Ditch the Headphones

(This is a rewrite of an earlier bit about wearing headphones...)

I love music. I love music far more than running, truth be told. And, I am big on wanting to block things out in certain situations - in law school, I took almost all my exams with headphones on, back in the days when even recordable CD's were not commonplace. The one time I was asked to remove the headphones, I was lost, and couldn't focus. Having not gone to that class at all may have also figured into the negative experience, but I really felt I was better off writing about immigration law with Tanya Donnelly's sweet voice in my head.

Last year, USA Track and Field made personal music devices verboten at sanctioned events. The Austin Marathon and Half Marathon, as required, banned headphone use in 2008. Prior to that, lacking an enforcement mechanism, the marathon went with just strongly discouraging their use.

Many large marathons, including the Marine Corps Marathon, immediately, and probably eagerly, complied. The Twin Cities Marathon warned people headphones were banned, but people ignored the warnings, or perhaps couldn't hear them over the Justin Timberlake rattling in their skulls, and 176 runners were disqualified. It was not enforced in Austin, and headphone use in races is increasing exponentially.

The flap from the average headphone-wearing runner crowd has pushed the USATF to reconsider, and they have now backed off (thanks, Katie), largely due to the incessant whining from people who want to say they can run a half marathon or marathon, but claim they can't do it without their headphones.

Just today, the Austin Marathon reluctantly announced that it has changed its headphone policy in accordance with the caving of the USATF. They've seen, time and time again, in every race, the high frequency of irresponsible headphone use and the problems it causes, but they probably just got tired of the complaints. The amount of whining they've gotten at the marathon office about the headphone ban has quite frankly been pathetic, and has included ridiculous arguments about blind or deaf runners, claims about "big government", and many people saying they are disgusted and will just run some other race, to which I say, "good riddance."

In large part, the USATF enacted the rule to conform to the policy of the International Association of Athletics Federations, which is mainly concerned with the use of two-way radios in competition.

For most races, though, the main issue is safety. I can't think of the last race where I didn't see a number of examples of people being completely oblivious to their surroundings because they were wearing headphones. I've seen people not able to hear the sirens of support vehicles passing them, a half marathoner in Dallas not able to hear the Hummer pace vehicle behind her or the runners around her yelling at her to move so the elite marathoners could pass, or the shouts of "wheelchair up" when a wheelchair racer needs to be able to pass. We've all seen that when moving through a not-too-thick crowd, a runner will usually hear you come up and often move over just a little to help you pass through a tight spot. Runners with headphones tend to be in their own little world, though.

Just last month, at the Turkey Trot, Michelle from ConleySports (the folks who put on the Austin Marathon) was easily passing me as I tried to say hi to someone I knew. He was wearing headphones. I called his name from about 20 feet away, as we ran past Rainbow. Nothing. I got closer, at one point just about ive feet behind him, and yelled his name. Nothing.

I also believe (pause for effect) that headphones have a deleterious effect on running form. Yeah, that's right. I'm tempted to submit an article on "iPod Assymetry Syndrome" and submit it to a medical journal, except that I'm lazy.

I started thinking about this watching an avid marathoner I knew for well over a year that would wear her iPod on her right arm. She also wore her long hair in a ponytail, and many times, running behind her, I could see the ponytail didn't swing evenly. You could trace the asymmetry to her shoulders, and to... the arm with the iPod strapped to it. From there, you could even see the slight imbalance in her stride. She even had some issues in the leg that ended up getting the shortened stride, which could be due to any number of factors... but you had to wonder.

I know when I run with an iPod on my arm, it's easy to get caught up in cord management (pardon the pun). Watch runners, and most of them carry their music-bearing arm differently.

As we've all figured out by now, the high repetition of the motions of running means that imbalances and eccentricities have consequences, and will likely be mirrored elsewhere. Everyone should, by now, be feeling and seeing the link between the way you move your arms, and your stride.

When you shorten the travel of one arm, it's likely to play out in the stride, because you're essentially throwing yourself out of balance. There's also the added tension in the shoulder from carrying that arm out slightly. Over any appreciable distance, it all translates to "no bueno."

When I do take the iPod on a training run, I use a little Shuffle and attach it to my waistband - it doesn't move through a range of motion, so the cord stays stable. Even then, I make the the cord short enough or run it through my shirt so that I don't have to move the arm on that side any differently to clear it.

Finally, and most importantly to me, I don't want to race or even train much with music, because it's a crutch, even a cheat. Clearly, we want to run with music because it benefits us - it keeps us from getting bored, it motivates us. There's a reason the Nike+ iPod system has a "Power Song" feature. Hell, I want to add a Nano to my ridiculous Apple product lineup just so I can push the button and immediately go to AC/DC's "Hell's Bells".

One whin- sorry, "runner", in one of the articles said "I need my music to get me through it. A marathon is a mental challenge and if I don't have my music to keep me motivated, it just isn't fun."

Well, guess what? Remember that we do this precisely because it is not "easy", and it is not "fun" in the same way as, say, Whack-A-Mole, or taunting Ron Paul supporters online. You've all learned how important the mental component of distance running is. The thing is, we're not all running to challenge the winning time in a race - we all run to challenge our own limits and abilities, and that's ultimately a mental challenge of your ability to deal with discomfort and pain, and to continue to push yourself. Whether you are physically capable of running a 2:20, three-hour, four-hour, or five-plus hour marathon, it all comes down to your ability to push yourself.

If you say you get bored, or need the distraction, and music gives that to you, then that music is a crutch. The mind is a powerful thing - I completely believe I could run a faster race at almost any distance with the "Rocky" theme pounding through my head every step of the way. I'll do some of my short runs with music, but I don't wear headphones for long runs or races, exactly because music is such an effective crutch.

That state of being alone in your head, is one of the difficult, but essential, parts of distance running. The challenge is not just to move your body over the distance, but to move your mind and your will over that distance. Can you keep your mental focus over the miles, and over the time you need to complete those miles? Music can help you dissociate, which is a perfectly acceptable method of dealing with pain and boredom. But again, it's external, it's not a skill or a layer of toughness you've developed. You're just taking it away. You might as well be racing on painkillers, or high. Numb your mind with headphones, and you have failed to accomplish an essential component of the challenge. If you can't live with your own mind for the distance you're running, then you can't really claim to do the distance.

A couple of you, despite my requests to try at least one without them, run every long run with your headphones. That's your choice, obviously, but again - it's a crutch. It's a cheat. I want you to be able to depend on yourself to get through the race.

There are going to be helpful distractions out on the race course. We've got 40 bands on and around the marathon course. I hope to get the gospel choir back from last year. There'll be great crowd support, you'll have friends out there running with you, and, if you're not wearing headphones, you'll be surprised by how many people you'll talk to on the way. But all those things are part of the race experience itself, not something extra and unnecessary you bring into the race to help you get through.

I'd hate to think of what I'd have missed wearing headphones in races: the little kids in Chicago's Mexican district yelling, "Si, se puede!"; my friend Tom telling me about his kids, including the newborn son that didn't make it, as we plodded through 20 miles; or the company of good friends for our first half marathon. Those were all hard races, and maybe headphones would have helped. But I wouldn't have the experiences and memories that made running those races meaningful.

You've all trained really hard, and you have all displayed some extraordinary toughness along the way. Use your headphones on your solo runs, and let it drive you. Let some music or podcasts, or whatever noise you need help you get those weekday runs in. Listen to some relaxing music the night before the race. Crank the tunes up in your car on the way to the race, and get pumped.

But don't sell yourself short. Don't cheapen all the work you've put in. Don't fail to truly meet the challenge you signed up and trained for. Don't miss the very real support and inspiration that the race itself is going to offer you. Leave the headphones at home.

Running Not In Austin, No. 1: Seattle

Christina, running or snowshoeing or something in some place called "Seattle":

Ouchies: Why They Happen, and How to Avoid Them

OK. Injuries and recovery. We've had a spate of injuries recently, and it's interesting to look at what the likely causes are.

Lisa - left knee. Laura - calf and tendon. Lounell - knee pain. Amber - knee pain. Susan - pain in left knee and both hips.

I'll take the first hit - I run you somewhat aggressively. I feel like I throw a lot of hills at you, though I'm always very conscious and deliberate about it. Our mileage, both in weekly totals and the long runs, is properly incremented, and while I try to balance them out, some of the long runs are obviously difficult. I can say with good certainty that you get a little bit more hill work, but it's not far out of line with what other groups do. Still, I haven't made it very easy on you, and I should be harder on some of you about doing the right things for recovery, and making sure you're aware of some pitfalls that can injure you. Let's look at a few of those:

1. Shoes. When I first started running, and would see advice about shoes, the basketball sneaker pimp in me understood and believed, but I was still sure RunTex was driving it all somehow. I've learned better. Several of our runners last year had pains in their calves, even their knees, and they had readily apparent shoe issues - either the wrong shoes altogether, or shoes whose support had deteriorated beyond any physiological usefulness. Amber is a fairly severe overpronator. She went to a reputable local store, and was put in a pair of very neutral shoes from a company that also has a reputation for short-lived cushioning and support. Did this play a role in her knee injury? Maybe. Probably even, though since her problem is assymetrical, something else probably also came into play, maybe...

2. Road camber. I once heard someone talk about road camber with the qualifier, "Austin streets". I don't know if ours are any worse than elsewhere, but you all should realize by now that all our streets slope sharply off to the sides. IT band problems and assymetrical knee issues are common in Austin, because a lot of people only run on the left side of the street (as they should), in the gutter all the time. Think about it - there's often a difference of several inches between the length of travel in your left leg from your right. The muscles in your left leg are having to work harder, through a longer range of motion, and is even suffering a little more impact. The right leg's natural range of motion is compressed, on the other hand. It's a recipe for getting messed up, and it's a wonder more of us don't have more problems.

