Super 5K

Last year I was extremely excited about the Super 5K. I hadn't raced for months, I'd been training hard and I really wanted to know where I was under "real" race conditions. I had a hard time falling asleep. That's something that I expect for a marathon, not for a 5k. But I digress...

This year is a little different. I had a goal race that took a lot out of me in late December, and I was eight months further along in my training last year. I'd done speed work, and I had a larger base to draw from. Though I want to do well this year, I don't believe that I'm nearly at the level of fitness I was last year.

Still. I'm excited. I ran part of the course tonight with the Novi group, and I felt like I wanted to attack the hills and see what my body can do. Wisely, as a recovery run from my long run yesterday, I held back.

This Sunday, if the mood strikes again, I'll be able to, um... indulge myself a bit. Maybe I'll come in under 22 minutes, maybe not. But I'll be excited to try!

For reference, last year's race was 21:28.


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1/24 week in training

Well, another week went by, and it was good. Training was fun, and not too strenuous. 40 miles, plus or minus, with about two hours on the bike trainer thrown in for good measure.

A couple of interesting things:

Heart rate- was running with the Novi running fit group, and it turned into a tempo run. The speed was okay (7:45s or so) but my heart rate was pretty high for the last mile. I averaged 194, with a high of 204. I've been that high before, but only at the end of a goal race. And especially not at a pace that slow...

I've been under the weather for the past couple of weeks; nothing serious, just a cold. I was 90% over it before this weekend, but I think the running Saturday and Sunday may have depressed my immune system enough to let the viruses catch their breath. Oh well, it happens.

I've started to feel a minor ache at what feels like the metatarsal/phalange joint of my third toe, left foot. About a one on the pain scale, but I feel it while I'm walking around, and I'm a trifle worried it'll change my gait. Anyway, I'm just writing about it here to reference in case I ever need to do a history about it. :P

Next week looks good, too; maybe 45 miles, same about of biking, strength training twice in the week, and the Superbowl 5k on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it!


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Cold showers

I like cold showers, mostly in place of ice baths. I don't really have the time to buy bags of ice every time I do a long run, and the water out of the pipes comes out at 50 odd degrees, so I figure it's close enough for who its for.

Besides, it makes my showers faster. I don't wait for the water to warm up before hand, and I usually need a little bit of a shock to get me moving in the morning, anyway.

But the big point is, it makes my legs feel better. After a hard run my legs feel sore enough that I stumble around like my muscles just don't want to work. For some reason, the cold water spray down helps out a lot.

You can talk about how vasoconstriction can decrease inflammation, but can the cold water really penetrate that deeply into the muscles of my thigh? I don't know. I do know that it works and even if it's all psychological, I'm okay with that.

All I really need to do is have the courage to get into the shower after my harder runs. I know my legs will thanks me for it. But I don't know if it gets any easier.

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1/17 the week in running

Observations from the week:

Most traction devices work on an 'average volume of shoe' principle. If you're using a low profile shoe, they don't work so well.

Sitting on a bike for over an hour requires callouses I just haven't developed, or something.

Thermo receptors in the body are weird. After a long run in the cold, I took a shower. The same water hitting my hand felt scalding hot while hitting my chest felt extremely cold.

Rather than taking an ice bath, I tend to spray down my legs with cold water, calling it good enough. If I don't, everything feels sore. Anyway, today I thought I'd cheat, and just do my quads. I wound up with sore hamstrings, and it made walking around feel... awfully odd. I'm used to having no pain or pain everywhere.

The week itself went well; here is the schedule as planned-
M- off
T- Bike 45 min
W- 6+6 miles
Th- Bike 60 min and lift
F- 6 miles
Sa- 10 miles
Su- 6 to 8 miles

Obviously, I haven't done Sunday's run yet, but everything else has gone well. I biked 90 min on Thursday because I got into the episode of "The Wire" that I was watching. Most of the miles were done with people, which is always nice. And weight training feels pretty good- though I kind of wish I could up it to twice a week.

I'll talk to my coach about it.

Of course, I also want to up my miles, add speed work, and spend three to five hours a week on the bike trainer in addition to my current workout schedule, but that might be a bit much. I got my running coach in order to help me find that fine line between training hard to get the best result for the effort, but not crossing over into overtraining, and it seems to be going well.

