The Mountain Runner Movie

                                         The true story of America's first adventure race.

The Mount Baker Marathon was an endurance/adventure race, which took place in Bellingham, Washington. This race was a grueling race that lasted only 3 years.  

The Mountain Marathon Movie and website can be found here: http://www.themountainrunners.com/index.htm

Child's Pose

  

(my daughter practicing her child's pose)

Since getting back on the mat, I have heard from several fellow runners about how they are interested in yoga but are unsure of where to start or what poses might look like. One of my favorite poses that can be done before and after your runs is Child's Pose. While it might look simple, it's benefits listed

below are numerous. 

 

The Benefits of Child's Pose (Balasana)

• Releases tension in the back, shoulders and chest
• Helps alleviate stress and anxiety
• Flexes the body’s internal organs and keeps them supple
• It lengthens and stretches the spine
• It gently stretches the hips, thighs and ankles
• Normalizes circulation throughout the body
• It stretches muscles, tendons and ligaments in the knee
• Calms the mind and body
• Encourages strong and steady breathing

To settle into this pose, think of being a "fetal position". Shins are on the floor and the chest can either lay on the knees or on the floor depending on if the knees are spread apart. The head rests on the floor and the arms may be stretched out in front or at the sides depending on the comfort level.


With any yoga practice the most important part of any pose is the breath. Breathe deeply and settle in just a bit more. 

Thankful

Tap tap...tap tap..I lazily turn over and glance at the green numbers glowing on the clock indicating its just after 5 am. I've slept in so to speak and my dog is walking back and forth on the hardwood floors downstairs letting me know he wants to go out. He has a routine. I am thankful he hasn't barked yet and woken the kids.

Tiptoeing downstairs, I flick on the light and coffee maker, thankful I can take my time to get out there this morning to run or walk. Piping hot java in hand, I sit down to a calm silence in the house. The only sound the clickety clack of fingers touching the IPad screen.

It is in this silence that I am truly thankful. Thankful for what matters and is truly important. Thankful that my family is safe on this Thanksgiving, and I get to spend this day with them. I recognize that for some people that this is not a reality. However, this feeling of thanks should not be merely contained to just this day.

Given the pace that many of us take in our daily routine, days like today should not only provide us with a pit stop to pull off and enjoy the view, but to remember what we have and should be thankful for.

Enjoy this day my friends.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Premier Protein Review

After a particularly craptastic day at work, I was poking around on Twitter and was just on the interwebs at the right place and time to be selected by Premier Protein to receive a gift package of their products. In the past when I have received samples, they have usually been limited to one or two but I was pleasantly surprised when the box below showed up and had several of their products for me to try.

                                                 

From their website: We believe that everyone should live a healthy, active life, and nutrition is the cornerstone of that life. However, we know that eating healthy and staying active is challenging in today’s hectic life, so we strive to be your health and nutrition partner—making powerful, healthy choices easy.

           Our mission is to give you the energy to get the most out of every day — now. 

Protein, protein, protein. We love protein because it is essential for a healthy and active life. But getting enough protein is hard, especially protein that doesn’t come with too many calories or too much fat. That’s why we make delicious, essential healthy protein that curbs hunger and fuels your energy for whatever you love to do.

We’re showing the world how healthy protein can help anyone tackle life’s daily challenges, feel their best and live the life they want.

As a parent of two active kids, school administrator and runner, I know that with being on the go that I make poor nutritional decisions if I do not have readily accessible snacks. One of the easiest things for me to slide into a backpack or bag is a protein bar of some sorts. I don't have to measure a portion or worry about the Ziploc bag breaking open with them. However, my own taste palate for most of the protein type bars I have tried in the past have bordered on yucko. Consistent with the taste of cardboard,  I didn't care how many grams of protein it had, they usually have tasted like crap. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised with the Premier Protein bars that I have sampled so far.

Both the Chocolate Peanut Butter and Double Chocolate Crunch bars have 30g of protein and 290 and 280 calories respectively.

I have tried the bars as a mid morning or late afternoon snack and found them to be both tasty and satisfying.

As for the Premier Protein Shakes, I have only tried the Chocolate flavor so far. On both occasions they have been after 12 and 13 mile runs and found the taste to be quite smooth. Not to many calories, and plenty of protein to help rebuild.

Premier Protein can be found at Wal Mart, Costco, and Sam's Club.

Simply Yoga App

My buddy and I were talking about yoga the other day over a few cowboy pops at Dragonmeads,  and he said he wished that yoga places offered like a men's only beginner class to ease them into practicing yoga. Classic case of being a strong runner but inflexible and didn't want to look or feel like a dufus in a class.

