THE
ROAD RACER MIND OVER MATTER
Why the mind matters
NUMERIC RUNNER
summer series photos
The Arizona Road Racers Newsletter
November/December 2011
arizonaroadracers.com
On the right track A new year for Arizona Road Racers brings new opportunities
W
e all know that change is inevitable, and in recent months your Arizona Road Racers running club has seen several internal and external changes. This past September, many new members were voted in to the Board of Directors and I am pleased to have the privilege of serving as your club president. Since assuming this critical position I have a whole new understanding and appreciation for the job and the role that Steven Finkelstein held for many years. I am humbled to have the opportunity to follow in his footsteps. The club would not be where it is today if not for his dedication and leadership. We are all grateful for his service. As your new club president it is my goal to continue to make the Arizona Road Racers the premier running club in the State of Arizona. Both our new and returning Board members share this common goal. Over the course of the last few months we have rolled out a fresh new logo, a more interactive and exciting website and The Road Racer newsletter is transitioning to a magazine style with a brand new look and feel that over time will be filled with interesting, topical, and relevant running articles. Most importantly we know that the club is all about YOU. Our members. We want membership to be something that you are proud of and something that is a value to you and your family. Above all else we want it to be fun to be a member. We want to greatly enhance the member experience and are looking at new ways to reward loyalty and offer additional value to your membership. We will be announcing these as they come along and we look forward to sharing them with you. Together we will take the Arizona Road Racers to new heights! For now, run hard, run strong, and rock on! Trent Collicott President, Arizona Road Racers
2011-2012 ARIZONA ROAD RACERS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Trent Collicott
arrboard@arizonaroadracers.com
Secretary Tricia Schwenk
Treasurer Hal Gensler
Business Operations Norm Janoff
Marketing & Race Shirts Erin Woodell
Pace Teams Tina Berlingeri
Registration Sandra Fontaine
Timing John Zatarski
Equipment & Staging Charlie Benson
Membership Brian Burns
Practices & Procedures Raj Gangadean
Social Events Lindsay Rusk
Volunteers Sierra Williams
VICE PRESIDENTS
The ROAD RACER The Roadracer is published bimonthly by the Arizona Road Racers, 428 E. Thunderbird Rd. #425, Phoenix, AZ 85022-5229. Newsletters are distributed free to Arizona Road Racers members. Individual issues are not for sale. Material in The Road Racer may be reproduced if the purpose is to promote running. Reproduced material must be accompanied by an acknowledgement to the Arizona Road Racers. Contributing photographers and writers retain all rights to their works. The views and opinions expressed by writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Arizona Road Racers, its partners, or advertisers. Deadline for articles, photos, and advertisements is the 15th of the preceding month. Submit all copy and photos to newsletter@arizonaroadracers.com.
1
Editor Erin Woodell erin@arizonaroadracers.com
On the Cover Tere Zacher
Contributing Columnists Trent Collicott, Norm Janoff, Lyle Anderson, Tere Zacher Contributing Photographers Andy Lawrence, Sergio Custido Jr. Printer Short Run Printing, Ltd. • Scottsdale, AZ Electronic copies available.
