Running with the Pack Podcast

We start with shout-outs to listeners who have completed milestone events. Then we talk about green movements: mainly green ways to get technical shirts smell-free and my new Prius. We also talk about Stevie’s ear buds, her core workout, the Special Olympics, my recent trip to Denver, and more.

This week, we talk about Stevie’s trip to see Chris McDougal speak about the book Born to Run and barefoot running, my trip to Austin, running the race before the race (and why not to do it), and my top-10 tips for your first marathon.

After doing this podcast, Stevie and I went to a local retail store and bought a pair of Vibram Five Fingers (which are like gloves for your feet) and went to a track to give them a try. I lasted about a mile before my calves started to cramp up. Stevie made it to around the 3 mile mark. My calves are pretty sore today, but I’d like to keep using them to build them up. I thought I had started to run on my forefoot before, but with the Vibrams, I ran COMPLETELY differently than normal. Now I understand the sound that Brandon (brandonsmarathon.com) talks about when he says that he can identify a forefoot runner by the sound their footfalls make.

Stevie and I talk with Jim, a listener who has just completed the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge in Walt Disney World. We are planning to go there in 2011 to participate in the Marathon weekend: Stevie is doing the 5K and Half-Marathon. Jim and I will be doing the Half-Marathon and Full-Marathon. We also talk a bit more about ice baths, the possibility of hot beverages in a camelback, and advice for a mom of two who is training for a half marathon.

This week, I thought I’d give a quick update about what is going on with me and Jeff since we haven’t been podcasting in a couple of weeks. I also read something today about the term Personal Best (used in other English speaking countries) versus Personal Record, which is the term typically used in the U.S. In short, get out there and do your personal best!

YAY! Jeff is back on the podcast after being away in May. This week, is the first part of a multi-podcast series that will cover setting goals, assessing your current state, creating a plan, dealing with adversity, and celebrating your achievements. We also talk about some of our plans from now through 2011, Jeff’s “Five-for-Six” plan, Jeff’s Weight Watchers update, Nike+, some listener feedback, and more.

After the holidays and my vacation in Orlando, Jeff and I talk about the holiday damage, the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, our interest in triathlons and ultramarathons, using Borax to control smelly clothes, and the value of investing (in your health and finances). Get that body moving in the new year folks, it’s going to be a good one!

I swear this guy holds the key to world peace…

India is my favorite.

I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d write about the marathon to capture some sense of the day. This is in no particular order.

I’m very happy with how I did in the run. My first goal was to finish, which I did at 04:11:52 (clock time) or 04:07:30 (chip time as measured by the disposable RFID chip that was tied into my shoe). The difference between these is because it took a few minutes after starting the race to cross the starting line. Jeff and I were in line to use the port-a-johns until about 10 minutes before the start of the race. Then we moved to the start line and were able to get in with the 4:15 pace crowd (i.e. the people around us expected to take 4:15 to finish). So even after crossing the start line, we were barely moving above a walk and then had to pass a lot of other runners. Both of us jumped to the sidewalk several times to get around a wall of runners.

Speaking of the start, I got really emotional at the beginning, running through the streets of Philadelphia with 16,000 like-minded people and among a throng of well-wishers. They came out to cheer us on despite the cold temperatures and sprinkling rain. I felt the same way when I hit the 13.1 mile mark and they were cheering on the half-marathon participants and playing the Rocky theme song. Those times in particular gave me an overwhelming communal feeling, like being a small part of something big. Those crowds were at the end as well, but by mile 25-26, I was more focused pushing through to the end and seeing Andrew.

The whole day was pretty cold, but it didn’t really bother me. Andrew bought me a nice set of Undergear as an early birthday present, so I had nice socks, underwear, and a long sleeved t-shirt. I wore fleece gloves, a newish pair of running shorts, and a running jacket that I had picked up about a month ago. I also wore Sue Swain’s running shoes, which is a total tribute to my absent-mindedness. I had all of this technical gear and no shoes. Luckily, my feet are pretty small and Sue’s shoes were nearly big enough to be comfortable. But I’m not complaining. They got me through the distance and I don’t have a single blister.

In any case, the weather was in the 30′s and sprinkling on and off all day. But I had my gear that kept the wind and rain out and wicked the sweat out of the way. The jacket was nice because it had a couple of pockets where I put the gloves after mile 5 or so. After I was warmed up, I really didn’t need them. I also used the pockets to keep some of the PowerGel that they were handing out during the race if I didn’t want to eat it right away.

The race had a good number of water/gatoraid stations along the track, about every 2 miles or so. They were pretty crowded with runners darting in and out to get a mouthful of whatever they wanted. There were a lot of cups tossed to the ground (as expected), but that didn’t seem to be a hazzard. Actually, the water stations were the only times that I walked during the race. Toward the end, I would walk for a few steps as I drank Gatoraid, mostly so I wouldn’t choke on it. But as soon as it was down, I was off again. I drank at every water station to keep hydrated and had to stop once in some bushes to releave myself (as other men were doing). I felt bad for the women who had to wait in line for the occasional bank of port-a-johns, but some women were finding bushes as well. When you gotta go, you gotta go.

