Mission Accomplished!

Race Day Tweets and Photos from National Marathon Championships


Private Coaching Clients Abdelaaziz Atmani 11th (2:16 - Trials Qualifier), Whitney Bevins-Lazzera 14th (2:41 - Trials Qualifier) and Friend of the Show, Lucie Mays-Sulewski (21st-5th Masters (2:49) Shine at Twin Cities!


See October 6 posts at https://twitter.com/pbtau

(you may need to right click and open in new tab to see the twitter feed and photos)









26.2 Marathon and Half Marathon Tips


1. With proper rest you will overcompensate for training allowing you to do something you have never done before.
2. Address all lingering aches and pains as you get closer to race day to make sure they do not flare up at the wrong time.
3. Tapering is one thing.  Not running is another.  Your body likes rest but does not like inactivity.
4. You will be a hypochondriac during race week.
5. Use your best “normal” diet for race week.  Do not start something new no matter how good it may be.
6. Pay attention to details including race logistics.  It would be sad to see your training wasted on a logistical problem.
7. Avoid getting psyched up.  Remain relaxed as much as possible because you will need the fuel later.
8. Ever heard someone say they should have started a marathon or half marathon faster?
9. Perceived exertion will desert you at the start, so when in doubt slow down.
10. Run 20 miles with your head and 6.2 with your heart!  10 miles and 5K for half marathoners.
11. Relax at the start and through large spectator points because your adrenaline will carry you through there effortlessly.
12. Courses may dictate otherwise, but even splits are the most efficient way to run fast.
13. Try to run slightly faster the second half and if you can’t you may still run even or at least very close.
14. Control the variables you can and deal with the ones beyond you.
15. All anyone can ever hope for is to run up to their training.
16. Trust your training and plan your marathon pace accordingly.  It is goal pace not dream pace.
17. Adjust your plan as needed.  Know ahead of time what to do if conditions change or if you do not feel great.
18. It will be your legs that go, not your breathing, so focus on muscular tension when judging effort.
19. Where skin or clothing rubs skin apply body glide.  The post race shower will be more pleasant.
20. Run tangents because 26.2 and 13.1 are far enough.
21. Aid stations will slow you down but not as much as skipping them.
22. Throughout the race gauge your fuel tank and make sure you have just enough to get to the finish.
23. At some point it is going to get difficult.  Stay positive.  You have trained for this.  It would not be a big deal if is was easy.
24. Remember you owe your non-running loved ones for living with you through training and race day.
25. If you can do this what else did you doubt you might be able to accomplish?
26. Run Smart.  Run Hard.
26.2  Have fun!!!

Looking for Signs

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind

 Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?

 -Five Man Electrical Band

More dangerous than texting and driving is the irresistible compulsion to look for signs of race readiness as the big day approaches.  I have done it and I am sure you have too.  Regardless of how many miles and quality sessions you have compiled over the preceding months we want a sign from our bodies and the ghosts of Lydiard and Bowerman, if not God himself that we are fit and ready for something great.

Can we not all learn from Icarus?  If you recall the story he ignored his father’s warning not to fly too close to the sun with his wings of feathers and wax.  The headiness of being able to fly was too great a temptation to stay low and escape captivity on Crete.  We do the same thing.  When we are fit and race sharp and ready to “strike fear into the hearts of mediocre talent everywhere,” it is a very difficult thing not to show off, not for anyone else, necessarily, but to ourselves.  Confidence can be a very fleeting thing for a runner.  After a good day it soars and after a bad day all is lost and we might as well take up lawn darts.

Frank Shorter says there are two kinds of workouts.  Those that make us fit and those that demonstrate fitness.  If these get out of balance we are likely to become the fittest spectator on the course.  This is about as happy of a place to be as Crete being guarded by Minotaur.  Just because a “goal pace” run at 20 seconds a mile faster than you can dream of running will look awesome in your training log does not mean it is a good idea.  Now is the time to clearly understand the workout purpose and stick to it.  Let your coach tell you how lean and mean you are and how sure you are to blow away any PR you possess than melt your wax too close to race day looking for a sign..

