Too Aggressive!

I had big dreams last week. It was a vacation week from school and I wanted to up my running mileage, so I came up with a plan to do so. I ended the previous week with two nice 8 mile runs on Saturday and Sunday. They were my two fastest times since my hip operation and they felt pretty good, so I thought that I would be capable of keep doing 8 mile runs for 7 straight days to get to 56 miles total over those days by Friday. I figured I would take Saturday off and then run the final Freeze Your Buns race, It was a great plan and I was really into it. I guess I was too much into it. Mondays run was a bit slower, but my hip was getting sore and I was losing my stride. That was OK, so I did the same run on Tuesday. This time I had lost more of my stride and my glutes got really tight. Too tight. It was then that I got smart and stopped running. The only other run I did all week was Sundays Freeze Your Buns. I was happy to go a wee bit faster than two weeks earlier and I noticed how much my breathing and endurance has improved over the 5 bi-weekly races. I do have a long way to go however, but I am learning to back off and not try to do too much as aggrevating as that is!

Monday: 8 miles
Tuesday: 8 miles
Sunday: 3.2miles Freeze Your Buns 5K 22:42
Total miles 19 miles

Here is this weeks edition of "Running the Show" and highlights include Haile Gebresalasie's bid to make the Ethiopian Olympic team at the Tokyo Marathon as well as the Lake Biwa Marathon in Japan. Both of these races were important for selecting runners for the Japanese Olympic team

"Run to Overcome" by Meb Keflezighi

I enjoyed reading Meb Keflizghi's biography Run to Overcome: The Inspiring Story of an American Champion's Long-Distance Quest to Achieve a Big Dream. Since getting a Kindlefor Christmas I have been reading up a storm, but I didn't have a Kindle version of this book, I had a hardcover copy so I had to put down the kindle and start turning pages again. This book is written in a pretty straightforward way and you feel as if Meb is talking to you as you read. I was caught up in finishing the story and it took just two nights of reading. While I am familiar with Meb as a runner, this book tells you more about his heart.

It is takes you through his life: born in war torn Eritrea, through his father making his way to Italy so his family could later follow. Then the trip to California where Meb and his siblings excelled in school and sports through hard work and determination. I knew all about his running accomplishments, but it was good to read about the people and circumstances that helped make him a champion. The book covers a lot of ground, but there were few surprises or dramatic narratives as the story winds its ways through Meb's life and running career. It does highlight his relationship with Ryan Shay, the American marathoner who died in the first miles of the American Olympic Marathon trials and Meb's major hip problems and recovery after that race.

It is a positive story that leaves you uplifted about how family, values, faith, and hard work can pull people to the pinnacle of success and then to the very top. I would have wished to learn more of his life in Eritrea. Meb puts a positive spin on many things and I don't feel like the hardships were portrayed fully. I think my favorite chapter was the one chronicling the courtship of Meb and his wife. Meb is a pretty steadfast guy and if his courtship seems old-school and outdated then I think it should be assigned reading to young people if they want to find the key elements of what makes a successful marriage relationship. The chapter reminded me about the section in the wonderful Disney biopic Endurancewhere Haile Gebrsellasie goes on his first date with his future wife (both are acting as themselves in the movie) and they hardly know how to start talking with each other, but they are obviously in awe over the other person.

Meb proves in his book, life, and running that his is a person of strong character and convictions. I met Meb at the Falmouth Road Race this year and appreciated the short conversation I had with him. I admired the fact that he willingly shared and let fans touch his Olympic silver medal as well as his gold medal for the 2009 New York City Marathon. I was surprised at the race (Meb did not run due to illness) when after finished, a friendly face appeared at the finish line with extended hand offering congratulations. Meb was greeting the runners as soon as they finished.

Meb's website is called Run to Overcome. You can find more information on Meb and his book and there is still a chance that you can daily win an autographed copy of his book on the site (until Feb. 11). That is how I got my copy!


Meb. The Champion


Meb in the Athens 2004 Olympic Marathon, where he won the silver medal. This is exciting even if in Italian. Stefano Baldini of Italy finished first, Meb was second, and Venderlei de Lima of Brazil was a triumphant third after being attacked and tackled by a crazy fan on the course.

Haile Gebrselassie: The Greatest

Here is an excellent video from Flotrack where they traveled to Ethiopia to meet with the greatest distance runner ever, Haile Gebrselassie. In this video Haile talks about growing up and being "outside", his start in international running, his best year-1998 (and he is still going for world records), education and poverty, and the keys to winning.


Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Every year, I show his video biopic, "Endurance" to my students. Unfortunately "Endurance" only made it to VHS and is out of print (come on Disney, get this out on DVD!). However you can watch it on youtube: start here.

Marvelous Running Form in Slow-Motion

Saw this over at at Exuberant Animal. From the description, "This is an adolescent Kenyan who has never worn shoes in his life and runs a significant amount every day. He forefoot strikes."



The next video that was posted over at Letsrun.com shows Paul Tergat and Haile Gebrsallasie in the final lap of the Sydney Olympic 10000m race. The slow motion video of their strides is amazing. Watch at 1:13 when Geb catches Tergat. Although he is much shorter, Geb's' stride seems to be the same length as Tergat's stride.

Ethiopian Form Drills

Here is an interesting video showing some of the warm-up drills that the Ethiopian runners practice. If you have seen the movie "Endurance" about the great Haile Gebresalasie than maybe you too wondered about the drills you saw depicted in the movie. Looking at this video clip which features Kenenisa Bekele, I see rotational, lengthening, and mobility work being done in a very loose and quick manner. Some of the looking behind drills remind me of Feldenkrais practice but in a more hyper way. Obviously, through much practice and talent the Ethiopian runners can do these drills with the same amount of perfection that they bring to their running form and racing dynamics. I would like to learn more about the Ethiopian system. It must be a system with much tradition. I recall watching videos of two-time Olympic Marathon champion Abebe Bekila doing calisthenics after his wins.



Here is a video of Bikila's barefoot win in the 1960 Rome Olympiad.



Here us a New York Times article comparing the success of Usain Bolt with Kenenisa Bekele: Matching Bolt’s Success, Stride for Elegant Stride.

Run Haile Run!

Last night I read Matt Fitzerald's post on meeting Haile Gebrsalasie and other Adidas athletes who were also gold medalists from the Osaka World Championships in 2008. Marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie was joined by Tyson Gay, Jeremy Wariner, Allyson Felix, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Christine Ohuruogu and Blanka Vlasic at the world renowned Athletes' Performance Institute (API) in Los Angeles where the athletes gave insights into their running styles and discussed how they plan to successfully defend their world titles this year.

It was a great post comparing Haile Gebrsalasie to another charismatic athlete, Mohammed Ali. You can read his post here. You can read Matt's interview with this outstanding runner here.

I also found this video of the event including Haile's 4 minute/mile pacing on a treadmill and the throwing of his arms in the air. That is quite a stride that he has! Reading Matt's post will help you appreciate the video.