Saddest Illinois Runner

I don't do politics on this blog, but here's our state's most famous (and saddest) runner. Our former governor, Rod Blagojevich. Today the sun shines a bit brighter in Illinois! He was formally impeached and booted out of office yesterday. He is banned from holding public office anywhere in Illinois. Wonder if any races have also banned him? I hope he doesn't show up at Riddle Run tomorrow morning. Too late for him to get into Clinton Lake this year. If he repents, he's welcome at the 2010 Clinton Lake ultra. No special allowances and no "pay to play" deals!

2009 Illinois Trail Ultra Grand Slam

This will be the second year of the i-TUGS (Illinois Trail Ultra Grand Slam). It was designed to motivate runners to go that extra mile, help advertise the four races, and also increase the recognition of ultra running in the state of Illinois (we have some great races and sensational ultra runners in Illinois). If you are running the Clinton Lake 30-Mile Trail Run, don't forget that Clinton Lake is just the first of four fine races that compose the Illinois Trail Ultra Grand Slam. I've run them all and each one is a different challenge. Here are the Slam races (in order by race date):

• Clinton Lake 30
  
• McNaughton Park 50/100/150
• Rock Cut Hobo 50K
• Farmdale 32
  

(Note that Farmdale is now a 32 mile run instead of 33 miles.) If you wanted to do the Grand Slam, but didn't register for Clinton...it's too late! If you are one of the "lucky" Clinton Lake ultra runners, do your best at Clinton (at least finish the darn race) and then register for the other three before they close. I don't want to hear any whining if something goes wrong. I'm sure the other three RDs could go without your whining too. Last year we gave "Grand Slam Finisher" t-shirts to the twenty Grand Slammers. This year will be something different. I hope to have continual "special recognition" of all the current Slammers at the other three races. Maybe a special bib? If nothing else, I'll remind the other race directors to mention the Slam and have a "shout out" to all the currently eligible Slammers that are at the starting line. Let me know if you have ideas for extra ways we can recognize the Grand Slam runners.

Riddle Run 10

The tenth version of the informal "fat ass" Riddle Run 28 miler is just over a week away (Saturday, January 31, 2009). It's always one of the highlights of my running year. What better way to start off each year than getting ready to do an informal, low-key, trail ultra? Here are the past champions and their times:

2000: 8:40 jeff riddle
2001: 4:40 spencer nelson
2002: 3:52 dave scott
2003: 4:06 dave scott, 5:45 becky dey
2004: 4:28 dave scott
2005: 3:49 jack peirce, 5:34 marla luckey
2006: 3:48 jeff kelly, 4:31 marla luckey
2007: 3:54 brett graham, 4:28 marla luckey
2008: 3:39 matt condron, 4:18 ellen erhardt

Those are some steadily declining times! Will 2009 be even faster for both the women and the men? Lots of questions yet to be answered...

Will Matt defend his title?
Will Ellen kick Marla's ass again?
Will Jeff finish even one loop?
How many of the original 12 (from the 2000 event) will show up?

We'll know in about a week. It all takes place in Mahomet, IL at the Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve. A map of the trails is available here. Here is another map with more "real life" details. The run starts at the west parking lot at 8:10am and consists of seven 4-mile trail loops. People are welcome to do more or less. No fee, no support, no complaining. It's just running. And maybe some walking.

I don't have anything to do with this run. If you have questions, or want to run it, contact Jeff at: riddle@illinois.edu. Rumor has it that he'll provide one home-made, cream-filled cupcake to each runner after they have completed one 4-mile loop. Sweet!

Carb Burning Machine

Apparently I am a carbohydrate-burning machine. I did the New Leaf metabolic assessment last week. As part of the assessment, they strap a mask over your mouth and nose so they can measure your input and output of oxygen and carbon dioxide. From that data, along with your heart rate, they can determine your aerobic base, anaerobic threshold, VO2 max, and your proportion of fats vs carbs used at given heart rates during a workout. Once I start running, I move fairly quickly into carb burning for energy. This isn't good for an ultra runner. I was satisfied with my VO2 max and anaerobic threshold, but my aerobic base (threshold?) where I burn 50/50 fats and carbs was way too low. With a strong emphasis on easy aerobic runs over the next 12 weeks, I should be able to move that aerobic base to a higher heart rate. The closer it gets to my anaerobic threshold, the happier I'll be. If possible, I'd like to redo the assessment in about 12 weeks.