Indianapolis Women's Half & 5K

Overpeck, Lazzara, Sulewski
As expected the weather took a toll on times but some of the performances were just as hot.  Updated and final results.

Half Marathon  Whitney Lazarra 2nd 1:17:54 (PR!), Lucie Sulewski 5th 1:22:18, Sarah Overpeck 7th 1:28:48, Leslie Bonacker 8th 1:32:15 (PR!), Tori Brown 17th 1:38:41, Chikage Castle 28th 1:42:32, Ashley Sales 30th 1:43:22, Anne Johnson 43rd 1:46:13 1st AG (part of 20M training run), Rachna Sharma 251 2:12:41.

5K Brooke Fihma 1st! 20:08.

We're so proud!

Rejuvenate Your Long Run

We all know how important the long run is for building endurance.  We also know the long run novelty can wear off with miles to go.  Training is supposed to be fun and effective so let’s talk about some ways to rejuvenate your long runs.

Before we get too crazy in trying to reinvent the long run let’s remember some criteria that must be kept in mind when planning this training staple.  The purposes of the long run include not only building endurance, the ability to get to point “B”, but also to simulate race day muscular tension, learning to burn an ideal mix of fat and sugar, develop mental stamina, and have fun.  Therefore it stands to reason, and exercise physiology, that we want to run ourselves into a carbohydrate deficit, turn up the muscular tension to “fry”, and have fun by challenging yourself in creative ways and of course rewarding yourself for a job well done.  To safeguard against leaving your best running in a workout and injury make sure you have a good match of the distance and intensity of the long run with what training effect you most need, how it balances with the rest of your training, and the amount of recovery needed. 

Here are my 9 favorite ways to spice up your long run.

Perhaps the least popular but most effective is to Hit it Hard.  By starting with a short warm-up and then running several miles at half marathon race pace or faster you will create a carbohydrate deficit and a high level of muscular tension that will maximize the training effect of the rest of the run at normal long run pace.  It is a horrible way to race but an effective way to occasionally train.

Can you think of a sillier thing to do in the middle of a long run than to take off running much harder only to slow down again to the same pace or slower?  Throwing some Intervals into your long run will also overload your legs and lungs creating a stronger effect for the same reason as “Hit it Hard”.

Negative Split the run by making sure you start at a speed that you can eclipse for the second half.  This will leave you feeling great about your fitness and teach you how to be patient which will pay huge dividends on race day.

By Finishing Fast you can gain confidence it is possible to run fast after more than a few miles in the bank.  These runs will also produce enough muscular tension that over the last few miles this will not be unknown territory on race day.

Progression Runs may be the most fun because there is no rule on how fast.  The only objective is to gradually get faster throughout the run.  These runs can turn a bad day into a good one because no matter how slow you felt at the beginning you were faster at the end.  

Learning the effort and rhythm of Goal Pace is best done by, you guessed it, running goal pace.  It is also a great training level because it is high end aerobic where the best return on effort is found.

If you are tired of seeing the same pavement or trail and need something new try a Point to Point.  Recently, my wife and some friends ran from our house to Eagle Creek Park and drove back in my car I left there while I ran with some friends back home.  Nice way to kill 20 miles.  It may take some planning and creativity but it feels somewhere between training and race day.

Even Long Runs should be used with most frequency and are the best when building distance especially for the first time.  Learning to run even and knowing how you should feel at any point in the run will pay off at any distance. 


Let’s face it.  Some days you start a long run and know it will be one of those where you are just Killin’ Time.  Come up with a fair pace estimate and just keep moving for that amount of time.  Usually, these are harder than they should be because the preceding week is still lingering in your legs but a good time to disassociate or socialize or whatever it takes to keep moving for the given time.  Ditch the GPS.  You don’t want to know!

Personal Best 5!