But as they say in Cricket, it's still early innings.

I get the schedule for next week tomorrow. Hopefully I'll remember to post about it then...



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One more week

Two weeks down, one more to go. Training for Bayshore begins on Monday next, and I'm really quite eager to get to it. There are miles for me to run, and things for me to learn.

So, my goals for this training cycle:
Do most of what my coach tells me to do, and try to not do too much.
Continue to work on form and turn over.
Chop most of the moderate running off of my schedule.
Get comfortable using the treadmill for speed work. It's exciting to contemplate, in a torturous sort of way.
Foam roll more diligently.
Throw in more cold water spray downs in my shower.

I may have to think up a few more as time progresses. Hopefully I'll be as diligent about blogging about this training as I was about Martian last year. And hope to have as enjoyable a race at the end.

Time will tell; it always does. :)


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The maraton

Today I wrote in a friend's livejournal; something about how I was balancing SCA fencing and running pretty well way back when. I was getting into both at about the same time, and I thought they complimented one another nicely. The endurance given by the running helped my fencing, as well as leg strength, coordination, and breathing. The lateral movements, balance, and mental concentration of fighting helped balance the running. It was fun to have two whole new worlds to explore, get better in, and play off one another.

Then came along the marathon, and she is jealous. Oh, yes. I got little injuries from all the training, certainly. I got worried about getting injured during the fighting, and set back my training. And then there's the time and energy commitment; the first marathon takes a hell of a lot of both.

And that may be the reason I love it so.

I can wing a half marathon. It may not be fast or even very pretty, but I can do it without a second thought. I got to a point in the last few training cycles that 13.1 miles felt like a decent run to get the blood moving, but not that big of a deal. That is, anything under 10 miles was barely worth getting dressed for, and it wasn't until 16-18 that I felt like I was moving. Though I didn't go much over 20 miles at a time, two or three days a week at 16-18 mies wasn't out of the question. It wasn't even abnormal. It just was.

And that's one of the amazing things I find about the marathon; the training is both teh suck and awesome, takes both sacrifice and commitment, and to do it well takes pain and tears. Well, maybe not tears, but curses certainly. The occasional dry heave isn't out of place, either.

The thing that I find I love about the marathon is that at mile 20 or so, I get to meet myself. If I've been running it hard and right, mile 20-21 I begin to find that parts of my body start failing to work right, and pain begins to set in. How do I react? How do I keep my legs moving when I feel like some of the muscles have entirely given up, and now are acting as dead weight? What does it take for me to keep moving and not give up?

And, if at mile 20 something is really going wrong, will I be bright enough to figure that out? DNF typically means "Did Not Finish" although some say it means "Did Nothing Fatal." On the other hand, the latter read isn't always true. Had I dropped during the 50K DNF would've had the first reading without the second. But I digress.

I love the marathon, and I love the training. I revel in the soreness in the morning, when I'm staggering around like I'm double (or triple) my age. I love the feel of humming along, running at my marathon pace and feeling like I could run that way forever.

I love the fire in my throat as I'm doing intervals, the rasp that comes from too much heavy breathing in the cold. I love how every footstep is an adventure, running hard on icy pavement and trusting in screwshoes to keep me upright.

I love being outside in the winter. Of being completely on my own without a care in the world except to do the next mile, or next interval, and slowly wear away the rubber on the sole of shoes. I love wearing a single layer in freezing temperatures and feeling hot, like the idea of wearing short sleeves might not have been a bad idea.

The marathon spurs me to these things like nothing else. Ultras don't have the interval sessions for the most part. Half marathons- well, I could train for them more intensely. And I've love to run a half marathon goal race, and shoot for 1:35 or less (1:37:02 is my current PR) but... the marathon is a daunting challenge. I've run six, I think, and they've all taught me something. I really can't say the same thing for the halfs or ultras I've run. Curious that. I'm going to have to think on that a little more.

Anyway, that's my love letter to the marathon. She's a cruel lover; but I've never had another who gave me so much back in return.

