Zone Training

So, I was trying to think of something to post for today and was flipping through back logs of "Ask the Coaches" when I came across this question: when targeting a heart rate workout, what percentage of that interval needs to be in that zone? Hmmm... never thought about that... I just kind of read the words and ran whatever and kind of hoped that I was doing it right. Basically, the guy asking the question had noticed that his heart rate does not reach the correct bpm until well into the interval (especially for the shorter intervals targeted by the higher zones / effort levels). Makes sense... so, do you need to "warm up" for each interval or what? Turns out, the whole point interval training is to simulate a race, but multiple times over the course of a workout (practice makes perfect afterall). So, being that your heart rate starts off lower at the beginning of a race and then gradually climbs, this is the same pattern that your interval should follow. Oh good, because I certainly wasn't looking forward to "warming up" before each mile repeat! #20

Turkey Trot Reports

Heard that the Ridgewood Turkey Trot went well for TAF (or, for at least those who didn't get stuck behind half of the field)! Laura Berry was the 2nd female overall (yeah, crazy), and I believe Rita was 2nd in her age group (9th female overall). John Royal finished in the top 3 Master's runners, Fred L. was 1st in his age group, and Keith, Matt M. and Alli all finished in the top 25 males/females. Dan H. finished just behind Rita (literally... I mean there were 1800+ runners and they finished within a few steps of each other). Dave M. and Myles ran well too, and Sean and Brian came out to pace. (results)

Team TAF was also well-represented at a few other races both in NC and "abroad". Marty finished 3rd in his age group at the Inside Out Sports Turkey trot (results). Erica ran with her mother in the Gobbler's Run 5K, and finished 2nd in her age group (results). Jennifer ran in the Cincinatti Thanksgiving Day 10K, finishing in the top 30 females (there were 10000+ runners... that's crazy... results).

CONGRATS and AWESOME JOB!!! Sorry for the delay in this post, I was waiting to hear back from everyone (and let me know if I missed someone)! #20

Santa's Diet

Even though retail stores start playing Christmas music on Nov. 1st, I like to wait until after Thanksgiving is over before I start thinking about the holiday season. On that note, it turns out that you can eat like Santa and lose weight. Not really... for most of us at least... and I think I would get sick of a steady diet of cookies and chips (although the cereal and icecream... now we're talking). The study just basically proves what we already know - if you consume less calories than you use on a daily basis, you will lose weight; math never fails! However, I did find it interesting that the "study participant's" bad cholesterol dropped by 20% and good cholesterol increased by 20%. #20

Eat This Now: Day-After-Thanksgiving Sandwich

1. Thanksgiving is great because it features two of my favorite "real" foods (sweet potato pie and cranberry sauce... mmmm)!
2. Leftover are great because they mean you don't have to cook for a while!
3. And sandwiches are great because they can be eaten for any meal!

Combine all three... GENIUS [make sure you read the Warnings :-)] #20

Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!
And good luck if you're running today. #20

I thought I'd post some Thanksgiving-themed world records:

• Paul Kelly owns the world record for the fastest time to carve a turkey... just 3min and 19sec! Apparently this is not the first "head-to-head" turkey challenge that Paul has competed in... he is also the fastest plucker on the planet (say that three times fast), with 3 turkeys in 11min and 30sec.
• When I searched for pie, I was expecting more along the lines of "the largest xxx pie", but what I got was this -> the largest custard pie fight was held on August 13, 2009 with 648 pies being thrown by 253 people in the span of a few seconds... AWESOME!
• This was more what I was looking for... the largest pumpkin pie weighed in at 2020 lbs, and measured 12ft 1inch in diameter (and it was made in OH)!
• For all of you who raced today... the fastest marathon dressed as a vegetable was run by Robert Prothero in 3:34:55.