Problem solved, I told him....Simply Yoga. Simply Yoga is an app that boasts a free version and paid version ($ 2.99) available on Itunes that has an easy way to immerse yourself at home, on the road, or wherever into yoga.  Each of the practices has a time limit of 20, 40 or 60 minutes. In the free version, you get access to only one routine while the paid version gives access to one more practice. Both of the practices are centered around multiple rounds of Sun Salutations which in their own right can be a challenging and invigorating practice.  There is also the availability to start a practice at a certain pose or create your own routine within the paid version.

The voice of the instructor is calm and even keeled. One thing that I enjoyed is that there is video of a woman going through the practice as the instructor calls out the next pose.  The woman does not use a mat instead practicing on carpet and there is no instruction for modifications to any of the poses if they prove to challenging.

I did several routines using the free version before plunking down to what amounts to a Vanilla Latte at Starbucks for the paid version. With local yoga class fees running from $5 - $15, picking up the paid version was a no brainer. I now have a traveling yoga practice available at my fingertips. For those looking to try out some yoga at home before going to a studio, this is a great introduction as well.

Finding Traction Trailer

Finding Traction

Finding Traction is a film about ultra marathon runner Nikki Kimball’s quest to become the fastest person in history to run Vermont’s 273-mile Long Trail.

Locks of Love

"I don't know who you are anymore" replied my son to his mother the other day. She left for work the other day with hair inching down towards the middle of her back only to return with a short bob and the remnants in a Ziploc bag neatly banded up and measuring approximately 10 inches ready to ship. 

Ship where? Since giving birth to our son, my wife has twice now grown her hair out for an organization called Locks of Love. From the website: Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. Some also have lost their hair to cancer as well. The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.

If you can not stand the thought of growing your hair out 10 inches in order to meet the minimum requirements, you can also go to the website and make a financial donation to the cause.  I am proud of my wife for taking on the challenge to donate to such a worthwhile organization.

Back on the mat

   

"I said well daddy, don't you know that things go in cycles..." Tribe Called Quest

Fall brings with it the explosion of colors on the leaves of trees before they begin their slow descent to earth. Skies turn grey and the days grow shorter. Those first few breaths when you step out on a frosty fall  day is a sign that old man winter is not to far away.  For most people it is time to turn inward both physically and mentally.

My yoga practice has always been something that gone in cycles. As a college student, I remember practicing poses awkwardly out by the Huron River and trying to make sure that no one saw me. When I met my wife, the local yoga studio was the place for a few of our dates, but I still fought the poses physically. I didn't take what I needed from them or focused on the breath. It wasn't until I found a new studio about 6 years ago before the birth of my daughter, that I really began to appreciate what yoga could do for me. A few classes a week, helped to quiet my racing mind and opened up the tightness in my hips and legs that I had from running. Through my time on the mat, it was probably the best physically overall I have felt. Not to tight and not to loose. It was a calmness that I carried from the mat and into my daily life.

In the midst of that cycle, the yoga studio owner changed up practices and demanded more from me both time and fiscally then I was able to give with the birth of my new daughter. Sadly, I had to roll up my mat and retreated to my home practice that was nowhere as frequent or focused as at the studio. I reached out a few years ago to the owner again because I did really enjoy the practice and had heard that they had softened their views, but alas, it was the same as before and my yoga mat grew cold from the lack of use.

Who knew that it would take a case of plantar fasciitis and a Groupon to get me back on the mat and into the studio? Since spring, I have dealt on and off with a case of plantar fasciitis and being somewhat of a bonehead, I have not given it my full attention to heal. I got the message loud and clear after pacing my friend last month at their 100 miler, that I need to not run races for the rest of the year and to focus on getting better. While I certainly had not been diligent in my yoga practice, a few downward dog and pigeon poses here and there were not enough to keep my body in balance.

I began taking to the mat a bit more regularly and when my wife wife purchased a Groupon for the local yoga studio, I was a bit jealous. She began going quite regularly and I could see a difference in her posture and energy level. I wanted that to.

Last weekend with no kids, we went on a yoga date. It was the first time to this new studio and when asked if I had practiced before and mentioned the previous studio there was a look of recognition like we understand because apparently lots of people have left for the same reasons I did.  In this new studio and space, I felt at ease. There was no judging and the instructor kept repeating to be grateful and to feel the breath.  Yoga is not about resistance. Yoga is about opening yourself and breathing into that tightness to release.

