Here’s a brief video clip with high speed video that allows slow motion viewing for better run form analysis. This clip was taken in the middle of a 1000m interval @5K pace vs. a stand-alone video form session but the advantages of the high speed technology over conventional video are apparent. Also included a few comments which touch on some (but not all) aspects of each runners form that we will be working on.

March and April have been big training and racing months around here. With the Boston Marathon coming up some tune-up races were a good way to get in some great training and see if everyone was hitting their targets. So how did they do?

First up was Bob Rowan who ran the Spirit Run 10K in Newport Beach on March 21st. The target pace was 6:51 and Bob ran a 42:17 which equals a 6:49 pace! Excellent pacing and a good confidence builder for the upcoming Boston race. Here’s a picture of him stretching it out into the finish .. and a great shot of Bob running the 5K with his better half, Mary Ellen.

My brother Terry and his daughter Kelly ran the Spirit Run 5K.  Terry won 2nd place in the 50-54 age division with a 22:47. I paced him in for the final mile and he ran a PR (funny he didn’t look all that happy about it in the finishing chute).  Kelly won 3rd place in the 19-24 age division with a 26:54 (which was also a PR). A fun time for all. Here’s a group shot with the medal winners and coach!

Bob continued with another tune-up two weeks later at Santa Anita. Despite the slower conditions of the final quarter mile on the soft dirt of the horse track, he clocked a 20:25 5K .. a 6:34 pace which matched up with his target exactly. I’m predicting a sub 20 is in his future, once we do some specific 5K training and unleash the speed on a fast course.

Then Sabrina got into the tune-up race mode with the Seal Beach 10K on April 10th. She ran a blistering 39:26 (6:22 pace) for 26th OA and 1st in her AG. This was a big 3 minute 15 second PR and well under the sub 40 level! Here is Sabrina post-race with Gary and Tom, two SCRR runners who also had great races.

And as a bonus while waiting for her award she got meet and talk to Mary Akor (in Blue), one of the top US Marathoners who won the 10K outright, beating all the male runners.

The Carlsbad 5000 was the very next day and we had couple RYP runners there, Susan who had been training for this as one of her goal races and yours truly. Also present were many friends from A Snails Pace, SCRR and just about everyone else in Southern California. I lined up for hopefully my first race finish in 2010.

I went out purposefully a little slow and sure enough there were lots of people passing me and forming a large crowd in front. But I cruised along, listening to many people starting to breath hard and held to my pace. I passed the one mile clock in 5:32 (which was a little disappointing considering I passed it last year at 5:16) but I felt like I was where I needed to be. I passed a few coming out of the 180 turn and on the upgrade during mile 2 and felt like I was running about the same pace. Mile two was 5:38 and at least I felt smooth and nothing was hurting. The final mile has some slight down, another 180 turn and some slight up grade. The Garmin showed that mile passed in 5:34 and the final .15 downhill in 4:43 pace. So I was able to add some speed near the end and finish strong  with 17:25.

… and btw, I did pass the guy in blue seen here in front of me on the final turn.

Susan ran the Carlsbad 5000 last year in 20:12. This year, with better training, she went out quick and held on strong for a 18:46! A huge PR at this distance.

This earned her a 6th place AG and 15th place OA .. sweet! Here’s a post race photo with friends and relatives that came out to support her.

Next up Boston .. think I’ll stop here for now and give the Boston recap in a new entry.

This ‘runyourpotential’ recap is long overdue! Personally had a very tough start of the year regarding my running. After TCM ‘09 in October I was feeling some swelling and pain due to a PF strain in my foot. At first I thought it was a bruise of the heel/arch but during a hard uphill trail sprint I caused the strain to get worse.  I did lots of icing, stretching and manipulating the arch and appeared to be on the mend.  I thought the worst was over after running a 5K practice race on the OCC track with some other speedy masters on the final week of ‘09. I could feel the pressure on the arch due to swelling but it wasn’t painful.

