After my most recent victory some folks have accused me of doping. It’s time to put these rumors to rest. I’ll come clean and tell you my secret, which can be seen in the above picture, it’s Japanese candy.

I have no idea what it says and it doesn’t even taste that great, but sometimes to win you have to take the pain, just like Jose Canseco injecting his teammates in the ass with a needle, I consumed said candy. So if you’re tough enough and want to win, just like the runner on the package, pick up some of this candy. I’d tell you the name, but I have no idea what it is called…

The October 2008 issue of Running Times has an excerpt from Brad Hudson’s book “Run Faster”, it starts off with this statement:

General running volume - or how much you run - is the most basic parameter of running.

So you have a choice between two hot running books. One is written by the Coach of Dathan Ritzenhein who just took 9th in the Olympic Marathon or you can choose the one published by Jogger’s World called Run Less Run Faster.

I love the similiarities, it’s just like the scene in Something About Mary. There on the shelf you have Brad’s book “Run Faster” and right next to it you have the Runner’s World book “Run Less Run Faster.”

I ordered up Brad’s book.

A great week of training. I hit 70 miles for the week, only the second time in my life that I have ever run 70 miles in a week and 70 miles in a week is my highest weekly total ever.

8/18 -7.1 Miles
8/19 - 8 Miles
8/20 - 13 Miles @ 7:17 Pace, Avg. Heart Rate of 166
8/21 - 8 Miles
8/22 - 5 Miles
8/23 - St. Peter Festival 10k, 3 Miles Warm Up/Cool Down, 9.2 Miles Total
8/24 - 20 Miles Total, First 16 Miles at 7:47 Pace, 155bpm, last 4 miles @ 6:56 pace, 172bpm, depletion run

70.31 Miles Total

My training is going well, I feel strong and have no injuries to speak of. I am getting concerned that I don’t have much speed and not sure how much speed I can gain before Denver Marathon. In September 2007, before the Denver Marathon, I had one 20 mile training run that I did at 6:56 pace and another epic run where I covered 20 miles at 6:44 pace. Then I had my 1:21:59 Quad Cities Half Marathon four weeks before Denver Marathon, which boosted my confidence.

On my 20 miler this morning, I was doing a depletion run for the last four miles, which should have been at marathon race pace. I pushed out 6:56 miles, thus nothing impressive. However, I was finishing my run at around 11:30am and it was rather hot at that time, so I am sure that did not help matters.

I’m training a lot harder than last year at this time, but like I said I have no speed to speak of post injury. On Labor Day, I’ll be doing the Park to Park 10 Miler, so that will give me a good idea of my fitness level. I also plan to scale back the mileage this week, to recover and taper a bit before this race.

I still have eight weeks until the Denver Marathon. I remember in college CC, being able to knock off 1-2 minutes on my 8k time from the start of the season to the end and that was in the course of 8 weeks, thus let’s hope that I can make similar gains this year.

A couple of new free entries to give away as well.

Results here

The last time I won a race was in 1996, I was a senior in High School, running the 3,200 Meters on the track. Today, I took the victory in the 10k. Hey, you take your wins when you can get them, even if it’s a small town race, it’s pretty cool.

My time was 40:13, which is a lot slower than I was hoping for. Here are my mile splits:

1 6:08
2 6:03
3 6:02
4 6:22
5 6:36
6 6:39

The course was out and back and the first half of the race went downhill. Monument, Colorado is close to 7k feet in elevation, and the first three miles dropped 200 feet, thus the large discrepancy in splits. It was not what I would call a fast course by any means.

I felt pretty good, started off well, but pretty much ran alone the entire time. At the 1.5 mile mark, I was in fourth overall, but two of the people ahead of me were running the 5k, so they turned around. At that point a girl was leading me by about 15 seconds. She maintained that lead until the turn around point for the 10k, where there was a hill that lasted for about 1/4 mile, I passed her at about the 3.5 mile mark, making up significant ground on the uphill.

After I passed her, I kept up an ok pace, but looking at the splits I probably coasted a bit too much. My Garmin had the course at 6.37 miles, thus I am thinking it was long. Normally the Garmin is long, but not that long. The odd thing was the first mile was dead on with my Garmin, thus I thought the race course was measured using a Garmin.