Running Year in Review

2010 was on interesting year, filled with triumphs, stupid moments, PRs, and the odd wasted opportunity.  The changing form through use of five fingers and Good For Running has been a success.  The move to a more minimal type shoe (when not using five fingers) has also been good... though after using five fingers any standard trainer feels over cushioned.

One thing nice about that, though, is that when I'm trying on standard trainers, it takes the cushion out of the equation.  They all feel equally over stuffed, and it doesn't feel like a good thing.  That way, I get to concentrate on things like fit, how natural they feel on my feet, and how little I like running in standard trainers.

But anyway enough about footwear.  What I'd like to do is go on, at length, about the last year focusing on the races I did and the major things that occurred.  Some, I'm sure, will be a repeat of older posts, and hopefully won't contradict them too badly.  As my dad used to say: "Memory is the second thing to go, they say, and I forget  the first thing."

So... onto the races!

I began training for the Martian Marathon in December of last year, but the training (and consequences related there of) greatly effected the first nine months of the year.   Daniels probably has been my favorite book plan I've tried, and I've gone through three or four, depending on how you count.  It was an extremely flexible and hard-but-not-too-hard program. 

January~  Didn't do any race, but did a lot of base building and the odd hard workout, as Daniels suggests.  I wish I could have done the Bigfoot Snowshoe race, but I skipped it.

February~ Superbowl 5K (21:28/6:55 pace).  I really felt the difference changing my form made, especially on downhills.  it make them consciously harder.  But on the other hand, I got in the habit of counting a long time ago in my running, and counting strides per minute is one day to make a 5K go faster.  It was also nice to negative split it as a race.  Race congestion had a little to do with that, but I also planned it that way, and managed to stick to the plan.  If history hasn't gone all rose colored on me.  :)

March~ More fun following the Daniels program.  This was the big build up to the taper, and a good chunk of the taper as well.  I remember some wonderfully difficult training runs that were longer than my long runs, but with intervals thrown in to boot.  I remember a few crash and burns, a few triumphs, and a lot of miles.  I spent a lot of time at Indian Springs, and got heartily sick of the two mile loop in the middle.

April~  Martian (3:27:46/7:55 pace) and recovery.  Martian went well, as I think I laid out in my race report.  What sticks with me is the feeling of deadness that hit some of my muscles in the latter stages of the race, as well as the jump in my heart rate near mile 21 that didn't stop till the end of the race.  Oh, and staggering about like Bambi after crossing the finish line.

I also seem to remember the race recovery going quite well, which I lay at the feet of changing up my form.  One of the problems of overstriding is the peak of force that slams through the body with a heavy heel strike.  It's fairly minor, but it adds up.  If I'm maintaining 85-90 strides per minute, over the course of a 3:27 marathon I'll have 35-37 thousand of those little shocks go through my body.  When I finished Bayshore last year, I felt a little like I had been in a car accident.  Martian was significantly different- at least in terms of abuse I felt done to my body.

A couple of weeks later I did the Trail half marathon (2:14:15/10:14 pace) in five fingers.  It went well, I ran it easy with a friend, and didn't have any problems or pain.  I love that half; it's challenging, but not technical in a way that would hurt me later on in the year.  Rocks and roots to trip over, sure, but less than at Pontiac, my trail running park of choice.  Some decent hills, but I wasn't running for speed.

May~ Brookshire 5K (21:22/6:53 pace) In a way, this was the opposite of the Superbowl 5K; I started off fast but my pace fell off toward the end.  Running with folk isn't always a great idea, especially when you know just how much faster they are.  Still, it was a PR, and done through some wet and rainy conditions.  If I had run it smarter, I think I may have done a little better.  But probably not much.

June~ this is where things fell apart.  Did a lot of five finger miles in the first week of June, and ended it running at Highland Rec, probably the most technical trail system in the area.  Stubbed my little toe, right foot, three times starting at mile 6.  I don't know which of those stubs might have broken it, but I'm pretty sure one of them did.

Sadly, that wasn't the problem; compensating for the stub was.  Left calf took up a lot of slack, and probably did the majority of the work going down hills for over 10 miles.  The next day, bad pain that didn't go away for the next six weeks.

July~recovery
August ~slowly built up miles.

