Women's US Marathon Trials

Better late than never for this report. The US Women's Olympic Marathon Trials were held on Sunday in Boston, the day before the historic Boston Marathon. Similar to the men's race the top three female finishers qualify to run the marathon in Beijing for the US team.

Liz, Anneliese, and I watched parts of the race online through streaming webcast. A little known runner by the name of Magdalena Lewy Boulet came out of the gate ready to go and jumped out to a quick lead that would reach 2:00 minutes and that she would hold until mile 24. Favorite Deena Kastor, 2004 Olympic Bronze Medalist, stayed with the chase pack throughout the first part of the course. She turned on her world class speed en route to a negative split (faster second 13.1 miles than first 13.1 miles). She was the runner who caught Magdalena at mile 24 and blew past her for the win in under 2:30. Magdalena finished 2nd as she held on to beat out third place finisher Blake Russell.

For complete results visit the official Marathon Trials Website: http://bostontrials2008.com/

Congrats to our team of Kastor, Lewy Boulet, and Russell!

The runner's widow...

I mentioned in the last post that there would be more about starting training in October. Without further adieu...I give you the runner's widow:

Running is something that I do because I enjoy it, it makes me healthy, and it helps me feel like I am contributing to the fight against NF. At best running is altruistic and at worst it is down right selfish. I am aware of the latter but probably don't show appreciation often enough for my wife's (the runner's widow)contribution to training.

When I pick a race day for a major fundraising event we figure out if the date works in our family's schedule. I signed up for the Indianapolis Minimarathon in October and the race is on May 3. I don't want to do the math but I can tell you that a lot of days come between those two months.

As an athlete who trains 5 sometimes 6 days a week that means a lot of time away from the family. Since I rarely leave the house for a run shorter than 3 miles every workout lasts at least 30 minutes when you add in stretching and changing. Some long runs take as long as 3 hours with all of the things involved in the process (getting fuel ready, stretching, ice bath, shower). Those minutes and hours quickly add up. Easily hundreds of miles will have been logged by the time the gun sounds.

While I am out on the road my family is back home. Without Liz's support I would never be able to achieve the goals that I have set or train as hard as I'd like. I know that training pulls me away from my time from my family but Liz keeps everything together for us.

When I do long runs using a loop that passes by the house, Liz keeps my water filled for me. When I insist that we have pasta every Friday night before a long run she goes along with the craziness. When I tell her about negative splits on the run or some other running babble she listens.

I try to support Liz in her interests and encourage her to take time for herself but the scales are hard to set even. Many runner's acknowledge that their sport is selfish and the pursuit of faster times in a race impacts other aspects of regular life. Still we do our track repeats. We run our LSD's. We show up an hour early on race day to loosen up and find our place at the start line. Without the runner's widow these things wouldn't be possible. Thank you Liz for your support of my passion for running. Without you it wouldn't be possible!

2 weeks until the mini...

With two weeks to go until race day I have reached the taper period. The taper period is the time when a runner let's their body recover from the rigors of training so that legs will be fresh for the targeted race. The running schedule of an athlete during the taper varies as people have different philosophies. I am coming off of my second left ankle injury of the training season so I will eliminate all speed work from my workouts for the next two weeks.

So what has brought me to this point?

I started base training for this race in October (more on this later). Since then I have logged hundreds of miles, worn out two pairs of shoes, and endured tempuratures as low a 5* below zero. You may have followed along by reading my updates over that time. My high water mark for weekly mileage was 42. My fastest mile turned out was in the low 6 mins. Over that time I have dropped 12 pounds.

Catching up on the last two weeks...

I have had a strange couple of weeks. I worked in a cross training day on a bike on Monday, April 7. Followed that we 3 days of 5-6 miles then finished up with a five miler and six miler on the weekend. A blast of cold air moved into the area on that Sat and Sun and I just was mentally in tune with running in the cold those days. I ran those weekend miles too fast and paid for it later.

