The sub-13:00 love train

Posted on September 5, 2009 by threlkeld

Last last month in Switzerland, Dathan Ritzenhein became only the second third fourth non-African-born man to run under 13:00 for the 5000m, clocking a new American record of 12:56. It took 13 years for someone to break the previous 12:58 American record held by Bob Kennedy. Then, just a few days later, Matt Tegenkamp went well under 13:00 too in Belgium, missing also beating Kennedy’s record by about half a second.

Watching those two races was nothing short of mind-blowing. What shift had occurred to allow for this dramatic twofer? These were huge PRs, not just the usual incremental ones. I know it made me think about what’s possible for myself.

I was also reminded of an article from Matt Fitzgerald in Running Times late last year, How Records Are Broken, which examined the forces that push records downward and what everyday runners can learn from them. The gist being: While we hobby runners may not break any world, national or age group records, breaking our own personal records in a regular and dramatic fashion is a worthy goal — and an achievable one.

Incidentally, that article link also includes an interview with none other than the now-former American record holder for the 5000m, Bob Kennedy.

Filed under: elites, inspiration, reading | Tagged: , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Suckage fake out?

Posted on June 19, 2009 by threlkeld

For those who want to know every detail of my running: I did 5 miles inside on the treadmill in a hot room last evening. Felt fine and even ran a fast last half mile or so (7:30ish). The difference yesterday was that I actually wanted to go running (even if it was inside). The last week or so I’ve wanted to do anything but (and have).

I’ll try again today and tomorrow. Will probably do a longish run on Sunday (12?) if weather permits.

I’m awaiting a new maintenance/base-rebuilding plan that should start on Monday. I’ll probably still go get blood tested, but I’m yet again unconvinced that therein lies the problem.

I’ve also dropped 2.5 of the 5 lbs gained already. So most of it was water weight.

Kevin was scheduled to chat with Lorraine Moller yesterday. So I’ve been awaiting his web updates with (as our more illiterate web posters like to say) “baited breath.” In the meantime, I’ve posted a review of her book on Amazon.

Now. Would you like to know what I had for breakfast?

Filed under: basebuilding, coaching, eating, elites, everyday life, olympics, reading, recovery | Tagged: , | 3 Comments »

Wham!

Posted on June 16, 2009 by threlkeld

I’m back at work today after a 15 hour travel odyssey that involved screaming toddlers, cranky fellow passengers, glacially paced baggage handling and a lost taxi driver further impeded by inexplicable police action at Newark Airport. Then up half the night being batted about the head by a needy cat. And now the past three weeks of non-workdom are rearing their ugly little heads. 200+ emails? Save me.

Go running this evening? Hah! I have bills to pay, groceries to buy and laundry to do (although with my 5 lb. weight gain, there’s very little that I can actually wear). But I hope to go for a spin tomorrow and catch up on the blogging soon, which will include more boring vacation photos and a full post-mortem of the possible why’s behind my disastrous marathon.

For those who just can’t get enough of runners talking about running, Coach Kevin is in Boulder, CO on a whirlwind tour of interviews of runners and coaches, including more than one of my idols, for a book project. You can follow his daily reports here.

I will say for now that Oregon is an interesting, beautiful and fun place. And despite the May 30 meltdown, I’m looking forward to working toward the next big one in Sacramento in December.

Filed under: coaching, eating, elites, everyday life, reading, travel | Tagged: , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Pre-race potpourri

Posted on May 26, 2009 by threlkeld

A paella of posts, if you will.

So, I spent the weekend tackling a to do list that rivalled Santa’s. But I got almost everything done. And I took a two hour nap yesterday too. All I remember was entering the bedroom with the sincere intent of cleaning it, but instead lying down and waking up two hours later.

Some random things:

I did my last fast run before Saturday just now. The assignment was seven miles with three at 7:00. I did the three on a windy track and managed 7:05 avg pace. The wind was about 10mph, but with faster gusts. I had a choice: Either slow down or just go ahead and run the planned pace and work a little harder. I choose the latter option, primarily because I wanted to remind myself that if come race morning it’s windy not to be a fool and try to run planned pace anyway.

Upon checking the data, my suspicions were correct: I was running at 92-93% MHR, so my little three miler was more like a tempo run than an MPace effort. Unfortunately, the forecast for Newport is showing wind. But it’s still four days away. At the very least, I’m mentally prepared to adjust plans if need be, with a recent physical “memory” of what it will feel like if I don’t as reinforcer. I’m determined to have a good race, not just a PR, but also a race where I don’t suffer unduly as I have done in varying degrees in three of my four marathons. I think that’s what they call running a “smart” race.

On another note, I started reading Lorraine Moller’s memoir On the Wings of Mercury. I’m about 30 pages in, but so far I am blown away by what an excellent piece of work it is. With a few exceptions, running memoirs typically range from the flat out terrible (Dick Beardsley’s) to the merely pedestrian (Joan Benoit’s, Grete Waitz’s). Moller’s book, though, is a revelation of outstanding writing and expert storytelling. She did not use a ghostwriter, as I’d suspected as soon as I started reading it. She’s just an extremely talented writer. She’s also very funny. I’m looking forward to digging into this one on the plane. The book is not yet released in the US, but I managed to order a copy from Newton Running.

Finally, I’m in day two of carbohydrate depletion. A few years ago, in one of my many failed attempts to lose fat, I went on a low carb diet for several months. I lost weight, but not fat (I was about 8 lbs lighter than I am now, but I wore larger clothes). I have no clue as to how I tolerated it. I felt okay on the run, but toward the end I felt lightheaded. I’m also sick of eating nuts, cheese, eggs and meat already, and it’s only been about 36 hours. Thank goodness I can hit the bagels and fruit again tomorrow.

