Archive for May, 2009

Top 10 Motivational Songs – Really?

RealBuzz.com has its annual list of the top 10 motivational running songs and since I’m old and uncool, I could only identify four of them, but I thought even those were weak. I mean, “Keep on Running” might have an appropriate motivational title, but it isn’t even the best running song by the Spencer Davis Group (“I’m a Man” and “Gimme Some Lovin’” are both superior).

Anyway, it got me to thinking. What would be the least motivational running songs? Leave your choices in the comments section, and if we get enough nominees, I’ll post a top ten list in the near future. To get the ball rolling, how about “I’m Only Sleeping” by the Beatles?

Maui Miles

Considering I’ve done hard speed workouts for three weeks and no distance training, it was well past time to put in some Maui miles, which consist of running the prescribed distance regardless of how little you’ve trained or how slowly you need to go.

I call them Maui miles because you’re traveling at a speed that allows you to soak up the weather, admire the scenery, and generally appreciate your surroundings.

Yesterday I meandered 5 miles at a 9:25 pace. Today I covered 6 at a 9:18 pace.

I finished with a mango smoothie to complete the illusion, but unfortunately there’s no beach time.

The Carnival of Running #31

Welcome to the 31st edition of The Carnival of Running!

This is the only race where I’d prefer the uphill leg, and the volunteers suffer just as much as the runners:

Here’s a story from Rochester, Minnesota, I’m ashamed to say I found hilarious:

“Police officers in Rochester have found a missing Med-City Marathon runner after issuing several emergency alerts on the radio.

“Officers tell us that they received a report of a disoriented and possibly lost runner who may have been suffering from heat stroke.

“When she didn’t cross the finish line, they were worried for her safety and launched a city-wide search.

“The 27-year-old woman was found less than a half hour later when she crossed the finish line.”

This crabby columnist from The Guardian says, “It wasn’t long ago that running a marathon was the ultimate hard-nut badge of honour. Now every TV presenter and her manicurist has run the course, you have to do it wearing chainmail if you really want to prove something, preferably finishing several days after the race began.”

The New York Times will be running a series of personal marathon stories. The paper also had an interview with Kara Goucher about first marathons. She gave solid advice if not particularly insightful. And the Times added a product review of the Nike + iPod Sport Kit.

Marathoner Ryan Hall gets advice from an old hippie.

Here’s an article that suggests you can blog your way to running success. If only it were true.

There’s always a lot of advice out there about what to eat before running, but Wesley Korir doesn’t pay any attention to it. He won the Los Angeles Marathon in 2:08:24 after his usual pre-race meal – a six-inch Subway tuna sub.

In the future you may be able to walk into a store and purchase a pair of personalized running shoes. Even better, “With the elastomeric zp15e powder and a flexible infiltrant, you can get a range of performance depending on the exact urethane product you use to infuse the parts,” says Joe Titlow, director of product management at Z Corp. “A shore hardness range of 20A to 70A is achievable, typically with 100-200 percent elongation.” It’s a worthy goal to achieve 100-200 percent elongation in all aspects of your life.

What’s the point of having a Night of the Ninja 5k and no one posts any photos? Oh well, at least we have a race report from Old-Runner.com.

Running humor is not for amateurs. The proof is the spectator at the Ottawa Marathon holding a sign that read, “Hey… Who Fartleked?”

Zennie62 has a full race report and video of the Bay to Breakers.

Ben Stiller thinks Tom Cruise is one of the best “screen runners.” I think it’s a tie between this guy and this guy.

Here’s some good advice about how to avoid common running injuries.

What do you think should happen to runners who don’t follow race rules? I’m for summary execution, myself.

And for those of you have been on pins and needles waiting for the results of The Great Funny/Viper Challenge, well, it wasn’t much of a contest. Here’s my race report and concession speech, and here is Viper’s race report and gloat.

Fortunately I have an opportunity to salvage some pride. I have to be in San Diego on business the first week of July, and as luck would have it, there is an Independence Day 15k on Coronado. This will be my first 15k, so my goal is to beat Viper’s PR of 1:20:24, which he set in March.

Yep, it’s like Ryun vs. Liquori all over again!

That’s all for this time, friends. Submit your posts to carnival@runningisfunny.com. Now run away!

Your Kung Fu Is Better Than Mine

Despite my best efforts, Viper crushed my 5k time yesterday. It was much like the old evil kung fu master being defeated by the young guy’s combination of tiger and crane styles:

So to Viper I bow, and say, “Your kung fu is superior.”

No Excuses

Beautiful day in Sacramento for the No Excuses 5k. I had a decent warmup, we had a beautiful rendition of the national anthem, and Mayor Kevin Johnson gave us a warm welcome. The Kings desperately need a point guard more than we need a mayor, and even in his 40s, Johnson would be an upgrade at the position. Anyway, off we went.

On Friday I mentioned that race day adrenaline would improve my time, and boy, did it ever. But it was also my undoing. I covered the first mile in 7:31, which was faster than any single mile I ran in training for this race. I promised I would head for the puke threshold, and I did. The second mile was a 7:52.

Now I’ve covered two miles five seconds faster than any two training miles I’ve run. Unfortunately, there was still 1.1 to go. The funny thing is I didn’t feel myself slowing down. Though it was more of a struggle, I thought I was moving my legs just as fast. The watch doesn’t lie, though. My third mile was an 8:32, and my finishing kick didn’t improve on it (0:51).

Unofficial time – 24:46.

No word from Viper yet, but I have to think he beat this. I have no regrets, however. I chopped nearly 4 minutes off my 5k time in less than three weeks.

Once we both have official times, we’ll have the appropriate victory/concession blog posts. Thanks for following along. It was really a blast.

UPDATE: It’s official. 24:46.3. The results are listed by age-graded rankings, which made me 305th of 1057. My age-graded time was reduced to 21:40. But before you think old guys like me reap a rankings benefit from the age-grading system, let me clue you in. The age- and sex-grading lifted me past 35 faster runners, but lifted 75 slower runners past me.

Tantalizing

My final workout before Monday’s Great Funny/Viper Challenge could not have gone better. Viper cleverly has gone dark about his final two workouts, leaving me to wonder what I’ll really need to overtake him. I’m closing fast, but I’m out of time.

This morning I ran a 5k in 24:56, covering the last two miles in 7:42 and 7:46.

Win or lose, the challenge – contrary to my original misgivings – turned out to be a smart move. My ankle feels great, I got back up to speed in three weeks, and I’m on track for my real goal: a BQ in December. In fact, it will be a relief to run some long slow distance after all this speedwork.

Don’t Be a “Fasthole”

Outside of running, we just call these people “jerks.”

My philosophy about relative speed and placement is that in any race there is one winner, and one person who finishes last, and the rest of us are in the middle.