Post Run Nirvana - Chocolate Milk

As you run glycogen is being burned from your muscles.  Glycogen is stored in our muscles. Drinking chocolate milk within fifteen minutes after a run helps to replace the depleted glycogen levels in our muscles.

The fifteen minutes after a run is widely regarded as the time in which the absorption of glycogen by the muscles is most optimal. The reason for this is the blood flow to the muscles is very high and the enzymes that produce glycogen are most active.

Why is it so important to replace the glycogen levels in our muscles ?  In a nutshell, it reduces the fatigue we feel after a run. Less fatigue translates into a quicker run recovery time. Replenishing your glycogen levels also serves to reduce the risk of injury.

I have been drinking chocolate milk on a a post run recovery basis for months and I am a firm believer it serves to help repair your muscles in preparation for the next day's training.  I ran six miles last night at a sub eight minute mile pace (fast for me) and then drank a pint of chocolate milk.  I awoke this morning with very little soreness.

There's a caveat to drinking chocolate milk on  a post-run  recovery basis.  You have to consume an amount proportional to your workout length.  If your workout is less than 45 minutes you run the risk of drinking more calories of chocolate milk than you expended during your workout. This could result in the unintended effect of weight gain.

Note: Re-hydration is more important within a post run process than glycogen replacement.  You should drink Gatorade / Powerade to replenish your fluid levels, not chocolate milk.

Interesting Heart Fact

Have you ever wondered why, as your fitness improves, your resting heart rate lowers?

It's because, as you gain fitness, the strength of your heart improves and your left ventricle is able to pump a greater volume of blood with each beat. As a result, less beats are needed to keep you going during normal activity.

My resting hear rate is in the 50's - although my blood pressure is still in the 150s / 90s range. Not sure how that happens.

Friends of Palmyra 5K Results

I woke up around 6:30 am and made myself eggs and toast for this race, a departure from my normal cereal and milk pre-race diet.  As this race was about two or three miles away from my house, I only had a five minute commute for this 8:00 am race.

I felt very groggy and decided to go to the local Redner's grocery store to get a Mountain Dew soft drink in an effort to ingest a fair amount of caffeine quickly. I could not find a cold Mountain Dew and opted instead to drink an energy drink named Amp.  This was the first race I had ever tried an energy drink before the race.  I've talked to runners who like the energy drink Red Bull before a race.  My primary motivation for the drink was to wake myself via a caffeinated drink.

I arrived at the race start / finish area about 7:15 am.  This was going to be a small town race with a modest number of racers.  I had registered for this race on Friday June  25th and at that time they had 88 runners registered.  124 runners eventually registered and finished the race.

I saw my new running friend Jarrod Kulp and we began talking about the race.  We've both been running for long enough to be able to recognize other runners who we will compete against within our age bracket..  Neither of us saw anyone we knew from previous races this year.

There were only four or five runners who looked like they were college aged or younger who congregated at the front of the starting line. In contrast to most races, no one wanted to start this race on the front row. The race began at 8:03 and I ran with Jarrod for the first quarter mile before he left me in his wake. My only pre-race thought was to run the first quarter mile in a moderate pace.  While I was running with Jarrod I felt as though I was running at a sustainable pace.  Turns out I finished the first quarter mile at a 6:20 pace, a pace sustainable by Jarrod (who finished the race at a 6:30 / mile pace) but not personally sustainable  My overall personal best pace for a 5K is 6:59 / mile.

Because I was very familiar with the course, I expended no mental faculties wondering where the next turn or hill would be. As a result I was entirely focused upon traversing each quarter mile segment of this course as fast as possible.  I finished the first mile in 6:43, the second mile in 7:01 and the last mile in 7:18.  I had the best finish for the least tenth of a mile I have ever run at 38 seconds.  Add this all up and you get a 21:40 5K race time.  I was hoping to finish under 22 minutes, so this time was a pleasant surprise.

As I was approaching the turn to the finish line I overheard someone saying something to effect 'That's Jeff running there !' Not wanting to embarrass myself I worked a little harder toward a fast finish.  After I finished I went back to the corner to find Nancy Stamm, a very good friend of my mother.  She was with her daughter Kelly, son-in-law Walt Grudi and granddaughter Karlee. It was nice meeting them.  Karlee is an aspiring cross country runner.

