7/30-31 Reports

Take that heat advisory... we do not care how dangerously hot and humid it is outside... and we will not limit our outdoor activities... but we WILL train and race and DO AWESOME:

• The Watermelon Festival was hot. And I agree with Rita that we should not race when the temperature hits triple digits. Having said that, we still rocked! James and Sean were both second in their age groups (and in the top 10 overall... the men's field was crazy fast), Rita was 1st in her age group (3rd female overall), and I was the 1st female. Dave ran well despite the fact that he couldn't put his heel on the ground after the race because it hurt so much, and Matt ran his first 5K of the year... WAHOOO!
• Team Fulcher obliterated the rest of the competition in the relay division of the UNC Wellness Tri. Walt's son was 1st in the swim, Walt was 1st on the bike, and his daughter was 1st on the run (I see a trend there)... CONGRATS! (results)

GOOOOOO Team RRO / FAST Coaching. Next up, Old School Aquathon #3 is this Wed. at Harris Lake.

Weekend Outlook

So, the Watermelon Festival 5K is obviously this weekend, but I can't find anything on the "local" radar in terms of running events. As for triathlons, there is the Washington Tri (Saturday) and the UNC Wellness Super Sprint (Sunday). That's it folks... it's still officially too hot for the 5K-a-weekend local racing schedule (although this past Monday was lovely).

So, for World Record Friday (and the watermelon festival), the record for the most watermelons crushed with the head in one minute is 40. John Allwood set this record at the Watermelon Festival in Chinchilla, Queensland (Australia) in February of 2007 (because that's when it's summer in the southern hemisphere... hmmmmm!). And, for random picture of the week... Matt sent me an email the other day with the subject "This is Why I Don't Exercise". When I started yelling that HE WAS GOING TO RUN, he pointed out that this was the title of the blog post (and Mark Remy and Matt apparently read similar blogs). So, for my personal favorite before/after running picture:

I agree that she has the most markedly different before/after shot...

Although she was a close second...

And I think this guy works down the hall from me (jk). 

And, most importantly, why are the majority of people wearing black to run if it's so hot... and why is "Bill Nye" wearing a polo shirt and a jacket?!?

Watermelon Recipes

Breakfast: Watermelon Smoothie

Lunch: Grilled Chicken, Boursin, and Watermelon Sandwich

Snack: Watermelon Salsa

Appetizer: Grilled Watermelon

Dinner: Watermelon Soup and Salad

Desert: Watermelon Sandwich Cookies

... or try one of these 6 ways!

Watermelon Energy Products

Watermelon is both delicious and nutritious, but it's a little hard to carry one around while you exercise (or on your fixie), so here's a listing of more portable watermelon-flavored treats:

• GU Chomps (I highly recommend these)
• Sports Beans (another of my favorites)
• GU Recovery Brew
• Gatorade
• Powerade
• REDLINE Xtreme (for Dave)

Watermelon and Multi-Sport Randomness

I am going to warn you... this post is completely and utterly random... I guess that's what you get when you use "watermelon swim" and "watermelon bike" as search terms (and why the heck I got hits for both of these and not for funfetti and running is really beyond me!).

We'll start with watermelon and swim because I like swimming more than cycling. I came across this blog entry that compares lake swimming and watermelon juice. According to the author, both are refreshing, reminders of summer, and way better cold. Personally, I prefer to swim in water that's not too cold... but not too warm... I guess I need the "baby bear" swim. However, the Watermelon Mint Cooler sounds intriguing, although I should not be trusted with anything sharper than a butter knife and all of that dicing is a little too time intensive.  

So what does the cycling world have to offer for watermelon metaphors? Nothing, but they do have a "good" remedy for cold sores: eat as much watermelon as you can, go for a 2-5 hour bike ride, and eat more watermelon when you come back. I'm sorry I can't be more specific... it doesn't seem like they controlled their variables very well... so you might just end up getting really sick from eating too much watermelon or really tired from biking for too long.

And, to conclude this randomness, I'll leave you with something that has nothing to do with swimming or biking, but everything to do with "efficient" use of time and cake:

I had originally looked for an image of a funfetti watermelon cake, which I couldn't find, but did find many awesome looking watermelon cakes. However, this was by far my favorite... candles shoved in a piece of fruit... GENIUS... and (as the author of the blog where I found it points out) vegan!

