Another setback

Sometimes life has a way of letting you know you are going against what it has planned for you. This has happened to me. Just when I felt like my training was coming along nicely and I would be fine for the marathon, life reminded me of its plans. As if my struggles this training period had not been enough, I was introduced to one of Arizona’s finest drivers as she decided to ignore the stop sign and pull out directly in my path while I was driving 40 MPH down the road. My Suburban ended up in the driver’s side of her car and both of our days were ruined. She ended up being cited, my car towed away, and my back and hip very sore.
The therapists at Foothills had me back up and able to run with no discomfort at all in my hip/lower back area, and now it is all back (no pun intended).
It has been 3 weeks since the crash and I have just been able to get out for a few short runs. For the most part I feel aright, but the soreness in my hip comes back around 4 miles, I don’t know what would happen if I really push the distance. I will get a referral from my chiropractor to Foothills for more PT but I have doubts that I will be able to run the half-marathon let alone the full.
I may look for a later race and see if I can get it together by then. Potential races include the Lost Dutchman, or Sedona.

On a side note I love the Saucony Pro Grid Paramount’s I recently bought, but do not have enough on them to do a decent show review. I see that the Garmin 305 GPS/HRM is on sale at Costco for $149 (I see that it has gone up to $159 now), I may have to pick one of those up so I am not running with two watches to cover my GPS/HRM needs.


In other good news…my favorite TV show (Burn Notice) is just around the corner from new episodes.

I have been doing a few shorter runs since writing the above. They have been a bit painful so I have been keeping them short. Been going back to Foothills and getting some more work done, and it is feeling better already.
We are going to Flagstaff this weekend so I will try to run up there in the snow single digit temps. Should be fun!


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another update...

I haven’t been updating much here which is a surprise since I have not been training as I should be. Over the last two weeks my motivation has gone to zero which really sucks. I keep telling myself “I’ll get to it tomorrow” and that I can eat whatever today because tomorrow I will eat very clean and healthy. Problem is, it rarely happens. I will go out and have a great run or eat well (for me) and then follow it up with nothing.
I guess that this has been going on for longer than I realize as I look at some of my older posts. I know this will all come to fester when I cross the finish line of the marathon and think to myself, “man, if you would have trained just a little better you could have finished much faster”.
I think part of it is due to my slower times on the long runs have psychologically damaged me as I am not able to finish the runs without doing some walking (I finished the last 2 marathons with no walk breaks and ran negative splits). Also bothering me is a pain in my lower leg that is exactly where all of the issues I have had in the past started. Shin splint type pain, followed by a tight hamstring. I have been stretching and going to my core/stretch classes, but need to step it up a bit or I will be sidelined for a few months again.

Enough of the whining… I ordered a pair of Saucony ProGrid Paramount and received them on Wednesday. I have not been out to run in them yet but will run in them Sunday or Monday. I won’t wear them tomorrow as it is always a bad idea to break in new shoes on a long run. I really didn’t want to drop $165 on these shoes, so when I found a pair in my size on eBay for $79 I could not resist. The same seller has the Asics Kinsei , the $180 shoes, for the same price. But I have really liked the feel of the Grid Sinister better than the Kayano 13’s. Hopefully they will live up to the hype (doubtful).

Good news is that I didn’t need to go out in the Black Friday madness, except my daily Starbucks run.

I am looking at doing the Sedona half marathon in February, and will be up there this weekend to see the Christmas lights at Los Abrigados . Hopefully I will be renewed by some below zero running in the red rocks.

Anyway, that is it for today. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and I will blog at you soon!


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What do you know...

Well that didn’t take long. Just a few weeks after I posted about the confusion at the Chicago marathon and wondered what would happen if a non elite start runner won a big race, along comes Arien O'Connell who had the gall to finish the San Francisco marathon with the fastest time but didn’t start with the elites so she was not declared the winner. At least initially. Nike showed some class and presented her with the exact same awards (including a trophy made by Tiffany & Co.) as the elite women’s winner, and was named “a” winner. Not “the” winner, but “a” winner.

Nike also stated that there would no longer be an Elite start in the future in order to avoid another issue. O’Connell finished in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 11 seconds. The fastest woman in the elite group ran it in 3 hours, 6 minutes, so it wasn’t even close.

I now wonder how many others will buck the trend and get rid of elite starts. I know many major and mid-major marathons are already turning away from the USATF ban on headphones and I-Pods at races, so why not get rid of elite starts. I am all for it. In fact I would get rid of the corrals as well and let everyone fend for themselves at the start. Make it a race from the get go. Except the TNT runners, they need to start in the back. Just kidding TNT’ers. Since they are treated like royalty everywhere else at a race, leave the start to the “others”. I had better stop now before this becomes an anti TNT thread.

