Running Shorts

Disclaimer: this is a bit of an old picture (well, duh) and clearly I've been bad about putting it up. Actually, as I'm typing right now, there is about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground. So...oops. But anyway, this is a rave run of Mariemont in the fall, which in my opinion is the best place to be in Cincinnati that season. This is actually my street (although my house is at the opposite end). Anyway, that's all I got...figured it would be nice to feature a picture of warmer times.

...sneaking onto the local golf course and running 18 holes. Yup. Christmas and trespassing just go hand in hand. Some of the nicest places to run are golf course. It's all finely manicured, soft grass surfaces in a quiet, peaceful, and natural setting. Of course, the problem with running on a golf course is that, well, it's for golf. And (shamelessly generalizing here) no one gets more snotty about the purity of their "sport" than golfers (again, just over-generalizing...it's not all golfers, just the rec golfers). Grass is always a nicer surface to run on than asphalt. We used to do occasional workouts on the golf course by Xavier in the winter, and it was always nicer running on the grass than on the sidewalk. I've been looking for a good time (and the balls) to trespass since then. So I figured Christmas would be the best time to try it out - no places are actually open and no one would be there. So I did it. Two loops of nine holes on the Little

With four months until the Boston Marathon, it's time for me to start thinking about and putting together my general training plan. I've been working on a pretty good aerobic base for most of the fall - and of course that's going to continue - but now I'm starting to put together workouts. I've blogged about how I like being able to experiment with different workouts and training methods now that I'm running on my own, and that's still true now. I'm a huge dork and am really excited about the training method I'm going to experiment with this time around. I'm going to be experimenting with the Canova method of marathon training, which tweaks the typical training periodization a little bit. There is a really good article on it from Running Times here , and another good one from Runner's World here (it pains me to use the latter magazine, but this seems like one of the few times it actually applies to more than the average rec runner). I

My blog's kind of boring. It's mostly just text. I mean, super exciting and informative and hilarious text (right? right ? Oh who am I kidding...), but still...it's just text. I need more visuals. (I know I've mentioned that before, and I do have a couple Rave Runs I'm sitting on.) Or, what would be really cool: audio-visuals. Movies. Which leads me to the title of the post: 5 Vignettes (or 5x5). Long story short, a former teammate and roommate in college posted on facebook a link to a friend's vimeo page, and after surfing around a bit I came across this challenge to create a 5x5 short video. Internet creeping at its finest. So what is this 5x5? And what are the 5 Vignettes? Basically, it's a short (25 second) film consisting of 5 clips lasting 5 seconds each telling some sort of story about a place or event. Here's a link to the group page with other peoples' films a short description of the genre. Now, they say no music, but I'm not

I ran a 31:26 and finished in 4th place. Meh. I definitely wanted it to be better, but I think it was a pretty accurate reflection of the training I'd done leading up to the race. Between the Achilles problems in August and the sprained ankle a couple months ago, I was never able to get in the consistency that makes for good races. I didn't get my mileage where it should have been and I wasn't able to get in the quality workouts that I should have. And that inconsistent training was reflected in my race. As for the play-by-by, it happened like this: Went out in 4:57 for the first mile, and the guys who finished 1-2 gapped 3-4-5. In an ideal world, I should have been able to go with them, but that didn't happen. Going across the bridges into Kentucky, 3 & 4 gapped me, and I was sitting 5th. The middle two miles weren't very good for me. I was really pleased with my last 2 miles, where I was able to accelerate and close the gap, moving into 4th place and alm

In honor of the preponderance of annoying and hyperbolic pre-game shows for college and pro football, here's my pre-race prediction for the Thanksgiving Day Race this Thursday: Last year, coming off (well, 6 weeks off) of the Chicago Marathon and all of the mileage and workouts that come with it, I ran a 30:40 and finished in 2nd place. This year, I have not done marathon mileage and have had a bit of an erratic and disappointing training span. I've had some Achilles issues and a sprained ankle that have hampered my training plan to get up a good consistent training base. That said, though, I'm cautiously optimistic going into the race. Even without putting in big weekly mileage, I feel I have a good aerobic base. Plus, I think the workouts I've done (the few, anyway...) are a good indicator of my level of fitness. Here me out: The one staple workout that I've done twice is a 5.75-mile tempo run, on a decently hilly loop (at least comparable to the race cours

