FoCo Runner

Meandering obsessions

2012-01-08T16:13:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been obsessed with web development again. I go through cycles like this. I'll be going along nicely, and then someone or something will challenge me to write a script that does something useful and helps solve a problem or save a lot of time, and before I know it that's all I can think about. I stay up late at night thinking about it, sneaking off to my desk where I can try out some ideas for different functions I've conceived in stage 1 sleep.

Ordinarily this is ok, but since my time for running is already stressed due to sharing transportation and having a small commute to/from work, and having been sick on top of all this for a while, I've been lagging in behing in the running category. I nearly hit 2 weeks without running this time around. The last time that happened was when I had a bad flare of posterior tibialis tendonitis early last year.

I'm really not interested in having such long gaps between running adventures, so I'm planning to try and get out on the road more, or.... Gasp... Use that health club membership and hit the treadmill.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Heart Center of the Rockies Half/10K/5K

2011-11-17T07:38:00.001-08:00

Members of Dailymile, Fort Collins Running Club, and friends

The 2011 Heart Center of the Rockies Half Marathon, 10K, and 5K races are in the books as of November 5, 2011, and a fun time was had by all. Yeah, I know I'm a little late in getting this posted. Wanna make somethin' of it?

Conditions: Cold, sunny, light breeze... This turned out better than expected, since rain/snow mix had been forecast for much of the week.

The course: The half marathon course had some patchy snow/ice on the ground, and there is a fair amount of unpaved surface, but I didn't see anyone go down. I was able to take this first part of the course about as fast as I wanted to, despite the conditions.

Mile 1 - 6

First two and a half miles were on pavement, with some icy patches ad some foot-tracked hard-pack snow remnants, then onto some dirt/gravel path to complete the initial full lap around Houts and Equalizer (Two small reservoirs), then back to the pavement around Houts one more time, before rising up out of the basin containing the two reservoirs on a dirt road lading west to Boyd Lake Ave (Cty 9).

Mile 6 - 7.3
This stretch was on asphalt on slightly rolling terrain. Nothing too steep. It was just nice to have solid footing under foot.

Mile 7.3 - 9.3
Turning off of Cty 9 and running through the neighborhoods around Boyd Lake was a nice surprise in a few ways. In previous years, the route continued up Cty 9 over a gradual incline. Going down the other side of that made for some good splits for a couple miles, but you had to run by a cattle feedlot, and the scenery wasn't that great. The new route through the neighborhoods eliminated one of the two highest points in the course in exchange for lightly rolling residential streets with a half-mile stretch right along the lake, so the scenery was excellent, the traffic was slower, and some neighborhood folk came out to cheer runners on, as well.

Mile 9.3 - 10.3
This was a tough mile, including the steepest/longest hill along the course, and right at the point in a half marathon when you look at you're either questioning whether you'll be able to continue, or when you think you're doing pretty well, because your splits have been pretty good up to this point. It's not a giant hill. It just comes at an inconvenient point in the race, when even modest hills start to feel more like mountains.

Mile 10.3 - 12.1
This stretch starts with about a 30 ft. decent in 0.2 miles - a nice, runnable slope where you can pick up some time, then runs along the path and roadway in Boyd Lake State Park over lightly rollin terrain

The Last Mile

Brett finishing the Half Marathon

The last mile is a little tough, too, forcing you to climb the 30 feet you descended at the beginning of the previous stretch over about three quarters of a mile, before showing you another good descent leading down to the finishing stretch at the swimming beach (not that anyone swims here when it's 30-something degrees out.

Results: I finished with a time of 138:28 (12/60 in AG 40-49), which was a new half Marathon PR for me, and it was particularly gratifying considering it was on a tougher course than my to previous downhill half marathons. Given how slow I've felt when I go out for my training runs lately, it's nice to go out for a race and half a strong performance. This year, they also provided finisher medals. I'm not sure if they did that in previous years, but it was a nice touch.

I'm not too skinny. Your concept of normal is just too fat

2011-11-04T22:13:00.000-07:00

A co-worker of mine told my wife I looked anorexic. I hear that I am "too skinny" quite often, actually. I simply exercise a good amount and avoid overeating. I really should put a chart up at my desk to show where I sit on the BMI chart. Like all overly simplistic models/predictors BMI isn't a perfect measure of weight/condition in all cases, but I've got a pretty light to average frame, but it's decent general guide. I sit at a BMI of 20-21 (6' tall, 155 lbs), depending on my exact weight, which falls squarely inside the "normal" weight BMI range of 18.5-25.

BMI is an estimate of body fat content for average people, but athletes aren't average people. For their weight, they have more muscle and less body fat than average, so the BMI tends to be an overestimate of body fat for athletes.

For me, although BMI comes in at 20-21, for example, other estimates of body fat that rely on measurements of neck, wrist, hip, and waist measurements along with height, weight and age, tend to put me around 12-15% body fat. Given my activity levels and diet, this is perfectly normal. Many elite athletes come in with under 10% body fat, and are perfectly healthy.

What is boils down to is that I'm perfectly normal. It's not me who's too skinny. It's our concept of "normal" that has now become fat.

It's really no surprise that our concept of "normal" size/weight has increases, because statistics show that well over 60% of Americans are overweight or obese (BMI 25+). In other words, the average American is overweight, and since our idea of normal is derived from the "average" of what we observe, our "sense" of what a normal person looks like reflects an overweight person, and even our concept of skinny has grown fatter.

It's a shame, and it's costing us. So, do yourself a favor. Do us all a favor. Stop eating too much crap. Start eating the right about of good quality nutritious food. Get off your butt more often and do more physically demanding things.

Or, you could just allow yourself to go to hell in a hand basket, accept that this will make it much more likely that your twilight years will be spent sick, uncomfortable, or in pain, or be cut short.

