The Ladies Must Have a Secret

Edna Kiplagat winning 2010 NYCM
(Courtesy asterix611 @ Flickr)

Yesterday's post was all gaga (not that lady) about looking forward to watching the Olympic men's marathon on August 12th. Perhaps the timelapserunner's enthusiasm got the better of him, forgetting his manners, forgetting all about the ladies. Elite women athletes will be running an Olympic marathon as well, of course. This was not always so, however. It took a suffragette-like battle to establish the right for women to even run a sanctioned marathon; and it was not until the 1988 Seoul Olympics that women competed for Olympic gold at that distance.

Saving the best for last ...

The timelapserunner enjoyed (parts of) the Olympics Opening ceremony and is looking forward to watching a number of events of interest during this 30th Olympiad, most notably the track and field events which don't really get started till the second week of action. However, as you might have guessed, the most anticipated event of all for this erstwhile runner is the men's marathon, the last scheduled athletic event on the last day of the Olympics. We've already got the calendar marked and a seat reserved in front of the telly (that's UK talk for television) to watch the race. NBC's coverage begins at 5AM (CDT) and we'll be there - God willing - to watch the drama unfold.

Gettin' on the wheel, and Week 4

Cutie goes for a long run on the wheel
(Courtesy bobtravis @ Flickr)

Even though work is grandly dignifying, that doesn't mean that it ceases being work. Since the days of our 'first parents' in the Garden, man and woman have been engaged in fruitful activity, it's just that now we sweat a lot more and get less production from it. Perhaps Adam only had to workout one day a week to train for his first marathon - until after The Fall when running improvement became much harder to come by, encumbered by those fig leaves and dodging wild beasts. Well, the past is the past - for us, accomplishment will come through much toil and sweat and turning of that treadmill wheel in the cage (see little Cutie in the adjacent figure).

Always listen to Mother ...

Mother is applauded as she announces
she's in training for the marathon.
(Snap from NBC's broadcast of the
London Olympics Opening Ceremonies)

It should have come as little surprise to the throng gathered in Olympic Stadium last night that the Queen would announce her plans to run a marathon. After all, if you can make an entrance in bold fashion by parachuting from an aircraft in the dark, training for a mere marathon must be like going for a walk along the Thames. I believe I can see in her eyes a clear message to me, saying "if the queen of England can do it, so can you!" And who am I to challenge the Queen Mother? I will dutifully comply with her wishes, even if - as an American citizen - I am not legally bound to oblige.

Be one of those who can sing, "I Like to Move It!"

Jogger out for a midday jaunt
(Courtesy Elvert Barnes @ Flickr)

Not everyone wants to run a marathon. Indeed, only 0.2% of the population each year does so. Clearly that level of physical challenge and the weekly workouts undertaken to approach that challenge are way more than we need to simply be in good health. And even if each of us believes that being in good health is a desirable goal, not everyone would choose jogging / running as their way to reach that goal. That's OK. We're all different and we should choose our own path forward to good health. If we can agree that being is good physical health is something we all desire, what does it take in the way of effort to achieve that?

Digging things up ...

Front servitude all dug up

I can't say that I've ever really liked mowing the lawn. Don't get me wrong - I've done my share of pushing a mower over thick St. Augustine sod, trying to make it look pretty, New Orleans style. But I didn't realize that I had such strong feelings about having invested so much time and effort over the years cultivating my own infernal patch of grass until someone came along and undid those thirty-eight years of yard work, destroying in a few minutes what we had hand-planted, watered, fertilized, weeded and mowed for nearly four decades.

Uptight and outta sight ain't so good for runners.

Pre-run stretching or meditation?
(Courtesy Tobyotter @ Flickr)

This past Monday was a long day with little to do but imbibe liquids and watch the hands of the clock move inexorably slow, obviously an excellent time to look over The Wharton's Stretch Book and figure out what gives. Though the text waxes motivational, getting all excited about doing stretching has pretty much been a 'not gonna happen' thing for me - so I'd typically forego or shortchange any stretching ritual I actually decided to try. Ergo: the problems I've been having with my legs since I took up running again.

Heading out soon for Emerald City ...

Discussing the Yellow Brick Road
(Courtesy cjzurcher @ Flickr)

By time most readers see today's post, the timelapserunner will have been, as they say, "... off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Ahs!"

Your first marathon is like your first colonoscopy ...

