| Location: Erie,CO, Member Since: Jan 01, 2008 Gender: Male Goal Type: Unknown Running Accomplishments: Pikes Ascent: 2:37.x
Pikes Marathon 4:32:x
Do PRs count if they are older than 10 years? Short-Term Running Goals: Preparing for Pikes 08 Long-Term Running Goals: Run lots of mountains and passes, the Grand Canyon, and the Burro Race World Championships Personal: I have nine toes for the same reason Paul McMullen has eight |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 269.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 269.00 |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
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Running got shanghai'ed by two thing this AM. One, from early in the AM to mid afternoon, JZ and I spent the day with the Cub Scouts at Colorado School Mines - doing various basic science experiments. That was a good reason. The second reason, and not so good was I spent a good portion of my day dealing with GI issues. Ick. I have been denying that I am fighting something for a couple of days, and it came to, umm, a head today. When I tried to run in the late afternoon (temps in the mid 60s), my stomach revolted and turned back after a mile out. When I got back in the door, Tracy took a look at me and wanted to know what was wrong. I did not answer because I was doing my first true speedwork of the season as I bolted to the bathroom.
Tracy told me to go to bed, and she was probably right, but I wanted to get out - it was such a beautiful day. So I hopped on my bike and spun around in Erie for about an hour. I never bike ride. I have considered doing more of it as a supplement activity to training. Some outcomes / observations from this activity:
- I picked up a new route for a 14-15 mile long run
- I am probably every biker's nightmare when it comes to fashion. I was riding a mountain bike
 from 1995 (Trek 930) with no shocks in running shorts (yes, Euro splits) and a cotton t-shirt.
- This activity did not hurt my abs at all. I am aware of them being slightly aggrevated when I run
- This activity hurt my neck (tight) and my butt. Given this ride is probably the longest continuous ride I have done in recent memory, this is not suprising.
- I kept the ride real easy, and by my quick calculations I was doing around 90-95 revs a minute, was doing a bit better than 15mph on the way out, and slower than that on the way back when I hit some wind.
- This seemed to open my legs a bit, keep my gut settled and was not really taxing overall (other than the neck)
- While it was easy, I don't think I have a bunch of gears above that pace when it comes to biking. I really just suck at it. It always cracks me up how bikers say to me - "dude, for as much as you run, you got the engine!" Yes, I have a little Toro motor for running. It ain't going to do crap when you put into the Porsche event of biking.
When I got home, Tracy sent me to bed (insisting this time). My gut finally seems to have settled, but getting to bed early may not be a bad idea. I am going to try to go long tomorrow.
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| met Lucho and Jeff for a run this AM. I got over to Lucho's place a bit early to get some "e.c" as I wanted to get about 2 hours. As we started the run, the snow was really flying, with a good gust out of the north. And it was that really thick corn snow, making it hard to see when you looked up at all. I think if it was any of us alone, we probably would have bagged it. But we were all there and so there was no giving in. Still, there was some quiet muttering how it was 70 degrees yesterday! I found that still dealing with some residual crud from yesterday and so I felt a bit drained. Jeff had a tempo scheduled - hardly ideal conditions for that. I let the guys go and just settled into an easy pace as we hit the hills, wind and open conditions. I finished up when Lucho came back to get me at 1:45. I had planned to get more but the weak gut, combined with the blizzard conditions making me wet and cold sent me packing early.
Since I did not run with him much, I did not get to talk to Tim as much as I would have liked about his aerobic training, low HR approach he is currently taking. I need to dig into this a bit more with him, but the general approach is best described here ... |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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 I was totally wiped after yesterday’s easy run with JK and TL. I thought that taking it easy on Saturday put me in the green, but I was still a mess on Sunday – spending a good deal of my time in the bathroom. I don’t know if it was the flu, food poisoning, or something else, but it really did not make a difference: the end result was the same (pun intended). I just felt really weak. My father-in-law made it a point of saying that he never had seen me sprawled on the couch looking like a such a lump before yesterday (I muttered back that he did not see me at the finish of Pikes). Yesterday’s run alone should not have wiped me out, but the run in the cold and wet, combined with not being healthy pushed me over the edge. So I ran yesterday slower then I normally would have, and then got decked on the backend. I am much better today, but I do feel fuzzy on the edges and hence will take it easy.
I have been doing a lot (more?) of consideration of how I am training as of late. While I am making progress, I feel like something is missing. Like I am not getting some key elements in. And hence as if I am building up some false confidence of how I am progressing. In some regard, this is an odd thought – I am doing more miles than I have in the past (on whole), with more focus on my workouts than before. Still, that inner voice, the one that tells you if you are doing all that you can, it tells me something is amiss. Part of this feeling comes from the fact that I am doing this all based on what I think is right. And there are some definite holes in that. Am I doing enough hills? Am I training hard enough? Am I doing enough long runs? Am I getting my nutrition right? Am I drinking enough water? Am I catabolizing the eccentric muscles to effectively collect the glycogen into a steady state MAF of endocrinitic crud? Or something like that.
Part of the reason of this blog is to put that out there and challenge my assumptions in training by putting it into writing, making me think about it, and letting you take a shot a telling me what is wrong with it. A huge voice in my head often says “screw it – run. Run hard when you feel good. Run easy when you feel bad. You will improve.” But part of me knows I owe it to myself to be more intelligent than that about this whole thing if I am going to put this much effort into it. But perhaps I am analyzing to the point of paralyzing? I want to with a thought and purpose - above the caveman mentality, but not to the point where I think myself into a hole. All of which leads to ...