PERSONAL BEST 5


The 5k was not timed and scored.

EVENT INFORMATION

The Personal Best 5 Run/Walk benefiting Anna's Celebration of Life Foundation is a 5 Mile Run/Walk with IPICO Tag Timing and a 5K Walk/Run. There are activities for all including a Fun Run and bounce house for the kids. Anna's Celebration of Life helps local kids with special needs get the therapy devices that they need to thrive and otherwise would not be able to obtain.

When

Saturday - August 10, 2013

Time

8:00AM - 5 Mile
8:15AM - 5K

Where

Broad Ripple Park - 1550 Broad Ripple Ave, Indianapolis 46220

Entry Fees

Entry Fees
Event
Pre-Registered
Race Day
5 Mile
$22.00
$25.00
5 Mile
(Public Safety Personnel)
$18.00
$20.00
5K
$22.00
$25.00
5K
(Public Safety Personnel)
$18.00
$20.00
Technical shirts will be given to all participants who register by Monday, August 5. Shirt size and availability is not guaranteed for those signing up after Monday, August 5. You may pre-register online until Friday, August 9 at 10:00AM.

Packet Pick-Up

You may pick up your packet on race day from 6:45AM - 7:45AM at Broad Ripple Park.

Race Day Parking

Parking is available within Broad Ripple Park and in surrounding neighborhoods.

Kids Run

The Kids Run is free to all children and is limited to those under the age of 10. This short distance course is in Broad Ripple Park and will begin at 9:15AM. There will also be a Bounce House available for more fun!

Awards

Runners Forum gift certificates will be presented to the top 5 male and female finishers in the 5 Mile event ($100, $50, $40, $30, $20).
Age Group awards will be presented to the top 3 male and female finishers in each of the following age groups for the 5 Mile event: 12 and under, 13-15, 16-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75 and above.
There are no overall or age group awards for the 5K.

Volunteer

If you are interested in volunteering for this great event, please CLICK HERE.

Anna's Celebration of Life

For more information on Anna's Celebration of Life, visit www.annascelebrationoflife.org.

Personal Best Training

Coach Matt Ebersole works with runners of all abilities and aspirations through Personal Best Training. Matt has coached over 6,000 athletes including beginners, hundreds of Boston Marathon qualifiers, and 5 Olympic Trials runners. Contact Coach Ebersole today to see how he can help you reach your goals! www.personalbesttraining.co

Indiana Trail Running Summit Announced!

Summit Postponed Until Sunday, September 15.  Stay tuned for details!


From Terry Fletcher-



This Indiana Trail Running Summit is certainly a don't-miss event and I'm really excited about this all-star lineup.  For the same cost of a typical insurance co-pay, we actually get the opportunity to dialogue with a very talented Sports Doctor, an Athletic Trainer, and a Running Coach on their respective professions.  As the Owner/President of SPORTZbizz Massage LLC, these are the very first professionals I refer out to when it comes to wellness, injuries, strengthening concerns, and coaching.

Joel kary
Dr. Joel Kary:  Dr. Kary is a team physician for Butler University, Roncalli High School, Ed Carpenter Racing, and the Indiana Invaders Track Club.  He works with USA Track and Field as a Consultant Physician.  His work as a sports medicine physician has included serving at the USA Track and Field Championships, USA National Gymnastic Championships, FINA World Swimming Championships, Big Ten Basketball Championships, and numerous other national/international sporting events. He currently serves as the Medical Director for the Carmel Marathon and the Geist Half Marathon.   

Scott
Scott Hudson;  Scott has been a Certified Athletic Trainer for 20 years.  He has experience working with athletes of all levels from the recreational to the professional and Olympians. He holds a BS in Physical Education and a MS Degree in Kinesiology from Indiana University. He has completed all distances up to 100K, so he knows what it takes to train and complete on the endurance level


Matt Ebersole
Matt Ebersole;  Matt Ebersole, combining the knowledge and experience of 30+ years of running and 20+ years of coaching with countless speaking and writing opportunities, has learned how to connect with runners of all ages, abilities, experiences, and goals.  Matt has coached over 6,000 runners including thousands of first time marathoners, hundreds of Boston Marathon qualifiers, and 5 Olympic Trials qualifiers.

