You Snooze You Lose!!!

Whether putting together a training program, organizing an event, or setting up my own racing schedule, I am an obsessive pre-planner and like to have things done months in advance. But despite my inability to procrastinate and my phobia against “winging it,” the marathon mania that has swept the nation has caught me off guard at times, and no doubt has altered the plans of many an unsuspecting marathoner.

With the spectacular finish in Notre Dame Stadium, the Sunburst Races held in South Bend the first weekend in June are among my favorites. Although I haven’t settled on which of the 4 distances I am going to tackle this year, I recently decided to go ahead and make reservations figuring that 2 ½ months out I wouldn’t have a problem finding a hotel room in downtown South Bend. Wrong! I started with the host hotel. Booked solid. I then tried one 3 blocks from the starting line. Once again booked! Finally, I conducted an online search, and was able to book one 2 miles from the start at the College Football Hall of Fame.

Last year the Chicago Marathon closed in May, the earliest ever, locking many people out while training programs were still conducting their planning meetings. This year the cap was raised to 45,000, but I dare not even attempt to predict when it will close. My advice to everyone has been if your heart is set on Chicago, the time to register is now. Don’t procrastinate. Ditto on securing a hotel room Chicago weekend. With Chicago closing earlier and earlier each year, the Safari Training Program is now targeting Grand Rapids, rather than Chicago. But still, one is not safe. Grand Rapids has been gaining popularity with its gummy bears and pickle juice, has a cap of 1250 for the full marathon, and also presents a potentially high risk for closing early.

The Boston Marathon is in its 111th year, yet somehow, a city-wide convention was scheduled the same weekend that booked up to 5,000 hotel room nights. I started researching hotel rooms a year in advance, and finally over the summer, a couple of us blocked off 9 hotel rooms at the Omni Parker House for KAR members. I had called the Omni and attempted to negotiate a discounted block, but as much as they wanted to be able to accommodate us, they weren’t able to do it because of this “convention”. Their advice to me was to hang onto the rooms I booked “for dear life,” because there is soon going to be a major shortage of rooms. We held on to them, and sure enough by the time fall marathon season rolled around and the masses attained their qualifying times, affordable hotel rooms in Boston Proper were long gone, and soon after our 9 rooms were gone. My heart sank as one of our Front Line team mates, a young runner from the east side of the state emailed and mentioned she hadn’t booked a hotel room in Boston yet.

The Bayshore Half Marathon already closed 3 months out, and the Bayshore Marathon is expected to cap out by the end of this month. Of course there is always Sunburst the following weekend, but if you don’t have a hotel by booked now, expect to stay a few miles out from the starting line.

I finally attained success when I called the Intercontinental in Toronto to book one of the discounted rooms blocked for participants of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. I was almost shocked to hear the words, “Yes, we have rooms available.” “How many nights would you like?” Of course it is 6 ½ months in advance, but there is no longer procrastination anymore when it comes to small city marathons, let alone big city events. When you make reservations directly through the hotel you tend to pay a little more, but most hotels do allow you to cancel your reservations without penalty if done so by their stated deadline. My advice is that if you are even contemplating a particular marathon, make hotel reservations and then cancel them if plans fall through. If you wait to see if you make it through marathon training injury free, most likely it will be too late. When it comes to signing up for a marathon, you risk losing your registration fee if something happens, but it is the chance one must take when it comes to those notorious for closing early such as Grandmas & Chicago.

By the way, the 2007 Boston Marathon is now closed! You snooze you lose!

The Extra-Terrestrial Enquirer!!!

Bob Smola goes for his 90th!

It was quite a phenomenon and it literally stopped traffic…runners, runners EVERYWHERE! The spring like weather drew the fleet of feet out in full force, causing the cars to finally lose control of the roads! Early Saturday morning a foot traffic advisory was issued for the vicinity of Lover’s Lane and Bicentennial trail in Northern Portage. At approximately 7:15 am southbound marathoners from The Beyond almost collided with northbound SHufflers on the Bicentennial Trail as they passed each other by. Fortunately, only a few hands were slapped as the groups passed each other by. At approximately 9:00 am as Beyond Marathoners headed northbound via Lovers Lane and Bicentennial Trail, they were overcome by a flood of Borgess Run Campers traveling southbound via the Lovers Lane Footpath.

