Albuquerque Road Runners

Monthly Meeting - Gait Analysis

2006-09-20T07:06:00.000-06:00

Monthly Meeting
October 4 at 7:00 pm
Whole Foods Market

Guest speaker: Debbie Sue - GAIT ANALYSIS

I am bringing back Debbie Sue less than a year after the last presentation, because gait analysis is such a useful and little understood topic. This is not just your basic overpronating/underpronating presentation. Please make an effort to come to this meeting even if it is the only one you can attend all year.

Plus, this will be our first meeting at Whole Foods Market, our new meeting place. They have the most delicious and healthy foods available for purchase. You have your choice of sandwiches, deli casseroles, side dishes, meats, salad and soup bar, single serve deserts from the bakery, and plenty of cold drinks. Perhaps you can split some dishes with a new friend (or friends) so you can all sample more variety. If you are new, we always get a friendly crowd at these meetings, so please come out and join us!

Directions:
Whole Foods Market
NW corner of Wyoming and Academy
We will be meeting in the sunroom just south of the main entrance.

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I recommend this. Since I had gait analyis, I have gone from 25-30 miles per week to 70 miles plus on my way to the Duke City Marathon, without getting hurt. I have done this by paying attention to a few simple issues pointed out in the gait analysis: the arch in my back, weakness in my adductors and the bunion on my left foot. Some of the changes seemed small, but they have all added up over time.

Join The Roadrunner Racing Team

2006-09-04T21:04:00.000-06:00

If you are interested in joining the roadrunner racing team, here is a downloadable application (in pdf).

Purpose of Racing Team: To foster camaraderie among Albuquerque Road Runner members and to promote awareness of the club within the local running community.

Requirements: Must be an ARR member in good standing. All levels of runners are encouraged to apply for the team. Applicants agree to participate in at least five New Mexico races during the calendar year 2007. They also agree to wear the Cool Max running singlet, t-shirt, or long-sleeved shirt with the club logo provided by the club at each of these five New Mexico races. Team members will be ambassadors for the club, so they must be polite, friendly, and willing to answer questions about the club. It is highly recommended that team members participate in one of the races at the Run for the Zoo and the Duke City Marathon.

Rewards: Each team member will receive a choice of two Cool Max shirts: running singlet, short-sleeved t-shirt, or long-sleeved t-shirt with the club logo free of charge. At the end of the year, team members are to turn in a list of the New Mexico races in which they participated as ARR team members to the team administrator. Ten applicants will be selected by the president each year. Preference will be given to those who actively participate in club activities.

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I have decided to apply myself. When I first joined the Roadrunners, I was coming off of a case of pneumonia and I wasn’t sure how much racing I’d be able to do, so I didn’t apply. I healed and ended up doing the Run for the Zoo 10K, the New Mexico Games 5K, the Cherry Garcia 5K, the Run to Break the Silence 20K, and the New Mexico Marathon Plus 5K so far. Plus I did 2 out of state races. I’m registered for the Chips and Salsa Half Marathon next week, the John Baker 5K on September 24 and the Duke City Marathon on October 22. It’s fair to say that I’m hooked on racing again. And I love to encourage others to try racing. I really enjoyed working with the Women In Training group and intend to do that next year. And I’ve volunteered at 2 races. I will definitely beat that number next year.

Racing team or not, I’ll be out there next year. I look forward to seeing you all.

From David Chacon, our member who served a year in Afghanistan...

2006-08-29T20:15:00.000-06:00

Roxie:

Hope all is going well with you and the gang back home. As of today, I'm safely back in the rear in a city called Kabul. We're just waiting for a flight out of country, and I should be back in the states by Labor Day weekend.

Thank you and everyone else for your wonderful support you gave me while I was here. It kept me going when times were tough and it brightened my spirit.

David

Upcoming Races

2006-08-23T06:25:00.000-06:00

Any other upcoming races of interest?

I'm going to run the NM Marathon 5K on Sept. 3. After that, I'll do the Chips & Salsa half-marathon on Sept. 10. On Oct. 22, I'll be qualifying for Boston at the Duke City Marathon. Here's another good race. Have fun out there.

