Alameda Runners – Get After It!

The Tour of California begins from South Lake Tahoe on Sunday, and will feature a field of legitimate ProTour and elite continental riders wanting to leave their mark on the race.

Event organizers hoped a mid-May event would give riders the chance to hit higher elevations with better weather, though it looks like riders will have to wear their cold weather gear.

The race starts tomorrow with a planned 118-mile trip around Tahoe that could include a few inches of fresh snow.

Warmer weather during the week has given way to colder weather and the growing likelihood of a snow-covered stage to kick off the biggest cycling race in the United States. TOC stage 2 — which travels through Donner Pass — may also need to be changed due to snowy weather.

Event organizers do have backup plans in case stages need to be altered due to snow, and will keep monitoring the situation late into the night.

The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority and North Lake Tahoe Resort Association have been responsible for sponsorship efforts that will have major local impact:

“The Amgen Tour of California is expected to provide one of greatest financial impacts to the Tahoe basin in years. Based on previous races, the annual economic impact to the state of California is estimated to be $100 million with Lake Tahoe organizers anticipating a local impact of $5 – 10 million resulting from 10 days of events leading up to the race start on May 15. For Lake Tahoe, hosting the tour is about telling the world that the area is a remarkable cycling destination.”

Since defending champion Mick Rogers is sidelined with illness, this race will be wide open for a few select potential GC contenders. HTC-Columbia plans to keep fighting for GC glory, even though Rogers won’t be at the race as he recovers.

Even with the Giro heating up in Italy, it’s time to shift focus to the TOC as riders fly across the Golden State.

State and federal parks in California are under attack from misguided politicians, with Governor Jerry Brown recently deciding to close 70 state parks.

The Brown administration announced they will shutter 70 of 278 state parks — the effort will officially begin on July 1, 2012, as a public outcry forced the state government to push back closures. The state is trying to desperately close a $15.4 billion budget deficit that never seems to shrink.

The parks receiving the axe were selected by a few different compiling factors, including the following: revenue generated at the park, visitor figures, importance to local and state history, and geographic/social issues (i.e. development plans).

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger went loony and tried to close 220 of 278 state parks, but quickly realized how much voters love their parks. After receiving more than 135,000 letters, e-mails and phone calls from angry Californians that wanted to keep their parks open.

I find it difficult to believe the budget couldn’t be wrangled under control by eliminating the many wasteful, mismanaged programs coming from Sacramento.

I plan on writing to the governor to voice my disappointment, and expect he’ll receive letters, e-mails and calls from other angry Californians. It’s a smaller number of parks that will be closed than previous efforts, so we’ll see what the public response to this will be in the coming weeks.

*Ted’s note: Those of us who live in the SF bay area are fortunate to have our parks spared because they are part of the East Bay Regional Parks district. We love our parks!

This is a guest post from Yoon (my editor @ TrailsEdge ) about a new book focusing on ultramarathons that has received good reviews.

As a non-marathon runner, Relentless Forward Progress opened my eyes to a whole new level of strategy, planning, and race preparation. From the start, I knew I didn’t meet the qualifications to run an ultra because I’ve never even come close to attempting a regular marathon, but dove into this book as recommended by a friend. I may have just added an item to the bucket list. Running marathons demand respect. Running ultra marathons makes you a superhero, and if there’s anything I’ve wanted in my life since I was a kid, it is to be a super human.

As mentioned by Byron Powell, the author and Editor of iRunFar.com, the book is about as evergreen as a book gets; the content will never go out of date. Relentless Forward Progress is a confident authority that covers every aspect of ultra’s from prepare your quadricepts for down-hill running, to solving race day logistics like support crews and drop bags, and selecting the right runner’s pack to avoid chaffing.

If you’re able to glaze over fine details (schedules, plans, etc.), it’s a fairly quick read. I had it done in about 6 hours and was inspired to hit the trail for a short run (let’s just say the book’s impact on my running habits is long term). It’s an encyclopedia on ultra’s that if read in its entirety, will have you chock full of information that can be applied immediately, even on short runs.
The advice comes from many seasoned experts who have run hundreds and maybe even thousands of ultra’s and have different opinions on how to train. For instance, some of the commentators swear that speed work is important, while others say it’ll slow you down. That’s the beauty of this book; it’s the foundations of an ultra, but the fine tuning has to be done by you.

You’ll realize that ultra’s are on a whole ‘nother level from marathons. Because anyone can run a marathon, given enough time and resources; but an ultra requires that you plan out every minute of every detail; otherwise, you might not finish before the sun goes down.

We haven’t explored guest posts too much on Alameda Runners, but the feature is a definite possibility in the future. Since it’s obviously impossible for us to review, test, interview, and interact with all companies involved in endurance sports, we hope these guest posts help share even more knowledge with all of you.

Alameda Runners is an absolutely fun blog to operate, and I enjoy reaching out to companies, but I also love when we get e-mails and press releases. It can be difficult to pick topics to write about, but it becomes a lot easier when companies reach out to us.

