base strong. The slow long runs build endurance as you acclimate to longer and longer distances. The speed work builds power, increases VO2Max and pushes out that lactate threshold.

So begs the question, “When do I get to run at race pace?” There are some great opportunities to let you body experience race pace running throughout your training. Here are a couple of options:

Weekly Tempo Run: I have my runners run a weekly tempo run. They begin at 4 miles and every three weeks increase the distance by one mile. For the three weeks at a particular distance, they do three different types of tempo runs—traditional tempo, tempo intervals, and a race-pace tempo. Each type begins and ends with a 1-mile easy warm-up/cool-down. The miles in between are run at the specified tempo pace. A traditional tempo pace is run 30seconds slower than 5K race pace. Tempo intervals rotate between 5-minutes fast (20 secs slower than 5K race pace) and 5-minutes slow (about 30 seconds slower than marathon race pace). The race-pace tempo is run at marathon race pace. So, during their 18-week training, they experience three different types tempo runs at 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 miles before they begin to taper down the last three weeks. These longer race-pace tempo runs are great for helping you guage your race-pace speed.

The Long Run: Traditionally the long run is run about 1-minute slower than marathon race pace. The long run slow pace.....
To read the rest of my race-pace running tips go to Active.com.

My First Marathon: Vanessa

2011-09-09T06:11:00.001-04:00

Below is the first of a series of upcoming posts on "My First Marathon." It's such an awesome experience, I thought it would be great for readers to share what their first marathon was like and why it meant so much to them. The first in the series is from Vanessa Taylor. Read on to find out more about Vanessa and her first marathon: SunTrust Marathon, Washington DC, 2009

I had started running for real in Fall 2008, when I started a graduate program in Washington DC. I had always wanted to do a marathon, and that seemed like a good time to do it. I went through a rookie program training plan that I found online, trained all winter, was hoped for the best. It was my goal to break 4 hours, although I had started to wonder of the likelihood of that.

It was about 30 out when the gun went off at 7AM, but I warmed up within a few miles. I was able to see my parents at the starting line, which was great. The first few miles went by quickly, although when I ran my first mile in 9:30 (21 seconds off my pace), I picked things up, nervous that I wouldn't meet my goal. My ideal goal was to break 4 hours (and I had secondary goals of 4:10 and 4:15). For the first 6-7 miles, I ran alongside of a nice guy named Rich, who was also trying to break 4 hours. However, at mile 7, my right sock rolled under my ankle, and I had to pull over to fix it. I was so concerned about the time I lost fixing my sock, that I picked up the pace again.

The majority of the hills were between miles 3 and 9, and it felt great to knock them out. The crowds were great; everyone was cheering, playing music (including the Rocky theme), and just being very supportive. I saw my parents at mile 11, and I was so happy to see them. Around that point, I think I misread my pace band, and thought I was 4 minutes off of my pace. However, when I got to the halfway point (13.1) in under 2 hours, I then realized, not only had I made a mistake in reading my pace band, but that I could truly break 4 hours with some room to spare. Also, I knew I was halfway done, which was good. Then I was also able to see my mom and dad again at mile 15, which was great.

The next few miles flew by, especially mile 17, which went downhill (weee!). At mile 18, I realized I only had 8 miles to go, which did not seem that bad. I knew that my friends from grad school (Wes, Seth, and Mary - the 3 I talk about the most) were going to be standing at mile 20. I told them to come around 10AM, but thankfully they got there early, since I was running at a pace faster than I imagined. I saw them first, and yelled out, and they were so surprised to see me, it was hilarious. I was so happy to see them. Then at mile 21, things started to seem a bit ugly. 5 miles left, but I just started to feel icky. It's not even that my legs were hurting, it was that I had been drinking Powerade and eating GU, and just had a sickening sweet taste in my mouth. Mile 22 was an "out and back" mile, which meant I ran half a mile, then turned and ran back on the other side of the road. It felt like I was going nowhere. Then I had 4, then 3.

At 3 (23), I told myself there was only a 5k left, and that I would be done with it soon. Then 2 miles left, but 2 hills to climb. Those 2 hills wouldn't have been so bad had they been earlier, but they seemed terrible then. Then the mile sign said 25, so just 1.2 to go. That felt long. Finally, I passed the sign that said 26, so all I had was a 200 yard dash. I dug in, found the last bit of energy I had stored, and sprinted to the finish. They announced my name as I went through the finish line, which was pretty cool, and I saw my friends and parents as I was finishing. The time that showed up as I crossed the finish line was 3:55:47, but I knew it was actually less than that, since it took me a few minutes to even cross the starting line. I then got my medal, and was immediately surrounded by Mom, Dad, Mary, Seth, and Wes. It was amazing, lots of hugging, etc.. I was insanely happy (I'm sure the adrenaline played a role in that). Once I slowed down, I started to feel sore, so I walked around, stretched, and even got a free massage on location, which was great.

Later in the day (following a good shower and nap), I went out for a steak dinner with my parents and friends - so good. It was just great for my parents to meet my new friends, and everyone just had a great time.

When I got back from my celebration dinner, they finally posted the official results of the race.
743 overall (out of 2094)
29/120 in my age division (F 18-24)
Overall Pace: 8:52
Finish: 3:52:18

I did not expect to finish in that time - I was shocked. In the weeks leading up to the race, I was filled with a lot of doubt about my goal, and in the end, I beat myself.

Vanessa Taylor

Check out my blog! www.medievalistrunningincircles.blogspot.com

My First Marathon

2011-09-04T18:35:00.004-04:00

Fall is approaching and runners all over the world are in high gear training for upcoming marathons. For some it will be their first and for others it may be their 51st, or 101st. No matter the number, completing a marathon is a uniquely wonderful experience that only fellow marathon alumni can understand and appreciate. But nothing, I mean nothing can top that feeling you experience after crossing your very first marathon finish line.

Mine was NYC '97. I had been running since 1984, but had never done anything longer than a 15K. I'm not sure what sparked my interest to delve into the world of endurance running, but 1997 was the start of my love of the long run. Fourteen years ago, doesn't sound that long ago (my 20-year-old son just reminded me that he was only 6 at the time...guess "long time" is relative, huh?), but back then the Internet or the World Wide Web (as it was then called) really wasn't the first venue for knowledge. Believe it or not (you young whipper-snappers), I actually drove to the local books store (yep back then Barnes & Nobles weren't on ever street corner nor Starbucks....I know...how heathen!) and found a book on race training. I think there were a total of 4 running books in the store. One happened to be Hal Hidgon's How to Train: The Best Programs, Workouts, and Schedules for Runners of All Ages. It was early '97 so I had a few months before I'd actually start training, so I purchased the other three books at the book store too--Jogging by Bill Bowerman, The Complete Book of Running by James Fixx, and This Running Life by George Sheehan....quite the classic collection.

