McNaughton Fall Trail Run

Went today with Joe Timmsen, Danelle Much and Craig Phillips to Pekin for a little 30 mile 'frolic in the forest.'  The run is on the same course as the spring McNaughton events.  Sloppy mud from the week's rain.  The 10 mile loop had 2 major creeks to be crossed, with water up to mid thigh.  Water appeared to be rising as the day went by, probably delayed peak from the drainage basin (the engineer had to make that small observation.)

A well run event, with plenty of food and drink.  Course conditions sloppy, gumbo clay to sandy silt, fall leaves littered the trail leading to some treacherous footing. Wet leaves on wood bridge deck with no railing lead me to do a graceful recovery dance, teetering on the edge of mucky oblivion.  Danelle took a fall, but recovered with the grace of a ballerina.  Craig met ultra distance for the first time. Joe brought home a 6 hr performance on a difficult course. Ran across Jeremy Dopler who I haven't run with since North Face 08.  Steve Hamman was also on the course, after doing a midnight marathon night before on Peoria.  Crazy, I tell you.

My thanks to Joe and Danelle for letting me know about this. Enjoyed the experience of an off pavement run, with no particular goal in mind beyond finish and good friends and conversation. After the grind of this year's races, I am ready for some off pavement low pressure base and recovery.

-Larry


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

The Human Body Is Built for Distance

The next time somebody asks if the body is built for distance running or sitting on the couch of doom eating cheezy poofs, send em here.  
...And the gluteus maximus, the largest muscle in the human body, is primarily engaged only during running. “Your butt is a running muscle; you barely use it when you walk,” Dr. Lieberman said. “There are so many features in our bodies from our heads to our toes that make us good at running.”

So, finally the answer to why our butts are so big...

-Larry

Improve Your Stride Without Trying

If this gets cross posted to Facebook, then success. All the site changes, I wonder. Increase your stride with hill repeats rather than Chi Running or Pose Running deliberate techniques. "Without Trying." Sorry, never did anything "without trying." From Active.com.

 Branded running techniques such as Chi Running and the Pose method have become quite popular. But are they effective? Many runners who have read the books, watched the DVD's and/or attended the clinics say they are, and no doubt they do yield results for some runners. But do they represent the best way to increase stride power and efficiency and to reduce the stride anomalies that cause injuries in most runners?
There is no scientific proof that this is the case. In fact, quite the opposite. For example, a 2005 study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences reported that the running economy of 16 high-level triathletes was actually reduced (meaning the athletes became less efficient) after 12 weeks of practicing the Pose running method.

half marathon bus trip April 2010? please vote.

I've been tossing about the idea of a half marathon bus trip from Quad Cities to Springfield, IL Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon the first Saturday of April, 2010.  I ran this with a few friends in April 2008.  It's a good course, with about a thousand runners.  Flat, on city streets through older neighborhoods with a couple miles of rolling hills at the end. Well supported event.

So early, you say.  Yes - early enough it doesn't conflict with most late April/Early May Marathons (two weeks before Boston.) Leave on Friday night, come back Saturday pm.  One night in hotel.  It is Easter weekend, which influenced some for IL marathon last year.

To gauge interest, I put up a poll at right.  Please take a moment to vote.

-Larry

Fall Run and Breakfast - Nov. 8, 2009

We are doing it again this year.  Sunday Nov. 8, 2009 at 8 am. Breakfast, four or eight mile run (very optional.)  Games and fun for the kids.  Bring the family, bring spouses (running or non-running!), bring your bike if it's warm.  Bring some food to share if you like. No conflicts with Governor's this year.  Hopeful of good weather.  Directions and invite pdf here.  Straight down US 67 south of Milan, turn left on County Road NN/176th Ave, first house on the left.

Send along your pictures to lsandhaas@hotmail.com if you want to share.  I will be making a picture DVD again this year and showing our highlights.

-Larry and Suzanne

Plodders Have a Place, but Is It in a Marathon?

The author puts up a 4:32 finish, implying slow? ...from NY Times during build to NYC Marathon.

Many of those slower runners, claiming that late is better than never, receive a finisher’s medal just like every other participant. Having traversed the same route as the fleeter-footed runners — perhaps in twice the amount of time — they get to call themselves marathoners. And it’s driving some hard-core runners crazy....

Runners in the Honolulu Marathon have no limits. Race rules state, “All runners will be permitted to finish, regardless of their time.”
Last year, 44 percent of the field for that event finished in more than six hours — with some marathoners stopping for lunch along the course.

leadville 100 bike race movie

Reminder - this Thursday.

Got this from event organizers.  Not the run course, but it is the bike race that Lance Armstrong won the week before the trail run.  In movie theaters Oct 22 one night only 7 pm show. Like what was done for the marathon movie last year.  At 53rd St theater in Davenport.  I am going to go, with some friends. 

Movie details here.

-Larry

3 runners die in Detroit marathon

Story from the Detroit Free Press.  Odd they were all half marathoners, wide ages.
Meanwhile, in other news not headline worthy-
One or two people per day on average murdered in Detroit.
Roughly one hundred people die each day from the regular old seasonal flu nationwide.
And from car crashes.

