Ultra Running Information and Tips

Running Origins: The Persistance Hunt

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 11:14:25 -0500

I just found this video while searching for core and glute strengthening exercises. Very interesting look at how early man hunted. Well worth the 3 minutes and 11 seconds for any serious runner.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

As humans we are creatures of habit. Creating habits help us...

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:10:00 -0500

As humans we are creatures of habit. Creating habits help us move through our daily lives more easily. For example, I always hang up my keys by the fridge and I charge my cell phone every night. When we come upon or develop a really helpful habit we tend to give it a higher status and make it a rule. For example, don’t hit on a woman when her husband or your wife is around. These rules ultimately help us survive.

We make different rules for different reasons. The three second or ten second rule exists because if you are hungry you can still eat that piece of food you dropped. Other rules exist for yet other reasons.

The first rule of Fight Club is, you do not talk about Fight Club.
The second rule of Fight Club is, you DO NOT talk about Fight Club.

There is talk about rules being made to be broken. I don’t know. I think you break them at your own peril. Before I really get too far down this rabbit hole let me say that no sooner than I break a rule - my own rule no less (by writing down or telling others what I’m planning on running, see a prior posting), I go down with an injury.

Toward the end of December I started to experience some discomfort in my right glute. That discomfort grew into a flaming pain in the ass, also known as Piriformis Syndrome.

Having spend over 30 years running I knew I had to go see a physical therapist who knew what they were doing and would do what I needed - more hands on body work and less time on the clock spent doing core strengthening exercises. Dr. Farouk Elkassed of Access Physical Therapy (aka The House of Pain) was just the man for the task. After a few weeks of physical therapy the symptoms lessened but a throbbing pain in my right shin could only be explained by some type of back injury.

To make a long and honestly boring story short x-rays confirmed that I have a 4 mm misalignment between my Lumbar spine and my sacrum. While it’s been that way for close to ten years, somehow (I suspect rule breaking) it got inflamed and subsequently, it’s condition was duly noted.

Yesterday I got a selective transforaminal nerve root block in the L1 S5 region or a shot. Oh boy, that was some good fun. I asked for a copy of the video but the tech said they couldn’t due to HIPAA “rules”. I guess they thought somehow a stereotactic x-ray of my lower back and upper ass would provide “individually identifiable health information”. Dr. Ken Hurt (not his real name) says I should be good to start running again on Saturday, Feb 19th. This puts me several months behind in my training and has caused me to have to really change my plans for the first half of 2011. Don’t stay tuned because I’m not gonna make the same mistake twice and publicly announce all my racing plans, at least not this year.

2/17/2011

Gear Review: Under Armour Fuego 1/4 zip

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 21:35:00 -0500

Warning, my bachelor degree is in History. So those of you with georteyphobia, you might just want to skip down a few paragraphs.

In May 1944, Lieutenant General Brehon Somervell, Chief of Army Service Forces, was credited with saying the following,

“Sea power can get us to enemy territory, air power can carry war into the heart, of enemy territory—it can weaken his powers to resist—but the man in the mud, the fellow with the bayonet in his hands, will deliver the final blow. His courage, his stamina, his devotion together with that of his brothers on sea and in the air are the ingredients of victory. But only good logistics will make it possible for them to gain that victory.”

Okay, where am I going with this? LtGen Somervell knew something very important, something you should know as well. You can only gain your goal through good logistics. You need good gear to run your best.

Hence, I blog my first public gear review. I say public because I sometimes test shoes for Under Armour and I’m not allowed to discuss those tests. And way back when they first came out, I tested Keen’s Ochoco trail shoes (super comfortable, maybe too soft for heavy runners or long runs and couldn’t hold up in just one run in the Massanutten mountains) trail shoes for Trail Runner magazine.

Product

Under Armour Fuego 1/4 zip

The Skinny #1

A cold Christmas day allowed me to test my new Under Armour Fuego 1/4 zip. My normal outfit for a 25 degree day besides a hat, running gloves, and running pants, is a jacket and a thick long sleeve shirt underneath. I decided to test the Fuego as a jacket.

