Bookworm: "Running With Joy" by Ryan Hall

On April 18, 2011, Ryan Hall will make his third consecutive trip to Beantown to toe the line at the 115th Boston Marathon. In an interview this week at the Endurance Live Awards Gala, Ryan said "Something about Boston grabs my heart. Runners are rock stars that weekend. I love when I'm standing on the starting line in Hopkinton. I feel like I'm living in a history book and I'm writing history (Video of Interview)." Many of us who treat the Boston Marathon like our personal Olympics feel the same way! "Running with Joy" really embraces Ryan's love of the world's oldest annual marathon and details his training from January 2010 up until the start of the race, where he concludes his first book with a recap of his race to Boston, where he finished 3rd overall in an American Record time (for Boston) of 2:08:41.

"Running with Joy" is a book for runners. Those that feel elite runners are too cryptic in their training methods and never let the public in enough to what they are doing will love "Running with Joy" as Ryan details every training run from January to April 2010 (most days are doubles) and doesn't hold back when something is bothering him. One more fired up moment of his account is when he is discussing the challenging winters in Mammoth Lakes, CA:

"Why do we live here? We could train anywhere in the world-Mexico, Columbia, Kenya-and yet we train here! Why?" I yelled as I slipped for the fifth time in that many minutes running through a blizzard with the team on Mammoth Scenic Loop. I knew I had a bad attitude, but I couldn't hold it in anymore. It was dumping snow, and with every slip I saw my journey to Boston crashing to a halt because of muscle spasms. I was sure I'd tear something before long.

Powerful emotional outbursts like this help show the reader and more than likely, the runner, that even Ryan Hall has some bad days. He goes on to say that his then teammate, American 50k record holder, Josh Cox, helped him get to a better place mentally during that run and by the end of it, his attitude was positive again. This kind of run also possibly led to his departure from the Mammoth Track Club in October 2010 to train in various (and milder) locations like Flagstaff, San Francisco and most recently, Seattle. There is no doubt that Ryan is a free spirit of sorts, which makes him extremely relatable to me and likely to many that will pick up this book.

Another very important thing in Ryan's life is his faith. Many people have found Ryan to be a polarizing figure because of this, but I believe "Running With Joy" will show the reader where he is coming from. That is a good place. Ryan is using the bible to inspire himself and to do unto others. He and his wife Sara have established the Hall Steps Foundation to raise money towards Clean Water (through World Vision), fighting Human Trafficking (through International Justice Mission), and funding a home in a Rescue Center in Kenya through Global Children’s Movement. Hall never comes off as preachy and only quotes scripture to inspire and help him understand his own personal growth, not to condemn others for their particular beliefs. There is an entertaining piece about Sammy Wanjiru in here, as well as former teammate, Deena Kastor, who is Jewish, that will show the reader a deeper side of his faith and values.

No matter what you believe, if you believe in the run, you will take something away from "Running With Joy." This is a book that I will not be passing on to a friend, because there are too many good workouts and ideas for training weeks/months, that will provide an excellent reference as I continue to train for this years Boston Marathon myself. I enjoy reading running books to learn some new tricks. Here's a few I picked up from Ryan:

• He drinks 20 ounces of water when he wakes up in the morning. 
• He coats his feet in vaseline before runs (and puts band-aids on his nipples).
• He does easy runs in the Asics Gel-Cumulus, faster runs in the Asics Gel-DS Trainer, and tempos/races in the Asics Gel-Hyperspeed.
• He takes his easy runs easy (after hammering in college and losing steam at the end of seasons). Many runs are around 7:00-7:30 pace.
• He focuses on a healthy diet and eating every few hours to maintain racing weight.
• He wears the Garmin Forerunner 110 and brings gum to the starting line (in case he "gets parched").

What's next for Ryan? Before heading back to Boston, he'll be tackling the best in the nation this weekend in Houston at the USATF Half Marathon Championship, the place where he set the set the American Record in 2007 (on a slightly different course). Houston is also the place where this 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon will take place a year from now, so that should provide for some extra excitement. You can also find Ryan tweeting here and blogging here (while currently rocking a sweet beard).

Be sure to check out RunningWithJoy.com for more information and for a chance to win some of Ryan's favorite things (including copies of "Running With Joy" as well as Oakley and Cytomax products). You can order a copy of "Running With Joy" on Amazon.com here

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Hobby Jogging: 1/8/11 - Raleigh, NC - Run for Young

Today marked the first race of the 2011 Second Empire Grand-Prix Series. It was the Run for Young 5k, which is in remembrance of Sadiki Young. The Grand-Prix is something I have been hoping to complete for a while and I think I can get in 6 of the required scoring races (out of 8) before Boston this year if I do them all. After being in Chicago for a few days this week and enduring 8 degree weather Thursday night, 37 degrees at 10am this morning felt pretty warm! Luckily, my training partner, John Simons, decided to show up and compete as well. This proved extremely helpful! We got in a nice 2 mile warmup and some strides, changed into singlets and flats and were ready to roll.

