Q.

Mario ,

I’m training for my first half marathon and have been using a pedometer (cost me $20) to measure out my running loops, but it doesn’t seem to be very accurate. Can you recommend something not too expensive that will tell me how many miles I’ve run? Thanks!

Susan B.

A.

Hi Susan,

Pedometers such as the one you are using (assuming it clips to your hip) are OK for walkers, but don’t work so well for runners. The reason for this is that most of these lower-priced units use a spring mechanism that moves a lever which counts your steps and calculates a reading. Constant usage combined with the motion of running as well as terrain/stride changes causes the spring to lose its spring, so to speak. As a result, you end up with readings all over the place.

The most accurate type of speed and distance device for runners is going to be a GPS unit, but these products are also going to be the most expensive. Retailing for anywhere between $100 and $400, a GPS unit will fit on your wrist and communicate with satellites to provide you the most accurate information in regard to speed and distance–assuming, of course, that you don’t lose the satellite signal! Garmin, Suunto, Nike and Soleus are a few of the more reputable brands in the GPS market, and offer many different options depending on the features you are looking for as well as how much money you’re willing to spend. Depending on the unit, a heart-rate monitor option may also be included, which, of course, will add about 50 bucks or more to the price tag. A lot of this information, including distance, speed, heart rate, calories burned and maps of your routes, can be downloaded straight to your computer afterward, graphed out, and analyzed for you all the way down to the most minute details. If information overload is your thing, then a GPS unit is for you!

Of course, this level of sophistication isn’t for everyone. A little less expensive, and almost as accurate, are food pods, which are small units that attach to the laces on your running shoe and communicate with a watch to give you speed and distance information by sensing the motion of your foot. After an initial calibration, it detects the acceleration/deceleration of each stride, which allows the unit to adjust for any variations in terrain. One advantage to using a foot pods over a GPS unit is that you will never have to fear losing a satellite signal! Some brands also feature foot pod units in addition to their GPS offerings, and other brands offer just foot pod options that retail for between $50 and $200.

Lastly, most smartphones now have apps, such as MapMyRun and RunKeeper, which take advantage of your phone’s GPS system to track your mileage and, in some cases, even dictate your pace to you as you’re going along. Many of these apps are free, while others will cost you a few bucks. Of course, you have to carry your phone with you, which can become cumbersome in some cases.

What are the advantages to using these types of training devices? The benefits are many. No longer will you be left guessing just how fast that last mile was, or if you’ve gone a mile-and-a-half or a mile-and-three-quarters. The numbers don’t lie — if you’re going too fast, you’ll know instantaneously; if you’re dragging and need a kick in the butt, a virtual partner option can help keep you honest. Also, if you want to compare times over your usual routes or see have the hard data to show how much you’ve progressed as a runner in the last year, you can do so with the click of a button. In short, spending a little bit more money can give you a lot of accurate information.

Best of luck with your training!

Mario

The post Ask The Coach: Can You Recommend A Speed-Distance Device? appeared first on Competitor.com.

Russian Natalia Volgina may be stripped of her Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon title. 

(c) 2013 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission. 

Russian ultrarunner Natalia Volgina may be stripped of her Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon title and face a two-year ban after she has tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid metenolone following this year’s ultramarathon on March 30.

If found guilty, Volgina, 36, will also lose her prize money of R250,000 (USD 27,500).

According to Khalid Galant, CEO of the South Africa Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS), 24 drug tests were done at the 56-kilometer Cape Town race which is always held the Saturday before Easter. “Only one test came back positive for a banned substance,” he said. He added that SAIDS had notified the race organisers of Volgina’s test result and that the IAAF and Russian Athletics Federation had also been informed.

Volgina can now request that her “B” sample also be tested, Galant said. The steroid found in her “A” sample is the same one that cost Nadzeya Ostapchuk (BLR) her Olympic shot put title last year.

“We are part of a global anti-doping network, therefore no international athlete competing in South Africa should think that they will not be tested,” Galant said.

Shortly before the Two Oceans, Ludwick Mamabolo, winner of the 2012 Comrades ultramarathon, was cleared of a doping charge on a technicality and competed in the Two Oceans. Mamabolo, who returned a positive test for methylhexaneamine at last year’s Comrades, is planning to defend his title on June 2.

Volgina won the Two Oceans in very windy conditions in 3:38:38, 1:19 ahead of Thabita Tsatsa (ZIM). She also won the race in 2002, but did not enter between 2004 and 2011. On the three other occasions she raced the Two Oceans, she finished second each time (2001, 2003 and 2012). She was also second in the Comrades Marathon, the world’s largest ultra marathon, in 2002.

If she is disqualified, all the runners behind her will move up one position. Tsatsa will be declared the champion and American Camille Herron, who finished eleventh in 3:53:12, will be awarded the last gold medal and win R10,000 (USD 1100).

The post Ultrarunner Faces Two-Year Doping Ban appeared first on Competitor.com.

You don’t have to run fast in training–unless you want to run faster in races.

If you’re a new runner and you’ve recently caught the racing bug, finishing a 5K is likely no longer an issue; finishing it faster, however, is presenting a problem. So how do you get through this racing road block?

The answer is as simple as sprinkling some small doses of speed work into your training schedule. As a new runner, chances are you’re running over the same roads or on the same treadmill at the same speed every day. You’re using the same muscles in the same manner every time you lace up your sneaks. Then, when it comes time to race, you find yourself stuck in second gear from start to finish. In order to start shifting speeds, your metronomic muscle memory will need some new stimulation.

If you’re new to racing and want to reach the finish line faster, use these simple suggestions to safely start inserting some speed work into your training schedule.

The post Running 101: Speed Training For Beginners appeared first on Competitor.com.

Q.

Hi there,

I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and every summer running in the heat and humidity proves to be a challenge for me. Even getting out by 5:30 in the morning does not always seem to improve conditions substantially. When running tempos and intervals in warm, humid weather, I always struggle to hit the times I feel I should be able to make and end up frustrated. My question to you is: is it comparable to do these types of runs at a similar effort level and/or heart rate that I would expect under more ideal conditions?  Or should I just plan to add a certain amount of time (e.g. 5, 10, 20 seconds) to each mile or interval? Should tempos and intervals each be handled differently? Any light you could shed on this would be much appreciated. Thanks for your help!

Courtney

A.

Hi Courtney,

Before relocating to San Diego a few years ago, I spent my summers running workouts in the heat and humidity of New England, so I understand your seasonal struggle when it comes to hitting target paces during some of your toughest workouts. And while it’s certainly frustrating when the numbers on the watch don’t seem to make any sense, don’t let this fool you into thinking that you’re not as fit as the last mile split in your most recent tempo run.