The solution here is tricky. Running on sidewalks opens you up to more impact, because concrete is appreciably harder than asphalt, and often, it's cambered, too, if not riddled with cracks and major continental rifts and faultlines. I try to stay on the street, but, as safety will allow, I'll run on the more level part of the road, and will even change sides, occasionally, though then you're kind of just balancing bad against mirror-image-bad.

A good solution is to run your solo runs on the hike and bike trail. It's soft, it's flat, it's relatively safe, it's got water. Control the camber and surface where you can.

3. Over-aggressiveness/Being dumb - OK, just kidding, no one's been seriously dumb yet. They've tried to be, but have held back. But some of us have been wonderfully gung-ho about our running, and unwilling to compromise or blink in the face of miles and hills. In Lisa's case, she quite understandably wanted to jump right back in at 10 miles. She was reasonable about it, and could have been deterred, but I got selfish and didn't tell her no. So, she ran seven on October 17, got freakin' typhus (fleas, not poo), was bed-ridden for several weeks, ran a couple of times in mid-November, then ran 10 on November 22. I've gotta take all the blame for this one.

December is the time when injuries really start cropping up, and people's hopes of running a half marathon or marathon either become questionable, or are dashed completely. Many times, they're just questionable, a little nagging pain here or there. But people are busy at the end of the year, and not wanting to miss the long runs, and they put off going to see the doctor. Sometimes, they simply doubt that a doctor will do anything useful, and might even tell them they have to stop running.

In fact, most often, it seems, a doctor and sometimes a physical therapist can pinpoint the cause of the problem, and give you a way to attack it. Maybe you have to lay off a couple of weeks, but doing it now is a lot better than two to three weeks from now. And if you ignore that little niggling pain or discomfort, it could very well grow into something that will peak at a more critical time, and could put a complete end to your training season, and your hopes of running your goal race. No bueno.

Injuries aside, the miles are getting long, the workouts are getting hard, and, depending on your individual level of athleticism and resilience, how hard you push, and how well you take care of yourself in other ways, the training could very well take a noticable toll on you. Some people just feel a bit beat up all the time. Most find they need more rest, more sleep. I'll sometimes get sore enough that I can't sleep well.

So, you have a responsibility to do everything you can to minimize the toll on your body and mind. You can't just go out there and barrel through all or some of the runs, and expect to be OK. You have to stretch. You have to eat right. You have to get your nutrition for long runs down. You have to get your sleep. You have to get all your runs in. You have to consider massage and other things - foam rollers, Trigger Point massage - for your body. You have to consider ice baths after the long runs. You have to recover properly. And, you have to maintain a focused, but healthy and positive attitude towards your training and your goal.

None of these things are negotiable. If you feel OK now, you have to consider yourself lucky, and be proactive in keeping luck on your side. If you're hurting, you need to not give up, and you need to investigate and take proper measures.

I'm going to be more aggressive in pushing information on these things to you. First off, please read this article by local physical therapist Allan Besselink. For some of you people who don't believe that you need a day off... there you go.

We also have a great sports nutritionist willing to come talk to us. I need to make sure it's in our budget, and that there's interest - please let me know if you'd be interested in coming out on a Monday, Wednesday or Thursday for about an hour talk from her.

"Guess how far..."

Turkey Trot!

OK, Ya Turkeys,

Thursday morning is the big Turkey Trot, the five-mile pre-gluttony (mmm... gluttony...) tradition that is the only race, besides that thingy in February, that I can never seem to let myself miss.

A lot of us are running it, and if you're here in Austin for the holiday, there's no good reason for you not to. It's $30 at this late point, but you can opt for the $10 Thundercloud voucher over the shirt, effectively making the race $20, which is well worth it for something to lord over your fat relatives when you go back for a second pecan pie - not a second piece, mind you, but a second pie.

The race starts at 9:30. Keep in mind, this is a pretty big race - about 7,000-8,000 participants annually, I think, and it's likely growing. So, it's one where you want to allow yourself time for the bathrooms and to worm into the crowd at the start.

So, we'll meet at the corner of 12th and San Jacinto. I'll actually try to get there around 8:50, in case anyone wants to warm up and do some light drills, but we'll be back there around 9:00-9:05 to hang out before we head down at about 9:15.

As you know, the course is different this year because of that "footingball" sport that takes time away from basketball coverage on Sportscenter. It'll be easier, but not a breeze:

If you're running this for time, it'll be important to get in the right pace area, even though people are stupid and ignore that, and in the 7:00 per mile area, you'll get stuck behind a walking family of five that looks like Tech's offensive line, walking two great danes and a chihuahua, and pushing strollers. As always, don't burn up too much energy dodging people - look for clear lines through the crowd that require minimum extra travel, and if you need to get past someone, just ask nicely.

In the past, you immediately had to run up MLK, which sucked. This year, we'll be heading south on Trinity to Sixth, starting us on an uphill, but then giving us a good downhill to Sixth. Go ahead and get in as good a pace as you can on the hill without winding yourself, then be conservative going down the hill.

Sixth is going to be pretty flat, even with some slight downslopes. Get into your comfortable pace immediately. Five miles is an interesting distance, being almost smack in the middle of a 5K that you'd run hard, and a 10K, where you have to pace a little more conservatively. In terms of effort, you won't be conversational, but you won't be wheezing - your respiration rate will be up, but in a nice, steady rhythm, probably in that two steps per inhale to one step of exhale range.

The one mile mark is around San Antonio/Nueces.

You turn right on West Lynn, just after passing the mile two marker - you guys have the benefit of having run up this street more times than probably any other running group in Austin, and probably more than over 95% of the runners out there. You know what's coming, you know it's going to take some time from you. You can work just slightly harder, but don't get yourself breathing too hard - you've got three miles left, and if you get your legs burning now, you're going to have a tough time holding a good pace.

Westlynn will flatten out and even give you a little downhill relief around Galaxy Cafe, before 12th Street. You'll have it flat and easy all the way down, jagging right briefly on Niles, then hopping onto Windsor.

Take a look to your left, and think, "at least I'm not running up Rainbow, though I could kick everyone else's ass doing it, because Rob is a jerk and plans half our runs that way."

Instead, you'll run down East Windsor, the long side of our Rainbow workout. This is tricky - I think with two miles left to go, you can start cranking it up a little, but you have to remember you'll be getting a long uphill on 12th Street, from just past Lamar, all the way to Guadalupe/Lavaca - almost half a mile of rolling uphill.

So, I think you want to let the downhill here take you a little, maintaining good form, but not letting it mess with your breathing much. You'll pick up more time on Parkway all the way to 12th.

The 3 mile mark is just after the turn onto Parkway.

On 12th, you just have to dig in. Hold your form, and try to stick with the pace you've been at, which has probably been a bit faster for the last mile. Go block to block if you have to - I don't think it'll really be that bad.

Mile 4 mark is around San Antonio and Nueces.

At Lavaca, or whenever you feel the hill crest, the terrain becomes varied, so this is where you want to make the conscious choice to crank up the pace. With less than a mile to go, cut loose, but be looking ahead and anticipating - use the downhills a little for speed, and a little for recovery. You'll have a little hill going back up to Trinity - at this point, get into it - don't run it fast enough to tank you, but don't let it take much time from you.

Trinity's going to roll a little, too, but you're so close at this point, you should just be going for it.

Coming into the finish, keep those leg muscles relaxed, and focus on footspeed, not stride length - you don't want to pull a hamstring, here...

Most of all, have fun with it!

See you there,

Rob

Night of the Moustache Rocked!

For detailed photo questions, like, "Who's the hot chick with the lip hair?", click a picture, then the link to my Flickr site.

Friday night, everyone's efforts finally came together at the Night of the Moustache Benefit at the Tiniest Bar In Texas.

Despite the chilly weather that decided to set in on the day of the event, people turned out in force for the event, kept warm by moustaches, friendly dogs, an army of space heaters, and the grill that churned out dozens of sausage wraps and veggie burgers.

People gave heartily at the door in return for moustaches, gave more at the grill, and the silent auction was hotly contested. Mercedes Orten's cookies alone brought in $21 in tips (Mandy's would have also helped, had they not all been eaten by us as we were setting up).

We're still waiting for the final figures from the sales of the Lone Star keg that was quickly floated, and the vodka and tea drinks. Receipts from the door, silent auction, and other donations alone totalled $1,397. The bar receipts will likely take us close to $2,000. That's a cool grand for each of our two great charities, Emancipe+ and the Dick Beardsley Foundation.

Emancipe+ may also be able to use the money to qualify for a match from a grant fund, doubling the amount to $2,000.

I'm extremely proud of everyone for pulling together, being willing to help, and making this happen. I've got to give some special thanks, though, to:

Mandy, who, in addition to bearing a wealth of movie quotes and encycolpedic knowledge about varieties of deviant behavior, also has a natural instinct for promotion. She suggested we use the already-booked entertainment, she suggested the silent auction, contributed to it, and pitched in Friday night. She's largely responsible for Team Spiridon in the first place, even though she isn't able to run with us this season.

Eve, for designing the great flyers and picking up my slack at the 11th hour to make up really nice looking bid sheets. Again, she's been a strong supporter all along, and is always willing to help/plan waffle parties.

Stacy, for printing up a ton of said cool flyers, as well as our press releases, on a beautiful laser copier. Hopefully, we'll see her back running with us soon...