With really no clue on what I was doing, I began on this new journey into the world of long-distance running. Not sure how I survived the cotton shirts and scrunchy socks during the summer training. I did discover the WrightSock about this time and luckily avoided major blister issues. Chaffing...now that was another story (I'll spare you the details). Hydration? LOL! Yep, I think I got some water in before, during and after...maybe. There wasn't anything like GU back then. Somehow I made it. Somehow I prevailed and actually completed that training.

Now keep in mind that the biggest race I'd ever run, probably had a couple hundred people in it. My mind could not even comprehend the fact that I'd be running with close to 30,000 other runners. I made the trek to NYC with no major complications and before I knew it I was hopping on a bus in Manhattan headed to Staten Island for the start of the race. As we got closer to the military base where we'd be camping out until the start, I was amazed at the sea of buses pulling into the area. Thousands of runners spilling out each with a look of awe, amazement, bewilderment, and fright! There were people from all walks of life, all parts of the world, all ages, and shapes and sizes. Many were donning trash bags which I thought to be extremely odd until I realized it was for warmth, not because they were homeless.

I was entering this compound of characters by myself and I was a bit overwhelmed. I had traveled so far by myself, the family back at home not quite understanding what had gotten into Dad, waiting for the call that I had finished. Surveying the grounds, it kind of looked like a refugee camp for wayward runners. There were groups huddled trying to keep warm, others were down by a big stage doing aerobics led by a group of ultra perky ladies in leotards, some runners were even wearing costumes from superheros to cartoon characters. There was even an Elvis or two.

This was oddly reassuring. Hmm, if these characters can do this, I certainly can. Then I heard someone clearing his throat at a mike saying, "Testing. 1-2-3. Testing." I turned around to another stage and saw an MC type person getting ready to introduce a group a people. Turned out he was introducing the oldest runner running in the race that day. He was 95 and he was running with his son (in his 70s) and his grandson (in his 40s). Yet another reassurance....If this 95-year-old can run this, surely I can too.

For what seemed like an eternity I milled around absorbing all the sights until it was time to get in the appropriate starting corral. At the corrals, I noticed these huge construction dumpsters and wondered what they were for. Soon the answer was revealed. That MC guy got on the mike again and announced that the race would start in 5-minutes. As soon as he finished, clothes began to fly off. Runners were hurling their extra "keep-me-warm-till-the-start-clothes" into the air toward the huge dumpsters. Evidently the clothes were later given out to local shelters. Caught up in the flying clothing, I almost missed the starting gun. But didn't really matter. Took us 6-minutes just to cross the starting line. (No timing chips back then. Only a gun time. So you had to keep track yourself at how long it took you to actually get to the starting line after the gun sounded.)

All was going well until about mile 21 or 22 in Harlem when the bottom fell out. Nowhere else in the entire glorious state of New York did it ran that day, but in Manhattan. And boy did it rain. About 1-inch fell in about 15 minutes. It rained so hard that I couldn't see the runners around me. But I plodded forward, each foot now about 5lbs heavier soaked with rain water. I kept telling myself that that 95-year-old was out there doing the same thing, so I could do it too. Adding insult to injury, once the rain stopped, I was faced with the winding hills of Central Park. Something happened though. I actually picked up the pace and flew across the finish line (probably more like a speedy trot, but I remember it as blistering speed). Speaking of blistering, all that rain water caused major blisters on the ole tootsies and even one blackened toenail which even today ain't quite right....a nice memento of that first marathon.

Sometime after crossing that finish line, having that first marathon finisher's medal placed over my head, and someone wrapping that warm silver finisher's blanket around me I realized I was crying. Actually it was more like balling. I'm man enough to admit it. All that adrenaline in your system, all those hormones raging in your body, and then all the emotion of crossing that first finish line is enough to overwhelm even the toughest Navy seal. There I was, wrapped in sliver, caked in salt, sore as hell, dehydrated, and balling like a baby and the happiest man alive.

I've run 10 more marathons since that chilly November day in 1997 and each has been memorable for various reasons, but none will ever top that first marathon. I learned that day that I'm a strong individual...mentally and physically. I also learned that anything is possible if you have enough determination.

Tell me about your first marathon experience.

Share what your first marathon experience meant to you. What did it teach you? What did you learn about yourself? How has it affected your life since? Send your story to runnerdudeblog@yahoo.com. Include your full name and if possible include a picture of yourself (doesn't have to be from the race). Be sure to put "First Marathon" in the subject line of the email. Each story will be featured on the blog and each submitter will receive a RunnerDude's Fitness sports water bottle. I can't wait to read about your experiences!

Ugliest Runner's Feet Contest!

2011-09-01T12:00:00.001-04:00

You know you're a real runner when your first toenail turns black or better yet falls off. LOL! I have one toenail that's a permanent honorarium to my first Marathon (NYC '97) Still an odd looking little booger, but each time I clip it, I have fond memories of that first exhilarating day. (Okay, I know...I need to get out more.)

To celebrate the beauty that only a runner can love, RunnerDude's Blog is sponsoring The Ugliest Runner's Feet Contest! To enter, send RunnerDude a jpeg photo of your feet in all their glory to runnerdudeblog@yahoo.com. Be sure to put "Ugly Feet" in the subject line and then put your full name, location, and a little blurb about you and your "ugly feet" in the body of the email. You'll have until Friday, September 30th to submit your photo/entry. Then the first full week of October, all the entries will be posted for readers to view and vote on. Details on how to vote will be posted along with the photos. So, what are you waiting for, make a Kodak moment with your tootsies and send it in!

Oh yea! The winner gets a $75 gift card to RunningWarehouse.com! Hopefully he/she will buy better fitting shoes with the prize money. ;-)

To read more about Black Toe a common foot ailment for runners click here.

National Run@Work Day!

2011-08-29T11:31:00.000-04:00

SAVE THE DATE: SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

On September 16, 2011, the Road Runners Club of America will promote the 6th Annual RUN@WORK Day nationwide. Company-based wellness programs, human resources departments, running clubs, running events, running shoe stores, and individuals nationwide are encouraged to plan fun runs and walks around the country with their employers.

The goal of RUN@WORK Day, presented by the Road Runners Club of America, is to encourage adults to get 30-minutes of exercise each day, in accordance with the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, either before work, during lunch, or immediately following work.

