Need any running clothing?

I'm gonna order some running clothing from SOARK. www.soark.com Anybody want to go in on an order and split the shipping? Stuff is reasonably priced, looks like good quality, and made in Kansas. Let me know item, color, and size and I'll place an order Thursday.

Only 10 Miles to Go

I had an adventurous long run this morning discovering new territory, and some new pain. At mile 14 my hips starting tightening up and the last couple miles were slow, especially up the last hills where my stride became more of a waddle. I was all smiles though, as I was feeling pretty high at that point. My route was a decent mix of road and trail (60/40). Geoff, you ever run up the dirt portion of Johnycake Mt Rd. off Scoville Rd? That was all washed out in parts and like running in a boulder field. Here is the route courtesy of gmaps pedometer (my new favorite mapping tool): www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1179538 I still had to estimate on some of the trails as they weren't on the topo maps, and I think/hope it was a little more than 16.

I did a 15 minute ice bath afterwards. I screamed when I got in and then did the breathing-quickly-with-my-teeth-clenched thing (anybody ever see that Family Guy episode when Peter falls?) for the first few minutes. After going numb it was better, and quite rejuvenating.

Still in shock

I actually PLACED in my triathlon yesterday!!!!

I finished 3rd out of 153 in the 25-29 age group. My overall finish was 43rd out of 2129.

Total time: 1:18:17

Swim (.75K): 12:21
Transition1: 2:47
Bike (20K): 40:17
Transition2: 1:36
Run (5K): 21:14

(Distances are approximate, per the Danskin website)

I dropped 5 minutes off my time from last year and still can't believe that I have a third place age group finish at such a large event. I'm totally stoked! Imagine if I had actually trained properly on the bike ...

It was a great day. Everyone excited, tons of energy, really positive environment. I had a great time (even though I had to wake up at 4:40 yesterday morning!)

In case you're interested, the results are posted here. Search the Results at the bottom of the page for "2007 New England." I was bib #1865.

My next tri might be an olympic distance event with an ocean swim August 26th. If registration is still open when I get paid Thursday, I'll take it as a sign to go for it. Ew. I had swimming in the ocean. Salty ...

A STEAMY WEEKEND IN THE NATION'S CAPITOL

I forgot how much more enjoyable it is to run in a city as opposed to residential neighborhoods, or otherwise suburbia. All of my marathon training runs prior to this weekend's have been in and around East Haven, CT, neighborhoods (except for the few I did in Cape Cod). This weekend's runs in Washington, DC, were a much-needed change of pace (no pun intended). What seemed like a 45 minute run on Saturday morning was actually a 90+ minute run. Not only is city running more exciting, it attracts more runners. Being among, literally, hundreds of runners makes long runs feel much shorter than they actually are.

A few noteworthy highlights:

Running sandwiched between The US Capitol Building and Washington Monument (absolutely breathtaking)

Being brought back to years past by the reminiscent smell of the Metro coming up through the streets from the tunnels below

The oppressive heat and humidity -- there's no relief, even at night

Saturday morning long run in DC

I've decided on a long run route. I'll start on New Hampshire Avenue (just Southwest of Dupont Circle) about halfway between N and P Streets. I'll continue on New Hampshire Avenue and circle around Dupont Circle to P Street, on which I'll run East. Continuing on P Street to 15th Street, on which I'll run South. Continuing on 15th Street to L Street, on which I'll run East. Continuing on L Street to 14th Street, on which I'll run South to Jefferson Drive. I'll circle The National Mall twice and head back the same way to Connecticut Avenue and Dupont Circle. ~8.1 miles -- ~.1 miles shorter than my long run last week

I think it was smart to have chosen a long run route equal in distance to that of my long run last week. Two reasons: 1) It's recommended that runners, particularly those training for marathons, build mileage at a percentage no greater than 10. I have been building mileage at ~15%. That said, this is an opportunity to bring my mileage more in line with where it should be; 2) Although, technically, not a recovery week, it's smart to build these into your plan, whenever possible. By not adding one mile or more to my long run this week, I'm, in essence, giving my body a break from the addition of more miles (albeit not less but equal). I hope this proves to benefit my training and leaves me fresh for Week 6.

Google Does it Better

I just discovered the google pedometer. It is superior to the USATF or mapmyrun pages as it has a topo map option, and seems to work faster. www.gmap-pedometer.com

Pace Calculator

Unsure about what pace you should be able to run for a race distance you've never tried (like say a marathon)? I found an excellent race pace (and training pace) calculator at mcmillanrunning.com

All you have to do is enter a recent race time and then it calculates times based on your current fitness level. Check it out.

