Marathon Training Update Apr 29

Bike ride today- I finally decided to do some hills. Boy do I need to work on that! I am convinced that a few of these workouts will help me run hills. 1 hour bike- 12 miles.

Marathon Training Update-Apr 27-28

Mon- 2 mile jog, then 4 x 1 mile with 2 minutes recovery. This was a tough workout- 6:07 then the rest 5:55-5:57. 1 mile cool-down for a total of 7 miles

Tues- A leg weary 17 mile run in 2 hours plus.

New Coach, New Workouts for Shalane Flanagan

I have a new coach and I'm starting to integrate some of his new training, so new stimulus for me, meaning the volume at which he's requiring me to run, it's just larger than I've ever taken on. One example of a workout is seven by a mile repeats, and I've never done anything like that. I can count on one hand how many times I've done 10K worth of work on a track or anything like that. Just the volume and the pace at which I ran, and just a string of where I had in seven days where I had four really quality workouts -Olympic 10,000 meter bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan, who is now coached by former U. of Wisconsin coach Jerry Schumacher (now a coach with Nike based out of Portland). runnersworld.com

MY COMMENT: 7 X 1 mile? I'm wondering how fast and what was the rest interval? Shalane Flanagan has an Olympic medal plus American records for 3K, 5K, and 10K. Clearly she has been doing something right. I find it interesting that a runner of Flangan's caliber puts so much trust in a new coach and different training regiment. Hopefully she made the right decision. Remember Schumacher coaches Chris Solinsky and Matt Tegenkamp, both who clearly underperformed in 2008, an Olympic year.

The Elger Archives- Cudahy 10 Mile 1976

53:26 FOR 10 MILES- not bad but I was in better shape in May.

London Marathon Results

MEN
1 WANJIRU, SAMUEL KEN 2:05:10
2 KEBEDE, TSEGAYE ETH 2:05:20
3 GHARIB, JAOUAD MAR 2:05:27
4 MUTAI, EMMANUEL KEN 2:06:53
5 RAMAALA, HENDRICK RSA 2:07:44
6 GOUMRI, ABDERRAHIM MAR 2:08:25
7 KIFLE, YONAS ERI 2:08:28
8 SATO, ATSUSHI JPN 2:09:16
9 KEFLEZIGHI, MEB USA 2:09:21
10 LIMO, FELIX KEN 2:09:47
11 RITZENHEIN, DATHAN USA 2:10:00
12 ABSHIRO, TESSEMA ETH 2:11:18
13 JONES, ANDI GBR 2:15:20
14 DENT, MARTY AUS 2:15:24
15 WOJCIK, RAFAL POL 2:16:41

WOMEN

1 MIKITENKO, IRINA GER 2:22:11
2 YAMAUCHI, MARA GBR 2:23:12
3 SHOBUKOVA, LILIYA RUS 2:24:24
4 ZAKHAROVA, SVETLANA RUS 2:25:06
5 ADERE, BERHANE ETH 2:25:30
6 ABITOVA, INGA RUS 2:25:55
7 NDEREBA, CATHERINE KEN 2:26:22
8 MORIMOTO, TOMO JPN 2:26:29
9 WAMI, GETE ETH 2:26:54
10 PETROVA, LYUDMILA RUS 2:27:42
11 KANO, YURI JPN 2:28:44
12 CHUNXIU, ZHOU CHN 2:29:02
13 O'NEILL, KATE USA 2:34:48
14 OKUNAGA, MIKA JPN 2:35:36
15 CENTENO, YESENIA ESP 2:40:13

Advice from Marathon Legend Ron Hill

" ...the trick is to make life easy on yourself. Buy the best gear you can afford, that is your investment in the sport. Always dress appropriately for the bad weather. Running vests, rainproof Goretex tops, gloves when it's cold, a cap if you fancy it. Don't suffer. Why suffer? Enjoy"


"There is no real secret to successful training and being competitive in the marathon. Let me give you my recipe: steady distance work and lots of it, short spells of speed work within that distance work, and regular racing. Don't hide away, race regularly."

