“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” - MLK

I started to write a post about the disappointment I was feeling after the Wild West Relay race was cancelled due to the COVID crisis.  I decided to put that side for a later date as I had to express my thoughts and feelings about what it is happening right now in my country.  I was a child in the 60’s but remember vividly watching the news most evenings and seeing what was happening in the country and the rest of the world.  The news most nights was dominated by the war in Vietnam.  Even though the war led the news each night, there was so much more happening.  My clearest memories of those news reports are from 1968 through today.  Yet those of us who lived through the tumultuous period from 1968 through President Nixon’s resignation in August 1974 through today, don’t seem to have learned anything from what we saw and fought for so long ago.

If you are too young to have lived through it, 1968 was a year of major turmoil.  In addition to Tet offensive in Vietnam, it was the year that brought us North Korea’s capture of the USS Pueblo, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (which led to several days of rioting in inner cities throughout the U.S), the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, U.S. athletes taking a stand at the Summer Olympics in solidarity with the Black Power movement, and violent rioting and police brutality in Chicago outside the Democratic National Convention.  And that was only 1968.  1969 was no better.  We had the People’s Park riot, the Stonewall Inn riots, Altamonte, the Zodiac and Manson murders and on a better note the moon landing and Woodstock.  Then the 70’s arrived and this country felt a crisis of confidence.  The key events that led to this crisis were Watergate, Roe v Wade, Kent State, Inflation, the Energy Crisis, the end of the Vietnam War which only lead to a much colder and potentially more dangerous Cold War.

As a pre-teen and early teenager, I truly believed that all of those events changed our country in positive ways.  I believed that we came together and found common ground on which to build a better society.  I even mistakenly believed we had turned the corner when we finally elected a man of color as President.  Yet, in the past several weeks we have witnessed the brutal killings of George Floyd (by the police), Breonna Taylor (by the police in her own home) and Ahmaud Arbery (by neighbors while out jogging).  These events have led to people protesting in peaceful and not so peaceful ways.  As I watch the news, it is like déjà vu.  Those protesting whether peaceful or not so peaceful ways are being dealt with in a similarly to 50 years ago.  Are we heading to another Kent State?  Our President’s rhetoric on Twitter and in public statements makes me wonder.  

Being a privileged white man means that I can never fully understand the feelings that the black community members must be feeling.  They have every right to be outraged, traumatized, fearful and in profound pain.  I totally empathize with them and sit here and wonder when things will change in this country.  As I sit here in Arizona far removed from the events, I feel guilty for not doing more.  I feel helpless.  And I feel isolated.  I want to march with the protestors.  But am fearful of contracting the virus by not practicing social distancing and seeing many of them marching together in close proximity without masks.   I am saddened when I see looting and violence.  I suspect that it is being done by individuals who don’t care about the protest.  They are just opportunists and criminals taking advantage of the unrest.  Nonviolence and peaceful protests will do much more. 

“Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

The protests, uprisings and riots I remember from my childhood in places like Watts, Detroit and Newark were much too big and too well-known to be forgotten.  But the revolts at that time happened in smaller communities across the country like Hartford, Fort Lauderdale, York and Harrisburg, PA too.  Sadly most people don’t remember those protests.  It may surprise you that the protests 50 years ago were in response to the unequal living conditions black communities were forced to endure alongside the unequal justice system.  Doesn’t that sound familiar.  Nothing has truly changed or improved for our black community. Not only that, our politicians simply ignored the nonviolent protests being instigated to try and fix the inequalities and prejudice inherent in the system.   

It is hard to believe it has only been 6 years from the protests and riots in Ferguson, Mo.  It is obvious that nothing has changed.  The issues from 50 years ago have not diminished.  It is obvious that black Americans continue to face the same racist challenges with no less severity today than they did 50 years ago.  And we have an administration in Washington that like 50 years ago is ignoring and some might say actually exacerbating the problem through their rhetoric.  

It is time that we have to all stand up and say enough.  We need to ask for public oversight of the police forces across our country.  There should be no tolerance for police brutality, racism or unjustified killings.  If an officer like Chauvin has been the subject of 18 prior complaints filed against him, he needs to be removed from the force.  There should be policies in place that weed out the bad cops who besmirch the reputation of the rest of the police force who do the right thing every day as they keep us safe in our communities.   One or two bad apples do spoil the whole bunch.

