Running Aboard:

The one thing that I feel will be a major challenge for me this year is making sure that I can dedicate the amount of time and effort to my training that I feel is necessary to achieve the goals that I set for this year. There is only a handful of runners who can either afford to dedicate all the time they want to running or are good enough that someone pays them to dedicate all their time to running. I am neither at this point.

Currently I have a great job and allows me enough time to run and have a social life, however, this upcoming year I will be traveling quite a bit for work. I will be actually traveling internationally quite a bit for 2-3 weeks at a time. This is a great opportunity for me to gain a lot of great experience while also getting to see the world. Do not get me wrong I am extremely excited about these opportunities.

The challenge is that the nature of my work requires me to meet and discuss with clients and potential clients a lot which tends to make for long days. I recently returned from a trip to Mexico City and each day started at 7 am and generally ended around 1am by the time we eat and caught up on emails. This will be a challenge amount all of the other challenges there are in making sure you exercise while traveling for business or pleasure.

I know that this is extemely latebut when I was in France last October I was able to fit a few runs in during my trip and I took my camera along for one run. Sorry it is still quite dark out I believe it was around 6am when I was out but I got to run up and done the most famous street in Paris, the Champs-Elysées which has the Arc de Triomphe at one end and the Louvre Museum at the other.

Warning if you get motion sickness; watching this video might not be for you.

2010 Race Schedule:

Ok, I know that it is already the end of January and I am just finalizing this now. Here is the races that I am planning on running this year. I intend on focusing on improving my marathon time so I am not going to be doing as many races this year. My main focus will be on two races the Minneapolis marathon on June 6th and the Chicago marathon on October 10th.

I have listed my 2010 Race Schedule to the right and will be posting my results throughout the year. Last year was the year I went for the ultras and completed my first ultra marathon and first 50 milers. I fell in love with running on trails and feel that it actually plays to my strengths. My strengths having short legs that are able to traverse rough terrain and enjoying the race more the rougher the course.

This year I'm going for speed, I am focusing on the marathon and will actually not enter nearly as many races as I would like and will focus my training on improving my marathon time.

2010 Goals:

Run sub 2:40:00 marathon

Finish Top 10 in Minneapolis Marathon

Finish Top 50 at Grandma's Marathon

Finish Top 10 in Afton 50K

Defend title at Wildwoods Challenge 25K

Quote of the Day:

"There is no traffic on the extra mile."

-Unkown

Product Review: Mizuno Wave Rider 13 Shoes

Here is a quick product review on the Mizuno Wave Rider 13. These are a very light-weight neutral show, they weight in at roughly 10.5 oz and really feel like there is not much there at all, in a good way. Both pairs of Mizuno shoes I have had were really nice, very light-weight and made you feel fast. The upper portion of the shoes has great ventilation to keep you feet cool during the hot January runs. They do provide a bit of support, but it is definitely a neutral shoe and quite minimal.

It does have a noticeable heel, which is fairly soft and provides good cushioning if you are a heal striker. I am very much a mid foot striker, meaning my foot hits the ground mostly on the balls of my feet, so this added heal support is really a waste for me. I have put about 150 miles on them on the treadmill and outside in the cold and they seem to be holding up well. I would recommend these to runners that are looking for a light-weight, neutral shoe that doesn't mind or could use a little more heal cushioning.

Runner's World: Mizuno Wavre Rider 13 Review

Mizuno Wave Rider 13:

Available at RunningWarehouse.com

Quote of the Day:

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

- Aristotle

Mark Remy's Rules to Run By at Runner's World

Recently many of my friends and family have started to do some running. Though I do have a fairly athletic family most of them are or were not runners. It is great to not only see them out and running but, getting into shape and doing something that they might not think they were capable of before.

Just like any sport or cultural sub-set there are many un-spoken rules and guidelines to learn for all newcomers. Here is a great article from Runner's World that touches on some of them, the full article link is below and here are a few sections from the article.

Running Rules of Thumb
1. If you see a porta potty with no line, use it. Even if you don't need to.
2. If you have to ask yourself, Does this driver see me? The answer is no.
3. If you have to ask yourself, Are these shorts too short? The answer is yes.
4. 1 glazed doughnut = 2 miles
5. You rarely regret the runs you do; you almost always regret the runs you skip.
6. Not everyone who looks fast really is, and not everyone who looks slow really is.
7. Nobody has ever watched Chariots of Fire from beginning to end. Not even the people who made it.
8. You can never have too many safety pins on your gym bag.
9. Running any given route in the rain makes you feel 50 percent more hard-core than covering the same route on a sunny day.
10. If you care even a little about being called a jogger versus a runner, you're a runner.

Mark Remy's Rules to Run By at Runner's World

Quote of the Day:

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent"

-Calvin Coolidge

2010 Training

With the new already upon us I am a bit late in planning out my 2010 training and race schedule. This will be the first time I'm not following a specific training program, I am creating my own based on the areas I think I need to improve on and the programs and some of the resources that I have been reading up on. One program/running philosophy that I just started reading about and really appeals to me is the Lydiard running principals.

Arthur Lydiard is considered one of the most famous running coaches of all-time. He has been lauded as one of the outstanding athletics coaches of all time and is credited with popularizing the sport of running and making it commonplace across the sporting world. His training methods are based on a strong endurance base and periodisation.

I have found that having a strong base, lots of endurance training, really helps me and allows me to not only run a lot of races but increase my pace. Here is a good artical outline the basics.

Enjoy!

Essential Lydiard