Snowy strides

In my last post I mentioned not running for a while, but I couldn't help but sprint quickly down to Upper Saranac Lake to catch the sunset last night. Ankle deep snow is a perfect form of winter exhilaration! Above is the view I was treated to at the lake's edge.

Not much running likely for me in the next few weeks--but for a good reason. I'll be skiing at various locations across New York State, Quebec's Eastern Townships, and northern Vermont. Today was my first day on the slopes, and I can't remember the muscles in my legs burning this much in a long, long time! Whiteface provided a fantastic work out, gorgeous views, and perfectly white, glorious snow. Skiing was my first sport and as much as I love running, skiing will always top it (and I have to say I think it does get my quads in better shape).

If we're really good maybe we'll get some gear!

It's the holiday season and a great time to covet new running gear to energize your workouts. Here are a few items I suggest putting on your list:

Saucony's Viperlite Jacket

There's a built-in, flashing light on the sleeve, but that's not the draw -- it's the soft fabric!

Comes in three colors: black, fathom (blue), and recon (grey). Also in men's.

$120

Saucony Ulti-mitt

Gloves that convert to a mitten. There's even a flap on your index finger so that you can use your telephone or iPod.

$38

Craft Prozero Base

I've seen this baselayer at almost every store I've visited recently.

It feels like lightweight wool, but it's a unique polyester that may not be the most flattering, but seems very functional and comfortable.

$55

SmartWool Running Socks

Speaking of wool - this is one of my all time favorite wool products.

I buy the higher cuff versions for more 'serious' trail runs and the lower cuff versions for street running in inclement weather.

$13

Nike Core Half Zip Sweatshirt

Doesn't look like much in this picture, but it's simple and perfect for wearing to and from your workout.

$30

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall

Disclaimer: I haven't read this book yet, but reading the title made me want to buy it on the spot.

It promises to be fun and intriguing.

$15

Yesterday NYC saw its first snow of the season, which always puts me in a holiday mood. I'm excited for us to experience some real accumulation so that I can get out there in my tried-and-true Salomon XCR trail shoes as well as plan some snowshoeing exercusions.

What to do without the team?

When I moved to New York City almost a decade ago I found I needed a physical and social outlet to augment my professional, office-based life. I found a women's soccer team that first summer and, almost more than anything else, it's shaped my life ever since. Through the team, which eventually became co-ed, I found running partners, a significant other, teammates for an adventure racing team, travel companions (the team played tournaments in Washington D.C., Montreal, Miami, and Las Vegas), and drinking buddies.

Enjoyment of the game and the people made me exercise more than I would have of my own accord. I played when I was exhausted after work because the team counted on me. I made an extra sprint at the end of the game when I was dead tired because I just couldn't bear to be responsible for a goal scored against us. There were Sundays when I'd cram in four hours of playing time because I enjoyed spending time outside with my teammates and there was one memorable evening when I completed a twelve mile training run and followed it up with an hour of co-ed soccer because I knew it would leave me laughing and happy.

It's this athletic family and world that I've missed the most since I left NYC. I'm honestly struggling to maintain my focus and dedication now that I've lost the structure provided by the team's practices and games. The likely solution is to pick a significant spring event to focus on and get me out to train. If you were me, what would you pick? Here are a few options --

- NYC Half Marathon (3/21)

- Harriman State Park Sprint Adventure Race (4/25 - 15-20 miles as a two-person team)
- North Face Endurance Challenge Bear Mountain Half Marathon (May)

There's got to be a lot more great events out there in the NY, CT, Western MA area this spring. Send me your suggestions!

