Hey, there!

Well, since I didn't into the NYC marathon lottery AGAIN this year, it doesn't look like I'll be doing a fall race for 2009. But, I do get the NY Times blog updates about the race. Today's article was about group running, and of course it made me think of y'all and all the fun (!) we had on those Saturday mornings out on the Trinity trails.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/the-benefits-of-group-running/

Hope everyone is doing well and has stayed healthy. Good luck to those of you (crazy) people doing El Scorcho! I'll think of you while i'm tucked into my nice air-conditioned bed!

Go, GI Jan, Go!

Right now, as I'm sitting on my couch and contemplating what variety of pancakes to have for breakfast, Jan and Kendra are out in Fort Collins running a half at the Colorado Marathon, which is billed as America's Most Scenic Course. good luck and have fun! And take lots of pictures!!

A Special Request for a Friend

OK, I'd like to ask you all to take a minute and go over to my friend Ellie's blog and wish her luck. On Wednesday, she is undertaking a hike on the Appalachian Trail, starting from Georgia and ending up, well, wherever she ends up after 6 months. I was lucky enough to meet Ellie and run part of the Austin marathon (I ran the half, she finished the full) with her last February, and I can honestly say that she has changed me for the better. She has a unique no-nonsense, no-frills perspective, she is completely real and down-to-earth, and ultimately what makes her so special is that she truly understands the important things in life. She's completed Ironman and a countless number of marathons, but this will undoubtedly be her most challenging endeavor ever.

Her last post before she leaves is on her blog here:
http://elliesjourneys.blogspot.com/2009/03/commencement.html

Go, wish her well. She doesn't need the luck, because she's been preparing for this physically, mentally and spiritually for the past year, but I'm sure she'd appreciate it anyway!! Thanks!

On Short Break But Returning Soon!

More informative blogs will return once the Summer Training starts! In the meantime, groups still run on Saturday mornings, sort of unofficially. Remember to bring your own water.

Occasionally I will have some fun workouts that are more than just running. I'll keep you posted. I'll try to remember to put it on this blog as well as email so anyone who wants to participate can do so. This morning, we did a boot camp type workout that was alot of fun!

Everyone take care of yourselves, and I'll see you soon!!
GIjan

We did it!

Looks like we made it through that wild windy day yesterday unscathed and with a nice little piece of bling to show for it. I know it was certainly a memorable experience for me. It was great to see folks out on the course, and though I missed J-Bone and Z at the finish (they must not have hung out for the 6-hour stragglers!), I knew that everyone was pulling for a strong finish from everyone else, and that really kept me going during some tough miles. Anyhow, just wanted to give everyone a shout-out and say Good Job!

I've done a full-out post-mortem on my own blog (it's that OCD part of me), in case anyone wants to see the gory details!

http://txskatemom.blogspot.com/2009/03/tale-of-tape.html

-c

My Thanks.

It was great to see those of you last night who could make it! I know everyone was there in spirit. :)

There really isn't alot to say at this point, other than to thank each and every one of you for being so disciplined and committed to training for this race. For those of you in my group, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this training cycle so much fun. You guys are just a blast, and you were the only reason I rolled out of bed some of those early mornings! I hope we can run together beyond Cowtown, no matter what our varying goals may be.

Don't freak out about the weather. The bottom line is that none of us are going to go, "Oh, I don't like the temp/wind/barometer/humidity/whatever, so I think I'll just skip it." We will all be there, and we will all do what we have to do. If conditions aren't perfect, so what? There were very few perfect training days, and quite frankly, a few of them just outright sucked. You all did great, and you will do even better with race suport and excitement. Time goals are great, but if we have weather that is very trying, please don't worry about your time. Trying to stick to an inflexible race strategy when everything about a race is constantly changing will result in dismal failure. I promise you if I get out there and 30mph winds are beating me up, I will just focus on finishing. I don't give a flip about the time it takes. Be proud of yourselves, and run your OWN race, not what expectations dictate. Relax, get into your zone, and enjoy the day. Races should not be episodes of pain that require you to gut them out. They are journeys and adventures, with some being harder than others, but in the end it is up to you to judge your own success.

