Patrick Makau- New Marathon World Record!

“This has been the greatest day of my running life,” Makau said. “When I woke up, my body didn’t feel very good. As the race went on, I felt better.” At 15.5 miles, he said: “I felt I could break the world record. It’s a great thing to beat Haile, one of my heroes.” -NY Times

Wikipedia has a nice summary of Makau's running career, which includes a 2:04:48 at Rotterdam in 2010, a sub 59 min half marathon and 3rd at London last year.

Training Update Sept 18-24

Sun: 19 miles in more than 2.5 hours with stops- sick and coughing
Mon: 5 miles easy recovery
Tues: 3 miles in 18:54 on turf
Wed: 12 miles in 92 min easy
Thurs: 7 miles with 5 in 34:34: 8 miles on the bike
Fri: 7 miles with 5 in 32:12
Sat: 2 mile jog

55 miles total for the week

Can't believe that I got this many in while sick the entire week. Chronic cough still with me. Some good tempo work but I am just not up for intervals.

Long Run: 18 Miles in 2 hr 32

No intention of running hard on this one- saw some interesting new terrain. Maybe 75% of this run off road.

Counting the 1.5 miles with the dog before, just under a 20 mile day.

Air Force Marathon Winner Wears Minimalist Shoes

Dr. Mark Cucuzzella normally runs barefooted when he trains and raced in the Air Force Marathon wearing slipper-like Newton MV2 Zero Drop shoes, which have flat heels and provide just a very thin layer of support.
-daytondailynews.com

MY COMMENT: Don't try it without lots of training in those!

Rupp American Record for 10,000 Meters: Bekele Comback!

Great race!

Workout Summary Sept 11-17

Sun: 2 mile warm-up, then 3 x 3 miles in 20:15, 20:05, and 19:24 (barefoot). 3 min rest. All run on turf, last one barefoot. 2 mile cool-down. 13 miles total- good workout

Mon: 6 mile jog, 7 mile bike with some good effort uphill repeats

Tues: 12 x 400 meters on the turf in 90-91. last 6 barefoot. < 60 sec recovery. Not trying for speed here- not feeling well and did that bike workout last night. 5 miles total with warmup and cooldown. PM bike 5 miles total and jog 2 miles with the kids. 7 miles total run for the day.

Wed: 7 miles in 50 minutes

Thurs: 12 miles in just under 8 min pace

Fri: 5 miles, all but .25 under 7 min pace

Sat: no run- sick with a hacking cough

50 miles run for the week. Ok I had some food poisoning going on for nearly a week, followed by a hacking cough that I still can't shake. Enough already.

I did squeeze in a short triathlon last Sat- still not feeling well but did ok considering my lack of swim bike training. I did the 400 meter swim in approx. 8:20s and was through transition and on the bike in 10 flat. I have not pushed the bike in a while but averaged slightly over 19 mph, then ran the 3 mile in 18:48 for 8th place, finishing in 1 hr 10:56. Last year I had a much better bike (1 hr 08 min finish) and wasn't sick.

Galen Rupp- 26:48!

25-year-old Galen Rupp shattered the American record for 10,000 meters by running 26:48.00 on Friday night in Brussels, eclipsing the 26:59.60 that Chris Solinsky set last year on May 1st. In getting the AR, Rupp finished third in the race, which was won by Kenenisa Bekele in a 2011 world-leading time of 26:43.16. -letsrun.com.

Training partner and 5K world champ Mo Farah has been saying all along Rupp is in this kind of shape (Farah ran 26:46 in June at the Prefontaine classic). Video highlight here, although I can't watch it in Korea- bummer!

Morton's Toe and What To Do About It

Is your second toe longer than your big one?

I haven't thought about Morton's Toe for years until I stumbled onto this. According to Dr. Burton Schuler in his book titled Why You Really Hurt: It All Starts in the Foot, Mortons Toe can cause the following problems; back pain, hip pain, knee pain, leg pain, plantar fasciitis, calf pain, fibromyalgia, arthritis, corns and calluses, bunions, fallen arches, ankle pain, heel pain, arch pain, weak ankles, hammer toes, tired feet (all over), neuromas, burning feet, shooting pains in the toes, stress and march fractures, night cramps (restless leg syndrome), temporomandibular joint pain (TMJ), diabetic foot ulcers."

The good news is Schuler claims he helps patients treat these conditions by simply taping a pad under the bone just under your big toe. Check out his website for additional information on common foot ailments.

