Run Rogers Run

Last summer I sat at a co-worker’s party mesmerized by her stories of training for Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth.

New to running (well, new to running as an adult), I asked her where she likes to run in Fargo-Moorhead.

She ticked off a handful of routes: One for when she went six miles, another for going 10 and yet another for 12-or 13-milers.

I stopped in astonishment when she started this sentence: “And when I run 18…” She began that line, at which point I quit listening, as I tried to get my mind around the concept of running that far.

I could never do it, I thought to myself.

I was wrong.

Saturday I finished my longest run to date –an 18-miler — with other members of the Red River Runners class.

Weaving around Fargo’s roads, along several parts of the marathon route, it didn’t hit me that I’d gone that far until about a half mile from returning to the Y-West where we’d started our run.

 I kept my steady 10:30 pace through the run, and even picked it up for the last two miles at the end.

Not bad for a girl who couldn’t run four miles without walking in January.

The best part of it was that I felt good when I was done.

Amazingly, I’m finding it easier to recover from 18 mile runs than the “long” eight to 10 mile runs I attempted a couple months ago.

Conditioning my body to run three hours at a time has been a process, but I’m getting there.

Another perk to marathon training is that it’s the best diet I’ve ever tried.

I didn’t go into this thing looking to lose weight, but it’s hard not to (or at least it’s hard not to tone up to some degree) when you’re running 18 miles a day. (Or six miles a day consistently for that matter).

I find I’m not as hungry as I used to be and I think a lot more about the fuel I choose to eat.

Sure, pizza and beer might sound good on a Friday night. But it doesn’t sound nearly as good in the middle of a 13-mile run on a Saturday morning.

And an experience like that is a good reminder and incentive to stick to healthier things.

If I’m not sticking to healthier things, I try to save those junk food cravings for post-long run Saturdays.

As I finished my last mile during Saturday’s run, I passed a fellow runner and we started chatting about the positive calorie burning effects of long distance running.

“The best part of this is I can go to Dairy Queen today without feeling guilty,” I said.

“Probably three times today,” she joked back.

After next week’s 20-miler, make that four.

Links on running and food:

"For Junk Food Junkies: Newtrition Resolutions"

http://www.runningnetwork.com/trainingtips/athleteskitchenDec04.html

"How to eat while training for a marathon"

http://www.ehow.com/how_7776_eat-training-marathon.html

Nancy Clark’s latest book on marathoning and food

http://www.nancyclarkrd.com/books/marathonerfoodguide.asp#2

As I’ve been increasing mileage on weekend long runs –tomorrow’s jaunt is 18 miles (O.K. so that’s more than a jaunt) –I’m delving into the world of gus, gels and other hydrating supplements to pump up glycogen levels in the middle of two- and three-hour runs.

This topic is another aspect of marathon training I was completely unaware of until last weekend’s 16 mile run, when I started running out of energy at about 14 miles.

One of my training buddies, Rick, offered me a pack of Gu –a globby like substance that tastes like dirt (the original flavor anyway) –that is supposed to drum up energy in the midst of long runs. I sucked it down at the water stop at mile 11 last weekend and got the same stomach-punching-make-me-want-to-vomit feeling that accompanied my first shot of hard alcohol years ago. Probably not the best comparison, but when you’ve been trucking along for 11 miles and you try to force something down, it doesn’t exactly feel good.

Halfway through the small silver packet, I stopped with a grimace and a "You’ve got to be kiddding me" look toward Rick. Acknowledging Gu doesn’t taste the best, Rick pointed out I had two options. "You can learn to take it now and not feel good for a second, or you can feel like crap later on in the run." True. I’m opting for trying to get used to these types of products.

According to the Gu Energy Web site at www.gusports.com/  the product is designed to provide energy to depleted muscles. "During a workout or race, no matter what type, you need to quickly absorb carbohydrate-based calories to replace the glucose you are burning at 400 – 600 per hour or you will begin to lose concentration and energy. The fat, fiber and protein found in bars are very slow to absorb and create unwanted bulk in the stomach. GU is created for the body during exercise, and because of its form and ingredients is absorbed much faster than a bar so you will feel the energy almost immediately," the Web site state.

I have to say, after sucking down the stomach-turning stuff at mile 11, two miles later I did feel better. Whether this is thanks to the Gu or not remains to be seen, but I did pick myself up a few packs for this weekend’s run. I’m also experimenting with similar products, including Sport Beans from Jelly Belly (http://www.sportbeans.com/). They taste better than Gu, although it’s weird to chomp on a product suited for an Easter basket in the middle of a run.

