The Greatest Addiction Ever:

Just more reason to enjoy that cup of joe in the morning, then for me 2-3 more throughout the day.

Running in Shanghai, China

I'm off to spend another 4th of July in Communist China. I have spent the last few July 4th in Shanghai for work, my company exhibits at a show that lands on the first weekend in July. The first few trips were a lot of fun and a great experience, however, during this time of year in Shanghai it is extremely hot, like 100-120 degrees and humid. Shanghai is about 20 million people and it feels like a very modern and somewhat western city. I would compare it to New York on steroids, the rate of growth in China and specifically in Shanghai is staggering.

For example, Minneapolis is has been planning and is now constructing a 2nd light rail line in the Twin Cities. It is scheduled to be completed in 2014, and planning began around 2003-4, so a 10 year project. Shanghai has built a new subway line every year for 7 years straight, they have built a 110 story building in less than 5 years. They have hosted the most elaborate World Expo the world has ever seen, which drew crowds of millions a day. ( I waited almost 2 hours to get into the Italy pavilion and it wasn't even one of the longest lines.)

So what does this mean for me who is trying to stay in shape and get a few miles in while traveling to Shanghai. First is means no more blog post. That's right the Chinese government censors the internet...HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? Anyways that mean I can't access my blog, twitter, facebook, youtube, sort like the 1990's again. It will also mean running on a treadmill or the crowded and polluted streets of Shanghai.

I'll be sure to take some pictures and try to take some videos and post them when I get back. Sorry you will all just have to live without my blog for 10 days.

Runners Vs. Cyclist

Though this was good.

Quote of the Day:

"Putting Life in your Years is just as important and putting Years in your Life"

-Tim Ferris
Author of the 4 Hour Work Week and 4 Hour Body

New Balance Minimus Road: Shoe Review

Video post reviewing the Men's New Balance, NB Minimus running MR10 11 M


Pros:

• Light weight
• Good feel
• Minimal shoe
• Durable
• Can be used for trainer and racing shoe

Cons:

• Will still take time to get used to it
• Not 100% zero drop shoe

Overall:
I think the New Balance Minimus is a very good shoe that will meet a lot of my needs for training, racing and I hope to get a lot of miles out of them. I would definitely recommend this to someone that has been running in a minimalist shoe for a while and is looking to continue or further they training in a minimal shoe.


Runner's World Review:


NEW BALANCE NB MINIMUS ROAD
Price: $100
WIDTHS: Standard
WEIGHT: 8.5 oz (M) 7.6 oz (W)
CONTACT: 800-253-7463; newbalance.com

WE SAY: With a stripped-down design, the lightweight Minimus Road boasts a snug fit, firm cushioning, and a thin sole (just 19.2 millimeters in the heel and 13.8 in the forefoot). The heel is only 5.4 millimeters higher than the forefoot (with most shoes, it's 12 to 14 millimeters), which encourages midfoot striking. Some testers found the forefoot hemmed in their toes a little. We recommend it as a speedwork shoe to use when doing strides, or as a foot-strengthening tool when walking.

WEAR-TESTER'S SAY
"The shoe fit well, but it had very little cushioning."
—Kate Galinus, 53, Allentown

"I liked how it forced me to land mid-foot, even though the toebox was off."
—Kim Aeschliman, 36, East Lansing

Grandma's Marathon:2011

Another Grandma's marathon has come and gone. This was the 35th annual running of the Grandma's marathon that saw a rebound in numbers from recent years. Despite the numbers being down and not selling out the marathon for the third year in a row now Grandma's still attracts elite competition. The winning time for this year overall winner was 2:12:15 by Christopher Kipyego, who narrowly edged second place finisher Teklu Deneke. Check out the finish line video to see how close it was.

I would be finishing just over an hour after these two sprinted for the finish line. Still recovering from a brutal Kettle Moraine 100 race two weeks ago I went into the race feeling fairly recovered, however, with only doing 4 workouts in between the two races there was not much to judge from. I was planning on running with a friend of mine for at least the first half of the race or at least until I felt good enough to take off or bad enough to fall behind, this year it would be the latter. The weather the morning of the race was cold and raining, the forecast said that it would let up a little but temps would remain in the high 40's or low 50's. As Ben (his blog) and I waited to be bused out to the starting line we got wet and cold. When we arrived however, the rain seemed to let up and the temps were right around 50 with a slight tail wind. In my mind this is just about perfect weather for a marathon.