Steve Gachupin Run: 5K & Half-Marathon

Jemez Pueblo

Sunday, August 27, 2006 . 8:00 am start time

There is always a good turnout of ARR members at this very beautiful race. It is a loop course around the valley floor with some hills, mostly dirt roads, only a little pavement, and lots of very friendly help at the aid stations. Thanks to Kris Kern of the Santa Fe Striders for passing this along! - Roxie

Entry Fee: $ 20 . Seniors $ 15 . No refunds

Race starts at Walatowa Avenue and Mission Road (west side of the Village)

Refreshments will be available throughout the Course and at the Finish.

Music provided by Terry Perky Productions

Awards to Overall Winner & Age Group champions

T-Shirts to All Registered

For more information:

Dominic & Bernice Gachupin (834-1215 dominic.gachupin@jemezpueblo.us)

or Fleet Feet Sports Albuq, NM (299-8922)

King of the Mountain - Steve Gachupin

Pikes Peak Marathon champion 1966-1971
1968 Olympic Trials
2006 American Indian Hall of Fame Inductee

Pat Ryan Funeral

2006-07-01T09:07:00.000-06:00

The funeral for Pat Ryan will be Friday, July 7 at 11:00 am at St. Stephen's United Methodist. There will be a reception following the funeral. St. Stephen's is located at 4601 Juan Tabo NE (just north of Montgomery on the west side). If needed, the phone number for the church is 293-9673.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made to the Nature Conservancy. 1-800-628-6860 or www.nature.org. An account has been set up for Pat Ryan, so please specify that it is for account #11341332. Their office hours are M-F, 9am - 7pm Eastern time. The club will be making a donation also.

In Memoriam - Pat Ryan

2006-06-24T21:04:00.000-06:00

Pat Ryan
Handicap Coordinator
May 7, 1964 - June 23, 2006

Pat Ryan, our club handicap coordinator, was killed in a car accident on Sandia Peak Friday at 4:00 pm. Pat leaves behind his wife of four years, Kadine, and their two sons, Nicholas (2) and Samuel (1). Both Pat and Kadine were actively involved in both Women in Training and the monthly handicaps. Pat was a research physicist and an accomplished runner with a 5K PR of 16:27. Although, a quiet person, Pat was very sociable and always eager to help. He was a most devoted husband and Daddy and thoroughly enjoyed his new family. It was always a pleasure to see the four of them together. Pat will be dearly missed by all who knew him.
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Funeral Service: Since their families are so spread out across the country, it may be a few weeks. But I will let everyone know as soon as I find out.

What can you do to help? Kadine has been staying with friends, but her sister will be in town this weekend and she will be going back to her house on Sunday. She would like for someone to bring dinner on Sunday around 6:00 pm for two adults and two children. For the next two weeks, she will have family in town. But after that, she will definitely be needing help. Kadine is receiving radiation treatment for cancer and must receive the treatment every week day until mid-August. So in a couple weeks, she will be needing help with babysitting during the afternoon.

Kathy MacDonald has offered to coordinate the volunteers who can babysit or bring food so that Kadine doesn't have to field a large number of phone calls on top of everything else. If you will be able to help, please call Kathy.

What has the club already done? The handicap this morning was turned into a memorial run for Pat and a mass card was available members to sign at the handicap and at WIT. I will have a card at the monthly meeting also.

Plyometric Exercises

2006-06-21T08:13:00.000-06:00

Plyometric exercises are something you should consider doing if you want to improve your speed and overall fitness. Not only can they make you faster, you can also work on some areas that running doesn’t develop. Because of the impact, I don’t recommend that beginning runners do plyometrics until they have 3 or 4 months of conditioning under their belt. I started with 10 or 15 minutes of plyos and am now up to 45 minutes. I usually do them 1x/week.

Plyometrics should be done on a level, soft surface. I do them on grass. There’s a lot of impact and you don’t want a hard surface making it worse. For most of my plyometric workouts, I have been warming up by running 3.5 miles. This is way more than necessary, but you should do 10 – 15 minutes of easy running in any case. Don’t start cold.