Running gets pretty boring. Especially running by yourself. But every once in a while, you get a run that's just...special. Transcendent, I guess? I'm trying to think of how to describe a good run without being over-the-top. You get to see things - lots of things - that people don't often see, experience, or appreciate...and all in one hour. Today I ran, from Oakley, to Ault Park, west along Eastern to Columbia Tusculum, and then back up Delta/Linwood through Mt. Lookout. Some of the people/things I saw: My girlfriend's older sister...or, she saw me. I accidentally looked like I was avoiding her (but I promise I wasn't!). Awkward turtle... A pit bull with a biker gang. I was fully prepared to hop on top of a minivan if the dog (or bikers) came after me. The sun setting behind golden-red hills east of Downtown. A cyclist and a driver discussing Lance Armstrong's innocence. How do I know they were talking about Lance? Cyclist: "The guy's never test

Ok, so maybe more than one announcement. But humor me: I just couldn't pass up that opportunity for assonance (or is it alliteration? Oh 11th grade literary terms...) in the title. Announcement 1: I didn't run the Cincy Half Marathon this weekend, like I had scheduled. The sprained ankle sort of precluded that from happening. I'm back to running now, and the ankle feels fine, but I figured it was smarter not to try and risk anything bay racing. Plus, the last time I took a week off before a half-marathon? Rock 'n Roll Half in Chicago this summer...it wasn't fun. So next race: Thanksgiving Day 10k, per the schedule on the left-hand side of the page. Announcement 2: I guess I kind of covered this in the previous announcement, but I'm back to running after the ankle issues. Took a week of little mileage, lots of ice, and a container of ibuprofen, but I'm ramping back up now. I don't think I should have lost too much fitness, so I plan on picking up a

Dear Pothole on Paxton across from the Drexel, Maybe it was my fault, the way things ended between us. I do apologize for stepping all over you the last time we met (last Friday afternoon). It was rude of me, the way I treated you...I should have been looking more carefully. But in my defense, you treated me unfairly. You broke my heart -- or rather, sprained my ankle. And I don't mean that in a metaphorical sense. What you did to me, it...it really hurt. I mean, not at the time. At the time I was too mad to feel it. But later, when I was driving? That's when I really started to feel the pain. I wish Ron Swanson could have fixed you and all the other potholes just like you. Because of you, I crutched around all weekend. Because of you, I haven't run since Friday. Because of you, I still have trouble with lateral movement (Ok, that last one has not much to do with running. But when I'm ballin...). So in conclusion, you're tacky and I hate you . You, dear

Ok, here it is, the final clue... This will my second of the five World Marathon Majors .

And here's the second clue...sorry I'm not really being too subtle here.

So in my last post I briefly mentioned I had big news to give. And I promise, I do have big news. But you didn't think I'd just come out and say it, did you? Oh no, I'm only going to give clues and you're going to have to guess. Partly to build the suspense, and partly because I'm trying to lengthen my blog. So anyway, without further ado, Here it is, your first clue: "One if by land, and two if by sea, And I on the opposite shore will be; Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm."   Oh, and to entice all three readers to guess, the first person to guess correctly gets on hundred thousand points!