Eat This Now - Watermelon

The Watermelon Festival is on Saturday, so yeah - Watermelon Week (wow, I just used three words... four... that began with 'w'... that's wicked weird... ok, I'll stop). We'll (aggghh) start with (nooooo) the health benefits of this delicious fruit. Watermelon is high in Vitamins A, a few of the B's (B1 and B6), and C, as well as potassium and magnesium. Pink watermelon is also high in beta-carotene and lycopene, which neutralizes free radicals. This can help to reduce the inflammation associated with a number of conditions like asthma, atherosclerosis, diabetes, colon cancer, and arthritis. Additionally, the B vitamins help keep energy levels high, and the fruit's high water content helps with hydration, making it the perfect food for runners. Watermelon also delivers more nutrients per calorie than most foods (48 calories per one cup serving), so go ahead and "bank" some macular degeneration, high blood pressure, and insulin-insensitivity combating AWESOMENESS.  


I guess this "eat this now" recommendation is not so random, as summer is in fact the season for watermelon (don't worry, tomorrow's post will make up for this one being so normal).

Weekend Outlook

I searched and searched for "local" races... not a lot of "just running" events (probably because it's the July in NC and ridiculously hot), but there are a lot of other cool events. On Saturday, there's the Cup 'n Cone Tour (it's hard to go wrong with an event that involves ice cream), the Little Uno Big Deuce (at least you don't get quite as hot swimming), and the Buckner Mission Man Tri. Other than that, I'm not sure what else is going on, so let us know and good luck and have fun if you're racing!

For World Record Friday, the Cup 'n Cone tour, and national ice cream month... the fastest marathon dressed as a dairy product is 3:55:05. David Smith set this record at the Cotswold Marathon (not the London Marathon?!?) in March of this year dressed as an ice cream cone. Oh, and is anyone planning on running the Toronto Marathon this fall?!? And, I've decided, someday when I stop caring about my times, I'm going to try to set the record for the fastest marathon dressed as a funfetti cupcake!

And my favorite swimming-related random picture of the week (to quote my favorite movie - "we got cows"):

These are a few of people's favorite things...

So, I decided to look up what the most popular xxx were to conclude "what people like" week:

• Running Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10, Nike LunarGlide+, Saucony ProGrid Stabil CS, Brooks Glycerin 8, Saucony ProGrid Jazz 13
• Trail Running Shoes: Montrail Rockridge, Pearl Izumi Syncro Fuel XC, La Sportiva Raptor, Salmon XT Wings 2, The North Face Single-Track
• Road Bikes: Bianchi Infinito Ultegra, Scott CR1 Comp, Giant Defy 2, Raleigh Grand Sport
• Mountain Bikes: Trek Fuel EX 8, Kona Cadabra, KHS XC 604, Trek 4300 Disc, Specialized Hardrock Sport
• Bike Helmets: Bell Citi, Giro Skyla, Giro Prolight, Giro Stylus 
• Sports Watches: Timex Ironman Sleek 150-Lap, Garmin Forerunner 210, Garmin Forerunner 410, Garmin Forerunner 305, Tech 40 Traileader Jet
• Heart Rate Monitors: Timex Ironman Race Trainer, Polar FT60, Polar FT1

... and my favorite, Exercise Infomercial Products: Ab Circle Pro, Bender Ball, and Body by Jake Tower 200 (what... no Shake Weights?!?). Also, to get ready for the upcoming E3 Golf Tournament, here's Consumer Search's review on golf shoes.

Ok, so I'm curious as to what the people who read this blog's favorite running-related things are, so I made this survey. It's only 10 questions (and some are actually relevant to letting me know what y'all are interested in... some are just completely random), so it shouldn't take long. I'll leave it up for 2 or so weeks and then compile the results and let y'all know. Thanks!

Most Popular Fitness Trends

So what are the most popular "new" fitness trends? According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE):

• In anticipation of the economic upswing, more people are willing to pay for "luxuries" like personal trainers again, realizing the need for fitness professionals to help them structure their workouts.
• Many companies are also beginning to hire in-house personal trainers, nutritionists, etc. and/or offer discounts and incentives to employees to join health clubs to encourage a better lifestyle.
• In response to this, more gyms/clubs are offering "added value wellness services" that focus on things like nutrition in addition to being physically active. Additionally, programs that teach stress reduction are also gaining popularity.
• Youth programs are also beginning to take off to help combat childhood obesity and give children something to do while their parents are working out.
• Group workouts and health support groups are becoming more popular because misery loves company (just kidding). Working out with friends gives you time to socialize and helps you stay motivated (there's really no other reason to get up at 5:45AM to run).
• Social networking sites are being utilized to motivate people to exercise both by allowing you to "compete" with your friends and serving as a way for a trainer/coach to check on your progress.