Tim Bredahl went from running 80 miles a week to working 80 hours a week and with Boston right around the corner, has now made his reappearance! “Training for Boston in 5 weeks will be no problem,” reports Tim. Sidelined from regular training since last summer’s Safari, Steve Rice is now on the mend and has made his reentry. Steve has also been named Beyond Subject Matter Expert (BSME) on the Glass City Marathon since he reportedly ran his PR there. Beth Gross and Michael Ryan are planning on running Glass City and have consulted with Steve.

Giti Henrie is also now on the mend and was named to the Beyond Welcome Wagon Committee after bringing a newcomer from Windsor, Ontario to this Saturday’s run. Brian Campbell and Dan Wolf came back after last Saturday’s Arctic Adventure run. Julie Wojtaszek, Rachel Wittkoski, Joel Pennington and Brenda Stoddard did not come back after last Saturday’s run, at least to this Saturday’s run. As a side note, Brenda Stoddard’s husband and renowned artist Jim Stoddard had two sculptures selected for the KIA Art Fair.

Pat Johnson Ranks #5 Marathoner in the state in his age division!

The Beyond hosts some of the top age group and open runners in the state of Michigan!!! Megan James, Peggy Zeeb, Jen Shaffer, Francine Bangs, Pat Johnson & Brenda Stoddard all ranked in the top 5 in their age division or the top 15 in the open division in Michigan Runner’s 2006 Best of Times!

Did you know? Former Schoolcraft High School Cross Country and Track Star Paul Dewolf is a satellite participant of The Beyond. Paul has been following the Beyond Training Program to a T and performing his workouts solo on his college campus in Grand Rapids. Paul will be making the Martian Marathon his very first 26.2 mile adventure!

Lots of Beyond Runners won Volunteer and Runner Recognition awards at last Wednesday’s KAR/BCRR Annual Banquet. Gale Fischer won the Battle Creek Volunteer of the Year and Story Teller awards. Brenda Stoddard and Bob Smola won the Reynold G Oas Volunteer of the Year award. Jen Shaffer and Marty Buffenbarger won Women’s and Men’s Open Runner awards, Peggy Zeeb won Women’s Masters and Mega-racer awards, Peter Gower won Mega-Marathoner, Kayla Kling won Rookie Runner and Bonnie Sexton won Social Runner.

Rookie Runner of the Year
You just have to love running group dynamics. It has been less than a week since the annual KAR/BCRR Banquet and the power struggle between new KAR/BCRR Co-President Marty Buffenbarger and Training Program Director and Board Advisor Bonnie Sexton has already commenced. The first official dispute began when official timekeeper, Steve Downard reported that the group had dropped to a 6:57 pace during part of their 16 mile run. Bonnie immediately ordered the group to slow down 30 seconds per mile to stay within Pete Pfitzinger’s recommended guidelines. Marty Buffenbarger threatened to overrule this command using his new positional leadership, but did eventually heed the advice of the Advisor, and the group finished with a 7:26 average pace.

Have you ever noticed there is just way too much fun stuff to do out there, including Multi-sport! It appears that at least 2 of the Beyond have figured out how to get the best of all worlds. After finishing her 16 mile training run, grabbing sustenance to go from Panera and dashing to Kingdom to watch her boys play soccer Saturday, Bonnie zipped over to Bronson to compete in the Iron BAC Indoor Triathlon. How did she do? Despite running 3.1 miles and biking 7.4 miles each respectively in 20 minutes flat, she dropped to the middle of the pack and 5th out of 6th in her age group after finishing 2nd to last in the swim. This is despite Renee Brady’s expert coaching attempts to convert her to a fish. As a side note, Todd Raab was spotted at Bronson playing hooky from The Beyond due to child care issues and the need to spend all afternoon on a stationary bike to prepare for his multi-sport adventure, Ironman Wisconsin. Bonnie is now in recovery, not from the 16 mile/Triathlon combo, but from a 2nd grade slumber party that night.

