Bill Menees's Blog

Since my last blog entry, I've run three more races. When you add in Thanksgiving, my son's 8th birthday, and Christmas preparations, it's been a busy few weeks.

11/14/09 - Team Nashville 10 Miler - 1:15:06 (7:31) - I ran the first three miles sort of fast, but I didn't feel like pushing it. It was cold, and I knew I had another race the next day. So the last seven miles I slowed down and focused on running "marathon pace". I felt fine at the end, so it was hardly a race effort. But technically it was still a PR because I've only done a couple of 10 mile races.

11/15/09 - TSBA 5K - 19:24 (6:15) - Another cold morning, but I felt pretty good. I led from the beginning, and I finished first overall. I was only 6 seconds over my PR, which wasn't bad for having no one in front of me and running my second race of the weekend.

11/22/09 - Flying Monkey Marathon - 4:10:11 (9:33) - As in years past, the wheels came off in mile 19. I ran the first 14 miles with my friend Phil. He made us run smart and easy, and we intentionally averaged about an 8:45 pace for those miles. Then at 14 he took off, and I couldn't keep up. When I got to the 18 mile mark, I was still doing "ok", but I knew the next 4 miles were going to suck. And they did. I lost a ton of time there as I walked up the hills and stopped to stretch. I eventually figured out that my lower back muscles were painfully tightened up, and that was causing the tightness in my glutes, hams, and knees. After I did some toe touches and trunk twists (in mile 22), my back relaxed, and I felt much better. I ran the last 4 miles fairly well, but I missed going sub-4. My splits were 1:50 for the first half and 2:20 for the second half. Sheesh.

Next year I plan to just volunteer for the Monkey. Running it three times is enough for me. I love everything about the race except running the 26.2 miles. I realize now that I'm not a marathoner, and I'm ok with that. I'm also ok with the fact that most of my running friends are marathoners, and they love it. I enjoy running up to 13 miles or so, but I mostly enjoy running fast. Running long may be better for others, but it's not my thing. I'm averaging a little over 30 miles a week this year, and that's not enough to race marathons on. But with good planning, it's enough to get two quality, intense runs, a long run, and a couple of short, easy runs each week. I'm happy with that, and we'll see what I can do with that knowledge next year.

Live well and have an excellent holiday season!

Labels: Personal, Running

On Saturday I ran three races.  I primarily did it as a “stunt” because I’d never done three distance races in one day before, and I didn’t know anyone who had.  The races and results were:

• Donelson-Hermitage Dash 10K @ 8am – 1st overall.  41:13 (6:38 pace).
• Halloween Hunt 5 Mile @ 11am – 60th overall; 4th in my age group.  37:06 (7:26 pace).
• IRFTP Halloween 5K @ 5pm – 16th overall; 2nd in my age group.  20:55 (6:44 pace).

Overall, that was a pretty good day of racing.  I’d originally intended to “save some energy” during the first race.  But I had the opportunity to win it, so I had to go for it.  I intentionally trailed the leader for 5.5 miles, and then I was able to outkick him over the last 3/4 mile.  That was fun (an overall win always is), but it sapped all of my energy for the next race, which was a little over two hours away at that point. I survived the 5 mile race and went home to shower, nap, and eat.  I felt better for the 5K that night, but I still wasn’t 100%.  It was an interesting and educational day though.

On Sunday morning I got up and watched the live feed of the New York City Marathon.  Both the men’s and women’s races were exciting because neither one played out the way folks thought they would.  Paula Radcliffe (the women’s favorite) ended up 4th, but no one wanted to count her out of it until the very end.  But the shocker of the day was Meb Keflezighi winning the men’s race!  He’s the first American to win in NYC in 27 years.  It was awesome, and it was a great day for American distance running.  Ryan Hall (2008 US Olympic Marathon Trials winner and current US half-marathon record holder) finished in 4th place.

On Tuesday night I got a tip that Ryan Hall and Bart Yasso (Chief Running Officer for Runner’s World magazine) were going to be in town on Wednesday to do a group run at the Nissan headquarters right down the street from where I work.  So on my Wednesday lunch run, I jogged over to the Nissan building and joined in the running group with Ryan and Bart!  It was a lot of fun.  We ran almost 5 miles, and I got to talk to Ryan and Bart about all kinds of things.  It was definitely the best lunchtime run I’ve ever had and one of my most memorable runs overall.

Here are some pictures of today’s run with Ryan and Bart (thanks to Pamela Hobson):

• Me and Bart - Ryan's in the background talking to Sara (his wife).
• Me, Sara, and Ryan - He grins on the opposite side of his mouth from me, which makes him a much faster runner.
• Me "outkicking" Ryan at the finish - Bart Yasso ran ahead to take this picture with Pamela's camera.

I’m not sure what the rest of my running week holds, but I’m looking forward to it!

Labels: Running

I run for days like today.  Coming off a hard weekend of running, I set a very satisfying 10K PR today.  The entire race I felt like I was running my best.  It hurt, of course, like a race should, but I felt like I ran right at my limits for cardio, leg strength, leg turnover, pain management, etc.  I ran a smart pace by checking my Garmin early and often, and I was able to adjust my effort level appropriately based on the hills and racers around me.  Going in, I wasn't sure what to expect (based on my weekend efforts), but this was one of those days where everything went right.  I even had a strong finishing kick over the last quarter mile.  I felt happy and powerful.

Today was just one race, but it had everything I love about running in it.  I alluded to some of the individual aspects above such as testing my limits and the mental focus required to run a smart race.  But today also had plenty of the social aspects of running.  I saw lots of friends before, during, and after the race, and that made the whole event a lot more enjoyable.  I've never been involved with any hobby, skill, or trade that is so balanced and applicable at both the individual and social levels.  I can run alone or with friends and get great health benefits and satisfaction.

The social running community here in Nashville is so open it's amazing.  There are numerous races as well as several local running groups (e.g., Nashville Striders, East Nasty, Fleet Feet, Jim Spivy Running Club, Williamson Youth Track Club), and they all welcome new runners.  It's a great change from my past experiences with other endeavors.  I spent several very satisfying years practicing Wado Ryu karate, but I was always disappointed that the great organization I was involved with wasn't involved with any other Wado organizations.  Unfortunately, that's common in martial arts.  Many schools are "islands" and are exclusive of all other schools and styles.  But, fortunately, running is not that way.  Running is very inclusive.  Races and group runs are generally open to members of any running group and unaffiliated runners.

Both socially and individually, I've had a great summer of running.  I finished the Fleet Feet Summer Speed Sessions.  It was well worth the $50 for 10 weeks of coaching, and it was a great group to train with.  This summer I lowered my mile PR to 5:31 (on the track), my road 5K to 19:18 (at the Smyrna Parks 5K), and my road 10K to 40:46 (today at the Franklin Classic).  I've also done the first three Striders marathon training runs (up to 18 miles), and I've done one 27 mile run solo.  (When I was off work on July 3rd, I headed out for a long "runabout", and I called Amy 5 hours and 27 miles later to come pick me up.)  So things are going well.

For the fall, I'm going to keep training with a mix of speedwork and long runs up to half marathon distance.  I've got the Jaunt in the Joint half marathon coming up next week (September 16), and then the Music City Half on October 18.  After that I'm signed up for the Flying Monkey Marathon on November 22 (again and again).  The Flying Monkey has too much distance and too many hills for me to race it, but I'll run it and try to improve my time from last year.

Amy is also signed up for the Flying Monkey, and it will be her first marathon.  She did two half marathons this spring, so now she wants to go for the brass ring.  There's no tougher road marathon than the Monkey, so it should be an interesting day for both of us.  She's training with the Fleet Feet Fall Marathon Training group, so I've basically given up all Saturday morning races for this fall.  I may sneak in one or two Saturday races if we can find a sitter for Aaron, but for the most part Saturday mornings are hers now.

On a related note, if you love running too, I strongly recommend that you read Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher Dougall.  If reading this book doesn't make you want to go out and run, then you probably have no pulse.

Labels: Running

The 2009 Downhill @ Dawn Half Marathon was a fun and well-managed race where everything went right for me.  This was probably my smartest race ever, and all the other little things fell into place too.  The weather was perfect, aid stations were exactly where I needed them, the course had a net downhill gain, and there may even have been a tailwind. The whole event was top notch.  Kudos to Ron Pratt (the RD) and all the Nashville Striders volunteers that traveled to Asheville, NC to help put on the race.

