January Mileage...372!

All of these miles were done in singles* (that is Mark Wetmore Speak for running only 1 time per day). Most of the miles were run with an easy/relaxed tempo, and I was able to run five 20 milers within the month. I ran a couple of treadmill runs and a couple of tempo runs with Paul and Billy. Clearly, this was a base building month which I plan on continuing through February and into March.

After running 3,635 miles in 2010, I am surprised how well my body does hold up. Knock on wood, I have only had 1 injury in the last 20 years of running since I started running consistently. What do I contribute this to? I am very sure that luck has a lot to do with it! Beyond that, here is what I do: I soak my body with nutrients (meaning that I eat all the time), I sit and or walk slow the rest of the day (my wife says that the only thing I do fast is run!...I would even argue that!), this might sound contraindicated, yet I wear flats/light weight trainers almost all of the time. That way I engage a plethora of muscles, ligaments, muscle tendons, etc. with each foot strike. Believe it or not, I run on cement most of the time.

I started weight training earlier this month and I am enjoying it. More for aesthetic reasons that anything else.

Question: Who just won the Wannemaker Mile at the Garden?

10 X 2 minute (10mph, 5% grade) workbouts on Treadmill

Since it was raining this morning, I decided to run on the treadmill (as most of you know, I like the treadmill as much as any other surface).

All of my runs over the last 5 weeks have either been 10 mile easy runs, 20 mile long runs, or an occasional threshold run as I continue to build my fitness. I also started to incorporate some weight training into my programme for general fitness.

Today, on a whim, I decided to throw in a repetition workout of 10 workbouts as prescribed by Jack Daniels in his book titled "Running Formula."

The workout called for 10 x 2 minutes of hill running (10 miles an hour at a 5 % grade) on the treadmill with equal recovery. During the 10 minute warm up, since I had mirrors and a clock, I was able to focus on my arm carriage and the all important 180 foot strikes per minute.

The workbouts were challenging yet I could feel that I was really opening up my thorasic cavity. My hope is that these type of workouts will make 6 minute pace feel that much more controlled.

Do you KNOW how much "sub 2.40:00" means to me?

Question: Who just pulled out of London with an injury (hint...crackers!)?

One fine tempo run w/ Paul Mainwaring!

The e-mail went out last Saturday from Paul asking if anyone was interested in joining him for a 6 mile tempo run from McAlpine. I saw the address list and knew for sure that there would be some stud and studettes showing up! The timing would work out perfectly for me as I had a wrestling tournament in the mountains that afternoon. Since Paul M. said that he would be doing some track work at Charlotte Christian after the tempo, I decided that I would park at Christian so that I could make one of my now infamous getaways after the tempo!

So I park at Charlotte Christian and as I'm running down Sardis I glance over to my right and see no one in the McAlpine lot? I keep running towards Paul's house (we wouldn't want him to have to drive anywhere...Ha!) and then at 8:29am I see Paul with this frantic, abnormal (albeit highly effective) gate coming towards me! Of course me, with my sarcastic New Jersey humor ask..."so where is everybody?"

We run into the park and head to the starting line of the course where we would start the tempo. You know when you are warming up with a 7 minute pace effort that this is serious. Right before we started I mentioned to Paul that I would be happy/satisfied with "36 minutes." You just never know if your treadmill runs and all of the base work will translate.

Off we go! We got out well and I made it to the turnaround at the 2 mile mark about 1 second behind Paul. I pulled even with him at the 3 mile mark and extended my hand just to let him know that I was going to be sticking around. His hand touched my hand. From miles 3 to 4 he got his 1 second back (truth be told, Paul was working a lot less than I was) and that is a tribute to his fitness level and his powerful engine. Paul kept me 5 meters at bay for the remainder of the run and I ended up hitting 34:45 for the 6 miles! I was tickled. Paul continued on to his track portion of the workout and I went to work...

I managed a nice, solo, cold and hilly 20 miler early Sunday morning to get yet another 80 plus miles for the week. I am enjoying this base building block of training which will continue on through February, at which time I will introduce some speed training into my programme. This will include 50's, 100's, 150's and 200's as I will still keep my base up along with my weekly long run.


Question: Please list some of your running goals for 2011?

Not feelin' it!

This morning I ran my weekly treadmill run and did not feel that great. I set the speed at 6 minute pace (10.0 mph) and ran for 1 hour (10 miles). It started to feel difficult after 10 minutes so I knew that the rest of the workout would be a grind. Obviously some days you feel better then others, yet I was still able to summon the mental toughness to press on for 50 more minutes.

As I told my son 2 weeks ago when he got pinned in the 1st period in 4 of his 5 matches (pinned in the 2nd period in the other), we grow and develop as a person during the challenging times. The following week he would go on to register his first fall (pin).