I finished thirteenth in this race, my best overall finish ever. Unfortunately there were four gentleman aged 40-49 who finished among the twelve runners ahead of myself. The 40-49 age bracket is a very competitive bracket, if not the most competitive bracket.

I am finished with 5K races until the end of August at the Tim Russell Memorial run in Hershey Pa. At that time I will try to set my final 5K personal record for the 2010 calendar year

My next race will be the Miller's Mutual Mile in Harrisburg on Wednesday July 21st.  My current personal record for the mile is five minutes and fifty-seven seconds (5:57).  My goals for this race are to run a 5:45 mile and finish in the top twelve in my age band, 45-49.

http://www.evansnsons.com/RunResults.aspx

William F Foran Colon Cancer Prevention 5K - My experience

I arrived about an hour early for this race.  I do not go into City Island very often.  Not because it's not a fun place, it's more due to family budgetary constraints.  Anyhow, the morning was a warm one and the temperatures were rising.  This was billed as a large race and the number of cars in the parking lot outside of the baseball stadium reflected the large number of participants expected.

The registration / packet pick up was in an outdoor assembly room and was well organized.  On the way to pick up my race packet I had noticed the race bibs contained nothing but a number upon them.  For someone who collects and proudly displays their race bibs, the bib selected for this race was a disappointment. In fairness, the race employed RFID timing cards which contained holes to thread your shoelace through.  These cost of renting these cards probably warranted the cheaper race bib selection.

As I had suspected, the race was not run on roads but instead on the trail adjacent to the river.  I find it more fun to run on a road, but running on the trail had no impact on the speed of the race.

For the second consecutive race I did not feel especially energetic in the morning.  I didn't have a burning desire to blaze any trails.  At times I felt like I just wanted to go back to bed.

The race began on time at 8:30 AM  The beginning (and ending) of the race consisted of running upon the Walnut street bridge.  This bridge is closed to vehicular traffic and used as a walkway to City Island.  The surface of the bridge is made of steel or iron grating where you can see through the lattice of metal down into the Susquehanna river below.  Fortunately the bridge was not wet.

Aside of the 270 degree spiral loop hill and the 180 degree turnaround point the course was a fast one. I officially finished at 22:04 - my Garmin GPS watch recorded the course a little long at 3.15 miles.  (instead of 3.1.)
My time at the 3.1 mile mark was 21:58 - some eighteen seconds shy of my personal record.

Race	Mile 1	Mile 2	Mile 3	Last Tenth	Total
Lebanon VA	6:37	7:08	7:17	0:38	21:40
Hbg CC Prev	6:48	7:09	7:19	0:42	21:58

I would attribute about a quarter of the performance degradation to myself not performing as well and the remaining three quarters to the Harrisburg Colon Cancer Prevention 5K being a tougher course than the Lebanon VA course.

I have to admit I was initially slightly depressed finishing the race with a time over 22 minutes.  I had hoped for another personal record effort.  I can't be upset with my time.  It's the second best 5K time I have ever run.

After the race there was a lottery for door prizes and I won a colander filled with spaghetti sauce and noodles. I also had the opportunity to meet Jarrod Kulp an elite master's runner from Palmyra and talk to my old high school friend John Webber.  I admire John for taking up running this year and working hard to get better each week. It takes a lot of intestinal fortitude to begin and persevere at running. It's very easy to become disenfranchised and quit.

Palmyra Friends 5K - Pre Race Thoughts

The town of Palmyra is celebrating it's 250th anniversary this year and as part of the year long celebration the town is sponsoring a 5K run.  The course takes place near Reigles' airport on the south side of town.  I ran this course last year in May and finished in 25:41 in my second race of my running career.

Because this course is roughly two miles away from my home, I have practiced running this course twice this week in preparation for this race. This course is not a personal record course. It is an out and back course. In short, you run one mile to a development named Olde Stone Way, then run a one mile loop through the development, and then return on the same one mile stretch you arrived from.

As the graph above shows the race starts out with a slight uphill ascent for the first quarter mile of the race,  The flip side is the race ends on a gradual descent. You arrive at the development at the one mile mark. Aside of the first hill at the beginning of the first mile, the first mile is a fast one.