I did a decent warm-up, and the race started at 6:01am – dawn in Ridgecrest.  I let a bunch of people pass me in the first mile, so I was in seventh place at mile 1.  I concentrated on doing what my friend Phil said to do, which was run 7:00s for the first few miles.  By mile 4 I had moved back up into fourth place.  The first two downhill miles were over, and we'd had a mile or two of uphill that dropped some people back.  On the gravel road miles (4.5 - 7.5), three of us swapped positions a couple of times between 3rd, 4th, and 5th.  By mile 8.5, I moved into 4th for good, and by mile 10 (going uphill!) I moved into 3rd for good.

I ran with the second place guy in my sights for two miles and kept slowly closing the distance.  We were shoulder to shoulder at 12.5, and I started my kick.  I knew it was a little early, but I felt great.  Everything had been going right all day.  I was hurting badly by 13, but I knew I was being followed so I pressed on.  When I turned the corner and saw 1:28:4x on the clock, I started sprinting all out.  I crossed the line at 1:29:04 and almost puked my guts out.  I had to stagger around for almost a minute before I could breathe correctly again.  I'd finished in second place, and I'd opened up a 15 second lead over the guy who finished in third place.  It turns out he hadn't followed me after all.

This was the kind of day I'd dreamed of as a racer.  I controlled my urge to start too fast, and I didn't worry about pace after the first couple of miles.  In fact, I never looked at my Garmin after mile 3.  I just used the course markers to know what mile I was in, and I focused on racing the people around me.  It was a lot of fun, and after the immediate pain wore off, it was especially exciting to have a huge PR. Previously, I was at 1:36:58, so I’d cut 7:54 off my old PR.

This race was the complete opposite of my Country Music Half.  Everything came together this time.  All of the runs I've done with Bob and Phil around the Old Tom King Half course in PWP really paid off.  I was strong on the downhills and on the uphills because of those runs.  I got a stitch in my side a couple of times, but something Amy had told me the day before fixed those.  Exhale as long and hard as you can until you're almost going to cough or puke.  Repeat that a couple of times and the stitch will go away.  It really loosens the diaphragm up. I hadn't heard that before, but Amy told it to me on the drive up to Asheville.  It was a fortuitous tip.

So that's the end of my extended "spring" racing season.  I got PRs in my last four races (although one was just a time trial), so that's a nice way to go out:

• 5/9 Girls on the Run 5K – 19:35
• 5/25 Hendersonville Classic 10K - 42:46
• 6/2 Summer Speed Sessions 1 Mile Time Trial - 5:41
• 6/6 Downhill @ Dawn Half Marathon - 1:29:04

Now I'll probably take a break from serious racing until August.  I'll, of course, run the Beer Mile on 6/21, and I'll probably pace Amy in a 5K or two.  But mostly I'm going to focus on training hard and doing my best to improve at shorter distance races.  At the Fleet Feet Summer Speed Sessions, we're focusing on improving our 1 mile race times, so that should really help me out over all the distances I care about (i.e., everything up to half marathons).

Labels: Running

I’m hosting a beer mile on Father’s Day.  Read all about it at http://www.menees.com/BeerMile/.  If you’re a local runner, come join us!

Labels: Running

All the races I had targeted for my Spring ’09 Racing season are over with now. The April races didn’t go as well as I had hoped, but May has been a good month.

• 4/11 Purity 10K – I sicked out of this race because I had the black plague, swine flu, or something awful that weekend.
• 4/18 Union City Civitan 5K – 20:12, 2nd overall, AG 1st (blog post)
• 4/25 Country Music Half – 1:44:45, horrible bonk! (blog post)
• 5/2 Wild Thang 9M Trail Run – 1:07:24, AG 2nd
• 5/9 Girls on the Run 5K – 19:35, AG 3rd, PR

It’s good to finish with a PR. So far this year, despite a great training season, I’ve only gotten PRs in 5K and 1Mi races. I’ve only run one 10K (Race Judicata), and it was very hilly and on a day I ran a double. For a 10K PR I was counting on the Purity 10K, which is fast and flat, but that didn’t work out due to illness. Now I’ve decided to skip the GJCC Triathlon on Memorial Day and run the Hendersonville Classic 10K instead. It’s not flat, but it’s not as hilly or a double like the Race Judicata 10K. Hopefully, I can get a new 10K PR at Hendersonville.

I’m also running the Downhill At Dawn Half Marathon in Asheville, NC on June 6th. The Nashville Striders provide race management for it, and the whole family is going to Asheville so I can run it. Hopefully, that will be a PR day too, but at least it will be a chance to redeem myself after giving up in the Country Music Half. Plus we're going to see the Biltmore Estate while we’re there, and it's totally awesome!

Labels: Running

The Bad News

The 2009 Country Music Half Marathon officially kicked my butt. I was aiming for a 1:30, and I finished at 1:44. Yuck.

I lost the 1:30 group by mile 5. I fell off PR pace by mile 10. After that I didn’t care about my time, except I felt obligated to finish faster than last year. So in the last 3.1 miles I walked some, drank a cold beer, and lollygagged to the finish line at 1:44 something. It was a disgusting, humiliating race. Every long run all year felt better than this one. I stunk this up royally.

My 5K split was 21:17 (6:51), and my 10K split was 43:48 (7:02). My 10 mile split was 1:14:19 (7:26), and by that point 8 minute miles were the best I could do. My time and pace over the last 3.1 miles (including walking and beer drinking) were 30:27 and 9:47. Sheesh.

The weather was not good for racing, but my day could have been worse. More than 40 runners were taken by ambulance to Metro General hospital, and one runner died of a "sudden cardiac event" after crossing the finish line. A dark day indeed.

The Good News

From this mess I've learned some lessons that should make me a better racer in the future. Probably the most important lesson is that I should only worry about running the best race I can on the current day in the current conditions. I was devistated by mile 10 when I knew I'd missed both my goal and any shot at a PR. But I foolishly threw away the last 3.1 miles and stopped racing.

The point of a race is to finish as fast as you can, and I gave up on that. I've never given up in a race before, not even in my two awful Flying Monkey finishes. At the Flying Monkey Marathons I didn't really expect to do well, so going into them I had a "do the best I can no matter what" mindset. But my hopes were too high for the CM Half given the weather that was dealt to me. Now I see that that was no reason to quit, but I didn't get that on Saturday. I'd much rather be able to look back and say I did my best to run a 1:39 than to have to admit that I gave up and ran a 1:44. I won't make that mistake again.

Another lesson I learned is that if I'm having a truly terrible day because of the weather then probably everyone else is too. Even with my half-hearted finish, I ended up in the top 3.3% overall (760 out of 22749), the top 7% in my age group (98 out of 1398), and the top 7% in my gender (599 out of 8244). Those percentages aren't too bad, but they make me feel like a real loser for giving up and letting dozens (or hundreds?) of people pass me in the final miles while I sipped a beer and jogged.

A final important lesson is that I shouldn't put all my eggs in one basket by having a single goal race. This was the only half marathon on my spring race calendar. I skipped the Frostbite Half in February and the Tom King Half in March, so now I have to wait until this fall to "redeem myself". I'll probably put several halfs on my fall calendar (e.g., Middle Half Oct. 3, Music City Half Oct. 18, Let Freedom Run Nov. 1 (?)).

Yesterday I mailed my entry for next weekend’s Wild Thang 9Mi trail run. I’m getting right back on the wagon or the horse or whatever cliché involves racing and a little bit of drinking. Here's hoping for better weather and faster running!

Labels: Running

Last weekend, my wife and I went to Union City, TN to visit my mom and dad. While there we ran the Union City Civitan Club's Running For Prevention of Child Abuse 5K. We both had a good time and did well in the race.



They don't have a web site to post the results, so the race director emailed them to us. I've posted them now, so I can get them uploaded to Athlinks. I also ran them through NashDash.com's WMA Age Grade Calculator, so I could see our age graded times and percentages (in the table below).

