benefits of being old

I was reading an article in Running Times while spinning at the gym yesterday and found out there is this thing called "age grading" they use in running to put us old dudes on a level playing field with the young dudes.

What basically happens is you use a table (www.eliteracingsystems.com) - probably developed by old dudes - to determine what your race time would have been if you were younger.

As some of you know I have run by best 5k and best marathon since I have turned 42 but I thought it would be fun to see how fast I would have been if i would have been young

2008 Marathon 2:58:30 - age graded time - 2:51:18
2007 5k 17:53 - age graded - 16:37

Now - none of this proves crap but it is fun to play with and check out. And none of these age graded times means that I am some sort of elite type of runner and quite frankly it is probably not supposed to be used on someone like me - I did not start running until I was 36.

Just for fun and use at your own risk!

Beth and BFL

Beth just completed her 12 week Body For Life journey and has done wonderful and I am very proud of her - here are the final numbers:

18 lbs lost
4-5 inches off the waist reduced

That is a very safe weight loss of 1.5 lbs a week and a good bit of reduction off her waist. The thing that I like about BFL is that it is not targeted as a weight loss "diet" it is a body transformation plan that gets you in the gym working out, eating better and overall looking better.

I think she looks great as usual! This planned has certainly helped her get back into shape and has her ready to tackle her triathlon goals this year!

Track Meet Number 2

Track Meet 2 was on Monday night at a very nice private school in Orlando. Our team has added a couple of new athletes since the last meet that had some potential to do very well in this meet.

We ended up with some very good performances in the meet. We took 2nd and 3rd in Boy's shot, 2nd in Girl's shot and 2nd in Boy's disc. The field events are our best, no thanks to my lack of knowledge. We also had some personal bests in the long jump - improvements by over 4 feet from last meet.

In the track events we had some great efforts even though we are undermanned compared to some of the other schools. However, there was one school there smaller than us this meet.

We had a 3rd in the Boy's 800, 4th in Girl's 100, 4th in the Boy's 4x100 relay and some really strong back to back runing efforts by the team.

The team hung in there all day and when the final totals were in we came in 3rd in both the boys and girls. We were a long way from 2nd place but we did score a lot more points than last meet so we are seeing some improvement.

Meet number 3 in next Monday

2 weeks off - time to work again

It has been a fun two weeks since the marathon and I am fully recovered - I have laced up my running shoes and have done some small easy runs with my training groups or my track team but I have not put in a serious run, a core workout, or weight training since the marathon.

Here is what I have done - drank some Guinness, had some birthday cake, lots of girl scout cookies, couple really good pizzas, wings and burgers at Johnny's, more beer - oh yeah - I have been on the spin bike (and my own bike for the first time since November) 3-4 times for a couple hours each time.

This week will be an easy week since Team Hendryx/Fleet Feet will be defending it Elite Team Championships in the Crazy Legs Relay this weekend. We will be running around 65 miles on the roads on Orlando with a team of 4 people. We will do our best to defend the title - I am sure there will be some teams gunning for us this year.

Our team has changed a little this year from last - Sean, Chris and I will be back but we will be replacing Rene' (just coming back form her injury) and Steve (racing Gate River the following weekend) with Tony. I do not know Tony but he comes highly recommended and will be a great addition to the squad.

I will try to get in a few runs this week to make sure my legs remember how to turn over and we will be ready to go this weekend. Check in next week for a race report and to see our Championship trophy - oops - hope I did not jinx us.

GKTW 5K - let's get out and run

Give the Kids the World (www.gktw.org) is hosting a 5k on March 16th - please put the word out to your family and friends. We are trying to get over 150 participants for this race and your help is needed. You can e-mail me or contact Give Kids the World directly for more info on the race.

Sunday March 16th - 7:00a
Free to run - GKTW is asking that you make a donation if you want to and to stay around after the 5k to take a tour of the village and see all the great things they do here.

If you sign up now you will get a training calendar and will be able to come to free group training on Thursdays at GKTW

Spin Class Review - Friday 4:00p 6 spin bikes out of 10

I do many spin classes at the Y and decided I would start posting comments on them so you can decide which classes you might want to attend.