Doctors eagerly awaiting patients
(Courtesy TipsTimes @ Flickr)

Searching the Internet for relevant material in preparation for this post, the timelapserunner stumbled onto a truly insightful article at Why I Suck at Running. The author - a kindred spirit who stumbles along at a 12 minute per mile pace - suggests that one would never want to know too much what one's first marathon experience will be like BEFORE the race, just like you really don't want to know too much about that first colonoscopy. Why I Suck at Running warns that knowing too much about what either experience will entail would "reinforce your hunch that nobody in their right mind would willingly put themselves in such a situation ... (and) if you really knew what was going to happen ... you'd never do it."

Week 3 Schedule

Remember when you were a kid and were waiting patiently for a package to arrive in the mail? Maybe not so patiently. Maybe you ran out to the mailbox everyday, hoping that the package containing this special item would be in that day's delivery. Well, that's how I've been since I ordered the Flex Kit from Wharton Health. I've been to the mailbox every day for a week now, hoping that it'd be in there when I opened the little mailbox door. But no, nothing for days on end. Until today. My Flex Kit has arrived! I'm about to embark on a journey to greater flexibility and elimination of all running pain forever. Perhaps I should tone down my expectations some. In any case, I will have no excuse now for not working on the stretching aspect of the timelapserunner's training.

"Thinking, Fast and Slow" ... while running.

There's a good book out by Daniel Kahneman entitled Thinking, Fast and Slow. It's about our thinking processes and a model for how these work. According to Kahneman, our brains seem to have two systems for handling thinking: one that can respond very quickly, almost without thought; and the other which is slower, more deliberate - but usually more accurate. He refers to these systems as, well, System 1 and System 2, respectively. System 1 developed, so the theory goes, to help us avoid predators, react to threats and size up our adversaries quickly. System 2 developed to help us arrive at best answers upon reflection or through computation.

It's never to early to plan ahead. (Is it?)

So, I'm already thinking about routes for some of the really long training runs. Sorry, but the timelapserunner couldn't resist. Besides, it's fun to draw little maps and see where the mile markers would be. There will, of course, be logistical challenges to these longer runs (e.g., procuring water, not getting lost, etc.); but just seeing how to squeeze all the miles into finite geography and avoid jogging down the Interstate seems like a place to start.

Curvaceousness ain't always a plus.

One of the inspiring features of the Louisiana Marathon route is the winding path taken around the LSU Lakes. It's simply beautiful. So idyllic, so tranquil. An eye-fest of nature's grandeur (notwithstanding the fact that the LSU Lakes are actually manmade). In fact, the entire marathon route can legitimately be called stunning. Based on reviews from runners touting scenic value, the Louisiana Marathon route is considered one of the top routes in the country, and surely those winding, curving scenic views help give it that reputation. But then there's the dark side.

Moving baby to solid food ...

The heck with gels - gimme substance!
(Creative Commons by Jason Dunn)

The timelapserunner discussed previously his first experience with gels, specifically the Clif Shot Gel - likely to be available on the back half of the Louisiana Marathon route at those friendly aid stations. But gels are not the only possible source of in-race fuel for the endurance athlete. There are some foodstuffs with more substance and that are less likely to drip down your chin in mid-stride. One such item is the Clif Bar, made by those same good folk that make the gels.

Two Lessons in One Session

The timelapserunner was not going to post today. At least that was the thought last night. After all, we've been posting pretty much every day now for a while, sometimes even twice a day. My bucket of ideas and experiences was no longer overfilling, I could see, so inevitably the posting volume would subside. But we learned a couple lessons out there this morning; lessons we wanted to document lest they be forgotten too quickly.

"Cool, clear ... water."

Some water stops along the
Louisiana Marathon route

Written by Bob Nolan and made famous by the Sons of the Pioneers and Marty Robbins, Cool Water is a song about a man, his mule named Dan, and a mirage. Water's a pretty important thing out there in the desert, I'd imagine. It's also pretty important when running, especially an endurance event like a marathon. Water management (aka hydration) is a bit more important than maintaining energy reserves, for without enough water - or with too much water - there are grave dangers lurking. Indeed, consuming energy resources during a race would be ineffective without consuming water as well; so it's best that the water stops we see are not mere mirages.

Week 2 Schedule

The first week of training for the Louisiana Marathon is under our belt. Perhaps it's appropriate for the timelapserunner to reflect a moment on this past week and hopefully learn from that reflection. Here's a couple thoughts that passed through my head (with very little obstructing material to slow them down). They will certainly seem more philosophical than physical.

