Athlo Blog

This is the first post of a new monthly series dedicated to reviewing athletic equipment. Some upcoming reviews are hockey sticks by John and the best chairs for endurance computer coding by Mark. We will also be starting a monthly race review so there should be something everyone will find interesting and helpful. This month I am focusing on running shoes.

The running shoes I have worn for the past two years are the Adidas Supernova Control 10. They retail online for about $70.  I bought the two pairs shown here at Sports Basement Presidio in San Francisco.

Overall, these shoes have been great and I will continue to buy Adidas running shoes.  My biggest compliment is the amount of cushioning provided while remaining fairly light.   I would highly recommend them to anyone training for a marathon.  For me, they took absolutely no time to break in. I ran 26 miles in the orange pair the first time I wore them and only came away with one small blister on the top of each little toe.  

I do have one complaint about these shoes.  I tend to mix trail and road routes into my running but the Adidas Supernova soles are definitely not made for trails with any loose rock or gravel.  You can see in this photo that the shoe on top has a number of large rocks stuck in the grooves of the sole, mostly in the heel area.  I picked the rocks out of the shoe on the bottom to show what it should look like.  Stopping to pick rocks out during a run can break your rhythm but not stopping can become uncomfortable and annoyingly noisy if the rocks and hitting the pavement.

Despite the trail running limitations, I would still highly recommend this shoe.  On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it an 8.  Although, I may have to break down and buy a pair of Adidas Supernova Riot, their trail running shoe, to go with my Control 10s.

Although the 100 meter Olympic champion is often labeled as “the fastest man in the world”, it is the 200 meter sprinter who actually has the fastest average speed.  The record breaking performance by Usain Bolt of Jamaica last week was amazingly impressive, but not as impressive as Michael Johnson’s 200 meter performance at the 1996 Atlanta games. 

Usain Bolt ran 100 meters in 9.69 seconds, giving him an average speed of 10.31 meters per second but Michael Johnson’s 200 meters in 19.32 seconds was an average speed of 10.35 meters per second.  Not a huge difference, but enough to question why the 100 meter champion gets an undeserving title.

As of now, the 100 meter female sprinter is the fastest woman in the world.  However, since Florence Griffith-Joyner set both the 100 and 200 meter world records in 1988, there isn’t much of an argument.  Her average speed for the 100 meters was 9.53 meters per second but her average speed for 200 meters was 9.37 meters per second.  A female sprinter would need to run a 20.96 second 200 meter, beating Flo-Jo’s record of 21.34 seconds, in order to have a faster average speed.  Usain Bolt would have to run an unbelievable 9.66 second 100 meter if he truly wants to be the fastest man in the world.  If he doesn’t start celebrating with 20 meters left like he did at the Olympics he can probably do it.

While living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I’ve met many people who commute by doing something other than driving alone.  A former employer actually paid us $4 each day we didn’t drive. If we were a carpool driver we received $2 per passenger each way.  It was a really nice benefit and definitely an incentive to be green.

Even if your company doesn’t provide a financial incentive to not drive, the money you save on gas is probably enough of a reason to take a bus, train or get there under your own power.  However, health is a reason that often goes overlooked.  Endurance commuter is a term my buddy Dave Penake introduced me to one morning on our 13-mile run from San Francisco to work.  We did this run once a week and although we occasionally saw some bikers on this route, we never saw anyone else running it with the exception of a group of Google employees making the 40-mile one-way trip to Mountain View about once a month.  Since my endurance commuting debut, I’ve become much more interested in how people get to work and an advocate for alternate commuting.

When talking to people about how they get to work and if they would be interested in running, biking or walking, I usually hear one of five excuses: it’s too far, the weather is bad, there is no shower at work, the roads are dangerous, my bike is old.  The “too far” excuse could very well be a valid one but depends on just how far away you live.  I didn’t just start out running to work the first day I showed up.  I had a good base of training but had to build up to that distance on a consistent basis.  Snow, ice and heavy rain are definitely reasons to use your car to get to work.   On light rain days I just throw on my rain jacket and just go.  The lack of a shower could be bad if you sweat easily, but check with your company’s facilities management group and see what you can do to persuade them into installing one.  Dangerous roads are an extremely serious matter so try to seek out anyone who may know the routes to work or check out the new Walk There feature on Google Maps.  Lastly, there are plenty of bike shops that can either tune up your bike or sell you a new one.  Don’t let that stop you from saving gas money, getting a good workout and helping save the environment.