Lounell, for mobilizing her entire office in a search for moustaches, even turning up good deals from suppliers in Hong Kong.

Daniel, who thought a benefit concert would be a great idea in the first place. Up to that point, I only knew the benefit would involve beer.

Jean, another Spiridon original gangsta, who, due to being due in... January?... can't run with us this season, but is still supporting us, and came out to help set up and work the door.

Mercedes, for her overwhelming positivity, and her awesome chocolate chip cookies.

Laura, Jenn, and Jane, who did anything else that needed to be done, which amounted to a whole lot, all the time.

The Girlfriend, Christina, who kept me at an efficient level of mentalness last week (and often, really), even helping me make decisions on the 50 sausages we bought, when she's a vegetarian.

David and Jason of the Tiniest Bar In Texas, and their evil henchmen, John, Connor, and James. They're always down for an event, particularly one for a cause, and they're more interested in making the event a success than in making a buck. They've been great to us, and we shall do our best to pay back with our patronage of their establishment (that means lots of Lone Star tallboys for me).

Finally, a huge thanks to all the great businesses that donated for the silent auction, and didn't bat an eyelash when I came at them a few days before the event:

• The three great running stores in Austin: Bettysport, Hill Country Running Company, and RunTex. Please, shop at all three - we always need to make room in this town for healthy competition like them that do things right, and care about the running community and the people (and dogs and cats) in it.
• Tito's Vodka
• Mellow Johnny's
• The makers of the fantastic movie, Spirit of the Marathon (which we're helping to bring to the Alamo Drafthouse on Austin Marathon Weekend)
• Dirty Dog Dog Wash
• Nike (thanks, Ash!)
• Thundercloud Subs
• Austin Guardian
• Third Base Sports Bar
• eŌs Dermatology and Med Spa
• The Longhorn Club
• Girl Guitar Austin
• Amanda Thomas - another original Spiridon runner, who does beautiful stained glass work
• Frugal Media
• Fit One Austin

Our fundraising and funraising (and occasional hellraising) aren't over, though. We got miles and miles yet to run. I know not everyone is comfortable with mroe direct fundraising, but I'm hoping some of you will join me for some of the more traditional bit of, "Hey, I'm training my butt off, here. I'll run the half marathon or marathon, and you'll give some money to charity, aight?" I'll get those details to you soon...

Thanks again, everyone. For my runners, your attitude (mmmostly...) and hard work (mmmostly...) make all this tremendously worthwhile for me, and our ability to do some good outside of our own lives is just a massive bonus. Keep working, keep smiling, keep running...

San Antonio Race Prep

Fuh-lat.

No, wait! I know you might not be running San Antonio, but you're just going to go surfing off to read about some stupid celebrity crap. Might as well read this, so you start absorbing some of it now, and maybe start practicing some of it before your Saturday long runs, so that by the time the races hit in January, you've got a set routine, and you're not experimenting with things like eating and clothing and going twosies. And yes, this is a bit of a repost from before. I can only keep things so fresh.

OK, so it's close to showtime. You can't just piddle through the week and show up to run Sunday morning. Well, you can, but it would be, um, dumb. This is not a 5K. So, here's a bit of a guide...

Preparing this week:
Get familiar with the course - it makes a difference. You've all seen how much better runs go in familiar territory. Problem is, it's in freakin' San Antonio. Still, go to the race website and print out a copy of the map. Try to get a sense of how the course works, what landmarks you're going by. Look at the elevation map - there's not much too it. But try to figure out where the hills (if you can call them that) are, where the uphills and downhills start and end. Make notes.

Drive the course - Again, not practical, here, unless you're going down early enough, and you're bored.

Visualize - Pick up the map every now and then, and run the race in your head (at high speed - please don't sit at work staring at a map for three hours). Run chunks of it in your head. Feel the rhythm of the stretches that will require more effort, and the ones where you'll be able to recover. I promise you this will be a huge benefit to you.

Segment the Course - Break the course into manageable chunks of two to three miles each. Getting through each chunk will be an accomplishment, and it'll be easier than going at all 13 miles at once.

Plan Nutrition - Part of knowing the course is knowing when you'll take your nutrition. What I do is work backwards - I want my last Gu 3 miles out from the finish, and I want them every 30-40 minutes. Water stops are at every even-numbered mile. So, I know I'll Gu at miles 10 and 6. Figure out how many you'll need, and go buy them now - RunTex sells out of everything but "Your Nephew's Dirty Diaper" flavored gel before races. You can also get gels at bike shops, REI, and Academy. You also need to know how you're going to carry what you need to carry.

Have your outfit ready.
Check the forecast periodically. Right now, it's looking perfect - low forties for the start, only getting to 59 by noon, moderate humidity. A bit of wind. Sunny - important to know. The air temperature may be cool, but if you go wearing black, the solar heating alone could be an issue.

All that said, now, just accept that the weather will be what it will be. That acceptance will give you another big advantage over people that are agonizing about the weather all this week. It might turn out 29, windy and cold. Fine - what will you wear? Find those pieces, lay them out now.

It might be 65 and humid. Fine - what will you wear?

The rule is to dress for 20 degrees warmer than the temperature. You should know by now what you like. Now is also not the time to try new shorts, socks, jogbras, or some shirts. That's a sure entry to that popular game show, “What’s Gonna Chafe?”

Remember, up to 40% of body heat is lost through your head, most of the rest through your extremities. Plus, blood flow is redirected by your body to keep your organs and brain warm. So, hat and gloves are the most crucial things in cold weather.

In case of rain, have something disposable, or a trash bag with holes for the arms and head. It's nice to be dry while standing around at the start line, then you can rip it off when you get moving.

Got Bodyglide? Bandaids?

Thursday and Friday:
Hydrate. Get a couple of liters of water in you a day, depending on your size. Use some ElectroMix, Nuun, or something similar - available at Central Market, Whole Foods, RunTex, or bike shops.

Check the race website for any last-minute changes to instructions. Make sure you get to the packet pickup in time!

Friday night:
This is actually your best night to get your carbs, not the night before. Have a reasonable-sized plate of pasta, not too late in the evening. And get to bed at a reasonable hour. You can forego the clubs for one damned night.

Saturday:
Stay off your feet. This is not the time for a hike, lawn work, walking at the race expo for four hours like I did in Chicago trying to decide if I should buy and wear new clothes for the marathon when I know not to do that (I didn't).

Oh, and don’t forget to pick up your race packet.

Eat early - eat at 5:30 or 6, be done by 7 or 7:30. Why? Because you want to be able to sleep, and you want the food to digest, so that it'll be usable in the race, but yet not filling up your lower intestines demanding immediate release at mile five. Having to pee is fairly common, but you do not want to have to go #2, losing time while your legs cramp up in a cold, nasty porta-potty. And if you try to hold it, your core will tighten up, expending more energy and messing with your mechanics.

Don't drink too late - you want to be able to sleep without getting up constantly through the night.

Get everything together Saturday night, not Sunday morning:

• Pin your race bib to your shirt or shorts. If you are slightly OCD like some coaches, this could take you half an hour to get it perfectly straight. It has to be straight. It just does.
• Put your gels, electrolyte capsules, whatever you're taking on the course, in whatever you're taking them in.
• Pack your drop bag with your pre and post-race stuff.
• Make sure you have what you need for breakfast.

Figure out your morning schedule - work it backwards:

• The race is at 7:30am.
• As big an event as this is, you need to be parked and out of the car at 6:30am AT THE LATEST.
• Maybe it'll take you 30 minutes to get there, so you need to leave your place at 6:00. Make sure you know how to get there.
• You want to use the restroom (#2) before you leave. Give yourself time (because you never know) - so, on the pot by 5:45.
• You need to allow at least an hour for your breakfast to digest, so you need to be eating at 4:45.
• Set your alarm for 4:45 (you'll eat first). Yeah, this is insane. But so is running 13 miles, so... what the hell?
• Set multiple alarms. Use your alarm clock, your phone, yuor running watch. Get a friend to call you. Leave nothing to chance.

Race morning:

• GET THE HELL UP. No snooze button. This is when being nervous is a good thing, because it'll wake you up.
• Eat first, and have a glass of water, and coffee, if you need it.
• If you've done things right, you have an hour to check the weather, put on your laid-out clothes, make sure your bib number really is straight, and relax. Check the temperature and forecast.

At the race:

• DO NOT BE LATE. Period. Non-neogtiable, no excuses. You need to park, drop your bag (if there's a bag drop), not be overly frazzled, and get you a little warm up around 6:45. Just run 8-10 minutes, and at a few points, pick up the pace for a block or so. When you're done with that, do some light drills.
• Don't guzzle water. If you've hydrated well, and had some when you got up, you'll be fine with what you get on the course. Drink too much, and you'll have to pee.
• Still, hit the porta-potty after the warmup.

Get to the start line and in your corral by 7:15. Find your friends. Then... relax. Soak up this moment. Look around at all the people that are about to do something pretty cool. You're one of them. You're probably also better trained and better prepared than most.

This is a lot of stuff, I know. But again, you're running 13.1 miles, asking a lot of your body. You've worked hard, and you deserve nothing less from yourself than to be as knowledgeable and prepared and mindful as you can possibly be going into this. You're all going to do great.

I'll add a rudimentary race plan tomorrow. It's super complicated: don't go out fast; go the right speed in the middle; and, go faster at the end, if you can.

Danger! Run, Will Robinson!

Yes, danger, indeed.