RUN@WORK Day also encourages companies to help employees schedule time for physical activity. Incorporating exercise into one’s daily routine can markedly improve one’s overall physical health.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) estimates that 64% of US adults are either overweight (33%) or obese (31%), meaning they have an excess weight of 30 lbs or more. The causes of overweight and obesity can be complex. However simply put, overweight and obesity results from an energy

imbalance. Eating more calories and not getting enough exercise or physical activity results in the engery imbalance that causes obesity. The rise of overweight and obesity and the resulting health conditions has a dramatic effect on health insurance costs around the US. It is estimated that overweight and obesity health related medical costs have reached an all time high of $75.8 billion per year (www.cdc.gov).

So, check in with your work's human resources department and/or wellness coordinator and see if they'll support you in spreading the word about National Run@Work Day. No wellness coordinator at your place of work? Then talk it up with your fellow colleagues and gather a group together. Who knows....it may turn into a weekly or daily gathering. What a great thing that would be!

Share information about RUN@WORK Day events you are planning in your community by posting information on the RUN@WORK Day Facebook page..

The RunnerDudes Do Battle at Battle!

2011-08-28T20:57:00.000-04:00

I try really hard to keep RunnerDude's Blog and RunnerDude's Fitness separate. From time to time, I'll mention my running and coaching business and today is one of those times that I'm beaming with so much pride that I just have to share.

Saturday, 20 of my runners participated in the Battle of the Triad Half Marathon and 5K in Kernersville, NC. This is a great race put on by our awesome local running store Off'n Running Sports. Eleven of the runners are from my current half and full marathon training program at RunnerDude's Fitness and the other nine runners are from my fitness walking and beginning running corporate programs over at Volvo Financial and Volvo Trucks. Nine of my half and full marathon trainees won or placed in their age group and six of the Volvo runners won or placed in their age group in the 5K. For most of the Volvo runners it was their very first 5K!

My half and full marathon trainees were under RunnerDude orders not to run the half any faster than their marathon race pace (my goal to keep injuries at bay, plus give them a chance to do a pretty long distance at their marathon race pace giving their bodies a chance to get acclimated to their race paces). So, no telling what they would have done if they had ramped it up to their half-marathon race paces.

Pictured above are my half and full marathon trainees who participated in Battle, many of them holding their hard-earned age division awards. So, proud of you guys!!!

If you're in the Greensboro area, I'd love to have you join us in some race training! Also, if you work at Volvo Financial or Volvo Trucks in Greensboro, our next Fitness Walking, Beginning Running, and Intermediate Running groups begin on September 12th! Email me at runnerdudeblog@yahoo.com if you're interested in joining one of the groups.

7 Training Tips for Your First Half Marathon

2011-08-24T08:00:00.003-04:00

Below are a 7 good training tips for your first half marathon.

1. Build a base. One mistake new runners often make when paring for a half-marathon is thinking that the 12- or 14-week plan takes you from the couch to the finish line. All half-marathon training plans that range in length from 10, 14 or 16 weeks assume that you’ve already built a weekly mileage base of at least 15-20 miles. Your longest run should also be at least 5 miles. Anything less than this weekly mileage or longest run mileage will overwhelm your body’s ability to acclimate. If you have a solid base under your feet, then when you start your training, you’ll only be acclimating to the demands of the training workouts. If you have a weak base coming into the training, then you’ll actually be asking your body to build that base while at the same time as acclimating to the new training demands. That’s overtraining or an injury just waiting to happen.

2. Pick a plan. Twelve weeks is a common length of many half-marathon training plans, however do a Google search and you’ll find plans that range from 10 to 16 weeks. I prefer to use a longer plan (14 weeks) with my runners. The extra weeks allow for a little wiggle room if a runner gets sick or has slight set back or injury. If this is your first half-marathon, I strongly recommend a plan longer than 10 weeks. This will give you more time to acclimate to the training demands.

Not only do the plans vary in length, they also vary in content (the types of workouts, weekly mileage, and the number of times you run each week). Study the various plans carefully before picking one. First, find one that meshes well with your work and family schedule. If the plan has you running every day and you know that’s not going to happen, then that plan is not for you. Second, find a plan that matches your running fitness level. If the first long run in the plan is 8 miles and your current longest run is 4, select a different plan. Often plans are labeled for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced or Experienced, but even then, read through the plan carefully and make sure it fits your current running fitness level.

3. Think quality over quantity. Running lots of miles each week is one way to prepare for a half-marathon, but lots of miles can increase our chance of injury. I have my new half-marathon runners run four times a week. Two of these runs are what I call quality runs and two are base maintenance runs. The quality runs consist of a mid-week tempo run and a weekend long run.

The types of tempo runs vary, but basically they begin and end with a 1-mile warm-up /cool-down and the in between miles are run at a pace about 30 seconds slower than 5K pace. The Tempo portion is an uncomfortable pace. This helps your body increase VO2Max (your body’s ability to take in and utilize oxygen at the muscle layer to make energy) as well as push out your lactate threshold (that point at which you feel that burning sensation in your legs). Increasing VO2Max and pushing out your lactate threshold helps make you a more efficient runner as well as help fight off fatigue longer. A tempo run can range from 4 to 8 miles, and the types of tempos can vary.

Three good tempo workouts include: the traditional tempo (described earlier), race-pace tempo and tempo intervals. Race pace tempos are very similar to the traditional tempo, but instead of running 30 seconds slower than your 5K pace, you pull it down a notch to your half-marathon race pace. This is a great workout for giving your body a chance to experience what it feels like to run at race pace. Saving your race-pace tempos for the longer 6, 7, or 8-mile tempo runs works well. Tempo intervals begin and end with the 1-mile warm-up/cool-down, but the in between miles are broken into 5-mintue fast/5-minute slow intervals. The fast interval (fartlek) is run about 20 seconds slower than 5K race pace and the slow interval is run at your slow easy long-run pace. This teaches your body to learn how to speed up and/or slow down when needed during the race. Here are more specifics on these tempo workouts.

The long run is just that…long. This run should be run at a pace that’s about 1-minute slower than race pace. That’s hard to do sometimes, but by pulling back, you help your body build endurance without wearing it down. To help curb the urge to run faster as well as teach your body that you can pull out some speed at the end of the race, I have my runners up the last 1 to 2 miles of the long run to race pace or slightly faster. Most half-marathon training plans will take the runner up to 12 or 13 miles. There’s no need to do a run longer than 13 for a half.

