Local Runs This Weekend

Saturday, December 31
Flashlight 5K, Lawrenceville

Sunday, January 1
Resolution Run 5K & 10K Road Race, Norcross
ATC PT Solutions Resolution Run 5K / 10K / Mile, Kennesaw
Happy New Year Half Marathon & 5K, Lawrenceville
2012 New Year's Resolution Run 5K/10K, Stockbridge

Wednesday Night Run 12-28-2011

Hello ORC,

Southern Living magazine selected Decatur as one of the "Tastiest Towns in the South." All that running you have done should be rewarded with some great food in one of Decatur's local restaurants. And yes you can find a local restaurant to ring in the New Years. Happy New Year, be safe, and ready to run in 2012!

What else is going on this week and weekend?

Let the resolution runs begin! On Saturday is the Flashlight 5K and it is run in the dark at 5pm. Well not too dark. On Sunday is the Resolution Run 5K and 10K in Norcross which is part of the GA Cup Running Series. The ATC has their PT Solutions Resolution Run 5K/10K/Mile in Kennesaw. In Lawrenceville is the Happy New Year Half and 5K. In Stockbridge is the 2012 New Year's Resolution Run 5K and 10K.

It gets dark earlier so please bring out the reflective vests, shirts, jackets, and lights for your safety. On Wednesday night you will be running route 13. The route goes up the hard flat of Oakview and hits the hills of Spence/McDonough. The link to the route is at the bottom of this e-mail. After the run it's off to Mojo's Pizza for food, drinks and trivia.

Thanks for making the Oakhurst Running Club one of the friendliest running club in Atlanta.

Corny

http://oakhurstrunningclub.blogspot.com/

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B9kfg7f38KdBYjJmOWIyYzAtZjUzYi00ZWQ0LWExZmMtMTIyNWJlYmQ3YjZj&hl=en

How's Your Running Body?

From Running Times online...

How's Your Running Body?
Phil Wharton's recommended self-tests can determine if your body is holding you back
By Phil Wharton
As featured in the January 2012 issue of Running Times Magazine

Good running form plays a large role in remaining injury-free, and remaining injury-free plays a large role in being able to run farther and faster. Let's start by looking at five basic elements of good running form. Then we'll get into some tests to see if your body has the structural integrity to maintain those elements of good form.

Read on here<http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=24809>.

Self-Massage the Runner's Way

From Running Times online...

Self-Massage the Runner's Way
Tend to your aches yourself with this guide
By Caitlin Chock
As featured in the January 2012 issue of Running Times Magazine

Who doesn't love a massage? And who doesn't think, "I wish I could get massages more often"? Enter self-massage.

If you do it right, self-massage can serve as a form of maintenance between massages given by a trained therapist. Self-massage can "take care of the tightness that comes up with day-to-day training," says Julia Kirtland, the 1997 national marathon champion who's now a massage therapist in Portland, Maine. It can "break up adhesions before they cause problems."

Read on here<http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=24811>.

Wednesday Night Run 12-21-2011

Hello ORC,

The close of the year is almost here and the holidays are upon us. Things are busy. There's a run tonight and its drizzling outside. Its not a cold drizzle, temps are still in the 50's. Forecast is for wet shoes and warm smiles or suffer faces if you are running really hard. I have copied the term suffer faces from another blog but you have probably seen them while running on the road. There is a lot and almost nothing going on this weekend, just depends on what you are looking for.

What else is going on this week/weekend? I know I am on a search for the best Al Pastor taco in metro Atlanta. The old place we use to go to closed down, El Norteno on Buford Hwy. The meat was cooked on an upright spit like gyro meat. And there is a taste difference when cooked on a spit versus any other way. Any suggestions?

I checked a couple of running calendars for this week and weekend; and there doesn't seem to be anything planned. So enjoy your runs and be safe. Stay tuned for those upcoming resolution runs to start off 2012.

This Wednesday you will be running route 10. It's getting dark earlier so for safety's sake, please wear your lights and other reflective gear. And while I am on my safety soapbox, this run seems to have a lot of car traffic at the main intersections the route crosses so please watch out for drivers who may not be paying attention. The run hits Rockyford, Hosea, Tupelo, and the rolling hills of Spence/McDonough. You can see the map through the link below. Hopefully I have the link correct but if not, run route 10. After this 5 miler it is off to Mojo's Pizza for food, drinks, and trivia.

Thanks for making the Oakhurst Running Club one of the friendliest running club in Atlanta.