As an aside, Fargo-Moorhead’s weather forecast calls for rain on Saturday. Freezing rain and/or snow are expected on Sunday. I’m not quite sure what runners around here did to tick off the marathon training Gods, but I guess we can add an 18-miler in drizzling rain to our scrapbook of ideal days for running outside.

Here are a few links to articles on energy products and marathoning:

Energy gels during marathons

http://www.devinesports.com/Article.7+M500f9333b66.0.html?&cHash=6079219eb6

Runner’s World Forum on Gel vs. Marathon Bar

http://forums.runnersworld.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/493106038/m/2661069402

How to Prepare the Week of a Marathon

http://www.ehow.com/how_1000_prepare-week-marathon.html

For those of you who haven’t heard the buzz: Fargo’s first specialty running store is opening April 2.

Dick Beardsley, two-time Grandma’s Marathon champion who still holds the course record at 2:09:37, found some local business partners and is days from opening  the Dick Beardsley Running Company at 1801 45th Street SW in Fargo (in the strip mall next to the Qdoba).

The 2,200-square-foot store features running apparel, gadgets like Garmins and other watches, fuel belts, long distance running literature, nutrition products including gels and other supplements for marathoning, and of course shoes, shoes and more shoes.

The store has hand picked its staff and trained them to help runners and walkers of all shapes and sizes connect with the right shoe. Whether you’ve never run a step in your life or you’re among the Red River Valley’s elite harriers, you can jump on the treadmill at the Beardsley store where a salesperson will be ready to examine your gait and figure out what shoe might best complement your running style.

It’s also got a funky decor of its very own. Fargo-based Foss Architecture & Interiors designed the store. Several copper art pieces  weave like ribbons through the store’s shoe wall. A television plays highlights of distance running moments, including highlights from Beardsley’s career such as his famous "Duel in the Sun" race against Alberto Salazar in the 1982 Boston Marathon (who by the way will be in Fargo for his old nemesis’s grand opening festivities). There’s a vintage Grandma’s Marathon poster where a floppy-haired Beardsley is cruising to the finish line circa 1981-82. And action shots of local runners –from 5K plodders to college athletes– are sprinkled in a photography display hanging on the store’s back wall. There’s even a shower in the store, so if you need to cool off after attending one of the store’s running nights there’s a place for that.

Beardsley, a motivational speaker, fishing guide, marathon camp organizer and radio personality, said he’s wanted to open a running store since his days as a college runner. Now that the grand opening is two weeks away he’s more than ready to delve into the retail industry –and make a mark as Fargo’s first specialty running store.

For a sneak preview of the store, visit www.dbrunningcompany.com/.

Also, stay tuned to The Forum’s business section this Saturday (March 31) to read more about Dick’s road from marathoner to entrepreneur. And be sure to visit www.in-forum.com to check out audio of Beardsley talking about his new store that day.

I’m tempted to offer visitors who stop by my apartment these days an ice pack or ibuprofen.

 Forget the standard hostess invitation of soda or tea.

 For me, marathon training has made pain relievers and frozen water the kind of household staples you’d expect to find on any shelf along with bread and milk. I’ve got a plentiful supply and for good reason: Ratcheting up mileage as marathon day creeps closer has taken a toll on my body.

 Whether you’re a 10-minute miler or a six-minute miler, a 16 mile run is taxing.

 And surviving Saturday long runs –while motivating in achieving weekly milestones of running farther than ever before – wipes me out for the rest of a weekend.

An example of that came Saturday when an excursion to Detroit Lakes, Minn. hammered home a geography lesson I learned in grade school: Fargo-Moorhead is really flat.

That is stating the obvious, of course, and not that Detroit Lakes’ slightly rolling landscape is comparable to the Pyrenees. But 16 miles with a few gradual hills thrown had me hobbling after cool down and throughout the rest of the weekend.

Great advice from other runners such as proper nutrition, hydration, and cross training helps ease the symptoms. But one truth to marathon training, I’ve learned, is that sometimes it’s just going to hurt.

I’m learning how to recover as I put my body through the rigor of marathon training.  Next Saturday the Red River Runners class will try an 18 mile run, followed by 20 the week after (plus plenty of weekday training).

