Monthly Archives: December 2007

December 2007 Highlights

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Because of the holidays, December is a very busy month for most people, when you throw in a major move and a new Internet home, WOW it gets busy! Here are some of the highlights from December:

Since it was the end of 2007 I highlighted the Best of 2007:

Winter Weather has finally come and I offered 9 Winter Weather Tips.

A friend of mine ran the St Jude Marathon in Memphis, TN and I posted her race review. I also posted another guest race review, this was from a Kokomo, IN runner about the Monster Mash Dash in Indianapolis, IN.

I finished a three-part series analyzing my training for 2007. I did a spring half-marathon, an early fall 10K and a later fall half-marathon.

Workout Summary

Friday I finished the week with lower body lifting and then hit the elliptical for just 10 minutes easy. I planned on running Saturday and was just really trying to waste some time at the gym that’s why the time was so short! I did end up running Saturday. I ran the perimeter loop at Mounds State Park which is 3 miles. I finished the somewhat muddy loop in 25 minutes flat. It felt good to run again, even though I rolled my ankle/foot about a mile into the run. It doesn’t appear to be swollen or anything, but it definitely hurts!

[tags] Highlights [/tags]

Foto Friday

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Hardware and Race Numbers from 2007

 

Yesterday’s Workout

I rode the bike at the gym for 30 minutes and then jumped onto the rowing machine for 10 minutes. This was a pretty easy workout. I was supposed to lift lower body since it was Thursday, but I left my lift sheet at home, so I’ll just make up for it on Friday!

[tags] Foto [/tags]

Best of 2007: Top 5 Most Read Articles

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I began Run Central Indiana in May of 2007, when I created Team Cross Runs I brought all the old content with me. The below rankings are based on Google Analytics data for RCI from September 1, 2007 until today!

The Top 5 Articles in 2007 are:

  1. Volunteering at the Chicago Marathon – this was by far the post read post as I recapped my perspective as a volunteer at the second aid station of the now infamous 2007 Chicago Marathon.
  2. Ways to Ruin Your Next Race – looked at 10 great ways to ruin your next race and then I confessed to ruining some of my race!
  3. Caffeine – A Banned Substance – Did you know that too much Caffeine could disqualify you from Olympic competition? I didn’t either, but see what I found.
  4. T-Shirt Etiquette – is a comical look at some unspoken rules about race t-shirts. I highlighted some of my favorites from a longer list written at Bad Ben Rambles.
  5. Indy Classic Marathon Date Changed – I’m a little surprised this made it so high on the list, but the Indy Classic had a lot of trouble with getting their race off the ground this year – ultimately canceling it.

Thanks for stopping by in 2007 and I hope you’ll keep stopping by in 2008.

Yesterday’s Workout

Since I hadn’t worked out Monday or Tuesday I combined today’s cardio exercise – 30 minutes on the elliptical – with my upper body workout. I did a full 15 minutes of the elliptical backwards which isn’t easy and am a little sore! I also think that you have a good upper body workout when you have trouble raising your hands to your head to wash your hair! Christy joined me at the gym today also doing 30 minutes on the elliptical.

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Best of 2007: National Performances

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There were some great performances on the national stage this year.  Many are viewable at Flocast and the Running Network has compiled a list of its Top 10 Best Moments for 2007. 

It should be no surprise that Ryan Hall dominates the list with three performances (flotrack):

#5 Hall Shatters Long-Standing U.S. Record at Aramco Houston Half Marathon
Ryan Hall of Big Bear Lake, Calif. started the year off with a “bang” as the Team Running USA athlete shattered the long-standing U.S. half-marathon record with his scintillating and solo 59:43 at Houston on January 14. Hall’s Splits: 5K – 14:05, 10K – 28:21, 15K – 42:21, 10 miles – 45:33 and 20K – 57:06

#4 Hall Sets U.S. Marathon Debut Record at Flora London
On April 22, at the Flora London Marathon, against a top international field, Ryan Hall ran like a veteran to finish 7th in an impressive 2:08:24 to set the U.S. marathon debut record. The old record was 2:09:41 by Alberto Salazar (New York City 1980) and Alan Culpepper (Chicago 2002). Hall now is the second fastest U.S. marathoner all-time – behind only Khalid Khannouchi.

#1 Hall Sets U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials Record for Beijing Berth
With seeming ease, Ryan Hall, 25, floated over the 5-loop Central Park course to become Olympic Marathon Trials champion on November 3. His awe-inspiring 2:09:02 performance set a Trials and USA Championship record and against one of the best U.S. marathon fields assembled, it was the largest men’s Trials victory margin ever: 2 minutes, 5 seconds. On the challenging course, the Team Running USA athlete produced a huge negative split: 1:06:17 (first half) vs. 1:02:45 (second half), 3 minutes, 32 seconds, and the first sub-2:10 at the Trials and USA Championship.

From 5K to 35K, Hall ran each successive 5K faster than the previous one. His progression went: 5K – 16:51, 10K – 15:35, 15K – 15:26, 20K – 15:12, 25K – 15:05, 30K – 14:48 and 35K – 14:28. His final 5K – where he celebrated the last 400 meters – was 14:57.

#1 was actually a tie between Hall’s Marathon Trials race and a Women’s 10K Medal at the World Championships in Japan by Kara Goucher.  Goucher was also listed multiple times with 2 Top Ten Performances (flotrack):

#7 Goucher Beats Radcliffe, Runs Fastest U.S. Half-Marathon at Great North
At the BUPA Great North Run in late September, Kara Goucher beat marathon great Paula Radcliffe, 1:06:57 to 1:07:53, and in the process, the Portland, Ore. resident ran – on the point-to-point, downhill course – the fastest half-marathon time ever by a U.S. woman.

#1 – TIE Goucher Earns First U.S. 10,000m Medal at World Championships
At the World Championships in Osaka, Japan in late August, Kara Goucher, 29, ran a smart race under challenging conditions – warm and humid weather as well as pushing and shoving in a tight, large pack – to earn a surprise bronze medal in the 10,000 meters. Over the final laps, Goucher battled Briton’s Jo Pavey and New Zealand’s Kim Smith and the three-time NCAA champion at Colorado produced the best kick and a less-than-two-second edge over Pavey, 32:02.05 to 32:03.81, for the coveted hardware and a spot on the podium. Goucher’s medal was the first for the U.S. at the distance in eleven World Championships. Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia defended her world title with a 31:55.41 clocking.

I also feel that Alan Webb’s American Record-breaking performance in the mile at the Atletiek Vlaanderenmeet in Brasschaa, Belgium is of note.  It was a good year for American distance running. 

What do you think of their Top Ten Picks?

 Workout Summary

The last time I worked out was Friday.  I biked 9.4 miles at the gym, using the endurance function which is really just a big hill that slowly takes up the whole workout! This was a 30 minute workout.  I hope you had an excellent Christmas!