So yesterday was (I guess you could call it) the first race of the fall schedule, the Hudepohl 14K. Meh...it was an ok race. I can't complain too much, being that I've only been getting back into training for a month or so. On the one hand, it's a little disappointing to be 2 1/2 minutes slower than last year, but on the other hand those two races aren't really comparable. Last year I was at the peak of my marathon training and had been doing a lot of race-specificity work. This year, I...have only been running mileage for a month after taking 3 weeks off with Achilles' issues. Time for trite, overused platitudes to make me feel better about running slower: You're only going to run as well as you train. That's super cheesy, but it is true. Last year, this race was an important part of the lead-up to the Chicago Marathon. I was prepared to run pretty fast. This year, this race is just a part of me getting back into shape. So really, I can't complain

Basic health lesson: chocolate milk is one of the best recovery drinks post-workout. I don't remember exactly why (History major here), but I've read a bunch of different places that it is. So anyway, I got to thinking: If chocolate milk is the best recovery drink, then milk chocolate must be the best recovery food. I mean, right? Nutrition works that way, doesn't it? Yeah, sure, why not... So here I am after runs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBhxIyT8Slg

...And on the day after that last post, I overslept and didn't have time to run. Awesome. Off to a great start.

It's been a while...again. My bad. Only one post in August? Shame on me. Although, in my defense, not really much had been happening with my training; I spent most of August on the disabled list. I wanted to be careful with some Achilles' tendinitis, so I took about 3 weeks off before getting back into it a couple weeks ago. In that three weeks, I lost a fair amount of my fitness from the summer, so any shot at a fall marathon was and is now out of the question. But that's okay, I'm in need of a new mental and physical approach to my training. So consider this the start of that new approach. (And this time I need to stick to blogging.) The goal of this new approach is a spring marathon. Maybe the Flying Pig again (I did win free registration at a race a few weeks ago, so that's hard to turn down), maybe some other race. Hell, it's a long way off, but maybe it'll even be a fall marathon. The point is, I'm doing a long build up for the goal race -

This past week or so, my Achilles' Heel has been my Achilles' Heel. It had been sore for a while, then got worse during the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Chicago two weeks ago. Then, over the next week, it started feeling worse. So now I'm not running. It's definitely frustrating not to be training, especially since this throws off a lot of what I had planned for the fall. My July turned out to be a horrible training month. And especially with Olympic track now on, all I want to do is get out there and run. That said...with the Tour just finished and the Olympics going on (there are events other than track), I'm trying to embrace my inner cyclist. Of course, I'm a wholly inexperienced biker...I've never actually biked to train; all I've done in the past x years is bike to class. But if I'm going to embrace the cycling culture while I'm out of commission, what I'm going to need is a bike this this:  Unfortunately, the bike I h

The South 80 is a 1.5 mile loop in Mariemont around some community gardens along the Little Miami River. It's actually a brand new trail construction, and it makes a great 5 mile loop from my house. Since it's so new, it's mostly really well groomed and also about a sidewalk's width (which I like a lot better than single track trails). It's a your typical dirt trails, so a little uneven and rooty in places. But I hear rumors that Mariemont is planning on adding onto the trails here, with Phase 2 make about a 3 mile loop and Phase 3 making 6 miler. Depending on who owns the property and stuff, there's so much land down here that it would definitely be feasible, so hopefully those happen too. Another (better) photo of the trail, but without a runner so it's technically not a rave run.

[Insert Bare Naked Ladies here] It's been one week / Since I ran one day... Yeah I haven't run in a week. But before chalking that up to pure laziness, hear me out. Before this week, I hadn't really shut off mentally since November. Even the week I didn't run after the Pig was spent doing rehab stuff...I was anxious to get back to training, and I never really turned off mentally. I needed a break. My desire to actually train was virtually nothing. It was weird how it kind of happened all of a sudden...like, one afternoon I just decided to mentally check out. And you know what? It felt awesome. Not running has been great. I've had so much more time and energy during the day. I needed some time to check out mentally. But I think it's about time to get back into it. I don't think I'll have lost much fitness with just one week off. Let's just say, the mental benefits of recharging the batteries (so to speak) far outweigh the physical negative

Sorry it's been a few weeks...if I keep up the goal pace of one post per week, not a chance I finish by the Olympics. Because they're only two (2!) weeks away? (Right? I'm pretty sure that's close to accurate...) This post is structured around one simple question: do fans (particularly on TV) know what they are watching? No, they don't. Not even close. The casual fan has no clue about the strategies, tactics, participants...or really anything about track. As mentioned in earlier posts, part of the reason for that lack of knowledge is that the commentators also have no idea what they're talking about. What boggles my mind is that Americans (A-murr-icans) can sit for three hours and watch cars drive around an oval, but they can't sit for 5-15-30 minutes and watch actual people run around an oval. You know, actual athletes. People get NASCAR. They don't get track. Track isn't boring...it's just boring for people who don't know anythi