My Rabbi in his sermon last week reminded us of what the Mishna says regarding human beings being created in God’s image.  The Mishna explained, “When a mortal sovereign stamps the royal image on a coin, every coin made from that image is exactly alike.  However, when God put the stamp of the first human on humanity, every person deriving from the original one is different from every other one.”  Our Rabbi explained that each of us has our own role to play in this world.  If we are truly going to repair the world (tikkun olam) each of us must play our part.  This means that every life is valuable and every person on this planet should be treated with dignity.  If we don’t understand this simple concept, the world will continue to remain broken.

“The most modern and broadly understood notion of tikkun olam is that of "repairing the world" through human actions. Humanity's responsibility to change, improve, and fix its earthly surroundings is powerful. It implies that each person has a hand in working towards the betterment of his or her own existence as well as the lives of future generations. Tikkun olam forces people to take ownership of their world. It is them, not God, who will bring the world back to its original state of holiness.

More simply, it is important for Jews to participate in repairing the world by participating in tzedakah (justice and righteousness) and g'milut hasadim (acts of loving kindness). Without their stake in the improvement of their environment, injustice and evil will continue to exist.” - https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/tikkun-olam

While the concept of tikkun olam is an essential part of my Jewish faith, isn’t it something that we should all strive for?  At this time, we should all be seeking justice for the oppressed and finding ways to reach out to others with loving kindness.  Violence and hatred only begets more violence and hatred.  It is time to step back and understand that while we may have been created in God’s image, we are all individuals.  We are all valuable.  We all have a stake in this world.  We all must come together as human beings whether we are straight, gay, bisexual, transsexual, black, white, Asian, native American or in whatever skin we exist in.  The skin is only the surface, we are all the same beneath that surface.  The only difference between us is what we hold in our hearts.

Let’s hope that justice prevails and that finally we can truly see a difference in how we as human beings live together going forward.  Let’s bring God’s light back into the world and finally live in love, peace and harmony.

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

May 11 – 6.20 miles (1:03:33, 10:15 pace) – Hill Repeats

May 12 – 4.20 miles (35:07, 8:22 pace) – Speed Work

May 14 – 5.20 miles (41:48, 8:02 pace) – Tempo Run

May 15 – 5.20 miles (46:52, 9:01 pace) 

May 16 – 7.20 miles (1:24:40, 11:56 pace) – Trail Run 

May 17 – 4.10 miles (38:39, 9:25 pace) 

May 18 – 5.50 miles (57:07, 10:23 pace) – Hill Repeats

May 19 – 3.10 miles (23:34, 7:35 pace) – Speed Work

May 21 – 5.20 miles (40:56, 7:52 pace) – Tempo Run

May 22 – 5.10 miles (47:48, 9:23 pace) 

May 23 – 8.10 miles (1:13:35, 9:05 pace) 

May 24 – 5.10 miles (44:52, 8:48 pace) 

May 25 – 6.20 miles (01:04:26, 10:24 pace) – Hill Repeats

May 26 – 4.10 miles (34:16, 8:21 pace) – Speed Work

May 28 – 5.10 miles (41:06, 8:04 pace) – Tempo Run

May 29 – 5.50 miles (49:31, 9:00 pace) 

May 30 – 8.10 miles (1:17:34, 9:35 pace) 

May 31 – 5.10 miles (48:00, 9:25 pace)

Total Miles:  98.30 miles

2020 Total Miles:  752.10 miles

Hill Repeats Make You Stronger

In my last post, I noted that one of the ways to train and prepare for a race at altitude is to incorporate hill training in your normal training routine.  There are numerous ways to add hill training into your program.  If you go out onto the internet, you can find numerous recommendations for hill training.  Any of them may work for you in your training goals.  Some help increase strength.  Some increase endurance.  Some improve leg speed and some enhance your ability to run hills in races.  I tried a few different hill workouts over the past few years.  In the end, I found that hill repeats was the workout that truly improved my ability to run hills in a race without losing any speed.   You should experiment with different workouts to find what works best for you and more closely aligns with your running and racing goals.

