Insole replacements for sneakers

In the course of examining the construction of a new pair of sneakers I recently purchased, I was surprised to find the stock insole was easily removed by prying under the heel and lifting it upwards. For some reason, I was under the notion the insoles were glued into the shoe and would require a fair amount of work to remove them. Once removed, the insoles appear to be made of a thin compressed cardboard-like material.

Spenco, Sorbothane, and SofSole are some of the more popular manufacturers of athletic replacement insoles. All of these insole replacements cost somewhere between $20 and $45 on the internet. I opted to purchase a pair of $11.95 Dr. Scholl's Gel Sport replacement insoles at our local Wal-Mart.

Inserting these new insoles into your sneakers is very easy. While the colorful side of the insole is displayed within the packaging while in the store, this side gets placed face down within the shoe. What you see as you look down into your sneakers is a neutral gray color which will match any pair of sneakers.

The male insoles fit any size shoe between sizes 8 and 13. I had to trim mine for a size 11. To trim the insole you merely cut along the appropriate shoe size line on the toe side of the insole (as opposed to the heel side) and discard the excess. The insoles are stamped with left and right indicators as they are not interchangeable.

I will be running the York White Rose five mile run tomorrow in my orange Mizuno Ronin 2's with a new pair of these insoles. While I don't believe I will run any faster with these new insoles, I do hope it will reduce the wear and tear on my feet to a degree and serve to lessen my run recovery time.

Addicted to Running

It has been three weeks to the day since I last raced competitively at the Baron Stiegel mile run in Manheim. I am very anxious to run this Saturday in York for the five mile White Rose run. Months ago I was very concerned about my ability to finish a five mile run without having to resorting to walking for portions of the race. Now I am trying to eclipse eight minutes per mile for five consecutive miles this weekend.

Having raced at about twenty races this year, two runners who race in my age group have surfaced repeatedly this year. Their names are Ray Ricke and Scott Ott. I would regard both runners as midstate elite runners based on their performances in the races I have run with them this year and some of their times posted on the internet. I do not know either runner personally, but will look for them this Saturday as they each have run this race in the past. Both of them will average a six minute and some change mile pace for this race, finishing in about 31 minutes.

I have to make a fair amount of progress before I will be seeing any of them near a finish line at a race soon. However, they do provide a tangible goal marker for where I could be if I were in excellent condition.

I read an article about the York White Rose race where the event has fallen on hard times recently. At one time, the race was drawing entrants numbering in excess of five hundred. Now they are drawing about 250 runners per year. This will be the first year where elite runners from other countries are not going to appear in any substantial numbers. Personally, I am not a fan of having Ethiopians and Kenyans running at our smaller races. I imagine if I were an American elite runner I might welcome the challenge.

I stumbled upon a website named http://www.runningahead.com which logs your training runs. A feature of the website I am attracted to is the automated uploading of training data from my Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch. I was impressed by the sites ability to map and save routes, complete with an elevation change diagram. The map and elevation change for any route can be saved and printed for future reference. One more impressive feature is to search for routes in your area saved by other runners. The site does not reveal the runner who saved the route, just the route map.

White Rose Run Training

I am pleasantly surprised regarding how well my training runs have been lately. I was able to run four and a half miles under 38 minutes yesterday on a training run. My training runs are typically much slower than my race day runs. I have enjoyed a substantial adrenaline boost before races which contributes to my faster race day times. I wonder if over time as I run more races if the adrenaline effect will diminish ?

I need to invoke a 'relax and breathe' mantra for the White Rose five mile race on Saturday. I believe my excess adrenaline and desire to set a personal record for each race contributes to my muscles becoming tense and my breathing becoming heavier than necessary during the run.

I would like to finish the five mile race in under 40 minutes, or less than an eight minute per mile pace. In order to qualify for the Boston marathon someday I need to average an eight minute mile pace for a 26.1 mile qualifying marathon run for my age group band of 45-49. I have been able to run a five kilometer (3.1 mile race) with an average pace under eight minutes per mile. My next challenge is to run five miles in under an eight minute per mile pace average.