I don’t know what is up with my training. I feel motivated and am excited to run the PF Changs again, but I am having the hardest time getting my lazy ass out the door in the mornings. Running after work? Forget it. Between the kids, wife, and being tired from the overly stressful job I have (sarcasm) I cant run at night. I thought that having the new treadmill at home would help, and it would if I would use it. When I was using the old treadmill about a year ago I felt no different running on it or outside. But now running on the treadmill is a chore. The last time I was on it, 3 miles felt like it was sucking the life out of me. I just need to get used to millin’ again, that’s all.

Unfortunately for me, time is running out as I am quickly closing in on the 8 weeks of training left before race window where I believe your race training is either made or broken. Yes, everything leading up to this time is important, but I really feel that if you do not nail your training during this window you will not be at your peak whether that be 100% or somewhere lower due to injury, illness, or whatever. Fortunately for me, I still have time to get my act together. If I can get around to making sure that I hit my mid week longer runs I will be fine as I am doing okay with my weekly long run, but it could be better in terms of stamina.

Tonight I have speed work at the Foothills office. Yesterday Brian took me through a core routine that has my mid-section very sore today. It is embarrassing to say how weak my core is, but I am not able to fully complete the exercises Brian has for me…but it is getting better. Hopefully I can redeem myself with some Usain Bolt style speed tonight. Yeah right…

I want to get a chair that has a stability ball for the seat, so you are using your core the entire time you are sitting in the chair. Don’t know if the State will let me use it at work instead of the State approved ADA chairs. But I can try.

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Snafu at the Chicago marathon...

Korir 4th in Chicago Marathon, but out of the money
By Philip Hersh | Tribune staff reporter
10:20 PM CDT, October 12, 2008

Wesley Korir, a Kenyan who went to Murray State and the University of Louisville, is listed fourth overall in the official men's results with a time of 2 hours 13 minutes 53 seconds.

But he won't get the fourth-place prize money of $15,000, or any prize money, because he started with the masses rather than with the elite men, who began five minutes earlier.

International track rules for road running say that only athletes who start with the elite race's opening gun qualify for prize money.

The time recorded on the electronic chip in his shoe, rather than times related to a starting gun, was fourth fastest of the race's 31,401 finishers.
The intent of the rule is to take into consideration that Korir did not race the leaders. He raced the clock.
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So, this year the Chicago Marathon race directors decided to have in essence, two separate races. One for the Elites, and one for the masses. And a guy who started with the masses 5 minutes behind the elite runners ends up running the 4th fastest time of the day. I can see all of the arguments about how it isn’t fair to the elite runners as they did not know where he was at and could not tactically run with him to the finish as they would if he were up in the front with them. However, what would happen if he ran the fastest time of the day? The race directors did make it clear that there were two different races this year, and look what happens…that is life I guess. Do you think Carey will have two races again next year?

You hear a variant of this ever year in the bigger races as someone who started behind someone else runs a faster chip time but is listed behind them in the official results as they did not beat them with the gun time. It has just never been at this scale before.

There aren’t many things better than watching everyone start at the same time and watching the runners dressed as Elvis and the schmucks who want to see how long they can keep up with the Kenyans crash and burn.
I don’t like the two races idea, but can understand it.

And what was up with Constantina Tomescu-Dita wearing what appeared to be a thong? I guess she was worried about the warm weather and was doing everything to keep cool. Can anyone find a picture of her outfit yesterday? I looked but couldn’t find any. It was crazy. Whats next, men running in speedos?


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Soulstice Mountain Trail Run recap...

From one of my favorite papers, I hope to see everyone there next year and congratulations to all who braved the frigid weather to finish.

By KEITH JIRON
Sun Sports Staff
Sunday, October 12, 2008

The weather forecast for Saturday's Soulstice Mountain Trail Run called for howling winds and a chance for snow.

Even so, that wasn't going to keep Flagstaff's Sara Wagner from hopping in her car and heading to the Coconino National Forest's Sunset Trailhead. "When I heard it might snow, I thought it might be even more fun," said Wagner, who won the women's 11-mile race with a time of 1 hour, 29 minutes, 56 seconds. "Before I moved to Flagstaff I used to come up on weekends and I would always hear about Soulstice.

"And when I did my first Soulstice in 2006, I understood why. It continues to be one if my favorite races. It's just a nice reunion with all of my trail buddies."

Saturday's adverse weather conditions reminded race organizer Neil Weintraub a little about the rain-soaked 2006 race.

"Two years ago, we had torrential rains. We actually had the tail end of a tornado that ripped through the southern end of the Mogollon Rim and came north," he said. "This morning I awoke (here) at 1 o'clock in the morning with 70 mph wind gusts and I thought, 'My God, this is going to be an interesting day.'"

