Santa Fe, New Mexico

Half Marathon #26

You may not have read my last blog entitled Diet, Pickle Juice, Carb-Loading and Altitude, but within that blog, I detailed a few things that pertain to my last race in New Mexico and the weeks leading up to it.

I was really kind of hoping that I would have a good race.  I was aware of the altitude and thought that I might feel the effects of 7000 ft, but hoped that the weight loss would make enough of a difference that I could overcome the altitude.  Also, I really believed that it would not be a major issue considering the race was primarily downhill.  I mean, seriously... 10.6 of the 13.1 miles were downhill.  Would you not think this would make one run faster than normal?

I'll address the weight aspect here, in the beginning, then I will move into the race specifics... for those of you who don't care about the race.  You can simply read this short part and then move on to FaceSnap or Snap 'o' gram or twittle dee or something.

I mentioned in the previous blog that Valerie and I made a concerted effort to conform to an eating plan and for me to actively, consciously lose some weight.  As of yesterday, Sept 22, 2018 it has been 39 days since making a change in our dietary intake.  We have now done the Prolon diet ( a 5-day fast-mimicking diet) twice and the longevity or wellness diet for 3 weeks.  In that 39 days, I have gone from 214 pounds to 181 pounds.  I am wearing a size 31 waisted pant, and that is only because I don't own anything smaller.  I had to cinch up my size 31 jeans with my belt this morning to go to church.

As far as running goes, my last three days of running have all been sub-eight min. mile average runs.  I have run 3ish miles each of the last three days and averaged about 7:40 per mile.  One of those miles was 7:08.  I mention that only to say that I feel good.  I appear to be getting faster and do not seem to be having any ill-effects of too much weight-loss, too quickly.  I intended to run home from church today, but when I went to change into my running clothes, I realized that I had forgotten my shorts.  I do not mind running without my shirt, but it may be a bit much to run without my pants. (I am aware that a few of you actually run races this way, but do not expect to see that from me at any point).  So, I won't run until later today... after lunch but before dinner.  The next race is next weekend in Ocean City, NJ and I am hoping to have a good race with some nice weather and a fairly flat course.

Half Marathon #26.  I went out by myself.  I flew out early in the am on Friday from home.  It was still dark out.  There is a two hour time difference from EST to MST, so it was still fairly early when I got to Albuquerque.  I rented a car in Albuquerque and drove to Santa Fe.  On the way I decided to stop for something to eat.  Fortunately I saw a restaurant on the side of the road and immediately thought "FLAP JACKS!!" 





I had been on a calorie restricted diet for several weeks at this point, so I had difficulty deciding what to order at the iHop.  I seriously wanted to order the entire left side of the menu.  I exercised a small amount of restraint and simply ordered eggs, bacon, hash-browns, and a stack of pancakes.  It was so good, and I was pretending that it was all good for me.  Then I got back on the road to Santa Fe.

Santa Fe seemed to consist of some mountains, some desert and some casinos.  I did not see much else.  When I booked the trip, there were not a lot of options around the runner pick-up area to bus the runners to the start, so I decided to stay at a Homewood Suites which was adjacent to the host hotel, which was affiliated with a casino.  When I arrived at the hotel, it was still a bit early and my room was not ready, but I scoped out the exercise area in the hotel and noticed a treadmill.  I was looking for a bathroom to change into my running clothes, thinking I could get my mile in on the treadmill while I waited, when they texted me and told me my room was ready now. It was literally less than 5 minutes after they told me it was not ready.  I am assuming they were cleaning at the time he inquired??  Anyway, it was a nice apartment-style suite that I was not expecting.  There were two rooms, two bathrooms, a living room and a kitchen. This was all $167 per night.  Crazy.  I did not need all that room, but it was nice any way.  So, I checked in and went to the expo.  The expo was down the road about two miles, and I am not certain what I was expecting, but it was a bit different than many of the expos that I have attended.  There was a bib pick-up area and a T-shirt pick-up area and another tent and table set up to sell "running gear".  Not pictured, there were a few tables set up to sell local arts and jewelry.  I picked up my bib and shirt and went back to the hotel.

I had my first "taste" of how the race would be by heading out on the property to get my mile in.  It was a brutal mile.  I had difficulty maintaining an 8:45 pace even for one mile.  Maybe I was tired, maybe I was malnourished, maybe it was altitude, maybe I had eaten a bunch of iHop garbage, maybe my training was lacking, maybe it was a combination of things.  Maybe I just wanted something to whine about on my blog.  Either way, it was rough.  I did not sweat, but it was still tough.  At this point, I decided to go and get something for dinner and breakfast the next morning, race morning.  I got some pickle juice of course, some pasta and some pancakes.  No idea how that 7up cake got in my cart, but I did not want to embarrass myself by returning it, so I bought it too.  It would also be rude not to eat it, so I ate the entire thing between the car ride back to the hotel, that evening, race morning and after the race.  Just so no one found me rude.  (I have a problem.)

Race morning I awoke at 3:00 or was it 3:30 am?  Either way, I got up early.  With the time difference, it was my normal wake-up time, so it was no big deal.  I did not even use an alarm.  I ate my Aunt Jemima pancakes and continued to hydrate.  Lots of water.
Since I was next door to the host hotel, I was able to walk to the bus pick-up area.  It was still dark again.  I walked over, boarded a bus and ended up sitting next to a young man from Nashville who was running his first half-marathon.  He had never run more than 6 miles, but decided he wanted to run a half.  Seems like I have heard that story before.

The buses drove us to the starting area and dropped us off.  It was about an hour prior to the race start.  The race was scheduled to start at 7:30am.  There was a mariachi band playing, but pretty much nothing else going on other than race day registration.  I waited nervously trying to get and stay limber without exerting myself.  The race start was a free-for-all start.  There were no corrals, there were no pace markers, nothing.  Just line up... wherever and GO.  I made a conscious effort to place myself behind the fast runners and in the "slower start" section, but this was an impossibility.  There were slow runners in the front and middle, side and back.  There were fast starters scattered everywhere.   It was mayhem.  Before I nearly passed out, I was stepping on people and passing people and getting cut-off and cutting people off.  I don't know if I exerted more energy because I was trying to avoid people or because it was uphill or because it was 7000 feet elevation.  It was a difficult first mile, which BTW was run at a 10:37 pace.  This included the stop and walk at about the half mile mark.  Mile two was not better, but was "run" at a 10:45 pace.   From there I went 8:04, 8:42, 8:49, until I settled into about a 9:05-9:10 average.  Any faster than that I began to get winded and dizzy again.  I did not stop after mile two, but was going pretty slow overall.

