Be Negative

Sep 8, 2011 by Greg Fowler

Bigfoot.

The Loch Ness Monster.

The Lizard Man of South Carolina.

Negative Splits.

Some would argue the first three in this list are not real.  I would argue they are more real than the 4th – the elusive negative split.  This is one term I left out of my post called Who Knew? where I listed terms I did not know before becoming a runner.  So what is a negative split?  In simplest terms, it is running the second half of a race faster than the first half, and I have yet to do this.   Why?  Mainly because it takes an extreme amount of discipline to start out a race at the proper pace.  With a crowd and adrenaline pumping, most people start way too fast and then fade during the last parts of the race. I am guilty of this.

So why should you are I care about a negative split?  First, I believe I’ll feel better at the end of the race, with more fuel in the tank.  I won’t get into too technical here, but if you start out too fast in a race (or even training) your body will start preserving itself too early by shutting down your fuel supply (hitting the wall!) and make you miserable.  Once you hit the wall, it is hard, if not impossible to get back on track.  Second,  I like the idea of actually passing people toward the end.   I hear some people do this.

So, this is a new race and long training run strategy for me,   Some might think this not giving it all, but I think this will be a smarter way to race.  I guess when I think about it, the negative split is more like a hole-in-one or a no-hitter than Bigfoot.  It is real and can be done, but it is rare.  I’ll keep you posted.

POFIFOTO!

 

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Summer Summary

Sep 6, 2011 by Greg Fowler

September is here.  Even though school has been back in session a couple of weeks now, I guess the passing of Labor Day weekend and the start of college football make it official: Summer is over.

So while the kiddos took a break from school, I used the summer to learn some new things about running.  Here’s what I learned in summer session 2011:

1. Trail running is great fun. Sometimes something wonderful is right under your nose.  For several years I’ve literally had a trail in my backyard – a two-mile loop nature conservatory trail around the neighborhood that I had never used for running.  Until this year.  In an attempt to get out of the sun, I started running this trail, which led to running other trails, which led to completing my first official trail run.  I am now planning another trail race in January – the Harbison 50K.

2. Barefoot running is fun. And therapeutic. I’ve mentioned my 2nd attempt at barefoot running in another part of my website.  The first attempt really didn’t involve being barefoot, but instead consisted of running in Vibram Five Fingers.   That first attempt didn’t go so well.  This summer, though, in attempt number two, I have actually been running barefoot.  I started slowly, with short quarter mile or so runs and built up.  Over the last month and a half, I have run about 13 miles barefoot, with a longest run of 2 1/2 miles.  May not sound like much, but it is a start.  My feet are strengthening for sure, and my problematic left foot is better.  I’d say it has improved from a C- to a B-.  I plan to continue barefoot running.

3. Blogging is fun. But a lot of work.  Kind of like running  As an IT person, I’ve enjoyed learning some new software (WordPress).   If you compared my blogging pursuit to my running pursuit, I’m probably still back in 5K land.  I’ll keep at it, though.  Hope you’ve enjoyed it so far.

Hope you had a good summer and are ready to enjoy the upcoming fall weather!

POFIFOTO!

 

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Perspective

Sep 1, 2011 by Greg Fowler

Tonight I ran a couple of loops around my neighborhood.  The weather was a little cooler than it had been but was still  warmer than I would like. I was thinking I want summer to go away.  Soon.  As I neared the end of my run, I could feel a painful spot on my leg where my shorts were rubbing.  Suck it up, I told myself, and, note to self:  buy some more BodyGlide.

On my cool down, though, I had a reminder of just how good I have it here and why I shouldn’t complain about anything.  I had the privilege of running a bit with Lance Cpl Kyle Carpenter, United States Marine.  To say Kyle has had a rough year would be understatement.  Wounded by a direct hit from a grenade in Afghanistan last November, it is literally a miracle that he is even alive, much less running around the neighborhood.  We ran about 5 minutes together, but during that short time, I was reminded of young people serving our country in much hotter places than South Carolina and with much more serious discomforts than chaffing shorts.

To read about Kyle’s story, please visit the Operation Kyle Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/operationkyle  or http://blogs.militarytimes.com/battle-rattle/tag/operation-kyle/.

Also, please check out this video of the soon to be released song “Still in the Fight”, featuring Kyle and other wounded servicemen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of7dGa91uO8

 

Finally, the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 is  about a week away.  Please spend some time reflecting on how the world has changed over the last 10 years. This week, please consider making a donation to one of these worthy causes:

Team Fisher House

Wounded Warrior Project

Thanks to Kyle and all our servicemen and women.

 

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2011 Cross Country Season Begins

Aug 30, 2011 by Greg Fowler

Plans change.  Last week I was planning to do a 10 miler on Saturday.  Over 2 months since my last double digit run, I was anxious to get to that distance again.  Late in the week, though, we found out our son would be making the Saturday trip with the cross country team to a season-opening meet in North Carolina.  10 miler out the window.  No big deal.

