Is this your running personality?

The results of this study  on runners sounds about right!

"The Cattell 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire showed that the subjects were significantly more intelligent, imaginative, reserved, self-sufficient, sober, shy, and forthright than the general population."

The study did come out in 1977. That was the year I ran my first marathon and the results seem somewhat similar to my personality. I wonder if the results would be the same today if they studied today's type of runner? Here is another quote:

"Middle-aged runners and joggers either possess or develop high levels of self-sufficiency and imagination and tend toward introversion in their personality makeup. It is not known for sure if these factors are a result of or a casual factor in their habitual exercise pattern."

Does this study ring true for anyone else?

Going to be heading up Mt. Washington on my ElliptiGO!

First off, I was a bit disappointed that there would be no east coast ElliptiGO race this year to get me hyped up and training harder. The previous three New England races were a blast and got me in a competitive mode that I so enjoy and miss! I do understand that it takes a lot of work to put on a quality race and that things did not work out this year, so I had to find a new challenge.

2013 ElliptiGO End of Summer Classic
2014 ElliptiGO End of Summer Classic
2015 ElliptiGO Spring Classic

Sure, I will be doing more centuries and trying to break the 6 hour barrier, but that is a different kind of intensity. I could go out to the Mt. Palomar ElliptiGO World Championships  in the fall, but that is way out of my price range (although some year I hope to make it to the race). I started thinking it would be cheaper to do a race in my own back yard of New Hampshire and that would be to ride my ElliptiGO in one of the two bike races up Mt. Washington. Then I saw how incredibly expensive the race entry fees were. Further research showed that one of the two races, Newton's Revenge, would not be held this year, so that left the Mt. Washington Hill Climb  held on August 20. Two ElliptiGO riders rode in the Newton's Revenge event in 2010 so if I wanted to bite the bullet and try out this race, I thought it best to ask first if I could ride my ElliptiGO before committing to the race and paying for the entry. I was told I would be OK for riding since it had been done before and that they would keep no official records- they also allow tandems and  unicycles- with no records, but even better, they added an ElliptiGO category to the race- you can even see it on the entry form. With thanks, I sent in my entry fee and at least one other rider is joining me. I hope to see more this year as I am sure this will be a one-time deal for me and the more the merrier.

2010 Newton's Revenge results (unofficial ElliptiGO record held by Bryce Whiting):

Newton’s Revenge, Mt. Washington, NH

7.6 miles, 4727 ft of gain

Male

7/11/2010

Bryce Whiting

1:54:22

ElliptiGO inventor Bryan Pate finished 7 minutes later.

I have two goals for the race:
1) finish within 20 minutes of my fastest run up the hill (who even knows if this is possible)
2) ride all the way up without stepping down off of my ElliptiGO.

I have ridden up Pack Monadnock twice now and it has a steeper section than Mt. Washington.
The first time up, I had to put my foot down as I was tired from trying to blast up it as a 10 mile "race"effort on the old Pack Monadnock Road Race course.The next year I made it to the top without putting my foot down, but it was terribly hard to keep moving and balanced on the steeper sections!

2013 first ride up Pack Monadnock

1996 Mt. Washington Road Race 76th place 1:22:23 nearing the summit.

I have been up the mountain many times before, mostly in the Mt. Washington Road Race. When I was about 10 years old, my family drove to the top and down in our 1962 Chevy 2 wagon that was falling apart. It was quite an achievement for that car.

Me Planning further adventures up the mountain 47 years ago!

Family trip to the summit in 1969.

People were astounded that our old 1962 Chevy 2 Wagon made it to the top.

But it did!

With my mom and siblings.

Cog Railway at the summit.

Summit view.

I am sure I will have to add some hills to my training and change my gears so I have a lower range for the steep climbing. Who know what it will bring, but it should be fun in its own crazy way!

My running times at the Mt. Washington Road Race:

1992 1:32:19
1996 1:22:05
1996 1:22:23
1997 1:33:08
2000 1:33:21
Then I got smart and stopped racing.

So now I have something to look forward to (or regret).

Photos from 2014 trip up Pack Monadnock: From FB post:
Made it to the top of Pack Monadnock on the auto road without dismounting my ElliptiGO (last fall I had to stop and walk a few seconds as I was riding as hard as I could to race 10 miles to the top and was puking up air before the real climb even started). The auto road is 1.3 miles long and gains 788 feet with an average grade of 11.9% and a max grade of 20+% (steeper than Mt. Washington, I have heard which is at 22% max and 12% average). It is a beast, but first I had to ride 30 miles to get there and then 30 back home.

Drew Hunter runs a sub 4 minute mile to set a new high school indoor record

Here is the USATF video of the one mile race at the Armory Track in which high school runner Drew  Hunter broke the 4 minute mile for the first time and set a new high school indoor record. Alan Webb, the other high schooler who has run sub 4 indoors was the previous record holder. This is also the third fastest high school mile ever run indoors or outdoors behind Alan Webb and Jim Ryun. His mile time was 3:58:25.