Number	FirstName	LastName	Time	Place	SexPl	AgePl	Age	Sex	City	State	AgeGrade	Graded%
4	Blake	Gallimore	19:11	1	1	1	34	M	Dresden	TN	18:52	68.34%
3	Bill	Menees	20:12	2	2	1	38	M	Madison	TN	19:22	66.58%
22	Travis	Laird	21:19	3	3	1	27	M	Dyersburg	TN	21:19	60.52%
30	Will	McBride	22:23	4	4	1	17	M	Rives	TN	21:22	60.35%
6	Kevin	Powell	24:50	5	5	2	16	M	Troy	TN	23:23	55.15%
7	Nathan	Powell	26:01	6	6	3	15	M	Troy	TN	24:06	53.51%
16	Hope	Montegomery	27:44	7	1	4	16	F	Union City	TN	26:07	49.38%
17	Meagan	Montegomery	29:11	8	2	5	16	F	Union City	TN	27:29	46.93%
24	Lori	Larcom	30:03	9	3	2	38	F	Union City	TN	28:49	44.75%
23	Emily	McGee	30:04	10	4	6	19	F	Union City	TN	29:26	43.82%
5	Robert	Powell	30:19	11	7	1	42	M	Troy	TN	28:13	45.70%
35	Madison	Turner	30:44	12	5	7	15	F	Union City	TN	28:28	45.30%
2	Amy	Oldham	30:59	13	6	3	38	F	Madison	TN	29:43	43.41%
29	Joe	Keith	31:16	14	8	2	29	M			31:14	41.30%
8	Michelle	Powell	31:21	15	7	2	41	F	Troy	TN	29:24	43.87%
25	Stephen	Laird	31:43	16	9	1	10	M	Dyersburg	TN	25:54	49.78%
26	Natalie	Huebrier	32:06	17	8	1	22	F	Union City	TN	32:05	40.20%
27	Karl	Huebrier	32:08	18	10	3	25	M	Union City	TN	32:08	40.15%
28	Lindsey	Stocks	32:29	19	9	4	26	F	Newbern	TN	32:29	39.71%
20	Katie	Hardin	32:45	20	10	8	16	F	Kenton	TN	30:50	41.82%
21	Angela	Laird	36:27	21	11	5	27	F	Dyersburg	TN	36:27	35.39%
15	Lisa	Williams	36:38	22	12	3	42	F	Union City	TN	34:06	37.82%
21	Hunter	Laird	36:41	23	11	2	6	M	Dyersburg	TN	25:18	50.97%
1	Chris	Menees	36:50	24	13	4	42	F	Union City	TN	34:17	37.62%
18	Laquisha	Smith	45:18	25	14	3	12	F	Union City	TN	39:17	32.83%
33	Brenna	Duncan	45:57	26	15	9	17	F	Union City	TN	43:52	29.40%
32	Edie	Martin	45:58	27	16	4	38	F	Union City	TN	44:05	29.26%
36	Blair	Beachum	45:59	28	17	10	15	F	Union City	TN	42:36	30.28%
34	Madison	Baldwin	46:00	29	18	11	15	F	Union City	TN	42:37	30.26%
9	April	McCord	50:13	30	19	4	13	F	Union City	TN	44:39	28.88%
11	Precious	Ware	50:14	31	20	5	12	F	Union City	TN	43:34	29.60%
10	Hannah	Pryor	50:19	32	21	6	12	F	Union City	TN	43:38	29.55%
19	Mariah	Lebron	50:28	33	22	7	11	F	Union City	TN	42:33	30.31%
12	Tania	Moreno	50:31	34	23	8	12	F	Union City	TN	43:49	29.44%
14	Johnette	Andrews	50:35	35	24	9	12	F	Union City	TN	43:52	29.40%
13	Dawn	Myers	50:38	36	25	10	12	F	Union City	TN	43:55	29.37%

Labels: Running

A few months ago I started a new website: NashDash.com. It contains a few running-related utilities that I've written when I couldn't find versions I liked elsewhere online. Currently, it contains:

• Single-Result Age Grading, which gives detailed age grading information for a single race result.
• Multi-Result Age Grading, which gives basic age grading information for an entire set of race results.
• Time Calculator, which allows you to enter expressions and formulas that use numbers, times, and dates. This is great for calculating paces, average times, etc.
• Unit Converter, which allows you to convert a quantity from one type of units to another.

I use the Time Calculator a lot. It's handy-dandy for calculating average interval paces, estimated finishing times for a given pace and distance, etc. I use the Single-Result Age Grading everytime I PR, and I use the Multi-Result Age Grading after important races like the Flying Monkey Marathon to see how everyone did relative to age grading.

Please check out what's there and let me know what you think, either through comments to this post, through NashDash's feedback link, or through email.

I have plans for other utilities that I may eventually get around to writing and publishing on NashDash. I've done some of the work on the following utilities, but they're not ready for general use yet:

• Pace Chart Generator - A lot of these exist on the net, but I have ideas for a generator different than any other I've seen. This is a low-priority item but relatively easy to code, so I may write it on some rainy day.
• Training Plan Generator - This would let you select or create training plans and then apply them to a calendar. For example, you could pick Hal Higdon's 5K Advanced training plan and choose to start it on Monday, April 6, 2009. Then you could view a printable calendar page and/or generate an iCalendar file that could be imported into any calendar program (e.g., Outlook, Google Calendar, iCal). This would be cool, but it's a big project, and I don't have much need for it. I've written about half of this, and I've imported about 60 good training plans I've found on the net. But it'll take a lot of motivation to ever finish this utility.
• Low-Cost Race Registration - It annoys me that Active.com charges such huge "processing fees" for race registrations, and they cram so many ads down your throat while overcharging you. I've done a lot of design work on implementing a low-cost race registration system so local running clubs (e.g., Nashville Striders) can offer race registrations without customers getting nailed for huge fees. I really want to implement this one day. This would benefit tons of people.

Labels: Running, Software

I've written a RunningAHEAD gadget for Windows Vista's Sidebar. It has the following features:

• Displays distance totals, latest workouts, or PRs.
• Has a "View Log" link to open the current log summary in a browser.
• Can show multiple logs and/or stat types by using multiple gadget instances.
• Can directly open workouts when "Latest Workouts" stats are displayed.
• Title can be customized, which is nice when showing multiple logs.
• Rounded corners, so you're less likely to cut yourself.

On the right is an image of four separate instances of the gadget in my Vista sidebar. This way I can view my stats and workouts while also getting in a little log stalking.

Please download "RunningAhead Stats" from the Vista Gadget Gallery and rate it well if you like it.

Labels: Running, Software

I ran 28 races last year, so I had a little bit of racing burn out coming into this year. Over the winter I took about two months off from racing, and I just ran easy to build my base up. I've been running 30+ miles a week since mid-December, and I re-introduced intensity/speedwork around mid-February. So far, I'm staying healthy, running well, and running faster, so I'm sticking with my current mileage level. I'm making sure every mile counts though.

Here are the results from my last six races. I've been fortunate enough to be in the top 3 in my age group (M35-39) in all six races:

• 12/13/08 Frostbite 5K 20:22 AG 2nd
• 2/28/09 Judicata 5K 21:03 AG 3rd
• 2/28/09 Judicata 10K 46:08 AG 3rd
• 3/14/09 Tom King 5K 19:49 AG 3rd
• 3/28/09 Runnin' To Beat The Blues 5K 19:57 AG 1st
• 3/28/09 Runnin' To Beat The Blues 1Mile 05:45 AG 1st

At the first four of the races the weather was complete crap (either freezing, raining, or both). And two of the race dates were doubles, so I was glad to do as well as I did both days.

I plan to run several more races this spring, building up to the Country Music Half and then tapering back down. I'm doing the:

• Purity 10K on 4/11
• Union City Civitan Club's Running For Prevention 5K on 4/18
• Country Music Half on 4/25
• Wild Thang 9M Trail Run on 5/2
• Girls on the Run 5K on 5/9

That's five weeks in a row, including a trip back to my boyhood hometown of Union City, TN. After these races, I'm taking a long break from racing again. I'll probably skip all the summer races until the Striders Picnic 5K on 7/25.

Well, actually, I've already registered for the GJCC Triathlon on Memorial Day (5/25), but I'm not even thinking about that right now. I'm having a great running season, so I'm going to get back to triathlon training in mid-May. I did a lot of lap swimming in the YMCA pools in January and February, but I got absolutely burned out on it. Triathlons may not be for me. So rather than continue to swim and hate it, I've decided to just put off more swimming (and biking) until after my running season is done. At this point, I care a lot more about my running than my first triathlon. I wonder if I'll feel the same on Memorial Day...

Labels: Running

Yesterday was the third running of the Flying Monkey Marathon. The weather was cold at the start (39F), but it warmed up a little during the race (50F). I survived it and avoided injury, but I didn't run as good a time as I wanted to. I finished in 4:31:53, which knocked 1:47:43 off last year's time.