The gun went off and the first quarter mile was flat down Edenton Street before hitting a small downhill and then going up the ramp to merge onto Hillsborough St. We got out pretty relaxed, but 4 guys had gotten away early and there were some high school kids that soon would slow after their typical sugar buzz start. We rolled up the 2nd hill by St. Mary's and hit the mile very relaxed in 5:53 or so. Then came the big, long hill in front of the YMCA to Oberlin that continued upward around the new roundabouts. This was quite a long hill and we worked it well. We had passed #4 right before the mile and John began to pull away from me at the roundabouts (Greenville hurts for hill training). After that, we got some relief coming down the hill and hit the second mile in 5:54-ish (there were no mile markers or people calling splits anywhere. For a Grand-Prix race, this has to happen).

At this point, we had the a few more hills to go and with a half a mile left, the pace really picked up. I ran very strong up the last quarter mile hill before it leveled out. This is where I really dug in. I could hear footsteps behind me and was holding strong in 5th and didn't want to give it up. I was gaining on John and my turnover was rolling. I kept one gear in my back pocket just in case the sixth man caught up. Finished strong in 18:10 (official results) with a 5:44 last mile that had 2 good uphills. Felt totally fresh at the finish and John and I knocked out a good 4+ mile cooldown to each hit 50+ miles for our down week.

The awards ceremony was right on time, just the way I like it. Coming in 5th overall got me first in 30-34. John was 4th and first in 25-29, which netted us both $25 gift certificates to The Athletes Foot (Age Group Awards went only 1 deep, so they were good). The shirts were pretty cool as well and I got a student discount for entry, which is always nice. A good effort on a challenging course and some good points are on the board for the rest of the season! Satisfied...

For more info, check out: http://patprice.com/running/races/reports/20110108RunForYoung.htm

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Hobby Jogging: 2000 Miles for 2010 (and some highlights)

After taking a 2 week break after the Dash for Cash to heal up from a bunch of nagging injuries, I was itching to get back on the roads and trails to get that last 65 miles to hit 2000 for the year. 2009 was my first year back to training with consistency and I hit 1411.5, so 2000 was a pretty big jump. After getting a solid week of training in this past week (51.5 miles), I was sitting just 14 miles shy of the mark after my Christmas run. Charlotte got dumped on with snow Christmas evening, making a Sunday long run nearly impossible. I took the rest, headed back to Greenville today (Monday) and set out for a 14-miler, only my third double digit run since Chicago. Snow was all over the place and I was forced into 10" of snow during one mile stretch of highway. Made it through and took a gel and a half a bottle of water at 8.5 before cruising the last 5.5 and rolling home in 6:41 for the last mile. I felt best on the last 20 minutes of the run. Hopefully a sign of good things to come. Now, onto 5 highlights from 2010...

Boston - This was a race I have watched since my teens and qualifying for it at NYC in 2009 was one of my biggest sporting thrills ever. Competing at Boston was everything I had hoped it could be. Felt great from the gun, went through the half in 1:22 and was on 2:48 pace through 30k. Didn't quite hold it, but still ran a 9 minute PR and had a blast. A trip and event to remember. Here's the full race report

Gate River Run - Luckily, this race fell over my spring break and a few good friends of mine live in Jacksonville. I was lucky enough to qualify for the top corral and it was cool warming up with the pros and having our own port-o-johns! It was a hot day and the race was tough, but coming down the Green Monster, I turned on the jets and ran from the 9 mile mark to the finish (600 meters) at 5:08 pace (and passed a ton of people); good enough to get me on the scoreboard for the USATF National 15k Championship. Here's that race report


Get Your Rear in Gear 5k - This was my first competitive race back in 2009 and I almost won, just running out of real estate against a high school kid, running 19:29. This year I took it out conservatively and was mentally tough the whole race. I hammered the last downhill mile and finished 3rd in 17:29, my best 5k time since starting to compete again (and only 12 seconds off my lifetime road PR of 17:17 from the Stumptown 5k in 1996). Here's that race report

Lifestyles 5k - After battling a troubling hamstring for the last 23 miles of Chicago, I was eager to heal up and get back to it. I hopped in this race in Little Washington as a test/tempo to see where I was just 13 days later and was rewarded with my first road race win since 1991 (Eastover Fun Run)! Here's that race report

Falmouth Road Race - Probably the quintessential All-American Road Race. Although we stayed in probably the crappiest hotel that $150/night can get you and my girlfriend went to get Meb to autograph a poster for me that ended up being addressed (and personalized) to her (he's charming :), this was an awesome event. It included dueling with Joan Samuelson for about a mile and experiencing the Falmouth Cinema Pub, plus great weather and a very cool race. Here's that race report

Now we'll look towards 2011 and can't wait to up the miles a little more, run Raleigh's Second Empire Grand Prix and Boston again. If you are reading this (or following my twitter), you'll hear all about it!