Crim (1:20:33/8:03 pace) This was a test.  I wanted to know whether my body and my leg would be okay with a hard, if not a race effort.  It was, and I chopped 16 minutes off of my Crim PR of '06.  Of course, I was a *much* different runner back in '06, but still.  A PR is a PR.

September~ like a dam with a lot of back pressure, I scheduled a race every weekend I could.

Labor Day 30K (2:46:39/8:57 pace) One of my favorite races, i ran it with a friend and spent a lot of time chatting about various stuff.  i love the hills, the dirt roads, and the race distance.  If it were up to me, the English (or was it French?) would have set the marathon distance to this length back in the 20's, or whenever.  Beautiful day for easy running, and I couldn't have asked for a better race experience.

Romeo to Richmond Half (1:42:42/7:50 pace) Decent half, although I really didn't care much for the slightly sandy trail we had to run on, the sun in our eyes, and the wind in our face.  Nice day for a run, but  I was kind of glad when it was over.  I may have been happier doing a repeat of the Falling Waters half, but this made more sense at the time.

Woodstock half (1:56:10/8:52 pace) this was a fun half, though I think I was slowed considerably due to sleeping pretty poorly the night before.  I didn't figure out how to keep warm in my tent- the right combination of clothes with my sleeping bag, and woke up with a pretty fierce pain in my lower back.

Again, I ran it in my five fingers, and that was fine... though I did get a blister, which was unexpected.  I also ran through a pair of the Injinji liners.  That was kind of disappointing.  they were new, and the socks are good quality.  It just appears the the first generation of liners aren't.  I've heard better things about the second generation.  Not sure if the two were connected.

October~ Brooksie half (1:39:00/7:33 pace) Definitely one of my success stories of this year.  I originally signed up to run with a friend as far as I could, but probably would drop at the 6 or 10 mile mark.  Didn't quite work that way.  I remember feeling fairly strong throughout, and banking time at the beginning (a race tactic I usually don't recommend) really worked out well.  I remember being fairly whipped for the last three miles, but able to run strong.  It helped an awful lot to be running with a friend.  I'll have to see if I can arrange that for next year.

Run through Hell (44:04/7:06 pace)  I really enjoyed this race- like Labor Day 30K it was on hilly dirt roads, perhaps my favorite running terrain.  Still feels vaguely trail-ish, but I don't have to concentrate nearly as much on not tripping, and I can get some sort of momentum going.  And hills are fun because I like to go up them so much- I did most of my passing on the up hills, I think.  Lots of people, and I knew many of them, so the cheering back and forth helped a lot, too.

It was in October I decided to get an internet running coach, so I could take my flawed thinking out of the mix and learn from someone in a more fluid environment.  Someone who may have different ways of reacting to issues that come up during training.  It's been a good experience, and it got me to do certain things I've always been pretty lax on when assigning them to myself.  Cross training, for the most part.  But also increasing miles slowly, and being reassured that changing the schedule and downshifting miles isn't always a bad thing.

November~ Jingle Bell Run (43:47/7:03 pace)  Not bad run, though I know I could have done better if I had stuck with someone.  I lost concentration midway through the race- I really didn't have the mental focus.  But ran hard enough to earn a quasi-PR.  I did the race in '08 and ran in the 42s, but I thought the race was short, so I don't think of it as a PR.  Even if I did the same course today and do.  My garmin says that it was 6.3 something, so it certainly wasn't short if the garmin can be trusted.

December~ Fat Ass 50K.  Went well.  :)  The write up was fairly recent, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time on it.  But it was nice to come in first.  It give me some bragging rights to say I won a race with a 90% attrition rate (to be fair, though, I very much doubt that even if the day had been beautiful, that all 40 had plans to do the full three loops).

For next year: I'm signed up for Bayshore, and I'm going to continue my working relationship with my coach to hopefully help me run a 3:15.  May or may not be a Boston qualifier for 2012, but I'm not really concerned right now.  I just want to run as intelligently as possible, to get as fast as I can reasonably can with as little chance of injury.

So, I'd like a 3:15 Bayshore.  I'd also like a fast Martian time- a PR would be nice,  meaning sub 1:37:02.  We'll see if that happens.

I'd kind of like to do the Woodstock 100K, if that works out.  I'd also like to possibly do the Mohican 50M, though that's less of a goal for me.  Maybe pace if I feel up to it.