So I guess I'll start out where I left off last time: track is hard to watch on TV because the commentators have no idea what they're talking about. Okay, well maybe that's a little harsh. But is it really? Watching the Olympic Trials this past week, it's sometimes been painfully obvious how bad they are sometimes. That said though, coverage of the Trials has been better than track coverage usually is. First, let's look that the sprinters. Ato Boldon does of pretty good job with the sprint events. I mean, I don't really know too much about sprinting, so I can't really so too too much. But I think he does a really good job educating the viewer about what's going on. So then, is it any surprise that the sprints get top billing on TV? Now for the distance races. In the past, they've been awful. By that, I mean at times the commentators haven't even known who's who in the races. The general sporting public doesn't know much about the

See what I did there? Called this week's installment "Episode 1"? Like a TV episode? Because I'm writing about TV? Man...clever stuff. I should be writing for television. In all seriousness, this is actually a timely post (along with Episode 2, coming next week), what with the US Olympic trials on NBC these next two weekends. I'd like to say I had it all planned out that way, but let's be honest here...if you've seen my room, you know I'm not nearly organized enough to do that. This week's post, Episode 1, is about TV time slots. Where do track meets fit into time slots on the TV schedule? The short answer: nowhere. Track meets are different than the more mainstream sports (and perhaps that partly why track isn't so mainstream...hence the point of this series). Football games usually last a consistent 3 hours, so a 3 hour time slot is perfect for the NFL. Basketball games last 2-3 hours, so a similar time slot works out well, too. Basebal

I'm slightly (read: very) ashamed to admit that I got this workout from Runner's World, but I think it's a really interesting one. I feel better knowing that this was the only thing worthwhile in the whole magazine (well, and the rave run). This workout is designed more for half marathon specificity, but since since that's sort of what I'm going for during this part of summer, it fits in with my training plan now. The general premise is: 5 repetitions of 2000s on the track, starting at goal half marathon pace and working down to 10k pace. Each interval should be 5-10 seconds faster than the previous one. For me, the long-term half marathon goal is 1:05-1:07. I feel the higher part of that range is do-able now, with some training, of course. So for me, half marathon pace is somewhere between 5:00 and 5:05 mile pace, or :75-:76 per lap. 10k pace (road 10k, not my track prs) is, well, I don't really know since I haven't really run a good one recently. I'

I just realized that I haven't posted a picture of my Saucony Hurricanes kit. So even though it's very self-serving (but then, that's a personal blog for you), here it is: So nothing too crazy, there's the shorts, racing flats, and the orange singlet (that's a little big...but then so is everything on me). Saucony calls that color orange "ViZiPro Orange," but I prefer to refer to it as "Orange Mocha Frappucino!" But anyway, if I'm coming to a race near you, that's what to look for!

Sportscenter is awful. I watch it every day, and I think, "This is awful" every day. I mean, it's the flagship sports show on TV, and it's coverage of anything besides football, baseball, and basketball couldn't be worse. (Hell, it's coverage of those sports is terrible. Everything from the anchors to the so-called experts is just...inane. But that's another story) Of course, part of the problem with Sportscenter is the focus on those three sports. I mean, it's called Sports center, and yet only three sports get any real coverage. And football...dear god, they always talk about football. Don't believe me? Watch one of the shows this June (JUNE!) and I can almost guarantee they will find a way to squeeze some football stuff in there. I may have only been in J-school for three days, but I know enough to know that it's just plain bad journalism to only cover the big three sports while calling yourself a sports show. (Of course, that probl