-Ron Hill, British marathoner who broke 2 hr 20 min 29 times and has run every day since Dec 20, 1964
Telegraph.co.uk

Marathon Training Update-Week of Apr 19-25

Sun- 1 mile jog and 1 hour bike following long Sat run

Mon- 2 x 3 mile tempo runs with 5 minutes recovery (actually 2.9 miles- both under 18) felt very strong 3 mile warm-up so 9 miles total

Tues- 19 mile run in 2 hr 39

Wed- 17 mile bike

Thurs- 1 mile jog, then 6 miles

Fri- 3 mile jog, then 6 x 800 in 2:54, 60 sec rest. Total = 6 miles

Sat- 1 mile jog, then 14 miles in 1 hr 52.

Total miles - 55 running and 30 biking

Who Won the Marathon Bronze Medal in Bejing?

"I would buy bread and some tea and would have only one meal a day," Kebede reflected as he gratefully savoured the generous London Marathon hospitality in the Tower Hotel. "After that, I had nothing left in my pocket. I had to wake up the following morning to go back to work in order to survive. If I didn't, there would be no food. The Independent

-22 year old Ethiopian Olympic bronze medalist Tsegay Kebede who has run 2:06:10. He's running London- how can you not root for the guy?

Why Don't More Sports Drinks Include Protein?

Adding protein to carbohydrate drinks during exercise has been shown to decrease muscle tissue damage in runners, improve performance, and enhance water retention (see a list of references here).

Accelerade is one of the few sports drinks on the market that includes protein- 4 grams per 8 oz serving (4:1 ratio carbohydrate to protein).

The most obvious problem with protein during a race would be a slower absorption rate, but apparently that isn't the case with Accelerade. Based on the evidence, it's certainly worth a try.

London Marathon Preview- Men

Thirteen men who have run under 2 hr 10 min are running London tomorrow, including Olympic Champion Sammy Wanjiru. Letsrun.com .

Americans Dathan Ritzhenhein and Meb Keflezighi are in the field, as well as Kate O'Neill.

The London Marathon Media Guide

Low Mileage Blamed for Poor Performance in England

He was shocked to discover the low weekly mileage count of several of Britain's top male runners. "Some of the boys have been running only 20-30 miles a week," he says. "Now we've got people like Mo [Farah] jacking up mileage of 100-120 miles a week.

"It's a big lifestyle change. In the last 10-15 years there was a groundswell of opinion that said 'less is more'. We had runners doing more work in the gym.But they're not doing that in Kenya or Ethiopia, they're getting miles undertheir belt." guardian.co.uk

-Ian Stewart (the guy that outkicked Pre for the bronze medal in Munich)

MY COMMENT: Nothing more needs to be said. Same thing happened here in America until people started waking up.

Can't Sleep? Watch the London Marathon Live!

Access universalsports.com to watch a live feed of the London Marathon. Sunday 4 AM Eastern

Marathon Training Update Apr 22

17 mile bike ride and no run.

Goucher Also Made Mistakes at Boston

Kara realizes that she made a tactical mistake and wasn’t supposed to lead any earlier than a mile to go,” he said. “We felt she could out kick anybody if she played her cards right. It boiled down to 10K racing. When a 10K runner takes a lead from the beginning on the track, 95 percent of the time they don’t win. And the wind started to pick up and she started to do all the work. If she had waited and made it into an 800-meter race like the other girls did, she would have finished better. It’s a matter of gaining experience with every race.” -Alberto Salazar, comments on Kara Goucher following Monday's Boston Marathon. universal sports

Ryan Hall Could Have Won Boston

“After leading for half an hour I was getting sick of the wind and decided to sit,” he wrote. “Whenever I got out of the lead the pace slowed. I knew when I decided to sit the time would pretty much go out the window." -Ryan Hall, universalsports.com

Hall's comments remind me of Lance Armstrong at age 20. Winning a marathon requires energy conservation in the early stages. Period. Unless you are head and shoulders above the rest of the field, you will not beat your competitors if they are the ones drafting the first 10K. What would you rather have- 3rd in 2 hr 09 min or a win in 2 hr 11? Had Ryan hung back, sure the pace would have been slower, but SO WHAT IF HE WINS!

