marathon Archives - Page 6 of 8

8 Tips for Out-of-Town Racing

by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Sep 21, 2021 | Article, List, Reflection

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

As the fall racing season gets into full swing, the Marathon Majors are ready to finally return (sans Tokyo) and runners are excited to stand at starting lines, again, many of us are ready to reward ourselves with a race beyond the boundaries of our immediate area. Exploring the great cities of the world; or celebrating for a few days, sipping margaritas at the beach; or discovering the less traveled paths in lesser-known parts of the world, is always a bonus for our efforts.

But traveling to a race, especially if it is your goal race, doesn’t come without its challenges. It requires planning and additional preparation. If something doesn’t go according to plan, and it will, the chances of fixing it on-the-fly diminish considerably.

Always carry your race-day gear in your carry-on. You don’t want a lost luggage derailing your race (Photo: Pexels.com)

So, if you are setting out to a running/travel adventure, these are a few tips that will help you perform the best at your race while getting the most out of your trip:

1. Do not check your running gear: If traveling by plane, whatever you are wearing on race day, goes in your carry-on. The last thing you need is lost luggage derailing your race plans. You don’t want to run with brand new shoes purchased at the expo or borrowed short.

2. Run first, be a tourist later: Take care of the running portion of your trip, first. Don’t arrive too much in advance before the race. Save the tourist plans for after the race. This way you will be well rested at the starting line, and ready to enjoy as much alcohol and unhealthy food as you want.

3. Plan your pre-race meals: Never take your food intake for granted. Make sure that what you need eat it is available nearby. It happened to me once, that after identifying the restaurant I wanted in Philadelphia, I went pre-race night, and I needed a reservation. If you are staying at a relative’s house, make sure you let them know exactly what you need to eat and at what time.

4. Know how you are getting to the starting line: Do not improvise. Plan for the wort-case scenario. If you are taking a cab, know the phone number and confirm they provide service at the time you need it. Have a B plan in case there are no Ubers available. If you are taking public transportation, have the tickets purchased in advance. If a relative is driving you, be aware of any road closures due to the race

5. Make sure family and companions understand why you are there: If you are traveling with family or friends, make sure they understand that the first few days is all about you and your race. You are the protagonist. Everything else can wait until you cross the finish line. Remind them you wouldn’t be in Berlin, or Buenos Aires or New York if it weren’t for the marathon.

Preparing for time-zone changes is one of the biggest challenges for out-of-town races (Photo: Pexels.com)

6. Prepare to adjust for time changes: Never underestimate jet lag and time zone difference. They can screw your sleep and derail your race. Find out in advance how to adjust to the time zone in which you will be competing. Research what are the best ways to adjust to the number of time zones you need to adjust. There are plenty of online resource for this.

7. Pack for any weather: Remember you are not home, so you can’t just go back to your closet to pick up something. Be prepared for any weather changes and don’t rely 100% on your phone weather app. It is always better to bring back something unused than to need that pair of gloves you left at home.

8. Don’t do anything you wouldn’t do at home: Pre-race is not the time to be adventurous. Trying new, exotic foods; white water rafting, Segway tours, or running a beautiful trail when all you know is the asphalt. Those are recipes to guarantee a bad race. Hold all thar for after the finish line.

Any other recommendations from your experience travelling to races?

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9 Marathon Training Mistakes

by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Aug 24, 2021 | Article, Coaching, List, Science

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

Tapering time approaches for those about to run the Abbott World Marathon Majors this year. Training time approaches for those eyeing their marathon towards the end of 2021 or start of 2022. So, seems like a good time to review some basic mistakes that runners, from beginners to experts, should avoid. This way they can reap the most benefits out of their efforts.

Training for a marathon is a process that involves multiple moving parts that need to work in sync. It needs to reach a point where the body can be stressed enough to compensate its deficiencies and adjust to the workload-thus improving- but not to a point where it becomes too much, and it can’t recover to do it again. This means overtraining and, most likely, an injury if intend to tough it out and train through it.

No need to overstress yourself if you avoid these basic mistakes in your training (Photo by Pexels.com)

The following are nine of the most common mistakes runners incur into during a marathon training cycle:

1 Running the long runs too fast: There is a time to go fast and there is a time to go slow. The long run has that name because it is designed for you to go long. It is not called the “fast run” for a reason. They are intended to build up your aerobic system, which, for a marathon, it is used 99% of the time, even if you are the world-record holder.

2 Focusing too much on the long run: The long run is an important part of your training, sure, but it is just one element, not the bulk of it. The success in your race will depend on the accumulated effect of all the elements in your training, not just one.

