Conway Running Club

It is a sad day for the Conway Running Club because today we lost one of our runners, one of our friends, one great person who met with us in the darkness of morning and ran the streets of Conway  with us.  Tony (or “Tony the Tiger” as some affectionately called him), we’ve missed you as you’ve battled with cancer and will forever remember you now that you are gone.  And honestly, we can’t believe you are gone. 

You were many things to many people, but many of us only knew you as a fellow runner.  We will remember you in the context of our runs together.  The conversations we had side by side on the road and gathering ourselves when the run was over.  Sharing stories of races you’d run and things you had done with friends and family.  Your hopes for a faster time and another finish and to do the Little Rock Marathon every year as long as you could. 

Your life is an example of living life to the fullest and giving it all you’ve got.  The abrupt ending to your life sadly reminds us of our own mortality.  We train and run so that we can always be strong, so that we can continue to win and so we can look at our limitations and show we are strong and that we will not give in to them.  But we will.  We love life and the people we get to live it with and we train and run so we will be strong and live forever. But we won’t.   We never thought we would have to see you go so soon.  But we did.  We fought the battle with cancer with you and as we say good bye, we are thankful for the memories and friendship you left behind, for being part of the CRC family and even in this sad time, for helping us to remember that we too have limitations and every race will not be a PR and every life will end. 

So in this sad time, we celebrate your life.  We celebrate every time you toed the starting line and crossed the finish line.  Even in sadness, we are encouraged to live the life that you lived, to enjoy and appreciate every time we get to run and every race we get to finish.  We will seek out balance in our own lives because just as you have left behind a wonderful family and legacy, we hope to do the same.  We will not stop running, living and remembering.  For it is in these moments, and it is with people like you that we find part of the meaning and deep friendships that will keep us going until we too will cross the final finish line. 

It is you, Tony the Tiger, that we celebrate today. 

In memory of Tony Griffin Sherrod [November 28, 1968 - August 24, 2010]

Tony Sherrod “Eight Little Rock Marathons in a row!! They were all ugly, but I finished!! Congrats to all who finished. Hope everyone felt better than me at the finish.”

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The following are the times for Conway area runners and runners in the CRC.

Race Results

“Back in the day” my Dad was a high school cross country coach.  One of the joys of picking up running as I entered my 50′s has been the conversations I’ve had with Dad about running form, his experiences, etc.  I never knew he ran a marathon.  I ran a 10k in the Seattle area when I was up there last year and he came up (he lives in Oregon now) to watch me.  With .2 miles left to go it was an incredible experience to hear him yell my name and words of encouragement as I kicked to the finish.  Every opportunity I get to look him in the eye and draw some of him out to keep means everything to me.

These pearls of running wisdom (or old fashioned ideas – you kind of have to review and evaluate each one) are fun to hear and interesting to try and see if they work.  The other night we were talking about relaxing while we run and especially that last bit when you are kicking toward the end of a race.  He often says ”all you have is what you brought to the race” and “the only way to make sure you use what you have is to keep your form“.  Many times he’s talked about his runners coming to the end with their head back and high, swaying back and forth, giving it all they have only to be passed by someone who is true to their form to the end. 

So the other night he says,

something I always told my runners was to pay attention to where your tongue is when you are running.  We tend to have it straight up towards the roof of our mouth.  If you will focus on putting it behind your front lower teeth, especially as you are kicking at the end, it will help you keep your head right, your jaw and face relaxed, and finish with your form.

Running wisdom?  Out of date technique?  Try it and decide for yourself. 

And as an added bonus, watch this.  The third runner in the video looks like he is finishing a cross country event and it reminded me of my Dad and sparked this conversation.

Running Tips

What an experience! 31 miles of rough, hilly, and DARK forest service roads thru the woods. I saw one copperhead snake, lots of spiders, but no bears! There were almost 200 starters for the 25K and 50K combined. Once we broke off from those running the 25K at 7.5 miles the field dropped considerably, but there were still lots of runners ahead of and behind be. I didn’t really notice when I started meeting those that had made the turn around and were headed back but the closer I got to the 15.5 mile turn around the more I saw. Most shouted out words of encouragement like “you are almost ½ way”, “good job”, or “the aid station is at the top of the next hill”. Those that knew me called my by name. It sure felt great! I entered the turn a round aid station at 3 hours 31 minutes.

I headed out again after just a 3 minute break to grab a snack and fill my water bottles. I felt strong and the first little bit was down hill. I was pretty much running by myself at this point. Frank had dropped back due to twinges in his hamstring and muscle cramping (and eventually dropped from the race), however I could always see runners with a light ahead of me and behind me so I knew I wasn’t alone. The best part now was that every step I took was bringing me closer to the finish. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I would pass a runner every now and then which also gave me a boost of confidence. When I reached the 23.5 mile aid station (the 7.5 on the way out), they were so nice. Making sure I was ok, asking me if I needed anything. I found out at that point that they were having an unusual amount of runners dropping out. I guess the heat and humidity were taking their toll on many. I felt strong! After another short break I headed out.