Just as runners living at altitude have to adjust their target paces and heart-rate zones to account for the elevation and lack of available oxygen, so too do flatlanders who have to deal with high heat and oppressive humidity. Studies have shown that when the temperature rises above 65 degrees, your heartrate will also rise by about 10 beats per minute and performances will slow. If the humidity is also high, add another 10 or so beats to that number. My own experience tells me that under these types of conditions, my average pace will often be off by 10 to 20 seconds per mile at the same effort level. What does this mean? In short, slow down.

RELATED — Beat the Heat: Warm-Weather Racing Tips

If your average heartrate on a typical tempo run performed under near-ideal conditions is in the range of 165 to 170 beats per minute, on a hot, humid day, trying to maintain that type of effort will yield a number in the neighborhood of 190. While you do everything in your power to stay “on pace,” you’ll also be working dangerously close to your max heartrate and exerting yourself at an effort level that’s much greater than it should be for that given workout–or is even safe, for that matter. The best thing to do in this sort of situation is to aim for your normal heart-rate numbers (or, if you don’t wear a heart-rate monitor, the same effort level) keeping in mind that, in the end, your average pace will be a few ticks per mile slower than usual. For example, if the pace of your tempo runs is typically 7:00 per mile, under oppressive conditions the same sort of heart-rate (or effort) might turn out to be 7:15 per mile. This is OK! Your body doesn’t know the difference between a 7:00 mile and a 7:15 mile, but physiologically, you’re still getting the same benefit. The same principle applies to interval workouts — slow down, but keep the effort level the same.

Hang in there, and don’t let the heat and humidity hamper your training!

Mario

The post Ask The Coach: Should I Adjust For Heat & Humidity? appeared first on Competitor.com.

In this video Racing Weight author Matt Fitzgerald dispels the myth that eating frequently boosts your metabolism, but explains how consuming small meals throughout the day tends to reduce your appetite, thus allowing you to stay lean and perform well.

RELATED: Five Tips For Training Your Tummy

The post Racing Weight: The Myth Of Frequent Eating appeared first on Competitor.com.

There’s a reason Olympic runners have coaches—the same reason you may need one.

Meb Kelfezighi has a coach. So does Desiree Davila. So do Kara Goucher, Shalane Flanagan and Dathan Ritzenhein. Almost all of the American runners who went to the London Olympics last summer work with coaches.

Self-coached age-group runners might wonder why. After all, running is not a team sport where a coach is needed to decide who starts and who comes off the bench, who plays which position, and so forth. Nor is running a highly technical sport like swimming, where coaches are needed to observe and correct form flaws. Indeed, one of the virtues of running as a sport is its simplicity. Within a few years of taking it up any runner can acquire all of the knowledge he requires to coach himself.

If you ask America’s Olympic runners directly why they have coaches, most of them will not cite their lack of knowledge of the sport. These runners know perfectly well how to train. They seek other things from their coaches. Kara Goucher has said that she relies on her coaches to help build her confidence and to take the burden of planning and interpreting her training off her shoulders. Many elite athletes rely on coaches to keep them from doing stupid things, like responding to symptoms of overtraining by training harder.

Another advantage of working with a coach is accountability. This advantage snuck up on me when, in my late thirties, I chose to work with a coach for the first time since high school. My conscious reason for hiring a coach was that I had run out of ideas on how to improve and I wanted someone to give me fresh ideas. That’s another benefit of working with a coach. And, sure enough, my coach had me try some new things with my training that worked well. This was expected. What was unexpected was the sense of heightened accountability that I felt. I never saw myself as an athlete who cut corners, but when I had a coach to report back to I suddenly found myself not cutting corners that I had cut unconsciously before.

As a coach myself, I may be biased, but I believe that every runner can benefit from working with a good coach. Any one of the above-mentioned benefits—confidence building, stress alleviation, stupid mistake avoidance, accountability, and fresh ideas—could make the partnership worthwhile. And the knowledge component should not be underestimated. For lack of knowledge most runners, and even most competitive runners, make fundamental mistakes in their training such as not varying the intensity of their workouts sufficiently.

Once you’ve made the decision to work with a coach you must then find one. The first step in this process is deciding if you’d rather work face to face with a coach in your area of work through the internet and/or by phone with a coach who could be anywhere.

The advantages of working face to face with a local coach are obvious. You certainly won’t do every run with your coach present, but he or she can directly supervise some of your most important workouts. You may also enjoy the opportunity to do track workouts and such with a group of other runners working under the same coach. A coach who sees you run can do things that a remote coach cannot, such as correct your form and observe that you look tired and need a rest.

One of the advantages of opening up the map in your coaching search is that you can be very choosy. If you insist on working with a coach who has experience with national champions—well, there may not be such a coach available in your area. But Greg McMillan has coached national champions and he also coaches age-group runners all over the planet online through mcmillanrunning.com.

Technology has recently made possible a new type of coach that is like a hybrid between the face-to-face and internet versions. As a “Training Intelligence Specialist” for PEAR Sports I script and record workouts that runners listen to and follow while running with a PEAR device. With a coach in your ear for every workout, training this way is very similar to the experience that Olympic-level runners have when working with their coaches. Expect more offerings in this new category of coaching to appear over the next few years.

To summarize, I think you should have a coach. Few runners regret the decision to hire a coach, and it’s a small risk in any case. If it doesn’t work out you can go back to talking yourself out of making stupid mistakes with your training.

****

About The Author:

Matt Fitzgerald is the author of RUN: The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel (VeloPress, 2010) and an expert training content developer for PEAR Sports. Learn more at mattfitzgerald.org.

The post Do You Need A Coach? appeared first on Competitor.com.

Q.

Mario,

What do you think about the concept of “junk miles”?  Some programs, like the FURST method of running less, argue against running extra miles because they can lead to increased injuries without adding anything extra to one’s preparation for a marathon.  Some of your  previous articles have suggested that adding extra miles, like recovery miles, will enhance the training effort.  So I am a little confused.  Thanks for your comments.

Allen

A.

Allen,

Thanks for your question. While I’m not familiar with FURST method of running, I do know a thing or two about junk miles. If you’re training to race or set a new personal best, a junk mile is only junk if it doesn’t have a purpose in your training. In this case, if you’re running miles for the sake of running miles then you need to rethink what you’re doing. Every mile should have a purpose, whether it’s increasing endurance, developing speed, improving strength or enhancing recovery. Easy “extra” miles, in addition to long runs and key workouts such as interval sessions, hill repeats or tempo runs, can be great for recovery, as well as increased aerobic development and strength, if your body has shown it can handle that kind of pounding and accumulation of stress. A lot of runners can, and for these athletes, easy “extra” miles are anything but junk. They have their place.

On the flip side of the coin, if you’re running just to run, keep in shape, have time to yourself, enjoy time with friends, etc., that’s cool, too. Those miles are anything but junk. “Junk” miles, as discussed here, only apply when you’re trying to target your running toward getting ready for competition or improving performance.