Here is another tip for Ryan- you cannot be at your best racing 2 or 3 times a year. No way, no how. Olympics, half hearted Gasparilla, then Boston. I don't care who you are or who you train with, Hall will not win a major marathon without racing more frequently than he does at shorter distances.

I think Ryan Hall has as much talent as anybody in the world. He claims to be learning so much in these marathons, but his mistakes at Boston were big ones. I have one suggestion- give Frank Shorter a call and see what he thinks.

Marathon Training Update Apr 21

19 mile run in 2 hr 39. Felt some discomfort pain in my left (good) hamstring. I have not been stretching that one so I think it's from yesterday's tempo run. I took it very easy on this run and felt ok all the way.

Salt and Sweat

"The more salt you eat, the more salt you lose in sweat." -Nancy Clark's Food Guide for Marathoners
MY COMMENT: According to most sources, Americans take in an average of 3,000-4,000 mg of sodium per day, or up to 2 pounds a year! I am not too concerned about replacing sodium on long runs.

Thoughts on the 2009 Boston Marathon

Yesterday was the 113th running of the Boston Marathon, a race I've completed 5 times. I got to watch it sporadically on universalsports.com.

MY COMMENTS: Deciding to "run his own race", I was shocked to see Ryan Hall take the lead so early- clearly a major tactical error that just might have cost him a victory. I also noticed that Ryan, despite his extremely fluid running form, carries his arms slightly lower than optimal.

On the women's side, 4 Americans found themselves leading the pack through mile 10, including 45 year old Colleen De Reuck, who ran a fabulous race finishing 8th in 2 hr 35 min 37 sec.

The women's finish was amazing. Kara Goucher made a courageous move to break up the pack of 7-8 women with 5-6 miles to go, dropping all but 2. Finishing 3rd, she will be rehashing that decision, thinking perhaps it would have been wiser to draft a few more miles, especially into a headwind. My bet is the overwhelming crowd support had something to do with that. All in all, a good day for the top Americans.

The Hansen-Brooks team, led by Olympian Brian Sell's 14th place finish in 2hr 16:31, placed 5 of their runners in the top 20. I am sure they are disappointed in their times, and Sell (4th in 2006) definitely hoped to finish higher ("I shouldn't even get free shoes.")

I searched the results for 4-time winner Bill Rodgers, and discovered he finished in 4hr 06 min 49 sec, or 9 min 25 sec per mile. Ouch!

Go to flotrack.org for all the interviews!

Top 10 Men
1. Deriba Merga ETH 2:08:42
2. Daniel Rono KEN 2:09:32
3. Ryan Hall USA 2:09:40
4. Tekeste Kebede ETH 2:09:49
5. Robert Cheruiyot KEN 2:10:06
6. Gashaw Asfaw ETH 2:10:44
7. Solomon Molia ETH 2:12:02
8. Evans Cheruiyot KEN 2:12:45
9. Stephen Kiogora KEN 2:13:00
10. Timothy Cherigat KEN 2:13:04

Top 10 Women

1. Salina Kosgei KEN 2:32:16
2. Dire Tune ETH 2:32:17
3. Kara Goucher USA 2:32:25
4. Bezunesh Bekele ETH 2:33:08
5. Helena Kirop KEN 2:33:24
6. Lidiya Grigoryeva RUS 2:34:20
7. Atsede Habtamu ETH 2:35:34
8. Colleen S. De Reuck USA 2:35:37
9. Alice Timbilili KEN 2:36:25
10. Alina Ivanova RUS 2:36:50

In my age group (55-59) 3rd place was 2 hr 56 min 08 sec, and 10th was 3hr 05 min 26 sec. (I ran 2hr 55 min 10 sec at Napa Valley). No doubt the wind was a factor, but a top 10 finish would not have been impossible. Maybe next year!