I usually start off with “butt-kickers” and high knee strides to get my heart pumping. A “butt-kicker” is a quick little step where you raise your heel all the way up until it touches your butt. You move forward slowly as you do this. A high-knee stride is just what it says. Here you focus on raising your knee and getting some vertical lift as you stride forward. About 60 – 75 yards of each of these is enough for me to get going. I usually spend about 45 minutes on plyometrics.

Following are some of the exercises I do, in no particular order. Runners World has some more exercises on their site.

Quadrant jumps: jump forward, like a little standing broad jump, to the left, backwards, and then to the right, as if you are trying to land on the corners of a square. I may repeat the sequence up to 10x.

Lunges (high): about 50 yds 2X

Jumping lunges: done in place

Squats (without weight)

Just plain jumping: Arms straight overhead, I just jump as high as I can off my toes, up to 20x.

Saggital jacks: just like a jumping jack, but your legs go forward and backward, instead of out to the side.

Karaoke: A funny kind of sideways run where you alternate putting the lead foot in front of the trailing foot, then behind it. Swing your arms as you go The idea is to get your hips moving. Again, I go about 50 or 60 yards 2x per set on this one, sometimes I do multiple sets in a workout.

Hops: just hop forward as far as you can. You can also try it one-footed.Here is some interesting advice from a British track coach on gaining speed that includes one-footed hops as part of the program: http://www.serpentine.org.uk/advice/coach/fh62.php

Sprints: Sometimes I will just throw in a 120-150 yard hard sprint or two into the middle of the workout.

Skaters: and exaggerated side to side jump where you squat low and kick your trailing leg back as you jump. Good training for us runners who have problems with IT bands and adductors.

Mountain climbers: start in a push-up position, but raise your butt up high. Then start “running” in place. These are exhausting when done right. An alternate version is to spread your feet wide after every left-right combo. I do these up to 20x.

Jumping butt-kicks: Same as just plain jumping, but try to touch your butt with your heels while in the air.

Skipping: I’m not so good at this.

Recovery from a plyometric workout is similar to that of a speed workout. That is, to your body it is more like running 200s on a track than it is like doing a hard tempo run, longer intervals or distance running. If you do it hard, you will get sore in the same way.

Run the Caldera Info

2006-06-15T07:02:00.000-06:00

Following is an email with race info. If you have questions, comments or anything to add, make a comment here. Note the extreme fire conditions.

Thank you for entering the first Run the Caldera! We hope you enjoy the run Saturday. This email is to give you some information about the run and what to expect.
We're very pleased with the turn out. Currently there are 35 running the marathon, 70 running the 10-mi run, and 60 in the 5-mi run. See you Saturday!Kristen Kern

Start times are:Marathon 9 AM10-mi 9:30 AM5-mi 10 AMCourses:The marathon follows a series of dirt roads. The first 6 miles are hilly and in heavily wooded areas. Expect the first few miles to be very rough roads with a steep downhill before mile 2, which is at Redondo Meadows. There is a long climb from mile 2 to mile 6, to reach the course high point of 9600 ft. From mile 6 to 12, there is a long downhill to the Valle Grande. This section has fewer trees, but better roads. Mile 12- 19 are fairly flat and in the open. This section passes the Headquarters you may have seen from State Route 4 in the Valles Grande. From mile 19 to the finish, the course is back in wooded areas and the roads are a little rougher. There is one short, steep hill about mile 20. The final 3-4 miles are downhill.
The 10-mi course follows the Duke trail, a map of which can be found on the equestrian page at www.vallescaldera.gov. The first 2 miles are shared with the marathon course, and are rough roads with a steep downhill before mile 2. At Redondo Meadows, the course turns east and does a long climb to El Cajete. The last 3-4 miles are downhill.

The 5-mi course follows the Weekend Rider trail, a map of which can be found on the equestrian page at www.vallescaldera.gov. This is a loop with moderate elevation change.

