Gadget Guy

I'll admit...I love gadgets but I know where to draw the line - or do I? My first running gadget was a pair of high tech zips. I thought that the tread "looked fast" and that it would make me run faster than all the other 5 year olds I played with. And quite honestly, there was probably some truth to it in that we were always playing in mud and the tread provided some traction thus making me a bit faster.

My gadget love increased as I got older. High tech Brooks singlet, 32MB Nike .mp3 player, Polar heart rate monitor, iPod, 2nd iPod, 3rd iPod, 4th iPod, another bigger and better Polar heart rate monitor...etc...but what I love most about running is that when you strip away all of the high tech gadgets, fancy treadmills with TVs built in and fancy clothes, it is the most natural sport you can possibly do. You don't need any of those gadgets or gear. In fact, my favorite runner whom I see almost everyday in the summer is a 70 year old man who wears the khaki pants that he wore all day, his button down dress shirt untucked and unbuttoned and his New Balance 2000's.

This year I'll resolve to get back to the natural ways of running like my 70 year friend - right after I start up my GPS unit that tracks how far and fast I ran :)

ORN - Week One completed with no problems. Week Two's training runs look like this:

Tues - 6 miles (4 miles of tempo running)
Thurs - 7 miles (easy)
Sat - 11 miles (long run)

Death by Training Log

I decided to go back and look at my training logs from years past and see just how much I've progressed. In my case, it's more of a regression than anything else but I feel much more comfortable with my running life now then when I was married to my average mile pace on EVERY run.

I've used David Hays' Training Log since 2003 and it has been a fantastic tool for keeping track all of my running information.

Having just started my marathon training for Grandma's 2007 and knowing that I set my marathon PR in 2003 at Grandma's I figured I'd take a look into what kind of training produced my PR. Uhhh, yea...don't think I'll be doing the same training. There was a lot of hard running (averaged 7:20 pace over the course of my training) and my slowest run was at 8:48/mile pace. Needless to say if was just about a year later than completely lost the desire to run - my running life had been killed by being so concerned with fast times and recording every detail in my training log.

Looking a head to Grandma's 2007, I'm excited to lead a 3:59:59 pace group and help others achieve their goals. I'll be worrying about pace like I did back in 2003 but this time it will be to ensure PR's for others.

ORN - 6 miles yesterday. X-training today.

Let the Training Begin!

Well, we're 18 weeks out from Grandma's Marathon - the Grandma of all marathons! If you need a training program to follow, check out our collection of training programs.

Training Programs

The program that I'll be using was derived from a run a couple of years ago. While taking a stroll around the chain of lakes in Minneapolis, I happened to run across a masters runner who is well known - Kirt Goetzke. Kirt is best known for his easy stride and ability to crank out some seriously fast times that are built upon years and years of base training. During the run which was effortless for him and lung burning for me he let me in on his secret - 10 mile repeats. He claimed that if you can run 10 milers like it's nothing that you can drastically improve at the marathon. He simply runs 10 miles, 3 times a week. Judging by his recent marathon times (2:49) I'd say he knows what he is talking about.

That being said, I'll be working up to the following schedule for my training:

Tuesday - 10 miles (warm up / 5 miles @ LT / cool down)
Thursday - 10 miles (easy)
Saturday - 15 to 20 miler

Happy Training!

California Dreamin

I hate it when I have to travel for work - well, sometimes. I love living in Minneapolis and it's a fantastic place to work, run, have fun and live. But, I didn't put up a fight when I learned I would be heading to SoCal at the beginning of February. When I drove to work Monday morning (the day I left for SoCal) the temperature was -14. We're not talking wind chill, we're talking actual temperatures. So when I arrived at LAX and the temps were 68, it was a pleasant surprise.

I love running in SoCal because I head to the closest beach and run for as long as the shoreline will take me before some kind of rock formation makes it impossible to go any longer. Then I just turn around and head back to where I started. This usually allows me to cover 5 miles and sure enough, this trip allowed me to do just that - twice. After the second run, I managed to find a bench up on a cliff overlooking the ocean just outside of Carlsbad, CA and let the sun shine on my face for about 1/2 an hour.

I couldn't help but look at the ocean meeting the land and think how this was a metaphor for times in our life beginning and ending. While the long base miles of the winter come to an end the marathon training miles begin - just like the water giving way to land.

The sand between your toes is pretty nice as well :)

ORN - Back to the snow and below zero temperatures.

Life gets in the way sometimes

One of the aspects that every runner has to accept is that life can get it in the way of your running. Whether it is a heavy workload, a crazy travel schedule or an illness, you have to understand that running sometimes has to take a backseat.

For me it was the birth of my nephew! Last Saturday night when we were celebrating the triumph of covering the most horrific 1/2 marathon course, I receive a call from my brother exclaiming that "we're on the way!!!". My favorite quote from him was that he wanted me to get on the red-eye so I could be there first thing in the morning. Red-eye, ha! From Minneapolis to Kansas City...ummm yea bro...I don't think they offer that. He then told me that, "Don't you have a plane named after you or something?". Pretty funny. Needless to say, it wouldn't have mattered as my sister-in-law delivered a healthy baby boy - Ronan Patrick Myers - at 1:39am Sunday morning.

Needless-to-say, running took a backseat but I managed to get back on the training road with a great 5.5 mile run this evening.

ORN - 5.5 mile treadmill run.