Marathon Training Update- Apr 20

Good Workout! On April 9 I did an out and back tempo run(slightly short of 3 miles), running each leg in 20:30s. Using the same course today I ran a strong 17:38 and came back in 17:15, the last 800 (the section where I run intervals) under 3 min. Goes to show that I was well rested today relative to the Apr 9 workout.

You can't run tired all the time and expect to race well.

3 mile warm-up, short cool-down total = 9 miles.

Apr 19 I did just 1 mile with Sumo and an hour easy on the bike.

Marthon Training Update- Week of Apr 12-18

Mon- easy 5 coming off a difficult 20 on Sat.

Tues- 1 mile jog, then 17 miles

Wed- 2 mile jog, then 6 miles

Thurs- warm-up, then 6 x 800 fast with 2 min recovery, 5 miles total

Fri- easy 5

Sat- 1 mile jog, then 14 miles- a few miles in the middle at a good pace.

Total miles for the week = 57 miles

Marathon Training Update:Intervals- April 16

For the past few years I've used 800 meter repeats as a staple workout. I've always used a 1 minute recovery, and when I am fit, I can maintain 10 repetitions under 3 minutes.

While 8-10 x 800s has served me well the past few years, it's time for a change. I want to improve my speed, so last week I did 10 x 400s with a minute rest. Tonight, I went back to the 800s, but added another minute to the recovery (hoping to run the pace I did last week on the 400s).

2:54, 2:53. 2:52, 2:51, 2:50 and 2:50 (this workout is on a trail, so the distance is not precise. By comparison, my average on this trail using the 60 second recovery has been 2:54-2:55).

Not a bad workout-hopefully something I can build on and improve by June. For now I'll stick with the 2 minute recovery and try to building up to 10. Ambitious goal, because I'll admit- tonight was very hard! Total 5 miles

Marathon Training Update-Apr 15

2 mile jog with Sumo, 6 mile run. Felt ok but kept it easy. 8 miles total

Recovery from Workouts and Races

"An untrained individual in an overnight fasted state who has a sample of blood collected in the morning from an arm vein before any exercise has a lactate level ranging from about 4-15 mg/dl. We find that our trained elite distance runners typically have a lactate level near the low end of this range (around 3-5 mg/dl) if they are not overtrained. (However, one residual effect of either a very hard single training session or a period of overtraining is a morning postabsorptive lactate level that is either very high normal or clinically elevated.)" -taken from Better Training for Distance Runners by David E. Martin, Ph D, and Peter N. Coe.

My comment: Wouldn't it be nice to have this little test at your disposal, telling you exactly when you are ready for your next hard workout? Is there anything that you can do to reduce blood lactate and speed recovery? Ice baths, compression socks, elevating feet for a short time, cool-down, massage, proper nutrition, and rest immediately following a workout all come to mind.

Marathon Training Update- April 13, 14

In a perfect world, runners could focus on upcoming races without work or family obligations. For most of us, that isn't likely anytime soon.

I have a new work schedule - off every Tuesday and Saturday, so must take advantage by targeting those days for key, longer, time-consuming workouts. After a painful 20 mile day on Saturday I took Sunday off and jogged an easy 5 miles yesterday with Sumo.

Today I did the 1 mile warm up with Sumo, followed by the same course I used prior to Napa Valley- call it 17 miles (although about 1/4 of that is the jog down and back to my start point). I hit the turnaround in 61 min and turned in 62 on the return trip. Recall me best time prior to Napa was 1 hr 55, but I am far from discouraged. A good telltale sign that you are not recovered is difficulty going uphill, which I noticed right away on the sharp incline at 6 miles.

It will be interesting to see how quickly I can get over this one. I intend to run another easy one tomorrow (Wed) followed by an interval session Thurs, easy Friday, and another long on Sat. This is hopefully a pattern that I can maintain and see some progression. I seem to be in a rut since I upped the weekly long run to 20.

