Running Shorts

Stream crossing on the aptly-named Geology Trail Every time I run at Rowe Woods, I leave saying, "I need to come here more often." It's only a half hour away from my house (15 minutes if I'm leaving from Mariemont) and probably has the longest collection of trails within the I-275 loop. But then I remember that it costs $8 to get in (or $35 for a year's pass), and I don't know if I'd come often enough to make it worth the cost. That said, Rowe Woods has up over 16 miles of trails , all of which are well-groomed including many that are sidewalk-width (wide enough to run side-by-side with a partner -- a luxury you don't often get on trails). It is exceedingly hilly, which makes it tough to hold any decent pace, but for a run to go easy on the legs it's the perfect getaway within the city.

"Some days you've got it; some days you don't."  That's the first thing my dad told me after the race, and it's absolutely true. On this day, I just didn't have it. I ran 1:08:55, close to two minutes slower than three weeks ago, and finished a disappointing 5th place. Here are a few of the key take-aways from this race: This race was a classic example of the Two-Mile Rule. As John Parker Jr.'s passage from Again to Carthage  (awesome sequel to Once a Runner ) states, "you shouldn't try to figure out how you're feeling until two miles into the workout [or race, in this case]." If you've been running long enough, you've certainly had days where you walked out the door feeling terrible only to finish on fire; or days where you felt great your first steps only to slog through the rest of the run. In Detroit, I woke up feeling great and was even cruising the first mile or so. But once we got to two miles, about to go up the ...

To follow up with my 'State of the Sport' post from a couple weeks ago, I stumbled across this interesting interview with Nick Symmonds that addresses some of the issues I had touched on. During his career as a professional runner, Symmonds has consistently been the dominant American in the 800m (he finished second at this year's World Champs). He's also been an equally outspoken critic of the USATF-dominated track scene, as is apparent in the interview. I think he mentions some really interesting improvements; however, I don't really agree with him on everything (i.e., allowing gambling at track meets). Anyway, read the article (it's short) and see what you think about some of his ideas to improve the sport of running. I'm sure I'll be posting a lot on this sort of topic: how to improve the sport (both locally as well as nationally) and how to increase fan base and public support of the sport. Basically, how do we grow running out of its 'niche...

Two weekend ago, I drove with a friend to Columbus, IN to run events in the inaugural Mill Race Marathon  (and half marathon and 5k). Our old Xavier XC and Track team had a few people from Columbus, and they were the ones who talked us into the race. It ended up being a fun little reunion (and we also had a couch to crash on...instead of paying for a hotel room). As for the race: I finished in 1:07:11 (5:07-08 per mile pace) and placed 6th - one spot out of the money! ( Here's the link to the results) It was a flat course and the weather wasn't too hot, so it made for a fast race. That, and the competition...the race directors brought in a fair amount of local East Africans to go along with the tough regional competition. I went into the race with a specific plan: don't go out too hard; start off the first four miles by easing into half marathon pace, run five through ten at a constant effort, and then see what I have left for the last three. Overall, I was really plea...

If you've been paying attention to the running world this past month, you might have noticed that there's been a lot of discussion on the supposed decrease in the competitiveness of road races. These articles and blog posts have all tried, in some way, to wrestle with the state of our sport. How do people in this country feel about the sport of running? What are some things we athletes, race directors, and fans need to do better to promote the sport? And since, after all, this is a running blog, I figured I might as well weigh in. It all started about a month ago when Competitor Group (which hosts races nationally, including the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon series) announced it was eliminating its support of elite athletes at all of its events in North America. Then Toni Reavis posted an article about the "dumbing down, slowing down" of road races across the country. In it he made some very intriguing points about the growth of rec runners in road races and th...