About Me

Hi, Friends & Fellow Runners:

The text that follows comes from an article in New Jersey Advance Media, an affiliate of the Newark Star Ledger, the largest newspaper in the state.  It appeared two days before the running of the New York City Marathon on November 2nd, and I thought it might be of some interest to you.

It's a pleasant 70 degrees when Stephen Bogardo sets off for a morning run on the Ocean City boardwalk. Starting his journey at 9th Street, near Shriver's Salt Water Taffy, he wears a race shirt and spandex shorts, his eyes squinting away the beachfront wind over a thick, white mustache.

A trickle of pedestrians stroll by as Bogardo, who lives at the city's south end, pounds the boards for six miles. On Sunday, he'll aim to cover more than four times that distance — 26.2 miles — when he takes his first crack at the New York City Marathon.

But another number — 80 — has come to define his running career. It's his age, making him one of the oldest New Jerseyans running the marathon this weekend. He's in good company. The number of NYC Marathon finishers who are 65 and older has steadily increased over the past five races, according to information provided by the New York Road Runners, a group that has organized the marathon since 1970. In 2008, 565 senior runners crossed the finish line. Last year, 749 did.

"I could run marathons until I'm 100," says Bogardo, who grew up in Secaucus before the birth of the New Jersey Turnpike.

Stephen Bogardo, 80, takes a run on the boardwalk in Ocean City. A marathon coach, this Sunday's race will be his first New York City Marathon. (Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) 

'I'm going to die standing up'

For Bogardo, who turned 80 on Sept. 16, the approaching race means that he's well on his way to achieving his ultimate goal: to run back-to-back marathons in New York and Boston. The state's second oldest runner to compete in New York City this year, he's scaled seven marathons in the last five years, but remains a realist.

"At my age, most men are either dead or playing golf in Florida, so it's not a big deal when I say I either win or place in my age group," he says.

When it comes to running, Bogardo is a numbers guy. Time, temperature and distance — miles, degrees, hours and minutes — are of paramount importance to him. Born inSecaucus, he grew up in the Hudson County town when the essence of pig farms — and garbage dump fires — still hung in the air. Having started running in his late 30s to relieve stress, he underscores the rise of the hobby with an anecdote from 40 years ago. Then living in Medford, Burlington County, Bogardo was stopped by a police officer during a late-night run.

"They weren't used to seeing adult people running on the streets back then," he says. "Apparently they thought maybe I was running from somebody."

Bogardo grew up in Secaucus and didn't start running until his late 30s. (Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) 

Having retired in 2007, Bogardo has two grown children from a previous marriage. He worked as news reporter for Union City's now-defunct Hudson Dispatch and the Associated Press, and — most recently — as vice president of human resources for a restaurant group in Toronto. (He returned to New Jersey two years ago).

He says his age proved a novelty to budding marathoners when he taught running clinics while still living in Toronto. He now counsels runners online through MyRunningCoach.net, sending them personalized training programs. One of his clients, Enrique Larez, 37, has tackled marathons in Canada, Los Angeles and Paris.

"To be honest, I thought this was going to be a one-off," says Larez, a marketing manager in Toronto. "You know, train, go through the pain, finish the race, and cross it off my bucket list. Obviously I did not know Stephen."

They weren't used to seeing adult people running on the streets back then. Apparently they thought maybe I was running from somebody.

Bogardo, who first tried marathon running 20 years ago, has completed three Boston Marathons and qualified two other times for New York. First, he got sick, then, in 2012, the race was canceled due to fallout from Hurricane Sandy. In 2013, he sat out the Boston Marathon, too, because of a groin injury, now grateful that his wife, Islay — who often waits for him at the finish line — wasn't there for the bombings. A racing convert 20 years his junior, she joins him on morning runs, but lags behind.

"It's really quite embarrassing," she says. Yet Bogardo, who qualified for the NYC Marathon after running a half marathon in an hour and 42 minutes, does feel his age. In September, he beat his goal time of 4 hours and 55 minutes by 22 minutes at an Allentown, Pa. race to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Soon after crossing the finish line, he sat in a medical tent, dehydrated.

Islay, shaken by the experience, asked him to stop running marathons after next spring's Boston race. Bogardo says he hopes she'll reconsider.

"If I'm going to die, I'm going to die standing up," he says.

Coach Stephen

Lucifer's Creation

Hi, Friends & Fellow Runners:

I crossed the finish line at this past Sunday's New York marathon convinced that Lucifer himself had designed the course and created the day's weather to make it a hell-on-earth trial for the runners involved. Ascents of up to 150 feet across four wind-swept bridges on the coldest day in the race's history --  41 degrees at the start -- were  bad enough.  But then there were steady head winds averaging about 28 miles per hour, supplemented by gale-force gusts of nearly 50 miles per hour.

