Finally Inspired

Over the past two months following Twin Cities marathon, I have been running completely uninspired. I don't have a goal on the horizon and have been struggling with a couple nagging injuries. The cold weather and short days don't help either. Today however was a big day. I'm anticipating huge changes from this day forward. My running will soon be resurrected by the purchase of two new items. This is pretty typical for me and somewhat depressing where I need to buy something to spark my interest and motivate me to run. These two new products however are going to change me entirely.

I am a frequent visitor to Bronco Billy's blog. He has been transitioning to minimalist running over the past several weeks. While I don't share the same goal, to become a minimalist runner, I do believe that there is value in running technique and strengthening that goes along with the transition. That being said, purchase #1 today was a slick new pair of vibram five fingers. I went with the black ones. Can't say it was love at first site or feel. There certainly are no style points with these things and I actually struggled to get my deformed toes in the nice little toe shoots. Once they were in, I suppose they felt ok. I ran on the treadmill at FZ for a 1/4 mile or so and decided to purchase them. This evening I did a 1 mile cool down run in them on the snow and ice. Have to say they kind of hurt my feet, but I have extremely wimpy feet from years of coddling. Other than that, it was fun. I look forward to putting in more miles with them. Hopefully can work up to a 10k over the next few weeks. I already run in racing flats quite a bit so I think the transition should go fairly rapid. Just hope my Achilles' hang in there.

My second purchase today was a pair of compression calf sleeves. I wore them around a bit today but think I might have to get a size smaller. I'll report back after I've run in them a couple times. I did receive a pair of compression stockings this year for Christmas and have been using them regularly for post run recovery. I wore them all day at work yesterday and have to say my Achilles felt better than it has in a long time. Probably a placebo effect but it sure was nice not having pain. I think adding calf compression to my running is going to be huge.

I did also purchase a hat today, which is fun to have but not all that inspiring.

So, I now have something to do. Over the next 4 weeks of winter, before I start picking up my training, I plan to strengthen my feet and work on my form in the context of breaking in my vibram five fingers. Should be fun and hopefully inspiring. Perhaps it will even help my injuries.

2009 Year in Review

As 2009 comes to an end, it's always fun to reflect on the year in running. This year was once again a lot of fun. What a great running community we have here in Bend. I feel fortunate to have two quality running stores in town that keep us all appropriately "shoed" and active. I also feel fortunate to run with the quality group of runners that gathers each Tuesday at TPG. Many help to push me, while others are just flat out inspiring. Ryan "Hobbit" Rein in Mercer Island is a nice extended addition to the community and always keeps me motivated with his hobbitude. Overall a great group of people. That being said...

The year began with a major decision...do I hire a coach or not? If so, who should I hire? Well it ultimately came down to two individuals, Alberto Salazar and Andy Martin. After I looked at their credentials, it was no contest, Martin had a far superior resume. After all, Martin could boast of victories at the Light of hope 5k and Flying Pig Marathon. He also holds course records at Horse Butte and Dirty Half. What has Salazar done lately? Nothing. Welcome aboard Andy Martin.

I set out some goals with my newly hired coach. 1. Sub 6:00 pace at Dirty Half, 2. Win Haulin Aspen Marathon with new course record, 3. New PR in the marathon, low 2:30's acceptable, sub 2:30 ideal.

Seemed simple enough. We got to work early. Typically I like to challenge myself by being lazy until 2-3 weeks before Dirty Half and then start running a bunch of tempos. This year was different. My coach brought to my attention a new word...Consistency. I had to look it up. Never really struck a cord with me before. Nonetheless, I began logging consistent miles each week, gradually building up until the week before Dirty Half, then actually tapered. Well the philosophy worked. I ran a 1:18:00, good enough for a 5:57 pace and accomplishment of goal #1. Ideally I would have liked to win the race but Santiago Ocariz came out of nowhere to kick my butt in his star spangled shorts.On to goal #2. My training continued. Martin kept preaching consistency. I kept following his instructions. Before long I was logging 70-80 mile weeks, incorporating track work, tempo runs and long runs into the mix. There was a brief detour in training to run the Cascade Lakes Relay, one of my favorite events. It's always fun to get together with this group. We once again won by several hours, and most importantly had a blast. Shortly after CLR I began my fine tuning for the Haulin Aspen Marathon, including a couple of runs on the upper section. I admittedly unleashed some profanity my first time on the course, as I breached the 5th false summit on the everlasting climb to the radio tower. I repented and moved on. Ultimately it helped prepare me for the race, which I won with a new course record of 2:51. Goal #2 accomplished.

On to goal #3, the toughest of the group, a sub 2:30 marathon, or somewhere close to that. I selected the Twin Cities Marathon as the designated course, as it serves as the national masters road marathon championships, in which I am hoping to compete in 2010. The build up to the race was, well... consistent. I was able to peak out at 90+ miles per week with many quality miles. I never could get over Achilles tendonopathy, so embraced it and decided to enjoy my time with it. For the first 2-3 miles on every run, it was just me and my aching Achilles tendon. It had my full attention. Gradually it would demand less of me and by mile 4 or so I would be feeling pretty good and finish up strong. Later my other Achilles decided it also needed some attention, now I split time equally between the two.

