Houston Harriers Newsletter | March 2021 Edition
Mar 26, 2021 3:56 pm
Harriers Monthly Newsletter — March 2021 Edition
By Emilia Benton
Happy Spring, Harriers! Welcome to the fifth edition of our newsletter. As a reminder, feel free to email any updates for future newsletter consideration to emiliamariebenton@gmail.com.
To start, we’d like to welcome our newest members to the team:
- John Mushett
- Adolfo Villarreal
- Bernie Mooney
- Jamie Broom
- Thomas Perkins
- Summer Willig
- Craig Gilbertson
As we prepare to restart Monday night track workouts, a reminder: If you wish to join group long runs and our upcoming track workouts, you must review and sign our COVID-19 guidelines and waiver.
A Note From the Houston Harriers Board
The Houston Harriers are committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, and equitable space for all members. We are striving to improve representation among our membership base and wish to make clear that we welcome and encourage Black, Indigenous and people of color of all running paces and experience levels to consider joining the club. Email houstonharriers@outlook.com for more information.
The Houston Harriers Board held its most recent meeting on March 22. Stay tuned for more details regarding new swag, upcoming events, and other Harriers happenings.
President: Daniel Barron
Secretary: Flora Lai
Vice Presidents: Nele Lefeldt and Fredis Benitez
Treasurer: Kelly Ramey
Advisory board members: Doug Storey, Sherry Fuller, Pamela Skaufel, Sarah Rabourn, and Sarah Cherington.
Harriers Members Dominate Winter and Spring Events
As races slowly start to make a comeback with COVID-safe guidelines, many Harriers have taken part, with some getting awards along the way. A good portion of our member base participated in the virtual Chevron Houston Marathon, Aramco Houston Half Marathon and We Are Houston 5K in January, followed by the in-person Rocky Raccoon ultra races in February, where Aracely Richardson and Edenn Perez completed the 100K on Feb. 6, followed by the 50K for Perez a week later on Feb. 13.
On March 6, several club members participated in The Woodlands Marathon’s events, with Sarah Rabourn placing second overall female and Hannah Kellogg placing third in her age group in the marathon. In the half marathon, Eugenia Carter and Stacy Holden placed second and third in their age groups, respectively, and Summer Willig set a new PR. In the 5K, Pilar Whitworth and Pedro Colunga placed first and second in their respective age groups.
Later this month, several club members took on the Pearland Half Marathon on March 21, with Eugene Olivarez placing third overall and Grace Howard second overall female. Jessica Olivarez, Edgar Gonzalez, and Adolfo Villarreal also ran the half marathon, with Olivarez and Villarreal taking home shiny new PRs. Veronica Goebel was the fourth overall female and first in her age group in the 10K.
Additionally, Mandi Reynado was the first overall female at the Seabrook Lucky Trails Marathon on March 20. Walter Mayer also participated in the Lions Relays in Marble Falls, where he ran a PR of 2:17 in the 800 meters, and Shawn Coker eked out 50 miles to celebrate his 50th birthday.
Harriers Track Workouts to Resume March 29
You read that right. In-person track will be back at Heights High School beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday nights. Workouts by Coach Doug Storey can be found on the Houston Harriers Members Facebook group under the “Announcements” tab. Join us on March 29 and be sure to rock your Harriers gear, as Patrick Pressgrove will be snapping club photos on-site.
Additionally, we recently started scheduling regular Wednesday morning runs beginning at 6 a.m. from the Memorial Park Tennis Center, or occasionally at Active Passion for some White Oak Bayou hills.
Medal Collection at This Week’s Runs
This Friday (at Sarah Rabourn and Pamela Skaufel’s birthday run; more details on our Facebook group) and at our Saturday long run, we will be collecting medals for Bling for Bravery, a program developed through the Snowdrop Foundation to celebrate and reward the bravery of the pediatric cancer patients at Texas Children’s Cancer Hospital in Houston. The mission is to distribute finisher medals to children at the hospital to recognize and celebrate their bravery in dealing with cancer. The common thread of dedication and bravery of training for long-distance races and triathlons is mirrored by the patients at the hospital.
If you would like to share the story of your medal with the recipient, fill out the form online and attach your name to the medal (or attach the story). It can also be an anonymous donation. Please remove the ribbon from your medal (they attach their own). Please also note that they only accept half marathons through ultra and triathlon medals.
New Harriers Swag Available For Purchase
In the market for a new hoodie, T-shirt, gaiter, or even a koozie? Check out the latest merch at our Ram Shirts store and make sure you’re ready to represent this winter. We all know you can never have too much club gear, even when you’re just lounging. As the shirts say, “I’m not a normal runner, I’m a Houston Harrier.”
Additionally, We have 20 men’s and 10 women’s singlets in stock in various sizes. Shoot us an email or contact Pamela Skaufel to purchase one for $30. We also still have Boco Harriers trucker hats available for $20; contact Daniel Barron if interested.
Member Spotlight: Pablo Rivero
Pablo Rivero has been running for 20 years, which he started doing both for general health and the enjoyment of competition. Originally hailing from Barcelona, Spain, Rivero joined the Harriers in 2019, after meeting teammate Eugene Olivarez. Having completed four marathons, he set his marathon PR of 2:41:08 at the 2009 Reykjavik Marathon in Iceland, where he came in third place overall. He also holds a half-marathon PR of 1:11:23 and a 10K PR of 32:11, which he ran in Granollers, Spain, in 2009 and Barcelona in 2010, respectively.
