Have you heard of this stuff? The titanium bracelets that golfers, ballplayers and other athletes are taking to the fields, courses and trails? There are a couple of debates among these accessories. There is the ever present performance enhancing debate that exists as well as the debate that these items even work at all. In a nutshell the purpose behind them is that they create a type of energy that helps your body with peak performance.

The Power Balance accessories promote that they increase flexibility, balance and strength while the Phi-Ten products promote that they increase power and endurance. Anyone can purchase these bracelets, necklaces, pendants and even apparel that claim to be lined with titanium. While some argue that they create a placebo effect, some claim that they actually work to increase your performance. This is difficult for me to write about because, I do have a pretty disciplined training regimen. For this reason, it makes it hard for me to be objective in regards to what helps and what does not.

What I can tell you is that I use them both. Although the physical act of putting the item on your person may help with the placebo effect, I am pretty sure that they do work and here’s why. I am going to do something “different” here so bear with me. In the effort to not promote any product over the other, I will simply refer to them as product one and two. Product one I had first and would constantly wear for one particular type of workout pattern. Product two would be worn in other circumstances. One day product two was put on and the workout routine completely switched. I remember thinking to myself, “I guess we’ll se what happens.” I had one of the best workouts in a very long time.

This still could have been attributed to the placebo effect due to the fact that I remembered, “Hey, I have the wrong one on.” but it is hard to tell. I am sure that there are more and more studies going on into whether or not these things really work but, for me they do. Placebo or not, wearing one during a half-marathon decreased my time by 20 minutes. Yes, thats a lot. It could have been the route but, when one compares elevation changes between one race and the other, the argument  dies. It could be the training. More than likely but, it is still a piece of equipment that I do not workout without.

I highly recommend San Diego as a Rock ‘n’ Roll half if you are doing one for the first time. Most people actually would probably recommend Arizona’s because of the flat terrain and the pretty straight forward course. The Arizona course certainly has less turns and hills but I was not able to enjoy it as much as San Diego. The course there began with the hills and ventured through Balboa Park for the half-marathon runners. The full marathon went through more of downtown, including the Gas Lamp District. As the half progressed, the last several miles were either down hill or on a steady grade. Nothing to terribly challenging but there was one challenging thing that I will never forget. That was running on the freeway.

Also one of the cooler parts of the race, running on the freeway posed a unique challenge. There were more imperfections on the road than you think that there would be and the sideways grade was a bit challenging to run on for a bit. I could see this part giving potential problems to ankles but it was over before you knew it. A few of the most memorable moments of the race were on the freeway. The first of which were Taiko drummers that were on the course. The sound was amazing echoing off of the road and walls and was really motivating. Another memorable moment was the Naval water station with several active duty, uniformed Naval personnel. Probably the most memorable part of the course was the portion of the freeway that was split for the half marathoners and the full marathoners. The reason why this was so memorable was that the elite runners were flying by as we were on our portion of the race which was a later portion of their race. I distinctly remember one woman in particular that was just flying. As it turns out, she was Yulia Gromova who won her third straight San Diego Marathon.

The race was awesome and I personally thank all of you who have put up with all of my excitement and related Facebook posts leading up to the race. I also thank all of you for your support. I will be taking a little break in training before getting ready for my next race in October. Until then, if you have any questions, need any motivation, or just want to talk running, feel free to drop me a line. Better yet, follow me on DailyMile, I’ll throw some motivation your way.

I know that there are plenty more serious runners out there than myself. As a matter of fact, I am sure that they are all registered for the same races that I am. Regardless, I have picked three cities that I plan on visiting that I will be running in. The first race is the Orange County Half-Marathon. For those of you that don’t know, I was born and raised in Orange County which makes it almost nostalgic for me to be able to finish this race. I am extremely excited and have been preparing for this for months. What exactly have I been doing? Well, here is a peek.

No Alcohol – I have been without drinking for a number of weeks leading up to the event. In an effort to make sure that my body is in top physical condition for the race, my happy hours have included 8-9 miles, water, sweat and pain.

Strength Training – In the past few months, I have had very few real off-days. On my non-running days, I have been hitting the gym, working on getting my endurance up for the race. I have also been focusing on stretching and strengthening “trouble spots” or areas of my lower body that I have had issues with in the past by working on the muscles around those areas.

Watching My Diet – I have actually planned three days worth of meals leading up to the event. The recommendation is actually four but I figure that the three I am doing this time is better than the big fat goose egg that I did for the last race. I am not terribly strict on my diet but, I have been staying away from fatty foods… including cheeseburgers.

Multi-Vitamins – I try to take vitamins every day but I have become almost dependent upon them. I make sure that I have them every day for lunch. I know that is not the recommended time but getting them in at all is huge for me.

Reading Advice – I have been reading a ton of advice on training and working on fine tuning my running form and mental approach. I have also been working on my running form, which has been extremely helpful in getting my pace down to where I would like for it to be. Some of the other articles that I have been reading include pre-race meal advice, recovery advice and hill training as well as gym workout recommendations.