Personally, I am a big fan of my special spin session which is me, my ipod and a spin bike all alone in the spin room - but I will save my comments for the "official" classes.

I took spin on Friday at 4:00p - I checked the board and saw that it was an interval class and it was to be taught by K (initials used to protect the guilty). After 60 minutes of warm up I was ready for the class. Before the class started K was talking to anyone who would listen how she does not talk much during class she just spins and you can do what you want because we are adults. I have had class with K before and she does not talk because she gets out of breathe very quickly - oh well - I imagine spin instructor is a tough job.

Any way, the class was to be intervals (I can never tell the difference in any of the classes - they all seem to be the same to me - just different names) and K told us that she was mixing old with new music in the class.

The class was ok. She did do those stupid jumps that I hate and that hurt my achilles (so, as an adult I chose not to do them). Also, she promotes horrible cycling form but I guess that is why she is on a spin bike and not a road bike. There is so much movement of spin participants - rocking, bouncing, bobbing - all stuff that would not suite them too well on the roads. At least she did promote proper pedaling techhnique.

The music selection was ok - there was Elivs singing "A little more action" (the Las Vegas TV show theme), and then Elvis singing "Pump it Up" - get it? Old Elvis P and new Elvis C - so Elvis Costello is probably not very "new" to a lot of you but he is touring with the Police for this leg of the tour. There was George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers - I could not figure out if he was new or old in her mind? And there was Otis Day and the Knights (you know the ones - from Animal House).

The class was not overly crowded which I like (so I do not have to trun on the fan for anyone if i do not wnat to) and at least K did not walk around and call people out for not working hard enough - she stayed on her bike and did the whole class which is more than I can say for some of the instructors.

After a 30 minute cool down I had about 2.25 hours on the bike and felt like I got a decent workout in.

I give K's class a 6 spin bikes on a scale of 10 - I will give her another shot next week and see if it does improve at all. if she would skip the jumps it might have been a 6.5. :-)

Happy training

My new favorite

Brian Sell is my new favorite marathoner - I just like the way he runs and the things he says - I am going to be cheering for him at the Olympics. I think Ryan Hall is our best chance for a medal (that dude can run) but I will be cheering for Brian. Other reasons to like him:

- He went to Messiah College - my old roommate and racquetball doubles partner went to Messiah

-He is from Altoona - we know the most famous person from Altoona?? ALF - what a classic show that was - what happened to good TV?

- you have to dig the sideburns and some times he runs with a foo man choo

Spirit of the Marathon

I went to see this movie last night with Beth (it was my second time seeing it) and still thought it was great. The theater was not quite as full as it was for the first go around but still pretty busy last night.

Here are my thoughts on the movie:

- It was awesome seeing all the early footage of the great marathoners, Salazar, Shorter, Rogers, and Benoit running the first women's marathon in 1984 in LA

- They did a great job describing the draw of the marathon and tried to get into people's mind on why they run a marathon - or attempt to run a marathon

- The camera work was awesome - watching Deena Kastor run is just amazing.

- Elite marathoners have the work effort and strong mental makeup of a warrior - anyone that can log 140 mile a week is a champ in my book.

- It was funny seeing Brian Sell as a pacer for the men's marathon - he has gone form pacing 5 miles in Chicago to a member of the US Mens Olympic Team

- Watching the race was like watching my first marathon in Chicago - it brought back some great memories

- Marketing genius on the part of the Chicago Marathon - her this movie out after the horrible experience everyone had in Chicago this year and the poor management decisions they made during and before the marathon in 2007.

- there were some great shots of Big Red - the building I used to work in when I traveled to Chicago - glad I do not go there any more.

- the finish line at Chicago is so cool - so many people around there - I will never forget finishing a dn looking over and seeing Beth with her sign that said "We're going to Boston"
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The runners -

Ryan - I thought Ryan was a selfish cry baby the first time I saw the movie - now I think he is still wrong about Boston Qualifying but he did support his wife after he was injured so maybe he was not a total cry baby - he finally got his qualifying time. If he could just run faster it would not matter what age he was.

