The Running Moron

You can think you're thinking right, but thinking is just thinking and you'll think differently once you start doing

2012-02-03T10:57:00.001-05:00

Due to injury I was unable to run at all for 10 weeks. I was unable to run for more than five minutes or so for an additional two weeks. After 12 weeks of essentially no running I knew that recovering to my pre-injury level would take a while and I was prepared for that. Or so I thought. Here are things I've discovered while coming back from injury:

You're going to get to an impressive benchmark distance pretty quickly. For me, it was three miles. I thought it would take me forever to be able to run three miles without stopping. In reality it took a couple weeks. And I was pretty pleased with myself. Until I realized...

You're not going to be able to run that benchmark distance in anywhere close to a time you'd be proud of. I'm not the fastest guy in the world, but before my injury I thought I was doing pretty well to run three miles at a sub 8:00/mile pace. The first time I ran three miles post injury I was over 10:00/mile. That was kind of frustrating. It's now weeks later and I'm running three miles at about a 8:45/mile pace. On one hand, a 1:15/mi improvement is good and I can appreciate that. On the other hand, at the end of these current three milers I am so spent I have no idea how I'll ever get any faster.

You're going to be behind the curve on a lot of things. When you're injured your running life seems to stand still. Sure, you might be able to do other things to keep yourself active and you may be able to keep abreast of what's going on in the running world, but there's going to be a serious disconnect when you come back. You're going to look around and be amazed at what slipped past you in such a short period of time (see the proliferation of devices such as this and this).

Looking at past running logs is going to break your heart. I referenced an old post of mine to some friends that mentioned a workout I did. That post noted that I ran nearly 14 miles at a sub 8:40/mile pace that day. I can't run 3 miles at that pace now. Sigh.

That's just a few things I've realized since I started running again and I'm not sure what other wondrous discoveries I'll realize on my road back to being a semi-credible, increasingly more middle aged runner, or even if I'll get back to the point of being semi-credible, but it does feel good to be able to run without injury and I am on track to get back to running 10 milers and half marathons this spring, so I have things going for me even if I'll be getting there at a slower pace, and if there's nothing else I have going for me at least I have the ability to write paragraph-length run-on sentences like this one, so there's that.

Back in the saddle again

2012-01-31T10:46:00.001-05:00

I've been neglecting the blog, but there's been things going on. And rather than drag it out and ramble endlessly about different things at different times I'll just ramble about a lot of things all at once:

Injury recovery news

I was in a boot for three months due to a stress fracture. Two weeks before I got rid of the boot for good I started to gingerly jog for 30 seconds at a time to start to get back in running shape. The boot was officially booted on December 29. This past weekend I ran my first post-injury five miler. It was slower than I would have liked, but five miles is not insignificant to me considering a month ago I was happy to run for five minutes. I am well on track to run 10 miles on April 1.

Training news

To have a little flexibility I decided to finally construct my own training plan to work my way up to 10 miles. I've been taking a little from here and there and doing a little of this and that. One thing I ran across was a type of speed work where rather than sprint 400 meters six times or working up to 10 Yasso 800s you simply sprint for 15 seconds and then jog for 45 and repeat that for 2-3 miles or whatever. You run a mile easy to warm up and a mile easy to cool down and bam, you're done. I love this type of speed work! Three miles goes by like that (I just snapped my fingers).

Contest news

My friends over at runningshoes.com are holding a contest for people to win a pair of pretty sweet looking limited edition Mizuno Wave Rider 15s. All you have to do is leave a comment explaining why you love your running buddy. If you're a Wave Rider person you should definitely give it a shot. And if you're not a Wave Rider person you should still give it a shot because someone you know would love you for winning a pair for them.

"Come to me, my pretty."
(Pic via.)
Shoe news

Do you know what May 1 is? It's May Day, of course. All hail ~~communism~~ ~~socialism~~ international workers! But it's also the day Saucony releases the Kinvara 3. I am generally no big fan of shoe updates because I worry that a good thing may be lost forever (see: the wonderful Asics Gel-Cumulus 11 being replaced by the horrid Gel-Cumulus 12), and I am a big fan of the Kinvara 2's ability to be both a minimalist-ish and supportive shoe, but it looks like the Kinvara 3 is going to be a worthwhile update. I can't wait to find out.

So what have you been up to?

Not going dark, I'd rather bring SOPA to light

2012-01-18T08:08:00.000-05:00

Except for a few times where I've strayed I've made it a point to keep the subject matter on this blog narrowly focused on running. I figure if anyone wants my opinion on anything other than running there are enough avenues available to ask. And I think I'm pretty good about responding. I especially try to keep away from politics on here. In a nutshell, I think everyone either republican or democrat is horrible, no politician has anything other than his own and special interests at heart, and the best thing we have going for us now is a gridlocked, ineffectual Congress.

However, today some of the biggest sites on the internet are banding together to bring awareness of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) to the forefront. If you don't know what SOPA is, here's a brief summary:

The beating heart of SOPA is the ability of intellectual property owners (read: movie studios and record labels) to effectively pull the plug on foreign sites against whom they have a copyright claim. If Warner Bros., for example, says that a site in Italy is torrenting a copy of The Dark Knight, the studio could demand that Google remove that site from its search results, that PayPal no longer accept payments to or from that site, that ad services pull all ads and finances from it, and—most dangerously—that the site's ISP prevent people from even going there.

Perhaps the most galling thing about SOPA in its original construction is that it let IP owners take these actions without a single court appearance or judicial sign-off. All it required was a single letter claiming a "good faith belief" that the target site has infringed on its content. Once Google or PayPal or whoever received the quarantine notice, they would have five days to either abide or to challenge the claim in court. Rights holders still have the power to request that kind of blockade, but in the most recent version of the bill the five day window has softened, and companies now would need the court's permission.

You'd think someone like me wouldn't have to worry about SOPA because all of the content on this blog is original. You'd be wrong. I've embedded videos from songs on YouTube. That would be subject to SOPA and the inclusion of it could get me into big trouble. On the "positive" side, if SOPA passes sites such as YouTube will be immune from prosecution if they delete suspect content proactively because of a "good faith belief" that uploaded content infringes copyrights. If you can't see the kinds of problems that could cause, well, I don't really know what to tell you.

President Obama has signed some good laws, but very recently he also signed a very bad one, and SOPA would be just as bad if not worse in a lot of ways. Information yearns to be free, and in 2012 we should be moving toward a more open exchange of information and not have anyone serve as a gatekeeper to determine what is and what is not viable for distribution.

