Category Archives: Running

Marathon Indecisions – Time vs. the enjoying the race

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In exactly one week, I’ll be running my first marathon. While I’ve been running for a while without much interest in running a marathon, I have to say, I’m am excited and looking forward to it. It’ll be a nice conclusion to a whole lot of early mornings and long runs.  I feel pretty prepared, I’ve done my miles and exceeded by pace goal during my 20 miler training run, but it was a hard run.  It was all one foot in front of the other for the last 2 miles.  Although I will say that I did lose some of my gels along the way so that may have contributed to my fatigue.  It was a good lesson learned though… wear shorts with deeper pockets!

While my goal is under 4 hours, I’ve been thinking a lot about whether I want to focus on my pace, or get a slightly higher time and enjoy the race. The two ultras that I’ve done before were all about just finishing, so there wasn’t as much a focus on pace and time.  I really enjoyed the camaraderie of those experiences.  Plus I didn’t have a lot to be able to compare them against.   But with the marathon, I feel like my whole training has focused on trying to get a 9 min/mile pace.  I know a lot of this will eventually depend on factors that are outside my control like rain or high temperature or even spending too much time dodging people.  And a lot of it will also depend on how I feel that particular day.  But I keep thinking that I’ll miss some of the experience if I focus too much on hitting the 4 hours and I’m not sure I’ll do a marathon, at least one that’s this large, again.

Though in the past running at a single pace has been a challenge for me, my plan right now is to run with the 9 min pace group for at least the first 18 miles. Then if I’m still feeling good, pick up the pace a little for the last 8.  Otherwise, I’ll try to keep up with the group and hopefully find people to talk to who will keep me motivated. Worst case scenario, I can drop back a little as I will still have some leeway at that point to slow down and meet my goal.  If for some reason I don’t reach it, I’ll still be satisfied with a sub 4:30 time, and happy with a 4:15.  And I keep telling myself that regardless of what time I come it at, at the end of this, I’ll have had the experience and the achievement in the books, which ultimately will be more important than how quickly I finished.  And if I am not happy with my time, I can always run another one.

Sitting the new smoking? My Standing Desk Alternative

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I’ve been looking into buying a standing desk for a few months now.  While the recentIMG_20140917_142034 inspiration has been articles such as this one from Runner’s World, I’ve generally found that I think better standing up and walking around.  In fact most of my walls in my home “office” (/mancave/fortress of solitude/place of banishment) are covered with post it flip charts with notes.

I looked online for a good standing desk at various places, from Mayfair to Amazon to Walmart.  However, I found most of those weren’t a good fit, they were either too small (enough to fit a laptop) or too big and bulky to move around), and most were upwards of $50 for a small one to a few hundred for a bigger one.

However, today, was working from home and out of habit I found myself working in my bedroom because there is more light there, and for calls I get better reception there.  Eventually I noticed that I was setting up my computer and papers on the ironing board that was sitting out and it was the perfect height.  Not only that it was also the perfect size to allow for a laptop, notes and my phone.

Sooo, after my meetings in the afternoon, I dragged the ironing board to my basement and am testing it out to see how it works out over the long run.  I mean at $20 – $30, you can’t go to wrong.  Plus it’s easily adjustable to get my kids in the habit of standing and working too!

 

 

Race plan for my first ultra

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I have my first ultra (8 hour timed) coming up this weekend and I feel a little overwhelmed to say the least.  Part of it is that I haven’t been able to prepare to quite the extent I would have liked to.  Sore, tight calves have kept me running about 3 times a week and  rather than the 5 -6 times that I would have liked and have also kept my miles lower than I would have liked.   The other part is the weather.  The race, Howl at the Moon, starts at 7:00 AM and finishes at 3:00 PM.  The weather is supposed to be low of 60 and high of 80 with humidity between  65 – 80.  So while it might be a bit more manageable in the early morning, it’s could get fairly sweaty by noon, and I’d still have three hours to go.

My initial high goal for the race was 41 miles, my target was 35 and my minimum was 32 miles to make it at least an ultra distance.  I think at this point the 41 miles is pretty much out of range.  I still have hope for 35, but am shooting for 32.  I’ve charted out three possible scenarios in the tables below.

Option 1:  This is the minimum.  It allow for a 3:1 run/walk the first half with a conservative pace of 10 min miles for running and 22 min miles walking.  The second half will be 1:1 with the running pace dropping  to 12 min miles.

opt1

Option 2: This gets me slightly higher miles.  The first half is the same, but the second half consists of a 40 min run followed by half an hour walk, followed by a 30 minute run and 90 min walk.

opt2

Option 3: This gets me the highest miles.  All things stay the same as the other two options except the second half consist of 2:1 run walks.

opt3

Waterfall Glen

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waterfallglenI finally got around to running the 9.5 mile loop around Waterfall Glen this morning.   I had been meaning to go for quite a while but never seemed to have made it out there.  However, in need of some trail running, I went out there today.  Even at 7:00 in the morning, I didn’t find a parking space at the start of the trail (granted there were only a handful of spaces available).  I was, however, able to find parking on Northgate street next to the entrance.

As far as the trail itself, most of it was small, steady inclines and declines.  While 10 miles has become routine, these ups and downs added some challenge to someone used to running on a flat surface.  A majority trail is crushed limestone.  There are some scenic parts on the trail.  Railroads, streams, wooden bridges.  I wasn’t lucky enough to see any wildlife, but maybe I was too focused on completing the course.  The waterfall itself is not on the trail.  Around mile seven, there is about a 150 to 200 feet incline over about half a mile called Big Bertha.  From what I had read and heard, I was expecting it to be a grueling hill, but, while my breathing did get more labored after it, it didn’t seem significantly hard.   I would say the trail is about 50/50 shade and sun. The trail itself wasn’t very crowded and the people who were on the trail seemed friendly.