The Ups and Downs of the Louisiana Marathon

Boston Marathon's Heartbreak Hill
(Courtesy Stewart Dawson @ Flickr)

Yesterday, the Louisiana Marathon at Facebook posted an interesting graphic depicting the elevation change over the course, something less than 50 feet from highest to lowest points. By almost anyone's standards this amounts to a pretty flat course. But one marathoner's 'flat' might be another's Heartbreak Hill, especially at or near the finish of a long race. Admittedly, it's a stretch to claim that Baton Rouge has any hills to speak of. Folk from other areas of the country with real elevation change experience would label our dips and swells as 'bunny hills.'

A Weighty Matter

The 21st century Battle of the Bulge
(Courtesy o5com @ Flickr)

OK. Those are not my feet, but you get the idea. We are a land of overweight people, struggling to lose some of our largess instead of our pride. The timelapserunner has never thought of himself as fat, but at one point on the timeline of life, this marathoner wannabe tilted in at the tidy sum of 187 pounds. On a 5'7" frame, that was not an altogether pretty sight. Funny, I didn't 'feel' fat then. It took seeing the number on the scale and recognizing that I had 'gone where I had never gone before' to set off the alarm bells in my brain.

Everything's starting to Gel ...

A bad sign for endurance athletes
Courtesy donbuciak @ Flickr

Even those of us who have not participated in an endurance event like a marathon or a triathlon have probably heard horror stories about runners hitting the wall, some of them just yards from the finish line. Their bodies have simply run out of gas, out of fuel, out of the energy resources needed to keep their muscles working. At this point in his training, the timelapserunner hasn't given a lot of thought to such scenarios, trusting that the training regimen he'll undergo will condition against their possibility. However, the prospect of a total disaster always looms in the background.

Stretching: The (Sad) Truth

Can't reach those toes even with help
from the family dog

The timelapserunner has made reference in a number of previous posts to flirting with injuries of one sort or the other during the past fifteen months of exercise. First it was an Achilles tendon ache that most likely resulted from a workout that included too many hills. More recently the source of problems have been clustered around hamstring, rear hip and groin areas. I had read something about pre-run stretching not being of much value and potentially of harm to runners, so I had limited my flexibility work to post-run static stretching.

Murphy's Law of New Running Shoes

Rain showers rolling in from southwest

The timelapserunner had a bit of trouble rolling out of the sack this morning but the thought of putting on those bright new running shoes got me going. As I stepped out of the car and noticed that the sky was overcast, I put my clip-on sunglasses back in the vehicle - they would not be needed today. However, Murphy's Law of New Running Shoes would apply.

Making Imelda Proud

timelapserunner's
running shoes

A pair of running shoes are to a runner what a set of tires are to a car: that which protects the human occupant from the harsh tyranny of the road beneath. Scientists who calculate such things reckon that a force two to three times one's body weight is thrown back at the runner at each foot strike, resulting in the potential for significant stress and injury.

However, the logic expressed in that first paragraph has been the subject of hot debate in the last twenty years, with concern arising that typical running shoes may actually cause more injuries than they prevent. Critics of shoes with massive heal cushioning contend that such shoes actually encourage, perhaps even force runners to strike the ground with their heels, a completely unnatural way for man to run and a manner that subjects the runner to radical impact stress.

Week 1 Schedule

Leaving the (training) starting blocks
(Courtesy nickuzma @ Flickr)

Though the photo might convey the impression that the timelapserunner will be bursting from the starting blocks in a virtual sprint, nothing could be further from the truth. Our first week of marathon training looks a lot like the last several weeks of workouts coming to this juncture: a short 'long run' on Saturday, two run/walk workouts during the week, and some walking which serves - oddly enough - as cross-training.

It's hard to go that slow.

Tortoises racing!?
(Courtesy timparkinson @ Flickr)

The timelapserunner's official start-of-training doesn't begin till Monday, but we've been conducting the last few weeks of workouts in much the same manner as we expect to do during the first few weeks of the actual program - give or take a few experiments. So, the first thing I did before heading out the door this morning was to check the WAFB weather website for the expected temperature range in the local area for the time of my run. Remember: we need to correct pace for ambient temperature excess above 60°F.

Just one last checkup before turning the key.

