13 posts tagged “running”

Running Times, June 2008 Issue

Editors of RUNNING TIMES Magazine

So much for Running Times being one of the favourite two running magazines (along with Trail Runner).  A number of months ago there was a small note in Running Times that let readers know that the running magazine giant, Runners World, had bought them out.  I was instantly worried as one of the major reasons I loved Running Times so much was the fact that it was not Runners World.  It is not that I do not thing Runners World is a good magazine, I just find that I am not amoung the audience that Runners World targets.  In response to my worries, the short blurb told all the readers that things at Running Times were not going to change.

I decided to wait a couple of editions to make my final decision.  As already suggested, I will not bother subscribing or purchasing this publication anymore.  While Runners World did not turn their new product mainstream (read: for newbie runners) like their flagship publication, I find that they over-focused Running Times.  Before the buy-out, Running Times had a great vareity of running related content, which included a fair amount of high school to professional race reports and/or runner profiles.  I now find that much more of their content is focused on these high school, college, and elite stories; too much so.

Rather than losing one of my staple magazines being a time of sorrow, it turned out to be an opportunity.  Back in good ol' Canada, there are two new Canada-centric running magazines on the scene:  iRun and Canadian Running.  At the Ottawa Race Weekend expo I grabbed a deput copy of each of the magazines.  While more Runners World-like, these magazines have a huge advantage that all the content is Canada focused (gear prices in Cdn dollars, Canadian race schedules, etc.).  I think I will enjoy relying on either of these publications.  I just hope that one of the two manages to survive.

All that said... Trail Runner is still my favourite runner magazine.

Dave's 2007 Monthly Running Mileage

It's time for my yearly running stat round-up.  Seeing I'm keeping a running log in four different forms at the current time (Moleskine notebook, Garmin Training Center s/w, Zone Five SportTracks 2.0 s/w, and a MS Excel template), I've got lots of data and tools to generate useful and useless running statistics.

Note: While I am a little bit obsessed with keeping my run log information, I'm only really keeping four run logs because my old run log crapped out on me when I was relying on a single one. It was very annoying.

Generally all of my stats are 80% to 90% of my 2006 results except for my average pace which is 47 secs faster.

Yearly

• Number of runs: 156
• Distance: 1026 miles (88% of 2006 mileage and about 222 miles short of my goal)
• Time: 5days 16hrs 33mins 39secs
  
• Races: Only four... Marathon, Half marathon, 10K, and a 5K.
  

• Highest mileage: 142 miles in July
• Lowest mileage: 34 miles in March
  
• Average mileage: 85 miles

• Highest mileage: 50 miles for week of 19 Nov
• Lowest mileage: I had 9 weeks with no running (Two weeks consecutively in two cases)
  
• Average mileage: 19.7 miles

• Distance/run: 6.6 miles
• Time/run: 1:06:10
• Pace: 8:00 mins/mile
• HR: 152 bpm

• Tuesday was my major running day of the week, 20% of mileage, and Saturday was my slack-off day, only 6%.
• More than half of my mileage was run in the morning, which is no surprise as I like to run before work.
  
• About 70% of my running was done at work and 18% of my mileage was done while on the road (business trips or vacation).
• I did manage to set a marathon PR, 3:51:44, at the WDW Marathon... its always easy to PR your first race:-)

What were the sports or games you played in high school or college? 
Submitted by Stephen.  

In college I was a member of the varsity cross-country team and also played intramural soccer and basketball.

Sports - Marathon

So I have not been on the road too much since finishing the WDW Marathon.  Here's what I've been running over the past three weeks:

• Week 1 - Nothing.  All my mileage was done walking while visiting the parks at WDW.
• Week 2 - 15 miles over three days.  Roughly five miles per run before work.
  
• Week 3 - 15 miles over two days.  Completed a 9 miler on Friday morning in ~35F weather.  This was the first time I decided to wear my running pants in Florida (and it was a good choice because the wind was killer).

"Roundi" Icon Set - Multimedia

If you could make a magic wish for a futuristic gadget or high-tech innovation, what would your item do? 
Submitted by Red Pen.