Like the previous studio, this new one offered one week trial period for free and then a 60 day $99 unlimited package. During the course of the week, I attended 2 more classes and decided to continue with the unlimited package. In the space of a week, while my heel feels a bit better, it is the opening of my body that has me excited to be on the mat. [ ]

We are all capable of greatness

Magic Mile

Bippity Boppity Boo!!! With a swing of the wand and little swing in my hips, I thought I just might to see what this "Magic Mile" bit was all about.

It seems comes summertime as of late, I have been feeling the need for speed. Mind you, we are not talking the Goose and Maverick version that will have you doing an inverted cross with a MIG-29, but more of the oh shit, I opened the beer to fast and better suck down the head coming out before it spills kind of speed. Faster than I have been, but nowhere where I was as a yute.

Even though I am pacing a friend at the local 100 miler in September and am thinking of doing a timed 12 hour event after that, I have been hitting the circle of cinders weekly. A steady diet of  whatever # by 800's, coupled with the layering this week of 2 mile repeats, have the legs feeling like there is a little pop but I am not feeling the need to race at this point.

In the past, I have used the McMillan Pace Calculator to see where my workouts might project on race day, and they would probably be spot on if I didn't fall apart. So grazing the buffet of training plans available, I drifted over to Jeff Galloway and the Miracle Mile.

What I love about Jeff is he is a huge proponent of the run/walk method. As a newbie runner back in the day when gas was still, $1.08 gallon, I stated that I would never "walk" if I did a  marathon, I have done so in every one and found the magic that lies within this method when moving to ultras.

From the website, here is what Jeff has to say about the "Magic Mile":

Why the Magic Mile

After having worked with over 170,000 runners over 30 years, I've compiled hundreds of performances and have established a prediction formula based upon a one mile time trial. In other words, every 2 weeks or so, you can run a measured mile (at a good, hard pace for you) and use the time to predict what you could run at longer distances.

This assumes that

* You do the training needed for the distance and time goal (See my books Running Year Round Plan and Galloway Training Programs)
* The temperature on the race day of your race is 60F or cooler
* You pace yourself correctly and take the walk breaks necessary for your goal (see the same two books for details)  

(Courtesy of: http://jeffgalloway.com/resources/gallracepredict.html ) 

 So the idea behind this "Magic Mile" is that after a proper warmup of at least one mile, and some acceleration gliders that you run 1 mile as hard as you can. Not puking hard, but so that you couldn't maintain that pace for another 100 yards. 

Mind you, I have not run an all out mile since high school. Back then, pimple faced and fueled by the Golden Arches, I remember running somewhere in the vicinity of 5:20-5:30's. Good enough for varsity, but only because no one else wanted to run the mile. 

With a slow building trot to the starting line, I threw my Road ID off to the side of the track to increase my aerodynamicness and began the 4 laps. A lot of rain had fallen in the last day so the inside lane of the high school tack was a bit muddy in spots and I swerved in an out to hug the inside. 

Round and round I went and with each lap so my rate of breathing became more labored. When I glanced down at my Garmin, I saw an uncharacteristic number at the head of the mile pace: "5" and the remainder of the mile became an effort to keep that number from turning into a "6". 

Crossing the imaginary finish line (Road  ID and hat), I checked the watch to see that I had run a 5:53 mile. Between sucking air down I cracked a smile and trotted the whole way home thinking that was a pretty good effort. 

Sitting down at the computer, I proudly punched in my "Magic Mile" time only to have numbers spit back out at me that turned my smile upside down. 

5k pace - 6:26/ 19:57 
10k pace - 6:46/ 41:57 
1/2 marathon Training Pace - 8:39 / 1:53:18 
1/2 marathon Pace - 7:04 / 1:32:29 
Marathon Training Pace - 9:39 / 4:12:47 
Marathon Race Pace: 7:39 / 3:20:23

In all honesty,  I should not have been disappointed. I have put in only about 4 weeks of speedwork, and have not raced at all to see where my fitness is at. A chart is chart. An algorithim taking into account many factors, it's not the end all be all. It is merely a reference point. Nevertheless, I think that I had better start scouring the interwebs for a race and make a date in a few weeks with another "Magic Mile".  

Legs As Tour Guides

(Paul Revere statue on Freedom Hill Trail in Boston)

Heading out of town? First thing that goes in my bag are my running clothes. I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things to do when I am in a new place is to go for a run and use my legs as tour guides.

Sure, taking in the sights and sounds of a new place are exciting during a day when the city is alive, but I enjoy the stillness of the early morning when the city is just stretching it's legs and the promise of a new day rises above.

An added bonus to getting out there early and exploring is that I use the time to acquaint myself with landmarks and maybe even where we will be heading for the day or where to grab a bite to eat.

