Author: 36jonraessler50

My last post featured items that seem indestructible. Of course, you don’t know if you have one of these items unless it has lasted many years or been subjected to some sort of accidental trauma. Since it’s difficult to know items’ durability and assuming you want your running gear to last as long as possible there are easy, small things that can be done to extend its life. In one post I mentioned air-drying moisture-wicking technical clothing instead of putting it through the dryer.

Shoes can be a little tricky. They’re the most important item for a runner but they have the shortest life-span of the gear we use. Unlike pullovers or various hats, shoes must be used on every run regardless of temperature, condition, or distance. Most last 400-500 miles and there’s not much that can be done to extend that.

When running shoes still have life in them, they should be used exclusively for running. Additional steps and use wear them down faster. When I get a new pair of running shoes, I’ll eventually wear the prior pair for everyday use. However, before I do that I keep them to the side for several weeks. During that time, if the weather is rainy, muddy, or slushy I’ll use the last pair instead of the new ones. Running shoes are meant to get dirty and worn (and if you’re using trail shoes on trails, that’s a different story), but keeping them from getting soaked and trashed in the first few weeks may extend their life just a little. While they’re made of tough materials, subjecting them to extreme conditions from the get-go may shorten their life a little. If you can avoid that, the extra miles you gain may not be significant with one pair of shoes but over time, it can add up.

World marathon records and new 100M records grab our headlines, and deservedly so. These are remarkable accomplishments that deserve to be celebrated, as do the people who achieve them. And there are other kinds of accomplishments that will also draw my admiration.

Some time ago I read about a runner’s pursuit of going sub-four minutes at the mile and the number of years that he continued to work towards that goal. Unfortunately, I did not keep a copy of or link to the article. The short of it was that this runner decided in his mid-teens that he wanted a 3:59 (or better) at the mile distance. He was talented enough that it wasn’t a completely outrageous goal, but the odds weren’t heavily in his favor, either. If I remember correctly, he was twenty-eight when he finally broke the four minute barrier and it was 3:59 and change; no room to spare.

Besides the act of running a mile in under four minutes, there are a couple of things that impressed me with this person’s persistent pursuit. He would likely have been an amateur runner the whole time. Sub-four in the mile is blazing fast, but it’s nowhere near what you need to run at a professional level. Everything he did to maximize his potential would have been on his own time and his own dime.

There are open mile races out there, but they are not nearly as prevalent as 5Ks, half-marathons, or other popular distances. If you want a ratified, sub-four minute mile, you’ll need to be in an event on a track. Even if you want to be on a USATF-certified course for a more popular distance, there are plenty more events that allow you to have “live practice” so to speak, even if the course is slightly short or long of the posted distance. Some open miles out there are straight shots down long streets, or on airport runways, or downhill. Getting in competitive preparation on a track would be more limited.

Fourteen years or so in pursuit of a singular time goal requires extraordinary patience, especially given that he would have been within a few seconds on multiple attempts leading up to the final one. Knowing that you’re that close but realizing what a nearly insurmountable hurdle that is would have been frustrating. It may be that he did run occasional 5Ks or 10Ks on the road to mix things up, but I’m sure the temptation to move up in distance could have been strong, and yet he kept his focus on the sub-four.

There was no money in it and no real glory. Among runners, being a sub-four person carries a certain distinction but you would really need to be in it for your own gratification. I sat back from that article impressed. And, I also learned to keep my ears open. Watching the Ineos 1:59 Challenge or Cheptegei smash the 5000M world record is thrilling. And, there are other similarly thrilling stories out there that capture the perseverance and triumph of a determined runner.

We’re entering that time of year when training becomes more difficult. Though the holidays are winding down and schedules may ease a bit, even for the most dedicated of runners there are unyielding foes for the next several months: the effects of winter weather. With gym capacities currently reduced, running on an indoor track or treadmill may be more difficult, and possibly not advisable. Yet, getting outside in poor conditions isn’t impossible and even if you own a treadmill, there may be more opportunities to run outside than would seem apparent at first.

