Stone Soup 5K

Thanks to my wife I got a great picture of me near the finish line.

Yesterday I ran the "Kate Barry, She's Revolutionary 5K" in what has become my adopted hometown of Woodruff, SC. The race is only in it's third year and is still very small and local. It is an annual part of the "Stone Soup Story Telling Festival" that Woodruff sponsors every year.

To say that I was happy with my performance would be an understatement. It is a fairly hilly course for local standards, so anything under a 26 minutes would have been good for me; so when I crossed the line in 24:48, I was pretty pumped. Now that may be slow for some, but considering my fastest 5K in the last few years was a 27:07, might help explain my excitement.

Thanks to everyone who helped with the planning, set-up and execution of this event. I will definitely be back next year and will do everything I can to help this great little race get just a little bit bigger.

My New Choice for the Road

My MR00's before their maiden voyage

I think this goes without saying, but I love to run trails. Unfortunately my everyday life does not always afford me the time to get out into the woods, so I do run the roads quite regularly. Recently I have been focusing on them a pretty good bit as I attempt to prepare for South Carolina's biggest road race - The Cooper River Bridge Run.

As you can probably tell from my side-bar, I am also a very loyal supporter of New Balance. When I first returned to running a few years back I did a little research and found out that New Balance was the only major athletic shoe company still with plants in the United States. This really impressed me and I decided to focus on that brand alone, even though I realize that many of the specialty New Balance shoes I wear are made overseas.

Not to long after that I read "Born to Run" and began to slowly transition to minimalist shoes. Obviously my New Balance focus quickly led me to what was then the new and emerging "Minumus" line. I had found yet another great reason to focus on my new brand of choice - they were with out a doubt the leader in the rapidly growing "minimalist" shoe market.

It did not take long for me to hit the roads again out of necessity and convenience. It was then that I purchased my New Balance "Minimus" MR10's from my local running store. Although I initially enjoyed them and still run in them regularly, the MR10 never really felt to me like a "minimal" road shoe should.

So I was obviously excited when New Balance introduced the MR00 last year. It took me a while to swallow my frugality and drop $100 on the counter, but I have not been disappointed one bit. The sock like feel and fit to me is astonishing. The only question left is longevity, and only time will answer that question.

By the way my favorite trail shoe is not from the "Minimus" line,
but I will save that for another post.

Finally Taking Some Advice

This is the training combo I am using currently

A while back I got some great input from some "real" runners on my training and racing. George Zack at Hang Nine, Bret Welborn at Doing More On Less and "Coach Lucho" at JogHard graciously gave of their time and expertise about implementing a heart rate monitor (HRM) into my training. There was only two problems, my life got really busy and I don't listen very well.

So I continued to flounder and made no real improvement in my running. Even after another "real" runner, Richard Hefner at Old-Runner gave me some more input and recommended the book you see above, I continued to do the same thing expecting different results. By the way, Einstein defines that as insanity.

Well I have finally taken their advice (and that of John Parker) and really begin to focus on slow recovery running. Starting back in December I really began to focus on longer slow runs, while limiting any hill or tempo work to about twice per week.

Now you must understand that the terms "slow" and "long" probably mean much different things to me than to others, but that is part of the reason I have finally started listening; I want to at least see what my potential is in terms of distance and speed, before I get too old to even care.

Adventures in the Irish Wilderness

Standing on top of Brandon Mountain in a blowing storm

Recently I flew "home" to Ireland to attend a family reunion. As some of you know, my mother is an Irish immigrant and although the distance is great we have always kept very close ties with all of her family, both here and on the Emerald Isle.

Prior to leaving for my trip, my trail running (and definitely racing) had really tapered off, as is obvious by my lack of posts on this blog recently. I still continue to run almost exclusively in the woods, but have begun to spend more time just simply moving through the woods in the most efficient way possible. This has included a good bit of time hiking a lot of the trails I normally run.

During my trip I was pleased to find that several of my Irish cousins, whom I had not seen in many years, also enjoy being in the wilderness. This common bond sparked several adventures including one with me standing on top of Ireland's second tallest mountain as seen in the photo above.

Although the weather was not ideal, they accompanied and guided me through what has to be some of the most spectacular landscapes on the planet. I cannot thank them enough for their help and friendship. Hopefully I can return again someday to tackle some of the peaks that the weather would not allow; or maybe someday introduce them to our local treasure - the Blue Ridge Mountains!