Aid Stations:For the marathon course, there are 9 aid stations at roughly 3 mi intervals. Early in the race they are slightly farther apart and toward the end they are slightly closer. The longest stretch between aid stations is approximately 3.7 mi. Aid stations will have water and gatoraide. We will have some limited food at aid stations in the second half of the run. If you need additional supplies, please be prepared to carry them.The 10-mi run has 3 aid stations at 2 mi, 6.2 mi, and 8 mi with water and gatoraid.The 5-mi run has one aid station with water and gatoraid at the half-way point.First aidWe will have first aid for minor cuts at each aid station. There will be communications at each aid station with vehicles at (minimum) every other aid station. We expect to have volunteers on mountain bikes patrolling the course as well.Please wear sunscreen!Finish area and awardsWe have unique finisher awards for all finishers of the 10-mi and marathon events. Finisher awards will also be awarded to 5-mi finishers if we have enough. Special awards will be given to the top male and female in each event.We also have many donations that will be given away as raffle prizes.We will provide some refreshments at the finish area including soft drinks and fruit. Please feel welcome to bring a more substantial picnic and enjoy the area as your friends finish their runs.Restrooms (porta-potties) are available in the start-finish area.Directions to the start;All events start and finish at the Blanco Bonito Staging area. This is at Mile Marker 30 of State Route 4. If coming from Albuquerque, this is closer to the Jemez Springs side of the mountains.Reminders!Please - no dogs are allowed on the Valles Caldera Preserve!Also note the extreme fire conditions! No smoking or any other fire is allowed! Make sure any spectator you may bring with you is aware of this as well!

Triathalon Advice Wanted

2006-06-13T08:24:00.000-06:00

I am considering my first triathalon and could use some tips. It will consist of a 20K bike, 5k run, and 800m swim. I have never done this nor have a watched someone do this. Could you please send this note along to see if anyone would be willing to answer some questions I have. I am also very open to any tips people could pass along.

How do the transitions work?

Can you swim any stroke?

Can you change strokes?

Since swimming is first, do you stay in your suit or just throw clothes on over?

During training, when would you start doing two or all three events consecutively?

Watching and Waiting

2006-06-13T08:07:00.000-06:00

Here is a site that all of us who like to run in the mountains should bookmark. I'll be watching it. And waiting impatiently.

The latest: "Cibola National Forest closed May 12th all areas except those noted above under "What's Open." The popular La Luz and Embudito trails out of Albuquerque are closed. Except as noted above, the Manzano Mountains are closed." What a bummer, but I remember the big bosque fire a couple of years ago. They've got to do what is necessary.

Personal Training Experience

2006-06-10T06:40:00.000-06:00

I started using a personal trainer when I got back into exercise after taking about 12 years off. I can’t say that it was my idea. My wife made me do it. She was afraid I was going to hurt myself. Indeed, I fit the profile of a guy who would do just that - an over 40 former athlete who was way out of shape. I thought I knew what I was doing. Listening to my wife has always served me well, plus my employer subsidizes my membership at New Mexico Sports and Wellness so I said fine, a few sessions won’t hurt, and I started there. This has been a good thing. The trainer assessed where I was at physically, showed me around the weight room and got me started on some general purpose training. I started on a simple program and I didn’t get hurt.

I continued with that for awhile, but my training didn’t really take off until I got some diet advice from a doctor. Then I was able to make real progress by focusing on what needed doing the most – improving my diet. Once that was started, I developed my exercise program a little further to help me with weight loss.

I have continued to use a personal trainer to help me improve. I want to see how fast I can run again and I know that life is short and I’m not getting any younger. I want to do whatever I can to improve. Between last fall and today, my trainer and I have chopped a minute and a half off of my 5K time and I’m likely good for another 30 seconds pretty soon. I also ran a half-marathon in March in what I would have considered to be an improbably fast time 6 months earlier. So the results are there and I am happy. Right now, we are doing a weekly plyometric session outdoors. Other times, we might be in a gym. My workouts are geared towards running faster, but they vary a lot, which is one thing you need to do both to challenge your body and to stay interested. There’s no way I would do these exercises with as much intensity by myself. The training gives me accountability as well as variety.