3 Doing the same workouts all the time: Because about 80% of the training needs to be done at a slower speed, there is a small number of hard sessions available, usually no more than two per week, so distance, speed, intensity, and other parameters, need to be worked so the body can benefit and adapt.

4 Poor fueling and hydration plans: if you don’t test strategies during training, you won’t know what works for you. The time to find that out is during training, long runs, especially. The time to realize a certain gel upsets your stomach, is not during the race. Same applies to hydration. What to drink and when needs to be part of race plan, shouldn’t be improvised on race day.

5 Skipping rest days: Not running on a specific day is part of your training. These days should be written into your schedule and followed to the tee. No amount of ice baths, compression socks or protein shakes will do you any good if you don’t give your body a break to recover so it can run again.

Rest is as part of your training as your work. Don’t skip it!

6 Not scheduling cutback weeks: During training you build up endurance, aerobic capacity, Vo2Max, and multiple additional parameters. But you can’t build up forever. Your body has a limit and needs time to actively rest so it can adapt to the benefits provided by your workouts. Programming a week to cut back on your training provides your body with time to adjust and recover, is key.

7 Cutting sleep: Remember you don’t improve when you work out, you improve while you sleep. The long run the tempo, the weightlifting, or the speed session damage your body. It is when you sleep that your body gets repaired. If you skip on sleep, you won’t realize all the benefits of the training, but you will keep the muscle damage.

8 Screwing up the tapering: Physiological adaptations after exercise, take between two and three weeks to adapt. So, there is no benefit on one last long run in the last couple of weeks. You need to actively rest and recover your body so it will be in its best shape for race day. During tapering there is nothing to gain, yet a lot to lose.

9 Following someone else’s training plan: There is nothing wrong with talking to your buddies about what they are doing, but they may not have the same goals as you and you do not have the same physiology as them. Set up YOUR PLAN, adjust as needed, and stick to it. Trust your coach. Trust your plan. Trust yourself.

Of course, there are more than nine mistakes you can incur during a marathon training cycle. These are just some of the most common and they mostly apply to any distance. As you finish your training for your Abbott Marathon Major or get ready for your upcoming goal race, make sure you are on the lookout for the aforementioned mistakes, so you won’t screw up your hard work.

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The Power of Being Constant

by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Jul 6, 2021 | Guest Perspective, Opinion, Reflection

By Anthony Reed *

Editor’s Note: This is a posting from Mr. Reed in our RCAA Coaches Group. I requested, and obtained, his permission to repost it here. I believe it shows the power of remaining constant and relentlessly moving forward towards your lifetime goals and its compounding results.

Life-Long Goal Setting: Maintaining a three miles per day in average.

The Great Wall Marathon, China (Photo courtesy of Anthony Reed)

Many runners focus on various goals, such as running 100 miles per month. Today (6/6/21), during a 15-mile run, I finally logged over 47,000 miles over 42 years.

In 1976, I set a lifetime goal to average three miles of running per day as a way of avoiding insulin. My primary goal was to run about 90 miles/month and the secondary goal was at least 100 miles per month. Also, I only wanted to run only three or four days per week. I’m a very firm believer in “everything in moderation”.

I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic in 1963 and was told that I’d be on insulin by the 1970’s. I started running as a way to avoid this prediction. In the mid-1970’s, a co-worker lost his sight due to glaucoma, had his foot and leg amputated, and died to complications from diabetes. I don’t believe he was more than 50 years old. I was scared to death.

I’ve maintained a handwritten running journal since 1979. The detailed, monthly data is summarized in an Excel workbook. Here’s a brief analysis of 509 months of running.

RUNNING DATA

– Averaged 3.03 miles/day over 509 months.

Antarctica Marathon (Photo courtesy of Anthony Reed)

– Ran 5,359 days (34.6%) out of a possible 15,496 days. As a father and husband, I wanted to keep running simple, fun, flexible, and injury-free. Thus, I felt that running everyday would put undue pressure on me. So, I opted to run only 3 or 4 days a week.

– I was not perfect. I failed to reach my primary monthly goal 40% of the time, including 29 months of not running a single mile. However, I never lost sight of my goal AND my reason for achieving it. I wanted to live past 50, keep my eyesight, not have any limbs amputated, and not be on insulin. The money saved from paying for insulin was used to travel around the world and finish marathons on seven continents (completed in 2007) and fifty States (completed in 2013).

