TIART -- Ode to My Running Shoes

I'm running the Ashland (VA) 10K Railroad Run this weekend. Should be fun -- relatively flat course, limited to 750 runners/walkers, and I'm running with my pastor who wants to break 50:00 and set a PR. It's called the Railroad Run because most of the race is run next to the tracks that run through town -- last year at least 2 trains went through while we were running.

Read the longer post/review here. The Runners Lounge's Take It and Run Thursday topic is our running shoes -- why do we like them, describing them using the same number of words as the dollars we used to buy them -- that gives me 71.95 words, plus shipping.

Etonic Jepara SC -- they were relatively inexpensive online; they have great cushioning in both the heel and the forefoot; unlike every other brand I've tried (Brooks and New Balance), I can get 700 miles out of a single pair; and they fit, even my wide feet.

The updated version for 2008, Jepara 2 SC, are not as well cushioned and they are narrower in the toe box. Bring back the old ones!

Seventy-two words.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

TIART -- Only in Running ...

Runner's Lounge's every-Thursday readers' forum, Take It and Run Thursday, is about things that are acceptable in the sport of running that might not be acceptable in normal life -- interesting and peculiar things that running brings into one's life. I'm looking forward to checking out all the entries but thought I'd add mine first so I can't be accused of plagerism. I call mine acceptable unacceptables:

Acceptable unacceptable #1: Going out in public with bed head. Under no other circumstances, except an emergency, would I consider going out in public without taking a shower. But I'll almost always head out to run without that morning ritual and, depending on the weather, might not even wear a hat. Of course, at 5:15 AM, it's pretty hard for anyone to see anyway.

Acceptable unacceptable #2: (OK this one may gross out some of you, but, well, today's TIART is all about lowered standards when running.) Wiping your nose on your bare hands, gloves, or shirt tail/sleeve. It's gotta be done.

Acceptable unacceptable #3: Amy suggested you easily pay $100+ for a pair of shoes you may wear a few months as an example. I haven't, yet, paid $100+ for a pair of running shoes but do pay $60-$90 for a pair of shoes that I'll wear 5-7 months. But, I also put 500-700 miles on each pair of shoes -- something I certainly do not do with most of my street shoes. I suspect I actually get more miles per $ out of my running shoes.

Acceptable unacceptable #4: Going outside in nasty weather -- 5°F, snow and ice, rain. Not only going outside and running but enjoying doing so.

Acceptable unacceptable #5: Closely kin to #4, wearing shorts in 30° weather.

Acceptable unacceptable #6: Paying for the privilege of exerting oneself to the point of exhaustion -- race fees.

Ain't running fun?

Run well, y'all -- and be a little crazy,
Bob

TIART -- 5K/10K

Runner's Lounge sponsors a Take It and Run Thursday each week, inviting lounge participants to contribute by posting on their own blog and posting a link on the Runner's Lounge site. This week's topic is 5K and 10K races.

When I started running again 5 1/2 years ago, my goal was to lose weight and get in shape -- I wanted to be more healthy. I wasn't particularly interested in racing except for one race. I had seen a blurb somewhere about a Candlelight 5K run in Greenville, SC. I grew up in Traveler's Rest, just north of Greenville and my parents now live in Greenville. The run was originally scheduled for early March and start time was 9 pm. The original course wound through the old, historic section of Greenville, through Cleveland Park, and was marked by candles in bags along the course. All in all, there was a lot of appeal for this particular race both in its uniqueness and its nostalgia. So, I determined that if I were ever in the US when this race was run, I would visit my parents and participate.

When we took a temporary position in Richmond, VA in May 2005, I knew my chance had come. So, I signed up for the 2006 race. When I signed up, there were only about 4 weeks remaining until the race and I had done nothing toward getting ready. I was participating in the Runner's World Beginning Runners' forum at the time and got some prep advice from others. They said the best thing I could do was to run 5 x 1km repeats at goal race pace. I made a beginner's mistake and set my goal for too quick a pace and couldn't maintain that pace for 5-1km intervals. Fortunately, the race was rescheduled for early June and I had some more time to prepare. Though I didn't hit my "Wow!" goal, I was pleased with my time (22:46), coming in 76th overall and 5th in my age group.

Since that race, I've run in two 10K races and three half marathons. All of those were chosen because of something unique about them. Whatever success I've had in those subsequent races came as a result of what I learned in my novice preparation for that first 5K race -- the value of speedwork. As I've prepared for each 10K and half marathon, I've continued to do track work (either 800m or 1600m repeats) and longer tempo runs. Besides training my body and mind to run faster, I think one of the big benefits of speedwork is that it breaks the sameness of normal training runs that tend, at least for me, to be at a steady pace -- speedwork provides some needed variety. So, my advice to new runners who are getting ready for a 5K or 10K is to do some kind of speedwork during each week leading up to a race (except for a lower mileage rest week every 3-4 weeks).

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Soreness (T.I.A.R.T.)

The Runners' Lounge sponsors a Take It and Run Thursday each week. Today's topic is not really a topic. Runners are submitting questions for the community to answer. Great idea and probably a thread that could keep us going for a long time. So, let me toss out mine -- similar to Tom's, maybe.

Why, after almost 5 solid years of running, do my legs still get so sore when I run 8 or more miles? Specifically, I think it's my hip adductors that get so sore. I've worked up to a run of 10-14 miles and have just hit that in the last 6-8 months. I don't run that long every week but only 2 out of 3 weeks or so. But those muscles still get really sore. Do I need to do some specific hip adductor strengthening exercises? Or, is it just normal to be sore after that many miles?

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Hydration [T.I.A.R.T.]

Today is another http://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifTake It And Run Thursday at Runners' Lounge. The subject is hydration. I wasn't going to write anything until I read Lance Breger's lance: the blog! post for 29 March, Don't Be That Guy. While the post is pretty humourous, it was his comment about hydration being unique for each individual at the end and his link to a hydration calculator that caught my attention. It looked like a worthy addition to today's T.I.A.R.T.

I'm no expert on hydration and have some questions about the accuracy of the amount of water the calculator gives. However, I do think it points out some really good things to remember when determining how much one needs to drink in a given day.

I run in the early morning (run at 5:30 or so; wake up around 6:30). So, I get up, stumble down the steps, get rid of the previous evening's accumulated hydration, drink about 10 oz of refrigerated water, and head out the door for roughly an hour of running. I work on replacing lost fluids through the morning. For the last 2-3 weeks, I've added 2-3 pieces of fruit to my normal breakfast of a whole wheat bagel and neufchatel cheese and the fruit seems to really help with rehydration.

Another thing I've discovered is that a lack of decent hydration on one day really messes up my run the next morning. Looking forward to reading the other posts today.

Run well and hydrated, y'all,
Bob