I originally chose to include hill training in my normal routine because I wanted to be able to reduce the intimidation hills created in my head during a race.  The Boston Marathon is a very hilly race.  The hill training I completed while preparing to run my first Boston enabled me to remove any doubt that I could crush the hills during the race.  I took the time to analyze the course map for Boston and chose to run the hilly sections of the course during my 16 week training program.  I ran the tough hills several times leading up to the marathon.  When I got to the Newton hills, I felt confident and fully prepared for those hills knowing that I had practiced them during my training.  Even if you can’t run on the actual course, you can find hills with similar elevations that will allow you to get race-ready.

After trying a few different hill workouts I found in Runner’s World and on-line, I settled on a hill repeat workout that has worked for me.  It has definitely increased my ability to run hills without any noticeable reduction in pace.  It is a very simple workout.  After a brief active stretch, I head out to the base of one of 2 or 3 hills near my house that are about a 4 to 6% grade.  I usually run for at least 9 minutes at a very easy pace to the base of the hill before I start my repeats.  This gives me a nice warm up before the harder effort begins. 

Once I am at the base of the hill, I run uphill for 2 minutes.  I run it at a medium hard effort.  I pay very close attention to my form.  I keep my back straight, shorten my stride and keep my heels under my knees.  I strive to keep my perceived effort at a 5K level just not the same speed.  When the 2 minutes are up, I turn around and walk down the hill for 2 minutes to provide a full recovery before I start the next uphill repeat.  I started this workout doing only 4 repeats and gradually built up to where I was consistently running 10 repeats per session.  Once I have completed my final repeat and recovery walk, I then run back to the starting point at an easy pace.  Overall this workout ends up being between 4-6 miles in total.

Recently, I decided to push myself a little harder.  I have been consistently running 12 repeats to help prep me for my fall race in Colorado.  And instead of walking down for 2 minutes to recover, I slowly jog down hill for 2 minutes.  I make sure to take it slow as I jog down maintaining the same stride length.  I let the gravity pull me down the hill.  Then after each uphill repeat, I reduce the jogging portion by 15 seconds.  This seems to be really helping me run any hills that are part of routes in my other training runs.  This workout allows me to increase the intensity of my Monday run while running at same speed as a normal non-speed work training run.

I have been running hill repeats for a few years now and believe it has made me a better runner.  It is nearly impossible to always find a flat training route in your neighborhood or where you get in your training runs.  Incorporating some form of hill training in your routine will simply make you a more well-rounded runner who can take on any terrain during training or racing.  The big benefit of running hill repeats is that it is an easy form of resistance training that helps to build the muscles in your calves, quads, and hamstrings.   And as you know, these are the exact same muscles you use when doing speed work.  I have noticed that my Tuesday speed sessions have become easier since I started doing hill repeats.  Don’t get me wrong, hills are hard.  But isn’t most of what we experience in life that makes us stronger hard.  Get outside your comfort zone and add hills to your training.  You will be surprised at what it does for you both mentally and physically.

Apr 27– 6.10 miles (1:03:13, 10:22 pace) – Hill Repeats
Apr 28 – 3.20 miles (24:19, 7:36 pace) – Speed Work
Apr 30 – 5.30 miles (43:14, 8:09 pace) – Tempo Run
May 1 – 6.20 miles (56:22, 9:05 pace)
May 2 – 9.20 miles (1:23:35, 9:05 pace)
May 3 – 6.20 miles (57:01, 9:12 pace)
May 4 – 6.60 miles (1:05:36, 9:56 pace) – Hill Repeats
May 5 – 4.50 miles (36:45, 8:10 pace) – Speed Work
May 7 – 5.70 miles (46:13, 8:15 pace) – Tempo Run
May 8 – 5.50 miles (49:02, 8:55 pace)
May 9 – 9.50 miles (1:28:29, 9:19 pace)
May 10 – 5.30 miles (48:32, 9:09 pace)

Total Miles:  73.30 miles
2020 Total Miles:  653.80 miles

Next Relay is at Altitude - Tips for Running at Altitude

Before the worldwide pandemic hit, my relay team Password: Penguin had signed up to run another relay.  This time we were going to run in Colorado.  There was some trepidation from a few of my teammates due to the race being at altitude.  But they still decided to run it.  I think it was due to the fact that this race would have us running through some of the most beautiful portions of northern Colorado.  So if the pandemic doesn’t cause the race to be cancelled, the Penguins will be heading to Fort Collins to participate in the 17th Annual Wild West Relay and Get Your Ass Over the Pass Race on August 7th and 8th. 

