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Why Outrun The Bear?

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Why Outrun The Bear?

Monthly Archives: June 2012

I am now registered for my first marathon – the 2012 Columbus Marathon in October.

26 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by Andy in Runcap

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

@cbusmarathon, Columbus, ColumbusMarathon, marathon, registraion, training

Today, 11 months after starting running in July 2011, I registered for another race – this time I’ve registered for the 2012 Columbus Marathon. Although I didn’t complete a marathon by the time I was 40 (which was a very, very optimistic idea), hopefully this means I will complete a marathon while I am still 40.

Throughout June I’ve been training hard with the goal of running 4 times a week to get the base mileage up to about 25 miles a week – Getting to that number has been quite interesting considering I’ve only been running 3 times a week in the past. I remember running 3 days a week last year and my legs would ache all the time. Eventually I got used to running 3 days and my legs stopped aching. I didn’t really realise that was the case until I started to run 4 days a week and now my legs ache nearly all the time! The higher temperatures we’ve been having this month has been my biggest concern due to overheating and sunburn but the heat has not been as hard to cope with as I thought it would be – as long as I have my water belt with me – even on the short runs.

Last Saturday I ran 11 miles for my long run and only started to find it hard around mile 8 – and that was mainly due to the heat – the legs and lungs didn’t feel too bad. Considering 11 miles is actually week 6 in the Marathon Rookie training program, I feel I’m doing pretty well and have a good base ready for the next few months.

Chatting with other running friends this weekend was really encouraging and recapping my progress over the year was an reminder that I now find things easy that used to be hard, so the prospect of running 26.2 miles is not that daunting (yet)

Keep an eye on the blog as I continue to run, come join me in my training runs and good luck on your own training plans.

I’m looking forward to the RunFest2012 on July 7th, a kick off event for training and hopefully I’ll win a door prize and get some running gear.

Who is with me in running the 2012 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon (to give it it’s full name)?

New shoes from Roadrunner (but does anyone ever stop at just shoes?)

18 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by Andy in Shopping

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Brooks, Gear, Glycerin, Roadrunner, Shoes, Shopping

As I intend to run the Columbus Marathon this year and I’ve put 350 miles on my New Balance 759 shoes I decided it was time to get some new shoes.  Roadrunner Sports do a good deal with a 90 day return policy on shoes if you are a vip member and also have a guide online that helps you determine what shoes would be best for you. Going through the website I ended up as a Stable runner, high arch, 11.5D shoes. I shortlisted my options to the New Balance 890, Ghost 4, Wave Rider 13 or Asic Gel 1150 or 1170’s.

As they also have a store in Columbus, I went over to see what they had in stock and to try the shoes on as I wanted to ensure I had some comfy good fitting shoes.

Arriving in store they got me to take shoes and socks off and initially I was measured for shoe size and they matched the 11.5D size that I already knew. I then stood on a mat and they used the computer to work out my arch form and where my center of gravity was. The arch’s were high (funnily enough I used some brown paper and water to work this out – they used a computer) and my weight was slightly to the right and rear – the same as Wii fit. Then they got me to run on the treadmill barefoot whilst they videotaped the running form. I was pleased to see my feet were straight and my achilles heel had a slight flex but not too much. I was not pleased to see that I was heel striking though but I think that was mainly due to running barefoot as opposed to shoes – I’m not sure but I don’t think I heel strike too much.

Next they got me to stand on some shoe liners which they then moulded to my feet as I leant backwards and forwards. This took some time and seemed a bit gimmicky to me and I was waiting for the sales pitch but it didn’t arrive yet.

After reviewing the results with me on the big screen the assistant handed me off to someone else to get shoes. I was a bit surprised that I was handed off to someone else but they discussed the findings (they recommended Neutral Plus for the marathon running) and the guy went off to get some shoes.