We've hung together for ten weeks. You've all gotten comfortable with running consistently, running hard, running long miles. It's becoming familiar... you're feeling confident, even if you worry a little about the next new distance on the calendar.

It's here that your worst enemy lurks. It's the whispered undertone just beneath invitations from friends and family. It lies in wait in the cushions of your couch, alluring and sticky, ready to clutch at you like a Venus flytrap. It sings beckoningly in the chorus of the holidays. It flits amidst the days and hours, compressing them here, loosening them there. It is abetted by the changing of the season, by days that are ever colder and grayer and fall more quickly to darkness.

It's one monster with many faces: Complacency; Apathy; Routineness.

I don't think any of you are thinking of actually quitting. But it can be easy to let your momentum and desire fritter away and fade. Because this running thing is no longer new and novel, because the first question of whether you could run distance at all has already been answered, because the $150 wallop to your checking account has dissolved into your economic past, and because I don't think I've done enough to kind of keep that fire going, because of all this, the pull of other events in your daily life, and even the pull of fatigue and listlessness, might seem stronger than your will to run, and clearer than the vision of your goal.

You miss a run, whether solo or with the group. Then another. You sleep through a long run. You might decide to recommit, but you come back and something real happens - sickness, an injury, a personal or work issue. Just like that, your goal is compromised, if not missed.

This is the point in training where people are in danger of losing focus and motivation. It's easy to do, certainly. But it's also one of the challenges you have signed up to face and conquer.

This training is more than a diversion. It's not a project you can set aside and not finish. It's not the exercise gadget gathering dust in the closet or under your bed. Whether you realize it or not, this training is a question you chose to ask yourself about who you are, who you want to be, and what you can do.

If you quit this now, are you happy with the answer? If you quit this now, what else will you quit?

Take some time to think about what you set out to do in September or whenever you decided to commit to running a half marathon or a marathon. Remember the work you've already put in. Consider the tremendous things you've already accomplished. Think about what you want your answer to be, and what this all could mean to you. Reengage and recommit yourself. Show up. Stay involved. Set two alarms. Get enough rest. Recover properly. Take care of yourself. Run.

Lisa hates that she hasn't physically been able to run. I'm sure Amber (strep throat), is, too. They'll both be back.

You've all come a really long way in the past ten weeks. Don't short yourself now. It's all a matter of choice. To paraphrase an advertising punch line - someone busier, and more tired than you, is out there running right now.

Grace, Pace and Space

There's also a new post over on Run Drink Repeat... about my first eight miler...

OK, a quick note on pace. Again, on your long runs, unless I tell you otherwise, you want to be going easy. I'm horrible at this - I'm checking my watch, every mile. I'm basing my expectations on what I know I've done before at this level of conditioning, but it's still not the smartest way for me to be training myself.

Look in any running book or website, and they'll tell you that a good training program has you doing "LSD". Sweeeet. No, you hippies, that means "long slow distance". You have to remember that "running" is not just one thing, one strength. It's a combination of elements, all of which we try to address in different ways.

Basically, you want to reach and sustain a pace that keeps you in the realm of aerobic energy production. Naturally, your muscles, your skeleton, your cardiovascular system, even your energy production at the cellular level, will respond.

A lot of this is because of fuel. Think of yourself as a car that some gearhead has stuck a nitrous tank on. At easy speeds, like when you're working aerobically, you go well enough on gasoline, the way you were meant to run. When you push the speed past a certain point, you hit the nitrous to add some boost to the fuel, which will now burn hotter with the same amount of oxygen. The problem there is, that boost is short lived, and has consequences, like voiding your warranty and possibly causing you to blow a seal, which is and isn't as nasty as it sounds.

Thing is, we're better than cars, because our bodies can respond and improve themselves.

In response to the increased, prolonged oxygen demand of lengthy runs in the aerobic zone, your body will build new and more extensive capillary beds in your muscles that are critical for the delivery of oxygen.

Your cells will produce greater size and number of mitochondria, the little guys that are responsible for energy production, which in turn will enable you to actually maintain a faster pace, even in shorter races. On top of that, the enzymes in the mitochondria responsible for energy production become more active, leading to even more efficiency.

Your body will learn to conserve its primary fuel - glycogen. When you're out of glycogen, your time on the road is drawing to a close. Your body will respond to greater fuel consumption by burning it more efficiently, and storing more of it in favor of increasing its use of another fuel for energy - fat. If you keep your speed under control, your body will read the writing on the wall, realize you're going to continue to do this stupid running activity on a regular basis, and it will use more fat and less carbs on a regular basis. Result - you'll go longer without bonking, and you'll look hotter. Those are both good things.

Somehow, in ways I don't understand, your musculoskeletal system will even become stronger to put up with the repetitive impact and stresses.

There's a bunch of other crap that happens - fast-twitch muscles changing teams to slow-twitch, something about Mia's globes... uhh... science... Whatever.

Finally, a lot of what we're getting into is the mental aspect of simply enduring the distances and the times involved. At some point, you will have been running for an hour and a half, two hours, then realize you've got another hour or two to go. You only learn to cope with that by doing it, by putting in the time - without an iPod, I should add.

Now, if you go too fast in your long runs, you push out of the aerobic threshhold, and all those systems don't have to respond, they don't have to improve. You may be able to run a distance, but you've missed out and being better, faster, less... hurty.

Go too hard too much of the time, and you dramatically increase your risk of injury, even burnout. You won't feel like a bad-ass watching in February, if you're wondering if you screwed yourself up. And running yourself so hard that you peak right around National Bicarbonate of Soda Day (that's December 30 for you people without decent calendars) does you no good on February 15, either.

Go fast on Tuesdays. Bump up the pace a little on one of your solo weekday runs - Monday, perhaps. Bump up the pace for the last mile or two of your Thursday run, which will be the longer of your solo runs. In a couple of the long runs, I'll ask you to run MGP or HMGP for a certain number of miles, usually near the end, where you'll hate me the most for it.

All my coaches tried to pound patience into me, but I was in too much of a hurry to listen. I still wrestle with the siren's call of the stopwatch, but I'm a better runner when I win that struggle.

Now, by the same token, you don't need to be just dogging it out there. If your buddy is a lot slower than you, then you need, to some extent, to do your own thing, or find someone different to run with, and hook back up afterwards. You may also be forcing them to run faster than they should, so you're not helping them, either...

I also mean to enforce less loitering, slacking, dallying, dawdling, loafing, frickafracking and general lollygagging at the water stops. There'll be none of that at the races, so you need to start minimizing your inactive periods.

Alright. Get running.

Wow, That Sucked: Dealing With The Long Runs

Some people indicated they had gained some humility on Saturday's run. Well, good. That was part of the point...

We've hit a point in the past couple of weeks of training that is new to a lot of you. We're getting into distances on our long runs that are farther than you've gone before, and with Saturday's run, it was probably far harder a route than you've run before.

So, first, big ups to everyone who came out and ran Saturday (and Friday, in Katie's case). I told you, it's a far tougher route than you've seen yet, and intentionally so. It's one of two to three runs we'll do that are intended to humble you as much as they are to build your strength and confidence. Several great coaches have told me, "you have to respect the distance." You've all seen gains in your speed and mileage, and it's been fairly easy so far. You've accomplished a lot, but now we're talking about running for an hour and a half, two hours, and soon, three hours and longer. It's time to check some of your ego at the door, because it's becoming a whole different ballgame, with far greater physical and mental stresses.

All that said, runs like Saturday's should make you more confident. That kind of run will make you physically tougher, but more importantly, it builds your mental toughness. That route is more relentlessly hilly than the 3M or Austin half marathon courses, or the hilliest part of the Austin Marathon course. Now you know you can do more than just run seven or ten miles - you can run seven or ten really tough ones. You half marathoners won't have trouble with a flatter nine or ten miles, and you full marathoners shouldn't have an issue with our twelve miler in a couple of weeks.

Having that physical and mental experience under you makes the next increase in distance easier, and it keeps advancing your ability to push the envelope of discomfort, which is what a lot of this is about. If you got through the run Saturday, if you're getting through the intensity workouts, then you've earned the right to be confident. You are all runners now, and you can act and think like it.

If you're putting in the work, if you're doing things properly, from running your miles, to paying attention to hydration and nutrition, to stretching, to running your workouts at the proper paces, you can do this. We're going to talk more about and reinforce some of these aspects over the next couple of weeks.

What I told one of our humbled runners applies to all of you - you're running well, and you're going to do well. To get the most from yourself in training, you have to strike balances between confidence and humility, impetuousness and patience. So, no slacking, keep the faith, and don't get ahead of yourself. Focus on the fundamentals, be patient, and let the training plan work for you.

Chop wood, carry water.

Our Night With Dick Beardsley

A big thanks to Dick Beardsley, and his wife, Jill, for coming out again to run and speak with us last night. I'm sorry things ran as late as they did, and I'm annoyed that I forgot to take a group picture of us with him...

When you get to know me very well, you'll see that one side of me is really focused on the mechanics and fundamentals of running, and of training for an event like a half marathon or marathon. A lot of that is just the geeky side, that is fascinated by the physics and the science and the logical processes. Maybe all that would be enough for me to want to coach, but if that were all, coaching and running would be interests, not passions. What I am passionate about is the perspective running can put the rest of our lives into, and Dick obviously epitomizes that. His life speaks to his running, and his running speaks to his life, and the attitude that results from him is what makes him one of my heroes, and like I said last night, an example for what I want us to get out of running in Team Spiridon.

On top of all that, he came out last night for honestly an embarassing pittance, pretty much as a favor. I'm looking forward to us returning that favor by raising some funds for the Dick Beardsley Foundation, as well as Emancipet - apparently, they have quite the menagerie, themselves, and Jill has been known to rescue baby squirrels...