During the warm up I could really feel my left foot and it was sore, probably from hobbling on it for the last 23 miles at Kettle. It didn't feel too bad but definitely noticeable and not a good sign during your warm ups. Other than that I felt ok and the shins, which had been killing the past two races, felt pretty good. All of the runners piled into the starting gate and got set. The race director blew the horn and we were off. Right from the start my left foot felt sore almost like a stress fracture, but I told myself you've never had a stress fracture so you don't really know what that feels like. I had no argument for that so decided to see how it felt after a few miles. My legs felt good and Ben and I were cruising along at about 6min 40 sec miles. Ben wanted to break 3 hours, a pace of 6:52, so we were doing pretty good. I didn't really feel bad but I didn't really feel like I should be going any faster, the pace seemed just slightly uncomfortable, which is good.

The first 4 miles went by before I even knew it, it was nice to run with Ben because we were at a comfortable enough pace to talk a bit back and forth. Miles 5-10 seems to go well and we were consistently hitting 6:40-6:50 mile splits and my foot seemed to be feeling better. Ben predicted that we would cross the halfway point at 1:28:15, we crossed at 1:28:07, not a bad guess. This was great for Ben's goal of a sub 3hour marathon, he has nearly 2 minute "in the bank" meaning he was 2 minute ahead of his pace.

After we crossed the halfway point I could start to feel my shins starting to act up and my legs started to get heavy. At mile 14 I had to stop and get a rock out of my shoe, Ben ran on but I kept him in sight, about 200 yards in front of me, for about another mile. At this point I really started to deteriorate quickly. There was no way that I was going to keep up a sub 7 minute pace for much longer and I didn't. Miles 17-24 were pretty tough (as you can see from me Garmin readout below) I started to run 7-8 minute or higher. I did have to stop and walk a few times, which is something I really really do not like to do in a marathon, but I was struggling my shins really tightened up and walking seemed to loosen them up a bit.

The last few miles of the course run though the heart of Duluth's downtown and there is a ton of great crowd support. I think this picked my spirits up a bit because I was able to pick up the pace for the last two miles. I crossed the line with a time of 3:15:11 not a bad time but a bit off of my normal pace. Normally I would head for the cool waters of Lake Superior to cool down my legs by wading out into the cool water, but on a 50 degree rainy day I opted for a hot shower instead. My legs felt sore and tired but I still enjoyed the race and had a great time.

The two other friends that I knew running both set PR's Ben crossed the line with a 2:56:03 and Edward another friend of mine that does a lot of trail ultras (his blog) set a PR with a time of 3:43:37. A big congrats to both of them, I guess I'm just getting slow in my old age.

Finish Line Video

Results

Sorry I didn't really get any good pictures from the race, but here are the ones that the official race photography company took. Yeah that's right I was rocking the arm warmers.

Last Name:Hanlon
Bib #: 4704
Event: Grandma's Marathon 2011

Photos

Grandma's Marathon:2011

I'm off to another Grandma's Marathon tomorrow. It is the 35th Annual race that is full a history and has produce some great races. It seems like quite a long time ago that I toed the line for my first marathon 5 years ago with the goal of finishing and not dieing. A lot has changed since then in my running world but the one thing that is the same is the Grandma's marathon, it is still an awesome race. It is extremely well organized, well supported, great fan support the entire way, the course is beautiful and very fast and with all of the activities surrounding the race it makes for an amazing weekend each year.

I am going into this race with some mixed feelings as to how I want to approach the race. I have actually recovered quite well from my 100 miler in Kettle Moraine and now that I am not running the Black Hills 100 miler next weekend I don't really have to save myself for that race. I'd like to run a sub 3 hour time as long as my shins hold up again. I haven't had any issues with them lately so hopefully they are on the road to recovery. I also have a few friends running the race and one of them Ben, his blog, is trying for a PR. His current PR is 3:06 I believe, so I might try and pace him for the race, though I'm pretty bad at keeping a consistent pace so I might do more damage then good. It is always hard from me not to give it my all when I'm out on the course, I don't think its pride or the need to "always do my best" but rather that I get caught up in the moment and it is just so enjoyable to just, as my friend Evan would say "Drop the Plow" and go. So we'll see what happens this weekend, I will not guarantee any results other than I'm sure it will be another great Grandma's marathon weekend.

I'll be sure to post my results and you can even watch a live feed of the finish line below.

Link to Live Video Feed: Click Here

Frequently Asked Questions: Ultra Running

Since I've started running marathons and now especially ultra marathons I seem to get a lot of questions about why I do it and a how. I have compiled some of the most frequently asked questions that people ask me.


Q: Why? This by far is the most commonly asked question I get.
A: This is a question for a separate blog post.


Q: Do you stop and sleep during the 50 or 100 mile races?
A: Nope, you do stop at aid stations for a few minutes to refill water bottles and grab some food, but only for a few minutes. There are certain ultra races that happen over several days but the ones that I do you go straight through.


Q: How much do you run normally?
A: Actually I run less miles weekly than I did when training for a marathon. On average I run about 50-70 miles a week, most of the miles coming from the 1-2 longs runs of 20+ miles.