In my mind, every person on this email is a success. While I'm running, I will think of you guys to pass the time. I will focus on Corina's stubborness and her willingness to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes. I'll think about Kendra and Tara, my close friends, and how much respect I have for their dedication and their continual support. Randall and his words of wisdom and quiet positive attitude will take my mind off any discomfort. Ashley's incredible progress and speed, along with her sweet nature and friendship will inspire me when I'm tempted to start whining. Nikki's fantastic training cycle, in addition to our history and closeness from years of running together, will keep me from giving up. Ben's humor and dedication in spite of knee trouble will remind me it can be done. Denise's battle with the injury demons and her constant upbeat approach will make it impossible for me to feel sorry for myself. Matt's vast knowledge and wisdom that he's shared with me in answer to my questions will help me stay calm if anything goes wrong. And who can forget JBone and ZMan? Those two turned in great performances, and kept me laughing on every training run. I'll be focusing on getting to them at the finish line, and grabbing a Guinness to make it all better. :)

The list goes on and on. For me, this Cowtown is already one of the best races I've ever had, because of you, the people I've trained with. You guys are just the best, and if you ever need anything, I am forever in your debt.
GIjan

Last Long Run

 

It's almost time...

Let's Talk Taper!!

As I write this, we are 10 days away from Cowtown. Hopefully everyone has been paying attention to nutrition and scaling back a bit on mileage.

Tapering is something that, in my humble opinion, is one of the most individually tailored elements of training. There is no one tapering method that works best for everyone, and you just have to learn what's best for you.

Having said that, there are some elements of every good taper that you have to incorporate these last 10 or so days if you want to race successfully. First and foremost, you have to acknowledge that it's the rest and recovery that are most important in the time left until race day. Your muscles, tissue, joints, and every other body part are tired. They have been asked to push and push and push, briefly rest, then push even harder the next week. Right now they are trying to rebuild and come back as strong as possible. Your sole job in the next 10 days is to stay out of the way! Let your body do what it knows should be done, and DO NOT SABOTAGE IT BY BEING STUPID. Go ahead and run, but keep it at a much lower intensity, and do not do any more hill workouts, speed work or try something new and different at your gym!
Your longest run from here on out will not be more than 10 miles (maybe 12 for Ultras but that's up to you). Anything more will not have time to fully repair itself prior to the race, and even if you feel rested at the start, the damage will show in the latter parts of your race. Right now your body is not only repairing itself, but it's also loading up on glycogen. If you go out now at high intensity, you just blew your reserves and you will not have time to get it back. I personally want a full tank at that starting line.

Do not cut yourself short on protein during this period. Also make sure you are taking Vitamin C if not already. A weird thing about tapering: Your body sees it as a sign to relax and start getting strong. That tells your immune system to relax as well, since it's been going on hyper drive during your hardest mileage weeks. This increases your risk of getting sick right before the race, so be proactive and up that intake of Vitamin C. I put a couple of "EmergenC" packets in a glass of water and really like the taste.

And finally, go with your intuition on rest days prior to the race. Some people prefer to do a 30 min. light run on Thursday, rest Friday, then race Saturday. Others prefer to rest Thursday, light run Friday, race Saturday. My taper works best with the day before a race completely off, and I do mostly cross-training race week, but I never do anything new or unfamiliar. It's all stuff already in my schedule. Go with what you've learned about your body through training. Also, don't interpret "taper" as laying around on the couch from here on out and eating what you want! That will just result in you being sluggish and fat on race day?!

Every single one of you is ready for Cowtown. ZMan and JBone paved the way, so play it smart and I'll see you Saturday!!
GIjan

Pictures from Zeb

16 pictures
View Album at Shutterfly

Congrats Guys

JBone & ZMan,

Congrats guys! I am really curious how you both are feeling. Up for "The Hill" anytime soon? Just curious. I really hope you are both feeling great and are reveling in the joy of finishing the race. I am so glad you will be at Cowtown. Denise

Good luck!

Good luck, Jason & Z! We'll be thinking of you tomorrow morning -- it is going to be YOUR day to rock that course! Be awesome and TAKE IT TO THE HOUSE!!

Cowtown volunteers...

Yup, that's right.
The Jbone and I (assuming no conflicts with work) will be one of the smiling faces to greet you all at the finish line! Only caveat is we'll need you across the finish line by 10 30am :)!!! Just kidding, we'll give you till 11 but after that we gots ta go....The Flying Saucer beckons 2 of it's most loyal customers.

By the way, the description of our volunteer role we'll be providing first line assistance to runners by distributing medals, heat sheets, & providing direction to water & medical tent.

Need some inspiration?

Headed into tomorrow's 20 miler (I'll miss you guys, but I'll miss you more on Sunday when I'm pounding it out on my own), if you're looking for that little extra push to get you to the end, tune into SHO Time for the next few days and catch Running the Sahara.