We got to hear his recounting of the 1982 Boston Marathon. Here's video of it. Much as I love U2, the music is a bit cheesy, but I've never found another extensive video posted without it...

Running Log (repost of a repost of a riposte)

Someday, I will share with you all the legend of Running Log, the great Native American track and field star. But not now.

If you'll look to the left over there, you'll see a link for the Nikerunning website, which contains a free training log.

I really recommend that you keep track of your running. Most obviously, it helps you have a picture of how often you're running, and what kind of mileage you're putting in every week. Most people think it'll make them feel bad when they miss a workout - actually, that's not a bad thing. But it will also give you an appreciation for how much you're doing. When you miss a workout, but you still see that you ran six or nine or (eventually) 20 miles that week, it can prevent that Stuart Smalley shame spiral where you decide it's all hopeless, and you go grab the peanut butter, a jar of Bonne Maman strawberry preserves, and the largest spoon that will fit in the mouths of both jars, and go to town, washing it down with successive Lone Star tallboys, the tinge of aluminum made slightly salty by your own tears.

It happens. Or so I hear.

So, check out the training log. It's fun to do, and you can also track your other activities, like yoga, cycling, swimming, and your weekly pickup jai-alai games. It'll also track your vitals, like your weight.

A training log is also good because it helps you track the mileage on your running shoes, which we call "tennis" or "tenny" shoes in Texas, but which the British, apparently being masters of the obvious and explicit, call "runners."

So, You Made Us Suffer for Two Miles. What's Your Point?

OK, this is another exceedingly long post about stuff.

I sort of fear being challenged on some of this - I'm no scientist, and I prefer to geek out on physics, but I can give you a poor, but usable, explanation of my poor understanding of what our bodies do, with some of the more hazily remembered numbers culled from the Internet, that bastion of infallibility.

So, when a boy or girl reaches a certain age...

Wait, that's the other thing I have a poor understanding of.

Running. Yes. So, our physical ability to run is governed by several things, of course, but the key fundamental component is our ability to burn fuel, which involves our use of oxygen at the cellular level.

Yeah, you have to physically get oxygen into your lungs and blood vessels and to the cells, and there are variables and potential roadblocks along the way. But all those extraordinary conditions as they may be, it still comes down to your ability to burn fuel.

Two of the key measures of this ability are our VO2 max, and our lactate threshold.

VO2 Max
Your VO2 max is specifically a measure of your body's maximal, or best, ability to transport and use oxygen. There's a couple of different expressions of it, but for athletes, we usually talk about milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. It's generally accepted as the best measure of aerobic fitness.

Our VO2 max is largely genetically determined, but can obviously be affected by weight, and by training. The average VO2 max for untrained men is around 45 ml/kg/min, 38 for women. Decently trained athletes will get into the 50's and 60's, world-class athletes higher. Lance Armstrong? Reportedly around 86. Freak. A famous skier had an off-season measurement of 96. In the off-season, not at his training peak. Total freak. Interestingly, Wikipedia lists Iditarod sled dogs at upwards of 240 ml/kg/min.

Lactate, or Anaerobic, Threshold
So, VO2 max measures your ability to deal with aerobic training under maximum effort. At some point, though, your cells are burning at as high a rate as they can with the oxygen they're getting. Essentially, they burn through all the oxygen, and begin to rely on either creatine phosphate or glucose to burn for energy. This is anaerobic energy production.

There are certain byproducts of this new zone of energy production, including lactic acid. Up to a certain point, your body can reuptake it, limiting its build-up in your bloodstream. On top of everything else, Lance Armstrong has a freakish ability to reuptake lactic acid, meaning he can hold a higher level of intensity for longer than lowly humans, and recover faster. It's just not fair.

Once the demand for energy reaches a point and becomes even more inefficient, lactic acid production outpaces the body's ability to reabsorb it. Once it hits a certain level in the bloodstream, generally accepted to be, like 2 somethings per something else, you're considered to have hit your lactate threshold.

Very often, you hear people say they couldn't hold their speed or push more weight because of the lactic acid, which is technically wrong, or because they were lactating, which is completely wrong in almost every case.

Really, the lactic acid in the bloodstream is a symptom, not the cause.

Our higher-intensity workouts will push you just into the anaerobic/lactate threshold, which will help push it higher. And yes, this kind of training will benefit your distance running ability, as well.

OK. So, like... what?
I've done the testing. It's humbling, and not entirely comfortable. You run on a treadmill, with a huge mouthpiece jammed in your grille that, because of the noseplug, is your only way to inhale and exhale. You get pushed to successively higher levels of exertion for periods of time, and periodically, they jam a needle into your ear for a blood sample to test for lactic acid buildup. It is unpleasant, though you do feel like Steve Austin for a while.

From your VO2 max and lactate threshold, you can derive with some accuracy your predicted potential paces for other distances.

Running the two-mile time trial (remember, that's what all this crap was supposed to be explaining) bypasses all that testing, and essentially works this process backwards. Running it ideally, you are running at maximal capacity for a distance that is long enough to get you into the anaerobic zone, and long enough to not just be something you can totally will yourself through, yet short enough to run without spending too much time in the anaerobic zone.

You run it, and in an indirect way, it measures your VO2 max and lactate threshold. I suppose that doesn't matter, because just running the time through a formula, you can still determine your ideal paces. But I think it's good to know why it works.

Whew. Still with me? So, here's what you do. I'll email you your times. Go to the link on the left for the McMillan Pace Calculator. It's a magical thing that will tell you with freaky accuracy what your paces should theoretically be for other distances. You'll use these paces for some of our workouts, and you can use them as guides for your pace in races. Also (Amy), please note (Amy) the suggested long run paces (Amy). By the way, Amy, I think you should particularly look at that, Gunner.

A final note about this: these paces are ideals based on your body's most fundamental capabilities. They don't take into account terrain, headwind, illness/hangover, a bad day, a good day, or the other things that start happening to your body when you hit a certain mileage. It has predicted my times well up to the half marathon, and then it breaks down for me. Honestly, I have yet to have my ideal, or even acceptable, marathon. I'll own up to that. But I've had some great coaches in the past, and I'm confident of my own coaching. It's just something I need to deal with and overcome.

So, don't live and die by these numbers. They're just a guide. If nothing else, the time trial teaches you to push your limits of discomfort, and for that alone, it's valuable. More on that later.

Rain or Shine, People!

"There's no such thing as bad weather. Just soft people."
- Bill Bowerman, legendary coach guy

In the midst of all this hurricane business, I hear a theoretical tiny, tinny, whiny voice crying out, "But what if it's raining?" Easy - we run in it. Aside from lightning, there's no reason not to run in the rain, and every reason to do it.

Races are run rain or shine - they, like us, will only cancel for lightning or major meteor strike at the start/finish area. What good would it do you to train in ideal conditions, just to show up and have to run in the rain? Very little. And if you think you're not all hardcore about running a race - when you slap down your $120 or $80 or whatever for the marathon or a half marathon, you'd be pretty lame to turn tail and go home because it's raining.

It's an exercise in commitment - If you're going to let moisture stop you from training and putting in the work, then what else are you going to let stop you? Not having clean socks? Everyone Loves Raymond reruns? Do you want to be someone who gives in that easily? Do you want to be someone that loves Raymond? No, you don't.

It's freakin' epic - Pounding the pavement or the track or the trail in a downpour, you feel like you're in the middle of a Rocky training montage, or in the climactic scene of a movie. Leave the iPod at home, because you can pretty much hear the orchestra churning along with you. People drive by, and those that don't "get it" may think you're an idiot, but the many who do "get it" will think you're a bad-ass, and maybe they'll think about their own level of commitment.

So, tomorrow, we run, and take pictures, rain or shine - anything but lightning, a decision I'll make at 6:30.

All this is not to say you shouldn't be prepared. Bring dry clothes and shoes to change into afterwards. Wet shoes and socks make for wet skin, which increase the chances of blistering - use some Bodyglide or Vaseline on your arches and anywhere else you tend to rub in your shoes.

It's gonna be fun, really.

Safety Things...

So, the incidence of runners being attacked or harassed or simply creeped-out is sort of frighteningly high. I don't like being alarmist, but we have to be conscious that stuff happens out there, whether you're running in upscale Tarrytown, where a runner was attacked but escaped the other day, in Clarksville at the tail end of a group workout, where a couple of men followed Laura the other night, or across the street from Whole Foods with a bunch of bystanders.

There's also the issue of running at night, which is probably not so much an issue now as it will be in October. At that point, we'll move our workouts up to 5:45 or 6:00pm, to try to get us a little more daylight, what with the apparent shortening of the days by means of some black magic that liberals and conservatives can blame each other for, the falling-back clock action, and the gradual, evil lengthening of workouts.

So, let's be smart about things, by means of my beloved bullet points:

• Turn on your heartlight - OK, so quite simply, get you some light, so you can see and be seen. Bettysport, RunTex, Academy, REI, all have varieties of lightweight blinky lights. The blinky LED's that go on the shoes are incredibly disconcerting to watch, but that noticeability is exactly what you want, and they even end up casting a little light in your path. REI even has some super-bright halogen headlamps that you can wear on your head, or maybe clip to your arm or waistband.
  
  Christina and I also run with these little guys. They're heavy duty, super-crazy bright, and made for law enforcement. They're bright enough that you can actually use them to momentarily stun someone. Seriously. They're easy to carry in your hand when running, have a button to momentarily activate them, or you can leave them on. The LED version is a little pricey, but gives you really long battery life. The regular version is $35. I've even strapped it to a beam with a hair scrunchy and used it as a spot for a friend's show. They're available at Whole Earth, Cabela's, and online.
  
