One foot in front of the other.
Xterra Wetsuits (50% off until the end of June!!!!)
Patriot Triathlon (Go Shrekilocks!!!)
Dreamfar Triathlon Team (Thanks guys!!)
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Running Aimlessly Around the Countryside
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I just got this AWESOME tweet from @SirIsaac (Newton Running’s Twitter name):
@sirisaac: Attn: NYC! We’re doing a free running clinic/group run in Central Park with Newton’s founders on June 16 at 5:30pm, Boathouse
followed by this tweet:
@sirisaac: @ironbrandon This NYC running clinic is per your request 
SOOOOOOOO AWESOME!!
So, if you’re in the New York City Area, please come to the event! Here are the details:
When: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 5:30 PM EST
Where: The Boathouse in Central Park in New York, NY
What: Running clinic and group run with the founders of Newton Running
I am SOOOOOO excited and I hope to see lots of people there! Let me know if you’re coming so we can meet before and maybe grab a drink afterward![mappress]
NYRR Half Marathon Grand Prix: Brooklyn Results
The Resurrected runner Library
The Adventures of Cowboy Hazel
Robert Downey, Jr. in Newton’s on the set of Iron Man 2
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Sorry for the sickness, but fear not! I shall return!!
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Runner’s World: Running at Altitude
NYRRHalf-Marathon Grand-Prix: Brooklyn
Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon (Go Phil!!)
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Click HERE to see the post mentioning Brandon’s Marathon on the official Crocs Prepair Blog!!
Popular Mechanics Article On Barefoot Running
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Bobby’s Wildflower Half Ironman: 6:53:26 (official)
Ari’s New Jersey Marathon: 3:52:54 (official)
Megh’s OC Marathon: 4:16:23 (official)
Shelly’s Eugene Marathon: 3:32:25 (official)
Carrie’s Wisconsin Marathon: 3:54:19 (official)
Allison’s Indy Mini: 2:17:35 (official)
Justin’s Indy Mini: 1:35:38 (official)
Zach’s Salt Lake City Marathon: 5:03:13 (official)
I will update any unofficial results with official ones as soon as I can.
You may have heard me mention in BMP: Episode 39, there are quite a few races this weekend. Below are the peopl that I know participating.
Orange County Marathon – Megh (Bib # 303)
Wildflower Half Ironman – Bobby Cockrill
Eugene Marathon – Shelly Centis (Bib # 1896)
OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon -Alison Garner (Bib # 31298)
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiJustin Hiday (Bib # 31295)
I will be adding any information I can get as it becomes available throughout the weekend, so check back often!! Break a leg you guys!!
De Soto Cool Gear (scroll down the page)
Soldier passes away in Country Music Half Marathon
Wildflower Triathlon (Bobby Cockrill)
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YouTube Video’s using a foam roller
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Well, for my first 10K I certainly did not want the weather that we wound up with. Rain was supposed to come through beginning yesterday (4/10) afternoon, but it waited…and waited…and waited. Then, this morning, just as we left our apartment the rain began. As we walked to the subway I said, “Hey, this isn’t so bad! I don’t even need my umbrella!). Then we got out at 66th St.
When we got out of the subway at 66th St., we had to immediately take out my umbrella. Fortunately, Danielle had brought along a Scottish flag poncha that had been included in our swag bag (foreshadowing perhaps?). I’m going to save the rest of the race report, including the semantics of the event for BMP: Episode 37, but suffice it to say, mud and I are close acqaintances but far from friends.
What about my time, you ask? well, I was aiming for sub-8 minute miles, and I acheived exactly where I was aiming, an average 7:30 per mile! My final time is in the image below.
Hey there everybody!
So, I feel that it is incumbent upon me to throw in a couple of caveats to BMP: Episode 35.
1. I do apologize for wasting time being angry with Tom.
2. I used Tom’s name over and over so much because I wanted to be sure that it was very clear that any and all ranting was directed at an individual, rather than my audience at-large.
3. When I said “I love Newtons. If you don’t, screw you!” I was not saying that to everyone, nor did I mean it with the vitriol with which it came out. I meant it to convey the message of, “Hey, I love Newtons. If you don’t like them, or have never tried them, or will never try them, that’s fine. Do what you like.”. I may not have been too clear on this point and I apologize for that.
I am sure that I will come up with one or two more things to add to this list, so please check back for updates! I treasure you all and thank you for your continued support and encouragement!
