ten people i would like to run with ... a blog bounce

yesterday i found brian burk's post entitled "Ten People I Would Like To Run With ....." and was intrigued.  i usually hate list-type posts (especially on twitter where people try to lure you into reading something by teasing out "top five things that" or "the number one thing that"), but for whatever reason this caught my attention.   

so here's my list (also posted as a comment on brian's page):

1. my wife - she's an occasional treadmill runner, but it would be great to get her out onto the roads and be able to share some of the time that i spend out there with her.
2. emil zátopek - in his army boots, no less!
3. haile gebrselassie - the great one.  'nuff said.
4. chrissie wellington - is there a more positive person on the planet?
   
5. dick and rick hoyt - i'm sure that i would be different forever after running with them.
   
6. steve prefontaine - after one run i'd know what putting it all out there is truly like.
7. yuki kawauchi - at the conclusion of which i'm sure that i would pass out and feel like i was dying while being attended to by the medics.
8. my grandfather - the dude had one leg and served as an admiral (on loan to the British) who helped save over fifty men from an invading japanese force.
   
9. forrest gump (!) - the patron saint of runners.  and table tennis players.  and shrimp boaters.
10. eric liddell - so we could both feel God's pleasure when we ran.

who makes your list?

ten people i would like to run with ... a blog bounce

form or function?

visual learner here.

i'll spend more time picking up tips about any activity or sport by watching video clips than i will by reading or even receiving directed instruction.  something about how my brain is wired craves just to focus (and refocus) on seeing something done well in order to learn how to do it myself.

this is why i have so many marathons on pvr.

reviewing the running strides of the world's best runners seems to imprint on me how to get better at running myself.  of course this is a tricky business, since there is no single 'correct' running form, and many different styles seem to excel, from paula radcliffe to masakazu fujiwara to ryan hall to priscah jeptoo ...

anyway, i just came across this article published earlier this fall comparing the form and stride mechanics of the top three men's finishers at the 2013 great north run - kenenisa bekele, haile gebrselassie and mo farah.  all great track athletes and now road runners.  

if you're interested in breaking down the working bits of the best running strides in the world, this is definitely worth a read!

form or function?

which world record are you talking about?

i like wilson kipsang.

by all accounts that i've read and seen he is a genuinely nice guy who is proud of his heritage, his country and who gives back to the running community.

now, he is (deservedly) the new holder of the marathon world record.

gotta respect him for that.

since his record-smashing run this past sunday in berlin, all sorts of interesting things have hit the interweb world.  some of them i believe are worth sharing, like the breakdown of his race into meaningful statistics.  i also like this little comparison chart - "how long could you keep up with the new marathon world record holder?"  sure, these are bits of trivia, but they remind us of just how tremendous is his accomplishment of covering 42.195 km in 2h 03m 23s.

this is also interesting - while not raining on kipsang's parade (unlike the reprehensible idiot who hopped the barricade to cross the line just ahead of wilson) this article wants us not to forget that just a couple of years ago the same distance was traversed over twenty seconds faster that the standing world record.  geoffrey mutai's running of the 115th boston marathon absolutely stunned the marathoning world.  i like geoffrey mutai even a little bit more than wilson kipsang, and so have got to give him his props - even if the powers that be will not recognize his equally astonishing feat.

not to be overshadowed by all of this, as a masters-category runner (of nowhere near competitive quality) i definitely want to acknowledge that this season has been remarkable for at least two other records that have fallen. 

• at the same race where wilson kipsang wrested the WR from patrick makau, german resident irina mikitenko (age 41) bested the previous masters WR by nearly 50 seconds.  
• last month at the bupa great north run, "the emperor" haile gebrselassie (reportedly age 40 but actual age undetermined) demolished the previous masters WR in the half-marathon by almost two minutes.  
• finally, there is the indomitable ed whitlock, who at age 82 set the half-marathon world record for 80+ runners at a time of 1h 38m 11s - a time that just about everyone that i run with would be pleased as punch to clock.

the fact that we are getting faster across the spectrum is giving me hope that i can run faster.

which world record are you talking about?

fail to plan, plan to fail

never having run (for all intents and purposes) prior to the spring of 2009, i can safely say that i didn't know what i was doing when i agreed to a friend's challenge to run a half-marathon on labour day that year.

up until that point, all that i'd managed to do was to make it through a music video or two (from the 1980s of course) while on the treadmill.

since then, i've managed to complete three half-marathons, one 30k race and three full marathon distances - and generally speaking, i've been progressively getting better/stronger/faster ... (cue Six Million Dollar Man music)

i'm sure that part of this has been a result of now a couple of years of conditioning myself as a runner.  last week marked a milestone as i completed my first 60+ mile week of training, and today my mileage in 2013 has eclipsed 1000 km.

but i'm also confident that part of my steady improvement in racing is attributable to the training plans that i've followed.  i find this area of conversation very interesting, as it forces me to assimilate all sorts of things that i've heard and observed about training and coaching. for instance:

• various elite distance athletes train without a coach (e.g. jason hartmann, and until recently ryan hall)
• the kenyans and japanese distance runners tend to run and train in groups (whereas i tend to run and train alone - maybe it's because i'm such an introvert)
• the great haile gebrselassie once said in an interview that racers should not be nervous standing at the start line, because at that point it's just about showing off all the work that you have already done in training
• it was said about patrick makau (current world record-holder in the marathon - 2:03:38) that he "trains to race fast, not to train fast"
• i had the privilege of meeting and getting to know paul hefferon, who finished 2:16:46 in his debut marathon at the 2012 olympic trials in houston running with the hansons brooks distance project
• my friend (and planned pacer at the 2013 mississauga marathon) stan ong is a sub-3 hour marathoner who trains by feel
• if it's been said once it's been said a million times ... when it comes to race day, you have to trust your training

to date i've tried to followed three different race preparation schedules.  for my first two half-marathons, it was a training plan for the disney half-marathon that was sent over to me by a co-worker who had raced at disney world.  then for the 30k and first full marathons, i used a version of the runner's world intermediate marathon plan.  for the last two marathons, i worked with the 'ryan hall marathon training plan' as published by nissan's innovation for endurance program.  and now, spurred on by mostly positive reviews and my friend paul's association with the hansons brooks distance project, i've been using a modified form of the advanced hansons marathon method plan.

this plan that i'm currently using has (in my mind) two distinctives about it: 

1. the principle of cumulative fatigue - the idea that every run is pretty much executed on tired legs.  this is the first program that i've tackled that has me running six days out of the week, and the premise is that training within a maintained level of fatigue simulates the final 15k or more of the marathon, thereby acclimatizing you to pushing beyond 'the wall'.
2. the 16 miler - most programs will include a 16 mile run, just not as the longest run in the schedule.  the hanson brothers and their teams have found that making sure that the longest run in any given week is not disproportionate to the total number of miles logged in the week (e.g. not more than about 25%) emphasizes the importance of each training run (and type).

so far, so good.  i'm pleasantly surprised at how i've managed to sustain the 6-days-per-week schedule, and while i'm not clearly seeing gains in pace, i have to admit that this is really the first go at training where i've given myself specific times in which to try and complete specific distances.

i'm always curious to hear about what other training plans have worked for other people - feel free to weigh in on my experiences or your own.  for now, i'll finish out the hansons marathon method and bring the definitive update after may 5 in mississauga.

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fail to plan, plan to fail

monkey see, monkey do - runners that i follow

there are all sorts of learning styles, and i find that when it comes to athletics i am very much a visual learner.  specifically i've taught myself tennis, volleyball and golf by watching the technique and form of particular competitors that i enjoy watching and who excel in their respective fields.

the situation is no different when it comes to running.  i've never had a coach (except for motivation) and did not start any kind of running until the spring of 2010 - nothing in high school, and only the occasional once around the track in university if i saw a pretty girl worth following for several hundred metres before i passed out.

here are just a few of the runners that i've paid close attention to, for various reasons:

• haile gebrselassie - IMHO the greatest distance runner of all time.  a dimnuitive figure with gobs of talent and just as big of a heart.  depending on how old he might actually be, he may have set the world record time for a male marathoner when he was 40.
• geoffrey mutai - the person with the fastest finish of any marathon ever and arguably the best living marathoner. makes every race look like a easy jog in the park.
• ryan hall - one of the US' best distance runners, and outstanding man of faith.  gives back to people generously, and i have tried in the past to mimic his form.  his marathon training plan also helped me to achieve my current PB in the marathon (3:18:15).
• meb keflezighi - currently the #1 marathoner for the US.  at 37 he's still kicking butt, having won the 2012 US Olympic Marathon trials and placing 4th at the London Olympic marathon.  another inspiring man of faith too.
• desiree davila - i have a friend who trained with desiree as part of the hansons brooks distance project in michigan.  desiree is one tough competitor, and now in the top three female US marathoners.  i've adopted her arm carriage style in my own running.
• mary keitany - the favourite in just about any race in which she's entered.  a powerhouse.
• tsegaye kebede - this guy is about the height of my honda civic, but probably has the stride length of a cadillac.  unbelievable runner from ethiopia, having captured this year's chicago marathon in 2:04:38.  i've adopted his leg position and stride pattern in my own running style.
• yuki kawauchi - my new favourite runner ... known as 'citizen runner' because he's the only person on this list who's not a full-time athlete (he holds down a day job just like me).  runs like a maniac - having put together back to back marathons last fall within two weeks of one another, forking out $6000 for a plane ticket to a race in egypt because he missed the plane that the organizers paid for, and five out of the first six marathons he ran he ended up in the medical tent after crossing the finish line.  he's told interviewers "Every time I run, it’s with the mindset that if I die at this race it’s OK." now that's a racer i can look up to. 

so who do you admire/follow in running?  i've only listed the high profile types, but maybe for you it's someone local, or in your family line.  feel free to share the names of those who inspire you as you run!

monkey see, monkey do - runners that i follow