And the most popular workouts:

• Boot-camps
• Zumba
• TRX

What really caught my eye about this article... ACE can predict the future?!? Also, it looks like E3 was leading the "fitness trend" for 2011... so come on out to the E3 Golf Tournament on Aug. 8th so they can pave the way for 2012!

Ice Cream (although I really think this should be one word)

Ok, enough with the doom and gloom from yesterday, Americans like ice cream... ice cream is healthy in my books (it contains Ca++)... so bring on the sprinkles! When I was in Food Lion the other day, a guy asked me what the difference was between the ice cream flavors. Since I assumed he meant the different "varieties" of ice cream, I began to respond, and promptly realized that I didn't have a clue (turns out he actually meant flavors, so I was saved, and recommended Take the Cake). So, I looked up the differences (in any event, they're all delicious, and a great post-workout treat):

• Regular: okay, we all know what this is
• Light / Slow-Churned: less fat and fewer calories than the regular version
• No Sugar Added: no extra sugar is added to the ice cream; they generally use Splenda instead
• Frozen Yogurt: light "ice cream" that contains actual live yogurt cultures
• Frozen Custard: just like ice cream, except it also contains eggs in addition to cream and sugar
• Sherbet: primarily contains fruit juice and sugar, but also contains some dairy
• Sorbet: sweetened water flavored with iced fruit (juice or puree), chocolate, wine, and/or liqueur
• Gelato: "Italy's ice cream" containing milk, cream sugar, fruit, nut purees, etc.

Oh, and just in case this isn't on your calendar, July is national ice cream month and this past Sunday was national ice cream day!

Wow

Yeah... I don't know how else to title this blog post. I had a "crazy" idea the other week that if I posted stuff that people were interested in or liked, then more people would find our blog. So, I Googled "favorite beverage in the United States" and came across a site from TripAdvisor preparing people for travel to the US. No wonder why we are the most obese nation!

The article starts off describing how breakfast and lunch are usually rushed during the weekdays, and how many Americans default to fast food options. The list of American foods (presumably that you should sample to experience the local cuisine) begins with donuts, followed by fast food, with coffee drinks and smoothies rounding out the top 3. Now, I don't think that any of these are "unhealthy" if consumed in moderation, but the fact that these are promoted as being typical foods is unsettling.  Luckily, we do sneak in a few vegetables in the top "nationwide" foods, with corn, apples, citrus fruits making the list. And, for treats, ice cream and beer/microbrews are actually not bad choices.

The description of traditional southern food disturbed me the most - "the South is famous for hospitality,  for being the oldest section of the country, and for gut-busting fattiness". And later - "whatever you do, bring your appetite, the portions are huge". Guess that's why this geographical region is in both the "diabetes belt" and the "stroke belt". Good thing that E3 is taking steps towards helping prevent childhood obesity in the local community. So, come on out and support this organization on August 8th at the 1st Annual E3 Project Charity Golf Tournament.

7/16-17 Race Reports

Looks like RRO / FAST Coaching did Beat the Heat at this Saturday's 5K, as well as a whole bunch of other runners (ok, I admit that was pretty lame intro)! Devin Swann was 3rd overall, running a 14:59. Win was next across the line for our team, running a 18:09. Jennifer Hannen posted a (wicked fast) time of 18:31, placing her in the top 10 females. And, right on her heels, was Jeff Peters, who ran an 18:33. Age-graded (which is kind of a cool way of sorting results... here's some more info), Devin was 6th, Jennifer was 23rd, Win was 76th, and Jeff was 82nd! CONGRATS EVERYONE... WAHOOO!!! (results)

Weekend Outlook

Not much going on in town this weekend... the Beaufort Road Race and the Beat the Heat 5K are both on Saturday if you feel like traveling. Beat the Heat is also the NC USATF 5K championships, so it ought to be fast! Good luck if you're racing, and have fun going for a nice, easy run if you're not!

The final results for the PFT Challenge are also in... and Brad's sister Katie Wade won! Brad was second, Rusty was third, I was fourth, and Mike was fifth. The events were a lot of fun, and although I'm glad to say that I could pass the running section for any branch of the military, I'm pretty sure they would laugh me out of the situps and pushups/hang test!