I ran the first 16 miles, and I ran/walked the last 10. In true inexperienced fashion, I started off way too fast yesterday. I took off at an 8:30 pace, and I held that for 14 miles. Then I slowed down in miles 15 and 16 going up the back side of "3 mile hill". I made it to mile 18 (by the stone gates in PWP) still mostly running. Then miles 19-22 were horrible! Mile 19 is all uphill, and I had to walk the whole thing. It took 18:47, which was by far my worst mile of the day. By mile 22 I'd recovered a bit, and I could run a little more, but I still took a lot of walk breaks. I was never out of breath. My problem was that my calves, ankles, and feet felt like somebody had beaten them with hammers! I actually stopped three times during miles 19-22 to sit down and massage my calves. At least I was able to run through the finish line this year.

So I'm glad that's over. My lower legs are very sore today, and the outside edge of my right foot feels bruised, but other than that I'm fine. I took two Cold-Eeze tablets yesterday afternoon and one more this morning to try to prevent the cold I usually come down with after really long runs (18+ miles). So far it seems to have worked.

It's too early to decide whether I'll be running FM4 next year, but I'm glad I could run the race uninjured this year. Racing a marathon is not in my long term plans, but if I bump my weekly mileage a little next year (up to 30+), I might attempt the Monkey again as a long "fun run".

Right now I'm just glad to have the week off and no big races looming on the horizon. I hope to run again by Wednesday (once my lower legs and feet stop hurting), and I may pace my wife in a race on Thanksgiving morning. After that I plan on running one race easy in December, so I'll have run at least one race every month this year. I have 27 races so far this year, so I'm not going to push it in December. It'll be an easy month, and then in January I'll start training hard for some spring races.

Labels: Running

At the Cougar Crawl on October 18, I ran 20:02 for a new 5K PR. That cut 38 seconds off my previous PR, which was nice, but it bothered me that I didn't run sub-20. Running sub-20 has been my main goal all year (a New Year's Resolution that I actually stuck to), so I used the 20:02 as motivation to keep pushing myself in training for the last month.

This weekend it paid off. I finally broke 20 minutes at yesterday's Station Camp High School Stampede 5K. I ran 19:49 in the cold, wind, and rain. I ran smart, didn't burn out at the beginning, and had relatively even mile splits (6:24, 6:29, 6:26). I pushed it in the last quarter mile once I saw that I really could make it under 20. I was the first adult to finish (behind a few high school guys), so I won my age group too. With the age group prize and a door prize, I actually made a profit on the race. But the satisfaction of going sub-20 was worth all the pain that went into this race. I started the year with a 23:31 PR, so I've managed to cut 3:42 off that this year. That's not bad.

The Flying Monkey Marathon is coming up next weekend, so I was doing everything I could to go sub-20 before subjecting my legs to the Monkey. In case I didn't make it at the Stampede 5K, I had also signed up for a rare Sunday 5K being run in the Opry Mills Mall parking lot. The TSBA 5K started at 7am this morning. It was 34 degrees (F), and there were snow flurries before the start of the race. Since my sub-20 goal was met, I thought I might run this one easy, but when I toed the line, no one else stepped up with me. So I took off hard, led the whole way, and came out the overall winner! I only ran 20:37 today because I was a little tired from yesterday, and I started off way too fast. I blame my too fast start on the panic/excitement of leading the whole time. I've never done that before. It turns out that no matter how fast I run, the pace car can easily stay ahead of me.

So this was an excellent running weekend for me. I had pre-registered for both races, but when things turned cold and wet this week, I was really worried. But it all worked out fine. Now I just have to focus on running easy and injury-free next weekend at the Monkey. My plan is to start slow and then taper off.

On a related note, if I run 5.4 miles this week prior to the Monkey, then my 1000th mile for the year will come during the last mile of the Monkey. Good times.

Labels: Running

Since the Du Run Run, I've trained a lot, but I haven't done any more multisport events. I rode my friend's bike some more, swam a lot in my pool, and did some bricks. But my swimming lessons at Excel Aquatics didn't work out so well. I got kicked out of class. Or at least they asked me not to come back until I learned how to swim.

It turns out that I'm a very inefficient breather in the water and that makes me a very inefficient swimmer. So they told me I needed to take a beginner's swimming class to learn how to breathe properly before I came back to the triathlete's swimming class. That was disappointing, but it was a fair assessment.

I bought the Total Immersion Swimming book and worked through several of its "fish-like" swimming drills. That helped some, but I feel like I'd improve 100 times faster with a live coach versus having to work solo on drills from a book. That works fine for me in most mediums, but it's not working that well in the water. I'm too out of my element there.

The multisport and outdoor swimming season ends around here in early September, so I didn't have much time to train this year. By mid-August I decided to forget multisport for this year and focus solely on running. The multisport training I did do seemed to help my endurance though, so I'm interested in picking it back up in the spring.

I'm averaging about 25 miles a week running now, and I'm doing most of them at medium to high intensity. I do 4-6 mile runs during the week with long runs of 11-16 miles on the weekend. I briefly toyed with following a marathon training program this year (e.g., for the Greenway Marathon), but I've learned that I really don't like long, slow mileage. Shorter, faster runs suit me better, and they reduce my injury risk. My IT bands don't bother me any more unless I do 15+ mile runs, so I try not to do them very often.

I'm also regularly doing strength training, stretching, and other exercises to improve my running muscles. I try to mix up my workouts so they occasionally include barefoot running, side running, backwards running, high knees, high heels, step/box jumps, rocket jumps, long strides/bounds, and short strides.

I've also found that back extensions, dumbbell lunges, and abdominal exercises really help me run faster due to improved stability and breathing. I used to finish fast runs, and my stomach/diaphragm would be hurting to the point of almost making me throw up. Since I started strengthening my core muscles, I've gotten faster, and I'm much less likely to puke at the end of a hard race.

In the last two months I've lowered my 5K, 10K, and half marathon PRs substantially:

• 5K - 20:40 (6:40 pace) on 8/9/08
• 10K - 45:09 (7:16 pace) on 9/13/08
• Half - 1:36:58 (7:25 pace) on 10/4/08

I'm looking forward to improving these times as the weather gets cooler. The weather was about perfect for this week's half where I PRed, but the 5K and 10K were set in hotter conditions than I'd like.

I've tried to run smart this year by listening to my body to avoid injury. So far that's worked, and my times keep improving. Unfortunately, I was foolish enough to sign up for the Flying Monkey Marathon again. I have no intentions of racing it though because I haven't trained to run fast (or even run) for 26.2 miles. My goal is to finish the race uninjured. If possible, I'd like to finish under last year's 6:19:36 injured time. So I'll be stopping to stretch, walking the worst uphills, walking through the water stops, and doing whatever is necessary to get through the race injury-free.

I've done 21 races so far this year - at least one every month. I'm hoping the Flying Monkey won't kill my legs and break that streak for me by ruining my December races. I'm signed up for the Cougar Crawl 5K on Oct. 18, and I'll probably run the Team Nashville 10 Miler on Nov. 1. After that it's the Monkey on Nov. 23, and then seeing which races I can handle in December.

Labels: Running

On Sunday, June 15, 2008, I competed in my first multisport event, the Music City Du Run Run Duathlon. This event was a 2 mile run, a 10 mile bike, and another 2 mile run.

Other than running, I didn't train for it. I did a little bike riding while on vacation at Hilton Head Island, SC last month. Then I borrowed a friend's road bike and another friend's bike rack, so I could enter the duathlon. A few days before the race, I did one 8.5 mile ride on my friend's bike to get used to it and to get an idea of what kind of pace I should expect.

On race day, things went smoothly until the 2nd run. When I hopped off the bike, my legs felt weird, and when I started running, they felt like I was drunk. It wasn't pretty. I ended up walking 8 times in the last 2 miles, which is sad. I really wish the 2nd run had gone better, but I guess I should have expected that given my lack of bike-to-run training. My official race results are below.

Run 1 - 13:59
Transition 1 - 0:37
Bike - 32:10
Transition 2 - 0:37
Run 2 - 17:28
Total - 1:04:50
M35-39 - 12 out of 29
Overall - 74 out of 280

Now I'm in the mood to do a triathlon or two (e.g., Cedars of Lebanon Triathlon and Old Hickory Lake Triathlon), but I'll definitely be training for them. I'm taking a Triathlete Swimming class starting next Wednesday at Excel Aquatics in Brentwood, TN. And I'll certainly be doing some "brick" workouts to get used to the bike-to-run transition!

Labels: Running

I finished yesterday's Country Music Half Marathon in 1:45:37, which was over an 8 minute PR for me. It was also much faster than my 2:14:47 last year. Just about everything went right, including the weather. It rained all morning right up until the start of the race, but then it stopped. During the race it stayed cool and overcast, and the wind was very mild.