So two weeks later I was toeing the line at a 5K (So Cal Half/5K on January 9th). During the first half mile of the race my foot I could feel the pressure and some discomfort on the arch. I tried adapting my stride slightly and then tried the ‘I’ll just ignore it’ technique hoping it needed to ‘warm up more’. Well, at about the 3/4 mile point the body signal that you can’t really ignore, SHARP PAIN, became all-consuming and I stepped off the course. I limped along for awhile and then stopped and cheered for the runners going past.

Once back at the start/finish area I changed shoes, watched the finish of the 5K, hung out with A Snails Pace friends (see below) and waited for the 1/2 marathoners to start coming through.

I was bummed about my injury but soon focused on the performance of others. I got word that Cheryl Smith, one of the runners I coach, was in first place. I headed over to a point of the course .. the final 1/4 mile where there was a good vantage point and no crowds. The half marathon was a tune-up race for Cheryl and part of her preparation for the LA Marathon in March. I caught sight of her running strongly on the bike path.

And then she was charging around the final turn … and heading into the final stretch.

Final time  1:17:26 . 5:55 ave pace. 1st place Female!

Cheryl went on to run the Los Angeles Marathon on March 22, 2010 with a time of 2:45:19. This qualfies her to compete in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials being held in Houston, TX January 14th, 2012. The top three women at the trials will make the U.S. Team and compete in the 2012 London Olympic games.

Coastline Pilot article

Also running a tune-up race in the first Quarter of ‘10 was Karen Winter. Karen is training to run the Boston Marathon in April. On February 7th she lined up at the Redondo Beach 10K and ran a 51:37, This was almost the same time as the Dino Dash in Nov. but on a more challenging course. Here’s Karen (in green top) flying towards the finish.

Bob Rowan, who is training for Boston in April, ran the Surf City Half as a tune-up race. His had a race goal of  1:36 (7:19 pace) but really cranked in the final miles and ran a 1:33:49 (7:10 average pace) !

Bob Thews also jumped into the Half as a training run. His very even split 1:39:29 showed he is looking good for reaching his Boston PR goal.

Matt Hood signed up with RYP shortly after running a 3:26:42 at Surf City on February 7th. His goal is a 3:20 Boston Qualifying time and wants to be ready for another attempt at the Orange County Marathon on May 2nd. Also in February Matt ran a 33;13 at the Brea 8K showing he has the leg speed at the shorter distance races. The focus will be on increasing his weekly run volume and introduce a variety of running paces to stimulate the proper adaptations to get him under 3:20

5 runners at RYPs are training for the Boston Marathon this year, two for the OC Marathon and one for San Diego. Also have runners targeting the shorter distances who are building up for a fast times at the Carlsbad 5000 and some local Half Marathons. But I’ll get into all that in the next update. Train well everyone!

Over the many years that I have run it has been mainly a solitary endeavor. I started regularly running when I moved to Newport Beach in the ‘77 and running on the sand down by the water was and continues to be a great way to commune with nature and to lose one’s self in dissociative exercise. The body sets and follows the rhythm and the mind wanders to where ever it wants and sometimes you get so lost that miles roll by that you can’t remember running. Other times, on days with goal targets, you stay more focused on the task at hand. A medium long run with specific and somewhat difficult splits to hit and it takes staying mentally on top of how you are running to meet your targets (associative running). Still, most running I have done in a vacuum of one, just me and the road, my shoes hitting the pavement or trail and not sharing a bit of it with anyone else.

The biggest problem I had over the years with running partners was finding someone that ran about the same pace. It wasn’t fair to either party if one had to wait all the time or the other was forced to run faster than they should. So I would just go back to my one training partner that I knew I could hang with .. myself.

But this last year I trained with far more people than the previous 52 years combined. What changed? I joined the South Coast Road Runners http://www.roadrunners.org/ and started doing most of my long runs with the group. With a large group you have the wide spectrum of runners represented. Young and not so young … fast and not so fast.   It’s much easier to find a group or another individual that is going your pace for that day. Or if you like to vary your paces you can leap frog from one group to the next and back again.