And, for World Record Friday, I bring you this heart-warming tale from the man who owns the Tour d'Afrique Record (Cairo, Egypt to Cape Town, South Africa). Robert Knol made the 11,198 kilometer journey in 70 days, 3 hours, and 50 minutes, crossing 10 countries completely unassisted. He also turned this incredible effort into a fundraising opportunity to raise money for safe water and sanitation facilities in schools in the town he grew up in - Nyanje, Zambia.

Picture of the week that I came across in my random google searches for blog topics:

Ready... Set... Set... Set...

I am used to races starting "fashionably late" (~5 minutes or so from the stated start time) to allow for the race director to thank everyone, the national anthem to play, etc. I get really anxious though when the time creeps up much more than this. I mean, the whole point of a warm-up is to be warmed-up at the start... standing around for 10 or so minutes kind of nullifies this. I'll usually stretch, do drills in place, anything to keep moving and distract myself. I never know if this wears me out more, or if it helps, or what exactly I should be doing (everyone else always looks so calm after all). So, here is some advice from Running Times:

• If the delay is expected to be short, don't drink too much... you might not have enough time for another port-a-john run
• If the delay is going to be more than an hour, put your warm-up clothes back on and repeat your warmup procedure as race time gets closer
• Stay focused and calm (HA, that's not going to happen) by visualizing the race, listening to music, etc... whatever works best for you

Plateau

Over the past few weeks, I've had several runners talk to me about a lack of improvement despite regular training. Certainly heat and humidty have played a huge role in performance, as the more blood that is diverted to your skin to help keep you cool means there is less to process oxygen. But what I want to talk about has more to do with an overall training pattern.

The two primary factors working against inprovement are 1) racing too often and 2) the tendency to drift all workouts toward tempo pace.

For a person new to the sport, racing often can likely produce a steady rise in fitness and produce repeated PR's. This is primarily because the sport is still relatively fresh for them, and their starting point of fitness is so low that any increase in training whether it be total mileage, increased pace or frequent racing will have near immediate effects on their cardio-fitness levels as well as muscular adaptation and strength.

The problem with racing too often is that training time is not being optimized. In a race and recover pattern, the athlete is not able to put in sufficient training to make fitness gains, nor are they getting enough rest to fully recover from the training they are putting in. Eventually, this type of training will cause the athlete's fitness to stagnate, and little progress is made.

The second factor working against progress is one in which all workouts drift toward tempo pace. This is common for top age group runners because they have a hard time accepting that easy runs should indeed be easy, and they tend to push these recovery days too hard. What this means is that they do not get the recovery they need, and are thus unable to perform the scheduled faster paced efforts. In short, tempo only running is not hard enough to provide meaningful gains in fitness and not easy enough to allow sufficient recovery.

So, how can a runner overcome these two progress killers?
1) Plan out your race calendar to include only 2-3 goal race periods. In coaching parlance, this is called periodization. This means building a training schedule to bring you into peak performance only a few times a year for approximately 4-6 weeks at a time. A properly constructed (and followed) plan should allow the athlete to experience higher than normal fitness and race results.

2) Make easy days easy, fast days fast and run tempo pace only when scheduled. If you run too hard at Nog or Ridge on Mondays, which leaves you tired and flat for track Tuesdays, you will not make the gains you are looking for.

3) Occasionally mix up the training stimulus. Even periodization can lead to diminishing returns over time if the same plan is followed over and over. Weight training, plyometrics, core work and cross training during base and build phases can help jump start a tired training plan.

That said, tempo run tomorrow...it's okay, it's on the schedule.

Race Ready

Many training programs are centered around building base mileage, working on speed/tempo training, peaking for a certain race, recovering, then starting all over again for the next year. However, our training tends to involve peaking for multiple races throughout the year... more of the "endless season" as promoted in this article. Back in the day, many elite athletes used this approach, and the author of the article suggests that it might not be a bad idea to race every 2-4 weeks (depending upon distance). Not all of these races should be "goal" races, in fact many should just be "for fun" or to see what you need to work on for training. Racing often also teaches you how to race... like how to close a gap to catch a competitor, when to start your finishing kick, etc. In order to stay "race ready" and injury free, you should basically follow coach's workouts (seriously, the training plan discussed starting on page 2 of the article almost exactly mirrors our schedule).

