Trail Running

I have been incorporating at lot of trail running these past few weeks. Which is what I'm going to be doing for my next 3 races. I have purchased some new gear to better help me on run off-road I got some new trail running shoes, camel pack, and some military strength bug repellent. Trail running is a bit different than road running. Scott Jurek,m probably the top ultrarunner in the world right now, does a lot of trail races. Here is a few videos that he has done for runner's world for newbie to the trail running world.

Enjoy!

Switch from Roads to Trails:

Running Up Hills:

Inspiration:

Here is a great story about a 13 year old girl that runs a 50 mile ultra marathon, which happens to be the length of race that I'm gearing up for. This is a great story about a very young girl doing something that very few people will ever do.

Enjoy!

13 Year Old Girl Runs 50 Mile Ultra Marathon:

Quote of the Day:

If you don't chase your dreams, who will?

- Dee Barlage

Healthy Drinks for Runners

This year nutrition has been a focus for me. In the past because I ran a fair amount and was a generally healthy person, I ate what I wanted when I wanted. I still can do this, probably to a greater degree because I'm running even more. There is a great saying that goes, "If the furnace is hot enough anything will burn" Well, my furnace runs pretty hot, so I really don't need to watch what I eat, but I have found that I feel better and perform better when I eat healthier and more natural options.

I have done the protein powder and the creatine supplements and they do work, but often they would make my stomach upset and I did not enjoy taking them. Now I find that a lot of fresh fruits and veggie and lean proteins will do the trick, without the side effects of the other supplements. Here is a good article on some healthier alternative for drinks for runner.

I have been experimenting with natural gels and using coconut water instead of a gatorade/powerade all of these have a lot of sugar(fructose) in them and often give me gut rot.

Enjoy!

Healthy Drinks for Runners at Runner's World

Count Down to the Afton 50K

First of all sorry for the lack of posts this past week or so, I have been a bit busy and a  bit lazy at posting.  This Saturday I'm going to be running the Afton 50k, which is in Afton State Park, about 30 minutes east of St. Paul, MN.  If looks like a great race and it will be my first Ultra Marathon.  It is a trail race and by the looks of the course information there are a lot of hills.  I guess I should have guessed being that the course runs around the Afton Alps ski resort. 

I have been slacking a bit in training but I think that it might be a good think that I haven't pushed myself too hard this past week, so that I don't completely die during the race.  I'll get to test out my new trail running shoes and my camel pack.  I'll be sure to update you with the results.  

Grandma's Marathon 2009 Results

Sorry for the delayed response and lack of posted these past few days.  I had some technical difficulties with my computer, my usually reliable Mac Book Pro crashed on me.  

Anyways the Grandma's marathon went great.  It was very hot out I think it was around 70 degrees at the start and high 70's-80 at the end.  I still managed to run a good race, I finished 2 minutes slower than my personal best.  Here are the results:

Grandma's Marathon 2009:

Time: 2:53:58

Overall Place: 67th

Division Place 40th of 1461

Sex Place: 56 of 3702

First 10K: 42:27

13.1 Mile Mark: 1:28:25

20 Mile Mark: 2:13:12

25 Mile Mark: 2:46:14

Last 10K: 40:46

Pace: 6:39

All in all another great Grandma's marathon, despite the heat and nearly half the number of finishers as normal.  Duluth puts on a great marathon and again I had a blast the whole weekend.

Count Down to the Grandma's Marathon 2009

3 Days until the Grandma's marathon.  I'm pretty excited for the Grandma's marathon, this will be my 4th year running and it is a really fast course and it is just a really good race the whole weekend is a lot of fun.  

I am hoping to do well, I don't really know how in shape I am but it is a fast course and I felt pretty good at the Minneapolis marathon.  I think that if I don't go out too fast I think I can do well.  I'd like to think I can break 2:50:00  We'll see, if I can break into the top 100 I'd be really happy.

New Running Gear

Salomon Speedcross

La Sportiva Crosslite

North Face E-Race BOA

North Face Thresher

I'm looking at getting some new running gear for a few trail races.  I took a look at some trail shoes and a few camel pack hydration pack.  As far as shoes go I think I'm going to go with either the Salomon Speedcross or La Sportiva Crosslite.  Both are trail running shoes and both are very much a minimal shoes relative to the average trail running shoes, which is what I'm looking for.