MORE: Can’t Run? You Can Still Train

But not every runner can handle the added stress of extra mileage–me being one one of them–and in those cases, “extra” miles are indeed junk because they lead to injury, burnout and frustration. So, for these types of runners, how is it possible to reap the benefits of “extra” miles without actually running them? For me, and many other oft-injured runners, the answer is to focus on nailing your key workouts and filling in the holes with easy aerobic cross training.

I’ve had a lot of success doing a lot of my recovery “miles” on the bike or in the pool and I know others have taken advantage of these means, too. In fact, top Masters runner Linda Somers Smith revealed to me in an interview she can’t handle high mileage as she’s gotten older. So how does she still train and race at a high level?

“I’ve kept up the biking because I got in really good shape just going right off the bike into running, so like doing a 35-mile hard bike ride and just getting off and doing a 10-mile tempo run, or a 6-mile tempo run,” she told me. “You fatigue your legs on the bike and then it’s like doing a 15-mile tempo run, but it’s only 6 miles or only 10, so you’re not hurting your joints as much. So I’m still biking, but right now it’s only once a week—just a bike-to-run instead of a long tempo run.”

Bottom line is the absence of impact from utilizing the bike and/or the pool will do wonders for allowing your legs to bounce back quickly from races and other hard sessions. Check out this article I wrote a while back detailing specific sessions you can do to replace some of your running workouts. And remember, while lots of miles may work for some runners, they don’t work for every runner. Find your own recipe and whatever it is, trust in your training!

Best,

Mario

The post Ask The Coach: What Do You Think Of Junk Miles? appeared first on Competitor.com.

To have your best day on race day you might want to focus more on mental strength than on fitness. 

In the sport of running, the term “peaking” refers to the art of maximizing one’s performance capacity for an important race through a process of incremental fitness building. Traditionally, peaking has been thought of as a completely physiological phenomenon. You run faster on race day than you could have run weeks earlier because your training has increased your VO2max, running economy, and so forth. But there is evidence that, in many cases, runners perform better in a big race than they can weeks earlier despite not being measurably fitter.

How is this possible? The mind is a powerful thing.

In college cross country, runners aim to peak for the championship races that come at the end of the season. Most runners start the season already fit from summer base training and race frequently throughout the season, so building fitness toward a peak level is tricky. In fact, a 2010 study involving members of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men’s cross country team found that fitness did not increase at all over the course of a full season, a phenomenon that is probably not uncommon.

Corey Baumann and Thomas Wetter measured the anaerobic power, VO2max, running economy, ventilatory threshold, and lactate threshold of team runners at the start of a cross country season and again at the end. Anaerobic power actually decreased significantly while all of the other variables were unchanged. Yet most of the runners produced faster race times at the end of the season than they did at the beginning and reported feeling fitter as well. It is possible that the tests that were employed failed to capture an important physiological improvement that did occur, but the authors of the study also suggested another possibility.

RELATED: The Art Of Peaking

“I believe the better performances at the end of the season were likely due, in part, to some psychological improvement,” Corey Baumann stated in an e-mail message. “Maybe at the start of the season they could only handle 30 seconds of pain and by the end of the season they could handle 60 seconds of pain. This could be compared to getting a shot from the doctor’s office. If you only do it once every year, the pain of the needle seems pretty intense, but let’s say you went to the doctor’s office once every week or month. The pain is still the same, but you are able to handle it better. Maybe not the best analogy, but I hope you can see the connection I am trying to make; the season of workouts and races improved their pain tolerance. Just because you don’t see any change in a physiological variable(s), doesn’t necessary mean you won’t see a change in performance.”

Baumann’s speculation is supported by evidence from other research. In a classic 1981 study, for example, Scottish researchers demonstrated the importance of pain tolerance in swimming. Karel Gijsbers and Vivian Scott induced ischemic pain—a kind of oxygen-deprivation pain—in 30 elite swimmers by having them make a fist once every second while wearing a highly pressurized blood pressure cuff around their upper arms. Pain tolerance was quantified as the number of fist contractions—each more painful than the last—a subject was willing to endure before quitting. The test was repeated a few times over the course of a season. Pain tolerance increased as the swimmers’ training became more intensive and their biggest meets drew closer. This finding suggests that increased pain tolerance was probably responsible for at least a portion of any improvement in race times that the swimmers experienced across the season.

RELATED — Race-Week Workouts: The Final Countdown

It is important to note that the contribution of increasing pain tolerance to peaking is greatest for experienced runners who are already fit when they start a new cycle of training. For less experienced runners and anyone starting a training cycle at a relatively low fitness level, physiological changes such as increased VO2max will be critical to performance improvement.

If it’s true that peaking is more psychological than physiological for experienced and fit runners, how should this reality be accounted for in your training? First, you should avoid pushing too hard in your training, particulcarly as the race nears closer. After all, you’re already fit. You don’t need to push the envelope with your training and risk burnout to transform your body since your body is already prepared. The mind and brain adapt to challenges much faster than the body. You don’t have to turn yourself inside out with brutal workouts day after day to strengthen your mind for racing. Instead, pick your spots. Very hard workouts are necessary, but you don’t need to do a lot of them. A handful of painful workouts sprinkled across the training cycle—and somewhat bunched toward the end—will do the job.

****

About The Author:

Matt Fitzgerald is the author of RUN: The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel (VeloPress, 2010) and an expert training content developer for PEAR Sports. Learn more at mattfitzgerald.org.

The post Is Peaking Psychological? appeared first on Competitor.com.

Use these tips to keep your wheels spinning when preparing for longer races.

One of the most common misconceptions amongst marathoners is that training for a 26.2-mile footrace will sap you of your speed. After months of mega mileage, long runs, tough tempos and the race itself, you’re left with an aerobic engine that’s firing on all cylinders but a set of wheels that are seemingly stuck in reverse. You can run moderately fast all the livelong day, but when it comes time to resume racing there’s less pep in your step and you begin to wonder if running fast over shorter distances was a thing of the past. But rest assured, oh warrior of the road, running fast is indeed in your future. The proof of the pudding, as they say, will be in the tasting–provided, of course, that you use the right ingredients.

Any good training recipe should include a healthy mix of workouts that, when used in the proper proportions, lead to optimal performance on race day. When training for a marathon, the most important ingredients, of course, are copious amounts of mileage, plenty of long runs and lots of running at and around marathon pace. It’s these types of workouts that will help you perform your best on marathon race day, but they’re also the key components that come into play when it’s time to change gears and start focusing on shorter races again, even when it seems like those gears don’t want to turn.

Related–Volume Control: How Much Should You Run?

