Every Run Teaches

Earlier I wrote on the topic of weekly mileage and I remarked that one of the most important things is consistency - week to week and month to month. This means that if you decide your weekly mileage goal is 15-25 miles, or 25-50, you must consistently stick to this goal. A goal, after all, is a commitment, and a commitment requires discipline. I am reading already of runners who are amending their goals even as they are just beginning their summer training which is so absolutely essential for success in the marathon season ahead. Don't do it!

Late spring/early summer here in South Central Texas is brutal this year. It's the humidity, or more accurately the dewpoint. This (dewpoint) is the truer measure of how much water vapor is in the air. As many observers will point out, dewpoint begins to be "felt" when it rises above the 60 degree mark. My own threshold is somewhere around 65. Lately it has been consistently in the 72-75 range here in San Antonio. For me, this translates into challenging running conditions and being completely drenched when I finish up a 4 or 5 or 6 mile run.

Hills are another great tool, not only for physical development, but also for mental toughness.
Try this with a 75 degree dewpoint and you learn a lot about yourself.

The easy way out is to rationalize that since these weeks are only the beginning of a long process of marathon training, that you can compromise, cut back the mileage, maybe even take the week off. After all, you can make up for it later, can't you? Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Oh, I suppose there's a bit more wiggle room in weeks one through four, but don't use it. Here's an important lesson: every run teaches us something, and one of the most important things we learn when running in adverse conditions is mental toughness. Granted, we sometimes learn things like when to speed up, or maybe more importantly when to slow down, by listening to our bodies. But there are times we have to teach our bodies to listen to our minds. It's a fine line, and one which is only understood with experience, but always consider that when the body begins to argue for stopping, for walking for a while, that a degree of skepticism is in order. This is the 21st mile, the wall. Is my body serious? What happens if I push on through? A runner can learn a lot about this while running a 5 miler when the temperature is 85 and the dewpoint is 75. Don't allow this opportunity to be missed. You'll need every advantage come race day.

Guest Blogger 1 Is In San Antonio

Drove into San Antonio today. Through a missed turn, I was actually on a portion of the course (Craig St). Hope it cools down a little and is less humid on race day, although today was a pretty day in San Antonio!

I am sure we will be driving the course on Saturday, as is typical. Looking forward to seeing the set-up starting on Saturday!

Runner Tracking

There is still time to sign up for "runner tracking", a system which will send a runner's progress updates to your mobile phone. This service charges $2 for the first runner and $1 each for additional runners.

Last year you could track runners online from the Rock'n'Roll San Antonio website, but I haven't been able to get confirmation on whether they will offer that again this year. I'll have someone monitor that on race day and will post to the blog if it is a possibility. Otherwise, just check the R'n'R website to see for yourself. It should be apparent if they have the system up, or not.

Ever wonder how this is done? If you're a veteran runner, you already know that most timing is done by a chip which is attached to the shoe laces. Timing mats pick up a signal from the chip when you run over the mat. You'll see a mat at the start and finish, but they also put mats at various other points along the race route, partly to insure that no one takes a shortcut, but mostly so they can record progress reports, or splits, for each runner. Within the past 18 months a dramatic change has taken place. Timing chips are used less and less. In their place are durable paper D-Tags from ChronoTrack Systems. Where once you had to wait at the finish line for someone to cut the timing chip off your shoe, there's now no need to turn anything back in. The D-Tag contains a tiny silicon chip and an aluminum antenna on a plastic substrate. This reacts with the timing mats the same way the older chips did. So, once you run over one of the mats your time and runner id is collected; the collector "talks" to software which then sends your race progress almost instantly to a subscriber's mobile phone. This information is also published later, along with your finishing time, so you can speculate for hours on end on how you will run an even better race the next time. Bottom line: It's Way Cool.

Guest Bloggers trimming their nails for the weekend ahead

"I'm trimming my nails to get ready to blog." That's what my sister Brenda told me after she agreed to be one of several guest iExercise bloggers this weekend. She will be roving the course with a broadband equipped laptop, giving her perspective at the start, the finish and in between.

Ernie Villarreal, from the KSTX news staff and a noted San Antonio bicycle activist, will file a post on the kid's race on Saturday in Brackenridge Park and he might be one of the guys on bicycles you will see on race morning.

Award winning KSTX reporter and producer Terry Gildea will get up early on Sunday (thanks, Terry) to give a Mahncke Park perspective of the starting line.

Finally, Albert Salazar, the keeper of the Texas Public Radio website, and Kellie Fichter, TPR Corporate Support Manager, will post from a great location in Southtown which will afford them a view of the marathoners headed out at about 11.5 miles and coming back at the 23 mile mark. Be sure to look happy. Those onlookers might be Albert or Kellie and they may write about YOU.

My sincere thanks to all of the guest bloggers. If you can't be downtown, or elsewhere along the race course, be sure to "tune in" to the iExercise blog for some unique perspectives on the Rock'n'Roll San Antonio.

Some Odd and Ends

Picked up some nutritional supplements today (more on those in a moment) from my favorite running store and the in-store conversation turned to the marathon. Is it any surprise, as we run up to the final days and counting? The marathon conversation then intersected with that great ice breaker topic of the weather, though of course runners don't normally need an ice breaker in order to chat as old friends. But in this case the weather is of some importance as it will impact to some degree the experience the anticipated 30 thousand runners will have Sunday morning. Bad conditions, heat and humidity mainly, might hijack the best planned race and the many goals of personal records which will be found on the course. So how is the weather shaping up? Carrol Voss said it succinctly: "I think y'all are going to have a warm and muggy day." As much as I hate to agree with such a prediction, I'm afraid at this moment I concur. The wild card in the draw is a rumored cool front due to arrive on Sunday. The cashier at the running store, a runner herself and an obvious optimist said, "Maybe there's a way the front can get here a day early." I wish. Currently, the extended forecast is for low 60s at the start, warming to 78 degrees. There's also a 20-30% chance of rain which, even if it doesn't actually rain, implies humidity.

Which segues nicely into the answer of what was in my shopping bag when I left the running store. I referred to nutritional supplements, and that is exactly what I purchased. There are any number of good brands of energy gels and electrolyte supplements. I have come to prefer Hammer because I believe in their nutritional principles and the science of the Hammer line of supplements. These are not juiced up with caffeine and simple sugar as is the case with many of the convenience store products which are almost constantly under scrutiny and investigation. Hammer makes a couple of products which you will find in my possession come race day - a very good electrolyte replacement capsule(Endurolytes) which will help prevent cramping and some of the lethargy which comes as we sweat out our body's own supply of sodium and potassium. At the risk of oversimplification, these serve the purpose of salt tablets which we used to take in hot and humid outdoor conditions. The other Hammer product I will use is called Heed and it is also at least partially addressing the electrolyte issue. It's used in much the same way athletes use Gatorade, though I believe Heed is a superior product. I will carry a bottle of Heed with me throughout the race, sipping at it between the water stations along the course.

If I have one bit of advice, for newbies and veterans both, it is to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Even if we get a cool front the night before the race, you still need to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. And remember, once you know you are thirsty, it's too late. Dehydration has already begun. Plan to drink at every water station (I think they are spaced about every 1.5 to 2 miles). Depending on your pace, this will likely be enough. However, there are some hydration zealots who insist that we need to imbibe liquid every 15 minutes in order to keep up with the game. I'm not one who normally endorses zealotry except where it involves running and Spurs Basketball, but the water zealots are right and I intend to do my best to live by their 15 minute rule.

Let's all plan to have the time of our lives. Ideal conditions, or not, this is going to be a heckuva weekend.