– Longest streak of reaching at least 100 miles per month was 21 months; from June 1985 through February 1987. Averaged 148.7 miles/month.

– Longest streak of not reaching primary goal was 29 months; from August 1990 through December 1992. Averaged 60.74 miles/month.

– Maximum miles in one month: 200.13 in January 1986 over 17 days of running.

RACING DATA

– Fastest races: Marathon – 3:36:45 (1984); 20-Miler – 2:35:54 (1987); Half marathon – 1:34:11 (1985); 10K – 41:31 (1983) [BTW – These PB’s were run while weighing about 195 pounds at six feet tall, which wasn’t easy.]

– Completed 226 races between 1979 and 2018 (averaged 5.3 races/year).

– Averaged 2.3 marathons/year between 1982 and 2000. Only one marathon (Chicago) of my first 42 marathons was outside of Texas, which included 15 Cowtown Marathons (Ft. Worth) and 15 Dallas Marathons (formerly White Rock). You have an entire lifetime to run marathons, so take it easy on the racing, especially if you\’re just beginning.

– Completed 131 marathons between 1982 and 2018 (averaged 3.5 marathons/year).

– Longest monthly streak: 15 marathons between February 2012 and January 2013.

By keeping focused on a lifetime AVERAGE, it took the stress off everyday living and goal setting. Next month, I’ll turn 66 and am still not on insulin.

* Anthony Reed is the National Black Marathoners Association Co-Founder & Executive Director. He is the author of the book “From the Road Race to the Rat Race” which was published in September 2020.

The National Black Marathoners’ Association (NBMA) is the country\’s oldest and largest, not-for-profit organization of Black American distance runners. It is open to everyone, regardless of athletic ability or previous marathon experience. Objectives are to:
·       Encourage Black Americans and others to pursue a healthy lifestyle through long distance running and walking.
·       Serve as a vehicle for Black American distance runners across the nation to meet in mass at a single marathon.
·       Recognize the accomplishments of Black American distance runners.
·       Provide scholarships to deserving high school boy and girl distance runners.

For more information about the National Black Marathoner’s Association, you can click here.

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Book Review – Today We Die A Little

by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | May 18, 2021 | Book Review

Written by Richard Askwith
Reviewed by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

While the running heroes of the latest generations may be Usain Bolt, Ryan Hall or Eliud Kipchoge, to their grandparents, most likely, there was no greater running hero than Czechoslovakian Emil Zatopek. If you know anything beyond just his name, is that he is the only person in Olympic history to win the 5,000, 10,000 and Marathon, and he did it all in the same games: Helsinki 1952.

“Today We Die a Little” is a comprehensive biography published in 2016 by author, Richard Askwith, who has also published a few other sports books, most of them on running. A self-confessed Zatopek admirer, he delves into a quest to find as much first-hand information on his subject so he can figure out how to separate the man from the myth. During the narrative he explains his process and his sources, so it becomes easier to establish what and how much goes beyond mythology.

What I liked from this book is that it establishes Emil as a real person, beyond the accolades and the world records. It spends plenty of time on his family background and the political situation that surrounded his childhood, which eventually becomes an inescapable part of his personal history. His first steps into foot racing happen as a teenager and little by little, defeat by defeat, he starts figuring out his talent until he becomes the Emil Zatopek we know. It is then that the Czechoslovakian communist regime figures out they have a propaganda tool at their disposal and begin to exploit it in every possible way.

Zatopek was a household name before Helsinki 1952. These Olympics were just the summit of his career. After doubling in the 5 and 10 thousand, he decided on a whim to give the marathon a shot, which he had never run. Not only did he win, but he also established his third Olympic Record of the games.

Emil is well known for the fierceness of his training. The book spends a good portion digging into his method and the reason behind it, which was more art than science based. He would run full-out 400-meter repeats relentlessly, almost every day. It is said that he would run up to 50 of them on a single session. Emil was big on recovery and took walks or easy runs around the woods, many times with his wife, Olympic champion Dana Zatopkova. But the constant hammering of his body and the frequency of his racing was too much, even for the most gifted of athletes, so his career fizzled out way sooner than if he had managed it with contemporary methods of rest and recovery.

As stated earlier, Zatopek’s life went beyond the track, and given his notoriety and propaganda value for the communist regime in his country, he became an army officer with way more privileges than the norm. Even though at times he was outspoken and fought for what he thought right; his position was never undisputed. He took all the advantages and privileges he could from the regime, until he no longer was useful to them.

