Alameda Runners – Get After It!

I normally run in the afternoon or early evening during the week, though try to get started somewhat early on the weekends.  I find it can be difficult to shift gears and get out the door earlier in the morning, especially since I have to make sure I eat properly to prevent bonking while running.

A computer geek friend of mine recently mentioned how he ran into some difficulties trying to find his rhythm during his first 5K.  The race not surprisingly started in the early morning (8:30 am. or 9:00 a.m.), but my friend admitted he hasn’t tried running in the morning quite yet.

Even though a 5K isn’t quite the same as a half or full marathon, it still is one of those situations where you shouldn’t experiment too much on race day.

To help offer basic guidance, the Runner’s World (March edition) has some useful advice:

Run at the time of your race once a week.  Train your intestinal tract by rehearsing what you’ll eat.  Eat your normal breakfast (about 500 calories) four hours before your race time, then snack on a banana or energy bar an hour before you head out.  If pre-race jitters make you too nervous to eat the morning of a big event, practice eating breakfast the night before.

If you’re running a short distance (a 5K, for example), a large breakfast and two nights of carbo-loading obviously isn’t necessary.  I ran the AEF 5K a couple of weekends ago, and didn’t eat breakfast before running.  If you need to fuel up, be sure you eat a couple of hours before you run… you don’t want any unpleasant surprises by eating too close to race time.

For those of you who are just starting out on your running adventures, here is some good reading material:  Everything.com 5K eat and drink preparation, and here’s another article on Health Writing.

Prior to my long runs (and half marathon races), I’ll eat pancakes with syrup, water, Cytomax, and some oranges or banana.  I won’t eat 90 minutes prior to the event (except for a sport gel), as I don’t want to risk making myself sick.  If not pancakes, a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and banana tends to fuel me up properly.

Oops!

I accidentally signed up for the Active Advantage trial about one month ago, and completely didn’t realize I signed up.  (It’s one of the memberships offered when you sign up for an event through Active.)  I checked my credit card statement last week and saw a mysterious $59.95 charge I didn’t recognize.

Did I register for an event and forget about it?  Is this a fraudulent charge?  Hm.

I e-mailed Active last weekend and asked if I could cancel the membership — and get a refund for the billed charge.  I received a response on Monday noting I did sign up for the service, but they’d still cancel it for me.  Wow.  A response (and resolution) in  just one day?  Woohoo!

Here’s part of the e-mail I received:

We also want to reassure you of our policy with regard to this trial offer:

About one month ago, you or a family member registered online for an event, league or activity.  At the end of that registration you were offered a membership to Active Advantage.  If you clicked yes, we signed you up for the trial membership.

As explained in the offer, once the trial membership period expires, your membership is extended for one year.  You are also given the choice to cancel the trial at any time at no cost to you.

Earlier this morning (Tuesday), I received an e-mail from the Active support staff that said I was refunded the money.  It should be removed my from my credit card bill sometime late this week or early next week.

Kudos to Active for swiftly fixing a problem that was entirely my fault.  I’ve used Active numerous times before, but didn’t think it’d be so easy to get my refund.

Editors note: Active does put that check block in a place where it looks like something you need to check before you can close the window and get on with your day.  I came close to falling for that one a few times myself.  I am glad to hear they are responsive to the consumers who make a mistake.

Team Type 1 :

We strive to instill hope and inspiration for people around the world affected by diabetes. With appropriate diet, exercise, treatment and technology, we believe anyone with diabetes can achieve their dreams.

I wrote about Team Type 1 a few days ago, so feel free to check it out.

American teams such as Garmin-Transitions, HTC-Columbia, Team Radioshack and BMC are expected to rack up impressive results during the Tour of California next month — but it’s the smaller teams that could really light things up early in the race.

Team Type 1, Jelly Belly, Bissell and the smaller American teams can make stage racing exciting as they attack, create breakaways, and force the big boys to ride.  I gladly support these teams when they get the chance to race in front of a large audience, but there is one specific team that deserves special praise.

Every time Team Type 1 races — and gets in the newspapers — the team helps raise awareness about Type 1 diabetes.

Team Type 1 is the team I’d like to focus on leading up to the event, as this UCI Continental race team has an interesting background (courtesy of Team Type 1 Media Kit):

Team Type 1 was created in 2004 by Phil Southerland and Joe Eldridge, a pair of avid cyclists with Type 1 diabetes. In 2006 and 2007, the pair captained Team Type 1 to back-to-back victories in the eight-person team division of the Race Across America (RAAM). In 2008, the team grew to include a 15-rider professional continental team that included four riders with Type 1 diabetes.

In their inaugural pro season, Team Type 1 compiled 45 victories, including winning the team classification at the Tour de Beauce and the Vuelta Mexico and placing two riders (Glen Chadwick and Moises Aldape) in the Olympic road race in Beijing.

If you’re interested in following in the adventures of Team Type 1, I’d recommend following the team’s official Twitter account.  I hope to learn more about the team in the coming weeks, and hope to share some neat information with you.

Hey Team Type 1, best of luck during the Tour of California next month!

That’s right… last night I registered for the 28th Annual California International Marathon, which takes place  on Dec. 5.  The 26.2-mile marathon course runs from Folsom to Sacramento.

It seems fitting my first major marathon will take place almost one year after I started running seriously since middle school cross country.