Like a root beer float, only better. This is one of those new workouts I was talking about in my last post (I think it was that one?). It's your standard 800 interval workout, but instead of resting between intervals you "float" at marathon pace. I'm not really sold on Yasso 800s. I know they're popular, but they just seem too...easy (can I say that?). For marathon training, at least. Actually here's a better way of putting it: Yasso 800s are in my comfort zone. The marathon is a race that's not in my comfort zone. Therefore, I should be doing workouts out of my comfort zone. Seems logical, captain. This was the first time I've tried this workout, and it was not fun. I mean, the "float" rest felt easy, which was nice...until I started the next interval, that is. And then I realized that rest wasn't really any rest at all. Essentially, this is a continuous workout, instead of the standard interval workout which starts and stops. Th

This time around, I'm trying something new. Training-wise, that is. I figure I'm going to train for a fall marathon, either Chicago, Columbus, or Detroit; I haven't decided which yet. But this time I'm really gung-ho about putting together my own workout calendar. Being the huge nerd that I am, it's a lot of fun researching and writing up workouts to try out. I could definitely use some help from more experienced people than me, but there's something empowering and motivating in writing your own workouts. I can't slack off, because, well... they're my workouts. I put them together. Cool, huh? And so, since I'm not accountable to anyone but myself, I'm experimenting with the training regimen. Not necessarily trying out new workouts (which I am doing, but I figure I'll blog on those as I get to them). What I'm experimenting with is the order in which I'm doing them all. Conventional training wisdom says that you start with lon

Ok, so sorry I missed posting this one last week. But that just means that you, dear reader, get a treat this week: double posts of the On Track series! The first one looking at why track isn't popular is an easy one: doping. If you've paid any attention to sports in general, you know doping is a big deal. And especially for track (just like with cycling), doping is definitely a big black eye. Just mention names like Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin, Lasse Viren, Rashid Ramzi, etc. and any self-respecting track fan will cringe. Thanks to the media, thanks to science, whatever, the present and past doping escapades of athletes are no secret. I mean, everyone knows the Easter Bloc athletes of the '70s and '80s were all dirty. Same thing with sprinters in the '90s and early '00s. With such a track record (pun intended), how can any spectator take world records and Olympic Golds seriously? Doesn't each positive test diminish the accomplishments of

So I think I've been coming to the realization that I'm stuck in a bit of a rut, both mentally and physically. It all started a little when I pulled out of the Pig, but I was able to write that off to one of those external factors that you can't control. But now it's really come to a head since a disappointing 6th place finish (15:03) in the Lou Cox 5k this past weekend. I finished one place out of the money, ran horribly uneven splits, a couple seconds slower than the week before, and lost to some guys I know I need to able to run with. Now, I can always make the explanation that I've been doing marathon-specific training, so it's only natural that my 5k conditioning would slip. But even so...I know some of the guys who beat me run marathons (faster than I've run), so that's no excuse for me not to be up there as well. Looking back, this first year on the road racing circuit after graduating from college  has been less than satisfactory. In the two

Disclaimer: I'm not trying to be sexist here -- just trying to flesh out the psychology of the American sports fan. Ok, gotta get that out of the way. So my theory for another reason why track and field and road racing isn't popular with American sports fans and media is that the men and women compete together. I mean, not that they compete in the exact same races (except they generally do in road races), but rather that they compete in the same meet. And that means they get equal TV and spectator airtime. The best analogy I can think of is the NBA and WNBA. The NBA is a very popular league, one of the Big Three (or Four) in American sports. The WNBA? Exact same sport, zero popularity. And it's no question why. The hard truth: it's women playing, and that's not popular. Heck yeah it's more sexist than Rush Limbaugh and Don Imus at a gentleman's club. The difference is that a fan can watch (and the media can cover) the NBA but completely ignore the WNB

Bill Bowerman, the man who deserves much credit for America's elite track success in the 1960s and '70s, is also responsible for its subsequent decline in the 1980s and later. Yes, I am putting some blame on the single most legendary American track coach. Here me out: If you're reading this blog, I'm assuming you're coming in with some basic knowledge about the legacy of Bowerman and his storied U. of Oregon Ducks teams. (And if you want more info, Bowerman and the Men of Oregon is a great read) But there's more to his story than track and field. In the 1960s, he visited New Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard (proponent of high-mileage training and coach to several world record holders), where they showed him this new craze called jogging . Basically, Lydiard took the principles of training for elite athletes and applied it to everyday people, establishing jogging clubs as a means to general physical fitness for anyone. After stumbling through several run with th