Mid-Week Outlook

Thursday is the day to race this week. On the local scene, a lot of our teammates are competing in the Ridgewood Turkey Trot, while others are headed to the Crossroads Plaza Turkey Trot, and a few more might be opting for the Inside-Out Sports Turkey Trot. For those of us not originally from around here... we'll also be well-represented at the Cincinnati Thanksgiving Day 10K. In any event, GOOD LUCK if you're racing and HAVE FUN (and please let me know how it went because I haven't figured out how to teleport myself back to Raleigh... or OH... yet)! #20

Gobble Gobble

Ok, for the rest of the week we're going with a Thanksgiving theme! To start things off, I googled "turkey flying speed" just to see how fast these things could go (I know turkeys don't so much fly so much as waddle... like across roads... we might have a wild turkey problem in the town that I grew up in and they might cause traffic jams). In any event, I found out that turkeys are pretty fast... 50mph... really?!? But, they don't really fly for more than a quarter mile (so all those Turkey Trots that are 5+ kilometers... the associated "kid's dashes" are much more accurate). Also found out that the "major turkey vocalizations" include: "gobbles", "clucks", "putts", "purrs", "yelps", "cutts", "whines", "cackles", and "kee-kees". Sweet... no "wahooos"... so I don't have to worry about inadvertently calling a turkey when I go run 400s around the track at home while flapping my arms (just kidding)! #20

And this was one of the first articles that popped up when I googled "turkey flying speed"... I think I am going to start annotating my days like this... will certainly make life more interesting!

Choose Your Own Adventure

After racing yet another random distance race over the weekend, a thought occurred to me. Despite being slightly disappointed that I might have to add "run a good 10K" to next year's List of Things ToDo, I realized that I could cross "PR in a distance close to 6 miles" off of this year's list. And, all and all, I would still describe it as a "good race"... ran strong, felt good, had fun, etc. Plus, they gave out the Wheaties cereal I like, the doughnuts at the end were just as good...

So, how to balance these things... hmmmmm... why not just make the race a random distance?!? Now, hear me out... what if there was a race where you could run whatever distance you felt like on that given day? I envision a "race" that is a loop, or a series of loops, that you run until you feel like stopping (there would have to be some time limit, maybe 2-3 hours, and some of the "standard" distances marked). I guess this is similar to the 24-hr race concept... or the 1-hr track run that we did in the spring... and I had fun doing the later. Maybe to make things more interesting, there could be random or impromptu "competitions"-- fastest first 400m, first person up the hill on the second lap, most consistent pace, etc.

Having a good day... run more.
Wishing that 8K was really a 5K... make it so.
Want to try out a new racing strategy... go for it.
Trying to see how long you can run without stopping, get a quality training run in with some friends, or want to enjoy the thrill of setting a new PR... just convince someone else to too.
Sound FUN... come on out for the Wahooo xK!

I might need to lay off the caffeinated sports beans after dark. #20

11/20-21 Race Reports

Add a few more ticks to the "TAF is Awesome" column:

• Keith rocked Raven Rock on Saturday! On a course which Oyler previously described as an EKG, Keith finished 7th overall (3rd AG)... WAHOOO! (results)
• Sean, Dave, and I headed to Wilson on Saturday for the Nash Street 10K, where TAF Racing once again dominated the podium! Sean was first across the line for us, finishing 2nd overall! He and the first place runner were neck-and-neck, both sprinting through the finish with the clock reading 29-something (which totally rivals Bobby Mack's time from last week)! I was next across the line for us, finishing up as the 3rd female overall, and Dave followed shortly thereafter. So, do you want to know something interesting? Despite the fact that we were all in the same race, we ran 3 different courses. Sean (and the 1st and 3rd runners) "choose" a course that was closer to 5 miles, I (and the 1st and 2nd females) "selected" to run closer 6 miles, and Dave had the unfortunate luck of being directed on a course that was in the 6.4 mile neighborhood. So, needless to say, we all set new "random distance" PR's... in three different distances... CONGRATS GUYS! Ok, ridiculousness aside, we DID compete well (in whatever race we happened to run)... and Sean totally would have set a legitimate master's PR in a 10K. Oh well, it was still fun, and met some cool people (the guy who finished 3rd was one of the runners from NC sitting beside us at the finish)! (results... I know they extrapolated Sean's time)

A few of us met up with Laurel today in Roanoke Rapids. We ran on the greeway there, which was beautiful, and apparently undiscovered by the locals (I think we saw 5 people the whole time... and I think two of them were the same person!). So, that concludes our weekend adventures. GREAT JOB everyone and enjoy the week (mmmmmm... I can taste the apple pie already). #20

Weekend Outlook

Now that we've got the "long" races out of the way... Saturday brings the Nash Street Mile and 10K, as well as the Raven Rock Rumble 5- and 10-mile Trail races. We have teammates competing in both... should be a nice day and the leaves are finally changing (wahooo)! On Sunday, some of us are meeting Laurel for a run (even more wahooo)! Closer to home, Mike H. (NCSU Tri team) is running a 50K in honor of his grandfather. He is running loops around main campus, so if you can, go out and cheer him on. Think that's about it! #20

Unfortunately, we missed out on Guinness World Records Day (it was yesterday). New thing to add to the TAF ToDo list... find a world record and break it for next year! Being that I had 9hrs of zombie lab to think about what record to break: (1) greatest number of sprinkles in one standard-sized funfetti cupcake, (2) largest gathering of people jumping up and down while screaming "wahooo!", or (3) longest sentence completed without taking a breath!

Focus

Turns out, we spend nearly 50% of the time thinking about something other than what we are currently doing. This does not surprise me... in fact, personally speaking, that's conservative. I am reminded of this fact every time I do yoga. One of the things the instructor constantly says is "Focus on the present. What are you feeling now? Think about the..." Whenever they say this, I'm usually mid-thought on something else... and for about 30sec, I "remember" to think about yoga before I "forget" and start back thinking about anything and everything else. However, being that the yoga instructors appear to be so calm while I am anything but... well, perhaps there's something to this whole "focus" concept. This study pretty much confirms my hypothesis - people become frustrated/unhappy when their mind wanders too much. Interesting... but I now think I can count distance running as a form of "therapy" because it is totally acceptable to not focus too much! #20

Spectating... because somebody's gotta do it

I think good crowd support is key to racing your best. I mean, when there is no one but the guy wearing shorts that are too short in front of you and the other guy in Vibrams slapping his feet on the ground behind you... well... I'd give anything just to see some people sitting on the porch blaring Eye of the Tiger or something (seriously, I miss those guys from the Tir na nOg run). It's always nice when little kids high-five you... as long as you don't think too closely about how many people they've high-fived as you lick GU off your hand because you are incapable of opening it like a normal person. Or the older people that tell you that they wish they could still run as fast as you... the others that say "looking strong" when you know you look like hell... or the "coaches" in the crowd that tell you your place and distance to the next mile marker. So, I want to first thank all of the people that do come out to cheer. And then, as I have a difficult time spectating (I hate standing still and not competing), I found this "training plan" online (it cracked me up... and why does everyone insist on mis-spelling wahooo?!?). #20

Wahooo

I decided to google this term the other day because it was more interesting than doing whatever work I was supposed to (note: this post has nothing to do with running). Turns out, there is a Wahooo Swim Monitoring System, which has apparently established "a new standard for aquatic safety and drowning detection". The Wahooo SMS might come in handy at the Wahooo Water Park Bahrain (looks fun).

Woo-hoo is apparently the more accepted spelling of the term. According to Merriam-Webster, it is used to express exuberant delight or approval, and its first known use was in 1981 (seriously, (1) no one said this before the early 80's and (2) there's a dictionary definition for this term?!?). Also, "Whoo hoo" was apparently an advertising campaign introduced by Washington Mutual in 2008.

Back to work (boohoo)! #20

11/13-14 Race Reports

I'm pretty sure that dictionary.com needs to add a 4th definition for awesome... TAF Racing:

• On Saturday, at Beach 2 Battleship, James and John G. completed their first half ironmans. James was 2nd in his age group, and 56th overall! Ed did the whole thing, completing his first ironman in 11:40. Ok y'all... that's just CRAZY... CONGRATS... WOW... I don't know how you did it... I'm pretty sure the last thing that I wanted to do Saturday morning was jump in the ocean and swim, then jump on a bike and ride in the wind... and then go run over a few bridges! CONGRATS again... I'm just going to keep saying that over and over (but I'll spare y'all the details for reading it).
• On Sunday, Dave M. and Lisa H. both decided to have a go at the 26.2 mile distance. Dave ran the Harrisburg Marathon, keeping a strong pace until mile 18 when the hills hit, and still finished in a great time despite the fact that I think that both of his feet were covered in one huge blister (well, I guess two huge blisters... seriously, I don't think there was a square inch of either not covered in band-aids, gauze, and tape!). Lisa ran the OBX marathon, setting a new PR and finishing 6th in her age group. I think this now marks a PR at like every distance for her since September! AWESOME JOB GUYS! (OBX results)
• A bit closer to home, some of us ran the Old Reliable 10K, where TAF Racing also dominated the podium. Laura B. was the overall winner on the woman's side, setting a new PR for a road 10K in the process. Also on the list of PR's, Rita ran like "a mile" PR, placing 1st in her age group (and 6th woman). Sean and I both took 1st in our age groups, and Keith was 4th in his. Perry and Andrew ran great races too. TAF ROCKS! (results... and look who made the News and Observer... plus several shots in the album too)!
  
• In other news, John Crews won the OBX Marathon. Laurel went out to cheer / run with some of our friends at the Richmond Marathon (which was also dominated by local Raleigh runners).WAHOOO!

A few of us got together on Sunday night to celebrate this weekend of awesomeness, and I made a great discovery... "icecream cherries" on pizza! Yes y'all... the Fly'n Hawaiian pizza... all it was missing was sprinkles... we'll add it to the "TAF To Do List": (1) Dominate XC Club Nationals, (2) Plan an awesome end-of-the-season-party, (3) Make "icecream cherry" + sprinkles pizza (at this point, I guess it's really more of a cupcake) for the aforementioned party! #20

Recovery

Seems like we've been doing a lot of long races lately, so I thought it would be appropriate to post something on how to best recover from these efforts. While this article is geared mostly towards training, a lot of the same principles apply:

• Remember the "bell-curve" (warm-up, swim/bike/run hard, cool-down)
• Flush out lactic acid, etc. from your muscles with dynamic stretching, hydrotherapy, or simply by taking a walk... this also helps to preserve range of motion and alleviate stiffness... elevating your legs helps too
• Drink lots of water (your muscles need to be lubricated)
• Refuel (whole grains, beans, leafy greens, and healthy fats from fish, avocados, and nuts promote an anti-inflammatory response in the body)
• Relax

The only "don't" listed was "pop pills"... they tend to give you a false sense of "I'm really ok" when your not, causing many to "challenge" themselves before being fully recovered and ready. My recommendation ( if anyone cares) - compression socks and Icy-Hot (still haven't perfected the not freezer-burning myself with real ice)! #20

Wow Wow Wow

Just heard from James... he finished the Beach 2 Battleship Half Ironman in 5:15... 56th overall and 2nd in his age group... AWESOME!!! #20

Weekend Racing

Well, there are a lot of races going on this weekend to say the least! On Sat., James and Ed are competing in the Beach 2 Battleship half and full Ironmans respectively. Good luck guys... that is just awesome! Brad B. is also racing in the Richmond Half Marathon. On Sunday, Dave is running the Harrisburg Marathon. I think Lisa (and maybe others) were planning on racing the OBX Marathon. Closer to home, I think a couple of us are doing the Old Reliable 5K/10K. So, WAHOOO and HAVE FUN! #20

For this week, I thought I'd abandon "world record" Friday in lieu of "completely bizarre" Friday (and lets face it, most of the former could be included in the later). Ok, so a lot of us have had some close encounters with stray dogs, squirrels, maybe a few copperheads out on the trail... but I never thought I'd have to worry about a white-tailed deer! Nor am I sure that the creators of "The Middle" ever thought that they would be predicting the future (from episode 1.24)!

