Watermelon Series Race #2 - Race Report

Yesterday morning was the 2nd race of the Watermelon Series in Lakeland.

The weather didn't seem quite as warm as the last race three weeks ago. Still just as wet after it was over though. seems like the keep getting more and more people participate. When Emily crossed the line, her finish card was 650 something and there were quite a few more behind her.

I had a really good race that went exactly as planned. I finished with a time of 18:57 and placed 15th overall. This is the first time I have been under 19 minutes when the temp is over 55 degrees. The time is about 30 seconds faster than 3 weeks ago and a couple places better. Results haven't been posted yet so I don't know age group placings. My friend Robbie showed up for this one so he kicked my butt running 17:32. So I should place 2nd for age group which doesn't matter for the series standings as you have to run all races for final awards.

The 3rd race of the series is July 24th.

[caption id="attachment_862" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Emily finishing the first 5K we let her run by herself."][/caption]

John Isner wins longest tennis match EVER. Over 11 hours on court, 70-68 in 5th set, incredible!!

After 11 hours and 5 minutes over three days on court, John Isner of the U.S. finally beat Nicolas Mahut of France 70-68 in the 5th set.

This match broke every record in the books including crushing most aces by a played in a match. Each man is the only players ever to record over 100 aces.

The length of the fifth set alone was longer than the previous record for the longest match.

Just an awesome match and something we likely won't see again. A great reason not to have tiebreakers in the fifth set!

Longest tennis match in history is still going...suspended by darkness 59 games all!!

Unreal! John Isner and Nicolas Mahut have been playing for over 10 hours over 2 days. The fifth set alone has lasted almost 7 hours.

Just amazing. Play will be resumed tomorrow for day three!!

Watching the most incredible Wimbledon match, 45-44 in the 5th set...and still going!!

What a sports day so far. After watching the amazing USA soccer match this morning that saw them and England throught to the 2nd round of the World Cup, turned over to watch some tennis.

They were showing Isner vs. Mahut which started yesterday but was suspended due to darkness after the 4th set. They started playing the fifth set this morning something like 5 hours ago! The score is 45-45 in the fifth. This match has set every tennis record possible; length, points, aces, games, everything!

For those who don't know, the fifth set at Wimbledon does not go to a tie breaker it won't end until somebody wins two games in a row.

46-45 now...Somebody needs to win so I can watch the Germany/Ghana soccer match.

So many marathon training plans...How to choose.

Run more, run less, crosstrain, tempo runs, intervals, 20 milers...AAAHHHHHHHH!!

There are so many marathon training plans on the internet that it is nearly impossible to figure out what to do. As I have stated earlier, I don't believe there are any shortcuts to marathon training. If you are a first time marathoner or just enjoy finishing marathons, picking a training plan is pretty easy. Just choose a plan that progressively builds the miles and throws in some speedwork. Smart Coach on the Runner's World website does a pretty good job.I have used a plan like this for my first marathon and it got me to the finish.

I have to wonder about the Run Less, Run Faster plan and book through Furman University that use three "quality" workouts each week with intervals, tempo run and long run with cross training sandwiched in between. The book even tells you exactly what paces to use to help you achieve a Boston Qualifying time. I have tried this one and it is sometimes hard to hit some of the paces and the weekly mileage only works out to about 30-40 miles max. They also throw in five 20 milers spaced over the course of the plan. When I did this plan, I ended up combining it with the great plan by the Hanson's running group which takes out the 20 milers in favor of nothing over 16 miles.

I can see where a Run Less program would work for someone in their forties who has a huge aerobic base from year's of running but are a little torn up and could use less miles. I ran in high school and didn't run for years after. I came back to running less than three years ago so I didn't have that huge aerobic base.

The Hanson's plan is really good. The plan is a progressive mileage plan that includes all the usual type runs. They tell you what paces to run based on your current race pace which is helpful and pretty spot on. Their reasoning for not running 20 milers makes sense to me. Even though I can run them (and have), I don't include them in my training. The thought is that the too much recovery time is needed considering most people can't run 20 miles in 2.5 hours or less which is about the recommended longest time for a run. Even the Hanson's elite runners like Brian Sell do not run more than 16 miles in one session. They will do multiple sessions in a day though to get their mileage up to well over 100 miles per week. Yes, a lot of elites run more that 20 miles for a long run, but their 20 miles doesn't even take 2 hours. 20 miles just seems to be the magic number for the pinnacle long run in most plans. In a lot of European plans, the longest run is 30KM or about 18 miles.

