September is a funny month for me. It started when we went back to school in September. For you younger readers, in the old days school started on the Tuesday after Labor day and ended in June somewhere around Flag Day. These days I see kids going back to school in the middle of August, which means the Back to School sales start around Memorial Day. It was simpler in the 1950s.

It always marked the end of whatever grand plan I had for the summer. Many years I would decide to lose weight for the summer so I’d look good in a bathing suit at the beach. By the time September rolled around and I realized I hadn’t even started to lose weight I just gave up. And, of course, September is close to November and there’s no way to lose weight between Thanksgiving and the New Year so I wouldn’t have to think about losing weight again until January.

Don’t misunderstand. It’s not that I hate September. Quite the opposite. I really like September. After all, September is also the month filled with the most promise. It was the month when I’d start a new grade level, meet a new teacher, and – with any luck – have a chance to put behind me all the mistakes and transgressions of the previous year.

As a runner, September is also the month to put the mistakes of the past behind me.This September I won’t buy a new pair of shoes just before the marathon. This September I won’t decide that the shorts that I’ve been wearing all season won’t work on race day. This September I won’t decide to try the latest nutrition trick. This September I will stick with my plan and believe that what gets me to the start line will get me to the finish.

In the end that’s what makes September such a great month. Every year we have an opportunity to make our own transition. Every year we can see the seasons of our lives changing. We can let go of everything that has been and look forward to whatever is coming next.

September is the month where change is not only possible, it’s inevidable. We will never be the same person on October 1 that we were on August 31.

Waddle on,
John

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.

Dear Penguin

I just wondered if you ever heard of this type of training where you run more in the fat burning zone (very slow) as a weight loss method

Anthony

It’s not a new concept. And it’s more complicated than it sounds.

For years many of us have advocated the benefits of the Long Slow Distance run. The LSD run promotes fat burning as a fuel source. It’s great for endurance and weight loss. The key is that you HAVE to run at a fairly low heart rate for it to work and most people don’t like going that slowly.

It’s more fun to run faster and get into the aerobic zone, which is where you start burning carbs.

The truth is that MOST people burn about 100 calories for every mile they cover. It doesn’t matter how fast, you still burn about 100 calories. So, if you’re a fast runner and run for an hour at a 6 minute pace you’ll burn 1,000 calories. If you run at a 12 minute pace, you’ll burn 500 calories.

BUT, and here’s where it gets tricky, the person running at a 6 minute pace may actually be running at a LOWER heart rate. So, the slow runner may be burning more carbs, but fewer calories. Make sense??

In the end, every training program needs a mixture of long, slow runs, steady paced “tempo” runs, and some speed work.

Waddle on,
John

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.

By now most readers know that there have been two passions in my life; motorcycles and running. The fascination with motorcycles started when I took my first ride on a moped at 12 years-old. Running came much later. What unites them is my joy in movement.

This week I rode from Chicago to Arlington, VA to visit my son and grandchildren. I had a couple of days so instead of just knocking out the miles on the Interstates I decided to ride as much as possible on the old US Highways. One of my favorites is US Route 50, one of the great Coast-to-Coast from another era. I’ve ridden every mile of it, from Annapolis to Sacramento.

Heading East on Rt. 50, approaching Parkersburg, West Virginia the exits were closed. I slowed to see why and ended up smiling from ear to ear. There, running along the road, were THOUSANDS of folks competing in the Parkersburg Half Marathon.

This fall I’ll be at a running event nearly every weekend from VA Beach to Philly to LA to Vegas and lots of places in between. I’ll see thousands of people chase after their dreams. I’ll see them succeed. I’ll see them fail. I’ll laugh and cry with them.

Saturday all I could do was smile, wave, and honk my horn. On that day our lives on the road were headed in different directions. But soon enough we’ll be together again.

Waddle on,

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.

That’s my foot. That’s my foot wrapped in athletic tape. Why? Because for all the years and all the miles and all the advice I’ve given and taken I am still just as stubborn-headed as ever.

A little history; way back in April Jenny and I, along with a couple of good friends, took a week-long motorcycle trip. The Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon was in the middle of the trip but mostly it was about riding. I sort of noticed that my right foot was sore but – being an idiot – I ignored it.

In the middle of May I took another week-long motorcycle trip. I was solo this time and riding my biggest bike, the one that I affectionately call Fat Albert because it’s the heaviest bike I’ve ever owned and I dropped it several times in the first few months I owned it. I had Fat Albert loaded up pretty good – BMW style – with stuff hanging out all over.

Now here’s where the lesson begins. To get a motorcycle up on the center stand, which is what you want to do most of the time when you’re stopped, you need to put the center stand down, stand on the stand with your right foot, and rock the bike backwards. You do NOT want to press down hard with your right foot while you pull up on about 700 pounds of motorcycle. So, of course, that’s exactly what I did. Not once. But several times

The result? At the very least I irritated the plantar fascia on my right foot and more likely hyper-extended it OR tore it. The pain was real and constant. But did I stop running? NOOOOOO. Why? See the first paragraph.