Managing Your Improvement Curve

Managing Your Improvement Curve
How to Find Your Unique Training Balance

Have you ever wondered why a training program that works well for someone else does little or nothing for you?  It is simply because you are different runners and your needs are different to see significant improvement.  As you prepare for your Monumental race it is a good time to objectively assess yourself as a runner to determine your best return on training investment to keep your improvement curve moving in the right direction.  By recognizing your strengths and weaknesses and the demands specific to your race distance you can plan your training in the proper balance to keep building your strengths and improve your weaknesses.

We can boil down all workouts to these four basic purposes, endurance, stamina, economy, and speed.  Endurance is the ability to get from point A to point B without stopping.  Stamina is the ability to maintain a pace from point A to point B.  Economy is the physiological cost of a given pace and speed is the ability to run faster than race pace.

If this is your first attempt at a new distance the first goal is to finish mandating that endurance is your priority.  However, if you have a closet full of race t-shirts and finisher’s medals staying focused on endurance will have you wondering why your improvement curve is flat or downhill.  You have proven you can get to point B and now it is time to think about the pace from A to B requiring more stamina to compliment your endurance.

If you have done a great job blending endurance and stamina and have several strong races on your resume but seem stuck on a plateau with no breakthrough in sight it is time to raise you limits with more concentrated economy training.  If we put you on a treadmill next to another runner keeping all the variables constant and at goal pace they are working at 75% of maximum effort and you are chugging along at 85% we know two things.  They will be able to maintain this pace longer and they can speed up and still be doing less work than you.  You will need to do economy based workouts to lower you workload at goal pace to get off your plateau and see another PR.

Similarly, though it is not much of a challenge to run faster than long distance goal pace, you will still benefit from speed improvement because like economy training it will raise your limits.  The faster you can run for shorter distances the more comfortable the relatively slower pace of long distances become.  By raising your economy and speed ceilings running at the same percentage of maximum effort will result in a faster race.

Yes, you got it!  Now you see that all four purposes begin to overlap and build on each other.  To be at your best you will need to address all four components. The key is to know where you are now and be able to find the best balance in your training for the next few months to have the greatest effect on race day.

If you are thinking this is a great concept but you need to know more to implement it into your training, stay tuned to personalbesttraining.com.  I will be conducting several clinics in the next couple of weeks to further explain the specifics of assessing your current fitness and balancing endurance, stamina, economy, and speed to have you at your best on race day.


Ugly (Yet Effective)!

Wasn't last night fun? OK, it was great to get the workout in and even better to be done. It was fantastic to have so many join in at the track for this workout.

I did my 8 x half mile repeats on the road this morning using my Polar RC3 and have linked my workout file for your amusement.  The reason I am posting this workout is to make a few points about quality sessions in the heat which should make some of you feel better about the work you did last night.  It is not because my workout was fast or pretty.

A few comments about my workout file and then I will discuss generalities that apply to all of us.  I warmed up for 3 miles and then did 4 x 100 meter striders.  That is the part that looks like an ecg before I started the repeats.  I began running at about 8:40 am and finished close to 10 am.  It was plenty warm and very humid.  Today was a rare time I was looking for a headwind for cooling.

I did miss the split button after my 1st recovery so the first recovery and second half mile are lumped together. At my current fitness under good conditions I would have expected to average around 2:55 with a few a little faster and hopefully nothing over 3:00 at 85% and 90 second recovery jog.  As the workout slid downhill I wondered if I went a mile could I run the same pace I was for halves.  I decided to try and combined my 5th and 6th halves into a mile.  As you can see from the file it was a successful experiment.  After returning to the halves the splits continued to slide for the last 2 half mile repeats.