The two weekly base maintenance runs are short runs (4 to 5 miles). These are designed to keep the weekly base miles going and to help keep the runner limber between the quality workouts. These runs are also run at a slower pace (45 seconds to 1-minute slower than race pace).

To read the rest of my tips (4-7) go to Active.com.

Heart Rate Training: Is It For Me?

2011-08-15T09:12:00.001-04:00

In my experience with runners, there seems to be two camps. Those who religiously use heart rate monitors and those who don't have a clue what they are. I think there can be a happy medium.

Heart rate monitors come in all shapes and sizes. Cheap and expensive. Most of the newer models look like a wrist watch that also includes a chest strap. In most cases the chest strap monitors your heart rate and sends a signal to the wrist watch component which provides a reading. Some models don't have the chest strap and are able to read your pulse from the wrist. In either case, both do a pretty good job of monitoring your heart rate.

So what does your heart rate have to do with running? Well, anytime you exercise or basically just move around in general, your heart will work a little harder or a whole lot harder depending on the intensity of the activity to keep up with the demand of oxygenated blood needed to produce energy in the muscle. As a runner, heart rate training involves knowing your maximum heart rate, your resting heart rate, and the various training intensity zones for the various types of workouts you'll be doing.

The key to accurately using heart rate as a training method is determining your maximum heart rate. Here lies the problem. Many of the standard methods for determining maximum heart rate are not very accurate. The most common method for determining your age-predicted maximum heart rate (MHR or APMHR )and target heart rate (THR) training zones is the Karvonen Method.

Karvonen Formula
Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) = 220 - age
Heart Rate Reserve (HRH) = MHR - resting heart rate (RHR)
Target Heart Rate (THR) = (HRR x exercise intensity) + RHR

Looks complicated, but it's not too hard to use. For example, if a 40-year-old wants to calculate his target heart rate zone for a regular long run (65%-70% of your MHR), he'd do the following:
1. MHR= 220-40 = 180 beats per minute
2. RHR = 60 beats per minute (best to get this first thing when you wake up)
3. HRR = 180 - 60 = 120 beats/min
4. Low End of Target Heart Rate zone
    = (HRR x % of Training Intensity) + RHR
    = (120 x 65%) + 60
    = 138 beats/min
5. High End of Target Heart Rate zone
= (HRR x % of Training Intensity) + RHR
    = (120 x 70%) + 60
    = 144 beats/min

So on an easy long run, this 40-year-old runner would want to keep his heart rate within 138 and 144 beats/min.

The intensity percentage varies depending on the type of workout. Runner's World describes the various training zone intensities as follows:

Easy Run (recovery zone)
Pace: One to two minutes slower than marathon pace
% Max heart rate: 65 to 70%
Perceived Effort: 3 to 4/easy
Talk Test: Complete conversation

Training Run (aerobic zone)
Pace: Marathon pace or slightly slower
% Max heart rate: 75 to 85%
Perceived Effort: 5 to 6/moderate
Talk Test: Full sentences

Tempo Run (threshold zone)
Pace: 20 to 30 seconds slower than 5-K pace
% Max heart rate: 88 to 92%
Perceived Effort: 7 to 8/hard
Talk Test: A few words at a time

Intervals (VO2 max zone)
Pace: Mile to 5-K pace or faster
% Max heart rate: 95 to 100%
Perceived Effort: 9/very hard
Talk Test: Can't...talk...must...run...

The problem with the Karvonen Method is that it doesn't factor in sex. No, not whether you had any the night before, but whether you're male or female. LOL! Anywho.... sports scientists have worked on the formula to help account for differences between the sexes and have come up with the following:

Male = 214 - (0.8 x age)
Female = 209 - (0.9 x age)

Once you find your age-predicted maximum heart rate by your gender, then you simply plug that number into the rest of the Karvonen formula to find your heart rate training zones.

But alas, even with the gender modifications to the formula, it's still not 100% accurate for everyone. To really find your accurate Max Heart Rate, you'd need to go to a sports science lab under a controlled setting for safety reasons. That can be expensive, so most opt for one of the formulas above and rely on a heart rate monitor to keep track of heart rate.

I personally am more of a "run by feel" kind of guy. That's what I like about Runner's World's break down of the training zones above. It also includes the perceived effort scale of 1-10 as well as the talk test. I tell my runners all the time that if they can carry on a multi-word sentence conversation during a tempo run, then they're not running hard enough. Also, I already wear two motivation wrist bands, a sports watch, a runner's necklace my kids gave me, and my Garmin GPS. The thought of something else on my wrist and a strap on my chest is just too much to bare. But to each his/her own.

Heart rate monitors are great tools for checking in with your training progress. If you have medical conditions that warrant keeping track of your heart rate, heart rate monitors can be invaluable. If you're healthy, however, just try not to depend on them 100% of the time. Learn to read your body tech-free too.

7 Ways Runners Can Avoid Overtraining

2011-08-05T17:56:00.000-04:00

Feeling the burn after a workout is a great sign that you've done your job. That burn is a result of pushing your body past what it's used to. Challenging yourself toward harder, more intense workouts over a period of time is called progressive overload. Progressive overload trains your body to adapt to the new conditions being put upon it.

The key, however, is making sure that along with the progressive overload you are also giving your body time to recover. Ever notice how most marathon training plans have you run a 20-miler followed by a day of rest and a shorter "long run" the following week? Or the plan may have you increase your long run mileage a little each week up to a certain point and then drop off and build back up again. That's progressive overload or stress adaptation. Build up. Back off a little. Build up. Back off a little. Overloading the body and then giving it a chance to recover, adapt, and heal before placing more stress upon it, is a great way to train.

New runners and seasoned runners both can get caught up in the excitement of training. Before they know it, they've peaked, burned themselves out (physically and/or mentally) or worse, suffered an injury before race day. Below are some good tips to follow to get the most out of your training without overtraining.

1. Follow the 90 percent rule. When doing quality workouts (hill repeats, tempo runs, intervals, long runs), push yourself, but always leave something left in the tank. Think about pushing yourself up to about 90 percent of your maximum effort, but never give push it to maximum effort. After finishing a quality workout, you should feel tired. You should feel like you've worked hard, but you should also feel like, "Hmmm, I could have done a little more." This should be a good feeling, not something to beat yourself up about. Knowing that you've worked hard (close to maximum effort), but not crawling away from the workout and needing three days to recover will greatly benefit you in the long run. Doing every quality workout at maximum effort is an injury waiting to happen. Just knowing that you have that "extra" in you can really help you beat mental and physical fatigue later in a race.