Man bites dog - news.  Dog bites man - not news.
Corollary  - we worry far too much about things that don't matter, and far too little about things that do.
Your chances of dying in a plane crash are less than dying by asteroid impact - by some calcs.

Sleep well....
-Larry

melanzana clothing

A small business in Leadville, makers of outdoor fitness clothing.  I bought a few things. They sew the
product in town, from US made fabric.  The loose tights are "recommended." Polar fleece material.  Tested good to 9000 ft in subfreezing 20 mph wind last week. Melanzana link here. Name is Italian for "eggplant"?!

Phys Ed: Does Exercise Boost Immunity?

Glad I am not a rodent... link here...

In the second experiment, published in the same journal, scientists from the University of Illinois and other schools first infected laboratory mice with flu. One group then rested; a second group ran for a leisurely 20 or 30 minutes, an easy jog for a mouse; the third group ran for a taxing two and a half hours. Each group repeated this routine for three days, until they began to show flu symptoms. The flu bug used in this experiment is devastating to rodents, and more than half of the sedentary mice died. But only 12 percent of the gently jogging mice passed away. Meanwhile, an eye-popping 70 percent of the mice in the group that had run for hours died, and even those that survived were more debilitated and sick than the control group.

ultrarunning october 2009

Links to articles about Leadville and Howl at the Moon from October 2009 edition of Ultrarunning Magazine.  All finishers with times are are listed.  Enjoy your 15 minutes of fame.


-Larry

Whitefish, MT

Left the hotel in the dark, looking to catch the rising sun up on the mountain. Snow on the trail at about a thousand feet above the trail head, accumulating to 6 in at the summit.  Snowfall Tuesday night, wed, so my tracks were the first.  Except for the mule deer. And the turkey, and the rabbit.  Who looked like he was in a hurry. Big kitty was after Mr. Bunny. Runner did not follow either down that path.

10 miles in 2 hrs and change for 3000 some ft of climb.. I could get used to mountain running.  For now it's a once in a while treat.  Like chocolate.  My women friends say chocolate is better, but I vote for mountains...
-Larry

two legs good, more legs better

What's on my music player? Podcasts sometimes. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Talks. Heard this lady a while back- Aimee Mullins.  Among the first runners on carbon fiber legs.  She has 12 pairs of artifical legs, with various styles and heights. Actor, motivational speaker. Double amputee sprinter record holder. Article here. Video here and here. "How my legs give me superpowers."  Give her a listen. Also free on iTunes.

There will be a day when high tech leg prosthetics are banned as illegal performance enhancers.... 

-Larry

Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon October 4, 2009

 I got a book in the mail this past week, which had an appealing title "How to Run a Person Record."  I should read the descriptions and the reviews a bit better before I hit the button to make the $25 Amazon free shipping.

I got to the part where it said  "put 5-8 minutes in the bank at the half way point, because almost all recreational runners fade in the last miles of the marathon" and I tossed the book aside in anger.  This is not what I believe; positive splits and death march fade at the end is not how it must be!  I refuse to believe that.

Back in January, it seemed like a good idea to put the heavy cross training and weight training ideas to the test.  Loosely based on the "Run Less Run Faster" philosophy, leaning heavily on the multi-sport community experience, it was not a scientific experiment -no double blind. Yet, of the three first time marathoner', not one of them got out of the mid 30some mile range of run only.  Heavy cross training 2-4 days per week - deep water running, outdoor cycling, spinning, swimming, weights.  "I would get bored just running" was a comment I heard more than once.

The results- all three first time marathoner's made their goal of four hours, with even or negative splits.  I was hard pressed to stay with Candice in the last 7-8 miles.  My legs are pretty well shot and past peak for the season, but she kept getting faster, and faster- picking up 4 minutes negative split over the halfway point.
Craig and Danelle came across the line running fast and strong, whooping and hollering. 'Woohoo..'

I can't express hard these runners worked, and how impressed I am with their "grit, guts and determination" to borrow a phrase.  Their personal efforts were awesome.  Yet, I can't help but think about the training aspect, and about looking back at how long it took me personally  to have a 'good race' at marathon distance using a run only approach.

To have all three come across the line strong, make their goals and be very happy about it, talking about future plans, seems a helluva lot better than "put some time in the bank because you will inevitably fade."

Well done Craig, Candice and Danelle.  You are my heroes this week.

-Larry

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Fall Run and Breakfast - Nov. 8, 2009

We are doing it again this year.  Sunday Nov. 8, 2009 at 8 am. Breakfast, four or eight mile run (very optional.)  Games and fun for the kids.  Bring the family, bring spouses (running or non-running!), bring your bike if it's warm.  Bring some food to share if you like. No conflicts with Governor's this year.  Hopeful of good weather.  Directions and invite pdf here.  Straight down US 67 south of Milan, turn left on County Road NN/176th Ave, first house on the left.

Send along your pictures to lsandhaas@hotmail.com if you want to share.  I will be making a picture DVD again this year and showing our highlights.

-Larry and Suzanne