Patty Peoples wins 2012 Sprint Duathlon Championship (Dave Sanders, USAT)

“I knew a few people would take it out hard,” said Parish, who ran at Duke University in college. “I just wanted to relax through the first run, and catch everybody on the bike and see if I could close.” Parish also claimed the 25-29 age group title and posted a 49:03 bike split, which was the fastest bike split of the day in the standard-distance event.

Defending champion Kattouf (Greenville, S.C.) bested the women’s field by nearly three minutes, taking the tape with a time of 1:37:00. She led the women’s field after the first run, with a 5k split of 19:02.

“Today I left it all out on the course,” Kattouf said. “I was really pleased with how the race went down. I knew going into transition I had a couple minutes lead, and then I cruised on the run.” In addition to her 2011 national title, Kattouf won a world title and plans to defend later this year in Nancy, France.

Kirsten Chapman (Edmond, Okla.) claimed the 45-49 age group title en route to an overall second-place finish with a time of 1:39:40, and Ellen Hart (Denver, Colo.) was third overall in 1:40:13, also winning the 50-54 age group.

In the sprint-distance national championship event, McNeil (Los Altos, Calif.), was nearly 30 seconds behind leader Dean Maruna (Erie, Colo.) after the first run, but recorded a monster bike split of 26:07 to take the lead. He went on to win the overall sprint-distance national title in 45:05 over the 2.5k run, 17k bike, 2.5 run course.

“The sprint is just a different experience,” said McNeil, who at one time was a professional cyclist. “You’ve got to go hard the whole way.” McNeil also claimed the male masters title and won the 40-44 age group. Maruna posted the two fastest run splits of the day – 7:48 on the first 2.5k and 9:21 on the second – to finish second overall and win the 50-54 age group with a time of 47:02. Sixteen-year-old Timothy Winslow (Elk Grove, Calif.) finished in 47:35 to take third, as well as the title in the Under-19 category.

Peoples (Redlands, Calif.) also took over the lead on the bike leg to finish as the women’s overall sprint-distance winner with a time of 51:46.

“I knew it was going to be competitive because I saw some world champions in there, some athletes of the year – top competitors in the sprint competition,” Peoples said. “I was looking forward to it, because I knew I was going to be challenged, and I was going to be pushed.”

A 29:32 bike split propelled Peoples to first place overall and in the 55-59 age group. 50-54 winner Valerie Eipper (Longmont, Colo.) finished second in 53:23, and Kayla Castro (Tucson, Ariz.) of the 25-29 age group was third in 53:54.

In the Paraduathlon National Championship, five champions were crowned in what was the largest paraduathlon field in this event so far. David Kyle (Athens, Ala.) defended his 2011 title in the TRI-3 division, while Grant Berthiaume (TRI-1, Tucson, Ariz.), Robin Caruso (TRI-4, Ridgefield, Conn.), Joel Rosinbum (TRI-4, Portland, Ore.) and Amy Dodson (TRI-5, Sahuarita, Ariz.) each won their respective categories.

A sprint open divison was also contested, and Tucson locals Juan Casanova and Nathalie Adams were victorious. In all, nearly 600 athletes representing 45 states participated in Saturday’s Duathlon National Championship.

Duathlon Nationals was the sole qualifying event for the 2012 Standard-Distance ITU Duathlon World Championships in Nancy, France, on Sept. 22-23. The top 18 finishers in each age group, rolling down to 25th place, qualify for Team USA. Paraduathletes finishing the race in 2 hours or less qualify for 2012 ITU Paraduathlon World Championships. Athletes competing in the sprint-distance Duathlon National Championship or the sprint open wave are not eligible to qualify for Team USA or the ITU World Championships.

Team USA is comprised of the nation’s top multisport athletes who represent the U.S. at each ITU World Championships event. Visit usatriathlon.org for more on Team USA.

