tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60613492012-02-16T10:37:01.273-05:00Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comBlogger191100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-47453189386703564872011-08-25T07:16:00.002-05:002011-08-25T07:22:43.104-05:00

Ouch. It's been a while. I've been neglecting to document training and life in general through this blog because I've been doing a ton of audio recording. I toyed with the idea of putting a podcast together but, like most other people who are currently producing podcasts, I would just be rehashing formats that already exist. I would still be adding new content, so to speak, because everyone

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-22836267938565007772011-03-18T19:38:00.002-05:002011-03-18T19:45:44.411-05:00

I take a lot of long runs that are single loops or 'out and back' runs, depending on the route. I have to carry whatever hydration and nutrition I need on me and tote it through the course of the run. There's a fine line between packing adequately and weighing yourself down with needless crap. I used to pack a lot more than I do now. If I'm doing anything under a half-marathon distance, I

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-36876758804423276482011-03-14T14:15:00.002-05:002011-03-14T14:28:59.547-05:00

NEVER underestimate the importance of a rest day. If your body tells you to take a break, take a break. Things to watch out for - elevated heartrate that doesn't go away during resting periods, heartrate that runs super-high during easy to moderate effort, feeling restless and fatigued - these are all good signs to look for.I was very keyed up after yesterday's 7 miler. I felt good, and my

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-57036576193215841492011-03-13T20:03:00.002-05:002011-03-13T20:14:29.747-05:00

I had a week or so after the marathon of very little activity because my legs were pretty much shot. After the break I started back slowly and tested myself daily with 2 to 3 mile runs, just to make sure I hadn't done any permanent damage to my knee. This past week's mileage was upped to about 20, with a long run outside today of 7 miles. After the run I felt absolutely awesome. 58:50 for the

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-31528608684189637982011-03-01T14:09:00.002-05:002011-03-01T14:11:55.678-05:00

What a race. For the first time ever running a marathon distance, I did well. By well, I mean I didn’t do anything fatal and I finished it. I went out strong and had a very hard time slowing down for the first half marathon. I ran the first half right around 2, which was exactly what I wanted in terms of tempo, but the second half was brutal. My feet were well beyond frozen at that point,

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-18220368340707781122011-03-01T13:45:00.000-05:002011-03-01T13:46:32.731-05:00

This was the last week of race taper before Sunday's marathon. I took it fairly easy with a bit of tune-up speedwork on Thursday.Monday - offTuesday – 3 miles on the treadmill, easyWednesday - offThursday – 2 miles of speedworkFriday – 3 miles on the treadmill, easySaturday - offSunday – Hyannis MarathonRace report to follow...

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-51554210487798866992011-02-22T14:04:00.002-05:002011-02-22T14:08:11.481-05:00

This was my first real week of race taper. I had originally planned on 3 weeks of taper leading up to the marathon but my injury caused me to push that back to a 2 week window. I felt good at the end of the week, so I think I'm going to be ready and not have any issues (provided my leg doesn't blow up during the marathon).Monday - offTuesday - 4 miles (2 and 2 with the Merrells and K-Swiss)

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-8032031474129749332011-02-22T13:55:00.002-05:002011-02-22T14:03:35.562-05:00

I received a question yesterday (Friday actually... it got caught in my spam filter) regarding volume and speed increases. It generated some good thoughts about plans that correspond to increasing volume and speed while at the same time minimizing the opportunity for injury. Here's a summary of what I emailed. You can definitely run every day, but just keep an eye on what you’re doing in terms

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-8079966140060929092011-02-18T14:00:00.004-05:002011-02-18T15:08:39.746-05:00

First, an amendment to my previous post at the request of my wonderful wife. The use of the word 'trick' was called into question and she said I should clarify said suggestion, not as a 'trick' but as a 'technique.' Duly updated. Please note this correction.Now, on to the topic at hand. Running shoes. I just read a great article and it really got my wheels turning on the whole minimalist

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-28684620928996890252011-02-17T21:44:00.003-05:002011-02-18T15:09:07.958-05:00