BW
I know I shouldn’t be back to racing with my knee in the state it is in this early, but I have been off of it for this whole week. I have been icing, stretching and soaking it in copious amounts of Windex (get it?). It is feeling fine, good even!
Along with all that I realized a while ago, that out of all the races I have done since I began my journey (or ever), I have never done a 10k! So, Danielle and I will be running in the NYRR Homecoming Scotland Run 10k on April 11. It’s in Central Park which is NOT the easiest course in the world, but hey, the date is convenient! You can find the course map below, just click on it for a larger view.
Homecoming Scotland Run 10K
Fans of Brandon,
I just checked the results from the Shamorck Marathon and I’m happy to report that both Brandon and Danielle are officially marathoners.
Brandon finished in 4:31:30 and Danielle finished in 5:00:34. Great work you two! Have a safe drive back. We are look forward to the race report.
Hey there everyone!
As you have probably figured out by now, I’m not going to be putting up an episode of BMP this week. I have been extremely busy and I am getting ready to go a gig out of town this weekend. Anywho, I will have a new episode up next week, so check back!!
US Airways flight 1549 went down in the Hudson River at around 3:30pm today. The Airbus A320 went down at about 50th Street on the West Side of Manhattan. For those of you interested, that is EXACTLY where I run.
As of right now, all passengers seem to have survived. The cause of the crash, while still unconfirmed is believed to have been a flock of birds. Below are links to several news outlets.
All my thoughts, prayers and thanksgiving for the passengers and crew of this flight.
All passengers and crew of US Airways flight 1549 have survived! There were 150 passengers, 3 pilots and 2 crew members on the plane.
Brandon’s Marathon on YouTube!
Sentara New Year’s Day 5K Results
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To all my readers and friends, I wish you all a very merry, safe and happy Christmas!
Brandon
Their are several things that I have been trying to explain on the podcast now for some time that I think would be better shown in video form. One of these things is the proper way to ‘feel’ how to begin forefoot running. So, Over the next few days, I hope to record some videos and post them to YouTube under the user name BrandonsMarathon. I will of course, let you all know when I begin with this. So, keep an eye on the blog, an ear on the podcast and one foot in front of the other!
Allan and Jeff from Running with the Pack are running the Philadelphia Marathon tomorrow!! I will be tracking them and you can follow their progress here:
Click the link!I will post Allan’s race report in the next few days.
I will be recording BMP: Episode 20 this evening! Check your feed tomorrow for the show…
Hey there everyone! I have begun adding some polls to the site that I think will have some interesting results. So, take a minute and vote in any polls you see. the first one is right here in the left hand column!
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Every year, thousands of runners and cyclists get injured and killed by motorists who either aren’t paying attention or simply don’t care. Last week, here in New York City, two joggers were hit and one of them killed by a driver under the influence of narcotics [Story].
Then yesterday, in an event that hit VERY close to home, a cyclist was struck on the very road, Route 9W near Piermont, NY, where my friends in the Saturday Morning Clown ride do our long rides. The cyclist remains in critical condition [Story].
Whether you are the motorist or the athlete, OPEN YOUR EYES!!! Please keep your eyes open and encourage your friends to watch out as well. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those injured.
Gebrselassie’s World Record Marathon
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Today, I am pleased to announce the somewhat inauspicious launch of a new joint venture with myself and some of your favorite endurance sports podcasters and bloggers. The new venture is a forums site call Multisport Talk!
Multisport Talk is a forum dedicated to the discussion of and promotion of ALL endurance sports. If you visit it now, you can already see the beginning forum topics. They include Swim, Bike, Run and Triathlon, as well as others.
Because this is a new project, we need all the help we can get! So, please let anyone who may be interested know about our site!
OH YEAH!!! TO find it you can just go to: www.multisporttalk.com
Running in the Center of the Universe
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Just a quick note to the faithful; I will be out of town and probably not recording until about August 11th. I may try to use my Isight microphone and camera for a quick post, but no promises!
In the meantime, send me your emails, comments and questions!!
Yours,
BW
My Run for Central Park Results
Full Run for Central Park Results
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Strong Island Rookie Triathlon
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Since I did my first triathlon a few weeks ago, I have become addicted. Yes, it was a singularly painful event, but it was such a rush. Now that I am back in NYC and I am looking back on the event, I have done some analysis of what I can do in and out of the race to make myself better. The first of these things is slimming down a bit.
