rrunnin234

Nearly 700 men and women will line up tomorrow for the Olympic Trials Marathon. I can’t think of a year with this much interest–going beyond just a few thousand runner geeks scattered across the continent, this has nearly gone mainstream. I think with the stacked shoes, the large field, Atlanta’s push to make this the biggest and best ever, and some very compelling races up front.

About the shoes
wow, Nike is offering free Alphaflys to anyone who wants them. Wonder if anyone will chuck their sponsorship in favor of a possible better time to wear the shoes. If I were a 2:12-14 guy, or 2:28-32 woman and was on a modest sponsorship or unsponsored, and didn’t have an alternative, yeah I’d think about it. Nevertheless, Hoka, Saucony, Adidas (maybe) and Brooks at least will have their new shoes or prototypes out there on the course. If it’s a Nike sweep and some from down in the depth charts make it, I’ll go bleeghhh! Looking closely because in 2020 I’ll likely get a stacked shoe for my own masters plodding.

On the large field
It’s partly the shoes (see above) but also just a lot of interest and prestige in getting a Trials standard and the opportunity to line up with current and future legends in an all-American event. I do think they’ll have to adjust the standards. Have been hearing arguments saying they should go the other way, lessen the men’s standard to 2:20 or 2:25, and women’s back to 2:48 or 2:50 and make it an even bigger event. But I disagree with that. If they do that it becomes more of a high-end citizens race, and it would be fairly crowded and not really simulate the Olympics.

What are the Olympics? It’s about having the best in the world line up and have a go at it. And the Trials should be relatively close to the expected conditions (including course and weather) and having a limited field on a special day does that. So if I had a choice I’d keep it at approximately 100 men and women qualifying for their respective races. Right now that would be about sub 2:17 and 2:38. Those are good, near-elite (I think better than “sub-elite). However, in non-Olympic years USATF should host a more open US championship (Not tied in with a mass race, but stand alone championship), with qualifying times in the 2:20-25 range for men and 2:45-2:50 for women. That would give incentive for sub elite runners to keep going every year, not just once every four years, and it would be an exciting annual event for three years, culminating with Olympic Trials on the fourth year.

The courses for the US Championships should be fast and races run in good conditions (or as good as possible). That way more athletes would have a chance to attain the now very stringent standards. Meanwhile, the Trials should simulate expected conditions at the Olympics.

Atlanta Running City USA
I think the moniker from Atlanta Track Club is a bit pretentious but they’re doing a wonderful job at building these trials up, and you have to hand it to them. I expect the races on Saturday will be fantastic and that credit goes to ATC and all their hard work.

About the races
I wrote up some a few months here are my picks and darkhorses.

Women: Emily Sisson, Sarah Hall, Kellyn Taylor — but any one of a dozen runners (Linden, Hasay, Huddle, Tilliamuck, Kipyego, Rojas, Flanagan, Theatt among the more notable) will be in there.

Men: Jared Ward, Leonard Korir, Galen Rupp, Scott Fauble. I’ll keep Fauble in there a co-favorite to make the team should Rupp or Korir falter. Likewise there is a dozen or more other men who could contend if they have a great day or if their shoes are working extra well. I think someone off the radar will bust into a top 5.

Shoutout to some friends
I know or have met a bunch of qualifiers so have a good race Megan, Evan, Sarah, Tony, Laura, Lindsay. Hope you all have good races and a great experience in Atlanta.

Over the past few months I have chronicled my injury, with some sad posts, hopeful, and maybe a bit frustrated. Here’s a happy one. I have built up gradually in 2020, starting with just 1.5 miles on the first week of the year to 28 miles ending last week. However, rather than counting miles I have been going by minutes, and that has helped me hold back. So last month it was five days a week for 20-25 minutes a run, and now at the end of this month I have built to 40-50 minutes–with a big jump to 62 minutes on my birthday last week.

In that run I managed to score a personal worst for a 5K race, with a 19:50. Nevertheless, it was a good run. The plan was to go 6:30, 6:20, 6:10 but I did quite the opposite. The first kilometer (downhill) was probably closer to 6:10 pace, but once I got onto the bike path I settled more into 6:20s pace, hanging into the top 10 or 12 (half of them women). It felt good, like a tempo, with a heretofore 23 mile peak week I figured this would not be sustainable for a 5K, and I was right.