Tuesday and Wednesday -- Week 5

At various times throughout my run on Tuesday, I experienced pain in my left knee (it seems to start at between 20 and 25 minutes into most runs) and, at the end of my run, pain in my right shin. These have been my weak spots. I'm trying to target them in my strength-training routine, but I'm not sure when and how often I should do this. I don't want to aggravate them more than they already are. My run on Wednesday -- albeit shorter by a few miles -- was more comfortable, as I didn't experience any of these pains.

As a result, I was in a great mood early this evening--and still am. It's amazing how the quality of a run, not only the run itself, can affect your mood. I consider this to be a good thing, even though not every run is good; therefore, a bad mood. When you're training for a race, as I am, currently, and have a bad run, I think it affects your mood much more than, say, if you were just running for the sake of exercising and did the same. When you're training for a race, every run serves a special purpose, so when you bomb it, for whatever reason, it weighs on your mood much more. Certainly, this is a big part of training and the challenges that come with it. Perhaps it helps hone mental toughness and prepare you for the big day.

Not only am I tacking on about one mile per week to my long run, but to most of my runs during the week. I need to increase my carbohydrate intake. I found this out the hard way on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week when I felt extremely tired. I had been maintaining my normal diet while increasing mileage. Apparently, that spells disaster. I felt much more energized yesterday and today, and I think this has to do with the fact that I've increased my carbohydrate intake. I started adding more good breads and pastas to my diet and have substituted black beans for feta cheese in my salads (per Dan's suggestion -- thanks, Dan, I owe you one), among other minor tweaks.

I think my success thus far can be chalked up to the fact that I'm getting adequate sleep, adequately stretching before and after runs, icing sore tendons and muscles after runs and even before bedtime, and strengthening my upper-body and core muscles. I'll continue to work on my diet and consuming more calories, in addition to strenthening my lower-body via single leg exercises.

One last thought: My marathon training plan calls for XTing on Mondays. I haven't done much XTing in the first 5 weeks of this plan. I think this could catch up with me if I don't substitute some strengthening of my upper-body and core muscles with cycling and/or swimming, the two best XTing activities for running. I need to get on a bike--and soon.

Ryan Lamanna -- A student of the sport of Running, but no less a runner...

Monday night in deserted New Haven

Do you not wonder how my Hummus and Babaganoush wrap from Sahara Mediterranean Cuisine will impact my 5.5 mile run this evening? How about my Ethos water from Starbucks? Stay tuned and find out!

Week 4 in the books

About 24 miles and over 4 hours of running this week has left me with an achy left knee and a sore right hip. No worries! Week 5 calls for between 22 and 27 miles. I plan to be at about 24 miles again next week. I think I'm building mileage too fast.

I'll be in Washington, DC, next weekend, so I'll have to do my long and recovery runs there. I haven't decided where exactly and on routes, yet. Granted Washington is a great place to run, I miss my home away from home -- Arlington, VA -- and will most likely opt to do my runs there. Let's hope that six hours of driving on Friday evening doesn't negatively impact my Saturday morning long run...

Swimmin'

I swam today in UConn's pool. (I wish that I had a place to regularly swim outside in open water, so if you've got some ideas, let me know!) After a mile or so, I finished up and headed back to my office. I was amazed at how woozy I felt. It's hard to believe that in just a week, I will be following my swim with some biking and then some running. If you're not busy on Sunday the 29th of July, I'd love a cheering section in Webster, MA for the Danskin women's triathlon! Start time is 7:00AM (ew)!

Dan and Em show ya what they've got!

Follow-up thoughts to DB's below on Endorphin's growth

The idea that Dan and I had way back in early June for this blog is slowly but surely panning out. It's nice to see interest and participation. That's what we were gunning for. I think the more that show interest, the more that will give in and participate. I hope I'm right. There is so much knowledge out there, not only scientifically-backed knowledge, but "real," existential knowledge. Personal experience is invaluable and if it can be shared here, even if by only a few, everyone participating will do better at whatever it is everyone wants to be better at. Two brains and the unique experiences to go along with them are much better than one. Imagine three, five, 10, and more. One of the appeals of running is the challenge, not only of motivation, but of getting better (that can mean being able to endure more, run faster, run stronger the next time and even stronger the next time, etc.). Runners of 30+ years are still students of the sport. The point is: There's always another goal. Let's share our experiences and knowledge and see if that can't effect the way we go about achieving personal goals.

Endorphin Growing at Exponential Rate

If anyone would like to start posting, or knows anyone that would be interested in posting, send me their/your email address and I will add them/you as contributors. Also, if you'd like to post a training log at right, let me know and we can set it up. I think this is going to work well, and has already proven helpful to me.

