Archive for running

The change of plans have been changed part 2

September 15, 2011 planet3rry No comments

In my relatively recent post titled Marathon Uncertainty, I wrote about 2 different scenarios that dealt directly with my running. One was the lack of funds to register for the Flying Monkey Marathon in November and the other one was on whether I should run the Scholar’s Run 5k to continue the streak of running it every year since 1998 and I had the funds.

In regards to Flying Monkey, I’m sad that I won’t be able to run it this year. I need to contact the race director to see if allowed past runners to register early, because after thinking about it, I never received any emails from him talking about registering for the race, how tough the course is, why training is futile, blah blah blah.

But instead of crying monkey tears, I quickly looked around to see what other possible races I could run. They had to meet some basic criteria. One, I wanted something more than a 1/2 marathon, but would be open to running one if that is all that was available. Two, cheaper the better since there’s no corporate sponsors trying to woo my athletic prowess at the moment. Email me if you are a corporate sponsor looking for a marketing pawn at races. Will Run for Cash (or other shiny things). Three, as close to home as possible. Since we are living by a strict budget (no more slush fund marathons), I have consider costs such as gasoline and lodging (of course, by myself… sleeping in the car at race start is perfectly cool with me. I lived out of my Celica for a month in 1993 when I worked in Nags Head, NC).

So far, nothing has stuck. There’s Chickamauga Marathon, but it’s close to $80 and according to their website, registration is closed. So that one is out. There’s the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, AL which has been on my list of “Marathons to Run” for a while now. It’s only $50 through Sept and $60 through October, so for a marathon it’s registration cost is reasonable. Only thing is that it’s about a 4 hour drive, so would need to budget for logistics.

I’ve also started looking at the spring marathons. There’s the Knoxville Marathon, which would be pretty darn close. It’s $65 through end of November and I do have a score to settle with the course as the last time I ran it as an Official Pacer, I had my only (but very valuable) DNF.

Another contender is the Myrtle Beach Marathon in February. Although the logistics are much more complicated (i.e. airfare), it’s where most My Lovely and Talented Wife’s side of the family lives. Plus race weekend corresponds with when David-In-Law will be upgrading his eldest son to Version 13.0 (What? Seriously?). It’s $75 through October 17th, then goes up to $95. We can get ridiculously cheap airfare tickets through Allegiant Air from TYS to MYR by jumping through all of their hoops to actually get the cheap seats but we have to act quickly.

As for the Scholar’s Run 5k, I did not run that race thereby ending all the consecutive runnings of any one race since I started running in 1998. And since I didn’t run the Scholar’s Run, the incentive to run the Reindeer Run 5k in December would only be for actual training benefits and not all the cool swag that is offered in the Triple Crown of Racing door prizes.

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Marathon Uncertainty

August 1, 2011 planet3rry 2 comments

There’s a dark cloud that has begun to loom over my plans of running a fall marathon. What’s worse is that time is running out, fast!

FMM Logo The Flying Monkey Marathon registration will open on August 1st at 8am Central. Being one of the privileged crazy people that have ran the race in the past, I get to register early. Last year, the regular registration filled up in 32 minutes. Heh, there’s lots of crazy people trying to run this race.

My problem lies in the fact that my running budget has a mere $20 in, basically enough to register for a 5k (more on that in a moment). So I don’t have enough for the registration fee… but I don’t have the funds for the other parts of running a marathon that are important but not always included: hotel, gas, gels, food, etc. And while I really really like this marathon, I do not want to go further into debt because of it.

One option is for me to run Chickamauga Marathon. It’s probably not going to sell out [Ed. Note: RATS! Apparrently it might just sell out early - *sigh*], so I have longer to work to get the registration fee. It’s just on the other side of Chattanooga, so it’s a day trip, not an over nighter. Now while the Chickamauga culture isn’t quite as dynamic as the Flying Monkey Marathon, they have in the past provided great sundries for the runners.

I also have the Be Not Afraid Project to think about as well. More on that in the future.

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In reference to the 5k mentioned above, this event has sentimental value plus potential “good stuff” in December. In 1998, Feb 28th to be exact, is when I became a “Runner”. In that year, I ran as many 5ks that I could. Over the years, some of the 5ks became defunct or I missed running them do to travel, illness, injury, etc.

