Great Compromise 10Five Map Revised

i just rode the route, and made some revisions.

please see the updated route map.

the Great Compromise 10-miler

ok, so some people are not such huge fans of running on the street, for valid reasons like surface cushioning and, um, being wusses. others of us, me, for example, like running on streets because, well, we're superior or something. it's not for me to say.

so, saturday's long run will be a compromise - five on the trail, followed by five on the road. we'll run the trail miles first, which should get the joints loosened and lubricated to be better prepared for running on asphalt. plus, it's really tough to go from the street to the trail - the difference in efficiency becomes really obvious, and annoying, at the end of a run.

for anyone not ready to go 10 miles, you can run either half with us - if you want to just run the road portion, you need to be at our starting point at about 7:45, and wait for us to come around.

we're meeting at 7am at The Rock, near the water coolers under the Mopac bridge, right by the lovely Roberta Crenshaw Pedestrian Walkway. we'll run the Mopac-Congress loop, which is about 4.6-4.7 miles, then we'll come back across the walkway and onto Stratford. there'll be a short, pretty challengingly-hilly stretch, then we'll be running up throuh my old stomping grounds in Rollingwood, and right by the house i lived in as a teenager. if you're very (un)fortunate, i'll tell you stories of my childhood, which was, you know, typical. summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. in the spring we'd make meat helmets. but i digress (and plagiarize).

here's a map

i'll have water out at about mile two of the road course, and mile four is right by the water fountains at Barton Springs.

oh, and from now on, there's a two-minute time limit on water breaks. we're dawdling too much. no more dawdling.

Wednesday's plan

sorry to let things slide this week - i just started a new job (more contract work), and things have been a little hectic. so, i'm pushing back the time a bit for those that can make it.

let's meet tonight at 6:30, at the parking lot of Bicycle Sport Shop on South Lamar, just south of Barton Springs Road. we'll get a warmup, run a full Marsh, and a cool down, for a total of between four and five miles.

hey i would like to run 4 miles or so today and i am down for marshes on wednesday....can't wait to run on saturday....i did run 7 miles by myself all running no walking on saturday......so who wants to run around 5:30 or 6 tonight?

World Wide Half Marathon....

This looks awesome:

http://www.worldwidehalf.com/cgi-bin/wwhalf/home

We should form a team and do the half. It's free. Would be a fun thing to do.

Does anybody listen to his podcasts?
Good stuff.

http://steverunner.com/

what to do, what to do...

ok, i was thinking we need to get our mojo back... we've been putting in the miles, but slacking a bit the last few weeks on our speedwork and hillwork. so, i was thinking about doing the Marshes this Wednesday.

on the other hand, Mandy is, i believe, without obligations for once, so we could do a pub run, instead... i know paul is out of town, sadly. but this won't be our last pub run, unless, like, we all get hit by the same bus or something.

so, who would be down for a pub run this wednesday? it would only be 3-4 miles, and 3-4 bars...

I did it

I got to jump today - best thing ever! can't wait to jump again.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jenklang/30thBirthday02

here are some pics

Saturday - the Northern Seven

ok, something different for this Saturday's long run. we're running the northernmost seven miles of the Austin Marathon course. if i seem to be having some sort of violent flashback, just run around me.

we're meeting at 7:30am
we'll meet in the parking lot at the corner of North Loop and Burnet Road.
here's a map of the course

i plan for us to have water every couple of miles, but bring a few bucks, just in case. you shouldn't need extra nutrition during the run, but you'll want some soon after.

the course is pretty flat, and should be fun and easy on a bike. if you need a shorter run, let me know.

if you didn't run 10 last weekend, don't sweat it. just come out and run the seven. everyone is still well on track for their goals at this point.

word up

any details on the run tomorrow?

24 hrs on a treadmill.....

Anybody been watching this today? Karno is going for the World Record of running on a treadmill for 24 hrs.

http://www.accelerade.com/endurance-run/

Needs to run more than 153 miles or something crazy like that.

Was thinking since Paul is churning out such fast miles on the treadmill maybe he could go for it?