This documentary summarizes the journey of three ultra runners who ran across the Sahara Desert in 2007-2008. In one word, this film is AMAZING. You think you're tired? Try running an average of 50 miles a day for more than three months, without a day off. In the desert. Phenomenal. I meant to watch only the first twenty minutes when I got in from Denver last night, but ended up watching the whole thing because I just couldn't stop. It is truly inspiring, and it's a great message that the limitations we put on ourselves are truly mental and not really physical. Your body can do amazing things if your brain will get out of the way and let it. I don't know if it's on the main SHO Time channel again anytime, but it's on for the next few days on all the secondary channels:

On Showtime Too
02/06/09 at 1:45 PM
On Showtime Showcase
02/08/09 at 6:45 AM
On Showtime Next
02/09/09 at 11:00 AM
On Showtime Showcase
02/11/09 at 12:30 PM
On Showtime Showcase
02/11/09 at 5:15 AM

If you can't find it, come over to my house and we'll watch it on the DVR. Seriously. You have to see this. Just be prepared to go for a run afterward!

UPDATED:
Forgot to note -- the driving force for all this is a charitable organization that they started to help fund: http://www.h2oafrica.org/

When you're finished training, you're not finished.

We're reaching critical mass in our training, but for endurance athletes, sometimes the next couple of weeks are actually harder. We want to log those last precious few miles, try to make up for anything we may have missed, and usually end up putting in the junk miles that not only do us no good, but actually harm us. Just don't do that, okay? You will regret it. In addition, we neglect our nutritional obligations for being the best we can be. When you consider that refueling properly after your workouts can improve your race day performance by as much as 3:1, you may want to consider giving it some thought.

Attending to your recovery is every bit as critical as paying attention to your workouts. If you are not refueling your body for recovery, you have just negated much of the workout that came before it. There are four primary nutritional areas to remember: rehydration, the two macronutrients (carbohydrates and protein), along with the micronutrients -- primarily antioxidants. I could bore you to death with this topic for about 150 pages, but the key things to remember are as follows:

1. Rehydrating: No brainer. Drink your water. Not just during a race, but every day. Many athletes go around chronically dehydrated. Try not to lose more than 2% of your body weight during a hard workout, and do NOT gain. A loss of more than 2% signals a decline in performance, and we want to avoid that.

2. Carbohydrate replenishmnet: The sooner, the better. You get a small window where your body is most receptive to carbohydrate uptake, and that's right after you exercise. It maximizes both glycogen synthesis and storage -- you need every bit of this on race day. Try to use high glycemic complex carbs rather than simple sugars. Consider this: A less-fit athlete who does not practice adequate refueling can have as little as 15 minutes of muscle glycogen available. An athlete who trains hard with adequate refueling/recovery on training runs can hit 90 minutes. Which group do you want to be in? Carbs also tip your body in the direction of protein synthesis (rebuilding) rather than protein catabolism (breakdown). Your goal is to get 30-60 grams of high quality carbs within 30 minutes of finishing your workout.

3. Protein: Your best choices are whole eggs or whey protein -- isolate, not concentrate. Soy proteins rate far below these items on most of the scales measuring recovery efficiency. Rule of thumb: Soy proteins BEFORE a workout, whey proteins AFTER.

4. Antioxidants: This one is complicated, but try to make sure you're getting glutathione and glutamine. (My supplements/protein powder has these. I'd have to look around to find other sources.)

One other interesting fact pertinent to this phase of our training: The old belief has always been our immune systems are at their most susceptible during the peak (highest intensity/mileage) of our training. New research is showing this to be false. We're actually more susceptible to illness and compromised immune systems during our TAPER. One of my best friends, a professional triathlete and physical trainer for an NFL team, called me last week to talk about this. He suggests increasing your Vitamin C during the taper phase, and also said rinsing your mouth with hydrogen peroxide every night/morning will help eliminate alot of germs that lead to making us sick. So.....that's what I'm doing. He's usually right, and has access to about the latest and greatest info, equipment and athletes out there, but it's up to you if you want to adopt this strategy or not?!

See you guys Saturday, and take care of yourselves!!!
GIjan

The Railroad Car

Before I write this, let me say "knock on wood"....I just finished my Sunday morning run and I finally felt it. I call it the railroad car feeling. It comes when your running stride mechanics get right....running feels like your lower body is a railroad car rolling smoothly along on the tracks and your upper body is the passenger along for the ride. To me that's how running is supposed to feel. I just hope I have that feeling a lot along the way on Feb 28. And I hope each of you run your races feeling like that the entire way!

