BOSTON MARATHON 2016

It has been about a month since I completed Boston Marathon 2016, in its 120th edition. These were the highlights for me.

I met my team-members at Changi Airport: Coach Lexus and assistant-coach Zhi Yong

It felt good the second time round. My first was in 2014, Boston Strong. I managed to qualify after one missed opportunity in 2011, in the Hong Kong Marathon.My next BQ came in 2013 and 2015, both earned in the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia. The climate suits many Asian marathoners as it is cool, but not cold. Plus, the course is a fast course.

I missed the BQ-within-Boston by 2 minutes with my 3 hour 32 minutes and 4 second finish. With each year's cutoff hovering just under 3 minutes, I was off by 5 minutes. I was pleased  that several of my friends from Singapore earned BQs, which was done under slightly warmer conditions this year. I was pleased my injuries healed before the race, having suffered a sprained left ankle and suspected calf sprain/tear. With my BV Sport compression-socks and lighter Mizuno running shoes, I cleared the 42.195km in decent time.

We met CRO of Runners World - Bart Yasso. It was a real treat to meet the creator of the Yasso 800's

I held back on the first 10km, as it was mostly downhill. This year had more women participating, and I was gladly 'out-chicked' by this wide and deep field of great runners of all age-groups. My last 10km was hard, as I heated up a little and had to hold back. Although I was stronger on the hills this year, the do sap the legs. I improved a total of 16 minutes over 2014, and moved up the top-31 percent of the overall field. for that, I am grateful for the three-run-sessions per week I had with my new running group, F1Runners and the JRLAcademy of runners. The diet of interval-track sessions, strength-endurance were adequate to give me a very good Return On Investment (ROI) on my training. The rest of the time I spent on strengthening my body with cycling, swimming and circuit-training/kettle-bell training.

I applied what I learned over the years in my book 'Clocking Your Boston Qualifier: Run Less; Run Faster', and so was assured by my wisdom gleaned from experience and experts. In fact, one of my interviewees in my book - Andrew Cheong - earned a strong BQ of 3:26. He is a proponent of FIRST, and runs three key workouts a week: one long, one tempo, and one speed session.

It was a richly rewarding second outing to Boston, and the magic of this race never ceases to amaze me throughout the entire point-to-point course. The spectator support was generous and encouraging. For the first-time Boston marathoner, there will be many memories to relish over.

I hope to return in 2017, and qualify at the end of this year in cooler climates.

Less May Be More For the Masters-Level Athlete

I have been researching extensively on Masters-level endurance training. An article from a 2006 issue of Triathlete magazine got me thinking seriously about mileage and intensity. Briefly, over-40-years-old triathletes could benefit more from lesser mileage and greater intensity. I have been applying it after I spoke to a former-professional triathlete at last year’s IMWA, who claimed that his charges benefitted more from significantly shorter workouts with more intensity. The Australian, Ironman Western Australian champion Charlotte Paul’s husband, is a Trigger Point Therapy expert and he touted runs of not more than 2 hours and rides not exceeding 3 hours. He focused on quality over quantity.

I had a bad spate of joint injuries ONLY A MONTH AFTER my first 84K ultra-marathon last year. Part of my healing strategy was to strengthen the muscles of my ankles, feet and knee. Thus, I focused on core stability and core strength work, kept up my regular massages, and rode on a well-fitted bike. My strategy for training for a marathon soon after Ironman Western Australia 2010 was:

1)    Unshod running (Vibram Five Fingers) twice a week for about 45-60 minutes (@ 5:10-5:45”/K pace).

2)    Two CrossFit/circuit training sessions weekly (comprising 3 sets of 4 key, gross muscles exercises, i.e. 12 chin-ups, 25 pushups, bench step-ups X 20 each leg, and parallel-bar walk X 2).

3)    One long run, one medium distance run, and one or two 10K runs each week. Total mileage between 40-50K with tempo run or intervals.

4)    One time trial held every 7-10 days. Before the Hong Kong Marathon, I completed a Duathlon (10K run, 36K ride, 5K run), 5K time trial/qualifying run, and two in-training time trials for 11K and 21K.

5)    Cross training with swimming and riding; mostly, maintenance work.

6)    More speed and strength work instead of purely endurance workouts.

7)    ZERO hill-work.

8)    Nutritional support as per race day (one energy-gel/sports drink every 6K or 25 minutes, and two cups of water at every aid-station)

9)    Sleep 6-8 hours per night (crucial for complete recovery after intense training).

10) Fortnightly deep tissue massage with my physiotherapists.

My verdict: So far, so very effective. Wayne Kurtz’s book is out now. Head over to Amazon.com to order your copy!

 Photo-credit: My link-up with personal trainer, run coach and Boston marathoner finisher, Ben Swee after the HK Marathon.

Making the Time to Eat, Pray & Love

No, I did not watch the Julia Roberts’s film. However, the title of the indulgent book gives food for thought, where lifestyle balance is concerned. To eat, to pray and to love: can be done in private, or within a group. It is a mysterious title, isn’t it?

I continue to preach and praise those who commit to the One-Hour Challenge. Give yourself 60 minutes, and measure what you can do, or complete a fairly difficult task. This morning, I wrote up a bunch of invoices, completed writing one training module, and answered priority e-mails, and still had time to read one blog.

Andrew and Hui Koon (via a blog comment) invited me to train with them, however their running locations are far from where I live. I will give it serious consideration though, since I am keen to improve my timing by a wider margin of terror. Yesterday’s time trial rejuvenated my latent interest for cross-country racing. I used to, consistently, post sub-20 minutes for the 4.8K Macritchie route when I was in secondary school and pre-university. I missed those days of unbridled and reckless running.