I am strongly considering doing some of the maximum aerobic function or so called MAF training that Lucho and CV have been strongly advocating. Lucho suggested that I not run above my MAF (180-my age) for eight weeks. I don’t know if I will have the patience for it for eight minutes, never mind about eight weeks. Partly because I don’t know if I believe it. Why can’t I raise my HR above 142 for the next eight weeks? What difference does it make if I do while jumping rope or something? Why is 180 – my age my aerobic threshold? Why not run at MAF one day and then go above that the next day in the classic spirit of Bowerman's easy hard? I confess: I have often looked at strict HR training as a bit of a crutch. I have been on runs with guys and their HR alarm goes off and they tell me how they must be going too hard and they need to back off. They call this discipline. I have typically nodded politely, but made note that I'd not be held hostage to a monitor. But now, I am currently playing with the idea of taking this approach for a bit to see what results it brings. I found this decent tidbit on MAF on line. This is also a good read.
I respect the heck out of what Lucho and CV have done, and more than that – the amount of research they have put into understanding the science of endurance training. In fact, I envy that – I want to get to a point where I have more answers in this area than questions. And to that point, I will continue to question this and kick this around with those guys, as well as gents like Timmy G, Peter H and Marty K.
I got to running on the mill in the evening. I decided to run at 142 HR, just to determine what pace that was for me. I learned, observed the following:
- My HR is totally unpredictable for the first 3/4 of a mile. There were times when the bugger pegged at 220 and then would drop to 190, pop back up to 200, and then drop to 165. I had an interuption at 3/4 of a mile and so when I got back on the mill after this, my HR was a steady 140-145.
- I ran the next 4.25 at 7:40 pace. I had the incline set at zero. I played with the speed a bit, but I could see as I edge it up faster than 7:40, the HR would begin to bump up accordingly.
- I was a bit dead legged, I think some crud left over from being ill this weekend.
I got back on the mill before bed for an other five and this time played with a function that I have never used called "fat burn." After entering my wt (140), age (38), desired time to run (45 minutes), goal HR (142) and speed (I put in 7.5 mph or 8min/mile) the mill then automatically changed speed and incline for me through the run.
- Given my initial HR, again, in that first mile it kept dropping speed. I let it as I wanted to see what it would do (at least initially) without me interupting the process. It was doing all sorts of stuff with the incline (in tenths of a percent incline which is interesting since I can only tweak it to half of a percent of incline when I manually adjust it) to keep my HR as near to 142 as possible. It settled in at 7.1 mph and did not go up so I ended up running 8:20ish a mile.
- I like to walk down on the mill for a minute or two to just get my orientation back before jumping off when I finish a run. When I did this, obviously my HR went down and so ... the incline shot way up (15% grade at 3mph). It actually did start to increase the speed there to bring my HR up from the mid 120s it was at.
I honestly don't know if I can go eight weeks where I don't run faster than a 7:40 mile right now.
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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I had a busy day at the office, and then I had a dental appointment that ran long in the afternoon. And then I had a date with Tracy tonight. So all my typical times to sneak in a run were eaten up. In these cases, I have a choice: fret that I missed a significant training day or roll with it, realize that in the big picture - one day, one workout, one of nearly anything (non-catostrophic) does not make a difference and that I have to take a big picture view. Particularly since this is my first day off this year from what I can tell. Furthermore, I can rationalize it! I am still bouncing back from being ill this weekend. Where I need to be cautious with this is when I have a day off, it gnaws at me mentally. Interestingly, rather than further motivating me to get back on the horse, it often drives me the other way - diet slips, focus slips, etc. Training begets training, lack of training begets further laziness. Apparently I am not the only one that is victim to this spiral phenomena - several others seem to encounter this.
Back in school I learned that most geologic features are made over long periods of time  with the occasional interuption that quickly changes things. Thorson (a great prof I had) described such longterm changes in landscapes dynamic metastable equalibrium. For runners, endurance athletes, it means sometimes we swing up, sometimes we swing down, sometimes we plateau, sometimes we are agressively making strides in fitness or lack of it. And then there are the huge events where we have the breakthrough race, or the breakthrough injury. Like meteorite strikes changing the terrain, these big shifts are rare. For most of us, we carve our own Grand Canyon by being a Colorado River a little bit everyday. Today, my river was a little dry. But I will keep tapping at that rock tomorrow, the next day ...
Other items of note ...
- Timmy G, a long time motivation to me, an excellent runner, and an all around swell guy, has started a blog
- The MAF conversation has continued to be a good one over at Lucho's house. I love this on line forum thing that is occurring between the blogs of folks like JK, Lucho, CV, Beth, James, Kerri, and everyone else who is moving the conversation forward. It is what I imagined that evil message board site would be but never became. Hmm ... coincidence that these folks are triathletes?
- Perhaps almost opposite to MAF, I found this good read on training via Phil.
- Jeff Keil - post of the week ... hell, maybe the month - and yes, it is only March 4.
- MK got some press from the Rock today in the Camera ... in an article talking about how hard it is to be a master in the Boulder area. Wait til these guys get a hold of Lucho in four years if he keeps at it...
- Uhh - how many of you folks use some sort of an RSS reader? If you already do, disregard this part of this message ... if you don't: half the power of blogs is that the information that gets posted to them gets pushed to their subscribers. In other words, I don't need to spend an hour trolling the net everyday seeing if Tom or Jeff or any of the folks above have actually posted anything. When they do, it shows up in my feed catcher (RSS reader, aggregator, whatever). It gets sent to me. For me, that means it shows up in my Outlook, but it could be whatever catcher you use - like Google Reader. I wake up in the morning, get my cup of joe, and read the latest from all of my favorite blogs. If I am not interested, I delete it. Let me know if any of you need a hand with this.
