December 27, 2012

Arizona Christmas #1

Christmas morning
Andrea went to Tennessee for the holidays, while I went to Arizona. It couldn't have been a better choice for me, because in addition to spending lots of great time w/ my family, I'm also in the midst of a really hard microcycle of training... so while 90% of the rest of the country is stuck in bad weather, I'm running in perfect conditions every day.

I'll get to my training in part #2 of this post (in a couple days), but first I thought I'd share some photos. In addition to running 20-25 miles per day, somehow there is still time for shooting, hiking, golfing, meat eating, and opening presents. Its been a fun vacation so far and luckily I still have 4+ days left before I go back up to the frozen world in Utah...

Chandler Tumbleweed Tree
Hanging outside by the grill. In December. Yeah!
Sporting clay shooting at the Ben Avery Range



Outdoor X-Mas Eve services
X-Mas day hike at San Tan Mountain Park


My sister's iPad doodle
All the basic food groups: Bison, Boar, Elk, Venison...
...and ice cream!
A little golf

December 21, 2012

Merry Christmas!


We just want to wish everyone an early Merry Christmas!

Run fast, ski hard, or do whatever else people do during the holidays... to the max!

I've discovered that packing for a trip during a heavy period of training requires a lot of footwear...

December 11, 2012

Saucony Wear Testing Opportunity

Passing this message along from the mothership...

We are looking for dedicated athletes to participate in trials of our new footwear styles.

Participation will provide you with an opportunity to evaluate some of the leading technologies in the athletic footwear industry and have a direct impact on the design and development of our footwear.

Run more than 40 miles a week
•Know what you like about running shoes and have ideas on how to make them better
•Have a strong commitment and passion for running
•Would be able to adhere to our program schedule and uphold our professional standards
•Wear a women’s 8 OR a men’s 9, 10
•Are excited to test new prototypes and provide in-depth detailed feedback

Please contact us for an application to join our wear test program:


December 10, 2012

Strength in Numbers

There are a lot of really, really good runners that live along the Wasatch Front. And you know what is even better? Those really good runners are also really cool, fun people to hang out with. Especially if by "hang out" you mean bang out 20+ miles on Saturday morning.

Sometimes during the meat of the racing season, its hard to get big groups together for long runs because everyone is on different schedules. But right now since there aren't many races and everyone seems to be training for March/April marathons, our group is getting bigger every week. This past Saturday we had over 30 people show up. When the crew is that big, the long runs just fly by. There is definitely strength in numbers.

Luckily one of the guys snapped a quick photo before we took off for our run on Saturday morning down in Orem, UT...


Six guys in this group have run 2:21-2:24 for the marathon in the past two years. And everyone else raises their game on Saturdays to try and make the jump to the next level. Its motivating to see so many people working hard, pushing each other, and having a heck of a lot of fun in the process. I see a lot of marathon PRs going down in the spring.

The one thing we have to alter is our male/female ratio. Its out of control right now! :-)

December 3, 2012

2016 Olympic Trials Marathon Standards and 1980-2012 History

The USATF Annual Meeting took place in Florida over the weekend, and while they haven't issued an official press release yet, the 2016 Olympic Trials Marathon qualifying standards and window were determined:

Men      A = 2:15    B = 2:18, 1:05 (HM)
Women A = 2:37    B = 2:43, 1:15 (HM)

The qualifying window will run from August 1, 2013 until 30 days before the Olympic Trials (date and location yet to be determined - it will be sometime between Fall 2015 and Spring 2016).

This is pretty much what we expected - that USATF would adopt the Olympic "A" and "B" standards. For the men, it doesn't get that much tougher - although now if you run a 2:15:XX marathon, that is only worthy of the "B" and you are paying your own way to the big dance. On the women's side, things have been tightened up quite a bit - you have to run 3 minutes faster to hit the "B".

Personally, I think the women's HM standard should be 1:16 - I feel like that is a more equivalent performance to a guy running under 1:05. I also wish that they would allow qualifying at the 2013 USA Half Marathon Champs (which fall 5 weeks before the window opens). That would generate a lot of excitement... as would setting "equivalent" times for the 20K and 25K, and allowing qualifying at the USA Championships for those distances. But then again,what do I know? :-)

Just for fun, I looked up some historical data on USATF and MarathonGuide and made this chart. Despite the fact that the standards got tougher after 2008 (mainly due to no more aided courses), there were more qualifiers in 2012. It will be very interesting to see what happens in this next Olympic cycle. The bar has been raised again - how will athletes respond?


Men
Women
Year
“A” Standard
“B” Standard
Qualifiers
“A” Standard
“B” Standard
Qualifiers
1980
2:21:54
-
225
No Women’s Marathon until 1984
1984
2:19:04
-
201
2:51:16
-
267
1988
2:20
-
136
2:50
-
246
1992
2:20
-
112
2:45
1:14
32:40
-
118
1996
2:20
2:22
135
2:42
2:40
187
2000
2:20
2:22
114
2:37
2:50
210
2004
2:20
2:22
1041
2:40
2:48
1513
2008
2:20
2:22
28:45 (10K)
13:40 (5K)
138 (Mar)2
25 (10K)
10 (5K)
2:39
2:47
33:00
171 (Mar)4
10

Downhill courses no longer eligible after 2008
2012
2:19
1:05
28:30
-
85 (Mar)
65 (HM)
10 (10K)
2:39
2:46
1:15
33:00
196 (Mar)5
24 (HM)
7 (10K)
2016
2:15
2:18
1:05

2:37
2:43
1:15



1 - 2004 Men’s Marathon qualifiers à           A = 53  B = 51
2 - 2008 Men’s Marathon qualifiers
à           A = 65  B = 73
3 - 2004 Women’s Marathon qualifiers
à     A = 25  B = 126 
4 - 2008 Women’s Marathon qualifiers
à     A = 19  B = 152
5 - 2012 Women’s Marathon qualifiers
à     A = 45  B = 151

I was only able to find the A vs B breakdown from 2004, 2008, and 2012.

In terms of how this affects my own running plans, I'll do what I originally planned for the first half of 2013 - run an early spring marathon, then shift my focus to the Half Marathon Championships in June. Then I'll have to decide whether to start chasing the 1/2 standard or run in the 2013 USA Marathon Championships (which will be hosted by Twin Cities in October).