Explosive Leg Strength Drops With Training

"...Lou Castognola, a 2:17 marathoner in 1967, was found to have a vertical jump of only 12 inches. Following the 1968 Oly Trials, he stopped training and led a rather sedentary life. Three years later we re-examined him and found that while his VO2 max had declined from 78 ml/kg to 48 ml/kg, his vertical jump had increased to 20 inches. Thus despite a lack of regular physical activity, his explosive leg strength had increased 77%." quote from The Athlete Within, Dr. David Costill

My Comment: Today I might not be able to hit 12", but the question is if Lou did drills and other exercises to improve his vertical jump when he was fit, would he have run a faster marathon? Most experts think so.

Bill Rodgers Plans to Run Boston

“My plan now is to run it,” Rodgers said by phone from Boston, where he still operates his running store. “The last I heard we’re expecting some cool weather. But if it’s hot, I might have to wait until next year. After all, it’s been around for 113 years. I think it will be around next year.” -Bill Rodgers universalsports.com

MY COMMENT: At 61, Bill claims he is no longer interested in racing, so what is he doing running up to 23 mile workouts and 70 miles in a week?

Marathon Training Update Apr 5-11

Apr 5 Sun: 21 mile bike

Apr 6 Mon: - 1 mile jog with Sumo, then 8 miles at 7 min pace most of the way. 9 miles

Apr 7 Tues: - 1 mile jog with Sumo, then 12 mile run easy to moderate. 13 miles

Apr 9 Wed: - 4 mile jog with Sumo, then 10 x 400 with 60 sec rest. 800 cool down. 7 miles

Apr 10 Thur- 2 mile jog with Sumo, then 6 miles- 3 out and back, both legs in the 20:30s. 8 miles

Apr 10 Fri: - 21 mile bike - legs fatigued on the hills

Apr 11 Sat: - 1 mile jog with Sumo, then 19 miles out and back- same as last weekend. 20 miles. Today was much tougher.

Weekly totals: 57 miles running in 5 days, 42 miles biking in 2 days

I was running tired most of the week, probably not enough rest. I need some good quality tempo/speed workouts.

Marathon Legends- Clarence DeMar 1888-1958

“Run like hell and get the agony over with.” -Clarence DeMar

DeMar had an incredible string of Boston Marathon finishes. Diagnosed with a heart murmur and following advice by doctors who examined him, DeMar took several years away from marathoning. Eventually, he must have ignored their advise and resumed racing, and you can see the results.

Boston Marathon Champion 1911, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1927, 1928, 1930
Other Boston Finishes
1910-2nd
1917-3rd
1925-2nd
1926-3rd

Olympic Games, 1912, 1924 (3rd),1928

According to The Athlete Within by Dr. David Costill, autopsy results on DeMar revealed "a significantly enlarged heart with relatively clean coronary arteries." Left ventricular wall thickness- 18 mm (10-12 mm is normal)
Right ventricular wall thickness- 8 mm (3-4 mm is normal)
Diameter of coronary arteries (2-3 x normal size)

Here is a clip of DeMar winning his 7th Boston Marathon.

5 Hour Energy Labeled a "Gimmick"

A 2-ounce gulp of the popular liquid supplement 5-Hour Energy contains an astounding 8,333% of the recommended dietary allowance of vitamin B-12 and 2,000% of the RDA for vitamin B-6.


"for typical consumers of energy supplements or drinks, B vitamins are nothing more than a "gimmick -Victoria Drake, a researcher with the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University in Corvallis latimes.com

Ryan Hall is Ready For Boston

Oh yeah, I feel night and day different. Just to give you an idea. I am doing eight-mile tempo runs on the same course as before Beijing but running 3:00 faster...three times three is nine, nine minus 2:12 is...well you get the picture...all I am saying is that my fitness is in a totally different place. I remember doing runs before Beijing and feeling like I was trying so hard but my body was just plateaued. Looking back on it, I think I never let my body totally recover from London so I never made the physical gains that I needed to. I am just excited to race again, which is even more important than the workouts. Before Beijing I was concerned but trying to stay optimistic and hoping for a miracle (what else could I do). I am proud of what happened in Beijing because I did the best with what I had even though I wasn't my usual Ryan. In Boston, I will be fully Ryan -letsrun.com

MY COMMENT: Ryn Hall is obviously very fit for Boston- 3 minute improvement over 8 miles is astronomical for a guy at that level. It's shaping up to be a very interesting Boston- hope the weather cooperates and DO NOT GET SICK!

