Women’s Running Tips: Top 40 tips for women over 40 runners

Tags: ABC News, aging runner, Amazon, Amazon Store, Australia, avid marathon runner, Best Running Music, Boston, Boston Marathon Qualifying Times, Boston/The Boston Times, BPM, CLIF Bar, Dara Torres, editor, Fitness, food, GPS, Henri Bendel, injury prevention, Jane Run, Japan, marathon, Monica Anderson, Neiman Marcus, nike, Nordstrom, Pace Team, Rich Poley, runner, Runners Warehouse, Running, running tips, Saks Fifth Avenue, scientist, Sports Fitness Advisor, The Boston Marathon, the Boston Marathon Qualifying Times, The Boston Times, The Running Group, treadmill runner, United Kingdom, United States, USD, Vanity Fair, Women Over 40, Women's Running Tips, Womens Running, www.remanents.com, Yale, Yale University, zen runner

Product Review: Hornet Juice

August 31, 2009
Filed under Crossfit, Diet And Nutrition, Running, Triathlon

Some time last year I became aware of a product called Vaam. It was a sports drink, but very unlike any other sports drink I knew. While most products concentrate on carbohydrates, and a few modern ones advertise their 4:1 carbs to protein ratio, Vaam consisted only of proteins. The intended effect was not to supply immediate fuel to your blood stream, but to stimulate your body’s fat-burning mechanism. I was intrigued. It sounded interesting to a budding marathon and ultra-runner like myself.

Then, several months ago, I stumbled upon a very similar product, this time called Hornet Juice. It works on exactly the same premises, a protein mix that helps your body to metabolize fat for energy from the start of exercise. If this worked, you would be able to avoid the famous Wall in marathons altogether, because your glycogen supplies are spared and you should never run out of them. The product was sold via the web from New Zealand for an affordable price, shipping was free and I decided to give it a go.

I have been using it all through my training cycle this summer. For each run of 18 miles or more I dissolved one sachet in a glass of water. The taste is very light but pleasant enough. It always left a residue at the bottom of the glass, but I don’t think that matters. The instructions are to take one packet anywhere between 0 and 45 minutes before start of exercise. Since I always run early in the morning, I would take it immediately after getting out of bed, which usually meant 15 minutes before I left the house.

How did it go? I can honestly say that of all the long runs I did during this training cycle (about 15) I cannot remember a single bad one. I generally ended my runs, even the 22 milers, with the feeling that I could have run further and/or faster. While I cannot say for sure that it was the Hornet Juice that was responsible for that, I am prepared to give it at least some of the credit. I generally felt pretty good after the workouts, even though I declined to follow the recommendations on their website to take a second packet after the workout for recovery (I used slim fast or chocolate milk instead). According to the advice given, you can even mix Hornet Juice with a carbohydrate sports drink, thus getting the benefits of both, though you should avoid mixing it with a protein drink, as that would reduce its effectiveness.

I’m not in any way affiliated with the product, apart from being a satisfied customer. I can recommend Hornet Juice to anyone wishing to run a marathon or further. If you want to try it out, you can order a test sample of 4 servings for 9 dollars (remember: free shipping). Just don’t humiliate me in my own race!

Tags: carbohydrate sports drink, hornet juice, product review, USD

Dying Professor Teaches his Students How To Live

August 23, 2009
Filed under News, Triathlon

flo gey041209 b 63894d Dying Professor Teaches his Students How To Live

Lou Gehrig's disease hasn't stopped law professor Steven Gey's lessons

By John Barry, Times Staff Writer

TALLAHASSEE — Steven Gey's law students kept their part of the deal. Last Saturday morning, they swam, biked and ran in a triathlon for Lou Gehrig's disease research. They raised $50,000 for the third straight year.

In late afternoon, about 50 students and former students waited for professor Gey to keep his end of the bargain. In a sense, they hoped for him to complete — against all previous odds — his own kind of marathon.

They waited on his patio, beer iced and ready. They had a birthday cake. The cake with garish red icing itself seemed outrageously miraculous, another lesson for all of them. Their professor wasn't supposed to have a 53rd birthday.