2. Enjoy the easy runs. Almost every training plan includes easy runs each week. These runs are usually designed to keep your base mileage going and to help keep you limber in between quality workouts. Problem is many runners blast through the easy weekly runs as if they were quality workouts. If every run is a hard run, you greatly increase your chances of injury, peaking early, or mentally burning out. Also, running your weekly easy runs at maximum effort can put a damper on your weekly quality workouts and so they're not benefiting you as much as they should.

3. Respect your REST days. Forget the idea that rest is only for the weak. Rest is equally as important as that weekly tempo run or long run. Your body needs time to rebuild the muscle tissue that's broken down with each workout. If you never let your body rest, your fitness level can begin to decline affecting all of your runs, easy and/or quality. No rest is basically a fast forward to overtraining and injury.

[Click Here] to read tips 4-7 at Active.com.

And the Winners are...

2011-08-01T07:23:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Kristen Bowles and Jessica Grammer, the winners of the RunningWarehouse.com $50 gift cards! Thanks to all that entered the contest and thanks to all who have supported and continue to support RunnerDude's Blog! Don't forget to check out RunnerDude's Blog on The 100 Top Running Sites and Website Top List!

Heat, Heat, Go Away! Don't Come Back Another Day!

2011-07-29T17:58:00.003-04:00

Most of the Midwest, South, and many other parts of the US have been experiencing a tremendous heatwave the past few weeks. Heat can really take it's toll on a runner, especially for runners who are in training for their upcoming fall marathons. The only saving grace is knowing that in the fall, when the temperatures drop, they'll feel faster and stronger. But what's a runner to do in the mean time?

Well the first thing is good hydration. Be sure to drink throughout the day before a long run. The morning of, be sure to get in at least 20oz of water about 1.5hrs before the run. Drink water throughout the run up until about 45-60 minutes. Then begin using sports drink in order to help replace vital electrolytes (mainly sodium and potassium) needed to ensure good hydration and keep muscle cramps at bay.

Secondly, slow down. You will anyway, so you might as well not fight it. And no, you're not being a weenie when you slow down due to the heat. There's a physiological explanation. Even if you're running in mild temperatures (say around 60°F, your core temp will begin to increase as your body "warms up." One way your body works to cool itself is to send more blood into the tiny blood vessels of the skin (the capillaries). Well, as you already know, your body has a certain amount of blood, so when it sends more blood to one area of the body, that means it decreases the amount in other areas of the body. In this case, when more blood moves to the skin, less is available in the working muscles. Less blood in the working muscles means less oxygen getting to the mitochondria in the muscle tissue where it's used in the energy-making process. Not only does that mean less oxygenated blood getting to the muscle, it means less blood available to carry away the waste products of the energy production (i.e., lactate). This combination spells fatigue and you begin to slow down.

In the those milder temps, not as much blood is diverted, so you don't really see much of a difference. But as the temp climbs to the top of that thermometer, your body works harder and harder to cool itself off, and less and less blood is sent to the muscle. It's like a salmon swimming upstream. No matter how hard you try to "pick-it-up" your body just begins to peeter out.

When running in the heat, you need to adjust your pacing expectations, especially in a race. If your race falls on a 90°F+ day, a PR probably isn't going to happen. Doesn't mean you can't run, just means, you have to "keep it real." Your life is more important than that PR. Jeff Galloway provides an Adjusting Race Pace for Heat chart. He'll be the first to tell you that this chart isn't based on scientific research, but rather the Olympian's own personal experience as well as his experience coaching hundreds of runners.

Adjusting Race Pace for Heat
Example: Normal Race Pace = 8:00
55-60 degrees – 1% – 8:05
60-65 degrees – 3% – 8:15
65-70 degrees – 5% – 8:25
70-75 degrees – 7% – 8:35
75-80 degrees – 12% – 8:58
80-85 degrees – 20% – 9:35
Above 85 degrees – Forget it… run for fun

Heat Cramps, Heat Exhaustion and Heatstroke are three heat-related illnesses that can effect runners. Below is a description of each along with what to do for each condition (reference: Marathon.com).

SIGNS OF HEAT-RELATED ILLNESS

1) HEAT CRAMPS
Causes: Loss of electrolytes and accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles.
Conditions: Muscle cramps and/or spasms, heavy sweating, normal body temperature.
Treatment: Drink water and sports drink, slow down, massage affected area.
2) HEAT EXHAUSTION
Causes: Intense exercise in a hot, humid condition and loss of electrolytes.
Conditions: Profuse sweating, possible drop in blood pressure (less than 90 systolic, the top number), normal or slightly elevated body temperature, lightheadedness, nausea, vomiting, decreased coordination, possible fainting.
Treatment: Rest in a cool place, drink water and sports drink, if BP drops below 90 systolic, call EMS, avoid activity for at least 24 hours, refrain from running or exercising in the heat for at least one week.
3) HEAT STROKE
This is a medical emergency!
Causes: Intense exercise in a hot, humid condition, older age, dehydration, obesity, wearing heavy clothing, running in the heat when you have an infection or fever, certain drugs such as amphetamines, diuretics, beta blockers, cardiovascular disease, poor acclimatization, high blood pressure.
Conditions: High body temperature (106 or higher), lack of sweating characterized by dry, red skin, altered consciousness.
Treatment: Call EMS! Rest in a cool place, remove clothing to expose skin to air, apply ice packs or cool water to groin, underarms, neck (stop if shivering).

Runner of the Week: Jeff

2011-07-29T09:03:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I've featured a Runner of the Week. I'm happy to return the feature with an awesome runner and person, Jeff Williams. Some of you blog readers may know him better at Detroit Runner host of the blog of the same name.. Jeff is pretty new to the fitness world. He started exercising for the very first time in 2009. In about 2 years, Jeff has done a 360 with his fitness and health. Read on to learn more about Jeff "Detroit Runner" Williams and his running and fitness quest...

Over two years ago I went to get a medical exam for my life insurance. The insurance company put me in a high risk category. I didn't like it! It also didn't help that I was turning 40 as well. So I decided that I needed to do something about it. My life had been work, come home, eat dinner and snack...and snack....and, yes, you guessed it, snack. Then I went to bed. There was really no physical exercise in my life. Unfortunately what that did was increased my weight to about 195 pounds(I'm only 5' 6") and gave me high cholesterol(280!!!). I knew I needed to do something about it so I bought myself a pair of running shoes, started walking and started eating healthy. I walked for probably five months and lost about 30 pounds but could lose no more. Then I started to lift weights which really did help get me fit but I was not losing weight. So I thought, I'll start running!