From a training perspective it is well known that running with a group is easier than solo running. There is a group run dynamic where pacing becomes more automatic and easier to follow as like runners fall into the same rhythm. Plus it’s easier to tell if you are slowing down or speeding up since the collective group will hold a more even pace. And those times when your energy ebbs are easier to deal with when you are with others. Their strength can help keep you focused or you may help pull them along .. it’s all a little easier to deal with with a gaggle of runners.

Then there is the purely social aspect! Maybe because most runners do the majority of their workouts solo, when you get them together they make up for lost time. Talking about running, making jokes, discovering the true meaning of the universe and plain being social happens before, during and after the run. Going for a post run breakfast and coffee becomes the norm and making good friends and running buddies is the natural outcome.

So, if you haven’t already joined a running club in your area I would definitely recommend that you try it out. Be more run social in 2010 and your training will benefit too.

There is a free and casual group run (organized by The Run Shop) that meets in the parking lot by the tall ships (just next to the Ocean Institute at 24200 Dana Point Harbor Dr. Dana Point, CA 92629) @ 6:00pm each Thursday evening. Convenient starting point since there are bathrooms and water at the start/finish area and along the way. Last Thursday there were about 8 runners and a variety of paces so it’s easy to find someone to run with. Most ran about 6 miles but I tagged on another 6 mile loop. The evening breeze coming off the ocean usually makes this a great summer run. Come on down and join the group!

Wanted to give a big shout-out to a local runner who has an audacious and ambitious plan for 2010. Sam Felsenfeld is planning to run 60 marathons in 2010 to raise funds and nationwide awareness for Train 4 Autism! This will be at least one marathon per week along with some doubles and triples along the way. I’ve know Sam for a few years now and his ‘marathon manic’ ability to string together multiple fast marathons is quite amazing. Still .. 60 marathons in a year! wow ..

Sam is looking for individuals and teams to participate at each event he is running. There are lots of ways to help out and you can read all about it on the web site www.operationjack.com

I have been enlisted to answer questions on his ‘Ask the Coaches’ section of his website. Really looking forward to helping out and getting involved with this worthy cause.

Cheers,
Coach

Went out today for a training run with one of my runners. It was a ‘recovery day’ so the mileage was only about 4 miles but much of it on steeper hills. We took it easy keeping our HR’s low and enjoying the cool morning fog. At mile 3 we did some short, all out hill sprints. Why, some would ask, would you do hill sprints on a ‘recovery day’?  Because, if done correctly, they don’t take much out of you. With a full recovery jog between each sprint, you let the HR return to a low level. The all-out portion of each hill sprint lasts only about 10 seconds which raises the HR about 10 to 15 beats.

We did our hill sprints on a paved walking path with an incline of about 8%. This is steep enough to provide good gravity resistance to build strength in the legs.  Stronger legs resist injury. But it’s not so steep that you can’t build up some fast leg speed. Fast leg speed or turnover will improve the neuro pathways over time which improves the run efficiency. Repeated over weeks and months, adaptations will occur, improvements that make you a smoother stronger faster runner.

I prefer running hill sprints instead of strides most of the time. I feel that I can put 100% into a hill sprint with less injury risk than strides on flat ground.

We only did 4 hill sprints this time. The general idea is to do two hill sprint sessions each week starting with just a couple of hill sprints and adding one each week until you are up to 8 total. This slow build up will reduce the injury risk since these are stressful to the muscles and ligaments and it takes time to build your strength up. I also like to take it easier on the first hill sprint, much like a warm up hill sprint. And if something doesn’t feel right at any time during the sprints; a tight muscle, unusual soreness, etc. I will skip the session.

An added bonus of doing hill sprints is that increased turnover will help you run faster and easier the next day. At least that has been my experience.

Cheers,

Coach

don’t just say you have the potential .. dream big .. train big .. and run your potential.