Learning to Rest

I think my left knee is going to be my biggest obstacle in training for the marathon. My long run is only up to 14 miles and avoiding debilitating injury is going to be more challenging than I thought. Toward the end of a run with Geoff on Tuesday I had some sharp pain in my left knee and it turned into a dull ache on Wednesday and Thursday. Yesterday I was standing in my driveway ready to go for an easy 6 mile run, despite the aching, and then I recalled Em's post about skipping her tempo run because of pain in her arches and IT band, and Geoff's remark to me on Tuesday that if my knee hurts slow down, stop, or change my stride. Then I realized there is the option to rest and postpone my run until today. I did, and although I was a bit cranky last night, I think it was a good idea as this morning my knee felt better and my legs still felt tired after 2 days of no running. Here's to training smarter.

A better day and thunderstorms

It wasn't even 20 minutes into my 4.7 mile run yesterday when the sky opened up--heavy rain and thunder and lightning. I considered stopping and taking cover but didn't. I took the risk of running through down-pouring rain and occasional lightning, which, I know, wasn't the best idea. I had fun, anyway, dodging puddles and probably attracting stares and eliciting wonder as to what I was doing out there. I was soaking wet, sans singlet, and wearing my longest pair of running shorts, which are still pretty damn short. I can only imagine what the thoughts of those passersby were but maybe it's inspiration to get out there and start logging miles.

Because my Tuesday and Wednesday runs were struggles, I opted to go easy yesterday, even though it was my tempo day. I ended up running pretty hard once I heard the sound of thunder and slowed when the rain subsided. I'll count it as an easy run, but it was still nice to pick up the pace a bit.

Running's Humble Lessons

The interesting thing about running competitively is that just when you start to feel good about yourself, you can be served a nice big piece of humble pie. I signed up for the 3K option of the weekly White's Woods trail races and managed to run a strong race. My first mile was 5:47 (right on target). Ahead of me were the usually really fast 5K runners. No problem I thought as I saw no one close behind and I cruised into the finish thinking I had won. To my surprise there was already a name on the board. It turns out that there was someone ahead of me running a course record 9:21! He was so far ahead that I didn't even realize that I was racing him. It just goes to show that even when running competitively you need to just do your best and ignore the rest because there is always someone faster.

Returning to that pesky shoe problem

Right. So, I had scheduled a 3.5 mile tempo run this morning, but when I woke up, I was still sore from Tuesday's run. Not good. Admitedly, I've known for far to long that my running shoes were on the outs, but time and finances had kept me from replacing them. I have plans to go running shoe shopping (which, for a female, is an entirely different project than the classic "shoe shopping") this weekend, but I decided after a mile loop on the trail that I would bail on the tempo run for now. My arches are sore and both IT Bands are tight. Blah. Usually, I would probably say "screw it" and run through it (it's only a couple more days on bad shoes), but my triathlon is in 10 days and the last thing I need is to do a run that's going to result in an injury that will sideline me.

Balancing an Apple on Your Head

An article comparing biking and running....

Bicycling Paradox

Mid-Week Inspirational Image

Geoff K showing UConn whipper-snappers how to give it all you got (he always does) at what is arguably the best 5k race in CT.

Old Shoes

My running shoes are worn out. I should have stopped running in them ages ago. But I haven't. Because I still want to run. And because I haven't had time to get new ones. I'm beginning to feel the effects. The effects are not good. I ran this morning (about 40 minutes or so) and my hip is still killing me. And my back hurts. New shoes! Tomorrow!

Runners and Roadkill

I've finished my third week of marathon training and still feel fine, like adding more mileage wouldn't change how I feel. I'm very pleased with this, as I was very worried, initially, that adding mileage would cause pain and, in turn, prevent me from training properly. Week 4 starts today.

Yesterday's swim felt great and was very refreshing. I think it was a great way to conclude the week. Maybe I'll start swimming at least one time per week.

All this road running has caused me to notice roadkill, every kind from snakes to opossums. I try to not look down but, sometimes, can't help it. I try to run around it but, sometimes, end up jumping over it. What's a runner to do? We ought to start a roadkill list.

Air Pollution and Exercise

For Athletes, an Invisible Traffic Hazard

An interesting article about impacts of air pollution on the outdoor athlete. Sounds like running in the woods with the deer flies is a better bet than huffing fossil fuel on the roads. Go figure.

Best line in article: “I ride my bike back and forth to work every day,” he said. “If everyone else did that, too, we wouldn’t be having this problem at all, would we?”

Whites Woods X Race Series

I'm gonna run this 5K trail race in Litchfield tomorrow. Should be a good way to keep up the pace, and its a bargain at $2! www.usaxc.com/schedule.htm

All kinds of problems

• On my run yesterday I thought I'd enjoy the free feeling of running shirtless in the humidity. Big mistake. I had 10-20 quarter sized welts on my back thanks to the deer flies that were biting me mercilessly. No running shirtless on the trails again for me.

