Usain Bolt Cruises Past ESPN

Another great video.



Yesterday I heard a fantastic question on ESPN radio: "Who would you rather be humiliated by? Tiger Woods on 18, Roger Federer in a best of five, or Usain Bolt in the 100 meter dash?"

Go ahead... answer away.

Deena Kastor and her comeback

With the Chicago Marathon quickly approaching I thought it would be nice to highlight a couple of videos from one of the elite runners participating in the race, Deena Kastor. She blogs at Asics who sponsors her. Kastor is a bronze medalist in the marathon from the 2004 Athens Olympics and is the American record holder for women in the marathon and half-marathon. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics she was unable to finish because of a stress fracture that occurred at about the 5k mark. She is also a winner of the 2005 Chicago Marathon and 2006 London Marathon.

So I think her training is probably pretty good! I just hope her recovery is going well and that she is at top notch shape for the marathon in a mere 10 days from now.

Breaking records during a workout?

I certainly wish I could break some records but then again I am not an elite athlete.

This is just amazing stuff:

Dathan Ritzenhein exceeded the U.S. record for 10 miles on Monday in a workout.

The U.S. record holder in the 5,000 meters is gearing up for the World Half-Marathon Championships in Birmingham, England on Oct. 11.

Ritzenhein covered the 10 miles in 45 minutes, 3 seconds -- running 4:30.3 per mile. He did half the workout on the track and half of it on the road. Alberto Salazar administered the workout.

How good is that?

Consider that Deriba Merga's world record for 15K was recently ratified at 41:29. That was en route to a half-marathon. Ritzenhein ran 41:45 for his final 15K on Monday's 10-miler.

I would be willing to bet that something very special is going to happen at the World Half-Marathon Championships. Let's just hope the weather is good for running.

Well that four hurt

This is my first four day training week in the new training program and as such today is the first time I have run back to back days in quite a while.

There are some lessons to be learned in running in consecutive days. Number one: don't go all out the day before like I did by setting a personal record in a two mile run. It just hinders the effort that follows the next day.

While this four mile run was at a good solid pace I found myself aching near my calf muscles. It is a pain that I am familiar with from last year when I ran in older shoes. I will have to take care of it with some good stretching and icing the areas down at night.

It is best to use the runs as a time to follow a steady but not too strenuous of a pace.

Here is today's 4.21 on Runkeeper's map (Will try to have a new Nike+ sensor for Thursday's run):



The mile splits were pretty good as well:

Mile 1 - 11:01
Mile 2 - 10:10
Mile 3 - 10:20
Mile 4 - 10:09

Once again the good news is that I am going out slow and picking up steam as the run progresses. The fastest mile was the last one and continues to show me that I am improving. The final result is 4.21 miles in 43:33 and the four miles being completed in 41:40.

Exciting... let's just hope these aches subside for Thursday's run.

Two mile PR and Nike+ fail!

As I have been saying I wanted to use my two mile run this morning to show myself something special (at least in my mind it would be). I was determined to make my two mile run count for something and break my previous two mile personal record of 21:55. I didn't think it would be that difficult to do so I went a step further and wanted to crack 20 minutes on it.



Well I blew 20 minutes out of the water! I started out quick because of a great pick up song playing on the iPod and slowed down to make sure that I would have energy to push myself at the end. In 20 minutes I ran 2.07 miles and my two mile time ended up at 19:25. A full two and half minutes better than the last time I tried the two mile run in this manner. How exciting!

First mile - 9:51
Second mile - 9:34

In fact that second mile isn't too far off my personal best for the mile at 9:26. It has been a year since I last tried that and this may get me to try it again.

One downfall of the morning was that I was unable to use my Nike+ sensor. This would have just been its third run but I couldn't get the iPod or the iPhone to pick it up. FAIL! Hopefully I can exchange it because that is a little ridiculous.

Sunday reflection #1

I thought it would be a good idea for me to spend a few minutes every Sunday (or as many as I can) to reflect upon how I am feeling with a variety of things when it comes to running. So if you will indulge me.

With each run I am continually impressed with how every workout affects a multitude of parts in my life. While I weigh in tomorrow with fingers crossed for a 178 reading on the scale I feel as though I am looking better and know confidently that I am looking better. There is an obvious toning of my body going on that I wait anxiously for even great results in additional to reach a goal weight down the road.

For the most part I have been waking up before work to complete my run and feel a sense of accomplishment prior to even eating breakfast in the morning. The emotional feedback that is received from this… really it is hard to explain but I guess the best way is that it provides a feeling of self worth that propels one through the day with a Staples commercial of “That was easy.”

Yesterday’s five-mile run with E marked the end of my fourth week of running since returning from the Rocky Mountain’s camping trip. In those four weeks both the emotional and physical aspects of running have been transformative as well as motivational to continue doing what I believe are great things for myself. Furthermore, there was something exemplary in that run. It was both the mental and physical awareness that I could keep running… I was not finished on either one of those levels after five miles. I also ran my fastest with the last mile, which I think is a breakthrough for me.

I commented yesterday that the split of 9:47 was probably a few seconds off putting the real time at 10 minutes give or take two or three seconds. This early and confident building breakthrough is proof that I am capable of something better than what I have been giving so far. I am once again anxious to see what it will result in for me. And as I also said yesterday I am scheduled for a two mile run Monday morning and I hope to prove to myself something again. We can only wait and see as I begin my fifth week of this training and my first four day week as well.

Saturday's five on a trail

E and I are in Ottawa for the weekend and our Saturday morning run took us on a nice trail through the town.

For the last few weeks I have been using my iPhone 3Gs for the Nike+ system and decided to move over to my iPod nano while still using the iPhone for Runkeeper's mapping ability. Well, that move didn't work too well as the sensor is obviously having problems as it said that I ran 5.6 miles and stopped picking up the sensor three separate times. It is a brand new sensor so I am going to have to exchange it.

Regardless here is the Nike+ chart:



There is just no way that I was running in 8:30 minutes splits (more realistic splits are coming up).

In reality it was actually five miles (give or take a little bit as Runkeeper can be quite off as well). Here is the map:



The splits below are fairly accurate. The fourth mile was probably about 10 or 15 seconds quicker while the fifth mile was probably 10-15 seconds slower. I edited the map to be more reflective of the run but what happens is when I make a circle to allow E to catch up the GPS doesn't always catch the circle backs and they need to be made up in the map. At least this is what happened today.

Mile 1 - 10:48
Mile 2 - 11:29
Mile 3 - 11:38
Mile 4 - 11:48
Mile 5 - 9:47

The last mile was a great one and probably just a few seconds over 10 minutes. I felt great and I knew that I was running faster. I feel like I am just a little bit away from being able to carry a solid 10:30 pace for that five miles.

Monday morning I have a two mile run in which I am going to try to break 20 minutes. The last time that I made an effort to really track a two mile run for a personal best I clocked in at 21:55. I am positive that time will be blown away on Monday!

Ryan Hall's Interview

Here is a video of Ryan Hall being interviewed after winning last weekend's Philadelphia half marathon in just over 61 minutes.