I strongly encourage anyone that has access to this type of test to try it out. On the New Leaf Fitness web page they have a search for local certified sites. There were two in the Champaign, IL area: Nutrition at Work and the University of Illinois Activities & Recreation Center. The cost for the test is not cheap, but you may find it useful and worthwhile. I paid $80 at the University's recreation center (available to students and campus recreation members). Nutrition at Work charges about $225 (their assessment is a bit more thorough and includes some follow-up visits).

So what am I changing based on this assessment? Time to adjust (yet again) my Maffetone heart rate zones. Just a couple weeks ago, I decided to INCREASE my HR zones, now I am DECREASING them below their original values. Hey, data don't lie! My aerobic base needs to be bigger, better, and badder. My new zones are based on Phil Maffetone's unadjusted formula of 180-age (180-42=138) as the top aerobic heart rate. Combining Maffetone & Mittleman, I get 3 training zones:

MAP: 108-128
MEP: 128-138 <== 138 is top aerobic HR
SAP: 138-158

I have two related blog posts about this Maffetone heart rate setting process. One on January 13, 2009 and another on July 17, 2008. Check 'em out if you want more details. I am dedicated to building my aerobic base over the next 3 months. After the McNaughton Park 100 miler (April 10-12), I'll review my training and see where to adjust. Maybe I can do another New Leaf metabolic assessment before April 10...that might give me extra confidence going into the 100 miler.

I hope to be an aerobic monster by this summer!

Watch out at races later this year...I'll be the tall, skinny guy with huge lungs and a low heart rate that silently zooms past you as you enter into oxygen debt...and that's a debt you don't want to pay.

Josh Cox Breaks American 50K Record

Josh Cox broke the American record for 50K over the weekend. Even with several vomiting episodes, he ran 2:47:17 at the PF Chang Marathon in Arizona (for the 50K they extended the marathon run onto a track). That's very fast!

Here are a couple news stories:
USA Today
Arizona Central
Track & Field News
Josh Cox on MySpace

The previous record was 2:51:48 by Alex Tilson. I always wondered what the record would look like if more "real" marathoners tried the 50K distance. I'm sure all the past 50K record holders were very good marathoners, but Josh is one of the few "professional" marathoners to attempt the 50K. He says he wants to try the Comrades Marathon (89 kilometers, 56 miles) in South Africa. Alberto Salazar won Comrades back in 1994. We need to encourage more marathoners, in their prime, to go for the 50K. I suppose there is no financial reward in it for them, but I'd still love to see a top marathoner race a 50K...or longer ultra distance.

Congratulations to Josh. I hope he does run Comrades...and another 50K. Maybe he'll try a trail ultra too. Clinton Lake 30-Mile Trail Run is closed for 2009, but Josh is welcome at the 2010 race.

Ultra Runner of the Year

UltraRunning Magazine recently named their 2008 North American ultra marathoners of the year: Jorge Pacheco & Kami Semick. The online article is pretty interesting since they also list the top 10 vote winners (male & female) plus the top performances of the year (Kyle Skaggs' Hardrock 100 time of 23:23 & Kami Semick's IAU world championship 100K time of 7:33). The runners, and their performances, are quite impressive.

On a more local note, our running club (Second Wind) held its annual banquet last night and announced its 2008 runners of the year. One of the categories was "Ultra Runner of the Year." I won the darn thing! A little embarrassing since our club has a ton of great ultra runners. I run regularly with people (male & female) that are better ultra runners than me. Even though I don't deserve it, I certainly appreciate the club's recognition. The award did get me thinking about my 2008 year of running. I was so quick to set goals for 2009, I forgot to reflect back on my 2008 races and training. It was a solid year. Here are a few highlights:

-Completed 9 ultras (shortest 28 miles, longest 303 miles)
-Coordinated & won the 7-Day Buffalo Trace Stage Race
-Coordinated & finished the Illinois Trail Ultra Grand Slam
-Directed & ran the Clinton Lake 30-Mile Trail Run
-Only finisher of the informal McNaughton Park Fat Ass!
-One DNF (Lake Mingo Fat Ass)

I anticipate 2009 will be even better for me. Can I win that award again? Maybe I'll get the most improved runner? Or the master runner of the year? Hmmmm...