The famous Florida State University constitutional law expert is in the third year of terminal illness. That's as long as anyone usually lives after a Lou Gehrig's diagnosis like his.

In the last year, he has nearly starved and suffocated. He lost half his house to Tropical Storm Fay. He lost use of his hands and arms. He even lost his identity to credit thieves.

The students have always had a deal with Gey. If you care, if you try, he has promised them, I'll help you become the kind of lawyers you need to be.

Now here they were on his porch, waiting for him to deliver on another promise.

They're young, and they don't know limits. How much can they expect of a dying teacher?

• • •

Steven Gey is more famous for legal scholarship than for dying. As an American Civil Liberties Union attorney and FSU law professor, he ranks among the nation's top defenders of separation of church and state, of scientific inquiry, of free speech. (His free speech reputation was tarnished only once. He stopped a restaurant chain from singing Happy Birthday To You — a copyright infringement. He has never lived it down.)

He is also famous for turning generations of youths into attorneys and judges.

Last spring, Gey nearly died from malnutrition. He had to give up teaching. He felt bitterly disappointed that the Bush administration had limited embryonic stem cell research for eight years. He felt that the limits had robbed him personally of a possible cure, that the adversaries he had battled in court all his career had somehow beaten him in the end.

Last summer, while on a respirator and feeding tube, he rode out Tropical Storm Fay. It flooded all the bedrooms of his house.

Last Friday, Gey's doctor told him his life had reached "the bottom of the eighth inning."

But he writes. His hands don't work, so he writes with his foot, guiding a computer mouse with his toes. He has just completed two 150-page works of constitutional scholarship. They're headed for the publisher. He also has lived long enough to see a new president reverse the government's standing on embryonic stem cell research.

Barbara Leach, a former student who now practices labor law in Atlanta, was with him just after he got his late-inning diagnosis.

"Bottom of the eighth?" she exclaimed, sitting among his mountains of manuscripts. "Looks to me like you're in the top of the third."

• • •

Third-year law student David Gillis brought his mother, Cathy, to the triathlon for Gey. He's one of the students who brings food to the professor's house. Dave's turn is every other Thursday.

When he started bringing food, he knew Gey mostly by reputation. It made him nervous. "He's this rock star of the legal profession."

Gey told Dave he liked anything, he wasn't fussy. Dave brought his personal favorite: takeout meat loaf from Boston Market.

"You getting tired of meat loaf?" he'd ask.

"No," Gey answered, "Love the meat loaf!"

Two months went by. Finally, Dave heard from a "second party." The professor was really, really tired of meat loaf.

But in the course of those months, Dave's own life changed. His mother said he had chosen law school for the career and for the money. That was it.

He got into Gey's constitutional law class. He admitted to Gey he was more interested in the lawyer trappings than in the law itself. Money's fine, the professor told him. "But where's your passion?"

Gey changed him. His mother could see it. He learned the impact that one lawyer could have. He felt part of something noble, he said. Gey changed her, too. At home in Sarasota she started mentoring.

"We've learned that's what life is about — passion," she said.

• • •

On Saturday afternoon, the students waited with cake and beer on Gey's porch. Gey had not been on his porch in months. But he had told them that if they could endure a triathlon, he could match them.

Inside the house, Gey took a deep breath and untethered his respirator. He swung his legs out of bed, steadied himself.

The double doors to the patio swung open.

Gey came through the doors, on his feet.

He walked a dozen steps across the deck to a chair.

Beers and tears flowed for two hours.

They sang Happy Birthday to You.

They told their professor: Sue us.

Tags: American Civil Liberties Union, Atlanta, attorney, Barbara Leach, Bush administration, Cathy, Chair, constitutional law class, constitutional law expert, David Gillis, dying teacher, Florida State University, food, Gey, John Barry, labor law, law professor, law school, law student, law students, lawyer, Lou Gehrig, motivation, president, Professor, Staff Writer, Steven Gey, Triathlon, USD

Must Have Triathlon Gear – Don’t Start Without Them

August 22, 2009
Filed under Triathlon

Save 10% on ALL your Triathlon gears

By Low Jeremy

A triathlon is basically a game of endurance. Your training, your stamina and your willingness will all help you know what it's like to reach the finish line. And the equipment you will use can also add up to your real race standing.