Excerpted from http://www.racespider.com/pages/race_detail.asp?EventID=2089

The first York White Rose Run was held in 1976 and has been run on the streets of York City for 32 consecutive years. The race has drawn as many as 600+ runners and has been known to attract a field of elite runners from the local and regional areas including Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York. The USTA certified, five-mile course starts at the 200 block of North George Street, climbs the hills to Farquhar Park and finishes in front of the Sovereign Bank Stadium.

The York White Rose Run is proud to be affiliated with the York Hospital Running Series and is the last of eight series events.

Under new direction of local runners Ryan Myers and Patrick Hickey, this year’s York White Rose Run will be held at 8:30AM on October 31, 2009, rain, or shine. New focus has been given to creating a family fun and community friendly event while increasing exposure of the event to attract runners of all abilities. Awards will be given for both the York White Rose Run and the York Hospital Running Series. This year’s participation goal is to have 400 runners. Since a large number of runners from outside of the York City area will be participating, there is a sense of cooperation with local business to support and benefit from the influx of non-City residents.

The beneficiary of the race is the Early Learning Center at Crispus Attucks. Since its inception in the 1930’s, this mission of the Crispus Attucks Early Learning Center has been to provide the best quality child care in an environment where each child is loved and encouraged to grow physically and academically and to master life skills. The Center offers quality, safe, affordable, and developmentally appropriate child care for children ages four months to twelve years and serves children from diverse ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds.

http://www.yorkwhiteroserun.com/

Competetive Energy Accumulating

There are two races I am interested in running this weekend, the Miles for Smiles 5K in Hershey and the Frost Kerny 10K run in Hamburg Pa. Unfortunately there is a 70% chance of rain for Saturday morning. The temperatures are to be warmer this weekend than last. Fortunately I did not sign up in advance for either of these races.

The Hershey run is but minutes away from my house, but they are charging $25 for a 5K which is most likely a race with minimal accompaniments such as food, beverages, and general ambiance. In addition, T-Shirts are provided to only 75 runners. Finally, they do not post the results of the race anywhere on the internet. A search on the internet for Miles for Smiles runs returns dozens of races throughout the country, none of them in Hershey Pa.

The Frosty Kerney is an hour trip each way and I would be facing a fifty plus minute run in the rain. Even if it were a light drizzle, over the course of fifty minutes I imagine I would be drenched at the conclusion of the race.

I have signed up for the York White Rose Five Mile run next Saturday at Sovereign Bank stadium. This is a major running event for this area as runners from other countries participate in this event. I am not sure why because the prize money awards, five of them by gender, ten in total, range from $250 for first place to $50 for fifth place. It is the 32nd annual running of this race.

I researched the elevation changes of the course on http://www.gmap-pedometer.com. It appears there is a substantial climb between mile marker one and two. The remainder of the course is level.

This is a larger race, with a field typically ranging between two hundred and six hundred runners. I will run this race regardless of the weather next Saturday because it is a high profile and very competitive race. I am also in a great position to set a new personal record for the five mile. The last time I ran a five mile race was on July 11th.

Note: I recorded my 400th mile of running yesterday for this year on my Garmin Connect website I use to record my workouts from my Forerunner 305 GPS watch. I have actually run a few miles more which were not logged because the watch ran out of a charge while running several times.

Excellent Training Runs

My last couple of training runs have been as effortless as I have experienced this year. I believe the basis for this is the cooler temperatures and low humidity. Being injury free for the first time in a month and a half also helps the miles go by a little quicker.

One noticeable element of my running which has improved appreciably in the last two races has been my ability to pace myself throughout the race. By conserving some energy in the first segment of a race, I am opening the door for strong finishes. As a result of my improved personal energy store management, my times have markedly improved.

The Frosty Kerny 10K in Hamburg PA was postponed until this Saturday October 24th due to the cold, windy and rainy conditions last Saturday. While the temperatures for this Saturday are forecasted to be in the 50's, they are calling for rain again on Saturday. My personal record for a 10K is 59:34. This is a terrible time. The MacMillan running web site suggests I should be running a sub 50 minute 10K given my recent 5K performances. In order to do this I would have to average 8 minute miles for the 6.2 miles which constitute a ten kilometer run.

