Keeping up with Ryan Hall

This is in a subway station in New York City. People are trying to keep up with Ryan Hall for 60 feet. This is his pace for a full marathon. Even Ryan had a hard time keeping up in street clothes. I think it is a neat way to make people aware of how fast the elites do run.

I am a runner

American distance runner, Adam Goucher wrote a blog post today saying he is retiring from competitive running. He has had a great run: Footlocker champion way back in 1993, NCAA cross country champion way in 1998, US 5000 Olympic trials champion in the year 2000, 6th place in the short course race at the IAFF Worlds Cross-Country Championships in 2006 among other championship races. Adam's NCAA cross-country championship race was highlighted in the book Running with the Buffaloes. He has also cowritten a recently released book Running the Edge: Discover the Secrets to Better Running and a Better Life. On the Run the Edge blogpost about his retirement, I liked the opening quote from his book:

“I am not somebody who just likes to run. I am a runner. This is the difference between a pastime and a passion. I like to play golf, but I am not a golfer. I like to cook, but I am not a chef. I don’t just like to run. I am a runner. It is a passion. It is part of who I am and is woven into the fabric of my personality, character, and psyche.” – Adam Goucher from “Running the Edge”

Yes, I am a runner, too and that quote sums it up for many of us who enjoy the sport for more than just the physical exercise!


That is what has made the last year without running real difficult: not being able to run and compte for the first time in almost 40 years. I can't wait to be fully up and running some day, but it is not going as easily as I would have hoped post-surgery. Improvements are hard to come by, as I feel the same as I did one month ago.

Last weeks total mileage = 20 miles:
Thursday: 8 miles
Saturday: 8 miles
Sunday:4 miles

Some days the running feels good and I feel like I am getting right back into it. Other days, I get a pinching pain in my inner thigh and along with it tight shin muscles and discomfort that goes under my knee, around my ankle, under my arch, and into my big toe. I am always thinking it is muscular, but today I learned from my PT that it is probably a pinched nerve of some type in my lower back that radiates all down the nerve. I guess I better call to get that MRI of my lower back that I have been putting off. The back doctor told me that if the MRI shows something then maybe I would get a cortizone shot. I had figured this may be a temporary thing like the diagnostic cortizone shot I had in my hip to confirm the labral tear earlier this year. I was now told that the cortizone shot could be a more long-term solution to a pinched nerve. Today, at PT I got some heavy ART treatment of hamstrings, adductors, hip, and lower back. I think my skin is still glowing with redness, although the PT doing the ART seemed even more sore because his thumb was pressing so hard it was hurting him. This should relieve some of the nerve issues, but if needed it looks like cortizone may help.

Rod Dixon, the NYC Marathon, and the Helmet Cam

Rod Dixon ran to one of the most spectacular marathon finishes ever in the 1983 New York City Marathon. I recall watching on television and cheering on the ever gutsy Geoff Smith as the figure of Rod Dixon loomed in the distance running the tangents and them powered on ahead to create an exhilarating victory for Dixon and a devastating loss for Geoff Smith. It also created one of the most iconic finish line photos.

Here is a video of that race.


Rod Dixon also contributed to one of the most bizarre occurrences at the New York City Marathon. Two years later in 1985 again at the New York City Marathon he showed up in the middle of the race running behind the leaders with a helmet cam strapped to a hockey helmet on his head. Here is an article about the helmet cam from 1985.

I think the helmet cam in races is an idea that never really caught on. Now, I guess there is a thing called a GoPro HD Helmet HERO Camera that athletes like skiers, skateboarders, surfers, and others strap to themselves or to their equipment to record stunning photos and videos. There is even a youtube channel just for these videos. Here is a video of a guy using one in this years Hawaii Ironman Triathlon.

This is a picture that I took of Rod Dixon after he won the 1980 Falmouth Road Race (talking with Joan Benoit Samuelson). I did not use a helmet cam to take the picture. In the 25th running of the Falmouth Road Race in 1997, I was running next to Frank Shorter right after the 5 mile mark (29 minutes flat) when we heard an accented voice call out behind us and Rod Dixon caught up. After awhile the two former champions both went ahead of me, but I really wish I had a photo of that moment when I was running with two former champions.