2012 USA Triathlon Duathlon National Championship – Click here for complete results

Standard-Distance National Champions
5k run, 35k bike, 5k run
Female Overall: Gail Kattouf (Greenville, S.C.), 1:37:00
Male Overall Winner: Lionel Sanders (Canada), 1:22:54
Male Overall National Champion: Patrick Parish (Bloomington, Minn.), 1:23:06
Female Masters: Kirsten Chapman (Edmond, Okla.), 1:39:40
Male Masters: Dave Slavinski (Point Pleasant, N.J.), 1:25:50
Female Grand Masters: Bridget Dawson (Portland, Ore.), 1:46:28
Male Grand Masters: Walt Rider (Germantown, Tenn.), 1:37:43
M18-19: Jimmy Song (Mesa, Ariz.), 1:37:46
F20-24: Zara Guinard-Bachman (Tucson, Ariz.), 1:44:51
M20-24: Brian MacArthur (Tucson, Ariz.), 1:28:41
F25-29: Corrie Kristick (Houston, Texas), 1:43:06
M25-29: Patrick Parish (Bloomington, Minn.), 1:23:06
F30-34: Nike Matanza (San Diego, Calif.), 1:42:57
M30-34: Michael Boehmer (Waukesha, Wis.), 1:26:54
F35-39: Gail Kattouf (Greenville, S.C.), 1:37:00
M35-39: Matthew Payne (Columbia Heights, Minn.), 1:25:42
F40-44: Nicole Sin Quee (New York, N.Y.), 1:43:47
M40-44: Dave Slavinski (Point Pleasant, N.J.), 1:25:50
F45-49: Kirsten Chapman (Edmond, Okla.), 1:39:40
M45-49: Shane Thread (Evansville, Ind.), 1:29:43
F50-54: Ellen Hart (Denver, Colo.), 1:40:13
M50-54: Bruce Balch (Las Vegas, Nev.), 1:31:51
F55-59: Bridget Dawson (Portland, Ore.), 1:46:28
M55-59: Scott Hajicek (Lakewood, Colo.), 1:35:00
F60-64: Lynnda Best-Wiss (Boulder, Colo.), 1:59:23
M60-64: Walt Rider (Germantown, Tenn.), 1:37:43
F65-69: Karin Bivens (Tucson, Ariz.), 2:17:13
M65-69: Benjamin Ewers (North Oaks, Minn.), 1:44:20
F70-74: Corinna Goodman (Oro Valley, Ariz.), 2:05:34
M70-74: William Logan (Perryville, Mo.), 1:57:04
M75-79: Kenneth Fleischhacker (Littleton, Colo.), 2:07:40
M80-84: Lyle Langlois (Phoenix, Ariz.), 3:08:01
M85-89: Robert Powers (White Bear Lake, Minn.), 3:29:24

Sprint-Distance National Champions
2.5k run, 17k bike, 2.5k run
Female Overall: Patty Peoples (Redlands, Calif.), 51:46
Male Overall: Greg McNeil (Los Altos, Calif.), 45:05
Female Masters: Valerie Eipper (Longmont, Colo.), 53:23
Male Masters: Greg McNeil (Los Altos, Calif.), 45:05
Female Grand Masters: Patty Peoples (Redlands, Calif.), 51:46
Male Grand Masters: Bob Theodore (Woodridge, Ill.), 54:43
F19U: Alexis Butler (Ladera Ranch, Calif.), 1:04:10
M19U: Timothy Winslow (Elk Grove, Calif.), 47:35
F20-24: Rachel Brackett (Flagstaff, Ariz.), 1:01:10
F25-29: Kayla Castro (Tucson, Ariz.), 53:54
M25-29: Caleb Brantley (Tucson, Ariz.), 1:10:46
F30-34: Debra Crowther (Tucson, Ariz.), 58:09
M30-34: Michael Warden (Waukee, Iowa), 48:41
F35-39: Kathy Wilson (Tucson, Ariz.), 54:38
M35-39: Shannon Horn (Post Falls, Idaho), 48:02
F40-44: Anne Ekern (Houston, Texas), 56:37
M40-44: Greg McNeil (Los Altos, Calif.), 45:05
F45-49: Nancy Ellis (Tucson, Ariz.), 1:17:27
M45-49: Keish Doi (Cupertino, Calif.), 48:20
F50-54: Valerie Eipper (Longmont, Colo.), 53:23
M50-54: Dean Maruna (Erie, Colo.), 47:02
F55-59: Patty Peoples (Redlands, Calif.), 51:46
M55-59: Russ Jones (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), 49:53
F60-64: Diane Kerns (Portland, Ore.), 1:06:04
M60-64: Bob Theodore (Woodridge, Ill.), 54:43
F65-69: Carol Moore (Portland, Ore.), 1:16:25
M65-69: Bill Kircher (Newport Coast, Calif.), 57:49
M70-74: Don Ware (Tulsa, Okla.), 1:02:26
M80-84: Edward Maruna (Arvada, Colo.), 1:30:01

Paraduathlon National Champions
M TRI-1: Grant Berthiaume (Tucson, Ariz.), 51:27
M TRI-3: David Kyle (Athens, Ala.), 52:09
F TRI-4: Robin Caruso (Ridgefield, Conn.), 1:02:46
M TRI-4: Joel Rosinbum (Portland, Ore.), 51:32
F TRI-5: Amy Dodson (Sahuarita, Ariz.), 1:04:55

Sprint Open Division
Overall Female: Nathalie Adams (Tucson, Ariz.), 1:12:13
Overall Male: Juan Casanova (Tucson, Ariz.), 1:36:16

Source: USA Triathlon
Running Advice and News
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Preparing to Rock in Madrid

Rock N Roll Madrid drew approximately 19,000 participants across the Marathon and 10K distances with about 12,000 in the marathon and 7,000 in the 10K. Athletes from 78 countries took part in the event.

