Thanksgiving Morning

My brother and I are registered for the Manchester Road Race. Can't wait. This will be my third road race since returning to running in May.

8/10: Torrington Road Race; Distance: 5 miles; Pace: 8:52

10/5: Highland Lake; Distance: 10K; Pace: 8:25

My goal for the MRR is a sub-8-minute pace.

Predictions for New York City Marathon, Sunday, November 2

The lovely Kara Goucher* for the women; Abderrahim Goumri for the men.

*Longest race: half-marathon; time: 1:06:57

Interesting Article

Here is a link to an article, "Are You Running Yourself to Death?," published in the latest issue of Men's Health. (You'd never find an article of this kind published in Runner's World, Running Times, or any of the other lesser known running periodicals.) The author is a marathoner himself, so I can't hate on his article too much, but, frankly, I'm not particularly fond of it. It excites the reader into thinking that the damage done to a runner's heart from running a marathon is somehow permanent, and that the only way to prevent a cardiac event during or after a marathon is to train at least 45 miles per week. As support for his article, the author cites the deaths of elite marathoner Ryan Shay and a recreational runner. First of all, Ryan Shay trained well over 100 miles per week, so the suggestion that a runner train at least 45 miles per week to prevent a cardiac event is anything but significant. Secondly, Ryan Shay had a congenital heart problem that was monitored periodically. His doctor even gave him the green light to train for and run the 2007 Olympic Trials. As to the recreational runner, as far as I recall, his autopsy was inconclusive. I'll research this...

UPDATE: The recreational runner who died during 2007's Chicago Marathon also had a congenital heart problem. His autopsy showed that he had a mitral valve prolapse. My understanding of this heart problem is that one of the valves of the heart fails to completely close, thereby allowing a backflow of blood into the heart, which, apparently, can carry a high risk of complications.

The lesson: GET AN ANNUAL PHYSICAL. I last had a physical in November of 2006 and was diagnosed with a heart murmur. A heart murmur is not a disease; it's just a fancy name for an abornmal sound emitting from the heart. My mother was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse at a very young age, so I had reason to worry. I immediately had an echocardiogram--an ultrasound of the heart--different from an electrocardiogram, which isn't as effective as the former in diagnosing heart defects. Luckily, my echocardiogram came back negative, so it's unclear what exactly caused the heart murmur that my doctor heard. My next physical is on October 31st. Get one.

MRR

Anybody up for what is rumored to be the greatest road race in CT? www.manchesterroadrace.com

Balancing Running and Life

Now that I'm working a lot more than I ever have before (and want to be), I'm finding it hard to get runs in between work and other things. Especially now that it is getting dark earlier every day. I'm dreading turning the clocks back. This weekend I went backpacking in VT and missed my long run on Sunday, which bothered me as I thought I'd be too tired and not have time to get it in today. However, I got it in and felt quite good. For previous marathons I followed my training schedule every day, but I think I'm going to give myself some more flexibility and see how it goes.

Much appreciation for Geoff who found time to train for the Hartford Marathon and just had a baby in January! Sounds like mommy Em is already back to running too! (Is Sierra going to be a runner or a lacrosse player?)

Update

I'm struggling to find the right shoe for my feet. I continue to rotate between three pair of Brooks. Ordered most to least support: Adrenaline, Axiom and Radius. I scrapped the custom orthotics, because they were kicking over my left foot too much and causing severe forefoot discomfort (under the first three toes). Now I have no additional support but need it, particularly for my right foot, which doesn't have the support of an arthroesis (the titanium implant in my left foot).

It's difficult to find the right balance of additional support given the fact that my left arch is fully supported by the implant and my right arch collapses completely. Until my pre-op appointment on November 4, I'm going to go back to what worked last summer--Brooks Adrenaline and $25-over-the-counter arch supports. I hope to be able to run the Philadelphia Half-Marathon on November 23, but I'd like to have the implant removed as soon as possible. It continues to cause forefoot and rearfoot discomfort, as it locks my foot in a neutral position and prevents any pronation whatsoever. That's not a very good shock-absorber.

Hartford Half-Marathon: Chapter 2

Congratulations to my brother for completing his first half-marathon yesterday in a time of 2:10:37. I planned to run, too, but it sold out the day before the race. It felt great to witness my brother cross the finish line strongly--and smiling--though. Also, I saw that Geoff completed the full marathon. Congrats!

Hartford Half-Marathon

My brother is registered to run the Hartford Half-Marathon on Saturday morning. I've decided to join him, though I'll have to register on race day. I just hope that the race doesn't fill up before then.

I don't know that I'm in sub-2 hour half-marathon shape, but that seems like a good goal.

I read in the latest issue of Runner's World that the Hartford Marathon (including all associated events held on the same day as that of the Marathon) is one of the "greenest" races in the US. Apparently, in lieu of the use of thousands of paper/plastic cups, there's a gigantic container of water from which all runners can share.

I need new shoes...

Anybody have any good tips on place for getting a good deal on running shoes? Sierratradingpost.com is my usual source but they seem to be low on deals.

Marathoning

Feeling inspired, I've registered myself for the Disney World Marathon on Jan 11. I'm not a huge fan of Disney but it is 15 weeks away, and my dad is going to be visiting my grandparents Daytona Beach that time so it seems practical. It was f'n expensive to register. $133 bucks. Plus the race starts at 6AM.

Now I just need to start running more. Perhaps the philly half would make a nice training race?

Haile Gebrselassie

It's worth noting on this blog that on Sunday, in Berlin, Haile Gebrsellassie, arguably the best distance runner of all time, broke his own record in the marathon by running a 2:03:59!!! That's 4:44 per mile!!!!! A link to the video of the race can be accessed via www.marathonguide.com. It's pretty impressive.

Half-Marathon Training Progress Report

I start my fifth week of half-marathon training today. The first four weeks went well. I'm running about 20 miles/week (~3 hours and 15 minutes--I'm trying to emphasize time as opposed to distance--e.g., 1 hour on Wed. and Fri. and 1-2 hours on Sunday)--two short runs during the week and about a 10-mile long run on the weekends. My longest long run will be 12-14 miles. My brother is adapting well. He likely will smoke me.

Week 5: 1-hour runs on Wed. and Fri.; Highland Lake 10K on Sunday

Weeks 6, 7, 8: same; 1-2 hour long run on Sunday

I might add 20 additional minutes of running on Monday or Tuesday night just to work on ridding muscles of acid build-up and cardiac development. I feel tired during Wednesday's workouts. In addition to all of this running, I bike one or two times per week and do a lot of core strengthening exercises.