The Road Racer
N
egative thoughts lead to a negative performance; the connection is as straight forward as that. The solution is to focus on the race. This means firstly to keep the concentration as unbroken as possible, and secondly to try to change any negative thoughts into positive ones.” --Sally Gunnell, Olympic Gold Medalist and World Champion Hurdler. Have you ever trained really well, slept really well, watched your nutrition before a race, only to come and have a so-so performance? If your answer is yes, and you are sure the performance had nothing to do with being sick, then maybe it’s time to look at your mind and at what you are— consciously or not—thinking about before, during and even after the race. In order to perform consistently, and to cope with the inevitable pressures arising from involvement in competitive sport, athletes must believe that they are capable of meeting the demands of the challenge before them. They must believe that they have trained sufficiently to perform at that level. And they must maintain this high level of self-belief throughout the competition period (1). In my job as a sports psychologist I have found that lack of self-confidence is the most common area in need of improvement in athletes of all ability levels. Even Olympic athletes experience self-doubt at times. So if this is a problem for you…don’t worry, you are in good company. One of the most important determinants of developing and maintaining confidence is what athletes say to themselves. This is called self-talk and it is through this type of thinking that confidence is either enhanced or diminished (2). If you have a mental self-image of positive characteristics (“I am resilient”), positive perceptions (“I have trained well every day” “I deserve to perform well”) and positive traits (“I have been able to keep up during my long runs”), then you will be more confident and will perform better. If negative characteristics, negative descriptions, doubt about ability or preparation creep in, confidence is bound to drop; and of course, performance suffers. Self-affirmation is a process of directing self-talk to affirm both the positive abilities and skills of the athlete, as well as the appropriate training and preparation which has come before (3). Through the use of self-affirmation the athlete immerses in the conscious mind positive thoughts which are associated with producing excellent performance. Repeated use of these affirmations influences your perception of ability and skills. This enhanced perception increases confidence before and during competition, and ultimately performance is likely to improve. So…all this sounds great on paper, but, what can you really do about improving your confidence? First and most important: practice, practice, practice. Just as you wouldn’t go and try to PR in a marathon by running only once per week, you are more likely to get a stronger mind and to have more self confidence by practicing EVERY DAY. Here are some techniques that have proven effective:
MIND OVER MATTER Why the mind matters by TERE ZACHER
1 DEVELOPING A PERSONAL LIST OF POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS: It is a natural inclination to engage in negative thinking before and during competition, or to doubt personal ability. Creating a personalized list of positive self-statements is the first step towards overcoming this habit. Have it close to you and read it as often as you can. You can also record these CONTINUES ON PAGE 3
November/December 2011
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Hope you’re
feeling good!
It has been said, “He who has health has hope. And he who has hope has everything.” As a former smoker and drinker of excess, I can attest to you that my health and fitness level is much better these days because of running. I’m in my late fifties and feel much younger and also a bit wiser, this gives me hope to overcome all my other difficulties in life and that I’m still in good enough health to try and take care of them. Running has helped me not only physically, but it has also given me something to challenge myself, my mind and my body, in addition to getting more active and adventurous, rather than destroying it by habits of the detrimental kind. George Lucas said “we are all living in cages with the door wide open.” This brings me to the “feeling good” part, and the folks who are in the business of trying to make us feel good. One such person in the Phoenix Metro area is Dr. Art Mollen. He’s known for devoting his time and giving advice of health and medical issues for decades on the radio,television and editorials here.” Hope you’re feeling good,” is his catch phrase and motto. Long before Dr. Oz or Dr. Phil, Dr. Mollen has been a mainstay in the Valley Of The Sun. He’s been outspoken on physical fitness and for people to try and live active lifestyles. He actually started the Phoenix 10K road race in downtown Phoenix over thirty years ago. I’m not saying that being healthy and somewhat fit can make you happy and you’ll be sitting around everyday singing “kum ba yah!”
MIND OVER MATTER
but it beats sitting on the couch sucking down brewskees, smoking cigarettes, stuffing the pie hole with grub and waiting around to get heart disease by loosing muscle mass from immobility. Dean Karnazes said “I run because if I didn’t, I’d be sluggish and glum and spend too much time on the couch. I run to breathe the fresh air. I run to escape the ordinary. I run...to savor the trip along the way. Life becomes a little more vibrant, a little more intense. I like that.” Feeling good has to do with your mental as well as your spiritual make up too, to go along with a sound body. Proverb says “your body is your temple,” take care of it. Even the medical field now is understanding that prayer is an avenue of therapy to recover from illnesses. Music, dancing and laughter are other ways to feeling good. Bill Withers and Bob Seger sing songs about freeing and soothing the soul! Musicians as well as doctors and preachers are in the business to try and make us feel good too. If there is one musician and one song to get you in the mood of feeling better then try listening to “I Feel Good” by James Brown on your iPod or MP3 player on your next run. If you don’t feel good and rejuvenated after that tune there’s probably no hope for you! Just kidding of course. “Hope you’re feeling good!” Happy running!