Oddly, the first day of a snowstorm can provide the best snow to run in. Though it is slippery and it requires caution to run, the accumulating powder is far better than what you can get into on the days following the storms. If we have a snow heading our way, I’m definitely planning to get out on that first day.

Once the snow has been on the ground for a while, it gets packed down and much more slippery. The foot traffic has not compacted it evenly and some patches will melt more quickly than others, making for a bumpy and potentially uncomfortable run. There are methods to avoid this. If the weather has warmed a bit and some snow has melted, consider areas near your home that are well exposed to the sun and are likely to have cleared more. These may provide good routes while you wait for the shadier areas to melt and dry off. (Hint: for those of us in the northern hemisphere, the south-facing sidewalks that are unobstructed by trees and sidewalks are the ones where this occurs the fastest.)

If the snowpack is thick and/or there’s ice and it’s not going away, a good pair of YakTrax or other traction devices can keep you upright. They’re not the most comfortable items to wear and they’re not built for speed, but compared against a broken limb, these side effects are well worth it. If you’re dealing with solid ice, it may be best to consider a day off. It’s an unforgiving surface.

Flexibility in your training schedule is also a way around the snow and ice. For example, if you’re planning a long run on a Sunday but the forecast is for snow, then consider trading out your Sunday and Saturday runs. It may also be that the overall schedule has to get adjusted. If it’s an excessively snowy, icy winter then extensive speedwork and training miles may not pan out exactly the way you want. You can still get out there, but making slight adjustments may be necessary.

Though there may be times to avoid running outside, such as when there’s solid ice, if there is a little snow or if the surfaces are starting to ease a bit in terms of being slippery, I find it beneficial to run on them. It can take a little more focus and speed adjustment, but it acclimates your body and mind to a different set of running circumstances. From a pragmatic standpoint, if you’re planning to do a few races this prepares you for a condition that can show up on race day, even in the late fall or early spring. From a comparison standpoint, it can allow you to appreciate the sunny, seventy degree days that will follow in the spring and summer. And, there can be a lot of enjoyment. One of my favorite winter runs of the past several years came during a snowstorm when a couple of friends and I hit the local trails. Set just a short distance away from the city, it was far enough to provide a quiet, serene escape for an evening.

Running and training in winter provides challenges. It’s the reason I wouldn’t pick an early spring race to peak for a certain goal time because who knows whether the training schedule will hold. Yet, with a little planning ahead and flexibility, it’s still possible to stay out there and moving.

In the spirit of the fact that December is a busy month, this post will be short.

For past holiday seasons, I’ve listed tips on ways to keep up running routines. Schedules get jam-packed with events and parties and squeezing in time for miles may be more difficult. Since there will probably be fewer events occurring this year, perhaps maintaining running (or other fitness routines) will be easier.

However, if the holidays or end of year work schedules are still dominating your calendar and you’re feeling stressed about fitting in a run, here are a couple of suggestions. The key with these is to plan ahead for them so that they are your revised running training plan, as opposed to falling short of your usual goals.

Maybe it’s sensible to cut your weekly mileage by a bit through the season. While frustrating, it’s also better than cutting out running completely. Or, if you’re going out three to five times per week, perhaps aim for three until early January. While it’s frustrating to not stay at your usual level, setting a temporary different standard allows you to maintain your fitness and to have a more manageable goal. Either way, when January comes you can ramp up the training again and also run with the confidence of having maintained a running schedule.

Enjoy the countdown to 2021.

GPS watches have gained in popularity for several years now, to the point where I’m pretty sure I was in the minority with my “regular” watch at my local run club. When I first saw GPS watches in the early 2000s, they were brick-sized machines worn on the wrist, or they were a regular-sized watch that took their signal from a large armband which was worn on the upper bicep. Since that time, the designs evolved considerably and they now have the appearance and size of a standard watch. When running with people who use them, it was useful to have distance measurements and to know our overall pace when they called these numbers out. Still, I resisted buying one. My main objection was in wondering whether it would help with my running, and I wasn’t convinced that it would make a substantial difference.