Release the piriformis and stop jamming your hips

As I am recovering from the hip labral tear surgery, I am still learning new and useful things about the way the body works and correcting poor movement patterns. The book Foundation: Redefine Your Core, Conquer Back Pain, and Move with Confidenceis quite a revelation. I had been doing the basic workouts in the book for only two days and I have already noticed some positive things. As I mentioned on the previous post, I had only done 7 miles of running in the previous 2 1/2 weeks with no run over 2 miles. My body was basically saying, "Don't run like this!" so I didn't.

Yesterday, I woke up feeling aligned and moving well again, and so off I went for a run: an 8 miler and it was the best I have felt post surgery. Here is an explanation of probably the most important of the "Foundation" exercises. It is called the "Founder".



Notice how you press the hips back and where he locates the hinge point. This and the other exercises have already started their work. On the run, my piriformis did not hurt, something it has done on my longer runs, whether during the run or post run. I also noticed my hips are much looser and not jammed tight, as well as I was getting a nice rotation in the hips. These are new experiences for me! Of course, today I am sore, but for a change most of it is muscle soreness in the quads, like you get post Boston Marathon, so maybe I was using them more.

Today, I found these other videos which demonstrate the same lessons on using the hips and freeing the piriformis. They say things in a clear way. If you are having piriformis pain and tightness, maybe it is because you are "squeezing your glutes" and if you hips aren't working right, it is because squeezing the glutes might be jamming your hips. These videos are by Dr. Evan Osar at http://www.fitnesseducationseminars.com/free-videos. There are a lot of interesting videos here worth exploring.

This one shows proper femur postition during exercise and why you shouldn't squeeze your glutes.



In this one Dr. Evan Osar demonstrates  a squat exercise to create more motion and decrease tightness in the hips. This exercise incorporates proper core function during the exercise.



Dr. Evan Osar demonstrates exercises to begin working the piriformis for strength, endurance and stabilization.



Dr. Evan Osar demonstrates exercises for tight piriformis muscl


 Dr. Evan Osar demonstrates exercises to begin working piriformis for strength, endurance and stabilization.



Oh and after 2 days of working on this, I went to my PT session (after the 8 mile run). I was doing squats on a Bosu Ball with an exercise band around my knees to push out against. I was told I was doing excellent squats! I also showed the "Foundations" book to the PT and she said it looked excellent. She liked the exercises and how well the exercises were explained. She said it looked like the book that the FMS (Functional Movement Screen) people should have written.

Losing Power

Saturday night we had a snowstorm that knocked down trees and leafy branches and the power went out. After three nights in the dark, we finally got power and heat this afternoon. Unfortunately, that didn't help my running. Total miles 2 weeks ago = 4 miles. Total one week ago = 2 miles. This week = nothing so far. There are two reasons for this: one,  I feel really tired and two, while my hip feels good and strong I do feel really imbalanced. So I went to the doctor about feeling tired and they did some tests and I was extremely low on vitamin D. They have me doing 50,000 iu once per week for 8 weeks to see if I can get the levels up. I did write about Vitamin D a while back (here and here)and was doing 2,000 iu a day for awhile, but I stopped doing that last winter when I wasn't running. If you are feeling tired, get your vitamin D levels checked.

While my hip feels fine. I was not sure running on it was the best as my muscles just don't feel in balance. I have no problem with that as I had been running for years with imbalances and didn't expect it to change overnight. Knowing what to do about it, is a problem. The PT works on my hip muscles, but the more I do of the exersises the more others things feel off. I had my 3 month checkup last week with the hip surgeon's office. The PA didn't have much to offer as she said that they look at the joint and not the whole body. So she referred me to the Spine Center at the hospital. I went yesterday and the doctor moved my leg around a little, asked a few questions, and ordered an MRI for my lower back. He said he doesn't do the legs, so if he finds nothing on the MRI he'll send me somewhere else. I wish I could find a doctor that actually looks at the whole picture and not just one specific spot on the body!