What do you think Paul?

hey guys i have been bad on my running and haven't ran in 2 days...i walked a mile yesturday only bc chris and i got into an arrgument and i was locked out while he got ice cream.....i feel like i'm in AA....my name is amanda and i'm a slacker.....really want to run today anyone up for 5:30? going to see the Weary Boys tonight at Threadgills so gotta run early.....would like to run 5miles.

That was a good 10 miles

Well in Rob's absense, I still figured I'd run so...

Started at Whole Foods and ran most of the pub run from last week and then added on a loop around Town Lake.

Ended up a total of 10 miles with no repeating any of the course. I ran the first 7 miles or so but then ran/walked the rest.

It was really great weather Wednesday evening, not to hot or humid, and along the lake I kept getting these blasts of really cool air.

Anyone else run Wednesday?

no wednesday run

hey, everyone -

i have an interview thing from 1-5 this afternoon, and it's way up in the Northern Territories, just shy of the Hideous Cedar Park. so, i'm not certain of my ability to get back down south in time for our run, and i might very well need a large mind-altering drink afterwards.

so, you're on your own today. please, don't cry for me, Marge and Tina. we'll always have Saturday...

charles not in charge

ok, chuck will be out of town. we'll come up with an alternate plan, possibly a trail run on the greenbelt...

charles in charge

ok, this week, we're taking it a little easy after our last two weeks of mountain-climbing, running 10 miles (well, a little under 9.8 - they measured going around the Hyatt?!) and then you know, keeping it weird. i know i need a rest - running backwards for a mile seems to have made my legs very unhappy with me.

so, we'll do a run on some hills Wednesday, then on Saturday, i was thinking we'd meet at the Waterloo Ice House down on Slaughter Lane and Escarpment, run six, then eat there. Chuckles is supposed to be drawing up an easy run for us.

that's the plan at the moment... stretch, hydrate, stay healthy!

keep austin weird

thanks, rob, for dragging my lazy ass out to the 5k saturday! i'm really impressed you guys all did it after running 10 miles in the morning. y'all rock!

Where is the start of Saturday's morning run?

Chuck says meet at "the rock" on town lake but Rob's schedule says Whole Foods?

Which is it?

And if it's "the rock", where is this?

on the DL for 3 weeks

just got back from the doctor. she thinks it is just a sprain and that i should have taken 2 months off. soooo that means at least 3 more weeks of no running. i will come out on saturday and ride with michelle while the rest you suckers are running though :-) see you then!

Keep Exile Weird...

ok so Saturday is almost here. what's the plan gang?

who's on for the 10 mile or 5 mile run on Saturday? we're going to meet at the Rock on town lake lake @ 7:30am. (we're NOT meeting @ WF)

plan about two hours for this run. hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. bring food. a gel or pbj or whatever floats your boat. carry it with you on the run. eat it at the halfway point.
we'll have a water stop at each halfway point of each 5 mile loop.

when I do this run I like to start on the North side and head East, cross Congress, and then get water at the RT 1st st water. Then back up to Mopac, have water there and then continue.

then we need to make a plan to meet up for the run that night. any ideas? location? time?

should be a fun weekend. I hope it rains!!

chuck d

pub run test run!

ok, so i was plotting a course for today's run. i decided to make it a five-miler, since we're not doing hill or speed work, but just an easy, mostly flat (no one believes me anymore when i say that, do they?) run. so, i was careful to think of where we could get water along the way, and i discovered that i had essentially plotted a pretty good pub run.

what's a pub run? pretty easy. you run, stopping at bars along the way. it's more fun than it sounds, and not as difficult as it sounds.

for those of you that have been on pub runs with another group, ours won't be the same dysfunctional, potentially dangerous, alcoholism-celebrating, cluster-frak of an event.

anyway, we need to find a date that will work for people. i know mandy is out on tuesdays and thursdays... anyway, comment here, letting us know what works for you.

morning run....

well I did it, finally dragged my butt out of bed EARLY this morning and went for a run. it was awesome! humid, but not brutally hot like it was yesterday when I ran at 1pm.
feel great now and glad to have my run for the day done.

saw another guy out running that was moving along so effortlessly, he was fit and fast. I hope to be him some day.

looking forward to this saturday. should be a blast. don't forget to hydrate well this week. and I'd recommend bringing some fuel for the run. a gel or whatever works for you. take it at the halfway point.