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 15.00 |
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 AM - got up and got down on the mill for four. I played around with HR just to see what paces brought it where. I started at 7:24 (.5 grade) (8.1 mph) and then after "warming up" for three minutes I started pushing it up .1 mph every minute. 7:10 (151), 6;43 (1:55) 6:15 (160) and then backed it down (7:12) (closing HR was 151)... I am just collecting data here and will make observations later (my head is spinning with all the good MAF conversation as of late). It was good to get up and get a run in. I have been a bit lazy with that as of late. I find that when I go to run in the AM, I am real slow to get out and do it. I wake up at 5 but then don't run to 6:15 because I screw around with all sorts of stuff: coffee, bathroom, a piece of toast, read the paper, read the blogs, look at the weather on line, bathroom again, get my running clothes on, synch my IPOD, answer an email from the east coast, think about what I want to do. What the heck ... get out and run Zack.
Mid day - real easy up on the Davidson Mesa for seven. Chillin to Zwan. I would have gone longer here but I had a meeting I was supposed to make back in the office and the dude blew it off. Grrr. Whatever. And yup, there was fresh snow up there. Got out also at the tail of the day for an other easy four - out to the Coal Creek trail and back. All told, 15 miles over 1:54.
I got some very direct feedback from Lucho tonight on training: You say you want to get "speed" back.. your goal is Pikes Peak? What do you think your fastest mile will be at this years Pikes Peak race? Work until you can run a mile at that pace.. then you have all the speed you need. If you can't hold it for 26 miles then you are lacking endurance.. of which the MAF method is 100% focused on. Also, the MAF method is not a 365 day program- you do it until you get fit enough to hammer. What Chuck and I are saying is that you have a weak foundation and you are trying to pile speed and tempo work on top of this weak foundation. You will not be able to push your fitness higher than your base endurance. In other words.. in 20 weeks after I have become aerobically strong and efficient enough to run 5:30 pace per mile while jogging at HR 145.. where do you think I will be able to go from there? MUCH faster. You on the other hand will have run hard every week and built your lactate threshold to 5:30 pace.. and that's the end, you're at your best.. If you run tempo work year around.. then when it comes time to prepare to get fast then where do you go? You will not be able to do more tempo or faster tempo. What I propose to you is to run 90 miles per week at HR 135-145 (this will be slow for you because your muscles lack the fitness to not stress your heart). Do this for 6 weeks. Test every week. What you will see happening is that every week you will get faster and faster at the same HR, this is you becoming efficient! If you were to continue this for 12-20 weeks and you plateaued then it comes time to train hard.. and you will have the structure and fitness to train harder than you've ever been able to! You'll be able to run 12-14 mile tempo runs at less than 6 min per mile pace and not kill yourself- can you do that now? Remember too that this concept that is so foreign to you comes directly from Lydiard. It's the oldest and most proven running theory of periodization! What you're proposing is arguably part of the reason for the down fall of American running. Volume is important.. and intensity hurts your ability to run volume.
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 15.00 |
|  Lot of little runs today. I don't like to do it that way, but my schedule has been a bit tighter recently so I am getting it as I can. For example, tonight JZ and I worked on some of the finishing touches of his Pinewood Derby car (he has decided to call it the Green Dragon). The pic here is him weighing it. If you look closely, it appears his car is just a touch over the allowed five ounces. He decided he'll make changes to the weight at the official weigh in tomorrow night - they will probably have a bit more of an exact scale. I am pretty proud of the work JZ has done here. He has easily done 85 percent of the actual work on his car; I've been there to yap at him about it, hold pieces that were too big for his hands, etc. People might look at this and roll their eyes, but I love this stuff. Anyway ... back to running ...
- AM - treadmill, easy, playing with HR again, 4 miles, low mid 140s at 8:15ish. Just easy running, trying to wake up. I got moving to the mill a little more quickly today but I got a later start (slept until 6!). I have been killing the mental boredom of the treadmill as of late listening to podcasts while on the mill, and then spending minutes counting stride rate. Rate was coming in at 86 for a single leg minute. I was happy with this - particularly since I use drop the rate at the slower paces.
- Mid day - 5 miles out and back on the Coal Creek trail. I felt really good here. Just relaxed, clicking along for a nice little "lunch hour." I am still blowing a lot of junk out of my nose though. It is the kind where when you blow it out it feels like a part of your head just went with it, in a good way ... and then you can suddenly hear a little better too!
- PM - 6 miles up on the Davidson Mesa. The winds came blowing in, and here I was a little stiff and tired. I kept it super easy but I was still just ready to be done.
I have been thinking A LOT about this MAF training. I have been asking a lot of folks who regularly engage in endurance sports about it - getting their take (there are no lack of opinions but they can be categorized to some degree). I have been continuing the conversation with Lucho, and I intend to participate in the test with him at the track tomorrow. There is a lot I can say about where I am with it now, but I need to give it a bit of space to better organize my thoughts and concerns about it. In short, I beleive it in, but I have some concerns about it. Whether those concerns are appropriate or not, well, that is why I need to sleep on it.
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 15.00 |
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This morning I met Lucho, Kerrie and Elizabeth over a Spangenburg Field, aka the track at Centaurus HS in Lafayette for the much discussed MAF test. It is pretty cool to get to run with these folks: I communicate with them here in cyber space quite a bit - and so when the opportunity to actually see them in the flesh occurs - it is a real treat. I hope I get to do it a lot more.