Terrance Shea of Cambridge, Mass., is a 2:20:48 marathoner and coach for the Boston Athletic Association. He is known in New England running circles as a true marathon man, regularly averaging well over 100 miles a week in training over the course of a year, regardless of his training focus. A few winters ago Shea took his show to the track, running 14:31 for 5,000 meters and 8:29 for 3,000 meters, 22- and 13-second personal bests, respectively, off very few “fast” workouts and months of marathon-type training.

“I found that after years and years of marathon training I had developed quite a bit of aerobic strength,” Shea said. “Not surprising, of course. But what was interesting was just how far it went into producing a good 3K and 5K. I only needed a handful of 400s or 600s in one to two months of workouts–just enough to get the legs familiar with 68-70 pace–and once somewhat efficient at this pace I let all of the ‘marathon strength’ take over in terms of not needing any rest interval to maintain it.”

The message is clear: from strength comes speed. The ability to run short intervals at a given pace doesn’t mean squat if you don’t have the strength to maintain that speed over the course of your goal race distance. While shorter intervals focused on specific speed certainly have their place in a post-marathon training program, it’s the marathon training itself that allows you to reap the benefits of such sessions.

“The lesson here when I compare early track experiences to those I had this past indoor season was that the common Vo2 max work, while clearly important, must be built upon and supported by a very solid aerobic foundation,” said Shea. “And even then kept in check.”

Brad Hudson, elite running coach, shares a similar sentiment through his website, where he states that a “bigger aerobic system means bigger absorption of specific endurance.” Case in point is a former athlete of Hudson’s, American distance ace Dathan Ritzenhein, who ran a personal best of 2:10:00 at the 2009  London Marathon and followed that up three months later with a surprising sixth-place finish in the 10,000 meters at the World Championships in Berlin, where he ran a personal best of 27:22.28, and then an American Record run in the 5,000 at Zurich, coming home in 12:56.27–a 20-second personal best. Hudson, who still had a handle on Ritzenhein’s training leading up to the London race, does not feel that Ritzenhein lost any speed during marathon training, crediting the consistent use of hill sprints, drills and strides to keep Ritz’s wheels spinning, while also making the transition to traditional speed work for shorter races easier and more effective.

“The training was already done,” Hudson stated on his site. “(Ritzenhein) just needed to get in shape from the post-marathon layoff and gain some coordination. I don’t feel like he lost any speed from marathon training.”

One of the easiest ways to regain and maintain that coordination during a training cycle is by incorporating one of Hudson’s favorite workouts, a session of short hill sprints, into your weekly routine. Six to ten repeats of 8- to 10-second sprints on a steep grade at maximal effort once or twice a week after an easy run is an effective way to keep fast-twitch muscle fibers firing, increase overall power, and improve your efficiency before you begin transitioning to specific speed sessions.

More from Competitor.com–Workout Of The Week: Steep Hill Sprints

Shea is an advocate of regular stride sessions–4 to 10 pickups of 20 seconds each at mile to 5K race pace–after easy runs or before workouts during periods of higher-volume training, both as a way to maintain basic speed and smooth the transition to faster workouts when an athlete’s training focus starts to shift toward shorter races. In addition to strides, performing a simple set of drills that includes high knees, skips, and butt kicks can help to improve flexibility, power and mechanics.

“Strides are the single most effective way to put in relatively little work to maintain the ability to remain familiar and somewhat efficient at faster race paces,” Shea said. ”Even if (an athlete) does not maintain short-distance race fitness, during higher-volume training strides serve the purpose of easing the transition for when workouts are introduced in the early season.”

And there you have it: a simple recipe for keeping your speed in check while training for a marathon. Mix up all the key ingredients over the course of your next training cycle and you’ll be running faster over shorter distances instead of wondering where your wheels went.

The post Don’t Let Marathon Training Steal Your Speed appeared first on Competitor.com.

Q.

Hi Mario,

I just signed up for a half-marathon and need to know what type of running shoe you recommend for a beginner?

Thanks,

Nicole C.

A.

Hi Nicole,

Congratulations on signing up for your first race! Your question is not an uncommon one. In fact, it was a regular query when I worked in specialty running retail.

The short answer is that there is not a “best” shoe for beginners — or experienced runners, for that matter. The good news, however, is there are lots of excellent options out there. The best running shoe for you is the one that addresses your own individual needs.

Don’t know what your own needs are? Don’t worry — this is why specialty running stores exist! A trained staff member at one of these stores will take a look at your feet, watch you run and provide you with a variety of options from all the different brands of running shoes they carry based on their observations and your feedback. They’ll also take into account your experience level, how much you’ll be running and tell you about your foot type, as well as what’s going on with your lower legs and the rest of your body when you get up to speed.

The “wet-tests” you read about in many shoe reviews only reveal a small piece of the puzzle (i.e. your foot type), so it’s important to find a trained eye to take a look at you in action. A department store or big-box sporting goods store won’t provide this kind of service or experienced expertise, nor will many of them let you take a pair of shoes for a test run before you purchase them.

RELATED: Are Minimalist Shoes Dead?

All that said, here are a few things to keep in mind when purchasing running shoes:

— This may seem obvious, but make sure you buy running shoes! Cross trainers just won’t cut it — and they won’t be very comfortable, either.

— Bring your old running shoes in with you to the store. Have the staff member at the running store take a look at them so they have an idea what you’ve been using and what changes, if any, need to be made in regard to the type of shoe that you’re wearing.

— If you run in orthotics, bring those, too — even if you’re not planning on running in them. Orthotics tell a story to the staff person who is helping you. If you’re planning on using your customized insoles for running, it will have an effect on the type of shoe that ends up being recommended to you. Of course, even if you do wear orthotics regularly, don’t rely on them as a crutch. Make sure you’re doing some lower-leg strengthening exercises and running drills in bare feet or less of a shoe than you would typically wear in an effort to make your body more resilient.

— Just because a shoe costs more, doesn’t mean it’s better for you. A $200 shoe isn’t necessarily twice as good as a $100 running shoe. In fact, most models will run you between $90 and $120. Yes, this sounds like a lot of money, but when you take into account that the average life of a running shoe is between 400 and 500 miles, this breaks down to 20 to 25 cents a mile! It’s well worth the investment!

— Ask lots of questions and make sure the shoe you end up choosing feels comfortable on your foot. In the end, if the shoes don’t feel good on your feet, you’re not going to want to run in them. A good running shoe salesman won’t (read: shouldn’t) make a decision for you, but rather point you in the right direction by providing you with a handful of appropriate options given their observations as well as your feedback.

— Break your new shoes in gradually. As a beginner, in all likelihood this will be your first “good” pair of running shoes, and is likely very different from whatever it is you had been using. Walk around the house for a bit to break them in, and test them out for the first time with a short run.

Best of luck training for your half!

Mario

The post Ask The Coach: Which Running Shoes Should I Buy? appeared first on Competitor.com.