The race was run on the Santa Fe Trail, which was really nice and I love not having to run on concrete or asphalt. However, the trail has a lot of loose dirt and sand, thus at times it’s hard to get a good push off with your foot, thus not a fast surface by any means but it does save the legs.

I enjoy doing small town races, I also had not been to Monument before and it’s a cool little down with some great views of the mountains and Pikes Peak to the South. They did a nice job with this race, well organized, friendly people, etc. I’ll post a review tomorrow on RunColo.

Hurry, rush out right now and buy Gu Roctane! You need this product, it will do amazing things.

Roctane contains the original GU formula of simple and complex carbohydrates with antioxidants; plus, it enhances performance with histidine, citrates and branched amino acids

How were you ever able to do your long runs without histidine, citrates and branched amino acids. Ok, I am being facetious. Remember when I told you that companies like to “kill the consumer with options” here we go again.

This is what I love, on the Gu Website they have an entire spread devoted to Roctane. However, I see no scientific studies to back up any of their claims that Roctane is superior to regular Gu. Seriously, if they invested that much money to make Roctane, surely they have to have some lab test that validates it’s superiority. Does Gu have an R&D department or just a marketing department, I’m starting to wonder.

There is no data from the lab, but there are some testimonials, so just like a late night infomercial let’s take a look:

“The stuff is like gold, traded behind closed doors in the old days. It is similar to Coca-Cola – gives the extra kick to the late miles. I rely on it mentally too.”
-Chris Hauth, 2006 Ironman Coeur d’Alene Champion

It’s similar to Coca Cola? Really, that’s the scientific break through? Also, was gold ever traded behind closed doors?

“In the sport of cycling, ride fuel and nutrition is so important. You will not find more bang for your buck in any other nutritional product. GU Roctane will change the way athletes look at nutrition. There is nothing like it.”
-Saul Raisin, professional cyclist

Saul did the old ROI claim. Well Gu Roctane cost $2.50 per packet, while regular Gu cost $1.00. What if I consumed two Gu packets, is the Roctane still the best bang for the buck, because I’d have fifty cents extra in my pocket? What if I bought a Coca Cola, that’s less than a dollar.

“Roctane aids in my performance every time I use it by giving me more energy throughout my system. This includes mental clarity. It also is outstanding for recovery.”
-Stephen Koch, first snowboarder to descend the seven summits, professional mountain guide

Wow, improved mental clarity, this product does it all.

I love this part of the faqs.

Why does Roctane cost more than the original GU?
Roctane costs more because there are up to 10 times the amount of high-performance ingredients in each packet. Consider this analogy: Original GU is like premium unleaded—it’ll power the most sophisticated engines on the planet with no problem. Roctane is our high-octane, racing-grade unleaded. It burns hotter and stronger and will keep an engine running near red-line all day long.

First, it’s a poor analogy. Premium fuel cost about 10% more than Regular fuel, not 250%. How about the fancy packaging, did that add to the cost? Does it literally cost 2.5x more to make one packet of Roctane as it does regular Gu? I find that hard to believe.

One of the greatest marketing slogans ever was the phrase “Rinse and Repeat” that they put on shampoo bottles, because it’s not necessary to wash your hair more than once. That’s what Gu is doing, giving the consumer the option to spend a little more, without having any scientific data to backup their claims. On their website it states to take a Roctane 45 minutes before your race, 15 minutes before your race, and every 45 minutes while racing. Thus, if you run a three hour marathon, that’s 6 Roctanes or $15 in product.

It reminds me of this scene in Anchorman:

Brian Fantana: [about Veronica] I’ll give this little cookie an hour before we’re doing the no-pants dance. Time to musk up.
[opens cologne cabinet]
Ron Burgundy: Wow. Never ceases to amaze me. What cologne you gonna go with? London Gentleman, or wait. No, no, no. Hold on. Blackbeard’s Delight.
Brian Fantana: No, she gets a special cologne… It’s called Sex Panther by Odeon. It’s illegal in nine countries… Yep, it’s made with bits of real panther, so you know it’s good.
Ron Burgundy: It’s quite pungent.
Brian Fantana: Oh yeah.
Ron Burgundy: It’s a formidable scent… It stings the nostrils. In a good way.
Brian Fantana: Yep.
Ron Burgundy: Brian, I’m gonna be honest with you, that smells like pure gasoline.
Brian Fantana: They’ve done studies, you know. 60% of the time it works, every time.
[cheesy grin]
Ron Burgundy: That doesn’t make sense.
Brian Fantana: Well… Let’s go see if we can make this little kitty purr.
[snarls]

Anyway, I’ve heard that Gu Roctane has already been banned in six countries and that 60% of the time, Gu Roctane works every time. So pick up a packet and set some PR’s!