Getting Mental – Visualization is a huge part of obtaining any goal. As I run, I use visualization techniques to keep me going when things begin to start getting tough. A really helpful visualization technique is replaying the distance that you have already gone. This is especially helpful when you are 60-75% complete. Although I try to remain positive, I am also trying to be prepared for the worst. There is nothing worse than getting injured in the big race and a close second is not reaching your goal. For this race, I just really want to kill my previous times. I would usually be happy with just finishing but I am on a bit of a mission. Although I have done some hill training already, after looking at the elevation charts, I am mentally prepared for the challenge that will be there during the race.

Musical Mayhem – I don’t really do playlists for all of my races but I am thinking that I should begin to. I love dance music and there are some pretty motivating tracks by Armin Van Buuren that I absolutely love. I used the program djay to make my own 36 minute mix. I also added enough other music to take up two hours. Since my goal is under two hours, I better not hear the entire playlist. I’ll share the list after the race. I am trying to keep all of the music at or above 120 beats per minute. If you do this, you will begin to notice that your cadence subconsciously begins to match the music.

The one thing that I am extremely grateful for about deciding to take up running again is that I have never been so in tune with my body. When you put your body in stressful situations, it reacts. I have been able to learn to listen to what my body needs and address it when the time comes. Doing this has helped me to live a more healthy lifestyle and stay fresh for my daily job. Working out on a regular basis does wonders for your mental well-being. I am sure that some of you already know or have even experienced this but it can not be said enough.

I hope that some of the readers are able to find some of this information helpful and please feel free to share any preparation techniques that you might have.

When I arrived, I checked out the route and have to admit that I was very intimidated. The largest hill was also at the beginning of the route, which made the run more challenging. The following tips are some of the tips that I received while preparing for the run and how I think I did:

• Take Quick Short Strides – For most of the run, I obeyed this particular advice. It was difficult keeping the strides short while heading downhill due to the momentum. Overall, I could have done better in this category.
• Conserve Your Energy – In a long run, you do not want to use all of your energy up on the hills since you probably have plenty more distance to go. For this run, the disadvantage that I had was that the biggest hill was at the beginning. While trying not to expend all of my energy, I will admit that it was difficult.
• Use Gravity to Pull You Downhill – For this portion, I used long strides rather than short quick ones so that I could make up my pace. This actually made me spend more energy than I needed to. Quick short strides are the key regardless. The gravity will carry you down if you move your center of gravity forward without the long strides. I figured that out in the last half of the run.

Overall the run was one of the most challenging that I have ever done. When taking the first massive hill, there was some motivation along the way. I have no idea why it was there but it was kind of cool. There were little messages in chalk along the way. One read, “Does this hill ever end? Yikes!” There was also a joke and near the top it read, “Look up! There is the top!” You’re almost there.”

The trip was fun. I got to spend time with family and friends and it was special for me to run the route that I always feared riding my bike on as a kid. In summary, if you are a runner, I recommend building your base before taking on some hills like these or doing any hill training. Once you do your hill training, work some more hill workouts in on a treadmill between your base runs. If you have any additional tips on tackling hills on distance runs, feel free to leave them in the comments below.

Fast forward to 2009 when I began training for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Half-Marathon. I picked up running again in the Fall of ’09 and found myself well ahead of schedule with my training. I was actually so much ahead of schedule that I registered for an earlier race. Some of you may have heard the story but, one week prior to that race, I strained my Achilles tendon. Plagued with the injury, initially disappointed, I was determined to get over the injury and run the race.

The crew at the office teased me as I could barely walk to my desk. They asked me not to come in without a medal the following Monday. One person even said that they will see my stubborn tail in a wheelchair when I return. Determined to get through it, I finished the race. However, the disappointments did not cease.

As I continued to train for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half-Marathon I was mindful of the prior injury but the therapy seemed to take care of it. I was excited to see what I could do in my next race. I was disappointed. After all of the training, I actually finished with a worse time than the first race. Overall, I think that I was too conservative with my pace. Determined to get back on track, I continue to train for the next half-marathon. With a prior average pace of 9:35 for a five-mile run, it was ridiculous. I had to do better.

Running for me is therapeutic. I really think that running and people’s performance at the gym reflects their personal drive and determination. I have always liked the idea of going to the gym with a business partner and have in the past. When the person would give up mid-set that says a ton about their drive. They probably don’t think of it that way but it is true.

Being able to bounce back from adverse conditions builds strength and character and those experiences are priceless. As of today, not only have I been able to beat my former pace of 9:35, I was able to shatter it with an 8:11 pace. So remember, when life throws you a curveball, hit it out of the park.

I admit that I had my doubts but then noticed that it is the number one selling application in several countries. I was reluctant to use it last night because I had to be up this morning to take my car into the shop. I set my normal alarm as a back up and decided to give the appplication a shot.

The way that it works is that it will wake you in a 30 minute range based on when you would like to wake up but, no later than the time you enter. You place the phone at the head of your bed and go to sleep. When I woke up this morning I was absolutely astonished at how refreshed I felt. For someone that has been getting very little sleep lately, this was the best 99 cents I have ever spent! I thought about putting off this rave review until I had two or three nights of awesome sleep but, the amount of energy that I have right now could not be ignored.

Seriously, I have responded to all of my emails, taken the car in, have had breakfast and coffee and am the first one in the office. For you iPhone users, there are other similar applications out there, some higher priced, but this is the one that I have and it works great so far.