Personal training can do a lot for you – help you workout safely, try new exercises, set up appropriate goals, break out of a training rut, rehab from an injury (work with a doctor on this and make sure you get a trainer that knows what they are doing), or just get some accountability into your workouts. People spend thousands of dollars on bicycles, treadmills and other exercise equipment. In my opinion, a little knowledge can be better than all of these things.

I’m keeping my training log online. Feel free to browse it if you would like to see some more info on how I have been training over the last year.

Club Activities

2006-04-24T20:14:00.000-06:00

Thank you to Stride 5000 Volunteers!
April 23, Sunday

Many thanks to the volunteers who did the Stride 5000 race timing! The group worked very well together, and everyone did an excellent job! The volunteers were Laura Maclay, Meg Cassell, Kelley Garcia, Eric Rajala, Rodger Sack, Nicole Neault, Glenda Muirhead, Stephen Jett, Roxie Miller, and Beth Davenport. The club does get paid for race timing, so this helps keep us afloat. Results are available on our website www.aroadrun.org and also on the Stride 5000 website at www.stride5000.com.
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Congratulations to Eric Pope!
Albuquerque de Fiesta Marathon
April 22, Saturday

Eric came in third overall with a time of 2:59!! Time is based on an eyewitness account from Richard Knapp who finished 4th overall with a time of 3:08. (Apparently the times on the race website page are incorrect.) Congratulations to the many club members who participated in the marathon, half, and 5K with many excellent times.
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Congratulations to Los Tortugas!
River to River Relay, Illinois
April 22, Saturday

Los Tortugas, an Albuquerque team led by club member Ed Hernandez, placed first in the Handicap Division out of 56 teams with a total time of 9:11:50 and an adjusted time of 7:19:00. They were 23rd overall out of 228 teams. The River to River Relay is an 80 mile race with an eight person team in southern Illinois. Despite being one runner short at the last minute, Los Tortugas improved on their fourth place finish from last year. The team included Ed Hernandez, Eddy Hellebuyck, Jordan Hellebuyck (age 10), Jane Thompson, Larry Ruggles, Jean Herbert, and Dennis Muirhead. It was a long, hard, hot day for all the runners, but they represented Albuquerque well. We are proud of you!

Born To Run

2006-04-04T08:24:00.000-06:00

Recently, a couple of scientists postulated that humans evolved to run fast over long distances. For a variety of reasons, from our large gluteal muscles, to our ability to cool ourselves, humans are very tough endurance athletes. We're not so good at sprinting, though.

I stumbled upon this article yesterday, and being the proud owner of a human body, I wanted to take a moment to revel in the superiority of it for distance running - our chosen sport is the athletic activity that we humans excel at compared to our fellow species.

Enjoy yourselves out there. You were born to run.

Forever Young

2006-03-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 2 is the Roadrunner’s Forever Young 10K and 2 miler. Entry form is also at http://www.aroadrun.org/Event_Cal/April/entry_forms/Forever_Young_2006.pdf.

Feel free to post any questions here or carpool requests, etc.

Gait Analysis Review

2006-02-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

To any of you out there who want to keep running, I cannot recommend this analysis enough. There is no substitute for seeing yourself running and then reviewing it with the therapist. Debbie Sue was terrific to work with and she provided me with several corrective/preventative exercises to work into my program. After watching that film, I couldn't help feeling lucky that I hadn't gotten hurt already. I will be doing these exercises religiously and I am planning to have another analysis done early in the summer to check my progress. For $75 you almost can't go wrong with this. It's cheaper than a pair of running shoes.

I give it 2 thumbs up. Thanks Debbie Sue.

My personal posts about the analysis are here and here. My wife is a photographer, so I am going to have her take some photos of the stretching exersises and I will post them as well.

Gait Analysis

2006-02-12T13:44:00.000-07:00

I have signed up for a gait analysis at the Rehabilitation Hospital on Feb. 23. Since it's cheaper than a decent pair of running shoes, it was an easy call for me. This should give me some great information as I get back into racing.