Please visit Stop American Censorship and learn more about SOPA and its nasty little brother PIPA and let your representatives know that a free and unencumbered internet is every bit as much of a right as anything else they try to tell us is a right, like a job and home ownership.

Have I got the plan for me

2012-01-16T08:49:00.000-05:00

I haven't been posting much lately for no reason other than I haven't. Normally I wouldn't care, but the irony of my not posting much lately is that I've been running like a moron with my formerly stress fractured foot getting better, stronger, faster every day. And I could have bored the pants off the internet with stories of my running recovery, but I haven't. Go figure.

(Pretty much) all better!
Anyway, many people feel perfectly comfortable crafting their own training programs to eventually run whatever distance they choose. They figure they know their bodies and capabilities best and that they are the best able to get them from the start of training to the finish line on race day. I envy the heck out of those people. I am not at all confident in my ability to create a plan that would allow me to succeed on race day. I'm one of those types of people who likes structure, which to me includes a tested and honed training program created by someone with "real" experience as a runner and with teaching others how to run. In my view, I'm just a hacking-away-at-golf-balls-on-the-driving-range-during-the-weekend class of runner so I don't even trust myself with my ability to formulate a running training plan. Generally, Hal Higdon is my homeboy.

Until now. I have been looking up some 10 mile training programs for my upcoming 10 mile race and I'm finding the novice programs are too easy, the intermediate programs might be a little much in my current state of injury recovery, and advanced programs are completely out of the question. I know I'm not going to set a new PR this year -- I'm not close to running 3 miles at the pace I've run 10 miles in previous years, but other than that there's no reason I can't go out there and not embarrass myself. There's just nothing out there that fits the description of being "for an injury recovered runner running his first race in nearly a year who is building a nice base from which to launch into training but shouldn't push it too far, too fast, or too hard, at least for the first half of the training program even though he may be able to pick up the intensity and go balls to the wall in the weeks leading up to race day depending on how his foot and lungs feel and how far along he is in getting his body fit to cover 10 miles at a reasonable pace and without stopping."

So for the next week when I'm not working, running, or yelling at my kids I'm going to be formulating a plan to get myself across the finish line in Washington, D.C. on April 1, 2012. My plan is going to take a little of this plan and a little of that plan and little originality (maybe) and be sculpted into something that'll work just for me and the description of a training plan that I assume only I need. If it works and if anyone else needs something similar I'll make it available. Cheap.

I'm kidding. It'll be really, really expensive.

Of course, "interesting" is a relative term

2012-01-10T10:44:00.000-05:00

Ramping up the activity post-injury is interesting. I don't necessarily mean it's interesting in a good way, but it's interesting. It seems to move a lot slower than it does, even though it does move plenty slow, and you count your victories as benchmarks or accomplishments that would have made you scoff at yourself before the injury layoff.

I cataloged the "achievements" of Operation Resume Running, which started nearly a month ago already:

December 13 - Jogged 30 seconds.

December 15 - Jogged 2.5 minutes.

Still in a boot for all but about 3 of my awake hours and dipping my toe very gingerly back into the running pool, the "runs" on 12/13 and 12/15 were very slow at about 16:00/mile pace.

December 18 - Ran 10 minutes, including 5 at 6.0 MPH (10:00/mile).

December 20 - Ran 15 minutes, starting at 5.5 MPH and working up to 6.3 MPH for about 30 seconds at the end.

December 22 - Ran 20 minutes, and for the first time my total walking/running distance totaled more than 3 miles.

While I was running 10, 15, 20 minutes, I was also walking 15-20 minutes as a warm-up. 12/22 was the first time in my recovery that I ran longer than I walked. This meant something to me for some reason, although I'm not sure what or why.

December 24 - Ran 25 minutes, worked my way up from 5.6 MPH to 6.5 MPH.

I didn't get around to keeping track of exactly what I was doing for the next week, but up to this point all my "running" was indoors on a treadmill. My goal was run for 30 minutes outdoors on New Year's Day.

December 26 - Ran 25 minutes.
December 28 - Ran 30 minutes.
December 30 - Ran 30 minutes.

On track to run outdoors on New Year's Day. Also, on December 30, with my foot feeling pretty good, the doctor allowed me to stop wearing the boot completely and to not come back unless I needed him. He also told me to wear a good pair of cross trainers and to not participate in any "repetitive motion activities such as running" for two weeks. Oops.

Anyway:

January 1 - Ran 30 minutes outdoors. Made it about 3.25 miles. Slow, but nice run.

I continued to run every other day because while there was no pain there was some soreness in my foot that I didn't want to push. I took an extra day off this past weekend because I wanted to run a little further outdoors on Sunday than I went the week before.

January 8 - Ran 32:45 outdoors. 3.5 miles.

Too fast first mile, too slow second mile, better third mile, and even better last half mile. Overall still pretty darn slow. But my foot was not at all sore, for the first time.

January 9 - Ran 3 miles indoors. Bonus: ran in Kinvara 2s and still not sore!

And here we are at my latest and greatest milestone, running at least three miles two days in a row. I even ran on the treadmill from 6.2 MPH to the last quarter mile at 7.0 MPH (about 8:34 pace). I used to start at 7.3 MPH and work my way up from there, but at least I touched 7 again.

My first post-injury race is on April 1. The plan is to run the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, and while that's the place where I set my 10 mile PR (twice) which I'm sure I won't come close to this year, training for it should commence soon. Like in a week and a half or so at the 10 weeks until race day mark. And I'm positioning myself nicely for it by both getting my body conditioned for running and for building up a nice little mileage base from which to launch a 10 mile training program.

It's not just coincidental it's all working out that way. It's interesting!

Kitty knows what's interesting...

Planning to do more with less

2012-01-05T14:52:00.000-05:00

A popular resolution for 2012 among people who use social networks is to share less with fewer people. It does seem odd to me how people have turned their lives into online reality shows, but that's the world we live in. People get famous for doing things that would have embarrassed entire families a generation or two ago, but now the whole clan is able to make amazing livings afterwards for the one talent they seem to share: shamelessness. Good work if you can get it, I guess, and everyone hopes they'll be next person with no shame to cash in for themselves and their families.

Off the soapbox and on the running front, I think I'm going to take a page from the social media resolutioners and use 2012 to run more with fewer gadgets/less gear/decreased technology.

For my first outdoor run in over three months last weekend I left the Garmin at home but ran with a plain old Timex to make sure I only ran for 30 minutes. While I was running I couldn't have cared less about how fast or far I was running or anything else. It's true that I brought music along and I did peek at the watch when I felt I was getting to around the time limit I set for myself, but in general it was liberating to not care about anything but what my body was telling me as I ran.