In 2006, 171 of 200 competitors crossed the finish line.

This year, all but four of the 200 completed the race.

"It seems like the worse the weather, the better the turnout," Weintraub said.

He went on to say, "(Flagstaff runners) are just a hearty bunch of folks who want to come out and have a good time.

"It's not about who wins, it's just about coming out and having a good time on the mountain, and enjoying the beautifultrails we have here."

Like Wagner, Flagstaff's Brian Cannon said the party atmosphere the run seems take on every year made missing this year's run not an option.

"It's a great group of people The runners in Flagstaff are just a great crowd to be with," said Cannon, who donned a hot-pink wing and wore a skirt over his running gear. "That's the idea behind the wig and the dress.

"To just just to come out and have fun. Not to take it so seriously."

On a more serious note, the race, which started in 1997, then took a three-year hiatus before kicking back into high gear in 2001, is a fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flagstaff.

Weintraub said the event raised in the neighborhood of $4,000 this year.

"Soulstice started as a good time for runners, but it got so popular we thought, 'Geez, we could actually do something and donate to some good cause in town,'" Weintraub said.

Wentraub and event sponsor, the Northern Arizona Trail Runners Association, will use the popularity of the perpetually sold-out event to try to raise even more money for the organization.

Starting today, the first 40 to pledge to raise $250 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flagstaff will ensure themselves a spot in next year's run.

Weintraub, who is a Big Brother, said the way to get started is to e-mail him at www.natra.org

"We will sell out April 1st, when we open it, so someone wants to secure one of 40 spots, they have (to make that pledge)," he said. "All of the money we raise goes straight to Big Brothers.

"It's basically a new way we can raise money for a fgreat orgasnization which helps kids in this town."

Competitors had a choice between a 10k and an 11-mile race.

In the women's 10k, Janet Nelson was the overall winner with a time of 54:33.

Judy Blubaum won the Masters Division with a time of 1:04.49.

As mentioned, Wagner was the first woman to cross the finish line in the long course.

Paula Aerts (1:35.01) won the Masters Division.

Chris Gomez won the men's 10k in 39:09, while Mark Ulm was the Masters winner in a time of 44.02.

Jared Scott took first in the men's 11-mile race with a time 1:09.37

The race's Masters Division was won by Richard Doucett (1:22.43).



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I am a slacker.

I am a slacker, not Geb pictured above...

I have not seen very much about this in any mainstream media, so in case you were not aware the world record for the marathon was again broken by Haile Gebrselassie at the Berlin Marathon. Geb smashed his old marathon world record by 27 seconds as he took advantage of excellent conditions on a flat course to finish in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 59 seconds. Despite an ailing calf he shattered the mark he set in Berlin last year and became the first man to win this race three times.
In the women's race, Irina Mikitenko of Germany won in 2:19:19. She improved her personal best by more than four minutes to record the seventh fastest time for a woman.

So if you can travel and want to hit a flat fast marathon, then Berlin it is!

As for me, my training for the past week has been marginal at best. I did very well up to Wednesday when I had a good 5 miler in the semi-dark morning (gotta keep alert for the coyotes and javalenias now that the sun is coming up later) and I made the core work class at 10 AM all before heading down to the first day of a three day conference put on by the Annie E. Casey foundation at the Phoenix Hyatt. Then the wheels fell off. Thursday I was worried about being late so I did not run in the morning, was late getting home (it took 1 hour 15 minutes to get home from there!) and was tired from a day of conferencing and driving. It would have been a great end to the day by going for a run but decided to stay inside and would instead run in the morning even though Friday was a scheduled rest day. The Hanson’s program is so different from a traditional American marathon plan. I think I like the Hanson’s program better, but since this is the plan my physical therapist is doing, I will stick with it as best I can. I need to really wrap my head around training and stop with the "I just want to finish with no back pain", and focus on getting some quality runs in.

What do you think happened Friday morning? The alarm did not get me up and I overslept, creating a mad dash to get dressed and out the door so I would not be late to the conference. Again getting home tired and crabby I did not want to run, I can do my long run tomorrow and be alright. So, Saturday I woke up and my wife was already out running. When she got back we only had an hour before my son’s soccer game. After that we had promised to take the kids to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua, then we had dinner scheduled at my mothers house. So, I will run on Sunday.
Sunday came and left with no sign of a run out of me but I did get a lot of cleaning and yard work done. And the Broncos won again!