A Different Perspective

The start of the 2011 Jungle Bell Run

I have been running on and off most my adult life. A big part of that has been "racing" in mostly small local events. I put the term racing in quotes on purpose, because I have never been a front runner and have only won an age-group award once and that was many years ago. I "race" for the same reason that most of the pack does, because I enjoy the camaraderie of other runners.

Recently I have found myself drifting away from the concept of racing; not because I no longer enjoy the camaraderie of other runners, but simply because for the first time in my life - I am simply enjoying the basic process of running, especially on trails. It has become for me, as I am sure it is to many of you, my daily medicine to deal with the insanity of modern day life. To leave the madness behind for an hour or so and move through the woods in the simplest way possible, is for me better than any drug the marketing experts keep trying to convince me I need.

That being said, I attended a race this Saturday and I did something for the first time - I volunteered. I did this mostly because I really believe in the mission of Spartanburg Area Conservancy (SPACE), the non-profit benefiting from the event, and the fact that the race was being run on a trail I use frequently that is maintained by SPACE. Seeing a race from this different perspective was oddly inspirational for me to start to think about "racing" again; but mostly I was humbled to think of the thousands of people throughout the years that have given of their time so I could pursue my goals. So let me officially say "Thank You" to the unsung heroes of our sport, the volunteers. I think all my fellow runners would agree with me when I say - we couldn't do it without you!

An Apology and an Ongoing Problem

First let me start by apologizing to my three readers (my wife and Mom don't count) for having been delinquent in my posting for the last few months. I kind of got burned out this summer with the oppressive temperatures and serious lack of trail time. I also decided to stop fixating so much on my mileage. I know that this works for a lot of of folks, but for me - I simply worried about it. So gone for now are my "Weekly Training Logs" that I had regularly posted for many months.

The good news is that I have been back to running pretty regular since mid August. My one month of sporadic running in the middle of summer ended abruptly when school started back. I have been getting in plenty of six and seven milers on some hilly stuff at Croft State Park as well as my normal four mile jaunts at the Cottonwood Trail. I am also still doing one to two road runs per week and an occasional treadmill session when I accompany my wife to our local gym.

I still have not yet decided on whether to enter the Croft Half-Marathon. I really have not been able to get in that one "long" run per week as I had wanted to in preparation for this event. This leads me to my ongoing problem. I have suffered with headaches all of my adult life, some of them very severe. Although I have gotten a handle on the migraines (had to give up beer - bummer) I am still bothered by headaches after long runs. They are commonly referred to as "Exercise Induced Headaches" and are common among people who suffer from migraines. I have tried many different natural remedies form various websites, but none have totally eliminated the problem.

Any suggestions?

PS - Just in case you did not read it, this post from Geoff was a real inspiration for me!

The Loop

Without a doubt, some of the best trails in the Upstate - Southside Park

This week I headed back to one of my favorite local trail systems - Southside Park. Although these are primarily mountain bike trails and home of the South Carolina MTB Championships, they are technically "Dual Use" trails and I am very thankfully for that. The entire system is probably close to 20 miles, but my main focus now is to sucessfully run the "loop" all in one shot. This 9.7 mile outer-perimeter trail features plenty of climbing and lots of technical sections.

On Monday I ran the loop CCW and bailed at the "Outlaw" cut-off for a total of about 8.2 miles. Once I get to the point where I am running the entire loop, I think I will begin tracking my best time on a separate page of the blog similar to the "Cottonwood Challenge" page. This one will not be a virtual race like Cottonwood, but more like a "Fastest Known Time" section for local trails that do not have an annual race.

So if you are local and would like me to post your best "loop" time, just email me. Most likely the page will feature everyone's times with a side-bar "gadget" showing the current best time. Southside also has a great half-marathon course if you add "High and Dry" along with "Slick Rock" and "The Lizard" to the standard loop that could easily be added if anyone is interested.

Weekly Training Log:

Sunday (07/03/11) 2 mile walk
Monday (07/04/11) 8 miles - Southside + 2 mile walk
Tuesday (07/05/11) Strength Training + 2 mile walk
Wednesday (07/06/11) 4 mile Road Run + 2 mile walk
Thursday (07/07/11) 30 minutes Elliptical + Strength Training
Friday (07/08/11) 4 mile Road Run + 2 mile walk
Saturday (07/09/11) 6 miles - Hunt Club

Weekly Running Total: 22 miles