Category Archives: Information

The Grand Prize – Frostbite!!

Leave a reply

The Pioneer Press is reporting that a 27 year old won the recent Frozen Otter Ultra Trek and his prize included losing 2 of his toes.

The 27-year-old from Davenport, Iowa, was one of only two competitors to make it past the half-way point of the 64-mile race that started at noon Saturday. He spent nearly 17 hours on the Ice Age Trail in the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest.

At one point, the temperature dropped to nearly 15 below zero.

[Andrew] Wells was the only person to make it past the fifth check point near the 40-mile mark.

Wells is quoted as saying:

“My feet were obviously frozen, so I couldn’t feel them,” he said. “And it was too cold to take my shoes off to check my feet. On my hands, I had mittens on, and just to take them off for 30 seconds, my hands got really cold, painful.

“I thought my toes were OK.”

Wells was wearing shoes, wool socks, and water proof socks to cover his feet. I wimped out and thought it was too cold this weekend even for a 5 mile run, I can’t imagine trying to run 10x’s that far, what were those crazy people thinking?? Remember the Green Bay game? It was -23 with wind chill Brrrr!

On a similar note there is a Frozen 5K and Half-Marathon this weekend as part of the Winter Carnival!

Yesterday’s Workout

I did an easy 4.42 on a -4 degree morning with wind chills around -20 in 41:44. There was a fresh layer of snow (less than a 1/2 inch) that helped make the sidewalks less slick, but still dangerous. I’ve been avoiding the roads still since I don’t have any lights! Less than a week and we’ll be moved into our house and settle into a gym and stuff!

[tags] Frostbite, Tundra, Ultra Marathon, Ultra [/tags]

Marathoning By The Numbers

Leave a reply

MarathonGuide.com the leading source for marathon-related information has compiled the 2007 USA Marathon Report.

The report shows that 403,000 individuals finished one of 340 marathons (they expect the number to rise to 407,000 after final reports from Honolulu and Chicago are done), with 60.5% of that being males averaging 4:29:52 at 40.5 years old. The remaining 39.5% were females with an average age of 36.5 and an average finish time of 4:59:28. Overall ths is a 2.3% growth with a higher growth rate among males (3.2) versus females (1.3).

New York City was by far the largest marathon with 38,557 finishers, almost 12,000 more than Chicago and 14,000 more than Honolulu. While the latter two marathons have had problems with reporting the total number of finishers due to closing the course and a chip malfunction. (Chicago estimated around 30,000 of the 40,000 entrants started the race).

Only 1.7% (just under 7,000) of finishers broke the 3-hour barrier, while 28.8% broke the 4 hour mark. Finally, broken down by age groups – the fastest average group for men 40-44 was also the largest group, its mean time was 4:21:00 and had 16% of male marathoners. The women’s fastest group was 35-39 with a mean time of 4:51:30 while the largest group was 25-29 which had 19% of female finishers.

HT: The Final Sprint

Yesterday’s Workout

I hit the bike today for 7.75 miles in 30 minutes.  It was an easy pace.  We saw several accidents on the way to the gym.  One was two cars rolled over next to each other.  The roads were a little slick with the fresh snow coming down.  Be safe out there!

[tags] Marathon, Road Race, Statistics [/tags]

Polar Bear Run Canceled

Leave a reply

Got this today, in case you were planning on coming!

Due to the beyond frigid termperatures that we will see tomorrow, I’ve decided to cancel the run. Please remember that the MDRA party is tomorrow. More information at www.runmdra.org . Shoot… I was looking forward to it!

This is the weather forecast:



PS: The current temperature at 3:45pm is 1 above but feels like -20!!!

9 Winter Weather Tips

7 Replies

Since I haven’t been outside running I’m a little late giving out winter running tips!  But here are nine tips every runner should know:

