There are several great things going on this Sunday for the Nasties: 1. We should have some samples of the men's and women's "East Nasty for Life '09" shirts.

The women's shirts will be coral, the men's will be tank green, and they'll be $20 a piece.  Notice the retail price is $35!  Thanks to Fleet Feet and our local Sugoi rep (and fellow East Nasty) Travis Werts for getting us a great deal! (The shirts will have the East Nasty logo on the front and Fleet Feet on the back.  You will be shocked at how many cat-calls you will receive during the race if you are wearing an East Nasty shirt...or if you are running next to LaMont when he's not wearing his East Nasty shirt)

NOTE: We will be ordering shirts on Monday of next week.  If you are not coming this Sunday, contact Drew Jones at Fleet Feet or post a comment here to place your order.

2. We are running the course again.

Here is the plan...Run the course until you get back to the round-about.  (From Belmont, down 16th), go straight through the round-about down 16th to West End.  Turn left on West End and run back to Centennial Park.  11.3 miles total.

3. Bring $2 or $3 this Sunday.

This is a long run.  We will have fluids at Belmont, but Fleet Feet will also provide many different nutritional product for $1 a piece: Gels, Beans or Shots.

What?????

For those of you who are new to endurance sports, if you are exercising for over 90 minutes you need to replace fluids and calories.  Since eating is hard to do while running, there are products out there that are easy to consume.  Examples are Jelly Belly sport beans (i.e. jelly beans), cliff shot bloks (i.e. gummy blocks), and Powergels and Gu (i.e. flavored vasoline).  Each of these have 100-200 calories per serving, but the consistency varies.  Since most of us will need to take in some calories during the race, we are going to practice this Sunday.  Drew Jones,(for those who don't know Drew, he is Rod "Fabulicious" Jones' brother) will be bringing a variety of products for $1 a piece, so you can try various ones to see what settles with you the best.

4. Post-Run Yoga.

This one is weather dependent, but post-run, Leah from Kali Yuga Yoga will be leading us through another Yoga session.  It's going to be outside in Centennial Park, and should start about 11:15.

5. Yoga announcement #2.

At 6:30 on Friday, April 3rd there is a yoga for runners class being offered at Kali Yuga Yuga.  They are only asking for a donation, but you will need to call to reserve a spot!  Click on their website above and enjoy the benefits of yoga.

See you on Sunday!

Mark

Weight is always a sensitive subject, but a lot of people over the years have gotten very discouraged when running does not lead to the expected weigh losses...I have some thoughts on this issue, but before I give them I want to remind everyone that everyones' body is a little different.  So what works for some may not work for others, and what is a healthy weight for some, may not be for others.   So when you are thinking about your weight, try not to be held hostage by the bathroom scale, by how your friend looks or by the airbrushed magazine covers... That being said, here are some thoughts on running and weight.

Calories In - Calories Out = Weigh Gain or Loss.

I know that all the recent diet fads (the Atkins, the grapefruit, the Neanderthal, low fat, high fat, medium fat, liquid diets, high carbs, low carbs etc..) talk about how you should eliminate certain foods,  but my opinion is that all diets can be boiled down to this: if you burn off more calories than you consume you will lose weight.  Conversely, if you eat too much of whatever, you will gain weight.   The Atkins diet works because instead of eating a hamburger and the bun, you just eat the hamburger.  By eliminating carbs you lose weight because you eat fewer calories, it has nothing to do with the fact that you ate nothing but protein.

So why am I running and still gaining weight?

Bottom line: unless you are an 18 year old boy running 60 miles a week, your weight has more to do with your food consumption than it does with your activity level!  Running burns about 115 calories per mile.  It takes a lot of effort to go for a 5-mile run (575 calories), but it takes 5 minutes to eat 600 calories worth of girl scout cookies!

If you have gained weight over  the years,  you have been consuming too many calories.  So adding those 20 miles a week does not necessarily mean that you are running enough to make up for the extra calories.  You still might be eating too much.  Not only that, but running increases your appetite, so your new level of food intake may have more than compensated for your increased activity.   Finally, if you are a new athlete, running will add to your lean body mass, and muscle weighs more than fat.  (That kind of extra weight is good!)

