Tangled Up In Blue...and White...and Red...and...

"50% of running is half mental more than 90% of the time" - Charlie Engle

As I've been alluding to frequently in my RWA blogs, I'm currently in the middle of Birmingham's Southeastern Trail Race Series. This is the brainchild of Race Director David Tosch and involves running (give or take) 7 trail races in 7 months. Now, David's idea is that these races get progressively harder and longer as you get sucked in. I've completed 3 of the first 4 races (out of town for the Memorial day race) and I've developed a clear understanding that training definitely is advantageous to doing these. Although I'm slow as molasses in Alaska in December, I do love running on the trails and am trying to get out there at least once a week to run on the course of whatever race is next on the schedule. But, this morning's run had a different twist or two.

As I said above, the Race Series has 7 races, but one race is actually 3 races - the 3-Stage, 3-Mountain Race the end of September. I can wrap my head around going a long way in a single day, but this will be 3 races on 3 different days on 3 different trails (Moss Rock - 16 miles, Red Mt - 15 miles, Oak Mt - 22 miles). Now, this will be interesting. So, David decided to throw AN ADDITIONAL race into the 7 month fray with the Birmingham Track Club Trail Race on September 7th, the day before race #5 of the SETRS (a 21 miler). The BTC race is free to BTC members and has 3 distances, 4-8-14.5 miles, so what better way to train for the 3 -stage race than to do a 2-stager, so I signed up for the long option (sounds easy sitting at your desk). And that's where I went this morning.

I won't go into a big description of the course, but with 2000' of elevation gain in the 14.5 miles, it does have some uphill grinders. There is a pull up to a place called Eagle's Nest at about 11 miles that rises 200' in less than 1/4 mile (yes, a 25% grade does sap your legs) and several other climbs of >20% grade. Took a little over 4 hours. Whew! I must say though that I was as occupied with staying on course as I was to physically finishing before the sun went down. I decided to memorize the course instead of taking a map. I've been running Oak Mt for many, many years, but this series of races have shown me trails I've never seen. Today I went Yellow - Yellow/White Connector - White - Red - Green - Green/White Connector - White - Blue - Blue/Red Connector - Red - White - Yellow. And I got back to the car!!! Woo-Hoo. The memory of an ultrarunning elephant!

Now, last week I did one loop of what will be the 2-loop 21 miler the next day. That race will have >3000' of elevation gain. So, as I said, training has it's benefits, but it was about 15 degrees hotter last Saturday and I ran out of water at about 8 miles (I usually carry 2 bottles when there's no water on the route). So, with a little help from my BUTS (Birmingham Ultra Trail Society) friends, this week I got a Sawyer Squeeze Filtration System (Amazon - $34). It has a 32 oz. collapsible bottle that you fill up with water that might have some microbial critters in it (like at the bottom of Peavine Falls), screw on the filtration cartridge, and then squeeze the filtered water into your water bottle. It takes a little ingenuity to figure out how to carry it, but it worked perfect with my Fuelbelt. Now, 5 hours after my run, I haven't had to make any "pants-on-fire" runs to the bathroom, so I guess it worked!

Before I close I want to wish my friend, Eric Strand and fellow BTC members Owen Bradley and the aforementioned David Tosch good luck as they tackle the famous Leadville (Co.) 100 mile Trail Race today (and tomorrow). I'm crying about 2000' elevation gain in 14 miles and these guys are doing 14,000' of elevation gain in 100 miles...all at 9000'-13,000' above sea level! Just quit whining Al. 

OK guys, that's about it for this week. Hope this cool weather continues, but I know better. This is Alabama. This is August. I'll just take one day at a time and one mile at a time. I'll see you all on the roads - Al   

"One child lost is too many...One child saved can change the world"

What is a Running Paradigm and Where is it Shifting?

“We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.” 
― Rick Warren

I've probably looked up the definition a dozen times, asked my wife, asked my son, asked my priest, my Rabbi, tried hard to understand, but never got it. What I never got was the proper meaning of the word paradigm, as in a Paradigm Shift. I'm not going to write the definition in the dictionary here, mainly because Webster was apparently also confused by it's meaning. The best I can determine is that it's a way of thinking that something is viewed as the norm and not "the fringe". Now, that's my definition and probably doesn't clear it up for you, but it's my blog and I'll try to clear up where all this came from. This is what occupied much of my 3+hour, water deprived run on the trails yesterday morning! 

 When I began running back in the 70's...I know, before many of you were alive, but no, I didn't have to run to catch tonight's dinner...I used to be part of a fringe. Running was beginning to Boom fueled by Frank Shorter's gold medal in the 1972 Olympic Marathon and Jim Fixx's excellent, influential, and best-selling book, The Complete Book of Running. However, my impetus was a growing waistline due to working next to a McDonald's and thinking occasionally that two Big Mac's was better than one. I wasn't huge, but my mom's description of "big-boned" didn't work at 30 years old like it did when I was a chubby 10 year old. Anyway, I began to pull myself around the UAB track a few times and the weight began to fall off. This track running soon became longer and longer distances until "MARATHON" entered my mind. Our running nerd heroes included Boston Billy, The Great Greta, Joannie, and Dr. Sheehan, our own philosopher! Sure, we were running nerds, but we didn't care. We were a happy fringe. We ran marathons, did 60-70 miles per week, and were a happy group. But, the paradigm of running was the beginning Boom of 10K runners (even before 5K's were popular). Marathoners were on the outside of this box, and I was part of that fringe.