And that's the year as I remember it.

Fat A$$ 50K

You certainly don't have to enjoy pain to run 30 odd miles through snow and hills, but it helps. For the rest of us, there's Aleve.

You also may not think that warm chicken soup during a 7+ hour winter run might not be the most wonderful thing you've ever tasted. On this count, you'll either have to trust me or try it yourself. But honestly, if manna from heaven tasted this good, the children of Israel would've never left the desert.

The day was relatively warm, as days have gone this December; low to mid 20s feels positively balmy when you've been in single digits for a time. Easy to over dress, but that's why layers were invented.

The start had a sort of carnival feel; no complicated race instructions, no jockeying for position to find the right place for your pace- just a bunch of people trying to squeeze together for a group photo and a big "Thank You" to the RD (race director).

Not that FA50Ks usually have RDs, or aid stations, or awards, places, or race t-shirts, but this wasn't the typical FA50K. All kudos to Farra for making it so!

The first lap went well; I started off fairly slowly with the first few miles averaging somewhere around 15 min pace. I broke off from the group and moved along on my own, slowly catching up to a couple of runners somewhere around mile six. I chatted back and forth with them till the end of the first lap- the usual "when did you start running" "what races have you done" and the relatively merits of screw shoes vs Yak Trax vs Microspikes and the like.

First Lap 2:18
First Break ~15 minutes.

I started lap two with a fellow I had been chatting with for the last part of lap one- a marathon maniac who had PRed in a 50K the week before. Not quite as crazy as some of my friends who had run the HUFF 50K the day before, and were out of the trails with us, but still plenty crazy. He felt the fatigue building, though, and I left him behind about a mile into the second loop.

From then on, I ran pretty much on my own. It was pretty familiar to me- I run the trails at Pontiac Rec a lot, and occasionally in significantly worse conditions. There was maybe four inches of broken snow, but I was using screw shoes and only had to be kind of careful on the down hills. There were branches hanging over the trail, but I only had to be careful to not let them whack me in the forehead was I tried to run bent over at the waist.

I failed at that a couple of times. It's a good way to get a headache and neck pain at the same time!

Mile 15 is when I started to feel pain in my left hip flexor, which moved to my gluteus medius muscle after about a mile. This gave me two huge draws to finish the second lap- the chicken soup of the heavenly variety, and the bottle of Aleve I knew I had stashed in my car.

Second Lap 2:20
Second break ~21 minutes.

I started my third lap thinking "this could be bad." As much as I've run at Pontiac Rec, I've never done 30 miles there. And my longest training run for the race was *cough* 17. My longest run through heavy snow was 6. But the Aleve had muted the pain to a barely noticed sensation, and I had trained fairly hard for the past three months to "just finish" this race. And I wasn't feeling bad, just fatigued.

I ran the course never hitting the wall, and I only stopped running due to mental fatigue once or twice. My toes were wet and cold, but thanks to Smartwool I had neither frostbite nor blister. I love running gear!

I finished the lap with my gamin telling me I had run 30.5 miles. I popped out onto the parking lot with only two cars- mine and someone else's. I thought it might have been someone who was running the race, but I was too mind fogged to think to look for telltale bumperstickers, 26.2 ovals, or other signs.

I ran down to the entrance like I was told, turned around and came back to the car. The effort that had me at 13-15 minute miles on the trail had me at about 10 while on the roads, at the every end of the race. I really do wonder how I would have done without the snow fall.

I finished the race in 7:42:27 (BTW, Farra- sorry I miss reported 7:44).
Average pace: 14:45
Calories burned: ~4000 (maybe more)

I later learned that of the ~40 people who came to do the race, only four finished the 31 miles. Of those four, I finished first. I know at least one of them started early, did at least two of of the laps in snowshoes, tramping down and marking the trail for the rest of us. So much kudos and thanks to Jeff L, definitely the unsung hero of the race!

Also many thanks to Farra for being the driving force, RD and organizer. You did great, and I hope to see this race happen again! And Bruce, for being Aid station volunteer extraordinaire, and bringing tents and everything.  And those of you who actually managed to read this all the way to the end!  :)

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Six Days

Personally, I love the challenge of running through snow. 