Veteran's Day Report

It was an eventful morning to say the least. Since it is actually lighter out now at 6AM vs. 6PM, a couple of us decided to give the Ridge Rd. morning run a try again. So, in keeping with my new plan to begin every day listening to Eye of the Tiger (note: this song turns even the most mundane activities into pure awesomeness), I sang along from my apartment to the parking lot. After finally psyching myself up enough to get out of the car, I turned off my MP3 player and... well... the music was still playing. And, because it was 5:42AM, my first thought was... "Sean was right! I do have music playing in my head! I am insane!" Luckily, Jennifer heard the music too, as did Rita, Brad B., and Oyler. Good... I'm not crazy... but the guy rocking out to whatever the heck he was listening to in the Ridgewood parking lot at quarter to six in the morning might be! On that note (hahaha), we departed.

The plan was to run for a bit and then head down Hillsbourough St. to see if we saw Brad S. (he told me yesterday that he and a few buddies of his were doing a 50K from the Capitol to Chapel Hill starting at 6AM). Down Gorman, through campus, back to Hillsborough St... ummmmm... why are there a bunch of police cars out? We were all a little concerned, and even more concerned when we heard a whole bunch of shouting. Ok, it is Veteran's Day... was there some sort of protest going on? Then, we saw them... about 100+ ROTC members and other military / retired military personnel running down Hillsborough St. shouting and chanting and carrying flags. AWESOME. I mean I can count on one finger the amount of runs that I've been on when I've seen something like this. We looked for Brad, but it was hard to spot him in the sea of people (note: when Brad told me his plan yesterday, I was thinking there were going to be like 3 people... I just hope not all of them were running 31 miles). Also, it was still kind of dark out at 6:15.

Luckily, Whole Foods was open when we finished our run, so wahooo for coffee (know my 8:05 lab section was happy that I had caffeine... no need to make the zombie lab simulation too realistic). I think I can safely say that this is the most eventful Thursday morning run that I've ever been on... glad I got to run with my friends at a ridiculous hour and see a whole bunch of people running and chanting down the street! Hopefully Brad S. will let us know how the next 29 miles went.

Happy Veteran's Day!!!

The foot bone connected to the...

Apparently the knee and elbow bone... funny, that's not the song that I learned! A lot of leg injuries can be traced to over-striding (i.e., when your foot touches down 10-12 inches in front of your center of gravity). This can place upwards of 3x your weight on your joints. So, how can you prevent this? First, make sure you are landing mid-foot as opposed to on your heels. However, even this won't solve all of your problems- elbow angle is also important. Wait... what... my elbow is not connected to my foot! But, there is a relationship between the rate at which you swing your arms and your foot strike... or as coach would say, "your feet follow your arms". This is why you should pump your arms more at the end of a race... just try and unsynch your arm swing and footfall (but not during a race... unless you want to slide across the finish... actually, one of my teammates did this in college and beat the girl she was neck and neck with... but that was on grass and not a street... ok, enough with that tangent). Furthermore, changes to arm swing affect where you land on your foot. Coincidentally, this is why you shouldn't run with weights, either arm or leg. #20

The Importance of Cool-downs

I know that the last thing I want to do after racing or speed workouts is run some more... unless there's a locopop at the end of it of course! But, well, you should. In fact, you should cool-down a lot... like 40 minutes a lot... at least that's what Sally Kipyego suggests! The Oregon Track Club routine is a bit easier... they only cool-down for about half that time. In any event, both the "Kenyan" (Kapcherop Training Camp) and the "American" (Oregon Track Club) routines incorporate drills and dynamic stretching to flush out your legs, increase range of motion, and reset muscle memory. I highly recommend reading this article, it contains a lot of good information. Guess I better better get to ABC-skipping! #20

helps when you don't confuse AM and PM when you "bank" posts... sorry for the delay :-)