One 5k, however, is listed in my running history from 1998-2010, the Scholar’s Run 5k. In 1998, it was the 5k that set my PR time (not counting my first 5k) and in 1999, it was the 5k that I set the previous year by exactly 1 minute. Now, there have been years where my time has been relativity very slow but in those times, it has been coming off long periods of inactivity when running that 5k is the only speed work that I have done in weeks or even months. In 2001, it was my “Welcome Back” race from my hamstring injury I suffered that spring. For me, this race has a history.

The Scholar’s Run 5k has historically had a t-shirt design that I have not cared for very much. Typically, they go straight to donation. The Scholar’s Run 5k is a bigger part of a running triad: The Triple Crown of Running. It is race #2 of 3 races which if you run #1 (Spring Sprint) and/or #2 (Scholar’s Run) AND #3 Reindeer Run, you are entered into the Triple Crown of Running Door Prizes. Each of the prizes are at least $100, which motivates most in running the races.

So the question hangs: Do I run the Scholar’s Run 5k, there by depleting my running account and making funding a fall marathon much further? Were it a KTC race, then I would use the Volunteer Coupons that I earn for working the local races, but that is not the case. Decisions Decisions!

 

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Gravity@1053′ Episode 28: A New Attitude

June 29, 2011 planet3rry No comments
Logo Stolen!

In this episode I talk about my renewed attitude to running and about the five miles that I ran on Father’s Day. I even toss in a little bit about the fall and my approach for the Flying Monkey Marathon

 

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So, until then Fa’afetai for listening! Remember: “Relax, Look Ahead”

If you don’t already have (or had deleted by “mistake”) the feed for the podcast, you can get it here: Gravity@1053′ Feedburner

The direct download for the show can be found here: Gravity@1053′ Episode 28

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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2010 Flying Monkey Marathon Race Report

May 21, 2011 planet3rry 2 comments

2010 Flying Monkey Marathon

Percy Warner Park, Nashville TN

November 21, 2010 [ed. Note: I noticed that although I wrote the majority of this blog post 3 months ago, I am not finally finishing the Race Report exactly 6 months since I finished the race]

This was my 3rd Flying Monkey Marathon and once again, it did not disappoint! Despite the fact that my average weekly mileage was a pitiful 10.08 mile average over 16 weeks of training with the long run of 18 miles, it was still an awesome time. I will have to say that I would not recommend such a lean training program for the marathon unless, of course, it was because of necessity. However, the one thing that saved me was experience, not only with the race course, but also with the marathon. The 2010 Flying Monkey Marathon was my 17th Marathon start and with 1 (all important) DNF (Did Not Finish), I know what I can handle, how to handle and what to do if things start “not going well”.

GROOVY

The Theme of this year’s Monkey was “Groovy”… Monkey Groovy. Each year has a theme and this theme influences the Volunteer Shirts, Runner Shirts, Posters, Emails, etc… Seeing that it was the 5th Running of the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon (the official marathon title), the “groovy”, from my point of view, came from the peace sign “V”. Not only an awesome 1980′s Alien show, but also Intergalactic sign of ‘Peace’ (or ‘Victory’, or [Editor has removed his own content]), it was Monkey Groovy… Peace, Love and Hills.

Originally, I was supposed to travel with my Family Entourage, but something close to the Bubonic Plague had visited our house earlier in November and it was agreed that it would be best for me to fly solo to Nashville for the race. This was fine because I was having thoughts of 2009, when I arrived there on race day, I had just enough time to get my packet, find my number, shove everything else in a bag and get to the starting line right as the gun went off. Seeing that this was my 3rd time running, I was comfortable without having any personal crowd support while I was out running (again, another helpful experience tidbit). I drove to Nashville area the night before. I ended up catching up with a friend from Longwood who lived in the area and had dinner with her and her awesome family.