  I made a little jump in this picture to give the impression that I was flying.  This is all I could muster.

The race was on a frontage road on either side of the highway and had very little in the way of scenery.  Desert and mountains in the background and casinos.  There were plenty of water stations and support, but very little in the way of entertainment.  I noticed a few dancers and a couple two-man bands, but that was about all on the course.  I do not remember if I mentioned it in the last blog post, but somehow I lost 3 miles along the way.  It was all captured by my Garmin, but I lost track of them myself.  When I finally decided to actually pay attention to which mile I was on, I was expecting to see mile 6 or 7, maybe 8, when it was actually mile 11.  There were no mile markers on the course.  No other way to tell how far you had gone.  Oh well, I finished.



At the finish there was bananas and water and a fruit popsicle.  The bananas had seen better days.  The water was warm, but wet.  The fruit popsicles were melting.  Beyond the runners finish area was a series of arts and jewelry for sale again.  I did not purchase any.  I was tired, so I went back to my room to eat the remainder of my 7-up cake.


After a short rest and cake, I packed up and went to the airport to return home late Sunday evening.... more like early Monday morning, only to be at work seeing patients at 7:00am.

Hey... New Mexico is done.  I am not certain that I would run this one again, but there is a distinct possibility that my difficulties were more due to factors that had nothing to do with the race.

As I mentioned, the next race is Sept 30 in Ocean City, NJ.  It is the 50 states half marathon club annual meet up.  Valerie will be accompanying me on this one and I am feeling very well at 181 pounds, so we will just have to see how much it affects me positively or negatively.  Stay tuned.

Diet, Pickle Juice, Carb-Loading, and Altitude

Over the last month, just after the last half marathon in Ohio, Valerie and I started a new diet.  Before I discuss the particulars of the diet, I will explain my rationale for wanting to diet in the first place... and before you rush to bang out an admonishing email explaining how it is not healthy to run and diet, please understand that I am well aware and made appropriate alterations in my running schedule to compensate, and I will explain all of that in the following presumably boorish balderdash.

At the start of the last two half marathons, July and August, Alaska and Ohio, my weight was somewhere between 210 and 215 pounds.  I am 6.0 feet tall.  At my highest weight, in college, while playing football, making a concerted effort to gain weight with muscle mass, I could never get my weight above 215 pounds.  These days, some 26 years later, my weight distribution is significantly different,  I no longer carry the muscle mass, but I do not seem to have any difficulty carrying the weight elsewhere.  What ever happened to the saying, "muscle weighs more than fat?"  I suppose the truth is that a pound of muscle weighs exactly the same as a pound of fat.  Once again, please don't read me wrong here.  I am not suggesting that I am fat.  I do not have anorexia or unhealthy body image issues.  I am not concerned about my weight from an esthetic perspective.  I do not have, nor will I develop an eating disorder.

If you were to take a look at the elite athletes, (for the record, I am nowhere near an elite athlete and at this point I have resigned to myself that I never will be) they are all very thin.  Because they are all different heights, average weight is a bit meaningless, but let me give you some data.  Most running coaches utilize the Stillman height/weight ratio table that allocates 110 pounds for a 5.0ft male and then 5.5 lbs. for each additional inch.  In this calculation, I should weigh 176 pounds.  Moreover, it is suggested that distance runners need to weigh 5-10 percent less than this calculation, which would put me at 159-168 pounds.   Another common calculation is that your weight should be 15 less than your height in cm.   This would put me at 167 pounds.  This all seems a bit ridiculous to me.   I think that someone, one of my family members or one of my patients maybe would call hospice for me if I weighed 167 pounds.  Although it is commonly understood that if you weigh less you can run faster.

Running, simply stated is a form of jumping.  One cannot move forward without moving up.  Each upward movement moves against gravity and the more weight that must move against gravity requires more energy.  Imagine running with a 10 pound sandbag strapped to your waist.  It would most certainly be more difficult.

Larger athletes are also less efficient at delivering oxygen throughout the body.  Less weight means that each breath allows whatever amount of oxygen that you intake to be delivered more efficiently to the muscles and organs.  Similarly, leaner athletes can dissipate heat better.  Because they have a higher surface area to body weight ratio and less insulating fat tissue, the heat will be dissipated more efficiently and they will burn carbohydrates more efficiently.

"In professional distance running, being light is not an advantage, it’s a necessity. And it's a precarious truth that to be the fastest runner you can be is to be as light as possible without being too light. Finding that threshold can be tricky business." 

One elite runner that I like to follow is Galen Rupp            .  

Galen is the American record holder for the 10,000 meters and placed third in the olympic marathon last summer.  Galen is almost 6 feet tall and races at just over 130 pounds.  Another runner, Chris Solinsky is the heaviest man in history to run under 27 minutes for the 10,000 meters.... the heaviest man in history.   

He is 6 foot 1 and 160 pounds. -- My fastest 10,000 meters is 45 minutes... so, we are not even in the same league much less the same race.  Here is a pic of the two runners together.  Hardly a difference.

So, my point here is that it is clear that lighter equals faster to an extent.  There is certainly a such a thing as too light and too light too fast.  I also understand that my body type is a bit different than an elite runner.  I will never get down to 167 pounds, and I do not want to be that lean, but I think it is fair to say that if I were to weigh less, then I could propel by weight farther faster.

OK, so that is the why.  Now for the how.  I learned about the book below from Dr. John Kois and Dr. Doug Thompson at The Kois Center where I train and teach.  I mention that because, while I am not going to summarize the book for you, I want you to understand that this is not a fad diet, but a diet based on science.  Doug and John are very science driven and The Kois Center is an Evidence Based Dental Teaching Center whose motto is Advancing Dentistry Through Science.  This book is not about dentistry, but about wellness and longevity.




