Posts Tagged Training
The Brian A. Hill Challenge
Posted by Thomas Neuberger in Believe in the Run, Dailymile.com, General Running, RunTalkRadio on March 2nd, 2010
Brian A. Hill Challenge from Run Talk Radio on Vimeo.
Brian lives in the 3rd city Chicago so, we will run a minimum of 3 miles for this challenge. There are not many hills in Chicago, but you need hills to make you stronger. This week do a 3 mile hill work out. If like Brian you don’t have hills near you, head to the treadmill for a hill workout!
Dailymile Challenges Believe in the Run EXCLUSIVE
Posted by Thomas Neuberger in Believe in the Run, General Running on January 26th, 2010
I am having too much fun here. I started with the “Andy” and it has taken off. Each week I have been giving a challenge to my Dailymile.com friends. It is an open invitation so they can invite their friends. I usually try to have the challenge relate to a specific runner, and the goals are reasonable for most runners to complete. The response has been great, each challenge has had over 100 participants. Other challenges average under 10. Here is last weeks challenge, the Honest Abe.
Believeintherun.com exclusive!!! Sneak peak at this weeks challenge: This challenge is based on one of the runners I have known the longest on dailymile.com, Steve Speirs. Steve created the 100 Push-Ups, 200 Sit-Ups, 200 Squats programs. His book 100 Push Ups is available on Amazon.com. I have been using the iPhone App version of all the workouts and I love them. Warning they are tough! Learn more about Steve at his website Run Bulldog Run.
Here is the challenge Steve created for this week: 1 mile run, 10 push-ups, 1 mile run, 20 squats, 1 mile run, 30 crunches, 1 mile run – OR -a 4 mile run followed/preceded by the 10 push-ups, 20 squats, 30 crunches! I will be publishing the challenge on Dailymile.com tomorrow afternoon.
-Believe in the Run
Now for some fun. Run an Andy!
Posted by Thomas Neuberger in Believe in the Run on January 7th, 2010
Okay, to fully understand the “before” and “after” image, you first have to follow @AndyO22 on twitter or Andy O. on dailymile. Andy is an inspirational runner that regularly clocks wicked fast times for his runs (mostly in the 7’s if not faster). He is also a great sharer all around positive nice guy that is fun to interact with over the social networking landscape. The funny thing is, I have never actually met Andy. We are scheduled to run the HAT 50k on the same day in March, but at his pace I would be lucky to see him at the beginning of the run or at the end. Anyhow, back to the explanation of the image. A few weeks ago Andy wrote “How many times do I have to run 6.52 miles to trademark it? 3, 10, or 100+?”, to which I wrote, “From now on a 6.52 will be referred to as an “Andy.” ie: I am going to go run an Andy.” And so it started and the “Andy” caught on. Others began to reference Andy’s 6.52 mile runs as “Andys”. Fun, right? Well, yesterday Andy ran another “Andy” and when people were leaving comments for Andy like “There you go with another nice ANDY.” -Jeanne B. I decided that I would create a challenge on dailymile. The challenge was simple, RUN AN ANDY! (6.52 miles) on Jan. 7, 2010. I thought a few people might sign up for the challenge, after all, Andy is a popular figure on the site. To my surprise over 40 people signed up! The virtual turn out was great! I decided as a tribute to Andy I would transform myself into Andy. How would I do that? In all the pictures I have seen of Andy, he wears a yellow tech shirt and a white doo rag. In the picture you can see how the “Andy” affected me.
Andy's profile picture
Check out some of the responses to the posting of the before and after pick:
- “LOL! You definitely look better in the after shot.” – Andy O.
- “Now I am really nervous about my run later. My wife might leave me if I start trying to rock a doo-rag.” – Caleb M.
- “This made me LOL OUT LOUD VERY LOUD!!!” – Michelle
- “This is pure awesomeness.” – David D.
- “Good one Thomas. Great challenge you set up here….inspiring a ton of people in the process.” – Steve S.
I had a lot of fun with this and it was great to connect with all these runners. I am still amazed at how these social media tools can be used to connect with people that in our offline lives we would never meet, and how those people can touch our lives. I love me some dailymile. – Believe in the run
The entry I put together for the SOLE video contest
Posted by Thomas Neuberger in Believe in the Run, General Running, running Gear on December 9th, 2009
SOLE Entry from Thomas Neuberger on Vimeo.
Doubting Thomas
Posted by Thomas Neuberger in Believe in the Run, General Running, Trail Running on November 22nd, 2009
I met some friends out at Patapsco State Park to run some single track trails over some mighty hilly terrain. It was a pretty tough course and took a lot out of me. The first part of the run was a lot of uphill and my Achilles tendon was flaring up. We took the shorter 6 mile loop instead of a longer loop. It was my call. Later I felt bad I made the choice to go shorter. I felt fine as we strode into the parking lot. Trying not to beat myself up I decided I would get another 3 miles in when I got home. The three miles from my house actually made me feel worse. I just wasn’t having a good run.