Ready to start this puppy up
(Courtesy Chris Campbell @ Flickr)

The timelapserunner's Louisiana Marathon training program begins in earnest this Monday, July 9th. However, Galloway would not be the only running coach to advise even an experienced runner determined to undertake a rigorous exercise program to get medical clearance before starting. So, against my natural inclination but within my better judgment, I scheduled my annual medical examination for today.

Being of the male gender there was of course no need to see a doctor about such things. In fact, doctors are largely superfluous, surely. The only thing they can really do is find stuff wrong with you and then inconvenience you as they try to figure out how to fix it. I guess that's why they call their business a 'practice.' (This last paragraph was in jest.)

More Details - Weekday Runs Pacing and Timing

Runners enjoy a Sunday morning run at the LSU Lakes

For the past year or more, there have been a number of madnesses to my running. In the first few months of walking, then running, the timelapserunner could be seen with a pair of earbuds wedged in his ears and an iPod Nano clipped onto his running shorts. At some point, the podcasts wore thin and the joy of silent running began to hold sway.

More Details - Long Run Pacing and Timing

Galloway's 2013 Walt Disney World® Marathon
Walk / Run Interval Recommendations

We have a few more details to work out before we're ready to jump into Week 1 of our Louisiana Marathon training program. We need to know at what pace to run our Saturday long runs, and what intervals to use for the running and walking portions of those long runs.

Let's cover overall pace first. Galloway's general guidance is to adopt an average pace for the long runs that is two minutes slower than expected race pace, but he cautions further in one of his books that older runners should increase that guidance to three minutes to reduce the risk of injury to which older runners are more susceptible.

The Details

We've decided on the run/walk/run strategy espoused by Jeff Galloway. We understand that there will be a long run on the weekend, two other workouts on a couple of weekdays, the possibility of some cross-training in between all that, and a rest day after the long run. But we've got to spell out the details of this and the gradual increase in long run mileage. The timelapserunner is an experienced runner but has never run a marathon. Turns out, Jeff has an app - er, a training program for that - his Experienced Runner 28-week program for the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon!

Magic Mike ... No, strike that ... Magic Mile

Sweep bus at the NYC Marathon
(Courtesy pheezy @ Flickr)

Even though the timelapserunner's marathon goal is to finish in the upright position, a suitable race pace must be estimated. Compete at a pace that is too slow (>16:01 min/mile) and let the Sweep Vehicle catch up with you and you'll have to board the Sweep Bus and lose the opportunity to finish. Run too fast and you run the risk of burning out before the finish and limping in, if that. The window between those two extremes is not small, but it is finite. So, estimating a reasonable pace for the day of the race is paramount.

The Run/Walk/Run Training Plan

Monument Valley road
Scene of Forrest Gump's long run
(Courtesy paolo_rosa @ Flickr)

The focal point of Galloway marathon training programs - indeed, nearly every marathon training program - is the long run. Once each week, typically on a Saturday or Sunday, the trainee's program calls for an ever-increasingly longer distance to be covered. At first, each week adds another mile to the distance of the long run. Then two miles are added but every other week now. Finally, three miles are added to the long run but only every three weeks. In this way, the runner-in-training gradually conditions his body to distances approaching that to be covered on race day.

"Da plan, Boss! Da plan!"

No shortage of marathon training plans

Pardon the phonic distortion, Tattoo, but I couldn't resist tweaking your famous Fantasy Island line. Seriously, though, now that we have a fairly clear goal for our first marathon, we still need a plan, a training plan for the 2013 Louisiana Marathon.

"A goal properly set is halfway reached."

Zig Ziglar (© BrokenSphere / Wikimedia Commons)

Though I can say I've heard of Zig Ziglar, I can't say I know much about him other than his reputation as a motivational speaker. Nevertheless, I do like that quote of his. And I believe it. Identifying an appropriate goal is vital to achieving it. Of course, if we set the bar exceedingly low, then achieving such a goal can be relatively meaningless. So, Zig must also have meant that the goal should be a bit of a reach, not trivially accomplished but neither set unrealistically high. In a former life, we called that a stretch goal.

The Louisiana Marathon - a timelapserunner view

Louisiana Marathon Starting Line will be here

The marathoners begin their Louisiana Marathon trek at the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol Building, wind their way through historic downtown Baton Rouge, travel through tree-lined residential areas, cover most of the perimeter of the scenic University Lakes before and after visiting the main campus of Louisiana State University, add an out-and-back leg through quiet residential parts of town, only to return to the adulation of those lining the finish area, again near the Capitol.