Leah - what a great story - she went from a learn to run program to a marathon. I hope to take some of my "learn to run" athletes to that level. She had some good friends with her in the race and even though she was hurting she was helping those around her too

Deena - man she was hurting at the end. She hung on for her first marathon win and that was cool. I think Beth had her eyes covered like she was watching a scary movie. I wonder what would have happened if she did not have all those Brooks/Hansen guys around her or the other lady had pacers all around her for the race??

Jerry - maybe the wisest of them all - loved when he said "I do marathons for the t-shirt" or "The only runners high is when I stop" or "They tell us that if you run 20 in training you can get through 26.2 in a race - they lie!" He was awesome. Did anyone see Coach Tommy from ATL camera hogging with Jerry during the race - where were Tommy's participants???

Daniel - now here is a snake bit dude (if you can consider being in the Top 5 in the world snake bit). He finished 3rd in 2005, went back in 2006 and finished 2nd, 2007 - 3rd - and do not forget his 2nd in '02, 3rd in '03, 2nd in '04 - he has probably collected more prize money than anyone in Chicago history

Lori - not only did she train and run this race, she raised some cash for her charity of choice too. She has a camera mugger along with her too - the lady in pink. Lori looked the best out of all of them - she just kept on running and looked decent at the finish.

I hope you get a chance to see this - maybe it will come out on DVD - I would buy it and keep it in my collection to watch at a later date.

Happy Training.

Rock Racing

I have been watching the Tour De California on TV this week and it has been pretty cool to date. One of the new teams racing this year is Rock Racing http://www.rockracing.com/ check out their kits. I think they are pretty cool looking and it looks like they are going to shake of the traditional cycling "look" a little. I do not think I can wear something like this because I am way to slow but I think they look cool in the pelaton.

First Track Meet

it is said that you must step outside your comfort zone in order to become stronger! I believe I have done this with my new middle school track coaching gig. at least I am learning alot.

Yesterday was our first meet as a team which meant it was my first meet as a coach. Wow, was I nervous before the meet, more nervous than before my last marathon. Maybe because I knew I was trained perfectly by Sean for the marathon and I knew I was doing nothing but winging it for the track meet.

Let me give you some background first before I tell you about the meet. I am coaching at a very small private school in the area that has a very small track team and no track to practice on. We started practice last week - about 6 weeks behind all the other schools and we only had 2 practices before our first meet.

The meet was at First Academy which is a first rate facility - best track I have ever seen. When I showed up I almost wanted to hop on and do a track workout myself just to take advantage of this first rate facility. While the other schools show up in their school buses my kids have to be driven by their parents because the school does not provide transportation. While other teams had 30-40 kids we had 13 at the meet last night. While other schools had very spirited and kowledgable track coaches our school had me.

I got there early so I could pick as many brains as I could and learn as much as I could before the meet. When the kids started showing up with their parents I was really nervous - would the parents boo me off the field, would they fire me on the spot? I figured one thing I am good at is motivating people and having fun so I made that the goal for the meet. We will try our hardest and we will have fun (and maybe learn something) along the way.

I did notice that a lot of the teams had 2 or 3 coaches - one for the field events, one for the spinters and one for the distance events - then there was me - jack of all trades master of ZERO! Since I am a distance athlete and the longest event in middle school is 1600 there was nothing that I really had a lot of experience in.

So the meet was off and it starts with the field events and the 4x800 relays. Since we had no one in the relays I could get all my kids to the right places and cheer them on in the field events. We do not have a place to practice high jump so we did not have to worry about that. After the field events the running starts and continues on in a mass chaos kind of way until the very last event is run.

Let me just say that I hate it when everyone gets a trophy or when they do not keep score or when no champion is crowned - well this has none of those - there are first place finishers and those that finish behind first place - there are team awards and there are kids giving it their all for themsleves and the team.

I could not be more proud of our kids - they were awesome - the tried hard, they gave it all they had, they did not give up. We did end up second to last in the girls and last in the boys team comp. but a lot of that was because we were out numbered. However we did have some very good results,

2nd place in boys shot, 4th place in girls shot, 5th place in girls 100 and some other fine performances.