It’s now August. The foot has REALLY been painful so – OF COURSE – I decide that I need to walk/hike and cycle through the pain. And – OF COURSE – I have now rendered myself completely out of commission. I’m taped up. I’m taking the anti-inflammatory, and I’m staying off the foot. FINALLY.

Why can’t I learn these lessons the easy way? I’ve been very lucky. I haven’t had a serious running-related injury in a long time. I’ve struggled some with my back over the past several months, but running actually made it feel better. THIS injury isn’t running-related. Or at least it wouldn’t have been if I hadn’t run on it.

Stay tuned for an update in a week.

Waddle on,
John

John and GS 650 twin

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

I thought about having a contest to see if anyone could identify this motorcycle. The owner thinks it’s a 1967  Suzuki 160cc dirt bike. My research leads me to believe it’s actually a 1970 Suzuki TC120 II. Not that it matters all that much. What it is, for sure, is an old bike that seems to be in pretty good shape considering that it was probably run hard and put away hot for most of it’s life. If anyone can tell me for SURE what it is, that would be great.

The sighting of this old Suzuki happened on a recent reunion with old friends. Old friends. Pre-running friends. Motorcycling friends. It was great to spend time together remembering what it was like “back in the day”. We were young, then. We were full of life, then. We were filled with the enthusiasm and naivete’ of an earlier age. The road of our lives was in front of us and – we believed – stretched well beyond the horizon.

Today we’ve ridden into that horizon for 30 years. We’ve seen what lies beyond the horizon. We’ve ridden into the storms of life. We’ve ridden through them. We’ve had breakdowns and setbacks. We’ve had flat tires. We’ve been stopped in our tracks and yet we’ve found a way to repair ourselves and go on.

What has repaired me, and what continues to repair me is being active. What that means has changed over time. Being active used to mean running nearly every day. Being active used to be doing two, or sometimes three workouts a day. It used to mean racing nearly every weekend. It used to be 4, 5, or 6 marathons a year. Like that old Suzuki, many times I rode myself hard and put myself away hot. In those days it seemed like the only joy, the only release, came in nearly total exhaustion. It seemed like the only way to silence the demons – or tame the Gremlins as Rick Carson calls them – was to push myself beyond my imaginary limits.

My running has changed in much the same way as my motorcycling has. I go more slowly. I stop more. I find satisfaction and release much farther back from the edge. The more I faced the demons, the more I’ve been honest with myself about why they became demons in the first place, the more I realize that I’ve always been fighting with my own shadow.

When I run today I’ll run with a lot less weight on my shoulders. My waist may not be the same size as it once was. My pace may not be as fast as it once was. But, my soul is lighter and more free than ever. I look back at the old me with the same mix of curiosity and wonder as I looked at the old Suzuki. I’m sure that, at the time, everything about that motorcycle made sense to someone. I’m sure that the way I was living my life back then made sense to me.

But, I don’t want that old life, or that old Suzuki.

Waddle on, friends.

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.

Dear Penguin,

I became inspired by my step daughters when they ran a Marathon in Delaware in May of this year. I have run and completed two marathons in my 20’s and 30’s. I also did a triathalon (1.0 swim, 10 run and 10 bike) in my 20’s. With that said, I stopped running at age 35 (no desire)……but, continued to go to the gym taking fitness classes and working out on machines.

Since the Delaware Marathon, I run 3, 4 or 5 miles daily. No Run on Fridays, run long on Saturday and off Sunday. I went from a long run of 13.5 on one Satruday to this Saturdays run of 17 miles. There were many hills for the last five miles, at the 15 mile mark, my legs felt like lead, I walked the final 2. My goal is endurance no speed.

The Marathon is November 21….any suggestions…am i overtraining.

Bernadette

The short answer is, yes, you are probably overtraining. But, it’s not that simple.

It sounds like your enthusiasm is getting ahead of your ability. And, it sound like you are increasing your long run by too many miles. Most training programs, including the ones in my book “Marathoning for Mortals”, only increase the long run by a mile or so each week.

AND, [and I am 61] when we get a little more – well – seasoned – it takes more time to recover. After age 40 it takes close to 48 hours to fully recover from a workout. A younger person can recover in 24 hours.

So, it’s a matter of doing less so that you can do more. Try adjusting your training schedule to include more rest and see it that helps. It should.

Waddle on,
John

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.

He wasn’t the only person in the race. He wasn’t even the only celebrity in the race, but, NBC’s Today Show’s Weatherman Al Roker was without doubt one of the favorite runners on Sunday. It takes courage to start a half marathon. It takes an additional measure of courage when your life changes have been so public and was thoroughly profiled as Al’s. He get’s a big thumbs up from me.

Al may be unusual, but he is my no means unique. In many ways he represents the character of this generation of runners. He is a guy, like so many others, who took control of his life, changed his lifestyle, became more active, and literally changed his life with his own two feet. It isn’t easy. All of us who have done it know that. I’m sure that Al, like many of us, struggles every day with the Al that used to be, the Al that is, and the Al that he wants to be.

I was announcing at the start and finish so I got to see Al as he began his journey and as he celebrated his victory. To be honest he looked a bit nervous as he came past me. I would be too. Unlike most of us, if he wasn’t successful, it would be well documented. That’s a lot of pressure.

