Running

So, we’re up in Burlington for the Vermont City Marathon (again). The greatest thing is that there’s absolutely zero pressure this year – Melissa, my longsuffering wife, and I are running the two person relay. It’s an odd concept to consider, that a half marathon is an “easy” thing. It’s not, of course, for folks who haven’t been wearing out sneakers for a good long while, but Missy and I are both around a half dozen full marathons each. For the record, she’s faster. And base runs each week have included an hour and a half or so for each of us for the last couple years. Plus, we’re not actually “racing” the relay, though when she ends up posting a faster split than me on Sunday I’ll not hear the end of it. Anyway, going WAY back, I’m a huge fan of Jeff Galloway. Back in 1999, coming off of a couple years assigned to a fast attack submarine as a professional Steely Eyed Killer of the Deep, Melissa bounced a copy of Galloway’s Book On Running off me one night as we enjoyed our DINK (Dual Income, No Kids) bliss. “Hey, if we do this, we could head down to Orlando to run the Disney Marathon, assuming the world doesn’t end at Two-Thousand-Zero-Zero (Party over, whoops, out of time). I took a look, and the book made sense – keep using your legs regularly, even if you have to walk a little, and they’ll get stronger. Build slowly, and you’ll avoid injury. All sorts of good stuff. So, we jumped into the training program, little knowing that our first marathons would end up postponed by a kid, two moves, two career changes, another kid, a war, and general malaise. After Missy found out we (she, to be completely accurate) were pregnant with J, I stuck with the training program. Check the day, run the mileage, and amazingly it kept getting easier to crank out miles. I topped out the weekend after Veterans’ Day with a 16 miler that I finished without really feeling winded, but then Connecticut winter set in, the reality of traveling to Florida with an extremely pregnant wife became apparent, and we decided to take a pass on the Marathon. But I kept coming back to Galloway’s book. A huge personal accomplishment – doing something actually athletic is daunting to a bookish, overweight engineer – was broken down into an algorithm that I had evidence could actually work. So, it kept nagging away at the back of my head. Big rides were the first milestones I knocked down – Spent 99-2004 chasing Lance Armstrong’s myth, and went from being amazed I’d ridden the Colchester Half Marathon course without stopping to doing 20 on a regular basis after work, and eventually knocking out a couple centuries in Texas. But even cycling worked on Galloway’s model. I eventually ran a marathon on Galloway’s plan. And a couple more, though I’ve tweaked the strategy. This afternoon, I actually got to see the Man himself. He was signing books at the VCM expo. We’d driven up to Burlington early, let the kids skip school, checked into the hotel, and hit the Marathon expo on Friday night instead of Saturday after the YAM Scram. Galloway was packing up after signing books. Wafer-thin dude, jeans and a long-sleeved tee. It’s tough meeting a legend. “Hey, you changed my life” or “So, like that book you wrote way back when, yeah, that one was pretty good, and I’ve spent the last decade and a half trying to live up to it” or just throwing myself at his feet in supplication. None of that seemed appropriate. The general feeling was like back in 8th grade when you finally go up to a girl to ask her to for-real slow dance. Knew I wanted to say hi, but also knew that, late in the day Galloway was probably way more interested in packing up and getting supper. So, I , like many, many others, I’m sure, thanked him profusely for the huge effect he̵

A few folks have been in the car with me as a passenger when I’ve asked them to stop using their phone. I know it annoys them, but they are always gracious and put it away followed by a statement about how they really don’t normally do it….but they do. I’ve passed enough drivers on the road to know that LOTS of people are texting all the time while driving. I guess because we have become such a multi-tasking society, everyone feels like they aren’t getting enough done if they are ONLY driving….yeah think about that. Driving a huge machine on the road with tons of other people…sounds like enough to me! I know even at Blend this weekend it would have been easier on the passengers if I would have just looked up directions on my phone, but instead I forced whoever was sitting in the passenger seat to be the navigator because I didn’t want to be looking down away from a highway I have never driven on. When Oprah pushed her campaign to put down the phone, I took the pledge and have never looked back. I am excited to be part of the Verizon Ambassador program, currently testing out the BlackBerry Z10 which could totally get you in trouble with BBM. I digress, the group is also helping to spread the word once again on a new program to help people understand the dangers of texting and driving. Click the image below to learn more.You can read more on how talking on the phone impairs your driving here>> LESSONS FROM A PARENTOne of the many lessons my dad taught me that stayed with me happened as I was running late one day - he noted that even if I was late it was better to be safe and watch the speed because if I got pulled over or worse yet had a wreck I would be FAR later to that appointment. For parents I would love to know how you talk about this with your kids? Have you seen the stats that 75% of teenagers text and drive? Are you going to take the pledge?? Let me know when you do, I want to feel safer every time I run, bike and drive! -----------------------------------------------------Gratitude JournalMay 24I am grateful for parents who aren’t afraid to be the bad guy sometimes if it means ensuring their kids learn a lesson. I’m especially grateful to mine for some of the hard lessons I needed to learn and the loving way they always tried to do it.