The trip back to Minneapolis was awesome. There was a cool group of Central Oregonians and Washingtonians that met up at the race, making for a good time. The race went well for me with a 2:31:12 finish, a new PR. Not quite the sub 2:30 I was initially hoping for but definitely a step in the right direction.



Post race has been met with injury fury. Bilateral Achilles tendonopathy and left foot extensor hallicus longus tendonitis has knocked me down, but I'm slowly crawling back. Next year I turn 40 and have big plans for the master's division. I'm just hoping I can get my body to buy in to the program.

2009 Awards

Best Memory: Cascade Lakes Relay. How could you not relish heat exhaustion and dehydration followed by a sleepless night and an early morning tempo run with a belly ache. This year we added a couple new faces to the guy's van in James and Teague. Both were awesome to have aboard. Nice job to Cindy too, seamlessly stepping in for Cory. Michael's speedoman costume topped off the weekend. Look forward to next year.



Best Race: Twin Cities Marathon. New PR, cool course, fun group and lots of meals at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Enough said.

Most Disappointing: Unfortunately this award goes to my wife. She was running awesome, claiming victory in the Dirty Half and crushing her CLR legs, but was ultimately brought down by injury. Darn plantar fasciitis. She stoically ran hard in the Xterra Nationals and placed well but did not have an opportunity to fulfill her potential. She does win an additional award for most diligent rehab. I have been living with a wife who stretches her calves and massages her foot nonstop. Cooking, working, cleaning, putting the kids down, lounging, doesn't matter. My calves and feet feel better just being around her. Let's just hope persistence pays off and she can run pain-free next year. The marathon Olympic trials are waiting.




Most Improved: Toss-up between Teague Hatfield and Dave Webster. Both were very impressive in 2009. I'm still wowed by Dave's 2:57 marathon and second place age group finish at CIM. Teague on the other hand kicked butt at the TPG workouts, ran a solid PR at the Dirty Half, and held his own anchoring our CLR team. I can't decide. Maybe Teague wins and Dave gets Most Inspirational. We'll let the fans vote on this one.










Most Valuable: Male: Max won the most money this year so literally he is the most valuable. He also ran a bunch of fast races, claiming victory in just about all of them...except NYC. Still a 2:19 marathon at NYC is quite impressive. Way to go Max. Others receiving votes- Sean Meissner- multiple first place visits at marathon and ultra distance including victory at the Canadian Death Race, crushing cover boy Dean Karnazes. Santi Ocariz- the young nordic skier who should convert to full time runner. He was impressive at the 1/2 marathon distance winning the coveted Dirty Half and beating a stacked field in the Haulin Aspen. Female: Kami Semick. USATF agrees with this, and who could possibly refute it.

2010 goals

• 1st place master's division at national trail 1/2 marathon championships (only if run on the Dirty Half course)
• Top 5 at the master's national road marathon championships- Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, Minneapolis
• 1st place master's division at national trail marathon championships- Lithia Loop, Ashland
• Marathon Olympic qualifying time for Katie
• Finish trans Rockies stage race. Top 3 finish in coed or master's depending on division entered.
• Marathon PR
• Run an ultra, probably 50k, win the master's division, beat Meissner if he enters the race.
• Get over my Achilles injuries and run pain free!

Look forward to toeing the line with you all in 2010.

Races and Runners World

During this time of year as my body recovers from months of running abuse, I marvel in those who are still training and competing. Over the weekend there were two huge performances by Bendites. I don't have details of either race, but was able to see that Dave Webster ran a 2:57:27 at CIM placing second in his 55-59 age group, and Max King repeated as Xterra World Champion. Nice job to both! Look forward to hearing how the races went down.

On a different note, a funny thing happened the other day. I sat down late in the evening and opened up my new copy of Runners World Jan 2010. I read the articles that interested me, then as per norm, flipped through and looked at all the pictures. I for no great reason viewed a picture on p.96 in a bit more detail. Low and behold, there was Sean Meissner wearing his traditional OUTLAWS singlet and red racing shorts. I thought to myself, that SOB just made it in Runners World. I showed my wife, who muttered something out of jealousy I can't repeat, and kept flipping through the magazine. I then came across this bizarre overhead, wide lens photo of a race start on p66-67. I recognized one of the racers as Michael Wardian and then tried to figure out what race it was. It then clicked that it was the start of the Twin Cities marathon. I knew where I was positioned at the race start and began my Where's Waldo search for myself. Well it just so happens that the lens was just wide enough to capture me, literally on the edge of the page wearing my Rebound singlet. I was then able to find the back of Andy Martin and Ryan Rein's face, who also just snuck in on the edge of the page. A RW debut none the less!

As for my running, I'm back! Sort of. I have been able to run 5 consecutive days with a max run of 6 miles. Still pretty sore but no worse than when I wasn't running. I'll be happy if I can run 30-40 mpw over the winter and then pick it up in February/March. Perhaps a spring marathon is in order... Eugene? Until then I'll let my kids do the racing. Here are a couple pics from the Jingle Bell Run.