Unfortunately, almost the minute I got back to my house I ran to the computer and charted my route on MapMyRun.com and then figured out the pace I ran. Everything I didn't care about while I was running suddenly became imperative as soon as I wasn't. And the worst part is that I don't think I could even help myself. And even while I was charting and figuring I was telling myself that I shouldn't care about this nonsense.

It doesn't help that we are constantly bombarded with newer and greater devices and gadgets to help us chart, track, and parse our running data (Look at the line of products Garmin alone has specifically for running that are all current and not considered discontinued!), but sometimes it's best to just get back to basics. And that's what I'm going to try to do.

"No...more...technologeeeeee! I...just...want...to...runnnnnnnn!!"
Over the holidays I learned about something called the MOTOACTV, a device from freaking Motorola (world famous for fitness gear, I know) that not only acts as a GPS device to track your running data and an mp3 player to keep your mind off of running while you run, but it actually monitors your heart rate and selects a play list of music with beats that match your average pace! This is a description from the web site:

The MOTOACTV device learns what music tracks motivate you the most by measuring your performance against your music. It uses those songs to create your personal high-performance playlist. Your playlist is more than just workout songs; they're songs that push you to work.

At first I read about this device and drooled a little. But then I thought about it and realize these gadgets are getting a little too intimate with us and may know things about us we don't really want to admit to ourselves. What kind of psychological damage would it cause to learn THE most motivating song for you on your device is the Justin Bieber one your daughter snuck on to it?

Even worse, the MOTOACTV syncs itself automatically to a web site, and once it's there who knows what happens to your running data. It might just be harmless info that can never hurt anybody, but isn't that a bit too much trusting in some unknown database in the sky?

The irony is that I'm a huge tech guy. I make my living thanks to technology. I embrace it at pretty much every turn. Yet even I think it's starting to get a bit much. And for 2012 I'm shouting "no mas!"

On the other hand, I have a birthday coming up. If you want to get me something really nice...

Who has two thumbs and ran outdoors for the first time in three months? This guy!

2012-01-03T09:49:00.000-05:00

Well hello there and happy 2012, blog readers. I didn't realize my last post was days before Christmas. I guess I took the holidays off from blogging. I've still been pretty active on Facebook though, so if you don't see anything from me here check there.

So where were we? Oh, yeah. I wrote my last injury update, and it turned out to be my last injury update! I went to the doctor who declared my stress fractured foot fit for duty and told me to not come back unless I needed him. Hopefully I won't. He also told me to wear cross trainers as shoes for a couple weeks and to lay off the running for a couple weeks too. I didn't tell him I'd already been using my non-boot time to get reacquainted with the treadmill.

Anyway, my goal for January 1, 2012 was to run outdoors for 30 whole minutes provided there was no precipitation falling. Everything was on track to do that, and then, New's Year's Day:

6:00AM - Not being the partying type, I arose bright eyed, excited, and a little anxious/nervous about running outdoors for the first time in over three months.

6:10AM - Weather Station Running Moron reported an outdoor temperature of 29 degrees. There was no wind. It was a crisp, still morning. Perfect for running. The only problem was that it was still pitch black outside. I wanted to at least wait until the sun came up to go run.

7:00AM - It was light enough out. I decided which route I was going to take, an easy out and back that didn't have much in the way of hills or elevation change. I got dressed, tied up the shoes, put the earphones in my head, and grabbed a watch to make sure I ran only the 30 minutes I planned to. The Garmin was unwanted for this one.

7:10AM - After a good warm up I hit it. Maybe a little tentative at first, but by the time I was out on to the main road about a quarter mile from my house I was fine. I was taking it nice and easy, paying attention to what my feet were saying, and working on my breathing, which isn't as automatic as you might think, even though I'd been working up to this on a treadmill for a couple weeks.

7:25AM - I reached the point where I wanted to turn around -- 15 minutes out and 15 minutes back -- but I was only about 20 seconds from the end of the road I was on. I figured I'd just walk a little longer as part of my cool down in exchange for running just a little further out.

7:30AM - On my way back home I realized I was doing pretty well. I wasn't leaving a trail of fire in my stead but I wasn't running so slowly as to embarrass myself either. I was also nice and warm on a cold morning. It was feeling really good to run outside!

7:37AM - I was at about the point where I figured I'd hit the 30 minute mark, especially with my running a little further out before turning around, but I still had a few minutes to spare. Run on!

7:40:09AM - I ended my run exactly where it started, although I had to run an extra 9 seconds to get there. That's good enough. I walked around for a while and made it back inside before 8:00AM. My foot was a little sore, but otherwise fine. Perfectly fine.

Off the sidelines and back in the game!
In the end, I actually had a negative split for the second half of my run (I'm guessing since I have no hard data to back up the assertion), and my average pace was about 45 seconds faster than any of my treadmill runs that ramped up to this outdoor run. I was still over a minute off my old average pace for that kind of distance (3.25 miles), but for my first outdoor run in over three months I'll take it! Also, it was something of a shock to my system to breathe in such cold weather while running after having not done it at all this year.

But now, after taking a rest day yesterday, I'm ready to run again. I'm going to ramp up to a 35 minute run this coming weekend and then I'll see where I am and think about beginning training for my (hopefully) triumphant return to racing on April 1. Right now, this year isn't looking to be fast, but it is looking to be healthy. Who can ask for anything more?

I hope your new year is starting off with healthy and happy runs too!

The great race swag debate revisited

2011-12-22T09:46:00.000-05:00

One thing I'm very thankful for is that traffic to this blog has tripled over the past year. It's all relative because 3X very little is still very little, but it's meaningful to me. For the people who've only hopped aboard the Running Moron train in the second half of the year my favorite series of posts were the ones where I internally debated whether or not to wear the swag from a race I didn't run this year but have run in previous years (I was injured this year and had to pass, but I was registered for it). Ultimately, I decided to wear the swag. And then shortly thereafter I spent three months not running at all due to a stress fracture. Coincidence?

Anyway, I got an email yesterday saying registration for that same race, Baltimore's Survivor Harbor 7, opens on January 1. And! if you register within the first 25 hours you will receive as a token of appreciation a "vintage" tech t-shirt and pair of socks. Guess which t-shirt and socks are considered "vintage" this year. Last's year's t-shirt and socks!

What's old is new again.
So here's another twist on the debate: Is it kosher to wear the swag from a previous year if you didn't run that race that year, even though it was given to you because you're running it this year? And if it wasn't ok for me to wear the swag last year when it was new (even though I did), would be ok for me to wear it this year because it's "vintage" now and given to everyone who registers the first day they're able?