The Cure

Legs feel dead? Quads burn? Calf feel shoe-string tight? Well, Running Times has the cure:

• Heavy Legs - this is usually caused by over-training. The cure is long, easy distance. This helps to flush the lactic acid out and bring oxygen to your muscles. Also, these type of runs are usually where people feel comfortable, which helps return you to a calmer state.
• Quad Pain - this usually occurs after a speed workout or hilly run. The cure is to run fast downhill (20-30sec reps down a 3 percent grade at your mile to 3k pace). This serves to "eccentrically overload" your muscles (note: running slow downhill will not produce the desired effect). Most likely, your legs will initially feel worse, but then the repair process sets in, leaving you pain-free and stronger than before. In order to integrate this into your normal routine, start with 4 "intervals" and increase this by 2 per week until you reach 12 reps.
• Calf Pain / Achilles Tendinosis - this is usually occurs after a speed workout. The cure again involves eccentric loading, this time with heel dips. Heel dips are performed by balancing with 1 foot on a sturdy platform/step. Rest on the ball of your foot such that your hell hangs over the back of the platform. Use your hands for support as you lower your heel until you feel a stretch in the calf muscle. Then, use both legs to return to a starting position. Repeat this 7-15 times. 

The Beer Run

First off, thank you Erica, Rita, Rusty, Gavin, Win, and everyone else who helped organize this event... IT WAS A TON OF FUN! Secondly, thank you to everyone who came out to this event and making the event such a SUCCESS! Thirdly, thank you BUSY BEE CAFE for being the FREE round and being a WICKED AWESOME. And finally, thank you to our sponsors: FASTcoaching Academy, Raleigh Running Outfitters, and One Step Beyond for bringing together such a WONDERFUL GROUP OF ATHLETES. Ok, to recap...

We left the Cameron Village parking lot promptly at 7:30, heading up Oberlin for our first stop - Players' Retreat. There were a lot of people, more than I ever thought we'd ever get to come out for such an event. We got some weird stares, but I think half of the people eating at PR's wished they could join us. Thirty minutes later, we began our longest leg of the route, heading to Natty Greene's. Here, we basically had the entire back room to ourselves, which allowed everyone to talk a bit more. Our next stop was Tir na nOg, and they were quite happy to support another local running event. We took the "long" way to Busy Bee, which was fourth on the list, rounding Moore Square and heading down either Martin or Davie. The Busy Bee, as previously mentioned, was AWESOME! Then, we took off for Boylan Bridge, narrowly missing the train and cresting the largest hill on the route. Upon recovering with our 5th beer of the night while enjoying the view of downtown, we left for the final stop, The Village Draft House. The group got a bit spread out on Hillsborough, with the lead pack really pushing the pace. We finally made it back to where we started (finally made it back to where we started, finally made it back to where we started... WAHOOO), and put our registration fee to good use! Everyone had a great time, and please feel free to post any pictures you have to the facebook page for the event, and we'll keep you up to date on our next great adventure!

7/8-12 (aren't we just the over-achievers) Race Reports

Yeah, that's right, we've been racing since Wed., which just means MORE AWESOME RESULTS:

• The weather held out for Old School Aquathon #2, with the thunderstorms staying just off to the south. Everyone from our little group that ran placed in their division, so it was a good day to say the least! Keith was 4th overall (1st AG), Kari was the 5th femail (1st AG), I made it into the top 10 women (1st AG), and the Garritys both finished 3rd in their age groups! "Team Oyler" (David and his daughter) killed the relay division despite the fact that Sydney got kicked by a swimmer doing the breast stroke on the final swim! Our friends from the NCSU Tri team also did well, with Colleen hitting the podium at #2 female and Mike placing 1st in his age group. It was also great to hear Bri cheering at the water stop on the run (and I actually needed water because I didn't drink half of Lake Jordan... wahooo!), and Marty is the best race director ever! The event was challenging (3 x 300m swim - 1mile run), but WICKED FUN! (results)
• Win paved the way for some awesome performances at the "mountain" events, finishing 19th in The Bear 5 Mile Run on Thursday. Chris Squires and Dwayne Patterson also did well, placing 53rd and 59th respectively. That has to be the TOUGHEST five mile race EVER! (results) 
• Dwayne Patterson finished 21st in the Grizzly Metric Century Ride on Friday, finishing in just over 4 hours... WAHOOO! (results)
• Dave (or should I say Davis Mejer... Brad said your hand-writing is awful) kept his 5K-a-week record intact, placing in the top 30 at the Denny's Challenge 5K on Saturday despite a head cold and the race being at his "favorite" WakeMed course. Our friend Sebron placed 5th overall at this same race, and Grace finished in the top 10 females in her first race back. NICE JOB guys! (results)
• To conclude the mountain racing series, RRO / FAST Coaching racked up some points in the Grandfather Mountain Marathon. On the men's side, David Meeker (24th), Dwight Brown (27th), and Dwayne Patterson (29th... I can't believe you did all three of those races) made it into the top 30, and Jerry Beckman (59th), David Kirby (88th... you're back from Ireland?!?), Robert Hamilton (92nd), and probably others were in the top 100! On the women's side, Kelcey Carlson and Jennifer Curtin went 1-2! CONGRATS everyone... I sure wouldn't want to run 26.2 miles up mountain. Also, congrats to our friend Tim Meigs, who won! (results)
• The PFT Challenge #3 went well this morning. Brad and Rusty get the "pull-up" award, while Jennifer killed us all in crunches. More results to follow, but it was GREAT!
• John Garrity raced well at the Triangle Triathlon on Sunday, bringing this AWESOME weekend of racing to a fitting end! (results)