...Titled "On Track." I couldn't come up with anything clever. It's going to be groundbreaking! Visionary! Controversial! Ok well probably none of those things. But it is going to be opinionated. Have you ever wondered why track and field and distance racing isn't popular in the mass media? It's popular in that a lot of people participate at various levels, but when it comes to coverage of the sport of running, there is virtually none. When I was in J-School for three days, I learned that track and field is a niche sport. The purpose of this series is to investigate why...why isn't track and field (and elite running in general) more widely covered? Track used to be one of the Big Four sports (baseball, basketball, football, and sometimes hockey). It wasn't all that long ago, even...40, 50 years ago. And the athletes have only gotten better since then. So what's changed? Why isn't track one of the Big Four anymore? And here's the c

If you look at the results for the Pig, I'm not there. Why? Well, let's just say that it didn't quite go as planned. Actually, it was going real well until about miles 10 or 11, heading into Hyde Park. My first mile was 5:30, right on pace. I was 27:30 at 5 miles. Perfect. I backed off going up the hills from downtown to Madison, but by the half I was back on 5:36 pace (1:13:17). Even better, the hills didn't take too much out of me...I was in cruise control, slowly bringing the pace back down to where I wanted it to be. My legs weren't feeling taxed, I was plenty hydrated and fueled, and I was primed to start negative splitting to the finish. Much better than Chicago. And to boot, I had second place wrapped up, with about a 10 minute lead over third. (First place wasn't gonna happen). Then there was a little hamstring malfunction. Left hamstring, to be specific. It wasn't a cramp, and it wasn't a tear either. It was just a little tweak. Nothing to

Big day tomorrow. 26.2 miles. Should be fun. Or, as fun as 26.2 miles can actually be (read: not fun at all). I can't believe it's finally race weekend. I've been loving the taper for the past few weeks, and tomorrow is hopefully when all the training and tapering come together. I know I've put this on here before, but just as a reminder (more for myself than anything) here's the goal: 2:25. That's 5:30 pace. Really, I'll be happy with anything sub-2:30, as long as I'm not crashing the last 8 like at Chicago. Here's a good incentive though: the qualifying time for the Boston Elite corral is 2:27, which I think comes out to about 5:37 pace.  So anyway, those are three general times that I'm shooting for. Anything faster would be gravy. I also don't know if I've ever put this up on here: the race plan. I'm not so much worried about place this time around; I know that if I run what I'm capable of running, place will take care

I was trolling away on twitter tonight (sidebar: slowly getting addicted, follow me @kauffmannt), and by way of National Geographic of all places came across this gem of advice from Deena Castor: Define yourself. Maybe I'm just getting pensive a week before the marathon, but this one really struck a chord with me (and I'm not even musical). Those two words just seem to perfectly and succinctly sum up what I get out of running. (And the Don Draper in me is picturing an awesome tv/print ad campaign centered around "Define Yourself"). The beauty of it is that there really isn't much more that needs to be said. And it goes beyond just running. If you're looking for motivation, consider: How do you want to be remembered? What do you want people to say about you? What kind of person are you? Define yourself. 'Nuff said. (Oh and ps, to stick with the twitter theme and because it's marathon week, I think I might start using #DefineYourself. You s

Welp. The Flying Pig is 10 days from today. You know what that means? Time to start obsessively checking weather.com  for the forecast. Now we all know weather reports are notoriously unreliable (not to mention looking 10 days into the future), but still... So here's what it looks like for next Sunday, as of this Friday afternoon: low of 48 and a high of 73 with a 60% scattered showers and 9 mph winds out of the Northwest. Actually, that looks pretty nice. It looks like race day will be the coolest day of all next week, so that's nice. I've been pretty worried seeing highs in the 80s for next week's forecast, but (knock on wood) Sunday doesn't look too bad. Famous last words, right?