The Battleship Report

4:30 AM
So, my cell phone isn't like every other cell phone... it does not automatically update for daylight savings time... I was halfway changed into my uniform before I heard Rita and Alli say, "Meghan, it's only 4:30." Sorry for the early start guys... was good practice for an hour later when we actually did get up!

5:50 AM
Meghan - "At least we're not in Raleigh, it's 32 degrees currently. It's 38 degrees here, but it feels like 31."
Gavin - "Not the direction I was hoping for."
Meghan - "Oh, don't worry, fitness and comfort index says it's 'comfortable'. But, we should wear 'multi-layer'."

We left, all in 'multi-layer' at 6:15. It was cold, just like weather.com said, but at least it wasn't raining.

The Start - 10 Miles
We found Tim G. and Rusty at the start. We also found the "guy from the Blueberry Festival", Rita's coach from high school, and I think about 7 other people that somehow knew Rita! Gavin made his way to the front... luckily he was wearing neon yellow so we could still see him. The gun went off, and we started running.

The first couple of miles featured a lot of uphills... well... up-bridges! It was windy, and cold, and running over grates on a bridge is somewhat challenging. We were happy to get into town... but running on the bricks was no bargain either. At least a lot of people were cheering... and the Christmas decorations were out. We turned a corner right after the 4mile mark and were confronted with an uphill. What?!? No fair... they totally hid that... I do not appreciate surprise hills! Luckily, we didn't have to run all the way up it... the course took a turn and flattened out for a bit.

After a while, we entered a park. There were a lot of curves in the road, which made the "finding the shortest path" game more interesting. I'm pretty sure the guy that was insisting on running right on my shoulder thought I was insane, or maybe it was the fact that I was wearing bright red compression socks. Anyways, "Mr. too short green shorts" passed us around mile 7. Rita and I had to stare at him for the next 5 miles.... this was very unfortunate.

The Last 5K
I think we all started to slow down around mile 10. This brought me to my latest theory - given that the race distance is greater than or equal to 5000m, the last 5K will always be awful! We hit the bridge just before the 12-mile mark... not much had changed since the first time we had run across it, it was still cold and windy... but running over the grates was even more difficult this time around! Gavin said this is where the guy he was running with tried to surge ahead... Gavin caught him at the bottom of the bridge... silly wasting your energy sprinting over a bridge. As for the rest of us... Rita and I saw Tim G., who had a screw stuck in his shoe... pretty sure that would make running over grates even more challenging. Alli saw Rusty on the bridge... and also made the mistake of looking down... it was a long way down!

Luckily, we could follow the highway signs for The Battleship the rest of the way. I started to pick it up when I saw the battleship, and finally managed to pass "Mr. too short green shorts". We were in the home stretch... and a minute later, we were in the home stretch... and a minute after that... where the heck was the finish line?!? No joke, there appeared to be no finish line... there was no big banner... just a timing mat... ok, there was a small banner... I didn't have my glasses on.

Post-Race
Gavin was first across the line for us, and nearly first across the line for the whole race (2nd overall)... good thing he decided that morning that he might try and run! About twenty minutes later, I was next (6th woman, 2nd AG), followed closely by Rita (10th woman, 3rd AG) and Tim G. Alli G., in her half marathon debut, finished strong, as did Rusty. We saw Jacci, she had run a PR, and thankfully gave us a ride back to Alli's car so we didn't have to wait for the trolley. We stopped at a coffee shop that Rita and Alli had spotted along the course... glad they were paying attention because I am not very observant (we had apparently passed Alli's car when we were running too, another detail which I failed to notice). It was a GREAT RACE and a FUN trip. AWESOME JOB everyone! (results) #20

High Fructose Corn Syrup

It's in everything.
It's going to bring down American society.
It's pure evil contained in a bottle.

