My hands-free tweet friendly shelter from the morning rain at Park Road Aid Station.

Here are a few of my strongest observations from throughout the day.

• Rain? OK, let’s run! – While an easy out to call it a weekend, so many took that first stride as sheets of rain fell from the skies. The fast-footed could have decided to save themselves for the next race. Nope, they were all there ready to lead the splash fest.
• The Giant Face – Out at the Park Road, a family had a giant, full color cutout of the runner they were supporting. The mug shot had to be four feet high by four feet wide…and they had two of them. As their runner made this way across the road, they were screaming and the giant heads were bobbin’.
• A Family Affair – I was talking to an older gentleman that was from Wisconsin and was crewing for his son. You could tell the father was into it and was ready to do whatever he could to help his son get to the finish. What a unique and bonding experience. You could tell the father felt as if he was running with his son.
• Crowd Crazies – The Park Road Aid Station road crossing had a large group of family, friends, and supporters that made a channel for runners to cross that road…and they yelled, squealed, and supported every runner that came out of the woods. It was a blast of energy that I felt 20 yards behind them. As the afternoon progressed, the louder they got.
• Let Me Tape that For You. – A guy inspecting and taping another runner’s foot after 60 miles of running.
• Scream and Dance – A 50 mile female crossed the finish line and once she saw her friends, they all started screaming and hugging. Another gentleman started dancing off a special number as the groovin’ tunes supported his dance across the 50 mile finish.
• Hal “Fly-Guy” Koerner – As the race progresses, Hal’s hat/visor begins to increasingly lean and tilt in such a way that it appears he is only able to see the trail with one eye…and somehow he makes it look cool…and not take a digger!
• Karl “the Professional” – You couldn’t help but see it as Karl Meltzer flew through the course that he radiates personal excellence. The dude toes the line ready to give his very best.
• High Energy Aid Stations – From sun-up to sun-down to sun-up again, the aid station folk brought their A-game! People helping people. What a concept…and it works, just ask the 700+ runners!
• Remove the Chip – One 100 mile runner came walking straight legged across the Dog Wood timing map and immediately started working to rip off the timing chip (to drop) as friends tried to stop him. He dropped.
• Pain at mile 20 – Watching runners leaving the Dog Wood Aid Station at mile 20 with discomfort already in their eyes.
• Joe P. Sits – During the nighttime hours on Saturday night as I was waiting for Sabrina Moran (100 mile female winner) to finish her last loop, I observed RD Joe Prusaitis sitting in a chair at the finish area eating some kettle chips out of the bulk-size bag. This was likely the first time he sat since early in the week.
• The 3:00 Pacer – Yep, I am going to help him/her finish. I  will be pacing at 3:00. PM? Nope, AM!
• Our Elites - Pretty cool to see Ian hanging out at the finish waiting for the top runners to come in after dropping out of the event in the middle of the afternoon. He definitely could have disappeared - he didn’t!
• Oswaldo the Photographer – Oswaldo Lopez finished third in the 100. This guy won the Badwater Ultramarathon in 2011 so this dude’s a badass. Hal Koerner (100 mile winner) and Ian Sharman (last year’s 100 mile winner) are sitting in chairs post-race under the tents and I see Oswaldo taking a picture of one of his crew with his arms around Hal and Ian. I couldn’t help but smile and think, what a cool sport we have.

What a sport!

What a tribe!

What are some of your strongest memories from the Rocky Raccoon weekend?

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

Related Articles:

• Rocky Raccoon Trail Run – 2012 Results
• DamNation – Reflections from the Busiest Aid-Station at the Rocky Raccoon 100 Trail Run
• Rocky Raccoon 50 km Trail Run – 2010 Results
• Rocky Raccoon 100 Trail Run 2010 Results
• Rocky Raccoon 100 – Names and Faces of the Race

Eat and shop without skipping a beat…I am not sure I can say the same for your heart. Check it out!

Yum! Yum! Powdered nutrition never sounded so good.

Happy Training!

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• 2/3 of Americans are overweight or obese.
• 1/2 of this group is obese.
• 4 out of 5 men are overweight or obese.

Last week I listened to an interview on the TV while running on a treadmill at the club and it mentioned that diabetics spend $6500 on health care per year! I am sure most of that is covered by insurance (assuming you have it) but even if you pay 20% out of your own pocket, that comes to $1300 per year. No small change.

This morning I listened to a Natural News podcast that interviewed Jack Challem on Pre-diabetes.

Here is some of the disturbing tidbits from the interview:

• 20 million type-2 diabetics today.
• 100 million with pre-diabetes.
• 1 million each year moving from pre-diabetes to diabetes.
• Children are acquiring diseases typically seen only in adults.

This information is quite staggering but there is hope with some basic lifestyle changes that Mr. Challem mentions such as better eating habits, nutritional supplementation, and exercise. He also mentions to eliminate or reduce consumption of processed foods, high fructose corn syrup, and trans fats (hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated oils).

Health at its purest form is not complicated but you do need to exert energy and attention to your lifestyle choices. Unconscious living must stop!

Most of this information is preaching to the choir for those that read this blog. Be grateful for however you got involved in endurance sports and don’t be afraid to introduce others into the sport we enjoy. It has changed the course of many peoples lives for the better. Mine included!

Happy Training!

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Have a great weekend and safe stretching!

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This is the event I qualified for Boston a couple years ago and this year will be a unique experience as I will be running with a friend that is aiming for a Boston qualifying time (3:40). My plan is to support her in whatever way I can. This may include very dry humor (since that is all I got), singing, humming, throwing cold water in her face, and even a bit of conversation for the first 15 miles before things get exciting.

