Lansing Marathon Report

Yesterday was the big day for my daughter. I paced her for Lansing's inaugural marathon. The weather was chilly but made MORE chilly by the sometimes 20 mile an hour head winds along the longest straightaway of the course. Nevertheless Lansing's first marathon was a great success. Owen Anderson (Race Director) and Blue Cross Blue Shield (Primary Sponsor) are to be commended for making Lansing into a cooler community by having a signature event like this marathon. The course was great but not without it's challenges. The weather was daunting at times with those northern headwinds. But in the end my 14 year old daughter plowed through 26 miles of pavement to make the distance her own in 6 hours. Without too many miles under her belt, other than her sheer desire to finish the thing, she prevailed. So it goes without saying, I'm proud of her achievement but even more so, I'm humbled by the fact that she would choose to do such a thing in the first place. Daughters are really cool. And for what its worth I cracked 180 this morning: 179.7. Life is good!

Lansing Preps For Inaugural Marathon

Runners, volunteers and organizers are busy preparing for this Sunday's first ever Lansing Marathon. Posted: 1:49 PM Apr 17, 2012 Reporter: Lindsay Veremis  Email Address: lindsay.veremis@wilx.com  Lansing Preps For Inaugural Marathon

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     The Capital City will be chock-full of runners this weekend, all in town for the first ever Lansing Marathon. 2,000 people are expected to run the full 26.2 mile course, thousands more will participate in the half marathon, 5K and Saturday kids race.
     Richard Helder of East Lansing is one of the determined competitors. Helder has raced in many marathons, but says this one is a bit different. For the first time he'll be running with his 14-year-old daughter Katie and it's the first time he'll be running at home.
"Finally someone decided to have a Lansing Marathon," Helder said emphatically. 
"Driving to Detroit is nice, driving to Grand Rapids is nice, Chicago of course is a blast but now I can just wake up in my own house and go to it."
The pair is eager for the challenge of the course, which starts and ends at the State Capitol.

"They will encounter a varied course, a very interesting course," Race Director Owen Anderson said. "It's not just a flat course through the city, it does have urban elements, but it also goes out into the country."
     The Sunday race will pass through Lansing, East Lansing, even the Potter Park Zoo. Helder is excited for the home turf. Runners are equally pleased with the cool forecast. Lansing's weekend weather should be a far cry from Monday's Boston scorcher. Thousands dropped out of the famed marathon because of the blistering heat.

"A 40-50 degree day is a perfect day to run and we anticipate we'll have temperatures right around there," Pam Jacoby with the marathon said.
Organizers say the course will be open for seven hours to allow as many runners and walkers to finish as possible.

"I don't talk about times, I just want her to complete it and enjoy doing it," Helder said of his daughter's first run, in Lansing's first marathon.

     Race organizers say the marathon should eventually pump $3-7 million into the local economy. The full marathon begins Sunday at 8 a.m. The marathon is still looking for course marshalls. Those volunteers will help keep runners on track and keep cars and bikes off the course.

Hill Training and "The Bounce"

Every Wednesday rolls around and I'm so happy to go to this Lansing Marthon running clinic hosted by Owen (Anderson). Probably part of it is I get to run by him some of the things I've picked up along the way about running and have them challenged by someone who is so respectful. Every teacher and coach says things "as if they were truth" when in reality they can actually be things that are wrong or not as correct as they could be. One thing that I learned about running in a cross country camp from my high school days was the idea of "running tall". Basically the concept is one of running economy. Should you lean a bit or be straight up and down right above your legs. The whole "Good Form Running" plus all the other various incarnations of this movement seem to indicate that there should be a lean. I was taught and consequently teach that people should run tall keeping their bodies squarely over their power plant...their legs. Also that they should run evenly    and not waste energy moving up and down too much. In contrast, Owen talks about taking advantage of elastic energy when running and he says to bounce a bit in your stride. I was resisting the bounce. However he went on to explain that it takes advantage of energy that involves your muscles contracting and expanding naturally during running as opposed to willing your muscles to do the same thing which would interfere with economy. In the end, accepting that the bounce was a good thing versus a suspect thing was one item I came away with from tonight and I feel blessed to have such a kind coach. 

Owen Anderson

    My Wednesday night marathon clinic is run by Owen Anderson who is quite a knowledgable man when it comes to running. He just got back from a race director's conference in Houston and had some wry observations about the "celebrity" status enjoyed by Dave McGillivray, race director for the Boston Marathon. Owen's sense of humor is definitely one of his strong suits. He promotes an interesting vision for a less is more philosophy in running. Also he was glad to share that there will be some Kenyans running this year at the inaugural Lansing Marathon event and to say that an exciting new running program for kids is beginning within the Lansing schools. Obesity being a problem plaguing Michigan's youth, I'm sure this will be just the thing for some deserving and motivated young people. 
     One thing that Owen talks about, that I've never really heard too much about, is the importance of the nervous system and developing an overall level of fitness to enhance running, not just "heart size and leg speed" development. We did an interesting array of drills tonight that included soccer balls, cones, and a plastic ladder that we basically hopscotched through. Not at all what I was expecting but very fun things to do with my cross country team next fall. As I look back on my running life I realized I've never really been coached for a marathon before. I just went out and did them for fun. Now I think I'd like to qualify for Boston (before they make it even harder) and I think I've found a coach to get me there.

Midfoot strike

So Exciting! But will I like them more than my Asics?

What with McDougall's Born to Run, the advent of Vibram five fingers, and a flurry of running methods, ChiRunning, Evolution Running, Good Form Running, etc all roads lead toward the midfoot strike. Four years ago when I did my first 70.3 I was noticing these shoe brands that I had never seen before. "The triathlete crowd even have their own shoes!?", I thought. Names like Zoot and Newton and colors that were reminiscent of  early 80's neon were fun and interesting. So, four years later, thanks to my parent's X-mas gift of "Universal Gift Certificates" (money), I finally bought a pair of  Newton's. My reluctance to buy them stemmed more from price rather than being sold or not sold on the science behind them. Since that first 70.3 I've also run a half marathon in my Vibram's (Speed) this past Fall. Everything that is promoted in terms of not having sore knees and a sore back checks out. My achilles tendons and the back of my calves DID feel like rolled steel afterwards, but no knee or back pain. When I treadmill tested the Newtons in the store I had already been actively trying to alter my running technique for over a year so they felt quite natural. Walking in them, however, is kind of like walking around in a pair of track spikes. I'm excited to run in them for the Lansing Marathon. I just can't see myself running 26.2 in my Vibrams, but with these I think the trademarked Newton "lugs" will help me keep good form even when I'm getting fatigued and form generally goes out the window. As far as trends go, the midfoot strike will most likely be around to stay. Now I need to go find my bee-pollen and DMSO.