This is what a woman told me at a party the other week as she popped piece after piece of cheese into her mouth. I couldn't help but think that she was missing the point. Arguably HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) is not good for you, but I have a hard time believing it's as awful as some people claim. So, being that I know very little about what HFCS actually is, I decided to look it up. The production process is described in detail in this Wikipedia entry: (1) mill corn to get corn starch, (2) process starch to get corn syrup (which is mostly glucose), (3) add enzymes to convert the glucose to fructose, (4) distill / blend to achieve the desired sweetness. Ok, so it's basically just liquid sugar?

With respect to the "it's in everything" phenomenon, it has slowly been substituted for sugar because (1) it is cheaper to produce in the U.S. and (2) it is easier to blend and transport because it is a liquid. Both of these things seem reasonable to me, so I really don't understand what has people all up in arms. And then I stumbled upon the real problem. The reason why obesity is such a problem in the U.S. is not because of high fructose corn syrup... it's because we are eating more sweet foods. Sweets, by nature, are high in calories regardless of what is used to sweeten them (with the exception of the 0 calorie artificial sweeteners of course). It just so happens that this increase in consumption corresponded with a switch to HFCS. So, in conclusion, high fructose corn syrup is probably not going to kill us... but I might go ahead and eat an apple instead of candy corn just to be on the safe side! #20

11/6-7 Race Reports

We gained and hour and lost 40 degrees this weekend... what a trade! Dave and Erica got the weekend started off right, running strong races at Free to Breathe. Erica was 2nd in her age group, and Dave 4th in his... and they both set 4.34K PR's (results)! But, have no fear, David Kirby decided to make up the extra distance with a 50-miler yesterday... he ran 9hrs 16min at the Mountain Masochist run!

The Battleship Half Marathon went well this morning. Gavin got 2nd overall, I'm pretty sure Rita and I placed in the top 10 females, Alli not only completed her first half marathon, but ran awesome (crushing her goal time), and Tim and Barry ran great races too! Jacci from the Half Marathon Training Program also ran a huge PR. I don't know what the official results are (we were way too cold and in need of caffeine), but I'll post a full report soon. I heard City of Oaks went well too... Dave and Brad are expert pacers! GREAT JOB this weekend everyone... what to do with this whole extra hour?!? #20

:-)

The first thought on my mind when I woke up this morning was... check weather.com. Now, this does seem reasonable being that I am racing tomorrow... but that came secondary. What I really wanted to know was how the website would resolve the time change in the hourly forecast (yes y'all it's been a very long week). In an effort to be more efficient, I did check the forecast for Wilmington, NC first. THERE ARE TWO 12 AM's LISTED! Now, this is what I figured would happen, but just seeing it written that way made my day... that and it's supposed to be cool, but not rainy, both in Wilmington and in Raleigh. Should be perfect... GOOD LUCK if you're racing or pacing tomorrow! #20

Other miscellaneous results from the Team

Sometimes results don't always get to Meghan or Sean in time for the weekend recap, so here are some that I've noticed...

Perry was 2nd overall at the DHHS 5k held at Dorthea Dix on Friday October 15th...

John Royal was 1st in his age group at the ATT 10 miler on Oct 23rd.

Gary Franks was 2nd in his age group at the Ridge to Bridge Marathon on Oct 30th...running a 3:05:11!

I thought I had more, but guess I don't...good job guys!