In the book there is a menu.  It is designed to be a representative sample of the types of foods that one should eat for wellness and longevity, that is to be healthy short-term and long-term.  There is research on foods that help prevent cancer and dementia, etc.  The menu is a two week menu -- breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, dessert.  There is also a discussion about fasting and intermittent fasting and what they call the fasting mimicking diet.  This particular diet is a 5 day fasting mimicking diet from Prolon.  https://prolonfmd.com/ 
I was somehow able to convince Valerie that we should do this.  So, for two weeks we strictly followed the diet in the book.  The plan was to then do the 5 day fast after those two weeks.  Since I had a race coming up, we decided to do the fasting mimicking diet after one week of the wellness diet, then go back to the wellness diet for the second week.   I wanted to switch it up like this because I did not want to go into a race right after a fast.  BTW... it is not true fast.  It is a fasting mimicking diet.  There is roughly 1100 calories on day one and 800 calories on days 2-5.

Here is how it played out.  For one week we followed the wellness diet strictly, then went directly to the Prolon diet, then back to week two of the wellness diet.  THEN, we both had a nice binge.  Valerie was craving red meat, specifically a hamburger, so we went to a local gourmet hamburger shop that we enjoy.  We had planned this event.  We were excited about it.  It was a reward for all of our efforts and a "treat".  We had bacon and eggs for breakfast, and I must have eaten about four of the kids muffins, then we went to church and went directly to the hamburger joint with our appetites and mouths watering.  As we drove up, we noticed a relatively empty parking lot, which could be a good thing as maybe there would be few other customers and we could get our lunch faster.  As it turned out, the restaurant was closed on Sunday.  I respect that, but was supremely disappointed as I wanted my hamburger.  As we looked around for an alternative binge spot, we noticed a Chili's nearby and sped over with renewed anticipation.  I'll spare you the onslaught that ensued on the meat and carbs, but suffice it to say that there was not more than a few crumbs remaining after we completed our meal and we were sufficiently impressed that no one vomited.  Of course we were stuffed like the Thanksgiving Day turkey that we would have devoured if it were Thanksgiving and it were a Thanksgiving Day Cow, but that was simply not enough glutenous activity for the day, so we went across the street to the fro yo joint and further overindulged with sweet treats.

After this event, and it was an event.  We decided to go back on the wellness diet, but modify it a bit to allow for some days of left-overs to allow Valerie a break from the chopping and cooking and shopping, and to modify it to allow a couple of days off.  One day we might eat some chicken or even a hamburger, gasp.  We later had dinner with some friends and had a nice steak and potatoes and cheesecake... OMGoodness, it was AMAZING.  One other time I had lunch with a friend at the Greek restaurant and had a lamb and chicken pita with fries.  Otherwise, we stayed on the wellness diet.

Then came race week.  Oh, ALSO, while on the wellness diet you are supposed to exercise.  So, we did.  We even walked every day for 30 minutes.  (It is supposed to be 1 hour, but I could only force Valerie to do 30 minutes a day).  While on the Prolon diet, because it is a reduced calorie diet, they suggest that you not exercise... so, we just did not run as far as fast.  We still ran our mile a day, but it was more of a light jog.  Nobody passed out, fell down or had any complications.

So, race week came.  We were still on the wellness diet, but I added some carbs.  I ate more of the carbs in those meals that contained complex carbs and even supplemented a piece of bread or a bagel or noodles or something.  I started this 3 days prior to the race.

BTW.  I weighed myself in there somewhere and I weighed 192 pounds.  Not bad for 19 days and then a couple of binge days.

You may remember the title of this day's blog.  Diet, Pickle Juice, Carb-Loading and Altitude.  I just covered the diet part, now pickle juice.  For a week or so... maybe 2, I was having some calf cramps.  The cramps would happen in the evenings when I was not active.  Maybe while I was sitting or maybe while I was sleeping.  They would wake me up as my calf would flex, tightly and a jolt of pain would disrupt my slumber.  Gradually it got more frequent and then began to happen while I was running.  I did not so much cramp while running as I would feel a tightening as if the cramp was coming.  I remembered a friend, Dr. Mark Benavides (an avid cyclist) telling me that pickle juice was the cure for cramps.  So, one day I was out running and had this happen again.  When I came in from my run, I chugged a jar of pickle juice and felt instant relief.  Maybe it was placebo, maybe not, but either way it was quite effective.  So, for the next couple of days I would drink some pickle juice.  The cramping went away completely.  Was it the pickle juice or was it going to go away anyway.  I dunno, but it went away.  The day before the race in Santa Fe New Mexico I went to the grocery to get my pre-race dinner and my race day breakfast.  I bought pasta and tomato based pasta sauce for dinner and a 7-up cake for dessert.  Carb loading....  mmmmmmm.   For breakfast, I got a package of Aunt Jemima pancake mix and a local maple syrup.  I also decided to pick up a jar of pickles to potentially help prevent cramping during the race.  I drank some of the juice with my dinner and then had some after breakfast which was almost 3 hours prior to the race start.

I ate way more pasta than I really needed.  It was weighing heavy on me that evening and I was relatively inactive, so it felt like it was just sitting in my stomach as I got up at 3:00am for my breakfast.  I knew I needed to eat, so even though I was not hungry, I ate two large pancakes and some pickle juice, then of course I had to have some more of that yummy 7-up cake.  I was stuffed, but still had time before my race to digest it all.  Just to finish up on this thought before I move on to the Altitude portion, the good news is that I did not cramp up at all, but I was burping up pickle juice the entire race.

Obviously I went a little overboard with the carb-loading.  Earlier on Saturday, when I drove to Santa Fe from the airport in Albuquerque, I stopped at IHop and had bacon and eggs and pancakes for breakfast, or maybe it was lunch since I had breakfast at the house before my flight... of course that was about 5:00am and I ate at IHop at 10:30 MST which was 1:30pm EST.  So, I was hungry and my body was all confused.