It's really your choice.

Spooktacular 5K Race

2011-11-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Spooktacular Race, a 5K race benefiting Children's Speech and Reading Center in Fort Collins, was a fun event. The conditions were cold, and I suspect I sort of blew my chances for doing a little better by running two four-mile progressive runs the day before, but I had a great time and still took first in my age group with a time of 20:23, my second best 5K race time ever. Events like this are only partly about the competition, though. They're about calling attention to and raising funds for some worthy cause.

Being a Halloween Race (yes, I'm late posting this), it also involves many creative costumes, and entire families participating together, which makes it fun to hang out after the finish to watch the kids events. This year, the fields were all snow-covered, so the races were a little smaller and held on the asphalt basketball courts, but I don't think that diminished things at all. Just ask the winner of the costume contest, pictures below.

Seeking Motivation

2011-10-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

I've been busy lately, mostly with work. I like my job, so when they offered unlimited overtime for the month of September, I volunteered for as much as I could stand. I made some extra money, but I regretted not having the time I wanted for running. The trouble with not running regularly, and particularly not running races regularly, is that I start to lose my edge. Sure my endurance and speed suffer, but the most important thing that suffers is my psyche.

The more distant I become from something I enjoy, the less "connection" I feel with it, and the enjoyment derived from it. I can forget that the reward for putting in the effort is more than enough to justify making the effort. For some people, this seems not to be a major issue, but for me it's a big one. If I lay off running too long, I lose sight to some extent of the link between my running experiences and my mental and physical state. Starting to run again after laying off or slowing down in my training can feel like scaling a cliff I've scaled before a hundred times. I am disappointed at what I've lost, find the going difficult, and can be bored with what I have to do to get back to the top of my game, and have begun to lose sight of how much I gain from my involvement in the sport. A little of the "fire" is gone.

In looking for ways to rekindle that fire, I find that meeting up and talking to other people who enjoy running helps. While I may not be ready to do my best in a race, I sometimes force myself to enter one when I'm not quite trained up, just to restore my connection with the sport and rekindle the flame that drives me to improve myself. When I get out there and do something, I'm never sorry I did.

Fortunately, social media facilitates this.

This weekend, I ran the Bacon Bits race with a friend from my youth who recently moved to Colorado, and today I ran a Tortoise & Hare club race with the Fort Collins Running Club, so I've had a lot of good opportunity to reconnect with both aspects of the sport or running that appeal to me (camaraderie and competition).

Uphill, downhill, & sprints, Oh my!

2011-08-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

The periods of my training that have resulted in the most performance gain have included two things: 1) loss of excess weight, and 2) systemic training including three types of hill running. Recently, I teamed up with Jason Fitzgerald on a post for his blog Strength Running called Hill Running 101: How to Take Your Running to New Heights. If you want some tips on how to use hills to your best advantage in training, I think it's a great resources. I am a scientist by training, and approach things in a fairly methodical manner, focusing on physiology, biomechanics, and mechanism. Jason is an successful runner and experienced coach whose insatiable quest for knowledge to improve his own running have made him a great technical resource on running, and I think he's done a great job of integrating our ideas in this article. If you're looking for a few ideas on efficient training approaches you can use to take your running up a notch, check it out.

If I am looking to build strength for running, I want to make sure my form is good during a workout with good resistance but shorter repetitions. In my view, the easiest way to get resistance while running is to run uphill. The hills shouldn't be too steep, because then you're scrambling more than running and the different form required won't do much for the muscles and coordination you need for your best performance on flat ground. They should be steep enough to get some good resistance while maintaining a decent running form.

I also think it's good to work your muscles at three ranges of intensity to get the most wide-ranging benefits from hill training. You want some long steady, aerobic uphill running for sure. Trail running on hilly terrain regularly can be great for this, particularly if you have some long incline trails in your area, like we do here in Northern Colorado. My view is that you should also have some threshold-pushing hard uphills runs up moderately grades (hill repeats). Whereas the aerobic running on hills will give you a little strength, endurance, and durability the slower pace is mostly suitable for building aerobic endurance, or the ability to last long distances at a manageable pace. The repeats will work on strength, but are also run hard enough to push your into anaerobic realms. They will strengthen your legs and make hill running easier in part just from that, but largely also because of the anaerobic metabolic benefits to your running muscles.

Hill sprints are a different animal. Being on steep hills, and only lasting about 10 seconds, they aren't long enough or slow enough to be fueled by aerobic metabolism to any real extent, and so they are nearly completely anaerobic. Being highly intense in terms of effort, they will stress your muscles and tendons, but only for a few seconds at a time. They are designed purely for gaining raw power/strength.

Then, there is the downhill repeat. These are great for two reasons. The first is that they are easy to alternate with your uphill repeats. At the top of your moderately-steep quarter-mile hills, you can walk for a minute, then turn around and glide back down, focusing on a fast, smooth efficient running. Downhill repeats like this will cause eccentric contractions in your quads as you use them to absorbe the force of each footfall and then to push off as you focus on getting good hip extension when your legs fly out behind your. As your knee bends to absorb the forces of each step, your quads lengthen. This can't go unchecked, so they must also begin to contract to halt and reverse the lengthening as your hip and leg extends as you drive it out behind you. This builds strength and durability and ultimately helps you run strongly and efficiently downhill.

There are other plyometric exercises I've talked about previously to improve your downhill running performance as well. The great thing about plyometric exercises and hill running, is that if you do them right, and don't overdo them to the point of injury, studies suggest they can make your joints, muscles, and tendons more resistant to strains, sprains, and chronic inflammations (like tendinitis), over time. It's unrealistic to think that you can push yourself to train hard and reach your peak performance without ever suffering some kind of injury. The research shows that it's almost inevitable, so anything that makes the body more resistant to injury over time can only be seen as a good thing to a determined runner.