Anyway, I thank Second Wind Running Club and its board for selecting me as an award-winner. A big congratulations to all the other club winners too. We have a great running community here in central Illinois. It's nice being part of the formal running club and the informal Buffalo trail running group. I am consistently amazed by how many ultra runners we have in such a small town. Hope everyone has a fantastic 2009!

Adjusted Maffetone HR Zones

I've adjusted my Maffetone heart rate zones. That's what happens when you read a bunch of books, chat with your coach, and decide to tinker with your training. Coach Jeff just got a metabolic assessment with the New Leaf Fitness equipment. Jeff went to Nutrition at Work (I discovered the University of Illinois also offers the assessments through their Campus Recreation Center). He showed me all the cool print outs about oxygen and carbon dioxide consumption, heart rate zones, and fat vs carbohydrate burning. Much of the data matched Jeff's training zones based on Phil Maffetone & Stu Mittleman writings. I haven't done the metabolic assessment (I probably will in the next month or so). Still, after re-reading Mittleman and Maffetone, I think my zones need to be adjusted upwards just a bit. Here are my new heart rate training zones:

MAP: 118-138
MEP: 138-148 <= 148 is my top aerobic heart rate
SAP: 148-168

These are based on Maffetone's 180-age formula to determine the top aerobic heart rate. Using the pure Maffetone formula, with his approved adjustments, I end up with 180-42+5=143. I get that +5 adjustment for being a regular exerciser with no major illnesses or injuries. Stu Mittleman allows a +10 adjustment (rather than the Maffetone +5) for being an athlete training 3+ hours week and not having problems. So my "Mittleman" top aerobic heart rate becomes 180-42+10=148. The 148 top aerobic heart rate fits in well with Ernst Van Aaken teachings (he wants his athletes to stay at 150 or below). I did a nice MEP run using my new heart rate zone yesterday and it seemed to go well. I'll try a month of runs in the MAP & MEP zones to see if they continue to "feel right." Mittleman has great explanations of what each zone should be like from visual, auditory, kinesthetic, breathing, rate of perceived exertion, and "mindset" perspectives.

For details on how these zones are determined, check out these fine books:

Training for Endurance (2000)
Phil Maffetone

The Maffetone Method (1999)
Phil Maffetone

Slow Burn (2001)
Stu Mittleman

Running the Sahara

(Photo at left was taken by Don Holtz and is from the movie web site.) Last night I watched the running documentary called "Running the Sahara." It's been playing on Showtime. If you have Showtime and video-on-demand, you can probably call it up for free. It's the story of three guys (Charlie Engle, Ray Zahab, & Kevin Lin) who decide to run across the Saharan desert from Senegal (Atlantic Ocean) to Egypt (Red Sea). That's a total distance of over 4,000 miles as they travel through 6 countries (Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya, & Egypt). Pretty challenging goal! The documentary does a good job of mixing up the planning & logistics with the personal crew & runner stories along with the actual running (with wonderful footage through each country). If you've ever crewed for a runner at an extended ultra race, you'll empathize with the struggles that the runners and support crew go through...lots of unexpected changes, challenges, moodiness, bickering, etc. They are together for a lot of tough miles and long days in an unforgiving environment.

I highly recommend the documentary. In addition to checking out the movie web site which has lots of extras, look at their charity too...H2O Africa.

2009 Race is Full

The 2009 Clinton Lake 30-Mile Trail Run is now full. Thanks to everyone that registered. No more registrations accepted--we need to keep to our race limit that we have with the park folks. Plus, there really isn't extra parking space available. I encourage all runners to carpool. Time to kick your training into high gear...we only have 81 days to the race! Hit those trails, stay warm, and let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy your training and stay injury free. Hope you also enjoy the Clinton Lake trail as much as I do. See you on March 28, 2009.

Run Fast & Injury Free

We all want to run fast and stay injury free, right? Well, I have a running book that I want to recommend that is entitled "Running Fast and Injury Free." Not only is it a fascinating read, but the book is free! It's written by Gordon Pirie (edited by John Gilbody) and is available as a free download via the Gordon Pirie Resource Center. I got the book back in 2002, but it has been added to since then (mostly with tons of new pictures and newspaper articles). You can still download the smaller version (63 pages) or you can go for the "ultimate" complete version (153 pages). Or download both--you never know when they might not be available online! I printed and bound the version I downloaded so it's easier to read and reference.