Obviously, there are no easy answers here. There are many moral, ethical, and legal dilemmas to consider when it comes to race swag. I mean, first there's the issue of.... eh, nothing. It all comes down to juju. Is it bad juju to take advantage of this promotion, good juju, or is there a neutral juju effect? As with everything, it's all about science.

The last injury update I'm going to write (I hope)

2011-12-20T13:18:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of last week I walked on a treadmill for 15 minutes. Then I ran (jogged) for 30 seconds and held my breath for the next day to see if there would be any aggravation to my (hopefully) healing stress fractured foot. There was none, thankfully.

By the end of last week I was walking on a treadmill for 20 minutes and then running (jogging) for 2 1/2 minutes. I still held my breath for a day to see if there would be any injury aggravation. Thankfully, there was none.

Sunday I walked on a treadmill for 20 minutes and then attempted to run for 10 minutes. After 5 minutes I was feeling pretty good so I increased the speed up to a blistering 6.0 MPH (10:00 min/mile). I made it 10 minutes and then stopped. My foot was a little sore, although in places other than where I was injured, and there was no pain. Still, I took a rest day yesterday to make sure there would be no ill effects of my pushing myself four times as long as I was running just a couple days previously.

Happily, my foot appears to be fine. Today I'm going to walk for 20 minutes on the treadmill and then I'm going to try to run for 15 minutes. And then I'm going to take a day and see where I'm at.

My plan is to add another 5 minutes every other day until I'm up to running for 30 minutes on a treadmill. I'm going to do that a couple times and if all goes well I plan on running outdoors for 30 minutes (or three miles, whichever comes first) on New Year's Day 2012.

Next week I have an appointment with my doctor. I've been weaning myself off my boot by not wearing it around the house in the mornings and evenings (and while I'm in the gym). In the 8.7 seconds of face-to-face time I'll get with the doctor I predict he'll either tell me to continue lengthening the time I'm not wearing the boot until I'm not wearing it at all, or he's going to tell me to toss it straight into the wood chipper. At any rate, provided things go for the next couple of weeks as they've gone for the last couple of weeks the lousy running year that was my 2011 will turn over and become 2012, my year of running redemption.

More than anything, I'm really looking forward to not having a reason to write about any injury I might have. That'll be nice for the new year.

While we're still in the holiday season, if anyone is thinking about getting me something for the awesome content I provide throughout the year I'd appreciate finding this stuffed in my stocking:

Click here if you can't see the embed.
Thanks to my running buddy Roger for passing it along!

There's nothing wrong with it, except for the memories

2011-12-16T11:30:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I enjoyed my most intense workout since I suffered a stress fracture in my right foot in late September. My workout consisted of 10 minutes on the elliptical machine, 25 minutes walking on the treadmill, 2 1/2 minutes jogging (yay!), and a plank to put a bow on top. My foot got a little sore but there was no pain during the workout, nor has there been any since. This was a very good small step on my road to getting back out on the road.

While the exercising was going on I was listening to music on my mp3 player when The Black Keys song Next Girl came on. At that moment all the memories of my last run came rushing back. See, after that fateful day when I suffered a strained calf and had to walk 4 1/2 miles back to my car and (in my opinion) causing a stress fracture in my foot in the process, I continued to listen to music. And Next Girl was playing when I was still two or so miles from my car and I knew I was in serious injury trouble, even though at the time I thought it was all calf-related. It turns out I subconsciously relate Next Girl with the experience I had immediately after I suffered my injury.

Good enough song, and one I'll never listen to while running again.
Click here if you can't see the embed.
Now Next Girl is off my mp3 player and is forever banned from being played in an exercise/fitness/workout environment and/or state I may be in. It's a shame too because I like the song and it did a nice job distracting me from the fact that I was running 10 or 14 miles all by myself early on a Sunday morning in the middle of nowhere familiar.

All other songs I listened to while limping those 4 1/2 miles are still safe and workout acceptable. For now.

Holidays are for running hardcore

2011-12-15T13:47:00.000-05:00

Susanne's review of Baltimore's Jingle Bell 5K, which I've run a couple times myself, and her comment about how it was hilly for a "charity/family walk/run type event" got me thinking about the hardest race I entered in conjunction with a holiday that maybe shouldn't have been as tough as it was because it was held on a freakin holiday.

It predates this blog, but I think the answer to my toughest holiday-related race is the 2007 Towson (MD) YMCA Turkey Trot, which was held on Thanksgiving morning. I didn't know what to expect because it was my first ever turkey trot, but it was a competitive timed race just like the Jingle Bell 5K is so I took it seriously enough, I guess. Even so, I didn't really expect for the entire second mile to be uphill. Nor did I expect to come across so many people giving up running and then walking up that hill. Nor did I ever think that I'd see people on the side of the road puking their guts up during a turkey trot, and I definitely didn't expect to see it twice like that I did during that second mile. But it turns out that while many people had a rough go of it that morning I actually did ok for myself by coming in 116 out of 824 finishers. So maybe my memory has embellished the real story?

This might be the most fantastically creepy turkey trot illustration I've ever seen.
Anyway, I've run on subsequent Thanksgiving mornings, but I haven't gone back to Towson. For two years I ran the Green Valley North turkey trot, which is a 5 miler that is purely a fun run. There are no bib numbers, no timing, or even anyone there to yell "ready, set, go." The most I saw was some guy get on a bull horn and announce the course was open. But even though that is all fun it features some hilliness too. I like to think it's just because there are no choices but to put some hills in that area, but who knows... maybe the organizers are that sadistic.

Last year I went back to a YMCA, although not Towson, and suffered through yet another mile-long incline, and with yucky weather to boot.

This year I was injured and didn't even consider running on Thanksgiving morning. Based on how runs have tried to, uh, challenge me on that day it's probably for the best.

The me-centered registration conspiracy

2011-12-13T08:54:00.000-05:00

Last week was an eventful non-running week at Running Moron World HQ. My son's youth football team played in (and won!) a Maryland state championship game. My daughter had a medical procedure done that was a little nerve-wracking (mostly because it was elective and not medically necessary). I walked on a treadmill without a boot for 8 1/2 minutes (although the goal was 10). My car broke down (kidding). My dog died (still kidding, I don't have a dog). The week had the makings of both a sad and happy country music song.

With that going on I forgot all about running, and the blog, and that registration for the 2012 (Washington, D.C.) Cherry Blossom 10 Miler entry lottery ended last Friday, December 9. I also completely forgot that "winners" of the lottery were to be announced today, December 13. Luckily for me I registered for the lottery on the first day it was open on December 1.