Running faded a bit during the 1980s. Big races, like 10k's managed to hold fast, but the new Boom was beginning to be marathons.  Blame Oprah.  Blame Lance and P Diddy , George Bush, Al Gore, or blame Runner’s World. Blame the mainstream press too, as they began to perpetuate the idea that running a marathon should be accepted almost universally as some kind of lifetime achievement, bucket list item, or rite of passage. Whatever the reason, what was the fringe now was fast becoming the new paradigm shift. Running meant doing a half or full marathon. We "hard core" runners hung in there by doing MORE marathons than the masses, but the distance was no longer the challenge. Instead of "I don't know how you run a marathon", it became "I don't know how you run 6 marathons in a year". Some tried to take up running, but for one reason or another, it didn't float their boat and quit, and many of these folks took up the new sport of triathlon and it began it's own Booming. But, we runners were still a happy fringe, 80's style. We, in the happy fringe now found ultrarunning! Yes, we were doing 50 mile runs, 100 mile runs, and 24-hour events. Marathons for us were used as training runs and we still maintained our out-of-the-box status.

The 90's really brought on the "Marathon Boom". Many celebrities were doing it, so it gained the publicity regular runners couldn't generate and now many of the masses wanted to prove they could do the marathon too. But, doing a marathon does take a lot of training and dedication and more of the masses wanted to be runners, but the new paradigm for them was a runner-lite and so, the result was the explosion of a plethora of fund-raising 5k fun runs, which squeezed out a lot of the older (and longer and tougher) small-town races. In addition, it seemed that there was suddenly a marathon in every state on every weekend of the year. But, there were still these new folks that wanted to try the marathon distance, but needed a less-serious approach. Enter Jeff Galloway who wrote tirelessly about strategies for mixing running and walking during races, or completing marathons with a MINIMUM amount of training and mileage (to we "hard core"  guys, the mere thought that you would approach a race as serious as a marathon with the intention of doing the minimum amount of training or WALKING was simply absurd). Then, there was the birth of the Penguin movement.  This was a self-proclaimed and proud group of plodders who even found their own guru, John Bingham. Suddenly, runners weren't such a fringe anymore ... anyone could be a runner. The influx  watered things down a bit. I became a Run Coach for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and we (the Society) were training thousands of runners to do a marathon without much of a base of all..."You can do 26.2" was the Battle-Cry. This was heresy a decade before! And so, running 26.2 miles (in addition to running the growing 5k's) became the new running paradigm. These weren't hard-core anymore, but became a social event with longer and longer times to complete the race. We added many new runners to the general pool, but the whole thought process had shifted towards long distance. And along with this, slowly, the masses, like an unrelenting glacier, began to infiltrate the ultrarunning scene. It wasn't easy, but more runners wanted to spread their wings. So, the out-of -the boxers began to feel squeezed and had to find a new field. 

In 1997, I ran my first trail ultra - a 50k in California, and a new fringe was found. I, and many of many fellow veteran runners, slowly began to enter into these trail runs. But, we were also racing our several road marathons and our road ultras while the masses continued growing, doing giant, social marathons and it's very popular, rapidly growing sister, the Half-marathon. The first decade of the 21st Century saw Big Box marathoning being the paradigm of running. From soccer-moms to High School Cross Country runners, it seemed like everyone was doing marathons. You had the Marathon Maniacs to the 50-States Club, and  you had groups seeing how many of the Rock 'n' Roll series they could do. I have read that statistically there are four times as many race participants as there were in the 1980s. But, rather than focusing on competition, today’s runners (women and men alike) seem more interested in spending time together. This was definitely not a bad thing. Running groups are springing up all over. They train and even run races in groups, keeping their pace in sync with the slowest of their tribe, instead of pushing themselves to their limits. Our sport has become so much more social (contrast that with the famous "loneliness of the long distance runner"). It seems like this is another running boom and it might potentially mean a more healthy populace. Of all potential exercise regimens, running/jogging/walking certainly has the lowest barrier to entry...low clothing costs, no initiation fees, flexible scheduling. Anything that would help this country get in better shape has got to be good. 