One notable difference between the Spanish event and many American marathons was a strict six hour time-limit for the marathon. Many races in the United States and Canada offer up to eight hours or more to finish, giving them wider appeal among first-timers and walkers. As Scott Dickey, CEO of Competitor Group told an audience on Saturday evening, “this is a race, not a run.”

Tough but Beautiful
The Rock N Roll Madrid Marathon route was routinely called “tough” by competitors afterward. The course sports nearly 20 kilometers of rolling downhill in the middle and a tough uphill section over its last eight kilometers. As one runner told me after the race, he recalled thinking to himself, “oh yeah, this thing goes up at the end,” when he hit the final long series of hills. Another simply told me it was “a real meat grinder.” A number of runners compared the course to the New York City Marathon, known for its tough bridge ascents and descents.

Passing a Palace

The late start at 9:00AM likely has more to do with the late-night culture of Spain than typical marathon planning which would like to see road re-opened as early as possible. The marathon field didn’t seem to even start arriving until almost 8:00AM, making it seem eerily quiet in the start corrals compared to American races. But the field did show up and got rolling promptly in a mass-start right on-time.

The Sweep Crew

A number of participants complained about a dramatically low number of portable toilets at the start, finish and along the course. Competitor Group told me that they had increased the number of portable toilets, but that their numbers were still much lower than at comparable races in the United States. One participant who had unfortunately not been able to hold his bowels had told me sadly that he “just couldn’t find a place to go.” His accident forced him out of the race at the in the 15th kilometer.

Success in Europe With More to Come
The Rock N Roll Madrid Marathon was proof positive that Competitor Group can partner with top race organizations around the world to bring the now familiar format to other countries. For fans of the format it will mean more destination travel events and opportunities to visit cities around the world in conjunction with their running.

Competitor Group’s Scott Dickey said Saturday that two more European events were in the works, in Oslow, Norway and Nice, France respectively, in addition to four more stops in the United States. Mention of the new Nice event brought cheers from the audience of American and Canadian runners who had traveled to Madrid for the race. For those with a love of travel and running, the horizons look like they will continue to brighten.

Reporting from Madrid, Spain
Coach Joe English, Portland Oregon, USA
Running Advice and News
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Boston Marathon 2012 Television and Internet Broadcast Information
Race date: Monday, April 16th, 2012
Start times (All times US Eastern Time):
– 9:00 a.m. Mobility Impaired Participants Start
– 9:17 a.m. Push-Rim Wheelchair Division Start
– 9:22 a.m. Handcycle Participants Start
– 9:32 a.m. Elite Women’s Start
– 10:00 a.m. Elite Men’s Start & Wave One
– 10:20 a.m Wave Two
– 10:40 a.m. Wave Three

TV Broadcasts:

Local Coverage in the Boston Area
The race will be televised live in its entirety, locally in Boston on WBZ-TV (Channel 4). Please visit www.cbsboston.com, for more information and bonus coverage of the 2011 Boston Marathon.
–8:00-9:00AM Eastern Time — Pre-race Special
–9:00AM-1:30PM Eastern Time — Full Race Coverage

Nationwide Television Coverage
The race will be carried live on the Universal Sports Network. Check your cable listing to see if your cable company offers Universal Sports Network or visit www.iwantuniversalsports.com for more information.
— 9:30AM-12:30PM — Full Race Coverage

Internet Web-cast:
If you do not have access to Universal Sports on your cable network, the race will also be shown nationally on Universal Sports on-line online at www.UniversalSports.com.
–9:30AM-12:30PM Eastern Time — Internet Coverage of Boston Marathon on Universal Sports Network

The B.A.A. website had more than 11 million page views for the 2011 Boston Marathon. The race provides real-time leaderboards and commentary, and avenues by which visitors can track runners in progress. See www.baa.org.

Enjoy the race and check back here for complete post-race coverage on Running Advice and News.

Running-Advice.com
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Top Ten Reasons You Didn’t Run on Easter Sunday (Ancient Times Edition)

10. The run last weekend up to the hill overlooking town pretty much took it out of you.

9. Loin cloth continues to chaff your inner-thighs. Goat butter just isn’t working as well as BodyGlide.

8. Not quite clear what Roman Soldiers mean about a post-race party up on the hill, but you’ve only heard bad things about the way those guys party.