Almost immediately, Tim and I continued our discussion on MAF, my concerns about it, his rationale for it. I call this a discussion - because it is that. It is not an argument or a debate. We are discussing training, improving, our assumptions, science, our personal experiences and what we beleive it best. It is a passionate conversation. Kerrie was weighing in with some great points (which is really hard because I was talking a lot). I think everyone has heard Lucho's point of view on this. I think we agree on nearly ninety percent of what he (and Chuck) have said. But, mentally, I get stuck on this - why can't any training occur above the MAF rate during base?
I have a few different ways I attach to this question. I feel the need to get some semblance of leg speed back (and hence run above MAF). I feel the need to go out and run hills. Really big ones (and hence run above MAF). I feel that you build some degree of economy to run better at slower speeds when you have the ability to run faster for shorter distances (and hence run over MAF). Why can't I run at 155 and do 7:20's? In fairness to Tim, he did attempt to answer all these questions. I am still attached to them though.
We had our conversation during the warmup and then got to the MAF test at hand. I had a feel for what my MAF pace (8:15) was going to be based on my treadmill workouts earlier this week. Lucho recommended a pace that corresponded to a rate no higher than 149 bpm. I did a couple of laps to settle into the HR and then started the actual run. I quickly settled into about a 2 minute / 400 (or about an 8:10 mile) pace. I counted strides a couple of times to kill time (86 single leg for a minute). I had a couple of quick spots where I went over 150, particularly on the west side of the track where there was the slightest thing you could call a breeze. I also did push it up once or twice when as people lapped me (go figure!). I stuck in there for 32 minutes before I had to stop (as I had to get back to the office). I easily could have kept on going, but I guess that goes without saying.
In the warm-up I mentioned to Tim and Lucho that it would be really interesting if Kerrie ran faster than me in this - as our MAF numbers were about the same. Arguably, it would put further credibility into Lucho's point: I am anaerobically fit, but aerobically weak. I was faster than Kerrie at a 5K a few weeks ago. Well, in case you have not already guessed, Kerrie did indeed run about 15-30 seconds faster per mile at the same MAF (if not lower!).
Lucho, of course, was buzzing around the track for a bit and was kind enough to speak with all of us. As he lapped me (the first time) he asked how I was doing. I was fine, as I had mentally prepared myself to run at this pace. As he buzzed away, he said, with that bearded smile, "You could be better." And so, after all the scientific thought, all the rolling around with objective data this and that ... my thinking shifted based on an emotional input. I'd love to say that I have done the research with MAF and that I really beleive in it. But, as I have said above, I have serious concerns and doubts about it. I'd love to say that as a person who was trained as a scientist, I make decisions more on the data, less on my gut. I'd love to say as a person who makes their work life function off of presentation of data, driving data driven decisions, and showing frustration when decisions are made regardless of how the data will trend in the long term, I am objective with my training. But I really am not. This is probably why some friends of mine have said, "George, you are un-coachable" in the past. I work on my gut a LOT more than I like to admit. And so this journey to Pikes revealed that in an other little lesson to me today at some black rubkor track near on a Friday morning. When Tim said, "you can do better" it tripped that switch in me. It was not just the words, but how he said it. Hoakey I realize, but I knew when he said it, I'd have to try this. I am not sure if Tim realized that he played that card, but damnit ... that card gets me quite a bit in this world. I have decided I am going to try this MAF for a period of time. Mentally, I have not turned the corner to say I am going to do this for six or eight weeks. I am somewhat shy of that level of commitment. Maybe two weeks and I will see if there is any significant improvement. Maybe three. I am reconciling this against my concerns and fears in this way:
1.) I am 23 weeks out of Pikes.
2.) I am going to load up the mileage during this period
3.) I am going to see if keeping this easy thing actually gets my ab issue to fully repair
4.) I will look to reconcile the MAF and hill issue by doing so called MAF runs on the mill at incline, albeit at a slower pace
5.) If I get the ab to heal correctly, I will looks to bring strides back into the mix quickly
Thanks to Phil for lending me his HR monitor today.
What else to say? Some pix from the event today. Lucho and Kerri before the test at Centaurus Lucho and me. His beard is much cooler than mine.
About to get lapped by Lucho and Kerri in the MAF test (yup, I grabbed my camera off the bench when I saw them coming and tooks some shots).
And there they go. 
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 15.00 |
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AM - on the mill. First 3 miles I did at 5 percent to see what pace a sub 150 HR would net. It was about 10 min / mile. When I dropped the grade, did another 8, again sub 150, and this was anywhere between 8 min / mile to 7:24.
PM - back on the mill. If I run on the mill every day, is this sort of like a MAF test everytime I run? I did five miles. First mile was 8. The HR settled down after 3/4 of a mile at 135-139. Now that alone is interesting. Yesterday on the track it was 149 at 8 min pace. Perhaps this is just further quantification that treadmill running is easier? So, I bumped it up and did the next three in 21:45 (ave 7:15) (mill was a 0.5 incline the whole time). When I pushed the pace up to 7:03, the HR would tag 150 and so I'd bring it back down. For the last mile I decided to push the incline to 10 percent and see what the corresponding MAF pace was. It was just under 11 min / mile. Now that my head is wrapped up around playing this game for a bit, I am interested in see what the mix of results will be at different inclines, etc.
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 16.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 16.00 |
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This AM I was back down on the mill (my weekend schedule has not allowed me to get out a lot!). I jumped on at a 12 min a mile pace to "wake up" and then upped the pace every 15 seconds. As goofy as this sounds, this was one of the more comfortable warms I have done. My HR stabilized at 145ish around 3/4 of a mile (a bit short of that actually) and then I was at near 7 minute pace. I held this HR for the next five miles, slowing the pace in the last two as the HR would drift to 150. I captured the splits, etc in the spreadsheet I am going to maintain during this period. I don't think I can say I am seeing progress with my pace yet: my runs earlier this week were done with an upper limit of 142 and now I am using 149. In the afternoon, I was able to sneak out for a bit and got in another 10 - easy (75:30). My legs felt good, although my calves got a little tight at the end. My gut (stomach) was quesy on this one though (ick).