Having had some chronic tendinitis issues through much of the first half of 2011, and coming back by running mostly flat routes, I'm ready again to make a concerted effort to hit the hills, up and down. I'm looking forward to it, because smart training on hills results in faster running on all terrain. And what runner doesn't want that?

For more details on the types of hill workouts I mention above, have a look at Jason's article, Hill Running 101: How to Take Your Running to New Heights on Strength Running.

New beginning, again and again

2011-08-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

At the end of a race, after I've left it all on the course - my energy, my sweat, my tears, my blood, vomit, whatever else - I often find myself saying... "Holy crap! I'm not sure I'll do that again!"

The pain I take as a sign that I've really raced to the limits of my ability, and accomplished all I was capable of. Despite the doubts it engenders, I always know, somewhere in the back of my mind, that I'll be back. I sense that once the energy returns and I've analyzed my performance, and diagnosed the limiting factors; be they nutrition, condition, strategy, weather, or some combination, the desire to make forward strides and fine-tune my goals wins out.

Soon I find myself planning the next race, and thinking about how I can train to improve on the weaknesses the most recent race experience has revealed. The greater the distance and immediacy from the physical aftermath of an all-out effort, the less I am lost in the subjective quagmire of mixed emotions that physical exhaustion brings about, and the more objectively I view the experience. The less I see the pain, the more I see the potential for future gains. The less I feel the tearing down, and the more I sense the building up.

And the more I want to do it again and again.

Once the pain and exhaustion of the race finish fade, the optimism for the next race begins to rise from it's ashes... I am the phoenix... YOU are the phoenix.

Use your pain to get better.

The Human Race Revisited - 5K Edition

2011-08-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

Today, I ran the Fort Collins Human Race. I ran this event last year as well, but only the last time around I ran the 10K. I use the term 10K loosely for this race, because the course is actually 6.1 miles instead of 6.22, which is a full 10K. The 5K course is spot on, however, and today I managed to cover it in 20:20, which was good enough for first place in my age group, but short of a long-time goal I've had to run a 5K in under 20 minutes.

The first mile I covered in 16:16. For about half of it, I was running fairly relaxed and right behind the lead pack at a sub-6 pace, but I knew I wouldn't be able to sustain that so I backed off just a bit. Mile two I covered in 6:31 before I got a side stitch and had a fleeting bout of fatigue that made every slight incline feel like a monster hill in the first half of mile 3.

Fortunately, I got over the side stitch and the bout of fatigue passed by about 2.5 miles, so I was able to pick the pace back up, and after flirting with a 7 minute mile managed it in 6:53, before polishing the final 0.11 mile in 40 seconds (6:06 pace), to cross the finish. Not everything went as planned, but the result was a PR by 16 seconds.

I went into the event feeling ok. Not great or strong, but not bad.

Afterward, I was pleased to finished with a new PR despite the difficulties in mile 3.

All-in-all, the event seemed to go off without a hitch. It's a moderately popular event in Fort Collins, partly because of the 1 mile kids race that is run after the open 5K and 10K events. The setting in Old Town Fort Collins is a great one, and the course is pretty fast. If you're a stickler for courses being the distance advertised, you may want to stick to the 5K, but what do you expect from an uncertified course, anyway? The Fort Collins Human Race is a good time, regardless.

The End of July Streak 2011

2011-07-31T14:39:00.000-07:00

Today I completed the last run in my July Streak. Haven't blogged much about the streak. Had a couple of goals early on, and they evolved somewhat as the streak continued. For one, I wanted to run at least 5K (3.11 miles) daily. As time went on, I realized my average was edging up to around 5 miles/day, so I decided to add the goal of averaging 5 miles for the streak, but decided to limit the streak to just the Month of July (and the last day of June, when I started it). So, 32 days of running as of today.

Minimum of 3.11 miles per day. Average pace estimated at around 7:50-7:54, in the end. 154 miles during July, 162 miles overall during the streak. Not too shabby.

So, will I do it again? Probably, but not right away. What I plan to do now is take a couple of days off to fully rest and recover, and also to start thinking about what races I might want to run as the summer winds down. I had planned to try and run a marathon this year, but four months of tibialis posterior tendinitis set me back more than I had hoped, so I've decided to focus on improving my speed and times on shorter races, perhaps finally managing a sub-20 minute 5K. Stay tuned on that one.

The streak should have helped somewhat with my aerobic base, but I didn't have any runs of over an hour during the streak, so I should embark on some longer runs during the month of August, as I also pursue tempo runs, some speed work, and some hill repeats.

I'll miss streaking, but it's really time to move on.

Review: Mission Skincare Rejuvenating Face Moisturizer

2011-07-17T12:28:00.000-07:00

The problem

In short, the problem is me. I freely admit that I am a flaky pastry. I work out a lot, and I shower a lot, and all that showering leads to dry skin--particularly in Colorado's dry climate. My face seems to suffer the most from this, so I am always looking for a good moisturizing lotion for my face that will produce some good, long-lasting results, and not feel like I've spread petroleum jelly all over my face for the rest of the day.

Over the years, finding a good moisturizing lotion has proven to be rather hit and miss prospect. I find one that seems to work well, but within a few months, it's no longer on the market, and it's replaced by some supposedly improved product that just doesn't work as well. When I was younger, I was always frustrated by lotions that remained oily/greasy all day, so the advent of "dry touch" or "non-oily" moisturizers seemed like a good thing at first. I quickly learned however that too often these phrases mean that the lotion only moisturizes for the time required for them to "dry" on your skin, and then you're back to where you started, or worse.

