Running Shorts

I've been on a real nutrition kick lately. I mean, not like actually eating well (yet), but more learning about how to properly fuel the body for athletic performance. Consider it the precursor to better eating habits. For most of my running career I haven't been too concerned with nutrition. And, quite frankly, for 5k and 10k performance it's not really that  important. Your body can run a decent 5k off of cookies and candy. As I've been getting into marathon training, however, I'm starting to realize that everyday nutrition is much more important to your performance. Like I've told some of my friends who've also gotten into marathons, you can gut out a quality 10k, but you can't fake a marathon. Even though I'm not running a marathon in the near future, I'm certainly doing marathon training...hence the nutrition kick. So what's the difference between a 5-10k and a marathon? Without getting too scientific and complicated, it's actual...

Ross Park hosts one of Cincinnati's hidden gems: a crushed gravel track. When it comes to an extensive, linked trail system for soft-surface running, Cincinnati is pretty lacking. There are lots of small trails that are really good for little snippets of a run, but not a whole lot in the way of trails for the full distance of a run. Enter Ross Park. Now, every track is by default a soft surface, but there's just something more natural and primal about running on dirt and gravel. I think it's the steady crunch of the rocks underneath each stride that really does it. Ross Park is nestled right at the interchange of I-75 and the Norwood Lateral, in the city of St. Bernard. The track itself is tucked behind a baseball field and tennis courts, held off the highway by a concrete barrier. So it's not the most scenic area...but it's a gravel track! It looks short. Looking at it and running on it, I could swear it's not a full 400 meters; but accordingly to online m...

500 teams. 420 kills. 196 miles. 24 hours (+1 minute, 55 seconds). 12 runners (or, you know, 9...) 3 hours of sleep. 2 vans. 1 Keg of Gatorade. That's a Ragnar. But in all seriousness, a Ragnar Relay is a long-distance, non-stop team relay race. A team of 12 people (or 6, for an Ultra team [or 9, if you're us and couldn't fill out a full 12]) passes a bracelet from one runner to the next, continuously, until you cover the entire distance. The teams are split into two vans, so that each person in van 1 runs a leg of about 3 to 9 miles, then passes off to the next person, and so on, until everyone in the van has run once -- then you pass off to van 2 and they run their legs. Then repeat the process two more times, so that everyone runs a total of three times. Ragnar is just one of the companies that hosts races all over the country (ours was in Washington state). One of the most well-known long-distance relays is Hood to Coast in Oregon. Closer to home, ...

I'm not a cyclist. I'm not a cycling fan. I've never ridden in a cycling race, and I couldn't name many of the top cyclists in the world. I spent no more than $250 on a used road bike, which I use more for commuting than training. For 49 weeks out of the year, I could care less about cycling. But for the other three weeks, it's all I have on TV. The Tour de France is awesome, and NBC Sports Network's coverage of it is fantastic -- enough to make a fan out of me, at least for a few weeks. For four to five hours a day, for 21 straight days, they broadcast and cover each stage live. And you're telling me we can do the same thing for two-hour footraces only three times per year? (Chicago, New York, Boston) Here's what, to me, makes the Tour so compelling to watch: 1. The commentators are incredibly well researched and knowledgeable about the race course and the riders in the field. They know everyone and their results (and they let you know), not jus...

Damn. This was a fast field. The course isn't really all that fast...it's four loops with one deceptive hill each loop (which seemingly gets bigger every time around) and one 180-degree turn (which kills all momentum). And yet...the winner ran 14:00. That is quick. About 30 seconds quicker than the winner usually is here. This was by far the deepest field in the Blast, and (with the exception of the Chicago and Boston marathons) one of the fastest fields I've ever raced against. Which, of course, is the reason I love the Blast. Because the field was so fast, I can't say I'm too disappointed with my race. I ran 15:20-something to place just outside the top-10 (I can't say for certain, because I can't find the official results anywhere). As the leaders took off crazy fast, I ended up running most of the race on my own. I did finish in sight of 2:13-marathoner Craig Leon , so I can't feel too let down about this one. That said, I really wanted bet...

Will you be in Cincinnati this Saturday, June 28th? If so, you should experience the Hyde Park Blast , the most fun race event in the city all year. Yeah, I said it. It's better than Flying Pig weekend, better than the Thanksgiving Day Race, better than the Heart Mini 15k. Why? Simple: because it puts all levels of endurance sports (well, cycling and running) on showcase through a block-party-like atmosphere. The day starts in the morning with a 4-mile run/walk. Who doesn't like road races? Trick question: everyone loves them. Especially in Hyde Park. Everyone runs in Hyde Park, and you can bet just about everyone will be participating in the run that morning. The run is followed by a series of kids races, ranging in distance from .1 to .5 miles. Nothing like getting 'em started young. At noon the even switches gears (pun intended) as the cycling races start. From noon until 8 pm, there are a series of crits  of decreasing category (which means increasing speed ...

File this one under "do as I say, not as I do." Runners are pretty often Type-A, borderline-obsessive compulsive personalities. We like to maximize all the performance enhancing details (nutrition, flexibility, strength, etc.) while also running more, more, more; faster, faster; faster. Except sometimes, the best thing to do is the opposite. Case in point: I haven't been running much for the past two weeks. Just some off-and-on mileage. Why? The good ol' hamstring's a little strained. In the days before the Music City Distance Carnival, I had a short tune-up workout: a 20-minute aerobic threshold run and then 10 x 200 at fast (ish) but controlled effort. And what inevitably happened? I felt really good and was psyched to race that weekend, so I ran the aerobic threshold too fast. Then I got even more pumped that I was running well and blasted the 200s too hard. I knew what I was doing was bad for my future performance, and yet I couldn't stop myself. ...