I think they need to look at my ankle and my knee as something is making my foot evert out to the side again. Some days it seems pretty straight and others days it doesn't. The doctor yesterday did remark to me, "You know your foot is twisting out!" At PT we are working on that some, so I have a lot of question for tomorrow's visit.

Anyhow, when the power was off I did some reading. I read a biography on Mickey Mantle: The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood. He was quite a heroic figure playing through some tough injuries, but he was also quite a cad. The treatment for athletic injuries back in his day was pretty rough. I also found a book at Barnes and Noble called Foundation: Redefine Your Core, Conquer Back Pain, and Move with Confidence while I was charging my electronics and using their wifi. I had seen the book advertised before, but it had a forward by Lance Armstrong and I don't always trust what Lance signs up to support plus I thought with the word "core" it might just be another "abs" book. This one is very different and the exercises are targeted to the posterior muscles. They were new to me and the program is simplistic enough that I will give it a shot for awhile.

This video gives a peak into the type of exercises. I will write more after I try the program out. I like how it says it addresses muscular imbalances.

Iron War: Dave Scott, Mark Allen, and the Greatest Race Ever Run

 The 1980's was the decade of the triathlon (at least in my mind). The modern sport of triathlon had its beginnings in San Diego, California in 1974, and eventually the first Hawaii Ironman triathlon was held in 1978 with 15 participants. In 1979 a Sports Illustrated article drew some attention to this strange endurance race which was followed by ABC starting to televise the race in 1980 with Dave Scott achieving his first of six victories. I recall watching the race while at college and wondering whether a runner (my pick) or a cyclist (my roommate's pick) would be the victor. Little did we know that a new type of athlete was being born at this race; a triathlete. It wasn't until 1982 that triathlons really captured the imaginations of athletes and people around the world as Julie Moss painfully stumbled and crawled towards the finish line just at the same time that she was passed by a fresh looking Kathleen McCarthy for the win.



I watched that race on ABC Wide World of Sport and then watched it again when it was rebroadcast (due to so many people talking about the incredible finish) in complete awe. I told myself I would have to try this new sport and I became one among thousands of others that had a new goal to pursue. Triathlons suddenly started to take off! As soon as I heard about an Ironman distance triathlon taking place on Cape Cod in September 1983 I was in, even though I had no bike or swim background. I did three triathlons on Cape Cod during the summer of 1983. My first was a local sprint triathlon held on my hometown of Falmouth on Cape Cod with less than 100 track club participants taking part, the second was the United States Triathlon Series race held at Old Silver Beach in Falmouth. Julie Moss showed up to MC a workshop on triathlons the day before the race that had over 900 participants (all in one swim wave on a stormy day). The third was the Cape Cod Endurance Triathlon where I swam and biked further than I had ever done in practice to complete an Ironman distance race. I competed in triathlons throughout New England for 5 more years ending each season with my favorite, Cape Cod Endurance Triathlon.

It was exciting to participate and to be somewhat of a pioneer in such a new sport. New athletic heroes turned up, including the "big four" of triathlons. Dave Scott, Scott Tinley, Scott Molina, and Mark Allen. Both Tinley and Molina would venture to the Cape Cod Endurance Triathlon and win it in the 3rd and 4th editions. Dave Scott showed up one year to race at the Bay State Triathlon in Medford, Mass. I came out of the bike transition to find myself running directly behind the awkward stride of Dave Scott himself. I held on for about 1/4 mile before I let him go. He was a lap ahead of me anyway! Other than those appearances I had to catch the big four on televised triathlons or on the pages of new magazines like Triathlon and Triathlete. These guys were aerobic and endurance animals of a completely different nature than the runners and marathoners I was used to. They had strengths and skills that were beyond the world class runners, so that while they may have been very good at each sport individually, they became great when combining sports together.