I've managed to find a couple of lotions recently that seemed to fit the bill, but being fair skinned, another thing I look for is good sunscreen and preferably something without a lot of extra scents. Neutrogena has a men's face moisturizing lotion in their shaving product line that works very well, and is SPF 20. That's good, except that it has sort of a cologne-type fragrance... Maybe like touch of aftershave or something. Not too strong, but not something I necessarily want on my face all the time. Aveeno had a product I liked, but it now appears to be unavailable.

The Solution? Perhaps. Read on...

Enter Mission Skincare, a company whose products boast the claim of being "used and field tested by the world's top athletes." So, I guess this means that I'm supposed to trust that their products are more than good enough to meet my standards, if they are good enough for world-class athletes, right? Well, not so fast, I say! But, before almost before I got those words out of my mouth, I was given the opportunity to try out their Mission Skincare's Rejuvenating Face Moisturizer, so I had nothing to lose in giving Mission Skincare a shot.

At first, I thought the tube was kind of small for the roughly $10 price tag, but honestly it's 2.0 oz. whereas the Neutrogena stuff I mentioned above comes in a 1.7 oz. tube for roughly the same price, and the 2 oz. actually goes a long way. Mission goes on smooth and spreads easily, and most importantly, it moisturizes pretty much all day. It does have a light citrus scent, but it's less noticeable than the aftershave type of scent from the similar Neutrogena lotion. Another bonus is that the Mission product is 30 SPF; better sun protection than the Neutrogena product.

I was able to put my first tube of Mission Skincare's Rejuvenating Moisturizer to the test in both dry Colorado, and humid Chicago and Wisconsin, and I was impressed. Often, humid climates bring out the worst in moisturizers. Your sweat doesn't evaporate, and mixes with the lotion and things just begin to go awry. Burning lotion in the eyes or skin irritations occur, or a greasy feel takes hold. The Mission product seemed to hold up well in both types of climates. Yes, I got a little discomfort in an eye when I was sweating once or twice, but not too bad really.

I've just ordered two more tubes from Mission Skincare. Now I hope they don't change the formula or discontinue the product. If they wanted to make an unscented version, I wouldn't complain, but from my perspective, this Rejuvenating Moisturizer was just what I was looking for to alleviate my persistent case of flaky pastry syndrome. In my opinion, this is good stuff.

Two interesting points about Mission Skincare are: 1) the company was cofounded by a number of world-class athletes, among others, and a major part of their mission is to produce products that perform well for active people, and 2) the company is committed to supporting a number of charities sponsored by their founders, and others. Learn more about Mission Skincare by visiting their website.

I'm streaking

2011-07-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

Will Farrell in the movie Old School

Just a couple of months back, I had sort of a non-running streak going. At the time, I was recovering from some tendinitis in my tibialis posterior tendon that followed a strain in the attached muscle. Recovery took a long time, and just when it was going well, I had a little setback, and had to take a little more time off. The setback wasn't a big re-injury or anything like that. It was more like a slight increase in the slight ache that had been gradually fading as I started to run again. After that two weeks off, I was able to start regular running again and haven't really looked back.

Sure I'm still keeping my mileage down, but I've had some decent runs and even threw in a 10 miler one fair day. Not bad. Regular pain-free running was what I had been looking forward to for four months, so I was quite happy. So, lately I've been streaking.

Oh, not the take your clothes off and run around kind of streaking. I've been doing the run everyday kind of streaking. When I came back from a vacation to the Midwest, where I put in a series of really strong runs, I took a few days off, then went back at it. Each morning, I woke up and felt great, so I would just head out again, and quickly decided to keep it up until the first sign of a problem. As I write this, I'm at 10 straight days of running at least one 5K (3.11 mile) and things are still going well (knock on wood).

So, what's this streak about? I guess it's sort of a celebration of simply being able to run. How long will it go? Until I've had enough of it.

That's all there is to it, really.

KT Tape Prototype Test & Review

2011-06-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

I've used KT Tape for a range of strains and tendinitis pains over the last two years. Although finding the right taping strategy can involved some trial-and-error, I've always been impressed with how just a little elastic tape stuck on the stick 'just so' can help just enough to keep you going when your muscles, tendons, and joints could use a little extra support. If you have an acute tear or severe strain, or other debilitating injury, rest and other forms of treatment are still your best options, but if you have a a mild strain or the beginnings of tendinitis, KT Tape can help you keep working out at some level while healing and avoiding catastrophe--at least, that's been my experience. Your mileage may vary.

I recently had the opportunity to try out a new KT Tape prototype--a pre-release version/update of the tape that is not yet on the market. I had been having some issues recently with KT tape failing to stick as well as I would like, and I was assured that the new prototype "sticks like a mother." I decided I just had to put that claim to the test.

I received 6 strips of beige colored prototype tape from the KT Tape representative, after expressing my recent frustrations over their tape not sticking well recently. I also received some links to some alternate taping methods for my particular problem (tibialis posterior tendinitis/posterior shin splits), and a link to the KT Tape best practices, in case there were some other things I could try to get better results with the regular tape. Since I already follow their best practices, it was down to the tape, which didn't appear at all different from the beige colored KT Tape I picked up at my local Sporting Goods store.

The prototype tape indeed stuck much better than their regular tape has been sticking. In the past, I had remarked on how well KT Tape stuck, so I have been surprised recently that their regular tape seemed not to be performing as well. If the prototype KT Tape I tried is an indication of what kind of adherence I can expect from KT Tape in the future, I will be a happy camper.

NOTE: Since my small supply of the prototype tape ran out yesterday, I taped up with regular KT Tape today and found that once again, both strips I had applied had come loose at some point during a 25 mile bike ride. It still stayed on well enough to do the trick, because it was held in place by my sock/shoe, but I'd like to see a return to the days when every application of KT Tape stuck from end to end for two or more workouts. If the prototype tape is a good indication, I'll get my wish. (Note to KT Tape: Please bring this stuff to market soon; marked improvement in adhesion).