This was a good week. While I did not do any significant speed or hard workouts, I was able to focus well mentally with lots of consideration on how to train - and get in a good amount of mileage (87) despite having a day that I missed. My legs feel good - my biggest struggle has been getting the time to get the miles in. The plan for the next week is to continue this experiment.
Folks are prepping for the big registration day for Pikes this week. I lucked out last year that I get to by-pass this (and yes, there was some element of luck to it as the time I ran last year  would not have secured such a benefit in the previous three runnings of the marathon). I remember when I first met Galen Burrell and Scott Elliott. We were doing Lindens in the early summer of 2006. I was asking the routine questions about training, nutrition, and their preparations for this little race in Manitou Springs. I mentioned that I had noticed they were not on the registration list. I caught the quick, almost imperceptible glance and slight sheepish grin between these two incredibly humble but powerful hill warriors. I then learned, and I had to pull this out of them that, as they had both won the race before (and Scott multiple times) they did not need to register. In fact, they could show up race day at the starting line and just race. For free. For the rest of their lives. I suddenly had the vision of an 80 year Galen Burrell showing up on race day and getting a spot on the front of the line. Now that is a cool race tradition. While I am afforded this lucky luxury this year, I know that most will be anxiously tied to their computers Wednesday AM, finger precariously triggered over the mouse, racing to get into the race. Regardless if you beleive this is the best way or the worst way to manage race registration, we all want to avoid the registration crash of last year. Good luck to all possible race participants!
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 15.00 |
| I am a bit tired today. I had some aspirations when I went to bed of getting up early and getting some miles in. But I slept like a dead man last night and by the time I rolled out of bed, it was time to get the clan moving to school, etc. So I didn't. It is going to be another tight week with my schedule so I am going to end up sneaking stuff in at lunch, late night, early AM ... so a lot of little runs again.
Mid day - easy six on the Coal Creek Trail. Just me, prairie dogs, a few other runners, some guy that was fourth in the Olympic Trials Marathon in 2000, seventh in 2004. Care to guess who that is?
PM - easy on the Coal Creek Trail (the other way). It is so obvious that Spring is trying to break through ... and the time change is really helping (although there were bugs out there too!). At times I felt like I was just floating in this run. Other times I was feeling like my legs were made of lead. |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 15.00 |
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AM - 3 miles with Lucy. 29 degrees. Breakfast - 2 cups of coffee, 2 eggs over easy, pc of toast; Later AM - big cup of joe from Ink. My morning is spent sitting in a relatively uncomfortable chair in a hotel conference room, discussing risk management, and design control when considering FDA medical devices. To keep busy, I do some other operational data crunching during the session.
Mid day - 6 miles, out west on Coal Creek trail and to the roads west of Superior. 23 out, 22 back. Easy. 70 degrees. Yes, that is a 40 degree swing. And yes, that is spring in Colorado. Ran a good deal of it shirtless. Again, at times I was floating, feeling great. And then almost turning on a dime, I'd feel heavy legged and tired. I imagine this is just the joy of a load of good miles. My afternoon was much like my morning. Sucked on a few Jolly Ranchers to promote tooth decay. They brought in an afternoon snack of chocolate chip cookies. I had a few. They were ridiculously soft - almost like dough. Very nice in the mouth. Less so in the stomach. I paid for this on the PM run when I "un-enjoyed" them. If you need to ask, you don't want to know.
PM - 6 miles on the Coal Creek again before heading home. 65 degrees and a breeze picking up out of the west. I was definitely begining to feel the fatigue of some miles here at the end of this run, even though it was easy. Back to the house and TZ headed out to class. The kids and I did pasta. TWK is out here this week, and apparently he enjoyed the CC trail as well. After dinner, I had some almonds and a Pacifico.
Today puts me at well over 100 miles (107 I think) for the last seven days. I think this is a seven day high for me. That feels good. I don't feel like I am fully redlining it, as I am breaking up the mileage into manageable chunks. I can imagine the 120 mile week. But this ain't no walk in the park for me either. I look at days and week like this and can't help but reflect that at one point the 100 mile week seemed so unnecessary for what I wanted to do. And why not? I was doing what I wanted to do with 50 mile weeks. It is odd. I could not run this much when I was 18. But I could run closer to 2 minutes for the half then.
I enjoyed JK's post today - essentially about the apparent monotony of training. I love that life. One day of training does not make you. One bad day does not break you. Live your life unlike anyone today so that you can live your life unlike anyone tomorrow. . |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
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Slept hard last night. Again, I had plans to wake up early and get some miles in but the gravity around my bed at 5AM was significantly greater than usual. It is easy for me to validate the need for more sleep, and how it is truly a good thing. It felt good to not get up until 6:30. Mid day - I got out to the Davidson for a real easy seven. About half way in, my left hammie began to sing a bit as it were going to lock up, up in where it connects to my glute. I avoided that, but it freaked me out a bit and so I kept the run even easier than typical. PM - I got out to the Davidson again for an easy five. The winds had picked up at a pretty good clip. Again, I kept it easy.