I had everything ready for Race Day ready to go in the hotel room. Since I knew there would be no chance for me to come back and shower, I had everything ready so that I would get ready for the race AND check out. So, what to do in hotel room the night before a race? Seeing that we have not had cable in our house since Sept 2009, the first thing I did was turn on ESPN and watched some College Football. Then just flipping through some channels, I found “Bloodsport” on Versus Channel. Ahhh, the great B- 1980′s movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme. The marathon is like Chong Li “You break my record, now I break you, like I break your friend.“… kicking the hell out of you, trying to beat you down into the ground… and you Frank Dux “You told me to use any tactic that works, never to commit yourself to one style, to keep an open mind!”, with everything stacked against you, have to find the inner strength to find a will to win. So with vision of Kumite in my head, I drifted off to sleep.

PEACHY

Race Day! Weather Forecast looked decent for the day, overcast, 50ish. However when the sun rose, there seemed to be an absence of clouds, it was pretty… but every marathoner knows that the unshielded Sun is one of the worst things possible for a race (really, for any distance but the longer the race the greater the exposure). I kept that in my mind… for race day strategy. At least most of the course has partial shade with the trees (with no leaves) but some stretches are fully exposed to wind and sun. Arriving at the Race Site, I found myself parking quite a bit further away then I thought. The race is growing in popularity, which is good, especially because I have faith that the Race Director (Monkey Trent) will not go “commercial” with this race, so more people running should equal more swag (and we get a nice Race Packet already!).

Enjoying the extra time from arriving onsite to having to be there for race start, I prepped the car for the most efficient post race experience. Putting things I would need for the car ride home in a logical (at the time) place and just plain taking it easy. With about 10 minutes to go, I headed up and got my Race Packet. One of the “neat” things about the Flying Monkey Marathon is that the first race number that you get is the race number you keep. So when I signed up in 2008, the “newbies” running bib numbers went from 400-599, and I was knighted with #438. So, I shall forever be Terry – 438. Oh, and the bibs are Personalized with your name as well and being Monkey Groovy, the running bib color was Tie-Dye with a nice “Groovy” font.

I got everything out that I needed for the race from my race bag and put it off to the side. I came prepared this year for the post-race with a Sponge Bob folding chair for a place to sit down after the race. Heading to the start line, it was time for the pre-race Marathon Maniac picture which is all the members of Marathon Maniacs running the marathon. I used the 2008 Flying Monkey Marathon in conjunction with the 2008 Rutledge Marathon to qualify for the Marathon Maniacs. I missed the picture in 2009 from my accounts earlier.

And then the race started and while this was my 17th marathon start, there was something VERY VERY different about this race. In fact, in the 12+ years that I have been a runner, this was the first race that I would run this way. And what is one of the Cardinal Rules of Marathon? “Never do anything new on race day”. This race, I was Chronologically Naked! I didn’t have a watch… and it was different… but not ‘bad’ different.

For years, I have worn a wrist watch… 24hrs a day, 7days a week. The only time that I would take it off is when I would put on a nice dress watch or the watch band I was wearing broke off. In either case, I would quickly put on another watch, because I have to know what time it is to help with my (and the kids) schedule. Sometime in September, I don’t really remember now, my watch band broke and, of course, the watch that I really really really like has a watch band that is not replaceable. Once it breaks, the only thing to do is to cut the band and fashion a pocket watch or something and get another one. In this case, we didn’t have the budget for a new watch… and with not having a backup, I had to rely on something else. For running, it turned out that while it was very awkward at first, it proved to be refreshingly new. I started timing my runs by using a Stopwatch App for my Palm Pixi to record the entire time I was away from my car. I didn’t want to carry it with me since I didn’t have a carrying case for it and while it’s not bulky, I didn’t want to have the hassle.

Without having the watch there during my training, I had to run based on feel and not necessarily be motivated/depressed based on my split times. During the marathon, not having a watch was not a problem as well. Since I wasn’t going to be setting any sort of Personal Course Records (based on my lack of training), I wasn’t worried about hitting time targets. There were a few people out there calling split times, so I was able to do some recreational math to pass the time as I tried to calculate my pace.

Since this post is grossly delayed, I am going to spare the Mile by mile details. I know, those are the most exciting parts… to see what kind of trouble I get myself in, yeah, yeah train wreck. One thing that I did notice was that around Mile 21, when I was pretty worn out, I was still mentally in the race. I remember running up a hill and being pleasantly pleased that I wanted to continue to run up the hill before I took a walk break where as the same spot in the previous year’s race, I was starting to get a little loony. And so as I approached Mile 25, it was time to switch into Finish Line Mode.