Good luck to Bob Smola, who will be running his 90th marathon next weekend. The hoopla surrounding Bob’s 100th marathon, which will commence in fall of 2008, is already being planned by KAR/BCRR officials!

The Time Has Come for Some to Taper!!!

Mallory Barry-Loken has the right idea!

With Martian Marathon a mere 3 weeks off, the time has come to ease into a time of rest, the pre-marathon taper. The taper is just as critical a component of your marathon preparation as your training runs….and no doubt it can take just as much discipline to force yourself to rest as it does to complete a 20 mile training run!!! Training provides the long term improvements necessary to successfully complete a marathon. As you have discovered by now it also tends to leave you a bit sore and tired. The 3 week cycles built into the training schedule provide some reduction in fatigue, but not enough to completely eliminate it and allow your body full recovery. The goal of tapering is to balance continued training with rest to allow for the best possible marathon experience!

Just how much can tapering improve your marathon performance? The International Journal of Sports Medicine examined over 50 scientific studies on tapering and concluded that there is no doubt tapering works! Studies have found improvements in performance of up to 16% with most studies showing 3 – 5% improvement. At a 5% improvement, that means a 3:30 marathon can become a 3:19 marathon through proper tapering. A single workout, on the other hand will give you less than a 1% improvement in performance! For some, a well-executive taper could mean the difference between qualifying for Boston, setting a PR, or just being able to finish the marathon with a greater degree of comfort!

Studies show for the marathon one should taper for a minimum of 2-weeks with 3 weeks being optimal. Too short a taper will leave one tired on race day while too long will lead to a loss in fitness. It is wise to err on the side of tapering too long rather than too short of a period. With the Martian Marathon falling four weeks out from the our last 20-miler, the most frequently asked training question recently has been if the Martian bound should try to get in another 20-miler. My answer is no, as long as they already have one or two 20-milers under their belt, a third 20-miler would actually be more detrimental to performance in the short term than helpful. Although slightly past peak performance level, I have actually run a strong marathon 6 weeks out from my last 20+ miler with less than a 1% decrease in performance. NEVER try to make up for lost time due to injury, etc during the taper weeks. By this time any gains in fitness that will impact marathon performance have already been realized and attempting to make up for lost miles or workouts will just leave you fatigued at the starting line.

How should you reduce training to improve marathon performance? Evidence indicates that the key to effective tapering is to substantially reduce mileage while maintaining intensity. Reducing mileage reduces the accumulated fatigue High intensity effort maintains fitness level. Exactly how much to reduce training mileage depends on your current training mileage, age and health. Older runners tend to need a longer taper than younger runners. Studies have shown as a general rule of thumb you should taper your mileage according to the following schedule:

3rd Week Pre-marathon: Taper 20 – 25%
2nd Week Pre-marathon: Taper 40%
Marathon Week (6 days before): Taper 60%

These decreases in mileage as well as the maintenance of intensity have been built into the marathon training schedules. Three weeks before is the most important time for a successful taper. Marathoners often do too much this week because the marathon still seems a long way off. It is much better physiologically and psychologically to allow your body to start to rebound this week, or you will find yourself feeling flat the last two weeks.

Often marathoners also decrease training efforts. This can result in a small loss in fitness as well as a lack of psychological reinforcement. It is more effective to intersperse harder efforts within the recovery trend. For example, the Comet schedule has 3 x 1-mile intervals the 2nd week pre-marathon. Marathon week itself is all easy recovery, with the exception of Tuesday or Wednesday where it is recommended you do a 6 – 7 mile run with 2 miles at marathon pace. This is a dress rehearsal; even wear the same shoes and clothes you will wear for the marathon! By this time, if you have tapered properly starting with the 3rd week, you should feel light on your feet, like you can fly…this will provide a great psychological boost!