So, we ventured to McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte to watch our Lexington (SC) Wildcats compete with about 40 other high schools in the Providence Invitational Cross Country meet. This post is not about tooting the horn for South Carolina’s two-time defending 4A state champs in Cross Country, Lexington (The varsity boys won!), or their #1 runner Colby Coulter (he finished first) or the fact my son, running as part of the JV team, cut over a minute off his PR (I’ll never catch him now!)

No, this post is to encourage you to get out and watch a cross country meet this fall.  For the next 2 months, there are many meets each week in any area of the country, probably on a Tuesday or Wednesday night.  Sometimes, there are Saturday meets with larger fields, like this past weekend.

Around here, the race distance for high schools is 5K (3.1 miles).  At any one meet, there will be 3-4 separate races – varsity boys, varsity girls, JV boys and JV girls.  Sometimes, JV boys and girls run at the same time.  Usually there is no cost to enter, either.  I have had to pay for parking once or twice.

You will be inspired by these young people, from the top veteran kids who battle it out at sub 16:00 times, to the newbie runners struggling to finish.  I always leave a meet wanting to go for a run and kicking myself for not running cross country in high school.

To learn more about cross  country in South Carolina go to http://www.scrunners.com.

For a comprehensive schedule of South Carolina cross country events click here.

POFIFOTO!

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Funky Town

Aug 23, 2011 by Greg Fowler

Having spent my teenage years in the 1980’s, I occasionally like to listen to ’80’s on 8 on satellite radio.  The other day I managed to sneak over to the station when the kids weren’t paying attention, and I heard a remake of the 1980 Lipps, Inc. disco classic Funky Town .  The remake was by a group called Pseudo Echo and apparently went to number 1 in 1986.  I was kind of appalled, but I figured it was a sign that I should make continue with this post.  And, why did they remake it so soon?

Oh well, back to running.  What does Funky Town have to do with running?  I suppose one of the ’80’s versions might be on your run playlist.  However, if you have any high-tech fabric workout clothes, Vibram Five Fingers or ever left wet shoes in a closed car for a day, then Funky Town may have a whole new meaning – the smell.

Here are a few tips for dealing with Funky Town.  First, get a separate small clothes basket for your running clothes.  Keep your  dirty workout clothes here.  Also, try to air dry clothes if you cannot wash right away.  Second, the main reason to keep the clothes in a separate basket is so you can easily wash them separately in the special detergents they make for high tech fabrics.  These really make a difference.  Occasionally, I have put on a high tech shirt that went through the regular wash, and I could tell a difference in the fabric smell.  We (and I use “We” loosely, since my wonderful wife handles 99% of the laundry duties!) currently use Tide with Febreeze for the running wash loads.  Third, if your shoes get wet from dew,  rain, or a 20 mile marathon training run, stuff newspaper in them for a day to absorb the moisture.  Finally, if you have Five Fingers Funk, good luck.  Washing them works for a bit, but the funk comes back quick.  I do keep dryer sheets in mine when not in use.  Here’s a link to a review of a product that just might work: http://barefootrunninguniversity.com/2011/04/13/killing-the-infamous-vibram-stink-a-better-solution/

POFIFOTO!

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Working on Form: Video Analysis

Aug 17, 2011 by Greg Fowler

Back when golf was my obsession, I occasionally recorded my swing and tried to analyze my faults.  Many times, what I thought was happening was proven wrong by the video. Up until the last couple of weeks, I had not used video to help my running form. Now that I have an HD video recorder in my possession most of the time thanks to a smart phone, I figured it was time to use it.

What is good form?  Click here for a link to a good video on form at Active.com.

How am I working on improving my form?  I am concentrating on foot strike mostly, trying to transform from being a heel striker to a mid-foot striker.  I know I am a heel striker from race photos and shoe wear patterns.  I am working on this transformation through changes in shoes (reducing heel to toe drop) and experimenting with barefoot running to get the feel of not heel striking. I am learning to lengthen my stride by lifting the heel higher toward my rear end, instead of extending my forward step. Here is a video of me running in my new Newton Gravitas shoes.

What did I learn from this video? #1, I think this is going in the right direction. #2, I am definitely not heel striking, and #3, I can see how high my back kick was.  I was intentionally going with what felt like a higher heel lift than I normal feel, and I can see that it was much better.  This run was very short and it was tough to keep the form toward the end.  I will now have to work on hamstring strengthening.

Here is a video of me barefoot on the treadmill.

 

What did I learn from this video? #1, I seem to be way too tense.  I already figured out earlier in the year that I am an under pronator, and I don’t see much pronation there at all.  So, I need to relax and see if I get a bit of normal pronation.  #2, I might have my feet pointed outward a bit.  Just a minor thing maybe, but I could experiment with my toes pointed a little more inward.  Other than those 2 things, I was pleased with the foot strike.

So, just like in golf, the video proved very useful.  Feel free to comment.

Finally, here’s a link to a recent article at Runner’s World which asks ‘Does form matter?”

POFIFOTO!

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