7. Although you’re typically up for a good urban challenge, the whole cross dragging, crown of thorns wearing, piercing thing seems a little too extreme for you.

6. Tax collectors raised the entry fee again. Who can afford the Jerusalem Marathon these days? They’ve been raising the entry fee since way back in 0005.

5. Camelback mistakenly filled with wine left over from supper last weekend made it hard to stay hydrated, not to mention to focus on the course.

4. Spent the whole week in a cave “tapering”. Now you feel pretty listless, but you’re surprisingly still up for getting out and visiting with some friends this Sunday.

3. Spectators on the course last weekend seemed a little less supportive than normal. It had more of an angry mob kind of a feel out there.

2. “Cross training” suddenly has taken on a whole new meaning and you don’t like it one bit.

and the number one reason that you didn’t run on Easter Sunday:
1. You could have sworn that your marathon training schedule listed Sunday as a “day of rest”.

Coach Joe English, Portland Oregon, USA
Running Advice and News
www.running-advice.com

These are the four most common pieces of advice that come up when I’m asked either: “what am I doing wrong?” or “why didn’t I meet my finishing goal time?” And in almost every case, the response is a reluctance to change these very basic things. And it’s not as though these are surprising. They’re just back things that almost always are the things that lead to poor output of training, as compared to the runner’s expectations. They are in fact the worst things that you can do as a runner and they are also the most practiced.

Worst Practice #1 — Running Too Many Slow Miles — There’s sort of two pieces to this first issue. Most runners run too many miles or too many slow miles — or both. The problem here is that running slow miles just teaches your body to run that speed. When it comes to to try to “pull it out” and “push hard” in a race, the speed isn’t there. There’s not enough speed going into practices, so there isn’t going to be speed coming out on race day. The answer is run fewer, faster miles. This is the rub. People often hate cutting their miles and they often hate running fast. But it is almost certain that running faster in practice is going to lead you to run faster in your races.

Worst Practice #2 –Not Running Goal Pace In Practice — If only Coach Dean and I had a nickle for every time someone said, “I’ve been running 10:30 miles in my training runs. I hoped to run 9:30 in the race. Why didn’t it happen?” Bottom line is that runners need to spend time running goal pace in practice. It’s OK that goal paced runs are shorter than the race distance — in fact a 3-5 mile mid-week goal paced run is a great training practice — the idea here is to log mileage at goal pace. If you don’t do it, you can’t expect to run it in practice. I like to think of it this way: if I just wanted to go run world record pace, I couldn’t do it. I can’t do it in practice, so how could I do it on race day? They say practice makes perfect. This is a case where that advice makes sense.

Worst Practice #3 — Not Stretching and Strengthening – I commonly advise people to take yoga, cross-training, lift weights and do other stretching and strength building activities. Unfortunately, this advice is routinely ignored. Why? Because it feels like we’re NOT TRAINING when we’re not running. We just don’t have time to lift weights and take yoga. But the truth is the time we spend doing these strength building and stretching exercises amounts to a huge investment in our performance. Much more of an investment, in fact, than those long, slow miles people like to run. Cutting back on the quantity allows more time to invest in physically training the body. This helps us make huge gains in speed, flexibility, strength and endurance. Adding just an inch to your stride length, for example, yields a massive improvement in speed and efficiency. But to do this, you need to be stronger and more flexible.

Worst Practice #4 — Not Taking a Full Body Approach To Living — Meeting our performance goals comes through training the right way. But our training needs to be backed up by an approach to living that helps us get the most out of that training. It means eating right, sleeping enough, getting rid of stress, and avoiding things like alcohol and tobacco. Often when I explore people’s lives with them and they don’t see why they aren’t getting the most out of their training, it’s in these areas that they are messing it up. We don’t have to live like Puritans to train effectively, but we have to make good choices. The runners that tell me that they deserve those couple of beers after a hard run or those that say they can “eat whatever they want” because they run are not making clear choices in this area. Treat the body like a race car, giving it proper maintenance, fuel and care — and that race car will perform a whole lot better.

Sometimes it is tough to make changes to patterns that we’ve ingrained in our lives over the years, but think about these issues as you train and try to reach your goals. Ask yourself: are you getting the most out of your workouts? Are you making good choices in your life? Are you building the best machine for the task? If you’re not, you’re not alone. But you can make the choices that lead you in the right direction.

Coach Joe English, Portland Oregon, USA
Running Advice and News
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Erin Crowell -- The Real Life Runner

That’s what a group of runners did this past February when they ran 129 miles across Palestine’s West Bank.

The Run Across Palestine (RAP) was an effort between On the Ground—a non-profit based in Traverse City, Michigan—and the Palestinian Fair Trade Association to raise money and awareness for olive farmers in the West Bank region.