I want to safely lose some weight, how should I do it?

For increased fitness, focus on running.  For weight control, focus on what you put in your mouth.  I hate counting calories, but if you can do it, here is a way to approximate how many calories you need during a day:

Multiply your weight by 15*, multiply your miles by 115.  Do some mathemagic by adding those numbers together, and that should be your caloric consumption for that day to maintain your weight.  Example: I weigh 170, I am pretty active during the day (I am a high school teacher), and I ran 5 miles yesterday:  I should have eaten 3125 calories yesterday to maintain my current weight.  (170 x 15 + 5 x 115).

*Note: "15" applies if you are moderately active during the day.  If you work at a desk, you may want to multiply by 12, if you work construction you may want to use 20.

If you want to lose weight, multiply your weight by 10 instead of 15. Example:  if I wanted to lose weight, I should have consumed 2275 calories yesterday. (170*10+5*115).

Here is the two-stage Mark Miller fad diet:

1) Stop eating desserts and soft drinks for a month...and... limit your beer intake to one.  (That one is hard for us Nasties I know....)

2) Everytime you eat, put your normal portions on your plate.  Then cut the meal in half and save the 2nd portion for the next meal.  This is especially true when you eat out at a restaurant, it'll save you calories and $$$.

See you on Wednesday for Run #2!

Mark

PS: NCAA bracket scores after 2 rounds:  Hunter Lane is out in front!

Hunter Lane - 53

Jim Schwan - 52

David Harris - 51

Jenny Dew - 51

Mary Jane Peck - 51

JP Cowan - 50

No Name - 50

Annie Parsons - 50

Jamie Swanger - 50

Erick Snyder - 49

Christy Maynard - 49

Chuck Hargrove - 48

Drew Jones - 48

Jarrod - 48

Erica Tober - 47

Aman Khapoya - 47

Mark Miller - 46

Stephanie Pepper - 46

Scott Harris - 46

Margaret Jones - 46

Rod Jones - 46

Nasties - This Sunday we are starting to run on the actual 1/2 marathon course.  We will start and finish in Centennial Park .  There is parking half-way between the Parthenon and West End.  

NOTE:  The course has changed!  It will be different than last year, and the map at the official website has not been changed (at least not yet...).  The above link will take you to the final instructions, which contains the updated map.  

The course is much more similar to the original marathon course from 5-6 years ago.  It will be a little more challenging than last year, but much more scenic.   For those of you familiar with the course, here are the important changes for our run this Sunday:

1) Last Year: Run down broadway to 12th ave.  

*   This Year:  Run all the way down to 4th ave.

2) Last Year: Run down Clifton to Lealand.

*    This Year: Clifton to Granny White, then left on Battlefield back to Belmont.

So what are we doing this Sunday??  We will run the first 8.25ish miles of the course, take a left on Wedgewood (which becomes Blakemore) then a right on 25th, past the Vanderbilt stadiums and back to Centennial Park.  The total mileage will be a little over 10 miles.  

After the run, some of us may run closer to 12 miles by doing 2 laps of Centennial Park.

See you Sunday!

Mark

First the run information: We have completed the first round of our 6 run series. I hope that you guys enjoyed the variety in both the length and the layout of the courses.  I am going to have a survey about each run for you guys to take once Annie teaches me how to do one of those....and I'll use that feedback to make some changes for our summer runs.   This Wednesday, we are starting back at Run #1. Now the fun stuff: East Nasty bookie Drew Jones has volunteered to run an NCAA Basketball bracket challenge.  This is what you need to do:

1. Download a bracket - or clip one out of the newspaper.  (You may want to wait until after the play-in game on Tuesday.  But it doesn't really matter, because that game will not figure into the East Nasty Bracket Challenge - and if you have that team beating Louisville then you have absolutely no chance of winning anyway...)

2. Fill out the bracket.  Remember to make a photocopy for yourself!

3. Pay Drew $1 on Wednesday.

If you forget to bring your bracket, Drew will have some additional ones available on Wednesday night.  But don't forget your $1 !!!