I’m going to race the St. Peter’s Fall Festival 5k & 10k in Monument, Colorado, on Saturday. Last year they had 250 runners, so a relatively small race, but it will be good to race a 10k to see where my conditioning is currently at and the 10k will better prepare me from a conditioning stand point than a 5k for the Denver Marathon.

They say that a 10k is 50% VO2 and 50% LT. I really have no idea what kind of time I am capable of running this weekend. The plan is to shoot for 6:10 pace, which is a 38:19, hopefully that’s an attainable goal, we will see. It’s hard to gauge one’s fitness level when coming back from an injury, I’m still amazed at the amount of speed that I lost in those eight weeks.

I’m not planning on tapering for this race, thus the legs will be relatively tired as I will hit 70 miles for the week, which is a lot for me. Also, I have another free entry to this race, so if you’re interested in running it, let me know.

The progression in mileage continues. I’ve decided that I am going to peak at 75mpw and hope to have three weeks of 70+ miles.

Here is the breakdown:

8/11 - 5 Miles
8/12 - 4 Mile Tempo Run @ 6:37, Avg Heart Rate 173, 7 Miles Total
8/13 - 13 Miles, 8:10 Pace, Avg. Heart Rate 152
8/14 - 8 Miles
8/15 - 5 Miles
8/16 - Fit to Fight 5k, 7 Miles Total
8/17 - 20 Miles on The High Line Canal @ 7:37 Pace, Avg. Heart Rate of 164

65.11 Total Miles

A good week of training, however my Tempo Run was more difficult than it should have been, but it was done on a warm day so I am sure that was a factor. My goal pace was 6:35 miles and I struggled to run 6:37.

I put in 20 miles this morning, at first I felt fantastic but ended up struggling the last five miles. My heart rate was also elevated at 164bpm, I ran a similar pace last weekend and my heart rate was 11bpm lower. I think this is a sign of fatigue.

A good sign is that my weight is now down to 163lbs, thus I have lost 11lbs since I started running post injury. The weight is starting to drop a bit easier now that my mileage has increased. The goal is a race day weight of 158lbs for Denver Marathon.

Goal is 70 miles this week and then I am going to have a “rest week” the following week. Nine weeks until the Denver Marathon!

I also have a few new free race entries to give away.

I awoke this morning to rain on the windows and cool fall like weather. I had to pump myself up to head outside in the rain, but it was a light/moderate shower, similar to the conditions of the Denver Marathon last year. Today, I raced the Fit to Fight 5k.

The race started at the Colorado Convention Center. I found a parking spot and headed over to the registration table, while the rain kept coming. I was also excited to test out my new Nike LunaRacer shoes. I did a two mile warm-up some of it inside the Convention Center, since it is huge and another mile outside, rolled off a couple of striders and headed to the start line.

At the start line there was a bit of confusion as to where the race would go, we then found out that we were running the Cherry Creek Trail. Most of the runners were part of the Fire Rescue International Conference. I took my position at the front of the pack, towards the middle as I knew there was a sharp right turn coming.

The race starts and the runners start running down the Cherry Creek Trail, rain was in full force.
Now, let me tell you something about this concrete trail, when it rains, that rain tends to sit on the trail, thus the trail at times was filled with large puddles of water and you had no choice but to run through the puddles.

I hit the first mile in 5:54, feeling good on this cool day and I am in fifth place. I can see 2nd-4th right in front of me and I have been gaining on them the last half mile and am confident that I can pass them. We then come to Confluence Park and literally had to run up some stairs, I’m pretty sure that I have never run up stairs during a 5k race. At this point I am getting ready to pass the guy in fourth place.