The only thing that went wrong was I accidentally started off in corral 4 instead of in corral 5 with the 1:45 pacer. I somehow got ahead of the rope when the corrals moved forward. So I ran an 8:20 pace until the pacer caught me in mile 4, then I hung with him until the end (at a little under an 8:00 pace). Overall, it probably did me some good to start off slower the first 3 miles. I hadn't done any warm-up since I was trying to stay out of the rain as long as possible.

Here are my final splits and stats from the race:

• 5K: 26:01 (8:23)
• 6Mi: 49:02 (8:11)
• 10Mi: 1:20:13 (8:02)
• Finish: 1:45:37 (8:04)
• O'All: 1335 / 21398 (6.2%)
• Sex: 1040 / 7921 (13.1%)
• Div (M35-39): 162 / 1249 (13%)
• Age Grade: 57.10%

Last year, the CM Half was my first huge race (>5000 people), and it was exciting because of all the fanfare. But this year, I guess I'm just older and more crotchety because I found all the fanfare annoying. It really made me appreciate small, quiet local races that have no expo, crowds, corrals, chips, bands, buses, spectators, charities, certification, or cheerleaders. I like quiet running with beautiful scenery.

My next race is the Wild Thang 9 Mile Trail Run in Long Hunter State Park this Saturday (May 3, 2008). My next big, long-term goal is the Greenway Marathon on October 4, 2008.

Labels: Running

I wrote a little iGoogle gadget today that displays a user's total distances from RunningAHEAD.com. It uses the scripts feature that you can access from your RA Tools menu. The gadget is not fancy, but it allows you to set its title and the log ID for the user you want to track. You can add multiple instances of it to your iGoogle page if you want to track multiple users.

Click the following link to see a screenshot and optionally add it to your iGoogle page: RunningAHEAD Distance Totals

By default, it will show my log totals, so you'll probably want to change it to show your own or someone else's. Click "Edit Settings" off the drop down menu in the gadget's upper right corner to change the title and log ID. The log ID is not the person's RunningAHEAD user name. It's the long hexadecimal string from the user's summary page URL. For example, the URL to my log summary page is http://www.runningahead.com/logs/23fbfe3407d54034bb604d607cb56919. So the log ID for me is 23fbfe3407d54034bb604d607cb56919.

Note: A user must have their log shared publically (i.e., for everyone to access it) in order for the scripts to work. So if your log is private, then you won't be able to use it with this gadget.

Labels: Running

Yesterday at the Walk & Roll - Focus on Abilities 5K, I came in third overall and first in my age group (M30-39). So that's two age group awards in two weeks! This time I hung around to get the award, and it included more in gift certificates than I spent on the race. Making a profit on a race is cool. I'm really glad I decided to run this one. I hadn't planned on it, but the opportunity presented itself at the last minute.

Unfortunately, my age group award streak will be broken this week at the Country Music Half Marathon. I'm in corral 6, so there will be 5000 runners starting ahead of me. It seems highly unlikely that I'll be one of the top three men in the 35-39 age group. Last year the top three in that age group finished in 1:18:45 or less, which is 35 minutes faster than I've ever run a half. They were all in the top 25 runners in the CM Half. It would take a miracle of Biblical proportions for me to run that fast this weekend.

Labels: Running

At Saturday's Purity Moosic City Dairy Dash 10K I got my first age group award! Or at least I qualified for it. I came in third in my age group (M35-39), but I didn't know it because I had to leave immediately after the race to take my son to swimming lessons (indoors!). The official results weren't posted until three days later, so I didn't find out until yesterday that I'd actually placed. I emailed the RD, and he said he'd mail me my award.

I realize this is minor in "the grand scheme of things", but it's pretty motivational to me. It makes the hard work seem a little less hard and a little more satisfying. Hopefully, this won't be the last age group award I get!

Overall, my running is getting better. I'm running faster, smoother, and finishing stronger. My pacing is getting better in my training runs and in my races. And I've lowered several PRs this year:

• 5K = 22:44 (7:20) at the Tom King 5K
• 10K = 48:12 (7:46) at the Purity 10K
• Half Marathon = 1:53:58 (8:42) at the Frostbite Half

Next up is the Country Music Half Marathon on April 26. I'm hoping for another PR there, of course.

Labels: Running

Since I'm such a newbie, I'm always worried about my pace. So I was happy when Runner's World sent me a free pace chart. But after using it for a while, I decided I wanted two different pace charts.

I wanted one chart with only the most common race distances I run, so I could keep it out for easy reference. And I wanted another chart with lots of distances for those rare occasions when I get to run a 15K or a 30K.

So I made a spreadsheet that contains both versions, and I exported them both as HTML. The results are linked to below. Enjoy!

• HTML chart with common distances (5K, 10K, half marathon, marathon)
• HTML chart with lots of distances (2 mi - marathon)
• Excel spreadsheet with the above charts

Labels: Running

A couple of weeks ago I tried running barefoot outdoors for the first time in 30 years. I ran on some soccer fields behind a YMCA near where I work. It felt a little weird at first, but overall it felt great! I ran 4 miles that first day with about 1/2 mile of it on asphalt. The asphalt felt like sandpaper on my feet, but the grass felt wonderful. Soccer fields are nice, but I hope to run on some golf courses soon too.

Running barefoot really seems to help my running form because it makes any form flaws immediately apparent. There are no shoes or padding to mask the pain of bad moves with my feet, legs, or hips until they build up to an injury. Running barefoot provides instant feedback so I can correct form mistakes quickly. Overall, it makes my legs feel stronger and more efficient. In most of my runs lately, I've felt better and been running faster at the end.

I might be able to toughen up and run barefoot on asphalt someday, but in the meantime I'm trying to do the majority of my asphalt runs in the most minimal shoes I can find. I did some research and found several options like water shoes and Vibram Fivefingers. The best site I found for minimal shoe coverage was Tue Jepsen's, which has several great reviews.

As a first step I bought some $4.99 water shoes at Academy Sports and some $5.99 water shoes at Target. They're both very comfortable, and after getting used to them I can run fairly fast in both of them. The ones from Academy Sports are a little more snug, so I feel a little better running in them. But I prefer the Target shoes for walking around during the day. My friends and family think I'm crazy for wearing water shoes all the time, but I really feel like my feet and legs are getting stronger and more efficient.

One of the first running books I read was Gordon Pirie's Running Fast And Injury Free. He recommended running barefoot in the sand (e.g., on a beach or in a long jump pit) to check your form. He also believed that "any and all additions to the body damage running skill," and he was strongly in favor of a minimal shoe. His book is free and available for download as a PDF, so it's well worth checking out.

Google has plenty of barefoot running links if you're interested. If you're brave enough to try it out and you can overcome your fears about pain or social stigma, barefoot running has a lot to offer.

Labels: Running

I wrote the following article for the Nashville Striders's March 2008 Funrunner magazine. I'm posting it here for non-local runners and for those few local runners that haven't joined the Striders for some reason.

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Some say an idle mind is the Devil's playground. That was true for me after the 2007 Flying Monkey Marathon destroyed my legs for a month or so. As I sat around wishing I could run, I spent a lot of time on the message boards. Eventually, I came across an interesting thread by "Curvy" where he went on a run to check out the "PWP Lake on Hwy 100".

On the official Percy Warner Park (PWP) maps this little body of water is known as the Willow Pond, and it's just north of the Deep Wells entrance off Hwy 100. It's a good-sized, shallow pond, but like most things in PWP, it's very beautiful. A small parking area by the road provides access to it, and a few picnic tables are placed around it for visitors. I'd driven by and admired the Willow Pond many times on my way to run in the park, but I'd never stopped to examine it up close.

After reading Curvy's thread, I decided that I was going to check out the Willow Pond as soon as my legs were up to it. By the time Christmas vacation rolled around I was running semi-normally again, so I decided it was time to head to the pond. But I didn't want to get to it by Hwy 100. That didn't seem adventurous enough. I wanted to get to it from the park trails.

The "white trail", known as the Warner Woods Trail on the official PWP map, comes within about 600 feet of the Willow Pond at its closest point. Unfortunately, there's no official trail between the two. So one warm day in late December, I decided to run the white trail and go in search of the Willow Pond.

It did not go well. At the closest point between the white trail and the pond, you can hear the cars on Hwy 100, so I tried following the noise to see where it took me. I didn't get lost in the woods, but I didn't use good sense either. I ended up going too far north, and after toiling through the woods and underbrush for 10 minutes, I turned around and made my way back to the white trail. I knew I'd been close to the pond, but I never got to see it. All I'd discovered on this attempt was a rusted old chair, some tires, and a few beer cans from the 70s. I'd love to know how they got out in the middle of the woods, but discovering them wasn't the satisfaction I was looking for.