The first ones he came back with were the latest New Balances but the 11.5’s were too big and sloppy and unfortunately the 11’s were too small. After trying those shoes on I then had to wait whilst the guy dealt with another customer – it was somewhat irritating not having someone dealing with me all the time, but it did give me chance to jump on the treadmill and run a bit to see what the shoes would feel like.  I couldn’t actually tell the difference between the shoes with the shoe liner and the ones without so I didn’t bother to try the liners with the rest of the shoes and it was nice to not have a hard sell on them (although he did manage to flog a pair to the woman who I was sharing the assistant with).

Next were the Nike Vomero’s. They were awful. They looked butt ugly, very plasticy and the ridge where the shoe bends on your toes felt like it was going to chisel its way down the top of my foot. Next up were the Asics Nimbus 14’s – they were ok – but I wasn’t 100% happy with them but they were the best so far.

Next was the Mizuno Enigma – they were weird and I don’t think I even got to run in them – the front of the shoe curls up pretty drastically and I could feel my toe’s being pulled up – wearing those for 26.2 miles would make me feel like I was running in elf shoes.

After that he went out to the back room and came back with the Brooks Glycerin 10’s. Putting the shoes on – they felt extremely comfy and then running in them was great – Getting off the treadmill he asked me how I felt – “These are the ones” I replied and he laughed and said “You sound very definite on those”. He gave me the box, told me to tell the checkout who helped me and let me go on my way. Interestingly enough, the blurb on this shoe states it has “full-length Brooks DNA midsole customizes cushion to your individual stride” which is yet another reason I didn’t need the Roadrunner foot insoles.

I then took the opportunity to look around the store and grabbed a foam roller and some Body Glide (although I think my recent chafing issues are caused by the particular shorts I was wearing as I’ve only had issues when I’ve worn the same pair). I was also looking at Nuun and Guu tabs for drinking but didn’t purchase any as I don’t carry a 16oz water bottle. I’m not actually sure how much water fits in my Amphipod water bottle belt but I normally drink it all on a Saturday run. Also neither of these tabs had prices on them and one of the Nuun containers had the bottom broken and the tablets were exposed – a bit disconcerting that the stock wasn’t really being looked after. Do any of you use Nuun or Guu drinking tablets and if so what do you prefer?

Checkout took forever – there were 3 people in front of me and about 2 behind me but it took at least 10 minutes before they even added another person to the checkout. At checkout they asked if I was a VIP member, I wasn’t and they tried to sell me the membership for $20. However the website has it for $1.99 and I had printed off the shopping cart. They changed the membership to $1.99 with no problems and I then got my “discount” on the rest of my items. They were also doing an offer of a $10 coupon if you donated to a handbike for children charity but what they didn’t mention was that you had to spend $50 or more on your next purchase. I also got a $10 coupon for my next purchase of $75 for signing up as a VIP reward member.

All told I got $35 discount off the items – not bad for a $2 outlay although I was annoyed this morning when I got a 20% discount coupon in the post, but that is about what I saved anyway.

The Glycerin is a pretty new shoe and the Roadrunner price seems pretty competitive (they do have a price match policy) so it was a good choice to buy my shoes from them. I think if you know the shoe you want, then its basically a price comparison between Roadrunner and Running Warehouse – the advantage of RW is that you don’t have to pay tax unless you are in California which can save you about $10. I think the choice of shoe was pretty limited compared to online shopping and you really are at the mercy of whatever shoe the fitter brings out. No prices are ever discussed for shoes so it was a bit of “HOW MUCH?” when I went to check out – but if they keep my feet safe in my Marathon training it will be worth it.

Update: For what it’s worth I was not impressed on their inaugural 3.5 mile run. Left toe box was tight, rubbing on the inside of the left foot and it felt like my right foot was slapping on the pavement with each step.