I started by trying it on the treadmill but I could not figure out what was wrong. I would run but I would just get too tired after a minute and have to start walking again. I took things outside but the same thing happened and I could not do it. I talked to my brother-in-law who is a doctor and a runner and he said "slow down!". That was it, it helped tremendously! I was just going too fast and losing energy too quick. My first run was about six houses long. Haha! I remember huffing and puffing out there. Each day I would go out for a walk and try to run one additional home. I kept doing that until I could get through a block, then two blocks, then my subdivision street until I could get to a point where I could run for 30 minutes at a time and so on. As I progressed I also lost the weight really fast and by the time I was nine months into the start of my exercising, I signed up for my first 5k and had lost 65 pounds and reduced me cholesterol to 140 points! I have since put on about 5 pounds but have managed to keep the weight off since I started two years ago.

My wife was very supportive and we purchased an American Heart Association cookbook which my wife uses daily for our meals. The racing is what really did it for me. I loved it! It kept my interest and gave me goals to work on. I felt incredible every time I finished a race even if it was not my best race. I wanted to PR every time. Haha! Crazy, I know. I moved through the 5k to the half marathon in about seven months and raised almost $3,000 for a local hospital for my first half as well. I figured if I'm going to do a half marathon, I might as well do some good for others at the same time. It also secretly helped keep me motivated because there was no way I was going to tell people that donated money that I did not finish the race.

I did not realize it at the time, but I was actually pretty good at running. I did my first half marathon(which was hilly!) in 1:45:55. Not super speedy but very respectable. I have since run four 5k's, four 10k's, three 10 mile runs and three half marathons. I also did my first full marathon in May(Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City, Michigan) with my running buddy with a time of 4:12:17 less than two years after I started exercising and I'm currently training for my second marathon, the Detroit Free Press marathon in October.

Running has completely changed my life. Also, my family has helped support me throughout the process. In addition, the running community and the many blogs I read are great sources of motivation. Blogging about my progress also helps me - kind of like therapy. I love talking about running with other runners and my blog (www.detroitrunner.com) is a great place to do that. Runners are very supportive of each other and I have met some great people over the last couple years. I hope to be able to run for the foreseeable future and I do what I can get other other people involved in the sport.

Thanks Jeff for sharing your story! Be sure to check out Jeff's blog Detroit Runner!

Caffeine—Friend of Foe?

2011-07-28T09:44:00.000-04:00

Many a runner swear that downing a cup-a-Joe before running helps performance. I too am a coffee aficionado and you probably wouldn't want to be around me before I've had my morning cup. So I did a little digging into coffee and running. Turns out coffee's not the villain it's sometimes made out to be..

A Running Times article shares a couple different theories on the subject. Basically it says that some experts believe caffeine improves endurance by increasing the enzyme activity for fat metabolism. By using more fat, a long-distance runner's glycogen stores last longer allowing him/her to run farther. But caffeine also seems to help runners of shorter distances. So what's the deal? Other experts credit the enhanced performance on caffeine's stimulation of the central nervous system, which increases alertness and concentration. One pretty cool study even shows that stimulation of the central nervous system can effect the perception of effort. So, drinking that cup of coffee may make that faster pace you're running after your morning coffee seem easier than a on day you didn't have your java infusion.

But coffee is a diuretic, right? So should we be concerned about dehydration? Caffeine can cause dehydration, but guess what? Research shows that caffeine is less of a diuretic in people who drink caffeinated beverages on a regular basis. Wee Doggie!! The key is making sure to get in enough water throughout the day not counting your caffeinated beverages of choice.

The experts do warn, however that you should only consider using caffeine if you're already in good shape, eat a good diet, and don't have any medical problems such as high blood pressure. If you're a sedentary person, downing a coffee tanker before rolling off the couch probably isn't going to make you the next Prefontaine.

Now, having said all of that, the upside of coffee for runners, doesn't mean you get to lose all common sense when you're in line at Starbucks before meeting your buddies for that morning run.

I often stand in awe at my local Starbucks as I hear customers shout their orders in what seems like a different language while the talented baristas absorb it all and fill the orders pronto at lightening speed. Sometimes I get tickled at the orders. It's almost like the customer is either trying to sound the most impressive or trying to stump the barista. Then there are other orders in which I just shake my head, because of the number of fat grams and calories it must contain.

There lies the key, moderation. It's fine to splurge once in a while on a "dessert" type coffee, but I'm at my Starbucks most mornings and I see the same people order the same drinks topped with whipped cream morning after morning. I'm a basic bold coffee kind of guy. I usually add a tiny bit of cream, but that's it. Actually, I'm so predictable with my order, that Mark (the barista) usually has my order ready by the time I get to the counter without me even telling him what I want.

Recently I noticed a pamphlet by the cream station in my Starbucks titled "Nutrition by the Cup." I was fascinated by its contents—nutrition info for the various types of coffee drinks. A basic black coffee has only 5 calories. Add a serving of half-n-half (about 1Tbsp.) and you add about 18 calories and about 1.5 grams of fat. Not too bad. Add one pump of flavored syrup and you've added 20 calories. How about some chocolate drizzle? (5 more calories). Not into chocolate? How about some caramel? (15 calories). How about some sweetened whipped cream? (short = 50 cals/5g fat; tall = 60 cals/6g fat; grande/venti = 70cals/9g fat). Feeling all "healthy" and want to add some protein powder? (30 calories)

Then there's the classic expresso drinks. A short caffee latte has 70 cals with nonfat milk; a venti has 170 cals with nonfat milk. The favorite caffee moca without whipped cream has 280 calories if made with nonfat milk (340 cals if made with 2% milk).

This info made me think of some of those drink orders (that I can't pronounce) that had at least 4 things added to them. Depending on the order, there could have been 100+ calories added to that simple 5 calorie cup of coffee.

So, enjoy the caffeine and get that boost for your run, but be mindful of the empty calories and extra fat that may actually slow you down on the run.

Reader Appreciation Contest!

2011-07-25T07:32:00.001-04:00

As a small token of my appreciation for all the support you, the readers, have given RunnerDude's Blog, I'm happy and honored to give everyone a chance to win one of two $50 RunningWarehouse.com Gift Cards!

Each and every day, I hear from runners all over the world. Some of you share your amazing stories of how running has helped you overcome life obstacles. Others share running goals achieved. Others ask training and injury related questions or share awesome recipes. I love and welcome it all. Spreading the world of running to anyone and everyone who will listen is a passion that I hope to continue for a very long time.