Wintry Weather is Here

It appears the weather this weekend will be cold, windy and rainy. Definitely not a great concoction for a run. As a result, I will not be running any races this weekend.

There is a race next weekend in Hershey, on the medical center grounds. It's on Saturday October 24th at 9:30 am. It's called Miles for Smiles and benefits a non-profit organization called Operation Smile.

I had run a race at the Hershey Medical Center at the end of May on a course layout which was all hills. It was uphill for half the route and then back downhill for the finish. I was not very fond of the layout, i.e., it was not conducive to achieving a new personal record.

The Miles for Smiles course layout is entirely different. Whereas the May race used a road adjacent to the medical center campus, this race is run exclusively on campus. It is a much more level course.

There is also a race On Saturday October 31st in York, PA which intrigues me. It's the York White Rose Run Five Mile race. It's an extremely competitive event with runners from Kenya and Ethiopa winning the event for the last decade.

Running in October

Now that October has arrived, the weather will be playing an increasingly larger role in determining when and how much I train this month. The hours of light in a day are rapidly diminishing and the temperatures are falling into the 40's. When the weather is sunny and in the 50's, the the conditions are great for running. Add in a scenic route with the leaves changing, and you could argue this is the best time of the year for running outdoors.

There are two races I am interested in running this weekend. There is a Polar Bear 5K in Dillsburg and a 10K called Frosty Kerney in Hamburg. Both of these towns are in Pennsylvania. I am leaning toward the Frosty Kerney race because I would like to record a 10K time better than my current fifty-nine minute and change personal record. The weather for this weekend has been forecasted to be very cold and rainy. I have no desire to run either one of these races in a cold rain.

Note: The Frosty Kerney was postponed until Saturday October 24th due to the inclement weather.

I have run for a total of seven miles in the last two days. It has been easier to breathe with the temperatures in the 50's. It's slightly chilly, but I feel like my lungs are working more efficiently in this colder weather.

End of Running Season

For the first time in about six months I am not registered to run any races. While there are races this weekend, my family and I are going away for a much needed rest & relation trip. My youngest son's birthday party is scheduled for next weekend. The next available date for a race is the weekend of October 24th and 25th.

I have applied for a seasonal part time job at a warehouse in Harrisburg in order to help pay down some debt incurred this year and to save money for Christmas. If hired, the job will run from the end of October through the end of January.

I am still limping from Wednesday's race, so I can use this time to recuperate.

Steigel One Mile Run results

Going into this run on Wednesday night I had both a touch of the flu and a shin-splint pain in my right leg which was still bothersome. The rain from early morning had ceased but the winds were still strong in the evening. The temperature was about 60 degrees. The strong winds made the temperature feel slightly colder.

Manheim is a short commute, only 35 minutes from home. I was able to find the registration area quickly once in Manheim. It was at a car wash on Rt 72. I was pre-registered for this race so I picked up my goodie bag and promptly headed for my car. I needed to walk the mile to the beginning of the race, which when walking, takes me about 20 to 25 minutes to traverse.

The town has a parade which coincides with this run. Its called a Farm Show parade. As I am walking back the race route I noticed there are dozens upons dozens of lawn chairs lining both sides of the road. I also noticed I will be running downhill for the last half mile of the race.

I made a turn onto High street, located at the square in Manheim and kept walking. And walking. It seemed like we were running much longer than a mile, but the course actually measured out to be very accurate. My watch beeped with my last split for a mile about six feet after I passed the finish line. Ironically, the race also began at a car wash. The Manheim area is home to a very large auto auction facility so its stands to reason there are more car wash businesses than usual in this area.

When you add the five gender-aged banded heats together you probably had in the vicinity of 150 runners in total. I was running in a male over aged 40 heat, the fourth of five heats for the evening and was scheduled to go off at 6:38 pm.