“My favorite distance to race is the 10K — it has the best of the two worlds, being not too long and not too fast,” he said. “My best advice for potential new Harriers members is to enjoy the run with great company and get motivated with a new goal.”
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has kept him from joining up for the team long runs and workouts he enjoys, he has some lofty goals for the near future, which are no doubt within his sights. His current goals include running under 1:15 in hopefully either the Houston or Aramco Half Marathons, as well as under 2:40 in the marathon.
Training Tips From Coach Doug Storey
A wise coach once told me that the secret to marathon training is to run a lot of miles and not get hurt. But it’s not quite that simple. I believe that the reason so many marathoners wind up injured is that they don’t truly grasp the concept of easy running. That is, running at about 60 to 75 percent of VO₂ max, or 65 to 80 percent of your max heart rate.
One benefit of easy running is to build up a certain resistance to injury. Others include the strengthening of the heart muscle, improving the delivery of blood to the muscles, and promoting the useful characteristics of muscle fibers that help you run your best.
According to Dr. Jack Daniels, running at an easy pace promotes performing the specific activity of running with limited stress on the body. The heart muscle is developed because the maximum force of each stroke of the heart is reached when your heart rate is about 60% of the maximum. As you run faster, your heart rate increases, but stroke volume only increases minimally, so running harder for long periods of time does little for stroke volume. Additionally, the opening of the tiny blood vessels that feed the muscles occurs readily during easy running, therefore increasing the amount of oxygen that can be fed to muscles. The longer you can spend allowing that to happen, the muscles respond by making changes to the fibers that allow them to accept more oxygen and convert more fuel into energy in each training period (the training effect).
Based on the McMillan Training Tables developed by Coach Greg McMillan, easy running can be broken down as recovery runs, long runs, and easy runs.
For example,
For a 3:00 Marathoner:
Recovery run: 8:00 to 8:45 pace
Long run: 7:00 to 8:15 pace
Easy run: 7:00 to 8:00 pace
For a 3:30 Marathoner:
Recovery run: 9:00 to 9:45 pace
Long run: 8:00 to 9:30 pace
Easy run: 8:00 to 9:00 pace
Paces for different racing goals can be found at www.mcmillanrunning.com or by downloading the McMillan running app McRun. Recovery runs should be done after a hard track day or after a long run. However, you can also substitute a recovery run for long run pace or easy run pace when you are feeling a bit dead from training. You may notice that these runs are generally run at paces that translate from marathon pace to a minute or two slower. Obviously, you will not want to run a full long run at marathon pace, but running part of your long run at that pace is sometimes advised to help you rehearse for race day. I have done as much as 10 miles of a long run at marathon goal pace.
Based on this knowledge, one can see that running easy not only will promote the physical effects discussed above but increasing the length (up to three hours) of easy runs also will boost your confidence and affect the mental aspect of running. Who isn’t up for that?
Nutrition Tips from Starla Garcia, M.Ed, RDN, LD
As many club members have shifted their focus to trail and ultra runs amid the pandemic, it’s important to understand that fueling needs can differ from those for road races, especially when you’re spending way more time on your feet. It’s really important for ultra runners to prioritize fluid intake, electrolyte intake and calorie intake coming in. Planning ahead is also key, as you’ll need to either prepare food or buy packaged options and figure out if you’re going to have them waiting at aid stations or if you'll carry some with you.
The amount of grams of carbs that you want to eat minimum per hour is 30 grams, while the maximum amount someone can tolerate that won’t lead to gut problems and GI distress is 80-90 grams per hour. So even though someone isn’t taking in gels or gummies, they still need to make sure that the sources of food they’re taking in are going to meet those parameters.
Some good examples of real food that are good fueling options for trail and ultra runs include:
- Dried apricots, mangoes, or pineapple slices (sometimes spiced with chili salt)
- Bananas
- Raisins
- Dates
- Applesauce in squeezable packets
- Dry low-fiber cereal such as Cheerios
- A slice of bread with honey or jam
- Pretzels
- SkratchLabs energy bars
- ClifBar Nut Butter-Filled Bars
- Single-serving nut butter and jam packets
In the Media
If you’re a fan of listening to podcasts on the run, you can find familiar Harriers voices on the running circuit:
- Subbu Venkat was recently featured on the new Runners of Hou podcast, created and hosted by former Houston Marathon communications manager Vicky Oddi, to talk about his running journey and experience as a living kidney donor.
- Harriers power couple Starla Garcia and Fredis Benitez were featured on the Valentine’s Day-themed series “Love on the Run” on the Ali on the Run Show podcast back in February.
- Former Houston resident Stephanie Bonk was featured on Runners of Hou about the impact she left on the Houston running community with her creation of the Swiftally app.
- Emilia Benton was recently interviewed on both Runners of Hou and the Ali on the Run Show to talk about her running story and career path as a freelance journalist.
- Finally, this week, Harriers President Daniel Barron is the most recent guest on Runners of Hou.
Have a question for the board? Send it to houstonharriers@outlook.com