Since I completely forgot about the Cherry Blossom 10M I was surprised yesterday morning to receive this in my e-mail:

"This year your money IS welcome here. Thanks!"
I'm much happier writing this post you're reading right now than I was writing this post you read last year, believe me. But there's something that's nagging me about the whole thing, and it's not that the notice of my acceptance made my OCD go haywire because it was sent to me a day early. It's that I think the whole registration game is rigged, and I think the entire thing revolves around me specifically.

Here's why: In 2009, the first year of the entry lottery, I got in. And so did everyone else I knew in person and who I knew virtually. Every single one. Last year, in 2010, not only did I not get in, but neither did anyone else I knew either in person or virtually who registered. Not a single one. This year the results aren't final yet, but so far I got in and everyone else I know both in person and virtually are in. Every single one. With definitive evidence like that to back me up there's absolutely no other explanation for what's going on. The only question now is why me? And why do I hold so much importance to the organizers of the Cherry Blossom 10M?

My resolution for 2012 is to not be paranoid. But it's not 2012 yet. Paranoia reigns!

P.S. My stress-fractured foot is worlds better, and I can see me starting the slow road back to being able to run 10 miles by April 1 soon. My acceptance into the Cherry Blossom 10M gives me a goal to work toward, which will help me a lot as I ramp up the mileage. The Cherry Blossom race organizers know this! I'm sure of it!

If you don't want to run with Italians then go run in Rome

2011-12-06T08:42:00.001-05:00

For some reason I get contacted a lot regarding running related products/events/issues from people who want to bring attention to those products/events/issues. I ignore 99% of the contacts because they come from people who just want free publicity and the purpose of this blog is not to shill for things I have no knowledge of and/or experience with. Not for free, at least. I can certainly be bought. And if anyone's interested I can bought quite inexpensively!

Anyway, I did get an interesting press release overnight regarding the Rome, Italy marathon (site linked is written in Italian). It detailed how the event had just crossed over the 10,000 registrant mark with about 100 days to go to the race. I guess that's good or the Rome marathon wouldn't be bragging about it to some yutz in Maryland, USA, but I've run in 10 mile events that were bigger than that. Heck, the local Komen Race for the Cure 5K has drawn 30,000.

Finishing the Rome marathon like natives. (Note: This couple may, in fact, be native.)
[Pic courtesy Rome Marathon - © Christel Schemel]
So why am I writing about it here? Glad you asked. There was an interesting factoid about the registrants included in the release. It said that 57% of the people registered were from outside of Italy. That seems pretty impressive. Until I started thinking about it.

I've spent some time in Europe, and the thing that I liked about it was how easy it was to get on a train and travel anywhere. You could start the day in France, stop for lunch in Germany, and then bed down for the night in Austria. That's setting foot in three countries in a day with little fuss and little muss. With Europe being so small and so relatively easy to maneuver bragging the majority of your registrants come from somewhere else is like saying the majority of registrants for any race are from outside the town/city/state where it's held. And that's probably true for any race with more than a few hundred people participating. Ergo, it's not really that big of a deal.

Or maybe it's really special and I don't know what I'm talking about.

Also, what does this have to do with running? Nothing, really. Carry on.

Back in the saddle, sort of

2011-12-05T09:36:00.001-05:00

Today, after 10 weeks of not running, with nine of them spent in a walking boot and one racecation skipped, I felt well enough to start the slow process of working my way back up to middle of the pack runner. The doctor's plan was to take the boot off for an hour or so while hanging around the house and then move on from there. My plan was to condense that hour into 10 minutes walking on the treadmill.

The bad news is that 3.0 MPH (20:00/mile) was too fast and I had to slow it down to 2.5 MPH. The more bad news is that my foot got a little sore at around 7:00 and I quit at 8:30 so I didn't even make it to 10 minutes walking at a lousy 2.5 miles an hour. The good news is that while I can report a little bit of soreness two hours post-"workout" I don't seem to be in any pain. I guess we'll see how the foot feels tonight or tomorrow.

My plan to get back on the horse might have been a little ambitious and I think I might tone it down and actually listen to my doctor. On the other hand, if there's no pain...

Anyway, for the first time ever I can remember my entire workout playlist by heart. There's something to be said for 10 minute workouts, I guess. I share it with you here:

Song 1:

Click here if you can't see the embed.
Song 2 (NSFW language):

Click here if you can't see the embed.
Song 3:

Click here if you can't see the embed.
Yeah, it's not an original playlist, but at least it's genre-crossing!

Two months later...

2011-11-29T08:08:00.001-05:00

I have not run in nine weeks. My right foot has been confined to a walking boot/aircast for eight weeks. It's been so long since I've had two shoes on my feet that of all the pairs of shoes I own (non-running) half of them have left shoe soles worn down further than their right shoe counterparts. It's been so long since I've walked up or down stairs without the aid of a railing that I've developed callouses on my hands while the ones on my feet have cleared up and/or fallen off.

The idea was that I'd be in the boot for six weeks and then begin the road to recovery; hopefully in time to run in my favorite last race of the year. Welp, that didn't happen. There is no chance I'll be running any official event of any type any time soon.

To compound matters I got an email the other day regarding my entry in this weekend's Las Vegas Rock n Roll half marathon. If you're in Vegas this weekend and not looking for me, I won't be in corral 6 and I won't be wearing bib number 6747. You can also not register to not track my progress here.

(Not to get off topic, but just how easy is it to hate Competitor, the company behind the Rock n Roll series of running events across the country? They charge way more than most others to participate in their events; they cram tens of thousands of people into their starting corrals, sometimes making participants wait an hour just to START running after the gun goes off; and they charge interested parties to track runners? WTF?)

Anyway, this is not entirely a woe-is-me post or a rant against corporations. My foot really feels good these days, even after spending a good time on my feet over the weekend at my son's first round playoff game for the Maryland youth football championship. (They're in the semi-finals, baby! Go Hampstead Ravens!) I spent a similar amount of time on my feet the previous weekend and I paid dearly for it. On my doctor's orders if I am completely pain-free as of this coming Monday I can slowly start weaning myself off the boot. A couple weeks ago I thought there was no chance of that happening. Now I think there's a great chance of that happening.

I still am unable to attempt what I think will be the ultimate test of the health of the second and third metatarsals on my right foot -- cracking the toe knuckles -- but I am able to wiggle my toes freely and I was unable to do that without wincing just a short 7 or 10 days ago.

There is no way of telling if I'll be able to start the new year by ramping things back up using the Couch to 5K program yet, but it does look like my time as an injured runner is slowing coming to an end and my time as a recovering runner is finally out there in the distance somewhere. And it's about time.