Here's something you can do when you get hungry. See, a lot of times when you get hungry it is actually your body telling you that you're thirsty. Your body has a hard time distinguishing between hunger and thirst in terms of the way it relays the information to your brain. The worst time to be hungry is at night, because you've already done the activity you're going to do for the day.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-65425794956471307132011-02-17T21:03:00.003-05:002011-02-18T15:09:44.434-05:00

Here's a good piece of equipment that I think all runners should have - a roller. You can use a foam roller or "The Stick" but either way, being able to roll your muscles really helps to fend off the compartmentalized cramps that can occur and make your legs feel like hell. I get restless leg syndrome. My sister says I'm full of shit and it's all in my head, but there are nights when I lie in

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-90049156170689495122011-02-15T20:16:00.003-05:002011-02-18T15:10:09.631-05:00

I haven't been able to do speedwork because my leg has been healing up. Sunday's 20 miler went better than I expected, and after a recovery day yesterday I ran a 4 miler today to see where I was at. No pain. Definitely a good thing. I'm not going to worry about any speedwork leading up to the race because the last thing I want to do is strain my leg. I'm in a taper now, so my mileage is

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-58350416216105900712011-02-14T12:27:00.003-05:002011-02-18T15:10:42.268-05:00

It was a good week for getting back into the regularity of running a decent distance. My left leg was toast the previous week, so this week I was really just trying to feel things out. This was the last week before my taper for the marathon, so I really needed to hit my goal for my long run. I was also trying to break in the Merrells because I was thinking about using them for the race.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-53003265803074850612011-02-11T21:15:00.004-05:002011-02-18T15:10:57.421-05:00

A quick experiment today with compression. If you go to any race, be it a 5K road race or an Ironman, you'll see people rocking calf compression sleeves. Is it hype? Hmmm... that's a complicated answer. It depends on what you're using them for. Apparently evidence exists that when used pre- and post-race they can encourage vascular circulation and help aid in reducing muscle fatigue. There

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-90961539798242266422011-02-10T20:51:00.003-05:002011-02-18T15:11:29.322-05:00

In the February 2011 issue of Triathlete magazine, Matt Fitzgerald touches on the different sports nutritionists' views of carbohydrate/protein/fat balance. Some are inclined to recommend 60/20/20 while others feel a more balanced 40/30/30 is the right way to go. Fitzgerald notes that carbohydrate needs should correlate to training volume, with no 'magical' ratio really working as a solution

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-79246643278313704972011-02-10T09:29:00.003-05:002011-02-18T15:12:01.675-05:00

I've been spending a lot of time developing running plans and assisting people with coaching. This has been a very enjoyable thing and it has been a great learning experience for me, as it has allowed me the opportunity to gather information on how running affects people with various levels of fitness. The important thing in any program that I've read about is initial moderation. You can't

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-81001432036523191522011-02-09T14:57:00.003-05:002011-02-18T15:12:44.786-05:00

About a year ago I started working on a weight loss / exercise book aimed at the college/university demographic. I went into our bookstore a while back and found such a book alarmingly absent from the shelves. I've toyed with the idea for a while now, but the problem with any such book is that it relies on the fact that the people who pick it up are going to want to do the exercises you

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-42946448144472185492011-02-08T15:55:00.003-05:002011-02-18T15:13:09.751-05:00

Over the past couple of years as I've gotten back into running I've moved to more minimal footwear. There's a lot of great research out there that enforces the concept of barefoot (or minimal footwear) running as a potential injury reducer provided it is done correctly. Anton Krupicka has some great information on his blog about doing things the right way, and he's also very frank about what

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6061349.post-81310470814720878492011-02-04T16:08:00.002-05:002011-02-17T21:59:05.119-05:00

I deleted all my old content a while back and left a post up saying that I wasn't going to blog anymore. Thing is... I think it was good stress relief and from time to time I actually come up with funny or pertinent stuff that I think other people might enjoy. That said, I'm cracking the top on the blog again. I'll apologize in advance to anyone who has read my blog before because the new

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949665702462877116noreply@blogger.com