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
statements and listen to them while you sleep. Some general sports affirmations are “I am strong”, “I can stay focused under pressure”, “I feel good about my ability”, “I like the challenge of competition”, “My training is going well”, etc. 2 DEVELOP PERSONAL SPORT ACHIEVEMENT REMINDERS: Keep an up-to-date list of affirmations relating to successful sporting achievements. It doesn’t have to be a PR, or something big you have achieved (which, of course, you can use as well), but sometimes it can be reminding yourself how you show up to each of your workouts; how you have trained despite being tired, or sick, or hungry, or sad; how you have finished something that was challenging to you (a long run, a race); how you stayed focused even when everything around you seemed chaotic. This list acts as a method of personal verification of performance, improvement, and worthiness. 3 CHANGE YOUR SELF-TALK: Analyze the content of your sport-related thinking and look for any negative thoughts you may have. Reframe these statements and replace them with positive ones. This makes sense, of course, but it’s easier said than done. The key to successful reframing is first to acknowledge your negative thoughts, acknowledge that there is a real challenge in the situation, then attempt to think about the challenge from a different angle; and, second, always try to have a replacement 3
by Lyle Anderson
thought ready that has been practiced and rehearsed previously. An example of this would be instead of thinking “I’m worried about cramping during the race today” change it to “”I’ll be ok during the race as long as I keep getting fluids every time I can (or every x miles)”. Change a negative opening (“It is difficult for me…”) to a positive one (“It is a challenge for me…”) 4 FOCUS ON GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT: Don’t expect absolute perfection every time you perform. Control the controllables…the stuff you can’t control, well, you can’t control it! 5 REVIEW PERFORMANCE: Learn from the negatives, then dismiss them and remember the positives. 6 BE A COPYCAT: Model yourself on other successful, confident runners who stay positive in pressure situations. 7 ENJOY THE CHALLENGE OF TOUGH COMPETITION: Grit your teeth and hang in there all the way to the bitter end. Enjoy the whole process and compete with a determined smile on your face! Have a happy run! Please send your questions or comments to terederbez@hotmail.com I’ll be glad to help in any way I can! The Road Racer
ROADRACER PROFILE
BRIAN BURNS
YOUNGTOWN, AZ • AGE 30 • TEACHER • HOMETOWN: CONCORD, OH When and why did you start running? Ran my first race at about 8 years old. It was a mile and I did it because my dad was a runner. I ran on and off for the next 17 years but nothing serious. About 5 years ago I started running and have not looked back. Where and when do you like to train? I train outside whenever possible and at whatever time fits my schedule. Do you run alone or train with someone? I try to train with a group at least once a week. The group really keeps me accountable and I find I push a little bit harder. Describe a typical training week. Typical training week 30-40 miles a week. Some easy runs, some speed/hill work, and long slow distance. Lift weights about 3 times a week. I am always struggling with the question: "Do I want to be a runner, a lifter, or someone who is just in shape?" It is a tough balance to find! What is your proudest running moment or your proudest accomplishment? My proudest moment in running is any time I work through a tough mental battle. The feeling of knowing I could have given up but didn't is the greatest!
NORM JANOFF
T
the
What are some of your personal best race times? 5k - 20:52, 10K 47:40, half marathon 1:44:30, marathon 3:59:48. What is the funniest thing to happen to you on a run? The funniest thing that happened to me on a run was the finish of the San Francisco 1/2 Marathon...you just had to be there! Do you have any pre-race rituals? Not really. I just show up warm up and run. I do set everything out the night before though. How has running improved your life? I have meet some really good people who have turned into great friends. I would have to say it does not get much better then that. What other hobbies or interests do you have? I enjoy movies, music and baseball. What advice would you give new runners? Just stick with it and be consistent. It takes time. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Let people trick you into doing races! What are your future athletic goals? Future goals are to run a sub 20 minute 5k and a sub 3:40 marathon. What are you currently training for? Currently I am training for the Las Vegas Marathon, the P.F. Chang's Marathon, and an Ultra Ragnar Relay. Anything else you want to share? If you are reading this and not an ARR member you should become an ARR member!
NUMERIC RUNNER
he Arizona Road Racers 2011 Summer Series and associated Grand Prix concluded another record-breaking year with the number of finishers increasing more than 14% over last year’s record. The 2011 Summer Series #1 is now the leader in overall finishers in a Summer Series race with 1,034. From a race logistic perspective, the biggest issue facing the club is managing the races effectively in the face of the larger participation rates. Using the wave start was one way to handle the mass of runners. Other ideas will be implemented in next year’s summer series. Using my regression analysis of the 2011 Summer Series races, the fastest race was Summer Series #2 at Reach 11, closely followed by SS#4 at Kiwanis Park. The slowest race was Summer Series #5 at South Mountain Park.