The elevation in Santa Fe was 7000 ft.  I went for my daily run Saturday afternoon, and struggled.  It was tough to get some oxygen.  I ran an 8:45 mile, but it was tough.  So, I knew the race would be tough, but hoped that if I ate well and hydrated properly then I would be OK.  What was worse about the Altitude was the first 2.5 miles were all uphill at the highest altitude.  It travelled from 7000 ft to 7300 ft. then graduated downhill to a little over 6000 ft.  over the next 10.6 miles.  Uphill in altitude was a killer.  I decided to start slow in the middle of the pack, which may have been a mistake.  It was a small street at the starting line and no corrals.  It was what I call a free-for-all start.  Fast runners trying to get up front and slow runners starting tin the front.  I hate crowds and I hate being pinched in, trapped, boxed-in.  I tried to keep it slow at the start, but I could not stop from trying to pass the slower runners.  I am certain I cut off several people.  In fact, one person said, "excuse me, Sir".  He sounded sincere, but I think he was being sarcastic as I totally cut him off.  I yelled back, "SORRY!!"  Then at about the 0.5 mile mark, I started to see a tunnel forming around me.  I was getting dizzy and my vision was darkening.  I was about to pass out.  I cut off a few more people to make my way over to the side of the road, where I was forced to stop and walk before I awoke in the ambulance.  I was able to regain my wits and started running again.  About a mile later, it happened again.  I stopped again.  Both mile 1 and mile 2 were in the 10:20 - 10:30 range.  After that, I was able to find a slower pace that I was able to maintain.  It was around 8:45- 9:15.  If I got in the 8:15-8:30 range I started getting dizzy again.  So, I maintained a slower pace and was able to finish with an average pace of 9:17. 

Somewhere in there I also lost 3 miles.  There were no mile markers on the course, so I had to rely on my watch.  It beeped and vibrated at each mile and I would check it to see what my pace was, as I always do.  One time in there it beeped and I wen to see my pace and could not remember what mile I was on.  Was this mile 6 or 7?  Maybe it is 8.  When I looked at my 9:09 pace displayed on my watch, I also noticed an 11 indicating this was mile 11.  Where did the other 3 miles go????  I was pretty excited at this point.  I only had two miles to go and I checked my time.  I was at 1:43.  I tried to do the math and see if I could finish under 2:00, but all I could focus on was the fact that I would normally be done by this time, and my breathing of course.  I tried to speed up hoping I was close.  Then I recognized that the last half a mile was uphill again.... and steeply uphill.  What a cruel joke.

I finished 2:01:55.  And it was a killer.  Next blog I will write about the race.... in the next few days.

Good Year Half Marathon

Good Year Half
Akron, OH.

State #25



Everything about this race just seemed... common -- with a few exceptions... OK, so that makes no sense.  Let me start over.  Many things about this race just seemed common.  I have now run 25 of these races -- You might think, "Halfway!  That is great!", but no.  I decided to add Washington, DC as a "bonus", so not exactly halfway... but closer -- and there were not too many things that were special about this race.  To be fair, that is not the fault of the race.  Much of it has to do with how I have set up my routines.  This was a fine race that was well organized and had good support.

I did not have any family with me and I did not make a production or vacation out of it.  I flew in, raced, flew out.  Done and done.

The race was on Saturday, so I flew out on Friday. Easy flight to Hotlanta, then another easy flight to Akron.  I picked up a Lyft ride to the convention center for packet pickup for $20.  There really was nothing special about packet pickup.  There was no expo or anything much going on.  I simply gave them my bib number, they gave me my packet and shirt and "Have a good race".  It was about lunch time so I decided to walk the 2.5 miles to my hotel and stop at a restaurant on the way.  As it turns out, I did not see anything that interested me -- only fast food joints.  I was Face timing with Valerie the whole walk, showing her "downtown Akron". 


About a mile from the hotel, I realized that I had not yet run for the day, so I just started running with my back pack, t-short and cargo shorts.... while still Face timing of course.  I ran my mile and got to the hotel.  It was pretty funny to see the look of the hotel employee who checked me in.  Who knows what she must have thought about this man who wanted a hotel room and was visibly sweating beads of sweat from his forehead, a wet ring around his neck and shorts, breathing heavily.  "He must have that condition I keep seeing on TV,  hyperhydrosis!"

Once I checked in, I still needed food, but the restaurant was closed, so I walked a mile to the grocery and a mile back with my groceries.  I just decided to purchase my lunch, dinner for later, and breakfast for the morning.  There was a mini fridge and a microwave, so it was not too bad.  I spent the rest of the evening in the room watching old episodes of Fixer Upper.

The race started at 6:30am, so I got up at 4:00 and ate my breakfast.  Made sure everything was working properly and headed over to the race.  The start was inside the Goodyear test track and about 1.5 miles away.  I was there about 45 min prior to the start.   Weather was about 65º F.  There were no corrals, only pace signs.  I was very near the front, which was a little unfortunate simply because it was right next to the speaker, and it was loud.  The poor lady singing the National Anthem forgot the words, so in mid song.... she started over.  I felt bad for her.  The race started 6:30 and a few seconds with a two car escort.  I think they were Camaros, but I am certain they were riding on Goodyear tires.  We were in the infield of the track, then made our way around the track for a quarter lap or so, then out and around Akron.  I really don't remember anything special about the course.

The aid stations were plenty.  The volunteers were nice and eager and in sufficient number.  There were spectators clapping and cheering us on.  Several, around four, homeowners were out with hoses sprinkling the runners.  I thought that was nice of them.  The roads were all blocked off from traffic and there was plenty of police support.  That is always nice, because the runners are able to run and feel safe.  Although, I often run down Hwy 60 and anything would surely feel safer than that.

The finish was outside the test track and down Goodyear's Innovation Hwy -- I think that is what it was named.  It is the street that runs through and between the Goodyear buildings, which were closed for the weekend and the entire street was blocked off and and elaborate finish area was constructed with a band and refreshments, etc. for the after party.  I crossed the finish, took my medal, a banana, a water and some sports drink that I have since forgotten what kind and just kept walking to my hotel.  No fanfare, no pictures, no awards ceremonies, just kept walking.

The medal was nice.  The shirt is a cotton polyester blend that I cannot find right now, and we were even "given" a pair of running socks.  In all, it was a decent race.  My performance was fair.  My first 5 miles and the 7th mile were all sub 8:00.  Overall I finished 1:46:11.  My goal for this race was 1:40.  So, I watched a few more episodes of Fixer Upper and then got an Uber to the airport.  Just a quick trip without a lot of excitement.

Next month I have two races, New Mexico 9/16 and New Jersey 9/30.   That has to be better than Mexico and Jersey, since they are New... lol.  (dad joke). 

Management

It appears to me that running is all about management. I have long since believed that many things are simply a microcosm of life. Dentistry for example, I have often suggested is a microcosm of life. Running may well be a microcosm of life as well. So, maybe life is all about management... but I have not really worked this analogy through, so who knows. Take it for what it is worth. Here is a partial list of all of the things that one must manage to run — at least in the way that I am running. These are only in the order that I am thinking of them.