A tradition whenever I'm on my way to the Keys. Memories of college at UMiami and photo ID research with friends

First stop, lunch at Woody's in Ellenton.

And so the adventure begins.

Sarah Lavender Smith, one of my favorite trail runner/writers and fellow Inside Trail Racing team member, did a Q&A with me this week and posted it on her site, TheRunnersTrip.com. It was a lot of fun! Check it out here, and be sure to leave her a comment if you liked it! (Gary Gellin, Sarah Lavender Smith, and me) Hope you are getting out on the trails this weekend! - SD

Recently, a few familiar HURT runners got together to share a few Trail Miles, and do a little catching up. Read the Grand Canyon Rim Crossing run report here. a-loha ;-) Download GCR2R2RrunReport3

Primal was the word that Lawrence at the Tri Store used to describe swimming in open water. “Nothing to hold onto, no lifeguards,” he explained. I took part in my first triathlon, The Jones Lang Lasalle Property Triathlon, on Friday 17th May and completed it in 1.26.30. It included a shocking 750m swim (17.07); a Raynaud-fingered and very slow transition onto the bike, (3.23); a pleasant and surprisingly enjoyable 21.5k cycle around the lake (43.14); a slightly swifter transition from bike to run (1.29); and a 5k run with what felt like no feet, (21.17). I was 23rd woman and 4th out of nine in my age group – and as a studier of results, I wasn’t completely ignorant of how I did, despite being a first-timer, and so I was quite happy with that. Back to the swim… Primal is the word I would use to describe that, too. There's nothing quite as exciting as the new. And I'm a fan of throwing myself in at the deep-end (‘scuse the pun) in everything – a good thing as it turned out. I’m not a complete novice. I was a reasonably competent swimmer as a child and used to swim for fitness before running (50 lengths three times a week, erm, 28 years ago!). And Chris and I have been religiously attending the Monday night swimming session with BodyworksXTC, once a week since March, pushing myself out of my swim comfort zone in the pool with ‘IM drills’ ‘kick boards’ and breathing of ‘3,5,7,9’ (you have to be there!) etc But no drills or training could have prepared me for the lake. The primal theme starts before you get in. I was an interloper at Chris’s Property Tri, but I did wonder how many of the wetsuit-clad shivering and vulnerable looking women were feisty bosses in the boardroom – a wetsuit and funny hat is a great leveller! I decided to be one of the first to get in and get near the front (why?) As I felt my body slowly freeze, I waited whilst the other women jumped in, and in true girly fashion let out little screams as they splashed into the icy lake. The smell of petrol, and nervous conversations, ‘No, I’m a first timer’ kept me occupied before we were off…. I’d been warned about the pushing, shoving and possible kick in the face, but no one had told me I wouldn’t be able to keep my face in the water to do front crawl, and that my breathing… well, I couldn’t breathe! As someone who’s run 15 marathons and an ultra, I consider myself to be fairly good at tapping into inner resources and keeping positive and calm in a race setting. Here in the primal setting of the lake, I was almost at a loss. But… breaststroke and an acceptance that I might not swim that fast meant I carried on. ‘Get to the first bouy and then do front crawl,’ I told myself. I was reassured to see others doing breast-stroke, not so happy to see how far I was slipping back. Deciding it was better not to see how far I was going back, and wanting to be out of the lake as quickly as possible meant I was motivated to get my head down for most of the second half, breathing every other stroke and thinking ‘Just get it done!’ I swore, laughed with hysteria, and fell over as I ran out of the water in 61st place. Then it was onto my very slow transition to the bike with freezing cold hands (but relieved that wetsuit removal wasn’t too stressful). Getting on the bike wasn’t pretty, but once on, with the horror of the swim behind me, the bike was bliss. Not quite a genteel, basket on the front, roll around the lake (don’t be fooled my pic, that’s a grimace not a grin), but some respite nonetheless! Having only been on a bike twice before the race (the Saturday and Sunday before the race) I had expected to be falling back further and further. But with my head down and my marathon determination now fixed on picking off people, I got going, reassured that my