Proper hydration and carbo-loading are also critical during the taper. It is vitally important that your muscles and liver be stocked with glycogen at the starting line. Marathoners used to deplete glycogen stores for 3 days (sometimes even completing a long run up to 20-miles the week before), then carbo-load the 3 days prior to the marathon. This is no longer recommended since carbohydrate depletion can suppress the immune system (this is why many marathoners get a cold the week after a marathon – glycogen stores have been depleted) and the long run will leave you sore and tired.

What works just as well is to eat a normal diet until the last 3 days and taper your training program. Then the last 3 days, eat a high carbohydrate diet and do a short, slow run these days. Your body will store glycogen to almost the same level as if you did the whole depletion and loading program. Also, make sure you are well-hydrated in the days leading up to the marathon so that you don’t arrive at the starting line suffering from accumulated effects of dehydration.

The taper can often be a challenge psychologically and even physiologically. Your mind and body are mentally and physically accustomed to the hard training. Take advantage of the extra free time…spend some extra time with family, take care of household projects that have been laid aside in favor of long runs (although not too strenuous!), read a good book……RELAX! Tell yourself this is part of your training….it IS! During the taper, it is also not uncommon for aches and pains to appear as the body heals itself from the months of training. Most of the time, (If you do suspect an injury make sure you have it checked out!) these will disappear. My body goes through this withdrawal cycle during every taper. My most recent marathon, a couple of joints, including on old injury, ached right up until the evening before the marathon. Once the legs got moving, however, the aches disappeared as my body remembered a familiar routine…conditioned by months of training!

Discipline yourself….to rest!

Source
Pfitzinger, P., and S. Douglas. 2001. Advanced Marathoning. Champaign, IL:Human Kinetics.

The Extra-Terrestrial Enquirer!!!

A Buried Love Bug for Monica Lynch!

Ridiculed earlier for having cancelled camp due to near Blizzard conditions, the Beyond run this week went on, and will forever be remembered as the Great Antarctic 20 Mile Adventure. Only the heartiest of souls appeared for this adventure, which other than beautiful tunnel of trees out R Ave, sported vast wastelands of snow drifts and ice. The course conditions were so extreme Bonnie managed to get her suburban stuck in lunar drifts at aid station 4. Despite a valiant attempt by Russ Bertch, Scott Taylor, Ralph Meyer, Mark Sigfrids, Brian Dobbie, Brenda Stoddard & Joel Pennington, it took the strength of a 10-cylander Excursion to extract the wedged vehicle out of the artic terrain. Does anyone else need any further explanation as to why the Sexton family NEEDS two monstrous gas guzzling SUV’s? Rumor has it that Bonnie was pulled out of KAR/BCRR member Frank Hui’s front yard a couple of weeks ago by another neighbor.

The changing of the guard is expected to take place this Wednesday at the KAR/BCRR Annual Banquet with Marty Buffenbarger and Jen Shaffer coming on as new board members and joining the Beyond’s Sherrie Mann, Scott Taylor, Ralph Meyer and Carrie Hybels in driving the Kalamazoo Area Runners Space Ship. Bonnie will continue on as a Board Advisor and will continue coordinating training programs. Rumor has it lots of Beyond participants will be receiving runner recognition awards.

In recent marathon racing action, Todd Raab & Peter Gower added yet another conquest to their long list of marathon completions. Spurred on by all the talk of Mardi Gras festivities taking place the week before, they both ran the Mardi Gras Marathon February 25. Peter, once again finished within 5 minutes of Boston qualifying time with a strong 3:35:38 while Todd finished in an awesome 3:48:55. Congratulations Todd & Peter on another conquest! With Todd’s penchant for extreme conditions, we are surprised he didn’t show up Saturday for the Antarctic Adventure! Rumor has it Todd used to run 20 milers at 1:00 am to the sound of coyotes when he lived in New Mexico.
Peter Gower
Sherrie Mann, Monica Lynch and Cindi Owen created their own little Arctic Adventure at 5:30 am Saturday so that Sherrie could head to Hell (MI) in time to register their Dances with Dirt team, We can’t get no Stinkin’ Signal Out Here!

