Marathon » The Running Brothers

Our Fifth Hero Liz Boers-Maynard – Q&A: Part 5

May 272011

What do you think about our website?

Your website – is very adhd – BUT don’t change it – I had to figure out who was who and had trouble placing your ages. Your mum must be an amazing person.

May be I have not read enough but even though the site is very “open” and you share a lot, I feel know v, little basic stuff about you guys – in terns of the “normal” stuff such as professional stuff, education, loves hates, travel experiences, etc….girlfriends???

What are you most passionate about?

We are passionate about life and getting the most out of it! That means that you need your physical, mental and financial health to be in balance and that is what our business is all about. We realized this after we had hit the toppish of our corporate careers – still wanting to grow AND have more time to travel so realized that we needed to do something about it. That’s when we started our business. Through it we teach others how to run their business and achieve the goals that they want to reach and through helping them we achieve our goals.

We are interested in partnering with ambitious, outgoing people who want to get more out of life – be it personal performance, sport performance, financial performance – or all of the above – just have them contact us – wherever in the world they are.

What is one thing that you think every person should do in their lifetime?

Ummm, running a marathon is NOT it – its simply not for everyone and then I might say in a couple of years time – doing an ironman so that won’t do at all.

It has to be TRAVEL – be it take a cruise, get on a plane, drive over the world – open your mind and heart to new stuff and let it stay open! You will be surprised where it leads to.

*Liz Boers-Maynard writes her own blog, http://everyrunsawinner.wordpress.com/ devoted to her experiences as a runner. Her husband also runs his own blog, http://feelinghealthynet.wordpress.com/. Be sure to check out both of their blogs and let them know that The Running Brothers sent you.

Our Fifth Hero Liz Boers-Maynard – Q&A: Part 3

May 252011

Tell us about your website.

I share my everyrunsawinner site with my geeky husband who posts more frequently on our feeling-healthy blog.

What inspired you to start everyrunsawinner?

The inspiration for starting was a sort of experiment to learn the geeky stuff that Joost does, to reach out to other running nuts, and proving to everyone that you can go from 96 kilos (c. 210 lbs) to marathon runner in 5 years if you are in the right business!

Do you enjoy bloggin?

The blog is fun – I am sort of writing it as I run so it keeps me occupied. I have also made some really nice connections to people all over the world.

What was your most popular post?

My champion post was Paris Marathon – job done – I had 67 hits in one day and it continued to be high for days after – It beat Joosts hits hands down!!

What do you think about the people who interact with everyrunsawinner?

Its a great thrill when people such as you comment – it makes me feel good – and I have some fun exchanges with a few “regulars” from all over the world.

We’ve checked out your website and are impressed with your running schedule. We’re also amazed that you can run in such low temperatures, how do you do it?

The secret to running in silly weather is the planning. If you have committed to yourself weeks before that you would run X klms on Y day then you just get up and do it!

The Start of The Orange County Marathon

May 092011

My brother picked me up at 4:30 AM Sunday morning. Yes, you read correctly 4:30 AM. Luckily, we were being dropped off by my brothers girlfriend, Jacklyn otherwise we would have had to arrive in Orange County at that time. Which would have meant being picked up before 4 AM. Typically, I don’t wake up before 9 AM.

I couldn’t sleep the night before, which is usually the case when I have something important planned and need as much sleep as possible. For some reason I get this overwhelming sense of anxiety and can’t sleep the night’s when I need the most sleep, although, I did get 3 hours of sleep which is better than usual.

Jacklyn and her sister, Danielle, our personal athletic trainer drove us to Fashion Island in Orange County and dropped us off shortly after 5 AM on Sunday morning. Thousands of people were making their way towards the start line of the race and we followed along side them. We made sure to hydrate before the race and drank a couple bottles of water, and with the drinking of water came the need to urinate. It looks like many others had the same idea of hydration because the lines for the toilets were LONG. Fortunately, the organizers of the Orange County Marathon had the forsight to order a ton of port-o-potties so we were able to find one with a small line and did our business.

We then made our way to the start line. The Marathon was scheduled to start in waves and according to our paper work, we were placed in wave two. When we looked at the signs strewn around the marathoners; however, we soon realized that there was no wave 2. The actual waves were broken down into letter, A, B can C as far as we could tell so we jumped in with the B’s.

Our bib numbers were pretty sweet as everyone who was running the race and spectators alike commented on our good fortune. Mine was 2222 and my brothers was 2221. Also, when we signed up for the race we were allowed to sign up as a team, so, my brother signed us up as The Running Brothers which was largely displayed on our bib numbers.

I was very active Twittering in the days just before the race and one person actually recognized us from our tweets, which was very cool. He introduced himself as Cory and asked which one of us was training for the Ironman. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask what his Twitter name was so we could be sure that we connected with him after the race, so Cory, if you’re reading this . . . let us know.