  
• Black is the new way to get your butt run over - Yes, you look cool, and you get to play Ninja Runner Person. But you'll never get to use your nunchuks if you get smacked by the car that you were stealthily invisible to. Wear light colors, with reflective stuff. Reflective vests are cheap, if you'll take alive and stupid-looking over dead and cool.



• Be actively visible - Run on the left, unless circumstances make this clearly the worst option. When you have cars coming at you, make eye contact, even wave at them. Make sure they see you.



• Take a buddy, or at least someone you can almost stand - Don't run alone. Simple enough. You're more visible, you have a spotter, you're less likely to get messed with, and if you see the other person fall into a gaping hole, you can then avoid the hole and continue your run.



• Step light - When you're running through a dark patch, don't assume that it's not the only patch of sidewalk in five miles that isn't clear. Confused by the double negative? Me, too. Point is, find the most lit path through the darkness, slow a little, pick up your feet, and step lightly, as if you're running across a rocky stream. If there is something wonky underfoot, you'll have a better chance of recovering from it.



• Pick your route carefully - There are lots of considerations here. Stay out of deserted and/or dark areas, and clear of pothole infestations. Vehicle traffic can provide you a bit of light and security, but you need to steer clear of narrow roads, blind hills and corners, or high speed limits. Portions of the trail are OK, but it gets awfully dark. If you're close to the trail, you might be better off running downtown, or on South Congress.



• Run tough, act tough, be tough - Last year, one of our runners was accosted by someone who thought she looked good in shorts, but then wanted to see if she, um, felt good, too. She tried to edge away and be polite. That's understandable, but if it's not going to work with a frat boy in a bar, why would it work with a possibly loony predator? If a comment gets made that's over the line, ignore it. Don't give them anything. If they persist or approach you, say, look them in the eye and say "Hey. Back off. I'm running." Ignore him when he calls you whatever he calls you, as long as he walks off. Keep anything you say short, but be assertive and make the point that you're not going to be messed with. In the situation our runner was in, she could cross the other street, approach some other people, or even go up to one of the cars in the intersection, and start communicating with them - make sure he sees that people see you and him, and he'll probably move off. If you get in serious trouble, yell, and flag down a car.

Above all, use yer head. It's your best weapon, your best shield. Be alert. I'd strongly consider ditching the iPod for night runs, but if you choose to run with tunes, day or night, you have to take extra steps to be alert, period.

But whatever, whenever, just be alert, be thinking, be aware of your surroundings. Think about strategery - what's open? Where are there people? What house on this block has lights on that you could get to if you needed help? Being alert and aware are good skills to have anyway, and if that's something you learn from running, then that alone is valuable.

OK. There you go. Please, take this stuff seriously. I'm the only person who should be trying to annoy or hurt you.

Hills, Stupid Hills: The Quiet Commie Menace

OK, I'll bore you with this tonight, but I'd like to bore you with it now, because it's important in Austin to know how to run hills properly. It is important to realize that I am a big geek, and when I'm running, I'm thinking through all this stuff, and how best to try to explain it. So... here ya go.

Running Uphill

It helps to think about the physics of hill running, and first it comes down to geometry. Think about the geometry of your body in relation to the ground when you lean back - you've got a triangle formed by the ground: the imaginary line from the top of your head intersecting the ground at a 90 degree angle (side A); the line from there to your front foot (side B), and the line from that point back to the top of your head, which is the triangle's hypotenuse.

Now, think also about the vector of gravity's pull... on a hill, it's not perpendicular to the ground, right? It's straight to the center of the earth (let's stick with Newtonian physics and ignore more recent modifications of it). Hence the suckiness or coolness of running up, or down, a hill.

Ideally, you maintain the same upright, hips under you form as you do when you're on flat ground. Of course, your ability to do that depends on the steepness of the hill.

So, once a hill hits a certain level of steepness, the geometry of our bodies makes it impractical to stay perpendicular to the ground. So, we increase forward lean. This makes Side A, in front of our bodies (top of the head, perpendicular to the ground) shorter, and lengthens the hypotenuse, which is from the top of your head to the foot pushing through the strike behind you. Because of the way our legs bend, and because of the way we're best able to exert force for maximum traction and power, the lean forward makes sense.

The big problem is that most people get their lean by bending at the waist. First of all, as we've talked about on flat ground, this angle between the hips and leg is biomechanically inefficient.

Next, the butt starts falling out behind you, changing your center of gravity, and distorting the geometry of your body.

Once that happens, people tend to hunker their shoulders, which is often also a result of people dropping their heads down.

The result - an inefficient, tiring, difficult-to-breathe running posture. No bueno.

The answer is in your hips, shoulders, and head. Keep your head up - be looking at the next point on the hill that you're aiming for. Keep your shoulders relaxed, but back, allowing a good, unobstructed flow of air. Finally, keep your hips under you. On steeper hills, it helps me to imagine pressing the hips forward into the hill.

Move your arms. Their relation to the body will change on hills - they'll be moving a bit more in front of your shoulders, but still not crossing the front of your body. When your legs are failing a bit, focus on moving the arms, and the legs will follow.

A lot of people strike with the foot and lift straight up. On hills in particular, they're missing out on a huge bit of strength, just in your foot and calves. So, strike, and roll all the way so that when you're taking off, it's off the front tip of your shoes.

Finally, break the hill into manageable chunks. Find a landmark, and just focus on getting to it, then pick another and get to it. If you look up Wilke or some of the other hills we'll be running, you'll try to find a tree and a bit of rope to hang yourself.

Running Downhill

The general rule is that uphills and headwinds are harder than downhills and tailwinds are easy. But make no mistake, downhills run properly and patiently can give you a good deal of time back. They can also wreck your legs in a longer race.

On the downhills, the temptation is to lean back and let gravity carry you. This is actually not good.

Think back to the geometry thing. When you lean back, you feel more in control because the hypotenuse is intersecting the ground at an angle that matches the vector of gravity's pull. The problem is, it also stretches that hypotenuse out - your body has to get longer in front of you. To accomplish this, two things usually happen. First, you lengthen the front part of your stride by stretching the leg out, straightening the knee out and striking on your heel. Because you're also shortening side A of your triangle (the imaginary back line), and lengthening side B (the bottom), gravity gets to accelerate you a bit longer on each stride, resulting in higher speed and greater impact.

Bottom line - bad for your knees, ankles, hips, spine... hell, everything. It even makes my teeth hurt.

Meanwhile, if you're also trying to move your feet faster over a longer distance (side B), you might actually be working harder and getting your heart rate higher than when you're on flat ground. Also dumb.

The answer is to run downhill with the same form and angle as you run on flat ground, and uphill. When you do it, you're going to feel like you're falling forward. This is why you want strong quadriceps muscles, and a quicker, but not too quick turnover. This is a matter of just getting the right feel running downhill.

I try to get to a point of turnover where I'm still striking midfoot, but immediately rolling forward and through the strike. There's a split second between the initial strike of the foot, and the point at which your shoes and joints compress, and you get the sudden, sharpest moment of impact. That's what you need to minimize. Rolling forward immediately helps dissipate some of that energy.

The cautionary warning here is that on a long, very hilly course, like the Austin Marathon and Half Marathon, slowing yourself too much will wear out your quads and increase the odds of them cramping up later... So, it can be a fine line.

Everyone wants to bank time running downhill. But even if you're being conservative and patient, you're just gonna pick up some speed. Side B of your triangle is going to naturally lengthen a bit when you factor in that you're still falling downhill a little, making each stride, even at the same cadence, cover a little more ground.

More importantly, managing a downhill gives you a chance to recover. In the Austin Marathon and Half Marathon, managing the course is everything, and will make or break your day.

I'm sure I'll think of more, but I think this is enough to make everyone wonder just what the hell I'm talking about...

What, When, Wha?

TEDIOUS ALERT! There's good stuff here to learn and understand, but you'd better go get a cup of coffee...

OK, so let's talk about what the thinking behind the schedule is. This is incredibly long, and as mentioned, tedious. But I think it's important to understand the "why" of what I'm asking of you, here.

Basically, I have a giant, wall-filling six month calendar. I write down all the workouts for the season, including your solo runs on small strips of paper, twist-tie them to darts, blindfold myself, and throw them at the calendar. It's an amazing system, actually, though the cat doesn't always clear the room, so part of your fee goes for vet bills.

Sometimes, however, I actually plan this thing out, and there's a method to my madness.

First off, there are some reputable and probably successful marathon or half-marathon programs out there that will train you for 19 weeks. Every now and then, Runner's World runs a headline that you can do it in three weeks, for just pennies a day or some crap.

I used to train in and coach in a program that ran for six months. Despite wanting to try to be as different from them as possible, I looked at other similar programs, and 24 weeks seemed to be somewhat of an industry standard. For one thing, the math works out - bring in half-marathoners that are capable of running the reasonable and common distance of three to four miles, see what you have to build them up to, and if you're into the use of macrocycles (as we are), it gives you a nice period of time to do a steadily progressive program. Same with marathoners.