1.  Training — Obviously one needs to train for these races. But it is not that simple. There are apparently good ways to train and bad ways to train. There is over-training and under-training, speed training and distance training, cardio training and cross- training. There is hill-training and track-training and even stair training. There is day training and night training and elevation training. Running too much is bad, but how much is too much?... and that too much is a running (moving) target. Increasing your distance is a good thing, sometimes. Running too little is a bad thing, but your muscles need rest and recovery. It is exhausting to manage all of these aspects of training. But they must be managed in some way or one will get injured and/or perform poorly.

2.  Weight — another deceivimgly simple aspect of running. That is to say, it seems like it should be simple, but it is just not. On the surface one might think the skinnier a runner is, the better. Does it not seem like all of the good distance runners are super thin, if not from Ethiopia or Nigeria or some place like that?  In my race last month, I was taking with a guy about mile 6 and he told me I was a big guy, so clearly I have not managed the weight aspect. I will cover this further in the “diet” category.

3. Diet — ok. I’ll just cover diet now then. This one is possibly long-winded. Thinner is better, right?   It stands to reason that the heavier one is, the harder it is for them to propel all of that weight forward. Makes sense, right?  So, let’s go on a diet. No. Running every day and a long distance (for the sake of argument, I am considering a half marathon or more a long distance) every month is not conducive for decreasing calorie intake. No matter what diet you choose, the old mantra of eat less, move more does not work for a runner.  Most of the running magazines suggest that you should eat more. Then there is the whole inigma of what to eat. More protein?  Less carbs?  More carbs?  All- natural?  Organic? Vegan?  Keto?  Prolon?  Seriously. How does the average person decide what is best for them?  Which brings up another point.  Is there one that is better for all, or is everyone different?  Is it possible that greasy hamburgers and French fries is the best diet for some, and a rabbit’s diet is better for others?  Who really knows?  Then when you do decide the best diet for you, is it still appropriate when you run 30-40 miles every week?

4. Time — To run a half marathon takes me somewhere between 1 hour and 38 minutes (so far) to 2:10.   Once a month on average is not that much time. Most people would likely be able to swing that. Training (back to training), however takes more time. Some quick math tells me that 30-40 miles per week at an 8:00/mile pace takes somewhere between 240 minutes (4 hours) and 320 minutes (5.33 hours). — per week — every week. Times 52 weeks = 208 hours (8.67 days) and 277 hours (11.5 days). That is not even calculating cool-down time — which is significant. It takes a good 30 minutes at least to stop sweating after running 3 miles. Trust me when I tell you that I have tried very hard to decrease that time frame, but I still end up sweating through my clothes after my shower if I rush it, no matter what method I use. Add a half of an hour each day for cool down. That is another 182.5 hours (7.6 days of cool down). Exhausting.

5. Meals — On the surface, this one looks like diet, but it is different. One must plan not only what to eat, but when to eat and how much to eat. If your only time frame to run for the day is from 5-6pm and dinner is planned for 5:30 or 6:00. What decisions do you make?  Even if dinner is planned at 7:00pm, you still must plan the run to only take a certain amount of time — and don’t forget to plan for cool down. Nobody wants you sweating all over the table while they are trying to eat. Or imagine that you can’t seem to make the time until after dinner. Now you have to wait an hour or two before you run, unless you want to see your dinner again, plated slightly differently. Or what if it is late on Friday evening after you have taken an hour or two to digest your food, now you have to alter your running plan, because Saturday morning was your planned long run. There is also the matter of what you can eat. You can’t effectively eat a heavy, greasy, spicy meal before you go run... or maybe dairy products make your runs (no pun intended) more difficult. This is an every day consideration. Exhausting.

6. Muscles — How much aching is ok?  How much pain is ok?  Should it ever not hurt?  I am not even taking about injury. That is a whole other topic. I am talking about every day, “normal”. Waking up in the morning. Should the first steps to the potty be totally pain free?  When one works out, they get sore, right?  But when does that soreness stop?  And when is that soreness more than just normal soreness and a sign that you should do something differently.  Before running, I never gave my Iliotibial band any thought at all. Now, I think about this muscle/tendon regularly. Calf pain. Always. My calfs hurt every day. Every day... to some degree.

7. Injury — Injuries happen, right?  But you still have to run, but you cannot run and train in the same way, so each injury derails your training. How many “rest days” cause you to lose your gains?  For me the answer appears to be 3 days. If I do not train well for three days, I lose what I have gained. When I injured my calf, after I was properly healed, it took me 4-6 months to regain where I was prior to the injury. When I injured my hamstring, it has been a little over a month now and I am
30 sec per mile slower than I was before injury.

8. Feet — My feet are not great. Particularly my toes. Calluses, blisters, blood blisters, purple, lost toe nails. Some times seem better than others. Finding the right shoes is important, but even after you find the right shoes and all your toes heal up and toe nails grow back, something changes and your toes get beat up again. Who knows why or when?  Plantar fasciitis, heal pain, tendinitis, etc. Running is bad on feet.

9.  Restroom — This will not be too gross, I promise, but going to the bathroom needs to be managed... particularly on race day. The race today started at 6:30am. So, I had to get up at 4:00am to get food with enough time to digest and enough time to go potty prior to leaving for the race. That sounds easy, but our bodies develop routines and 4:00am is not my normal potty routine. So, sometimes I am frantically hunting a porta-potty so I can manage things prior to the race start. Every race I see someone running into the porta-potty in the middle of the race. That will slow you down. Not to mention, it is important to hydrate properly for  the race. Of course, what happens when you are properly hydrated?  One must go pee. These things must be managed.

10. Travel — I won’t belabor this point as most of you have traveled and are aware of the difficulties and stressors and the general difficulties associated with traveling. Traveling to a different state at least every month, I am traveling a lot, and most of these trips are quick one or two day turn-arounds. Seems like constant travel.

11.  Nipples — I know, it sounds weird. But yes, one MUST manage their nipples when running. When the shirt gets wet, the nipples chafe. It is as simple as that. And it HURTS!!  It can make you stop. I use body glide and that is super helpful for other parts of my body that are prone to chafing, but when you use Glide on your chest, it ruins your shirt. From that day on, every time you sweat while wearing that shirt that has Glide on it, it leaves a dry spot on your shirt that accentuates where your nipples are under the shirt. It looks very weird.  Ok so this point maybe should have just been titled “chafing” in general because chafing is a big deal. I have mentioned before, numerous times that I have special shorts that are super expensive. I have special socks and special shoes. All of which are designed to improve performance in some way, but much of their job is to prevent chafing. There is a lot of friction going on and something has to be done to manage the friction. Maybe I should have titled this point “friction”. 