I am definitely playing a bit on edge city here with the volume ... which is good in some regards, but I need to be a bit careful too. My Achilles is singing, the hammie gave me a warning today, and the ab thing continues to bug me (side note - I am begining to wonder if my abdominal thing is not diastasis recti but maybe Gilmore's groin. There appears to be a lot of stuff on this on that evil board). I know that for some the 100 mile week is not a big deal, but it is new to me. More concerning than my body yelling at me is that I am getting signs in my head that I am on the edge - a bit less mentally focused, irratable (although talking about the FDA for the last three days at work might be contributing to that). I am going to try to strike the balance of being careful and managing myself to get used to this load. I need to do that to be successful.
 Today's picture, in the spirit of thinking of those folks registering today (if you are reading this, you ought to get in! JV - glad to hear you made it!) ... this is a shot I took on the day of the Ascent last year. And yes, it is a picture of a hose. And yes, it is a picture looking down the mountain. This hose runs from the Summit House at the top of the mountain, to an aide station (I think at about 1.5 miles to go ... which means nothing in terms of mile splits really other than you have way more time still to go up than you like). A few things about this aide station: 1.) the water tastes like a hose. 2.) the Gatorade tastes like a hose 3.) some nice person has the task of hauling this hose out there before the race and after the race 4.) the difference in water pressure (in hydrology terms, called head) is so significant, this hose is not actually hooked up to a spigot at the Summit House - but rather is siphoned down from a tub.
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 15.00 |
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Mid day - 6, real easy.
PM - got out with TWK, headed west into the breeze on the way out, tail wind on the way back. Yapped about work, training, patience, and ... stuff. Easy miles, they flew by. I tacked on a few more on the end. All easy. |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| Easy 12 out at Teller Farm. Real easy. My legs are pretty heavy. Wore the electronica to assure the HR did not go about 150. I averaged 143 throughout. Pace was around 8, slower on the ups. Last ten days have been 144 miles. |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
|  When discussing training with Lucho, he has used the term "bomb proof." It is an interesting choice of words. They describe being so fit, so strong, that come race day, whatever the course, your body, the day throws at you - you are ready. Part of the reason why I find it interesting is because Scott Elliott, who I am pretty sure has never met Lucho uses the term "bullet proof" in the same context. Two guys, both driven, methodical, focused, never met and nearly the same terms.
And so the way you become bomb - bullet proof is to bomb yourself with long runs, tempo runs, aerobic work, anaerobic work, core work, intervals, hill sessions ... all so that come your race day, you can drop bombs on the competition, your goals, and yourself and get to that next level - whatever that is for you.
For the last 11 days, I have been dropping a bit of a bomb on myself with two concepts: training at a lower HR (and hence a slower pace) and increasing distance. The first, alone, is not much of a bomb. The second has seemed to have left me reeling. While my mileage is hardly anything of significance when compared to most, it is an increase for me. Up until about Wednesday of this past week, I seemed to be handling it fairly well. Since then, however, my runs have become long, slow(er) drawn out affairs where my body is yelling at me about dull aches and pains from connective tissue, muscle and bone. Some of this is the mileage. Some of this is that I have been "burning it" at the other end a bit with work (yeah, if I got an afternoon nap, I might be doing better), and family.
The goal has been to bomb myself to become stronger, to become more used to the greater mileage, to become more efficient aerobically, and to become more bomb proof. I knew that burying myself in mileage for a few weeks would be a challenge. But today, I am wrecked. My 12 today was a death march of heavy legs, slow running, held together only by will of personally requiring that I get it done. Sometimes you just take a pill of SIU and move on.
But, as training is supposed to do, this reveals a weakness, one of many for me. While in the short term, I may back off the number a bit, I do need up the ante here to become bomb proof. My plans are to run a marathon - not a 5K. And so, I need to make the investment in my bomb shelter with miles, minutes, hours. It is not the only thing I need to invest in, but it is clearly one I have learned needs some work. And all this is good stuff. In fact it is great stuff. I love getting out there and getting to the realization of this stuff.
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 19.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 19.00 |
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10 miles this AM on the treadmill. First five "MAF"ing it (see test results - it went poorly but I am not sure that reflects anything really). Last five, abandoning HR electronica and running, upping the pace for strides. Legs are wood, lungs are fine. 91 on the week.
PM - came back and did nine more (+) on the mill in the evening to round out the week. |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| forgot to mention yesterday that while I ran on the treadmill in the AM, and I found it hard to keep my HR down at even slow paces, I had a different experience in the evening. I found that I could get to 7:30 pretty easily and still be well beneath 150. In fact, at the 8 and change paces, my HR was below 140. And I also found that I could push the pace up quite a bit (6:30s) and the HR would hover in the mid 150 range (although as it was a post dinner run, my gut was pretty angry, but that did not seem to effect HR). So this raises a couple of questions. 1.) Could it be that I can MAF at a higher HR (say 155) and still get good results? 2.) Why did I have issues in the AM in keeping my HR low? I am less concerned about the second question however, as a case study of one does not make for a good case. I realize that could be concerned about it: such conditions could reflect a body that is tired, and bordering on being overtrained. I think if I continued to see it, I'd have been really concerned - but the evening session seemed to put that to rest. It could have been that I was dehydrated, was still asleep, or heck, just a bit off. I am going to have to check with some of the MAF-mavens on the topic of the first.