You need not invest much on top-of-the-line triathlon gears. A combination of some good equipemnt will create better performances.

Triathlon Bike

Any bikes are allowed in a triathlon race. However, there are those that can aid in maximizing your performance.

Central in choosing a triathlon bike are distance, frequency and weight. Some of the more popular options are bikes made from steel frames, titanium frames, carbon fiber frames and aluminum frames. As for the wheels, 650c's are best for small riders while 700c wheels provide the ideal stability for larger and taller riders.

On some points of the race, competitors believe that those with lighter and faster bikes have the most advantages. This cant be far from the truth but this does not tell it all. After all, the manner of use and the person's actual capacity to optimize the bicycle will create big differences.

Sure, the technologies used to develop a $10,000 triathlon bicycle would actually create some edges over those who only ride on $250 bikes. Nonetheless, never forget that the bike period is only a part of the three areas of discipline triathlon covers. And the bike itself is only a single component of the bike transition. You must still consider and be able to look eye on other principles that will lead you to the last transition stage.

Say you are riding on a high-end, oozing new triathlon bicycle yet bargained so much on the benefits it might give you. You surely have the speed, the style, and the envy of the onlookers and fellow triathletes. But without proper skills in it's operation, or proper planning during the course and even the endurance to continue biking after loosing much strength during the swim stage, your "nice bike" would be turned into nothing.

Running Shoes

The shape, size and the inward rolling of your feet should be greatly considered when choosing your shoes. Running is usually the last stage in triathlon competitions. This is when all your energy is consumed. It is best that your running shoes help deliver you towards the finish line.

Triathlon Clothing

This may be a full-length wet suit or a two-piece that vary in length, style and function. There are literally thousands of choices for you, be sure that you fit several types before settling on your last pick. But whatever you choose, never consider saggy-looking wet suits made from heavy materials. They wont do you any good. They'll just drag you while on the race. To get the feel of the actual race, practice the manner by which you will wear and take off your wetsuit during the race.

Consider the construction of the material, the layout, the panels and the seals. The fit almost tells it all. It dictates your comfort and free movement while on track. The fitter it gets and the more sealed openings are-the better. Snuggers usually are the best choices. They fit comfortably while providing you enough space to move.

An ideal wetsuit should not have the same thickness. Thinner materials must be used in places where rigid actions are done. The chest, on the other hand, must be thicker since it surges into pressure the most. Extra stretchable materials must also be found in your ankles.

Basic physics tell us that heat transfers from a hot object towards a colder one. This law is so simple that you can bet it and argue otherwise 'til your wit's end. No triathlon suit can prevent the exchange of cold and heat. After all, that is not the work they were intended to do. However, many are so entirely engineered to make as much delay of the heat transfer as physical science would allow.

It is critical for a triathlon swimmer to preserve as much heat as his suit will allow because delay (even by a second or two) can create a large discrepancy between you and the racer running before and after you. The loss of heat in water are dependent on several variables including the total mass of the person's body, a person's physical exertion, the materials used in creating the triathlon suit and the temperature of the surrounding water itself.

The ideal triathlon suit, or any wet suit for that matter, is one that is made of three layers. The outer protective layer, the insulation layer and the wicking layer. The outer protective layer is obviously the one that coats the whole of the suit. The more popular material used for this is the neoprene. This works well yet very delicate that simple scratches may actually cause the suit to get serious damages.

The insulation layer, on the other hand, appears in many varieties. The most usual choices include wooly bear, open-cell foam, type-B marine thinsulate, and radiant barriers. The wicking material acts as the absorber of skin's moisture thus keeping the racers' skin dry. When the body is wet, it looses much heat than normal. The wicking layer of the skin prevents this from occurring.

Goggles

To improve your visibility in water, you must be equipped with a good pair of goggles. Among the popular choices are anti-glare, shock-resistant and anti-fog.