I have been having problems with my IT band for a few months, during the race, I wore a strap above my knee to keep the IT band in place. It worked very well and I only had a problem when I was at the water stops. Running over to the table and darting out of the way of runners who would suddenly stop or move put some torque on my knee and cause a sharp pain, but it went away in a couple of seconds.

During the run, I saw a lot of people walking or pulling off to the side of the course to stretch, several people with IT band straps that were identical to mine, a couple of people throwing up, a couple of people with bloody shirts (which can happen if a nipple or mole gets irritated by your shirt — I never had that problem), and some people who were clearly out of it. On the good side, there is a long stretch of the second half of the course where you can see the people coming the other way, so I got to see all of the top men and women running toward the finish line. I also got to see Jeff (my running partner) when I was around mile 18 and he was around 22. The highlight was really seeing Andrew after everything was done. I was happy, he was beaming. It meant a lot to me to have him there.

I’d like to do another marathon — maybe two a year. I wouldn’t do many things different, but here are a couple of ideas: 1) DON’T FORGET MY SHOES and 2) start further ahead at the starting line. That’s it really. I trained enough. I hydrated enough. I was mentally prepared. I was a good day and a good run.

On Wednesday night, we drove to Johnstown and stayed over at my parents’ house and then drove to Pittsburgh on Thursday morning for a direct flight to Chicago. It’s now Friday morning and we’re in a Ramada in Syracuse, NY. The original plan had us in Chicago a day before we were going to meet up with some friends, so at 2:00, when United asked for volunteers to take a later flight (6:20), we jumped on it and agreed to be bumped in exchange for free ticket vouchers. So 4:00 rolls around and the very nice United representative tells us that they are getting a much smaller plane for the 6:20 flight and they are oversold by 25 seats — do we want to be bumped again? Well, not really since all of the other flights are full and our luggage is already in Chicago.

[I should give Kudos to the Pittsburgh International Airport. I haven't been through there in a very long time, but it's nicely designed, has good food options, and free WiFi.]

A bit later, the United representative tells us that she can route us through Syracuse to Chicago and we’d still get there on Thursday night. Great — so we get another set of free ticket vouchers and run to the Syracuse-bound US Airways plane. [Which, I should add, was a propeller plane from 1932 and had no air conditioning. It was like a sauna.] After a very hot 1-hour flight, we arrive in Syracuse (very sweaty) and head to the United counter to get our next boarding passes. The rather unpleasant United representative tells us that the plane for our flight to Chicago is having mechanical difficulties and we’ll have to wait until Friday morning. So we’re standing there sweaty from the flight, without luggage (no fresh clothes or toiletries), and further away from Chicago than when we started.

The upside is that they gave us hotel and meal vouchers. So we headed to the hotel for a nice quiet evening, hoping that we get to Chicago on Friday afternoon in one piece.

Yeah, that would be nice. I’m hardly an undergrad with the need to find cheap booze and wet t-shirts, but every now and then, you need to take a break … in spring … hence spring break. I’ve been to Amsterdam three times. Each one has been a trip to remember.

September 2001: my first trip for work reasons. I went to talk to the Open University of the Netherlands about their distance education programs. The weather was great. It would rain in short bursts throughout the day, but inevitably followed by a rainbow. There’s something nice about seeing rainbows all day. It feels like paradise. Of course, I returned to the U.S. on September 11 and they ended up routing our plane to Nova Scotia. We sat on the runway in that plane from about 11 AM to midnight while we were all on the plane trying to get cell phone service and find out what was going on. Planes were falling from the sky as far as we knew. Anyway, we ended up in a sports arena in Halifax overnight with the Red Cross providing some help.

November 2001: Yep, just a month and a half after the first trip, I went again, with Andrew this time. It was a very interesting Thanksgiving, which they don’t celebrate in the Netherlands of course. We enjoyed all of the streets stringed with lights and Christmas decorations. We also discovered all of the H&M stores and Holland Casino. Really, this trip was about discovering the hidden parts of the city. It’s harder than you would think because all of the building fronts are historical — without neon signs advertising that this mansion-looking thing is actually a mini-mall. We found a nice chocolate shop with herb-flavored chocolates: tea, basil, etc… Very good stuff.

May 2004: The flowers in The Netherlands peak in April, but it was still nice to go around the city and see them everywhere. We spent some time in the Bloomenmarket (Flower Market) and found a bunch of cafes where people of all ages hang out with the constant companionship of techno music. Did I mention paradise before?

Its more expensive to go there now because the dollar hasn’t done very well against the euro for the past couple of years. It used to be than one dollar was about 1.2 euros, but the exchange rates have switched since then. So this year, we’re going to try to pool our money together with some friends and get a place to share. If that doesn’t work out, we’re still going to take the time off, but it might be something simple. Maybe we should save Amsterdam for the summer.