Ted and I have been running together during events, but this will likely be one of the few times we don’t end up reaching the finish at the same time.  CIM is one of Ted’s major goals for the season, and I’m not sure what kind of shape I’ll be in come December.

Course map:

I’m running the Santa Rosa Marathon in late August, and then will also run a half marathon in Folsom.

The Folsom half will be the event where Ted  takes off to really test his form — and I have the pleasure of seeing if his prediction of my first time being able to beat him comes true.  He beat me by about two minutes during the 5K yesterday, so I obviously have some work to do.  (It’s just a fun competition to see if the added motivation propels my running to a new level come this fall.)

Disclaimer:  I’m going to post a number of CIM-related entries this summer, especially as my excitement during training increases.

April 22 (Thursday) will be Earth Day, a day dedicated to our wonderful planet.  We’ll be able to watch the first green supersonic jet launch on Thursday, and can look forward to 50 green Apple iPhone apps to celebrate the 40th Earth Day.

Earth Day has developed into an international day of celebration that is now acknowledged by 1.5 billion people.  As athletes we often see views of the world only a small number of people are able to enjoy, such as the top of hills and mountains, lakes and oceans up close, and exploring the woods.

After running in Coyote Hills last weekend, I discovered a copy of the Tri-City Voice inside the Coyote Hills Visitor Center – and the front page of the April 14 – April 20 edition has a great front page spread about Earth Day.

Specifically, the newspaper’s article is best for S.F. East Bay residents — but the start of  Earth Day also is listed in the second paragraph of the article written by Sargunjot Kaur.

For those in the East Bay, here is one of many events scheduled:

East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) will also be celebrating Earth Day by enhancing existing trails and constructing new trails for Regional Parks through the Ivan Dickson Trail Project. Since 1996, the project has managed over 121 trails with the help of nearly 6,000 volunteers and 25,000 plus volunteer labor hours. Maintenance projects will include pruning, erosion control, post installation, trail improvements, and new trail construction.

As athletes and beginner triathletes look to sign up for new events, some people show interest in purchasing a triathlon bike.  For a regular cyclist who has never ridden — or may not have seen triathlon bikes up close — it can be a relatively frightening experience.

(I remember my first ride on a bike built specifically for time trials – and it was a very unique experience, even after years of cycling and mountain biking.)

To hopefully make it easier, here is a short blog posted on Competitor Triathlon that discusses triathlon bike geometry, positioning, and the basic differences between road bikes and triathlon bikes.

Short blurb about some tri-specific geometry:

“Triathlon bikes have a steeper effective seat tube angle than road bikes. This moves the rider further forward relative to the cranks and allows the rider to get low in the front without discomfort in the hips. Tweak the geometry in a few more places to accommodate a lower position and improve stability, slap an aerobar under the rider’s elbow and you have a tri bike.”

The article is short and precise, easy to understand, and is quite informative.  (Kudos to @TriathleteMag for tweeting this great link a few days ago.)

Following Ted’s successful first attempt at a 10K run with the East Bay Running Club, we headed to the Coyote Hills for further leg explosions.  He headed out for a bike ride, while I decided to run up a few hills.

There I was running along a trail enjoying the tunes playing on my MP3 player and sporting my CONCEDE jersey ontop of my excellent ENSO jersey, when I see a …

… yeah, that’s right… SHEEP!

I noticed this sign on my second loop, which I oddly missed on my first loop.

If you’re in the area, be sure to watch out for the sheep (and the tiny presents they leave all over the pathway and trails).

Explored around 7.5 miles in a very leisurely 1:29 (with hills, random stopping for photo ops, and to observe the random wildlife along the way).  Just wanted to remind my legs what it’s like to climb up some hills for a change — Alameda is just a tad bit flat.

If you’re a cyclist in Alameda seeking a group of riders to explore the East Bay with, I’d recommend looking into Team Alameda.

The cycling club has organized rides every Saturday and Sunday, though members do get together during the week for additional rides.  (If you’re a newer rider, please be advised you won’t be dropped, especially if you  ride with the correct group on Saturday morning.)

Some of the riders sign up for organized rides and cycling races, but it’s not a requirement.  Occasional long rides leave the East Bay, and most of the riders carpool with one another.

A Team Alameda FAQ page for newer cyclists can be found here.  You can reach the membership page here ($25 per year membership for cyclists).  Family members in the same household are able to become TA members for free.

Team members also get discounts at several local bike stores and restaurants in Alameda.

I was a member of Team Alameda a couple of years ago, but didn’t renew my membership as my miles in the saddle diminished.  I enjoyed every Team Alameda ride I went on, as it’s nice to have someone to chat with while riding, learn new routes to ride, and have other riders to help in case you have a serious or minor mechanical problem.

I recently took a field trip to a running store, leaving Alameda to visit the Road Runner Sports store in Concord.  This little adventure occurred last Monday (April 05), and I made a purchase just after 12:00 p.m.

After arriving at the store, I was greeted by Jenni, who asked if I needed any help finding something in the store.  I told her I’d like a pair of running shoes, and would like to be properly fitted for the new pair of shoes — the process begins with Jenni learning a bit more about my running history and my summer goals.

Once done with the brief number of questions, I stepped on a floor mat designed to measure arch type, foot shape, and pronation tendency.  Then it’s time to get on the treadmill and jog normally for about 30 to 60 seconds, which also analyzes your pronation tendency, arch type, heel strike location, midfoot, and other vital information. Read more… »