Ted recently chatted with Rob Butner, XTERRA Dry Creek Trail Run co-director, about the XTERRA events and what they meant to athletes. Rob is a first time race director, while “co-director, Enrique Henriquez is the head coach of the Moreau Catholic High School cross country team. He has experience directing invitationals with attendance of over 1,000 runners.”

Although he’s serving as race director for the first time, he has raced XTERRA off-road triathlons for six years. As such, here’s a bit about XTERRA and what you can expect if you race in one of their events:

“XTERRA is a global leader in off-road adventure sports. With both an off-road triathlon and trail run series, they focus on uniting athletes of all levels with nature while promoting a healthy lifestyle.”

The XTERRA race at Garin Park (Hayward) is XTERRA’s newest effort to help bring its well known trail and outdoors events to Northern California. “We are definitely working with the XTERRA Trail Run Series to create a full XTERRA NorCal Trail Run Series. One has existed in the past, and we are trying to bring it back better than ever for 2012.”

The XTERRA events will feature GU and Gatorade products along with water and vocal spectators helping cheer athletes along. These events cater to both experienced trail runners and beginners alike, so don’t be afraid to hit the trails even if the courses do look intense.

If you’re looking for a trail event this summer, there are plenty of choices for you to consider. In addition to XTERRA events in Northern California, the SF Bay Area also has Brazen Racing, EnviroSports, Pacific Coast and other race companies focusing on playing outdoors.

The 2011 Xterra Dry Creek Trail Run takes place on June 4 from Garin Park in Hayward, with 21K and 6K running races available.

Cycling advocates in San Francisco are upset with a continued effort to create a cycling speed limit on the Golden Gate Bridge.

The proposed speed limit would be 5 mph when navigating around any iron tower, with a 10 mph speed limit across most of the bridge. There is no official speed limit and there are times when people can be found exceeding 20 mph on a crowded bridge, making a possible incident more likely.

The base fine for law violators would be $100, but would drastically increase after court fees and other charges are included on the ticket.

Riding across the GGB draws thousands of visitors every day, as tourists, residents and athletes pedal across the bridge.

I think the focus should be on those towers, where you go around a blind turn that is narrow and sometimes hazardous. An avid cyclist friend agreed, saying he agreed that 5 mph around the tower seemed like a fair speed limit.

There are plenty of rude cycling snobs that have passed me on the GGB even when I was riding a fairly reckless pace. It’s going to happen, and it causes the most discomfort and danger among tourists with shaky bike handling abilities.

I’m all for keeping people safe on the bridge, but a $100 (plus added fees) on the ticket seems too ridiculous right now. Besides the fact that the proposal wasn’t well thought out — and didn’t involve any bike advocacy groups in SF or Marin.

Now that I am training for more than five hours just about every Saturday, my nutritional needs have changed. I am all about carrying food that contains a lot of calories that is easily digestible. Many thanks to the nutritionists at Clif and GU for their patience and understanding in helping us with our nutritional needs. I am trying to write an article on nutrition but I keep complicating things and not making any progress. I am making progress in a lot of areas which I will share with you now.

I know that my body can only process (or convert to glycogen) between 200-400 calories per hour while it is burning between 500-1500 calories per hour. I also know that my consumes calories glycogen stores very quickly when I am working hard. The trick is to train your body to burn calories from fat on these long workouts. To do this, you must slow down. The trainers say slow to 70-75% of your max heart rate. I don’t know what that is, so I say slow to 60-80% of max heart rate.

What has been working for me is packing the calories into my sports drink. My current favorite is Clif Lemonade flavor electrolyte drink. I make it about 50% stronger than the instructions say.

I have two 28 ounce bottles on my bike. Each bottle has 6 scoops of electrolyte powder. That gives me close to 500 calories per bottle. I also like to eat a clif bar, marathon bar or energy gel while riding the bike or running.

My stomach is more forgiving on the bike than when I am out running. Practice consuming the calories on the long,  slow workout days.

The better you get at staying well nourished, the lower your chances of crashing when you over do it. Bonking is a bad thing, you want to avoid it, if possible. I have a couple of baskets of training goodies. Variety is best. I favor Clif for a variety of reasons, such as they try to stay as natural as possible, they care about their customers, the stuff tastes good enough to eat and they are local to me.

GU is another small company that is local to me with quality products and they care about their customers too. Of course the top product in my picture is a Snickers Marathon bar but it does taste good and it is loaded with good calories.

Just like many of you, I have a choice between wearing my regular prescription eyeglasses or wearing normal sunglasses. I usually run wearing my sunglasses and will go for long bike rides with my prescription glasses (higher speeds, longer distances) to ensure I don’t end up in too much trouble.

Lately, I have become interested in picking up a pair of prescription sunglasses that will be able to protect my eyes and allow me to see normally. I remember it wasn’t too long ago when prescription sunglasses either were much too for average customers.

More manufacturers now offer “RX” sunglasses that are custom designed for athletes.  Cyclist-friendly Rudy Project has its “Rx-able sunglasses”, while Oakley has a strong catalog of Authentic Prescription Lenses. Ray-Ban also has some models that are Rx-compatible, with the trend only to continue this year.

