Running Movies

I came across a running movie the other day on Showtime with Michael Douglas starring. It was called Running. Never heard of this movie before kind of cheese, kind of inspiring, kind of motivating but worth a watch.  Check it out.

A new Record for ThunderDome Running PR's

It was an awesome weekend for racing. Temps. and humidity were ideal and it is that time of the training where things just start to click.  Over the weekend ThunderDome Running had runners racing in Washington, Connecticut, New York, and right here in Milwaukee, WI.

 Alex Burlingame had the biggest lifetime PR over the weekend in his 10k in Washington, he raced a 2 minute PR in 41:52.  Alex is rolling towards the Chicago marathon on October 10.  Frank Silva from CT raced a 5k PR over the weekend in 20:24, Frank is training towards hitting a Boston Marathon qualifier with a spring 2012 marathon.  Kathy and Patrick both rolled 5k PR's at the Irish Fest run here in Milwaukee in times of  24:09 & 20:49 respectively and are racing Chicago in a few weeks.

Congrats to everyone!

Welcome to the Show - Keith Mulhollon - joins ThunderDome Racing

It was a busy week for the ThunderDome Running race team.  ThunderDome added one of the top Master's runners in the United States to the race team - Keith Mullhollon from Lake Geneva, WI.  Keith and I traveled to Cedar Rapids to race in the CVRA 5th Season Races - the Alliant Energy 8k. It was a stacked field and temps/humidity were high, but hey you know what you are getting when you line it up to race on July 4 in the midwest.

Keith raced to a 23rd place overall finish and won the male master's top spot racing a solid 25:41 8k.  I ended up running 24:49 and finished 16th overall.

 

If you are interested in joining the ThunderDome Racing team please feel free to email us at info@thunderdomerunning.com.

 

A Little Running Math Problem/Contest...Help!

Runners like to be precise and not cut corners really in anything we do.  You know before GPS/Garmin's or Map My Run...you just sometimes kind of had to guess on your route distances hoping the routes were the actual distance you logged for like a couple of years before you had a true measurement.  I just got back from vacation and some altitude training in Crested Butte, Colorado at 9000 feet where I did a 400m (or close to it) workout where I finished feeling guilty.

I was able to get in some fun and tough training in the mountains of Crested Butte, CO. The town had an asphalt track at the high school which was perfect because there were a couple of races coming up on my race schedule so I wanted to get in something quicker even though it would be more challenging at altitude.

The workout was 12 x 400m on 60 seconds rest.  During the warm-up I had the GPS/Garmin out to kind of make sure the track was pretty close to 1/4 mile (not an exact measurement either but that is all I had to go by), with the first measure I found the track turned out to be short on the regular markings on one lap being short of 400m so I added on a bit just to make sure the distance was covered in each interval and began the workout.  The workout ended up going well and was happy with the effort and result ending up averaging 66.3 per repeat.  I was suspect about things though so I re-measured the track after the workout and my interval markings ended up being about (16 feet) short/under 1/4 mile per interval for the intervals I ran.

The blog question of the day and your chance to get some free swag (ThunderDome T shirt) is as follows.  With the intervals being 16 feet short of an actual 1/4 mile, how many meters on each repeat did I actually do when converted to meters? Was the workout like 12 x 390m or 12 x 375m or was it pretty close to 400m based on the 1/4 mile distance compared to a 400m track interval?  I am looking for the actual meter repeat distance......first correct answer wins. 

Good Luck

Our Featured Runner...a Seattle Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon PR

Big props to ThunderDome Running's own to Alex Burlingame from Washington who raced a career 2 minute 1/2 marathon PR over the weekend. Alex ran a 92:34 (7:03-7:04 mile pace) in the Seattle Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon.  The negative split lives on as Alex rolled the last 3 miles of his race in 6:58, 6:49, & 6:49!!!

I can easily say that Alex is in the top 5 all-time of ThunderDome Running's workout kings.  That workout drive is one thing but you always wait for that fire to equal a fast race time.  After working with Alex for 4 months, he really got a chance and made the most of his fitness to see the those workout results equal race results.  Congrats.

With a steady increase in mileage and those lung blasting workouts Alex is setting things up for later this year. He is hitting the Chicago Marathon Sunday October 9 looking to roll another PR of sub 3:13.

Great US Road Races - Top 10 All-Time

This week ThunderDome Running is heading to Cutlerville, MI for the 21st annual Brian Diemer Amerikam 5k run. This is a run that I first raced ten years ago when a friend of mine Robert Hyde, a former Calvin college standout in the 10k, called me and told me about the Diemer run that he had just taken over the reigns as race director.  I have tried to make the field trip back every year since 2001, because Robert has taken the race to a new level each year.

The Diemer run has everything you look for in a race. The Diemer Run has superior race leadership, it is well organized, it is a community backed event raising money for the Guiding Light Mission, and has a blazing fast PR type 5k race course along with a fast field to test yourself up and down the men's and woman's races.

The most unique aspect of the race is that if you beat Brian Diemer in the race you win yourself a donut post race. This is no small feat as Brian Diemer, the Calvin college Cross Country and Track coach for the past 24 years, is a former USA National Champ in the Steeplechase and Olympic games medal winner in the Steeplechase in 1984 at the LA games.

If you ever have a chance to jump in the car and check out a new race that is not a half marathon or marathon check out the Diemer 5k run you will love it.

Race Weekend - Welcome to the ThunderDome!

It is a huge weekend for ThunderDome Running as we have runners racing all over the US. 

Kathy, from Northport, NY is racing the NYRR New York Mini 10k now in its' 40th year and is held in Central Park. This years race is dedicated to late running great Grete Waitz.

Jim and Jeff are racing the Bellin Health 10k over the weekend in Green Bay, WI. The cool part about this race is Frank Shorter and Bill Rogers are also lining it up to race this year as they have in years past so you can throw down with the best.

Renee, from Wisconsin, has a busy running weekend - racing (3) relay legs on the Ragnar Relay series 200 mile 11 person relay race from Madison, WI to Chicago.

Frank is hitting a 10k this Friday in CT. The Niantic Bay 10k. Race #2 for Frank in one of the biggest ThunderDome Running training comebacks of the year!

Finally my wife Erin and I are running the Brian Diemer Amerikam 5k race in Cutlerville, MI.  This is one of my all-time fav races and will have a preview blog piece on the race tomorrow before heading out.

Good luck to everyone!