One tried and tested method is Arthur Lydiard training. After reading more about his training last fall, I put it to use and I credit the training for my 3:16 at Gasparilla Marathon (even though I did not get a full training cycle in)  as well as my 5K and half-marathon improvements. The training just makes sense to me.You can explore Lydiard and read good overviews of his training HERE. Be sure to click the Training tab and read the full text of the Osaka lecture. Also read this literature that has a sample of a training schedule HERE.

Lydiard is credited as the father of jogging and the misunderstood long slow distance. I say misunderstood because some believe LSD is just that, slow. Not necessarily. LSD is nothing more than aerobic running which allows you to build your aerobic base without killing yourself. Hence the motto "Train, don't strain".

The training is built like a pyramid where each part prepares you for the next. First, you establish a base of aerobic running. No huffing and puffing here, just a lot of comfortable running. Even Lydiard's Olympic Sprinters started their training cycle building an aerobic base. Makes sense, even sprinters have to provide oxygen efficiently to their muscles. Another good thing about the length of the runs is you get used to being on your feet for longer periods. After a while, an hour run feels like a half hour and hour and a half runs feel normal while 2 hour runs push but don't feel overwhelming. Next on the pyramid is hill training to build strength to prepare for the next phase of speed work. Once speed work is complete comes a period of conditioning which contains more race specific work. The training concludes with a freshening up period to allow the body to recover from all the training and get ready to race (but it is not time off).

As with everything, a training plan should be as individual as you are. Don't go blindly following any plan, tweak it to your needs and ability.

Personally, if you are an experienced runner with time goals or a really motivated and disciplined beginner, go with the Lydiard plan as I believe it makes sense and is working for me. You don't have to do it exactly as laid out. Tweak the length of training sessions to your ability and build up your miles.

If you are an absolute beginning runner. Start out with a "couch to 5K" program that blends walking with increasing amounts of running that will get you to the finish line of a 5K in about 8 weeks.

For beginning marathoners (you should at least be able to run a whole 10K without stopping) who just want to finish, use a progressive program that will build your miles steadily. All a beginner needs to do is build their ability to run far. I am not sure why they include any speed work for anybody who will be doing a marathon at a 10 minute per mile pace or greater. Speed work isn't going to make you faster, aerobic runs will.

I wish everybody luck with your training and racing. Hope to see you at a race soon!!

Watermelon Race #1 Results Up!

The results for race #1 of the Watermelon series is finally up on the Lakeland Runner's Club site. Not sure what they did, but the page is so slow loading now.

Anyway, the 19:25 I put up was good enough for 1st place in the 35-39 age group. Looking forward to getting in a lot of good miles in before the next race June 26th. Maybe I will go a little faster if I feel like it.

Happy Birthday Jenny!!

Today is Jenny's 37th birthday which makes her older than me again. For the next two months I get to call her the older woman.

Happy Birthday ya old grump!! Don't forget how much I love you!!!

Marathon Training Week #1 Recap

Had a good first week coming off the Lake Louisa 5K last Saturday. Ran everyday for a total of 55 miles. All miles were run aerobically around 145 beats per minute. Had a good time at the Watermelon 5K placing 17th overall (still don't know age group standings). Miles would have been higher, but I stink at getting myself out of bed in the morning, so I didn't get out for a 2 hour run Sunday morning. Instead, I punished myself by running 6 miles at 1PM when the feels like temperature was over 100 degrees. I usually do my runs in the evening and could get away with it during the winter. Going to have to really motivate myself to get up and run in the morning now.