Overall, I enjoyed the run.  I am definitely planning on setting aside more time over the weekends to go back.  Tactically, I would recommend the following:

  • Take 55 to Cass avenue and head south on Cass.  The start of the trial is about a quarter mile from the exit.
  • If you go, go early, like 7:00 AM.  Around 9 o’clock, most of the street parking seemed scarce as well.
  • The heat and direct sunlight is another reason to go early too.
  • Take your own liquids.  I didn’t see any water fountains.
  • I did see one port-o-potty around mile 6.  I’ve read there are other “pits” but I didn’t see any.

You can get more information about Waterfall Glen including a map here http://www.dupageforest.com/Conservation/Forest_Preserves/Waterfall_Glen.aspx

 

What Running Can Teach the Martial Artist

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runningRunning is something every able bodied person has done in their life.  It is something that people have been doing pretty much since they first learned to walk.  The basics of running are simple.  You put one foot in front of the other in rapid succession.  Martial arts, on the other hand, is fairly complex.  At a minimum there are blocks, kicks, and punches.  With weapons based martial arts like Arnis, there are even more significantly complex.

So what can running teach a martial artist?  Many students starting on their martial arts journey have unrealistic expectation of themselves and their training.  Just like with running, there are right ways to do things and wrong ways.  Just because we have been doing something for a long time, doesn’t mean we are doing it the most effective and efficient way.  While this article is focus more on students who are just starting on their path in martial arts, there are lessons for even seasoned practitioners.

Here is what running can teach us about martial arts training.

It takes patience.  Running seems pretty straight forward, yet there are a lot of subtleties to it that can make a huge difference in how successful you are.  Do things incorrectly and you run the risk of injuries, sprains and muscle fatigue. Do something wrong in martial arts and you not only risk significant injury.  It is going to take time to fully learn a technique.  Have patience, take time to learn a technique properly.

It takes practice.  With running, one of the first things you have to do is build a base. This is running, mile after mile, doing as much as you can to get your body used to running.  Here again many students feel that once they do a technique properly, they know it.  But there is a huge difference between doing a technique a few time and doing it many, many times, learning what works on different partners, in different ways.  It take months if not years to have it committed to muscle memory.  As my instructor used to tell me.  “You got it.  Now do it a few hundred more times.”

Save speed for last (except for on this list).  Any runner will tell you, focus on distance, breathing, pace and technique before focusing on speed.  The same is true for martial arts.  Speed will not do anything for you if your technique is wrong. Yet, I come across so many people in the martials arts world who think that speed and strength trump proper execution.  This is not just from new students but also instructors who focus on “faster” and “harder” without focusing on the movement.  If you focus on your art and train properly, speed will be a natural result.

It takes dedication.  Just like you can’t run once in a while and expect to successfully run a marathon, you can’t expect to train intermittently and get the full benefits of martial arts training.   There are times.  I hate getting up in the morning at time to run, yet, I know to reach my goals I have to.  More often than I would expect, I will have a student who trains just once a week and even that isn’t always consistent.  At that amount I feel the student is not really benefitting from their training.  Especially given the amount of material in Arnis, every week that is missed, I feel like the student takes a step backwards.  Consistent training is such an important aspect of getting movements committed to muscle memory and addressing all the little nuances that make the difference in the successfully execution against an opponent.

So as with running, take time to learn the right way to do things.  Have patience and don’t feel like you have to do everything right the first time.  Martial arts is about learning and growing.  Practice a technique over and over again until you not only know the movement, but you understand the mechanics and philosophy behind it.  Save speed for last.  To me it is the least important aspect to focus on.  It will come with training and time.  Finally, stay dedicated to the art.  It isn’t about one or two techniques.  It is a way of life.

 

 

 

A little 5K kicked my a$$ this morning… a lesson on conditioning and training

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A little 5K kicked my a$$ this morning… a lesson on conditioning and training

I ran a 5k this morning. It was early, it was cold and I hadn’t ran in over a month. So how’d I do? I did okay. I ran about 9/min miles and I was really tired when I finished. I’ve run faster miles and I’ve also ran much further so why did I have old men and little kids passing me us? This morning’s run reminded me of a few things. Particularly the need for conditioning and the need for training for different situations.

With regard to conditioning, sometimes it is hard to remember how much a fight or sparring can take out of you. After all, has anyone seen Steven Segal sweat? Especially when taking an art that focuses on technique, it is not too difficult to forget to keep conditioning as well. I’ve recently added both aerobic and strength training to supplement my martial arts. While I have a lot of confidence in my techniques, I also need to be confident that, first, I can out run an adversary, and failing that, I can outlast. In any situation, I’ll have enough other things to worry about outside of my strength and stamina.

With regard to different situations, most of the running I’ve done recently has been in warmer weather, where the air isn’t as dry and my muscles aren’t fighting the cold. Some people like running the cooler weather, but I’m from India, my body is used to hot weather and is where it performs best. I do think the weather contributed to my performance today, but it shouldn’t be an excuse, because I should have trained for and need to train for different conditions. Same thing with training. Training should never solely consist of sparring with just one partner where you’re squared of one against the other. It should include all situation. Two /three on one, fighting with or without a weapon, standing up and on the ground, and most importantly, fighting and running. Your training shouldn’t just bring you the ability to prove you’re a man by fighting, but the ability to prove you’re a man by running away, and not fighting.