Running Shorts

This week I want to feature the Fast-Finish Long Run . I've written about n ot doing easy long runs before , and this is one that can be a staple of your training no matter what distance you're training for. A Fast-Finish Long Run is exactly what it sounds like: a long run where you run the last portion of it fast. It could be as simple as closing out the final 15-20 minutes of a run (no matter the distance) at an up-tempo, aerobic threshold-type effort; or it could be as tough as the marathon-specific session of 10 miles easy straight into 10 miles at marathon pace. The Fast-Finish fits anywhere within that spectrum. The point of a long run is to build up aerobic endurance, but sometimes we end up just slogging around at a slow pace, not really stimulating any aerobic gains while just beating ourselves up. Adding on an up-tempo finish at the end can stimulate that aerobic stamina without being too destructive. (Sometimes, running faster can be less stressful on the body t...

Yes, this is a selfish post. I mostly train alone; as it turns out, so do most of the post-collegiate runners in the Greater Cincinnati area. It's time to change that. Cincinnati is way too small of a town for us all to be doing our own thing, only to meet on race day and maybe the occasional long run. When you consider that many of the best runners train in groups, it makes sense that we ought to start training together. I get that everyone has different schedules; I'm not saying that all us runners need to live and run and hang out together all the time. All I'm proposing is a track workout on Tuesday. a tempo/threshold run on Friday (or Saturday), and a nice hard long run on Sunday. That's it, just three days. Three key workouts on three days, each week, every  week. I get that life gets in the way and you won't be able to make it every time, but you wanna get better? You gotta train consistently. Who better than training partners to keep you consistent? ...

Some days you have it, some days you don't. With training and tapering, of course, you hope to have it on race day. On February 13th 2016 in the heat of Los Angeles, I most definitely didn't have it. On a day that was a battle for everybody, I was one of the many riding the struggle bus. About 60 of the 160-ish men that started the race did not finish, myself included. I made it about 10 miles into the race before calling it a day and stepping off the course. I actually felt pretty good on my short warmup jog. I fell into aerobic threshold effort real easy and was primed to go. The first two miles, even in the mass of humanity, were right about where I wanted to be: 5:25 and then 5:18, right on. I latched onto a group that felt like it was going the right effort, ready to hang on for a ride to a solid time. But by the time we got to 10k, I knew I was in trouble. That's a scary feeling when you're hurting and you realize there are still twenty miles left in the ...

So take this with a grain of salt: I haven't raced a marathon in nearly three years, and of the two that I've finished neither have been particularly noteworthy. When I was in college, the 10,000m folks on Xavier's team had a saying about the 10k on the track: "controlled aggression released over 25 laps." For those who've never had the distinct pleasure of racing the track 10,000, you're not really missing out. On a bad (or even mediocre) day, it consists of a special kind of hell involving monotonous, mind-numbing misery. When you're off your game, the laps drag by. When you're on, they fly. Keeping that attitude ("controlled aggression released over 25 laps") helped keep us present in the race. Staying patient, racing in the moment, not thinking too far ahead ( don't think about the finish before the final mile... ) combine to create a positive experience. You focus on the race at hand -- not the finish -- and the results will ...

Welp, T-minus one week 'til race day . "Are you nervous?" I've been getting this question a lot lately. I suppose every one of the 450-ish OT qualifiers has as well. Heck, anyone who's ever trained for a race has probably gotten that question from someone . "Well, are you?" The truth is, no, I'm not nervous. I've put in the work, I'm confident in the workouts and long runs I put in this winter, and I can't wait for the starting pistol to go off. Depending on how the race goes, I feel like I could reasonably run anywhere between 2:15 and 2:25. Obviously the faster end is better, but even at the slower end I'm running a significant PR and fairly respectable time. I'm in much better shape than I've ever been in before a marathon, so if I go out and race (not pace) then I know the results will take care of themselves. The truth is also, yes, I'm nervous. It's been nearly three years since I've run a marathon....

GEAR CHECK is another semi-regular-when-I'm-feeling-it series like the WORKOUT OF THE WEEK and various race recaps. There's a ton of different products out there marketed towards runners, so I wanted to highlight some of the things that I use and what I think about them. It might also be telling the stuff I don't use, but that's a whole 'nother topic. The New Balance 1400v3  (in the pictured colorway, too!) is the shoe I'll be racing in during the Olympic Trials Marathon. I've worn this particular shoe in one previous race and a few workouts as well.  This is my review of the shoe, but it's going to be a little different that most shoe reviews: I'm not going to talk about manufacturer specs or product details or anything like that ; instead, I'm going to talk about how it fits, how it feels, and who it's for. In my opinion, that's the truly important stuff, anyway. How does it fit? This shoe fits like a cross between a pure racin...

I love internet threads about unpopular opinions. What movie do you hate that everyone else loves? What famous author do you hate to read? While being slightly provocative, I think these types of conversations are interesting and open us up to different points of view. So without further ado, here's my unpopular running opinion: I hate that nearly every road race gives out finisher's medals to all participants. I think when everyone gets a medal, it's value becomes meaningless. I think that if everyone is a winner, then by extension no one is a winner. I think it's disgraceful that in many cases, the first-place finisher gets the same trophy as the last-place finisher. I think that not only do they encourage non-competition, but they also send a message of anti-competitiveness. I think finisher's medals embody the "everyone's a winner" attitude that is antithetical to competitive sport. I think finisher's medals are one of the reasons wh...