Run today? Well when the smoke detector decides to alert you that it’s batteries are going dead by producing a 150 decibel chirp every 45 seconds you know that it is 2:45 in the morning. After getting the new battery placed in the detector, I was not able to fall back to sleep until about 430…the time I get up to run. So when the kids woke us up it was time to get ready to run out the door to work. Now I could lie and say that I will run tonight, but with Lyndsey working late on Mondays that is not a possibility. I didn’t think that I would miss the treadmill so much, but it was so very handy. I really need to save up for a new one. Maybe if I am lucky I will be able to cut out early and go home for a run, pick up my daughter, then drive back into town to get my son (late edit-it didn't happen). It will be a lot of miles on the gas friendly Suburban, but it is the only way I will get a run in today. I really need to get my head into my runs. With Sedona coming up in two weeks I would love to hit a few 10-13 milers up there. When I am doing well with my running I feel like I can run all day up there. With a good two weeks running I should be fine by the time I hit the red rocks.

Until next time!





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Team World Vision

Here is a video I came across about Ryan Hall and his running for a purpose. Hard to believe that people live in these conditions.



Let me know what you think.



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New IMS marathon

I recently received an e-mail telling me about a new marathon that will be run in the West Valley. It is called the IMS Arizona Marathon scheduled for February 15, 2009. for some time now I have felt that the West side of town needed some new races as there is a good base of runners out here, and maybe I will be wrong but the route this race is to be run on does not inspire me to jump up and register. There will be plenty of open fields and vacant lots to look at as you go by. And by open fields I don’t mean pristine, beautiful desert either. I mean vacant lots with scrub and dying vegetation. But it does end at Westgate which could be kinda cool, especially if they are able to get the finish in the Cardinals stadium or in the Coyotes arena.

I know that the views are not reason to run a race and I am sure that this race will do well; perhaps I may even run it next year (maybe as training run for the Sedona Marathon) 2010 as I still have my ban on running first year events (too many experiences with being a first year race guinea pig).

So, if this sounds like something you would like to try or you want to check it out for yourself go to http://www.thearizonamarathon.com/, and if you are one of the first 500 to register you will get the 2 for 1 special (as long as you know someone who will run with you).

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Learn to like the pain...

Some days are much tougher than others for me to get out for my daily run. Today was one of them. My lower back and right hip were both in agony when I got up today to get ready to go run. It was so bad that I almost did not go, then told myself that I would go about a half mile to see how it felt, then decide. The initial first few steps were killers; I almost stopped then, but continued on. At the half mile point my hip had loosened up and my back was starting to get with it. I then remembered that my physical therapist Melissa told me that there would be times like this and that the running would actually be good for it. I was glad that I continued on.

After the deluge last night the air was crisp and cool, the breeze picked up the desert scents and spread them around for all to smell. The morning after a storm is the best time to run in the desert.

Bats were flying everywhere this morning; I have never seen so many in one run. It was crazy, as they will dive bomb you from the tops of a tall saguaro cactus or a light pole, then pull away from only a few feet above your head.

I have seen a coyote on my last two runs. I was driving home last week thinking that the construction out in Vistancia had driven them further out in the desert or up in the hills. It was good to see them, it was also good to see that they had a fear of me and they are not becoming too domesticated. I also saw a road runner out by the canal; I haven’t seen one of those out here in a long time. Well enough with the nature report.

I hope to update soon with some upcoming races in the area. Until then, keep running and maybe I will see you out there.


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Catching up...

I have a lot of catching up to do. For starters the Runfar AZ program will be on hiatus for a bit as I need to get myself back up and running before taking on any other projects. My health and well being takes precedence! So...I will be posting on here about me and my training instead of posting about the group.
I will be training with the group my physical therapy office is putting on. I haven't trained with a group for three years, but I think that it would be good for me as I am basically starting from square one as my fitness is nothing right now. I can run with the pain in my back, but my lungs and legs start dying. I know that once I am able o get the miles back up it will start coming back so hopefully I can put forth a good effort at the PF Chang's.

I recently took a trip to Flagstaff and got in some good running around Buffalo Park. I was wondering if any elite runners would be there even though the Olympics took many from the area. I did see several very fast females running the loop at the park as well as legendary coach Dr. Jack Daniels as he worked with a group of kids. Most of the kids were Navajo, but it was a diverse group. Here are some pictures I snapped.

Nice Nike Free's!






I recently came across some cool videos of Ryan Hall as he was preparing for the Olympic trials and the Olympics. Here is my favorite one. He runs so smoothly, uphill, downhill, in a strong headwind. And he appears to be a nice down to earth dude.





So my current goals are to continue with the stretches and exercises my physical therapist gave me, change my diet and stick to it (I ordered the Chris Carmichael nutrition book), and get back to doing what I need to do. Run often and slow.

Until next time...





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