It’s hard, but it’s also exciting as I realize the goal of running my first marathon is attainable. When I finished Saturday’s 16 mile run, I allowed myself the inevitable questioning game that’s become as commonplace as my ibuprofen habit these past weeks.

As my legs throb, I ask myself, how will I run 10 more miles when I felt tired after just 16? Will I make it through the full marathon?

The doubts set in, but they fade more quickly than they used to. They are replaced with a resolve that making it through 26.2 miles, in due time, will come together in the end.

I’ve survived 4:45 a.m. wake up calls, shin splints and overzealous dogs nipping at my heels during runs.

I’ve also been able to see the sunrise over the lake on a 16 mile run, see myself get to the point of being able to complete a 16 mile run and meet incredible people who’ve found the motivation to run multiple marathons –and encourage others who are training for their first to keep on going.

Without deciding to train for 26.2 I’d never have found those experiences. And in a little more than a month I’m hoping I can add making it to the Fargo Marathon finish line on to that list.  

I reached another milestone over the weekend in running farther than I’ve ever run before.

The Red River Runners marathon group went on a 14-mile loop starting at the downtown YMCA, through Concordia College in Moorhead and back through north Fargo along parts of the marathon route.

It was a beautiful morning and it has been great training so far this week too.

It’s hard to be chained to a desk all afternoon when above 50 degree weather waits outside!

Amazingly enough, I’m not finding myself sore after long runs. I am, however, experiencing a fatigue that’s hard to explain.

After running 14 Saturday I was drained Sunday and spent most of the day on the couch (not a hard thing to do with good basketball on TV).

I’m still figuring out how to recharge after running 10+ miles.

Here is what some of the experts say…

Long run recovery links:

http://www.fitpod.com/node/1150

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/4350081.stm

My boyfriend and I got into a philosophical debate at 5 a.m. the other day as I headed out the door for a mid-week training run.

The topic? Jogging versus running.

I was stewing because I’d just finished a chapter in Hal Higdon’s marathon training book where some running guru said the sport to marathon running has been “dumbed down” because too many novices (i.e. turtles like me) are clogging up races and pulling down median finishing times from what they were 20 years ago.

The guru said anyone who runs over 10 minute/mile pace certainly can’t be considered a runner.

Hal, always encouraging to the beginner in his series of books and articles for first-time marathoners, assured that’s not the case.

Thank goodness for Hal, or this 10:45/minute miler would still be sulking over the guru’s comments.

But reading that paragraph made me think, what does constitute being a runner?

Is it speed? Length of time participating in the activity? Simple effort to move faster than a walking pace?

The boyfriend, a former collegiate distance runner, hates the term jogging.

I got an earful from for using that word in one of my initial columns for the newspaper. What I saw as a pithy synonym that was the answer to be repeating the word “running” in the column too often, he saw as an insult to the sport.

“People don’t jog. They run,” he said. Even people like me, who might best be categorized as “plodders.”

I sometimes feel more comfortable using the term jogging. Although I’m two months into this marathon training gig, I’m not sure I’m a runner yet.

I sometimes feel like an imposter on the road, still trying to figure out if I can hack it in a sport that can be awfully demanding some days.

But then again, even though I feel like that, I’m out there on the road getting the miles in. So that must sort of make me a runner, right?

Here are a couple articles on both sides of the fence of this issue:

http://running.syr.edu/column/20011022.html

http://www.runningforums.com/10_things_real_runners_must_do_t18855.html

I feel like I just won the marathon training lottery.

Finally a break in the weather! Right now the temperature is sitting at 38 degrees, with a forecasted high of 40 degrees on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

Dare I imagine nearly iceless streets and smaller snow banks to hop through on tomorrow’s 14 mile run?

I’m actually looking forward to the distance with spring-like conditions out there.

Keep your fingers crossed that the conditions don’t change overnight.

To the Fargo homeowner on 9th Street South near 13th Avenue with the little yippy dog that likes to nip at runners’ heels: Buy a leash.

I thought a dramatic scene where dogs chase people is stuff for the movies.

 But during mile three of my 7-miler today, my training buddy and I were jolted out of our steady pace by a yapping, fluffy monster that tore across its owner’s yard and skidded through the icy street in time to jump on my legs and scare the heck out of me.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not an animal lover. I’ve never been one to run up to someone’s dog to enthusiastically ask, “Can I pet him?”