The Wild West Relay starts off in the foothills Fort Collins before heading deep into the heart of the Rocky Mountains.  The race is part of the Road Less Traveled Relay Races.  I ran one of their relays in the Green Mountains of Vermont back in 2012.  They create their relays to take the runners through beautiful landscapes and across diverse and challenging terrain in iconic locations in the United States.  What I liked about the race I ran with them was that even though it was a difficult course it definitely had a friendly vibe and was totally runner-focused.  The Wild West Relay course will have my team run over two mountain passes and through three national forests before reaching the finish line in Steamboat Springs.  Of course this will mean running at some very lofty altitudes.  Most of the course will be run at over 7,000 feet above sea level. 

With that in mind, I wanted to discuss what it means to run at altitude and what we can expect.  In my work, I have traveled and run at altitude many times.  Let me tell you, if you’re not from a place with a high altitude, running in the thin air of places like Denver or Salt Lake City can be very difficult.  I learned that any time I was going to run at altitude I needed to change my mindset.  I had to make sure that no matter what distance I had planned, I needed to always start a little slower than usual.  Once I got comfortable in my breathing, I could pick up the pace a little bit.  I cannot stress enough how important it is to start out slow.  It is a known fact that your pace will typically slow by 30 seconds per mile above 7,000 feet. 

What can a runner do to be able to race well at altitude?  The first thing to consider is when to arrive ahead of the race.  Most people recommend arriving at least 10 days before the race.  This period of time allows your body to adapt to the demands of altitude and acclimate to the thinner air.  This is typically not possible for most runners.   Based on other friends who travel and run at altitude, they all agree that arriving 48 hours prior to the start of the race will allow your body to avoid the most detrimental inhibitors of performance at altitude.  It is during the first 7 days at altitude that your body starts to adapt to working with less oxygen.   At 6,000 feet above sea level you have 17% less oxygen making a hard effort seem even harder.

I have found that one of the best things a runner can do to help acclimate is to hydrate.  Living in the desert, I am accustomed to drinking water constantly.  But most articles about running and training at altitude stress hydration.  When I get to a city at altitude, I make it a point to stay hydrated to help my body more easily adjust to the higher altitude.  The fact is that air is much drier at altitude, so like in the desert, I find that I need about twice the amount of water I would normally consume at sea level.   In Boy Scouts we always said, “Before you hit the trail, your urine best be pale.”  It isn’t a bad mantra for running at altitude.

I was recently reading about things a runner can do to help his body be better prepared for running at altitude.  One article noted that our red blood cell mass and oxygen demands increase at a higher altitude.  The author recommended that one way to prepare your body to run at altitude was to supplement your diet with iron before arriving at altitude.  The typical recommended daily amount of iron for women is 18 milligrams and for men is 8 milligrams.  If you add an iron supplement, it is said that it helps prevent altitude sickness and helps to increase red blood cell counts.  Most recommend increasing your iron intake by at least 5x for 30 days prior to your race.  However, since I am not a doctor, please consult with your doctor before increasing your iron supplementation.

While arriving early and increasing your iron intake can help, there is only one thing that can truly prepare you for a race at altitude and with a lot of elevation changes – do some hill training.  I have studied this relay’s course and there are definitely numerous uphills and downhills.  This means that to really be prepared, it's a good idea to add a hill workout once a week to your training which will help improve your hill running form.   Luckily for me, I have been including hill training as part of my weekly training for several years now.  A few of my teammates live in areas with no hills.  So overcome this, they have prepared for past hilly relays by running their hills in parking garages.  Other options available are climbing stairs or running up the stadium bleachers at the local high school.  The key is to get your legs used to climbing however you can.  There is no excuse to not include hill training.  Remember, if it’s easier on your legs to climb the hill, it easier the run is overall. 