So why am I mentioning a book I found back in 2002? Because it fits right in with my more recent book finds on running technique like POSE & Chi Running. Gordon stresses lightweight and minimalist shoes, a quick stride with high turnover, bent knees, forefoot landing, and lots of base running complemented with sprints and intervals. He even talks about the importance of weight training. This guy was way ahead of his time (he was a British runner in the 1950s). Here is a great section from the book written about shoes:

The nerves conveying tactile sensation from the foot are predominantly located in the forefoot. When the ball of the foot touches the ground, these nerves “alert” the muscles of the legs, which involuntarily react to absorb the shock of landing. If a person hits the ground heel-first, this reaction of the leg muscles will be considerably less, and consequently more shock will be experienced at the point of contact of the foot, and be transmitted to the bones of the leg. This jarring is guaranteed eventually to cause injury to the ankle, knee and/or hip joints. It is therefore important that a runner lands on the forward portion of the foot, with the knee slightly bent, and with the foot placed beneath the body. By doing so, the runner will make use of the body's own efficient shock absorbers - the arch of the foot, the calf muscles, and the quadriceps muscles in the thighs - and in this way reduce the stress experienced by the heel, shin bone, knee joint, thigh bone and hip joint. It is these areas which are stressed the most when the heel strikes the ground. An examination of the vast majority of running shoes on the market today reveals that the shoe manufacturers have made the mistaken assumption that runners should strike the ground heel-first. Certainly, their advertising suggests that this is the correct technique.

Pretty radical insights from 50 years ago! I encourage you to check out the Gordon Pirie web site, browse around and learn more about this amazing runner, and then download the free book. You may not agree with everything he says, but it'll make you develop (or rethink) your running philosophy.

Running Resolutions

I already posted my 2009 race plans, now it's time to get those running resolutions out there for all to see. Psychologists say you should make your resolutions public so you'll actually follow through. We'll see if this works. I simply like looking back at my own posts to see what I was thinking. Coach Jeff, you reading?

1. Consult Coach Jeff on race plans and tactics.
Jeff and I both know this won't happen, but I'm going to try and get his advice on some races and training. He approves of Maffetone style training, so my second goal below should be good. Jeff reads almost as many running books as I do, so it's always good to discuss training and racing plans with him. Maybe he'll actually do some running this year!

2. Use Maffetone heart rate training principles.
I started this last year and sort of kept up with it. Eventually I get tired and end up shifting gears and running too fast. I've been re-reading Maffetone, Mittleman, Lydiard, & Van Aaken this past week and I truly believe they are right. Now I just need to hang in there and let their sound principles work. That means keeping my heart rate in the following ranges: MAP=113-133, MEP=133-143, SAP=143-163. I'm committed to doing this for 6 months. If I don't see adequate improvement, then July will see changes.

3. Work on running technique.
In addition to the training philosophy mentioned above, I also want to work on my running form (mechanics). I'll try to follow the Chi Running & POSE techniques. All other athletes seem to spend a lot of time mastering their technique, but runners assume it's all natural. After reading their books, and watching the accompanying DVDs, I think the POSE and Chi ideas are correct. So I am re-dedicating myself to landing on the forefoot, keeping the knees bent, implementing a slight forward lean, and using a short & quick running stride (among other style changes). To complement & reinforce these mechanical changes, I'll do more barefoot running (and Nike Free running).

4. PRs across the board!
I want to set new PRs from 5K to 50K this year. I won't actually run any 10K or half-marathons so it's really just new PRs at 5K, marathon, & 50K. I plan on setting new personal mileage records at 8 hours and the 7-day race too. If I'm not ready for a fast fall 2009 marathon (I plan on Towpath Marathon in October), I may substitute the Heartland 100 miler. I suppose that will be an endurance versus speed subjective call in October. Maybe my coach will assist with that assessment? If my brother Mark decides to commit to his first marathon, I'll join him for the Redwoods Marathon in October--it would be a good run in memory of my sister Sandy who used to live in Arcata, CA.

Already thinking about 2010...if all goes well in 2009, I'll try for a sub-24 hour 100 mile trail race in 2010 (probably Rocky Raccoon, Heartland, or Arkansas Traveller).

Do you have any running resolutions? Hope your 2009 is filled with many new PRs, running friends, and races! And very few injuries.