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Hobby Jogging: 12/5/10 - Greenville, NC - Reindeer Dash for Cash 5k

If you are ever going to do a road race in Greenville, NC, the Reindeer Dash for Cash is the cream of the crop. Dawn Cash-Salau does an excellent job and really works hard all year to put on an excellent event. Every year it draws a larger and larger crowd and this year there had to be 700+ (most races here have ~100). It was a very cool day for a race after we got an unexpected coat of snow last night. I was a little worried about the wood bridge finish being slick, but then realized the Army helps put this race on and had it swept and salted by 0700. Now the cold didn't really bother me today, but the wind, that's another story.

Got in a good warmup and got to the line with 5 minutes to spare. The start was called on the bullhorn and off we went up 1st Street. Got out good and controlled and started to settle in on Evans before turning up 5th. By the time we got a half mile in, I had settled in with my buddy Nic Boerio and Adidas Raleigh's Heather Magill, both who were running the 10 mile. Ran up the hill on 5th and went through the mile pretty comfortably in 5:42. I started pressing the pace a little on mile 2 as it was slightly downhill and felt pretty good doing it. Legs didn't have a lot of pop, but was hoping to just maintain what we had going. When we turned left onto Brownlea, the wind came cranking hard right at us (~20mph). I'd like to say it didn't bother me, but it did. We got through the 2 mile in 11:30, which was right about where I wanted to be. I started pressing again, but just didn't have it. Slogged up 1st and started to lose touch with Nic and Heather a little, so started to go into maintain my place mode and be ready to kick if you hear footsteps.

Hit the 3 mile in 17:31 and the last .1 turned into .14, but came home a solid 3rd overall in 18:13. After coming in 4th last year, it felt great to get an overall award. Afterwards, grabbed a cup of coffee and a bagel with Kevin Sheehan and jogged home to throw on my compression pants and pullover to cooldown and see how Heather and Nic were doing. The funny thing about the Dash for Cash is that Kenyans show up every year and rip it in the 10 mile. I think they don't realize the race is in Chris Cash's memory and not a race director making it rain. This year there was indeed prize money for the top 3 in the 10 Mile, so 3 Kenyans took some money home and Heather took the title on the womens side for a nice $200 payout. My teammate, Erin Duke, should have come up as she would have gotten 2nd and $150. No money in the 5k, but got a nice medal, tech shirt and tech hat (things I can use!)

After Nic and Heather got done, did a good 2 mile cooldown with them before some more coffee and the award ceremony, where I met my old friend Laura MacLean, who I know from back in the day when I ran a couple days a week and couldn't break 20 in the 5k. Was good catching up with her and she took home the masters title in the 10 mile (and is doing what I think she told me was her 13th marathon of the year next weekend at Thunder Road). She's a maniac.

As for me, I need 65 more miles this year to join the 2000 mile club. That's my final goal as I am done racing this year and am looking forward to the Second Empire Grand-Prix Series in the Spring and a return to the Boston Marathon in April. So I'll log some easy miles, then take about 10 days off to heal up before getting ready for the 2011 season. My legs are lacking pop and I think a little break will get that back as I get back into Jack Daniels style training in 2011 that I had a lot of success with in early 2010. Can't wait!

For more info, check out: http://patprice.com/running/races/reports/20101205DashforCash5k.htm

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"Hold my spot, Mom"

Something caught my (and David Willis') eye today while watching the races at the Foot Locker South meet. Immediately after one race would start, parents of the competitors in the next race would immediately rush to the starting line to hold their child's starting spot for the next race that would go off in 30 minutes. This was one time I wish I didn't leave my Blackberry in the car (to take a photo of the madness). If anyone did take a picture, please email it to me to add to the blog. Now while I didn't get close enough to see if any fisticuffs ensued for pole position, I wouldn't be surprised if some heated words were exchanged!

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Hobby Jogging: 11/27/10 - Charlotte, NC - Foot Locker Cross Country Championships

Being from Charlotte, during high school I either ran in the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships or worked at them from 9th grade on. I even did my high school senior exit project about the event as at the time it was the only true high school national championship. It was fun coming back and running them at 32, even though it wasn't really my day. I've been training pretty hard for the past few weeks getting ready for my last race of 2010, which is the Reindeer Dash for Cash 5k in Greenville next Sunday. Hopping in the open race at Foot Locker South seemed like a great idea...