The warriors of the meet went to two 6th graders that even though they were a good foot shorter than whover they competed against and ended up near the back of the pack in their races they ran hard for the whole race and tried their hardest - they did not give up and they did not quit at all!

We will continue to work as a team and try to get better. I do not think we will ever compete for a team title becuase we do not have the numbers but we will try to get better and sneak in for some individual awards in our next meet. Stay tuned.

Side note - some of those coaches take this stuff very seriously - maybe a little too serious. Let me say that I want the kids to do well but I want them to have a good time too so they will continue with the sport. If I ever get as intense as some of those coaches I saw yesterday I will kindly step down from coaching youth sports because they are just too intense for the good of the kids (in my opinion only).

Cheers and stay tuned for my next report - we get one practice before our next meet :-)

Gasparilla Marathon Race Review

Gasparilla Race weekend is a big racing festival and has something for everyone - there is a Kids Race, 5k and 15k on Saturday and a Half and Full Marathon on Sunday. This is a weekend that the whole family can enjoy. If you are so inclined you can run the 15k, 5K and Half or Full Marathon over the 2 days - very similar to the Gooofy Challange they do at Disney.

The race is run very well and things are very easy in Tampa. You can get to the expo very easy, there is a lot of parking , and if you need to stay in Tampa there are a lot of hotels within walking distance to the race start. The shirts were pretty cool - long sleeve dry fit material shirts.

The course is flat and fast. The race starts at 6:00a so you get a good hour of running before the sun comes up. The first 6 miles are on Davis Island and are run with the half marathon. The course is very dark in some places and there are not many fans out at this hour of the morning. You do see a lot of fans on the bridge to and from Davis Island.

Mile 7 is where the half and full split - the half gets ready to head down Bayshore while the full heads in to downtown. The streets are still pretty empty because not many people live in this section of downtown. The course is well marked and supported well with aid stations through this section. There are a couple out and back sections here so you get a chance to see other runners.

At mile 12 of the marathon you merge with the half marathon runnners. This section is not great - it is pretty crowded with runners/walkers and quite frankly the half marathoners did not seem to care that a marathon was going on or that part of the road was needed to pass them. Bayshore is pretty wide so it was easier to pass on Bayshore. Tons of runners for the next several miles on this section so that made it kind of fun.

Once the half marathoners turned off and the marathon continued down Bayshore is was pretty boring again. I personally enjoyed it because it was like a nice training run - just me and my thoughts.

Heading back up Bayshore was very hard this year - like past years - because it was straight into a headwind. The other hard part about this course is - you can see downtown (where the finish line is) it seems very far away. Kind of messes with the mind!

Finish lines are always very cool - does not matter what is there - it is the finish. They had some good looking food at the finish line along with coffee, cola, water, gatorade. Lots of helpful volunteers there. There was also a place you could make free calls in case yoou were looking for someone. the medals (for you medal hounds) were pretty cool and a nice heavy quality with a bright colored ribbon.

The post race party was good - some free beer (ok more than just some). Lots of door prizes and awards for the Top 10 - age group awards are mailed.

Overall I rate the course a 7-8. The concrete is a little hard on the joints and spectator support is a little scarce in places but this course is fast - as fast as Chicago! Try this race out - it is well worth it.

Follow my own advice

Here is something I have always told anyone who would listen to me, and I need to follow my own advice...

Once an A race is over and you have or have not accomplished your goals, set another goal and pick another A race in the future.

I need to find my A race for this year and set out a training plan with my coach and get on with it. I do not know what that is going to be yet but I will let you know as soon as I figure it out.


Couple fun things coming up are Crazy Legs and maybe the 50 mile trail run in Brooksville - other than that nothing is really exciting me in the next several months - we will see.

Happy Training.

Want to try something fun...

Anyone that is interested in something a little different you should try the Crazy Legs Relay - you can get the information on http://genesisadventures.com - this is a fun race through Orlando. You get to split the miles as a team.

Look for Team Hendryx/Fleet Feet to defend their title this year!