Taking Part in Racing's Hottest Thing - Relays

From my point of view, relays are the newest explosion in race trends. Most are 24-hour plus affairs that involve six to twelve participants and cover approximately 200 miles. I think the trend started with Nike’s Hood to Coast relay in Oregon. I’ve done one of these relays (182 miles from Woodstock, NY to New York City) and it was a fantastic experience, but as the team organizer, it was also one of the most taxing things I have ever undertaken – both physically and mentally. When I heard that the Cape Cod Marathon, which has a reputation as one of the most beautiful U.S. marathon courses, is offered as a relay, I jumped on the opportunity to participate. It would be scenic, which is hugely important to me, and a less stressful microcosm of the full relay experience.

Over the course of four hours and three minutes last weekend, the Cape Cod Marathon Relay lived up to all my hopes. It was a breeze to organize, even though one of our teammates bowed out 24 hours before the event after being diagnosed with Swine Flu. In spite of the event’s brevity, our team still managed to invoke the camaraderie of the relay experience. To my especial delight the course was gorgeous and included sand dunes, ocean views, a lighthouse, numerous harbors, fall foliage, and a cranberry bog. We split the marathon distance between three runners. The collective distance covered by each runner was 6.2, 8.7, and 11.3 miles.

The psychology of the race was interesting in that, especially during the last few relay legs, you were often passing individuals running the full marathon distance. It was hard not to feel guilty because you weren’t competing on even playing ground. Someone running their 11th mile is in a different physical and mental state than someone tackling their 26th. I fought back my desire to apologize to the marathon runners I passed, and inwardly hoped that they were inspired by my fresher legs rather than demoralized. That said, I think the Cape Cod Marathon would be my top choice should I ever choose to tackle the marathon distance. I’d look to have a relay team sign up to run along and pace me throughout. It wouldn’t make the hills any less numerous, but it would surely make them more bearable.

Never Stop Exploring (Courtesy of Dean Karnazes)

“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why I do it.”

This statement typified the honest demeanor Dean Karnazes quickly used to endear his New Haven audience to The North Face sponsored Never Stop Exploring series presentation. It was the first stop of the speaking tour, and there was a slightly unpolished edge to the event that only added to Dean’s down-to-earth, hold the frills attitude. If you’re not familiar with Mr. Karnazes, better known as Ultramarathon man, his quote referred to his running career that has included feats ranging from 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days to a recently set record of 262 miles of consecutive running. Dean, of course, could give reasons for why he’s chosen to run distances that sometimes even make drivers cringe, but his statement got to that deeper, meta-meaning behind the action. I think I know what he's hinting at, although I recognize the inappropriateness of comparing my own modest running accomplishments to his records. But I think that’s what struck me most about Dean—he’s just an average person who might not know when to say when and has chosen running as the outlet.

Over the course of the talk’s allotted hour, Dean told us about appearing on The Letterman Show, about noteable runners he encountered during the 50-50-50 adventure, and what he eats to fuel his calorie evaporating long runs (mainly pizza and recently Chinese takeout!). I had followed his blog during the 50-50-50, but Dean’s true charisma and humor doesn’t come across in his writing. One the more amusing stories, which included an even more amusing video, related the accident experienced by a distracted marathoner in Seattle who kept inquiring about football scores from The North Face staff spectating along the course. His distraction came to an abrupt end when he ran straight into a pole while looking over his shoulder in anticipation of being told the latest scores. He broke several ribs in the collision, but picked himself up right away and finished the marathon. “Watch out for the pole” is now Dean’s way of categorizing the unexpected events in life, especially when one loses focus.

Amazingly, Dean has never been injured. He attributes this to naturally good biomechanics and a lot of luck. If only we could all be so lucky! In a recent collaboration with The North Face he designed a running shoes that employs a quick lacing system. It was unclear whether it will be brought to mass market, but it seems to be worth watching out for. We’ll also all need to watch out for Dean in 2012. That year he intends to run a marathon in every country in the world, including Afghanistan and North Korea. I wish his logistics team the very best – they’ll have 365 days in which to fit in 270 countries!

In the end, I’m not sure it matters what form of compulsion drives us to run one mile or 300 miles (Dean’s next goal), but, whatever it is, I think it’s one of the best life affirming activities available.