(Hopefully.)

On this day I give no thanks

2011-11-24T10:06:00.001-05:00

"They're planning to do what to us today?"
Quite honestly, when it comes to running I don't have much to be thankful for this year. I was only able to participate in one event this year, and had to slow down and stick with a pace group for it because I didn't want to overdo it since I was dealing with an abdominal strain at the time. On the other hand, I finished that race strong and saw it as a good experience.

I wasn't able to participate in two events I paid to run in June. On the other hand, one allowed me to defer until 2012 and the other put my money to good use for survivors of major illnesses.

I quit training for the Marine Corps Marathon because I was a wuss and see it as an epic failure (although if I hadn't quit the stress fracture would have forced me to). On the other hand, I was able to sell my registration to a Marine reservist who really appreciated it and did a great job running.

I've been in a boot for nearly eight weeks because of a stress fracture in my foot that ground my running to a halt. On the other hand, taking all this time off has allowed my achy knee, strained calf, and strained abdomen to heal.

This is the first year since 2006 that I did not get up early on Thanksgiving morning to go run a turkey trot. On the other hand, I was home to hang out with my kids when they first woke up on Thanksgiving morning for the first time since 2006.

I've had to drop out of the race I was scheduled to run in Las Vegas next weekend and I won't get to run the Las Vegas Strip at night. On the other hand, I'll get to hang out with running buddies (unless they blow me off), some of whom I haven't seen in 2 or 3 years. And I'll be in Las Vegas without responsibility for a few days.

So, yeah. I don't have much to be thankful for this year. On the other hand, I do. I hope you do too. Happy Thanksgiving!

(And to anyone reading this outside of the USA, Happy Thursday!)

Challenge yourself to challenge yourself for me

2011-11-22T10:02:00.000-05:00

2011 has been a very tough running year for me. It's true that I've been injury-laden, but I think it was a bad mental year too. I did quit training for a marathon, after all, because I was achy and painy and just wasn't into it because running long during the summer hurt my widdle biddy feelwings. 2011 will go down as my "injured wuss" year.

Because I'm a man with a man's ego I feel a need to rectify the lousy year that can't end soon enough. And I think I found the perfect event that would allow me to regain some of my running masculinity.

The Blue Ridge Marathon, which takes place in Roanoke, Virginia on April 21, 2012 fits the bill for a challenging run that is an accomplishment just to finish. There are uphills, downhills, straightaways, natural beauty, and, what's turning out to be my favorite thing about the events in which I want to participate, a small field size of only 600 runners. Not only is it an event to be proud of finishing, but when you do finish you become a member of a very elite group of runners and not just another yokel with a medal for getting finisher's medals (not that there's anything wrong with that).

I've been doing some research about the Blue Ridge Marathon and after surfing around and reading reviews and looking at pictures the one thing that stands out about the participants in the event is that many, many of them are not sculpted and elite demigods of running. They're normal people. Like these ladies:

They're also, um, mature:

And they're wrapped up and achy like the rest of us:

And they're interesting looking and some like to carry their shoes with them just in case:

I'll be lucky to start running again by the first of the year, and even if I can run then I'll be hard pressed to get myself up to speed by April to run the Blue Ridge Marathon, or even the half marathon that goes along with it. However, I do wish to experience the race vicariously through someone else.

Quite frankly, I think those contests people run on their blogs for prizes are insulting to readers, and I don't care about "generating traffic" or "building my brand." If I'm a good blogger people will figure that out for themselves. They don't need to be tricked into it. So I'm not going to make you leave a comment, or like this Facebook page or follow that Twitter account, or anything like that. But if you can get yourself to Roanoke, VA at 7:30am on April 21, 2012 and want to run the Blue Ridge Marathon as a special correspondent for The Running Moron (which basically entails you telling me what you thought of the race) you can. For free! Just let me know. You can do that through leaving a comment here or on my Facebook page, through Twitter, email, or you can even text your interest to me if you know my phone number. I don't care. Just let me know somehow. Someone will get chosen; probably with the use of a random number generator.

Anyway, if you're a little wishy washy about wanting to run the Blue Ridge, check out this video. It made me want to run the darn thing toDAY:

Blue Ridge Marathon: America's Toughest Road Marathon from Pete Eshelman on Vimeo.
If you're not interested in running for free, or if you want to take some more time to decide, you can register here and save yourself some bucks by doing so before the end of the year. But you should really let me hook you up so you can at least maybe feel a slight sense of obligation to tell me all about it.

Off Topic: Again with the football

2011-11-19T11:01:00.001-05:00

There's only been one time that I can remember really straying off the topic of running on this blog. That was when my son won the league championship with his spring indoor football team last May (they ultimately went on to win the Maryland state spring indoor football championship too, but I left that off the blog).

So can you guess what this off topic post is about?

My son has been playing organized outdoor youth football for six years now and none of the teams he's been on in the fall has ever managed to make it past the first round of the playoffs, if they were even able to get that far. But after his spring experience he decided he liked playing with the kids on that team and for the coaches of that team. I liked it because for the first time I felt he was being used in a way that best suited his abilities, so we made the decision to switch fall programs and continue playing with and for the same group of people on a team called the Ravens.

The Ravens dominated for most of the year, but faced some adversity in the last regular season game when they lost to the other dominant team in their division, the Cavaliers, by a score of 12-6. I thought it was the best thing for the Ravens because it humbled them a little, but chances were they would face the Cavs again in the league championship if both teams made it that far, so there could be a chance for revenge.

In the playoffs, the Cavs were the #1 seed and steamrolled through the two teams they faced to make it to the super bowl. The Ravens were #2 and handled their first opponent pretty easily, but had to scratch out a 7-6 victory against a team that was very well prepared for them in the semi-finals. They won though, and that set up the rematch in the title game.

Last night was that game. I thought the Ravens could win if the defense was solid up the middle, but the Cavs got the ball first and drove right down the field with ease and scored a touchdown within a couple minutes. They failed to score an extra point but the Cavs looked like they were ready to steamroll another opponent on their way to an easy title.

But our boys didn't get discouraged and engineered their own grind it out drive to kill the rest of the first quarter (they play 10 minute quarters in youth football), and they scored at the start of the second quarter. They were also successful in their extra point attempt and led 7-6. They just needed to make it stick.

On the ensuing kickoff the Cavs got a great return down to about the Ravens 40 yard line and looked ready to move with ease again. Unfortunately for them they attempted to run a play to my son's side of the field. He forced a fumble and recovered it, changing the entire complexion of the game.