Mike Ryan and Gordon Hare are looking to make the Glass City Marathon their 26.2 of choice while Julie Wojtaszek is contemplating Martian!

Simulator Training with Tune Up Races!!!

Amanda Portis - Where's Spring?
During the winter months in Michigan, opportunities to race are few and far few between and those who have been able to race have found their opportunities in warmer climates. Even though we are training for mid April – early May Marathons, there still are some great opportunities coming up to get in a tune up race such as the Kal-Haven Trail Relay and the Martian Half Marathon. As you approach your spring marathon take a look at how a tune up race can be integrated! Marathon training doesn’t mean you have to abandon racing in favor of long runs and lactate threshold workouts!

Occasional “tune-up races” are a recommended part of any training program. They serve as benchmarks of your fitness and prepare you mentally for racing. Tune-up races are all-out races; they are not races you use merely as tempo runs or pace runs. One word of caution: when doing tune-up races while “training through them,” it is important to remember that your times will be slower due to the fatigue of training even when racing all out. It is not unusual for a 10k time raced under training fatigue to be 1 – 1 ½ minutes slower than one raced when you are tapered and rested. This can provide a false indication of true fitness level. Also, don’t run tune-up races any closer than 3 weeks prior to a marathon at which you are trying to optimize performance, PR, qualify for Boston, etc, etc.

Before running a tune up race, try the mini-taper. This is where you cut back slightly on the “hard” workouts a few days before the race. Your time will be a closer indication to your true fitness level. Just how many days rest and/or easy run days do you need? It depends on what and when your last “hard” workout was. VO2 max workouts are the most taxing workouts of all. After running these 5k race pace intervals, you should allow at least 5 days recovery to allow the fatigue to lift before racing. A 5k race can also be used to replace a scheduled VO2 Max Workout. Long runs and tempo or lactate threshold runs require 4 days of recovery in order to race without the fatigue of the workout. Keep in mind, this is the amount of time it takes for the fatigue to lift, not the amount of time it takes to reap benefit from a particular workout…..this can take as much as two weeks!

Tune up races are generally shorter than the distance you are ultimately training for. The idea is to get you used to the stresses of racing and measure fitness level without prematurely running the full distance. For the Half Marathon, an 8k – 10k is an ideal distance for a tune-up race, and for the Marathon 5 miles – 25K. Any longer than that, and the recovery required will negate the benefits of the tune-up race!

Extra-Terrestrial Enquirer!!!

Welcome Back Teresa Xaundria!

Despite an unfulfilled promise of 50 degree temperatures and extreme conditions at the prior week’s killer tempo combo, the masses still came back for a scenic run around Gull Lake. As a matter of fact, we have such a great thing going Rachel Wittkowski drove all the way down from Grand Rapids to join the fun. Teresa Xaundria, now on the post surgery road to recovery, also made her first Beyond appearance to a round of applause!

Last Sunday Joel Pennington completed the Austin Marathon as his 3rd 26.2 and set a brand new PR of 3:43:37! This amazing feat also earned him an exclusive interview with Runners World Editor in Chief David Willey. Well, not really, but he did sit next to Mr. Willey on the plane ride down! Joel will be signing autographs at next week’s run at KVCC.

After pulling off a very well organized inaugural Steve Athey Memorial Race last year, it became quite apparent that Bob Smola doesn’t hold a clue as to how to produce anything less than a first class act. Three weeks ago Bob battled a blizzard to set out aid stations and pace signs in Plainwell. This Saturday at Gull Lake, he set out bright orange cones indicating aid stations, AND spray painted the road indicating mile markers. This years Steve Athey Memorial is scheduled for July 7, and no doubt Bob will pull off something just a little out of the ordinary. The final results are not in yet, but Bob is also in the running for Day Sponsor of the Year! Tim Sochor is first runner up.

