My Foot

The day after my last blog entry ("Today's 440 Yard Time Trial ") I was having a nice easy twilight run at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, California.  All seemed okay, although the run was a bit sluggish.  I think my legs were still feeling the effects of the time trial.  Also, I had gotten up very early to make a 5:20 A.M. flight.

 

When I got back to my hotel room my left foot was really hurting.  I don't know exactly what happened and when, but I thought my foot be broken--perhaps a stress fracture.

 

I'm on the mend.  In fact, the last two times I've run my foot was pain-free while running and it was only later in the day that I my had some minor foot pain.  So I think it will be okay and probably wasn't broken.  I suspect that the injury was a result of poor support in my running shoes since the only change I made was switching shoes.

 

The last month has not been productive running-wise.  I've had to run less often, slower, and shorter.  I feel like I've been set back at least a few months.  Oh well, at least I'm still running and my foot is not broken.

September 2008 Running Update

Since most of my recent blogs have been of a historical nature, I decided it was time (with a comment from Eric), to post a more recent update.

This was a tough summer for running, general. After a rather sluggish 5-mile race in mid-July at 7:09 per mile, I ran very little for nearly a month. In part this was due to babysitting the grandson, but also summer heat, some travel, getting Kaila ready for college, and clay court tennis season. I typically only ran once or twice per week during this period, plus some tennis.

Since then, I have gradually increased, but I am probably still only at 4 times per week, for a total of about 16 miles. This past weekend, I ran 5.2 miles on Friday, then 4 miles on Saturday, with some brisk fartleks. The clay tennis courts are still open, but I will probably only be playing about once per week, so running is phasing in again.

In short, I hope to be in decent shape by middle of October for my second running of an 8-mile hilly trail race (the one with the pond swim).

I have no times to report, buy may try a 5K on the track soon, just to gauge my fitness, or lack thereof.

More updates later, as i increase my training to prepare for cross country season.

Mark

Strider Uniform Made Scholastic Appearance

In the late 1970s, Michael K. Raybuck, the only runner on Fillmore Central High School's cross country team, made at least one formal scholastic appearance sporting a Dr. K Striders uniform. I suspect this may have been the only occasion in which this type of event occurred, and apparently, he was not disqualified.

This just adds to the continuing "weight-of-evidence" regarding the Dr. K Striders' impact on the national running community, especially during the middle and late 1970s.

Younger Raybuck Takes Crack at 5K

Michael Raybuck ran an impressive 5K on the track yesterday, in a time of 24:33, or about 7:54 per mile. Impressive, especially considering this was done on essentially zero running training (with the exception of 3 or 4 mile time trials this season, and two or three 2 to 3-mile easy jogs. The remainder of his training has been limited to cross training on the stair stepper and other indoor equipment, as well as outdoor walking in the evenings.

Raybuck, due to hip problems, is not able to train with conventional running, so has had to make due with alternatives, sometimes including swimming when preparing for significant time trials such as this recent 5K attempt. Raybuck was exhuberant following yesterday's attempt, with a goal of just breaking 8 minutes per mile. "My first 200 meters was 55-seconds, already 5 seconds ahead of pace," stated Raybuck immediately after the event. "After that, I settled comfortably into 2-minute quarters, like clockwork." This even pacing was strikingly similar to Prefontaine's idea when he decided, shortly before his untimely death, that he would set the world record in the 3-mile run, by running a 12:36. In describing this to Frank Shorter, Pre said "It's simple. I'm going to run 63 second quarters..............63.....boom! 2:06.......boom! 3:09........boom!"

Fans are now hoping Raybuck will attempt another "bad-hip" mile time trial, to improve upon his 6:41 earlier this summer.

Dr. K Striders ran in Fast Company

Both Michael and Mark Raybuck, members of the infamous Dr. K Striders running club, ran high school track in one of the least populated counties of rural upstate New York (Allegany). Despite the small-town running climate, a future Olympian in the marathon, John Tuttle of Alfred-Almond High School, totally dominated the distance running scene in Allegany County, and even New York State during the late 70s. Tuttle would eventually become an NCAA Division I distance running star, but he really made his mark by qualifying for, and running in the marathon during the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Tuttle qualified with another New York state legend, Pete Pfitzinger, and distance running great Alberto Salazar, in the Olympic trials marathon held in Buffalo, NY.

Michael Raybuck, one year younger than Tuttle, finally had the opportunity to break free of John Tuttle in 1978, as a senior in high school. He was able to headline the local news results during that year, often winning triples consisting of the mile, 2-mile, and 880 yard runs. Despite breaking free of Tuttle, local journalists could not resist inserting Tuttle's name somewhere in the articles.

Eventually, Raybuck made his own headlines without a mention of Tuttle.

The fact that Striders ran in great company, however, is undeniable, as shown by some of the attached news clippings!