It feels really hard core, like only the most dedicated (or addicted/insane/compulsive) are out on the trails plowing through inches of the white powdery stuff.  It works some muscles particularly hard; my hip flexors, quads, and particularly my Tensor Fascia Lata muscles are all deeply fatigued at the end of a long run through the snow.

And really, it's part of the game when running in a northern state.  All we can do is deal with it, or condemn ourselves to the treadmill for four months out of the year. 

Still, I am getting a little nervous about doing a 50K in this next Sunday.  It's going to be a an interesting journey.  Hopefully no injuries will result.

Jack Daniels' talent for understatement

Jack Daniels was describing Threshold pace as being something between a person's 10K pace (30 minutes for the fast runners) and their marathon pace (best pace you can maintain for 2 or more hours).

Kind of struck me as funny. I mean it's hard to argue with... Most people's threshold pace will be between what they can run in a flat out 30 minute time trial and the time it takes them to run a marathon.

I guess his book was aimed at athletes a little faster than I am, is all. 30 minute 10K is only slightly more comprehensible than a two hour marathon for most of us- though the former might earn you a few thousand dollars while the latter would probably earn six or seven digits if you could do it consistently....


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No more dead lifts...

... my back is not happy with me.  I don't know whether is due to crap form, or an instability 'cause of landing on my tail bone one day when I fell from a tree, or a mix of stuff.  All I do know is that my SI joint is only happy when I'm not moving.

*sigh*  life is like that.

Jingle Bell 10K

10Ks aren't as much fun as half marathons, but their a sight better than 5Ks.  5Ks are just an exercise in pain management, perhaps not as bad as 800s, but still to be avoided as possible.

the last time I did the jingle bell run was in '07, which was a good year for me.  some good races, and some bad, but for the most part everything I put a serious effort into went fairly well.  this race in particular.  records say I finished in 42:38, but I blamed it on the course being short.

Could be that.  Or it could be I had a really good race.  Maybe some of both.  But I took away from that experience that maybe I had some speed that I hadn't tapped into yet.  Well, I was slower this year, but I still put up a respectable showing, i think: a decent 43:47.  Not sub-7 pace, but pretty close.  Got me 19th overall, though only 6th in my Age group.  it's not like I'll ever be going sub 30, or even sub 40 unless I have some sort of break through.

First mile went how first miles usually go.  I started off a little slow till I figured how my body would respond to race pace.  During my warm up I had to walk for a bit to keep myself from throwing up.  Bit of irony that was lost on me at the time, but I didn't have any problems with my stomach during the race.  So I guess it was worth it.  Still, I was worried that I'd mess up someone's lawn for a bit.

Ran with a friend of mine who wasn't going to race the race- or so she said before the race started.  She did a five mile easy run before the race, and was thinking that she'd just run with a friend.  Well, she pulled ahead of me after mile one and finished well enough to take female Master's.  I was happy enough just to be able to keep her in sight for a couple of miles.

Also was recognized by one of my customers; a high school cross country runner whose mom is the team's coach.  I was surprised that she was able to do any sort of recognition during the race- personally, I'm usually too absorbed to recognize anyone unless I run with them on a regular basis.

Anyway, i got to the end and saw the time counting its way up to 44, which I beat, and the runner up ahead of me, whom I didn't.  Couldn't have asked for better weather, or a better marked course, and it was fairly flat.  though I like hills; gives me a reason to say why I didn't earn a PR.  Even though in this race I say that I did, if the '07 race really was short.

This week, I've got the trot with turkeys, which I'm looking forward to.  Always fun running around someone else's stomping ground.

Quick update

Legs are sore... Time to break out the aleve and foam roller. Jingle Bell run race report due soon!


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Week in review...

It was a good week of running.

First, the summery:

M- 6
T- 10 (bike) and weights
W- 13.7
Th-off
F- 9
Sa- 12.5
Su- 8.5

Totals:
49.7 running
10 biking

As I noted before, the weights was a nice change, and it made me feel stronger as I ran things like hills. 