 It snowed here last night. We keep getting "whiffs" of Spring but then Winter let's know that it is not done yet. Ah well, better to get the water and avoid an early summer drought. I really appreciate the title of Kerrie's blog - How To Do It All. I am not sure I am ready to write that chapter, but I am trying to figure it out: family, work, training, sleep, diet, live for today, plan for tomorrow ... Our daughter was barfing again today, so that added another challenge that ... well, you just need to roll with (poor kid, she had the flu, got over it and seems to have gotten nailed with it again). In any case, I decided to go easy and short in light of my recent miles. I did an easy six with some short strides. Aerobically, I feel fine. I am definitely dealing with a higher degree of mechanical stress as of late that makes my ability to tap into some of that aerobic power difficult. In other words, my economy sucks right now. I think a combination of the higher miles, my abdominal issue and my lawn mower foot have added up to create a small storm of structural woe for me. In other words, I can feel it. Don't get me wrong - I wanted to dance on the edge a bit. I just wish that went I got to this edge, I did not feel like my wheels were coming off. I want to get back to a point now where I feel like I can jump over buildings, run up walls, and explode off that start line. And to that end, I am going to go find my jump rope now. |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 13.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.00 |
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AM - easy five. Dark. Cold. Starry sky. Felt pretty decent. Legs are still a bit heavy, but not too bad.
PM - easy eight. Warmer and windy. Legs were pretty heavy but I was not feeling any soreness or structural concerns.
Dave M has started a blog. For folks who have never heard of Dave, he is a regular super hero between what he does on roads, trails, ice, rock ... in addition to Dave giving Matt a run for his money in the downhill race last year (literally), I personally have seen Dave run from Chautauqua Ranger Cottage to the base of the Second Flatiron, free scramble up the Flatiron, run to near the base of the third, free scramble up that and then run back down to the cottage. Under 40 minutes! Those Minions are nuts!
I did a little experiment at work today - I tried to avoid sitting down at all. In other words, I tried to stay on my feet as much as possible. I did this to see if it would make me feel any better with my general stiffness I have had in my hammie / glute and abdominal issue. I know it made me more aware of how I was ... being ... and so it made me drink more water, do some light stretching periodically, calf raises, etc. My co-workers, who were not aware of this experiment, were wondering why I stood in all their meetings, but I am a bit used to odd looks ("nice shorts!", "You ran how far?", "why do you shave your head?" "why are you standing up?"). I think I sat for about a half an hour all day, whereas I normally sit for close to seven hours all day. So day one results? My butt did not hurt. My feet did. Seriously, it seems to have stretched my hamstrings out a but more, made me more aware of how I am moving. I will look to repeat this experiment some more.
Additionally, I am trying to drop my refined sugar take. Generally speaking, I think it is not bad, but I hardly think it is great. Being a coffee drinker, I have often loaded up my java with the white stuff. This past week I have gone to artificial sweetners - yeah, I know, hardly much better but a small step forward. I am also going to try to back off the PB and J ... that stuff seems a bit loaded with refined sugars. |
| Night Sleep Time: 0.00 | Nap Time: 0.00 | Total Sleep Time: 0.00 |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 13.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.00 |
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AM - got out early for some easy miles with Lucy.
PM - met up with JV for some running. Gorgeous day for running. We ran the so called "Father, Son, Holy Ghost" route over Red Rocks, the lower Sanitas trail and then the connector over to Lee Hill. We ran it easy but my HR jumped up a few times. I had to not care. It was great to be outside, on a great day, running some hills with a great guy, shooting the breeze on training, our dreams on Pikes, our fears on Pikes, what people are doing for training, MAF, crazy runs we want to do, seeing that guy who runs around in Boulder in a fur bikini (seriously, that was one of the most jacked things Jeff and I ever saw on a run) and the like. It was great. My legs turned heavy towards the end of this run when we circled back on the Wonderlake Trail but not too bad. I had a little time in before I met Jeff and so I was out there for about 90 minutes. With the climbs, I am guesstimating it at 10 miles but I will double check on a map site later. Jeff - thanks man - you are right we do need to do that more often than once a month! 
I continued my experiment today of doing more standing than sitting. My co-workers are starting to question me about it. I have put one of my monitors on a bookshelf (so that it is more eye level) and my laptop on a milk crate (so essentially raising my desk by a foot). I was not as aggressive about it as yesterday, but still erring more on the side of standing that sitting. I know this: sitting for long periods of time makes me pretty uncomfortable these days - mostly in my glute - hammie on my right side (piriformis perhaps). I have a bar stool at my desk that I have used as a second chair for guests that I have been leaning back on when I want to get off my feet a bit. Again, this is a ridiculous experiment, but ... then again running up and down mountains is ridiculous.
I realize that I have been running easy now for a couple of weeks. In fact, I am pretty certain the last "hard" running I did was back on February 28 (treadmill, 2 miles in 10 followed by sets of minute on and minute off). In this stretch of mileage building, and MAF training, I have often felt like poop. Tired. Slow. Heavy legged. There have been, I confess, multiple times where my motivation has come into question, and I wonder if I am going to do that race in August after all. But I have, more or less have worked through. While my legs are still a bit heavy I think I am begining to come out of that a bit. There have been a couple of times where I can feel, underneath this shell of dead legs that I can begin to rip it. And then I get tired again. Ah well, soon enough.
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
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I did not get out until the later afternoon, and by then the winds had picked up (they were 22mph on the Davidson Mesa). Oh well. I finally felt like I was getting some of my bounce back today. I almost had that float feeling again while running rather than that trudge feeling. Almost. Not quite but almost. I ran for about 3.5 before I got to a park, jumped rope for about five minutes and then took off my shoes and did some grass strides (so barefoot running for about a mile). These were really short, just quick little bursts at maybe five minute pace but only for 10-20 seconds. If fresh, I know I can dig a heck of a lot more than that but I am still just getting my legs back from last week. Another five of jumping rope and then ran back for another 4.5.