 

In Edinburgh with Garrett Heath: Short documentary

Here is a short documentary on Garrett Heath before and after his race win at the Great Edinburgh XC Challenge. See previous post:  2016 Great Edinburgh XCountry International Challenge.

2016 Great Edinburgh XCountry International Challenge

For the third year in a row I made sure that I was watching the Great Edinburgh XC race in Scotland on Saturday morning. Number one, it is a great race to watch during the winter season: number two, they always have a top notch runner racing: and number three, the landscape and course is both beautiful and rugged. I fondly recall Edinburgh from my visit there in 1979. Having watched the two previous editions of this race, I knew that Garret Heath owned the course and I was interested to see how he would do against Mo Farah. I had a strong suspicion that he might just get the victory.  The men's race was exciting and Garret Heath did pull off the upset for his third win in a row. The previous wins were on a shorter course.

Here is a video of the last half of the men's race. You can watch full race replays here. 

Jae Gruenke at the Balanced Runner has an interesting discussion about the running form of the top athletes at this race and some slow motion video that she recorded. You can check it out here. 

Here is her video of the top men:

A story from the summer involves Garrett's brother Elliot, who is also a top level runner. I noticed on the ElliptiGO Stava mileage board in August that Elliot was posting some massive and hilly rides on an ElliptiGO (must have been injured) He did a couple of weeks of over 250 miles each in August, if I recall, and may have led for most mileage on an ElliptiGO for those weeks. I was already anticipating doing a 300 mile week and I was checking to see if I could maintain my ElliptiGO mileage lead throughout the week. You never know types of massive rides an athlete might do each week and it is usually on the weekend. I got up over 300 miles and had a good lead, but Elliott wasn't posting so I didn't know if he would hook up his computer at the end of the week and beat me. I ended up with 350 miles for an easy lead. Elliot never posted much mileage that week. He never knew I was competing against him! All that I knew was that if I was GOing 350 miles, I did not want to rate second in total miles! 

10 Commandments of Lifelong Fitness from Ned Overend

Outside Online has a great article on champion cyclist Ned Overend who has been at it for years
Ned Overend Is the Champion Cyclist Who Never Grows Old. Definitely read the article for all its wisdom and to hear about all of Ned's accomplishments. Also watch this embedded video where Ned gives his 10 Commandments for Lifelong Fitness. Here they are, but watch to appreciate them better.

1) Mix it up.

2) Keep it fun.

3) Never lose Fitness.

4) Pay attention to potential injuries.

5) Recover harder than you train.

6) Understand the science.

7) Know you gear.

8) Stay positive.

9) Be in control.

10) Focus on yourself.


At 60 years old, Ned won the 2014 Fatbike National Championships.

Here are some interesting quotes for the article:

Ned has never had a cycling coach. “I don’t like structure,” he says. He doesn’t wear a heart-rate monitor or use a power meter. He relies on what he calls “perceived effort”—essentially going by feel. He does not appear to have a VO2 max that’s off the charts; he just knows how to train smart. 

 Ned credits his running coach in high school, Doug Basham, for emphasizing high-intensity, low-volume workout programs. (Besides all his cycling achievements, Ned was a 2:28 marathoner and Ironman triathlete). 

 “Ned lives what I preach,” says Joe Friel, 72, masters coach and author of Fast After 50. “He’s always been a fan of short workouts with high intensity.” Whittled down, the recipe for success as a geezer is this: 1) Decrease volume and increase intensity. 2) Recover, recover, recover. 3) Don’t stop training, ever; you can retain much of your VO2 max as you age, but once you lose it, it’s a lot harder to get it back. “When you’re 60, you can’t take a month off at the end of the season, have a good time like younger athletes can,” Friel says. “There’s an accelerated loss of fitness. Take Greg LeMond, for example—he just quit. Hung it up. Ned never did that.” 

Drum suggests training 10 to 15 hours per week, tops, for athletes over 40. With that recipe, Ned’s at no risk for overtraining syndrome. He pedals hard for an hour and a half, rarely much more, three or four times a week, and does easy rides on off days. In the winter, he mixes in nordic skiing and weight lifting, although the fat-biking season has taken time away from cross-training. “I tried yoga, but I didn’t have the focus for it,” Ned says. “It’s amazing how little discipline I have for simple stretching and strengthening exercises.”

Foundation Training Basics

I do variations of The Founder just about daily as it is a great exercise for my hips and lower back and helps my body to learn to move better. Here Foundation Training founder Eric Goodman gives a brief look at some of the Foundation Training basic moves with professional surfer Lakey Peterson. The second exercise seems more to be for surfers, but directions for the squat, Founder, plank, and the 8-point plank are easy to follow.

You can find other posts on Foundation training here:

The Founder
How to Improve Core Strength: Foundation Exercises

Foundation Training 2 DVD Set - Fundamentals and Daily Workouts

Foundation: Redefine Your Core, Conquer Back Pain, and Move with Confidence