There was some back-and-forth for the rest of the half, but in the second half the Ravens clamped down on defense and opened it up on offense and managed to win the game 20-6. They avenged the loss to the only team that beat them this year and became champions in the process.

Kings of the hill.
For his part, my son had the fumble recovery, two huge tackles for losses on 3rd downs, and solid blocking as a tight end on offense, among other things. I told him before the game that it took him six years to get to this point and it didn't matter whether his team won or lost, nor did it matter if he made a mistake out on the field. The only thing that mattered was that he did not regret how he played when it was over and that he didn't wish he would have played differently. For once I think he took my advice.

And following the advice worked out pretty well in the end.
Thinking about it, that advice applies to running too. Don't regret how you should have performed when it's over. Always leave it all out on the field/road/trail. Can't wait to heal so I can take my own advice.

The Running Moron continues to not run like a moron, or anyone else

2011-11-17T07:43:00.001-05:00

I've been in a boot for over 6 weeks now. I went to the doctor to hopefully get out of it this week, only to be told I'll need at least another three full weeks in it. After then -- only if I'm completely pain-free -- I can slowly start to wean myself off the boot. That'll happen with me first taking it off while I'm hanging out around the house and then go on from there. After three weeks of the "slow wean" I'll have another follow-up to see where I stand. But the big news is that stress fractures don't necessarily heal within 6 weeks. It could take 9 or 12 weeks, or it could take 6 months or more. It all depends on the person. Great.

Nice to know the look I've been sporting without my boot on
is popular with the passed out drunk guy crowd.
I'm going to be spending either all or part of my time in a boot until at least December 27, which is the date of my next follow-up. That means a quarter of the year will be lost to running (my last run was on September 25). Before now I haven't gone more than a few days without running since the early part of 2007. That was a pretty good run, I guess.

At any rate, I'm not going to be running any turkey trots this year, nor will I be participating in any jingle bell runs. I will also miss out on my favorite way to end my running year by skipping Baltimore's Celtic Solstice 5 miler. This is in addition to having already missed out on the return of the Zoo Zoom, which I ran once before it disappeared only to be revived this year, and my inability to run the event I signed up for in Las Vegas in a couple weeks. To be honest, I'm not even sure what shape I'll be in for the next event I've paid to run, the Frederick (MD) Running Festival in May 2012.

So, yeah. I hope your holiday running season is going a little better than mine.

P.S. If you're going to be Vegas to run the Strip at Night, let me know. I need people to cheer since people won't be cheering me.

Is today the day?

2011-11-14T09:35:00.001-05:00

Quick injury update for everyone who cares (my mom): I've been in a boot for six weeks and today is my appointment to hopefully get out of it. I was feeling great last week but Saturday I think I spent too much time on my feet and my foot started hurting all over again. Even if I'm allowed to do away with the boot I think there's very little chance of me even thinking about walking for exercise let alone running for some time to come. I'm not really sure I'm finished with the boot, to be honest. To say I'm a little discouraged is an understatement.

I guess everything happens for a reason and I suppose there's a reason for this injury to not heal as quickly as I hoped, but maybe I really cheesed off the running gods somehow.

It's a hot look I admit, but I'm ready to give it up.
One positive note: while the pain came back the swelling hasn't accompanied its return. There's always a silver lining...

What I do while I can't run

2011-11-10T12:55:00.001-05:00

Since I've been unable to run for a while, what have I been doing to pass the time? I've been growing facial hair. I mean, isn't that what everyone does?

Just like how October is painted pink for breast cancer awareness, November is the month to grow mustaches for prostate cancer awareness. However, I'm too old to be hipster doofusish enough to do something like that, so I've been participating in No Shave November.

No Shave November is supposed to be for some sort of charity or another but there doesn't seem to be any clear definition of what, which is fine by me. I'm not really interested in growing facial hair to promote a cause or to raise awareness in anything so I'm happy to do it for no real reason other than bearded awesomeness.

I forgot to take a picture of myself at day 0, but here I am at day 5:

Bad webcam picture.
I caught some flack for my inability to do a better job beard growing in five days than other men are able to. What can I say? I'm just prettier than those neanderthals.

This is me today at day 10:

Bad iPhone picture.
I have had to keep the neck shaved because that's just gross, but I'm digging the beard for now. However, when I try to grow beards my face usually breaks out and if that happens this time I will pull the plug on this experiment post haste!

And yes, I agree it has become quite apparent that if I don't get back to running soon there might not be much left of my mind.

Wastin away again in Margaritaville (eyewear)

2011-11-09T12:56:00.000-05:00

I am not a Parrothead, and I don't really get the whole Parrothead way of life. I mean, I know it's about taking it easy and having a drink or five and lounging around the beach and stuff, but the only person I can think of who ever made a living as a professional beach bum was Jimmy Buffet. And when it comes to being a Parrothead the last thing I think of in relation to one is exercise, so I was amused when I was asked to review a pair of Margaritaville Eyewear sunglasses and relate how they performed while running. But because I'm always happy to try out a product for anyone who asks I agreed to pick out and run with a pair of Jimmy Buffet lifestyle-inspired sunglasses on my face.

The only problem was that I got injured and couldn't run to try out the shades in a timely manner. So I enlisted my friend Andrea to do it for me. This is what she thought of the pair of sunglasses I would have tested had I been able to run:

Margaritaville Eyewear Tortolas.

I have never been comfortable running with anything on my head – no ear buds, no glasses, no hats.. Then I moved to Northern Nevada and I started to run in some really bright sunlight a few days a week. Unfortunately, this has caused me to start gaining wrinkles. Specifically around my eyes. And really, I’m too young for that! So, I started thinking about sun glasses – and jumped on the opportunity to try out a pair of Margaritaville glasses.

When the Tortolas arrived, I was a little skeptical about trying to run in them because they are BIG glasses. I don’t wear BIG glasses, and the thought of having that on my face while I was running was a little daunting. But they felt pretty solid, so off I went for a run. Honestly, I was pretty self-conscious during the first mile because it was something new to me. But when nobody else on the trail even gave me a second glance I realized it was all in my head. I relaxed and just settled into the run.

I ran 4 miles that morning, wearing the sunglasses the entire time. Once I got over myself, I really didn’t even notice them. They didn’t distract me, they didn’t feel heavy, they didn’t find that One Specific Spot to just aggravate. In fact, they didn’t really move at all - they were just part of my running attire. If you like BIG glasses (and yeah, I’ve heard it’s the style these days.. but, like skinny jeans, not my style) , these are well worth the investment.

Personally, I don't think the glasses are so big as Andrea's was a case of her face being small. (KIDDING!)