Mike C. and Newt also ran well at the Carolina Godiva Track Meet on Wed., and the Inagural RRO / FAST Coaching Beer Run was a HUGE SUCCESS, with over 50 people coming out for the event. Everyone had a great time... I need some time to compile a post, but if anyone has pictures, please post them to the facebook page.

Weekend Outlook

I haven't had this much fun training and racing for a while... WAHOOO for long weekends, multi-sport events, and mixing up the normal weekly schedule! And, to complete this week of randomness, we have some more AWESOMENESS planned for the weekend. For the "normal" runners, there's a 5K at WakeMed on Sat. (Denny's Challenge 5K, 8AM). But, why run a 5K on a hilly course when you could run a 5K/10K at the beach (Tri Span 5K/10K, 7AM) or a marathon up a mountain (Grandfather Mountain Marathon, 6:30AM)?!? And lets not forget the PFT Challenge #3 (7AM) and Triangle Tri (7:30AM) on Sunday... either one should feel real good after the Inaugural RRO / FASTcoaching Beer Run on Saturday night (7:30PM, Village Draft House). But hey, we deserve it after racing so well this week at the Old School Aquathon #2, Godiva Track Meet, Bear 5-Mile Run, and the Grizzly Bike Ride (did I get everything?!?).

And, for World Record Friday, I tried to find a record that would encompass some of that above paragraph... so here goes. The record for the Renaissance Mile (1-mile run, solve a Rubik's cube, drink 40oz of malt liquor, dunk a basketball on a 10ft rim, play Chopin's Minute Waltz, and eat a pint of icecream... the order is up to whoever wants to do all that) - 29:09!

Oh, and when do y'all want to start training for our next 5K Marathon (and yes, I did start yelling at my computer when I saw this... the people in the lab next door probably think I'm insane)?!?

Nathan's Hot Dog Contest

Got all of your racing/training goals for the next half of the year figured out? Well, I always like to have a backup plan. In case this whole running, swimming, biking, generally being active thing doesn't work out... competitive eating. For those of you who haven't heard, Joey Chestnut won this year's Nathan's Hot Dog Contest on July 4th, choking down 62 in 10 minutes. Reading this article makes it sound like the 5k that some of us ran on July 2nd (oh, and please note, I am by no means equating these people):

• "Damon Wells set the pace... among the first of the 17 competitors to finish two hot dogs." -> Mr. Meyer once again won the first 1/4-mile of the Freedom 5k, banking time on the downhill start.
• "Chestnut and runner-up Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti caught Wells and pushed the pace even harder." -> The other David M. and Kimberlie soon caught Mr. Meyer, accelerating up the first hill, dragging the lead group with them.
• "For the last two days, I have battling a head cold and a fever," Wells said. "I'm grateful I didn't pass out." -> "My heel is killing me and I can barely walk on it," Meyer said, "At least I beat the really old guy."
• "Wells said he was going to attempt to qualify again next year and hope for a higher finish." -> What's on the schedule for this weekend?
• "For the first time in the competition, a women's division was instituted. As expected, Sonya Thomas won. Thomas, who regularly competes with men, ate 40 hot dogs." -> Kimberlie was the first female to cross the line... and being that she was 5th, well, she beat a lot of guys (which is pretty typical for her).