One last thing I need to mention was that my poor brother came down ill in the days preceding our marathon and was not looking good on the day we ran the marath0n. It was awful timing to be sick on that day and I totally would have understood if he didn’t want to even attempt the race, because in all honesty, he looked terrible. But, being the trooper my brother is, he attempted to run the race anyways. Not only that, but he never made any excuses and secretly I think he even was trying not to let me know that he was sick. Running a marathon is hard enough, but doing it while sick and running in 80+ degree temperatures . . . now that’s what I call guts.

The first wave went off around 6 O’Clock and the second wave began around 15 minutes later. Just before we were about to begin my brother turned to me and said, “I’m not sure this is such a good idea.”

I looked back and him and smiled . . . I knew he was right.

Zeb Running at The Orange County Marathon

Preparing for the Orange County Marathon

May 062011

I think it’s important to establish exactly how I prepared for the Orange County Marathon, so that in the future I know exactly what not to do. My whole plan in training was that I was going to attack this marathon as a complete novice, knowing nothing about running and continue to do events until I learned a valuable lesson about training properly. Up to this point, my brother and I have completed a sprint triathalon and a half-marathon and we completed both with relative ease. In preparing for the marathon we made a variety of mistakes, take a look at the things we did prior to preparing for the race and see if you can offer up any suggestions for improvement.

Most of my running was done at the gym on the treadmill or the elliptical. I knew that I would have to practice doing street running, but every time I ran on the street I ran into problems with my knee.
I ran about 15 miles per week up until about the middle of march and then I took some time off from running. I wouldn’t say I got burnt out, but I would say that I lost motivation for a brief period of time.
I did run during April a few times trying to build up my endurance running in the street, but it was sporadic at best.
I forgot to eat dinner the night before the race.
For some reason, whenever I have some big event to do in the morning the next day, I have a tough time sleeping. The night before the race, I fell asleep at 12:30 and woke up at 3:30 in the morning. I don’t think 3 hours of sleep is too good the day before you run a marathon.
I did drink a lot of water the day before the race.
I took some ibuprofen during the morning and during the race. I heard that this was supposed to reduce swelling.
We bought brand new running shoes and socks the week before the race. We were told that was a bad idea.
I did not have breakfast the morning of the race.
We remembered to apply sunscreen before our race thank goodness. Had we not that would have been disastrous.
I wore boxers underneath my shorts. I soon realized this was not the best idea.
I did not do anything with my nipples prior to the race . . . led to bleeding nipples. Ouch!
We did bring some energizing food that we used during the race. I think the name of the type of food that I enjoyed the most was Shots, although I’m not sure if that’s what it’s called. It’s basically energy food for runners.

I think that was it as far as our preparation for the race. Please comment on things we did well and things that need improvement. I know that my preparation for our next marathon needs to get better. What are the best things we can do to improve our times and our capabilities for our next marathon?

Zeb High-Fiving Mom at The Orange County Marathon

Rocky’s Results for the Orange County Marathon

May 032011

Runner Details

Race Results

Bib:	2221
Name:	Rocky Welborn
Gender:	M
Age:	26
Hometown:	Corona, CA

Overall:	1561 out of 1657
Men:	953 out of 982
M 25-29:	111 out of 117
Age/Grade:	32.29% Place: 1627
Finish:	6:26:51 Pace: 14:46
Tag Time:	6:26:51
Gun Time:	6:35:21

Split Times

5 Km:	33:43 Pace: 10:51
10 Mi:	1:55:28 Pace: 11:33
11 mi:	2:08:38 Pace: 11:42
Half:	2:35:04 Pace: 11:50
15.5 mi:	3:07:45 Pace: 12:07
18.6 mi:	4:07:01 Pace: 13:17

Rocky at Mile 9 of the Orange County Marathon

Orange County Marathon Day

May 012011

In honor of our first marathon, the OC Marathon, I wanted to post some pictures of my brother and I running which you may or may not have seen yet. Thank you for following our blogs and wish us luck. Today is a big day for The Running Brothers. Our race starts at 6 AM at Fashion Island in Costa Mesa and not really sure where it finishes, but keep us in your thoughts and wish us well.

5 Days Until Our First Marathon

Apr 262011

I’m scared!

Not really, but I quit training for our first marathon in 6 days. My knee was bothering me on each run, so I decided to rest it entirely until we run in the Orange County Marathon.

I have been getting a lot of advice the last few days about my knee and the consensus is that it is a problem associated with the IT Band. Wikipedia had some information on the IT Band which you can find by clicking here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliotibial_band_syndrome. But basically, it is what my sister and my brother’s girlfriend’s sister, an athletic trainer, had told me all along. That I would need to stretch the IT Band and the more stretching that I could do to it, the less likely it would be that it would hurt me in the future.

Starting tomorrow, I think I am going to go to the gym to lightly work out my upper body and stretch my IT Band and maybe do some brief elliptical work. With just six days to go I’m a little stressed about the prospect of running a full marathon, but I’m excited as well. At least I will know that I will have a time to improve on for future races.