If you or someone you know would make a great Runner of the Week to be featured on the blog, I'd love to hear your story of the story of your buddy. If you have ideas for posts or have running related questions, I'd love to hear those too. Just email me at runnerdudeblog@yahoo.com.

When you have a chance, check out RunnerDude's Blog as well as all the other awesome running blogs on The Top 100 Running Sites and the Website TopList!

To Enter the Contest.....

To enter the contest, simply email me at runnerdudeblog@yahoo.com. Put "Reader Appreciation" in the subject line of the email and then put your full name in the body of the email. Enter by midnight on July 31st. Each email will be assigned a number in the order that it's received. Then the TrueRandomNumberGenerator will be used to select the two winning emails. The two winners' names will be announced on the blog on Monday, August 1st, 2011. To be fair, only one entry from each person will be accepted. Additional emails sent will not be included in the drawing.

Best of luck and thanks for the support!!

Trust. Believe. Conquer!

2011-07-22T16:33:00.004-04:00

It's that time of year. The excitement abounds as thousands of runners begin their training for half and full fall marathons. The experienced endurance runners are glad to get back into the training routine. First-time marathoners are excited to finally conquer that elusive distance, but shaking in their boots (trainers) over the prospect of what lies ahead.

When I give a new marathoner his/her training plan, inevitably her eyes widen to saucers when she sees her projected goal finish time and the various training paces and workouts that will get her to that goal.

Then the actual training begins. That first group tempo run isn't so bad. "I can do this." The first couple of long runs aren't so bad. "Okay, this is manageable." Then comes that first 15-miler. Murphy's Law dictates that it always happens on the hottest day of the year. Paces slow to a crawl. Legs cramp. Spirits dampened. "How in the hell am I gonna make 26.2 miles when I'm crawling back to the car at mile 15?!" This is when my inbox becomes full of emails about everything from hydration, to ankle issues, to self-doubt. I love helping each runner work through the issues. Self-confidence is usually the biggest hurdle to clear.

This is the "Marathon Circle of Life." (Can you hear the Lion King theme music in the background?) If you're in a RunnerDude's Fitness group training program, then I bet you any one of them will tell you what will come out of my mouth at this point in the training....."Trust in Your Training."

Yep, Rome wasn't built in a day and neither is a marathon runner. I remind them of the base they worked on prior to beginning their training plan. Then I remind them that it takes 4-6 weeks to acclimate to a particular distance or pace. So when they have that first rough 15-miler at week 4 or 5 in their training, I remind them that believe it or not, they'll be thinking that's an easy run around week 10 when they're doing their first 20-miler. And what do I say after that first rough 20-miler? Yep, "Trust in your training, you've got 8 more weeks to acclimate to that 20."

In the grueling hear-and-now of training, it's almost impossible to see the progress you've made much less realize the continued progress you'll make as you stick to your plan.

Sometimes a mantra is helpful to get you through the rough patches of training. My mantra is Trust. Believe. Conquer.
Trust....in your training.
Believe....in yourself.
Conquer....your goals.

This works so well for me that I had some wristbands made to give my runners. Just a little reminder of just how strong an athlete they really are in mind, body, and spirit. (Shh....they don't know they're getting them yet.)

Searching for a Personal Trainer in Greensboro, NC?

2011-07-21T17:39:00.007-04:00

RunnerDude's Fitness

Do you live in Greensboro, NC? Are you looking to improve your level of fitness and improve your quality of life in a safe, small studio setting with a well certified, knowledgeable, and supportive personal trainer? RunnerDude’s Fitness offers that and a whole lot more!

RunnerDude’s Fitness is dedicated to helping you meet your fitness goals through one-hour and half-hour one-on-one and partner personal training sessions for...
Beginning Fitness Training
General Fitness Training
Senior Fitness
Fitness Assessments

RunnerDude’s Fitness also provides individual and group training for runners and walkers including...
Fitness Walking
Fitness Training for Runners
Beginning Running
Race Training for 5Ks to Marathons
Online Training
Customized Running Training Plans

RunnerDude’s Fitness also provides group corporate training at prominent companies as Volvo Trucks and Volvo Financial where he works with employees in fitness walking, beginning running and soon to be an intermediate running group.

Why Choose RunnerDude's Fitness? The owner and trainer, Thad McLaurin, provides a relaxed, fun, non-intimidating training in a small informal studio setting. Thad knows that beginning fitness for the first time or returning after being away for a while can be very intimidating. Don't be mislead, you'll get a great workout, but one that's nurturing, motivating, and confidence-building. Thad's goal is to "Education not Intimidate." He won't be yelling in your face. Thad also feels it's important to explain why the exercises you're doing are beneficial to you and your health. So, not only will you become fit, you'll learn more about your body and your musculoskeletal system. You'll also learn proper technique so when you workout at home or in your own gym, you'll feel confident you're doing the exercises safely.

Still Not Sure? Check out the information below about Thad, then call (336) 288-6155 or email him runnerdude@runnerdudesfitness.com and set up a free consultation. You'll get to check out the studio and talk with Thad for an hour. You can share your fitness goals and Thad can share information about the various training programs available to best meet your needs.

About the Owner/Trainer:
Thad McLaurin (aka: RunnerDude), his wife Mitzi, and their three kids have lived in Greensboro, NC since 1998. He's come a long way since being "that overweight kid" as a youngster. After Weight Watchers® and a 40-pound weight loss in high school, he discovered running during college and has been passionate about running and fitness ever since. (Over 25 years!) It all started with the '84 Great Raleigh Road Race 10K. He wasn't fast, but he had a blast and was hooked. 13 years later, Thad caught the marathon bug. His marathon quest began with the '97 NYC Marathon. Fourteen years later, he's run 11 marathons all over the country from NYC to Baltimore to Nashville to Honolulu, and then some and is currently training for his 12th.

A UNC Chapel Hill grad, Thad began his career as a 5th grade teacher before moving into the world of Educational publishing where he worked as a writer, editor, and book development manager for 13 years. Thad combines his love of writing with his love of running and fitness by hosting RunnerDude's Blog. He's a contributing writing Active.com and AmateurEndurance.com. Thad was also featured in the "Ask the Experts" section of the July 2010 Issue of Runner's World magazine. He's also had the wonderful opportunity to interview some of running's greatest legends and personalities.

Thad's also active in the community and has been a member of the executive board for GOFAR, a nonprofit organization that prepares youngsters to run their first 5K!

Thad is well credentialed with his Personal Trainer and Nutrition Consultant diploma certifications from NPTI (National Personal Trainer Institute), his ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) personal trainer certification, his RRCA Running Coach certification, and his USA-Track & Field Level 1 Coaching certification. He's also current with his Red Cross adult CPR/AED and First Aid training.