As you might imagine, I had a lousy finishing time -- 5:52:24.  However, of the eight men over 80 years old who had begun the race, only two actually finished and I wound up second in my age group, just eight minutes slower than the winner, a runner from Japan.

Truth be told, I was on pace for a sub-five hour finish through most of the race.  But each time I approached one of those infernal bridges (and there were three of them after the 15th mile), my gut wrenched in anticipation.  The result was that I made the mistake of adjusting what had been my strategy until then -- to run steadily and under control except for brief walk breaks at every hydration station.  Instead, I decided to walk up and race down each of the three remaining bridges.  By the time I crossed the 138th Street bridge at the 21st mile, I was in some distress but still on target for a minus-five hours.  But then I turned onto Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and encountered the worst of the head winds and higher gusts.  That was the killer. Candidly, I simply lost heart.  My legs started to cramp and ended any hope I had of continuing to run.  So I walked the last four miles, keeping my eyes glued to the white, double line in the middle of the avenue to make sure I was moving straight ahead.

The good news is that I finally ended the agony by reaching the finish line, and I am now halfway toward the achievement of a long-standing goal -- to be the oldest man ever to qualify for and finish both the New York and Boston marathons in back-to-back years

Coach Stephen.

 

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The Power of Friendship

Hi, Friends & Fellow Runners:

 

In Allentown, PA, this past Sunday, I wound up flat on my back in a medical tent after completing a marathon. I could barely move, much less stand or walk, and pain seemed to permeate every below-the-waist muscle in my body. But I could not have been happier. I had qualified for Boston! As well, and equally important, I had met the expectation of friends in the running community who believed I could do it all along, perhaps even more strongly than I myself did. Their pre-race emails and Facebook postings had straightened me out mentally, given me a much-needed confidence boost, and transformed my race into nothing less than an ode to the power of friendship. 

 

The significance of that kind of support became clear near milepost 23 of Sunday's marathon route, when my left hamstring started cramping, my right foot went totally numb, and I began to feel that I might not finish within the Boston qualifying time. From that point on, it became a matter of jogging slowly for about five minutes, walking for one, and reminding myself over and over, mantra-like, that I wasn't about to disappoint people whose respect I cherished. So I soldiered on. It wasn't pretty. In fact, it was damned ugly. I finished more than 15 minutes slower than a year ago on the same course, and instead of capturing first place in the 70 to 99 age group (as was the case last year) I had to settle for third by default because only three people over 70 had entered the race. But I finished in time and got the Hollywood ending I craved. Thank you, one and all.

 

Coach Stephen

Strength Training, Donating Blood & Other Subjects

 Hi, Friends & Fellow Runners:

As many of you know, I’ve been a regular contributor to a column called EachCoach, published every Wednesday by Canada’s National Post newspaper.  My job is to provide brief, on-point answers to questions posed by runners on an array of topics.  Here are some of those recent questions.....

Am I doing too much strength training and is it hurting my running?

Is there a right time for a runner to donate blood?

How do I eliminate the boredom of treadmill training?

I’m a new runner and already have foot pain; what’s the problem?

.....and here’s the detail:

Q.  I am new to my running group and I can't seem to find a good pace group for me. I'm too slow for one group and a little too fast for the other group.  The faster group pushes me to go outside my comfort zone and that's good, but 3 times a week of pushing yourself hard can lead to injury in my experience.   I have a question about whether I am overtraining and maybe that's why I am slow. I take Sundays off every week. I strength train on Monday and Friday with weights for an hour each time; on Tuesday and Thursday morning I work on strengthening my core for a half-hour and then I run 5 or 6 miles in the pm; on Wednesday, I cross train.   Am I doing too much and is it slowing my running times? I hear how important strength training, core work and cross training are, so I'm trying to include these to strengthen my running?  Any advice?

A.  Let’s cut to the quick and answer your specific questions:  Yes, you are doing too much strength training, and yes, it is slowing down your running.  You should strength train no more than twice a week for a maximum of one hour in total.  More is not better, especially since your four strength sessions seem to be limiting your running to 3X/week (instead of the preferred 4 or 5X), and none of your runs appear to be speed intervals or hill repeats.  On a second point, you’re correct in scheduling strength training and running on the same day, but your running should come before, not after, your strength sessions.  Research has shown that by doing the strength work first (as in your case) your ability to sustain fast times in runs done later in the day is reduced significantly.  

Q.  Are there long distance runners who donate blood somewhat regularly and have they noticed any effects on their endurance?