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Maximize your training and progress with optimal recovery practices.

Runners love to talk about their training. Epic long runs, tough hill sessions and killer track workouts are all very exciting, and they make for good stories even years after they’ve been completed. Reliving every lung-burning second of a final mile repeat or leg-numbing minute of the last 20-miler and sharing these experiences with running friends are what drive many of us to adopt new training ideas, push harder in our own workouts, and gain that last tiny bit of confidence that tells us we’re ready to achieve our own racing goals.

Recovery runs don’t get quite the same play and replay. No one really likes to talk about what happens during downtime from training following a big training run or race because most of it, quite frankly, is pretty boring.

But that doesn’t mean recovery isn’t important. In fact, even more important than the training you’re doing is how well you’re recovering from that training. As a wise coach once told me, “You are only as good as you recover.”

RELATED: Post-Marathon Recovery

Why? Because recovery is when improvements happen. Yes, you need long runs, challenging workouts and steady weekly mileage to break out of your comfort zone and propel you to better race performances, but if you can’t recover from those hard efforts, they aren’t doing you much good. Without rest, not only are you denying your body time to adapt to the stress it’s under and to enable the gains you have made to take hold, but also you are sure to start your next workout under-fueled, exhausted, or possibly fighting off illness or injury.

As you rest — sleeping, relaxing on the couch on Saturday afternoon, or engaging in something slightly more active, such as your easy run days or appropriate warm-ups and cool-downs — you are reaping the benefits from your hard workouts. Stressed bones, broken-down muscle tissue, and exhausted energy systems are repairing themselves to come back stronger for your next workout and power you to a higher level of performance.

The post Want To Run Faster? Make Sure You Recover appeared first on Competitor.com.

I can’t stop thinking about those people. And those strangers, who are heroes. I hope someone is able to tell them they’re heroes.

A lot of people have already written about the bombs at the Boston Marathon. What it was like to be at the finish line, and what the bombs maybe mean. So this will be short: I wasn’t very close to the finish and I don’t care about what any of it means. Maybe I’ll care more later but I’m too upset right now.

I was in the ballroom at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel yesterday watching the race on two big televisions with most of the press corps. When the bombs went off I was half listening to a conversation between Barbara Heubner and Marc Davis, who work for the Boston Athletic Association. The bombs sounded like bombs. Davis waited a second, and then went outside. When he came back, his face was ashen and he said that there had been two explosions, and that we were on lockdown. Nobody in, nobody out. Someone else in the ballroom yelled “lockdown confirmed,” which was chilling and gives me chills now.

RELATED – Fraioli: The Marathon’s Melting Pot of Emotions

And—I didn’t really know what to do. I’m not a police reporter and I’ve never covered a crisis. I didn’t know who to talk to. An editor I know suggested I try to get outside to see what was going on and my first reaction was that I wasn’t sure I wanted to be outside. A couple minutes later I tried, but I didn’t try very hard.

Several years ago, I read an interview with Steve Coll, I think, who said that in chaotic situations, or in disaster situations, it’s useful for reporters to start making lists of what they see. There wasn’t anything for me to list. I was indoors, in a windowless room, watching TV. Not that I couldn’t write anything—Bonnie Ford has written a really good story, and she was stuck in the press room just like me. But I think I felt like there are people who have covered stories like this before, and I didn’t want to get in their way. Let the real professionals do their thing. That’s the first time I’ve ever had that feeling.

That’s not really what I want to write about. A couple hours after the bombs went off, I got up to go to the bathroom and I saw three soldiers sitting in a hallway. They were dressed in fatigues and looked like they’d run the race with packs on. Two had their heads down, and the third was sitting on the floor, with a look on his face that I can’t describe well. I want to say the look was ‘not again,’ but I don’t know anything about him—whether he’d ever been in combat, or even whether he had been over by the finish. But make of this what you will: after I saw those guys sitting there, and for the rest of the afternoon, I had a lot of trouble keeping my composure.

The other thing is that the people who were blown up look like me. They are runners, many of them. A lot of the men are my age. They were dressed like I dress. The women were dressed like my girlfriend, or my sister. Yesterday morning I spent a couple hours hanging out where the first bomb went off, at the tail end of the BAA 5K and the BAA Mile, which I wrote about. I got a big coffee at the Starbucks at 755 Boylston and sat on the sidewalk in the sun and drank it. When I finished I walked by Marathon Sports, where I worked one summer during college, and climbed up on the finish-line bridge to watch the miles. I lived in the Back Bay for two years. I’ve walked that stretch of sidewalk—from one of my old apartments, it was on the way to the Copley T station and Finagle a Bagel—hundreds of times.

A couple of years ago I was near a bad boating accident and saw a young woman almost lose her left leg. A bit like today, I just watched as other people took care of her. The bombs seem to have blown at leg level, a terrible thing at a marathon, and the pictures I’ve seen remind me of the boat accident. Not so much the gore, but the strangers applying tourniquets and giving comfort. I’m sure I’m not alone, but I can’t stop thinking about those people. And those strangers, who are heroes. I hope someone is able to tell them they’re heroes.

****
About The Author:

Peter Vigneron is a senior contributing editor at Competitor magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at@PeterVigneron.

The post Peter Vigneron: Tell Them They’re Heroes appeared first on Competitor.com.

The finish line area of a marathon is melting pot of emotions: equal parts joy and pain, triumph and disappointment, but on Monday afternoon at the Boston Marathon, the completely unwelcome and unexpected feeling of horror penetrated the security barricades and spread far beyond the post-race holding area on Boylston Street.

Now, nearly 24 hours later, that section of the city remains a crime scene and investigators, runners and spectators, along with the rest of humanity, are left searching for answers to an unspeakable tragedy which has claimed the lives of three people and injured nearly 200 others.

RELATED: Explosions Rock Boston Marathon

Late yesterday morning just before noon, some 3,000 miles away in San Diego, I had just plopped myself down in a posh leather chair at my local Starbucks, excited to unwind and relax with a cup of coffee two days after celebrating my wedding — a joyous, once-in-a-lifetime event that I didn’t mind missing the first Boston Marathon in my adult life for — when I received an alert on my phone about an explosion at the finish line. A quick scan of Twitter turned up a Tweet from Competitor senior contributing editor Peter Vigneron, who mentioned “a report of two bombs at the finish of the Boston Marathon.” For me to fully describe the emotions that engulfed me like a tidal wave at that moment would be an impossible task, but I immediately thought of my colleagues Toni Reavis, Matt Turnbull, Steve Godwin and Kevin LaClaire, who I knew had just wrapped up our RunCenter recap show not more than 100 feet behind the finish line on Boylston Street only moments beforehand. After a flurry of phone calls and text messages confirmed that our finish-line team — a crew I would have been apart of any other year except for this one — were OK, I frantically phoned, Facebooked, texted and Tweeted at everyone else I knew that might be in the vicinity, including the rest of my fellow co-workers, numerous friends, and the three athletes I coach who ran the race. Thankfully they all escaped unscathed, but others, of course, weren’t so lucky. Over the phone, my boss, Competitor editor-in-chief Brian Metzler, told me, “It’s bad. Really, really bad.” That may have been an understatement, but I’m not sure the right words will ever exist to describe the situation that was unfolding outside his hotel.

