TheRunningRev.Com

Ryan Hall joins Team World Vision

Having raised money for Team World Vision over the last year I was very excited when I read that Olympic gold medal hopeful Ryan Hall has joined the team.

We can make a difference in this world through our running!

Second attempt at the National Marathon

I'm still sore today after chasing that soccer ball around on Monday evening. Muscles just aren't designed to run twenty miles and then sprint after a ball later in the day... hamstrings and quads are tight and full of lactic acid waste!

I finally took the time today to register for the National Marathon. This year they are using a corral start and I wasn't sure where to put myself! One corral is for 7:00 - 7:45 pace and the next one is for 7:46 - 8:30 pace. If conditions are perfect and I feel good I should be able to muster a 7:45 pace, so that's where I decided to put myself. I just have to remember not to run out of the gate to quickly.

20 miles and then a muscle pull playing with my kids!

20 miles today, an easy 8:30 pace. It was a beautiful clear morning in the mid-30s and I started out on a familiar route. After 6 miles I took a road that I'd never been down and enjoyed running through some uncharted territory for a few miles before heading back home.

This evening I was out kicking a soccer ball with my daughter and the neighbor and his son, pushed a little to hard and now have a slight pull in my left hip flexor! Uggh! I've pulled this before and based on history I should be OK in a couple of days and fine for the National Marathon. Bring it on!

Amazing Race

Check out this video from the Big Ten Championships. It's the womens 600m watch a runner fall, get up and win! Go Gophers!

Sunny, windy, twelve

A beautiful day for a run, the sun is shining and its going to reach the mid-60's. The only downside is the wind which is blowing between 20 and 30 mph, but I didn't mind, I wasn't running for time, just a long slow twelve today. It's just great to feel the warmth of the sun and know that spring is almost here.

In spite of the wind it turned out to be a great run with negative splits, 8:19 pace out and 7:56 back, yes the wind was helping more on the way back!

Just a bit of fun

I have several friends who claim to read Runner's World from cover to cover. What I want to know is why none of them mentioned seeing my name in the current issue? I did receive a call from the crew at The Running Store when they saw it. You can find my quote on page 79 of the March issue. As you can see it's really deep and meaningful!

Feeling Great: 20 Miles

It's amazing the difference a week can make. Last Monday I was dying a slow death on a 13 mile run, one week later 20 miles seems easy. Today's 20 was run at a 8:19 pace and was very comfortable, I chose to walk a couple of the tougher hills and that cost me a couple of minutes but it was well worth it as it allowed me to finish feeling great.

Another lesson in the anals of training, even when it things feel like they aren't going your way, stick with it and it will get better.

Running for sheer joy, not results

Most of the time I run with my Garmin strapped to my wrist, recording all the vital information for my training. Every once in a while though I like to leave all that behind and just run for the sake of running and that's exactly what I did today.

About eight miles (no Garmin to give me an exact distance) and I've no idea how long it took! It was a damp evening as the ice from the freezing rain had just melted, the air was thick with moisture and it just felt great to be out running.

It seems that we spend so much of our life constantly measuring and evaluating, putting metrics in place to see how we are doing. There's nothing wrong with that but sometimes we need to set these things aside and just enjoy living, pursue activities for sheer joy and not results, of course joy may be the best result we can ever have. Jesus even said that he came to make our joy complete (John 15:11) of course we don't receive the joy of Christ through running but rather through learning to trust and abide in Him, but all the same I really think the world could do with less measurements and greater joy.

What The Goo Goo Dolls and The Cult have in common

So what is the connection between The Goo Goo Dolls, and The Cult? The answer is ultrarunning! Perhaps that's the answer you were expecting but its true, no sex, drugs and rock'n'roll here, just miles and miles of running.

Mike Malinin the drummer with The Goo Goo Dolls is an avid ultramarathon runner, having completed several 100 milers. Then there's Michael Dimkich of The Cult. Dimkich notes in his chapter in "Running Through The Wall: personal encounters with the ultramarathon" that, "music and running crossed paths as a musician friend of mine, Mike from the Goo Goo Dolls, mentioned that he'd done a local 50k not too long ago. I couldn't let another "rock guy" tackle an ultra distance while I just ran marathons." So off he went and  ended up completing the Angeles Crest 100.

Perhaps Goethe said it best,

Whatever you think you can door believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it.

Make Up Day

There's nothing like a good make up day after a bad run. The temperature dropped 30 degrees today and was in the low 40's, the wind was blowing hard and I ran six at a 7:30 pace... yesterday is behind me and all is well! I enjoyed a relaxing final mile to cool down for a total of seven.