I saw on the schedule to meet at whole foods? why not just meet under mopac? then after the run we can go up to Daily Juice and get our smoothies on. they're the best.

run to live, live to run....

team in exile, nationwide, m.f.

so, the list of names of members to our site grows. i thought i'd throw out some introductions and welcomes, here -

my friend shahnaz out in los angeles has run a marathon, ran the (huntington beach?) half recently, and is training for the Disneyland half in September (which a couple of us are considering doing), which she plans to run in under two hours. i would suggest you refrain from discussing your (or my) drug use here, as she and her husband are DEA, and my friends and i worked hard to teach her to say "ON THE FLOOR, MOTHERF*CKER!" without giggling.

also out in cali is a friend of Amy's, Rick.

there's the bad-ass Karinne, who i've allowed in the group even though she is significantly faster than me, in the hopes that it'll score me a free iced chai at her coffeeshop, Clementine.

there's Jill, who i reconnected with at my somethingeth high school reunion this weekend. she's training for a half marathon. no, she doesn't have any stories, and i would deny them all, anyway.

so, our little empire of pain seeks to expand. i'm also hoping that some of those inactive names down there will start showing up for runs, too, before they completely forget how (remember, guys, you always want to alternate left and right feet when running).

finally, i just want to say, thanks to you guys that have been coming out and running (or at least expressing an interest in getting off your ass and doing so). at the reunion this weekend, when people asked what i was doing, it was good to be able to identify myself with the running, and the coaching, and the people i do it with. you guys kick ass, even when you're whining...

that sucked

see above.

On the 10 day (at least) DL

Ok.. the dr's office called yesterday and offered an appt for 10:00 this morning versus my original appt of July 3rd, so I snapped it up. Bottom line, pinched nerve along my heel which is what is causing my foot to fall asleep. Dr's orders of no running for at least 10 days (my next appt). Sorry, Rob. I forgot to get a signed excuse from him. He gave me a cortisone shot in the nerve and has prescribed a "nerve regenerating" med which insurance has already rejected. Apparently I completely skipped their "step=up" therapy list and went straight to the top. *&^% HMOs.

So for tomorrow, I'm thinking about taking the new bike out for a spin and act as run support. Not sure I will make it the entire 8 miles of hills but we shall see.

why?

one of our runners said:

so I am thinking I am needing some sort of motivation to actually run on Saturdays. I know I can always go back to sleep when I am done, but it really is the only day I get to sleep in, and even now, I have a hard time getting up an hour before going to work.

watcha got?

Well, believe me, I wouldn't be getting up to run if people weren't counting on me to be there. I'd run later in the day, despite the heat, because I'm just stupid that way. But I would also run the risk of not running at all.

I think you have to figure out what you want from running. If you just want the social aspect, then sleep in, and just come out on Wednesdays. You can run 3-4 miles on your own for simple conditioning anytime.

But, if you decide you want to be a better runner, or you want to set and meet a goal, you have to get to the point where you embrace the difficulty. You might eventually find that you like things about getting up early and running, but let's face it, getting up is always going to suck for most of us.

But the twisted thing is, that's why we run, because it's difficult. Why a spoon and not an axe? Because, you twit, it'll hurt more (let's see you name THAT movie, Rowdy). Winning and getting good times and personal records don't give as much lasting pride as knowing you accomplished something in spite of it really sucking for you. It's a constant test, a very real way to find and expose your strength. You don't get that unless it's difficult.

Now, there's obviously no need to go crazy with it. So, in this case, I'm putting this weekend's run at 7:30, not the 6 or 6:30 that most running groups would be starting at. But there's just not another good way to do it, unless we do it at night, or at midday and just commit to people, you know, dying and what-not.