Monday’s incident hit close to home. Too close. Last year, at around the same time that the explosions went off yesterday on Boylston Street, Toni Reavis and I stood in the finisher’s chute analyzing what had gone down in the elite races earlier in the day. While talking to my new wife on the phone yesterday afternoon, I imagined myself back in that spot, where my co-workers were just minutes before the explosions occurred, and it brought me to tears.

As a native New Englander who grew up 45 minutes outside of the city, I watched the Boston Marathon on TV the third Monday of every April even before I took up running in high school. In college, our track team volunteered at water stations along the course. As an adult, I’ve run the race once, covered it for various media outlets eight years in a row, and coached dozens of athletes to compete in the People’s Olympics. There’s no event I get more excited about on an annual basis. The Boston Marathon has been a meaningful part of my life for more than half of my 30 years on this earth — as it has for countless others — and to experience our sport’s ultimate symbol of accomplishment and inspiration being scarred by a spineless coward or cowards is a mark that will take a long time to heal.

As deep and pervasive as this wound is for fellow runners, spectators, fans of the sport and residents of Boston alike, it will heal. In fact, that slow process has already begun. A marathon, you see, is more than just a footrace — it’s a symbol of strength and unity, regardless of where it’s held or how many people are on the starting line. It has a unique ability to bring people both inside and outside of the running world together during tough times — as we saw in New York last fall — and the number of runners who took their shirts off at the finish line yesterday for rescuers to use as a tourniquet, or rushed off to hospitals minutes after finishing in order to give blood to victims, only serves as evidence of the unselfishness of this tight-knit community. And that unselfishness is infectious, as others inevitably follow suit, offering their homes, food, or whatever other assistance they can muster to help the innocent victims of a terrible tragedy.

The marathon has a way of touching nearly every human emotion. Before the explosions that rocked Boylston Street yesterday afternoon blanketed the day with devastation, the Boston Marathon finish line area welcomed feelings of exaltation, disappointment and everything in between from the runners on the course as well as the spectators cheering them on from the sidelines. But not horror. That wretched emotion has no place inside or outside of those fences.

The post Mario Fraioli: The Marathon’s Melting Pot Of Emotions appeared first on Competitor.com.

Racing Weight author Matt Fitzgerald says it’s okay to gain a little weight–a little–in the off-season.

More Racing Weight: The Benefits Of Eating A Big Breakfast

The post Racing Weight: The 8 Percent Rule appeared first on Competitor.com.

Can Shalane Flanagan become the first U.S. female to win since 1985?

Will an American runner break the tape on Boylston Street at the 117th running of the Boston Marathon on April 15? On paper, this seems to be as good a year as any in recent memory, at least on the women’s side of things.

Training partners Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher are hungry to have the laurel wreath placed upon one of their heads.

Flanagan, a Marblehead, Mass., native who finished 10th in the marathon at the Olympic Games last summer in London, is making her Boston debut and comes into the race riding the momentum of a solid spring racing season. She captured her fifth U.S. cross country crown in dominating fashion in early February, and came back three weeks later to set a half-marathon personal best of 1:08:31 to finish second at Rock ’n’ Roll New Orleans.

Flanagan also blitzed a wire-to-wire win in the 10,000m at the Stanford Invitational a little over two weeks out from Boston, clocking in at 31:04 to win by 42 seconds over Goucher. With a racing résumé that rivals anyone’s in the field, Flanagan is the favorite to become the first American winner of this race since Lisa Weidenbach in 1985.

RELATED: What’s A Boston Win Worth?

Goucher, who finished one place behind Flanagan last summer in London, will line up for her third Boston Marathon a few steps behind where she’d like to be after spending most of her winter rehabbing a heel injury. Boston has been good to Goucher, however, with a third-place finish in 2009 and a personal best of 2:24:52 in 2011 to her credit. Her runner-up run to Flanagan at Stanford was a step in the right direction for the 34-year-old, who ran a 1:11:49 in New Orleans.

Notably missing from the American lineup is 2011 runner-up Desi Davila, who was slated to run the race but had to withdraw due to a hip injury she suffered before last summer’s Olympics. Worth keeping a close eye on is Stephanie Rothstein-Bruce, who ran a personal best of 1:10:53 at last month’s NYC Half. The 29-year-old from Flagstaff, Ariz., who also took third at the U.S. 15K Championships in March, has a personal best of 2:29:35 from the 2011 Houston Marathon and is running her first Boston on Monday.

Standing in the Americans’ way will be a loaded crop of contenders, headlined by defending champion Sharon Cherop of Kenya. Former Boston champion Rita Jeptoo of Kenya, who was victorious at Chicago last fall, will also not make things easy for anyone on the starting line in Hopkinton. Jeptoo comes into the race with good momentum, having run a personal best of 1:06:27 at the RAK Half Marathon earlier this year. The fastest marathoner in the field is Meseret Hailu Debele of Ethiopia, who ran a 2:21:09 at Amsterdam in 2012. Her countrywoman Tirfi Tsegaye Beyene clocked a 2:21:19 at Berlin last fall, but it remains to be seen how she will fare over Boston’s undulating layout.

RELATED: 5 Questions With Dave McGillivray

In the men’s race, the chances of producing the first American male winner at Boston since Greg Meyer in 1983 took a big hit in the weeks preceding the race, as all three members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon team — Meb Keflezighi, Ryan Hall and Abdi Abdirahman — withdrew due to injury or illness. Keflezighi withdrew earlier this month after a pesky calf injury failed to heal quickly. Hall pulled out even earlier with a quadriceps issue, and Abdirahman came down with the flu just a week before the race.

So, who’s left to the carry the American flag?

The clear choice is Jason Hartmann, who finished as the top American at Boston last year in fourth place. The Boulder-based runner has a personal best of 2:11:06, along with the big race experience and course know-how to keep himself in contention, but he’ll have his hands full with a formidable field of opponents, including three past champions. Wesley Korir of Kenya returns to defend his 2012 title, and the 2009 and 2010 winners — Deriba Merga of Ethiopia and former course-record holder Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot — are also in the field.