Now, this macrocycle thing. Again, this is not anyone's patented system. No running group, in Austin or otherwise, owns it or is maverick in their employment of it. In fact, I believe all the major groups in Austin use some form of it. Here's an excerpt from a paper by Dr. Atko Viru, who has a very impressive scientist-y name:

The potentiality of intensive adaptive changes in the organism are limited by the adaptive energy (Selye, 1960), or the adaptive capacity reserves. The exhausted reserves are, as a rule, restored by relative rest (reduction of the training volume). However, further intensive training and competition loads will progressively exhaust the adaptive reserves and can lead to a drop in the performance and finally result in overtraining. It is impossible to assume that an athlete can meet the requests of the competition calendar set by organizers and remain in peak form for six months or even longer. Even the organism of an athlete needs rest.

Ah, gotcha. Science! So... just what the hell does that mean? Simply, ya gotta rest. You keep increasing the workload, or even trying to maintain a high level of distance and intensity, and you're gonna poop out, burn out, or worse, get injured. Sorry if that's still too much technobabble for you.

So, you'll see that we'll build in distance for a couple of weeks, then you'll get a recovery "week". This is mainly visible in our long run miles, though I also take into account total distance for the week, and the intensity of our weekday workouts, as much as one can for a group of athletes with somewhat different abilities and needs. There's also the fact that a general principle of running is that you don't want to increase long run mileage or total mileage by more than 10% a week. A few times, we might breach that by a couple of points, but if it's more than that, I'll make up for it with a flatter route, or a less intense Tuesday workout.

Now, as for the weekly schedule, there are probably very scienc-y principles underlying this, but basically I'm going by what I learned worked from my own training. It's about getting a rhythm in your training that, like the macrocyle method, incorporates intensity and recovery.

Let's look at this as Monday through Sunday, with Saturday long runs, and Tuesday intensity workouts. On Monday, you're still a bit stiff and sore from Saturday, unless you slept in/didn't set your alarm, Dina and Carmen. So, a nice, easy run seems to work that out. You might feel a bit clunky starting the run, but by the end, unless you push the pace too much, you'll work out the kinks.

Tuesday, I try to hurt you.

Wednesday, at least in the beginning, you need to rest. Rest is a very real need. You might feel like a running machine, unbreakable and... untirable or something. Well, if you are, then you need a much more bad-assed coach than me. Your body needs to heal its muscles, its joints, and its brain, even. So, your cross-training should be low- to no-impact, and relatively low intensity in terms of workload on your legs and cardiovascular system. Do stuff that will get the blood flowing, keep you moving, build upper-body and core strength, or work on your flexibility.

Thursday, run again. Again, with the clunkiness, and, if you haven't been diligent about stretching, maybe some stiffness and soreness. Again, in addition to building mileage, this helps work out the kinks from Tuesday, and set you up to be at your best Saturday.

Friday right now is light cross training, and a bit of rest before your long run.

Sunday, you rest. Period. Learn to like watching football or something. But nothing too taxing, especially as the long runs get longer. I don't care how good you feel, your body needs the recovery, especially since you'll run again Monday and be getting your butt kicked again on Tuesday.

Now, there's reasons we'll deviate from the norm sometimes. There'll be races, most of them on Sunday, that we need to account for and work around. There's also be personal reasons. The big thing you don't want to do is try to make up mileage and runs in a haphazard way. So, let's look at a couple of real examples I got in my email in the past couple of days...

I did a good run this weekend. It was over a 7 mile run. Regarding the training schedule, are the days to cross train set in stone or are they flexible?

You probably have the answer from my explanation above. Again, the Sunday off is set in stone. Period. As for the placement of running and cross-training, the schedule is preferred, but if you need to, deviate from it. If you understand the principles above, you can make up for some of it by moving runs to mornings or evenings, to get those recovery runs in, and get as much actual rest-recovery as you need.

Here's another one:

I’m a mess this week- I have a meeting on Tues night so I’ll miss that run, Wednesday I have tennis practice so I can’t make it up then, and Saturday I have a tennis game at 8:30 (singles, so at least I’ll be running around a lot, but more sprints). To top that off, I managed to acquire a massive bruise on the back of my upper thigh on Saturday that is about the size of a softball which is so painful that it’s actually difficult to walk, sit in a chair, or even sleep. Blah. I’ve been icing it, but it’s just a bad bruise. So, all that to say, do you have any suggested runs I could do this week maybe on Thursday, Friday and/or Sunday? Maybe I could do the Clarkesville run on Thursday and the normal Sat. run on Sunday if my leg is feeling better.

So, lots of things going on, here. First of all, this runner needs to stop using two spaces after periods. That's an old-school holdover from the days before proportioned typefaces. But I digress. Hopefully, this runner will still get her three miles in today. At some point, she could pick up her miles or even the specific workout tomorrow morning. But, think about that - doing it in the morning is cutting recovery time in half, which may or may not be an issue, depending on the individual. If she can run in the mornings Monday and Tuesday, that would be ideal.

The ideal here would be to run the Tuesday workout early, and stick with the schedule, but let's say she can't do that.

I think running the workout Wednesday morning is her next-best option. If Wednesday night was a tournament, then she might just take an easy run that morning. Even with practice, she'll need to be sure to stretch, particularly after running hills. She should stretch right after, again later that day, and a little tiny bit before the practice, if she's feeling really tight. Then, she'd chill Thursday, and run Friday, in the morning, if possible, again to maximize the recovery time, which is not as critical now with our current mileage, but, still.

Now, a quick word on the extracurriculars. I wouldn't ask anyone to stop playing tennis or basketball or jai-alai, but just know that it complicates your training a bit, and each activity can increase the odds of injury in the other. Just sayin'. You'll need to be extra diligent in both sports, and as you get within a month or two of your goal race, you might consider backing off of a sport where you could roll and ankle and be sidelined from both sports.

If you're in doubt, or even just because you're bored, you can always run your schedule by me, and I'll try to suggest some alternatives. And, as a side note, I'm still working out the schedule, so some of the distances I have posted for two to three weeks from now might get tweaked a bit.

Nike Human Race Video

More to come, but for now, and to get your uncalled for AC/DC fix, there's this:

Help Yourself (the Repost)

OK, so let's talk about a few things up front. This is largely a repost, but with some things to bring it up to date.

Our schedule is pretty specific for certain reasons. For those doing Tuesday workouts, Wednesdays will be your cross training day, and then you run again Thursday. That first run after Tuesday's harder workouts may feel clunky - you might be tight and sore. Just go easy, and bear with it. The run, even short, will work some of that out, and help set you up for a Friday run and the Saturday long run.

For those doing a different schedule, like Wednesday workouts or Friday long runs... I'll work with you individually.

You might want to consider running in the mornings during the week. It's cooler, and helps sort of minimize the gaps between runs. Running in the morning also ramps up your metabolism for the day, which is good if you're wanting to burn some fat. If anyone would like to burn some of mine, feel free.

Some of you are gonna be sore. You might be sore starting out, and then later, you might be sore because you're hitting your stride and you're working harder, and then later because of the mileage. Great, huh? I do get to a time in my own training where I'm sore and feeling a little beat-up most of the time. The thing is, I also feel strong, and the soreness and beat-uppedness shouldn't be indicative of more serious issues, like muscle pulls or strains, shin splints, skeletal issues, or infestation by an incubating, parasitic alien.

At every phase of the training, we have to take responsibility and start taking extra care of ourselves. This is half marathon and marathon training, not a correspondence course in, I don't know, incubating parasitic alien infestations. There are things we can do to minimize or eliminate our discomfort, and help ward off injury. We'll talk more about some of these things as we go along, but here's a few points:

Ice baths - Yeah, ice baths. After long runs, and even after hard weekday workouts. It alleviates a lot of soreness, and hastens recovery, so that the next run is not so horrible. I know some of you have become believers - would you please weigh in on this in the comments?

Stretch - I am the worst about this. In fact, class one, we did foot drills, and then I thought food and beer, and didn't enforce stretching. Help keep me in line about stretching as a group, please.

For one thing, if you aren't very flexible, stretching doesn't seem very satisfying, and it can be a bit disheartening. We have to be disciplined and do it, though, especially as the weather gets colder. Light stretching before runs, then good stretching after every run. I like to try to stretch again a couple of hours after the run - we tend to get in our cars, go home or to work, and sit, making it as easy as possible for our leg muscles to tighten up. Tight muscles affect your stride, even your footstrike, increase the chance of some injuries, and generally makes life miserable. And with just 5-10 minutes a day, we could avoid a lot of that. Yoga is helpful - more on that in a moment.

Massage - Massage is another miracle worker. If you wanted to be completely serious about this running thing, you'd get them regularly. I know there's an expense factor. But even if you can get one once a month, it'll help tremendously.

Self massage is a good thing, too. No jokes, please. Look into foam rollers. They're a wonderful thing, if you remember to use them...

Get help now, not later - We all want to run, some of us are afraid of stopping and losing ground. But the algebra of this is simple - you can go get that pain looked at now, maybe have to sit out or minimize your running for a few weeks, or maybe just address it with rehab or changes in routine, or, you can ignore it and keep pounding at it, thinking the magical running fairies, or maybe your incubating, parasitic alien infestation are going to repair it, and end up injured, fat, and asleep on the morning of February 18.

Listen to your body - Facing and overcoming discomfort and fear, even pain, are attributes you need as a runner. But ignoring pain during training that is trying to warn you of an issue with your body is just stupid. Get to know your body, and pay attention to it.

Run softly - I keep our workouts on the streets, because that's what you'll be running your races on. Dick Beardsley told us last season that he thinks people train on trails, then run distance on the street and their bodies aren't ready for it. I think that with the great trail system we have here, that happens a lot. I have a friend that runs ultramarathons on real trails, and will run the occasional marathon, and he talks about what a difference it makes when you aren't used to it. But there is a very real cost in impact and wear and tear on our bodies. So, on your solo run days, I encourage you to run on the trail, or even in grass. Take any opportunity to minimize the impact. You're also getting a slightly harder workout when you run on a surface with more energy absorption and less traction.