Emil had to work an impossible balance act to please both his admirers and his government. There were the ones that wanted him to be the face of the oppressive regime and the ones who needed his celebrity to speak against it. Such an act was so difficult to pull off that he paid for it dearly. At the author well puts it: “It is not as if Emil went un-judged in his lifetime, either: by the Communist who thought he had betrayed them and by the anti-Communists who thought he had betrayed them”.

In his sundown years, he was still an Olympic hero and was invited to many events and sports meets as a goodwill ambassador. At home he was ostracized and hidden from public view, but overseas the government still displayed him as a national treasure, while surrounding him with chaperones that made sure he did not say anything inappropriate while his wife stayed home as a hostage, making sure he didn’t defect.

I really enjoyed this book. Very well researched, very well written and a story very well told. Beyond Emil Zatopek’s life, this story takes you to a period in the history of our planet that most of us in the western world, 70 o 80 years later, may have already forgotten. This is a good read which I recommend to any runner interested in learning about one of the biggest glories of our sport.

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One Year Without Missing a Day

by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | May 15, 2021 | Guest Perspective, Reflection

By Patrick O’Dea

EDITOR’S NOTE: Patrick is a 66-year-old runner who participates in both of my running groups in the Fort Lauderdale area. Last year he decided to extend his running into an everyday activity, putting together a streak that now covers 365 days and counting. What follows, below, is his own account of his start in the sport and how he became a streaker. As someone who has ran hundreds of miles with him, I can attest on how much he has improved during this last year, proving that a well-managed life can allow for this type of endeavors.

Hello from a fellow runner who has not missed one day of running in the last 365 days. My name is Patrick O\’Dea and South Florida has been my home since 1979. I grew up in Ireland and graduated from college there. I followed my brother Stephen to Miami, and I am still here. Why? You can only handle so much wind and rain in one lifetime. Ireland may have 40 shades of green according to Johnny Cash, but it takes lots of rain to keep it that way.

Back in November 2020, Patrick, Nohra and Ted (all in the red singlets) ran the Virtual Marine Corps Marathon during a Hurricane Watch.

I came in search of sunshine and adventure and I\’m glad I did. I spent most of the last 40+ years as an educator, especially at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, here in Fort Lauderdale.

Now I am enjoying a slower pace, learning a little Spanish and Irish, serving on my condo board, and on the board of two Irish cultural organizations. I volunteer at St. Sebastian Church and I just finished a Leadership program with the City of Fort Lauderdale. I also run every single day.

I got seriously involved in running about eight years ago. Three factors got me going:

1 – My friend and school colleague Orestes, needed runners for a faculty team for the Mercedes Benz Corporate Run.
2 – Orange Theory just opened a gym in my backyard.
3 – New Year\’s resolution.

All three kicked in at the same time, and I am still running.

What has kept me going is the wonderful community of runners that I am privileged to be a part of four times a week. Every Tuesday and Thursday, we meet at Runners Depot, our local running store, for a 5-mile run, or we run bridge-repeats over the 17 Street Causeway Bridge, “our local hill” in a flat area. On Saturdays and Sundays, we meet at our favorite Colombian bakery and we run the Hollywood Broadwalk. I have also run with several local groups, which motivates me to run faster.

So far, I have finished 3 marathons including the Marine Corps virtual last year with Norha and Ted, during a Hurricane Watch, no less. Yes, we are crazy! I also ran the Marabana, with Orestes and a handful of buddies, during a torrential downpour in La Habana, Cuba. Maybe the rain is following me from Ireland. Both are memorable events in my running career. I would love to run the real Marine Corps Marathon, one day. It’s a cool way to see a great city.

Patrick with his 2020 1K Medal at his favorite Saturday Morning post-run breakfast joint.

I have met my 365 goal, already but I want to achieve 1,000 miles this year ASAP. I am amazed by runners who have already done it in 2 or 3 months! Unbelievable!

What really keeps me running every day is my local running family, where we are there for each other in good times and bad. I appreciate their support and encouragement and I am blessed to be part of an amazing group of people who talk the talk and walk the walk. That is what gets me up before dawn every Saturday and Sunday.

During my 365-day streak, I felt a great sense of accomplishment, and I am proud of my achievement. I never felt like quitting as I had come too far to throw in the towel. Even now, I run every day and want to continue as long as I feel good. I am blessed that I have no pains and aches as I run to keep up with my younger friends. I have no special diet and I take a handful of vitamins every day. My advice to aspiring runners: Just do it! Lace up your sneakers, put one foot in front of the other and let’s go! See you on the asphalt.

Let\’s run!

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