As far as hydration packs go I got to try out the North Face Thrasher camel pack and the North Face E-Racer BOA.  The Thrasher was nice but is was sort of big and it didn't have any water in it.  I think that the E-Racer is a little nicer, it is $30 more and it does have a new system that tightens over the water bladder so that as it empties it tightens and reduces the sloshing around.  But it does only have a 50oz bladder as opposed to the Thrashers 70oz bladder. 

Workout: June 11th-15th

June 12th: 6x800m at 5k pace 5 miles total

June 13th: Off

June 14th: 15 mile bike ride, then got a flat tire.  Not cool.

June 15th: 1x 5k at marathon pace 7.25mile total

Afton 50K

Being that I only go one response to my inquiry as to whether or not to run the Afton 50k or enjoy my 4th of July weekend.  I decided to run it.  This will be my first Ultra marathon so I am pretty excited.  It looks like a good course and a good race to attempt my first Ultra, though it will only be 2 weeks after the Grandma's marathon this weekend.  

I also need to get some trail running gear, I'm looking at some trail running Shoes and a camel pack for hydration.  I'll post a separate posting about some possible shoes and pack choices.

HELP!!!

Ok, I need some help.  Should I run the Afton 50K trail race on the 4th of July this year?  I would really like to run it but I would also like to enjoy the weekend and not have to worry about running 31 miles.  The registration deadline is June 15th so cast your vote on the Poll to the right and help me decide.  

Thanks,

-J

Workout: June 10th-11th

June 10th: 3miles at 10k pace 5 miles total

June 11th: 18.75mile  I am tired now.

Red Wine?

Yes, I labeled this under nutrition.  Check out this post from Dean Karnazes' blog, he states that a glass of red wine helps him recover.   Red wine is full of antioxidants and also has a chemical in it that is thought to reduce the affects of aging.  WebMD Article on Red Wine:

Read on for more info.  Makes You Feel So Fine

HELP!!

I need help in finding a Father's Day/Birthday present for my Dad, his birthday happens to be close to Father's day.  He is also a runner and has recently even started to do a few races.  He is very old school to say the least, so no ipods, camelpacks, GPS heartrate monitors for him.

But he is still a very active runner at least 3 times a week, so something running related would be nice.  I'll post a poll on the right hand side of the blog for you to vote on, but also feel free to leave suggestions in the comments portion of this post below.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Workout: June 1st -9th

It been a while since I've posted my workouts.  I guess its because I haven't been too ambitious lately.  

June 1st: off Day after Minneapolis marathon

June 2nd: 5 miles easy

June 3rd:Off (Laziness, actually felt pretty good, just didn't want to workout)

June 4th: 9 miles easy

June 5th: Off

June 6th: 6 miles easy

June 7th: Off

June 8th: Full body strength training 3 x 1 mile repeats at 10k pace 5 miles total

June 9th: 9 miles easy (very sore from the first day lifting in a long time)

Inspirational People in Strange Places

Here is a great little story from another running blog.  I myself qualified for the Boston Marathon, but I don't have a overly demanding job, a wife or kids.  I can focus a lot of time and effort on my running.  It is amazing how some runners are able to jungle there lives and still have the time and energy to run and run well.  Enjoy!

Inspirational People in Strange Place:

Quote of the Day:

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. - Confucius 

Quick Tips

Calculating Your Pace:

When you are trying for a specific time whether it is during a workout or a race here is a helpful tool from Cool Running.  Their Pace Calculator allows you to calculate your Time, Distance or Pace.  Check it out.

Quote of the Day:

The greatest pleasure in life, is doing the things people say we cannot do. - Walter Bagehot 

Foam Rollers

One of the things that I find helps me a lot with soreness from a tough workout is using a foam roller.  Foam roller exercises provide the same benefits as a sports massage for quite a bit less.  You can find them in most gyms and you can buy a similar one to the one I have for about $20 at Target or Walmart.

Below is an article with some exercises the thing you have to remember is the most of these exercises will hurt a bit, again they are similar to a deep tissue massage which helps to promote blood flow and helps to reduce lactic acid levels.  But you have to put a fair amount of pressure on the target muscle to get the benefits which can be a bit painful, but these exercises really do help to reduce soreness.

Foam Roller Exercises: