I finished my first race of the season on Saturday; the Fountain Lake Five (the actual distance is more like 5.1 miles) here in Albert Lea, Minnesota. My time: 31:19. My place: 3rd overall and 1st in my age division (which was actually 2nd in my age division because the overall winner was my age). [...]
Archive for April, 2010
Speed work and the benefits of minimal footwear
Yesterday I did a moderated speed workout on the track with the kids. We did four sets of 2 x (200m run with 200m jog) + 400m run with 400m jog. With the jogging and running portions of the workout added together, each set equals one mile. When the boys were done, I did one [...]
Harvard professor on barefoot running
In this video Dr. Daniel Lieberman explains the differences between barefoot running and shod (running with shoes on) running. According to Lieberman, the running shoes we wear these days encourage us to land on our heels first. The initial heel strike sends a great deal of stress up the leg and into the body. For [...]
On not running every day…
For a casual runner like myself, it is simply not practical to expect that I’m going to run six days a week every week during the season. It’s easy to get frustrated by this fact, but I’ve started to look at my training differently. Since December 9, I’ve run 63 workouts for a total of [...]
Are even splits all they’re cracked up to be?
This Runner’s World article from 2007 shows that 5k runners may just hit PR’s if they take their first mile 3% to 6% faster than they usually do. But then why do world class runners keep even and/or negative splits when they race? According to the article, elite runners keep their pace up right from [...]
Barefoot on grass
A few years ago I attended a coaches clinic at Park Center High School in Brooklyn Park. A mid-distance coach from Penn State spoke about shin splints. He suggested that the reason kids get shin splints is that they haven’t spent enough time running with their shoes off. Barefoot running, he argued, strengthens the feet [...]
Great interview with Ryan Hall
The Boston Marathon is coming soon (April 19, 2010). Here’s a fascinating interview with Ryan Hall about things he’s doing differently this year to train for Boston. He says he wants to keep his training tactics in the final two weeks a secret. Hmmm. I wonder what he’s up to. Read the Hall interview here.
Can’t say enough about aerobic fitness
Aerobic fitness is probably the single most important factor in determining the success that a distance runner or middle distance runner will have on the track (or on the cross country course). That said, it is very hard to cultivate aerobic fitness unless some other key ingredients are not being added at the same time. [...]
Is Pronation Good?
For the longest time I felt being a “pronator” was a bad thing. That is, until I watched a slow motion video of Haile Gebrselassie. It’s ridiculous how much he pronates. If Haile were to visit his neighborhood podiatrist, chances are he’d promptly get fitted for a pair of orthodontics. Which would be a little [...]
Minimalist Running Shoes
Over the last few years I’ve thought a lot about running shoes. My biggest frustration is that there really isn’t much careful explanation out there about why running shoes are designed to make you run differently that you would if you were barefoot. (Photo: Asics Gel Hyper Speed 3. My current running/training shoes.) Is running [...]