-Brad

Weekend Racing

It's the weekend of half marathons! And we get an extra hour of sleep on Sunday! What could be better?!? For those not racing at the 13.1 mile distance, there's always the option to run a "fun-sized" half on Sat. The Free to Breathe 5K is at 9:30 AM at our favorite race location- Centennial Campus... have fun running up those hills! Dave and Brad are pacing half of the City of Oaks marathon on Sunday, while Rita, Alli G., Sean, Gavin, Rusty, and I are headed off to Wilmington for the Battleship Half Marathon. Some of our other friends are probably running in one of those races too, so come on out cheer / help out! Good luck if you're racing, and have fun! #20

And, for world record Friday (I'm still on a Halloween theme here), the fastest time to carve one tonne of pumpkins is 3:33:49. This record was set on Oct. 29, 2008 by Stephan Clarke. So, is anyone else slightly disturbed by that picture?!?

Practice Makes Perfect

Got a race you really care about... run a "tune-up race" beforehand. A tune-up race is basically anything that isn't your goal race, but the article suggests that the former be shorter (although this seems less critical for 5K's compared to marathons). Tune-up races are good because, no matter how hard you push yourself in training, you can never match your "race effort"... adrenaline kicks in when the gun goes off! Plus, tune-up races allow y0u to refine your "racing strategy"... like when to chase down a pack or when to let them go. Also, the more you race, the less nervous you tend to be at any given race. Anyways, the article is pretty interesting, and gives some do's/don'ts, suggestions, and alternate workouts just in case you can't fit in a tune up race. #20

What do barbers and blood pressure have in common?

They both start with the letter 'b'. But, I did have something else in mind. Turns out, barbershop-based monitoring, education and physician-referral programs can help customers better control high blood pressure problems. Yes... I said barbershop... and by barbershop I mean the place where men go to get their haircut... I had to read the first two paragraphs twice to make sure I wasn't missing something.

Now that is just AWESOME! The scientists who conducted the study also hypothesize that such programs could save hundreds of lives annually. Wow, just wow... I would never have expected results to that extent! #20

This Just In...

The more you exercise, the less sick you'll be! And, when you do get sick, your cold won't last as long. Seriously y'all... click on the link... it's Nicole it's Nicole it's Nicole wahoooo!!! #20

The Lazy Cooker

Yup... that's me... on a good day. I'm always looking for quick ways of making something that is somewhat nutritious, so I was super excited when I came across this: canned salmon adds nutrients and flavor to quick meals. It's a good source of protein, omega 3's, vitamin D, and calcium... and better than tuna because it doesn't carry the mercury risk (I am already crazy enough). They suggest adding it to soups and sandwiches, making crab cakes, or adding it to pasta dishes. Personally, I have tried it with tomato soup, tomato sauce, salad, and Raman noodles... made them all taste better! Oh, and I would recommend adding the salmon pre-microwave... I like to pretend that this brings out the flavor more, but really it's just that I don't like eating things that are markedly different temperatures when they are all in the same bowl. #20

We don't need no education...

Scientists at Harvard have stumbled upon a formula to prevent runners from "hitting the wall"... BRILLIANT!!! Apparently, Benjamin Rapoport adopts a similar strategy to me while trying to distract himself from the fact that he is running 26.2 miles... MATH. While I stick to figuring out what percentage of the race I have completed, what my current pace is, how much that will change if I start crawling... Rapoport has dedicated his efforts to coming up with The Marathon Formula:

Mc = d*m*fc(i)

where Mc represents the amount of carbohydrates needed, d is the distance of the race (km), m is the mass of the runner, and fc(i) is an intensity factor (related to how fit you are). There is an online calculator available for figuring out what you should be able to do. Ok, here is where things get interesting. When I plug in my metrics, it tells me a "conservative marathon" for me is what I just killed myself to do at Steamtown. And, if I "really push myself", I can run at a pace well over a minute faster than I can for a 5K... and qualify for the US Olympic time trials. AWESOME, that is totally realistic... I'll get right to eating those 15 bowls of pasta!

I'm guessing the formula might need some tweaking, but it is a good first start. The article definitely got me thinking more about the importance of carbo loading, just maybe not quite to the extent discussed (I'm pretty sure I would throw up at around mile 3 if I ate that much 12hrs before)! #20