6:19 first mile.

The second mile was just a matter of pacing and finding that rhythm. At the turn around on the bike path I felt my stomach coming up. Not great.

12:47 at 2 mile

I surged some after about 2.2 miles but could not hold more than 20 or 30 seconds, and it was much of a surge. With 600 to go we had a 200 m hill, nothing huge but it wasn’t pleasant feeling.

19:15 at 3 mile and ambled into the finish.

That’s probably 40 seconds slower than my slowest (and those were slightly long courses), but I crossed and cooled down pain free. Awesome.

And now I have a baseline from which to work. After this week I’ll also start building by miles (about 5 mile increments every two weeks to start), and go from there.

So as I turn 62 what can I do running-wise. Not an ultra runner, so no 100Ks in mind, although I haven’t ruled out a 50K some day. And I kind of loathe the middle distances, a 1K or mile just doesn’t have a of appeal. However, I’m certain to race a road and maybe even a track mile or two in 2020. Nope. But 6.2 miles, that’s something I can sink my treads into.

So tentatively, pending full return from this injury, here’s the schedule:

April – USATF 10K masters championships
May – Bolder Boulder 10K
July – World Masters 10K road championship
Fall – (to be determined) – flat fast 10K to break 36 minutes

There’s a reason for the latter. With the new decade upon us, much has been be said recently about 6DS3. Six decades sub 3 hour marathon, going back to the 1970s. And there are a couple dozen men and at least one woman vying for that. That’d be a tremendous feat for sure. Another sub 3 is still on my list but with debut in 1983, that would only make five decades.

However, I do stand the chance of doing sub 36 10K over 6 decades and if anything this would be more difficult than sub 3 marathon.

Here’s the list, with best time per decade:

1978 – 31:54
1989 – 32:20 (also did 32:50 at altitude)
1991 – 32:11
2000 – 35:50 (at 5000 feet)
2017 – 35:43 (age 59)

It’s going to be a stretch this year but on a good day on a good course I can do it, and fall (October) might be the best time.

Also have a better chance to do six decades of sub 29 8K/5 mile, or six at sub 18 for 5K. However first, must build up and stay healthy!

Speaking of that. Up to 25 miles a week and feeling good.

Doing 62 minutes of running today, including a 5K progression to see where baseline fitness is at.

The world is not crumbling but these are unsettling times.

I’m happiest the few, or less than that, hours a week that I’m on cross country skis in the mountains. I’ve been to Snow Mountain Ranch, Devils Thumb, Eldora, Steamboat Springs, Minturn, and Frisco. If I could I’d be out there three times a week but it’s been only once or maybe twice. Still with more than a dozen days on the snow this year, and two more months of winter to go I’m just happy to get out on the trails.

I haven’t been liking my job for a couple years now–and yes it relates to the bigger picture, as the work I am involved with can have political implications,and a lot of top-down pressure–but have found some focus and for now I press on.

However, what I really want to do is coach runners and endurance athletes. And leave the politics and rat race behind. Soon.

INJURY UPDATE
I’ve had several visits to a local physical therapy clinic and that has helped me along. After starting up a little too fast in December (building to some 50 minute runs, just a little over three weeks after starting up again), I had to take another week off at the end of the year and started up about the first of January. Got in a whopping 51 miles last month. But they were smart miles, keeping the duration under the radar so as not to irritate my hip and glutes.

Yes, it’s epidemic because you hear about it all the time, but my glutes were not activating properly and that likely led to the misalignment of my SI joint. But I’m now running up to 30-35 minutes, five days a week, and building up ever so incrementally.

I’m still in recovery but by March (early, middle, or late?) I should be over the worst of it and can start building up with mid-spring goal of an hour or so a day. Getting there.

It’s January, middle of winter for us in the Northern Hemisphere, and usually a time to recover, build-up, and continue to reflect. So the questions for this week are why do we run? And what is your relationship with running? I’ll start with some ruminating on these questions and then broaden that to the collective we.