• Of greater concern is some pain I had in my left knee, especially coming up the hill in the beginning of my route yesterday. Today I had no pain, but a feeling like I over-extended my knee joint. Same problem I had last fall. Hills seem to aggravate it and unfortunately avoiding hills around my house is impossible. I thought biking was aggravating it, but I think I fixed that with the amount of float I've got with my new cleats.

• I think all this whining is due to inadequate rest. Between the heat and getting up early for work I haven't been getting much more than 5hrs sleep for the past few days. I wonder how sleep affects recovery time and susceptibility to injury.
  

Early Week 3 Marathon Training Progress Report

My marathon training experience has been great, thus far. A few notes: My Tuesday run (coming off XTing or rest) has been a struggle--by far my most difficult run of the week. I'm not sure why this is the case. I ran 4.3 miles (part fartlek) last evening. I appreciate the effects of hot and humid weather, but I should have felt fresh. This morning's run was a different story. I awoke at around 6/am and was out the door around 6:15. I felt much better this morning than I did last evening. Oddly, my most comfortable run of the week is on Sunday, the day after my long run and after a full week of running.

Also, more generally, I'd like to take this time to impart a few thoughts about running in the morning. I've never been much of a morning person. That is, until recently, when I started crashing around 10/pm and getting more than enough rest. Let me back up a bit--pre-adequate rest days. When I'd rise early and attempt to run, I just didn't have it. I attribute this to a lack of rest and maybe even too hard of an effort. The tides have turned. Like I said, I'm getting more rest. As a result, I now feel great in the morning and, actually, prefer it to evening running. Also, I'm taking it easy. This might have something to do with it, too.

Inspirational image of the week

The Runner's Dilemma

On my long, hot, and hilly run yesterday I stashed a water bottle with accelerade mix at mile 7 and my maple syrup gel mix at mile 10. I think that will be the last time I use accelerade during or before a run, and probably ever, after I use up the rest of what I bought. I put in about half the recommended amount of mix and it still didn't settle well with my stomach. I was thirsty as hell (it was 90 degrees) but couldn't even finish the bottle. I think the whey protein in the accelerade makes me sick. All I could think about was cold water. The gel I made tasted fine and gave me a boost, but I probably could have gotten by without it, and definitely less of it.

Is this gel and sport drink crap really necessary? So far my approach has been when running much over an hour I like to have something, water at the very least. More than 1.5 hours some kind of caloric intake gives me a boost. However, I don't like having to go stash stuff before the run (it involves getting in my car). Carrying a water bottle is a pain in the ass, but I might look into the ones with a hand strap. Or maybe I'll just stop in a restaurant and ask for a glass of water. Not sure they'd appreciate the pool of sweat and pleasant odor though. So the question is what amount and what frequency of eating and drinking is necessary and what is optimal? I wonder if it is best to train with as little as possible to toughen up the body. Or would that be counterproductive for developing strength and stamina? I'm sure there are lots of articles on this topic, so I'll have to look into it.

Some thoughts on the long run

5.5 miles -- Although not a long run in my opinion, it is per the second week of my marathon training plan. During my "long run" this morning, I found myself simulating the most grueling miles of the marathon (which I read are the last 6.2). To mentally prepare for this distance, I think every runner in training should imagine the key moments--the final moments of the marathon. Imagine the cheering crowd. I did, and emotion took over my body. I forgot about the minor aches and pains. I felt light on my feet and finished with authority this morning. So far, my marathon training experience has been everything I had expected and more. Tomorrow concludes my second week and Tuesday starts more quality runs (including tempo runs). Stayed tuned!

NEW BROOKS ADRENALINE GTS 5S

I finally found a pair of brand new GTS 5s yesterday. I was looking at the running shoes selection at Sports Authority in North Haven, and, to my surprise, one was the GTS 5s. Not only did they have them, they were on sale for $49.99. However, they didn't have my size. (Trust me--I looked behind every shoe box in the men's shoe department.) So, I requested that they call their Waterbury location. They didn't have my size, either. I wasn't giving up. Instead of asking them to call their Milford location, I did. I called and, sure enough, they had my size. I zipped down 91 and then 95 and scooped up the elusive size 11.5 GTS 5s. That was the best fourth of July EVER.

Inspirational image of the week

Cape Cod Weekend

My first "real" vacation of the year saw eating well (but like a pig) and the conclusion of my first week of marathon training. Instead of resting on Friday, I biked roundtrip to Chatham from Harwich. I hadn't biked in years, and it felt great. I rented a Fuji road bike. I loved it and wanted to take it home. My legs felt great on Saturday and this morning. I clocked a total of 9.3 miles this weekend -- a bit more than my weekend schedule, but within my week schedule. Week two starts tomorrow...