Magazines and television shows didn't always tell you all of what made them tick. This is why it is nice to finally read a book that delves into the biggest two of these stars: Mark Allen and Dave Scott. Iron War: Dave Scott, Mark Allen, and the Greatest Race Ever Runis a book that looks at these two athletes and their physical and inner struggles as they race in the epic 1989 Hawaii Ironman Triathlon, a race where Mark Allen finally defeats the 6 time winner Dave Scott in a side by side dual to the final minutes. I enjoyed the read as I recognized the names of the triathletes and races from the 1980s when I was following everything that I could about the sport. There was a familiar feel to the book as I was revisiting past events that I began to recall and in fact since many of the the author's retelling came from the pages of magazines I have read or the televised shows that I watched it should sound familiar. The retelling of the 1989 race is augmented with stories of prior events in the lives of Dave Scott and Mark Allen and because of this the book and author have come under fire from these two men themselves. They are not happy with the book at all and together wrote a letter and  have filed a lawsuit against the author and publisher.

We’re writing this because we believe that the soon­‐to-­be-published book from VeloPress, entitled  “Iron War,” inaccurately  and  inappropriately  portrays  us. As  an example, in the advance copy sent to the media for review, the author stated, “In  a sober, clinical sense of the term, Dave and Mark are both somewhat psychologically unbalanced.” We have never been diagnosed as “psychologically unbalanced” by any medical or mental health professional.

 And there’s a lot more where that came from—too much more for us to simply look the other way. Indeed, “Iron War” author Matt Fitzgerald has written an endless stream of inaccurate and defamatory assertions about our lives, our thoughts, our motivations and what drove us to such a high level of athletic excellence in what he spitefully and negatively describes as “the showdown that left one battling his inner demons to emerge victorious and one devastated on the pavement and unable to forgive his loss.”

In respect to the author, the book, and the two athletes to whom it is about, it leaves one to question whether to read the book or not. I decided to read it. My observations is the Matt Fitzgerald is a fan of the sport, the Ironman, and these two athletes. In reading the book I got a sense of the respect he had for their achievements. As the author, I guess he took some liberties, because he quotes conversations and small details, like the songs on the radio the morning of the race or actual quoted conversations, that I am sure are not accurate, but help propel the "story" that he is trying to tell. I think that is what all authors do, as long as they remain true to the story.  He also makes a case that both had some type of "psychological imbalance" (as noted above quote from the letter) that drove each man to his athletic greatness. Without coming out and actually saying it, except for one mention of the word, he hints that Dave Scott might be bipolar. He also talks about the relationship that Mark Allen had with his father. It sounds like the father was pretty much absent in Mark's life until he achieved his fame, and that Mark was on a type of "spiritual" search throughout his life that culminated with Mark looking into shamanism due to events and "visions" leading up to the race in 1989. With the recent revelations that Frank Shorter made about his abusive father, it was hard to tell from the book exactly what the extent of Mark Allen's relationship with his father was and what difficulties they shared, but it does add a bit of mystery and uncomfortableness with the remarks made in the book.

If you read the book for the excitement of the race and for the background information about triathlon's beginnings and first heroes, I think the book is a purely enjoyable read. I believe that Matt Fitzgerald was reaching for writing a book that might rival the popularity and excitement levels of Chris McDonald's "Born to Run". He, like the author in "Born to Run", even added chapters that related to the science behind the pain and the brains that make athletes achieve great things like these two men. As for the athletes being "psychologically imbalanced" I think that may apply to many if not most great endurance athletes. As for Dave Scott and Mark Allen, these are not really new definitions of their character or inner demons.  I decided to take out all my old VHS tapes of the Ironman races and other triathlons from the 1980s and 1990's after reading this book. While watching my copy of the 1987 Nice Triathlon a segment mentioned Dave's "down period" in the previous winter when he gave up on competing and training due to being in a funk. It also mentioned Mark Allen's forays into spiritualism and shamanism which marked his spiritual search and while not mentioned in the book, it would certainly denote a need and search in Mark Allen to find a mentor, guide, or fatherly figure to help him bring clarity and meaning in his life in replacement of his own father. So Matt Fitzgerald is not saying anything new or revealing. He is just organizing a book around a race and the personalities of these two men to sort out their "greatness" among lesser athletes.