Steph’s only request is that I wear some pink so we can match. This was a bit of an odd request but it must be a girl thing. I will see what I can do. Maybe my wife has something I can wear. (That may be even stranger sounding!)

My only real concern is being healthy enough to run the goal pace of 8:11 min/miles. All of my trail running has put me in the 9-12 min/mile range. I need to step it up or be left at the side of the road.

The Plan

For the next two weeks I am planning to run 45-50 miles a week with the following basic weekly structure. I would like to run 6 days per week with 1 rest/cross-train day.

Day 1: 5.50 mile run – Easy effort on local flat loop or 2% treadmill run

Day 2: 10 mile run -  Easy effort over rolling terrain with some tempo inserted within the run

Day 3: 3 mile run – Easy outside or 2% treadmill run

Day 4: 5.50 mile run – Easy effort on local flat loop or 2% treadmill run

Day 5: 15-20 mile run – Easy effort over rolling terrain with some goal pace inserted within the run

Day 6: 5.50 mile run – Easy effort on local flat loop or 2% treadmill run

Day 7: Rest or cross-train

Two weeks of this plan and then the one week taper.

Training Paces

My training paces will be based on Jack Daniels VDOT 43.

Easy – 9:37 min/mile (In reality I will probably run in the 8:50-9:00 min range)

Pace – 8:15 min/mile

Threshold – 7:42 min/mile (one mile or longer)

Outcomes

Outcomes can be fun to think about but our (my) main goal during the race is to execute each mile to the best of our ability. By doing that, we greatly increase the change of reaching her goal.

We also need to accept that there will be a challenging moment or two regardless of the amount of training we have done. We must acknowledge the challenge and be confident that we will get through it and it will pass. Or we could just cry and get it out of our system, whatever works.

There even is a possibility that we may learn something about ourselves along the way.

We will give it our best and have some flippin fun!

Happy Training!

Related Articles:

• How to Consume More Calories During Marathon or Trail Running Races
• Dallas White Rock Marathon Race Report Part 1
• Tough Last Long Run
• My Endurance Sports Journey Part 3 – Marathon and Ultrarunning
• Poo and Palo Duro

You need love. I need love. Children need love. We all need love.

Although not endurance sports related, I feel this is worthy of our attention.

Hands to Hearts Intl, a small non-profit based in Oregon, is doing big things in the spreading of love and personal power to orphaned children and economically disadvantaged women around the world. This is a group of our global society that is often forgotten and ignored. HHI is focused on changing this.

Vision

Hands to Hearts International (HHI) envisions a world where all children are nurtured and loved and where all women have the opportunity to actively contribute to their communities.

Mission

HHI is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of orphaned and vulnerable children and economically disadvantaged women around the globe.

How and why was HHI started?

Hear it straight from the Executive Director and founder herself, Laura Peterson.

You can read more about HHI’s program and history on their About Us page.

How many people has HHI helped so far?

HHI has reached 1,812 women and 15,159 children from January 2006 through November 2008. A large portion of their mission has occurred in India so far.

The true impact of HHI’s work won’t be seen for many years as the children grow and mature but I do feel pretty confident about this – a loving and empowering environment are elements that can help an individual and society thrive.

Of course, all of this effort does require resources and one of those is money.

How can we double our investment guaranteed?

Here is the cool part of how you can provide 100% increase in your donation investment while helping make a positive impact in the world – our world.

The James R. Greenbaum, Jr Family Foundation has once again made a generous matching grant available to grow the efforts of HHI to the next level.  This means that any new donors, or donors giving at a higher level*, will be have their contributions matched dollar for dollar, up to $50,000!

So for a new donor, your donation of $25 now becomes $50. Your donation of $1500 turns into $3000. Your donation of YY turns into 2 X YY. Simple math – large impact.

If you have donated to HHI in the past and you increase your donation amount, the same doubling occurs.

This donation matching opportunity last only until December 20th.

Don’t forget any donation to HHI is also tax deductible.

One World

Our world is One, as we have recently seen by our global economic situation. We have observed that greed, corruption, and ignorance can negatively impact the entire world.

The empowering side of this is I also believe love, compassion, and education can positively impact the world. HHI is one such example.

If this organization resonates with you, please donate whatever you can. Every dollar can make a difference.

HHI Donation Page

If this organization does not resonate with you, find one that does.

Let’s change the world!

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• Gaining experience at new job
• Getting laid-off from a job
• My son’s first birthday and the journey of fatherhood
• My eight year wedding anniversary
• Completing my first trail run event (50k)
• Participating in my first Boston marathon
• Completing my first 50 mile trail race

Let us not forget the most important endurance sports highlights of this age:

• I am now in the 35-39 age group for races. Unfortunately these athletes are not any slower.
• My Boston marathon qualifying time has increased by 5 minutes. (3:15)

Turning 35 in the US also allows me to live in this house based on society and/or corporate-elite consensus. I wonder if I could put a running track or trail throughout the grounds…hmm.

Experience life! You will be glad you did.

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If your feed reader posts match with the actual site, then you probably don’t need to do anything.

Clear as mud?

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Some of the pics include adventure races, triathlon events, marathons, and trail runs.

Happy Training!

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Choose carefully!

Have you had any wacky experiences on the treadmill?

I have had the treadmill completely shut-off on me during a hard interval session. That was fun! In another instance, I increased the incline to 2% and the treadmill kept going up to 15% and would not come back down. Sometimes you just got to laugh!

Have a great weekend and enjoy the fall season!

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