All the money will go to benefit East Nasty is some way, specifically the two people who make the most accurate predictions might personally benefit more than others.  They will not benefit equally, most likely about 75/25. Remember, this is for entertainment purposes only, and East Nasty reserves the right to give all the money to charity in order to stay out of jail.

The days are getting warmer and longer, so bring a change of clothes and join us for a beer at 3 Crow after the run!  

See you on Wednesday.

Mark

This Sunday we are back at Shelby doing our second long tempo run.  We will run 5, 6 or 7 miles at a pace that is 35-60 seconds slower than your 3 mile TT.  (Hopefully, we'll all run in the 35-45 seconds per mile slower range...)   Remember: even if you can run faster than this, you shouldn't.  Save those really intense efforts for your races.  Jack Daniels is a great running coach who has an extremely user-friendly training guide called "Jack Daniels Running Formula."   He calls runs outside of your prescribed pace "misplaced quality" .  I think that is a great term because these runs are hard, but they don't accomplish their intended purpose... 

If you want to read more on tempo running read this previous blog   (Or better yet, buy and read Jack Daniels' book...)

Many of you are running races periodically as we prepare for the Country Music 1/2, and are curious about recovery times.  Here is a rule of thumb: take one recovery day for every 3 kilometers of racing.  So: a 5K =  2 recovery days, a 15K =  5 easy days.  A half-marathon is about 21k, so take a full week of recovery running.    What is recovery running?  Like all running, pace is relative to your fitness level, so recovery running is different for different people, but the words "really darn slow" go a long way towards describing the appropriate pace!

See you on Sunday!

Mark

East Nasty may have their first rainy run, but it's not a rainout because East Nasty is never rained out! Seriously, running in the rain is fun.  The hard part is getting started, once you get going - running is no big deal.  But here are a couple of tips:

1) Wear a baseball cap.  Hats help keep the water out of your eyes, especially if it is raining hard.

2) Bring a change of clothes.  Once you stop running, you body temperature will plummet if you are soaking wet.

3) Dry your shoes with newspaper.  Here's how it works: take the insoles out of your shoes - cram your shoes full of newspaper - let them sit overnight and tada: dry shoes in the morning.

We are finishing our running circuit with Run #6 - which takes us to the other side of Shleby Park to Riverside,  down Porter/Eastland and back in on 12th.

See you tomorrow!

Mark

This Sunday we are running three miles hard at Shelby Bottoms.  Be sure to get there on time!  We lose an hour Saturday night, which means longer, warmer days - but it also means that tomorrow 9 o'clock is really 8 o'clock.   Last time we did this workout we ran three miles out at an easy pace, turned around, and ran three miles hard back in.  That's the plan for this week as well. But make sure that your 3 mile warm-up is a warm-up, and that you are not running too fast - or with people that are significantly faster than you.

By the way, how should I warm-up for a race?

Everyone knows that you cannot jump out of bed and run a great 5K.   Especially as you age, your body needs more time to prepare to put out hard efforts.  So before you race, it is essential to get the engine going, but how do you do that?

Warm up basics

1. Shorter Race/Longer Warm-up.  The faster you are going to start a race the longer your warm-up should be.  A mile racer is going to be running fast from the gun, so he needs to approach the line ready to go.  This requires a long warm up.  A marathoner, who will build slowly into his pace over a mile or two does not need to be prepared to sprint at the start, so his warm-up would be significantly shorter.   Also, a miler will finish his race under 5 minutes, so he can afford to "waste" some energy on a warm-up; while a marathoner will be running for hours, so every drop of glycogen used on the warm-up is energy that will not be available at mile 22!

2. Easy Running.  Start running slow.  And keep it there for at least 5-15 minutes.  Then gradually increase the pace over the last 5 minutes.  Run for a total of 10-30 minutes.

3. Stretch lightly.  Before a race is not a good time to begin practicing yoga.  If you don't stretch normally, don't stretch now.  If you do stretch - perform some light stretches.  Everyone one is a little different as to what needs to be stretched: I focus on my back, hip flexors and quads.  Others focus on their calfs and hamstrings.  Focus on whatever you need, but don't do any deep stretches before a race.

