I have the privilege next year of having the Illinois Marathon running through my backyard here in Champaign Urbana. The inaugural run of the marathon will be on April 25 and I will certainly take part as long as I'm healthy. The marathon website is not very informative at this point. Registration opens on June 1st and that's about the only info they're giving out so far unless you want to give them money and be a sponsor. They have plenty of info on that. Which brings me to the point.
The Illinois Marathon is a for-profit race that is owned by the same company that owns the legendary Fargo Marathon (sarcasm). Despite this, I expect this to be one of the finest marathons around. The people of Champaign Urbana are some of the nicest you'll ever meet. The local students support all the athletic events and will certainly show up to watch, volunteer, and run. Local businesses are also supporting the event. Body and Sole, the local running store, will make sure that all runners within 100 miles know about the event. This race could soon be in competition with Indianapolis, Chicago, and St. Louis to become the biggest spring marathon in the Midwest after Grandma's.
A few highlights of the course: flat as a pancake because we don't even have a hill in Champaign Urbana. The only way you'll see a hill is if they make you run a parking garage. You'll also get to finish at the 50 yard line of Memorial Stadium. Not quite the Speedway of Indy or running the bases at Wrigley but still going to be a great finish.
I got this bad news yesterday. From the Associated Press:
Huh?
Athletes who take human growth hormone may not be getting the boost they expected.
While growth hormone adds some muscle, it doesn't appear to improve strength or exercise capacity, according to a review of studies that tested the hormone in mostly athletic young men.
"It doesn't look like it helps and there's a hint of evidence it may worsen athletic performance," said Dr. Hau Liu, of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, Calif., who was lead author of the review.
Researchers found that those who got the hormone put on about 5 pounds more of muscle, and lost about 2 pounds more of fat, although the fat loss wasn’t statistically different. The researchers said some of the extra body mass could just be fluid buildup.
There was no difference found in strength or exercise stamina between the two groups, but there were only two strength studies and eight that measured exercise. Those who got the hormone had more side effects including swelling and fatigue.
So let me get this straight. I'm going to have to rely on diet and training to become a better runner? I can't afford EPO so it looks like I am actually going to have to put in the miles. Looks like my one bottle of HGH and 1 mile run routine is going to have to be replaced with the 70 mile week again. I am still not going to stop wearing my Speedo that came with the HGH.
I have been waiting for four month to run in shorts. Running at the indoor track doesn't count. I'm a layering kind of guy and boy did I ever layer this winter. One drifit shirt with long sleeve t-shirt over that, followed by a winter jacket. For the lower half, I had the old stretch pants with the sweats on top. This is my 5 degree to 32 degree outfit which pretty much meant I wore it the entire winter.
When I run my long runs I really don't notice the difference of the added clothes but not so in the speed workouts. I feel like I'm wearing a parachute while dragging a tire. So when I got to put on some shorts this week I felt like I lost 20 pounds. Whether or not I ran faster is not the point. I felt like I can and it inspired me to run an extra day this week. The warmer air and the other runners get my running juices flowing. I find it impossible to get up at 4:45 every morning when it is 10 degrees out but have no problem rising and shining at 40 degrees. I move more, sleep better, and because of it, I'm happier. Some bring it on, Spring, I have some fast running to do.
We all want to be faster, and of course, training and speed work would be way too much effort. I prefer lighter shoes. Everyone is different, but a light pair of shoes not only makes me feel fast but actually lessens the fatigue on my legs as the mileage builds up. I am fortunate I don't need very much stability and despite being a big runner at 190 pounds (hopefully 175 by May) I don't need extra cushioning. What I do need is space in the toe box and because of this, Mizuno is my shoe of choice. I have been running in Mizuno Wave Riders
since the day I began running. Just like an old dependable car, you want to try something different, but after trying a few new models you realize you already have the best model for you.
As I always do this time of year, I visit the local running store and order the usual new shoes. Size 12.5, Wave Rider 104, or whatever number they're up to. On the shelf I see this shoe from Mizuno that screams fast. The shoe has a lot of red in it and has bright red laces. The part that caught my eye was the yellow coming up the toe with the red nubbins. As we all know, a shoe that looks good is a nice bonus. Of course, if I lose a few toenails or my feet are sore for days, then how a shoe looks really doesn't matter. I decide to try them on.
Simply amazing. These shoes are certainly the lightest I have ever put on. The toe-box was also the standard extra large size and "stretchability" of the typical Mizuno. The guy at the store assured me that I could wear these on any of my training runs but most likely they would break down a bit faster than other shoes and may not provide as much cushioning as the Wave. Like a kid on his first day of school with his new shoes, I head to the track the next morning. The first thing I, and everyone I'm running with, notice is the extreme noise the nubbins make on the toe. You can here every push of the foot. I can't decide if I hate it because of it's repetition, or love it because they can here me closing down the stretch. They certainly feel faster. The Wave Rider is a light shoe but this feels like air. After a good morning of hard sprints and a few weeks of 6-10 mile tempo runs, I think I have found my new "secret weapon". Whether they make me truly faster or not is not important. As long as I think I am faster and feel faster, then that's all I need. That and no pain.
- 10. You live in the United States and actually know how far a kilometer is.
- 9. You're covered in lube and have no plans of sex.
- 8. There are two sets of blue jeans in your closet: one size for training season and one for off season.
- 7. You have the memory of a 95-year-old: you limp across the marathon finish in complete pain and start training for the next one two weeks later.
- 6. You can name the exact distance from your home to every landmark in town.
- 5. You're 40 and you have a nickname.
- 4. You can eat 4,000 calories and still be negative calories for the day.
- 3. You could throw away your t-shirt at the end of the day and still go an entire year without having to buy a new one.
- 2. You realize a carrot is more than a vegetable.
- 1. You get excited about getting older because of the extra time you get in Boston.
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