I spent some time conversing with the women’s Overall Grand Prix victor, Tere Derbez-Zacher. She comes from an eight-year focus on competitive swimming. She has only been running for a couple of years, but obviously shows considerable talent. Shortly after the Summer Series, Derbez-Zacher finished sixth at the AFC Half Marathon with a time of 1:19:26, a 5-minute personal record. She plans on making her marathon debut at this fall’s Twin Cities Marathon and also hopes to run the PF Chang’s Rock ‘n Roll Marathon this winter. Continuing with the Overall Women’s Summer Series Grand Prix competition, Terri Antonino claimed second with Kristina Pham one point back in third. Antonino came on strong in SS#3 and SS#4 to capture the second place award. In the men’s Summer Series Overall Grand Prix competition, Jonathan Harmon was the victor, winning SS#1, SS#3 and SS#5 and finishing second in SS#4. Norberto Robles finished strongly to snag second place by one point over Bryce Peterson. Moving to the men’s age group competitions, out of the 15 age groups in which competitions occurred, six winners scored a maximum 800 points (that is, they won at least four races in the age group). These dominating runners were Joshua Reveles, M10&Under, Jonathan Harmon, M25-29, Paul Kramer, M40-44, Ricardo November/December 2011
continues on page 5
4
John Spano
Edwon Jelmberg
summer series 2011 photos by Andy Lawrence
NUMERIC RUNNER | continued from page 4 Maldonado, M45-49, Andy Lawrence, M60-64 and Bill Salazar M65-69. The age group with the most runners competing in at least four events was M40-44 with 38 runners. Each of the sixteen male age groups had at least three runners competing in at least four races with eleven of the age groups seeing at least eleven runners in the competition for the age group awards. Looking at some of the more compelling competitions, the M11-13 was won by Alex Meza, Sean Mendonza was second, and Nicholas Floyd just held off a hard charging Charles Van Dyke for third by a single point. In the M14-17 age group, a spirited battle took place with Orbelin Araujo winning by one point over Luke May. These two runners took first or second in the age group in all five of the Summer Series races. May won the first two races and then Araujo came back to take the next three. Rene Ramirez won M30-34, while Jacob Hernandez was second in a real battle for second over Dmitriy Illyinsky by two points. These two runners were seemingly joined at the hip in the races, with the time difference between the two at ten seconds or less for all races except SS#5. Another close battle for second took place in the M45-49 that was won by Ricardo Maldonado. Todd Barnes edged Jim May for second by one point. Barnes captured second with a strong showing in SS#4 and SS#5. In the M60-64, dominated by Andy Lawrence, Norm Janoff slipped into second over Gary Grierson by running all five events and benefiting from a Grierson injury that cost him considerable points in SS#5. (Running all five races allows the runner to drop his lowest point total.) Grierson missed SS#3 while in the Midwest running Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth Minnesota and then in Missoula, Montana for his 49th marathon state. Only Hawaii remains for Grierson to join the 50-State club. In M70-74, John Alcorn took first while Mort Bloomberg edged Robert Steffan by two points for second. Bloomberg benefited from consistency and by running all five races. In the M75&Over, three runners completed four or more races with Bodo Diehn claiming the win, Novi Milicevic second and Charles Rice third. These three runners have competed against each other and in ARR races for decades and it’s a joy to see them continuing to compete. 5