The other thing I learned running at altitude and is good advice in general is to learn to run by effort, not by pace.  As I said before, it is clear that no matter how trained you are for a race you will simply run slower at altitude.  I will be coaching my teammates to use their perceived effort, not their pace/speed, as their guide.   It is best to ease into the run gradually increasing effort as you feel more comfortable with your breathing.  If you really start to feel good after a couple of miles, then it is time to increase the intensity.  The key to knowing your perceived effort is to learn your paces during training and how they feel.  This knowledge will allow you to know what effort level to dial in on race day.

I am not worried about running this relay even at altitude.  I will train hard to prepare.  I will force myself to take the first mile of each of my three legs at a slow pace until I feel ready to increase my speed.  But most importantly, I plan to take advantage of the great views as I run through the mountains.  I plan to enjoy a leisurely paced run to keep my heart rate in line as my body works harder to get oxygen.  As I have said before, a huge part of racing is the mental battle as you run each leg of a relay.  The key is to stay positive and know that even when my lungs and legs are burning, I can finish.  Hopefully these few tips I have provided will help you when you have the chance to run at altitude.

Apr 13 – 7.10 miles (1:10:46, 9:58 pace) – Hill Repeats
Apr 14 – 3.10 miles (24:28, 7:53 pace) – Speed Work
Apr 16 – 5.10 miles (42:00, 8:14 pace) – Tempo Run
Apr 17 – 5.50 miles (49:45, 9:03 pace)
Apr 18 – 8.10 miles (1:14:08, 9:08 pace)
Apr 19 – 5.10 miles (47:32, 9:19 pace)
Apr 20 – 6.20 miles (1:02:14, 10:02 pace) – Hill Repeats
Apr 21 – 3.20 miles (25:01, 7:49 pace) – Speed Work
Apr 23 – 5.10 miles (41:30, 8:08 pace) – Tempo Run
Apr 24 – 5.50 miles (48:55, 8:53 pace)
Apr 25 – 8.10 miles (1:17:42, 9:36 pace)
Apr 26 – 5.50 miles (48:21, 8:47 pace)

Total Miles:  67.60 miles
2020 Total Miles:  580.50 miles

What I am doing during the pandemic

Like most of you, I have been subject to a stay-at-home order issued by my governor.  He was a little late to the party but he finally came around and issued the order on March 30th.  It feels very strange to be quarantined in my own home.  If you are like me, you are healthy and can’t fully understand why we have to do this to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.  We all know that it is the right thing to do because it will protect others from us if we are sick and don’t know it or we happen to be an asymptomatic carrier.  Since the order was issued, I have been practicing social distancing and staying at home only venturing out to get groceries.  As weird as it all seems, I have been taking this time at home with my wife to read a lot and reflect on what is really important in my life.

My reflections have made me realize that so much of what I thought was critical and important really isn’t in the grand scheme of things.  I have concluded that staying at home has some real benefits.  The first being that I get to spending more time with my wife.  My son and his fiancée come over once a week to visit which is helping keep some semblance of normalcy in my life.  As we spend time together it helps to reinforce how much my family matters to me especially when I can’t see them as often as I would like.  They are with me no matter what and I have realized how important they are in keeping me grounded.  I am choosing to take this once in a lifetime opportunity to spend as much time with my family and cherish every moment.

I have found that being quarantined plus being out of work has given me more ‘me time’.  I have chosen to take this time to evaluate myself, my career and to try to figure out who I am today.   If nothing else, it has taught me that I am more than my job.  I have so much more to me than I realized.  I have started to get rid of the doubts I have in my abilities and simply taught myself how to be more comfortable in my own skin.  Best of all it has made me love myself more which ultimately will allow me to love others more easily.  During this stay-at-home period, I have found productive ways to keep myself busy like taking an on-line class for my real estate license, reading books I have always meant to read and exercising more intensely.  This is helping me to maintain some sense of normalcy during this trying time.