I love running, I really do. You can just put on your trainers and set off, it’s simple, quick and easy. I never thought I would do a triathlon, as I had never ridden a bike and could not really swim. However, I ended up being given a bike to borrow and heading to do my first triathlon! It didn’t really go to plan, I was last out of the water, got off my bike to check I didn’t have a puncture (I didn’t, just not bike fit!) and had jelly legs on the run. Yet, I loved it!! I really did and this is why I am writing this, to encourage you to give a triathlon a go. I dare you, as now I am passionate about coaching beginner’s to do their first triathlon and I can assure you that it will give you a huge sense of enjoyment and satisfaction. You may think, well I get this from running so why? Here’s why I encourage you to try one out! The three disciplines encourage you to train all your muscles slightly differently, therefore becoming stronger overall and technically reducing the risk of overuse injuries. As you are training for swim, bike and run it varies your training, which will keep you motivated and interested. And the best bit about coming to triathlon as a runner, is the bit you enjoy most is last! So try something new this summer and enter a Sprint Triathlon, there are so many out there for all levels. A perfect one for Women is the Shock Absorber Women Only Triathlon at Dorney Lake, Eton. Below are some of my Top Tips to help you for your first Triathlon: Anyone can do a triathlon, there are so many races available for all levels (pool or open water, mountain bike to road bike, road to off road running) and they are great fun, have courage and go for it. The distance start from 400m swim, 20km bike and 5km run although there are super sprint beginner’s ones which can be even shorter. Rest days are as important as training days – this is where you get the benefits in your training. Listen to your body, and only train when you feel good – sessions can be adapted according to your lifestyle, and always make sure you have two rest days Eat good quality, nutritious, healthy food and drink plenty of water Practise the brick sessions (swim to bike, bike to run, run to bike) so you know how your legs may feel quickly changing from one discipline to another Buy a pair of speed laces to put in your trainers to make it easier and quicker to get your trainers on To make your cycling more efficient you can buy cycling shoes, peddles and then clip into the peddles – this takes time to learn but will make you faster – worth considering once you have done a couple of races if you enjoy it! Make sure you find kit that is comfortable to run and cycle on – triathlon suits offer a little padding but not too much for running, get a good sports bra too if not in built. Book a sports massage to keep your body feeling in top condition and reduce the risk of injury Make time for your core & stretching sessions to improve your speed and endurance & avoid the risk of injury You don’t need a really expensive bike but it does need to fit you well – if you are unsure take it to your local bike shop to check your set up Get confident changing a tyre just in case it happens on a longer training ride or in the race, it is your responsibility to know what to do! Keep a training diary of what you do, and how you feel Ask for professional advice if you are unsure how you are doing, need confidence or motivation Book a swim, bike or run 1;1 session for technique tips Find a trainer partner to keep you accountable, or join a club for support Get there early on race day to set up your bike in transition and walk the routes in and out of transition so you remember where everything is. And remember you need to do up your helmet before you take your bike off the racking! Relax, enjoy it and believe in yourself! Twitter: @kimingleby More from The

Another 10k in the diary had arrived. The week really hadn’t been great. I have previously had gait analysis and know that I am a severe over pronator yet in my wisdom I thought I would get a slightly lighter shoe for runs up to 10k. Mistake…I had another flare up of shin splints due to the lack of support in the shoes. I have spent the week massaging and stretching the legs in an attempt to alleviate the pain and discomfort. I went into the race with the worst pain having subsided, but still with an uncomfortable dull nagging ache on the inner side of both shins. I haven’t previously run the Henham 10k, but know the area quite well having grown up in the neighbouring village. The weather was dry, warm and a little humid, pretty good for a 10k run. After traveling down there and meeting up with other club runners it was soon time to get going. The first section was out via a main road, but soon after we were onto farm tracks. It’s not my favourite surface to run on and at kilometre 3 with my shins hurting I knew I wasn’t going to be able to compete with those that have slightly better ability than myself. I had to settle into a comfortable rhythm knowing that at around kilometre 8 the course would change back to tarmac road for the final run to the finish. The country tracks were heavily rutted in places and it was a real task to keep an even and comfortable pace. Once the tarmac road appeared beneath my feet I felt much more comfortable and started to increase the pace managing to catch and pass 2 other runners in the final 1500 metres. I tried to sprint the last 200 metres and catch the fella ahead, but my legs just wouldn’t have it today. I timed myself at 45 minutes and 9 seconds it would have been nice to get a sub 45 but I am really happy with the time while my legs aren’t in perfect shape. As long as I can get over the sore legs I’m sure going into next Mondays Hatfield Broad Oak run I will be determined to get closer to my PB of 43.27. Happy Running, Baz More from The Running Bug 5 Reasons to Take Recovery Seriously Running Injury Advice 10 Ways to Avoid Running Injury What to Do in the Crucial First Hours of Injury Once you've started running the last thing you want is an injury holding you back. Avoid running injuries by following our advice on how to prepare your body for running. Just started out or a seasoned runner? Here are 10 ways to keep injury at bay. The first 72 hours after injury are the key to making a quick recovery. Here’s what to do. New to the Running Bug? We're the online community for runners with over 100,000 members! Join today - it's free and easy - and you'll get access to all our running events, training schedules and advice, shop, groups, blogs and forums. You will also be able to share and communicate with the running community in bugmiles and the great debate. JOIN THE RUNNING BUG HERE! It's free and takes just 30 seconds.