Korir surprised some with his victory last year, but he won’t sneak up on anyone this time around. The 2:06 marathoner will have his hands full with last year’s runner-up, fellow Kenyan Levy Matebo, and Ethiopian Olympian Gebre Gebremariam, the 2010 ING New York City Marathon champion who finished third at Boston in 2011 in 2:04:53. Gebremariam has shown good form this spring, taking a close second to double Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah at the Rock ’n’ Roll New Orleans Half-Marathon in February.

Others to keep an eye on include Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia, who ran a personal best of 2:04:45 in his marathon debut at Dubai earlier this year. He ran a 27:18 personal best in the 10,000m on the track last summer, and is a wildcard in a race that has benefited both Boston veterans and newcomers alike in the past, depending on the year. Former 10K road racing world-record holder Micah Kogo of Kenya, the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in the 10,000m and who sports a half-marathon personal best of 59:07, is making his marathon debut.

American Fernando Cabada, who dropped out of the Houston Marathon earlier this year, is looking for redemption at Boston and enters the race hoping to improve upon his 2:11:53 personal best from last year’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, where he finished seventh.

This year’s Boston Marathon promises to be a race for the ages, and an American win on either side would surely add to the excitement of this iconic event.

The post 2013 Boston Marathon Preview: Don’t Count Out The Americans appeared first on Competitor.com.

Geleta Burka wins a tight women’s race in 15:26. 

CARLSBAD, Calif. — The possibility of a world-record was out the window by the 1-mile mark, but that didn’t worry Ethiopian Dejen Gebremeskel on Sunday afternoon. Victory was his only objective.

RACE RESULTS

Sitting pretty in a pack of 13 through a strategic first mile split of 4:22, the 23-year-old bided his time through the first hairpin turn 1.25 miles into the race before countryman Yenew Alamirew ratcheted down the pace with a 4:17 second mile split into a headwind heading north along Coast Boulevard. Gebremeskel and John Kipkoech of Kenya were the only two runners that went with the 22-year-old Ethiopian’s strong surge, and with a half mile to go Gebremeskel asserted himself as the man to chase. Coming off the final turn toward the finish line, Gebremeskel was clear of his two pursuers and held his lead through the finish line to win in 13 minutes, 21 seconds — the slowest winning time at the World’s Fastest 5K since 2008.

PHOTOS: Carlsbad 5000 Race Winners

“Today was special for me to win three times,” said Gebremeskel, the silver medalist in the 5,000m at last summer’s Olympic Games in London. “Carlsbad is like family so I will come every year. I’m glad to get the win. After winning Carlsbad last year I had a lot of success, and hope that this year I will have a lot of success with the World Championships. I hope to win a medal.”

Kipkoech crossed the line in 13:26 to finish second, one second ahead of Alamirew, who finished 12th in the 5,000m final at last summer’s Olympic Games.

Will Leer, 27, of nearby Claremont, Calif., was the top U.S. finisher in fourth place, clocking 13:36. The reigning U.S. indoor 3,000m and mile champion, Leer battled with fellow American miler David Torrence through 2.5 miles before pulling away and out-kicking four runners over the final quarter mile. Leer, who only entered the race earlier in the week, was thrilled with his first Carlsbad appearance.

“It was great,” Leer said after the race. “I just drove down from L.A. yesterday and bam, here I am. David and I are great friends, we love competing against each other. I would make a move, he’d cover it. He’d make a move, I’d cover it, so it was pretty much a two-man race at that point. Anyone else I caught was just a bonus.”

Geleta Burka Captures Women’s Title

In the women’s race, Ethiopian Geleta Burka made her first trip to Carlsbad a memorable one, outlasting Kenyans Mercy Cherono and Paskalia Kipkoech to win the final sprint to the finish line in 15:26. Cherono and Kipkoech were both credited with the same time (15:28), but the nod for second went to Cherono while Kipkoech took third. Last year’s runner-up, Werknesh Kidane of Ethiopia, finished fourth in 15:36.

Burka’s winning time was the slowest winning time since Aheza Kiros of Ethiopia broke the tape in 15:38 four years ago.

The women’s elite race also went out slowly, with a large pack hitting the mile mark in 5:15. After the turn onto Coast Boulevard the pace picked up with a 4:54 second mile split, sending the pack into all sorts of disarray. Burka, Cherono, Kipkoech and Kidane separated from the rest of the field before Cherono tried to make a break with a kilometer to go. Burka covered the move, and had given herself all the breathing room she needed with half a mile to go.

Middle distance specialist Brenda Martinez was the top U.S. finisher in fifth, crossing the finish line in 15:44. For the 25-year-old Martinez, who lives and trains in southern California, the race was the culmination of her strength phase of training before she turns her attention back to the 1,500m and 800m on the track this summer.

“The plan was to work on the strength this year,” Martinez explained after the race. “This race challenged me mentally, and the only thing coach (Joe) Vigil told me to do was go with them regardless of the pace. If it’s fast, good. If it’s slow, good. I just didn’t want to lose contact and I was really excited to finish that way.”

Lenor Montgomery Breaks 80-84 Age-Group World Record

In the age-group races, 82-year-old Lenor Montgomery broke the women’s word record for 82 year olds with a 28:55 clocking, over 20 seconds up on her 29:16 posting from 2011 but slower than she ran last year as an 81-year-old (28:46).

Christian Cushing-Murray of Santa Ana, Calif., won the men’s Masters division, breaking the tape in 15:40 to win by two seconds over Rusty Snow of Santa Barbara, Calif. In the women’s Masters race, Dorota Gruca of Las Cruces, New Mexico won for the second year in a row, posting a time of 16:40 — 43 seconds up on second-place finisher Julie Ertel of Irvine, Calif.

The men’s 30-39 race was won by Roosevelt Cook for the third year in a row, breaking the tape in 15:02, five seconds up on Nick Meis of Las Vegas. Jennifer Santa Maria, a U.S Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier from San Diego, came from behind to win the women’s race in 17:11, seven seconds ahead of Lara Johnson of Greeley, Colo. Drea McLarty of Santa Barbara led the race through 2 miles before leg cramps forced her to fall back to seventh place.

The final age-group race of the day, the under-29 race, was won by 28-year-old Ryan Ripley of Las Vegas, the only runner under 15 minutes in 14:52. He was followed by Jorge Montes of El Cajon, Calif., in 15:06, while professional triathlete Lukas Verzbicas continued his comeback from a bad bike crash last year to finish third in 15:22. Claire Rethmeier of San Marcos repeated as the under-29 champion, dominating from the start to win in 16:49. Julie Sawyer of Solana Beach was second in 17:30 and Kristin Schleicher, also of Solana Beach, finished third in 17:48.

The post Dejen Gebremeskel 3-peats At Carlsbad 5000 appeared first on Competitor.com.

Kenyan Gladys Cherono takes the women’s race. 

(c) 2013 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission. 

PRAGUE — Zersenay Tadese came here in the hopes of making history. Instead, he found himself in a battle against the elements and in a footrace with one of his training partners.