Tags: energy, gear, heat transfer, racer, steel frames, Triathlon, triathlon bikes, triathlon gear, triathlon swimmer, triathlon tips, triathlon wetsuits, USD

Triathlon mentioned as a “grueling sport” in Forbes

August 22, 2009
Filed under Triathlon

grueling clk Triathlon mentioned as a grueling sport in Forbes

Forbes.com just posted a blog article on triathlons called “World’s Most Grueling Sporting Events“.

Its not often that this sport is mentioned in a major financial or business journal, but triathlon is so perfect for business people. Barriers to entry are relatively small and continued growth is possible. The business benefits of increased processing power, increased capacity for work, ability to maintain focus for longer times and basic toughness are proven and invaluable.

No wonder so many successful people are triathletes. I am just glad people are noticing.

Here is what Forbes says about the Ford Ironman Triathlon:

Ford Ironman World Championship

Held annually in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, this turbocharged triathlon is considered one of the most demanding single-day endurance tests in the world. Racers battle it out in three stages: a 2.4-mile open-ocean swim, a 112-mile bike ride across a lava desert and a 26.2-mile (marathon-length) foot race along the coast of the Big Island. By comparison, Olympic triathlons comprise a 1,500-meter (0.9-mile) swim, 25-mile bike ride and 6.2-mile run. Despite its difficulty, competition to enter the prestigious Ironman is fierce: triathletes who don’t qualify in one of 21 preliminary races can try to bid for a slot on eBay, where prices often top $45,000.

Tags: Big Island, eBay, Forbes.com, ford, hawaii, increased processing power, Kailua-Kona, Triathlon, USD, World Championship

5 Steps to Running a Marathon for a Couch Potato

August 18, 2009
Filed under Running

marathon 5 Steps to Running a Marathon for a Couch Potato For some, running a marathon is the ultimate goal. For others, it is a 26.2-mile waste of time. Then there are some of us who sit idly by, with envy in our hearts at the thought of crossing the finish line. There is, however, a strategy for achieving the ultimate goal of a marathon, even if you are a couch potato like I used to be, and believe it or not, it doesn’t require cheating.

The following steps will not only make it possible for a non-runner to finish a marathon, but may, dare I say, make it easy:

Step One: Drop the “Jogging Myth”
When I discuss running with my mother, she says, “Oh, I can’t run, but I jog from time to time.” This belief holds back many would be runners as they believe that running is too difficult, and that jogging doesn’t count. The truth is that jogging IS running. Here is the only distinction you will ever make when it comes to running: If you have one foot on the ground at any given time, you are walking. If you have both feet off the ground at any given time you are running, no matter how fast or slow you are moving. This leads to Step Two.

Step Two: Slow Down
The simple explanation of the scientific mumbo jumbo is this: Lactic acid accumulation in our legs equals heavy legs and fatigue. We want to increase our lactate threshold to avoid this. Science has found that you get the best results by training aerobically, which means slowing down your run to a very comfortable pace so that you don’t get tired while running. You may be asking, “How slow can I really go?” Keep reading.

Step Three: Listen to Your Body
Ideally, you should get a heart rate monitor and stay below your maximum heart rate. To find your optimal heart rate you can use an aerobic heart rate chart, or follow the 180 formula.

But let’s say you don’t want to spend the $100 on a new heart rate monitor; is there another way? Yes. Your body gives clues. Listen to your breathing. Are you huffing and puffing? Does your chest hurt? Is it difficult to catch your next breath? If so, you are running too fast. You should be able to breathe easily. Listen to your heart. Is it pounding, or barely noticeable? Check in with your eyes. Is it easy to focus on the world around you or are you getting tunnel vision? Overall, you should be enjoying the run, and if you are not, then you are going too fast. Slowing down makes running easy and trains your body to burn fat, which is Step Four.

Step Four: Become a Fat Burner, Not a Sugar Burner.
Burning sugar is like burning the head of a match. It’s fast and it disappears quickly. Burning fat is like burning coal. It’s slow, and long lasting. When we slow down our running, we train ourselves to burn fat instead of sugar, which is what we need for a distance run. Become a fat burner by consuming more good fats and less sugar.

“But I like sugar and bad fats,” says the reader. I understand, and suggest the rule of 80/20. Just make sure that 80% of the time you are eating good fats (avocado, olive oil, nuts and seeds) and complex carbohydrates (whole grain breads, quinoa, and beans). That means you get to indulge 20% of the time. This will support you in becoming a fat burner and push you to the finish line. Finally, we get to the most important step.

