RRT 104: Endurance Relays

Looking for a race that is a little different from your local 5K or marathon? Interested in relay races? Curious about what RAGNAR is?

We had a great talk around the table regarding endurance relays, discussing putting together a team, finding a team to join, and what to expect during the race and at the finish line.

Hosting was Dr. Dave (NeverNotRunning.com) who will be running RAGNAR Key West in January. Co-hosting was Mark U. (RunInAmerica.com), Colin Hayes (ResurrectedRunner.blogspot.com), Chris Russell (RunRunLive.com), and Amanda Lanza (ChemERunner.blogspot.com).

[Click Here to Listen to RRT 104]

RRT 103: Houston Hopefuls

This was a good one. A bunch of fast women talking running. Julie Threlkeld who produces HoustonHopefuls.com
(where you can read individual interviews), hosted

• Julie Wankowski
• Lori Kingsley
• Jaymee Marty
• Jen Hitchings
• Jill Howard

all Masters women aiming to qualify for the women's marathon Olympic Trials ("OT") in Houston in January 2012. Just listen.

Jaymee, who got her OTQ in the heat of Chicago, spoke of her mental training as complementing her physical work, a topic she covered in an excellent post, Shifting Balance, worth a read by all runners.

[Click Here to Listen to RRT 103]

RRT: CII Open Mike

We had a nice chat. In the end, it was mostly about marathons generally and Chicago in particular as two guests, Mark of RunInAmerica blog and Craig shared their experiences. Here's a LetsRun thread: Chicago was warmer than people think. We spoke as well about the pros and cons of DNFing when things take a turn for the worse.

Paul called in from California and was pleased to get some tips for his upcoming adventure at the ING New York City Marathon. Mark recommended Liz Robbins's "A Race Like No Other" about, of course, that race, and host Joe Garland seconded the suggestion. EddieMarathon is excited about running Marine Corps on October 31; he did the race last year. Eddie offered to have people doing MCM with logistical questions to touch base with him, and he and Adam T will be hosting an event there on race week-end. For those with questions about NY, feel free to drop Joe Garland a line.

Mark also directed us to mantras of use to runners. Joe Garland offered one: If during a marathon you ask yourself why you are doing it, do not try to answer it since you may have trouble coming up with something convincing. Instead, simply tell yourself that there is an answer and you'll remember it after the finish.

It was pointed out that marathons are closing earlier and earlier. Several, including Chicago, Marine Corps, and Boston (even with its qualifying standard) close out early, and Craig sent on a link to a Wall Street Journal article that says Boston, which opens for registration on October 18, might be full by mid-November, before Philly (and perhaps before NY on Nov. 7). New York, on the other hand, fills by a lottery (with Marathon and Half-Marathon times getting people automatic entry as well).

The lesson: If you're interested in running a particular marathon, you'd better enter or you'll likely be shut out.

We also spoke a bit about training for old folks. Joe Garland pointed to a link to his blog in which he sets out a long piece by coach John Kellogg that discusses the different training approaches that runners over 40 should take. Joe's incorporated some of these ideas into his own training.

For next week, the show will have several HoustonHopefuls, Masters women trying to a 2:46:00 OT qualifier. And we spoke of one of those no-longer-hopefuls, Jaymee, who got her qualifier in the tough conditions of Chicago, and who told a fine tale about it. (Joe reproduces the as-it-happened chatter of Jaymee's followers on Facebook.)

The show went long; we're thinking one might be able to find 60 decent minutes in the thing. Might.

[Click Here To Listen To RRT 102]

RRT 101: Things to Remember and Know on your Marathon race day

On Wednesday, October 6th, host Mark U. (http://runinamerica.com) was joined by Chris Russell (http://www.runrunlive.com), Colin Hayes (http://resurrectedrunner.blogspot.com), Stephen Tarleton (http://www.irunic.com/), and Pete Larson (http://runblogger.com). This show was very topical with ongoing flurry of fall races, as the group shared our lessons learned concerning:

• How to set a realistic, yet challenging goal finishing time;
• How race-day weather and the runner's physical condition can - and should - change the goal time;
• How the runner should adapt their pacing plan based on the course's elevation changes and their extent of "fade" in the late miles of the run;
• Advantages/disadvantages of wearing an MP3 player during a race;
• The panel's experience and advice with a number of fall marathons;
• Key preparations in the weeks, days, and hours preceding the race.

Joining from the chat room were Craig Macfarlane, Joe Garland, MedScholarAdamL, Steve Melb, adamm9 and Guests 7, 8 & 9.

[Click Here for Runners Roundtable - Episode 101]_