Women’s Distance Festival Race Results

Thanks to all who participated in the races today. Special congratulations to the PGRC Running Start Graduates!

Women’s Distance Festival 5K race results

Estimated Time 5K race results

Photos

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Weekend happenings

Hi guys, I’m sure we’ll see some (and by some I mean all, yes?) of you at the Women’s Distance Festival 5K/Estimated Time 5K Fun Run/Walk Saturday (info on the PDF sign-up form). And congratulations in advance to all the graduates of the Running Start program!

Sunday, there will be a planned long run for those of us training for the Parks Half Marathon (Sept. 14), put on by our neighbors, the Montgomery County Road Runners. You obviously can also run part of this distance and turn around at any point to make the run work for you and your goals. Here’s the plan:

WHAT: 10-plus mile run

WHEN: 5:45 a.m., Sunday

WHERE: Starbucks (15480 Annapolis Rd., Bowie) — route heads down 450, hangs a right on one of the cutovers to the WB&A trail, hangs a right on 197, a left on 450 back to Starbucks. An out-and-back on 450 works for shorter distances.

REWARD: Feeling of accomplishment and some much-needed (and well-deserved!) caffeine!

-Kim

Olympics, etc.

Dear Everyone,

 

First, I’d like to draw your attention to a recent New Yorker article by Peter Hessler about distance runner Ryan Hall titled Running to Beijing: The making of a long-distance runner from the August 11, 2008 issue.  You should be able to read it here:

 

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/08/11/080811fa_fact_hessler

 

Peter and his family are from Columbia, MO, where I grew up, and his father, Dick (also known as Coach Hessler), was and is the face of distance running in mid-Missouri—I am only one of many, many generations of youngsters who have benefited from his countless hours of volunteer coaching, optimism, and dedication.  The brief depiction of him by his son Peter in this article, in which Coach Hessler is described submitting himself to countless hazards in the name of running, should elicit a smile and a nod of recognition from all of us crazies who insist upon running whatever the conditions (or the doctor’s orders).   And the description of Coach Hessler holding a thermometer in his bottom while running on a treadmill—all in the name of science, of course—is guaranteed to make you laugh out loud.

 

Oh–and the bit about Ryan Hall is pretty good, too.  🙂

 

Hall’s story is certainly captivating—as are the stories of all Olympic athletes—but I have to admit that upon my return from England (just yesterday) I have found coverage of the Olympics in this country severely wanting in comparison.  The BBC coverage of the games is simply astounding, particularly to someone used to—and often frustrated by—NBC’s edited, beach-volleyball-heavy listings.  The games are shown live, uninterrupted, with intelligent (mostly) commentary, and they are broadcast simultaneously—one can choose between live badminton, live track and field, live swimming, live horse racing, live whatever—all by pressing a button.  Furthermore, each contender is given his or her due.  At the start of a race, for instance, each runner is recognized in turn—in sharp opposition to NBC’s habit of pointing out the American in the race and someone who might have a chance against them and then dismissing the rest.  The games are also live on the radio, mind you.  And, perhaps most notably, the same extensive amount of coverage accorded to the Olympic games is accorded to the Paralympic games as well.  It is an embarrassment of Olympic riches.  It’s incredible.  But it is not, alas, the American Way.

 

So I’ve attempted to adjust to the relative poverty of NBC’s Olympic “coverage” by muting the commercials and/or Bob Costas and retreating into the memory of a few lovely, calming English runs that I managed to squeeze in while away—most notably, across the meadow from Cambridge to Grantchester, along the very path that Virginia Woolf and Rupert Brooke and friends used to walk on their way to tea at The Orchard.  It’s an absolutely gorgeous run—golden wheat fields, the river Cam and its banks, lines of trees and hedges under the blue (if you’re lucky) sky.  One can almost imagine oneself a Jane Austen heroine, swishing her way through the tall grasses. . .though Jane  Austen, Virginia Woolf and Rupert Brooke combined probably never sweat as much as yours truly.

 

It’s back to reality on Thursday, when I plan to rejoin the PGRC group at the UMD track—hooray!  I’ll be looking for advice on how to train (starting now) for the Boston Half Marathon on October 12^th, so if anyone has any advice on how to prepare for a half marathon in a few short weeks, I would be immensely grateful.  (One of the very first steps, of course, will be to participate in the WDF on Saturday!)  Hope you’re having happy runs!  Stay cool!

 

Monica

 

Back on my feet

The continuing saga of my stress fracture, with a digression to shoe buying.

In my original report, I mentioned that I’d managed to get a stress fracture in my second metatarsal, probably by virtue of my suddenly doing a bunch of race walking.  Turns out this counts as a new stress which I should have adapted to, same as starting running takes time to adapt to.  The look then was that I’d have to wear an air cast for at least 4 weeks.  When I checked back in with the podiatrist, after walking all over China including up the Great Wall (quite easy) and Hua Shan (mountain, not so easy even after taking the cable car up), he said I’d made progress, but would have to leave it on for another 3 weeks.

Finally, on the 28th, I saw him and got the amber light.  Not cleared to do my full normal mileage nor at full speed.  But it’s now ok to go running, if only at 80% effort and 80% of pre-injury distance.  2-3 weeks of that while carefully monitoring how the foot feels.  If it’s still feeling good, then I’m ok for 100% effort and distance.  This is far better than I’d expected.  So tonight will be my first real run (I did run about 300 m when I got home from the Dr.!) since the injury.

You notice that it’s a week since I saw the doctor and I hadn’t gotten out for a real run.  The thing was, I wasn’t confident that my shoes were the right ones for my feet.  I’ve been running in the model for a decade.  But in a decade, your feet can change, or maybe you shouldn’t have been in them in the first place.  So my podiatrist also recommended going to the Roadrunner Sports (Columbia’s being closer to me; there’s also one in VA) and using their ‘shoe dog’.

It turns out that the ‘shoe dog’ has nothing to do with canids.  It’s a two part deal.  First part is that they have you walk across a stress-mat.  It observes how much force you’re hitting the mat with, and from what part of the foot.  I’m heavy on the heel and middle of the ball of the foot, on both feet.  Makes me neutral rather than the overpronator I thought I was.  The second part was to run on a treadmill with a camera taping you (digitally) to check what happens to your leg alignment as you bear full weight.  My left leg stays upright.  The right, though, bows inward — the right arch flexes a lot so the leg moves in.  This is not a great thing for your arch to do, so in addition to new model shoes, I wound up with some inserts to support the arch.

My treadmill tests with shoe, shoe and insert, were very favorable.  So tonight I’ll hit the track (nice soft surface) for some run/walk — while trying to remember not to walk too fast!

See you there!

Bob Grumbine

Road trip to Canada, anyone?

I’ve gotten a couple of emails from folks asking about our events in Canada! 

Turns out there is a Prince George Road Runners club in British Columbia (Prince George, BC is up in northern BC- so its way north).  Maybe we should take a field trip and visit.  Here’s the link to their running club  www.pgroadrunners.ca/

Any takers for the Mad Moose Marathon in September? www.madmoosemarathon.ca/

Tomorrow’s forecast for Prince George- high of 78F, low of 49F.  Perfect running weather.