Step Five: Believe!
What you believe is true for you. If you truly believe you can do it, you will. If you believe you can’t do it, you won’t. To change your beliefs you must consciously associate massive pleasure with the belief that you will cross the finish line. Visualize how will you feel. Think about your new body, and the energy you will gain from this success. On the flip side, you must associate tremendous pain with the thought of not reaching your goal. What does it mean to stay the same? What will it mean in 10 years? Who else will it affect? When you believe you will gain more pleasure and avoid more pain from reaching your goal, you will be unstoppable.

Remember, you are not running a 26.2-mile race. It’s only 1 mile, 26.2 times.

Tags: energy, head, olive oil, running tips, USD

61 year-old farmer won ultra marathon against top athletes

August 15, 2009
Filed under Running

2 Comments

The Legend of Cliff Young: The 61 Year Old Farmer Who Won the World’s Toughest Race

The legendary story of Cliff Young is already known to many runners. If you’re aren’t familiar with it, you’re in for a fascinating read.

An Unlikely Competitor

Cliff Young

Every year, Australia hosts 543.7-mile (875-kilometer) endurance racing from Sydney to Melbourne. It is considered among the world’s most grueling ultra-marathons. The race takes five days to complete and is normally only attempted by world-class athletes who train specially for the event. These athletes are typically less than 30 years old and backed by large companies such as Nike.

In 1983, a man named Cliff Young showed up at the start of this race. Cliff was 61 years old and wore overalls and work boots. To everyone’s shock, Cliff wasn’t a spectator. He picked up his race number and joined the other runners.

The press and other athletes became curious and questioned Cliff. They told him, "You’re crazy, there’s no way you can finish this race." To which he replied, "Yes I can. See, I grew up on a farm where we couldn’t afford horses or tractors, and the whole time I was growing up, whenever the storms would roll in, I’d have to go out and round up the sheep. We had 2,000 sheep on 2,000 acres. Sometimes I would have to run those sheep for two or three days. It took a long time, but I’d always catch them. I believe I can run this race."

When the race started, the pros quickly left Cliff behind. The crowds and television audience were entertained because Cliff didn’t even run properly; he appeared to shuffle. Many even feared for the old farmer’s safety.

The Tortoise and the Hare

Cliff Young

All of the professional athletes knew that it took about 5 days to finish the race. In order to compete, one had to run about 18 hours a day and sleep the remaining 6 hours. The thing is, Cliff Young didn’t know that!

When the morning of the second day came, everyone was in for another surprise. Not only was Cliff still in the race, he had continued jogging all night.

Eventually Cliff was asked about his tactics for the rest of the race. To everyone’s disbelief, he claimed he would run straight through to the finish without sleeping.

Cliff kept running. Each night he came a little closer to the leading pack. By the final night, he had surpassed all of the young, world-class athletes. He was the first competitor to cross the finish line and he set a new course record.

When Cliff was awarded the winning prize of $10,000, he said he didn’t know there was a prize and insisted that he did not enter for the money. He ended up giving all of his winnings to several other runners, an act that endeared him to all of Australia.

Continued Inspiration

In the following year, Cliff entered the same race and took 7th place. Not even a displaced hip during the race stopped him.

Cliff came to prominence again in 1997, aged 76, when he attempted to raise money for homeless children by running around Australia’s border. He completed 6,520 kilometers of the 16,000-kilometer run before he had to pull out because his only crew member became ill. Cliff Young passed away in 2003 at age 81.

Today, the "Young-shuffle" has been adopted by ultra-marathon runners because it is considered more energy-efficient. At least three champions of the Sydney to Melbourne race have used the shuffle to win the race. Furthermore, during the Sydney to Melbourne race, modern competitors do not sleep. Winning the race requires runners to go all night as well as all day, just like Cliff Young.

