When did races become so pricey?

While doing some booooring online training this morning (all morning, rather, which is about to morph into an all-day) I again failed to find the end of the internet but I did register for another race from the Running in the USA online race calendar.

During my search for local races, I stumbled on the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon and Half, scheduled for November 17 and I was all ready to sign up until I found this nonsense:

And now I have many questions.

Most of all, when the $&@!*$ did road races become so expensive?

I know nothing about race direction or organization but I am very curious about how the race fees are broken down.

Let's do the math: if I signed up today for the half, that's $120/13.1 miles or $9.16 per mile. Does this seems prohibitively expensive to anyone else?  I measure everything in plane tickets these days, and that's a plane ticket home for me.  Roundtrip.  

Or maybe those are fair prices nowadays and I've just been lucky enough to stumble on races that are more inexpensive.

I ran my first marathon (Cleveland, OH) in 2002 and I solidly remember the price in the $40 range.  Today, it's increased to $95 for the full and $80 for the half (if I register two to three months out).  We all know that the RNR series is more expensive than other races, but $120 for a half marathon is too steep for me.

So to satisfy my urge for another morning race I signed up for the Gruene 10K instead of the RNR Half.  I love Gruene Hall and the environs.  And I like the $30ish pricetag, which is $5.65 per mile, not that that's a useful measure of anything other than my inability to register for a race early, ever.  Cost aside, I'd really rather support a local club than the megawatt Rock and Roll series anyway.  And the race is next weekend.  

Happy Saturday running...back to my online training...zzzzzzzz

Pub run pre-cap... AND confessions of a running shoe hoarder

I hate to do this to you...

But after I raved about the Mizuno Wave Rider 16s

I am going to wear an old pair of running shoes to the Pub Run tonight.

Good thing I brought a collection of Wave Rider 15s with me when I came out to San Antonio for the summer! 

My shoe cycle goes like this:ones with high mileage (yellow) are phased into the "for Army training" pile and the newer ones (purple and red) are for longer runs, and the newest (the 16s) are saved a third category, races and race-specific training.  It's just common sense, I don't have a shoe problem!  I promise!

A reflective belt really brings the picture together

I will upset myself if my new shoes get dirty too soon, I'm serious!!

Ridiculous, yes, but this is the real world where running shoes don't show up without $$ and I love to keep them somewhat clean and in good repair as long as I can.

Of course, I'll still run the $#!% out of them rain or shine or meatballs or whatever.

Just without assorted pub gunk stuck all over them.

So the uniform of the evening includes:

I've never even been to Nebraska

A shirt that the most generous friend in the world purchased for us gals since we somehow eked degrees out of the good ol' U of Nebraska! Not sure about the peace and love portions but hey hey it's a good looking shirt!

Hope to see you there!  And if you can't make it, I'll be sure to post some pictures tomorrow.  But it'd be better if you attended...just sayin'.

Happy Friday!  Where are you on the shoe life cycle?  And are you doing a pub run tonight?

Bikram Yoga Benefits?

During my foray into Bikram Yoga, I googled "Bikram Yoga health benefits" repeatedly (remember the definition of insanity, anyone?) in a vain attempt to find something specific.  I found things like "reduced anxiety" (a tad subjective, I think) and "body detoxification" (so is pooping) and "blood thinning" (scary, quite scary...and nebulous).  

These intangibilities bother me no end!

In my yoga stint, I didn't feel particularly thin of blood (or thin at all, really) but I did sleep better.  Nothing is as comforting as evidence so I did a literature search and found one salient article by some great neuromuscular scientists, Brian Tracey and Cady Hart, out of Colorado State.  I love that these guys admit in their abstract that there really hasn't been much in the way of high-grade yoga research.  Hence their study, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research!

After 8 weeks of 3x weekly 90 minute Bikram yoga classes (and for anyone just joining us on our yogavestigation, that means hot hot hot hot yoga), the study group of 32 young and healthy but mostly sedentary adults had stronger and more flexible hamstrings, stronger glutes, and increased shoulder flexibility as compared to their non-yogi counterparts.  Of course, these are not facts and science, merely "facts" and "science" dusted with the stink of statistical magic.

Feel free to read the study, but be aware of the limitations--we already could surmise that physical activity of any variety is a boon to anyone who is mostly sedentary.  This study did not dwell on blood thinning or inner peace, but still demonstrated that Bikram Yoga has a positive impact on flexibility and strength, two key components of physical fitness.