We, as runners, train 360 days a year with very little extrinsic reward (maybe 2 or 3 really good races a year), yet how we feel after each daily run is priceless. So what I am trying to say is that I was happy that I was able to get something out of today's workout even though I wasn't feelin' it!

Question: Who took Louie Zamperini's picture in the Berlin Stadium after his 56 second last lap to finish 8th in the Olympic 5000meter final?

My week in review...

And the base building continues with the following:

Monday: 10 miles on the treadmill real easy while it snowed outside. I did catch grief for not running outside!

Tuesday: 14 mile run (9 with the Miner's including Michael ( aka Stephen Page) Kahn, Megan and Ben Hovis (got some great stories from Ben from the Distance Summit)

Wednesday: Another easy 10 miler outside on the roads...

Thursday: 12 miles on the treadmill @ 6 minute pace (focusing on minimal arm carriage and 180 steps per minute)

Friday: Another 10 mile easy run over the Charlotte Racefest course.

Saturday: My 3rd hilly 20 miler for the month out to the Dowd (I think I saw some nut job inside doin' a tri...Ha!) back down East, over QRW to Selwyn to Park to GlenEagles to Quail Hollow to Sharon to Fairview back home. I really like this loop!

Sunday: Another easy 10 miler...

86 miles for the week with no real workouts yet the base building continues...

Question: A local prodigy just started a blog. Who is it?

Alana Hadley...thanks for the inspiration!

Thunder Road half marathon was my last race of 2010. After that race, my plan was to just do some base building for the next 6 week training block which has gone rather well. Easy 10 mile daily runs with a 20 miler on either Saturday or Sunday. 80-85 mile weeks with no thought of a specific workout.

I enjoyed a swift 8 mile tempo run last week at Landsdowne with Billy and Paul as well as a nice 7 mile tempo run with Megan and Caitlin last Saturday at McAlpine.

So last night I was on Facebook seeing what everyone was doing and I saw that Alana had done a threshold run on the treadmill and it gave me inspiration!

This morning I got to work (school) and jumped on the treadmill for 1 hour and 12 minutes of six minute paced running. For me, this was a cross between steady state and marathon paced running. Thanks Alana! Inspiration can come from anywhere...

Question: Who just won his second consecutive high school Footlocker cross country title?

Thunder Road (Springsteen) Half Marathon Recap

What can I say...every time I hear or think of the Thunder Road Marathon, all I can think of is Bruce Springsteen's title cut from his 1975 classic...Born to Run!

It must be a Jersey thing...

The Kiawah half marathon use to be the half marathon of choice for Charlotte area runners looking for a race in mid December. That all changed when Tim Rhodes decided to stage his marathon festivities for the same time.

I decided to do this half marathon back in '97 and have done it every year since. The conflict for this year was that it was also going to be held on the same day as the Club Cross Country Championships.

My good friend and rival Bill Shires reached out to me last December inquiring about getting a Masters team together to compete. I thought that it was a great idea and I was on board. As it got closer to race day, the Thunder Road half marathon seemed to be a better fit for my schedule (the half started earlier, my son would run the 5k while I was running the half, etc.) What I am trying to say is that I backed out of the deal...I had stood Bill up!

3 days before the race I called Rich Falcone to wish him luck for his cross country race and he said that he felt reasonably well and that maybe he could have a decent performance (he would end up 8th overall in the masters race!) I told him that I was running the half and asked if he thought I could run a 1:17. He said..."you got that in the bag!"

On race morning, Max and I headed over to park at the Dowd (I love parking there for uptown races) Y and set out to walk the 1 mile to the race start. Since it was cold outside, we decided to hang out in one of the uptown buildings. When I thought the race would be starting soon, we went outside and they started playing the national anthem. Out of respect, we were stationary all the way until the end of the song.

Panic mode! The race is about to start and I'm a tenth of a mile from the start with packed side walks that I need to navigate through. There is no way I am going to make it...what was I thinking! So I do my best/worst impression of walking the streets of Manhatten and make my way up to the start and step over the barrier and behind the timing mat...in the nick of time!

The gun goes off and I take off with an adrenaline surge...first mile in 5:45! I was supposed to run with a cheerleader from Wake Forest (a one Billy Shue) yet that plan was scratched early as I started out behind him and then went past him early (I had a race to run and he had a marathon to conquer) He did that in 2:41! Jordan Kinley won in 2:24! Daniele Crockford won in 2:59! The CRC'ers rocked the city streets!

For me, after the first mile, I didn't pass anyone and no one passed me. The support along the way was top notch as people were cheering my 5:55 paced effort the whole way. They included parents whose kids I coach, Aaron, Jay, Ben & Megs, Mo Campbell and Tim Rhodes. A shout out to Tommy from Pasta & Provisions for the great "Eat pasta, run fasta" sign along Providence Road. To Tim Rhodes for his continued support and great race.

Result: 7th overall and a 1:17 and change!

Question: Where are the 2012 track trials being held?