If you've read this far, you may still be wondering where I'm going with all this. Well, you see, over the past several years, my fringe has been shifting from platform to platform and now it seems to be trail running. Not many folks did it. It was challenging, the pace was slower than the road, it was way low-key, and info was hard to find. A run in the woods was still "out-there" in the minority of running. It still is, BUT lately the lava flow of the masses is coming aboard. We now have new runner's groups meeting regularly to run weekly on the trails, trail gear being sold in most running and sports shops, and several trail races popping up to give competition to the local Saturday 5k's. Here, in Birmingham, we have BUTS (the Birmingham Ultra Trail Society) and we have a very tough 7-race Southeastern Trail Race Series, and although it's not busting at the seams, there are runners doing this that had never tread on trails until less than a year ago. I think the ever-shifting paradigm of running may well be including trail running in another year or two. In other words, it'll be more common place, more accepted, more main-stream. It'll be accepted as a new view of running. That certainly has to be good for the sport. But I have to admit that I miss being part of a happy fringe. I think I've run out of new fringes. I've traveled down some pretty cool roads along the way, but I think I'll park the bus here for a while. But, when on the trail for 3 hours, out of water, by myself, it seems somewhat familiar and I have to reflect...Ah, yes, the good old days.

Friends, I'm glad we're taking this journey together. I'll see you on the roads or trails - AL

"One child lost is too many...one child saved can change the world"

A View From The Back Of The Pack...The Very Back!

"Change is inevitable. Change is constant" - Benjamin Disraeli

Those of you that read my blog know that a few years ago, my ailing ankles were barking so bad, I could hardly go a couple of slow miles without having walk or sit down. My love of long distance runs was literally shot down the toilet and I was pretty depressed about it. Slowly, through some diligent ankle stretching, running agonizingly slow on pancake flat surfaces, and mostly switching to Hoka shoes, I was able to build back to (for me) a fairly respectable distance. I literally made a deal with God that if I could run, I wouldn't kick and scream complain about the pace. Well, it seems that he is having a ball with me by testing me more and more. My early morning runs push 12 minutes/mile and we won't even mention what happens when I hit a hill! My ankles are still sore, but that ache just lies North of allowing me to try races that I used to think nothing of in my more formidable days. I see these races online when I'm at work and think "I can do that". Yeah, I can do it. BUT, although I'm still moving, I'm moving so much slower than everybody else. But, that was the deal I made with God, wasn't it? Last Saturday, I ran the Hotter 'N Hell 18 mile Trail Race here in Birmingham. Now, I don't mind finishing last, but I was "1962 New York Mets last". If you're not a baseball fan, just take my word for it, they were WAY behind!! And so was I!!

 

I've been doing ultras since 1981 when I did the 3rd Strolling Jim Race up in Tennessee. Been pretty hooked in mind and body since. As the years pass, it gets to be more mind than body, but I'll keep doing them till I can't I guess. Back in around the late 70's, before I started running, I used to go to the UAB gym every lunchtime to play racquetball and after showering one day, this guy comes into the locker room just after running. He sits down, completely whipped, sweating like a drenched pig. I asked him "Why do you run?", and he says perfectly seriously "Because it feels so good when I stop!". At the time I thought that's about the stupidest thing I ever heard, but I quickly learned the truth of his meaning.

 

Feels so good when you finish. That's true, but I do just like to run, and, I like to run long. Left foot, right foot and repeat several thousand times. There's a lot of us around. We run long. And, our version of long is sometimes very, very long. They are the runs you take two bottles on, where you take a bunch of Gu, they are the runs where you walk a bit up the hills, and then walk a bit on the flats, and then walk a bit on the downhills. They are the runs where you run out of stuff and they are the runs where you run into stuff. You run down gorges and wonder how you'll get out, but you know you have to because...well, you have to. They are long and hard and sweaty and deep and, in the end, they are the kind of runs that make a difference in who you are and who you want to be. Yes, I love to run, but last Saturday, it sure felt mighty good when I finished.

Although this is Alabama, and it is July, and the name of the race was Hotter 'N Hell, it was actually a cool, cloudy day for most of it, so excuse #1 was down the tubes. But, this course, although "only" 18 miles, has plenty of God-awful hills, some 25-30% grade that somehow got steeper the 2nd loop. At about the 5-mile mark of each loop you have to descend (climb) down into the gorge of Peavine falls, go under the falls, and immediately climb up the opposite cliff. During my 4 training runs on this course, I never could exactly find the correct trail to navigate this imitation of mountain climbing, and during the race, following the flagging, I was completely surprised to see there was a 5th way! There are a couple of other killer hills, but despite this, the 1st 9-mile loop went fairly well. Unfortunately, the 10 runners behind me were only doing the one-loop 9-mile race and I was bumped to last in an instant (well, a figurative instant).

The 2nd loop is when things went completely kaput. The long grinds just took it completely out of my legs. Ok, I knew I would have to walk on some of these long pulls, but what really bothered me was when I got to the top of these, my legs just decided to go on strike a while instead of picking it up on the more friendly grade. I mean they were just sapped. My buddy, Moha, surprised me by joining me on the 2nd loop or I might still be out there! I felt I was moving, but was I really going THAT slow? Yeah, I guess I was. I know my best running days are behind me, but, doggone it, I want to be UP THERE where I can at least see some of those folks ahead of me, not BACK HERE. This is not meant to be a sorry race report, or a epitaph of poor, poor pitiful me, but rather trying to figure it out and after a week, I think I have some answers. 