Most of the time the runners in a race are a normal lot. There was one runner in the race who was cast from a different mold. The man was in his late 50' s or early 60's and was only wearing short shorts, sneakers, and a clear plastic poncho to break the wind. There comes a time in everyone's life when you need to cover up in public.

My heat probably only consisted of twenty to twenty five men. It is a little awkward waiting for the race to begin. You don't know anyone and you are in a competition. I would classify myself as a recreational runner, and was among some very good athletes. It's a testament to good health for anyone individual over 40 running a mile sprint.

I had set up my watch to display my splits at quarter mile intervals. It was very dark during the race and as a result I did not review any of my watch split times during the race. There was a split clock on the course at the half mile point. I hit the clock at 3 minutes and 10 seconds. This was a good split, as I had purposely held back the first half mile in order to conserve energy for the last half mile.

At about the 3/4 mile mark, right in front of the town's fire station, a muscle in my right calf popped. I had to alter my stride quickly to minimize the pain. I had been running at a great pace until this time. As I am running now, I hear a man gasping and gasping for air coming up behind me.

Typically when you hear someone gasping for air, they are in bad straits and in the midst of falling back in the pack. This gentleman was gaining on me as I could hear his gasps become increasingly louder. I never turned around, because it was no concern who was behind me nor would I have known the man had I looked.

As it turns out, the man scared me into running a very fast last quarter mile. I pretended I was being chased and ran as fast as I could to avoid being caught. The ruse worked as I sailed through the finish line sprinting.

My finishing time was in the range of 6:25 to 6:30. I am still awaiting official confirmation. I was very pleased with the outcome as I had beat my 6 minutes and 30 seconds goal. I was disappointed because I was injured again.

As soon as I got home I iced my right calf for nearly an hour.

I called the Manheim Central Recreational organization at 717 664-7506. The results of all the races are to be posted on Monday October 12th on http://www.mcrec.org

Here are the results of the male aged 40-49 group ...

Ricke	Ray	48	M	05:42.9
Nissley	Rod	44	M	05:55.5
Winters	David	48	M	05:59.7
Howe	Tom	43	M	06:13.0
Evans	Jeff	46	M	06:26.5
Germer	John	41	M	06:36.1
Tarallo	Paul	48	M	06:47.5
Bucher	Alan	42	M	06:53.4
Eshleman	Nathan	44	M	07:06.4
Grimm	Joe	49	M	07:21.8

Excerpted from the race website ...

The first heat time will start @ 6:15 and the race start location will be at “Molly’s” Convenience store on the east edge of town at the corner of Doe Run Road and White Oak Road (35 Doe Run Road) The finish line will remain the same as before at Graybill’s Manheim Car Wash @ 240 South Main Street. The race route will run west on East High St. to the town square and then turn south onto South Main St. (Route 72) and continue south on Main St. to the finish line.

Stiegel One Mile Run in Manheim

I am looking forward to running this race tomorrow evening in Manheim. I used to be a sprinter in high school and feel more comfortable running shorter length races. With the longer races, i am usually anxious regarding whether I have trained sufficiently for them. I know I have a mile of energy within myself.

It is supposed to rain tomorrow, but it should clear before this evening race. With the sun setting around 6:00pm, I will most likely be running under the street lights. My only concern at this point is it is supposed to be windy. Fortunately this course is an L - shaped course covering two streets. The wind should only be a factor on one of the two streets.

Here are one mile excerpts from some of my recent races.

Oct 03rd - Ran a 3:34 half mile and a 7:21 mile on first mile of a 5K race
Sep 26th - Ran a 3:16 half mile and 6:43 mile on first mile of a two mile race
Sep 20th - Ran a 3:20 half mile and 7:05 mile on first mile of a 5K race

At the Paxton Fest 2 mile run I was able to run the first mile in 6:43. I would like
t0 finish this race at about 6:28. I will set up my Garmin Forerunner watch to give me quarter-mile splits.

My magic split number will be 1:37. If I hit four 1:37 splits, I will achieve my 6 minutes a 28 seconds mile goal.