No, I'm not talking about Christmas. And I'm not talking about spring being the best season (even though it is). I'm talking about...taper season! Tapering before a big race is the greatest thing ever. The general physiological benefit is that it sets aside some time for the body to rest and recover before the race, after spending months beating it down with mileage and workouts and stuff. But it's also a great mental rest. The goal is for an all-around, holistic sense of feeling better -- physically and mentally. I don't want to be tired, worn out, exhausted, or anything like that leading up to race day. I want to be fresh. I generally tried to average about 95-ish miles per week during the training peak. Last week, I hit 80. This week, I plan on hitting 65. And next week (marathon week) I plan on doing 50 (over 6 days, not counting the marathon). I'm basically cutting my work in half, and let me tell you it feels great. Not to mention I've been t

This morning I hopped on the track for the first workout this go-round. It's been too long. Anyway, since it's less than 2.5 weeks until the marathon, I thought it'd be a perfect time for some Yasso 800s. Don't know what those are? Check out this short article on Yasso 800s  from Runner's World. As a general rule, Runner's World sucks. Okay, I shouldn't say that it sucks exactly -- just that it's very much geared toward rec runners instead of the serious runner. If you've read the magazine, you know what I'm talking about: "Shave minutes off your 5k without increasing mileage!", "Finding the right show for your foot!", "Five reasons why speed work will help you run faster!", etc. But here's the thing about marathon training: no one really knows what they're doing. For pretty much every shorter race, training is basically a science; there are commonly accepted principles that everyone in the field agree

Redbird Hollow is a 2 (ish) mile crushed limestone trail that pretty much links Indian Hill and Terrace Park. Depending on which way you run, it's either a gradual downhill (Best. Thing. Ever.) or a gradual uphill (mistaaaaake) for the 2 miles. I typically use this (downhill, of course) on my favorite 12/13 mile loop. The only downside to this trail is that it's really popular with dog walkers, none of whom use a leash...most of the dogs are well-behaved, but not all.  PS: I recently discovered some offshoot trails from the main one, so I might be exploring those in the future.

Hey blogosphere, It's been a while. My bad. So last weekend I went down to Louisville for the Papa John's 10 Miler. There was also some basketball game going on later that day? Something about the Final Four and teams from Kentucky or something? Yeah the atmosphere was definitely crazy with a Louisville vs. UK showdown. Anyway, about the race: I ran 52:05 (about 5:12 pace) and got fifth (and 100 bucks!). 5th, behind 3 Africans and an Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier. And $100? Yeah I'll take it. So even though my pace was basically the same as 2 weeks ago (on a much flatter course), I was a lot happier with the race this time around. 5:12s felt a lot more comfortable this time around. Especially over the last 4 miles, I felt like I was able to finish much stronger than two weeks ago. I wasn't struggling just to finish; I was ratcheting the pace down trying to reel in 4th place. In fact, I felt like I could have kept going at that pace for at least 3 more

Inspired by all those YouTube videos, I brainstormed some things on the run today... ...It's just an easy 10. ...I swear to God, if someone quote Forrest Gump one more time... ...That's miles, not minutes. ...The trainers said I should take time off, but what do they know? ...Minimalism is for people who don't want to run actual mileage. ...[judging] What a rec runner. ...I could totally kick his ass. Well in a race, maybe not a fight. ...Kara Goucher...dayum. ...This wind blows. ...Jack Daniels? You mean the running formula? ...Have you read Once a Runner ? ...It's like that one part in Once a Runner. ...You mean you haven't read Once a Runner !? ...You gotta read Once a Runner . And then pick up Again to Carthage . ...Quit staring at my legs, perv. ...Why do cars hate us all? ...A waffle...like the Nike or the Eggo? ...Technically it's not trespassing if we don't get caught. ...You don't seriously expect me to wea

 Drackett Fields in Terrace Park  Behind a park of soccer/baseball fields and semi-parallelling the Little Miami Bike Path is a bird sanctuary with these nice wide grass and gravel paths. There usually aren't too many people out here, so it's a nice change of scenery from the boring paved bike path. And to boot, it's less than 4 miles from my house, so I'm out here all the time.