1) Not enough calories. I think in terms of miles instead of time, so my plan for Gu was one every 3 miles. Well, that's fine for a road run, but if it's going to take me 45-50 minutes (or more) on the hilly trail for 3 miles instead of 30 minutes, well, you can see how you can fall behind. I took only 5 Gu's in 5 1/2 hours of running. That's about 100 calories/hour instead of the recommended 250!  Uh-oh!

2) I usually drink energy drink along the way, at least at the aid stations, but decided to forego that and use Nuun tablets in my water. These are purely for electrolyte replacement, and I think they work great, but have no calories. Uh-oh #2

3) Specificity of training. All my weekday runs are basically flat (less than 75'/mile) with no leg sapping hills. Specificity used to be the icing on the cake...now it's the cake itself!! I try to hit the hilly trails at least once a week, but that's not really stretching the envelope, is it?

Sometimes, you just get bummed out and that's where I found myself after my humbling race Saturday. But, after a week of mulling it over, I guess it's alright. I finished...so what if I was dead-last...30 minutes behind next-to-last. Yeah, my running seems to be in a bit of a tailspin. Smoke is coming from the engine.  I am a Physical Therapist, and I know with aging there comes a decline in muscle power (yeah, tell me about it!). Also, there is a big decrease in recovery and healing rates, so after a run, it takes a little while more to feel tip-top. Don't get me wrong, I am glad and thankful that I can still run a decent amount of miles each week and I can line up on these crazy starting lines, but I'm a little slow to adjust to the present "me". Sort of an ego adjustment in addition to the physical adjustments.

OK, my Southeastern Trail Series Races take a little break till September and then it goes full-bore. I'll train, I'll line up, and I'll do my best. With each race, I get to know the evolving "me" better. I may not be crazy about it, but I'll learn to co-exist with the situation. Hey, it's my choice and I choose to be there. So, as my buddy Ken says, "Shut the hell up and get to the finish line".

Now, I've gotta go and get my stuff together for my training run on the trails tomorrow morning. The clock keeps ticking! Gonna be great, gonna tear it up, gonna charge the hills...oh wait, that's the ol' Al. How 'bout I aim to get from Point A to Point B and be happy I can still do that. Yeah, now that's a plan.

I'll see you all on the roads (or trail) - AL

"One child lost is too many...one child saved can change the world"

The History and Changes of the Marathon Training Clinic

"Before I speak, I have something important to say" - Groucho Marx

Way back in the late 70's, there was a rather select group of runners in the Birmingham area that had actually done several marathons - Adam Robertson, Ray Giles, Rick Melanson, and a few more. They were the icons of local running who could complete what was then the almost unreachable finish line of a marathon. At the time, in the infancy of of the masses running, most local races were 10k's with an accompanying 2 mile Fun Run. Hoover, the town where I now live, was the site of my very first race and later in '79 had what I believe was the only Half Marathon around. In February of 1979, the three year-old Birmingham Track Club hosted the 1st Magic City Marathon that was run through the streets of Birmingham and several miles to the East into the slowly decaying neighborhood of Woodlawn. Running was starting to BOOM in Birmingham. Still, the information on how to train and run these marathons was more myth than fact.

I had just begun running less than a year before that 1st Magic City Marathon, but actually had little desire to attempt such a unfathomable distance. C'mon, 26 miles? Run? 3+ hours? I knew how I felt after the 10k's I had done and really didn't care to extend my lungs and heart four times the distance. However, due to my other interest at the time, photography, I followed a couple of friends around the Magic City course as they tackled the marathon, photographing their gradual physical demise as they ticked off the miles. When they finished and I saw their complete exhaustion, the total muscular fatigue, the spent energy depletion, the blisters, the hobbled gait from the finish line, their Finisher's keychain, there was only one thing for me to say..."I gotta get me some of that. Where do I sign up?". 

Following that race, the aforementioned local icon marathoners held a retrospective class on how to run a marathon. It was a one-night, 3-4 hour open forum type talk that covered all aspects of this mysterious side of running. It was like hearing Jonas Salk teaching you in one night how to cure polio - you had no idea what it was, but you wanted to do it. Nine months later, I ran in the 1st Vulcan Marathon here in Birmingham, and as they say, the rest is history. I was hooked for life. Thirty-four years later, I have run 135 marathons or ultras, and although the times have become agonizingly slow, I still toe the line a few times a year. One of the great joys I have had, in addition to being able to keep my body relatively healthy enough to do these crazy distances, is that I have had the opportunity through the years to teach what I have learned to those other runners that wanted to dip their feet into the marathon waters. 