Report: 2011 Houska Houska 5K

2011-06-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

Last Monday (Memorial Day 2011), I was able to participate in my first running event since January 1. With some tendinitis I've had some trouble with for the past several months cooperating for the time being, I signed up for the Houska Houska 5K. The event is hosted by Houska Automotive a locally-owned and family operated automotive shop in Fort Collins, Colorado. I'm guessing the double name is a play on the Bolder Boulder, which is held in Boulder on the same day. There are some similarities between the two events; both involve running and people wearing outrageous costumes, both are popular amongst the locals.... And well, the similarities end there.

Most running events are benefits in some way for a charity, non-profit, or community organization. For the Houska Houska, ALL of the proceeds go to the Poudre Valley Health District's Bone Marrow Donor Program and the Poudre Valley Cancer Center. The event is also run entirely by the Houska family and a variety of volunteers. Trying to determine what the vast amount of money brought in by the Bolder Boulder go for is no easy task. Some of it likely supports the infrastructure of the race, and the rest, who really knows? Race directory salary?

I've run both events now, and while the Bolder Boulder was a a great expeirence, I'd have to say that I actually liked the Houska Houska 5K better. It's a non-competitive "race," which means it's untimed... Or rather, it means that if you're interested in your time, you should bring a stopwatch. :) Everyone still starts en masse and the top finishers are recognized for their performance, but the best and most attended award ceremony is for the best costumes, and for 2011 the theme was "Saturday Night Alive" so the costumes were all familiar characters from the similarly-named late night comedy show.

At the Houska Houska this year, Mary Catherine Gallagher was a popular costume among the women, whereas the men's costumes were a little more diverse in 2011. One couple came as the Spartan Cheerleaders, and our road guards were the Blues Brothers. One of my favorites was Mr. Peepers, and L.J. Houska came as Wayne (Wayne's World). We also saw a Church Lady, and a guy dressed as Dan Akroyd dressed as Julia Childs.

The Athletes in Tandem, Zach, Nick, and Jack

In addition to the costumes, there was information about the chartities served, becoming a bone marrow donor, grilled hot dogs, plenty of beer, bloody mary's, root beer floats, games for the kids, a reverse bungee ride, a petting zoo, popcorn and cotton candy. It was a small town carnival atmosphere.

Me finishing 9th or 10th. I recorded my time
at 21:47, which I was quite happy with.

The run/walk itself was an out-and-back course along Riverside Avenue and Lemay, veering from there onto the Poudre River Trail, including a loop through the Fort Collins Natural Area's Offices, before continuing down the trail and then returning to the start. It was mostly downhill on the way out, and uphill on the way back, which amplified the sense of several of us that we had gone out too fast, and petered out at the end! :)

It was the perfect low-key event for my return to running events. My wife got a lot of great photos, and everyone had a great time. We also got to touch base with Dennis Vanderheiden, and his Athletes in Tandem crew, which had three entries for the event.

I managed to meet my goal for the event. Given my condition being relatively low from so little running over the last four months, I wanted to finished in under 22 minutes, and managed that by a bit, slapping hands with the little fireman clown at the finish and stopping my Garmin Forerunner at 21:47, a very respectable time.

Dennis Vanderheiden, Zach, and yours truly

After the race, I headed straight for the post-race snacks, picked up some bagel quarters, a root beer float, an actual beer, and a bloody Mary (not all at once). I'll also admit to later having a hot dog, as we walked around and enjoyed the post race festivities with the rest of the crowd, and cheered for our favorite costumes during the awards.

A great event that was fun and well organized. I'd like to thank the Houskas family for what the give back to the Fort Collins Community. It's a highlight of the year for quite a few folks, and a lot of people benefit from all that you do in so many ways. A good time was had by all at the 2011 Houska Houska 5K. I'll be planning to join in the festivities again next year as well.

Train to improve your downhill attack.

2011-05-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

Many runners don't give downhill running much thought. It's pretty easy to run fast downhill compared to running uphill, so it's just not generally a training focus. Plus, there is the allure of conquering the hill through brute force that appeals to the human spirit. Regardless, there are some real benefits to focused downhill running, however. After all, many race courses are hilly loops with as much downhill running as uphill, or one-way net downhills, and a great strategy for running these courses is to conserve energy while going up, and attack on the downhill.

During uphill running, the knee comes up, the foot plants, and the quad muscles contract to extend the leg as the glutes drive the the legs down and back. When running downhill, the contractions are different. unless the hill is exceedingly gradual, the knee swings forward and extends slightly as the foot reaches for the ground, and after foot strike, the leg bends at the knee, causing the quadriceps to lengthen and begin contracting (shorten) simultaneously to serve as a spring that helps the leg bend to decellerate and halt our downward motion after each footfall and

Eccentric contractions place the muscle tissue itself under greater stress than normal contractions, and take a lot out of your quads. This is why most runners don't run long downhill races nearly as fast as they think they should be able to. It's just very strenuous and tiring on the quads. Even worse, once the quads are tired, we often get lazy with our running form, and shift some of the stress off the quads, placing greater stress on the knee joint itself and on other muscle groups, which can lead to injury.

Good downhill training is essentially plyometric and can help accustom the quads to eccentric contractions, increase muscle durability and capacity to return energy through elastic recoil. This can help runners develop a more efficient approach to both downhill running (on steeper terrain), and faster-paced running in general (on less steep or flat terrain). Downhill training can help prepare the runner's body, and form, to "attack" the downhill sections during races without hurting their uphill strength and flatland speed.