Spirit of the Marathon

In case you missed the first showing of this movie - you have another chance http://marathonmovie.com - on 2/21

if you are a marathoner or have a goal of running a marathon you should see this movie - just disregard the young dude complaining about Boston qualifying - he is just bitter :-)

Enjoy

FYI

FYI - this is great news for Team Hendryx - we get to partner with some great people at Fleet Feet and also get to help the community by providing proper coaching to people who want to accomplish thier fitness goals.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Lauren Liebowitz
Fleet Feet Sports
tel: 407-772-2233
email: lauren@fleetfeetorlando.com
www.fleetfeetorlando.com

2008 Training Programs offered at Fleet Feet Sports
Fleet Feet Sports Partners up with Team Hendryx

Jan 14, 2008—Fleet Feet Sports in Altamonte Springs will be offering multiple training programs for the beginner, the avid runner and fitness community throughout 2008. Team Hendryx, an Orlando based athlete development program which provides experience, support, and motivation to help athletes reach peak performance in running and multi-sport disciplines has been chosen to lead the Fleet Feet programs.

Slated for the beginning of the winter / Spring 2008 season Fleet Feet Sports will be offering an intro training program for a 5k run/walk called NO BOUNDARIES™, a Triathlon training program (all abilities) starting in February, and a marathon and half marathon training session starting in late May. In addition to these programs they will offer an open enrollment for personalized 5k and 10k speed work training sessions throughout the year.

Fleet Feet Sports store owner, Stacey Bartos is excited about the 2008 running program calendar with Team Hendryx. “Since we opened the store in February 2007, one of our top goals here at Fleet Feet has been to create new runners using programs that fit into the lifestyle of our community. Team Hendryx is well known and respected throughout greater Orlando and the caliber of their coaching staff is phenomenal. I hope to see our programs continue to inspire and train the running and fitness community for years to come.”

Listed below is the Fleet Feet and Team Hendryx training calendar

January No Boundaries Beginners 5K Program
February Beginners Tri Training (open enrollment throughout Feb)
5k-10k Training with Speed work (open enrollment throughout year)
March 5k-10k Training with Speed work (open enrollment throughout year)
April 5k-10k Training with Speed work (open enrollment throughout year)
May Marathon and Half Marathon Clinic for enrollment late may early
June (fall marathon)
June Beginners Tri Training (open enrollment throughout June)
Same as above open 5k -10k training
July 5k-10k training with Speed work
August Late Fall Winter Marathon half marathon training mid month (Jax, Disney, Tampa)
September No Boundaries 5k Fall program
October 5k-10k with Speed Work

About Fleet Feet Sports--Fleet Feet Sports is a locally owned and operated specialty store carrying footwear, apparel and accessories for walkers and runners. At Fleet Feet, you will find a welcoming environment where runners, walkers and fitness enthusiasts of all abilities receive unparalleled service and support. For more information, visit www.fleetfeetorlando.com.

About Team Hendryx—Team Hendryx offers Group and individual endurance training, by a central Florida elite coaching staff. Team Hendryx goals are to increase personal performance, help other athletes achieve their personal goals and to promote the growth of swimming, running, biking, triathlons and duathlons. For more information, visit www.teamhendryx.com

Break time over

ok - break time is over - it was nice to get away from everything for a week or so - no posting blogs, no training this week, no focusing on the marathon - just some rest and relaxation (and work of course).

Here is what is going on for TH right now:

45 athletes in our No Boundaries program - this is a Fleet Feet/New Balance program for athletes to run their first 5k - these guys are doign awesome and I can not wait to see them cross the finish line in April.

6 athletes in our Long Course Tri training program - this is a 4 month training program for 1/2 iron and longer - most of our athletes our doing Disney 70.3

6 athletes in our Short Course Tri training program - this is a 4 month training program for International distance and shorter

11 athletes in our Run Volusia County training program - this is a 4 month program to train for upcoming races of all distances.

22 athletes at Orangewood Christian School - this is their MS track program

15 athletes in our TNT Tri program - this program will end with the Tri Miami race on May 4th

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Upcoming Programs

Need for Speed - this is a 5k/10k speed program - want to improve your 5k/10k times? This is your program - go to www.fleetfeetorlando.com for details

1/2 marathon/marathon - training to run these distances - coming in June - go to www.fleetfeetorlando.com

Miamiman - starting in June we will be training a group of athletes for the 1/2 iron and International distance races - we only have 30 spots and have 18 signed up already - get it while it is HOT - this race sells out fast.