Cross train - When the calendar says "cross training", that's not like, some admonition to get to church (yeah, that was bad. sorry). You should be using that day to give your legs a break, particularly from impact. I want cross training to be as non-impact as possible. Swimming, cycling (don't wear your legs out), yoga, weightlifting (don't wear your legs out) are good examples.

Jack and Adam's Bicycles, at Lamar and Barton Springs, has free core workouts on Mondays and Wednesdays, at 5:30pm. Free. Like, no money. Strengthening your core is going to help you run stronger, and maintain your form longer.

Also, some of Team Spee is already hitting the free Friday night yoga at Yoga Vida. Yoga is fantastic for flexibility and even building some core strength. I think all athletes should be doing yoga, actually - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gives a lot of credit for his unusually long basketball career to his practice of yoga. In just a few weeks of returning to yoga myself, I've started to regain some flexibility. I can now touch my hands to my knees. OK, just my fingertips, but still.

There's more to discuss - nutrition is a huge consideration. I have someone that will come talk to us about that at some point. And, maintaining your mental well-being, though clearly already a lost cause in general for many of you (OK, of us), is important to. And, at some point, we'll talk about how to deal with incubating, parasitic alien infestations, with the pain and the screaming and gurgling and exploding and the Sigourney Weaver and what-not.

For now, if you have any questions, let me know.

Nike Human Race Race Plan. For the Race.

As usual, this is a bit exhaustive. But this is an interesting course, it’s an evening race in freakin’ August, and most of you haven’t run a 10K, or… any K’s, in a while.
OK, the course is something new. It was originally going to be on the Round-Up course, but that would have been dull, so we’ve got this. I’ve run it in pieces, most recently taking the Nike Club runners out on it last weekend.

The course map, such as it is, is at http://inside.nike.com/blogs/humanrace-en_US_AUSTIN/2008/08/04/the-official-nike-human-race-10k-course

I’ve mapped it out on Gmaps to get a (rough) idea of elevation changes. I know it says 6.3 miles. Ignore that. http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2211157

Preparation

Hydrate. That’s really all I have to say. I know everyone’s wondering why this race is in August, in the evening. Simply enough, there are 25 other cities worldwide having the race on the same day. If we wanted it, it had to be August 31.

So, it’s gonna be warm, but actually, right now, the forecast for 7pm is 88 degrees, 51% humidity (!), and partly cloudy. The rain from earlier in the day should have dissipated.

For a 10K, I’d say you could eat somewhat normally, but I’d eat lunch at 12 or 1:00, get some carbs, then have a light snack or two later in the day. Going in a little hungry is OK.

Getting to the Race

OK, one really cool thing this race’ll have – bike valets! The bike area will be secured and staffed – you don’t even need your lock.

Downtown is going to be a clusterfrak (yeah, BSG geek). South First will be closed for Bat Fest (because Your Living Room and Sherry Matthews and other business are getting pissy about street closures), the state garages north of the Capitol will be taken up by the Pat Green concert goers, and south of the river, they’ll be staging for the Austin Tri Monday morning… it’s gonna be wacky.

The Nike site says parking will be available in the state parking garages along Trinity St. north of 12th St. – I wouldn’t count on that. You can park in any public metered spot or in paid surface lots. I’d come in from the east or west, stay well outside the course, and park on the street. Consider car pooling, or use Cap Metro (www.capmetro.org).

The Race

You'll start at 6th and Congress, at 6:30pm. There’ll be a good, wide start gate.

Here’s the thing - from the start to the turn at 2nd, it’s just slightly downhill. Just a seven or eight foot drop in elevation, but it’s over four blocks, just enough for your legs to feel a little too good. People will be excited, and many will be inexperienced. There’s also going to be all kinds of silliness at the start to get people hyped.

First rule of racing – anyone? Anyone? Bueller? DON’T GO OUT TOO FAST. The corollary to that is: run your own race. Not getting sucked into everyone else’s pace and being mindful and disciplined is your first and one of your most important challenges. Go out too fast here, and you’ll pay later.

Right now, just think about your body alignment, getting your hips under you, getting a slight forward lean from the ankles, not the hips. Head up, arms and shoulders relaxed. Just start off relaxed, and let the other 7,000-8,000 people around you go nuts and blow themselves out.

Don’t burn energy bobbing and weaving too much – let them slow you down a little. Be watching, and look for lines that let you thread through people efficiently. Be aware of your surroundings, and don’t cut people off. It’s rude, and you don’t want to end up eating asphalt. People will often hear you coming and slide over a little. It's OK to go through a gap between people, but nice to let them know. Sometimes, someone (usually someone wearing damned headphones) will start drifting over in front of you. The "accidental" light tap of your hand on their elbow will usually wake them up and get them to slide over.

Start setting yourself up for the left turn onto 2nd. With this many people, you don’t want to get pinched in the corner, or pushed out too far. Try to stay in the middle. If you’re on the inside, be careful, because you may have to go up and over the curb.

2nd is still an almost imperceptible downward grade. Another left onto Trinity, and it’s the slightest climb to 6th. Right on 6th to Red River – easy, flat to slight downslope.

Left on Red River, a water stop, and now the fun begins. In four blocks, it’s a steady climb of 24-26 feet. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a good, real hill. Here’s where you should start really thinking about your hill climbing form – press those hips into the hill, keep your head up, and use your arms to set the pace for your legs. Stay relaxed! Let these hills take a little bit of pace. You’ve got a lot more to come, and some good downhills that will give a little back.

Those of you who run the Turkey Trot know that 11th Street is no help. 36 Feet in three blocks. Big fun.

Right turn onto San Jacinto, and the very slight hill for half a block should feel like the beginning of a recovery. Shake out your arms, and relax into the downhill, feeling your breathing and muscles get a little reprieve.

On the long downhill to 15th Street, do not go crazy and try to gain time. Again, those of you who have run the Cap 10K down this hill know that people go flying down it, only to crash and burn slogging up 15th. Maintain form – hips under you, light turnover, not letting your stride lengthen out too much, not letting your knees get any straighter than usual, and not striking too much on the heel. Even if you’re conservative and hold back a bit, your turnover will increase (hello, gravity) and your stride will naturally lengthen a bit. You’re going to get some time back here, and you’ll get a lot more in the last two miles of the race, so just let it happen naturally.

Water stop 2 is at 13th and San Jac. Tell them thank you, but you’re really looking forward to Rob’s water stop, which is supposedly really cool.
Left turn onto 15th, and a good hill – about a 24-25 foot climb over two blocks. Just be glad you’re not going all the way up. If you’ve done this right, you’re going to see some of the people that zipped by you on San Jac.

Right turn onto Congress. A little downward grade to MLK. Look for water stop three, at the end of mile two, in front of the Bob Bullock Museum – I’ll be there at that water stop, yelling at you.

Right turn onto MLK, and a nice downhill. But then back up to Red River. This is a long grind, even after the left turn onto Red River. In fact, just look forward to climbing 90 feet in about half a mile, from San Jac and MLK all the way to Manor and Red River.

Ignore the Nike map here – it says you’re turning on Robert Dedman. Unless 26th has a third name there, you’re turning left on 26th/Dean Keeton. A long, glorious downhill where you’ll get back about 70 feet of that last climb. Again, though, don’t go nuts. Hold what you got, be patient. Red River to Guadalupe is just the fourth mile, and you’ve got a long, tough uphill ahead, from San Jac all the way up to Guadalupe. Take a deep breath, shake out your arms, relax, and hit the hill at a steady pace. Keep that head up.

Left on Guadalupe. You’ve covered four miles. Shake everything out, and relax. Up to now, you should be periodically assessing your pace, preferably on the few flats you’ve gotten, not when the uphill is sucking or the downhill is effortless. But in terms of finishing the race and possibly upping your pace, this is the first time to really look at what you’ve got in tank. If you can turn the pace up, do it, but do it gradually.

At about 23rd and Guadalupe, you start getting a downhill, and your legs should start really feeling a little bit of life again.

Right on MLK, downhill. Right on Lavaca. At 15th, you’ve covered five miles. Look again at what you have left for this last mile. Lavaca is mostly flat to about 11th. If you’re racing this, trying to push yourself for time, and you’re in reasonable condition to do so, now's the time to dig in and do it.

I like to look at a course beforehand and pick out three-four “go points”, at which I’ll push the pace up. I PR’ed one 5K in which I was horribly hung over, because I planned ahead, and had it set in my mind where I was going to turn up the pace.

Past 11th, the downhill is steep enough that you can let it carry you a little. This is a go point. Remember, do it with proper form, hips under you, and quicker turnover, not longer stride. With a mile left, you can be pushing your breathing and heart rate up a bit. Stay relaxed!Left on 9th, right on Colorado, and here’s your payoff – a steady 100 foot drop in half a mile! Keep your form, but go – you’ve only got about 1,000 meters left, 500 of it downhill.

Left turn on second – don’t let up the pace as it levels off. Hang in, you’re close.

Left on Congress. Go point. Pick someone ahead of you, and decide to gradually catch and pass them. At this point, choose your prey wisely, and pursue them patiently. Then pick another. Crank out three blocks, to 5th, then kick it all out to the finish on 6th – use faster turnover, really moving the arms – don’t try to muscle or stretch the legs to the finish – you don’t want to pull a hamstring, here.

Get your very cool finisher's award. Drink beer. Listen to music.