I used Google maps to chart courses and if I was on an unknown route or travelling, I just went by time. My standard training pace is around 7:15-7:30 per mile so I went with 8:00 per mile, figuring that if I was going slow, I would be on target and if I was at my average speed, the extra mileage wouldn’t hurt me.

While it may seem a bit contradictory to be focused on the precision of time and splits in races while then sometimes going with not-so-accurate ways to measure my running distances, I enjoyed the balance. Having a more casual approach to distance measurement was a way to enjoy the freedom of the run without being overly concerned with data. And, my race times were within what I was expecting based on my mileage and speedwork. In other words, the lack of data was not hurting my running in a significant way.

When I’ve run new routes during the pandemic, I wanted to mix things up so I would take random turns or new neighborhood loops mid-run. I used my 8:00 per mile method of measurement and assumed I was logging more miles. When I went on a “six mile” out-and-back run with some friends of mine, well before my usual turnaround point, one of them said, “We’re at three miles.” We turned around and I’m assuming that my past six mile runs on that route had really been closer to seven. While I didn’t mind the extra mileage, this did spark my curiosity on how far I was actually running and whether knowing that in more detail would be beneficial. For example, if my race week mileage was getting a little stretched, maybe that was causing me to lose a few seconds on race day. Not a big deal but like any runner, I want the best time possible. I wouldn’t say I was consciously inching towards acquiring a GPS watch but something in my subconscious must have been pushing me in that direction to where I hit a breaking point and picked one up.

What got me to that point? During a time trial this past summer, I learned that not only could you get your average pace over the total distance of the run, the watch would tell you how fast you were going at that moment. When I went out too fast during the trial, the watch that one of my friends was wearing showed our pace and I was able to back off to the pre-planned speed. Having a good feel for in-run pace can be challenging and being able to see it finally sold me on the idea that the watch’s features would benefit my running and not just be extra data to have on hand.

Besides showing current pace, the watch does allow for some fun and freedom. During my first week with it, I went on two new routes and took random turns and loops, being able to count on the watch to track it without worrying about the number of minutes run, especially if I was changing my pace to observe new direction possibilities. On routes where I know the distance, it’s beneficial to see the pace and the smaller distance increments I’ve covered.

The watch may not allow me to drop minutes off of my 5K time but it will allow me to explore new routes and know what my total mileage is. I’ll have a better sense of how fast (or slow) I’m going in-run as opposed to getting that data at mile-markers or other landmarks. It may not completely transform me as a runner (nor would I want it to) but it will help nudge me into having a little more knowledge, and thus increase my chances of better results, even if they are small improvements.

I ran a third 5000M time trial of the summer/fall several days ago. Running a consistent pace is one of the more challenging aspects of racing. This trial was on a track which would allow me to make adjustments if I was too far off the pace. I mapped out 400M splits that would get me to 18:57 which came out to 91 seconds/400M. The challenge with running every lap at the same speed is you actually need to run a little harder at every lap. Your body is getting tired and naturally slows, so you need to push past that. Though it has always worked for me in terms of reaching a goal time, it’s unpleasant. Thinking about that and ignoring that it has worked before, I suggested the idea of alternating my laps at 92/90 to a friend of mine who was going to time us and count the laps.  I thought pushing a little harder then backing off might make the run easier. He echoed what I have advised many times in the past—go with consistency. I abandoned the idea of 92/90 and went with the goal of 91s.

I knew two things going in based on prior racing experience. One was that my first lap would probably be too fast. However, as I was on a track, I could check my splits every 100M and back off as needed. Two, if I kept to the pace, there was a reasonable chance I could run the final 400M in a little under 91 seconds.

The morning was originally forecast to be in the low thirties but in a surprise switch, it was fifty. This was just perfect 5K weather. After a two-mile warm-up, stretching, and striders, it was time. There were two of us running and one timing—we would get our lap times called out to us and this proved to be immensely helpful.