The event raised scholarship money for the children of olive farmers and helped to plant thousands of trees in hopes to reestablish sustainable olive growing practices in a place whose history, economy, culture, and identity are all rooted in the ancient olive tree.

Photo: Aubrey Ann Parker www.aubreyannparker.com

“By tying (long distance running) to something that is of benefit for the world makes sense to me,” he explained. “In my eyes, too many of the long distance ultra runners do it for their own gratification rather than to use the uniqueness for the greater good. What better way to know what you’re supporting than experiencing that place firsthand?

“When running long distances day after day you get to have a real sense of a place, country and culture; and you can connect with the people. As a development organization, I view this is very valuable.”

The group started in the Southern Hebron Hills then continued through Bethlehem, Jerusalem and into the olive-growing regions where they stayed with farmers from the Palestine Fair Trade Association and their families. Not only did they run, they planted olive trees along the way. The trees served as replacements to those destroyed by Israeli forces throughout the years.

“A typical day would be awaking about 6-7 am, our host family or community would have a simple Palestinian breakfast ready for us…pita bread, hummus, jam, cheese etc. We would attempt to run 23-26 miles per day,” explained Treter.

While Treter stuck mostly to the foreign relations and business affairs of the trip—occasionally hitting the dirt every now and then—he trained hard as one of the several runners who ran across Ethiopia last year in support of fair trade coffee bean farmers. “For the Run Across Ethiopia, I would do 10 consecutive days of running with a break between building each mileage up to 18 miles per day per
10 day segment.”

Runners for both the Run Across Ethiopia and the Run Across Palestine each had their own training schedule, fitting in whatever spare time they had between work, family and fundraising. While the physical aspect of the run was challenging, the group also experienced social hurdles.

Just 10 kilometers into the first run, the Israeli military stopped the group of 15 runners and support team and an argument ensued. “They told us that if we stuck to the side part of the road and avoided the pavement itself, there would be no arrests,” recounts Jacob Wheeler, a member of the RAP media team. After they agreed, the runners continued only to be stopped two kilometers down the road again by Israeli police and military. After an hour and a half, three of the 15 group of runners are arrested and detained by military police.

The reason? An illegal demonstration.

Despite those hurdles, the RAP team made it through their journey and were welcomed by the Palestinian community at the end of every day. “Each community we ran from and to we were sent off and greeted…In addition to running a marathon each day, we would immediately follow that with a cultural marathon where hundreds of people at times would greet us with ceremony; speeches, dance, song, food and more.”

Erin Crowell, Travese City Michican, USA
Contributing Writer, Running Advice and News
www.running-advice.com

For those of you that don’t recognize the name, Micah True was an ultra-endurance runner of almost legendary stature. He became so largely after being prominently featured in the best selling book Born To Run. If you’ve read the book, which you likely have, he is the person in the book nick-named the Cabllo Blanco — the Western runner who had moved to live and run among the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico. Micah died this past week while out on a run. In the wake of his death, many people have reflected on his influence in getting a new breed of people interested in running. Some have suggested that we runners leave our watches behind and just go out for a long run in his honor.

Muddy Legs -- Thanks Micah

This trail leads into the woods, down into a low valley where it crosses a creek. The crossing at this point is a series of foot-bridges set above a marshy area. As I ran along the trail thinking about what I wanted to write about Micah I came to the crossing and the bridges were completely submerged in water. A broad smile instantly leapt across my face. Micah must have wanted me to go another way I thought to myself.

I headed back up the trail, still grinning, and then descended another trail toward the creek. This time the trail wasn’t submerged, but about 50 yards farther along the trail a huge puddle covered it from side-to-side and beyond. I stopped and took a look. There was no way that I could jump it. Even at my best, I would need to take two or three steps in the calf-deep water. I laughed out loud as I stood there. ‘You want me to go through, don’t you?’ I said aloud.

I took a few steps back and started running toward the water. Instead of jumping, I just ran on through. I felt the water and mud gushing into my shoes. And I laughed.

Sloshing up the hill on the other side, I thought that Micah might be happy, having at least broken me out of my routine and gotten me just a little wet in the process. You see, Micah believed that running was about heart. Running was to be experienced. It wasn’t just about the race or the time, but about the process and the feeling of freedom from just doing it.

The next part of this run took me through a neighborhood that I don’t know particularly well. I don’t know it well, because I normally take the other trail, which ends up somewhere else. I thought about Micah’s explorer’s attitude. This time I circled the neighborhood, ending up on a street that left me confused. My sense of direction is almost legendary, but this time I was flummoxed. I reached for my GPS watch to do a “track-back”, but it was not there on my wrist today. The sky was covered in low clouds so I couldn’t see the sun. I thought that even explorers get lost sometimes and that’s part of the journey.