This afternoon, I rode for an hour focused on being comfortable on my bike. I then did a short CrossFit session: 2 set of each (20 elevated pushups, 10-12 chin-ups, 40 step-ups on bench, one parallel bar walk) with a minute rest between. That was enough to get me winded and fatigued with my upper body all pumped up. That was a full investment of the 90 minutes I gave myself for fear of procrastinating it away.

*****

I headed for the Janet Jackson concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium; it started one hour late, however I was suitably entertained. I had my share of local celebrity watch, even taking a photo for MTV-jay, Utt (who thanked me). More ‘can you take a photo for us?’ followed, which was fine with me since I expected the concert to start late. I was also seated next to the unofficial Janet Jackson fan-club as they waved their banner loyally for their idol, while I was occasionally wrapped in the fabric and their overwhelming enthusiasm. Monday evening traffic and parking was a bitch, thus the big delay for early-birds. Ms Jackson did not disappoint as she sang and danced to all 30 of her chart-hits, albeit as a medley of songs strung seamlessly together. She sang, she danced and the decibels were way too high! I stuffed tissue wads into my ears after I experienced mild ringing. The bass was great, but the mid- and high frequencies were exceedingly stabbing. I missed the dateline for yesterday’s blog, so here I am.

PASSIONATE ULTRA TRI-GUY (PART 2): Wayne Kurtz Interview

EV: How are you promoting the ultra-endurance lifestyle?

WK: Through my resources I built - RaceTwitch.com, Endurance Racing Report, RaceTwitch.tv, RacePeak.com (Coaching and Advisor site - launching January 30, 2011), and will be launching RaceTwitchreg.com (online Race Registration Company first quarter 2011).

WK: RaceTwitch.com is the online resource for the worldwide endurance racing community to evaluate and search for specific endurance related races in 12 specific disciplines. The uniqueness of RaceTwitch is that it will provide the registered user’s with complete feedback from specific user reviews, recommended races, “If you liked this endurance race, you might like one of the following races”, specific weekly race of the week updates, and live video feeds from the RaceTwitch.com Pro-Team from around the world.  The iPhone application of RaceTwitch.com provides a solution for athletes to find a specific race on a particular day within a geographic area while attending a race.  RaceTwitch.com aims to provide athletes with endurance racing options for multiple disciples and allowing the registered users to reveal the positives and negatives of individual race experiences.

EV: Tell us more about your new book, Beyond The Iron - A Training Guide to Ultra-Distance Triathlons. I understand it comes out this month.

WK: Yes, the book will be out the beginning of February and will be available on Amazon.com along with BeyondtheIron.com, www.3LPublishing.com websites.

EV: What is it like writing your book? What was your motivation for this book?

WK: It was a remarkable experience and my publisher, and Michelle Gamble Risley from 3L Publishing, have been an amazing partner! I learned a ton through the process and have three more books we will be working on together.

WK: Motivation to write the book - I found a lack of information available on how to train for an Ultra-Distance Triathlon. I wanted to fill that void with correct and insightful information direct from an athlete, coach and trainer who participated in these events. With all of my years of experience and my passion for the sport, I am uniquely qualified to help others with insight, guidance, knowledge, tips, tricks, and insight into training.

EV: If we mere mortals want to breathe the filtered and rarefied air of the multiple-Ironman triathlon, how can we start?

WK: First you can start with reading Beyond The Iron! Also, all the RaceTwitch resources/blog posts can be helpful for the education process. Also, feel free to email me questions to me at wayne.kurtz@racetwitch.com

EV: Kua Harn Wei is our only deca-Ironman. How did you both meet?

WK: I met Harn at a race many years ago in Levi, Quebec (Double Iron World Championships). We hit it off immediately and then became friends after seeing each other many times at races! Hopefully we can see in other in Mexico this year for the DECA.

EV: You have three websites/blogs. How is each different as a resource?

WK: RaceTwitch.com is listed above, Racepeak.com - Comprehensive Advisor/Q&A Resource for athletes, Endurance Racing Report - was created to spotlight endurance sports races throughout the world and supplement the comprehensive “one stop shop” endurance race directory and athlete review resource: RaceTwitch.com. Regardless of the race you are training for: running, triathlon, cycling, cross country ski, kayak/canoe race, adventure race, etc. there are many questions that need to be answered in the evaluation process. RaceTwitchreg.com - our comprehensive unique online race registration resource for race Directors. RaceTwitch.com iPhone application - can be downloaded from iTunes and has the entire RaceTwitch.com resource while traveling.

EV: Tell us more about the free application on your website.

WK: RaceTwitch is completely free and users can search for races. If they register, they receive our newsletter, they can add race reviews, and find out about races.

EV: How can our readers contact you?

WK: Email is best: wayne.kurtz@racetwitch.com, skype ‘wayne.kurtz’, or Facebook Fan page: http://www.facebook.com/racetwitch. If they go to the RaceTwitch.com homepage, there are links to connect with me directly through all social media outlets.  Then we can arrange mutually convenient times to speak over the phone.

BIOGRAPHY

Name: Wayne Kurtz
Age: 43
Family: My Greek Goddess wife - Jan
Years doing triathlons: 25
Music: Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, and of course, Led Zeppelin
Favourite event: Deca-Iron
Favourite bicycle: My Felt DA Time Trial bike and Specialized Tarmac for the Deca-Iron
Favourite running shoes: Newton Running Shoes
Favourite nutritional support: Hammer Nutrition
Likes: Passionate people
Dislikes: Negative people