Q: What do you eat when you running?
A: During training I normally just eat Clif Bar Shot Blocks and gels. I prefer the black cherry shot blocks and Powerbar Tangerine gels. I'll drink mostly water but sometimes on really long runs I'll drink Gatorade, EnduroMax or coconut water.


Q: What is your normal diet?
A: I don't really follow a specific diet and over the past few years I have really experimented with my diet to see what will be the best fit for me. Right now I follow something close to the Paleo diet and the Slow-Carb Diet. I follow them fairly loosely but they are my general guidelines as of now, my search for the optimal diet is still a work in progress.

I have tried numerous things from a Raw Food Diet, to Vegetarian, High Protein Diet, High Carbohydrate Diet, Low Carb Diet, Standard American Diet (SAD) and even an all Liquid Diet.
As of now I'm settled on a hybrid of the Slow Carb and Paleo diets.


Q: Don't your knees hurt or aren't you afraid that you'll do long-term damage to your knees?
A: No, running is like anything if done properly you should not have any long-term issue with your knees or legs. The problem is that there are a lot of people that have very poor running form which leads to injuries and long-term damage.

My knees are very strong and I have never had any issues with them, I'm probably doing more damage to them by sitting at a desk 8-10 hours a day than any running that I'm doing. Generally people with bad knees are people that play sports like basketball, football, soccer ect. Yes, there are runners that have bad knees, but that is more often the exception not the rule.


Q: Is it healthy to run a marathon, 50miles, 100mile.

A: Short answer No, No and No. The human body is designed to go up to about 20 miles and anything longer than that is really taxing on the body from a nutritional, structurally stressing and muscular stand point. However, the unique feature of the human body is that if you stress it and allow it to properly recover it will become stronger. That is the simplistic basis of all training programs for marathons or longer. So no it is not healthy to run these distances, but the overall net health gains by eating and training for these types of events is generally a net gain from those who do not participate in other physical activities.


Q: You are probably a natural runner or generically inclined towards running right?

A: This is a classic nature vs. nurture argument. My response is that I do not believe that I have any more physical or genetic inclination or advantage as a runner than the average person. I would say that my desire and passion towards running is much higher than the average person. I was born with cold weather and exercise induced asthma which does not lend itself well for distance runners. Standing at a intimidating 5ft 8 inches, most of which is my torso, my limb ratio is not bad, but it is certainly not advantageous for me as a runner. I have never been tested for my VO2 max or lactic thresholds, so I do not know if I have any genetic advantage there or not.

My personal opinion is that there is certainly genetic or nature characteristics that help athletes, such as Lance Armstrong's lactic threshold is off the charts. I believe that most people have the necessary physical ability to become very very good at any sport, skill or activity if they put the necessary time and effort. The genetic features come into play certainly and when you put the time and effort and have the necessary natural abilities that is when you get a world-class athlete or performer.


Q: Don't you get bored? Do you use an ipod when running?

A: I don't really get bored when running. I personally think that it is very meditative when I'm doing my longer easier runs and when I'm doing tempo or speed work I'm concentrating on my pace too much to get bored. Long runs are great times to workout any problems that you have, I have yet to have a problem that after a 3 hour run I didn't feel better about. Another plus is that elevating your heart rate in any activity releases a lot of endorphins similar to the ones that are in antidepressants (runner's high effect I suppose).

I generally don't use an ipod when running, but sometimes during the winter on my long runs and when I run on the treadmill I will use one. When I started running I never had one, so I guess I have always been used to not having one.


Q: What do you think about when you are out running?

A: I think about the same thing I do every time I run. I think about way to try and take over the world.


Q: Did you just drop a Pinky and the Brain reference?

A: Yes, yes I did.


Q: What do you think is the most important keys to running well.

A: I think that the number one thing for almost all level of distance runners to focus on in injury prevention. At most levels whether you are a serious competitor or just running for fun if you can avoid injuries you will be able to not only enjoy running more but you will also be able to progress as a runner a lot more effectively.


Q: How many shoes do you go through?

A: Thankfully I can usually get about 500-600 miles out of most of my training shoes. I have been slowly transitioning into a more and more minimalist shoe which has allowed me to get the most out of my shoes. With normal mileage I will generally buy a new pair of shoes every few months, but I also buy different trail running shoes and racing flats for road races so I spend plenty on shoes each year.


I hope that will provide some good info for those of you wondering about running these types of events. If you have any other questions feel free to post them in the comments below and I'll certainly do my best to answer them.

Quote of the Day:

"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."

-Vince Lombardi

Old Video: Minneapolis Marathon 2010 Finish Line

Here is an old finish line video from the 2010 Minneapolis Marathon. I was hurting pretty bad from about mile 20 and the last hill to the finish.

You can tell I'm struggling a bit.

Video