The second mile is run through the development. The first half of the second mile is uphill while the second half is downhill.  Coming off the downhill of the second mile you will arive at the toughest part of the course.

You are exiting the development at the beginning of the third mile.  You then must ascend over a half mile long upward hill at a time in the race where you are going to be trying to conserve energy for a strong finish.  This is the 'make or brake' section of the course. If you have not trained adequately or paced yourself properly you will find it difficult to finish the last half mile with any amount of speed.

The last half mile (of the 3rd mile) is very fast if you have any energy to expend.  The third mile will be the slowest mile for most runners, which is not atypical.  In this case the course will make it difficult to have a fast third mile.

The last tenth of a mile is very steep uphill climb. (see the graph above).  The hill eradicates most of the speed you accumulate until this point.

Cold Turkey Taper

Taper, as used within the running community, represents a decrease in training intensity within the days preceding a race.  The prevailing sentiment is you do not want to train so intensely you have depleted your energy reserves for race day. I have adopted a two day no running taper approach.

Many years ago when I had time to play video games, I recall a fair amount of games contained some variant of an energy level indicator.  If you were accosted by some menacing character and incurred bodily harm, your energy level or meter was depleted.  In order to restore your energy levels to a healthy state you had to either rest or avert any further physical punishment.

There is no escaping the fact running takes a toll on your body. The recuperative or recovery phase immediately following a workout is extremely import in maintaining your ability to train on a regular basis over the long term. If you do not allow ample time for your body to recover from your workouts, you greatly increase the risk of injury.  In addition, because your energy meter never resets back to 100%, your training performances will deteriorate.

I am not sure if my self imposed two days of rests helps or hurts me on race day, but I at least eliminate the excuse I was tired as an alibi for a poor race day performance.   (This course has two turnarounds or places where you need to stop in the direction you were running and go the opposite direction.  Should only add a couple of seconds to my finishing time.)

William Foran Colon Cancer Prevention 5K - Pre Race Thoughts

I am only a week and a half removed from my last race, the PA DUI Association's 10K in Harrisburg.  The results for this race were recently posted.  I missed earning a third place medal by thirty five seconds.  I was fourth in my age group. I have come a long way from merely trying to finish races last year.

Ironically, the Colon Cancer Prevention 5K course uses much of the same route as the PA DUI Association's 10K.  The temperatures will be similar, as Saturday has been forecasted to be hot and humid.  This race begins a half hour earlier than the 10K - it is scheduled to begin at 8:30 am.

This course will be relatively flat  although there will be a short steep hill or two to contend with.  These hills will only be about 50 to 75 yards long combined.  I am slightly concerned about course congestion.  Using last years results as a barometer, this race will have over four hundred entrants.  I would like to finish in the top forty or fifty runners.

I don't believe I can run much faster than my 21:37 personal record from just three weeks ago.  I think it is reasonable to expect a 21:25 or about a twelve second gain over this short time frame.  Since there are twelve quarter miles and one tenth of a mile split in a five kilometer race (equivalent to 3.1 miles), I will  need to record  each quarter mile one second faster for this race to match my 21 minute 25 second goal.  Sounds like a fairly easy thing to do, but it will become progressively more difficult to lower my personal records as I become more fit.

My quarter mile splits will need to average 1 minute and 43 seconds to achieve this goal. That averages to 6 minutes and 54 seconds per mile  for 3.1 miles.  Last July at the Millers Mutual  Mile I was only able to record a 6:54 time for the MM one mile race .  Now I am trying to run at that speed for 3.1 miles.  I am grateful for how well my body has responded to exercising.

Colon Cancer Prevention 5k Run & Fun Walk

I had no aspirations of running another race this month but the Colon Cancer Prevention 5k Run on City Island within Harrisburg appears to be a large production with many amenities.  Last year there were over 400 runners who finished the race.

This race will feature chip timing provided by a company.named Applied Race Management Solutions.  This should allow for a very fast race results turnaround.  (In contrast,  the results for the PA DUI Association 10K race I ran last Saturday have not been posted nearly one week later.)  If you look at the Applied Race Management Solutions website, they have no race results posted. I hope everything goes well if this is the first race this company will be managing.  http://www.appliedracemgmt.com/results.html

All pre-registered runners will receive a 'Run Strong' medallion, pictured above.

excerpted from the web page http://live.psu.edu/story/40069

This race is dedicated to Palmyra resident and competitive runner William F. Foran, who lost his battle with colon cancer. Money raised will support colorectal cancer prevention, testing and counseling at the Medical Center.