If you believe the philosophies of Aristotle, then we believe that we become what we practice. I guess that implies that all our training makes us runners. Aristotle was a smart guy....I think I like all his quotes. Anyway, train hard for 1-2 more weeks!

Tick, tock!

Hey, all y'all! I just looked at the calendar (yes, it's late in the day, but I'm slow -- I thought we knew that!) and realized Cowtown is ONE MONTH AWAY!! yee-haw! It's almost time to rock-n-roll!

Of course, Jason & Z have even less time before their day in the sun (hopefully not too sunny, but not rainy, either; perfect weather has been ordered for Austin that weekend!), but I thought I'd give a shout out to the group so we could start our countdowns!!

Have a great day and see y'all on Saturday!

The Warrior Run

Once while attending a coaching/training conference, one of the sessions in that conference was presented by the head strength coach of the Cleveland Indians. He was describing spring training, and once during spring training he puts the team through what he called the "warrior run". It was a hellacious event designed to develop mental toughness and a confidence that the players could handle some tough stuff. Well, I think we did our version of the warrior run on Saturday. I will have to admit that the last few miles of the 19 miler, once we got back on the trail and headed west, were brutal against the wind (and I am a cold weather kind of a guy!) I think it did wonders for me mentally. I hope all of you feel the same way about the training runs we have done in tough conditions and that they have developed a confidence in you that you can do what you have to do on race day! I'm looking forward to it.

We are getting there

I was pleased to see that everyone seemed to have a good 18 miler yesterday. The group looks strong, neighborhood hills and all! If we can repeat that distance (18-20) a couple more times so that it seems fairly routine (both physically and mentally) we should all breeze through Cowtown. I like the idea of including the streets and hills in the long runs....it makes you much stronger. I also hope we have a day like yesterday for the race....conditions were very good....about the right temperature, not too humid, breezy but not a strong wind, overcast.

I also want to congratulate an ex-running partner on an unbelievable run in Houston this morning! The running gods were smiling on Texas this weekend....lets hope for another cycle on Feb 28!

MLK Day Run

Hey everyone! I'm thinking I may do the MLK Day race out at River Legacy in Arlington tomorrow morning. It's usually a small race, with only a $10 entry fee (plus donation of school supplies for a local elementary school), and I've done it a few times in the past. The course is a loop with a small out-and-back about halfway through. Nice scenery through River Legacy, too, and a 10:00 am start time, so there's no crazy getting up early stuff.

Web registration is over, but they've got walk-up registration day of. Info is here, it's a good way to get in a quick run on a holiday and help raise money for a good cause.

Update: OK, so we finished in about 37 minutes, but my little guy did great. He was smiling and laughing, and there was only one small stretch where I had to talk him through the "I can'ts" before he got a second wind. And then we got this, which makes it all worthwhile to me.

Recent amendment to USATF headphones rule

Suh weet!!!!!!!!!!

Article from 12-22-2008

I found this link from an articled on runnersworld.com ....

http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?DUID=USATF_2008_12_22_10_22_16

Jbone and I are running the Austin marathon, I went to their website and they have confirmed that because of the amendment, headphones ARE allowed for the 2009 marathon.

Go, Read... she has something important to say

I thought I'd share a really insightful post from Kristin Armstrong on her blog today.

Many of you may recognize Kristin as Lance Armstrong's ex-wife, but I think she's overcome that initial point-of-fame and come into her own identity as a runner and an author (at least she has to me). She lives and trains in Austin, and in my mind, her perspective is more real and more compatible to me than Lance's; as much as you have to admire Lance's physical feats, I can never do what he has done. As a parent of small kids, she struggles with many of the same challenges I have, and I enjoy reading her column in Runner's World. Anyway, she talks about the importance of taking care of ourselves, and as we near our target race dates, I think it's a reminder we all should heed.

http://milemarkers.runnersworld.com/2009/01/refill.html

Hardest Part Ahead: Hang Tough

To all of you who made the run on Saturday, CONGRATULATIONS! The wind and cold was horrible, and every one of you in my group finished, with the exception of Roy, who had some really bad knee problems going on. (Roy, we hope you're okay.)

