Training Groups

Greetings! Over the years I have participated in several training groups for runners as a trainee and a mentor. Training groups are great in concept. Training clinics allow for making friends, learning strategies for running and recovery.  Also, such groups come with a set of incentives to complete required training for big races, like fully participating because of the money spent to join the team, and accountability and affirmation of the team encourages people to attend the regular running sessions.

I have often used my experience from the training groups as an example to discuss the concept of reference groups with my sociology classes. The training group sometimes created issues as new or returning runners ran too fast trying very hard to keep up with the pack. This often led to injury physically or psychologically. A recent study of training groups found that those who work too hard to support others hinder those individuals from reaching their full potential. The group mentality held members back in performance and overall fitness levels, particularly people trying to lose weight. Those who treated the training group like a competition excelled in performance and fitness. It’s a fine line between the start and finish line.

Train well. Run.

Tom

Wash Running

Over the years, I have enjoyed running in the “wash” in desert towns of the American Southwest.  Generally speaking, this is not a good idea. Many safety issues loom such as lighting and being away from others in case of an emergency.  More often than not, I’ve run in the washes in darkness or very little light at the break of the morning dawn. For those not familiar with the area, this left me vulnerable to critters of all shapes and sizes such as javelinas and coyotes.

In our recent trip to Tucson we experienced a first in well over ten years of visiting around this same time of year. It rained, and it rained a fair amount. The washes did their jobs and filled with water. This left me running out on the street, which is equally dangerous, especially before the sunrise. No matter, I had super and very safe runs in Tucson. Even in the industrialized area around the airport I could still feel and smell the desert.  Ah, and for me, those are grand sensations.

Run in the Desert!

Tom

2017 a Year of Epic Success

Greetings! Week one of 2017 came and went much too quickly. I trust the time proved meaningful for you and yours. I’ve set my personal goals, resolutions and intentions for 2017. I plan on a year of Epic Success, personally and professionally. Last year was very good for me, though I did miss my primary fitness goal of completing the Triple Peach race series. This year, The Streak will cross twenty (20) years. I’m still working on ideas on how to appropriately celebrate this monumental occasion.

I wish you a most productive, meaningful, happy and healthy 2017.

Resolve. Run.

Tom

No Light. No Noise.

Greetings! Running a marathon and running in Marathon, TX are two very different things. The most apparent difference is that you can run along Highway 90, the main road, in Marathon, TX and cross the city boundaries within minutes. It’s a sight short of 26.2 miles of a standard marathon, the commonly proposed distance of the ancient Greek running messenger, Pheidippides.   

I often run before day break. This posed a problem of sorts as Marathon, TX has the darkest skies in the continental United States. In fact, Marathon rates a Scale 1 on the Bortle Light Pollution Scale. For specific details on the darkness rating you can check out this web site. http://www.marathonmotel.com/index.php?astronomy=yes  

Dark skies are not the only thing interesting about a pre-dawn run in Marathon, TX. The area has very little noise pollution, particularly in the early morning. It was a bit haunting to hear every step and my own breath at what seemed like a volume synonymous with a scene from a horror film.  All in all, these things made my short run in Marathon, TX a most memorable one.  

Look. Listen. Run.  

Tom