I took a left turn and then another. Unfortunately, I was now running in exactly the wrong direction and I wouldn’t figure that out for about two miles when I hit the highway.

‘Shit’ I thought to myself. I was now miles from my office and I wasn’t even sure which way to turn on the highway to get a the closest through street back to where I needed to go. I was forced to make the safer choice, knowing that it was going to be a long, long, way back. I imagined Micah giggling with excitement as I trudged my way back. His prodding had not only sent me on a new path, through muddy water, but now had extended my 45 minute run into an hour and a half.

When I was on my final approach I came to a mud puddle, covering half of the road. I thought about running through. This time I ran around it. As I did so, I thanked Micah for all he did for running. And then I admitted that I’m still not the mud puddle type. And I’m glad I had a way to find that out.

Coach Joe English, Portland Oregon, USA
Running Advice and News
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“My half marathon yesterday sucked. I finished in 2:07 and I was going for a PR of 1:58. I had to stop and walk a few times. Then I would get bursts of energy just like you described. . . .But I was completely tanked. I didn’t have any digestive problems at all, just a total lack of energy. . . .I felt so depleted. I finally pushed through at the “1/4 mile to go!” marker but nearly dropped after stepping on the finish mat. Oh, and did I tell you it was 85 degrees yesterday?”

Post-race Fatigue at WMA 2011

First, is the impact of your training itself on your energy level. The fatigue you’re describing can be a symptom of what you’re doing in your workouts leading up to the race. The amount of recovery (or lack of recovery) is a big factor in how you feel during any particular workout. So if you think about your muscles as having a fuel tank, those tanks may not be getting refilled after your workouts and leading up to the half-marathon. One of the key differences between an “A” race and all the others (meaning one that you’re really training for rather than one that is just on the schedule along the way) is the taper period that comes before the race. This is a period of weeks that comes right before the race in which the body gets a chance to fully recover. What you’re describing below sounds typical of what happens when you run a race without a taper (or rather without recovery from your workouts right before it.) This isn’t actually a bad thing. It puts a level of stress on the body that ends up being helpful to your training in the long run, but it doesn’t feel great.

This tends to be the case when you are training at longer distances (e.g. 15-20 miles) and the fatigue hits early, perhaps as early as 2-3 miles. In these cases, the fatigue is likely a symptom of a the hard effort of your training. The good news is that when you’ve given yourself some recovery in your taper then this won’t be a problem in a more important “A” race.

Second, in terms of fuel you need to constantly be in the process of preparing for the next workout. The big question here is what you’re eating on a daily basis. Runners need to be replacing energy as soon as workouts end and making sure that they are eating for recovery to prepare for the next workout, which may come as little as a day or a few hours after the previous one. You want to make sure that you’re eating a well balanced diet every day. Another way to put this is that you don’t prepare for a big workout or race in one meal, but rather in all of your meals.

Also, you may want to ensure that you’re getting enough vitamins in your diet. You can really combat a lack of daily energy with a good daily multi-vitamin and a B complex. B vitamins are really important for energy. Getting enough nutrients in your diet does a lot to help with energy levels. A product that I would recommend is the Vega Whole Food Optimizer. This is a smoothie-base that you can mix with fruit, juice or water and have for breakfast. It is a complete meal and includes all of the proteins, vitamins and minerals that you need. It isn’t cheap. It’s available on-line and at food retailers like Whole Foods. I suggest using a product like this in the morning to give you a strong nutritional base for the entire day.

Finally, the temperature and other weather conditions are certainly factors in your performance and can manifest themselves as fatigue. Running in heat and humidity is best thought of like running up a steep hill. It dramatically increases the effort level, even at the same pace. So if you were trying to run the same pace at 85 degrees that you normally run at 65 degrees, it is going to feel much, much harder. I’d normally advise people to back off the pace by about 10% per 10 degrees of temperature increase over their typical training temperature.

Hydration plays a big role, but so long as you were drinking plenty of fluids you were probably doing what you could to combat the dehydration. Similar to eating, hydration doesn’t happen overnight. Make sure that you’re drinking 2-3 liters of clear fluid (meaning water) every day to keep well hydrated. Leaving it to the last minute is kind of like pouring water on a dry sponge. Most of the water rolls off. A wet sponge actually absorbs more water than a dry one. Think of your muscles in that same way. And keep in mind that alcohol works in the opposite direction and has a net dehydrating effect. It’s best not to drink alcohol at all within 2-3 days of any major race or long workout.