In 1983, I was asked to assist Murray Binderman to hold a series of meetings where we would talk about the different aspects of marathon training in preparation for Vulcan. It was pretty well attended for the 4-5 meetings we held, but fairly informal. The next year, Murray decided not to do the classes, so I took over. I was able to obtain a room at UAB every other week for 5 months, and the Marathon Clinic was supported by the Birmingham Track Club. We had refreshments and handouts and sometimes we needed extra chairs. Sometimes, we had a guest speaker, but most of the time, I  would hold court. After going through one of my classes, Charles Thompson jumped in and helped do some of the teaching and mechanics of the clinic. He continues to help today.  There was, and never has been, any cost to take part, and no accountability - you showed up if you wanted and didn't if you didn't want to. Our group would have these bi-weekly classes and meet every Sunday somewhere on the marathon course to follow a cookie-cutter training schedule I put together that could accommodate several levels of runners (no run/walk back then). In those days, when computers were in their infancy, I had to draw the training maps with a pen and a ruler. It's funny, but one of the primary routes many local runners still use during their training these days is running up a quarter-mile hill up Overbrook Road. The reason we run up it is because it was easier for me to draw one long straight line than to draw a bunch of short lines meandering through the neighborhood. My legacy is set long after I'm gone!! Al's Hill!! 

Now, I held this Marathon Clinic for 11 years, but now let's fast-forward to 1995 when I was asked to become the Run Coach for the Leukemia Society's Team-in-Training (later the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). The training for the Society went year-round training groups to go here, there, and everywhere, so when training for The Vulcan Marathon and later the Mercedes Marathon (founded in 2002) came around, I merely merged the two groups together for the runs, but gradually, the classes became too unwieldy for the different groups and so I changed my disemination of information from mostly classes to a weekly email called RUNNING WITH AL. If that title sounds familiar, look at the top of this page! Since '95, we began meeting for runs at the Brownell Building (now the NBC Bank Building) and to this day, it is one of the major meeting places for groups of runners in the general Birmmingham area to meet on the weekends. After training a group for the 1997 Midnight Sun Marathon in Alaska, Ken Harkless, who had run that marathon for the Society, asked if he could co-coach the Leukemia runners. He only had to ask once and has been by my side to this day. Together, we have coached probably several thousands of runners, but who's counting. In 2010, after 15 years of being the Leukemia Run Coach, I turned the reins over to Prince Whatley, who has very ably taken over those runners, while I continued to train the Mercedes Marathon guys (the Vulcan Marathon folded in 2000). Ken continues to coach the run/walkers for the Leukemia Runners in addition continuing to be by my side training our local group of  marathon and halfmarathon runners, training for our Birmingham Mercedes Marathon, as well as marathons all over. Ken and I would put out coolers and say "go", but most of the coaching over the last 2+ years has since been done through my RUNNING WITH AL blog, or RWA's little brother blog, TRAINING WITH AL. 

In the past couple of years, the Birmingham running scene has exploded both on the roads and on the trails. Led mostly by The Trak Shak Running Shops, there have been social events, almost weekly races of several distances, and the very successful Mercedes Marathon. In addition, local training groups have sprung up all over town and are doing great with promotions, cohesiveness, and direction. One of the most popular is the Birmingham Track Club's Long Distance Training Group (begun in 2006) that meets every Saturday from The Trak Shak's front door in Homewood. Coordinated by Natalie Ferguson, every week  it seems that they gather 30-40-50 or more runners for their runs of 8-22 miles. They have volunteers to man water coolers and I believe they may even have Pace Leaders for some of their runs. So, it only seems right that the Sunday Marathon Training Group should move and merge (?) with the Saturday group. 

And so, my friends, after 28 years, I am about to turn the direction, planning, and coordination of training you marathoners over to Natalie and her crew. I will help any way I can and will continue to write TRAINING WITH AL once the formal training begins. More information about the group's runs will be coming soon, but the best way to keep up is to sign up on their Facebook page. Also, Ken and I will continue to show up on Sundays to say "go" at NBC, but it's getting harder and harder for me to keep up with you guys on the runs, but I'll be there riding shotgun. As usual, ask me anything at any time about any subject concerning marathoning. If I don't know the answer, I'll make something up that will sound very believable. And as always, as I have done for more than the past three decades...
I'll see you on the roads - AL



"One child lost is too many...one child saved can change the world"

A July Run...A Lighthouse...and my son

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt in the heart" - Helen Keller 

One of my great joys is to get the opportunity to run with my son. When Michael was a young child growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, I was afraid he might get influenced with what amounts to maniacal fervor over football here in the deep south. There are only 3 sports seasons here in the south - football season, Bowl season (counted as a season because it almost always includes the University of Alabama), and spring football. Lately, you might want to include a seasonal subset that is known as Recruiting, but this goes on year 'round about  "the Class of 2013...2014...2015" and on and on. They even recruit 8th graders now, for Pete's sake. Once these guy's find girls and the girls don't want them to play football so much, let's see how many of them line up for Opening Day against Whatsamatter U. in September of 2018. Anyway, in an effort to cleverly divert Michael away from a sport that might get his head knocked silly by a charging linebacker, I steered him to one of my favorite sports, soccer, where his head might get knocked silly trying to head the ball. After a few shots to the nose with errant attempts at heading the ball, the boy actually became pretty good. 

About the same time he was getting his feet wet in this foreign game, ol' dad began running.  Surprisingly, 10k's became Half Marathons that became marathons that became ultras. I dragged my family to crazy places while I ran crazy runs of crazy distances. Michael would run an occasional 2 mile fun run with me, but most of the time, he didn't see much glamour in the sport. Seeing his dad at 85 miles of a 24 Hour run is not the best advertisement to pursue the sport yourself.