I warmed up nicely and started circling the high school track. This slight breeze allowed me to experience wind on the back and front of the fleece.

The Fuego performed well. I was never cold and believe it will handle 20 degrees just fine.

The Skinny #2

On the last day of 2010, I met up with my buddy Dan for a 8 trail run in Rockburn Branch Park. Our 8 mile course takes us into Patapsco Valley State Park. We used to run the main section of the park, but the Rangers kept stopping us to enforce the parks discrimination on Canine-Americans.

A typical 33 degree day calls for me to wear long sleeves and either a vest or a jacket depending upon which direction the temperature is expected move. I decided to go with a short sleeve as a base for the Fuego.

The high humidity had it feel a little colder than was advertised by my smartphone. Within a few minutes I started to get warm and at a mile and a half I had to stop to remove my base layer. We often stop on this run to let the dogs drink in the creek or talk to mountain bikers, today was no different. Even with occasional breaks, I never felt cold enough to put my base layer back on.

Features

Pros: The Fuego has slightly longer than normal sleeves. It also has nice zippered pockets that are attached to one another. The front zipper has a housing so you don’t scratch your neck. Light weight.

Cons: It’s 100% Polyester and can snag easily. They run a little small and tight, so check the UA sizing chart and consider going a size up. I’m a 38 chest and 30 waist but my medium is snug (I swear it got a little smaller after washing).

I highly recommend this fleece.

New Year's Resolutions: Less Talk, More Action

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 15:50:00 -0500

Wikipedia actually has an entry. I’ll save you the look up.

“A New Year’s resolution is a commitment to a personal goal that an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year’s Day.”

Popular goals are to improve health by losing weight and exercise more.” I expect to see lots of foot traffic on my most training courses. At least until February.

The Wikipedia article quotes a website named Quirkology which says “while 52% of participants in a resolution study were confident of success with their goals, only 12% actually achieved their goals. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, while women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.”

It’s pretty common in the running community to announce which races you doing next. It might be the most common question asked during a training run, “Are you training for something?” While I answer this question honestly, I tend to keep my running plans to myself in order to keep the pressure to a minimum. It’s one thing to tell another runner what your plans are and another thing entirely to make a public announcement. I’ve learned that I function best when I’m the only one applying pressure on myself. Also, sometimes training just doesn’t work out like you wanted and you aren’t at your peak or planned level on race day. Finances, starting new jobs, keeping old jobs, kids playing on traveling sport teams, etc. It’s often hard to get in all the training necessary to perform well in a 50 mile race. And it’s always hard to get in all the quality training necessary.

That said here’s my very tentative schedule for the first half of 2011. Most of these will find me as a participant without a specific goal other than getting in a good training run or testing out some new gear maybe even seeing an eagle this year. I have specific goals for two races in particular, Bull Run Run 50 and the Fredericton marathon. My PR at Bull Run is 7:19 (8:47 pace), I would like to run close to 7 hours, which would be an 8:24 pace. For the Fredericton marathon I would like to run as near to 3 hours (which is my marathon PR) as I can.

January
15 & 16 - VHTRC MLK weekend training runs or JFK 20
23 - Eagle run
February
12 - TWOT or Holiday Lake 50K+
20 - Geo. Washington Birthday marathon
26 - Hashawha Hills 50K
March
6 - Catawba Run-About
7 - B&A Trail marathon
12 - Elizabeth Furnace 50K
13 - Lower Potomac River marathon
26 - Terrapin Mtn 50K
April
3 - Cherry Blossom 10 miler
9 - Bull Run Run 50 miler
23 - Lake Waramaug 50K or 50 miler, or Promiseland 50K
May
8 - Fredericton marathon
June
4 - Old Dominion 100
18 - Highlands Sky 40 miler

Just like Grimm’s Fairy Tales, this is written in black ink…if you don’t count the electronic part.

Welcome. This blog is about running - ultra running mostly - but...

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 10:17:00 -0500

Welcome.

This blog is about running - ultra running mostly - but running in general. I will discuss current issues in the ultra community, provide training and racing tips, talk about gear, injuries, etc.