Brittany Runs and Circles of Social Media

I think a fundamental question for the why is to ask further, are you motivated internally or externally (intrinsic vs. extrinsic)? I just watched Brittany Runs a Marathon, which I thought was a pretty decent running movie with some interesting implications.

First, how about looking at it through some different perspectives? I frequent a couple or three running forums, each with a different sort of clientele and each had its own consensus take. Let’s look at those.

Letsrun had a thread on it, and as you might expect, it was very negative. Fat Girl tries to run, guffaw! No surprise there. The mostly anonymous message board is negative toward just about everyone and everything. And discussing a movie about an overweight woman trying to find her way in the big city through running is a bit too much for the typical Letsrun poster to handle. Considering the domineering demographic that’s not surprising, because their collective oft-triggered heads explode at any point of view different from their own.

I’ve been a long time participant at another venue with a completely different perspective. Even though “C” Runners (site name withheld to protect the innocent)is in the name this more of a social forum where running, let alone talking about running, is at best ancillary. Brittany Runs a Marathon was a hot topic for several weeks there. And the consensus was that while the storyline wasn’t always great, it was resonating because the demographic here is probably 1.5 to 2 to 1 female to male, and the overall interest is in running as a fitness activity. Nevertheless, the discussion never really got to why she turned to running, just more about the story itself.

Finally, there is millennials “R”forum (also name and identity of forum withheld to protect the innocent) and its offshoot (where the cool kids go) that I follow on yet another venue. As far as I could tell, they did not even discuss the film. The core group are in their 20s and 30s, but outwardly more competitive-minded. They are highly interested in time and pace, a little bit less in place. They are a good group of younger runners, and I seem to get along with most. I bet most are intrinsically motivated, but also share a lot of banter. They are obsessed with training theories (me along with them somewhat, although I’m an advocate of go as you feel and not by someone else’s canned schedule from chapter 7 of a book) and the gadgets that measure the minutia of every run, and now down to every single stride if need be. Each of the participants may or may not be intrinsically motivated, but the interaction there is inherently extrinsic. So many posts to get likes, wows, high fives, or at least some lols. So they weren’t into Brittany, probably because here story just doesn’t resonate, but also because perhaps Brittany would get all the likes?

And what about Brittany?

I think she’s wrapped around both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. In her case, she started out intrinsically motivated, in that she wanted to change her life around from overweight party girl to someone more goal-oriented. She did that, and carried it through after many a trial, but her approach along the way was very extrinsic, with social media and interactions with current and former friends taking the bulk of the film. However, toward the end, I think her drive was perhaps more intrinsic once again, as she pursued her goal more or less on her own, all the while turning around other parts of her life. I didn’t do a follow-up to see what has become of the real Brittany. But an interview or two might be worth watching.

Why I Run

I started running partly out of guilt for quitting track after one day in my senior year of high school and partly to get out of gym class for my final term of school. So maybe a toss up between intrinsic and extrinsic. However, I found some ancillary benefits like feeling less stress and a sense of freedom. And after just a few months I found that I could run a bit faster than I thought I was capable of. I think that those first six months of running were fairly intrinsic.

However, when I signed up to run indoor and outdoor track my freshman year of college, the motivations shifted to extrinsic. I wanted to prove myself as a runner, to get some recognition, and to earn the respect of my peers. I did find the intrinsic aspects great, like nothing beat going out for an hour or more run on a snow Thanksgiving or Christmas night, while everyone else was watching TV. Nevertheless, those extrinsic motivators rolled into a larger and larger snowball each season.

At first I just wanted to qualify for the travel team and score points at some meets, and hopefully PR every time. I would write down time goals and set out to attain them. I barely any of my goals, and at best only ran to what I would have considered intermediate goals (running times my senior year that I would have thought satisfactory as a sophomore). College running was a disappointment, and my mental approach back then didn’t help matters much.

However, as bad as it got sometimes (last semester was a disaster, as I mentioned in an earlier post), I always returned to running in the off season, for its own sake. In fact, looking back at my favorite runs of that time I recall just those first few weeks starting back after a break, when it would be just running on my own or along with a friend or two. Not thinking about times or goals or beating any inter or intra rivals. Just running.