As he grew to be a very good soccer player, pretty much the memories of running involved running a lap when he would balloon the ball over the crossbar in practice. His coach at Shades Valley High School had this strange coaching philosophy that he believed you would cure all your bad habits related to soccer if you ran a lap immediately after committing such said offense. To this day, when Michael & I get the opportunity to watch a soccer match together and some over-enthusiastic forward rifles the ball into Section 32, we both say in unison "Take a lap".

Michael never took to running for running's sake, but as he got older, and moved away, he would lace up the shoes and go for an occasional run, and sometimes, usually coaxed by some friends, he would enter a race. Back in 1999 (I think), I flew out to San Diego to be a fifth team member emergency fill-in for a Mud-Run event at Camp Pendelton. Now, this was way before Mud Runs were the extravaganza they are today. YOU CAN READ MY BLOG OF OUR MUDFEST HERE. I still say to this day, it was the most fun I ever had running. When I die and God asks me what was my best day ever, that day will for sure make the Very Short List.

Several years ago, at Christmas time, Michael came down to Birmingham with his wife to visit (he lives in Boston then and now), and we got to go for a run. During that run, I mentioned to him that I know he always wonders what to get me for my birthday in May. Well, that May, I told him, there was to be a Half Marathon in Boston, and if he would train and we could run it together, that would be the best present ever. He didn't train like a demon, but he did fit in enough runs into his schedule that we finished that race in 2:16 and had a ball. Talked the whole way...went out too fast of course...finished slower than we wanted of course. Finishing with him next to me fulfilled all I hoped it would be. It had nothing to do with 13 miles, nothing to do with 2 hours with 16 minutes tacked on, nothing to do with the medals around our neck. We were sharing a time alone even though there was 10,000 other runners in the race. Again, one of those Very Short List moments.

These moments of running with him are special. Now, that he and Joanie have blessed us with 2 grandchildren, we see each other about every other month. Sometimes we get one day where we get to run, sometimes not. There's no pressure. If it's going to happen, it'll happen. When we do, he's faster than me, I can go further than him, so there's that symbiosis. 

This past week, they had rented a house in Falmouth, Cape Cod, for a week and we got to spend a few days with them (just got home about 1 AM last night). Wasn't sure if we'd get to run because when you have 2 toddlers running around...I mean literally RUNNING around...virtually every second, then you don't plan for things to happen. Things just fall into suddenly vacant time slots. And so it was on July 4th, that the time wormhole opened up and I said "I'm going to run" at which point Michael asked where I was going. I said that I was going to run to this lighthouse I had seen on the map. He said "how far?", I said "I dunno, about 6 miles I guess". To my joy, he said "It's a little stretch for me, but I'll come.". Cloudless sunlight, high noon, but a cool 75 degrees (coming from the 95 in Birmingham), we set out for the Nobska Lighthouse. We enjoyed a run through the quaint downtown of Falmouth and linked up with the Shining Sea Bike Path. This is a several mile paved bikeway that leads to the ferry just south of the lighthouse. Seems simple enough. Well, dad's direction-challenged mind was sure that we had to get off the bike path if we were going to get to the light house. Next thing, we are on a dirt trail, complete with wild deer. We (me) would try to look down the beach to see if I could see the lighthouse, but persistent fog was situated right on the beach. Confident, I said "It's got to be right around the next bend". Well, right around the next bend was up a twisting, hilly road, complimented with a 20MPH headwind. WE MADE IT, and with the GPS reading 4.2 miles, one of us seemed a little happier than the other (remember I said he could faster, I could go further?) to see the lighthouse. Needless to say, our return run was a little more leisurely than the out run. But, this just adds to what is so special for me...getting to share these moments, running along, seeing strange, unexpected sights, with my son. At about 7 miles, he announces that "I think this is my 3rd longest run ever!". Not sure if he was THAT happy about it, but I'm pretty sure I've been there for all three. He accused me of lying about the planned distance, but I assured him I was merely eyeballing the distance from a map the same way as when I set out on a long run anywhere..."Oh, it looks like it's about (blank) miles". I'm never off by more than 50%! On the way back, we even got to cross the painted-in-the-road finish line of the Cape Cod Marathon. I always think that's neat when I'm out of town. Then a short jog back to the house where our 8.3 mile "6 miler" ended and all ills were cured with a little watermelon. 

I will never tire of days like this, and neither should any parent. Running, hiking, playing, just being with your child is such a deep special moment. It doesn't matter if they're 4 or 40. I don't see many folks running with their kids (younger or grown). I see more people running with their dogs, for crying out loud. I guess that's special for them...too bad. For me, I'll take that slightly meandering journey that seems like it's headed for a foggy lighthouse, but it's really a very clear bond during a run with with my son.