After I was safely back running on the trail, a few things occurred to me. Number one, it's stupid to go wandering off in the woods by yourself without letting anyone know what you're doing. Number two, I was wearing my Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch, so I should have used it to navigate instead of using "the force". Number three, I should have followed the water to the pond because I crossed a small creek early on in my trek. In retrospect, all of these things seemed obvious.

That afternoon, I analyzed my run data to see where I'd gone wrong (too far north, not enough west), and I started to plan my next attempt. I used Google Maps to get the latitude and longitude of the closest points on the white trail and the Willow Pond, and I entered them into my Garmin as labeled navigation points. Its GPS helps me navigate to either of the points, so I know the best place to stop on the white trail, the exact direction I need to go to get to the pond, and how to get back to the trail when necessary. Armed with this data and my fancy gadget, I knew I'd have better luck next time.

A couple of weeks went by before my next attempt, but on the first warm day I had off in January I headed to the park. Once I got on the white trail, I activated my GPS, and it took me to the optimal spot on the trail. Conveniently, there was a large, clear gulley that led down to the small creek I'd seen on my first attempt. The creek was full of water, so I didn't want to walk down it in my running shoes. I tried to move along its edge, but the growth around it was pretty thick-even in winter.

After scouting around for a few minutes, I finally found a useable "path" on the north side of the creek. It may be an animal path used by deer, bobcats, or monkeys, or it may be an old, dried up offshoot of the creek. This small rocky trail is 20 or 30 feet north of the creek, and it parallels it most of the way to the pond. Once I found it, it was relatively easy to cover the remaining distance to the pond.

As I came out into the marsh at the eastern edge of the pond I felt like Lewis and Clark reaching the Pacific Ocean for the first time. It was very exciting for me, but then I don't get out much. After a quick look around to note where I'd come out, I ran a triumphant lap around the pond to celebrate my discovery.

As I ran, I began to wonder if I was now part of a select group of Willow Pond questers that had secretly made the path I'd found. Perhaps other runners have made this trek in silence for many years. If so, how would I contact them? How would I let them know that I'm interested in the mysteries of the Willow Pond too? If they exist, then finding this secret society of Willow Pond questers would be an interesting adventure on its own.

As I pondered that, I heard the cry of a flying monkey in the trees to the north. I never saw it, but I got the sense that I'd overstayed my welcome. Some say that the Willow Pond is the breeding ground for flying monkeys, but I didn't see any of their eggs (assuming that flying monkeys lay eggs). Either way, I decided not to hang around too long since I'd obviously gotten a monkey's attention.

I reversed my course down the rocky trail, crossed the creek, and went back up the gulley to get on the white trail. The return trip was easy, and I was smiling from ear to ear when I got back. I greeted some trail walkers, and I enjoyed their looks as I came out of the woods. I'm sure they thought I had relieved myself in the woods, but I was just happy that my little quest was successful and fun.

If you'd like to make your own quest for the Willow Pond, here are some things to consider:

• If you have any fear about being out of sight of the trail, don't attempt this. If you're horrible with directions, don't attempt this. If you have any allergies, phobias, or too much common sense, don't attempt this.
• The woods are probably easiest to traverse in the winter when most of the vegetation is bare, but you should still expect to duck a lot and move slowly. The "path" currently isn't runnable.
• Wear long sleeves, gloves, pants, socks, and old shoes that you don't care about getting muddy. Even in the winter, there are lots of limbs, bushes, weeds, and other obstacles you'll have to get past. There are also lots of cockleburs. In other seasons there are probably spiders, ticks, and snakes, too.
• If you get lost in the woods, follow the creek to the pond even if you have to walk down the middle of the creek. Once at the pond, you can run about a half mile south (to the left) on Hwy 100 to get to the park entrance at Deep Wells. From there should be able to get back to your car without getting lost again.
• Make sure you tell someone where you're going in case you do get lost in the woods.
• Don't attempt this when it's raining, due to risk of flash flooding in the gulley, creek, and pond areas.
• If you reach the pond, you must run a lap around it to show respect to the park and to the monkeys. But don't run too many laps. Monkeys don't take kindly to arrogant runners.
• If you have a GPS device, enter the following points (in latitude and longitude) so you can easily navigate to them. Garmin Forerunners expect coordinates in the second format with degrees and fractional minutes.
  • White Trail Point: (36.081°, -86.880°) or (N36° 4.860', W86° 52.800')
  • Pond Point: (36.083°, -86.882°) or (N36° 4.954', W86° 52.918')
• The easiest path between the trail and pond is not a straight line. It's actually more of an arc. If you go with the contour of the land, you'll head north for a little while until you cross the creek and hit the rocky trail. Then you can follow the trail to the west.

Hopefully, enough PWP runners will attempt this quest that we can forge our own little path between the white trail and the Willow Pond. I'd love to see Metro Parks and/or The Friends of Warner Parks get an official trail made between the two. The Willow Pond is just too cool to leave off the trail system. I plan to visit it again soon, and I hope to see you there!

Labels: Running

I wrote the following article for the Nashville Striders's February 2008 Funrunner magazine. I'm posting it here for non-local runners and for those few local runners that haven't joined the Striders for some reason.

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For almost 25 years, I equated running with punishment. I developed that attitude in junior high and high school when having to run meant that I’d made the coach or P.E. teacher mad. It ended up a deeply-rooted belief that made me avoid running for most of my life.

That finally changed in February 2007 when a friend gave me a free entry into the Predators Fangtastic 5K. I had several runner friends, and they seemed to enjoy it, so I thought I’d give this free race a shot. When I crossed the finish line exhausted and close to puking I told my friends that it was the only race I would ever run, but 10 minutes later I was already talking about doing another one.

I started training to run my next 5K (Goodpasture Cougar Crawl), and my interest quickly turned into passion (or my wife might say obsession). Since then I’ve read a lot, trained a lot, raced a lot, and met tons of very helpful runners. I’ve had ups and downs, including unexpected PRs and unfortunate DNFs and injuries. But I’ve gotten a lot better, and I know I can keep getting better.

As I look back over my first year of running I realize that there’s nothing unique about the lessons I’ve learned. I’ve seen other runners learn the same lessons, but many of the lessons are worth documenting because it might help others learn them easier. What follows are my most important "rookie year" insights into running. These are all lessons I wish I’d known at the beginning of my running life. Given my relative inexperience, these insights may be overshadowed by others next year, but for now these seem important enough to pass along.

Equipment

• Good running shoes are a must. Because of various pressures on the feet while running, your running shoes may need to be a different size or width than your everyday shoes. You may also benefit from additional support or cushioning depending upon your running form. For best results, get professionally fitted at one of the local running stores. It’s fast, free, and well worth it. Periodic refits can also be helpful since your feet can change shape as you run more.
• You don’t need to buy trail shoes to go trail running. You can run the trails in the local parks (e.g., Warner parks, Shelby Bottoms) using any normal running shoes. Many trail runners just wear their old road shoes.
• You can safely wash most running shoes in a washing machine. Wash them in cold water with a load of towels, and let them air dry sitting on a window sill.
• Other than shoes, specialized running clothes and gear are nice but not mandatory. Wicking fabrics are beneficial, but you don’t have to buy a complete wardrobe of the stuff to get started.
• Running "watches" like Garmins and Polars that track speed and distance are really nice. They allow you to take off running anywhere and have a pretty good idea about how far you’ve run.
• Don’t assume that your running watch will measure things exactly. USATF certification measurements are much more accurate than any current GPS or stride sensor measurements. In particular, Garmin Forerunners are only accurate to +/- 35 feet per GPS reading, so they can be significantly off from certified measurements, especially on compact, curvy courses. Don’t be surprised if one Garmin measures 3.05 miles while another measures 3.15 miles on a USATF-certified 5K course.