12.  Clothing — This one is another one that seems easy on the surface. I have already mentioned several things that need to be managed with regard to clothing. Friction, in particular. Sweat is another big deal for clothing and running. The more sweat, the more clinging, the more chafing. So, all of your clothes must be wicking in nature, so they do not get extremely wet and heavy and clingy. Sweat will also commonly travel down your head and in your eyes, nose, mouth. Each of these have their own issues, like seeing and breathing... you know, the minor issues. So, I wear a visor. I would wear a hat, but then the heat does not escape properly off the top of your head. And sweat bands are so... 1980’s. Maybe they will make a comeback. Nobody really cares if you match or not. Nobody really cares if your clothes are stylish. When your mouth is gaped open and you are dripping with sweat and your clothes are all stuck to your chest anyway, who cares if it is the latest fashion? (Are you supposed to use a question mark when the question is rhetorical?). One other bit of management when it comes to clothes, is laundry, from a few different respects. To be clear, giving all the due praise and respect to my wife, I do not do the laundry. She is wonderful... and she does my laundry for me. Thanks Valerie. Still, it is an issue. Wet, smelly clothes do not belong in a suitcase, but ya gotta get them home, right?  So, that must be managed. Also, after several good sweats, your clean clothes take on a bit of odor that rears it’s stinky head again the next time you wear them. My daughter REFUSED to come near me, much less hug me one evening because she barked, “you stink!!”  OUCH!  One other thing that I just remembered that maybe does not belong in this category is the sweat pool that is daily left on the floor during the cool down period. The reason I included it here is that sweaty, wet clothes have to be managed differently than your other worn garments. One cannot simply toss them on the floor or in the corner and deal with them later. That could damage the marriage. 

13.  The brain and/or motivation — Some of the difficulty is in mid-race. Sometimes it is simply mid-week or mid-day. While training with my children, I have often remarked that the biggest “muscle” that we are training is our mind. Training one’s self to continue, much less go faster is tough work. Training one’s self to continue through the pain is very difficult. It is very easy to stop, to rest, to slow down, to skip a day, to walk a few miles, to run fewer miles than planned. And it seems the more you “quit”, the easier quitting becomes. Your brain must be managed... constantly. 

14.  Expectations -- I discovered the hard way that it is extremely important to manage your expectations.  Apparently not every race is a personal best.  Maybe not even a decent race.  It simply isn't your day some days, I am beginning to learn.  Your training, your diet, your hydration could all be good and you cannot seem to perform to the level that you anticipated or hoped.  It is sometimes a major disappointment.  

I am certain there are more things that must be managed in this process, but I think you are getting the point. I suppose everything in life requires a degree of management, maybe even constant management. It has been my experience that nothing of value in life is easy. If it were easy, you would not likely value it any longer. Ipso facto, this project/goal must be quite valuable, because it has proven to not be terribly easy. 

Today’s race was the Goodyear Akron Half Marathon. I will write about this race specifically in a separate entry. 

Hamstrung

Hamstrung

Exactly one week prior to my last race in Easton, Massachusetts I decided that I would run some sprints with my son and his friend.  But before I tell you this story, I will tell you the story of the self-absorbed old man who believes that he "needs" to be thinner and faster to fulfill his egomaniacal goals.  I have previously mentioned that I have set this goal of 50 in 50 in 50, and I feel it important to set mini goals in order to force myself to train.  Then, of course, it makes perfect sense that I would feel the need to improve at each event.  What would be the gain in traveling all over this country to jog or walk and/or not improve.  Some of my friends have suggested that I should slow down and enjoy the race, enjoy the scenery, enjoy the venue, enjoy the people.  For me, a large part of the joy of this ambition, aspiration, pretension is entrenched in my performance.  Of course my perception of my performance is variable and measured by a few factors, one of which is finish time.  Variable only because a finish time of x is only a positive performance until I achieve x as a finish time.  After that, x minus something is the new measure of a positive performance.  It is a sliding scale, if you will.  Tied snuggly to my joy is an ever-decreasing finish time, therefore it is important to me that I continue to train and become stronger and faster and.... better. So, I run every day.  Now, before you begin to think that running every day is a negative that will hamper my performance because the body needs rest (I do not necessarily disagree with you), but I do not run hard and far every day.  Some days I only run one mile, and sometimes not even more than a light jog.  Those are my "rest" days.  This is important to me because it forces me to have no excuses.  To date, I have run 206 days this year.  It has forced me to remain diligent in my training, but has not necessarily helped me to increase my speed or decrease my finish time, which, if you were following along would increase my joy in the process. 

So, I decided to do some speed-work.  My son is starting middle school tackle football.  He was interested in a little summer training before football camp and the beginning of his season.  So, he asked me to help he and his friend train.  I thought this would be a great opportunity to get in a little training with them.  I had a whole hour planned of sprint and interval training, focusing on speed and "quick feet", bursts of speed.  I warmed-up by jogging over to the field with them and light warm-p exercises.  I set up the cones and laid out the plan.  I had a stop-watch (made by apple in the form of iPhone) and said, "ready?  GO!" and busted out a quick 20 yard dash.  I beat them both.  (this is important to me -- I like to win.)  Then we rested 10 seconds and back 20 yards.  I won again.  Rest 10 seconds, then turn and "GO!" another 20 yards.  Rest 10 seconds, and yet another 20 yard dash.  Still winning.  :)  Then rest 20 seconds and a 40 yard dash.  "Ready? GO!"  The good news is, I crossed the finish line before them both.  The bad news is a snake bit me in my hamstring, or a sniper sniped me or someone ran up and snapped the back of my leg with a big rubber band.  Whatever it was, it was super painful.  I did not run the rest of the sprints.  I was able to walk, but not without wincing.  As I mentioned, this was exactly one week from my next race. 