Corny

http://oakhurstrunningclub.blogspot.com/

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B9kfg7f38KdBNzBhOGUzZjgtNDFjOC00MmEwLWE1MjItMjczMzU5MTk4OGVk&hl=en&pli=1

How the Atlanta Track Club Won 'Club Cross' Masters

From Running Times online...

How the Atlanta Track Club Won 'Club Cross' Masters
This year's USATF club XC championships drew a record 1,110 runners from 162 clubs
By John A. Kissane
As featured in the Web Only issue of Running Times Magazine

Most middle-aged runners know how it goes: the last few years of your 30s bring the depressing reality that personal bests are all in the past and that 'The Big Slow Down' is right around the corner. But for some, the way to mitigate the unavoidable is to focus on opportunities to compete as a master; to accept that while no one escapes the aging process it absolutely does not have to mean an end to serious, even elite-level, training and competition.

The Atlanta Track Club's Malcolm Campbell, who turned 40 last January, has had an outstanding 41st year, although coming into the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships on Dec. 10 he had a monkey on his back. Campbell had finished runner-up in four USATF national championship events beginning with the U.S. 50K in March of 2010, while he was still an open athlete. The other three were all in 2011, the most recent being the U.S. masters marathon championships on Oct. 2 in Minneapolis, where Campbell ran 2:25.58 to winner Tracy Lokken's 2:24.44.

Though pleased to again be healthy after a spring knee ailment that quashed his Boston Marathon plans, Campbell absolutely savored the thought of victory in Seattle. Plus, his Atlanta Track Club teammates had a score to settle.
When many runners hear "Atlanta Track Club" they immediately think of the Peachtree Road Race. No great surprise there, given that Peachtree is the largest - and certainly one of the best - 10K races in the world. But the ATC, founded in 1964 and currently the nation's second-largest running organization, has always counted national and even world class athletes among its membership. And at the national club cross country championships, that fact was brought home quite emphatically.

Read on here<http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=24750&PageNum=1>.

Wednesday Night Run 12-14-2011

Hello ORC,

Wrapping up the year here and there is always stuff to do. At Agnes Scott is the 19th annual Atlanta Celtic Christmas concert. The Decatur Market and Gallery holiday open house and reception is this Friday. There is also the Restaurants and Markets of Inman Park and Old Fourth Ward, Atlanta Culinary Tours. Scandal is playing at Dad's Garage.

I feel like there is a lot more going on this weekend that I am missing. What else is going on this week/weekend? Want to share?

Not much on the running scene this weekend or next weekend but then it picks back up with the January resolution runs. On Saturday is the Christmas 5K in the Highland which is sold out and the Peachtree Corners Christmas 10K & 5K in Norcross. On Sunday is the Rockin' with Santa Half Marathon & 5K in Snellville and my favorite that I keep wishing I could run one day Brasstown Bald Buster 5K in Blairsville. Well maybe a half or full marathon so the drive up will be worth it.

This Wednesday you will be running route 8, the East Lake Golf Course run. The link to the route is at the bottom of this e- mail. The last time I sent this run out I had mistakenly put the wrong link. Regardless, have fun on route 8 and the Golf Course run. After getting out of the hill on Garland, the route runs downhill until climbing Oakview Rd. Then the route continues to climb Howard to a quick downhill on College. Then it's the climb on Wisteria, and a finishing uphill at the shop. And as always, please wear your flashing, reflective safety gear for the run in the dark. After the run, it's off to Mojo's Pizza for food, drinks and trivia.

Enjoy your run Wednesday night. Thanks for making the Oakhurst Running Club one of the friendliest running club in Atlanta.

Corny

http://oakhurstrunningclub.blogspot.com/

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B9kfg7f38KdBZGQwMWNkNTAtMTIyMi00MjNiLWI5MTgtZDkwNDNmNWRlMmEw&hl=en

Local Races This Weekend

Saturday, December 17
Christmas 5K in Virginia Highland, Virginia Highland
Peachtree Corners Christmas 10K & 5K Road Races, Norcross

Sunday, December 18
Rockin' with Santa Half Marathon & 5K, Snellville
Brasstown Bald Buster 5K, Blairsville

Barefoot Debate

I saw a runner on the PATH by the Carter Center running barefoot. It's been pretty cold. He was bundled up but his feet were bare. No Vibram's, no socks, just near feet. From Reuters online...