Also, today I ran the Run Through Hell race, getting a 10K PR- 44:04 (garmin time), pace of 7:06.  I'm really very pleased with that- I went in thinking 7:15-7:45 was about as good as I could expect considering the hills, the crowd, and that yesterday's run was pretty tough.

Things I wish I could have done better:
Remembered a post-race snack for afterward.  I was *hungry*.
Started up a little bit... I had to weave around a lot of people at the early stages of the race.  Even though I thought I was fairly close to the start, I probably should have been further up.
Worn better shoes- I should've donned my racing flats.  The Elixers are nice, but they're getting a little long in the tooth, and I did have both the Kinvaras and Fastwitch in my trunk.  Ah well, next time.




Good times!

Being Coached and strength training

So, I decided to hire myself a coach.

I've been thinking about it for a while, mostly because I want someone with some objectivity to make up my weekly training program.  I like what I've done in the past, and I've learned a lot.

I just want to try something different.

My first week started off with some cross training (I chose biking for cardio) and some resistance training.  Nothing amazingly intense- lunges, squats, steps ups, and some core work.  But it was enough to get me sore for a couple of days, in an uncomfortable but not all the way to pain type way.  Except when I sneezed.  That hurt.

But the interesting part was the effect it had on my running, especially with respect to hills.  I've always approached hills with a consistent effort type idea.  Now, even though my muscles were sore, I could power up the hills.  The muscles liked working hard, or something.

It'll be curious to see what happens in the future- if I ask to do it more than once per week, and if I continue to see its effects on my running.  And if my running really does become better because of it.

I contracted for the next two months to take me to a Fat-Ass 50K  on December 19th.  If it goes well, I'll renew for a longer term- hopefully to help me run a 3:15 at Bayshore.  That's the plan, at least.  I'll try to keep you posted on how it goes.

Brooksie Way Half

I almost wish I had done the 5K. Frank Shorter was running the race, after what he claimed was his 160,000 mile hip check up. Really, I think it was some sort of surgery, or something, but honestly how cool would it be to be in a race with Frank Shorter? And to say that you beat him?! He came in a 27:23, so it would've been possible...

But to think. If you Run 40 miles per week 50 weeks out of the year you end up with about 2000 miles. It's a respectable distance, and certainly more than 95% of the rest of the population typically does. But it would take you 80 years to run 160,000 miles. It's over six times around the world at the equator, if I remember right. It would be running from New York to California something like 50 times.

Pretty amazing to contemplate. But I digress.

The Brooksie Way took place on a day almost perfect for running; high 30s low 40s, a bit of sun, a bit of wind, and little to no humidity. Definitely fall; the season's colors were already showing forth.

Of course, I didn't see any of the colors when I got there, because I like to get to races early and sacrifice a little sleep to avoid the nightmare that is parking. So when I pulled up and in with no traffic I figured I made the right choice. Seeing the miles of backlog about 45 minutes later I knew I made the right choice. :)

I did about a 1.8 mile warm up with a friend, found another friend whom I had promised to pace, and waited for the start of the race. Though the temps were a bit brisk, warming up in a jacket let me stay warm enough to wait at the finish line in my typical sleeveless tee.

So the race started, and even though we were smack dab in-between the seven and eight minute pace signs, we probably passed a couple of hundred people in the first mile. *sigh* race etiquette. Oh well, what can you do?

Let me natter on a bit about my race plan. I didn't really have one, except I wanted to try to pace a friend of mile for as long as I could hold on. He wanted a 1:40 half, which is roughly a 7:38 pace. Personally, I thought that there I could probably hang on for six miles, I might be able to hang on for 10 miles, but would check in with myself at those points to see how I felt.

I gave myself a 1/3 chance of being able to finish with him.

The first six miles were downhill, and some pretty fast running. Though most of it was on roads, a good chunk was on the Paint Creek Trail- not paved, but flat and a good running surface. We hit mile six at 43:52, which is a pretty good clip; maybe a 7:20 average pace.

I didn't really realize that my friend's race plan was to bank time during the fast downhill of the beginning to slow down during some of the pretty killer hills of the middle. It worked. Even though our pace dropped to the low 8's and high 7's for the next three miles, we got through the 10 mile mark right around 1:16... meaning I beat my Crim time by about four minutes.