Margaritaville Eyewear is on sale for 50% off, so now would be a great time to get a look that'll work either on the road with a water bottle in your hand or on the beach nursing a slushy drink with salt around the rim of the glass.

The end is near

2011-11-07T13:06:00.000-05:00

That sound of the Hallelujah Chorus you hear whenever I walk by that's growing louder by the day is leading up to the (hopeful) end of my time in a boot. Here is a list of things I plan on doing immediately upon leaving the doctor's office with the (hoped for) good news one week from today:

Run 5K. I'll bring my running shoes with me and do a few laps around the quarry my doctor's building sits next to.

Kick a 50 yard field goal. Barefoot.

Get a pick-up game of soccer together and play midfield.

Do a pirouette. Like a boss.

Skydive.

Go up the highest rock climbing wall I can find:

My destiny awaits.

Moonwalk.

And to finish up my first boot-free day in six weeks, I'll just dance.

Can't wait!

Quick shoe quiz

2011-11-02T13:01:00.001-04:00

Here's a question. What's the biggest difference between this shoe:

Saucony Triumph 8
And this shoe:

Saucony Triumph 9
Can't tell? Take a look side by side:

Got your answer? OK, next question. What's the biggest difference between this shoe:

Saucony Guide 4
And this shoe:

Saucony Guide 5
Can't tell? Take a look side by side:

Got your answer? OK, here's the correct one: the questions were a trick because they both have the same answer.

Updated shoe models are released annually and there are always changes that tweak this and tweak that and make the shoe either better, worse, or pretty much the same. But this year Saucony is taking it in a whole new direction.

There is essentially a shift in engineering mindset and Saucony is making their shoes more adaptable to the foot they surround rather than make the foot adapt to the shoe that surrounds it. The one major difference between the Triumph 8 and Triumph 9 and the Guide 4 and Guide 5 is that the updated models have lowered the heel-to-toe drops (which is the change in height between the two) from 12mm to 8mm, and that allows the feet inside of them to rest flatter and more naturally than they did in the previous models. The upside is that it was done without sacrificing any cushioning. I don't believe these shoes are "minimalist" running shoes, and they're certainly not barefoot running shoes, but Saucony is making a bold statement by risking the reputation of their best selling, best known model shoes on which to launch their new train of thought on shoe design.

In my opinion, the Cortana was sort of the test subject for Saucony's change by them creating a shoe with all of the bells and whistles while lowering the heel to toe drop. Apparently the Cortana was enough of a success for the company to really roll the dice with the Guide, Triumph, and Hurricane lines.

Saucony is not shy about talking about the evolution of their running shoes. Here's a video introduction to the Geometry of Strong:

Click here if you can't see the embed.
Visit this page to read more about the updates in the latest versions of the Guide, Triumph and Hurricane.

The Hurricane 14 will be available soon, but the Saucony ProGrid Guide 5 and the PowerGrid Triumph 9 are both available now. But if you feel lucky, check out the contest Saucony is having on Facebook to try to score a free pair of shoes for yourself. Enter by 11/8/11.

Disclosure: I make it no secret that I've had a relationship with people who market Saucony in the past. They've provided me with shoes to test (although not the Guide 5s, Triumph 9s, or Hurricane 14s) and for this post I was given promotional material to help me write it as well as a t-shirt and a Saucony pen (that skips, I'm sad to say) for my efforts. (But if they just would have asked nicely I'd have done it anyway because I love Saucony products. Don't tell them that though please, because while the pen was a dud everything else has been great to try out and use to death.)

At least they're honest about the feedback

2011-11-01T16:54:00.001-04:00

What I like about a good number of the races I run is that they solicit feedback post-race and then address and act upon it. For as expensive as it's gotten to pay for registrations giving feedback provides a sense of ownership for runners because they feel like they're not only getting the benefits of running the races -- the premiums, post-race parties, etc. -- but that they have a voice in the way the races they participate in are run. It might be superficial, and it might be more public relations than anything else, but it's good business for the race organizers to at least provide an illusion of inclusion in organizing for the participants of their events.

I have only run one race this year, the Frederick half marathon, due to aches and pains and finally an injury that put me out of running for a while, but I'm still kept in the loop for most of the bigger races I've run in the past and I've been able to see how post-race feedback is being addressed. One thing I've noticed is that in general quite a few events have stumbled this year in the way they're perceived by their participants. And several of them are quite large and quite well established.

From the summaries I've read regarding feedback and post-race surveys it seems like a lot of the problems are with changes to race courses and start/finish areas and complications that arise from the size of the field, such as congestion on the courses and problems with traffic and transportation getting to and from the races. Perhaps running is growing too fast and events think they can handle the increased sizes of their fields because of the success they've had in the past, or maybe they've studied how other bigger events have handled things and thought they could do it too. Whatever caused them to get to this point they seemed to not have a lot of success with participation growth in 2011.

Join us. There's plenty of room for everyone!
So what can the average runner do about it? The biggest events generally have the best swag and the best post-race festivities. I guess if collecting medals is important to you I can't help, but if you're interested in a good run and a good experience I have a few suggestions:

Pick a smaller race. If you stray from the herd a little and don't run what everyone else is running you might really like it because while you may not get the best t-shirt or the best finisher's medal (or maybe no finisher's medal at all) you'll likely get an experience where you don't have to deal with huge crowds, gnarled traffic, or pushy vendors at expos, and you'll find the people working the event trying hard to make sure you have an enjoyable time and a great experience. Examples: Buffalo Creek half marathon (western PA), Kennebec River Rail Trail half marathon (Augusta, ME).

Pick a shorter distance. Some people run marathons, period. Some run halfs. And some think running anything less than those distances is for the lazy. Well, those people are jerks. Running 10Ks or 10 Milers are fun, and lots of times they'll have just as much going for them as events with longer distances, such as prize money, only it's easier to place and win because you're not competing against as many people as you might otherwise. Also, if you choose a shorter distance you can run more of them in a season. Examples: Run for Our Kids 10K (Baltimore, MD), Baltimore 10 Miler.

Force a running friend to hang out with you until the race starts. I'm a solitary runner and quite honestly I don't know how to run with other people, but if you have to deal with the hassles of race day, up to and including the first couple of very slow miles when you can't get enough space to get to your pace, it's best to do it with another runner who can suffer with you and feel your pain. That's what friends are for, right? I might have appreciated this myself when it took 35 or so minutes for my corral to finally get past the starting line at the '09 Rock n Roll Las Vegas half marathon.

If you have other ideas on how to avoid the pain of a less than ideal running event experience feel free to pass them along.