Yes, this is a bunch of rah-rah, but it's true, and I think it has to be true for someone to commit to training and getting anything out of it. You have to turn the corner of seeing the value in dragging your tired butt out to run a hard workout after a long day at work. You have to see that there's personal glory in getting up at the a**-crack of dawn to go run farther than most people ever will. Anything else I or anyone else provides you for motivation will eventually fail, unless you're doing it for a cause. Even then, for people that do athletic events to support causes, it's the difficulty of the event, or at least of getting off the couch and participating, that makes the event a good and meaningful medium for that support.

It doesn't always come right away. It took me awhile to get completely committed, and it ebbs and flows. But many of us have, whether we all realize it or not, already made this running thing a lifestyle. It gets easier, partially out of habit, but mostly from coming to understand the real value of it.

I say try to stick with it. When your mileage hits certain point, I think it will all hit you. If not, maybe running just isn't the right challenge to motivate you. But I hope it is.

The First Kiss... OF DEATH!

OK, so this Saturday is the much-promised expedition up Mount Bonnell. Details:

• 7:30am start - BE ON TIME!
• Meet in the parking lot at Randalls' on Lake Austin Blvd.
• eight mile run for those who have been doing long runs
• shorter routes available
• go here for map

Don't be scared of this run. It is hilly, but you should be running this at an easy pace. Long runs are not about speed - more on this below.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

HYDRATE! If you're exercising in this increasing heat, you need to be doing this on a daily basis, anyway, but by Thursday, make sure you're getting at least a couple of liters of water a day. I will have water on the course for us.

ELECTROLYTES! People focus so much on dehydration that they neglect their body's other needs. No, not those needs, I'm talking about nutrition. Hyponatremia, a salt deficiency, drops a lot of runners, some of them permanently. I suggest that you go to Whole Foods or Central Market and get some ElectroMix or a similar product - they're powders you add to your water that provide additional electrolytes. In the couple of days before a long run, I'll add them to the water I'm pounding back, so that I've got a good level of them in me before the run even starts.

There are also some ways to get electrolytes in you during the run - check out the NYT article I posted a couple of days ago.

EAT! I don't care how big or small you are, or if you're trying to lose weight - if you're asking your body to carry you eight miles or more, your fuel needs go to a different level. Everyone's different about what they like to eat the morning of a run, but carbs are the constant: bagels with cream cheese or peanut butter; oatmeal; toast; CLIF bars. Whatever works for you. Unless you know you're cool with it, I'd stay away from cereal, lest you end up like Ron Burgundy... "So... hot... milk was a bad choice..."

DON'T EAT! I don't think there's a need at eight miles for energy gels. If you were going farther, you'd want to start taking them as early as eight miles, but unless you're my 6'10", 310 pound friend Tom, eating well the night before and that morning should hold you for eight miles. If you really want to, bring a very small snack - fruit rollups, gummi bears, a clif bar, whatever.

POOP! Finally, I recommend eating early the night before, and getting up an hour before you have to leave your home Saturday morning, and eating immediately. There are some porta-potties along the way, but that's a horrible way to spend any part of your run.

OK, I may think of some other stuff, but that's it for now. This is going to be a great run, and one you'll be proud of. Don't wuss out.

time trials and mount bonnell = week from hell!

yo.

so, this week, big fun. wednesday, we meet up at 5:30 at Whole Foods. we'll run down to Austin High, run drills, then run either a two-mile time trial, or another track workout, depending on where you are with your running, and your goals.

for those of us training for a half marathon, the time trial is going to give us a better baseline to figure out your ideal paces over various distances. i'll explain how that works later. all you need to know now is that you'll be cranking out two miles on the track, as fast as you can. trust me, it sucks, but it's kind of cool. i've found that it's one way that runners really learn to push their boundaries.

then Saturday, we're doing eight miles again, but this time, we're tackling Mount Bonnell. if you're not up to eight miles, we'll have shorter options that will run some nice parts of the same route. Paul is talking some smack about climbing the stairs to the top of the mount after running up the road to it. we'll check back in with him when he gets there.

i haven't heard from some of you guys in a while - give me a shout.

two interesting articles

on electrolyte tablets - something we need to start thinking about:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/31/fashion/31Physical.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin

and this one, about the changes in marathon training methodologies. please ignore the galloway run-walk crap.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/31/fashion/31FITNESS.html