  1. Be Careful! Running in any extreme can be dangerous.  Make sure you are properly dressed for the weather and distance of your run.  For longer runs consider carrying extra supplies (dry socks, extra gloves, extra gel packets).
  2. Cross-Train Winter is the perfect time to step back and re-focus your energies, it is also a great time to add strength training and/or cross training to your schedule.  Unless you are planning an early spring race, this can be a great way to maintain your cardio fitness while letting your legs heal and get ready for next year.  My cross-training includes the elliptical machine and cycling, I’ve also started swimming, rowing, and stair climbing.  Cross-country skiing is also an excellent cross-training method if you have that much snow!
  3. Cover-up If you are running outside and the wind-chill drops make sure that you don’t have any exposed skin, you can also use vaseline to cover your face if you need to.  Make sure you wear chapstick and sunglasses.  If it is really sunny you may need sunscreen!
  4. Stay Hydrated Hydration is still important in the winter, even if you think your sweat rate decreases.  You may be wearing a wicking layer and that may trick you.  Also during colder weather your mind may not want as much water, even if your body needs it.  If your skin is dry and chapped, think about the inside of your body and drink more!
  5. Fall Gracefully With winter comes ice and slippery conditions, be careful.  I’ve never worn spikes or claws over my shoes, but even those aren’t 100% guaranteed to keep you standing! We are all bound to fall at some point so try to protect your head and face by tucking in your chin. Try to land on your butt or the side of your body if possible.  Try not to make any one part of your body absorb most of the impact, you could break a wrist or damage your knees.
  6. Stay Motivated It can be hard to keep motivated during these depressing months.  Plan ahead for next year, setting goals, and enjoy the freedom of not following a structured plan or make a structured plan depending on your needs. Explore new routes or run with different groups of people.
  7. Snuggle Up Take some extra time to read a running-related book or do some research on the Internet. Winter is a good time to grab a book off the shelf and read or spend some extra time on the Internet checking out running sites.
  8. Watch Out Be aware of the conditions you are running in and watch out for traffic! Remember that it will not be as easy for cars to stop or move around you.  You may also need to be aware of sliding cars coming at you.  You also need to watch out if you are indoors, be aware of others around you and your running form.
  9. Eat Healthy I know this is the worst time of year to try and eat healthy! But as you switch to cross-training and take more time off, the calories really begin to add up! I’ve talked to a lot of people who have gained weight already.  Runner’s World has provided a good list of ways to stay fit and trim and actually lose weight during the holiday season. It mostly comes down to being disciplined in your eating habits and not gorging yourself!

Bonus: Joe over at Run with Perseverance has developed a Winter Weather Temperature Chart (Excel Spreadsheet) which describes which items of clothing you should wear at 2 degree increments in the winter. This is a great system which can be modified to meet your specific running needs. I found it may be a little overdressed for my personal tastes.

Some of my inspiration came from these sources:

Yesterday’s Workout

Today was a lifting day! This is the first I’ve lifted since early spring and I can definitely feel it! My thought has always been to cross train MWF and lift on TR. It was nice to actually get the chance to do it! Today was upper body workouts which included bench, curls, dips, hanging leg raises, and shoulder press.  No cardio!

Technorati tags: , , ,

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

12 Days of Christmas

5 Replies

Well by the time you are reading this the 12 Days of Fitness will have already begun.  It is scary how quickly Christmas is approaching but don’t worry there are more than 12 shopping days left!!

I signed up for the 12 Days of Fitness to receive daily e-mail “gifts” which is described as

Sharing the the knowledge, skills and abilities of over 250 of the world’s leading health and fitness experts each and every day for a full 12 days starting on December 10th and ending with a final bumper sack full of health and fitness presents, enough to fill Santa’s sack 10 times over… and then some!

The free gifts are actually a bunch of promotional materials without lots of helpful content.

And what’s really great is that we have them in all kinds of formats from printable PDF to downloadable audios to follow-along-at-home streaming videos that’ll walk you step-by-step through specific exercise routines and stretching.

I like free content!! Unfortunately there is a small “cost” involved.  All of the ones I looked at required you to give your name and e-mail address.

There is a lot of good topics and what could be good content.  You can visit Day 1 and Day 2, but I’m not going to post any more links.  If I find some really good content I’ll be sure to let you know!

HT Run to Win

 

Yesterday’s Workout

I started the workout with 15 minutes on the rowing machine.  White River Club only has one machine and the computer is broken so I’m not really sure of any stats.  This felt better than last time, but I still feel the burn in my back and shoulders! After that I stair climbed for 10 minutes, the program shut down before I got my stats off, but I was a climbing machine!! This is definitely a solid quad workout.  I finished the day with 15 easy minutes on the elliptical machine!  This was a good 40 minute workout, mostly focused on strength.

 

 

Technorati tags: ,