Tags: Australia, Cliff Young, energy, farmer, marathon, Melbourne, nike, Sydney, USD

Look out golf, tech CEOs are adrenaline junkies

August 14, 2009
Filed under Running

adrenaline junkies Look out golf, tech CEOs are adrenaline junkies

By Franklin Paul

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Golf and tennis not challenging enough? Some of today’s hardest-charging technology executives are turning to 100-mile bike races, marathons and high-endurance athletics for the kicks they crave.

The day-to-day thirst for success doesn’t end when CEOs and other business leaders leave the boardrooms of their billion-dollar companies, according to guests at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit this week.

"It is usually not a six- or seven-hour day, so part of it is you probably want something to keep you mentally and physically in shape," said Enrique Salem, chief operating officer of software maker Symantec Corp. "You want to do something that is challenging, that isn’t about running a business."

Salem owns a Giant TCR C1 bike, which retails for over $3,000, and last year completed a charity ride around California’s Lake Tahoe twice — the second time in under 4 hours. His sojourns don’t stop there.

"I skied 19 days last year. When I’m on the slopes, I’m trying to avoid trees and other skiers. So I am not thinking about what it takes to run Symantec. I think it’s a bit of mental relief," he said.

Long-distance running offers the same meditative reward for Hulu Chief Executive Jason Kilar, whose five marathons include Iceland, Portland, Seattle and New York, twice.

"I love setting goals," said the head of the video website owned by News Corp and General Electric Co’s NBC Universal. "Life is more interesting when you set goals that are not easy, and having a goal of a marathon … is a very fun thing that focuses you in a way that just running 3 miles or 6 miles a day does not," Kilar added.

They are not alone. In fact, Denver-based CEO Challenges runs sports competitions designed for top executives, including Triathlons, Ironman, Fishing, Sailing and Tennis Challenges.

HOUR CLUB

Dave DeWalt, CEO of security software maker McAfee Inc, described his goal for the grueling Mount Diablo Challenge, a 10.8-mile bike ride up 3,240-feet to the peak in the San Francisco Bay area.

"There is a race from the bottom to the top," said DeWalt, who also wrestled in college and had been invited to Olympic trials. "I can only compete in the over 200-pound class because there are some really fast riders. But there is the "hour club" — if you can do it in one hour or less, there is a special club. I can’t quite crack it yet but I am working on it."

To be sure, golf courses, tennis courts and myriad other sports — beloved by leaders of all stripes — won’t go out of business any time soon.

For example, the crop of presidential hopeful has diverse taste in athletics. Sen. Hilary Clinton owns her own bowling ball, Sen. Barack Obama loves basketball, and Sen. John McCain likes to hike around the hills of his Sedona, Arizona, ranch.

Some business leaders aspire to adrenaline-driven jaunts, but are willing to leave the serious challenges to more adventurous peers."

"I don’t have a lot of athletic bones in my body. I wish I had more," said AT&T Inc Chief Financial Officer Rick Lindner. "We’ve got (two) boats … that we keep on Lake Travis. I will still jump on the water skis from time to time."

"Once or twice a year when conditions are perfect, the sun is shining, it’s 90 degrees, the water is smooth. I get up, do a circle, come around and have a beer and say, "By God, I can still do it."

Tags: Arizona, AT&T Inc, Barack Obama, California, CEO, chief executive, Chief Financial Officer, chief operating officer, Dave DeWalt, Denver, Endurance Running, Enrique Salem, General Electric Co, hardest-charging technology executives, head, Hilary Clinton, HOUR CLUB, Hulu, Jason Kilar, John McCain, Lake Tahoe, Lake Travis, McAfee Inc, New York, News Corp, Portland, presidential hopeful, Rick Lindner, San Francisco Bay, Seattle, security software maker, Sedona, software maker, Symantec Corp., USD

12 Secrets to Being The Perfect Human

August 14, 2009
Filed under Running

Dean%20full%20storl 12 Secrets to Being The Perfect Human

The Perfect Human

By Joshua Davis

Dean Karnazes ran 50 marathons in 50 days. He does 200 miles just for fun. He’ll race in 120-degree heat. 12 secrets to his success.