On a recent trip out east to visit my 94 year old Memere, we made a detour heading home to take the kids to Boston for their first ballgame at Fenway Park. Sadly, the Tigers got rained out and lost, but it provided me with the opportunity the next morning to take one of my favorite runs of all time.




Heading out from the hotel, I ran out and around Fenway Park, down to Boston Commons, and out and around the Freedom Trail before heading home. Nine miles of total bliss and a great way to see a big city.

Have you used your legs as tour guides? If so, what has been your most memorable run?



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Chasing the Shadow of My Youth

 

 Legs searing

 Short stuttered breaths

 Another left turn

 Chasing the shadow of my youth

 Taken for granted

 Speed as a child

 Keep loose, relax the hands

Chasing the shadow of my youth

  Worn grooves inside track

   Time waits for no one

   Scrap, claw, sweat

  Chasing the shadow of my youth

Running with the Kenyans

If you had the opportunity to pack up and move to Kenya in an attempt to "unlock" the secrets of the runners who live there, would you? Could moving there and having the ability to train with the best on a daily basis make you that much better? Author and runner, Adharanand Finn, writes about just that experience in his book, Running with the Kenyans.

After winning a local 10k in England, Finn's competitive desires are awakened and with the blessing of his wife, they pack up their three children to head towards the Rift Valley to the town of Iten in the province of Kenya, home to what many view is a mecca of long distance runners. The book follows Finn over the course of a year as he lives, trains, and learns from some of the best runners in the world.

Here are some of the ideas I took away from the book:

1.  In Kenya, there are only athletes.
          If you are not an elite athlete or trying to become one, then you do not run. There are no Team in Training, or fun running groups. You run in Kenya to make it to the world stage and win. Winning means $. $ means bringing that back to your community and family to help build a house, school, or purchase livestock. There is no running say a marathon to cross something off your bucket list.

2. Kenyans don't spend a lot of time analyzing their running.
     According to the book, many Kenyans run by feel. When asked about how they felt, they might say they felt good or that they were tired and stopped. No over analyzing. The run is done and over with. Compare this Westerners who can more often than not tell you every thought during the race, when, and why they might have done something differently.

3. Kenyans train in cushioned, clunky sneakers.
          Yes, most Kenyans begin by running barefoot, but tend to train in cushioned, clunky sneakers during their daily runs. One theory, is that it makes training harder. The early years of running barefoot means they have developed a forefoot strike that is still there despite cushioning and will wear racing flats come race day.

4. By the time Kenyans begin "training" in earnest they usually have thousands of miles on their legs already.

     Traveling by foot is the main method of transportation. Children run to and from school not because they want to, but because that is the only way they can get there. Cars are a luxury not an entitlement or necessity. Unknowingly, they have been "training" since they are young.

5.  Rest is serious.

     Kenyan athletes don't have jobs. They run, eat, and sleep.  Training hard means the body needs to have time to rebuild and that means not tweeting, checking out Facebook, or going out with friends with drink. To be the best requires sacrifice.


Overall, I believe Finn did a great job at describing what it might be like to live and train in Kenya for a year. There is no secret pill to become great, it takes hard work.

Getting Back on Track

It happens every year. In the blink of an eye, it seems like another school year is over and the routine of school, kids, sports, etc ends rather abruptly. When it does, it seems like my motivation to get up before the sun to run, and commitment to any sort of project (writing, podcasting) for at least a few weeks does as well.  It's not that I am not doing any of them at all, but I am just kind of when I get to it, I will sort of thing.

I tend to wonder if this is laziness or something else? Maybe like any training cycle, I need time to rest and recover. I'll be honest, after a school year of dealing with students, staff, budgets, legislation, etc, I need a break.  Is it that without the structure of having to get up and workout before work or risk the chance of not getting it in, the motivation is lost? How do you handle a break in the action so to speak so that you can reload the coil to spring off again?

Running Ahead of the Sun (Book Review)

Most running books fall into two camps. Books written by elite athletes (Ryan Hall, Meb Keflezghi, Scott Jurek) or by the back of the packers/philosophers ( John Bingham, George Sheehan, Haruki Murakami). Nothing is really aimed at the competitive runner looking to achieve personal bests or win races. Enter Greg Strosaker.

Greg, host of the blog, Pre Dawn Runner, is a father, husband, winner of the 2011 Towpath Marathon, and author of the book, Running Ahead of the Sun. What separates this book from the elite and back of the pack/philosophy book is that it is a daily journal of a self described "Average Joe" as he chronicles his training leading up to the Towpath Marathon.  Greg blends blog posts and Daily Mile entries to give readers an honest account of what it takes to go through a marathon cycle and how even within a plan you have to be adaptable.