Finally, let me recognize the other age group winners: Brett Bernacchi M35-39, Edward Balady M50-54, and Michael Maynard M55-59. Moving now to the women’s age group competitions, out of the 13 age groups in which competitions occurred, four winners scored a maximum 800 points. Winners were Lisette Michaels, F18-24, Tere Derbez-Zacher F35-39, Kim Lorenz F55-59 and Karen Davis F60-64. The age group with the most runners competing in four or more events was the same as the men’s, F40-44 with 37 runners. All but one of the age groups had at least three runners competing in at least four races with nine of the age groups seeing at least nine runners in the competition for the age group awards. Note: there was only one racer in one event for women 70 and over. Let’s take a look at some of the more compelling competitions. In the F11-13 won by Ava Hamilton, Bryanna Gorman came on strong in SS#5 to win second place by one point over Maritza Ordonez. As mentioned, Lisette Michaels won the F18-24 with 800 points with Jessie Klein claiming second by a single point over Katherine McConnell, who actually ran strongly in SS#3 through SS#5, but could not overcome a relatively poor result at SS#2. In the very competitive F35-39, Kristina Pham and Terri Antonino tied for second place behind age group and overall winner Tere Derbez-Zacher. Of the four races that both Pham and Antonino ran, each ran faster than the other in two of them. These two may be waging a friendly battle for years to come. In the F40-44, Tricia Schafer prevailed over Louise Turner for first place by a single point. Both runners completed all five races with Schafer winning the first three and then holding on as Turner bested her in the final two. Finally, the rest of the women age group winners are: Emily Simon F10&Under, Stacey Herrrle F14-17, Kristin Lee Fitzgerald F25-29, Aletia Tomkins F30-34, Betty Phillips F45-49, Kim Goodrich F50-54 and Wendy Watson, F65-69. Note: Names in orange are Arizona Road Racers members. The Road Racer
For a complete list of races, visit our online calendar: arizonaroadracers.com/racecalendar.html
NOVEMBER 2012 5
AZ Urban Race
Salt River Fields
Veteran's Day 5K
Rio Vista Park • Peoria, AZ
6
3TV Phoenix 10K
Phoenix Cityscape
Women's Half Marathon Scottsdale, AZ to Tempe, AZ
12
Javelina Jundred 100 Mile Endurance Run McDowell Mountain Park
Shun the Sun Skin Cancer Run Hohokam Stadium
13 TMC Fleet Feet Half Marathon Sabino High School
Honor Walk 5K
19
Undy 5000
State Capitol District
24
Arizona Road Racers Thanksgiving Day Classic
Mad Mud Run Phoenix
Peoria Sports Complex • Peoria, AZ
Prescott Turkey Trot
Red Mountain Park • Mesa, AZ
MacDonald Ranch • Scottsdale, AZ Prescot Mile High Middle School
20
Fortuna Mine Trail Half Marathon
Paradise Valley Mall • Phoenix, AZ
Yuma, AZ
10
17
Kiwanis Park • Tempe, AZ
Adobe Dam Regional Park
12K's of Christmas
18
Mesa Turkey Trot
26
Renegades Run 5K
Bethlehem Lutheran Chruch Mesa, AZ
DECEMBER 2011 3
Jingle Bell 5K Walk/Run for Arthritis
Prescott, AZ
4
24th Annual Runner's Den / Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon Scottsdale, AZ
Sally Meyerhoff 5K Freestone District Park
McDowell Mountain Frenzy Trail Runs McDowell Mountain Park
Jingle Bell Run
Arizona Road Racers Desert Classic 30K
Rio Vista Park • Peoria, AZ
20
Arizona Road Racers West Side Open Mile
Rose Mofford Park • Peoria, AZ
21
Across the Years
Camelback Ranch • Glendale, AZ
31
22nd Annual Midnight Madness
11
Tucson Marathon
Tucson, AZ
Rose Mofford Park • Peoria, AZ
Athleta Iron Girl 10K
DC Ranch AZ • Scottsdale, AZ Scottsdale,
JANUARY 2012 8 Arizona Road Racers Castle Hot Springs Run
Lake Pleasant, AZ
28th Annual Resolution Run
Papago Park • Phoenix, AZ
XTerra Trail Run #2
White Tanks Regional Park
14
Phoenix Children's Hospital Kids Rock Downtown Phoenix
15
P.F. Chang's Rock & Roll Arizona Marathon & Half Phoenix Scottsdale, • ScottsdaleTempe • Tempe Phoenix,
21
Coldwater Rumble Trail Run
Estrella Mountain Regional Park
28
Arizona Road Racers Desert Classic Marathon Half Marathon & Relay
Riverboat Village • Surprise, AZ
London's Run
Schnepf Farms • Queen Creek, AZ
McDowell Sonoran Challenge
McDowell Sonoran Preserve
Retro Run
Kiwanis Park • Tempe, AZ
November/December 2011
6
428 E. Thunderbird Rd. #425 Phoenix, AZ 85022-5229
PHOTO FINISH Send us your candid race photos and we’ll print them in our Photo Finish Gallery! newsletter@arizonaroadracers.com
Tina Berlingeri & Craig Davidson I-Did-A-Green Run Dakota Custido Summer Series #3
Chloe Lyman Summer Series #3