4. Bathroom duty.   No explanation needed for those of us who have gotten the trots during a race... When you go to a race, be sure that you give yourself time to hit the bathroom.  The combination of warming-up, pre-race jitters and coffee tends to get things going...

5. One to Two minute surge.  About 8 minutes before the start of a race, you should run  1-2 minutes at your threshold (tempo) pace.  This is the pace that you could run for an hour.  This final step prepares your body to accept the onslaught of lactic acid that you are about it give it.  It is tough for your body to go from rest (heart rate of 70) to racing (heart rate of 170+).  It is better to start a race with your heart in the 100-120 range rather than from resting.  This final surge gets your body to this point.  

6. Final strides.  A stride is a 50-100 meter light "sprint".  You will see some racers doing strides instead of the longer surge.  I am not a big fan of strides unless: a) you finished your surge 10 minutes ago and you have been standing at the starting line for a long time waiting for something to happen, or b) the start of the race is going to be extremely fast.

If any of you guys ever have any specific questions about this ask, be sure to ask on Wednesday nights or Sunday mornings!  Or, just ask those folks running next to you.  There is a lot of running experience to tap into out there on Sunday mornings... 

See you guys on Sunday!

Mark

Some of you may be enduring a little bit of the winter cold experience.  I am.  I have a home remedy,  (the moment I feel sick, I drink a half gallon of OJ every day until I feel better), but if that doesn't work should I run? There are lots of opinions about running when you are sick, but the reality is that running temporarily suppresses your immune system.  Especially hard running.   Even worse, the only thing that has been scientifically shown to reduce the duration of a cold is rest.   That's unfortunate news for us because all we all know, rest is a bad word for runners.

For those of us addicts, who refuse to take a week off and need our running fix, here is my  rule of thumb: NEVER run with a fever - but other than that, if the cold is in your head, run - if it is in your chest don't.   How accurate is that...who knows;  but if you have a head cold that lingers around for 2 weeks, there is no need to take 2 weeks off of running.  I probably wouldn't do any intense workouts, or races while I was sick - or at least I wouldn't expect them to go very well...but I would still run.

This week we are going back downtown (Run #5), because:

When you're alone and life is making you lonely You can always go - downtown And

When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry Seems to help, I know - downtown

So maybe I'll see you there We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares So go downtown, things'll be great when you're Downtown - don't wait a minute for Downtown - everything's waiting for you

Downtown, downtown, downtown, downtown ...

(Has anyone else actually listened to the words of this song ???)

Rest.  We do not become better runners by running hard - we become better runners by recovering from running hard.  In fact, after you complete a hard workout, you are now a worse runner than you were before you ran.  Have you ever tried to run hard 2 days in a row?  The second day never goes very well.  Why?  Because your body has not adapted from the first hard workout.  Only after you fully recover from a workout do you receive all the benefits of that effort. Rest Days

Younger folks (i.e. 18 year old boys) can follow a hard/easy/hard/easy pattern.  Running hard every other day.  (Note: "Easy" may mean no running at all, a slow 20 minutes or even 90 minutes - just understand that "easy" has different meanings for different runners.)  As you get older, your recovery time slows, and you need more rest.  One hard run, one long run and 2-5 easy runs per week is a conversative pattern for older runners.  A little more aggressive program would be 3 hard runs, 2 long runs and 3-9 easy runs  over a 14 day period.  Either way a good rule of thumb is to have an easy day before and an easy day after a hard run or a long run.

Easy Weeks

During your training cycle, it is a good idea to plan recovery weeks.  This is where you break from the schedule, cut your runs in half, and allow your body to fully recover.  A recovery week should still involve running.  (The only reasons why you would not run at all during one of these weeks, would be if you are nursing an injury or if you just finished your goal race.)  In fact, recovery weeks should also include hard running, it's just that the quantity of your running should plummet.  If you are training hard, you should have a recovery week once every 5-6 weeks.