Furthermore, when people let their dogs run free, letting Fido or Fifi trot uncomfortably near to wherever I am, I get nervous.

Noticing that I clam up and try to veer in the opposite direction from where any possibly well-intentioned canine is heading, pet owners generally offer this disclaimer for me.

“Don’t worry, he’s harmless!” an admiring owner will say of his or her pet.

To this comment, the skeptic in me always replies “How do you know that?”

Sure, this dog has likely never been harmful to its owners. But what is to stop him or her from biting my leg off at any  moment?

You never know what the dog is thinking, unless you’re Dr. Doolittle, I suppose.

Anyway, when my runner pal and I encountered the fluffy monster today (Don’t ask me to identify the breed. It was one of those froo froo dogs), I abruptly stopped, paralyzed in fear as the dog yipped at my heels.

My running buddy kept on going, not nearly as rattled as me.

As the dog continued to hyperactively run in circles around us, and I tried to plan my escape route, its owner slowly lumbered out from his home.

“Heel! Heel!” he shouted to the fluffy monster.

Fluffy monster wasn’t about to snap to that command. There was more annoying barking before the dog went back home and we continued on with our run.

Now I realize this scenario could have been worse.

No one got bit and no one got hurt, right?

True, but it seems to be part of responsible pet ownership means keeping an eye on your dog to make sure the animal isn’t harassing people running through a public street.

We weren’t running through this dog’s yard or anywhere near private property. And if it came down to the dog vs. me, I think I could have won the battle with one swift kick (PETA people, don’t start clogging my e-mail).

My story is fairly mundane, but a Google search on the subject of runners and dogs reveals there are many more stories out there without such an anti-climactic outcomes.

Here are some links on fighting Fido in the midst of a workout:

Canine confrontations

www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NHF/is_2_20/ai_86649569

There’s something about runners and dogs that bring out the worst in both

www.americanrunning.org/displayindustryarticle.cfm?articlenbr=2213

Run softly and carry a big stick

www.michiganrunner.net/features/heberling0306.html

Hey all you marathoner types who pass through this blog…

I’d like your help with some research for the article I’m doing for this month’s print edition.  The theme is "What I wish I would have known before running my first marathon" and "Common training mistakes first-time marathoners make."

So all you veteran marathoners (and keep in mind you’re a veteran in my opinion if you’ve finished one marathon) what is it that newbies like myself should know and/or try to avoid as we head into the meaty part of training? Also, what do you wish you had known before running 26.2 miles that you didn’t know until after you finished the race? If you could have done something differently when running and/or training for your first marathon, what would it be?

Post a comment or drop me a line at mrogers@forumcomm.com

This phrase actually came out of my mouth recently: “I only have to run 11 miles that day.”

Only 11 miles?

It came during a discussion of future weekend plans, which these days are always orchestrated around running.

Scheduling ahead for my plans on March 17 seems easy when I only need to plan to run … 11 miles that day.

Realizing that I’ve shifted into thinking that 11 miles isn’t really all that far made me realize I’ve come far from the days of  freaking out about whether I can finish a seven mile run (which seems like a short, welcome treat compared to other high mileage days I’ll need to conquer in the next month).

The definition of a long run is all relative, especially as my marathon training class heads into the tough part of getting ready for race day.

I ran a half marathon last Saturday, slogging through snow and ice that I didn’t expect I’d still be training in during the first weekend of March. We’ll probably face similar conditions this Saturday, when completing a 14 mile run.

There’s the 11 mile "break" on March 17, followed by long runs each Saturday that tally up to 16, 18 and 20 mile runs  (and longer weekday training runs than we encountered during our first seven weeks of training).

Fargo-Moorhead runners are a resilient bunch, if the dozens of people who show up for Saturday runs despite blustery conditions are any indication of  the desire to prioritize for race day. Skimping out on running because of the weather isn’t in the blood of those from the Red River Valley.

We strap on our tracks (those nifty rubberized shoe grippers that help prevent us from wiping out during a run on icy sidewalks) and hope the day’s route might end with the wind at our backs.

Keeping an upbeat frame of mind hasn’t been too difficult as the region continues to be pelted with snow.

As mused about on Saturday, Florida natives signed up for the Fargo marathon are training in shorts and tank tops right now.

But when they hit the wall at mile 22 they can’t ponder this thought — “It could be worse. It could be snowing and icy right now.”

That’s some Lake Wobegon reasoning you can’t find elsewhere to keep motivation up.