True to form, my first 100M was around 19 seconds and I crossed the 200M at 42. Even backing off a little, 400M was still too fast-right around 87 seconds. I didn’t panic, put on the brakes a little, and kept moving. For the first 1200M, I felt wonderful. The pace didn’t seem too out of reach and though there were some odd hot/cold air pockets on the track and a little breeze, everything felt fine. Starting at 1201M, the pain began to creep in and as I wound from that point to 3200M, it gradually increased and the run was losing its appeal. Except, I was hitting my laps right on pace, 90-91s though by laps 8 and onward, a few 92s started to work their way in. While on one hand I didn’t have any “cushion” to work with, I was right there.

The downside was that I was feeling worse and worse. With 1000M to go, I felt rotten and in retrospect, it’s possible I’ve felt that lousy in a race in the past, but not when I was right on the edge of a goal time. With 800M to go, I was at 16:00. This initially concerned me. When I ran 19:01 earlier this fall, with a half mile to go I was also at 16:00. I didn’t quite go under 19:00 on that day but I had covered the final quarter mile in around 80 seconds. Remembering that, I knew that if I could hold the next 400M at around 90 seconds, I had a decent shot at going under 19:00. In spite of the ever-growing pain, this was a motivating thought.

And, I was still hitting every lap at anywhere from 90 to 92 seconds. The consistency was working. I hit the “bell lap” at 17:30, 200M to go at 18:15 (90-second 400M pace over those 600M if you don’t want to do the math) and then managed to turn over a 41-second final 200M for a finish at 18:56.

In theory I shouldn’t need any reminders that consistency is best when going for a certain time. If you go out too fast, the last chunk of the race will be even more painful than the consistency version. If you’ve aimed too slow, you can always pick it up over the last 800M or 1200M and then reevaluate for next time. And, if you pick the right time, just about at the point where you’re not sure how much more you can turn over, you should be cruising (maybe struggling at a fast pace) across the finish line.

One aspect of running that I appreciate is that just as life is often a complicated mix of gray areas and caveats and not simple right or wrong, so too is running. Only one male and one female will win on race day. If we look at course, state, national, or world records, even fewer people will attain those in their lifetimes. Yet, we still go out there and run and compete. Unlike competitions which focus exclusively on the win/loss outcome, there are numerous goals you can aim for in running. There are certainly people who are racing to be first and who can be legitimately disappointed if they’re not. But, if you’re not in a race for the podium or a course record, perhaps the goal is a new personal best time at a certain distance. Maybe you’re trying to finish a certain distance whether that’s a 5K, half-marathon, full marathon, or 100-miler. There is joy in accomplishing these goals, even if you weren’t “the best” that day.

Often, maybe more often than we realize, we encounter situations where right/wrong or win/lose is not easily discerned, even if it seems obvious. In running, it would be easy to assume disappointment if you saw that someone finished second in a 5K by five seconds. While it’s possible they went out too fast and fell apart at the end, it’s also possible that they smashed their former personal best and completely surprised themselves. Maybe they wish they’d also gotten the win, but that feeling may be smothered under what they did achieve.

We can take our own talents, our own training, and our own goals and work accordingly. At the end of a race there are often many smiles, not because there were dozens of divisions each yielding a winner, but because we can recognize our accomplishments within our own expectations. Sure, we would like a win and some days, that will be there for us. Other times, we can evaluate our success according to our own progress and expectations. On the other side of this, there can also be disappointment at the end of a race because we didn’t run as well as we wanted. Similar to misinterpreting a second place disappointment, it’s easy to assume that just because someone ran faster than you, they must feel somewhat good about the result. Not necessarily true, especially if they completely blew their goal.

We all always want to be improving and with running, we can work towards our goals not necessarily with the focus on win/loss, but how we’re doing relative to our training, talent, and the field that day. Evaluating our performances with a more nuanced analysis can help us keep moving forward.