Uphill training is great, and should not be neglected, but try to find some runnable downhills you can train on, and focus on staying low, fast, and smooth when you run them. Let your knee swing back fully behind the hip (full hip extension). Avoid extending the lower leg way out on front to pound the ground and break yourself. If you need to slow, or you're getting out of control, try leaning back a little. If you can't run a hill without overextending, to break your descent, find one that's a little less steep, that you can run without all the braking and pounding. As you get faster and stronger, you will find that you can handle steeper dowhills at a more comfortable run, rather than a jarring restrained descent. There are limits to this, of course, but becoming a stronger, more efficient downhill runner can be key to running your best races.

Ways to train for the downhill run

Downhill run training

Run routes with hills
Long downhill routes with lots of 1-5% slope
Run faster, shorter downhill repeats (up to around 1/4 mile) on 5-8% slope

Body weight training

Lunges (forward and side)
Pistol squats
Core and hip abductor - to support better running form

Plyometrics jumping

Drop jumping - jump off of step and spring immediately back up
Scissor lunge jumping

Cautions:

Don't overdo it to start. Work into hill training gradually. Downhill running without can contribute to problems like iliotibial band syndrome and patellofemoral pain, muscle strains/tears, tendinitis/bursitis and ligament sprains. Any hint of theses, and you should back off for awhile to heal and work gradually back into your training again after consulting a trusted health care professional.
Plyometrics also place the muscles and joints under great stress and should be approached cautiously. Keep the repetition number low and your effort slight sub-maximal to start.
Even the body weight exercises come with some amount of risk, but for the most part will only result in some delayed onset muscle soreness.
If you are still markedly sore from a previous workout, it's better to wait another day or two to do the same exercises again. Delayed onset muscle soreness is due to micro-tears in the muscle tissue, further stressing the sore muscles may therefore slow healing/strengthening or increase likelihood of injury.

Review: Pearl Izumi Streak II

2011-05-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

Pearl Izumi Streak II Running shoe

I had the opportunity recently to test drive a pair of Pearl Izumi Streak II shoes. This was no easy task and took longer than expected, because I've been hampered by some lower leg injuries, but I managed to get out and take a few shorter runs in them, ranging from 2 miles to 10K.

Here's what the Streak II features, according to Pearl Izumi:

1:1 Seamless Upper creates an unparalleled fit with a seam-free interior

1:1 360° Lacing anatomically conforms to the foot for a tailored fit regardless of foot shape

NEW 1:1 Energy Foam cushions the forefoot upon impact and then returns energy back to the runner

Outsole-grade EVA and blown rubber outsole combines for great cushioning and weight savings

Segmented forefoot for a smooth, efficient ride

NEW Ortholite® sockliner for amazing step-in comfort and long-lasting cushioning

NEW 100% recycled lace webbing and laces

Heel/Toe offset: 19.0mm/10.0mm

This list of features sound great, and no doubt some of these features contributed to my overall experience with the Streak II, and I've tried to point out where some of these features may have come into play below.

The look: I like the looks of the shoe. I'm a fan of black and this kind of neon green/lime color, although I prefer shoes to be darker in color overall (personal preference).

The weight: This shoe is fairly light weight. It's not the lightest shoe I've run in, but it's on the lighter size for a running shoe. That's not surprising for a shoe that's billed as a performance light trainer or racing flat.

The fit: These shoes fit my foot well, and seemed true to size. Despite their light weight, they are both comfortable and well-cushioned. I managed three runs over 5 miles in them quite comfortably, and my feet were happy at the end, so I suspect I could wear these shoes quite easily for a half marathon or possibly even a longer race.

That the shoes fit so well is significant for me, because my feet are a little odd. They are long and narrow, one is nearly a full size longer than the other. My second and third toes are just a little longer, so I like a toebox that is more round than most running shoes, or I have to go with a larger size. Going with a larger size often means I get a less-than-ideal fit in other ways, so I prefer a better fit in the smallest possible size when I can find it.

My odd feet also mean that it is difficult to get such a good fit that I can wear shoes without socks and not have blister problems, so the seam-free interior is almost irrelevant for me. Indeed, even with socks, my toes got a little sensitive on an early run in the Streak II, but more securely lacing over the midfoot to keep my foot from moving forward in the shoe while running and solved the problem (the 1:1 360° lacing may possibly have come into play). Still, I would be interested in comparing these to a half size larger shoe, as they may indeed run just a little small.

Finally, the Streak II seems to have a little more room in the toe box than many other light training/racing flats I've tried, and I my forefoot also felt less constrained laterally, and able to spread out more comfortably than in Saucony Kinvara and Saucony Kilkenny flats.

The experience: I enjoyed running in these shoes. They feel light on the feet and flexible (the segmented forefoot?). Despite a 9mm heel-toe drop (I'm accustomed to a flatter profile 0-4mm drop), I didn't have a problems running with a forefoot/midfoot strike, although I could sense that I was striking a little more flatfooted than I do with Saucony Kinvara or Kilkenny Flats, and found a little scuffing wear on the outside of the left heel after a few miles.

Summary: The weight, the fit, and the styling of the Streak II all suit me well. I decided after running several short runs in the Streak II that I would wear them in my next 5K race. They are lightweight and comfortable, but a little more stable than the kilkenny flats I usually wear for short races. Given my recent struggles with tibialis poterior tendinitis, a little more stability seems like a good idea for the time being. I'd prefer they had less heel-toe drop, but that's really my only complaint about the shoe. If they work out well for my 5K next weekend, I will consider trying them in my next 10K or half marathon. I won't be trading in my Other favorites in favor of these, but the Streak II will definitely go into my current rotation.

See these other reviews of the Pearl Izumi Streak II:
The Dailymile Blog - Dailymile Team group review
Believe In The Run - Thomas Neuberger personal review

Out on a Limb

2011-05-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

You read the title correctly. I have decided to go out on a limb. It's a small limb, but it's an effort to come out of the injury doldrums, and pique my enthusiasm for running. The limb I'm talking about is a race, actually. It's the Houska Houska 5K, a local race that benefits the Poudre Valley Health Bone Marrow Donor Program and the the Poudre Valley Cancer Center.