Training

• Variety is necessary for improvement. If you always do the same things you won’t improve. Doing nothing but "long slow distance" will make you a slow runner. Vary your workouts to include speedwork, trails, hills, group runs, parks, roads, tracks, etc.
• To run better, run with better runners. Or at least hang out with them when you can.
• You’ll often get conflicting advice from runners. Try things out and see what works best for you. No one person, book, or web site contains "the best way" or "the truth" for everyone.
• Don’t increase your weekly mileage or long run mileage too fast. A 10% increase per week is a good limit to minimize the risk of injury. Adding another running session may also be an option.
• You’ll be good at what you train for. The distance and pace you run most often will be the distance and pace you’ll run best.
• Find the distance that’s best for you. It may be 5K or 26.2 miles or something else. Not every runner is the same. Some people will excel at shorter, quicker distances, whereas others can outlast most people and excel at endurance races.
• High temperatures and humidity can really affect your performance. Hydrate often, and don’t try to predict your mid-November pace based on mid-August training times.
• Cold weather running isn’t that bad. You should dress so that you’re cool the first 10 minutes or so. After that you should be comfortable. Cover the body parts that get the least circulation (e.g., hands, ears) if they bother you.
• You don’t have to apologize if you’re running your best but you’re still the slowest member of a group. The faster runners have been where you are, and they understand that in a group they’ll need to make concessions (e.g., slower pace or walk breaks) for the slower runners.
• Keep a log of all your runs. This allows you to track your weekly mileage, shoe lifetimes, PRs, and other stats. There are many free and easy-to-use online running logs. RunningAhead.com is used by a lot of local runners. Online logs have the benefit of being accessible from anywhere, so you can easily view or update them while at work, on vacation, etc.
• To prevent your shoes from coming untied while running, tie a regular bow and tuck the loops and lace ends under one of the laces farther down. This prevents the knot from loosening and the loops from catching on anything, and you can still easily untie your shoes after a run.

Speed

• You should learn to move at a pace where you feel like you’re running – not jogging and not sprinting.
• Running efficiently is paramount to getting faster. Your upper body and lower body must move in sync.
• Speed doesn’t come from lengthening your stride in front of you. That actually slows you down. Speed comes from your feet hitting the ground quickly with an efficient form and rear stride. When running fast, you should spring forward, not up, and you should land on your forefoot to midfoot with a flexed knee and your foot directly underneath you. As you run faster, your stride will lengthen behind you, and your heel will pull in closer to your hamstrings before your foot returns to the ground.

Races

• Always thank the volunteers! There would be very few races without them.
• Race day magic exists. Expect to run better, longer in a race than you can in training runs.
• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket by focusing everything toward one race. Plans may have to change due to injury, family, work, etc.
• Find an energy product you can ingest before a race that sits well on your stomach. For some people this is food; for others it’s gel or a sports drink. You may have to train yourself to get used to racing with something in your system.
• Never experiment with new products (e.g., gels, shoes, tights) during a race. Try them out on several training runs first.
• The night before a race, lay out everything you’ll need on race day. Get up early before the race. Arrive at the race early. Do some short warm up runs.
• Senior citizens and people pushing strollers may pass you. This shouldn’t hurt your pride. If it does, you need to learn to run faster like they did.
• If you don’t have a secure key pocket on your racing gear, you can use a couple of timing chip straps to fasten your key to your shoe laces. I usually strap my timing chip to one shoe, and my key to the other.

Marathons

• Heed the old advice of "respect the distance". 26.2 is more than twice as hard as 13.1. It’s harder to train for, and it’s harder to race. Some say the first 20 miles is half the race, and the last 6.2 miles is the other two-thirds of the race.
• If you’re training for a marathon, don’t skimp on your mid-week runs. Doing nothing but short runs during the week followed by increasing long runs on the weekend is a recipe for injuries. If your weekend long run is more than half your total weekly mileage, you’re probably headed for trouble.
• Marathons get all the press, but they’re not the only race worth running. They’re a big event to organize, so there are very few local ones. Most marathoners expect to travel to races. If you’re happy running in the plentiful local 5K, 10K, and halfs, then you shouldn’t feel compelled to become a marathoner. Conversely, marathons aren’t the pinnacle of racing. There are always more challenges if you want them (e.g., ultras, Ironman®, adventure racing).

Injuries

• Injuries can happen, but with patience and smart work, you can get over them.
• You appreciate an injury-free body more when it’s gone.
• Listen to your body at the first sign of an injury. Don’t try to run through it. There’s a difference between discomfort and "you better stop now" pain.
• Having to DNF ("did not finish") a race or training run is much better than continuing on and injuring yourself further. The difference can mean being out of running for a few days versus being out for several weeks. Severe injuries can also mean more medical bills.
• Running a race when you’re already injured is stupid. That’s a guaranteed way to cost yourself a lot more time off from running.
• If your Achilles tendons are always sore, try cutting the so-called "Achilles protector" off the top heel of each shoe. It doesn’t contribute to heel stability in a properly fit shoe, which should fit snugly to the bony part of your heel. The "protector" material can jam into the Achilles tendon each time you plantar-flex your foot (i.e., point your toes down) and cause constant irritation. The top of the shoe heel should be about the same height as the bony heel of your foot.

Miscellaneous

• Non-runners don’t want to hear you talk about running all the time. This was a shock to me, but several non-runners pointed this out.
• You don’t have to be crazy to run, but it helps. It’s tough to push yourself to ever increasing limits and to do it regardless of the weather, distractions, etc. Runners demonstrate the spirit from the old saying, "Do not pray for an easy life. Pray to be a stronger person."
• All the runners I’ve met are really nice and helpful. The same qualities that make runners strive to improve themselves physically seem to make runners nice people to be around.
• There will never be consensus on a message board, and people don’t always behave the same on a message board as they do in person. This is not running-specific, but it’s worth mentioning given the constant activity on the Striders message board.
• Nashville is a runner’s Mecca. It has so many awesome places to run. Enjoy the greenways and parks! It also has the Nashville Striders, which provide great races, great volunteers, and great community support. Even the weather is nice here. I doubt there’s a better city in the world for the average runner.

Labels: Running

My first marathon is done, and it nearly got the best of me.

The Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon is a beautiful, brutal race. Unfortunately, I went into it injured, and 26.2 miles of hills was more than I could run that day. I ended up running 10.2 miles and walking the last 16. That's a tedious way to finish, but it's still better than not finishing. And starting injured is better than not starting at all. My final time was 6:19:36, which was a disappointing 171st place out of 173 finishers.

Two weeks earlier, while running the Team Nashville Half Marathon I hurt my right knee about 5 miles in. I DNFed (did not finish) the race that day because I wanted to try to heal up before the Flying Monkey. Unfortunately, I didn't have quite enough time. Next year I hope to do better at both races.

Prior to November, I had a few decent races that I haven't blogged about. On September 29th I ran the Shelby Bottoms Boogie 15K in 1:18:46, which was my first 15K race. On October 14th I ran the Denver Half Marathon in 2:05:11, which was an acceptable time for me considering it was 34 degrees and raining the whole day. On October 20th I ran the Comdata Brentwood 10K in 50:50, which was a new 10K PR for me.

Right now, I'm recovering from the knee injury that flared up during the Flying Monkey. After it heals, I'm going back to focusing on form, speedwork, and trail running. I still care mostly about 5K and half-marathon times, but I'm going to try to get stronger before attempting next year's Flying Monkey. I'll probably do the Nashville Striders Marathon Training Series in the spring and fall, and I'll continue to do long runs in PWP. I'm also continuing my leg strengthing exercises so I won't have any more problems with my knees.

Labels: Running

Since the Firecracker 5K, I've run a few other races. I've also been doing speed work and trail running, so my times have improved quite a bit. I've stopped worrying as much about running marathons, and I'm just training to improve my 5K and half-marathon times for now.

On September 3rd at the Franklin Classic 5K, I set a new PR of 23:31, which is 2:20 faster than my previous 5K PR. Today I ran The Middle Half, and set a new PR of 1:59:02, which is 15:45 faster than my previous half-marathon time.

In October, I'm signed up to run the Denver Half-Marathon while we're on vacation there visiting friends. In November, I'll run the Team Nashville Half, then two weeks later I'll run my first marathon: The Flying Monkey. I'm not training to run the Flying Monkey quickly; I'm just hoping to survive it!

Labels: Running

Last Wednesday (July 4th), I ran in the Cadillac Firecracker 5K at the Maryland Farms YMCA in Brentwood, TN. This was my first race since I injured my left IT band, and it went very well. I set a PR of 25:51, which was 51 seconds faster than my previous 5K PR.

My left ITB still requires some stretching and warmup, so I got to the race an hour early and started running. I first ran a 2M warmup by myself and then took a 15 minute break. Then I ran a 1.2M warmup with a friend, and we finished about 10 minutes before race time.

The warmups helped me a lot because I felt good throughout the race, and I was able to keep a consistent pace. In past runs I haven't warmed up at all, and the first mile or two always felt terrible. This time I was ready to go. The extra warmup miles didn't take anything away from me, and my muscles and joints were able to handle the race pace well.