What’s the most you’ve done with regards to endurance commuting?  Are you still doing it?  If not, why’d you stop?  If so, what motivates you?  If never, what’s your excuse?

I had never heard of the Navicular Bone until I took a slap shot to the foot during a hockey game and could barely walk for the next few days.  A PT friend of mine took a look and thought it might be a Navicular Bone stress fracture and that I should get an x-ray.

Before visiting the doc I did some reading on the web regarding this bone I had never paid much attention to.  I learned that the Navicular is the pronounced bone you can find by sliding your fingers from your inner ankle towards your big toe.  Several medical articles mention Navicular fractures being a common running injury, mainly related to excessive pronation, that often go undiagnosed because the  x-rays don’t always pick up the stress fracture.   The scary part is that most fractures come with ligament damage and severe cases must be surgecially repaired.

After two weeks of not being able to run (although I was still biking and swimming to stay in shape for an olympic tri) I gave in and made a rush x-ray appointment that sure enough turned up negative.  This would normally have been great news but the radiologist confirmed my research and told me to take it easy because the fractures are hard to detect on the Navicular.  Fortunately, after toning down my training for 2.5 weeks I started gradually feeling better and was back to running.  I consider myself lucky and would recommend that anyone having foot discomfort imparing walking or running seek immediate medical attention for a faster overall recovery; and of course to avoid taking slappers off the inside of your skate boot.

For most people, running 100 miles sounds like as much fun as a bare knuckle fight with Mike Tyson. But for those looking to put their bodies and mind to the ultimate test, an ultramarathon is probably on their list of things to do before they die. It’s definitely on mine. An ultramarathon is by definition any distance greater than the normal 26.2 mile marathon.  A large number of ultramarathons today seem to be at or close to 100 miles. A race this long and challenging requires some serious training and lessons learned from those who have gone the distance before.

I recently came across a blog called The Run Down maintained by Charlie Nickell and Greg Hardesty that is about, you guessed it, ultramarathons. One post in particular, entitled So, You Want To Run 100 Miles, was a collection of tips and advice from people who have completed multiple races at that distance to those of us considering it. As I expected, not one of them said it was easier than they thought it would be. The general consensus was that at some point you will feel terrible and consider quitting. But it is those who are able to overcome and push through the pain, even if you just keep walking, that will discover a sense of satisfaction that I can only imagine.

Check out The Run Down and hopefully they will continue to post more great articles on their site. Active.com has a large list of ultramarathons you can register for but there are some, like the Western States 100 and Badwater Ultra 135, which require you to qualify in other races before you are allowed to enter.  If anyone has done an ultra and can think of big mistakes to avoid on a first attempt, drop a comment and share it with us.

I came across CompleteRunning, a fairly large network of running blogs, the other day.  One of their most popular posts that caught my eye was 25 Celebrities Who’ve Run A Marathon.  I’m not really one for tabloid magazines or Hollywood gossip but I thought it would be interesting to see how my one marathon time compares to some of the rich and famous.  

The author’s list of 25 had a wide range of people, anywhere from David Lee Roth to George W. Bush.  Even that guy who played RoboCop was on the list.  Would you believe that George W’s time is better than RoboCop? And unfortunately both of their times were faster than mine.    

The post does not give any insight as to how anyone on the list trained, or how Oprah’s finish time smoked AC Slater’s, but the captions are entertaining to read.  Check it out and see if there are any that surprise you.   Hopefully my next marathon time will be enough to beat our current President!

Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub in Colorado Springs is becoming more well known for its running club than its Guiness and Irish folk music.  Last month marked the second anniversary of the club and they had a record attendance: 715 runners.  To put this in perspective, I was a member of the running club when it first began and usually 30 to 50 people would show up each week.  The run is on Tuesday evening, year round, rain or shine.  