Next week is a recovery week.  Cut your runs in half - but still do the workout.  For example, if you are currently running 40 miles a week - run 20 miles, but still run the time trial on Tuesday, and next Sunday we will return to Shleby for a hard 3 miles.

This Sunday

This Sunday is not a rest day.  In fact for our last week at Percy Warner park there are two challenges:

First: Chuck Hargrove (the inaugural ENOW), is going to take any intermediate runners on the full 11.2 mile loop.

Second: I will take the advanced runners on the Red/White/Blue challenge - an impressive undertaking. (White trail to Red Trail to Candy Cane trail to Blue trail to Candy Cane to Red to White...)

Of course, if you do not feel nasty enough for these challenges, there will be plenty of folks running the 5.8+ the boulevard, or the red/white trails.

See you on Sunday!

Mark

So I just finished a Running Times article written by a Mazunga (Swahili for "white guy") who trained in Kenya for 3 months.  Besides the obvious fact that Kenya has good runners, and lots of them (the author ran 31:14 in a 10k and finished 200th.  The winner of that race won a bull by the way...);  he made several other observations.   1) They ran on dirt roads almost 100% of the time. 

2) Every run started as a shuffle.  and...

3) (The focus for today) Kenyans almost always trained in groups.     

When Stephanie Pepper was named East Nasty of the Week (ENOW), she said that she ran mostly for the community aspect, saying that it was restorative.  I think that she gets it.  Running in a group spurs you on to faster times, and keep you accountable and motivated, but none of us are going to be professional runners, so that's not the important stuff.  The important stuff is the shared experience of heat, cold, hills, long runs, shin splints, IT band problems, new shoes, faster times, slower times, etc...  The fitness gains are just the icing on the cake.  

If East Nasty is anything - it's welcoming, let's keep it that way.  Introduce yourself to a new face, invite new runners, join folks for a beer afterward or organize your own weekend run and brunch!

See you all on Wednesday for the long Shelby Loop (run #4).

Mark

Just a quick reminder that we are meeting at Percy Warner park tomorrow!  It takes about 25 minutes from the East Side, and there is no bathroom where we meet (there are two port-a-potties in the park - but they are a couple of miles into the run).  So be sure to leave your house with enough time to get there - and take care of business before you leave! Hopefully this will be the last time we need to wear warm clothes, but we will need to wear warm clothes because it is supposed to be chilly tomorrow.  

That's all for today!

Mark

We are to run #3 (posted at the bottom of this page) which is perhaps my personal favorite because I love McEwen - it's such a random street/alley.   Look closely at this run, because it's easy to miss your turn off of Porter onto 20th.  A good landmark is that if you run past the Rosepepper Cantina, turn around, you have gone too far. Hills

It does not take too long to discover that East Nashville is hilly, with the exception of Shelby Bottoms, which could be the only flat place to run in all of Davidson County!  This makes for pretty scenery, but challenging runs and races.  So how do you run hills?

For starters, you will slow down;  and in races, the downhills never "give back" as much as the uphills "take away".  So expect slower times.  (This is one reason why you should never compare your race times from different courses.  The only true analysis of your fitness gains/losses is running the same course in the same weather conditions.)  Also, be patient; hill running recruits some different muscles than running the flats, so if you just moved here from Chicago, and find yourself dying on the hills - give your body some time, your muscles will adapt to the hills.

Hill running is all about keeping the same effort level, and not the same pace.  Unless it's a very very short hill, you should never blast down a hill as fast as possible and carry that momentum up the other side.  When you hit a hill, you want to intentionally slow down at the bottom - don't wait until your body forces you to slow down.  Unless this is the end of a race, never allow your body to go anaerobic - even if that means a competitor passes you up the hill.  Take short quick strides up the hill, and when you get to the top, allow your stride to return to normal length and  get right back on pace.  This is important - if you run up a hill quickly, but under control, you should be able to immediately return to race pace.  Allowing you to fly past that person who surged up the hill and is spending the next 2 minutes trying to recover from that effort!

I'll see you guys on Wednesday.  Remember, there are still a couple of East Nasty shirts.  $25.  Talk to Drew.