Marathon You Can Do It

Bernard Lagat Interview : Training : Diet : Workout

Constantine Njeru — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:57:10 +0000

At 35 years Bernard Lagat is a man still at the top of his game. Watching him win 3000m gold at 2010 world indoor championship I was left feeling this guy is special.Consider that his former rival such as Moraccan Hicham E Guerrouj has since retired bogged down by injuries and age.

Is there a Secret?

I tried googling for information about Bernard Lagat, Hoping to find some secret workout but I didnt find any. If his coach has discovered the secret to athlete longevity and he has refused to share with the world, You cant blame him!

The closest I came to a secret has to be an interview Bernard Lagat gave back in 2007 to a small group of American and international media at Nike’s Osaka hotel.

Two questions stood out because they explained the mans approach to training, diet and discipline.

Take us through a season. When are you in Tuscon; when are you in Flagstaff, and when are you in Europe?

After the season, I go back to Tuscon, eat a lot, play with my son, and on November 1st, I begin the base training. I’ll start with no more than 20-25 miles per week, then increase it until January 1st, when we get serious because of the indoor season. After the indoor season, we take a few weeks off, then hit it again in Tuscon until April when we go to Flagstaff for eight weeks of hard training.

In Flagstaff, that’s the time when I start training in the morning and afternoon. Once that’s done, there are several races, including Mt. SAC, Prefontaine, New York, and the US nationals. After the US nationals, I go to Germany and stay there for three months until the final Grand Prix meet of the season. Once the season is over, the cycle starts again,

Where is your European training base?

I’m based in Tubingen, Germany. It’s about 20 minutes south of Stuttgart. Stuttgart is easily accessible for us (especially when traveling to meets in Europe); all we have to do is take a short drive up to the airport. Tubingen has a lot of good forests in which you can run; you can run north, south, east, west. It’s good for a runner like me, who likes to run long distances. I stay away from cement. The good thing about Tubingen is that there are a lot of different trails. I can do tempo runs, hill work, I can run on the flat if I want to.

Read the full interview at Paul Merca Blog

Bernard Lagat plans to run at 2010 Summer Games in London and I hope and pray he wins the Gold.

2010 Dallas Rock N Roll Half Marathon : Photos : Pictures

Constantine Njeru — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:58:57 +0000

The firstl Dallas Rock N Roll Half Marathon happened last Sunday.

The organisers made a big statement : They can compete with any half marathon out there. Over 9,400 athletes began the 13.1-mile run from Dallas City Hall. The starting line was flanked by Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders dancing to speaker-thumping music echoing off glass office towers while thousands watched wave after wave of hundreds begin their run. The entire race, from start to finish in Fair Park, had a festive flair. Live bands entertained the runners each mile of the course, including the still sleeping neighborhoods of Highland Park, Lakewood, and Swiss Avenue.

Pictures : Photos : Images from 2010 Dallas Rock n Roll Half Marathon

Picture Courtesy of Alex Gonzalez

See More Dallas Marathon photos : Pictures at Gonzalez Flickr Page

Disney Princess Half-Marathon 2010 : Pictures : Photos

Constantine Njeru — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:38:55 +0000

It was a cold Disney Princess Half Marathon 2010. Evidence of a cold morning could be seen all along the race route, with jackets and blankets spread all over.

I found some amazing photos from Disney half marathon, some of them would be perfect for sports photo galleries & libraries.

Hi Mickey!

See more Disney Princess Half Marathon 2010 pictures / photos at Disunplugged

Left Knee Pain While Running : Cause & Treatment

Constantine Njeru — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:52:27 +0000

I was reading the latest US president Barack Obama Health report, the doctors certified him “fit to rule” but one item that caught my knee was this one : Obama suffers from occasional pain in his left knee. Medics call it chronic tendinitis.

Left knee pain is a very common injury in people who run. I remember my first year of marathon training, the left knee pain dogged me right to the day of the race. I still remember turning up at the start line holding an anti inflammation gel on one hand and the other hand rubbing the gel on the knee.

Why Left knee and not right knee?

My guess as to why the left knee and not the right knee is affected has to do with the fact that majority of humans are right handed. We use the right leg to kick stuff around and that effort makes it stronger. On the other hand, the left leg is never used seriously, leaving it a weak partner. Have you heard of the statement “USE IT OR LOSE IT!”? It makes sense to me.