The bottom line is that factors such as the volume and intensity of your training, your diet and recovery, and external factors such as weather are often responsible when the bonk comes early and hard. Understand that if you’ve been training a specific pace and you experience this early in a race, one or more of these factors are probably in play.

Coach Joe English, Portland, Oregon USA
Running Advice and News
www.running-advice.com

Erin Crowell -- The Real Life Runner

“Leave your worries, leave your fears
Leave the doubt you’re holding dear
Leave them there, love, by the door
They’re no good anymore” – “Nothing for Granted” by Brendan James

Erin and Grant

“Wahhh!” Grant says mockingly, a crooked smile on his face.

I should have seen that coming.

Grant likes to poke fun, but more so he likes taking any doubts or complaints you may have and throw them back at face-value; because they are exactly that: nothing more than doubt and complaints.

We continue walking through the local mall – me, decked out in a fanny pack that holds a bottle of water, towel and timer; Grant, leaning on his gait trainer that allows him to put one foot in front of the other.

For my friend Grant Forrester, a 24-year-old quadriplegic living in Traverse City, Michigan, there is no such thing as can’t.

Doing the Impossible
For years, I thought running a marathon was a far-flung goal, sitting somewhere on the horizon along with winning a Pulitzer.  That is, until I met Grant, a hometown celebrity in his own right, but who earned a new respect by his community when he walked the Meijer Festival of Races 5k at the 2011 National Cherry Festival. It was the farthest distance he ever walked in his life, finishing the 3.1 miles in just under four hours.

I love sharing his story with those who haven’t heard it…about “Team Grant,” the group of a dozen family and friends who accompanied him during those four hours.

So when a friend propositioned me on helping him with an upcoming book project that would have me running my first marathon, my initial thought was excitement, which was immediately followed by doubt as I pictured the number—26.2 miles—in my head…twice the distance I ever ran, which was in 2009 and left me with the inability to bend my knees for two days.

However, it didn’t take long before the hesitation and uncertainty was replaced by inspiration and determination…and the image of Grant, dripping in sweat, as he crossed the finish line of his own race.

My race pick landed on the Bayshore Marathon, happening Memorial weekend in Traverse City; and although Grant’s upcoming race is about 1/8 the distance of mine, his training is just as tough. This is evident on our weekly laps at the mall when, by JCPenney, Grant’s shirt is soaked through and his witty comebacks are limited to punctuated huffs.

Grant started training for his July race back in October by standing for hours at a time – pretty impressive for a guy who’s spent the majority of his life in a wheelchair.

When he was 15 months old, Grant was riding with his father down an Indiana highway when another motorist struck their car, sending Grant—still attached to his car seat—across four lanes of traffic and a median. His skull was cracked ear to ear and he spent nearly six weeks in a coma. At the time, Grant was just learning to walk; but the accident left him with spastic quadriplegia, which impedes voluntary muscle movement, making some tasks—such as showering, using the bathroom and dressing—impossible without assistance.

The Definition of Race

Photo: Amber Elliott, Grand Traverse Photography

A 2005 article in the San Francisco Chronicle entitled “Running Debate,” explores the growing trend of walkers who participate in marathons, finishing these races in several hours.

“On Sunday morning at 5 a.m., about 1,000 very slow people will gather at the Ferry Building in San Francisco,” the author notes about that year’s marathon. “They will have as much as seven hours to go 26.2 miles — an ambitious venture for most mortals but a glacial pace for marathoners.”

The article reflects polarized opinions on who ‘should’ toe the start line.

I’m embarrassed to say I used to feel this way; and yet, a part of me still does when, after weeks of preparation, my pace is grounded to a halt by a group of walkers at the start of a 5K race.

Then I remember there’s probably some poor guy with a 4:58 pace and 6% body fat who had to sidestep around me.

Like any fitness goal, a race is all about relativity.

Stepping Up to the Challenge
I keep this humbling thought in mind as I reflect on my own marathon goal: to finish without walking or stopping. While doing either would disqualify me from having completed a marathon in my own mind, simply having that as a goal would make some elite marathon veterans snort.

For many, it’s surviving. For some, it’s enduring. For others, it’s conquering. Whatever silly reasons we put our bodies through hell, there is a commonality in envisioning something hard and stepping up to the challenge, regardless of fitness level.

Simply having a fitness goal speaks volumes nowadays. Exercise is no longer a necessity for survival, but a lifestyle choice. It’s why friends and family pat me on the back when they hear about my marathon goal.

“Wow, that’s crazy!” one says.

“I could never do that,” says another.

For the most part, this makes me proud, yet a small part of me is bothered by these remarks of self-doubt. I imagine a part of Grant feels the same.