The toughest part of this whole quarantine is that I have always thrived on my social interactions.  Now I can’t go out and at meet friends, go shopping for fun, get a haircut, see a movie or more importantly going to my gym.  These are all places where I can get the social interactions I so enjoy.  There are times that I feel I am being lazy and I definitely get bored more often.  The worst part is I cannot do a full job search as there simply are no jobs hiring at this time.  If they were, interviewing would be problematic.  Since I am unable to have these interactions, I have come to value my freedom to go out and meet friends and family anytime and anywhere even more.

One of the challenges of spending so much time at home is that I tend to snack more than usual.  I try to avoid snacking unnecessarily.  I don’t want to gain any weight.  In fact, I am trying to get back down to the weight I was when I ran Boston in 2009.  I felt really good at that weight and was actually faster on the road.  To avoid it, I have set a routine for myself on when and how much I consume.  I use the My Fitness Pal app which shows me how many calories I am burning and consuming. This way I can make sure I am not overeating.  Don’t get me wrong I have bad days where I snack and eat more than I should.  But I get right back on track the next day and don’t punish myself for not following my plan.

I am sticking to my running routine.  I get up early every morning but Wednesday and run.  My routine includes hill repeats on Monday, speed work on Tuesday, tempo runs on Thursday, recovery miles on Friday, long runs on Saturday and more recovery miles on Sunday.  The goal is to run at least 30 miles per week.  Since I am not training for a specific race right now these are good maintenance runs and miles.  When I am ready to ramp up for a race, I will be prepared.  Running is the one thing that I do each day that gives me a little bit of a sense of the freedom I have lost even if I cross the street when I see a runner coming towards me.  Can’t be too safe these days.

My hope is that when we all finally emerge from this period of isolation; we will all realize how important our freedom is in our daily lives.  I hope that we will all be a little friendlier and more forgiving.  I hope that it makes us all want to lead a healthier lifestyle which will include maintaining a healthy body.  And finally, I hope that it will give us all a feeling of gratitude towards all of the people who worked to help those struck down with the virus and all those individuals who were considered essential workers.  They are the true heroes who risked their well-being to allow us to maintain a little bit of normalcy in our daily lives. 

I will close with this prayer:

A Prayer of Hope During this Pandemic
By Rabbi Naomi Levy, originally appeared on nashuva.com

We are frightened, God,
Worried for our loved ones,
Worried for our world.
Helpless and confused,
We turn to You
Seeking comfort, faith and hope.
Teach us God, to turn our panic into patience,
And our fear into acts of kindness and support.
Our strong must watch out for our weak,
Our young must take care of our old.
Help each one of us to do our part to halt the spread of this virus
Send strength and courage to the doctors and nurses
In the frontlines of this battle,
Fortify them with the full force of their healing powers.
Send wisdom and insight to the scientists
Working day and night across the world to discover healing treatments.
Bless their efforts, God.
Fill our leaders with the wisdom and the courage
To choose wisely and act quickly.
Help us, God, to see that we are one world,
One people
Who will rise above this pandemic together.
Send us health God,
Watch over us,
Grace us with Your love,
Bless us with Your healing light.
Hear us God,
Heal us God,
Amen.

Mar 30 – 7.10 miles (1:11:21, 10:03 pace) – Hill Repeats
Mar 31 – 3.10 miles (24:25, 7:53 pace) – Speed Work
Apr 2 – 5.10 miles (41:53, 8:13 pace) – Tempo Run
Apr 3 – 5.50 miles (48:53, 8:53 pace)
Apr 4 – 8.10 miles (1:14:32, 9:12 pace)
Apr 5 – 5.10 miles (45:19, 8:53 pace)
Apr 6 – 6.10 miles (1:03:17, 10:13 pace) – Hill Repeats
Apr 7 – 3.10 miles (24:07, 7:47 pace) – Speed Work
Apr 9 – 5.10 miles (41:52, 8:12 pace) – Tempo Run
Apr 10 – 6.20 miles (55:21, 8:56 pace)
Apr 11 – 8.20 miles (1:16:08, 9:17 pace)
Apr 12 – 5.10 miles (47:21, 9:17 pace)

Total Miles:  67.80 miles
2020 Total Miles:  512.90 miles