It started off as a great idea. Felt pretty good after waking up at 6 to grab a shower, Powerbar and some water. Drove over to McAlpine Park and got in a good warmup with my buddy David Willis. Got lined up right in the "trail" section of the start and everything was looking good. Gun went off and I settled in to a good, but not too fast pace. Went through the 800 in 2:47-ish, 1000 in 3:28 or so and the mile in 5:37-38 and felt great. Was picking people off and felt well within myself. Kept cruising through the 2000 and that's when things got off on the wrong foot. The hill absolutely ruined my race. The insane drop off downhill at about the halfway point took a little bit to recover from. I ran the hill wrong and too slow and didn't get my way about me until about a k to go. If you look at the Garmin dump (and ignore where it dropped out of coverage), you can see I was rolling the first 2k and the last k. 2-4k were not my finest. Finished the last 200 strong to hold off a few challengers in a modest 18:26 (5:38, 6:05, 6:02).

That's ok. Just another piece of the puzzle. Had a good time watching the races with Dave after ours was done and was happy to see Raleigh's Wesley Frazier qualify again on the girls side as well as future Tar Heel Blake Williams qualify on the guys side (along with Scott Morgan and Thomas Graham). A strong NC showing. Now back to business for one more week before my last race of the year!

More info available at: http://patprice.com/running/races/reports/20101127FootLocker.htm

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Hobby Jogging: 11/13/10 - Greenville, NC - Boys and Girls Clubs 5K

Last week was a short course and this week was a long one. Now it wasn't terribly long, but after driving the course a few times and racing it and then running it in reverse on my cooldown, it was a good 100 meters long (~20 seconds) if you cut the tangents as close as possible. Oh well, at the end of the day it's a race and that's truly all that matters unless you're on a track and you are told to run an extra lap (been there).

The Boys and Girls Clubs 5k was just another step in getting some speed back in my system after a summer and early fall of marathon training, with the goal to run some fast races in the Spring. I knew my legs would be a little heavy today after a race last weekend and a good 4 mile tempo on Wednesday with my friend Tyler Pake. All this in mind, I went in with a goal of 17:45-18:00, similar to last weekend. The race got out to a wild start as a high school kid sprinted off the line like nothing I had ever seen before. He had 100 yards on us within a quarter mile. Without racing the kid before, I had no idea what he was capable of, but kept it steady and watched him turn his head every 200 meters or so and look back (rookie mistake, but the kid was 15, so I'll give him a break!). Another guy was right on my shoulder and started to pull away from me a little before the mile mark. I went through in 5:39 or so and wanted to run a good sub 6 second mile. This course was out at Metrics Inc, which is some kind of industrial park in the middle of an old cotton field. It would be a good place for a tempo run, but not a great place for a race.

We had to run through a few parking lots and had to do a 180 degree turn right after the 2 mile mark. This being said, after running through a parking lot and by a cotton field I hit the 2 mile pretty strong in 11:32 (5:53 mile 2). The guy running with me earlier had just passed the high school kid and was pulling away with a very strong 2nd mile (about 100 yards up). Seeing this I made my goal to go get the kid. After the hairpin turn, the wind was right in our faces for the last mile or so but I was working it and caught the kid with about 600 left. I was really starting to dig in and the last mile kept going and going and going. I think the sponsor wanted to have it end at a certain place in their parking lot so that the finish would be right in front of the DJ and the moonwalk. This is Greenville, NC people!

No worries though, I finished strong in 2nd in what I though was 18:08, about 9 seconds back from the winner.  Another quarter mile or so and I would have gotten him as he was fading and probably didn't know I was coming after he passed the kid earlier and he was blasting his headphones. About the 18:08, or 18:10 officially: every East Carolina Road Racing race I have ever run has been 2 seconds off of what they tell you at the finish line (and what my watch says) and what comes out on the results sheets. Again, not a huge deal, but a little bit of a pet peeve. I am guessing it is a software glitch as everyone else that frequents these races acknowledges it as well! My old high school friend who lives in Greenville now, Brandy Gamboa (pictured below), who won the womens race joked about it before what she thought was a 19:48 PR quickly turned into a 19:51.

All nit-picking aside, this was a well put together race. Kip Sloan does a great job and was nice enough to email me the map this week (as he does with about every race I run down here so I can study the courses I am not familiar with). The post race spread was awesome with Jimmy Johns subs, Gatorade bottles, Powerade Bottles, Goldfish and Bruegger's Bagels. They also had great looking shirts (a rarity) and excellent awards, as I got a nice plaque to hang on the wall. They did have an interesting DJ at the finish, but that's a whole 'nother story I'll have to tell you about in person!

Photos taken from the Greenville Reflector: http://www.reflector.com/slideshow/scene-around-boys-girls-clubs-fun-run-nov-13-174217

More info available at: http://patprice.com/running/races/reports/20101113Boys&GirlsClub5k.htm

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