I found it to be a worthwhile read and it has me revisiting my days and races in the 1980s when being a triathlete was full of excitement, physicality, coupled with a spirit of adventure and testing of my own bodies strength and resources. Fans of the sport should find as much inspiration when reading the book. I am not sure how much the book will do for those who know nothing about these two athletes (can that really be so?). Mark Allen, Dave Scott, and the early triathletes should not be forgotten. These were the days when the sport was full of a kind of wonder and bravado that is missing from the modern day triathletes, who to me seem overly scientific, clinical, and spend-happy. Who cares about getting online coaches, data from meters and computers, as well as bicycles, gear, and entry fees that cost exorbitant amounts of money? Just get out there and train all that you can, have fun,  and see where your body can take you. That was the spirit of the 1980s! A better book is waiting to be written. Maybe Mark Allen and Dave Scott can add some input, but I would like to know about what drove all the stars as well as the common athletes to suddenly pursue a sport with so much passion. It must be noted that "cross-training" wasn't even a word on the mouths of athletes until triathletes started and people decided to be more that one-sport athletes.

One further note. I stopped competing in triathlons in 1987. I got married in 1988 and no longer had the time to train plus my body had completely fallen apart due to back pains that I guess are related to the hip surgery that I finally had this summer due to a torn labrum. I trace all my pains and problems over the past 20+ years to my faulty cleat and bike positioning. Post surgery I feel better on the bike than I did in all five years of triathloning.  In 1990 my son Andrew was born. The day after his birth I watched the Ironman broadcast of this 1989 race at the hospital and held my newborn son on my lap watching his first television show. I was hoping that my interest in the sport might rub off on him at an early age. Last year he completed his first triathlon just for fun! I guess it worked.

Getting greedy

Last week total running miles: 16 miles
Monday: 10 miles mountain bike/ 3 miles elliptical
Tuesday :6 miles mountain bike
Wednesday: PT
Thursday: 8 miles running
Friday: nothing
Saturday: 6 miles mountain bike/ 8 miles running
Sunday: nothing

Wednesday, I told the physical therapist I would keep the daily runs to around 4 miles, and then the next day I went and did 8 miles and then I did the same thing on Saturday. The run feels good, but the next day I end up being sore.I have to stop being so greedy and be happy with more limited miles.

I took out my box of old VHS tapes after reading Iron War: Dave Scott, Mark Allen, and the Greatest Race Ever Run hoping to see if I have a copy of the 1989 Hawaii Ironman. I guess I didn't always label things well. I have a bunch of tapes that just have "Ironman" printed on them and there are tapes with all types of races from the 1980s and 1990s including triathlons, Olympics, World Championships, the Tour de France and other bike races and more. I am slowly going through them to see what it on the tapes and digitizing them. Here are two interesting segments I have found. The first is from the 2000 Boston Marathon when my school district would not allow me a personal day to run the Boston Marathon as the superintendent called it a "free and leisure time activity" that should not interfere with the school day. Instead of running the race, I taught a full day at school and then I went down to Hopkinton at 4:00 pm where I met racer director Dave McGillivray and I joined him in his "midnight shift" running of the Boston Marathon. I should have a few other news interviews from before and after the race on other tapes. This is the first one I found.



The other clip I found comes from the 1986 Bruce Jenner Classic 3000m race. I must have popped a tape in quickly while watching this race as I missed the beginning. My former Wheaton College teammate Danny Henderson was in the race. He is the guy at the back of the pack who quickly moves to leading the race as the tape starts. When I googled the race to find out more information, I found out that this was the last race run by Jeff Drenth. He suddenly died two days later according to this Sports Illustrated article.



 Jeff is the runner second from the right at the back of the pack at the first corner with the short arm swing. He is one of the Athletics West runners .