The event is run on the same day as the much larger Memorial Day 10K race with the initials BB, and like the larger event, many participants wear costumes at the Houska Houska. The event is family friendly, and includes live entertainment, good, games and activities (for kids), and a contest for adults, children, and dogs for the best costume based on this year's theme "Saturday Night Alive."

Initially, I was planning to register for the BB race, but with so little running recently I've decided not to push my luck with a 10K race. I'll be missing out on meetups with friends from out of town and a handful of others I know from dailymile, but I'm sure I'll know a few people at the Houska Houska as well. In fact, I'm really looking forward to it. I'll have to make some other arrangements to meet up with my out of town friends.

So, if you're in Fort Collins, and planning to run the Houska Houska on May 30, 2011 drop me a line or leave a comment. There's a good chance we'll see each other at the event. The Houska Houska is a great race serving a worthy cause.

A different kind of balance

2011-05-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of February, I strained my tibialis posterior muscle, and developed a chronic tendinitis in the associated tendon. Since then, my running has dropped to barely tolerable levels, and the cycling I thought I could do to maintain condition has turned out to be too much for my tendinitis as well. As I was healing, I started a new job, and because I expected my tendinitis to subside, I assumed my biggest challenge would be the work/life balance thing. I was wrong.

My biggest problem has turned out to be the tendinitis. I have ample opportunities in my week to run or cycle, but the tendinitis just does not allow me to take advantage of them. I take extended periods off, until everything feels normal again, and then longer still. Each time I begin to run and cycle a little bit at a time to ease back into things, I only make a few workouts at best before I began to become aware of the tendinitis again, despite taking 1-3 days off between easy workouts.

I've heard of people struggling with posterior tibialis or achilles issues for months and months, often despite seeking every kind of treatment possible. I've sought treatment myself, and have adopted some of the best-supported (by research) rehab exercises. I can't say it's clear they are helping given that it has been three and half months since I was able to run comfortably.

I haven't had a work-life balance struggle to contend with. It's been more of a struggle against my injury to maintain my condition. The most difficult part is not having the series of races to benchmark my condition and provide motivation to train. Indeed, all I can seem to find is the punishment of pain from the tendinitis each time I try to start training regularly.

So, I haven't been posting much here, because I haven't been doing much running, and this injury has been a much larger setback than I ever imagined, despite my efforts to take it easy and completely heal. Tomorrow, assuming the weather is suitable (want to set my first run in awhile to be as comfortable as possible), I'll be trying a test run of 2 miles at an easy pace. If the trails are in good condition, it will be a trail run. I'm hoping for the best.

Colorado Marathon 2011: Final Chapter

2011-05-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

Well, the Colorado Marathon has come and gone, and in the end I wasn't even able to participate due to a nagging case of posterior shin splints. I don't have any grand insights from the long term training gap this issue has caused me, and I won't be writing a big article the chronicle my disappointment in not being able to run on race day. Instead, I'll simply plan to reload and look for my next opportunity, and as I am able to get back to running regularly, I'll plan to refocus again on some of my goals for short race distances (5K to Half Marathon).

Maybe I can finally get that sub-20 minute 5K goal taken care of? Now that would be something else to wright about.

Cheers all.

A short reflection on the experience of running

2011-05-01T00:05:00.001-07:00

The experience of running is integral to our existence. It’s not some painful, injurious pathology of our youth that makes us less vital or worn out in old age, as some would have us believe. On the contrary, it’s one of the experiences that makes us all more vital in body and mind at any age. The direct experience of running puts us in touch with what is real, right now, in this moment--if we let it. If we go through the motions, we can still gain from running, but we sell ourselves short. Through experience comes wisdom, but experience doesn’t come from going through the motions while our minds are elsewhere or willfully distracted from our senses. It comes from being fully engaged with our senses. So, pay attention and run. Learn from the experience every time you do it.

Racing plans in flux

2011-04-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

My racing plans are in flux still. I would already have run two-three races, and would be preparing for the Colorado Marathon if not for the nagging tendinitis. I'm able to run now, but my endurance isn't up the snuff. Speed is coming back though, so I intend to run an upcoming 5K race to see where I'm at. If the tendinitis doesn't let me get the marathon goal done, at least I can do some more work on the sub-20-min 5K goal.

So, that status of the whole tendinitis deal changes all the time, it seems. Some days I feel great, some days not so much. It's not an issue with intense pain that forces me to struggle and limp home anymore, which is good. Unfortunately, as my posterior tibialis issues are gradually resolving, I had a brief issue with some peroneal tendon and muscle on the outside of my ankle (which resolved fairly quickly), and more recently some burning at the back of my heel indicates some possible achilles tendinitis or bursitis my have set in there. For the most part this hasn't bothered my while running, but I do not intend to give it a stress test with a long hard run.

So, for now I'm sticking with fairly easy aerobic runs of 5 miles, and keeping higher-intensity runs much shorter. So far, it's worked out all right. I also take 1-3 days off between runs, which also seems to help.

I'm hopeful that with care I can get to running more consistently again in the near future, without over-stressing anything in my lower leg/ankle area.

Until I can get this sorted, all of my racing plans will remain in flux. I'll just have to make some judgements, and will likely stick to smaller races for most of this year, until I'm confident I've overcome the tendinitis issues.

Injury time out - what do you lose?

2011-04-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

Today I got out on the road for a higher intensity 5K distance run. I opted out on a race early in the morning because I had a little residual soreness in my calves form a trail run on Friday, and instead ran the same distance as a progressive run to get an idea of where my condition is at. Started easy on the first mile (about 7:40), notched up a bit on mile 2 (7:30), and then just progressively increased speed through the rest of the run, covering mile 3 in 6:49, and polishing off the last 0.11 miles at a 6:31 pace. Not too shabby, but not quite where I was before I stopped to deal with my ankle issues.

