Binghamton Runner Qualifies for Division I XC Nationals

Erik van Ingen, finishing 7th out of 243 in the regionals, became the first Binghamton runner ever to qualify for the Divisoin I cross country nationals. I wonder how he would have stacked up head to head against Bob Daniels, though?

Link to Pipe Dream article below (and when clicking on the post title).
http://www.bupipedream.com/Articles/Featured_Story/13185

Solid Tempo Run

Tonight I ran a "tempo" run, consisting of a training run in full (heavy) sweats on the roads. It started with an easy mile, then right into 2 "hard" miles at "tempo" pace, in this case, 6:45 per mile, then an easy mile to finish. I was quite winded during the 2-miler, but I think it was a good workout. If all goes well, I may try a 5K time trial (or maybe a road race) this Saturday.

I'm also pondering the possibility of entering a mile run in an indoor meet on December 26. We'll see if the snow holds off so I can keep training on the track.

Training Picks Up

Although it is getting late in the year, and temps will be falling, my training has actually picked up the last few weeks. Mileage for the last three weeks was 28, 24, and 23 (fairly high for me). The 28 and 24 weeks also included 10K races as part of that mileage. Long run each week was about 10k (the two races were the respective long runs for those weeks, then this past Saturday I ran 6.3 miles on trails).

I hope to do a tempo run tomorrow night (probably a 4-mile run, with the middle 2 miles or so at "tempo" pace, where lactic acid is building, but not crippling me, maybe 6:30/mile if I can swing it.

Then this Saturday I would like to do something on the track, maybe even a 5K time trial all out. We'll see. I need decent weather to try that.

One question that has always bothered me. In my reported mileage above, I didn't include the miles spent warming up for races, typically 1.5 to 2 miles at a slow pace (maybe 9:15 to 9:30). Should this count, or is it simply too slow to be worth anything but getting me warmed up to race?

New Name for Blog???

Hi, everyone. The blog is already a couple years old! I've been thinking that it is time to change the name, perhaps to attract new readers or authors, but in part, simply for a change. Part of the inspiration for this is that I recently stumbled across a running blog titled "One Fat Guy Running." He was in the 10k race I ran a couple weeks ago, and did fairly well (about 8:30/mile). His blog description says "I'm fat. I run. Exciting things can happen."

Anyway, here a couple suggestions, but I'm not that creative, so I would welcome more.

1. Half-century Runners
2. Running past your prime....it's not all downhill
3. We used to be runners

As you can see, I lack creativity. I hope someone else can come up with a good one.

Hills took their toll!

Lesson learned.....if you're planning on running a hilly trail race, do at least one training run on hills before the race. Don't train strictly on "flat as a pancake" terrain like I did. You'll regret it! I did! Had to take two days off running to recover, and could hardly walk for a day! Anyway, by yesterday, I was able to run 4 miles relatively pain-free, and hope to run 5 tonight.

3rd Generation Strider Completes First Interval Workout

My grandson Ethan, a 3rd generation Dr. K Strider, completed his first interval workout yesterday at the Casey Middle School Track. Although he does not refer to this type of workout as intervals (he calls it "ready, set go..."), he indeed completed approximately ten 30 to 40-meter intervals, with about 30 seconds rest between each one. In fact, he did not want to quit, and I had to make him stop so he wouldn't overdo it. After the 10 intervals, he did one longer one of about 50 meters. I did not have a stop watch, or measure the distance accurately, but using the 1001, 1002 method, I estimated 17 seconds on one of the 30 meter intervals.



Side note: he fell asleep in the stroller with a bottle on the way home from the track. Reminds me of the Fusc falling asleep at the edge of his bed in the dormroom upon return from a tough workout and dinner........

See video below of 50 meter interval:

Running or Jogging?

I still go to the track almost every day and do my workout of a half-mile warm-up followed by somewhere between one mile and one and one-half miles of running.  On days when I run less one and one-half miles I typically run some 220s.

 

What I was pondering recently was whether when I run at slower than a 8:00/mile pace I was running or jogging?  Back in my SUNY-B days we defined jogging as anything that was slower than 8:00/mile.  My question is that an absolute definition or does that definition change depending on the age of the athlete?

 

I’m not the first person to pose this question:

http://home.sprynet.com/~holtrun/jog.htm

 

What do you think?

Mendon Ponds 10K Trail Race Results

Today, I ran a 10K trail race that was even tougher (and slower) than last week's very hilly 10K road race. It was all trails, in glacial topography (up and down eskers and kames), with very few flat stretches. I placed 3rd overall out of 81 runners, and 1st in the 50 to 59 age group. Don't be fooled by the high place. Some of these more obscure hilly races seem to be much less popular than a good, flat 5K race where one can try for a PR. In fact, the poster that was set up for this race said "Don't try for a PR here...you won't get it!"

So, now that i've lined up the rationale for running slow, here are the stats: 45:02 for 10K, about 7:14 per mile. The winner was about 40 flat, and second place was around 43 minutes. Due to the winding nature of the steep trails, after about 2 miles, I couldn't see the guy ahead of me for the remainder of the race. Thus, with the exception of passing a few people who were running a 50K (yes, 5 10K loops!), I was by myself. In the end, I would say this was a great race. I always loved cross country, where times don't matter, and it's just you and the woods!

Results can viewed by clicking on the title of this blog, or going to the link below:

http://www.yellowjacketracing.com/files/user/MendonTrailRuns10KOverallResults2009.pdf

Chestnut Ridge 10k results

I decided to run a hilly 10K road race at a local park yesterday. Extreme hills, ended up in 6th place overall out of 89 runners, 1st in the 50 to 59 group. Fairly slow time (6:52/mile, 42:38), but I think all the times were slow. The winner was only in the 38s. I'm hoping to run an even hillier 10k trail/cross-country race next weekend at Mendon Ponds Park in Rochester, NY. This one was a good "tune-up" for next week. Stay tuned!

See results of the Chestnut Ridge 10k at Buffalorunners.com.