So what is my takeaway?  Yoga is fun to do with a friend.  It's a nice break.  It's nice to relax in a hot room in the evening.  But it's not going to increase my VO2 max or transform me into a skinny mini any time soon.  So I'd better keep running.

Good thing the Pub Run is for (TOMORROW)...more on that in a bit!

Who wants to argue with me about the benefits of yoga?  I liked it, I really did, I promise...but I'm not sure I'm a Bikram devotee...

Race review: I know why they call it a WHINE run now!

 The 2013 San Antonio Road Runners Labor Day 5 Mile Whine Run...

Figure 1.  Graph is to scale.

My earlier guess was unfortunately correct.

Well, umm, sooooo....AFTER the race we had fun at the Dry Comal Creek Vineyard.  Shady lawn, live music, vendors and club tents, hot dogs, wine, wine glasses, cheese, crackers, grapes, sodas, water, plenty of places to sit and relax and drink in the natural (and grapey) beauty.

I was not well prepared for the hills, but I loved the challenge.  Whining was in full force by, oh, 3 minutes after the start (see Figure 1).  

On a positive note:

Good swag: Chilled towels at the end, great after-party at the vineyard proper.  Nice purple technical t-shirt in men's and women's sizes.

I leave town and he starts wearing purple...oh my!

Great Support:  water and carb beverages every mile or so, also chilled soaked sponges.  Some families and neighborhood residents cheered outside with cowbells, but mostly a drawn out internal monolog with myself, wondering how much D would tease me if I bowed out of the race at various points. (The answer is quite a bit, not that he was faring any better :) )  Plenty of port-a-potties along the course if you knew where to look*.

The course itself was about 1/2 mile removed from the winery/vineyard, in a new subdivision.  It almost felt like we were either in the Truman Show or running through a road race-based advertisement for a hilly and up-scale housing development, but with a $25 entry fee and a chance to challenge myself on some hills, I would do this race again.

I would visit the winery/vineyard again too, even without the race!

There is a 5-mile walk option that begins 30 minutes before the 5 mile run.

We had so much fun we forgot to take pictures and sample the wine, which, I was told, was quite tasty.

The San Antonio Road Runners put on a great event- and I hope to be able to attend another SARR race.  I am not a champion runner but I do appreciate my health and the time I spend on the road or treadmill and I feel like the SARR is a welcoming club for all aficionados, regardless of natural ability.  I am as always very thankful for the military discount.

*Which I didn't.  In other news I definitely had The Running Bubblies midway through and I am very sorry to the owners of the back yard I surreptitiously visited.

Product review: Mizuno Wave Rider 16

In the summer of 2010 I made a big-girl decision and for the first time bought running shoes at a dedicated running store in Warner Robins, Georgia: Run Fit Sports. 

Before that, I bought all my "running" shoes online or at close-out sales, without much thought beyond price and color scheme.  I suffered shredded ankles and horrendous blisters for my naivete.

As evidenced in the header picture, for the past three years the only running shoes I wear are Mizuno Wave Riders (the 13s, 14s, 15s and now 16s), for no other reason than the perfect-for-me fit.  I do my best to buy them on sale or to buy older versions.  

I never thought any new shoe would supplant my love for the Wave Rider 15 until D gave me the brand new Wave Rider 16 for my recent birthday.

So I have a completely non-technical and biased review for you!

I love anything orange, err, apricot?!

I ran 5 miles in them so far and I love the semi-soft smooth ride already.  As compared to the Wave Rider 15, I feel that they are lighter,  constructed of a more flexible sole, and with great arch support but maintaining the same roomy toebox that I love.  The heel seems identical.  Sizing is true to older versions of the Wave Rider.  I feel weightless in these puppies!  

I am "meh" on the colors available, but I am about to buy another pair to have in reserve...I must really love them!  For Wave Rider fans, the 16 will not disappoint you...it pains to me to admit that I enjoy the 16-level ride more than the Wave Rider 15.  

My only concern is the revamped construction of the upper - it's a stretchy mesh fabric now without the buttressing leather framework as in previous Wave Riders.  As I walk I can see my toes pressing through.  If it holds for the next several hundred miles, I'm fine with it and it surely is the reason the Wave Rider 16 is noticeably lighter, even to my uncalibrated legs.

Purchased from Running Warehouse for ~$104.00 (aka more than I've ever spent on a running shoe!).  Love their 2-day free shipping policy.

Other colors include a pink-ish variant and white/purple.  I like the bold men's color options better.

Any other Wave Rider fans??  Who else has transitioned to the 16?