Carbohydrate Mouthwash Improves Endurance Performance

Supplementary carbohydrate does not have to be swallowed or infused in order to exert an ergogenic effect. A remarkable new UK study has found that a carbohydrate mouthwash, rinsed around the mouth at regular intervals during a one-hour cycling time trial, led to a significant improvement in power output and performance time. Peak Performance Online

MY COMMENT: Interesting! Since becoming aware of this small study, I make it a point to carry a few mints or other pieces of candy to suck on during marathons. I have no idea if it works. If you are getting plenty of carbohydrate along the way and come across another rest stop, you can always swish around one of the sports drinks around inside your mouth and spit it out.

Marathon Training Update- Thurs Apr 9

2 mile jog with Sumo, then 6 miles- 3 out and back, both legs in the 20:30s. I definitely felt yesterdays workout in my quads and had to work pretty hard to maintain pace. I needed another day of rest here, however that I am saving that for Friday, the day before another long run. Total = 8 miles.

Prolytes

Another electolyte product, Prolytes "is a perfectly balanced, all natural, pure electrolyte concentrate that contains the most powerful blend of potassium, sodium, magnesium, chloride and sulfate. Prolytes can be added to whatever you want, whenever you need it."

Read the research cited by this company. Everybody knows the body needs electolytes to function normally, but I still do not see anything that supports it's use to enhance endurance performance. note: The key endorser on their site, Dane Rauchenbenberg, is a lawyer who happens to run. You be the judge.

Marathon Training Update-Apr 8

Wed- 4 mile jog with Sumo, then 10 x 400 (approx) on the trail with a 60 second recovery. .5 mile cool-down. This was a good workout for me- faster leg turnover, faster running speed, and deeper oxygen debt than the 800s. The theory is that a few of these workouts will improve my 800s, and eventually my ability to maintain a slightly faster marathon pace. 7 miles

Enlyten Sports Strips

Enlyten is a product that delivers electrolytes through strips placed on the tongue. Does is work? I guess somebody needs to produce some research to convince me that electrolyte replacement during exercise enhances performance. I have my doubts.

Marathon Training Update April 5-7

Apr 7 Tues: - 1 mile jog with Sumo, then 12 mile run easy to moderate. 13 miles

Apr 6 Mon: - 1 mile jog with Sumo, then 8 miles at 7 min pace most of the way. 9 miles

Apr 5 Sun: 20 mile bike

Marathon Training Update- Mar 29-Ap 4

Sun- post long run recovery so no run, 21 mile bike ride
Mon- 8 x 800 in 3 min, 8 miles total
Tues- 11 miles slow
Wed- 9 miles, 7 at a good pace but tired
Thurs- 3 miles easy, tired
Fri- 1 mile in 7 min, 2 x 800 in 3:05, 1 mile in 7 min. No time to run today so I was able to put together a short quality workout and felt pretty good. 3 miles
Sat- 1 mile jog with Sumo, the 20 miles in 2:40. Felt ok- could have gone 26 today.

Total miles for the week = 54 miles running, 21 miles biking.

The Winning Mind

From an early age, my coach used very much faster tempo training over shorter distances, building up resistance to the type of fatigue generated in race conditions. Nevertheless, because of the times I was achieving, the general expectation among other parents and coaches was that I must be running 60-100 miles per week. I remember standing by the side of the athletics track on one occasion when one of the other fathers came up and said: "You're killing him." My dad just looked at the guy coldly and said: "Yes, yes, I'm killing him – right the way to the top."
Telegraph.co.uk

- exerpt from a new book by Sebastian Coe, winner of 4 Olympic medals and multiple world record holder. Coe's book, called The Winning Mind, is dedicated to his coach who recently passed away, and also happened to be his father.