After finding myself as a long distance runner a few years later and ever since, like many long-term runners–I probably have drifted between intrinsic and extrinsic. I favor the intrinsic, but recognize that winning a prize or placing high in the results is largely extrinsic, while I find the heat of the competitive battle (the race itself and that day of afterglo) to be inherently intrinsic. And that’s the part that really brings me back. If it was just for the award or PR time, I probably would have quit 35 years ago.

However, this is the social media-selfie era like non-other, and for better or worse the extrinsic is more important than ever.

Impact of Social Media on Our Rationale to Run

Going back to Brittany and social media. We who are dedicated runners all like to get some recognition for our drive and accomplishments. And social media in its various forms is the perfect outlet to express yourself and to get likes and thumbs ups and any sort of emoji support.

So we have forums, side chat rooms, and platforms like Instagram and Facebook, or the perfect blend: Strava. Oy vey! When does it all get to be too much? Suddenly your effort and competitive ability are put out there on a daily match race with dozens or hundreds of other similarly driven individuals, and whomever ends the day or week the most virtual pats on the back wins.

Right.

To what end? Sure a little recognition feels good and few thumbs ups can be a motivator as you grind through week after week of workouts, long runs, medium long runs, tune ups, and of course races. But inherently, we don’t need all this, do we?

Sometimes it’s worth it to just step out the door, with GPS watch or not (but the social media aspect on mute), and just go for a run for 30 minutes, or an hour or two. Maybe some might want to go seven hours. But let the experience speak for itself, with no external digital boosting to nudge those dopamine receptors.

But Why Do I Run?
I run because it completes my day, I like the movement and seeing the outdoors. Some runs are better than others. I also simply enjoy being in shape. Sure striving for high places or (now age graded) times are good motivators, but that is ancillary to just running. Awards or accolades from competitive performances are great, but the satisfaction from that is fleeting and secondary.

Nothing is given as a masters runner, especially one about to enter a third year at the senior level. Not to mention that it will be difficult to match the level of performance that I experienced in 2018 and 2019. Nevertheless, I hope to give it a try. Or rather just do the best I can.

I entered the decade with a major injury and lot of uncertainty and it took a year and a half to more or less completely overcome that setback. But come back I did, and for most of the rest of the decade had quite a run.

This injury does not seem as acutely severe as the knee fracture of 2009, 2010. But as an apparent soft tissue injury, you never quite know when things will clear up. I rested and cross trained for six weeks following the Tulsa 15K, and in early December took some light steps, and increased the load gradually for about three weeks, up to 20+ miles in the third week of the month. However, on Christmas day I attempted a 55-60 minute run (ended up at 58 minutes), and felt pretty good for 50 of that before my glute and hip started getting tight. And the next day, I did 3 miles on the treadmill and walked away from that definitely tight. So I just XC skied or rested for a another week.

I’ve taken two little test runs of 5 and 8 minutes with mixed results (the 5 minute run on New Years Day didn’t work out so I stopped). Yesterday’s 8 minute (actually a whole mile in 8:40) was a little better and I walked away with no ill effects, and later did a moderate level session on the elliptical for another 35 minutes.

This weekend I ski and I’ll start a gradual build up of running again next week. But this time a little more gradually through the month of January. So it might be mid to late spring before I’m really ready to go again. I’ll be looking into PT to help things along and to prevent recurrence of this injury.

So my 2020 goals are sharply modified, and the primary goal is to get to a couple consecutive months of running an hour a day, get back to some workouts, and hopefully resume racing in the spring. Not sure what level I’ll be at, but would just be happy with training and racing again.

My work is another point of uncertainty. After nearly 40 years as a natural resources specialist, and more than 15 with my organization the playing field has changed. Very much in the past two years. The work is not fulfilling and although I like the pay check, I dislike going in every day and I want out. What I really want to do is coach full time.

At the end of the year we are supposed to summarize and reflect on our past year of running. I’ll do a little of that and also sum up the decade.

Although the year did not end well with the injury to my SI joint in October, the first 10 months (and 2 years prior) were quite a ride.