It seems like all the physical therapy is paying off. My injury is manageable if I stretch and warmup correctly, and I haven't lost any speed or endurance. Now I just need to keep training smart for the fall half-marathons.

My official results from the Firecracker 5K are:

Gun Time: 26:35
Chip Time: 25:51
Pace: 8:21
Overall Place: 431 out of 1228
Sex Place: 346
Age Group Place (Male 35-39): 66 out of 122
Bib Number: 22

Labels: Running

Like an inexperienced goober, I overtrained and hurt myself. On May 13th, two weeks after the CMM Half, I was running the PWP 11.8, and I hurt my left IT band (tissue that attaches to the outside of the knee). The really annoying thing is that I had plenty of warning signs and just ignored them. The day I hurt my ITB, I was about 6 miles into PWP, and my left knee started feeling funny. By 8 miles it was hurting pretty good. By 10 miles it was a stabbing pain, but I still went around Luke Lea. By 11.8, it was stabbing and nearly locked up. The whole time the friend I was with was saying, "you should stop now." I sure wish I had that day back, or that I'd just done the 5.8!

I basically couldn't run for a month due to pain near my left knee. On June 15th, I finally went to a doctor that several local runners recommended: Dr. James (Jim) Johnson at Nashville Orthopedic Specialists (356 North 24th Ave Nashville, TN 37203, 615-329-2225). He referred me to Adam Carter at AustralUS Physiotherapy (1800 Church Street, Suite 102, Nashville, TN 37203, 615-329-3779). Now I'm using a foam roller and doing strengthening exercises to improve my overall running ability.

My improvement over the last week or so has been dramatic. I'm finally back to where I can run 5K (3.1M) without pain, and that's great. I've learned to re-appreciate being able to run 5K. I'd become so focused on training for a fall marathon, that I'd forgotten how much fun shorter distance runs can be. Basically, being able to run anything is nice once you've had to sit around for a month without running.

I've also replaced my old shoes, which Adam and others said were complete crap. Now I've got a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 7s and a pair of Brooks Vantage II that I alternate between. I was fitted with the GTS 7s at Fleet Feet in Brentwood, and Adam agrees that they're a good shoe for me. Then I went to Team Nashville, where Terry fitted me with the Vantage IIs. He says alternating between the two similar but slightly different shoes should help me.

Terry and Robert at Team Nashville both told me very emphatically but nicely that I shouldn't try to run a marathon this year because I haven't been running long enough. Between them they have 68 years of running experience and 44 years of coaching experience, so they probably know what they're talking about. Terry says he recommends about 2 years of running before tackling a marathon for everyone he coaches. Robert independently told me he'd recommend at least a year but probabaly more before doing a marathon. So, somewhat reluctantly, I guess I'm going to listen to them and skip the fall marathons this year. I'd still like to run the full CMM next April though. That will be after 14 months of training, so we'll see how the legs feel.

I'm already signed up for The Middle Half this fall (September 22nd), so that will be my longest race for the remainder of the year. If I increase the distance of my long run by 10% a week for the next 12 weeks (which is what Dr. Jim recommends), I'll come in at the right distance on race day. If I can run smart the whole time, maybe this injury business will be behind me.

For completeness, I should mention that on May 5th I ran the Davidson Academy Bear Crawl 10K. My time was 52:14, which was 6:43 faster than my previous 10K PR. Unfortunately, that race probably contributed to my overtraining and subsequent ITB injury. It was only a week after the CMM Half and a week before my injury. I should have taken some rest after the CMM and not gone crazy training for a fall marathon...

Labels: Running

Yesterday, I completed my first half marathon, the Country Music Half. My chip time was 2:15:00, which was exactly my goal time. My stopwatch (a Garmin 305) said my time was 2:13:15, so I don't understand why it was so different from my chip time. Oh well, at least I hit my goal. I ran most of the way. I only walked through the water stops.

Update (4/30/07): The official results have been updated, and now my chip time is 13 seconds faster at 2:14:47. They've updated a lot of other runner's times too, so I'm convinced they had chip problems.

Running with 30,000 others is a unique experience, but it wasn't bad. All the other runners I met were friendly, and all the volunteers were great. Before the race started, I got to watch the sunrise while sitting on the steps of the Parthenon, which was very cool. The only negative part was the post-finish line corral, which was very overcrowded. After running 13.1 miles, I had to walk in place rapidly to keep my legs from locking up because the herd was just inching along.

This morning, I'm mentally ready to run again, but my feet and legs aren't. I probably need to get some new shoes. I'll start running again on Tuesday, and hopefully next week I'll be in the Davidson Academy Bear Crawl 10K. My goal for the rest of the year is to train for a fall marathon, perhaps the Louisville Marathon or even the Flying Monkey!

For blog completeness, I should mention that two weeks ago I ran in the Purity Moosic City 10K, and four weeks ago I ran in the Runnin' To Beat The Blues 5K. Nashville is a runner's mecca.

Labels: Running

Since the Predators Fangtastic 5K last month, I've been regularly running 5Ks. I do most of my running on a treadmill at the local YMCA, but I've also run two more races.

On March 10, 2007 I ran in the Goodpasture Cougar Crawl 5K, which is a relatively new local race for my son's future school. (He starts Kindergarten there this fall.) Amy ran in this one with me, and our stats from the official race results are:

PLACE NAME TIME PACE
52 Bill Menees 30:13 9:43
71 Amy Oldham 37:42 12:07

There were 103 finishers. The weather was nice (60 and sunny), and it was a great race overall. Some of the hills were a little tough though. One of them went steadily upward from mile 1 to mile 2.5!

On March 17, 2007 I ran in the Tom King 5K, which is a popular local race. It's the flatest race in this area because it's all run beside LP Field, which is right on the Cumberland River. From the official race results:

PLACE NAME TIME PACE
216 Bill Menees 27:40 8:56

There were 495 finishers, and the weather was sunny but cool (31 and windy). The finish line was on the 50 yard line in LP Field, which was kind of nice because we got to run down a big ramp onto the field, and I like downhill stretches.

I'm (barely) in a few of the pictures posted on the Nashville Striders Gallery:

• 006: On the left in the red Titans cap.
• 008: Right background in the red Titans cap.
• 041: In the background, not around the corner yet.
• 163: Near the finish, but still not in the foreground.

Labels: Running

This morning about 8:15am, one of Amy's friends called and asked if we wanted to run in today's "Fangtastic 5K" race. She had two extra registrations (from friends that had backed out due to illness), and she said we could use their spots for free. We hadn't done any preparation for the race, of course, but we can't turn down a good bargain. So we went, ran, and lived to tell about it.

It was 32 degrees during the run. Most of the uphill parts were in the first half of the race. I ran almost 2 miles before I had to start walking for a minute or two. I was going up the hill on James Robertson Parkway, and it seemed to go on forever! After that the course was mostly downhill through Printer's Alley, 2nd Avenue, and then finishing up back at the GEC.

Unfortunately, the last 1/4 mile was uphill, but I tried to pick up my pace as much as I could there. In that last stretch I passed a couple of spots where someone had blown chunks, and I heard a few other people grumbling about having an uphill finish. I thought it was tough, but then I've never raced before.

One cool thing I hadn't expected was that they used ChampionChip Timing. You attach a timer to your shoe, and it tracks the time from when you cross the start line until you cross the finish line. That's nice since there were 2200 people running today, and it took us almost 3 minutes to get to the start line.

Overall, it was a lot of fun. About 10 minutes after the race, I said, "I'm glad I ran both races today: my first and last." But that was just the cold, the fatigue, and the really nasty (but free!) "Cool Blue Gatorade" talking. But now that I've had time to rest, reflect, and start getting sore, I'm thinking I might want to run another one soon. I don't enjoy running, but it's a fun accomplishment after it's over.

The overall race results are available from Nashville Striders. I've listed the results for Amy and me below. Unfortunately, since we used two other people's registrations, the official race results don't list our names. But I have the "bibs" to prove that we did it! We didn't get the t-shirts because they went to the people that actually paid for the registrations, which seems fair.

• Bill (running as #963 Malinda Ralls): chip time 34:21, pace 11:05, overall 1048.
• Amy (running as #1868 Cassandra Ralls): chip time 40:20, pace 13:01, overall 1251.

Update: The Striders have posted pictures now. You can see me in the back with the red cap in picture 324. You can see Amy in the back left of picture 401. Our friend Stacie, who invited us to run, is in picture 340.

Labels: Running