Cause of Left Knee pain while running

Apart from my theory of “neglected left knee” medics say the cause of knee pain is due to excessive training; running too much. Another cause is when you suddenly switch from running flat routes to running hilly routes.

Prevention of knee pain

I believe prevention is better than cure. One way to prevent a sudden attack of knee pain is switch your running speed gradually. A sudden change of pace will be a shock to the system leading to injury.

Four step Treatment of knee pain.

Icing – The first line of treatment, sometimes this alone is enough to fix it!
If the pain is too much take a pain killer
Rest – take a break from running.
Strength training exercise, see my video demonstration of how to strengthen your knees

If you don’t get well soon (one to two weeks), see your Doctor/ physician.

2010 Cowtown marathon photos & pictures

Constantine Njeru — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:06:51 +0000

2010 Cowtown half and full marathon provided the largest running field over the weekend, 21000 runners turned up. With such a large field I was disappointed to see the winning time was in the low 2.30s. This picture tells you why?

See more great pictures of 2010 cowtown marathon at steelbyte photostream at flickr

Weekend Half & Full Marathon Photos & Pictures

Constantine Njeru — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:06:22 +0000

It was a great weekend of marathon running, I found pictures from some of marathon races that happened over the weekend.

2010 Hyannis Marathon Race photos & Pictures

The local paper had a great photo taken at the start of the race : a picture of Dad with his wheel chair bound son just ahead of the leading pack. See photo at cod times site

2010 Gasparilla Half & Full Marathon photos & Pictures

The notable thing about thsi race was the 41 year old winner, Terri Rejimbai won the womens half in a time of 1 hr 22 mins. See pictures at st petersburg website

2010 Cowtown marathon photos & pictures

The largest running field over the weekend, 21000 runners turned up. I wondered why the winner had a slow finish time in the low 2:30s. This picture tells it all

See more pictures at flickr

2010 Standard Chartered Hong Kong marathon photos & pictures

See photo of the winner at peoples website

Rock N Roll Mardi Gras Marathon Photos : Pictures

Constantine Njeru — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:00:16 +0000

The Rock N Roll Mardi Gras Full & Half Marathon took to the streets of New Orleans on Sunday morning.

Forty-five bands rocked on 24 stages across the entire half-marathon and marathon courses.

16,000 runners came up dressed in the best marathon costumes that made it a good day for stock photos, sports photo galleries & sports photo library.

Special mention goes to Philip Lawrence, who made Sunday’s run his 107th marathon in 24 years.

One great photo from Rock N Roll Mardi Gras Marathon was this one!

See More Mardi Gras race photos at Deessnke flickr photostream

Healthy Weekly Mileage : How Much To Run Per Week?

Constantine Njeru — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:39:30 +0000

Every amateur runner is ever seeking the answer to how many miles he should run per week. The answer to that question depend a lot on sex, age, years of training and a runners tolerance to pain.

The best answer I found was from a physical therapist and biomechanist Irene Davis, Ph.D., from the University of Delaware’s Running Injury Clinic. This was her take on the question when asked in a runners world article.10 laws of injury prevention.

“Your threshold could be at 10 miles a week, or 100, but once you exceed it, you get injured.” Various studies have identified injury-thresholds at 11, 25, and 40 miles per week.

To know how many miles you should run per week, just clock the miles and the level at which you start experiencing injury, thats your level. Your threshold is waiting for you to discover it!

Tips For a Speedy Muscle Recovery : Running Recovery

Constantine Njeru — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:52:35 +0000

The more you train the stronger you get, but when training gets too much it leads to fatigue. When fatigue builds up you experience reduced performance and risk sudden training injury. It is important to take breaks from your regular training to allow muscle recovery.

Tips for speedy muscle recovery

Take a complete rest from training – missing one or two days cant hurt?
Massage
Hot baths with bath salts,
Stretching properly
Stay hydrated day in day out

All the above will all add to the big picture of good recovery and reducing injury.

The tips can also be followed by runners who want a speedy recovery from a half marathon or a full marathon.

2010 Pasadena Marathon Photos : Pictures

Constantine Njeru — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:52:24 +0000

I was looking for some awesome photos from 2010 Pasadena marathon and I found them at flickr.

A marathon finisher of note was Carlos Saturno of Culver City, CA. At 60, Saturno finished 16th overall with a time of 3:08:04.

This picture is from a half marathon runner. I don’t know how he managed to take some great photos on the run and still managed a finish time of 1.41.

See more 2010 Pasadena Pictures