From that point on I didn’t see another runner. No one in front – No one behind. It was kind of creepy. A few times one of the sag vehicles would drive by with runners that had dropped and ask me if I was doing ok. My answer every time… Yes, I feel good. I talked to myself some, encouraging myself with things like “you are going to make it”, “you have got this”, “just keep running/walking”. Finally at about 26 miles my legs were starting to get tired. Miraculously nothing was hurting. No knee pain, no muscle pain, no foot or ankle pain, just plain old fatigue. I kept trodding on… in the DARK, with a flashlight.

Several times I was creeped out by what sounded like someone behind me. I would turn around and there was no one there. In fact once, I was convinced there was someone coming up on me, I turned and let out a scream. Again, no one! I think I was hearing an echo of my own footsteps. It sure would have helped if I would have had someone with me. Eventually I got to mile 30 and hit paved road. I knew it wasn’t far now and picked up the pace a little (it helped that I didn’t have to dodge rocks and dips anymore). As I rounded the corner into the campground, Jesse Garrett, was there to meet me and run me it. Less than a quarter mile to go. I had made it. Frank and several others were there to cheer me across the finish line. 7 hours 25 minutes 20 seconds after I started I crossed the finish line and became an Ultra Runner.  Judy Massingill

Ultra Running

It’s so helpful to have a mantra when you run to keep your focus, keep everything going together the way you want it while you run and keeping you injury free so you can keep on running.  The Chi Running team has been one of the great sources of helpful running information for me.  Thought I would share this with everyone, just read it in the monthly e-newsletter. 

From Certified Chi Running Instructor Lee Killpack
Learning to cooperate with gravity is essential to both our posture and our impact with the ground. In my workshops I have my participants run to the beat of the metronome while thinking “up” with the beep and their heel lift. I then have them mentally think “down” with the beep and their footfall. We then return to thinking “up.” If you try this you will find that there is an amazing difference in the lightness you feel in your body and in your impact with the ground when you think about your feet (and body) going “up” rather than “down.”

My favorite mantra to go along with this is “Lengthen, Level, Lift” as I run or walk.

• Lengthen – Think lengthen your spine
• Level – Think level your pelvis
• Lift – Think lift a limp lower leg from the ankle

I say each word of the mantra once, and match each word to one beep of the metronome. Then I take a few strides without the mantra to check in with my body. Let your body and mind be a team as you lighten your step.

I highly recommend “everything Chi” whenn it comes to running!

Running Tips

Just wanted to issue a quick THANK YOU to all CRC runners that made the trip to Malvern and represented the CRC so very well.

We were able to field both a men’s and women’s team, so each team was able to score some points.

Currently the CRC Men are listed in 2nd place… however, your 16 best scores are what end up counting (11 races complete, 20 total races), and if you drop our lowest score (evens us up with LRR & RVR with 10 races) we are actually one point behind RVR and in 3rd place.

The CRC Women are currently in 6th place, not out of it yet, but we need to get in some good races over the summer. See if we can make up a little ground.

Here is the link to the full team score board.

Again… thanks to those that ran Malvern, good luck to those racing this weekend, and most of all… Have a SAFE & HAPPY 4th of July weekend!

Next race is the Dam Night Run 5k on July 31 at beautiful Lake DeGray.  Save the date and be there!  If you are not on the Grand Prix team, click here to join today – it’s not too late.

Your GP Coordinator,

pt

Grand Prix

Complete results for the 2010 Brickfest 5k are here.  Here are how the Conway runners did.

Race Results

There is power in letting go.  In relaxing.  Tension and tightness rob us of so much in life. 

Below is a some advice from Jean-Remi Campion, a Chi Running Instructor, from the latest Chi Running Newsletter I just received in my inbox.  I think I’ll spend today, as I work, focused on how relaxed my toes are.  Nice. 

RELAX THOSE TOES

One mantra I repeat very frequently to my students is this: If your toes are not relaxed, then chances are your whole body is not relaxed.

So, in order to get used to relaxing your toes, I have put together an exercise to guide you:

• Take of your shoes and socks and, while standing, feel the soles of your feet relaxed on the ground. Feet are pointed forward, of course.
• Close your eyes and relax. Feel equal balance on the entire soles of your feet in contact with the ground.
• Now relax your toes. 
• Next, complete the rest of the focuses of the Chi Running postural alignment. Once completed, come back to the toes. Are they tight? Then maybe your body is still tense. So close your eyes again and feel those toes relaxed, free, just as if they could run off on their own!

This is how they should feel with every step you take, throughout the whole run.  Relaxed, loose, free … let those toes dangle!  If you can manage this, then your whole body will follow in relaxation.

Running Tips

By the time the sun peeps over the horizon we’ve been running for an hour or so.  It is so easy to forget that the cars passing us going the other direction are often driven by people who got up 5 mintes ago, are drinking their first cup of coffee to wake up, may be running late and the sun is in their eyes, blinding them.  We have to remember that often they literally can’t see us running.

This morning as two of us were running west along Tyler a car going east passed us and I waved at the driver who I thought I recognized and he didn’t even seem to notice me waving.  I turned as he passed to see who it was and was immediately blinded by the morning sun in my eyes as it came up over the horizon.  We were 10 miles into the Soaring Wings half marathon route and were just passed by a car who literally couldn’t see us. 

So remember, when you are running at sunrise or sunset, often oncoming cars can not see you because the sun is in their eyes.  Be careful out there!

Running Tips

The following are the results for Conway area runners in the Running with the Dogs 5k in Benton.

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