Monday, April 14 was a rest day. I followed the rest day up with interval training on Tuesday (intervals are speed training that involve periods of running slowly followed by bursts of speed). I woke up on Wednesday with a little discomfort in my left ankle. I mowed the lawn Wednesday night which takes about 1:30 to finish. My ankle felt worse on Thursday. No running for me on Thursday or Friday. Saturday I was scheduled for my last double digit run on my training schedule! I went out for my run with a starting temp of 57* and spitting rain. I logged 11 miles in 1:33. The run gave me a lot of confidence that my training went well and leaves me happy to begin my taper!

Keeping us entertained!

Parts of the greatness of the Minimarathon event are the fan support and the entertainment along the race course. As a runner you can be instantly recharged by a spectator saying "Good job runners, keep it up" or a band playing a classic song. I am fortunate to work with one of the acts that perform on race day. My colleague Greg is a member of a group called "Sign On The Door." He was kind enough to share with me his thoughts on performing on race day. I hope that, like me, you enjoy seeing the race from another perspective.

During how many Indianapolis Minimarathons have you performed? will you be there in 2008?

This will be our third year to perform at the mini. It's an amazing event and we love playing it.

Are you always at the same location? If not, which spot has been your favorite? where will you be in 2008?

We have been the past two years (13th and Main St. in Speedway). I hope to be in the same spot this year. It's fun to watch all of the people turn the corner and come down Main St.



How long do you play from the time the first runner passes until the last walker goes by?

It usually takes about an hour to an hour and a half.

Which songs do you play that get the best reaction from runners and spectators?

Any good Pop/Rock sing along song works well. They seem to like our country version of AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night Long. Neil Diamond stuff goes over well too.

What is the strangest thing you have seen during a race?

Someone (One of my friends) fell over a traffic cone while they were waving as they ran by.

What is it that you like about playing at the race?

The people. It's amazing to see so many people. Besides how often can you say that you have played in front of 30,000 plus people.

Will this be the year that I narrowly edge out a Kenyan for the big win?

I'm sure it will be a photo finish... ?????????

Across the pond...

While most of us in the US were sleeping this morning the London Flora Marathon took place. One of the most exciting distance runners to move up the ranks is Ryan Hall. He toed the line this morning with a deep field of elite marathon runners. Ryan made his debut at the marathon distance at the same race in 2007 with a 2:08. Today, in his third career marathon, the US Olympic Trials winner finished in a fast 2:06:17. That speedy time was good for 5th with 3 competitors finishing the 26.2 mile course in 2:05:xx and another finishing 1 second faster than Ryan's time. The field boasted the fastest finish of any marathon ever!

Ryan Hall

Redlegs Run for Home 5K

My brother, Stan Jr., mentioned in passing that he wanted to start training for a race for this summer. Anyone who knows me knows that is the kiss of death and that you will be bombarded with info about training until you curl up in a ball and cry for mercy. So I immediately sent him a packet of info from Runner's World with tips for getting started, the right gear, running plans, etc. And I scoured the internet for a Cincinnati race calendar. What I came up with is the Redlegs Run for Home 5K. I promptly told my brother, in my best drill sergeant voice, that that is the race we will be doing.

The race is as mentioned a 5K (3.1 miles) and will take place downtown Cincinnati with the finish line being on the field of Great American Ballpark. The date for the race is Saturday, June 7 and the start time is scheduled for 9:00 a.m.



When I talked to my dad the other day he said that Stan is keeping up with his training and put in a couple of miles on a walk early that day! I'm looking forward to doing this event with him. We used to play softball together a couple of nights a week up until I moved out of the Cincinnati area. This will give us a chance to compete together again.

There is also the option of a "team challenge." We can participate in the team challenge if we get two more runners. If you have ever thought about running or start thinking about it because of this post then check out a plan for beginners: walking or running. Let me know if you are interested in joining us for a morning of exercise. As a pot sweetener, each registered participant gets a ticket to the June 11 Reds home game.

Why do I run?

Below is a video from the Children’s Tumor Foundation that demonstrates how your support benefits nearly 2 million people worldwide that are affected by Neurofibromatosis. I hope you’ll please take a few minutes to watch the video and perhaps be as motivated as we are to support The Children’s Tumor Foundation. Adobe Flash Player is required to view video.