Over the past several months, efforts have been made to restart many sports and athletic events and there have been significant changes within most of them. Even early on during the pandemic, it seemed likely that some running events would still be held. There were still many questions, such as who would appear and how the events would look, considering that training routines and travel were significantly impacted.

A few weeks ago, Joshua Cheptegei broke the 5000M world record in a time of 12:35, knocking nearly two full seconds off the previous mark that was held by Keninisa Bekele for sixteen years. With that plus two other events over the next week, we may actually witness a significant shaping of running history in spite of the turbulence around us.

The London Marathon is hosting an elite-only race this coming Sunday, October 4^th, featuring a handful of invited athletes who will compete on a roughly 2-kilometer course in a contained biosphere in St. James’ Park. London assembled a stunning field including Eliud Kipchoge, Kenenisa Bekele, and Mosinet Geremew on the men’s side, and Brigid Kosgei, Ruth Chepngetich, and Vivian Cheruiyot for the women. How their training over the last several months has been changed due to the pandemic will impact how the race plays out. I wouldn’t currently bet against Kipchoge in the marathon but he loves crowds, who won’t be present, and if his preparation hasn’t been exactly as he would like, that may be a factor. Bekele has been all over the place in terms of how his preparation matches his performance, but I would see this kind of scenario possibly benefitting him. With it being a race with many laps, where he has excelled, and with the event being a bit unorthodox, that may shake things up in a way that works for him. Geremew made a valiant effort at London in 2019 and though he was 18 seconds behind Kipchoge, that’s close enough to consider making another run at the win. I would still predict a Kipchoge victory, but these unusual circumstances make predictions a little less solid.

Last fall, Kosgei broke the women’s world marathon record in jaw-dropping fashion, her time of 2:14:04 knocking nearly ninety seconds off the previous mark of 2:15:25. (On a tangential note, she would have qualified for the men’s US Olympic trials with nearly four minutes to spare.) Almost equally noteworthy is that the previous mark was over ninety seconds faster than the next fastest woman’s time of 2:17:01. Cheruiyot’s accomplishments are many, including four Olympic medals, and Chepngetich is the current world champion with a personal best of 2:18:08. While times alone would point to Kosgei dominating, maybe she simply showed what was possible.

In earlier posts, I’ve discussed the data and arguments over who the GOAT is in men’s distance running. I’ve also hypothesized that Joshua Cheptegei could enter that conversation. The three primary distances when discussing the GOAT are the 5000M, 10000M, and the marathon. My initial thought on Cheptegei’s contention (though he’s still some ways away from being a solid contender) was his smashing of the 5K road world record in 2020. He also temporarily held the 10K road world record last year. And now, he has the 5000M track record. A couple of weeks ago, it was announced that Cheptegei will make an attempt to break the 10000M world record on the track on October 7^th.

With Kipchoge and Bekele both being in the GOAT conversation and competing head-to-head in London, and then Cheptegei making this WR attempt a few days later in Valencia, in a year where we wondered how the professional running scene would look, we potentially have a 96-hour period where the GOAT conversation may be significantly altered. I’ve maintained that if Bekele can break the marathon world record, he would be the GOAT in my book. His marathon resume is not as dominant as Kipchoge’s (no one’s is) but he does have multiple major wins and his accomplishments at the 5000M and 10000M distances are incredible. What if he became only the second person to win at 26.2 against Kipchoge even without setting a new world record? That also affects the conversation.

If Cheptegei sets the 10000M world record on October 7^th, he is still not fully a member of the discussion, but he’s definitely got one or two feet in the door. There are a couple of major things missing. He has world championship medals but no Olympic medals. He competed in the 2016 Rio Olympic games, though in all fairness he was only nineteen years old. (While I’m sure he had access to incredible coaching and resources, I think about how I ran when I was nineteen compared to later on and it’s quite different.) Also, he has not yet competed in a marathon, though it’s not reasonable that he would have. Typically runners graduate to that distance later in their careers. All that being said, at only twenty-four years old and with the Olympics potentially being held next year, he could do a couple of things that would build up his resume for the GOAT.