The next 2-3 weeks are mentally the toughest ones. You're slogging through some high mileage, the weather is uncooperative, and you're questioning your abilities to reach your goal. Once we reach higher mileage like this, you also start noticing aches and pains that weren't there before. This period is a bit higher in risk for injury, so you're a little panicked about that as well. It's okay. This is all normal and you're not alone.

The most important thing right now is to just keep going. These next couple of weeks are what your body will remember the most on race day. Once we peak with a couple of 20-milers, we'll drop from that point on and you're basically done getting your body ready for distance. Don't waste the opportunity to maximize your training right now by getting beat down mentally. Take the parts that hurt, that challenge you, and use them. Focus on overcoming them each week, make yourself face it head on. For me, cold and wind are the two things I really dislike. On days like last Saturday, I have to work very hard mentally to complete that run. I know from experience that an injury I have will hurt very, very much under those conditions, and I have to focus on making sure I don't allow that pain to rule the run. Our bodies have this amazing capacity to deal with severe discomfort, as long as the brain is on board. You just have to learn how to access the strength and resolve that's inside each one of us, and rely on it to pull you through. Putting in your mental miles is sometimes more important than your physical training.

Get rid of your mental crutches now. Take the gloves off and make sure you are prepared to run your race if EVERYTHING goes wrong. Stop acting like your watch is a God so when it malfunctions during your race, you're still fine because you don't need a watch to monitor what your body is doing. Quit comparing yourself to the person next to you and run your own race on your own terms. Finalize your nutrition and eating routines and do NOT change them, even if someone tells you they have a miracle pill that will make you run faster. Make sure your shoes are in good shape and you have a back-up pair. Decide what clothes you will wear in every possible weather scenario: hot, cold, wet, snow, ice, whatever. Getting all of these things out of the way will allow you to concentrate on the fun part -- running.

Last of all, try to keep the spirit of fun that attracted you to the sport in the first place. No offense, but none of us are candidates for the next Olympic team. Sometimes I see folks so wrapped up in a PR or shaving a few minutes off their time that they have lost all perspective. I'm not saying you shouldn't have goals -- I'm just saying you'll reach them alot faster if you retain a love of the sport and some purity in your own body awareness.

gijan

The New Year With All Its Resolutions.....

Happy 2009, everyone! I've been out of the loop, so to speak, with all the holiday hooplah. How's everyone doing?

Kudos to those of you who did our 15-miler Saturday. The humidity, warm temps, and blustery winds made it a difficult little jaunt. The folks in my group did fantastic, with everyone finishing strong!

This time of year there are lots of promises to work out more, eat better, etc., and I've noticed my gym gets really crowded -- for about a month. Once February gets here, it will go back to the "regulars," and all those good intentions will have been thrown by the wayside. The drive-thru at McDonald's will do a brisk business, and drivers with Big Mac sauce running down their triple chins will clog the freeways. Every media station known to man will run shows on new diets or pills that make the fat melt away without getting off the couch.

You probably think I sound cynical, but that's not it. My point is that a healthy lifestyle requires effort. Period. No matter how many times we ring in a New Year, that just isn't going to change. If you want to gain muscle, get your butt into the gym. If you want to lose weight, start doing some cardio. There are no pills to do it for you, and there are no immediate results. It takes focus and dedication. Those of you training right now already know this. Z-Man mentioned on Saturday's run that the longer mileage is a "good reality check," and he's absolutely right. There are no short cuts when it comes to endurance training. You simply have to gut it out. Some are more genetically gifted than others, but nobody gets a free pass. If you don't do the work, you won't get the reward. And if you think you can't or it's too hard or you aren't strong enough, try watching some true endurance events. I watched the Kona Ironman on TV a few weeks ago, and a 72-year old woman finished it. So did a guy with one leg. Did you watch the "other" Beijing Olympics?? That would be the Para Olympics -- and if you're feeling lazy or sorry for yourself, there's nothing like seeing athletes with physical disabilities compete in track and field events to make you realize you should shut up, lace up your running shoes, and be grateful you can head out the door.

2009 is here, and along with it comes new opportunities. What are your goals, and are you ready to work for them? I missed alot of bike time last year due to my schedule, and this spring you'll find me logging in road miles and being thankful I can do it even when I want to hurl. I also plan on learning how to swim, the very thought of which causes me to start hyperventilating. Wish me luck. What are you going to do?? 2009 is here and it will be gone quickly. Get busy.
GIjan

So??? How did we do yesterday?

Let's hear about how everyone's long run went yesterday -- I saw Coach Jim had us scheduled for 16. How did it go?