Alameda Runners recently caught up with sunglasses maker Revo (full interview to be posted soon), but the company had this to say about its prescription sunglasses effort:

“Revo Rx is an important part of the Revo line. Revo has a state-of-the-art, in-house optical lab to be able to provide and fill prescriptions of unsurpassed quality and exceptional clarity. Since every athlete’s eyes are different, the need for custom eye-wear is crucial and without that customization, it can lead to eye fatigue and headaches. Almost every model in Revo’s collection can be customized for each person’s prescription, whether that is single-vision or progressive lenses.”

If you’re an athlete looking for prescription sunglasses, there are a growing number of choices for you to check out. Your local sunglasses store will probably have prescription sunglasses models you can try on. Options are available, so you just have to browse around and see what’s best for you.

As expected, the 2011 Oakland Running Festival helped the City of Oakland generate around $3 million in revenue from the 1300+ out of town athletes.
Athletes from outside the Bay Area spent around $445 to stay, eat and race in Oakland during festival weekend.

Here is a tidbit from the Oakland Tribune story:

While the economic windfall for Oakland was positive, the races also showcased the city to many who otherwise might not come to Oakland. The field represented people from 39 states and six other countries, and so far the feedback has been top-notch, said race spokesman Dave Gell.

“The financial impact is accountable, but the public relations impact should be assessed as well,” said Greenlight spokesman Ryan Chamberlain. “I’m not sure how you quantify the goodwill generated by several thousand people from all over the world going on a 26.2-mile street-level tour of the city and then reporting back nothing but good stories. This event makes Oakland look really good.”

If CSE (Corrigan Sports) wants to help ORF grow to the same size as the Baltimore Running Festival (25K+ runners, then economic success for Oakland is an important step. The feedback from the race was positive (again) as runners and visitors were able to look beyond the city’s sketchy public image.

Editor’s Note: It’s also worth noting that it’s excellent CSE pays the OPD overtime pay (roughly $100,000) so the City of Oakland doesn’t have to pick up the tab. It seems unlikely the community would be as willing to support the race if they had to pay for officers along the course.

Runners are posting race reports, sharing pictures and videos with friends while the City of Oakland enjoys the positive impact of the Oakland Running Festival (ORF).

Last year’s event attracted around 6,300 participants and left Corrigan Sports Enterprises (CSE) owing money from the inaugural event. However, the company’s efforts in Oakland will follow the same successful blue print as its Baltimore event that successfully expanded to more than 25,000 runners.

Both the half and full marathon courses showed beautiful scenery and parts of the City that many of us wouldn’t run through otherwise. For one weekend in late March, the City of Oakland will have one more event to look forward to that shows the support from the people.

C SE picked up the $775,000 tab — including around $100,000 for Oakland Police overtime — and the City of Oakland is expected to collect more than $2 million in revenue.

As someone who has seen the good and bad sides of Oakland, it was great to see the city come out in support of runners. I know visitors from outside the Bay Area think of Oakland only as a magnet for crime and violence, though for just one weekend all was forgiven. The two ladies on Mandela Parkway in West Oakland cheering for runners  “You are in West Oakland, West Oakland, Run, Run, Run…” and their local neighborhood was well-received among runners.

There were fans lining the street throughout most of the half marathon course, cheering and supporting us the entire run.

The Oakland Half Marathon last year was my first distance race, I had a lot of fun then and I had a great time again this year, so I look forward to the Oakland Running Festival 2012.

A big shout out to the Brown Sugar Cafe on Mandela Parkway for the excellent custom brownies made just for us runners.

Kudos to the medical volunteers from the Alameda County Medical Center, as they were a great asset for anyone needing medical attention. Immediately after finishing the half marathon yesterday, I started to feel a rather uneasy feeling in my stomach … an unexpected, miserable feeling most athletes have occasionally suffered through.

Oakland Running Officials had medical stations at the start line, and at miles 4, 6, 11, 15.5, 19, and 23, along with a medical tent at the finish line. The course also had EMTs on bikes to offer needed assistance throughout the course.

The staff I encountered at the finish line tent were extremely courteous and efficient, and were quick to help any runners that needed help.

I ate a banana and some type of delicious brownie pastry during the run, which proved to be a relatively bad idea. I conveniently got sick next to the medical tent — which was located just a few feet away from the finish line — and was given some water and Gatorade. The added fluids and electrolytes helped perk me up and I felt fine just a couple of minutes later, and was able to slip out the door.

I took a few seconds to drink the added fluids and let my legs relax after what was supposed to be an easy, relaxing 13.1 miles. After reassuring the EMT that I was sick from my own foolish behavior, and just needed to rest, he moved on to help others looking in significantly more dire shape.

The Kaiser Half marathon gained media attention for all of the wrong reasons — a runner collapsed and died before EMTs were able to get to the helpless runner. It was an unfortunate incident that continually shows the importance of event planning, which is something CSE obviously took into consideration.