Two Rivers

From Saturday, 10.28.2006:

Eight miles with the team at Two Rivers Park in far west Little Rock. 1:22. A pleasant step back in mileage from the 10 we did last week. For Two Rivers, it was a great day. Fast. Chased my buddy Chris who seems to think that training is racing. I tend to slip into that thinking, too.

Coach Hobbit always says that people either like or dislike Two Rivers, with few feeling ambiguous about it. I dislike it. It's actually a beautiful park and it's pretty neat to run in the dark with cows mooing at you. Unfortunately though, this is the place where I learned that Clif Shot organic energy gel is not for me. Here, I once ran perhaps my fastest and most agonizing mile ever, covered between the time the gel kicked in and the time I reached the PortaPotty at the finish area.


There's obviously more to this story. You obviously don't need the details.


If you're just getting into endurance exercise--walking, running, biking, whatever--know that you'll need to get in the habit of eating and hydrating on the go. Practice with different foods and drinks and learn what works for you. This is what training is for.

After several other failed experiments, including a rough first marathon with HammerGel, Gu and Powergel are now my engery sources of choice. Lots more about these in the coming days.

Gnu Shoes

There's no reasonable reason why this post is titled Gnu Shoes instead of New Shoes, except that I haven't had a good reason to use the word "gnu" in a sentence since I was a kid and my sister and I would lay in her room with our feet up on the wall, staring up at the ABC Animals wallcovering, talking about the animals and making up bizarre, elaborate stories about them. (You'll quickly see that "run-on sentence" has multiple applications in my life.)

So, Moogie--that's what I still call my little sis--really liked the letter Y because it stood for Yak. One night, shortly after our mom had gotten a new brown Bonneville (sweet for 1984), Moogie hollered out "Y is for PontiYak!" Smarty. We laughed and laughed. Little things like that, those little, tiny, seemingly insignificant memories, still crack me up today when I least expect it.

Yes, this is a perfect example of the random things that creep into one's brain while running long distances.

You can probably now guess what the letter G represented. And so, as stated, there isn't a reasonable reason to use the word gnu here, but at least now you know the backstory.

So, ahem. NEW SHOES. I got some. Finally.

Runners should replace shoes every 3-500 miles. For me, that's about every 90 days or so when I'm seriously training. However, I did a bad thing this year. I kept my 2006 LR Marathon shoes, the ones in which I ran my personal record last March, all the way through spring and summer training and now into fall.

Lots of runners keep track of their mileage, by following a prescribed schedule, keeping a log, or whatever. So, you can easily know when you have reached maximum mileage on your shoes. Especially if you do like I do, like I was taught to do, and use a Sharpie Marker to note the date you start each pair of shoes somewhere on it. I usually write the date somewhere inside the arch or on the heel or both shoes. Also, I've learned that the size will rub off the little label inside the shoe tongue, and sometimes I don't keep the shoe box, and I haven't previously kept such detailed records that I could remember my shoe size. Thus this time I also wrote the size of my shoe near the date which will make it easy for me to get my next pair of shoes when it's time.

Speaking of shoes, it took me a while to get in the right ones when I got started running. There are several types of running shoes made for the several typical running patterns people fall into, and it's crucial that you wear what your body needs or you're inviting injury. Learn more about how to determine your arch type here.

When I started out, I went in Just For Feet and picked out a pair that looked neat, felt alright, and was on sale. Very scientific. Yeah right. I bet I wore those shoes, I think they were Mizunos, for 1000 miles or more. They had slick soles before I decided I needed new ones.

Later, when I really started running, with the LR Marathon Team, I was glad for coaching about how to outfit properly. I also learned about Gary Smith's Easy Runner Store.

Early on, I was intimidated to visit this real running store, where real runners work and shop. You know the type, the thin, look-like-really-fast-serious-runner types. But, I somehow got up the nerve and ventured in one Saturday afternoon. I shouldn't have been scared, because they are very friendly and helpful. Also, their prices are quite reasonable and competitive, especially for a small specialty store.

One nice guy, Keith, along with owner Gary, spent at least half an hour with me to get me in the right shoe. They put me on the in-store treadmill for a few minutes, videotaped my feet while I ran, and played the tape back where we could all watch it and they could analyze my gait. They decided I was a slight pronator (meaning my feet roll in a little more than they are supposed to with each strike), and I left with a stability shoe called the Saucony Grid Omni. I was very proud of my new, real running shoes.

Unfortunately, I learned within 50 miles that those shoes were not for me. They didn't hurt, so I kept running in them, but they were not right. They felt, I don't know, clunky. I wanted them to feel fast. Wishful thinking for a short-legged stocky Italian? Perhaps, but when it was time for new kicks, I took myself back to Easy Runner. They tested me again and this time I left with a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTSs with Powerstep arch inserts.

Can't say these made me fast, but they did feel smoooooth. Fit my foot like a glove. Light. Like running shoes ought to be. Plus, my orange shoelaces looked freakin' awesome in them. The laces are a story for another time. We have all winter.

In those early days, I heard someone on the team say that once they found the shoe that worked for them, they began buying them two pairs at a time. I thought that was nuts. I've now done that twice.

And so, a few weeks ago, Coach Tom and I were stretching after a run. He looked down at my heel and gave me a look. "Am I reading that right? Does that say 2-2006? Isn't it time for new shoes?" I mumbled something about yes and that I would get around to it. Finally I did.

Today they got their tattoo and ate up new inserts. Today, they saw pavement for the first time. Today, I did 4 miles after work, from the Big Mac parking lot at work, up Markham and Kavanaugh to the big church and back. It rocked. I love gnu shoes.

Why not?

Lots of people ask why I run. Many are especially puzzled about why and how I run long distances, like 26.2 mile marathons. The standard answer out of my mouth is "Why not?"

They don't usually like that response. They usually proceed to either tell me I'm nuts and leave it at that, or get all straightfaced and say "Come on, seriously, what motivates you?" as though my next words could springboard them through a portal where life changes and training begins.

So, for my benefit and theirs, I'm going to blog about it.

Here, I'll explore the thought process leading up to this run-on sentence I've handed to my body. I'll attempt to record excerpts of the stream-of-consciousness happening while waking up at 5 a.m. every Saturday to meet the team for training, while I'm out there running double digit mileage in sub-freezing temperatures, while I'm cranking up the hills (what hills?) of Little Rock proper and her sister cities.

I'm currently training for the Little Rock Marathon, to be held March 4, 2007. If all goes well this winter, this will be my third 26.2-miler. Yes, I wish I'd journaled more about the first two races, but I didn't and that can't be helped now.

Now, there is this. I don't promise routine posts but I do promise honest ones.

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Today, I did 5 miles (4 run, 1 walk) on a treadmill. It sucked. Treadmills always do.