I have been working a lot on run mechanics. One thing I discovered was how much arm carriage plays into everything. I knew the arms control your cadence and to some extent where your foot strike will be (the closer your opposite hand is to your hip, the more underneath foot strike will be). By doing a little reverse engineering, I built a harness that will train you to achieve proper arm carriage that is more like you will see with Kenyan runners. I first saw the harness at www.stridemechanics.com where I already have the book. The harness was easy to make and saved from spending $18. Basically, the hands are a bit higher close to your chest. The main movement is backwards with the elbows which aids the toe off portion of your stride. By keeping the hands close to the chest, it is almost impossible to overstride and helps keep you to a midfoot landing.

This week will be about the same schedule except a 5K time trial and a day of strides is thrown in. Hopefully, I can get myself up in the mornings so I can get a 15-30 minute run in to get the blood flowing before work. No races until the the 26th for the next Watermelon. The big week is after that July 4th weekend where I will run a total of four races in 18 hours. Will start off with the Lutz Independence Day 5K Saturday morning, then the Kiwanis 1 mile, 5K, and 10K midnight run in Dunedin to cap off the day. Pretty much a broken up half-marathon in the heat and mugginess.

Watermelon Series 5K Race #1 - Race Report

Ahh, Summertime. Waking up before 5AM, heat, humidity, must be Watermelon Series time!! This morning was the 1st 5K of the 15th annual Lakeland Watermelon Series put on by the Lakeland Runners Club. The race is run around Lake Hollingsworth next to Florida Southern College. Temperature at start was 77 degrees with 96% humidity. I had more sweat going during my warmup than any run in the winter. They had a great turnout with over 500 people showing up. This year, they are actually giving out finisher medals to those who register for all four races by next race and complete all four.

I had a good run this morning that went as I had planned and finished knowing I could have gone faster if I wanted to. My finish time was 19:25 which is 30 seconds faster than any of my times from last year's series. I finished 17th overall, but won't know my age group placing until later in the week as it takes them a while to tabulate everything. I did a great job of starting out slower running the first mile in 6:19. The 2nd mile was 6:15 and last mile 6:14. I didn't have much incentive to push the last mile, so I just kept running comfortably trying to concentrate on keeping good form and run smooth.

The watermelon after the race was cold and tasty!! One cool thing about the races in Lakeland is that they have someone who takes pictures of all the runners and posts them on the running club site. This is good for me since Jenny walks the course so I don't have my photographer at the finish. The only thing this race needs to do which would save them a ton of time is to have age group boxes to place finisher cards into. For some reason, they have a single male and female box to collect cards. I pity the person who has to sort all those cards. Last year it took 2-3 days for results to be posted to their site and everyone had to wait for well over an hour after the final race finished for them to get final results to hand out awards.

Lakeland Watermelon Series 5K Race 1 in the Morning

We will be getting up bright and early tomorrow morning to go over to Lakeland for the first race in the annual Watermelon Series put on by the Lakeland Runners Club. The Watermelon is a series of four 5K races spread over two months. The cost is only $5 per race or $15 if you pay for the series up front making for great training races or for somebody wanting to do a race for the first time. Awards are handed out at the end of the series for overall and age group winners based on cumulative time from all four races. I was first in my age group last year.

My goal for the series is to not go all out and practice starting slow (about 6:10 pace for first mile) and run faster each mile after.We'll see how that works out!

It's National Running Day, Go Run!!

Happy National Running Day, now get off your bum and get moving! Sign up to walk/run a 5K and start training. It's good for you and usually helps support local charities. Almost anybody can walk a 5K!

Go, get out, walk, run, crawl, do anything, just move. You will feel better, look better and spend less time and money at the doctor's office. Get stronger, drop those pounds you don't want, save the planet by biking or running where you need to go.

I hear all the Mr./Mrs. negativities out there..."Running is bad for your knees". Blah, blah, blah...

Running isn't bad for your knees or anything else. Most all running injuries are from overuse. Running form can also cause injury. Bashing your heels into the ground with those huge heeled clunkers that Nike wants you to buy can cause thing like shin splints, plantar fasciitis and a host of other malodies (yes, knee injuries too).

Want to learn how to run?? Take your shoes and socks off and go run at the high school track or golf course. Cavemen didn't have running injuries unless they were caught by what was chasing them.

So, happy National Running Day to all and to all a good run.

Need information to start running or training, just ask!!