17 Days Until Our First Marathon

Apr 142011

Time is running out and we are about to run our first marathon. I have tried training the last three days, but have had to stop early each time because I get this pain in my knee. Yesterday was my longest run so far. I ran 4.5 miles, but had to stop on account of the knee. My brother and I have decided to go to A Snails Pace, a running store in Brea to see if they can get us properly fitted for some shoes.

I’m excited to see if a difference can be made just by the types of shoes I would be wearing. I really hope that it does, because I want to be able to complete this marathon.

Learning How to Cure Runner’s Knee

Apr 092011

Recently, completer of 14 marathons and our uncle, Steve Jaros wrote an article entitled, “How to Cure Runner’s Knee.” We asked him to write this article because after running my first half-marathon, my knee’s were killing me. I knew that I would have to do something to insure that a similar situation didn’t arise again in the future.

I want to highlight the tips that he recommended so that it will help to reinforce myself in becoming a more intelligent and less likely to be injured runner. Uncle Steve says that any injury below the waste can be contributed to wearing the wrong shoes, which I find fascinating. If that’s the case then I definitely need to get me some new shoes.

Increases in distances and pacing should be methodically planned out and that their is no need to push yourself in training as over-enthusiasm often leads to injury. I can definitely say that I was not ready to run the half-marathon. He also says it takes over 6 months to prepare for a marathon, I can say that I won’t be properly prepared for that either. Unfortunately, my brother and I became “over-enthusiastic” and know we’ll probably be hurting as a result of it.

The substance you run on does have an impact on your body. According to Uncle Steve dirt paths and grass parks are better than macadam and macadam is better than concrete.

Other good ideas would be to check leg-length discrepancies with a chiropracter; doing leg work-outs at appropriate intervals between slow-long distance workouts and speed workouts; checking your heart rate every morning (if your heart rate jumps significantly it’s a good indicator that you’re training too hard); and use ice and advil anytime you feel even the slightest pain in your body.

Thank you Uncle Steve Jaros for your tips on how to cure runner’s knee. I need to do everything I can to make sure that my knees will be ready to complete our first marathon . . . in just 24 days.

Our Third Hero: Peter Engwall from auggiesdad.sweat365.com Part 2

Apr 062011

In Part 1 of our interview with Peter Engwall, we learned about the man who lost nearly 150 pounds when he decided to change his life for the better. In Part 2, we are going to learn about Peter Engwall, the man he is today. Peter has “an amazing wife, and the best son in the entire world!” And loves coaching his sons baseball and football teams. He’s a Project Manager for a wireless telecommunications company in Seattle, Washington. His schedule is extremely busy, but Peter always makes time for his Ironman training. Peter remains extemely active and we asked him a variety of questions relating to his fitness goals and about his website, http://auggiesdad.sweat365.com/.

As you may recall, Peter began exercising in order to lose weight and quickly discovered that entering himself in endurance events would help him stay focused on the end result of losing weight. One summer, he decided to sign up for his first Sprint Triathalon. Four years later he is planning on completing his first Full Ironman in November. Peter has also set a variety of other goals. He wants to complete an Olympic Distance race in under three hours and plans on completing his first Full Ironman in the alotted 17 hours. Lastly, he wants to remain injury free.

Peter’s life has been filled with memorable experiences. He married his best friend. He witnessed the birth of his son. He was on the Oprah Show. He completed a sprint triathalon. He completed a half marathon. And he completed a half Ironman. As a beginning runner, I know what Peter means when he says that those are memorable moments. It’s about being able to complete something that once was impossible and being able to accomplish something like that makes anything seem possible.

Training allows you to “get away from it all,” Peter says. When in training, all your thoughts and worries get focused on your training and it allows you to clear your head. And for Peter, it has been a surprisingly social activity. He has met numerous people that he has trained and worked with, including our first hero, Mitch Roberts. Peter began training with Mitch because he recognized the fact that it was important to find people to train with that are smarter and people to train with that are faster. I’m not sure which category Mitch falls into, but my guess is that it’s not the smarter one (Just Kidding).

http://auggiesdad.sweat365.com/ is a place that Peter goes to log his workouts and serves as a reminder to when his next races are scheduled. He has been able to track his distances through the website and he says it’s great to see his results grow. His post on http://sweat365.com/blog/2008/05/14/lifestyle-changes-yield-big-results/, is how I learned about Peter losing nearly 150 pounds as a result of his lifestyle change.

Through Peter’s website, he has been able to make many new friends from many different areas. His favorite websites are http://runningbrothers.com/ (obviously) and http://www.slowtwitch.com/. He encourages all of you to be yourself and have fun.

Lastly, Peter believes that every person should make someone else’s life just that much happier. He recommends that you change the life of someone else for the better. And I can honestly say that your story, your participation and becoming one of our heroes has changed our lives for the better.

If you would like to learn more about Peter Engwall, please visit his website, http://auggiesdad.sweat365.com/.

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