Here are some conclusions we can draw from doing this workout in the heat.

You will get slower as the run progresses.  Good pacing and attention to effort will only keep the fastest and slowest closer together.

With significant heat and humidity the hard effort is harder but the big deal is the recovery is much slower to occur and with each interval less recovery is happening.  That is why I could run a mile at the same pace as the half miles.

Heart rates will be elevated due to dehydration and the resulting blood volume loss requires the heart to pump harder to deliver oxygen.  HR is a great tool but in these conditions I had to temper it with perceived exertion, muscular tension, and aerobic pressure.  This resulted in giving myself 5 extra beats for the first half to 2/3rd s of the workout and 10 towards the end.

Faith and common sense are important (in running and life!).  Have faith that when the weather breaks you will feel a jump in fitness.   Apply common sense when you feel like you are working hard and the watch is not rewarding you.

Your body responds to effort not splits.  This one might have been ugly, it was for me, but with proper recovery it will make you better.  Ugly, yet effective!

Writers note:  What a difference some acclimatization and more reasonable temperatures and humidity make.  Today (8/17/13) I ran 20 miles at 7:04/M and my last half mile repeat on this workout was at 7:02/M pace!

Indy Runners Partnership

Introducing Structured Speed Sessions!

ShareThis
(From the www.indyrunners.org)
Through the years, people have asked us about organizing club speedwork sessions. Indy Runners has arranged for long-time local Coach Matt Ebersole of Personal Best Training to organize a weekly quality running session, and you are invited. The focus will be on challenging you, training smarter, getting faster, and having more fun. If any or all of these are appealing, then these sessions will be for you. 
Each workout is structured with a specific training purpose in mind and will be explained thoroughly and given at levels for the most competitive and accomplished runners to those just beginning to explore higher quality training. ALL SPEEDS ARE WELCOME. The workouts will include stamina building steady state runs, long intervals, and economy and speed building shorter anaerobic intervals, as well as mixes of these training types. We will meet where E. 67th St. meets the Monon Trail (near the Indianapolis Art Center), we have access to the trail, a track, a hill circuit, and a great road loop that are used for appropriate workouts. 
The first time out may be a little intimidating, but after doing this for more than 20 years, Matt knows that if you give it a few weeks you will enjoy it in a way only a runner could enjoy something so challenging. He has people who are very fast and others not so fast (yet!), but if you are concerned about not having a training partner at your speed, then bringing a friend is a great way to make sure. Plan to arrive early the first week to introduce yourself and ask questions.  
These training sessions will occur on Tuesdays beginning July 2nd. (You are under no obligation to be there every week, so if you can't be there the first week or two, don't worry about it!) We will meet at 5:40pm and start the warm-up by 5:45pm. This 9 week session will run on Tuesdays from July 2, 2013 through August 26, 2013. The cost will be $50 for the 9 week session. This offer is for Indy Runners members only. (Not a member? Join now!) However, the first 25 club members can sign up for the discounted price of only $30. That's only $3.33 per weekly session!
There is no charge for an initial “trial” visit.
For more information about Personal Best Training, see personalbesttraining.com. If you have any questions, you may contact Coach Ebersole atpbtau@hotmail.com.
Click here to sign-up. The discount code ($20 off for the first 25 club members to sign-up) is indyspeed25.
Note: These speed sessions are in addition to the regular Tuesday evening 6:00pm club runs which will continue to meet at Hinkle Fieldhouse. We look forward to seeing you at either run.

Some People do More in a Half Day...

Part of what attracts us to distance running is accomplishing something that even after we do it still amazes us.  The problem sets in when you have been at this for a few years and it takes more and more to get us to shake our heads in that same amazement.  That's how you get what we had this past Saturday at Hawthorne Park in Terre Haute, IN.  