I am running two Ultras in 2010 and, the trail run today left me with a lot of doubt. The hills today were steep and tough but they will pale in comparison to the hills I will be running in the ROCKIES! Not to mention the near sea level altitude and abundance of oxygen in Patapsco State Park. I had to get a hold of myself and stop the snowballing self doubts.
One of the things I love about training and the training process is that by making consistent efforts and following the plan you can accomplish anything. I lost that confidence for a a couple hours today. I have to admit even after eight marathons, I still get performance anxiety before events. I sometimes get nervous before regular training, it is like I am afraid that I will forget how to run or something. The cure is to just step up to the curb or the trail and start moving my feet and then everything just comes together.
The only way I tend to get better at anything is due to self doubt. It usually follows this pattern, doubt, struggle to get better and rise above the doubt, feelings of accomplishment, doubt etc. It is a circle for me. The paradigm is present in my art and anything else I have passion for. I could be wrong but, I would guess it is how a lot of people go through the growing process.
Ankle Blow-Up Bee Sting BRRC Fat Ass 50k
Posted by Thomas Neuberger in 2009 Marathon Training, Believe in the Run, General Running, Trail Running on September 20th, 2009
Ka-POW! I think I love trail running. Paul Gochar texted me Friday night to see if I wanted to meet Bobby, Wendell, and him at the Fat Ass 50k the next day. I had planned on running the course supported 20 mile run in Baltimore city but, the Fat Ass 50k sounded like a good break from the road runs. Baltimore’s Road Running Club (BRRC) hosted the Fat Ass 50k trail run this past Saturday. This is the second trail run organized by the BRRC I have participated in. They run the best low budget low key runs, I recommend running in one of their many events. Check out their website.
I ran two loops of the Fat Ass 50k, a total of 21 miles. In the first 20 minutes I was stung by a bee or a wasp on my right knee. It hurt but gave me a great distraction. The great thing about trail running is all the distractions. There is the beauty of the woods, streams, and wildlife all around you. Most of all, there is the constant eye that you have to keep on the terrain to make sure you have good footing. I also enjoyed running with Bobby on the first lap. All this makes the time go by faster.
What the ankle looks like today.
At about mile 8, I landed on uneven ground and twisted my right ankle. I took a total nose dive, got up walked it out and started running again. After I got going for a bit, I hardly even noticed the ankle. I headed into the second lap and completed the 21 miles feeling great. I can’t recall enjoying a run so much. I am glad I stepped out of the rut of running my regular training routes. I got a lot of confidence out of this run. I felt great the whole time, and I was able to run through two things that would have made it easy to quit after the first lap. I am really looking forward to running in the Chicago Marathon.
Get out there and try something different.
You gotta have friends.
Posted by Thomas Neuberger in 2009 Marathon Training, Believe in the Run, General Running on September 13th, 2009
From Left to Right Me, Brodie, Katie before the CCR NCR 20 Miler
I guess when I used to think about running I thought of it as an individual sport. I was wrong. These past few months of training has made it crystal clear.
I have trained for all 7 of my previous marathons with Jeff Arricale. At the end of the Spring marathon season Jeff let me know he was taking a break. The training has not been the same. Having a partner to run the long Saturday runs with makes a huge difference. When you run with a partner you push each other to run faster even if you don’t feel like it. You make it out to the start of the run with purpose. I find myself running slower this training. I think a lot of it is that I don’t have anyone to keep up with. I am running Chicago next month and have no clue what my time will be.
On the flip side other running friends are helping me out. Juda’s Tuesday track nights introduced me to a group of pretty decent runners and had me doing organized speed work. Mean Jeanne the BOMF running machine and I have become closer this season and have done some of our own track workouts followed by a cup of coffee and some conversation at Starbuck’s. Katie from Charm City Run joined me for some of my last runs around the Baltimore harbor and showed me how fast she really is when she finishes 20 mile runs 30 minutes in front of me. My friend Brodie and I reconnected with in the crowd of runners at the Maryland 1/2 Marathon. Brodie came up from Silver Spring early in the morning to Baltimore for the Charm City Run NCR trail 20 Miler last weekend to run it with me. Brodie is a much faster runner than me. I really appreciate that he stayed by my side giving me encouragement the entire time. Thanks Brodie.
Once I realized that travel to the Montreal Marathon was going to be prohibitive, Katie let me know she knew someone that had extra rooms reserved in Chicago for the marathon weekend. Jeff had an extra bib for Chicago. Everything fell into place and now I will be running the Chicago marathon. Awesome.