DEAN KARNAZES WAS SLOBBERING DRUNK. IT WAS HIS 30TH BIRTHDAY, and he’d started with beer and moved on to tequila shots at a bar near his home in San Francisco. Now, after midnight, an attractive young woman – not his wife – was hitting on him. This was not the life he’d imagined for himself. He was a corporate hack desperately running the rat race. The company had just bought him a new Lexus. He wanted to vomit. Karnazes resisted the urge and, instead, slipped out the bar’s back door and walked the few blocks to his house. On the back porch, he found an old pair of sneakers. He stripped down to his T-shirt and underwear, laced up the shoes, and started running. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

He sobered up in Daly City, about 15 miles south. It was nearly four in the morning. The air was cool, slightly damp from the fog, and Karnazes was in a residential neighborhood, burping tequila, with no pants on. He felt ridiculous, but it brought a smile to his face. He hadn’t had this much fun in a long time. So he decided to keep running.

When the sun came up, Karnazes was trotting south along Route 1, heading toward Santa Cruz. He had covered 30 miles. In the process, he’d had a blinding realization: There were untapped reservoirs within him. It was like a religious conversion. He had been born again as a long-distance runner. More than anything else now, he wanted to find out how far he could go. But at that exact moment, what he really needed to do was stop. He called his wife from a pay phone, and an hour later she found him in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven. He passed out in the car on the way home.

That was August 1992. Over the next 14 years, Karnazes challenged almost every known endurance running limit. He covered 350 miles without sleeping. (It took more than three days.) He ran the first and only marathon to the South Pole (finishing second), and a few months ago, at age 44, he completed 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days, one in each of the 50 states. (The last one was in New York City. After that, he decided to run home to San Francisco.) Karnazes’ transformation from a tequila-sodden party animal into an international symbol of human achievement is as educational as it is inspirational. Here’s his advice for pushing athletic performance from the unthinkable to the untouchable.

1. BE AUDACIOUS
Finding the right challenge is the first challenge. "Any goal worth achieving involves an element of risk," Karnazes says in his autobiography, Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner. Risk, yes, and creativity too. For instance, looking for the ultimate endurance running challenge, in 1995 Karnazes entered a 199-mile relay race – by himself. He competed against eight teams of 12 and finished eighth.

2. GO LACELESS
One of the biggest annoyances in long-distance running is lace management. After banging out 50 miles, it can be hard to squat or even bend over long enough to tie your shoes. The North Face recently responded to Karnazes’ complaints and came out with the $130 M Endurus XCR Boa. Its laceless upper is enmeshed in thin steel cables that connect to a tension dial at the back. A simple turn cinches the shoe onto the foot. No more slowing down to fiddle with laces.

3. FLIRT WITH DISASTER
In 1995, Karnazes ran his first Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile trek that starts in Death Valley, California, in the middle of summer and finishes at the Mt. Whitney Portals, 8,360 feet above sea level. After running 72 miles in 120-degree heat, Karnazes collapsed on the side of the road suffering from hallucinations, diarrhea, and nausea. He had pushed himself to the point of death to find out whether he was strong enough to survive. He was. Though he didn’t finish the race that year, Karnazes came back the next and placed 10th. He won it on his fifth attempt, in 2004. "Somewhere along the line, we seem to have confused comfort with happiness," he says.

4. EAT JUNK – LOTS OF IT
You wouldn’t believe the stuff Karnazes consumes on a run. He carries a cell phone and regularly orders an extra-large Hawaiian pizza. The delivery car waits for him at an intersection, and when he gets there he grabs the pie and rams the whole thing down his gullet on the go. The trick: Roll it up for easy scarfing. He’ll chase the pizza with cheesecake, cinnamon buns, chocolate éclairs, and all-natural cookies. The high-fat pig-out fuels Karnazes’ long jaunts, which can burn more than 9,000 calories a day. What he needs is massive amounts of energy, and fat contains roughly twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrates. Hence, pizza and éclairs. When he’s not in the midst of some record-breaking exploit, Karnazes maintains a monkish diet, eating grilled salmon five nights a week. He strictly avoids processed sugars and fried foods – no cookies or doughnuts. He even tries to steer clear of too much fruit because it contains a lot of sugar. He believes this approach – which nutritionists call a slow-carb diet – has reshaped him, lowering his body fat and building lean muscle. It also makes him look forward to running a race, because he can eat whatever he wants.