If anyone else does this, post your comments here. I'm looking forward to it.

Weekend Workouts

2006-01-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

Master Runners Unlimited Saturday Morning Group Run Schedule
Runs Start at 7:30 AM
Contact Harry Messenheimer for more information, 286-2030. Optional breakfast after the run. All ages welcome!

January 28 - Albuquerque Academy - meet at Hoffmantown Church parking lot.

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5th Annual Sandia Mountain Snowshoe Race

Saturday, January 28, 2006 at 10:00 am

Presented by the Santa Fe Striders

The 2006 Sandia Peak Snowshoe race is Albuquerque’s only snowshoe race. It is a 4-mile race held atop the Sandia Mountains at an elevation of 10,678 feet. The views through the crystal-clear skies are magnificent: to the west is the sprawling city of Albuquerque, with the Rio Grande winding through it; to the north and east, you can see Santa Fe and the “Turquoise Trail”.
We will have this race regardless of weather conditions. The actual course will vary on the snow depth. http://www.sandiasnowshoe.com/index.html

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From the Santa Fe Striders...

For this Sunday's run, meet at the Agora Shopping Center parking lot at the main entrance to Eldorado at 8:30AM. We will run toward the Eldorado wilderness area from there.

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Brad's Sunday Run

Hi, weekend long run with Brad's group cancelled....I am out after a major fall coming down the volcanos Tues night, badly sprained ankle, Eric has a lung infection, group tired and regrouping.

Weekend Workouts

2006-01-19T07:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday January 21

Bear Canyon Arroyo - meet at McDonald’s at Tramway & Montgomery. Master Runners Unlimited Saturday Morning Group Run Starts at 7:30 AM
Optional breakfast after the run. All ages welcome!

Corrida de los Locos: Race starts at 9AM at
Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe Golf Course.

Sunday January 22

Meet at St. John's College at 8:30AM for a course
that will probably involve Wilderness Gate Road and Barbaria Road.

Brad's Run
9 AM Behind Hastings - Coors/Montano 10 Miler

Plan is a 2 Mile warm-up, then head out at 9 AM for 5 miles at 7:30 pace (push a 7:10 5th mile) Catch a break and head back 8:30's 5 miles. Planning a 2 mile cool down at end. Total 14.

Sunday 29th

9 AM Behind Hastings - Coors/Montano 16-18 miles LSD

Member Notes

2006-01-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

Here is an article about road runner member, and Pittsburg Steeler fan Andrew Johnson.

I am really enjoying the Sunday runs he, Emile and Brad have going, but I don't think I'll be doing any swimming with him.

I am currently doing base and gym training and will be doing a half-marathon in Tucson in March, as an excuse to visit my brother as much as anything. Knowing he'll be there is really keeping me from slacking off, that's for sure. There's nothing more embarrasing than doing a belly flop in front of your brother.

Not being a skier, I can't wait for spring, though. It is good to be running again.

What is everyone else up to out there?

Template Changed

2006-01-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

I changed the look to a simpler view with a sidebar. I had selected the original template more or less at random at the time I created the site before I knew whether the roadrunners would want to use it or not. I think this look is more appropriate. Many customizations can be made to the template, for example we can add more items to the side bar. We can also start archiving posts by topic so that they can more easily be found as posts are added.

Thank you, Eric!

2006-01-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

This is just a test to see how this works. Thanks for setting this up, Eric!

Roxie

Welcome to Albuquerque Road Runners

2006-01-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Albuquerque Road Runner's Blog. I am Eric. I've been posting a training log under "oldLobo" on blogger for a few months now, since about a month after I started running again.

When I saw Roxie's message about the forum problems, I suggested we try this. Right now it is just a shell, but we can do a lot more with it. I will be adding some things in the next few days to get started. A sidebar of local/regional races is one thing that might be useful.

I look forward to working with everyone. You may send an email to the address Roxie sent out or if you comment on this post, I will also get the message. You can comment anonymously, but if you want to create posts of your own, you will need a blogger ID. Be reminded that email addresses left in comments can be publicly viewed.