FAR OUT

My Finish Line Mode is a component of racing that I train for almost each time I run. I have to give props to Matt Tartar of The Dump Runner’s Club for having a podcast episode about Finish Line (perhaps Episode #10?)  strategies that prompted me to put a bunch of pieces along with some things that he does into a unified strategy.  My strategy is the same basic sequence, but the longer the run, the longer my Finish Line Mode will take. Like anything with running, it has to be constantly tweaked and altered as needed because of weather, course, or my motivation.

I would be called a ‘Kicker’ if you were to label my running type.  I will reserve some amount of energy during the race and try to pool it together at the end for one last kick. The problem with Kickers is that you have to understand the relationship between your effort during the race with what you will be able to do at the end. There are times where you might think you have more in the tank and so you kick too early. Flash and burn. Then again, you might start too late and end at the finish line with a lot more in the tank. So what do you do? Practice! Of course. Both in actual races plus during training and that really helps during a race situation where you are trying to finish as best as you can.

My strategy goes pretty much in these phases which I am sure that at one time, I had official “labels” to them, but have slept since then. The first stage is Assessment of Self, how do I feel, what hurts, etc. The next stage is Assessment of Competition, who is ahead of me, who can I realistically catch, who is behind me. Once I have the information from those two stages, I then build a “plan”. Typically, up to this point doesn’t take too much time for long distance as you have plenty of time to contemplate you and the World and this race.

For this race, there was a group of 3 runners ahead of me around 50-60meters ahead of me. I wasn’t exactly sure if I could over take them, but that was my plan. Stage 3 is the Engage Stage. For the runners ahead of me, I tried to find the pace that they were running and increasing my pace so that I was gaining ground on them. One of the guys of the pack started to drift slower and soon fell back of the other 2. I approached to within 10 meters of them, but made sure I did not pass, as it was still too early and I didn’t think that I had enough energy to sustain a pass and any attempt to challenge.

The first and last 0.3 of the race is run on grass. Going out is not that big of an issue, but finishing, the uneven terrain can feel horrible for tired legs. Also, there is a big 90 degree turn around a tree for the final ~0.15 miles straight into the finishing chute. You can hear the finish line for the first time back around mile 25, then just after you get on the grassy part of the course, you can hear and SEE the finish line. Now on the grass I remained that 10 meters away, in my time following them, it seemed to be that one of them was running this race for the first time. The other runner was a seasoned runner and had run this course a couple of times and was running with his friend. Running on the grass felt much harder than usual, but I think it was a combination of being close to the finish line and trying to manage enough to pass them at the end.

The last stage consists of the final approach. It is one last inventory of what energy I had left, who was in front of me and when to let loose, i.e. “kick”. Emerging around the tree on the last turn, I could now focus on the finish chute, primarily the race clock. I started to lengthen my stride as I began to ready for the final push. At ~0.1 mile, I decided that was the time to kick. Lengthening my stride had put me at a faster pace and so I was covering the 10 meters the runners were in front of me fairly easily. They didn’t have any type of (obvious) plan to kick at the finish and so I passed them. But then I heard the more experienced runner tell his friend something and start to engage me to overtake me.

RATS! I hadn’t planned for a challenge! I had planned on getting to that pace and then passing with the intent to stay at that speed through the finishline. I didn’t think that I would need to speed up and honestly at that moment that I realized that it was a sprint to the finish, I wasn’t sure what to do. Could I maintain or would I crash and burn and BOTH runners pass me at the very end? Who knew, but this wasn’t a “fun run” marathon… it was a race.

After my mini-panic attack on being challenged, I tried to increase my speed to as fast as I could. I have NO idea how fast I was actually running, I’m sure it wasn’t as fast as it felt, but an all out sprint at the end of a marathon is tough when the last 26.1 miles you’ve run a 10-11 min pace and are now *uh-um* “sprinting” at a 8-9 min pace. Form, at this point, is not one of the first things you are thinking about, so everything is bouncing around as you try to keep breathing and ignoring that your legs are getting very very mad at you. The closer we came to the finish line, the runner behind me didn’t seem to be going away. RATS! I had to find another gear somewhere. How, I don’t know. Make one up! A mental gear. At this point, sure why not, sure there was absolutely NO fortune and glory for a sprint finish at this part of the race, even the photographer wasn’t taken pictures of finishers at this time.

