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For the young and not-so, workouts are much the same

27. August 2010

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For the young and not-so, workouts are much the same

Wednesday morning, I did a one hour workout with a group of women, most of whom were in their 80s. Wednesday evening, I did a half-marathon training run with a group mostly in their 20s. Despite being at opposite ends of the demographic scale, the similarities between the two groups were more striking than the [...]

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Raleigh greenway’s march to 100 miles: A progress report

23. August 2010

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Raleigh greenway’s march to 100 miles: A progress report

I had just said hello to Vic Lebsock when the inevitable happened: A woman walked up and wanted to know the status of a greenway planned through her neighborhood, a greenway years from construction, she knew, but she just had to know the latest. Lebsock excused himself and dutifully walked the woman over to an [...]

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Running across the state for Parkinson’s

13. August 2010

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Running across the state for Parkinson’s

When I saw the flier tacked to the bulletin board at the neighborhood Starbucks, I had one question. So I jotted down the name and number of the local contact and gave her a call.
“This 545-mile, 16-day Murphy to Manteo run that the three of you are doing,” I asked Lisa Tew, who lives in [...]

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Fall goals: Set ‘em now

23. July 2010

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I was noodling around the internet a couple nights back when I came upon the the Second Empire Grand-Prix 2010 Fall Series. I started checking the races in the eight-part series, then thought, “What am I doing? I need to focus on my summer goals (a half marathon, a mountain century bike ride) before I [...]

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Coaches: A two-sided tale of why they help

19. July 2010

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Coaches: A two-sided tale of why they help

“Let’s see,” Alan said thumbing through his small white book of eclectic statistics, “he’s got Beech Mountain rated as the sixth toughest climb in the Southeast. It’s three and a half miles with an average grade of 9.2 percent — and a maximum of 17 percent.”
I flinched. “That’s the one we’re doing today?” My grip [...]

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Programed to succeed

14. July 2010

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Programed to succeed

I looked up the road to the next street sign. “That’s it, right?” I asked. “Smallwood Drive?”
“That’s it,” Gavin confirmed. “Now we just have a couple hundred meters to go.”
Not what I wanted to hear on this steamy (92 degrees, 85 percent humidity) evening training run. We’d already done three mile-long fast tempo miles; this [...]

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Weekend plans? Three suggestions … or find your own

8. July 2010

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Weekend plans? Three suggestions … or find your own

A run, a hike and a sunset are three of the numerous ways you can get out and explore this weekend.
Coast
It can be hard to find a foot race once sweltering summer settles in — but it’s not surprising that if there’s a race to be found, it’ll be at the coast. A breeze (hopefully) [...]

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Gavin Coombs: Getting paced by the best

7. July 2010

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Gavin Coombs: Getting paced by the best

I figured Gavin was a good runner. He was, after all, one of our coaches. But it wasn’t until Saturday’s training run that I discovered just how good he was.
Gavin Coombs and Sean Kurdys coach the half-marathon training program I’m in. Like other running programs that have sprouted the last few years, it’s intended to [...]

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14 hours, 35 minutes, 14 seconds: Use it all

21. June 2010

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14 hours, 35 minutes, 14 seconds: Use it all

Today is the longest day of the year.
OK, so technically, at 14 hours, 35 minutes and 14 seconds of daylight there’s only one second of daylight more than there was yesterday and three more than there will be tomorrow. And we won’t be seeing appreciable changes in the length of day until late August. But [...]

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The challenge of running 12 miles on the MST

12. April 2010

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The challenge of running 12 miles on the MST

I’d been trailing the woman for a few minutes when she decided to let me by. As I passed, she did a double take. “If I’d known you were a guy,” she said, “I would have let you pass sooner.”
Her comment backed a thought that had been developing over the past 10 miles: Women trail [...]

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