I'll see you all on the roads - AL

"One child lost is too many...one child saved can change the world"

21 Random Facts About Me

"A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor" - English Proverb


I noticed one of the things that keeps popping up in blogs and forums is a little brainstorming where the writer puts forth some random facts about him/herself. Seemed like kind of a fun, harmless thing to do, especially when I'm having one of those Running With Al writer's block days. Also, it might make it easier for the NSA to find things out about me if I just put them out there in one handy package and then they don't have to waste their time sifting through all my boring emails. So here are 21 random things about me. I don't dare say "interesting" things.

1. I am a very big stats fanatic.  Especially, I love baseball stats and because of that can be quite nerdy with doing quick math in my head like gas mileage, Fahrenheit/Celsius temperature conversion, metric conversions, etc, but it really comes in handy when figuring out races paces. Except late in an ultra when I can't even figure out the time of day while looking at my watch!

2. I drink coffee in the morning, then mostly tea the rest of the day. Always use milk at home (see #9), but just black when out. 

3. My best race of all time was a 6:54 Fifty Mile Run. That was 8:16/mile. Geez...I can barely do an 11:16 now on a good day.  

4. I once ran 111 miles in one day (24 hours). All I can say is "Holy Crow!".

 
5. I love Hot Chocolate...well, I just love chocolate. They could make chocolate anything and that would fit right in with my lifestyle.

6. Came to Alabama in 1968 to go to Physical Therapy School at UAB. Practically had to promise my parents I wouldn't stay. Fell in love with it, and here I am still!

7. Been doing Physical Therapy for over 42 years and am one of a select few that still enjoys their job.  
8. Don't like cake and eat very few cookies. Love pretzels. Actually, anything crunchy.

9. I love chocolate milk and use it in my coffee AND my tea!! Yeah, yeah, I know. Can you picture John Wayne putting chocolate milk in his coffee when he takes it off the campfire?

10. Lately, I have really learned to enjoy Craft Beers. Brown and English Ales are my favorites. Not much of an IPA guy. Not much in favor of serving beer at races. I just think the drinking/driving thing is too much of a risk

11. I don't enjoy races anymore, especially less than a marathon. There's no push in these legs. I do enjoy the camaraderie of my fellow runners though. 

12. I love running on trails 1000% more than the roads. I've fallen on both, and trails are much softer.

13. I don't like swimming and tolerated cycling for a few years, but I just stick to running. 

14. Can't believe I have completed 135 marathons and ultras, including Pikes Peak, Boston, 24-hour races, and gone over 100 miles 7 times! And I still get butterflies in my stomach right before "Go".

15. I love to cook and am pretty good, even I say so myself. 

16. I hardly ever listen to music. When I run I listen to mostly podcasts, but do have a iPod Shuffle that I enjoy running with on occasion that has my favorite wide mixture...Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, U2, Etta James, Neil Diamond, Pink, John Denver, etc...see, I said wide mixture. 

17. In High School, I hated running...loved baseball and soccer...only letter was in track! Go figure. The mile runners were crazy long distance runners to me!

18. I could eat pasta every night. I mean EVERY night. 

19. I am the 2nd of a string of four consecutive generations of "only-sons". 
20. I don’t need much sleep and can get by with 5-6 hours a day comfortably, but that leads to sudden unannounced naps once I plop down in my living room chair!  

21. My best time for a marathon is 3:03. Could never find those 3 minutes. 

This was fun and pretty easy to do.Why don't some of you do a list like this and write a blog, send it to your local track club newsletter, or better yet, just send it to me. I'd loved to read it. I may do a list, Part 2, sometime in the future when why supremely creative mind goes completely blank again.

Until then, I'll see you on the roads - Al

 

"One child lost is too many...one child saved can change the world"

Try Everything...No, Try Nothing...What To Do

"Training is the hard part to enjoy the fun part, whatever your sport is" - Mohammed Ali

Close to where I live, there is a Cross-Fit Gym. I have never stepped inside it, nor do I know exactly what they do. In my mind, it's a great money making idea on the concept that you get fit by pushing heavy things. Most gyms have you pushing their several thousand dollar machines, but at Cross-Fit somebody saw Rocky pulling a sled filled with rocks through the snow training to fight the Russian Fighting machine, Ivan Drago, and said "Hey, I'll bet I can get some guys to lift a tire, or move a railroad tie, or drag a giant chain and get them to pay ME!". Don't you love America. Actually, being a Physical Therapist, I actually love the concept. You make a muscle work against a resistance and it will respond to the weight, not the appearance of the weight. When I teach my patients exercises in the clinic, they say "I'll have to go WalMart and buy a 2# weight". I quickly inform them that you fill a half-gallon jug halfway and you have a 2# weight. Fill it all the way, and Voila!, you have a 4# weight. So, why not lift a tire instead of a shiny chrome-plated dumbbell? 

So, anyway, I'm driving to work yesterday a little ways past the gym, and I see this poor guy running in the grocery store parking lot with a (probably) 8-10# kettle ball being held to his upper shoulder. He would take 15 or so steps and then switch to the other side. I'll give him this, despite obviously not enjoying his punishment exercise, he was persevering. The light changed and I had to get going, but I wondered what possible advantage running like this would accomplish. Yeah, sure, I get the weight thing, but his body mechanics were so shot to hell, he: #1) would soon be injured, and #2) never be able to do this long enough to gain any possible positive training effect. But, some trainer told him to do this, and off he went hoping to improve towards his fitness goal.