For testimonials from clients click here and check out Thumbtack.com

Read More About RunnerDude: Guideposts magazine recently featured an article on Thad and his life transition into the fitness world. [Click here] to check it out.

For more information about RunnerDude's Fitness, the various training programs, and pricing, go to http://www.runnerdudesfitness.com or check RunnerDude's Fitness out at Thumbtack.com.
RunnerDude's Fitness: Running and Fitness for Everyone!

7 Training Tips for Your First Half Marathon

2011-07-20T08:34:00.001-04:00

So, you've run a 5K, maybe even a 10K, and now you’re ready for something more challenging like a half marathon. Good for you! The half marathon is a great distance. It’s long enough to feel challenged, but not so long that training for it completely consumes your life.

Below are a few good training tips for your first half marathon.

1. Build a base. One mistake new runners often make when paring for a half-marathon is thinking that the 12- or 14-week plan takes you from the couch to the finish line. All half-marathon training plans that range in length from 10, 14 or 16 weeks assume that you’ve already built a weekly mileage base of at least 15-20 miles. Your longest run should also be at least 5 miles. Anything less than this weekly mileage or longest run mileage will overwhelm your body’s ability to acclimate. If you have a solid base under your feet, then when you start your training, you’ll only be acclimating to the demands of the training workouts. If you have a weak base coming into the training, then you’ll actually be asking your body to build that base while at the same time as acclimating to the new training demands. That’s overtraining or an injury just waiting to happen.

2. Pick a plan. Twelve weeks is a common length of many half-marathon training plans, however do a Google search and you’ll find plans that range from 10 to 16 weeks. I prefer to use a longer plan (14 weeks) with my runners. The extra weeks allow for a little wiggle room if a runner gets sick or has a slight set back or injury. If this is your first half-marathon, I strongly recommend a plan longer than 10 weeks. This will give you more time to acclimate to the training demands.

Not only do the plans vary in length, they also vary in content (the types of workouts, weekly mileage, and the number of times you run each week). Study the various plans carefully before picking one. First, find one that meshes well with your work and family schedule. If the plan has you running every day and you know that’s not going to happen, then that plan is not for you. Second, find a plan that matches your running fitness level. If the first long run in the plan is 8 miles and your current longest run is 4, select a different plan. Often plans are labeled for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced or Experienced, but even then, read through the plan carefully and make sure it fits your current running fitness level.

3. Think quality over quantity. Running lots of miles each week is one way to prepare for a half-marathon, but lots of miles can increase your chance of injury. I have my new half-marathon runners run four times a week. Two of these runs are what I call quality runs and two are base maintenance runs. The quality runs consist of a mid-week tempo run and a weekend long run.

The types of tempo runs vary, but basically they begin and end with a 1-mile warm-up /cool-down and the in between miles are run at a pace about 30 seconds slower than 5K pace. The Tempo portion is an uncomfortable pace. This helps your body increase VO2Max (your body’s ability to take in and utilize oxygen at the muscle layer to make energy) as well as push out your lactate threshold (that point at which you feel that burning sensation in your legs). Increasing VO2Max and pushing out your lactate threshold helps make you a more efficient runner as well as help fight off fatigue longer. A tempo run can range from 4 to 8 miles, and the types of tempos can vary.

Three good tempo workouts include: the traditional tempo (described earlier), race-pace tempo and tempo intervals. Race pace tempos are very similar to the traditional tempo, but instead of running 30 seconds slower than your 5K pace, you pull it down a notch to your half-marathon race pace. This is a great workout for giving your body a chance to experience what it feels like to run at race pace. Saving your race-pace tempos for the longer 6, 7, or 8-mile tempo runs works well. Tempo intervals begin and end with the 1-mile warm-up/cool-down, but the in between miles are broken into 5-mintue fast/5-minute slow intervals. The fast interval (fartlek) is run about 20 seconds slower than 5K race pace and the slow interval is run at your slow easy long-run pace. This teaches your body to learn how to speed up and/or slow down when needed during the race. For more specifics on these tempo workouts, click here.

The long run is just that…long. This run should be run at a pace that’s about 1-minute slower than race pace. That’s hard to do sometimes, but by pulling back, you help your body build endurance without wearing it down. To help curb the urge to run faster as well as teach your body that you can pull out some speed at the end of the race, I have my runners up the last 1 to 2 miles of the long run to race pace or slightly faster. Most half-marathon training plans will take the runner up to 12 or 13 miles. There’s no need to do a run longer than 13 for a half.

The two weekly base maintenance runs are short runs (4 to 5 miles). These are designed to keep the weekly base miles going and to help keep the runner limber between the quality workouts. These runs are also run at a slower pace (45 seconds to 1-minute slower than race pace).

To read the 4 remaining tips, go to Active.com.

RunnerDude's Blog

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Twitter Road Race

The following is being reposted from fellow blogger Doug Cassaro's blog-I don't wear headphones when I run.It's such a great idea I thought I'd share his idea by reposting it on RunnerDude's Blog. Read on to learn about the Twitter Road Race.....

If you're like me, you're always trying to find a way to keep running fresh. You run a different route. You hit the trails instead of the road. You run in the morning instead of the evening. You join a running group. The list goes on and on.

I got to thinking about how it would be fun to combine the camaraderie of road racing with the powers of Twitter...a twitter road race!

Thanks to everyone's amazing feedback on Twitter, the race is on! Those that are interested in participating can register here. The 1st Twitter Road Race is going to be held on Saturday, January 21st. Race distance is a 5K.

So, what do you do on race day? Simple, head out the door and run the race distance! Choose which ever route you want. You get to decide how easy or hard the course is.

I will post the results for the race within 24 hours.

The goal of this race is to create a new and fun way to connect with all the awesome runners on Twitter. It's a way for us all to run together even though we might live on separate sides of the country.

I welcome any and all comments/suggestions for this race. Please spread the word to all your followers on Twitter! I'm leaning on you guys to help get this race trending! Don't forget to use #TwitterRoadRace when you tweet!

You guys rock! Can't wait for January 21st! Happy running!

Doug @seedouglasrun

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And the Winner Is.....

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SAVE THE DATE: SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

The RunnerDudes Do Battle at Battle!

7 Training Tips for Your First Half Marathon

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And the Winners are...

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Runner of the Week: Jeff

Caffeine—Friend of Foe?

Reader Appreciation Contest!

Trust. Believe. Conquer!

Searching for a Personal Trainer in Greensboro, NC?

Doug
@seedouglasrun