Dean and five other North Face-sponsored athletes are still on tour. You can access the speaker series schedule here. I won’t be able to catch Diane Van Deren but I’d love to hear from someone who does!

You shouldn't put a price on safety

My 'new life' has brought with it a need for frugality, which has extended to my running. I wanted to take part in a 20k race in my town over Labor Day weekend, but the $45 entry fee plus $10 in service fees stopped me short. It was the first time money has kept me from an event I wanted to try. So, what's a frugal runner to do but wait until the race has ended and run the course solo minus the water stations, split times, and requisite race tech tee and goodie bag. It also gave me the opportunity to trim the distance to a little over 15k, which fit better with my training plan.

In the end, I'm left wishing I had paid my fee and participated in the race. I'm sure the course would have felt safe under the auspices of the race and the company of fellow participants. By myself, I worried for my personal safety as I run under a highway overpass where homeless men were sleeping and no other pedestrians or cars were in sight.

I guess the moral of my experience is that you shouldn't let money get in the way of safe and enjoyable running. I'm thankful, however, that I still got 10 miles in. I just won't repeat this route solo again! (The one positive is that I ran faster than I otherwise would have because I wanted to get out of the unsafe areas as quickly as possible.)

A Different Flavor of Off Road Running

A few runners I know stick to the same routes day in and day out due to fears that they’ll get lost while trying new territory. Luckily, I have a good sense of direction and it generally means that I’m fearless about running in new places. Part of my good sense of direction, however, has been earned and learned by participating in the fun sport of orienteering, which is also referred to as rogaining. Orienteering is great for connecting runners more closely with the land they’re traversing and increasing comfort levels for on and off trail running.

Orienteering requires participants, often in teams, to use topographical maps and clues (the clues can be riddles and references to local lore) to find checkpoints or control points of various point values. There are more checkpoints than any team or individual, even the fastest, could ever reach. Courses are most often on rural land that is non-residential. In other words, over the course of the event you’re only likely to see other orienteers and maybe a few wild animals. You’ll be off road and on trails or even bushwacking the majority of the time.

The first task following the race start is for each team to agree on a course route that will yield the highest point value without causing you to exceed the time limit. In some races the route is designated and only one direction can be pursued, but I prefer the events where plotting your own route is part of the experience. It’s an extra challenge and it yields less congestion on the course. When plotting the route it’s important to take into account elevation changes, the surface over which you will travel (trail, dirt roads, paved roads, swamps, and brush), and the highest value checkpoints.

Once a route has been agreed upon, the team takes off for the first checkpoint. Most of the course is run, although often times there are portions too steep or thick to run through. Each checkpoint is marked by a square orange and white flag (see images at the top of the post for examples) from which hangs a punch. Each team is issued a punch card with a square designated for each checkpoint. It’s important to punch the proper checkpoint square, because only correct matches are awarded points. In order to ensure teams do not split up some checkpoints will also have a marker or stamp hanging from it along with instructions about how to mark each member of the team in order to prove that everyone reached that point.

The competition I like to participate in each year is three hours long, and we cover anywhere from 5 to 8 miles over the three hours. This may seem slow, but when you’re moving through thickets off trail the pace is slow and there’s always time lost for course corrections and quick team huddles. Besides, sometimes there are surprise baked goods waiting at a checkpoint and you have to stop to savor them!

Whenever I’m feeling a bit worn out from road races but still want the thrill of competition I look to orienteering. It’s a great way to mix up your race slate and a different way to enjoy the physical stamina you’ve been working hard to maintain. If you’re like me, instead of merely keeping track of miles covered you’ll likely also start tracking the number of wild turkeys you encountered, streams you forded, and mountains or hills you summitted!