After being offered a course map, Pat Johnson politely declined with the statement,” It might get me lost!” Patti Montilla took one…we hope she didn’t get lost. Tony Golubski played the part of a hitchhiker and joined the meteor shower someplace mid course. It IS official!!! Bob Poznanski has been inducted into the Team Varmin Hall of Fame after sticking close to the lead group out at Gull Lake Saturday. As a matter of fact, he even led for much of the way. Sorry Bob, your Team Garmin days are OVER!

The BIG news of the week is that after many months of searching, Jen Shaffer finally found Gull Lake! We are not quite sure how she managed to avoid this for so long, but Jen also, for the very first time since moving to Kalamazoo, got stuck at a rail road crossing for 10 minutes on the way over. Now she is officially “Kalamazoo” through and through. Fifteen miler down, Jon Williard’s plans for the rest of the day featured “Cookies and a Movie.” Amanda Portis is taking up a new profession, using her navigational talents to become a course designer.

Recharge the Rocket Engines and Get Motivated!

Got the treadmill blues?

Lack of motivation or determination is not one of my typical shortfalls, but the last month found me looking forward to some of my runs with about as much enthusiasm as a visit to the dentist office and a shot of Novocain (sorry Charmin Mark). Let’s face it; walking out the door to single digits with wind chills below zero isn’t exactly something to get excited about. Neither is dodging vehicles while running on slick snow and ice covered surfaces. The alternatives aren’t much more appealing; two hour jaunts on the treadmill or circling the 12 laps to a mile track 150 times at the YMCA spell a recipe for boredom. Running on the snow and ice left my hamstrings sore and achy, making the runs even less pleasurable. As lousy a swimmer as I am, I began to savor my laps in the pool far beyond runs which offered a solemn choice between blustery or boredom. Add to that the dark mornings and dark evenings which have been proven to contribute to the mid-winter blues, it comes as no surprise that motivation during a tough winter may deteriorate to an all-time low.

There is no doubt that training with a group of friends such as we do in the Beyond takes the edge off and can be the source of motivation that pulls us out the door. The cameraderie, the post runs socials. Taking a vacation break to a warm weather destination can deliver a huge mental boost, but not everyone has this opportunity to recharge their batteries southern via escapes. While it is just as important to savor each day in our journey, during times like these shifting our focus to the goals or experiences we have set before our selves are often our salvation. For many of us, that will be the incredible high that comes from experiencing Boston, for others, it means the accomplishment of crossing the finish line of a first marathon or perhaps an 89th marathon. It can be the vision of spring racing season or the shear fun and excitement of getting a group of friends together for a relay.

This last week, I began to nail down our Kal-Haven Trail Relay team details, and found my mood start to lift as I thought of the sheer fun and camaraderie of sharing a relay event with friends. Three weeks later is the Boston Marathon. Just participating in the world’s most famous marathon itself makes you feel like a star, but the whole atmosphere and all the events surrounding Boston that weekend are exhilarating and something to look forward to; shopping at the expo, gathering with family and friends for the pasta party, the Freedom Run, stopping by the Tracey home which is like a visit with old friends, giving high fives to all the children lining the course and finally, crossing the finish line. Even after finishing, as you walk back to the hotel hundreds of people extend their congratulations. Not motivated yet? How about the vision of finishing the National City Half Marathon on a mild spring day, or the Riverbank Run (usually not without rain) or the all-day party atmosphere of Dances with Dirt. Perhaps the goal is to run the Chicago Marathon for the first time or to qualify for Boston. The future holds many great experiences, achievements and yes, far more pleasant conditions too.

And no doubt spring is around the corner and better days lie ahead. As I walked into the office one day last week, I was pleasantly surprised to hear birds chirping. Last Wednesday as I completed my 12 miler, I savored my first enjoyable run in weeks as the mercury pushed into the 40’s. At last Saturday’s Gull Lake Run, I took notice of the beautiful sunrise to the east only a few miles into our run. Could there possibly be a spark of motivation igniting….you bet! The days are getting better and its time to get psyched for the many experiences, achievements and surprises that lie in the year ahead!