A few months ago, I would have assumed that any GOAT-shaping events would probably be delayed until 2021 but life surprises us in good ways sometimes. It may not have been a year where we get our full offering of running events that we enjoy, but seeing them in adapted ways works for now.

Sources used:

https://letsrun.com

https://www.npr.org/2019/10/13/769917804/kenyan-brigid-kosgei-smashes-womens-world-record-at-chicago-marathon

https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a27244432/eliud-kipchoge-wins-london-marathon-in-2nd-fastest-time-in-history/

https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a33649487/joshua-cheptegei-world-record-strava/

https://www.runnersworld.com/races-places/a33916287/london-marathon-bubble/

https://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/event-info/spectator-info/elite-fields/index.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon#:~:text=The%20marathon%20is%20a%20long,run%20as%20a%20road%20race.&text=The%20marathon%20can%20be%20completed,with%20a%20run%2Fwalk%20strategy

One feature I would love in any race is to have a person to stick with who I know is running my goal pace. Even though running is mostly repetitive motion, it’s much easier to stay at a certain pace if you’ve got someone to run with. It takes the thinking and in-race math out of the equation and I will attest that math gets very sketchy in the latter stages of a race. I write my projected splits on an index card and tape it to my wrist so I don’t have to do the math. I just hit the mile marks, look at the card and my watch, and adjust if necessary. But, that’s not the same as having someone to stick with.

In many professional races, pacers will be employed to lead the field and keep the top runners at a pre-determined speed whether it’s for a world, national, or even course record. Sometimes it works brilliantly, such as when Brigid Kosgei broke the world marathon record in Chicago last year. Sometimes it doesn’t work and the field gets nowhere close to the record. Occasionally the pacers don’t pan out but a record is set anyway, such as when Kipchoge set the marathon world record in Berlin in 2018.

I’ve paced people in workouts and it’s fun. The key with pacing, whether it’s for a race or workout, is that you want whoever’s pacing to be able to hold whatever time you agree on without having to completely max themselves out. They need to be able to hold an even speed. When I did some 4 X 800M workouts with a friend, he wanted a pace I knew wouldn’t be too hard to keep. I hit every 200M split right on target, he got the times he wanted, and I got to practice running in a very controlled way.

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine offered to pace me in a 5K time trial. He’s faster than me and the pace we chose would be one that he could hold without too much strain. He would fold it into a longer workout at that speed and I would be pushing myself to where I thought my current top 5K is. After a brisk two-mile warmup, we set off on a 5K out-and-back course. We kept at the pace we wanted and through most of the first half, I was charging up the small hills fairly well and feeling pretty good while holding even with him.

Right before the turnaround, I was starting to lag. After we finished, my friend commented that at that point he thought I was done at that speed and during the run, I was thinking the same thing. But here’s what makes a difference. Not only was I still close to the pace but he was holding the time we wanted and I could see exactly where that was. Instead of being on my own on a course, feeling the mid-race burn, and wondering exactly how much faster I had to go to catch up to the pace, I could see where I needed to be. Partly because of this, somewhere in the next quarter mile I found a second wind. While I fell off by a small bit over the next mile-plus, I could always see where I needed to get and though I was wondering just how I could hold on, having someone to work with helped tremendously.

While I enthusiastically recommend pacing on both sides, it is tricky. Even if you have a pacer who can hold the tempo you want relatively easily, there are other factors. I tend to go out too fast so while I would be glad to pace someone in an open road race or time trial, I would need to do some preparatory work. That might involve running with the person a fair amount leading up to it, and at least practicing running at that pace so it became second nature. But, it’s well-worth the effort and it’s a huge boost to the person being paced. For the pacer, there’s not only the reward of helping someone out, you also can develop your own skills in terms of moderating your own running and learning or reinforcing how to run in a controlled way.