It’s taken me awhile to put these feelings into perspective; and being a writer, I needed to put them into words (perhaps best placed on a tacky self-motivational poster). My best conclusion regarding pushing one’s body—particularly in regards to my own goal—is this:

Running is instinct. It has been hardwired into human beings as a means of survival. When circumstance is taken out of play, society is to blame for our lack of moving. Convenience, technology, and a perpetual onslaught of unhealthy habits have removed our desire—and most importantly, a necessity—to release the flood of endorphins, trigger a muscle twitch and set the lungs ablaze.

Running a marathon isn’t doing something impossible; it’s simply undoing what we have done to ourselves.

By all definition, Grant is a “victim” of circumstance, yet he still manages to get up and walk…a concept so simple, yet absolutely remarkable in its own right.

During one of our walks, Grant tells me about the time he walked across the Kresge Auditorium stage at Interlochen to accept his high school diploma, a goal he set back in sixth grade. Grant’s foresight…his ability to visualize what is capable surprises me every week.

I consider my walks with Grant a part of my own training as he serves as a constant reminder of accountability, a voice I hear in the back of my mind when the couch gets too comfortable or my legs start feeling heavy mid-stride on long mileage days. I didn’t train consistently for my half marathon – a choice I will not be making for the full.

If Grant can do it, why can’t I?

Like an athlete true to form, Grant accomplished one goal and didn’t hesitate to set another. Simply finishing was no longer enough. Grant wants to race, and while he’s not competing to beat others, it’s a race against time, boundaries and limitations.

The Athlete Within
As we near the end of his mile lap, I ask Grant how he feels.

“Alive,” he says.

I couldn’t agree more.

With each walk, Grant continues to chip away at his time. Sometimes it’s minutes, other times it’s seconds. Some days are slower than others.

When I look into Grant’s eyes, there’s a certain determination and stubbornness to them…something I’d like to believe exists in every athlete, from the first-time marathon finisher and 5K walker to the sponsored Olympian.

If there is a goal you have in mind—wherever it falls on your “impossible” scale—if you reach down deep enough, you can find that person who won’t accept excuses; because as my friend Grant says, there’s no such thing as can’t.

Erin Crowell, Travese City Michican, USA
Contributing Writer, Running Advice and News
www.running-advice.com

This story was originally published in the Northern Express Weekly (2/27/12). To read the first feature on Grant Forrester, “Nothing for Granted” (7/18/11), go to northernexpress.com.

The Clock Is Ticking

Discomfort doesn’t necessarily mean pain. Discomfort, as Webster’s Dictionary defines it means “to make uncomfortable or uneasy.” I think this a really appropriate way to define how hard interval, tempo runs and pace runs should make us feel. When we’re pushing out of the “easy” zone, we start to feel uncomfortable. The effort starts to feel hard. It’s in this hard place that we get better. But a lot of runners don’t like that hard place. The hard place feels yucky.

Finding strategies that make us feel more comfortable with the discomfort will take us a few steps toward making these kinds of workouts more manageable. Let me give you a few ideas on how to get control of the discomfort zone:
– Start Small — instead of jumping in with mega track workouts, start with just a few intervals at the end of a workout. Doing just one or two quarter-mile repeats at the end of your run will give you a taste of what it feels like — and what it doesn’t feel like. You’ll find that these workouts won’t kill you. Work up slowly until the intervals become the main set with the rest of the run becoming just the warm-up and warm-down. As you go through this ramp up, you’ll get more comfortable with your ability to handle the workouts.

– Do It More Often — doing one track workout every two weeks will keep you in the space of dread. You’ll start having to argue with yourself to “drag yourself to the track” for those terrible workouts. This is all something happening in your mind and getting yourself to the track more frequently gets you more accustomed to the process. Once you’re doing more intense workouts a couple of times a week it will start to be more familiar.
– Join a Group — Find yourself a running buddy or a group. Track workouts are great workouts to do together. Since you’re running in circles, it’s fine to be running different paces. All you need to do is start at the same time. You can talk during rest breaks, warm ups and warm downs. Having friends to go through the process helps get past much of the discomfort and you also give one another moral support along the way.
– Race Frequently — Racing is one of the best ways to push yourself hard. The excitement of race day helps us push harder than we might in a normal workout. Racing more frequently gets us used to the feelings of discomfort when we’re really push hard. Those last few minutes of a 5K go a long way to helping us learn that we will survive, even if it feels like our heads are going to blow off in the moment.

Some runners may just dislike the feelings of discomfort that go along with pushing hard. But if try out some of these tips, you may just feel that those hard to swallow pills go down a little easier. And you’ll become a better runner in the process.

Coach Joe English, Portland Oregon, USA
Running Advice and News
www.running-advice.com