Swedish Fish have been purchased. House/catsitter has been arranged. Airport taxi has been reserved. All systems are go.

Filed under: eating, elites, inspiration, olympics, reading, training | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments »

Gina Kolata states the bleedin’ obvious

Posted on April 23, 2009 by threlkeld

This article appeared in yesterday’s New York Times: Proper Training Is Critical to Athletic Success

No disrespect to Ms. Kolata is intended. The sad thing is that this needs to be stated at all. And yet, it does!

For the past couple of years I have followed the online exploits of several runners who claim to want to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Yet, year after year, they fail to do so. Not only that, but they never get any closer. Sometimes they get farther away. And they seem to find their lack of progress a huge mystery.

What are they doing wrong? Well, perhaps most critically, they’re failing to train properly. Many are “training” in the sense that they are following some sort of plan. But they’re running the same speeds they ran three years ago, for example, and wondering why they’re not getting any faster. Or they’re running the same low mileage and bare minimum number of long runs and wondering why they bonked at 18 miles again.

Kolata’s article (which perhaps should be thought of as a public service announcement for runners) is just a longer way of stating one of my all-time favorite running quotes, which comes from Kathrine Switzer: “Training works.” But it goes a step further and says “Consistent, rigorous, event-specific training works.”

I’m not sure that I buy the idea that one necessarily needs to join a training group or hire a coach in order to approach one’s running potential. But if your problem is chronic lack of progress, then it sure can’t hurt. What’s most important is working hard, working hard often and regularly, and working progressively harder with each new training cycle.

Now is that such rocket science?

Filed under: how to get faster, racing, reading, training | 10 Comments »

Rinus Runs Rotterdam!

Posted on April 6, 2009 by threlkeld

Rinus is a Dutch blogger who is a regular reader and commenter of this blog. He is also a prodigious marathoner, having completed 19 (with a PB just a shade over 3:30). He races other distances frequently too. I’ve begun to think of him as the Dutch Frank Colella. Not just because he races so often, but also because he’s a serial documenter of his races, which all have an important social component as well. In any race post, I can usually count on seeing lots of pictures of Rinus and Frank and friends.

Rinus has a Google translation tool on his blog, which enables me to understand about 25% percent of each post. In a way, reading his posts is like some sort of weird sensory deprivation experience. I get pieces of the story through words, along with more visceral elements through pictures and video, and a rough (yet still somewhat mysterious) narrative emerges.

His videos — some of them taken while actually running the race — are great fun to watch. I just wish I knew what the hell he was saying in them.

In this latest chronicling of his exploits, Rinus helps a few fellow runners attempt a 4:15 race at Rotterdam. They almost made it — it looks like the sun and heat may have caught them by surprise, though.

Filed under: everyday life, inspiration, racing, reading | 10 Comments »

Poetry in motion, motion in poetry

Posted on April 3, 2009 by threlkeld

I came across this poem recently. It’s published in the The Runner’s Literary Companion.

Poetry is sort of like opera for me: I don’t get it most of the time and, as a result, it ends up making me feel bad about myself. So I avoid it. But sometimes I happen across something that clicks, at least in the poetic realm (hasn’t happened yet in the operatic one).

I thought about this poem while finishing up my last 1000m interval yesterday morning. I especially like the final verse.

This Runner
by Francis Webb

This runner on his final lap
Sucks wildly for elusive air;
Space is a vortex, time’s a gap,
Seconds are shells that hiss and flare
Between red mist and cool white day
Four hundred throttling yards away.

Each spike-shaped muscle, yelping nerve,
Worries, snaps at his stumbling weight;
He goes wide on this floating curve,
Cursing with crazy hammering hate
A rival glued to inside ground
Who flogs his heart, forces him round.

Friends, here is your holiday;
Admire your image in this force
While years, books, flesh and mind give way
To the sheer fury of the source.
Here is your vicious, central shape
That has no need of cheer or tape.

Filed under: inspiration, reading | 2 Comments »

Elite blog: Nate Jenkins

Posted on March 22, 2009 by threlkeld

You may not have noticed the “Elite blogs” list I have in the right well of this page, which contains all of two entries. I’m still looking for blogs from elite runners that are worthy of inclusion in this list, but so far I’ve only found two.

Over the past six months or so I’ve become a huge fan of Nate Jenkins. He is a self-coached runner and — always near and dear to my heart — fundamentally a marathoner (although he races other distances). What I love most about his blog is its honesty. His posts are completely lacking in pretention; they are unadorned, from the heart, and full of fascinating observations from a man who is learning how to coach and run as he goes along.

Here’s a wonderful post that represents the best of his chronicling of life as a distance runner.

Amended: The new home for Jenkins’ blog is here. It’s still worth poking around at that first link above at Flotrack to read his other musings.

Filed under: elites, inspiration, reading, resources | 7 Comments »

USA Track & Field: Extreme Makeover Edition

Posted on February 11, 2009 by threlkeld

Doug Logan and Carl Lewis make waves in the wake of the numerous 2008 Olympic disasters.

Filed under: elites, olympics, reading | Leave a comment »

New list category: Elites with good blogs

Posted on January 29, 2009 by threlkeld

It’s hard enough to find a good running blog from a regular Jane or Joe Jogger. But it’s even harder to find a good blog written by an actual elite. I hope to expand this list over time, but for now I’ll start with Shannon Rowbury’s blog, which is well written and endlessly entertaining. I am a big fan of Rowbury’s not only for her ability to burn up the tracks and roads, but also because in every interview (and now, her blog) she comes off as a smart, witty, mature and articulate person.

Filed under: elites, inspiration, olympics, reading | 13 Comments »

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