So, in my mind, I forced myself to push “faster” and used a mental image of  me accelerating to fake running faster, at least to myself. My eyes were locked on the clock, I was still moving forward, my feet hadn’t tripped on anything, my legs despite objecting to this sprinting nonsense after a 26 mile warmup had not buckled, my lungs were trying to get any molecule of air that it could find, my heart was probably at a new max heart rate for me and then it was all over. I crossed the line.

Trying to be The Good Runner in the finisher’s chute, I ripped off the tag on my bib and held it up in air, for anyone, preferably someone with the race, to take from me. I was delusional trying to get oxygen, where was that ambulance? They have oxygen. I knew I had to keep moving forward to prevent my legs from taking advantage of loss of momentum and let gravity take over. Only half-delusional at this point, because I knew I had to get my finishers medal wherever they were, I kept moved passed the chute and POOF there was the volunteer with my finisher’s medal. Ah, the success of finishing… a finisher’s medal was all the fortune and glory that I needed. Now, with my breathing almost back to normal and some adequate blood flow back to my brain, I started to become more aware of the world around me. Oh, I’m cold; I need a sweatshirt. Oh, I’m thirsty; I need a beer. Oh, I’m hungry, a beer would help.

One of the things that I love about this particular race is the culture that the Race Director, Monkey Trent encourages and demands at this venue. While they were presenting the awards, when a runner or runners were nearing the finish line, he would say to us over his Bullhorn… “why aren’t you cheering? MONKEY! MONKEY! MONKEY!” until the runner(s) would cross the finish line. It’s expected whether you are an Elite, and middle-back of the pack runner or a Volunteer.

Mark Your Calendars! November 20, 2011

Registration is on August 1st at 8am CST, if you try to register at 8:33am CST based on the 2010 registration, you will be too late, you have been warned.

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Gravity@1053 Episode 27: I’m not quite dead

May 4, 2011 planet3rry One comment

******Roger THAT!So, until then Fa’afetai for listening! Remember: “Relax, Look Ahead”

If you don’t already have (or had deleted by “mistake”) the feed for the podcast, you can get it here: Gravity@1053′ Feedburner

The direct download for the show can be found here: Gravity@1053′ Episode 27

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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I strep to a different drum

December 3, 2010 planet3rry No comments

As relayed in my last post, My Lovely and Talented Wife tested positive for Strep. Well, today just happened to be the day for my annual physical and I mentioned this cough that has hung around for a while. In fact, it went away Sunday but then came back on Tuesday. I even refrained from running Sunday because it was the first day that I felt pretty much normal.

So instead of getting strep, the chest X-rays combined with my ancidotal descriptions of my varying ailment lent to the diagnosis of Walking Pneumonia. And so now I and ML&T Wife are now Antibiotic Buddies!

AH SNAP!

I had been typing this post on my Palm Pixi using the app Poster, but apparently I didn’t send it right because this post should have sent  on Saturday…

running

One Strep at a time

November 29, 2010 planet3rry 4 comments

Ah snap… our house has been a biological wasteland for what seems about the past 3 weeks. It first started with The Brothers getting some bug from school early in the month. Then they shared it with me, you know, right during Taper Madness for the Flying Monkey Marathon. Luckily for me, with drinking a lot of water (and other potent potables), taking Guaifenesin, popping Vit. C like Smarties… I was able to “control” the bug so that I could run the Marathon.

For the most part, I haven’t had any relapses of the sickness, although I think that running for 5 hours and 41 minutes lowered my immune system down enough so that it has lingered longer than it should have. I think on Sunday morning was the turning point where the sickness has lost the war in my body. Not only did it not hurt to cough and sneeze, but the volume of phlemgh greatly decreased. As of the this post, when I cough it still sounds rough, but I think that is just a scare tactic it uses to sucker me into getting sick again. I’ve taken the whole week off from running since the marathon, so my legs seem to be reset, now if I can purge the rest of this illness out, I’d be a happy camper.