New Sights, New Routes

I recently relocated and almost everything about my life is changing. My running goals, however, remain the same, but I have to find all new routes in order to accomplish them. It also means I'm able to run at times of the day that weren't options previously. All of the new possibilities are energizing my training plans. Tomorrow morning I'll tackle an 8 mile run when I usually would have planned a 6 mile route. The 8 miles will allow me to summit a unique geological feature from which I can survey the entirety of my new city. I think all of the change will bode well for my running this coming fall.

In my immediate sights is a 10k trail race, which is the first event in a series that will lead up to a 17 mile relay leg in October's Cape Cod marathon. I'll also be keeping my ears open for a last minute opportunity to jump on a Ragnar Relay team for a relay that passes through my new hometown this September.

Uniquely Urban Cross-Training - Parkour

It's time to step it up a bit! In June, I wrote about yoga as a cross-training opportunity for runners. This month my foray into the wilds beyond running introduced me to parkour. Parkour is an urban sport from France that Wikipedia describes as "focused on moving from one point to another as smoothly, efficiently and quickly as possible using the abilities of the human body." In truth, parkour often looks like adults using urban fixtures - stairways, railings, benches, and barriers - as a jungle gym. It actually was a jungle gym that got me thinking about this sport. While I was visiting my sister we took a walk and ended up at an elementary school playground. We sat talking on the swings and eventually moved to the monkey bars where we quickly realized we had lost most of our childhood limberness and strength. There was a twinge of sadness to that realization, and when I heard about parkour my interest was piqued.

There's a vibrant parkour community in New York City and NYParkour hosts classes every Sunday on a small, turf-covered spot under the Brooklyn Bridge. The beginning of the above video happens to show one of NYParkour's classes. I signed up for a session and arrived expecting to be one of half a dozen students, but there were almost 20 assembled! Approximately half were new to the sport like myself. It was easy to spot the regulars as I waited for class to begin. They were climbing and hanging off nearby trees, vaulting benches, and referred to by names like Pyro and Torque.

There's a significant possibly you're ready to write parkour off as a sport for punks and juveniles. But not so fast! Parkour involves serious physical conditioning and focus, and over the next two hours I got the best workout I've had in recent memory. Here's what the instructor led us through:

Warm-up

• Extensive stretching of all joints - wrists, shoulders, knees, and ankles
• 1/4 mile jog while stretching and loosening elbows
• More stretching with a focus on quads, hamstrings, and hips
• Curb running - running on a narrow curb without touching the ground
• Squats
• Quadrupedal walking - walking on all fours while maintaining a straight back
• Arm circuit - 3 rounds of 4 kinds of push-ups, plank (1 min), side plank (right and left each 30 sec)
• Ab circuit - 3 rounds of plank (1 min), dip push-ups, airplane (1 min), 20 crunches, boat pose (30 sec), 10 leg/butt lifts

Conditioning

• Instruction: Jumping and landing on the balls of your feet
• Bench jumping - 15 iterations
• Bench jumping circuit - Entailed jumping on the edge of the bench’s seat making sure to land on the balls of your feet, establishing balance in that position, leaping over the back of the bench, running on a slanted surface and a curb back to the bench. Repeat 15 times.
• Hip stretching
• Distance jumping on the ground - always on the balls of your feet with a focus on bringing your knees up to your chest while jumping and landing softly (30-40 reps)

Cool Down

• 4 lengths quadrupedal walking - 2 forward and 2 backward (so much harder than during the warm-up!!)
• Stretching

The class focused on three areas - abs, arms, and quadriceps. As a runner, ab strength is a weakness of mine and I always welcome an opportunity to work on it (see yoga post). Arm strength is a far off dream so I was humbled to attend to it. Working on developing explosive power in the quads is very easily correlated to improving one’s sprinting, and it made me anxious to plan some interval training. The sense of playfulness inherent in the exercises was also infectious. It made it easy to interact with my classmates who were a blend of both genders and many ethnicities.

"I didn't feel ready for the wall climbing (running?), but I'd have liked to try the barrier vaulting."