Columbus 10k Road race and another PR

11 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by Andy in Race, Runcap

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

10k, cbus pacers, pr, race, Recap, runcap

[wprunkeeper activity=”94178590″]A week ago I gave into peer pressure from other Thursday Turtlers, and registered for the oldest road race in Columbus – the 35th Columbus 10k run that also included pancakes ad sausage afterwards (which may or may not have had some bearing in the decision to take part.
After getting up at 6am I was trying to work out whether to have coffee or not as the hot coffee would not help to cool me down.  However I decided to grab some coffee before leaving the house – As it turn out, I really did *need* coffee as I poured cold water out from the kettle. Next time I’ll have to be awake enough to turn it on.  Thankfully I did realise before taking a sip of coffee.

I arrived early at the site and enjoyed people watching and chatting with the various runners from the CRC pacers groups and slathered on the sunscreen ready for the race as it was going to be hot.

Before we started they had the kids race – it was really neat and impressive to see the kids run this race.

Even funnier to see some of the dads carrying the kids over the finishing line whilst the kids bawled their eyes out. 

Standing in the crowd as we waited to start, I could feel the heat beating down. I was lined up between the 9 and 10min pace groups as there wasn’t a 9.30 pacer and wasn’t sure what pace I was going to actually run. I had checked a pace calculator and knew that to beat my previous 10k run on 59.11 I needed to do a 9.30pace so decided I’d start out with the 9 min pace.

We started off running south which meant that the run *up* Broad Street was longer than I thought and had done in the past and I was really pleased when we headed on down Front Street and were able to take advantage of the shade offered by the buildings. Looking at the Runkeeper Map its quite funny to see it has no idea where we were running – looks like a drunk ghost wobbling through the downtown buildings.

I was able to keep up with the 9pacer until the water stop at 2miles but as he was currently running under the 9min pace I decided to just let them go, dumped more water on my head and then turned left to head down the shadeless 1st Ave.This pattern continued along the race – taking water at the water stop, drinking about half and then dumping the rest on my head to cool down.

After mile 3 we ran the rest of the way back on the Olentangy trail, a route that has far too may ups and downs and stretches without shade so my pace dropped a bit as I tried to keep cool – I was glad I had taken my own water with me. It was quite suprising to see a Cop car come driving down the trail towards us – normally you just have to look out for bikes on the path – first time I’ve had to look out for a car.

Mile 5 onwards was the standard Scioto Miles run so I knew where I was going and what to look forward to. However at mile 6 the marker was missing so I wasn’t really sure when to start the sprint towards the end. Probably just as well as I was thinking the run was 6.1 miles and not the 6.2 and would have started early. As it was I got a good sprint in at the end – I could hear Jamie and her cowbell ringing away but didn’t have the time to look around to see where she was.

I hit the finish line in 58 *something and it was cool to have a kid come running up to me with some water to cool down and hear several people shouting congrats to me. I had no idea who they were but it felt really good. Thanks to Jamie for taking a photo after the race.

After taking some time to cool down in a malfunctioning hose that acted as a sprinkler (good find Melanie and Mike) I went up and got my sausage and pancakes and a banana. Tasted *really* good – a definite bonus to running this race.

Hanging out with the other runners was fun to congratulate people as they came in, with Chris getting a 2nd place in her age group – so congrats to her. Then it was time to line up with other cbus runners for a group photo – I have a strong suspicion I’ll be in the cbus pacers newsletter again 😉

The other weird thing is that although I felt fine during the run and didn’t notice anything – I’ve had my first case of wishing I had Bodyglide when walking around the house this afternoon. I guess it’s better to have it now rather than mile 6 on a marathon, but it’s weird that I’ve never needed it before.

Official Times
58:25.1
329/589 (Top 50% now!)
31/41 M40-44
Pace: 9.28/mile
Splits

mi Pace (min/mi) Elevation (ft)
1 9:10 27
2 8:58 2
3 9:16 -20
4 9:25 -26
5 9:46 1
6 10:15 -6
7 7:04 -5

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