Monday, May 29, 2006

Marathon and Beyond back issues

I have been subscribed to Marathon and Beyond in the past and have a slew of issues that I've read, enjoyed, and am ready to pass on for $3/issue plus shipping. These are great magazines -- really more like journals or paperback books -- chock full of interviews, news stories, marathon reviews, and more.

If you're interested in all or any, please leave a note in the comments or email me at stephannie underscore t at yahoo dot com.

July/August 2002, Volume 6 Issue 4 (196 pages) Summer Reading Gold Mine..., Cross America By the Book, America Takes the Trailwalker, The Sahara Marathon

September/October 2002, Volume 6, Issue 5 (200 pages) Healing & Unity in new York, Chicago Hits 25, Best Running Novels Ever, Peak Busters Run Tall & Proud, The Fat Loading Solution

November/December 2002, Volume 6, Issue 6 (178 pages) Big Views, Big Hills, Big Sur, Running Collectibles, Marathon At Your Best. At Home With Clarence DeMar

January/February 2003, Volume 7, Issue 1 (180 pages) Run Vienna in the Spring, Live High, Train Low, Mardi Gras Is Party Central, On the Trail of Paul Bunyan

March/April 2003, Volume 7, Issue 2 (2000 pages) John A Kelley: The Best, Frozen Trails in Iceland, European Racing Guide, Hal Higdon's Most Unforgettable

May/June 2003, Volume 7, Issue 3
(196 pages) Sportsmed Extravaganza, Ergogenic Aids, Is a Pacing Group for You?, Do Heart Rate Monitors Work?, Tips for Toes

July/August 2003, Volume 7, Issue 4 (200 pages) Pam Reed owns Death Valley, A Colonial Run for Liberty, Relay Fun in the Rockies, Boulder Backroads Parties Down, Max Jones Runs Long and Tough

September/October 2003, Volume 7, Issue 5 (200 pages) Conquer the Wall, A Training Program for the First-Timer, The Taper: A User's Guide, Marathoning on Beautiful Cape Cod

November/December 2003, Volume 7, Issue 6 (196 pages) Trail Ultra tips, Halls of Fame, Ray Piva Keeps Going, The Canal Run

January/February 2004, Volume 8, Issue 1 (196 pages) Paula Khalid: Breaking Barriers, Hyponatremia: The Last Word, North Pole Marathon Madeness, Badwater Quad Crossing

March/April 2004, Volume 8, Issue 2
(200 pages) Deena Does Distance, Lorraine Moller Remembers Her Dad, Annette's Comeback Ends, Getting High at Park City, Streaking At Boston

May/June, Volume 8, Issue 3 (200 pages) The Lydiard Legacy, Peter Snell on Lydiard, The Vermont 100, Does Less Equal More?, The Triumph of Twin Cities

July/August 2004, Volume 8, Issue 4 (200 pages) The Colorado Trail Challenge, Life and Near Death at St. Louis 1904, The Grand Canyon: A Runner's Guide, Culpepper Sets Sights on Athens, Super Sunmart

September/October 2004, Volume 8, Issue 5 (200 pages) Dances with...Danger in Baghdad, Mud in Indiana, History in Yonkers, Victory in Vermont, Heat in Boston

November/December 2004, Volume 8, Issue 6 (196 pages) Meb Medals at Athens, Going Native in Medoc, The Lincoln Marathon, Run Long, Walk Short, Ultras: The Next Frontier

January/February 2005, Volume 9, Issue 1 (192 pages) Rock 'n' Run in San Diego, Life & Death in the Yukon, Behind the Scenes in Athens, The Infection Connection, Lessons in Ultrarunning

March/April 2005, Volume 9, Issue 2 (200 pages) Meet the Modern Pheidippides, Running with the Ehrets, The Fall and Rise of Patti Dillon, Beyond the Berlin Wall, Marathoning's Backbone: The Long Run

May/June 2005, Volume 9, Issue 3 (196 pages) There's Nothing Dead about Deadwood, A Bit of Hawaii in Afghanistan, The Lure of 100 Miles, Run to the Head of the Class, Marathoning in Canada

July/August 2005, Vol 9, Iss 4 (196p) Adventure Challenge: Surviving the Jay Mt Marathon, Pam Reed Sleepless in Tucson, Chilean Desert Run or Mars?, Up and Down at Bob Graham, Destination: Whitney's Peak

September/October 2005, Volume 9, Issue 5 (204 pages) High Times in the Himalayas, The Injuries of August, Half-Marathon as Sprinboard to Marathon, Palms & Sun at Space Coast, The Astonishing Helen Klein

November/December 2005, Volume 9, Issue 6 (198 pages) Berlin Sets the Pace for Europe, Houston Does It Up Right, Race Your Best Half, Running in Mom's Footsteps, On Horse Troughs and Aid Stations

2006: Boston Marathon. This special edition focuses solely on the Boston Marathon, celebrating the race’s rich history and continued excellence and preeminence, dating back to 1897. The book captures the vast sporting and cultural history of the Boston Marathon in a one-time, keepsake edition. Articles include The Lure of Boston, 10 Best Bostons, Tales of Two Kelleys, Fast Women and Master’s Men, “Duel in the Sun” Revisited. 208 pp

Jan/Feb 2006 Vol 10, Iss 1 (198pp) The Russians Are Here and They’re Tough, Two Oceans Lives Up to Its Reputation, Running as Armor, Dr. George Sheehan on Running, Bataan Memorial Death March Marathon

Mar/Apr 2006 Vol 10, Iss 2 (200pp) Matt Carpenter Soaring Higher, Peter Gilmore in Bloom, Tale of 2 Bostons, No Feudin’ Just Runnin’ at Hatfield-McCoy, Patti Catalano Dillon’s Most Unforgettable Marathon

May/Jun 2006 Vol 10, Iss 3
(196pp) Behind-the-Scenes Look at Race Directors, The Finale: “Duel in the Sun”, Hard Lessons at Western States, Gut Run to the Ganges, Fun Times at Disney Marathon

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Real Training

I think I mentioned earlier that Mel signed up with Acme Coaching, and that we're both doing her training plan.