The annual Hawthorne Half Day is a very long day compressed into 12 hours.  The deal is each person runs a 5K trail loop until the rest of the team has all done their legs and then you get to go again.  The winning team comprised of 3 Personal Best runners and their friends repeated as champions with a total of 118.2 miles in 12 hours.  Let me do the math, that is 6:05/M for a 12 hour relay.  To run that fast for that long is crazy.  5/6th of the winning team is pictured above from left Scott Fihma, Sean Clark, (we will get back to Jesse holding the big eagle), Brian Kremer, Andrew Fritz, and Whitney Lazzara (Ben Chastain did not make the photo op).

Now if that is not enough and you might feel cheated having to sit out while others get to play you can do the entire 12 hours solo.  A mostly rational human being, albeit a talented and speedy one, Jesse Davis inspired by our friend Scott Spitz's cancer fight decided to go this route.  Until a few weeks ago Jesse never ran longer than 2 and half hours.  Fresh off of a two week wedding break he worked in gentle 3 and 3 and half hour training runs the last few weekends.  Should make 12 hours a breeze, right?

Limits are rarely met face to face.  Jesse saw his on Saturday.  He saw them, stared them down, and spit in their face.  When someone runs as fast as Jesse it is easy to dismiss it as talent.  What I witnessed on Saturday was not only talent of legs and lungs but the talent or ability or curse or whatever we want to name it, to keep fighting beyond the point of reason.  I saw him transformed by will (and a little bit of pineapple) from a man close to the brink of curling up on the trail and sleeping for days to 7:00/M pace when told his lead had shrunk to less than a few minutes after 11 hours of running.  The legend may vary but he ran his last half mile in about 3:00 to hold off a very, very tough competitor to win.  The final result was 12 hours, 78.4 miles, 9:11 per mile average, $3,000 raised for Scott, and the amazement of all who witnessed it.  Amazed most of all, because he lived it and felt it, was probably Jesse Davis.

Heat & Humidity Finally Show

Tuesday night was our first post Mini, hot-humid workout of consequence.  With some adaptation the conditions were not too bad but with the very slow developing spring/summer weather it had quite an effect.  Because I received lots of questions after this workout ranging from what to do about HR drift in the heat to is it normal to feel so bad for the first runs in these conditions I thought it would make a good blog topic.  Because I got good HR and pace information from my monitor I have listed my splits with average HR and a link to all the details you could ever want to see.

My splits (average heart rate) 5 mile steady state run at 75-85%

6:45 (144), 6:42 (156), 6:41 (159), 6:29 (163), 6:26 (168) 33:03

Course note: This is an out and back course slightly uphill out and downhill back.

Polar Personal Trainer details link

The prescribed workout effort of 75-85% should be comfortably hard.  It should work into high end aerobic effort but never venture into the land of racing.  

We know that with hot & humid conditions and the resulting dehydration the heart has to beat faster to deliver oxygen to compensate for blood volume loss.  Going into the workout it was clear that HR was going to drift over the given zone, in my case 145-160.  

The key in this situation is to let it go but make sure once north of the upper limit to relax and not continue to push.  It is a good strategy for longer steady state runs, especially in warmer conditions, to try to stay in the bottom half of the zone for half of the run to be able to keep within the zone for the second half.  Under ideal conditions you should be able to dial in to a heart rate and keep it there for this duration.

At about 2.5 to 3 miles this started to feel like work so I relaxed and tried to keep the HR down in the zone.  Somewhere between 3 & 4 I exceeded the zone and just tried to maintain the perceived effort.  As Neill began to pull away around 4 it was time to decide to stick with the workout or race.  I chose to stick with the workout which was a brilliant idea because I might not have been able to keep up with Harrington had I chosen to race.

Overall, I was very pleased to see the progression of pace, even with the benefit of some downhill coming back and the HR, though over the zone, was controlled.

Yes, Mr. Kremer it is normal to feel that bad for the first few runs in these conditions.  It is just a matter of remembering the workout objective and sticking to it.  It does not always result in training log entries you are proud of but the work gets done and the running machine gets stronger.