This from Urban Dictionary: Bonk: [bongk] v - Expression used by cyclists to describe exercise induced low blood sugar levels; being a feeling of light-headedness and weakness in all limbs. Similar to "The Wall" in running. I bonked earlier this week. You know when it was like 90 degrees out in March? Yeah, that's when. I was doing hill repeats, and was already feeling bad before I even started. By the time I finished, I was feeling awful. I should have had the common sense to jog the mile back to my house and call it a day. But I didn't. I thought it was more important to get in my goal mileage for the day. So I tacked on 6 more miles of cooldown. Dumb, dumb mistake. I shuffled through the cooldown and then was too exhausted to eat anything after (another dumb mistake). The problem is, a run like that is not without consequences: for next three days, my energy levels were still wrecked. Recovery from that has been a bitch. While I did get in my mileage

So this weekend was the first race of the season, so to speak. The Heart Mini Marathon 15K (15K is 9.3 miles, if that makes the distance any less confusing). I finished 3rd in 48:39, or about 5:13/14 pace per mile. Well...meh. Coulda been better, coulda been worse. There are a lot of "coulda beens" with this one. I definitely was hoping to run faster than that, maybe more like 5:10 pace. And I let the leaders get away with about 4 miles to go, which was not a good strategic move. On the other hand, I think this was an accurate indicator of the shape I'm in based on the workouts I've been doing. In fact, the race was a good tempo-type workout. After all, that's what these races are: workouts. It was definitely not an easy course. It starts out about a block east of Fountain Square downtown, then simply goes out-and-back east on Columbia Parkway for 4.5 miles. The .3 of the 9.3 miles gets added on with a quick up-and-down of Torrance St. hill. Honestly, it

The vernal equinox is not until March 20th.  (Boom. How's that for dropping some science knowledge on here?) What the means: for another week, it's still winter.  Spring does not officially start until that date.  Who told Mother Nature that it's summer already? But seriously, out running this afternoon I saw thermometers that read 81 degrees.  Really!?  I am not ready for this.  And hopefully this hot weather does not carry on to the marathon, because that would be brutal. I mean, I shouldn't complain about nice weather, but I would like some spring please.

Hey all, Check out some of the new pages I've been adding slash plan to add. I just did an "About Me" (and you thought you knew everything already...) and also plan to edit/add some more. Look for the finished 50 States Song Challenge and new Saucony Hurricanes and Rave Run pages in the (hopefully) near future.

I ran 21 on Saturday. I was gone for over two and a half hours. That's a long time. Actually I combined it with a workout, doing 3 by 2-mile at 5:04 pace in the beginning and then a 5k at 5:12 pace at the end. Mostly I was just trying to get the legs used to running fast (ish) while tired, and I was really pumped to be able to finish strong. I did a similar workout last fall and crashed and burned...not unlike the marathon itself. The weird thing about the marathon is that nutrition is so much more important than any other race. By nutrition I mean not so much overall diet (one of my favorite quotes from Once A Runner : "If the fire is hot enough, anything will burn; even Big Macs"), but rather pre-run and during-run (is that a word? Let's go with it...) nutrition. I can't just roll out of bed and run; the race and workouts are long enough that I need to load up on simple energy before and replenish during. I think that's one of the biggest adjustments to

If you know anything about distance runners, then you know we're pretty crazy...especially when it comes to running in different types of weather. I've run in single digits, 30 degrees and pouring rain, thunderstorms; I even once did a 21 miler in the afternoon on one of the hottest days of the year. But I don't run when there are tornadoes coming. I mean, in all likelihood there wouldn't be a tornado when I'm out running. That said, I think we did get reports of tornadoes touching down around northern Kentucky for the storm this afternoon. I figure you gotta draw the line somewhere...the line between being young and reckless and being dead (that a little exaggeration, of course). For me, that line is a tornado warning. Where is it for you?