Right now I weigh about between 207 and 210 lbs.. Ideally I would like to get down to about 185-190. However, as you may or may not know, I a fairly muscular guy and I refuse to lose mass, so my goal is to make the mass I have or will gain, more lean. This will take stress off of my legs and joints and make every event I participate in that much easier, even the Richmond Marathon. Here is the rough outline of the workout I will adopt beginning today:
Monday: A.M. 2 hour bike ride down the west side bike path (this always takes about 2 hrs.)
P.M. 1 hour lifting; 1 hour treadmill run (this will change to road running once I get back into it.)
Tuesday: A.M. 2 hour ride, down to 70th St. and then to Central Park to do “The Loop” no fewer than 4 times.
P.M. Swim, no fewer than 1400 meters (building 100 m a week.)
Wednesday: A.M. West side ride.
P.M. 1 hour “light” lifting; 1 hour treadmill run.
Thursday: Off
Friday: A.M. Central Park ride.
P.M. Swim (1400+.)
Saturday: Saturday Morning Clown Ride (to Nyack, NY and back, approx. 55 mi.)
Sunday: “Hard” lift; 1 hour treadmill run.
I am sure this will change, based on how my body reacts. I will also fine-tune it to get the most out of each workout. Check back in the coming days for details of the workout. I will try to do a post on each portion that includes all the nitty gritty.
During the Redondo Beach Triathlon this past Sunday, in the bike leg of the race I drafted for about 30 seconds. It has since been brought to my attention by Jeff of Road to nowhere that drafting may be illegal in some triathlons. So, I checked the official USAT rules (USA Triathlon) and Jeff is correct, at least for age group racing.
Drafting is basically where one rider rides very close behind another. The advantage of this is that the front rider creates a “hole” in the air and the rider or riders following fit into that “hole”. This makes for a smooth and easier ride for the rider in the back.
Drafting is not only allowed in cycling, but is, in fact, the norm. In triathlons however, the USAT states that only athletes in Olympic qualifying and professional races may draft, thus allowing them to ride close together in packs. In age group racing, which is what most races are (like Redondo), USAT rules say that riders must maintain a distance of at least three bike lengths between them and the rider in front of them.
I would like to say that I was not aware of this rule prior to being told by Jeff (Thank you!!) and I am really sorry that I performed an illegal maneuver, no matter how brief.
Here are the details:
First; about 3 days before the race I was riding a bike to the store. The bike has SPD pedals, but I was wearing flip flops because it was just to the store and back. Somewhere along the way the pedal rolled and I cut my the high part of my heel (almost near the bottom of my achilles). No real damage, but there went any hope of not wearing socks.
Days before:
I kept up regular, but lesser workouts up until the Friday before the race (race was on sunday). During the day on Saturday, I went to the check in/clinic they had for the event. Got to take a look at the course and so on. On Saturday night I had a big plate of penne with pears in a gorgonzola cream sauce. Went to bed at 10 pm.
Race day:
I woke up at 5 am, had two eggs with cheese and a banana. I wanted to be checked in and in the transition area by 6:15, but made it at about 6:20. I had plenty of time to set up my transition area just right. I was wearing a one piece tri suit by TYR, and a Zoot Fuzion, full wetsuit (which I will never do again, I’ll explain later). I had two bottles of water set to hose the sand off my feet and everything ended up working out just right.
The start:
The day was overcast, so not so hot and the water was about 62 (f-ing cold). I was in the 3rd wave, which I think was the biggest (34-14 y/o). I got near the front of the group.
The swim:
Had a clean start and got into the mix right away catching multiple feet hands and elbows to my face and other parts. I am sure I also returned the favor. It took me about 5 minutes to pull out in front of the big pack. There was one guy that just took off and ended up out of the water about 30 seconds ahead of me. I pulled way out and I think I was third out of the water for my wave. The reason I will never wear a full sleeve wetsuit again is that it created resistance to my stroke. I had to work harder to get my arms out of the water and this ended up killing my breath. And let me tell you, I am feeling it today.