But as he crossed the finish line of his first half marathon he had the same smile of satisfaction that we all have. His celebrity meant nothing at that point. He, like everyone else, had to earn the finisher’s medal. And he did. Congratulations Al.

All the participants were treated to a great race. Brooks Running has this giant inflatable across the course. Even the Chicago Police got a kick out of that. And the views of the city in the early morning are just spectacular.

In the end, though, this race like every other race is about what it feels like to finish. It’s about the emotions that explode as you cross that finish line and know that you’ve done it.

Many of you know that the Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon is the race that used to be called The Chicago Distance Classic and that John Bingham Racing owned and produced the race for 7 years. Our goal was create a great race for the Chicago running community. We brought the event from 2400 participants in 2002 to 11,000 in 2008. It was very satisfying.

But the race has gone beyond my wildest dreams. It is not only a great race for Chicago runners, but a fantastic experience for runners and walkers from all over the world. I feel like a proud father watching his child grow up. It’s a wonderful feeling.

Waddle on,

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.

Those of you who follow this blog closely know that I took a week off. Yes, even writers get to take vacation every now and then. In my case, vacation meant piling my son and three grandchildren, 5 year-old boy/girl twins and a nearly 4 year old boy, into a 30-foot RV and hitting the road. I have always like to travel “on the road”. It didn’t matter whether it was by car, motorcycle, or RV, the act of getting out and seeing the world close up excites me. Now, as a grandpa, I want to pass on that joy of encountering the world to another generation.

It’s true that this is not exactly the tent-on-the-top-of-a-station wagon style camping trip from years ago. We weren’t rubbing two sticks together to make a fire and we certainly weren’t foraging for our meals. This is roughing it in a contemporary sense but it still meant changing up all of our lives and learning how to co-exist in a fairly small space. When Jenny joined up for a couple of days that small space was shared by 6 of us.

Kids don’t need an excuse to be active. They just need an opportunity. That was the lesson in the week for me. Where we camped was a children’s paradise with a lake that was nearly 1/4 mile around and VERY shallow for the first 30 yards from shore, a water slide, fishing lake, putt-putt golf, art activities, an inflatable obstacle course, kayaks, and more. A paradise. All we had to do was let them be active. We didn’t have to require them to be active.

They’d get up, eat breakfast and head for the lake. Then came swimming and playing in the water followed by an hour or so on the water slide, then lunch, the golf, then – well – more lake and water slide and fishing and kayaking. You get the idea. Children know, instinctively, that they need to play. Somewhere we lose sight of that. We need to play. Or at least I need to play.

I stopped playing for nearly 25 years. I got pleasure in my life from other, much more adult activities like overeating and smoking and drinking. I didn’t have time to play anymore I told myself. My life was too busy. Too complicated. My work was WAY too important.

Of course, we all know that I was wrong. I needed to play. I needed it more as an adult than my grandchilden need it. I need to move my body. I need to feel strong and alive and free.

And at the end of the day, that’s why I run.

Waddle on, friends.

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.

I’m looking out the ship’s window at the islands around Sitka, Alaska. Our group on the Great Alaskan Marathon Cruise just enjoyed a 10K run through the streets and trails of Sitka and Jenny and I enjoyed a hearty lunch and wonderful conversation with some of the Sitka running community.

We may be separated by thousands of miles and a cultural gap but we are all runners. Even our friends who are walking every step are runners in the sense that they belong to this community of people who share a joy of life and a commitment to experience it on their own two feet.

We see many of the other cruisers being herded onto to buses for sightseeing trips. Their world is on the other side of the windows. They can see Alaska but they can’t truly feel it. Not like we can.

So this week’s blog is a little short on content but long on meaning. I’m glad to be here. I’m glad to be on these pages. I’m glad to be a part of a community of people who share my values and goals.

Now I’m going back to sharing the beauty of the Last Frontier.

Waddle on, friends.

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.

Dear Penguin

I used to be in shape, ran a marathon and everything but then I broke a bone in my foot, got married and recently had a beautiful baby boy. I have all of the intention to begin again but the extra 100lbs is discouraging.

How can I jump start my engine and once again feel the euphoric run with such a hectic schedule and an 8th moth old son? I really want him to know the once penguin that once ran 9 minute miles and had all the self confidence in the world. Please help.

Starting over from scratch in Erie PA

This is one of the most often asked questions that I get. So many of us, myself included, work hard to get ourselves to where we want to be only to let it all slip away. The reasons may differ – marriage, sickness, job stress, etc. – but the results are always the same. The person that we are is no longer the person we want to be.

You actually made the most astute observation in your signature. You are starting from scratch. What makes it more difficult for you is that you’ve been where you want to be. Your head remembers what it was like. Unfortunately, your body doesn’t.

You’ve GOT to be patient, kind, and gentle with yourself. The body that you had – not the shape but the structure – is not the body you have now. You’ve got to take the body that you’re in and make it the body you want to be in. And it may also be that an 11 minute pace is a more reasonable goal.

It can be done, but it will take time. Get started. Take it one day at a time. And have fun.

Waddle on,
John

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.