5. CUT BACK ON SLEEP
Karnazes has a wife and two kids, and he worked a 9-to-5 job for the first eight years of his quest to transcend his own limits. Finding four hours for a 30-mile run during the day was next to impossible. The solution: sleep less. "Forgoing sleep is the only way I’ve figured out how to fit it all in," he says, noting that running in the dark can be soothing. Plus, there’s less traffic to contend with. He now gets about four hours of shut-eye a night. Before he started running, however, he was just a regular guy who got a regular eight. As he started to run more, he found that he could sleep less. The National Sleep Foundation reports that exercise does lead to more restful sleep, and Karnazes takes this idea to the extreme. "The human body," he says, "is capable of extraordinary feats."

6. SHOW YOUR BODY WHO’S BOSS
"The human body has limitations," Karnazes says. "The human spirit is boundless." Your mind, in other words, is your most important muscle. As a running buddy told him: "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention to arrive safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow!! What a ride!"

7. GET A COOL WATCH
Karnazes wears a souped-up Timex that monitors his speed, distance, calories burned, and elevation, all of which is critical for deciding when to order the next pizza while in the midst of a 200-mile trek. Besides letting him order a pie on the run, his cell phone uses specialized GPS software to broadcast his location to the Internet for all to see. It’s fun to follow his icon rolling across the digital landscape, but it’s also useful when Karnazes disappears into the night. If he ever pushes himself too hard and collapses, his people can locate him. And fans would know something was wrong if his signal landed on top of a hospital icon.

8. LEARN TO LOVE KRAZY GLUE
If something goes wrong – and it inevitably will – it’s usually with Karnazes’ feet. In races and on training runs, he has battled giant, foot-devouring blisters. A surprisingly effective treatment: Krazy Glue. Pop the blister, slather the wound with the super-adhesive, and voilà – your foot is ready to take a beating again. The glue acts as a kind of indestructible second skin and has helped Karnazes finish competitions he wouldn’t have otherwise. (Officially, Krazy Glue recommends avoiding all contact with skin.)

9. GET USED TO IT
If you’re going to explore the boundaries of human endurance, you’ll have to learn to adapt to more and more pain. To prepare for the searing heat of the Badwater race, Karnazes went on 30-mile jogs wearing a ski parka over a wool sweater. He trained himself to urinate while running. He got so he could go out and run a marathon on any given day – no mileage buildup or tapering required. This training made the extreme seem ordinary and made the impossible seem the next logical step. Eventually, when he grew accustomed to the pain, it stopped hurting. "There is magic in misery," he says.

10. PROMOTE THE HELL OUT OF YOURSELF
Before he became Superman, Karnazes was the Clark Kent of the PR world: a humdrum marketing executive at a pharmaceutical company. But in the past three years, he’s published a memoir, nabbed a sponsorship from the North Face, appeared on Late Show With David Letterman, and gotten himself on the cover of a handful of magazines. The book and the North Face contract generate enough money to support his family, and the high profile translates into maximum motivation: Failure is scarier when the family income is on the line.

11. BREAK IT DOWN
Fifty-six miles into his first Western States Endurance Run – one of the oldest 100-mile races in the country – Karnazes found himself alone entering a canyon at twilight. It was tough going – the trek boasts a total elevation change of 38,000 feet. With 44 miles to go, his spirit was flagging, but he found a way to make it seem conquerable: He remembered the next checkpoint would leave only a marathon and two 10Ks left to go. He knew he could run each leg, and that helped him achieve the whole.

12. AVOID KRYPTONITE
Forget tequila. Karnazes has given up hard drinking. His big vice these days: chocolate-covered espresso beans.

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Tags: All-Night Runner, California, cellular telephone, Daly City, Dean Karnazes, Death Valley, delivery car waits, energy, GPS, humdrum marketing executive, Late Show With David Letterman, long distance runner, marathon, Mt. Whitney Portals, National Sleep Foundation, New York City, pharmaceutical, San Francisco, santa cruz, thin steel cables, USD

Be a Better Runnerâ€”No Running Required

August 10, 2009
Filed under Cross Training, Running