Before I injured myself, I was doing 5K progressives like this in about 21 minutes, and sometimes finishing off at sub-6 pace. Today, I was slower than that and pretty well spent in the final 0.05 miles. That tells me basically what I expected. That is, that I've lost some lactate Threshold.

I've talked before about why we lose lactate threshold gains quickly when we take time off, but retain aerobic endurance for longer periods. Essentially, it's because lactate threshold is completely a physiological adaptation that occurs at the cellular level in our muscle tissues, whereas aerobic endurance involves more enduring changes in the structure and and vascularization of the muscle tissues. Cellular machinery is easily torn up and recycled for other purposes when it isn't needed, but structural changes at the tissue level take more time to break down. They develop slowly when we train, over long periods, and they are lost the same way.

So, it's hi-ho, hi-ho, and off to work I go again on some higher intensity work, to include both some lactate threshold runs, and some progressively longer runs again, in the hopes that I'll be ready to run at least the half marathon when Colorado Marathon day (May 1) arrives.

Cheers all.

On the road again

2011-04-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

I'm finally beginning to take a few tentative running steps again, and I'm thankful that so far they are pain free. Whenever I have been forced to take a break from running, I have been amazed not by how much condition I've lost over a few weeks off, but by how much I've maintained. So, while I could be disappointed that I three miles is about my distance limit for running at present, instead I'm happy that I can run those three miles quite easily at about the same paces I was running before I became injured.

Unfortunately, I'll have to work back up to longer distances, and will have to do it slowly so I don't end up on the sidelines again. I've been in this position before. Unfortunately, the timeframe for the Colorado Marathon is too tight for me to work up safely to run it, so I'll have to decide a little closer to race day which of the shorter races I think I'll be ready to run, then plan for a first marathon effort sometime later this year. It's not ideal, but it will have to do.

I'll also have to juggle training with an unusual work schedule, which will likely make using the Pfitzinger 55-70 mile/week plan impractical... Given my desire to avoid overuse injuries when next I train for 26.2, I think I'm all right with that. I hope to still make my first marathon a solid effort.

Back to race season planning, again...

On the bright side, I've got a good job, with good benefits and excellent health insurance, so if I need some medical attention... :)

If it's not one thing, it's another

2011-03-28T20:53:00.000-07:00

After struggling for so long with a chronic "syndrome" (posterior shin splints) that I scarcely remember what it feels like to just run freely, without fear or reservation, I was finally able to get through a couple mile run pain-free on Saturday. It felt good. My speed was good. My breathing was all right. It went pretty well.

Just to be safe afterward, I took Sunday off, and only rode to the movie theatre with my wife to see True Grit (good movie; I recommend it). Today is Monday, however, and as the day has worn on, I've found that I am now having some soreness along my peroneal tendon, on the outside of the my lower leg. So, essentially, the pain/tenderness I was feeling from running a few weeks ago on the inside of my lower tibia, along the posterior tibialis tendon, has moved to the outside of the same leg. I'm a little concerned about it, but I'm maintaining a wait-and-see attitude.

The soreness along the peroneal tendon doesn't seem to occur under the same conditions as the previous posterior tibialis pain (i.e., during eccentric contraction just after forefoot strike), but I'm not willing to push it. Straight-legged calf stretches bug a tiny bit at first, but then it's fine for more stretching. I've noticed it since late yesterday after returning from the movie.

I'm tired of these sorts of issues, which now have forced me to all but give up on the prospect of running the full Colorado Marathon. I'm now having to face the prospect of dropping to one of the shorter races, and if things continue in this way it may be best simply not to race at all. Injuries don't always make sense, I guess. They just always suck.

Work-life balance?

2011-03-20T16:00:00.000-07:00

Everyone feels like they're job cramps their style a bit now and then. I've been without a steady job for so long, I had not experienced this for some time, but I am getting my first taste now. During training for my new job, I'm working normal business hours on weekdays. That's great, except that I've had to skip some medical appointments intended to help me get back in the running saddle, and it will likely be a couple weeks before I can manage to get the imaging work needed and discuss it with my sports medicine physician.

Annoying? Yes, but a necessary evil if I'm going to meet my other obligations in life... You know, like paying the bills, and other such things. Back to reminding myself frequently that I can only do what I can do, and practicing staying fully present in each moment, or at least renewing my commitment to these things.

How we succeed: the good karma machine

2011-03-15T17:47:00.000-07:00

Check out my post on the Dailymile blog here. I've talked about dailymile before. I cannot express how much motivation and inspiration can be derived from the dailymile community. I had heard it said that Facebook leads one dislike people they've known for years, while Twitter makes one like people they've never met. I'd say dailymile is more like twitter in the sense that you end up with lots of friends there you've never met, but more like facebook in layout and format. It takes the best of both and integrates them with a workout log, mapping, and Garmin gps and Nike+ sync capability. If Facebook and twitter are social networks, I guess dailymile could be legitimately called a Social Fitness Journal.

The power of this isn't obvious until you dig into it, log some workouts, and give it enough time (it usually doesn't take long) for people to come out of the woodwork to offer words of respect and encouragement, no matter what your fitness level or performance. Indeed, dailymile is so good at inspiring this kind of interaction, that the benefits can go far beyond just keeping your on tack for your fitness goals. That's really what the "How We Succeed" series on the dailymile blog is all about.

Have a look, and whether you just want to walk more regularly, train for an Ironman triathlon or marathon, or just stay committed to your boot camp class, I think you'll find more than enough encouragement at dailymile--and a fair share of entertainment as well... Not to mention a lot of new online friends.