"Think of our life in nature,---dayly to be shown matter, to come in contact with it,---rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks! the solid earth! the actual world! the common sense! Contact! Contact! who are we? where are we?".
--- Henry David Thoreau


Christoph F. Eick's Running Homepage

Brief Running History

I ran my first race in 1994 and got more serious about training and running races in 1998; I jogged, played volleyball, hiked, played tennis before I picked up running. I am a member of the Bayou City Road Runners. I am now living directly at the Allen Park Way Loop (near the 3.25 mile marker) which definitely helps fitting my runs into my somewhat busy schedule. I am mostly self-coached although I train sometimes with Jon Warren's & Sean Wade's Kenyan Way group.

Running the 2000 Shamrock Marathon in Viginia Bearch.

I completed 22 marathons (2 New York'95+'02, 3 Houston'96+'97+'03, Califonia International'96, 3 Dallas White Rock'97+'01+'06, 3 Austin Motorola'99+'02+'04 (1999 Race Photo), 2 Boston'99+04, Shamrock'00, Madison'00, Cleveland'01+08, Steamboat Springs'04, New Orleans'05, Big Sur'06, Vermont City'07), running a 3:05:37 placing 125th in the 2003 Houston Marathon, and a 3:03:47 in the 2002 Austin Motorola Marathon. I won age group awards in the 2000 Madison Marathon, the 2002 Austin Marathon, and the 2004 Steamboat Springs Marathon. I also won top 500 finisher posters in the 1998 Crescent City Classic (placing 445th) and in the 2000 Crecent City Classic (placing 261st). I also ran a 5:16.7 in the Dec. 2001 Congress Avenue Mile, a 2:08:30 (6:54-pace) in Sugarland's First Colony 30K-race in December 2000, a 18:42 (6:02 pace) in the 2000 Bellaire Trolley Run, and a 1:27:17 (6:39-pace) in Houston's El Paso Energy Half Marathon ('Leader of the Compaq Marathon First Mile Hill' Photo taken by Jerry Robinson) in Jan. 2002.

I also ran 5 mountain races: Pikes Peak Ascent (almost 1.5 vertical miles!) in 1998, the Mount Washington (7.5M; elevation gain more than 600 feet per mile) in 1997, and Mount Evans Ascent (finish line at 14250 feet) in 2001, the Sundown at the Pass 5-Miler (Tuscon, Arizona) in 2003 and the Eldora Mountain Trail 10K (Nederland, Colorado) in 2009. I enjoyed the scenery in all races; however, I have to report that I was not very fast going up those mountains. I also completed the Skyline 50K in August 2003 and the Bighorn Trail 53K in June 2002 (Photos: 'Bighorn National Forrest Adventure Club', 'How the Tail Looks').

"If you want to achieve a high goal, you're going to have to take some chances"
--- Alberto Salazar, New York City Marathon Winner.

Races planned in 2009

  • March 1: Moe's Better Half Marathon, San Marcos, TX
  • March 29: Angie's Half Grazy! Half Marathon, Clearlake, TX.
  • April 11: Earth Day 5K Run, Houston, Texas.
  • May 17: Cellcom 10th Greenbay Marathon, Greenbay, Wisconsin.
  • August 1: Eldora Mountain Trail 10K in Nederland, Colorado.
  • October 10: 10 Miles for Texas, Woodlands, Texas
  • October 31: PARC Monster Dash 10K, Pearland, Texas.
  • November 7: Rocky Racoon 25K Trail Race, Huntsville, Texas.
  • November 26: Andy's 24th Annual Sugar Land Surgical Hospital Turkey Trot, Sugarland, Texas.
  • December 13 Dallas White Rock Marathon.

    Christoph F. Eick's Fall/Winter 2009 Traning Plan

    Week MO TU WE TH FR SA SU S
    Aug. 24 -- -- 5 SW40 -- 6 8 19
    Aug. 31 -- SW40 5 -- 6 -- 10 21
    Sept. 7 5 -- 7 -- 6 SW40 12 30
    Sept. 14 5 SW40 9 5 -- 14.6 -- 34
    Sept. 21 9 -- 2x1M f|s (6) -- 6 SW40 16 37
    Sept. 28 5 -- 5x800 f|s (8) SW40 6 18 SW40 37
    Oct. 5 8x400 f|s (6) -- SW40 6 -- 3st 10M Race (12) 5 32
    Oct. 12 -- 5 SW35 6 20 -- m:6M (10) 41
    Oct. 19 6 -- ct: 3x1M (6) -- 6 -- 21 39
    Oct. 26 -- 9br 6 -- 3st 10K Race (10) -- 28
    Nov. 2 6x800 f|s (10) -- 7 6st -- 25K Trail (17) -- 40
    Nov. 9 6 -- 6 -- 21 -- m:7M (11) 44
    Nov. 16 5 -- Yasso 8x800 (9) 6 -- 5 20 45
    Nov. 23 -- 8st -- 5M Race (9) -- 17 6 40
    Nov. 30 Yasso 8x800 (8) -- 5 -- ct: 4x1M (7) -- 10 30
    Dec. 7 6 -- ct: 2x2800 (6) -- -- 3st White Rock (27) 42


    r:= leg speed workout, usually done faster than 3K-pace with 100% recovery
    v:=VO2-max-workout, done at approx. 5K-pace with 1/3 to 3/4 recovery
    ct: cruise intervals, run at threshhold pace = (10K-pace + 15=20 seconds) with 1/5 recovery.
    t: threshold (tempo) run; easy = running is interleaved with 1-3 segments of running at threshhold pace
    8k/10k/ 30k: running at 8k / 10K / 30K pace
    m: running at marathon-pace
    b: brisk pace; marathon-pace + 25 seconds
    hf/hi: hill fartlek or intervals
    tr:= trail running =
    ftl:= hill fartlek workout
    st:=5-8 20-25 sec. strides approx. 1M-pace.

    "Le coeur a ses raison que la raison ne connait point"
    ---French Proverb.

    Interesting Links

    Race Reports

    Training Advice Christoph F. Eick's Running Interesting Running Topics Non-Running Links Christoph F. Eick
    " Athletics, because it enables one to move to a better state of being, can be viewed as a branch of medicine, but one which fortunately finds room for spontaneity, ingenuity, and judgement. "
    --- Paul Weiss, philosopher.

    Running the 1999 Boston Marathon

    "I cried twice out there. It was beautiful. The people along the way, standing there, cheering, yelling at you. I could't help myself. I cried twice."
    Walt Ganty, running at Boston.
    "Ich bin ich weiss nicht wer, ich komme ich weiss nicht woher, ich gehe ich weiss nicht wohin, mich wundert dass ich so froehlich bin."
    Source unknown.

    View of the Route of the Sundown at the Pass Race (Tuscon,AZ) ---
    I ran it in 2003.

    Last updated: November 11, 2009