A.  After the Boston Marathon bombing last year, hundreds of runners made their way to local hospitals to donate blood.  It was their way of honoring the victims of that horrific event, but on a more mundane level it was something they felt they could do because they had run their race and knew they’d be entering an extended period of training downtime.  The lesson here is that timing is critical.  Donating blood hurts athletic performance because it leads to a reduction in red blood cells which transport oxygen to the working muscles.   This, in turn, can reduce your anaerobic heart rate in the first week by as much as 10% and makes your hard training runs immeasurably more difficult.  As well, a full return to pre-donation performance levels can often take as long as a month.  So it makes sense to give blood only during periods of time that allow for several weeks of recovery before the onset of serious training or competition. 

Q.  I’m hoping I can get running outside soon.  Treadmill running is boring.

A.  You can eliminate the boredom by introducing variety into your treadmill sessions.  Mimic interval training, for example, by completing several cycles of five minutes’ sprinting and five minutes’ walking.  Duplicate a series of hill repeats by raising the elevation to a “6” and running hard uphill for a half-mile before cutting the elevation back to zero and jogging the same distance.  Or simply set a pace you want to run in your next race, maintain it for 10 minutes before taking a one-minute walk break and then repeating the routine four or five times.  If you’re watching TV, pick up your pace during commercial breaks.  If you’re listening to music, increase or reduce speed with each new song.  Etc., etc.  The possibilities are endless.

Q. I am relatively new to running.  After my first few weeks, I was jogging about 4 miles 3-4 times a week.  Feeling great overall and was looking forward to pushing further but have come across a nagging big toe/ball of my foot pain that hurts when I push off the toe.  No swelling or bruising, just pain in my left foot and I am now starting to feel it in my right as well.  I’m wondering if there is anyone with similar issues.

A. Footwear is the usual suspect when it comes to pain like yours.  Do your new running shoes fit properly and specifically allow for the swelling in your feet when you run?  And are they made to accommodate the structure of your foot?  Only if you know the answers to such questions are a definite yes should you consider other possible causes.  You might be striking the ground on the balls of your feet instead of the midsole, for example.  Or you could be running too much on hard surfaces.  A final but remote possibility could be insufficient fat padding in your forefoot – a problem that could be solved by placing a foam rubber pad just behind the painful area.

Coach Stephen

  

Benefits of a 2-for-1 Tradeoff

Hi, Friends & Fellow Runners:

For the time-constrained athletes among you who are always battling to balance family, job and running commitments, the following question-and-answer exchange may be of interest.  The question was submitted by a National Post reader to the newspaper’s EachCoach column; the answer is mine.

Q.  Trying to increase the amount of distance I run during the week, but always a bit tight for time in the mornings and evenings.  Is it ok to do 2 shorter runs on some days (an 8K morning and 6K evening for example) or does that create more risk of an injury?

A.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with splitting a day's scheduled run into AM and PM components when time constraints would otherwise force you to do the run faster than you should.  Trying to shoehorn a 14K workout into a shorter time frame than your body is accustomed to, for example, would create a much greater injury risk than any 2 runs-for-1 tradeoff.  Beyond that, you should simply add one or two kilometers to the day's total workout to get a comparable performance benefit from the tradeoff.

Coach Stephen

Just Dodged a Bullet

Hi, Friends & Fellow Runners:

Three weeks ago I slipped on ice while running and came within a hair's breadth of breaking my hip - an injury that would have ended my chances of becoming, in 2014, the oldest person to qualify for and complete both the Boston and New York marathons in the same calendar year. The injury, at my age, might have even ended my running career, such as it's been. Fortunately, the hip was badly bruised, not broken, and I was able to spend up to two hours a day cross training in my local gym.  Now I'm back running and have logged 50 kilometers in the five days since last Thursday. My training is back on track, my depression has lifted and I am once again counting down the days to Boston.

Coach Stephen

Toughness: Hardly a Gender Issue

Hi, Friends & Fellow Runners:

Literally overnight, it became conventional wisdom that the tougher team won Super Bowl XLVIII, not necessarily the more fit, the more talented, or the better coached.  It reminds me of the one good thing about the worst streak of bad weather that I've seen in six years of coaching running clinics during the winter -- and that is,  Mother Nature’s meanness provides an unmistakable barometer of toughness.  Just keep running when you’re scheduled to run, regardless of cold, ice, snow and wind, and you know how tough you are.  It’s beyond discussion or dispute.  And interestingly, the members who keep showing up for the group runs at my Running Room clinics these days are mostly women – often petite to the point of seeming frailness and sometimes young enough to be my grandchildren.  Why am I not surprised that the next mayor of Toronto and the next president of the US will probably be women?

Coach Stephen