So, this is not CROSSFITWITHAL, it's RUNNINGWITHAL, so where am I going with this? Well, it doesn't matter how you get your training advice, you have to admit there is ton of it out there. We have well qualified trainers and coaches, books, videos, and of course the always present magazines, like Runner's World. I'm not picking on RW...I've been a reader since I began running over 30 years ago...but, you have to admit their advice does seem to bounce around like a ping-pong ball. Sure, the pendulum of training does swing, but their pendulum can swing from month to month! If you use their advice exclusively, you'll be so confused, you won't know whether to run left-right or right-left. Some coaching guidance is just terrible. But there are pillars of light in the dark (locally, like Danny Haralson), providing sound advice when you need it.But, have you ever noticed that some runners know exactly what to do, but others seem constantly lost? Every runner faces overwhelming information overload when it comes to planning their training or treating an injury. There’s an endless amount of advice out there.

Unfortunately, it can be really difficult to know what to do when you're treating an injury yourself, or trying to implement a self-designed training plan to improve your running. So many runners do nothing specifically– they fall prey to paralysis by analysis. They get stuck in a vicious cycle of dealing with constant little injuries, not knowing whether to run, lift, or rest, or being terrified of changing their status quo, which ain't working either.

Even worse, some runners tackle an injury or their training with a haphazard and uncoordinated plan that’s like the shotgun approach –  try as much as possible and see what sticks. There’s no progression. There’s no consistency. There’s no system. They try everything. They try nothing. Every runner WANTS to reach their goals, but obviously “figuring it out” doesn’t work if you have no plan. Every one of my patients WANTS to get better, but without a plan (and a simple one so they follow the plan), their approach of sitting on the couch waiting to get better probably won't work. Runners are WAY more disciplined than most of my patients, but the shotgun approach to training or injury treatment...sampling random workouts, exercises, rehab treatments, and routines to see what works...usually won't get the job done. Inevitably, nothing will work if there’s no plan.

If you have a training or rehab goal, the truth is that random workouts don’t work. Successful runners all use systems to achieve their goals. Sampling is great for appetizers at a party, but it doesn’t work with running. Sure, if you're just running for fitness, or if you're in a cycle of your training where cutting back is the best thing, then that's where you need to be, but if it's improvement you're searching for, have one or two key workouts each week that you don't shy away from. 

Beginner runners who don’t know how to train for a race do all kinds of wacky things with their training. They will soak up any verbal, written, or social media advice they can get their hands on. And, not knowing any better, they will mix them all together figuring they're all good so the body will figure it out. Beer, spaghetti sauce, and chocolate ice cream are all good, but I doubt mixed together they would make a tasty treat. A few months using this appraoch will yield either injury, or if you're lucky, no improvement in your fitness level.

The body improves when you train consistently or rehab consistently. You stress it repeatedly at an acceptable level...it adapts...you improve. It's that simple. When your training bounces all over the place  you don't give your confused body a chance to adapt. A plan doesn’t ask anything ridiculous of you, just to do the work so you can adapt and improve.

Even more common are those runners who get injured and don’t know how to get healthy. They’ll take 1-2 weeks off right away and won’t do any rehabilitative exercises during those recovery weeks. Then they’ll “get serious” and start icing every other day and using a foam roller a few times per week. Next is the cross-training cycle: they’ll sign up for a Body Pump class at the gym to “get a strong core” and use the elliptical when there’s time. Then they'll do some exercise they saw on the internet, but never know if they’re doing anything to help, but give up after a week 'cause they still hurt. Finally, they say "the heck with it" and run with the injury and things go further south from there.  

We Love Options. But the problem with options is that we end up doing too much. We try a fitness class. We muddle around in the weight room or use a stationary bike for 20 minutes. We try everything – but in effect we’ve tried nothing. There’s no progress, no fitness gains, and no lasting result. It’s that Stress-Adaptation principle, applied hundreds and thousands of times, that makes runners faster.

Sometimes that process can be repetitive. All good training is a little bit boring – the macro elements of mileage and workouts are repeated over and over again. If I want to improve my trail running so I can drag my butt around the trails in a race, I better get my butt off the flat roads and onto the trails to train.
With your training, always have somewhere to go.That somewhere to go is your goal. Ask some of the veterans you run with what has worked for them in the past. I'll bet they have certain key workouts that they won't stray from. I've often said "Don't learn the recipe, learn the technique". Stick with something you enjoy doing and ask yourself "Does it have a purpose". Don't use the Try Everything, Try Nothing Approach!

But, please, even if it seems like a good idea, don't put a 10# kettle ball on your shoulder and go for your run. I just don't think that's the ticket to a faster time (except in the local Kettle Ball Carrying 10k).

I'll see you all on the roads - AL

"One child lost is too many...one child saved can change the world"