___________________________________________________________________

Upcoming races - Sean and I will be teaming with two other Fleet Feet runners to run the Crazy Legs 60 mile relay throughout Orlando - Sean and I are trying to defend our team title from last year!

Happy Training

so true...

Overview of Tampa

It was a good day for Team Hendryx in Tampa this weekend:

Matt Curran - 3:56:00 - Matt is new to TH and we did not train him for this but this good marathon time will set him up well for doing Dinsey 70.3 in May

Mike Russo - 3:26:42 - Mike is now a Boston Marathon qualifier by 3:18. Mike ran a super smart race and cruised to his 3:26 finish - exactly where he trained. He had a PR of over 13 minutes.

Bill Wennner - 2:58:25 - I was also able to qualify for Boston and squeaked in under the 3:00:00 mark. From 19 on this was a trying race but luck and good thoughts were on my side. I was able to PR by over 13 minutes thanks to the fine coaching by Sean.

Check back in the next day or so for race reports to be posted.

Happy Training.

Pride

I had to drop a quick entry here becasue I saw a movie that you all might be interested in - Pride http://pridefilm.com - this is based on a true story of Jim Ellis a school teacher in Philly that starts a swim team in a Rec Center in a run down Philly area. I have seen the movie two times since last week and will probably watch it again. I thought it was very good and would recommend it.

Enjoy!

Team Hendryx Blog is taking a few days off

i am taking a few days away from the blog to get ready for the race this weekend.

Good luck to all of those heading to Tampa this weekend to tear it up!

Check back on Monday for updates on TH performance and to book your trip to Boston with us!

Christmas In February

I just got my Brooks sponsorship package today - it is so cool when free stuff shows up at your door. It is also nice to get a new pair of shoes right before the marathon - it will be like running with pillows on the feet.

Any way - here are a couple of Brooks products you should check out.

Vapor Dry 2 - 1/2 zip - this is a long sleeve top with a half zip - the top also has back pockets for carrrying gels, and a handy Ipod pocket

Pulse lite gloves - these are like cool max material in gloves they should be awesome to run in.

Enjoy.

Epic's Tri Challenge

Here is a new and exciting training group coming soon. Keep checking this web site for more information http://epicstrichallenge.com

this will be a FREE group training to prepare you for a 1/2 Ironman - brought to you by Epic Cycles, Team Hendryx, Fleet Feet Orlando and Gear for Multisport - it will be limited to 5 people only and those 5 chosen athletes will get special incentives from all of our sponsors including free training for 5 months to prepare for a 1/2 Ironman.

Be prepared to tell us why we should chose you!

Check the web sites of our sponsors in the web site section of the blog!

Crossing Guards are Cool

why you say?? Maybe not all crossing guards are cool but I came across a cool one this morning. I am out on my easy 8 this morning and I end up by the school at my house trying to get across a semi busy intersection and there is Jim (not sure if that is his name but he loooks like a Jim - my guess he is about 70 - 70 year old Jim)) - we exchange pleasantries while waiting for the light and then he says - "are you out running 26.2 this morning?" Not running a marathon, not running long - he states the exact mileage of the marathon - how many people do you know (outside of your running friends) know the exact distance of the marathon? Well, Jim does. I told him I was on an easy 8 preparing for Tampa and he tells me about the fact that he has watched the OUC 1/2 every year and also Disney every year. Then he proceeds to tell me to go out slow in Tampa and not get burned out in the first several miles :-) How cool is Jim?? I am going to run by Jim every time I can - I might even learn his real name one of these days.

It is the small stuff in running that makes me happy and the crossing guard made me happy today - he was such a nice guy - I am going to wave to my new friend every day I drive by him (which is like every day) I can not wait until my next conversation when he tells me about speed workouts.

Happy Training Everyone - have a wonderful weekend and I hope your weather is as nice as ours is going to be.