The last three miles went nicely- hard work, but good. We got onto Oakland University's Campus and wound our way through some vaguely familiar streets until we started toward the mansion, and some extraordinary downhills started. My friend asked me if I wanted to push myself, and after taking a minute or so to consider, I guess I decided I did.

When I saw the clock hit 1:39 I knew I was coming in under 1:40, and was kind of shocked. My friend let me go ahead and finished two seconds after me. We wandered a bit, met up with some friends who finished earlier, found coffee, and hung out a bit more.

It was a throughly enjoyable race, and I had a wonderful time. First time I have run as a pacer to someone at my level, and it worked better than I thought it would. Perhaps we'll be able to pace one another to a 3:15 at Bayshore next year... that would be pretty cool. :)

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Beautiful Day...

Want to go for a run... trying to decide whether, six, nine or 14 miles.  Decisions, decisions...

I bought a pair of New Balance 100s; they're a minimalist shoe (though not quite as cool as the minimus).  Feels short, though it tested properly in the store.  I'll just have to see how they develop.

This racing season has gone really well; I'm trying to decide whether to end it on the high note of Brooksie, or do a few more runs just because I can.  I love running through the woods, but I also love running fast.  There was really something to the feeling of doing 7:10-20s during Brooksie and feeling good, and being surprised by every mile marker.

Hopefully, I'll be able to do a Brooksie write up soon...

Week in Running 9/13

Kind of a step down week for me...
Distance- 42.7
Time- 6:24:32
Pace- 9:00/mile

M: off

Tu: 5.5 mile run on the West Bloomfield Trail after work. Turned dark by the time I actually hit the trail, so I wore my lights. Felt odd after all this time.

Wed: 6.1 Run with the group. Started slow, picked it up about half way. Felt pretty good to cut loose a little. Though I wonder if I'd be better off trying to keep up with some of the guys. I think I have it in me to run faster. Of course, it also might break me...

Thurs: 4.0 mile run around Pontiac Rec's West bridle loop. Nice and muddy, froggie, turtlie, and the odd turkey. Didn't see any big animals, though. In five fingers.

Friday: 9 mile run around Pontiac Rec's Bridle loop. Five finger run, which was also a lot of fun- thought not quite as fun as Thursday. Forgot my Garmin, so I just ran by feel.

Sat: 5 mile run at Indian Springs. It was supposed to be a nice, easy shake out run to keep the blood flowing for the race on Sunday. Went a little harder than I probably should have. Still, don't think I sabotaged myself... much. :)

Sun: Romeo to Richmond half. 13.1 miles in 1:42:43 (according to Garmin) The race was good, though I kind of wish it would have been Richmond to Romeo. That way, the wind would have been at my back *and* the sun wouldn't have been in my eyes. I was promised a rainy and cloudy day! How dare it be sunny and breezy?!

All in all, a good week of running. Next week, the goal is 54 miles, and to run four races at Run Woodstock . *Really* looking forward to this one. Love trailing, love camping, am looking forward to the whole experience!


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Some thoughts while on the trail...

I love running in the rain.

Frogs are really kind of weird looking. I'm really glad I didn't step on one of the dozen or so I saw hanging out in the puddles.

Saw a rock about the size of a dinner plate. Realized it was a snapping turtle. Happy that I didn't scream like a little girl.

I live running though mud, as long as I'm in five fingers. I still shy away from doing it from time to time, and I have no idea why.

I stopped in the middle of the run, thinking of all the things to be thankful for. Wind on my face sand between my toes. A niece with a new liver, and that the surgery went well. A mom with cataracts being removed, and that that surgery went well. Being able to run four miles without a second thought. A job that I enjoy most of the time. School, because learning is fun on a lot of levels.

Toys like an iPad and contact lenses. Enough food that I have to worry about overeating. Shelter that keeps me warm when it's cold, cool when it's hot, and the power to change things around if I so desire.

The world is a far less threatening place during a run. And it's easier to be grateful when in motion.

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One thing...

... that annoys me about high mileage running is, of course, having to take two showers a day.

It gets tedious.  Worse is being to tired and going to bed all gross feeling.  Hopefully I won't have to do that more than once at woodstock.

On the other hand, if that's all I have to complain about, life is pretty good...