And, I was surprised to learn that 2nd and 3rd went to females?!? And 3rd was a XC runner?!? So that means that a guy could get passed by the same girl in 5k and an eating contest?!? Also, and I guess this makes sense, I didn't realize you had to qualify for the Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest in other "challenges". I wonder if their standards are as rigorous as Boston? Age divisions? Differences between males and females? Hot dog to cheesecake conversion factors like those race time predictor calculators?So many un-answered questions... so many possibilities!

Can Torres BQ the same year that she NQ'd?

Summer Training

So I came across this article in Running Times magazine, and although it's written for high school cross country training, there are a lot of elements that can be more broadly applied. The article focuses on how to train in the summer to have a good fall running season. Being that most of us are gearing up for late summer / early fall races, mid-summer is mostly about putting in the time (and not getting injured) in the hopes that it will pay off when it's a little cooler and less humid out. The article suggests that there are 4 elements that should be included in your training schedule in order to race well later:

• General Strength and Mobility (GSM) helps keep you injury-free by strengthening key muscles and increasing range of motion. Unfortunately for us, the article specifically suggests doing lunges (dangit).
• Increased Volume / Long Runs to build a good base. Ok, being that most of us are long out of high school and have trained for half marathons and marathons, I'm going to go ahead and say that we don't need to increase our running volume mid-summer. Therefore, I am going to modify their suggestion to "throw a double digit distance run in every once and a while to maintain endurance". Also, you could experiment with increasing the volume of cross training activities (like swimming and cycling) to mimic this effect and maintain muscle balance.
• Fartlek / Interval / Tempo Runs (I added the later 2) increases your lactic threshold, which allows you to run faster for longer. The article suggests that many runners go out too hard on the first few intervals of a fartlek run, leaving them fatigued for the later intervals. And, apparently wisdom does not come with age, as I think many of us are guilty of doing this during track workouts and/or tempo runs. Also, SK usually builds in the "running while fatigued" phenomenon by having us run faster throughout a set (aka start at 5K pace and work to 3K pace).
• Something You Want to Improve so you're better at it (duh). When you're not racing all of the time, you have a day or two more than usual to train. So, being that we somehow manage to fit a track, tempo, and long day in when we are racing, we can keep these and add a "random stuff" day in place of a race (sweet... banking training... I like it).

Half Year Resolutions

Remember those New Year's Resolutions you set back in January? Well, there's something about fireworks that always reminds me (good thing both holidays involve them). The year is a little more than 50% over now (at least month-wise), and I usually like to review my "work to date" when I'm about halfway through to make sure that I'm on track. Plus, if you've "banked" some goal meeting, then feel free to set new ones so you have something to work towards for the next 6 months. And, once you're done all this, go for a nice relaxing run and enjoy a beer at the Big Boss Run tonight!

Happy July 4th

It's July 4th, so that means its time for Dave to break out the flag shorts. This got me to thinking about where one would go about finding patriotic running apparel, and all searches eventually brought me back to this one company - SOARK. They have flag shorts, and tights, and singlets... American flag, state flag, other country flag... you name it, they have it.

7/2-3 Race Reports

Despite the hills and the heat, Team RRO / FAST Coaching rocked at the 5K Freedom Run in Wake Forest on Saturday. Kimberly F. (1st Female), Jennifer H. (1st AG), Rita (2nd AG), and I (1st AG) were the top four females... 4 for the 4th! David Meeker was 3rd overall (1st AG), Sean was 2nd in his age group (although I'm not sure how the guy who got 1st in that age group managed a faster gun time than chip time), and David Meyer was 2nd in his age group. NICE JOB everyone and THANK YOU JACCI for coming out and cheering for us on your birthday! (results)

Oh, and I forgot to mention this in Friday's post, but the next of the Old School Aquathons is coming up on Wed. (Jordan Lake Vista Pointe, 6:30PM).

Weekend Outlook

I love long weekends! On Saturday, there's the 5K Freedom Run (Wake Forest, 8AM), and Monday features both the Firecraker Ride (Cary, 8AM) and the Four on the Fourth (Chapel Hill, 8AM). I'm sure there's bunches of races going on outside of the triangle area too... so enjoy the weekend!

And, for World Record Friday, here's a rather recent edition to the books - Oliver Rege can claim the record for the most continuous front wheel hops on a bicycle at 378!