I tried to jog home and make sure I got in my mile, but I was forced to walk most of the way home.  That day's mile was a bit over 17 minutes.  Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.  Walking for the next couple of days was tough, but each day's "run" was quite uncomfortable.  Day 2's mile 14 minutes.   Day 3's mile 13 minutes, Day 4's mile 12 minutes.  A friend saw me "running" and she said she nearly called the ambulance or at the very least stopped to ask me if I needed a ride.  I think the word she used was "pitiful".  At this point I did not think there was any possible way that I could possibly force myself to continue another 12.1 miles after each day's "pitiful" mile.  Day 5's mile 11 minutes.  I am thinking of cancelling.  Day 6's mile 9:53.  But with a modified gait, maybe I could run another couple of miles.  Day 7's mile was a jog, but I felt decent.  Which brings me to Easton, Massachusetts. 

I decided to go.  Even if I had to walk, I felt like I could still finish and the accomplishment would be persevering through the injury without injuring myself further.  This would also help me to continue the journey at at least one a month. 

The Narragansett Summer Running Festival, which includes a half marathon was held on the campus of Stone Hill College in Easton, Mass.  It was a cute little campus. 

I rented a car in Boston and drove to the neighboring town and stayed at the Roadway Inn.  It was a posh little 2-star hotel.  Truth is, it was fine.  All I needed was a clean bed for a few hours... and that is all it had, but at least it was clean.

Race morning was the only check-in and packet pick-up, so I drove over and followed the signs to the racer's parking.  It was on a college campus, so the parking was by parking pass everywhere except the racer's parking area.  Then we all walked over to the packet pick-up, got our bibs and shirts, walked back to the car to deposit our shirts, then walked back again to find the start which was behind the building.  The picture above is from a previous year's race, but that was pretty much the start.  In the parking lot, behind the building with an inflatable.  "Ready?  GO, GO, GO!"  There were a few pacing markers and some pacers with signs, but of course no one followed them.  I situated myself back in the pack a fair amount.  I put myself just in front of the 10:00 per mile pacing marker.  I had no intention of running fast.

From a cardio perspective, I felt great.  I was holding conversations with people as they passed me.  I did not pass very many people.  I did not stop at the first two water stations which seemed to be every mile or so.  I did not need to.  I was running so slow, from a cardio perspective.  I was not tired.  I just could not make my leg move without pain.  It was a "pitiful" gait. (thanks Michelle). 
Mile 1 -- 9:19
Mile 2 -- 9:17
Mile 3 -- 9:11
4 -- 9:05
5 -- 9:10
6 -- 9:21 Started to hurt a bit
7 -- 9:26
8 -- 9:36
9 -- 9:26
10 -- 9:53
11 -- 9:51 struggling a bit now (the leg)
12 -- 10:24
13 -- 10:29













In all, it was a 9:34 average pace.  Finishing 2:04:46  Not terrible, considering.  I was not so disappointed as I had resigned myself to running slowly and not hurting myself.  Mission accomplished.


Overall it was a nice race.  Good race support and volunteers.  Lots of police support.  Scenery was pretty.  There was some gravel, some trail, some grass, but mostly road. 

Narragansett is apparently a beer, and being on a college campus, there was a whole beer thing for the after party.   I did not participate.  I had to get back and shower and leave for the airport.  It was a quick trip.  The only real snafu.  I brought my drivers license for check-in (they did not want it) and some how lost it.  I was able to get on the plane just fine, but I was slightly worried for a few minutes.  Good thing I have a GOES global entry card.

Next race Akron, OH.  Goodyear Half Marathon.  August 11.

Alaska

Anchorage Mayor's Midnight Sun Half Marathon





State #23 Anchorage Alaska

I don't know who was more excited about Alaska... my wife, my mom, the kids, Keeley's BFF Coral, or my friends and family... but everyone was sure excited about Alaska.  From the minute I proposed running 50in50 they were all clamoring about who was gonna go to Alaska.

Well, one cannot simply fly over to Alaska the day before, pick up their race packet, race the next day, then fly home.  The flight over took about 12 hours with a stop in Seattle.  So, we decided to make it a family vacation and spend 5 days to enjoy the area, and enjoy it we did.  We had a party of 7 and we are all still friendly with each other after the trip.  Most of this blog will appear more like a recap of our family vacation than a recap of the race, because the race was only one day of our trip.  If you are not interested in the details of our vacation, then you can skip to the middle to read about the race.  If you are not interested in the race, then you can skip over the middle section.  If you are not interested in any of it, then you can just send cash or cashier's check to my office address.  ;)  Thanks.

When we arrived in Anchorage, we rented a minivan and headed to downtown Anchorage where we had booked a VRBO for the week.  It was less than a mile from the start/finish line and just a couple blocks from the touristy parts of downtown.  Of course, the major industry is tourism, so that was not too hard to do, but my point is that we were close to everything.  Although it was still pretty light out, we were all exhausted from the trip over and so we headed to bed.  Truth is, all I could think about was "flapjacks".  For some reason I wanted pancakes, but they made me wait till "morning".

We got a few hours of sleep and arose, sleepy-eyed to the bright light of the sun.  It was mostly overcast, but still light out.  For the record, I went for my run EVERY day.  There was a middle school directly across the street from our house that had a quarter-mile track, and I ran on that most every morning.   As you can see, if you look closely, the boys and Valerie ran out there too.  It was nice to have a training facility across the street.
  

After my run, I finally got some flapjacks, then we headed out to tour the city.  We took a nice trolley tour and learned some very interesting things about Anchorage and the earthquake that re-shaped the city.  The scenery was beautiful and majestic.  All the flowers were in bloom and there was still snow on the mountains and glaciers.  Lots of planes all around.  It was very nice to take a leisurely day to just take in the sites.  Here are a few from the trolley ride and the flight in.






It is difficult to distinguish which pictures are taken at 10:00pm and which are taken at 4:00am or noon.  It is actually brighter during the day, but there was no real darkness even in the middle of the night.  I found myself waking at 3 and 4 am and not being able to get back to sleep... maybe a little cat nap here and there, but my sleep schedule is all out of whack.

We all woke Friday at some point -- who knows what time it was -- it was light out.  Our big outing for the day was to go to the expo and get my race packet and then a dogsled tour on a glacier.  First was the expo.  All 7 of us went to the expo.  It was a small expo, but we literally stopped at every booth.  The kids and Grami got stickers and pens and pencils and anything that they were giving out.  This is not the way I normally experience the expo, but then I am not normally carrying 6 other people around with me. I finally got my race packet, which really only consisted of my race bib.

Valerie drove us north of Anchorage for about 2 hours where we came upon a lodge.  We were bundled in layers as we were told that it would be potentially very cold and windy and wet.  I think we would have been fine in a medium jacket, but we did not know that before we went.  We got all checked in and proceeded to the helicopters that were going to take us to the glacier.