I went into 2019 planning on taking another crack at US 60-64 age group in the 15K road race and maybe the track 10000 meters. I did neither of those, nor was I able help our masters team win the USATF Grand Prix overall title–tell the truth we were never in the game–thwarted every single time we lined up against the Atlanta Track Club. With injuries and other commitments in the way, we never fielded a fully strong team and our opponents always found a way to finish ahead. We can always say maybe next year. But that’s what we did last year. And I did not win the overall title either, leaving that on the streets of Tulsa.

Despite those setbacks, however, the year was fantastic for running and I would not trade those 10 months for anything.

Championship Racing
I ran a total of six championship races and here are the results:
USA Cross Country Championships 8K – 30:22 (2nd)
USA 8K Road Race Championship – 28:19 (1st)
World Masters Cross Country Championship (2nd)
World Masters 1/2 Marathon (1st)
USA 5K Road Race Championship (1st)
USA 15K Road Race Championship (8th)

Finished runner-up for both individual and team category in the USATF Grand Prix Rankings.
Awarded USATF Age Group Long Distance Athlete of the Year

Rankings and Times
Ranked World #1 in 5K road and Half Marathon
1 mile road race – 5:25 (10th USA)
5K road race – 17:28 (#1 World Ranked)
8K road race – 28:19 (1st USA)
10K road race – 37:30 (3rd USA)
Half Marathon – 1:17:49 (#1 World Ranked)

The 5K and half marathon are also in the top 10 all time USA for the age group

Summary
Interestingly I began and ended the decade with an injury (with the shoulder injury in between).
At a time when I am supposed to be slowing down, I have run faster in the last three years of the decade compared to the first three, as well as the years in between.

2010 – 2012
1 mile – 5:04
5K – 17:37
10K – 36:35
Half Marathon – 1:19:50

2017 – 2019
1 mile – 5:15
5K – 17:28
10K – 35:43
1/2 Marathon – 1:17:49

I attribute that to good health (better diet) and lifestyle (moving from Alaska/6 months of winter, to Colorado and altitude, with better access to competitive races).

Special thanks to my family and friends for support over this past decade.

Like blogs in the early 2000s it seems like half of everyone has a running podcast. I’m only scratching the surface, but here are the ones I have been listening to the past couple of years. Listed alphabetically.

Citius Magazine with Chris Chavez. Chavez is only in his mid-20s, but as a writer for Sports Illustrated he is a pro. Don’t let the haters on Letsrun.com dissuade you from listening to Chavez’s interviews because he hasn’t broken 3 hours in the marathon. With his connections from SI and living in New York City Chavez has a slew of top guests (this fall alone, he had Shalane Flanagan, Scott Fauble, Gold medal shotputter Joe Kovacs, and a panel with Mo Ahmed, Olympic medalist Evan Jager, and Ryan Hill). Chavez asks good questions and gets the inside scoop. His Berlin Takeover series with a couple friends was a bit much, but those were also fun.

Clean Sport Collective is fairly new, having just started up about a half a year ago. The podcast is hosted by Olympic runner Kara Goucher, Shanna Burnette, and Chris McClung. Kara has led most of the interviews and discussion, and Shanna provides good insight. McClung of Running Rogue (see below), usually just does the introductions. They have put together a string of very compelling interviews this fall, following all the Nike Oregon Project (NOP) revelations and similar stories. They have interviewed Mary Cain, had a fantastic two part interview with Olympic Gold medalist Frank Shorter who helped create the sport drug testing bodies USADA and WADA in the early 2000s, as well as Tyler Hamilton a cyclist who doped for years but has admitted it. These interviews are in the must-listen category, and I’m looking forward to more from Clean Sport.

Inside Running from Australia with Brady, Brad, and Julian and these guys, accomplished runners all, are a hoot. They are very knowledgeable about running both inside and outside of Australia. They have great guests, mostly Australian elites and sub elites, and they cover a broad range of topics along the way. Their weekly intro runs a little long, with up to an hour of their activities, but that’s some of the best stuff as they bust on each other. And their guests get into it as well!

I have a theory, we used to be more that way here in the States (think the 90s with Seinfeld), but now everyone is so polite, you don’t hear as much banter in the American podcasts. I think our bitter political divisions over the past 25 or 30 years, plus happenings on the world and domestic scene have tempered the good-natured ribbing. But the Aussies still have it! I love this show as I get versed in the Australian running scene.