To see the club grow to the point where the it now has multiple starting times on Tuesday night is incredible.  Members run a nice 5K route along downtown and the Front Range trail in Colorado Springs.  After the run, Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub serves free spaghetti and salad.  They make their money back and then some by offering beer specials and having hundreds of thirsty runners at the Pub on a night they would not otherwise be there.  Although I could not tell from the running club website, I think their policy of giving out free T-shirts to members who show up five times is still in effect.  Since the club runs all year, it should not be too hard for residents of Colorado Springs to get one.

Although similar clubs in Denver and Boulder have not had the success of the Jack Quinn’s club, I think any town in America with a bar and a good group of people who want to become or stay healthy (and drink beer) could start their own running club.  My hometown of Quincy, IL has some frigid winters so year round running is probably out of the question, but I know of a nice little Irish Pub downtown that I will be pitching this same idea to next spring.

Dean Karnazes is a name that has become more and more widely known in the running community. For anyone who does not know who he is, 60 Minutes recently said that “it’s likely he has run more miles than any other living person.” Whether that is true or not is probably something that would be hotly debated within the running community. There are many other ultramarathon runners who have won many more races than Dean.

Regardless of the number of races he has won, his running resume is impressive. Winning the 2004 Badwater Ultramarathon and in 2005 running 350 continuous miles without sleeping are just two of the highlights. In 2006, he completed the North Face Endurance 50 which consisted of running 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states. He competed in some actual marathon races but for most of the 50 he recreated the course and ran with whoever came out to join him. I did the Chicago marathon that year and distinctly remember him passing me around mile 20.

Dean’s second book, 50/50: Secrets I learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days — and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!, chronicles his journey across America and is currently in bookstores. In addition to the book, the movie UltraMarathon Man: 50 Marathons • 50 States • 50 Days will be in theaters soon but for one night only. The showing is only July 31st and you will need to check the theater map to see if it is playing near you. Whether you are a long distance runner, short distance runner or are thinking about starting to run, this movie is sure to inspire you to get out there. It might not inspire you enough to sign up for the next North Face Endurance 50, but then again maybe it will.

Slowing down to run farther seems obvious, but it is the hardest thing for people to force themselves to do when they first attempt longer runs.  To explain this, I’m going to target people who’ve never exceeded the 3-5 mile run range, think anyone going farther is crazy, and probably genetically superior.

Take your average high school athlete that has had to run 1-2 milers to stay in shape and maybe was able to crank out a 5 miler or 10k at one point for a charity race.  This likely seemed like the hardest thing on their body because they were trying to keep the 1-2 mile pace over the longer distance.  The fact is your body cannot maintain the heart rate you get up to when running a fast 1 mile over the course of 5 miles.

To show this point I’ve plotted the world record paces for the Olympic distances along with the mile and both full and half marathons:

Assuming that the average person would exhibit this rate of slowdown, someone who could run an 8 minute mile would be able to run a:

• 5k (3.1 mi) at a 9.1 min/mile pace (multiply by 1.13),
• 10k (6.2 mi) at a 9.4 min/mile pace (multiply by 1.17),
• Half Marathon (13.1 mi) at a 9.6 min/mile pace (multiply by 1.20),
• Marathon (26.2 mi) at a 10.6 min/mile pace (multiply by 1.33)

By slowing down at these rates for longer distances and periods of time, the body avoids crashing like when you finish a hard sprint and need to immediately stop to catch your breath.

There are a number of methods out there to determine your body’s thresholds like heart rate training and VO2 max determination, which I highly recommend looking into if you’re training for 13+ mile events.  If you’re not a competitive runner and sticking to 10Ks or less the best thing is to listen to your body; it’ll tell you when you can pick it up and when you should slow down.

If you’re not consistently running and try this approach a few times a week you’ll be amazed at how easy it becomes to get up to 45 - 60 minute workouts.  You’ll quickly be at a cardio level recommended by most doctors and medical journals.  If you get the bug and want to push it longer or harder I would advise researching nutrition management to ensure you’re replacing adequate calories and fluids to keep you going and avoid serious injuries.

That’s my approach to running farther: slow down.  I’d be curious to hear if any of you have found other methods that have really helped when trying to go from short to long distance running.