Wow.

And ouch.

I don't see how we're a) not going to get a lot better and b) not going to lose weight if we follow this. It's a huge difference from our 'oh, let's run a little further today' type of 'training' we were doing before, or even the canned plan I had purchased for Wildflower.

(I'm now considering all our past training as base training, if I have to put a label on it. And honestly, I can see huge improvements just on our normal runs from last summer. So it certainly wasn't wasted time; and if we hadn't done all that before getting this training plan, we wouldn't be ABLE to do this plan.)

Plus, it's a lot of fun to throw around terms like "tempo" and "zone 4" and brag about your hill repeats and so on.

Alcatraz is next weekend. I'm a little scared (should I be more scared?). My goals are simple newbie goals: a) to finish and b) do so before any cut off times.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Yeah, I know, I still owe a Wildflower report. It'll get here, sooner or later.

Alcatraz is coming up, very very quickly. Apparently everyone who told Mel and me that if we could do Wildflower, Alcatraz would be a breeze, was LYING, according to Mel's new coach. But Mel's coach is telling her that she will (and by extension, *I* will) survive Alcatraz since we're 'fit' (since we finished Wildflower). Hmph. Mel says he's very believable when he tells her that.

LA Tri Club is having a big ocean clinic tomorrow. Dave and I and Mel are all attending. Dave is going to be part of the 'nonchalant novice' group, I'm thinking of braving the 'intrepid intermediates' or whatever the group is (interested? involved? incoherent?) and who knows what Mel will do. (By the way my swim time for Wildflower, however slow, was faster than Dave's. Of course, I occasionally swim. The last time he swam was for Hermosa Day at the Beach in October. I think it's finally dawned on him that though most reasonably fit people who can stay afloat can gut their way through a sprint, the Oly distance, especially Wildflower, is a different story. Actual training of some sort is needed.)

Mel just got her coach, and, since we train together, and are pretty much still at the same level for running and biking, and are planning on doing the same races, I'm supposed to do her workouts. Her workout plan is downright scary. I've never seen so many abbreviations and different types of workouts. I'll need to memorize the day's plan for 20 minutes ahead of time just to be able to remember what it is I'm supposed to be doing. I suppose our 'oh, let's just go this direction and see how it feels' type of training isn't going to work anymore.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Wildflower -- did it!

More to follow.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

I had a nice easy run with Melanie yesterday morning -- with no ankle pain! Yeah!

Of course, the various portions of my anatomy that I worked out in the weight room have been, shall we say, complaining. My problem is, I can't really do a 'light' weight workout. I nearly always do the max I can for my reps (8-12, 3 sets), and sometimes I do drop sets to failure. That's fine if I keep up with lifting, i.e. several times a week, because then that ouchy recovery smooths out, but to lift sporadically means (gee whiz) it's like I'm starting from scratch each time.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Wildflower in less than a week....and an ankle injury

Yep.

Dave and I did a basically flat ride Saturday morning, only about 16 miles, from the park located at Gould and Valley/Ardmore to the bridge between Playa del Rey and Marina del Rey and return. (The only hills are to/from the park to the Strand.) (There is a little hill by the hanglider station on the Strand but, I'm happy to say, I can't even really count that as a hill anymore -- more like a bump.)

I had probably a five minute transition (load the bike in the care, drink some more Vitamin water (lemonade), eat some Clif Blocks (strawberry)) then took off for my run. I decided I was only going to do a short run, only 2 miles, and did the first mile on the woodchip path. On the way back, I decided to run on the sidewalk (avoiding the steamy mugginess of the path, I hoped).

Can you see where this is going?

I was merrily trotting along (sorta) and BOOM, felt my right ankle twist and my body rocket towards the (uneven) sidewalk. Bruised my right thumb, skinned my left knee, hurt my pride (my quick glance proved I could see no one in the vicinity, which hopefully means no one saw ME). My ankle hurt then went numb and I limped, bloody, back to the car, mournfully glancing around to see where Dave was as I trudged along.

I iced my ankle twice Saturday and rested Sunday (instead of doing PV again and an ocean swim, the original plan). Today I'm planning on doing a pool swim, some light upper body weightlifting and maybe the elliptical machine if it doesn't make my ankle hurt. It doesn't hurt if I walk or run straight. I just have less range of motion in it; trying to rotate it hurts a little. I'm trying to be sensible and not injure it further.

NOTE: I think this is the same ankle I injured last October at Hermosa DATB. I don't remember. And of course, looking back over my blog, I NEVER NOTED WHICH ANKLE I INJURED. So, this time: THE RIGHT ANKLE.

On a more upbeat note, I've now lost about 22lbs off my heaviest weight, and about 16lbs since changing my eating habits -- I'm still steadily (albeit slowly) dropping weight. I'm starting to think I may actually, some day, NOT have to decide between racing as an Athena vs in my age group....and in the back of my mind, hopefully that will be before the start of next year's season.