Exercises To Alleviate IT Ban Syndrome

In a study published in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine (July 2000), Dr. Michael Fredericson, a physical medicine MD at Stanford University, compared 24 runners with ITB syndrome with 30 healthy runners and found the injured runners to have statistically significantly weaker hip abductors (mainly gluteus medius and minimus) than the non-injured runner -runningtimes.com

Check out the links here for a demo on how to strengthen your gluteus medius muscle. A weak one places additional stress on your IT Band.

Exercise to Strengthen a Weak Gluteus Medius

Part II

Marathon Training Update- April 2

3 mile jog with Sumo and I called it quits. Feeling very lethargic and in need of rest. Tomorrow (Fri) I won't have time to do much either so I am planning a big run on Sat. Sometimes you have to adjust your training on the fly. I should have biked today but I didn't feel like dealing with the strong winds.

A Must Read -Especially If You Are Running Boston

Boston is a downhill course!

...that a series of eccentric strength exercises done two weeks before a downhill run reduced both DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) and the amount of strength loss. The researchers believe that the prior training does two things to help your muscles adapt to the stress of downhill running. It builds more sarcomeres which build a longer, stronger muscle. The prior training also teaches your neuromuscular system to dole out the force more equally among your muscle fibers reducing the chances of damage to one motor unit. -runningtheplanet.com

It's not too late to make a huge difference- if your legs are not prepared for the downhills I guarantee you will be very sore after this one. According to this article just one or two hard eccentric workouts will help.

The Elger Archives- Al's Run 1993

Al's Run in Milwaukee used to be a quality race- 20,000 or so with many of the states top runners. In 1993, I got 3rd in the 40-44 age group with a 26:08. 30th overall.

Marthon Training Update- Apr 1

1 mile jog with Sumo, then 8 miles in 57 min. Legs were flat, however I wanted to get this one in- running tired at close to anaerobic threshold. Total=9 miles

Caffeine and Performance

Nice article here from the NY Times.

Exercise physiologists have studied caffeine’s effects in nearly every iteration: Does it help sprinters? Marathon runners? Cyclists? Rowers? Swimmers? Athletes whose sports involve stopping and starting like tennis players? The answers are yes and yes and yes and yes. -nytimes

Marathon Legends- Derek Clayton

"Through miles and miles of training, I honed my leg action to such a degree that I barely lifted my leg off the ground." - Derek Clayton

Derek Clayton of Australia became the first marathoner to break the 2 h 10 min barrier when he ran 2:09:36 in 1967. He was also first to break 2 hr 09 min clocking 2:08:33 in Antwerp, a world record that went unchallenged for 12 years. Known for high intensity, high mileage training, the oft injured Clayton underwent 7 different surgeries during his 12 year running career.

Here is a second hand look at his training program:

This is what Noakes has as a typical Clayton training week. From memory it's fairly similar to what Clayton listed in his book.

Day Morning Afternoon
Monday 8-11km easy 27km fast
Tuesday 8-11km easy 19km medium
Wednesday 8-11km easy 22km fast hills
Thursday 8-11km easy 22km fast hills
Friday 8-11km easy 16km easy
Saturday 7km easy 40km in 2.20
Sunday 27-32km hills 16km medium

:) Total around 240-250km/week. (that's 150-156 miles)

At 6'2", Derek Clayton was hardly a prototype marathoner- he just trained very very hard.


coolrunning.com

time-to-run

wikipedia

Marathon Training Update-Mar 31

1 mile jog with Sumo, then 10 miles - very slow the first 5, then I picked it up. Still overall legs got tired. It would be nice to fit in more of these runs in the 90 minute range, but do I sacrifice a quality 8 mile in 60 minutes to do so?