Scientists kick off debate over barefoot running
By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent

LONDON | Thu Dec 8, 2011 4:18pm GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Despite the cold and many other potential hazards, naked from the ankle down is the way Anna Toombs likes it, and she gets plenty of catcalls in the street as a result.

The 35-year-old co-founder of the personal training company Barefoot Running UK says she's lost count of the times people yell "where are your shoes?" as she and partner David Robinson negotiate London's parks and pavements to indulge their passion and train their clients.

"People give you a lot of weird looks," says Robinson.

They are also getting a lot of inquiries.

A surge of interest in "natural," or barefoot, training has seen runners around the world kick off their arch-supporting, motion-controlling, heel-cushioning shoes and try to feel the ground beneath their feet.

Top scientists -- from sports physicians to podiatrists to evolutionary biologists -- are jumping in too.

At a recent sports science conference in London, hundreds of participants, many of them shod but a few daringly barefooted, flocked to a two-hour long discussion about the merits or otherwise of running without shoes.

"It's a really polarised debate -- there are what you might call the barefoot evangelicals on one side and the aggressive anti-barefoots on the other," says Ross Tucker, an expert in exercise physiology at South Africa's University of Cape Town and a middle- and long-distance running coach.

Read on here<http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/12/08/oukoe-uk-science-running-barefoot-idUKTRE7B71J020111208>.

Mastering Hill Workouts

I guess running in a hilly area like Atlanta counts. From Running Times online....

Mastering Hill Workouts
Hill training, demystified
By Pete Magill
As featured in the December 2011 issue of Running Times Magazine

It's the worst-kept secret in running: If you want to improve strength and speed, run hills.

Recently, I did a trail run in Seattle with Tony Young, the world record-holder in the mile for men age 45-49 (4:16.09). Tony stopped at a point where the trail split, and he pointed up one fork, a 300m woodchip incline.

"See this hill?" said Tony. "If I beat you for the masters cross country title in December, this hill will be the reason why."

Tony's faith in the power of hills has precedent. In the 1960s, New Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard used hill training to propel his country's distance runners to international acclaim. Sebastian Coe relied on hills for the strength that netted him 11 indoor and outdoor world records in the late '70s and early '80s. And the slopes of the Great Rift Valley have lifted Kenyans to domination of the world distance scene for decades.

So why don't more runners make hills a centerpiece of their training?

Simply put, most runners don't understand how to train on hills. We pick hills that are too long or too steep. We run them too fast. We allow too little time afterward to recover. The result is a poor training effect at best, injury and burnout at worst.

Before we charge willy-nilly up the nearest mountain trail, we need to understand the training adaptations we're after and the best way to achieve them.

Read on here<http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=24629>.

Radcliffe seeks Olympic revenge

From EuroSport online...

Radcliffe seeks Olympic revenge

Paula Radcliffe is hoping for a change of fortune and that London streets will be paved with gold not pain next summer.

Radcliffe has been formally selected for her fifth Games and is hopeful she can write a fairytale ending to an Olympic story that has seen more than its share of tragedy.

Despite holding the world marathon record, winning the London Marathon three times in three appearances and claiming the world title in 2005, many still associate the 37-year old with her tearful exit from the Olympic marathon in Athens, which she started as a red-hot favourite.

Illness and injury conspired against her then and again four years later in Beijing, when she battled to the finish, albeit in a distant 23rd. In her Games debut over 5,000m at Atlanta 1996 she came home fifth while at the next attempt in Sydney she upgraded to an agonising fourth over 10,000m.

However, she insists exorcising her Olympic demons is not the sole motivating factor for next summer - where the technical loop course around central London, which is not expected to produce fast times, is expected to benefit her.

Read on here<http://au.eurosport.com/olympicgames/london-2012/2012/radcliffe-seeks-revenge_sto3055372/story.shtml>.

Marathon runners say they were sickened

From the Las Vegas Review Journal online...

Marathon runners say they were sickened
Jessica Ebelhar/Las Vegas Review-Journal
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Dec. 8, 2011 | 2:00 a.m.

The water tasted metallic and stale, but runner Charlene Ragsdale needed to replenish her fluids if she were to finish Sunday's half-marathon at the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon.

Nerves twisted up her stomach, at least, that's what she thought.

Suddenly, it wasn't just the taste that didn't seem right, it was the way her body was reacting once she was done drinking.

Rock 'n' Roll had taken on a whole new meaning.