  After a 10-15 minute helicopter ride we landed on the glacier, met the guide, a several time Ididerod racer and his 48 Alaskan Huskies.  Every one of them had a name and a different personality.  We harnessed up the dogs on two different sleds in a particular order.  There were lead dogs and mid pack dogs and back of the pack dogs and each was paired with their best friend.  It seems to me that this is different than humans, or at least than how i was treated.  Everyone always seemed to want to separate me from my friends.  We were able to greet the dogs and get to know them a little bit before the ride.  The kids LOVED the dogs.  They were all very sweet.
 Then we went on a short dogsled ride with our harnessed dogsled team.  Each of us had an opportunity to drive the sled and to brake and sit as a passenger.  It was fun.  There was only one small casualty as Grami fell off the sled at one point, but she was not injured.... and the dogs were indifferent.


The glacier and the scenery were very pretty.  We had a nice time.

I don't remember which day it was, but one day we had lunch at a local, popular pizza joint named The Moose's Tooth, and we had dinner one other night at a place called Ginger.  Both were good restaurants.  Good food and good service.  We were pleased.  Otherwise we ate at our house.  The Friday pre-race meal in particular was oven baked salmon and halibut with pasta and trimmings and sides.  It was a very nice pre-race meal.

Most of the races that I run begin at about 7:00am, but this one started at 9:00am for some reason.  Of course it was light out.  There was a full marathon, but it was on a different course with the same finish line.  There was also a 5k that started after us.  We all went over to the start and waited for the start.  It was about 48F but very little wind.  I was wearing Keeley's sweatshirt to keep me warm until it was almost race time.  Thanks Keeley.  The race started right at 7:00am.  There were no corrals or any markings for time or pace or even pacers for that matter.  it was a bit of a free for all.  Fortunately, I started very near the front, so I did not have to dodge too many people.  Here is a picture of me still in good spirits at the very beginning of the race.  My entire fan section was cheering some turkey call of some sort and rattling cowbells for some reason.  

The race started and finished at the same area, but it was not exactly out and back.  There was really only a few miles that were on the same trail.  We started out on a road and went mostly downhill to a trail... like a biking trail.  It was paved, larger than a sidewalk, but smaller than a one lane road.
The trail also consisted of a couple of wooden bridges.
It was open to the public and there were people out on it, but they were very accommodating and were not a hinderance at all.  (The pictures of the race route were taken from some of the Facebook pictures taken by some of the other racers in the 50 states half marathon club.  I did not take any pictures during the race).


It was a scenic route, for the most part.  This trail was designed to highlight the river and the mudflats.

There was one section that went through the woods.  I was not expecting to have a trail section, nor was I expecting a long trail section, nor was I expecting a STEEP, uphill, wet, long trail section.  There was a lot of groaning from the racers around this section.  Mostly because none of us knew how long this trail was going to go.  It ended up being nearly an entire mile.  From mile 6 to mile 7. 

Then we got back on the same trail for the trip back to the finish.  My time slowed from mid 7 minute miles to 8:12 per mile.   It took a bit of steam out of me.  The rest of the race was as one would expect except for the finish.  The last 0.5 miles were a very steep uphill.  It was the same downhill that we encountered at the start, but it seemed much steeper going up, plus it was after already having run 12.6 miles.  Anyway, I finished with a decent time.  I was really hoping for 1:38:00, but I will take 1:41:24 on this course for now.    My cheering section was there at the finish, cheering me on with that same strange turkey call and the cowbells.  They were a welcomed site and even the turkey call was good to hear.
 The shirt is nice too, but I forgot to take a picture of it.  You'll probably see it on the pictures at my next race.  probably.

After the race I was feeling pretty good.  I was not all worn out and sore.  We had an easy afternoon planned, then dinner at Ginger.  In all it was a great day and we were all kind of tired and went to be early.  It was still light out.

Sunday we got up early and ran.  I ran 4 miles and even did some speed work.  I felt pretty good... still.  Then off to the train station.  We took a train to another glacier a few hours away.  The train route was in part along the race trail, so the scenery was very similar.  ALL ABOARD!!  Once we got to our destination we were driven to a wildlife and conservation park-- basically a zoo.

There were caribou and elk and porcupine and bison and moose and bear... no lions or tigers -- oh my.



From there we got back on the train and off to the glacier where we took a raft out of the base of the glacier and down the river.  It was no class 5 rapids, but there were some splash points and we had a nice time floating down the river and enjoying the beauty of the mountains.
  Then back on the train for the trip home... but the train ride became a bus ride so we did not have to go the wrong way before we doubled back.  This was designed to save us 4 hours of travel.  The only hiccup was a wreck on the road.  Notice that reads THE road.  There is only one road.  One can only get to the glacier area by plane or train.  Then the areas that are accessible by auto are only accessible by one road.  So, the wreck caused a dead standstill for a good 45 minutes.  There is only one road, so we had no choice but to sit and wait.  So, we got home kind of late, had some dinner and went to bed.

Monday was Keeley's birthday.  Noble and I went running to the grocery store to get the appropriate birthday provisions.  We celebrated Keeley's birthday and then packed up our stuff for the long trip home.  Our flight was not originally scheduled to leave until 8:00pm, but got delayed until 10:20pm... so, we had plenty of time to go on another adventure or two.  Valerie planned a trip for us to  Alyeska resort.    We took a gondola ride to the top of the mountain and the kids made snowmen and played in the snow.    We had some lunch up on the top of the mountain.  Then headed back.  One the way back, we still had some time, so we stopped at a gold mining place.  It was a waste of time, but we had time to waste... and mining for gold meant fishing through some mud from a bucket that you paid for that had a tiny nugget of gold in it somewhere.  We opted not to do that one.  

We still had some time, so we stopped back in downtown Anchorage and watched a movie about the Aurora Borealis.  It was terrible and all I can hope for is that anyone that might consider going to see it has read this far down in my blog to read that it was not even worth the waste of time... not to mention the money... even if you have both the time and the money to waste.  If you are interested in Aurora Borealis -- Google it!! The flowers were pretty in downtown though.  So, off to the airport and a sleepless night of travel.  It was worth it!

The race was a nice one and the course was nice and the vacation was a good one.  I would go again.

Next race Narragansett Massachusetts July 14.