Well, because we have been playing “Pass the Disease to the Left hand side” this month, My Lovely and Talented Wife has come away as the winner (depending on your point of view) since she tested for positive for Strep this past Black Friday. Now that she’s on antibiotics, she should be free and clear soon. However, the plague that infested our household, along with the Thanksgiving holiday has made it nearly impossible to compose the Race Report for the 2010 Flying Monkey Marathon. However, with The Fam on the mend, the report should be forthcoming…

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Prelude to a Monkey

November 21, 2010 planet3rry One comment

Sunday, November 21st will be my 16th start for the marathon distance. It will be the 3rd time that I have toed the line for the Flying Monkey Marathon. As I type this it is Saturday night, and as of right now, I do not know what will happen tomorrow.

Mentally, I am ready. Physically, a little less confident. I am at the tail end of some congestion which doesn’t have the feel of an illness, but rather allergies. Regardless, it’s congestion… and congestion at any mileage isn’t fun. Add a few hills and WOOOOO-doggie, that’s some fun running (or lung hacking).

One of the cool things about the Flying Monkey Marathon is that once you run the marathon once, you keep that same Bib Number! Forever as far as I know. Me, I’m number 438. My personal goal is to “beat” my bib number. That is, finish the Flying Monkey marathon in 4 hrs and 38 minutes. So far, that hasn’t happened…

2008 Official Time 4:43:15 and this was the second marathon in 8 days so that I could officially qualify for Marathon Maniacs

2009 Official Time 5:31:57, looking at my running log, I don’t think that I was all that into actually running in 2009, must have been the back-to-back marathons in 2008

It’s now 2010 and while I haven’t had the “best” training season, it’s moving in the right direction. Shoot in 2011, I might even have some good races. But for now, it’s tomorrow morning’s race in Percy Warner Park. As the Flying Monkey Marathon’s website proudly states: “It’s not flat, it’s not fast and it’s not certified”… and that is just part of the allure of running The Monkey… where this year, registration filled up in just 30 minutes.

I’m as carbo-loaded as I can be, I have to pin my gels to my shorts (because that’s how I roll) and get ready for tomorrow. I don’t even need to stay at a Holiday Inn Express to be a marathoner tomorrow, however, since I AM staying at Holiday Inn Express that can only help.

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Cloudy with a Chance of Energy Gels

November 18, 2010 planet3rry One comment

Future Forecast for Flying Monkey

Taper Madness is starting to creep in… I picked up my in-race fueling options today at lunch. The buffet includes Jelly Belly Sports Beans Lemon-Lime, Clif Shot Bloks (Margarita Flavored… extra salt, but no tequila though) and GU Chomps (which is new to me). I also picked up 4 Accel Gels (2 Lemon-Lime, 2 Orange) for that extra caloric intake. There will be GU gels out on the course, but I wanted to make sure that I had flavors that I liked. Only in desperation would I consume a Chocolate GU!

I also took a peek at the weather for Sunday. Looking pretty nice! The race is on Sunday, so a mild start and a high of 72 (which I assume won’t hit until the afternoon). The bonus will be the ‘partly cloudy’. Next to a strong thunderstorm (am I right 2010 Knoxville Marathon Runners??), the next worst thing is the unshielded Sun to drive the energy out of you faster than you can say, “Water, please.”

Even on a cold day, that medium sized star of ours can do some MAJOR damage. Drain your life out of you faster than Team Edward.

However, the weather is subject to change, but looks like a High Pressure System is over 4 corners as of this forecast snapshot, so that’s a good thing.

I haven’t decided if I am going to have a Guess My Time, Win Crap contest. Mainly, because I have such a slacker that the most recent winner a Mr. D. Peach, has yet to receive his winning loot, because I haven’t put it together yet. *sigh*

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Rock Tape

November 18, 2010 planet3rry 3 comments
Terry With Stripes

Rock Tape

I tried to tell the kids that they are “Daddy’s Racing Stripes”. AS IF, they could make me run faster… it’d take a lot more than some flashy adhesives to get me faster, perhaps actually training would help. Recently my chiropractor, Dr. Jason Smith went to a conference where he learned how to use Rock Tape. Without getting into the technical details of what Rock Tape is, I’ll say it’s a lot like Adhesive meets ACE Stretch Bandages. It sticks on and stays for about 3 days (depends on usage). Despite making you quite dashing from the backside, it’s main purpose it to provide support.

