Gordo Running

"My sport is your sport's punishment."  A quote that someone recently posted in the Road Lizards Facebook group.  I think that plays into the negative feeling that some people have of the sport and even can lead to negative training habits.  Many new runners or those "just getting that cardio in" fitness folks often believe that the only way to run is a hard run.  They'll go do a few miles at max effort and come back exhausted.  I think that's part of the reason why you see people with impressive physiques struggling during a 5k. Most training miles should be easy miles.  It sounds counterproductive to many new runners.  If I want to get faster, I should work hard all the time, right? We all laud athletes that outwork their opponents.  Guys like Jordan are revered for their legendary work ethic.  However, this mentality simply doesn't work in running.  Believe me, I've had my share of "scoldings" from Terri for going too fast.  It...

One mile, then another mile, and another mile onward, All around the U S of A Ran the thousands. "Forward, Eagles! Charge to celebrate freedom!" we said. Into the American heartland ran the thousands. So, Tennyson I am not.  Sorry Mila, there's no lordship in my future.  Odd that a British poet immediately came to mind when thinking about a celebration of US veterans.  Does that make me a loyalist?  I sure hope not.  I'd have some splainin' to do at work. The Team RWB Eagle Charge took place yesterday, on the 4th.  It's sponsored by Wal-Mart and proceeds go to Team RWB veterans outreach and assistance programs.  (For my 2016 write up about Team RWB when I'd first joined the group, please  see here. )  Last year, over 1700 Eagles charged at 67 locations around the country and we got a pretty cool shirt.   Just as last year, our local San Angelo chapter decided to use the Christoval VFD Firecracker 5k for our ...

I started this post in April, but kept it on the back burner while working through other blogs.  I also revisited it in early June, but I had to get those middle distance rankings out before Dennis got mad at me.  This entry has evolved a bit since I started, especially after hearing Cat Zingano's interview on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast (JRE) . I shared that classic sports movie, Rudy, with Mila a while back.  I didn't cry this time so either I've become a heartless monster or have just seen the movie 15 times now so it's tear jerking effect has lessened.  Your call. While I thoroughly enjoy the movie, it got me thinking.  My running miles have been down lately as I've been busier at work and lifting and cycling a bit more (upping my "new PRs" in deadlift, bench, and squat at least).  I also skipped the Run In The Sun as it was 105 degrees out and we got invited to a dinner party. So, I figured I could resurrect this post that I had started in Ap...

For these rankings, I decided to set the parameters at 5 miles to 15k.  I was going to go to 20k but only a handful of people have run a 20k in the area since 2016.  These rankings were much harder to come up with than the 5k rankings.  There are a multitude of events held here in San Angelo between trail and road races that are between those distances and not everyone does all of them.  Like the 5k rankings, I know there are people that're deserving to be on here but I do not have a time for them.  (I'm looking at you Shannon Corona)  I did my best to rank only people that are in the area and tried to keep recency in mind.  What suprised me was some of the differences between trail and road.  Particularly me.  I am way faster on the road than on the track.  I don't just mean time, I mean in comparison to other runners.  That made it harder to rank myself, actually. What do you think of these rankings?  Who should be ranked hig...

As I posted last week , I'm getting that itch to get out there and train again.  That also means jumping in races whenever I can to keep motivated and, you know, for fun.  This weekend's race wasn't on the calendar that I posted last week, but someone had posted it in the SARL Facebook group and xq no?  What I wasn't expecting was a track meet. I knew the race was starting at San Angelo stadium, but I thought that the course would likely be running through the ASU campus.  Sounds nice, right?  I showed up and was a bit confused at all the little kids running around in track singlets.  When I say "little kids," I mean there was a U-6 division.  Have you ever seen 5 year olds doing the long jump?  Just about the cutest thing you'll ever see. anyway Still confused, I checked in and was told there was no charge for me to get into the track meet.  I guess that's good, right.  Once inside, I registered and asked where we'd be starting....