Gelindo Bordin
Well, I should have done speedwork. Then I realized that today Gelindo Bordin - olympic gold-medal marathoner and Boston winner - was coming to RunTex to give a talk. I’m also thinking that I don’t need to completely exhaust myself this week with a hilly half marathon on Sunday. So I went to the talk instead, and I’m glad that I did.
There were surprisingly few people in attendance, considering the number of distance runners that we have here in town. Maybe they were all out running? Anyway, he talked for about an hour covering nutrition, success, failure, life, and sprinkling it all with a collection of anecdotes that were wonderful to listen to. I’m not going to attempt to capture any of them here, in fact - it wouldn’t be the same. Rich actually had a pretty nice writeup of the event. But go listen to him if he stops by your local running store - he’s a shoe rep for Diadora these days which gives him the excuse to visit all of these places and talk.
The one idea that he did give me was on nutrition. He said that he always got up very early on a race day to give the body time to wake up. Something like 5-6 hours before the start. Then about four hours before the start, have a sensible carb-loaded breakfast. He used pasta, but that should be flexible. That will top off your tank, and still give you enough time to digest it. Hmm. I may try that on Sunday, just to see if I like it or not. I know that I don’t spend enough time worrying about nutrition anyway.
After the meeting I worked a bit more, then headed to the gym and did 90 minutes on the elliptical machine. I think those long 125bpm sessions, while boring, are doing good things for my endurance. The only problem that I’m having is that my toes get warm; I know that running shoes don’t have a lot of cushioning in the forefoot, so that may be my issue. For now I just switch directions ever 15 minutes or so to minimize the issue. Since I didn’t run today, I’ll up my 3 miles tomorrow to 5-7 easy, maybe adding in a fartlek or two but nothing too serious.
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Nov 18th 2004
10:47 AM
Wow. How cool is that?! Great advice too about eating early. I’ve tried that and it definitely makes a difference in my running. The problem is the trade-off. i.e. you have to get up early and who wants THAT? Not me anyway!
Nov 18th 2004
11:37 AM
aahh…listening to running greats is so much fun!
yeah, take it easy this week. you’ll do much better in the race if you’re not running on tired legs.
Nov 18th 2004
1:48 PM
hmm liking that idea (if the race is stupid early to begin with).
Although I tend to get nervous tummy happening and adding a whole meal to that might not be ideal.
But worth a shot! Let us know how it goes. ;)
P.s. Good luck on your race!
Nov 18th 2004
4:21 PM
Waking up 5-6 hours before a race sounds good to me but the majority of these races are scheduled for 8 a.m. I don’t think I’d enjoy getting out of bed at 3 a.m.
Nov 18th 2004
6:14 PM
Thanks for the link. His comments about having a positive attitude echo much of what I read on the running blogs. You can do what you think you can do kind of thing.
Nov 18th 2004
9:21 PM
Yes, 3AM would be too much for me but I think its a matter of what works for you. I like to have breakfast the same 3 hours before. You know, I realize I eat the same thing every day. I wonder if pasta for breakfast on race day might be better. Hmmmmmm.