Coming into the breakers was fine. I caught a couple nice wave that gave me a great push, but I also caught one that broke under my legs and almost flipped me. Once i was standing, I had about 20 yards of water to run out of, which was SOO hard. Once out of that, I had about 75 yards to go to the transition. The real problem was that the entire run up the beach really was UP the beach. By the time I hit the boardwalk into T1 I was in so much pain. I got to my area ok, took a drink of FRS and got my socks and shoes and helmet, etc. on. I then tried to get on my bike before they reminded me that I had to run out of the transition. All in all, I think I was in the transition for about 45 seconds to a minute.
The bike:
I was riding a Cannondale R5 with Look Keo Sprint pedals. It is a road bike and not a tri-bike per se, but it did a great job, and since I train on my own road bike anyway, it is what I am used to. I did rather well on the bike and I believe I only lost about 4 places to guys that were definitely seasoned triathletes and riding $5,000+ tri-bikes. I took advantage of drafting and using it even passed one of the guys that had passed me. I made it into the transition very well and got my cycling shoes off and my running shoes/hat/glasses on in about 30 seconds.
The run:
I was using Yankz for my shoe laces so I saved a lot of time with that and the fact that I had socks on made my shoes go on even faster. The run was a 2 mile course, that was on a lot of boardwalk, which was nice and easy on the legs. However, running is by FAR my weak point and I lost probably about ten or so places to guys that were crazy fast. At mile one there was a set of about 5 stairs that burned like hell. Just beyond that was a water station. It was at that water station that I discovered the bad side of drinking water from a cup while running (I choked). I also dumped the remainder of my water on my head, forgetting the fact that I had a Nike Dri-fit hat on and it would push away any water that hit it! Oh well. The final 30 yards included a hill (up) which sucked and then a nice sidewalk.
My official time was 52:48 and I finished 6th in my age group. I am not sure about my overall place, but I will let you know once they post that info (if they post that info). Overall, I was extremely pleased with my performance. I need to work on my running, no doubt, but I hung in there and it felt awesome to finish.
I just got back to Bobby’s apartment after completing the Redondo Beach Triathlon. I finished 6th in my age group (30-35) in a time of 52:48. That’s all I know right now, but I will post the official results and links and such soon.
At 7:30 tomorrow morning, my start wave (wave 3) will begin the Redondo Beach Triathlon!
Check back for the results!!
As I write, at 7:27 am PST, Bobby is running his Marathon!!!
Hey there everyone! This is the first episode of my podcast tracking my progress. Either listen to it here, or check it out in Itunes!!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Since I have Nike+ (plus) shoes/Ipod, and have been using it now for a while, I am going to do my best to start putting the graphs of my runs into my posts. Some of them may come up a bit after the fact because I don’t always update my Ipod or my runs every day.
So, keep a lookout for some cool graphs and such!!
F.Y.I. The calibration when running on a treadmill is somewhat less than spectacular, so if I do an outside run and you see a sudden spike in my pace, it’s because running on a road or track is far more accurate and thus shows a much faster pace. Here is an article about the Nike+ calibration issues.
Hi. My name is Brandon Wood. On November 2, 2008 I hope to run my first marathon, the New York City Marathon to be exact.
With this blog I am going to try to document the pains and gains of my journey. Along the way I will be joined (in spirit seeing as we live on opposite side of the country) by my best friend, Bobby Cockrill. He too will be keeping a blog to keep anyone who wants to listen abreast of his path to his first marathon (which will be in June in the San Diego Marathon). If all goes well, we’ll be running the New York City Marathon together.
Thanks so much for visiting my site! My name is Brandon Wood and I am the social media manager and a customer service rep for Newton Running. This site and podcast follow my adventures on the way to competing in and training for all kinds of endurance events, especially triathlon and running. Click the "About Me" tab for more info!
Who: This contest is open to anyone and everyone in the U.S. and Canada (also APO)! Tell your friends!
What: Stuffitts! I have spoken about these simple yet awesome shoe savers in the past. Click here to read more about them. I cannot say enough how great they are!
When: Starting NOW! This is an ongoing contest that will be every month, or until every person on the planet has nice, fresh smelling shoes!
Why: Because Stuffitts are awesome! The folks at Stuffitts are being SUPER generous and I also want to give you guys something that I think is a great addition to any athletes arsenal!
How: On the last podcast episode post of each month (example: Episode 99 on June 28 HERE) entrants should leave a comment (however long you'd like). On the following week's show (the first show of each month) I will draw, by random number generator, one winner! That's it!
Good luck!
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