Tadese, the five-time world champion, did not come close to breaking his world record and needed every ounce of his being to hold off fellow Eritrean Amanuel Mesel to win the Hervis Prague Half Marathon in 60 minutes, 10 seconds. Mesel, 22, didn’t obtain his visa to compete here until Thursday yet finished as the unexpected runner-up in the same time.

While all focus was on the men’s record chase, it was actually the women’s race that produced the day’s most stellar result as Gladys Cherono of Kenya pulled away from her competitors quite early and cruised to victory in 1:06:48, smashing the course record of 1:07:03 set last year by Joyce Chepkirui and recording the fourth-fastest time in the world this year.

“Last night, I dreamed of competing and running well,” Cherono said. “But there was nothing in my dream about the finish or the course record.”

It was the dream of race organizers that the men’s race would produce a legitimate attack on Tadese’s world record of 58:23 set in 2010 at the Lisbon Half Marathon. A €100,000 bonus was offered for such a time. But the weather had cast doubts all week on the feasibility of that attempt, and unseasonably cold temperatures continued on race day with the mercury holding at 4C/39F at the start with 15 km/s winds and 85 percent humidity.

Tadese claimed afterward that it was one of the coldest days he has raced on and also acknowledged having problems with the sections of the course made up of the cobblestone that gives this city its medieval charm. However, it might have actually been the health of the race’s protagonist that proved to be the biggest obstacle.

Moments after crossing the finish, Tadese explained to Czech Television that he had been suffering from flu-like symptoms the night prior to the race and added that his “body felt heavy” during the race.

That may have indeed been the case as the elite runners, led by Ethiopian pacers Fidaku Haftu and Teshome Mekonen, plodded through the opening five kilometers in 14:07, immediately setting the projected finishing time about one minute off world-record pace.

About eight minutes later, Tadese tired of the slow-ish pacing and took to leading the race himself. It was at that point that the lead group of 10 runners splintered greatly. Four athletes, Mesel and Kenyans John Kipsang, Pius Maiyo Kiprop and Henry Kiplagat, followed Tadese and formed the lead pack of five that quickly opened about a 150-meter lead on the chase group and ran shoulder to shoulder for nearly the rest of the way.

Although the pace quickened somewhat, the runners were still off world-record form. Kiprop and Tadese hit the 10K mark in 28:13. For point of comparison, that split was 20 seconds slower than Tadese ran during his world-record race in Lisbon in 2010 and 10 seconds slower than Ethiopia’s Atsedu Tsegay covered the opening 10K in during his course-record and world-leading run of 58:47 here last year.

The world record was no longer on anyone’s mind at the 15K, which was hit in 42:38, nearly a minute slower than Tadese had originally planned. At that point the question became who was going to win the race. None of the lead five had shown signs of breaking. Kipsang had appeared to be the strongest of the group. He threw in surges on three occasions, beginning around the 44-minute mark, to try and drop some of his competitors but each move was covered easily.

After the leaders went through 20K in 57:15, Mesel made a push to the front that began to string things out. Tadese gave chase and Kipsang followed, but Kiprop and Kiplagat fell off. Tadese moved in front of Mesel and dropped Kipsang, rounding onto Manesuv Bridge and heading toward the finish. Mesel gave one last attempt to regain the lead but Tadese held him off for the victory.

Tadese wound up covering the final kilometer in 2:56, which is about 4:18 per mile pace. Mesel, who competed in the 5000m final at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, finished second in 60:10, smashing his personal best of 61:20 set in 2011. Kipsang was third in 60:15, obliterating his prior PB of 61:50 set in Zwolle last year.

“My plan was to accelerate with 500 meters to go,” Tadese said. “But my friend Amanuel here kicked with one kilometer left so I had to go with him.”

CHERONO DOMINATES WOMEN’S RACE

The women’s race figured to play out as a duel between Cherono, who established her previous personal-best of 68:18 in a third-place finish here last year, and Ethiopia’s Worknesh Degefa, who clocked a personal-best 67:49 at the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon last month.

The early goings saw those two women, as well as Kenyan veteran Isabellah Ochichi, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the 5,000m, and Ethiopia’s Waganesh Mekasha tucked closely behind Ukrainian (male) pacer Vassily Matvichuk. That group of four went through the 5K in 15:56, trailed closely by three other women. Ochichi was just one second behind the other three at the 10K mark, which they went through in a swift 32:02.

It was over the next five kilometers that Cherono began to exert her will on the others. At the 15K, she began to open a small lead on Degefa and had already dropped Ochichi and Mekasha. Cherono continued to pull away over the next five kilometers, and by the 20K mark she was clear of Degefa by one minute and nine seconds and just five seconds off course-record pace.

“At no point did I think that I was going to break the course record,” Cherono said. “It wasn’t until I crossed the finish and looked up and saw the time that I knew I had broken it.”

TOP RESULTS

Men
1. Zersenay Tadese, ERI, 60:10
2. Amanuel Mesel, ERI, 60:10 PB
3. John Kipsang, KEN, 60:15 PB
4. Pius Maiyo Kiprop, KEN, 60:18
5. Henry Kiplagat, KEN, 60:21
6. Abere Kassw, ETH, 61:17
7. Tigabu Gebremaryam, ETH, 61:28 PB
8. Daniel Chebii, KEN, 61:52
9. Teklemariam Medhin, ERI, 61:55 PB (debut)
10. Philemon Limo, KEN, 61:57

Women
1. Gladys Cherono, KEN, 66:48 CR/PB
2. Worknesh Degefa, ETH, 68:12
3. Isabella Ochichi, KEN, 69:21
4. Waganesh Mekasha, ETH, 69:31
5. Ehitu Kiros, ETH, 69:38 PR
6. Agnes Katunge Mutune, KEN, 70:06
7. Pamela Lisoreng, KEN, 70:09 PR
8. Edinah Kwambai, KEN, 72:40
9. Mary Wangari Wanjohi, KEN, 73:13 PR
10. Azusa Nojiri, JPN, 75:15

The post Zersenay Tadese Wins Prague Half Marathon appeared first on Competitor.com.

In this video Racing Weight author Matt Fitzgerald discusses the importance of breakfast in an endurance athlete’s diet. Studies have shown that athletes who eat a substantial breakfast tend to be leaner than those who typically skip it.

More Racing Weight: Why Calorie Counting Makes Sense

The post The Benefits Of Eating A Big Breakfast appeared first on Competitor.com.

In this video, Matt Fitzgerald, nutrition expert and author of Racing Weight, discusses the pros, cons, whys and hows of counting calories for endurance athletes.

RELATED: Want to lose weight? Then get serious!

The post Racing Weight: Why Counting Calories Makes Sense appeared first on Competitor.com.