Just one?!  As a geek runner, I'll limit myself to wishing for a super-duper running gadget.  This gadget would be a watch-like device (similar to the form factor of a Garmin Forerunner but hopefully smaller) with additional peripherals connected wirelessly (probably via bluetooth).  It would have the following functionality:

• Global Positioning System receiver (GPSr) using SIRF technology and WAAS enabled (and maybe even some redundant/additional location determination using cellular signals)
  
• Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) function with the HRM strap not being made of plastic
  
• MP3 player that is compatible with iTunes but with absolutely no DRM (headphones would be wirelessly connected)
• Optional addition of a foot pod so that this device could also be used on a treadmill.
  
• Weather information: temperature, humidity, and even one of those sun burn warning indicators
• Training log file would be downloadable via gpx file format (i.e. the format would not be proprietary).
• 2 megapixel digital camera integrated
• Device would be SD or MMC card capable for training log file, picture, and music storage.

Total distance - Month

So it's the time of the year to review our accomplishments... seeing that I faithfully kept my running log this year (although it's not that big of an accomplishment as most of the data is downloaded automatically) I have more stats that you can shake a stick at.  Here are some of the more relevant stats:

• Total number of runs: 176
  
• Total Distance: 1173.5 miles (monthly breakdown illustrated in chart)
  
• Total Time: 171:31:35
  
• Total Calories: 129006
  
• Average Distance/run: 6.7 miles
  
• Average Time/run: 58:23
  
• Average Pace: 8:46 mins/mile
  

• Half-Marathon - 1:37:38 @ the Seaside Half-Marathon
  
• 18 Miles - 2:23:35 @ the Draggin Tail 18 Mile Challenge
  
• 5K - 20:30 @ the local Turkey Trot
  

• 38% my mileage was accomplished on Tuesdays and Fridays (not surprising as these were my long run days).
• I ran most often on Tuesdays.
  
• More than half of my mileage was run in the morning.
• Most of my mileage (~60%) was run in 45 min to 1.5 hr chunks.
  
• About a third of my running was done at work (which I found pretty low).

I've stumbled upon a few interesting running-related stories while out on the run and listening to some podcasts in the past few days:

competition | conceptional runners 2/3

Hanson brothers SOS Marathon Training Plan - Steve, from the Phedippidations podcast, talked about his new moderate and consistent marathon training plan on his latest podcast.  This plan is better known as the Hanson's Something of Substance (SOS) Marathon Training Plan (Here's the Running Times article).  This plan is very different from the standard Higdon or Galloway training program as it has six days of running per week, focuses on getting used to running at your marathon pace, and the longest long run is only 16 miles!  Steve has been working at breaking a sub-4 hour marathon and he hopes this program will get him to that goal.  I think the plan is pretty interesting (I'm especially interested in the @Marathon Pace workouts) but I'm going to stick with my regular plan for the time being.

Clown Juggler

Joggler - While listening to the RunningPlanet.com podcast, I learned about Perry Romanowski, a marathon runner that juggles the entire marathon and he's done this 22 times already. He's even pretty fast (with a joggling PR of ~3:22).  His next plan is to joggle thru some Ultras and even complete a Ironman Triathlon while juggling.  This episode might not make you faster but it will make you smile.

running man

So I've successfully and healthy reached the taper phase of my training with the completion of today's 22 mile long run.  Now I've only got to keep healthy, keep from going crazy with the reduction of mileage, and try not to go overboard with the holiday treats.

This week, like last, was a pretty weird training week due to some limited shift work I had to endure at work:

• Monday - 5 miles
• Wednesday - 10 miles (on the treadmill at 2am)
• Friday - 4 miles (at a terribly slow pace w/ folks from my office)
• Saturday - 22 miles

brown rabbit

I'm currently working some rather bizarre shifts at work so what should be my final few weeks of strict training has been thrown right out the window.  I'm working my hardest to sneak at least five or six miles into each day but I still haven't been able to free up enough time for my 20 or 22 mile long runs.  Luckily this craziness at work should be over at the end of the week and I will dive into a few long runs before I must start my marathon taper.

I do find it a bit weird that my taper will correspond with Xmas; not only will I be running less but I will be eating more.  That can't be good.

So today's run was a five miler to wind down after a crazy shift at work.  While running by an undeveloped property that is often frequented by "urban outdoors-men" (as my PC cop friend Kathy likes to call them), I found myself running alongside some cute brown bunnies.  I just cannot get over the number and diversity of urban wildlife here in Panama City.