My current personal record for a mile is 6:54, from the Miller's Mutual mile on July 15th in Harrisburg.

My splits from the Miller's Mutual mile were
1/4 mile : 1:32
1/2 mile: 1:44
3/4 mile: 1:49
1 mile: 1:49 (total of 6:54)

Note:All times are from my Garmin Forerunner watch, as opposed to any course timings.

Fall Down on the Trail 5K results

I woke up Saturday morning about 6:00 am. I still had a touch of the flu. I had run three miles on Friday and did not feel the flu had impacted me to any great degree. I was relieved to not be suffering from any major muscle pulls or strains for the first time in several weeks. I had a small tinge of shin splint pain, but the pain was mild in comparison to what I had been enduring for weeks.

Newville is a small town about twenty minutes west of Carlisle Pa. It took me about an hour and fifteen minutes to arrive at the race location at the rails to trails site. This race was a smaller one, consisting of about 70-80 entrants, with a few of them sporting Shippensburg University apparel.

The weather was sunny with the temperature at race time in the upper 50's. Nearly 3/4's of the race trail was in the shade. This was an out and back race, i.e., you return on the same route you began.

I was initially impressed with the registration table containing two laptops and a couple of bar code scanners to facilitate the registration amd results posting processes. The high tech command center lost its luster at the end of the race when the finisher's times were scrambled. The order of the runners allegedly was accurate, only the times were inaccurate. Runners were told to count up four spots to determine your time. Fortunately, I wore my Garmin Forerunner watch and was able to record an accurate 5k time.

I began the race at an easy pace. I had decided before the race to relax as much as possible and remain loose as I ran. I believe I had a tendency to become very tense as I ran in the past. I wanted to focus on my breathing and maintaining a relaxed pace.

I had my watch set up to give me splits on the half mile. In order to establish a PR, I needed to run 3:47 half mile splits. This translates to averaging 7:34 minutes per mile.

The first mile was a slight uphill grade. I ran the first mile in 7:19 and as a result knew I had some time to spare for later in the race in terms of establishing a PR. In essence, I had fifteen seconds to spare for mile two. I could run a 7:49 and still be on track to set a PR.

The second mile was initially uphill, followed by the turnaround, and finishing with a downhill grade. I ran the second mile in exactly 7:34. My concern at the end of the second mile was how much energy I had remaining in the tank. Up to this point I had remained relaxed and was running my race. There were runners ahead of me, but I maintained my predetermined pace.

The last mile was a gradual downhill. My typical third mile of a 5K is marked by running out of gas and having a half dozen runners pass me. For this race I was able to catch one man in the last mile and maintain my pace until the end of the run. I ran the last mile in 7:32. I was able to maintain my pace until the finish line. While I would not regard my last 100 yards as a finishing 'kick', I did not slow down.

My time as recorded by my Garmin Forerunner for 5K (3.1 miles) was 23 minutes and 11 seconds, a new personal record. This averages to a 7:28 per mile pace or a 3:44 per half mile split. Per the official results posted on http://cvrtc.org, I finished 15th out of 68 runners.

I was proud of my performance because I ran my race without regard for what others were doing around myself. I was able to maintain a personal pacing discipline which resulted in my best 5K time of the year.

To Run Or Not To Run

I know I have a mild case of the flu but I am really anxious to run a race. There are several races this weekend. There is a night race tomorrow in Lewisburg and Saturday morning there are three races. One run is in Lebanon and is called Levi's 5K Run @ 9:00am. Another is in Northumberland called Pineknotter 5K Fall Fudge Run at the same time. In a town called Newville in Cumberland County there is a Fall Down on the Trail 5K Race & Hike at 9:00 am also. The Friday race is a road race while all of the Saturday runs are trail runs.

If I approach a race this weekend as a training run, maybe I will run a better race. When I say better, I mean a more evenly distributed pace per mile race. I often run too quickly at the onset of a race, only to limp across the finish line at the end.

I may go for a short run today to see how well I do or do not feel.