Running Rogue. Even though I’m going alphabetic on this review, I’m going a slight bit out of line here with Running Rogue and Running on Purpose, because the former co-hosts Chris McClung and Steve Sisson used to work together on Rogue. At the beginning of 2019 they went their separate ways. I really liked them together, as they played well of each other, with Chris being an articulate steady and methodical everyman while Steve, a former elite runner and coach, who also speaks very well, was mercurical, passionate, and somewhat of a visionary.

Nevertheless, Chris has carried the torch quite well in 2019, and has had a string of really good guests from some of his local friends and colleagues in the Austin area as well as some national level stars and pundits. Chris covers elite-level running and my favorite Rogue podcasts are when he teams up with Johanna (Jojo) Gretschel to discuss elite performance at the US and world level. Running Rogue still covers current events and insights it now appeals most to the recreational road and trail runner. However, if you haven’t listened in yet, go back to the first 100 episodes and you’ll pick up a lot of great training podcasts with Steve and Chris.

Running On Purpose After Steve left Rogue he started up with a few podcasts on Telos Running and then came back this fall with Running on Purpose, a podcast dedicated to delving into the body, mind, and soul. Although the output has not been consistent with fewer than a dozen shows out, Sisson and his co-host Kirsten are working well together, peeling the layers of what makes us tick as runners and getting into things that really make you think. Check out the episode on Unreasonable Expectations for how to deal with setbacks and goal setting. The frequency of shows has been sporadic but I look forward to hearing a lot more from Running on Purpose.

The 1609 Podcast is co-hosted by running friends Evan and Alex. And while they are not a couple, the podcast is like a visit to a mom and pop shop, where the talk is about running. Sometimes food. The co-hosts are friendly and knowledgeable and they cover a lot of ground every week, from their weekly training to elite discussion and anything that’s in the news. Evan an Olympic Trials marathon qualifier is lifetime runner from a running family, and Alex is an adult onset runner preparing for her first marathon. They speak well and have had a good list of guest over the past couple of years from elites like Luke Puskedra and Neely Spence, to an array of friends who have done some amazing ultras, qualified for the Olympic Trials, or just qualified for their first Boston Marathon. Their weekly updates on the news carries the bulk of the program and they do a good job of summarizing what’s happening, including rants from old timers, Lord Fucking Coe and all.

I know there are a ton more out there including House of Run, Letsrun, or Magnus and Marcus coaching, or the Science of Running. I’ve only dabbled into bits of these.

The other ones I reviewed above all have their strengths and are worth a listen.

Here is a summary of my best times using different training systems.

Before (age 20-25)

Running 50-60 mpw for track in college (lots of intense intervals), 70-90 mpw for cross country and up to 110 in the off season. Post college 70s to 80s mpw for road racing, mostly single sessions (usually just one interval session a week, sometime a second fartlek or some hill work)

800  m – 2:05.4
1500 m/mile – 4:17/4:31
3K – 9:03
5K – 15:28
8K – 25:45
10K – 31:45
15K – 50:35
1/2 marathon – 1:11:05

After changing training (age 26-35)

Training as described in previous post (45-55 miles a week, periodized with two or three quality days a week)

800 – 2:03.9
1500/mile – 4:05/4:26
3K – 8:54
5K – 25:35
10K – 32:11
15K – 49:41
Half Marathon – 1:13:18

Post script

The training system I used worked very well for 8 or 9 years. I only had two injuries in that time, each taking about six weeks to heal. One was from doing a set of 200s (like 6X) too soon after XC ski season, followed by a road race a few days later, and I ended up with Achilles tendinitis. Second time was an ill-fated attempt at the steeplechase at age 32, 10 years after not racing the event post-college. I did PR by 10 seconds, but ended up with plantar fasciitis from landing in the water pit.

However, from age 35-39 things really fell apart and I could not keep up with the training intensity for long without getting injured. I was injured at least half the time those years and couldn’t even put together a decent training block.

If I could do it all again, I would have done a couple marathon/half marathon cycles in my late 20s or early 30s. I was just concerned of getting injured. Other than that regret, I enjoyed the moderated training and feel that I got the most out if it I could.