During the conditioning portion of the class beginners and regulars were separated and it was inspirational to watch these regulars scale a 7 foot wall further topped by a 3 foot metal railing. They then ran down a ramp back to the base of the wall and repeated the route - 25 times! They followed this up with an exercise that involved vaulting (think Kerri Strug without the flips) over a concrete barrier about a dozen times. I didn't feel ready for the wall climbing (running?), but I'd have liked to try the barrier vaulting.

At the end of the two hours my legs were unstable, my water bottle was empty, and I had made a couple of friendly acquaintances. It was a full body workout and a decidedly exciting way to cross-train that opened my eyes to a new set of muscular ranges and possibilities. I love knowing and relearning my capabilities and parkour definitely exposed them. I won't regularly be attending the classes going forward, but I think I'd like to be a 'regular' drop-in every few months, and you can bet I'll be jumping on a lot more park benches from here on out! My quads will be thanking me during my next interval training session too, but I know I'm going to be mighty sore for the next few days.

Product Review - Fruit2O Essentials

I recently received some samples from Fruit2O Essentials, which The Emerging Runner and I tried and reviewed for Runner's Tech Review. Fruit2O is the sponsor of Katie Visco, a 24-year-old woman who is attempting to become the youngest solo woman to run cross-country. Check out Katie's journey at Pave Your Lane and see our Fruit2O review here.

Dream Big

This morning The Emerging Runner and I were sharing thoughts about ideal running trips. I find these types of discussions exhilarating. I have moderately long lists not only of places I'd like to visit, but endurance activities and events I'd like to engage in while traveling. I'm sure you all have dream events or adventures--be it a marathon in an exciting locale or a storied trail you'd like to explore.

My dream is to participate in the Patagonian Expedition Race, which is self-billed as "The Adventure at the End of the World". Covering hundreds of kilometers in Chile, the race can take anywhere from 3 to 11 days to complete. The photo above is from the 2007 race. Can you imagine being in a race and coming that close to a whale whose tail is almost as wide as the length of your kayak? Sign me up!

What's your dream running trip or adventure event??

I waited a whole year for this one...

There's one race I look forward to all year each year. It's the Summer Solstice Run held at Minnewaska State Park in New Paltz, NY. The Shawangunk Mountains outside of New Paltz, of which Minnewaska is a part, fascinate me on several levels. There's world-class rock climbing, gorgeous lakes that surprisingly have never supported fish (see Lake Minnewaska, the starting location for the race, above), and architectural remains of the region's popularity as an early 20th century getaway for NYC vacationers. This latter fact led to the establishment of miles and miles of carriage roads that criss-cross the Minnewaska and Mohonk Preserves, and the Summer Solstice Run covers 8.3 miles of these carriage roads in Minnewaska.

"It's a good thing that the course is gorgeous, because the first three miles are grueling..."

The particular carriage roads the race traverses are gorgeous. They follow a cliff edge with sweeping views of the valley below and then dip down to a moist, wooded region that follows a lake accessible only via trail and affords views of several waterfalls. The race is also perfectly timed to occur during the height of the mountain laurel bloom, so white, light pink, and fuscia bushes line the trails along the way.

And it's a good thing that the course is gorgeous, because the first three miles are grueling. They're almost entirely non-stop uphill. At the end of the climb, you burst out onto a cliff top called Castle Rock. The views are breathtaking enough to wipe away memories of the three uphill miles, and the water station situated there allows you to switch gears before starting on the last five miles of the race, which luckily are almost entirely downhill! During the half mile leading to Castle Rock the most prominent thought running through my head is always 'I can't possibly finish this race'. This is probably an indication I haven't done enough hill training, but in some ways I think one of the most spectacular beauties of the race is feeling like you have nothing left and then finding it in yourself to run five more miles.

I enjoyed this year's race so much that I've set a new goal, and that's to come back and run in the preserve several more times throughout the year beyond the race. (It's surely a whole different kind of gorgeous during the fall foliage season!) If you're like me and running is equally about the places you get to see as well as the miles you log it's hard to find a better place than the Minnewaska and Mohonk carriage roads.