Judging from the race results from last year, if I run anywhere near my 5K personal record of 21:37 I will again fall shy of finishing in the money (i.e. getting a medal)  at this race. At this point, I have not found the race route published anywhere.  Since this is the fourth year that this race has been run, there should be a race layout available online somewhere.

How much better can I run a 5K in just three weeks of training since my last race of the same distance?  I would like to equal the 21:37 time I ran three weeks ago.  Prior to that run my personal best was 22:48.  I have only run a sub 22 minute 5K race once. The course is touted as a flat course.  Hopefully the course will be conducive to a new personal record.

Spring Chicken

This past Saturday I was talking to another runner after the PA DUI Association 10K race about running in general. One concern I had was how much, if any, water or fluids should you consume for a race of ten kilometers. There were two water stops for this race, and I only took water at the second water stop. He recommended taking water at each water stop to avoid dehydration.

I mentioned I had only started running last year and had set a new personal 10K (=6.2 miles)  record at the PA DUI Assn race. Most runners fall into two categories, those who have been running since they were in high school and those who have recently become runners. My frustration with becoming good enough to win a medal at a race is I am competing against former high school and college track and field standouts.

If a person has been running since high school, he or she is keenly aware of how much slower they have become over the years. An older veteran runner would have to classify their personal race records into pre-Master (40 years old) and post Master's time frames in order to maintain their competitive edge or desires.

The interesting perspective, which emanated from a veteran runner, was I had an advantage as a relative running newbie at my age because I had fresh legs. I  have not accumulated the stresses associated with hundreds of training and racing miles upon my legs.  I am a year or two or three away from reaching the apex of my running abilities. In this case,  being a running spring chicken  may be beneficial in both the short and long term.

Home Made Race Results web page

There are two web sites where I routinely check for race results. One is the Pretzel City Sports website and the other is Run the Day. Run the Day is comprised of races primarily in the Philadelphia area. I decided to create a web page to catalog selected races to determine the competitive level of the entire field.

I segmented the runners into pace per miles and gender. I color coded the race results by gender with the men display with a blue background and the women with a pink background. The URL is http://www.evansnsons.com/RunResults.aspx

If anyone would like to see a specific race listed on this page, feel free to email me at jeffevans@comcast.net

PA DUI Association 10K Results

My commute for this race was a relative short one, as Harrisburg is only a thirty minute drive.   This was enough time to consume some liquids, eat an energy bar and rid myself of some early  morning cob webs. Saturday morning was very humid with the temperatures in the 70's.  In spite of resting for two days prior to this race, I did not feel particularly energetic as I reached the PA DUI Association building on Front Street, adjacent to the Susquehanna river.

Everything was well organized.  I picked up my race bib, #229.  I often try to attribute some significance to my bib no, but I was drawing a blank on the 229.  I once had planned to run a 4:48 minute pace per kilometer for a race and then drew the bib number 448.   I collect my race bibs so I was glad to see the organizers had customized race bibs.  Many times race organizers buy the generic Runner's World bibs in an effort to limit expenses.  I believe if you had unique and creative bibs made for a race you would find a small contingency of people entering the race in an effort to collect the race bib.

There was a light crowd for this race, I believe about 100 runners.  Hershey's Balloon Chaser 5K was also being run on Saturday.  This race was run entirely on a trail adjacent to the Susquehanna river.  Since the path was only about eight feet wide, the starting line was very congested.

The starter began the race with vocal Runners Set' and then 'Go' commands. I cringe when a real starter's pistol is used to begin a race because the shot results in both scaring myself and being temporarily deafened. I started near the front of the pack. I purposely held back in the first quarter mile because I knew I had a habit of starting races too quickly. I did not want to exhaust myself too early within a 6.2 mile (10K) race. Much to my surprise I knew there were not many runners ahead of myself throughout the race. I had mentally prepared to finish about 60th.I knew there were not 59 runners ahead of me for a majority of the race.I was motivated to not falter at the end and lose my potential medalist caliber position.