One other set of friends that have helped out are all the people I virtually run with on Dailymile.com. So I guess I did not train all by myself for this Falls race; I had a lot of help.
PS – I found out that I did not make the wait list cut offs for the North Face Challenge 50k. Might be a blessing in disguise. I am really looking forward to Chicago.
Whoa! was that August that just flew by?!
Posted by Thomas Neuberger in 2009 Marathon Training, Believe in the Run, GORE-TEX® TransRockies Run, General Running on August 31st, 2009
What a crazy summer this has been. Time has just flown by. I am swamped at work and my personal life has been just as busy. The runs in August are not fun just hot humid and long. I never got around to booking my flight to Montreal until last week, well I looked into booking the flight last week. There are no flights from Baltimore direct to Montreal. After looking for quite sometime at all the options, I decided to bag the trip and forfeit my marathon entry fee. I started looking at other options for my fall run.
NORTH FACE ENDURANCE CHALLENGE
I landed on an ambitious choice. I am wait listed on the North Face 50k Endurance Challenge in Washington DC. I registered on Active.com, it wasn’t exactly clear on how I will find out if I make the list. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Check out the North Face Challenge.
2008 TransRockies is under way!
Posted by Thomas Neuberger in Believe in the Run, GORE-TEX® TransRockies Run on August 25th, 2009
Love Triangle ends in near disaster!
Posted by Thomas Neuberger in 2009 Marathon Training, Believe in the Run, General Running, running Gear on August 2nd, 2009
It’s not what you think. Friday night I had a long overdue date night with my wife. We went out for crabs and if you know anything about eating crabs in Maryland you have to have beer to wash them down. I knew most likely, I would not feel like running 15 miles Saturday morning. That is the set up, here is what happened next.
I thought I would just run on Sunday morning instead of my typical Saturday morning run but then, I had to return a pair of shorts to Charm City Running. While I was there I decided to get a new pair of running shoes. The Nike LunarTrainers are good for tempo runs and track workouts but I don’t know how much I trust them on the long runs. I decided to get a more traditional shoe for the long runs. I tried on the Asics Nimbus 11, Nike Vomero 4, and the Brooks Defyance 2. I was surprised that I ended up with the Brooks. The difference between the Nike $135 vs Brooks $80 was slim. As a matter of fact the only difference I could feel was the Nike had slightly more cushion in the front of the shoe. So now I have the 1st part of the love triangle, a new pair of running shoes. I love new running shoes! I might even admit to having a problem.
Brooks Defyance 2
It is late in the afternoon Saturday, I went with my wife to walk the dog (Vincent) and take Theo for a stroll through our neighborhood while she picked up some wine at our local shop. I started thinking, if I run now instead of tomorrow morning, I could drink some wine and chill out tonight. BRILLIANT! Who cares that it is 90º F and close to 100% humidity. In case your keeping score, the second love is wine.
With a new pair of running shoes begging to get out of the box and fulfill their destiny, I figure I will down some Hammer Enduralytes and bring my water with money to re-up on the water. Running is the third love in the triangle. The first 3 miles were pretty hot but I was doing well. I ran past all the Boston Red Socks fans heading to Oriole Park, and made my way to the Statue of Johnny Unitas outside of the Raven’s Stadium. I tapped Johnny U’s foot for luck and kept moving. Wow, it was getting hot. I trudge on, not my best pace but I figure not to shabby considering the heat.
I was through my first bottle of water 4 miles into the run. The loop around Fort McHenry has a water fountain so I fill up there. Next stop would be at the 8 mile mark and I am parched. I stopped in a coffee shop and poured ice water from a pitcher into my bottle. Man! The ice water tasted AWESOME! I gulped it greedily. At the 11 Mile mark I stopped at a CVS to get another bottle of water. I thought checking out in the “self checkout” lane would be faster and I could avoid the embarrassment of handing over sweat soaked dollar bills. It took me an extra 5 minutes trying to get the bill feeder to take my money. My legs are stiff when I leave the store but now, I am on my way home. It is all uphill on the way back and I am spent. As I get to 14 miles I hit the wall, I HAVE to walk. I have accepted that I am beat on this run. After a couple minutes I start running again. My Garmin is telling me I am close to the 15 mile mark and at 14.75 I was finished running and now walking the last .25 and feeling very light headed. I get inside and down cold water and some Recoverite. A hop in the shower to rinse off and I will be free to enjoy some wine.
Here is the funny thing. I felt so out of it that I was able to only have one glass of wine and I didn’t even enjoy it. I was all googly inside. So, I got my long run in, and learned a lesson. I will avoid the heat at all cost.