Rock Tape, as I discovered when I took it off, is flexible in 2 directions. If you had a square piece of it, the (force vectors) the stretch-pully-action-thingie would be in the center of the piece. I am sporting the “Hamstring”/”Calves” configuration with the intent to give my Hamstrings (which I had a bad pull in 2001) some support during (my one and only) long training run to see how it would work for me during a marathon (P3′s addendum to running rules: never EVER try anything new during a race, if you can avoid it or you’re desperate).

Gettin’ Sticky Wit It
It’s pretty easy to put on. In my case, Dr. Smith was giving me a trial run with the Rock Tape to see how I would like it before I invested in a whole roll. During lunchtime the Friday before my long run which was on, dang gotta check my running log, Saturday morning I went into the office to get taped. All I had to do was wear a pair of shorts  and in about 10 minutes I was striped up and ready to run. I had a choice of Black, Red, Pink, Yellow, Skin Peach Flesh Not Quite White with a little brown tint Beige and White. [Editor's Note: when retrieving the links to the post, I found they have a  BIOHAZARD pattern!] I figured that Yellow shouts “HEY, I GOT YELLOW THINGS ON MY LEGS” or “I’m A Runner AND a Freak”. I changed back into my work clothes and while the newness of having something attached to your skin was a little awkward, there was no discomfort at all… no pulling or anything.

Have Stripes, But Not a Tiger
Because of the adhesive polymer technology (stuff that makes it stick) you can wear it up to 3 days with normal activity. You could probably stretch it out to about 5 days, even with showering and such, but sitting in the chair, lying in bed, kids pile driving on your legs, and all does take its toll on the outer edges of the Rock Tape. Like regular bandages, once a corner is started it grows pretty quickly and before you know it, it’s over. This picture was taken on Sunday night, and you can see on my right calf that there is a little piece that is starting to peel off. So it stuck well for all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but it was ready to come off on Sunday… you can’t just NOT pick at a piece that’s starting to come off. I even cut it down to reduce the temptation to no avail.

Hold Still, I’m Gonna Pull
You would think that with the adhesive power of Rock Tape that removing it would be something like a Wax Job, but it’s not! I has some mysterious ability to stick but as it ages, it becomes less sticky, so that when it is time to leave, it comes off easier than you think. I won’t say that it is painless, but it does have a high value of being very uncomfortable… any hair that gets pulled isn’t comfortable… ANY.

Have You Reached A Verdict?
The Rock Tape experiment was a success and with 1 data point in my universe, this Statistician is giving using Rock Tape at the Flying Monkey Marathon, a GO! Here’s my observations on what the Rock Tape provided to me. The run that I used the Rock Tape was a 18 mile run. It happened to be the longest run in training for the Flying Monkey Marathon (and 2nd longest run for 2010). I was expecting to be in great pain after that run for a couple of days because the longest run to date for training had been 13.1 miles the week before (for the [Sound Trumpets] PHEDIPPIDATIONS HALF MARATHON CHALLENGE presented by the WORLD WIDE FESTIVAL OF RACES). So doing the running math, I was increasing (just my long run for this illustration) my weekly long run distance by 38% which is one of the Cardinal Sins of Running (i.e. 10% Rule). So pain was to be expected. I had no pain. None… no hamstring pain, no problems walking up or down stairs (marathoners… you know what I am talking about).

It’s Not Super Rock Tape
Now, let me be clear… the Rock Tape helped improve my recovery time, but it did not help my in-run conditioning. I still hit The Wall at around mile 13 (reference paragraph above and last long run), there was still fatigue in my leg. So, while the Stripes are super cool, they won’t make you into a super hero.

The 2010 Flying Monkey Marathon is on Sunday November 21st and on Friday I am going to get my very own roll of Rock Tape… the hard part is going to be deciding which color do I want to wear for a while. One roll will last me a number of runs… decisions, decisions!

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