Wait a second, the guy in fourth place takes a right and the guys in 2nd-3rd place took a left. I literally stop, looking around, confused and I see the guy in 3rd, he stops and starts looked around, I then started looking for signs. The other guys went off the Cherry Creek Trail, so I assume that the race is held on the path, so I decide to follow the guy who was in fourth. I start running after him, but now he is probably 10 seconds ahead of me, I also see a sign for the race, thus I realize that I am on the right path.

At this point in the race, I think that I am in second place overall, assuming that the leader also made a wrong turn. I’m also a bit frustrated, stairs, I literally had to stop running, but I figured I should at least catch this guy and cruise to the finish. I catch up to him a half mile later and pass him relatively easy. At this point I see the guy who was leading, so now I realize that I am in second place but I am not going to be able to catch the leader.

I sort of put the legs on cruise control, no longer that motivated, plus my shoes are literally soaked. On the way back we are running on the opposite side of the path and I keep thinking do I need to cross to the other side, because there are only so many spots that you can cross the river and I keep thinking that I am going to run past the exit and not be able to cross because I missed the crossing. Once again, I literally stop at a point where you can cross back on to the other side of the trail; I look around and can see the leader, still on my side of the path, so I decide to stick to my side.

I live in Denver and am familiar with downtown Denver, so I recognize the Convention Center and see it coming up. I also see the leader run pass the exit for the Convention Center, I then think well maybe we are suppose to go further down the trail, nope, I see him stop, turn around and come back to the exit, he too ran of course. He then makes his way to exit up onto Spear and I am not too far behind him.

I should also note that I never looked at my watch during the race, I didn’t really care about my time after the first mile, sort of gave up. However, I crossed the finish line in 16:31! Yes, a PR, I hadn’t broken 17 minutes in a 5k since I was 20 years old. I look down at my watch and see that I had run 2.66 miles, so some might say that the course was short.

A bit disappointed but I wasn’t really that upset because I only travelled three miles to the race, it was only a 5k and I knew it would be low key and everyone was incredible friendly. They had plenty of food and Gatorade at the finish and I had a good conversation with a Firefighter from Salt Lake City. It was a bit humorous when I overhead a Firefighter talking about how he never broke 20 minutes before in the 5k and that he was elated, I didn’t have the heart to tell him the course was short.

Now here is the “funny” part. They gave out $50 cash to the age group winner, with the age group being in ten year increments. I thought sweet, I’ll get some cash, but the winner was in my age group, so no luck! I did “win” some Firefighting device, but since I am not a Firefighter it’s going to get donated to the Denver FDP in my name. I must say that $50 to the age group winner is incredible generous.

Oh, I did the second mile in 6:23, which isn’t too bad considering I stopped twice and wasn’t really pushing it that hard.

The Pikes Peak Marathon and Ascent are this weekend. It looks like it might be a cold one in the mountains. Good luck to fellow bloggers Brandon Fuller, George Zack and Justin Mock.

After finishing Running with the Buffaloes, I snatched up Sub 4:00. Sub 4:00 is a story about Alan Webb, entering his freshman year at the University of Michigan. Before entering college, Alan had recently broken Jim Ryun’s 36 year old high school mile record. The book chronicles the 2001-2002 freshman year of Alan Webb, however Lear also discsssed other members on the team, including the promising incoming freshman Nathan Brannen. Alan Webb entered the University of Michigan with high expectations and a media circus, with everyone asking and speculating when/if Alan should turn professional.

The problem with this book is simply that Alan Webb is not all that interesting of a character. He complains about the coaching that he receives and constantly debates going back to training under his high school coach Scott Raczko. The book starts to take on the focus of whether or not Alan will stay at Michigan after his freshman year. Also, the camaraderie at Michigan is not the same as the CU team in Running with the Buffaloes. Alan does a lot of his workouts alone or just with Nate Branen. Nate Branen actually comes off as the likeable guy, who you want to see succeed and not Alan Webb.

The book was a decent read and since they’re not a lot of books on running, it’s worth a read. Chris Lear does a good job of being objective; I don’t get the impression that he slants the story. I’d rate the book as 3/5 stars.

I can’t blame Alan for going pro after his freshman year, after all, look how well it has worked for the guy! And you wondered why Alan didn’t even make the Olympic team this year.