It's worth a try, but I am also very intrigued by what other gems of information you might discover in this book.

Frank Shorter's Favorite Interval Workouts

According to Olympic Gold, A Runner's Life and Times by Frank Shorter, speedwork or interval training was one secret to his success.

His two favorites sessions seem to be 4 x 3/4 mile with a relatively long 660 yard recovery jog (at sea level he shortened the recovery to 1/4 mile) on Tuesdays, and 10 x 400 on Thursdays with a 220-yard jog for recovery.

You would think a marathoner would include more longer, grinding intervals like the Yasso 800s, but apparently he thrived on the high intensity work. Remember, Shorter was fast enough to place 5th in the 10,000 meters just days prior to winning the marathon in 1972 in Munich and more than once gave Prefontaine all he could handle at shorter distances.

Shorter ran his intervals hard from the first repeat; there was no easing into a hard session, or saving himself for the last 400. His recovery between each repeat was short and quick. Shorter would finish his interval sessions exhausted, feeling like he could not do another repeat. -from an earlier post on Shorter and intervals here

Crazy Long Interval Workouts

I'm staying at Camp Carroll , a small Army post near Daegu. It's hot, humid, and I don't know the area. How do I get in some quality workouts, including a desparately needed long run?

Carroll happens to have a narrow track circling the athletic field, that according to my Garmin, measures 20 meters or so longer than 400 meters.

Last week I went a little crazy and did 20 x 400 in 90-91 sec with 30 sec rest (3 min break after 10). I ran the last 6 barefoot on the turf. The very next day I warmed up and strangely felt very good. Back at the track I did 5 x 1 mile in 6:13, 6:08, 6:07, 6:07, with number 5 barefoot in 6:03 on the turf, each followed by 2 min rest.

I topped both workouts yesterday, running 9 x 2 miles in a total running time of 2:10(I stopped the watch during the rest periods), or 7:13 per mile, all on turf with the last one barefoot. After a very slow first 2, I knocked off the next 5-6 under 7 min pace, but unfortunatly was not looking at anything but overall average pace. While all long runs are hard, this 18 miles felt relatively easy- probably due to a combination of the 2 min breaks I took between each, plenty of water taken each time, and the softer surface. Even more amazing is this morning 6 miles at 7:30 pace felt very easy!

I've been struggling with long runs up to 15 miles, so am intrigued by building on this workout, either by running 3 mile reps, shortening the break to 1 minute, or keeping everything the same to work on a faster average pace.

While running in circles for 2 hours may seem mentally challenging, I found it easy knowing I had a break coming every 14-15 minutes. I'll admit, in all my years of running, I've never done anything like it.

Weekly Training Update Aug 28

Sun: 14 miles, 1:33 run time
Mon: 7 miles bike, pm 12 x 50 meter swim
Tues: 20 x 400 m in 90-91 with 30 sec rest on turf, 3 min break in the middle. Last 6 reps barefoot 7 miles total. Felt good. pm 5 mile spin bike
Wed: 5 x 1 mile in 6:13, 6:08, 6:07, 6:07, last one 6:03 on turf. 2 min recovery. Rarely do I consider back to back interval workouts like this. Felt great though. 700 meter swimming and 9 miles on the spin bike
Thurs: 5 mile easy run, pm 6 mile bike
Fri: 9.5 mile run, pm 1.5 mile run
Sat: 4 mile run

48 miles total run, one good medium long run, and 2 great long interval workouts

Diet of an Olympic Marathon Champion

" ..I don't eat a lot, I don't drink a lot, and I don't eat much junk food. I'm conservative when it comes to nutrition. I don't subscribe to any exotic theories; I don't even eat that much when it comes to carbohydrates. I try to maintain a well-balanced diet I enjoy an occasional snack and a beer. That's it. "



-quote from Olympic Gold- A Runner's Life and Times by Frank Shorter with Marc Bloom.

I've finally got my hands on a copy of this book I've been wanting to read for years. Published in 1984, Frank Shorter provides insight into his entire running career, leaving us with a final attempt to qualify in the 10,000 in Los Angeles. I'm somewhat disappointed that he did not go into more detail on workouts, tapering, and more juicy stories (I've heard rumors or read somewhere that Shorter drank a liter of beer the night before his Olympic victory- no confirmation in this book).

I saw Shorter a few years ago in Boulder when I competed in the US Nationals Cross Country championships in the masters race. Sadly, he looked very stiff, but according to this article he still gets in an hour a day.