Read on here<http://www.lvrj.com/news/marathon-runners-say-they-were-sickened-135233493.html>.

Former 4:08 Marathoner Qualifies for Trials

From Michigan Live online...

Rapid improvement has earned Goodrich High grad Erin O'Mara berth in U.S. Olympic Women's Marathon Trials
Published: Monday, December 05, 2011, 2:22 PM Updated: Monday, December 05, 2011, 2:23 PM
By Bill Khan | Flint Journal The Flint Journal

At first, Erin O'Mara's motivation for running faster marathons had nothing to do with qualifying for major events or winning races.

After taking 4 hours, 8 minutes and 8 seconds to complete the 2006 Detroit Free Press Marathon, the 2002 Goodrich High graduate knew she never wanted to take that long to endure 26.2 miles of running again.

"When I finished that race, one of the first things I said to my family was I was definitely going to do it again, but I was going to run a lot faster, because that was too long to be out there," O'Mara said. "At that point, I remembered thinking I'd trained a lot and done all the work. The more you run, the more you realize you probably didn't train that much for it, which is why I ran well over an hour of what I run now."

Read on here<http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/runners/2011/12/erin-omara-120511.html>.

Roger on Running: Fall Marathon Insights

From Running Times online...

Roger on Running: Fall Marathon Insights
What the ordinary runner can learn from the extraordinary fall marathon season
By Roger Robinson
As featured in the Web Only issue of Running Times Magazine

The 2011 fall marathon season has been like a series of fantasy movies. Patrick Makau, Ed Whitlock, Geoffrey Mutai and company ventured time and again beyond the limits of human capability. Digitized wizards and magic rings could not match them. The regular runners I talk to at race expos struggled to relate to it all, regarding the elites at the front of their races with awe and incomprehension, like invaders from outer space.

But wait - they are runners, too. To achieve what they do, they need supreme inherited talent, sure, but also dedicated training, proper nutrition, skillful race tactics and a lot of guts, just like the rest of us. So to summarize this historic fall marathon season, instead of analyzing the superlatives, the records, the impact on world all-time rankings, etc., I want to ask simply, what can every ordinary runner learn from these extraordinary races? Here is a selection of six lessons to be learned from six weeks of miracles.

Read on here<http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=24605>.

Wednesday Night Run 12-7-2011

Hello ORC,

I read somewhere that there is an ugly sweater party this Saturday at The Marlay in support of Toys for Tots. It made me smile at all the ugly sweaters gathered together. I remember we did an ugly jacket run but that was many runs ago. Pink Palooza holiday bazaar is this Friday. There is a handmade gift fair at Oakhurst Church on Saturday. Healing gifts from the heart will be at the Oakhurst Gardens. Druid Hills Baptists has their Christmas Fair Trade/Alternative Gift Fair and Open House. There seems to be a theme in these first couple of events. Avondale is hosting their Christmas Tour of Homes. DHS is showing The Nutcracker as performed by the Callanwolde Dance Ensemble. The holidays are such a busy time of the year.

Anything else is going on this week/weekend?

On the running side, there is not much in local races this weekend. There is a Jingle Jog in Atlanta and Sleighbells on the Square in Marietta. Other than that, the runs are farther off. The weekend end after has more stuff going on but the running event that is the Va-Hi jingle job is closed out. It amazes me that Va-Hi has a lot of runs in that neighborhood and they usually sell out. And its not like the sell outs are for a limited number that makes for a small attended race. The starting lines are usually crowded. Good for them that they have putting on races down to a successful science.

This Wednesday you will be running the Winter route, route 12. A bulk of it is along DeKalb Av and W Howard on the PATH. But there are nice rolling hills getting there through MAK and Winnona. It's dark out there so wear your brightest, most reflective, most light flashing running wear. The link to the route is at the bottom of this e-mail. After the run it's off to Mojo's Pizza for food, drinks and trivia.

Enjoy your run Wednesday night. Thanks for making the Oakhurst Running Club one of the friendliest running club in Atlanta.

Corny

http://oakhurstrunningclub.blogspot.com/

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B9kfg7f38KdBYzc4Y2E4OGUtMWI0NS00N2JhLThhZjktZGZhODZjMTg4NmU5&hl=en

Local Races This Weekend

Saturday, December 10

Jingle Jog 5K / Jr / Elf Run, Atlanta
Sleighbells on the Square 5K/1K/Tot Trot, Marietta
Frozen Rope 5K/Mile/Tot Trot, Locust Grove