Cross-training highlight: Trail running helps improve agility because it forces you to navigate over and around rocks and roots, improving your footwork. Just before the start of this year's race there was a torrential downpour so over the course of the 8.3 miles we all got a lot of practice in the art of jumping over puddles!

Hip Focus

In my yoga post, I mentioned appreciating the hip opening exercises that are a frequent part of the practice. I have very tight hips, which sometimes trouble me enough during periods when I'm training hard that it's challenging to sit still through long meetings because they just ache and ache. The tightness also keeps my stride shorter than I'd like. So, I'm always on the lookout for ways to improve hip flexibility and strength. I stumbled across this video of Shannon Rowbury today, and her warm-up includes some fantastic hip exercises that are frequently included in myrtle routines. (Myrtle is a play on the fact that the exercises focus on your hip girdle.)

If only my abs rippled like hers during sprint training! I hope things go well for her in the big USATF championships this coming week.

Here's a sample myrtle routine courtesy of Nike.

Ohm La La

No matter how many miles I log I realize I can't develop core and upper body strength solely by running. For a time I didn't find it was necessary to build these strengths, but I have come to know that good running form stems from core strength and upper body strength will aid me when I pour it on at the end of a race. The thing is, it's miserable to do repetitious, relatively sedentary exercises at the gym using free weights and machines. I find crunches even more intolerable. There had to be another way! For me, that other way is yoga.

There are four popular styles of yoga: Hatha, Vinyasa, Ashtanga, and Bikram. Since Hatha is traditionally slow paced and emphasizes meditation, chanting, and breathing runners may struggle to remain physically engaged. Bikram yoga, which is done in a room hotter than 100 degrees, is not recommended because the hot temperatures can lead to over extended muscles and other injuries. That leaves Vinyasa (“flow yoga”) and Ashtanga (“power yoga”). In both styles you are led through a serious of poses linked to one another with continuous movement. While Vinyasa and Ashtanga cannot be considered true cardiovascular workouts, they both involve enough movement and dynamic action to sustain the attention of a runner.

"I frequently leave a class feeling mentally relaxed, while my body is humming on a high frequency and ready for anything."

I've already mentioned that yoga can help build considerable core and upper body strength (try boat and plank poses), and it also lengthens and loosens a runner's overused leg muscles. Yoga practices generally involve hip opening stretches, such as pigeon, that greatly improved the length of my stride on downhill grades. In fact, yoga trains you to be aware of muscles you may not have previously been able to isolate. The increase in total awareness will keep you in tune with your body throughout a run, allowing you to optimize muscle utilization.

Yoga is known to encourage relaxation, but one of my favorite aspects of a deep Vinyasa or Ashtanga practice is that it releases latent energy. I frequently leave a class feeling mentally relaxed, while my body is humming on a high frequency and ready for anything. It's equally energizing and restorative. The next day, when I head out on a run, I can then call on all that energy.

Your first yoga class will not necessarily allow you to reach that desired high. Initially, the vocabulary is distracting. Terms describing anatomical features and poses such as sacrum, Tadasana, and Surya Namaskara will take a few classes to learn. Stick with it until the vocabulary is no longer unfamiliar and you can direct attention to how your body feels throughout the practice. Resist the urge to be competitive with those around you. You'll find that yoga will teach you new ways to breathe, dynamically stretch, build strength, and take new advantage of 'rest' days.

"It's not a bad idea to complete a short run before class and use yoga as an extended and enjoyable cool down."

If you're in the New York City area I recommend Sonic Yoga in Hell's Kitchen or one of the free 8pm classes each Sunday at Lululemon Lincoln Center. It's not a bad idea to complete a short run before class and use yoga as an extended and enjoyable cool down. Ideally, a class once a week will get you comfortable with a studio, instructor, and flow. Before long, your increased strength and flexibility will equate to better running.