As fate would have it, the sun emerged and the humidity climbed throughout the race. I felt very good for the first four miles and hung on for the last two miles. I unofficially finished in 46:07. I was very proud of my effort until someone mentioned the course was short by over a quarter of a mile.  I glanced at my GPS watch and it read 5.92 miles. Convert this time to 6.2 miles and my 10K time was 48:18. I had wanted to finish in 47:40, but I will attribute the deferential to the heat and humidity.

I finished in 19th place, once again just a position or two shy of garnering a medal for my age group.

After the race I met a gentleman named Dave McSherry. He will be also be running in Maine at the Beach to Beacon 10K race in August.

Here are my beginning of the summer benchmarks or personal records;
1 mile - 5:57, 5K - 21:37, and 10K - 48:18.

My next race is the Millers Mutual Mile in Harrisburg on Wednesday July 21st.  It will be amazing if I can finish the mile in 5:45.  I am not going to become laser focused on a mile time.  Wherever my training takes me by then is where I'll be.  I  have to remember to keep the training fun to prevent this regimen from becoming laborious.


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PA DUI Association 10K

I have completed my training this week for my beginning of the summer benchmark 10K run on Saturday. It has been my experience ten kilometer runs primarily consist of veteran runners.  Last year there were about 120 runners participating in this event. Of those runners,  sixty of them were men.  There were only nine men who ran a nine minute per mile pace or slower. Using last year's results as the barometer, I should place about 60th in this race.

I am anxious to run this race because I enjoy running along the Susquehanna river. I believe this will be a trail run along the river as opposed to a road run on Front Street, the street which parallels the river. I am under the impression this is a very flat course.  I am concerned the temperatures may be in the 70's at 9:00 am on Saturday. I will be well rested, having completed no running on the two days prior to the race.  I should have fresh legs.


I would like to hit a 1 minute 55 second split for each quarter mile.  This would yield  a 10K time of about 47 minutes and 40 seconds.  (My mile pace would average about 7:40. ) This is a very aggressive split.  My current personal 10K record is 51:44, which averages about 8:20 per mile.

In order to eventually qualify for the Boston Marathon, I need to average an eight minute per mile pace for twenty-six miles.  I would like to eclipse an eight minute per mile pace for this 6.2 mile run.  My next goal would then be to run a ten mile run in less than an eight minute per mile pace. I don't have any aspirations of qualifying for Boston this year.. Next year I may be in good enough shape to attempt to run a competitive marathon.

Shattered (Shoop, Sha Doo Bee)

Echoes of the 1978 Rolling Stones song, Shattered, from the Some Girls album, could be heard this weekend ringing through my head.  I obliterated my five kilometer personal record of 22 minutes and 48 seconds on Saturday at the 23rd Annual Lebanon VA 5K memorial run.  I finished (unofficially) at 21 minutes and 38 seconds.  The official results have not been posted at http://www.va5k.com/

I was concerned the race route may have been less than five kolimeters (=3.1 miles) but my Garmin GPS watch recorded the race at an exact 3.1 miles.  (I have run 5K's where the actual distance ranged from 3.0 to 3.25 miles.) 

This was one of the best races I have attended to date.  The course was very fair.  It was well organized.  I believe there were dozens of door prizes handed out.  Overall, a great community event.

For the umpteenth consecutive race, I came out of the blocks too fast.  I ran the first quarter mile in 1 minute 28 seconds, a sub six minute per mile pace. Once I read my first split from my Garmin, I adjusted my pace accordingly.

My mile splits were 6:37, 7:11, and 7:13.  I finished the last tenth of a mile at a 6:46 pace.  I wouldn't say I had a strong finish at the end, but I did not crash and burn.  This run has served to boost my confidence in my training and henceforth in my running capabilities.

I typically do not wait for the awards to be presented after a race because my times are not medalist material.  However, this race awarded medals to the first eight finishers in my 40-49 age group.  To my astonishment, my 54th place finish was not good enough to garnish a top eight medal in my age band.

I met a friend from high school at this race. He just began running this year to get back in shape.  I was proud to see him out running and living life.  I did empathize with him.  He had just begun his trek on the comeback trail.  In the beginning, your mind wants you to be further along than your body permits.  It's easy to get disappointed with yourself.  However with both patience and perseverance, he will get to where he wants to be.