Here is a an audio interview with Greg that I did for an upcoming episode of the podcast:

Daily Miler of the Week

I was pretty honored to be nominated by someone as the Daily Miler of the Week on Daily Mile. When I first joined back in 2010, I thought it was just another website to log and track my mileage. However, Daily Mile has become for me an important social media network as it is great way to interact with other athletes as we get out there and get moving.

Here is a link to the story: http://www.dailymile.com/blog/community/10692

Running Royal Oak

My wife has supported me through every running endeavor thus far, so it is only right that when she stated a few weeks ago that she had come upon an idea for her summer running goal that I support it. When she stated that she wanted to run every street in our city of Royal Oak, I was a bit surprised. I mean here is a woman that can get lost in her own city, but then again, when I thought about it, I began to see the sheer brilliance of the idea.

First and foremost is that she is guaranteed to see new things on her runs. Let's be honest, most of us stick to our same routes on a daily basis. There is a certain level of comfort that comes to us as we see the same thing day after day, but by venturing out, she will see parts of our city she never new existed.

Secondly, stating that you want to run every street in your city and then getting a map (cost $2) from the City Clerk's office to actually look at all the streets really highlights just how big our little city is. There is a sense of adventure already as she has begun to scout the map and plan out her run for the day.  A bonus here for me, is that if she gets lost, I have a map of where she should approximately be.

Third, it's a great motivator to get out the door every day.  While it is not a "time" ( sub 60 min 10k) or "distance" (marathon), there is a start and end date for her. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, her goal is to simply cover each street in its entirety minimally once. Yes, she will have to drive to some locations and then get out and run, but the fun part about it is that she will be doing it all within the city limits.

A bonus to all of this is that she might actually begin to understand what a Garmin is and what it can actually do. She was genuinely surprised when she learned that you can actually view on a map where you ran with your Garmin. And that my friends is what the true spirit of running is all about.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ultra - the 100 project

Ran across this video done by a couple of grad students about this year's Philly 100. Enjoy!

Book Review: Wild by Cheryl Strayed

What is it about nature that makes us forget about the concrete jungle that we have left the moment we step foot on softer ground?  Why does nature eventually strip us to the core and expose us nakedly to the elements and ourselves? Cheryl Strayed explores these very questions in her most recent book, Wild: From Lost to Found On the Pacific Coast Trail. 

While most of us might take months or  even years to build up to an event or adventure like hiking the Pacific Coast Trail (PCT), Cheryl decides to begin hiking it with out even so much as any overnight backpacking experience. Her "all in" approach at the beginning of the endeavor could best be described as a metaphor for her life up that point. Weighed down by "Monster", Cheryl traverses the PCT from the Mojave Desert to Washington State, where at first she is beaten down by the elements, trail, and by her own inexperience.

In any adventure or in life for that matter, it is what you do when you are stripped to the core that will determine your success, and for Cheryl it is her brutal honesty in this memoir that you find she is not pulling any punches. She leaves no stone unturned as she vividly describes her experiences leading up to the hike on the PCT as well as on the trail itself. It is this bearing of all things, leaving oneself naked for exploration that ultimately allows her to be strengthened in a way that only an adventure like this can do.

Reflections from the Blue Ridge Marathon

Believe the hype. The Blue Ridge Marathon bills itself as  "America's Toughest Road Marathon." With 7,234 feet of elevation change over the full marathon it is definitely not flat and I can say unequivocally that it is the hardest marathon I have run to date. 

My goal heading down there was to complete the Double Marathon, a distance of 52.4 miles. I managed to complete just over 39. While I had worked diligently at getting on the treadmill and doing hill specific workouts along with utilizing the 100 pushups and 200 situp apps to improve my overall core and strength, I neglected recovery and stretching. This neglect manifested itself in a case of plantar fasciitis in my right heel that while I tried to rest going into the race, was compounded running down the descents on the first marathon. Near the end of the first marathon, my heel felt like I was landing on nails and heading up the first climb of the second marathon, I made the decision to walk the 1/2 marathon. While I recorded my slowest 1/2 marathon on record at 3 hr 19 min, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. My fun button did get pushed and I made at the time what I thought was the best decision for me not to do further damage to my heel.

What I can say is that the city of Roanoke has a first class event in the Blue Ridge Marathon. The city and people are really getting behind this event and it showed with the enthusiasm  throughout the weekend. Besides the race, there was also a tent set up for local area bands and a bike criterium on Saturday night.Don't go to the Blue Ridge Marathon looking to set a PR, go run the Blue Ridge for the stunning views, the unique challenge of running up mountains and a great atmosphere.