Various other tidbits ... I picked up a pair of Brooks Adrenaline yesterday (and so now they have 17 miles)... as of today I have 900 miles on the year. Just a number I realize, and not a large one for some folks who probably had that amount before the end of February. For me, there is a bit of significance. In HS, we had a summer club called the 750 club. If you could run 750 miles between June 1 and August 31 you got your name on some plaque on the gym wall (that is supposedly still there). There were something like 15-20 guys on it. I never got on it. Putting together 60+ mile weeks for an entire summer seemed like something I could do but would take a lot of effort and concentration. And at that time, it probably would. Now, in about a similar period, I am looking to join the 1000 mile club (by the end of March). It only took me 20 years past high school to do it (and my HS reunion is next week, 20 years, although it is closer to 21 years ... I won't be there). |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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If memory serves me correct, today is the first day of Spring. Even if it is not, there was significant evidence that  Spring had arrived given that my office represented a morgue today (hardly one there due to basketball games, the holiday, and that spring break starts for a lot of folks next week), there were 20+ mph winds on the Davidson, and the temps were in the 60s. I got out with Lucy in the AM. Again, cold, dark, starry sky. As the sun rose, we got to see a horned owl sitting on a telephone pole. I have seen this owl dozens of times over the years. Well, maybe not this owl, but it does appear to be a place where I see an owl a lot. This picture is not mine, but it is essentially what we saw. The owl was much more interested in Lucy than me and Lucy had absolutely no clue that it was being sized up (I'd take Lucy in a match if went there though).
In the PM, I wanted to duck the wind so I headed to Chautauqua. As you border up against the Flatirons, you can often hide in the lee of the hills and the trees and avoid the winds. I went over Flagstaff easy (actually keeping HR below 153). The trail up was clear of snow nearly the entire way, except near the end. There was some mud, but hardly anything to be concerned about. I took the backside down (Rangeview) down to Gregory and then started the climb up Green. This trail, on the northside of Green, was much more packed in with snow and ice. It was okay footing on the way up. I was not using studs, and I really did not need them ... on the way up! I cut over onto the Greenman trail as that looked to be a little more clear. Through here was scattered packed snow, ice and mud but not really a big deal. I swung back west towards Green at the connector. After a few minutes of climbing the gentle grade, it was all snow. Normally, I would have trudged on up to the top, but I decided I did not want to fight the psuedo-packed, psuedo melted snow, pseudo ice conditions and turned back. And then, it started snowing on me! It only lasted a few minutes but the white stuff was definitely falling for a few minutes there. I came back down the Saddle. This was all packed ice. I even took the full on digger on a sheet of ice (just below where the old social trail heads up the NW ridge) where my feet went straight out in front of me and I landed right on my back / butt. I laid there for a minute taking stock to determine if anything was in disarray but as it turned out, I was fine. I finished the trudge back to Chautauqua, carefully, and it actually got pretty clear again at the lower elevations.
There is a lot I have been reading in Noakes book that I don't like. Last night I stumbled on several passages about the potential length of a competitive runner's career. I will try to explain it briefly here, but realize I am trying sum up in a quick paragraph what he covers in several pages over different chapters. We all understand that we all slow with time, but he went further than - providing both some degree of scientific and anecdotal evidence that the body can only handle competitive stresses for so many years (15-20). Furthermore, he provided examples where folks who trained competitively at a younger age (and hence through such a length window) were less competitive  than those who took up endurance sport at an older age. So a person who takes up marathoning at the age of 40 is more likely to be competitive than the guy who started at 20 when they both reach 50. In fact, there was evidence that even though the longer lived competitive athlete could increase his training volume significantly, he would begin to realize lesser results at a more accelerated rate than than the athlete who was new to the sport and training less ... there are various scientific theories as to why this occurs. Okay, so why does that irk me? This is harder to explain ... and comes across in a series of non objective, organized thoughts ... In short, I want to play, run, jump, swim, do freaking handstands the rest of my life. Unsolicited, I have wondered if training to be competitive will actually hinder this in my later years. Part of me does not want to think about this - how my actions today effect my actions not just tomorrow but in the years and decades to come. And hence, my thoughts on it now are scattered, and hardly articulate. Will all this training make it so that I cannot walk straight in 40 years? (yeah, stupid paranoid thought but it has come to mind). It appears that while heavy training now may not hinder my ability to do those things outright, it might hinder my ability to do those things competitively. And so I have to ask myself if I really give a crap about what Noakes proposes in this regard. He also addresses this issue on several non scientific fronts ... including if it makes sense for older folks to chase the dreams of children when they are no longer children. I don't know the answers for me yet, and for my training for right now it really does not matter. |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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I got out for a jaunt with Lucy in the AM, doing the typical 3 mile out and back. The plan at that point was to get out in the afternoon and get another hour in to round the day out. I started the second run with KZ on the bike next to me. All day I had felt tired, blah ... heck, I even took a nap mid day. I hardly ever take naps. My tiredness showed again on this PM run. I gave it the two mile rule to see if it would shake out and it didn't, so and I called it. Headed back to the house, hit the showers, had a beer and made dinner.
A lot of my runs over the last couple of weeks have been like this. I have chalked it up to bouncing back from some of the mileage I have been doing. I might just need to get my head around a small break for a bit. The in my head issue is that I feel I need to be doing something everyday to improve - and I need to realize that rest days, particularly when I am 20+ weeks out from my peak event, are part of that improvement. Once I get to rationalizing that, I don't feel bad for taking time off, but more for taking so damn long to figure it out. I had intended to make the trek for the MAF test with TL tomorrow, but in light of how I am feeling, and the expected craziness of tomorrow AM - I am now not expecting to go.
For dinner, I made "Pan Dos" in the bread machine (I am a bit crazy about making bread machine breads). This is a recipie that I got from a college buddy's Mom. She was first generation Portugese and made this bread all the time. It is a sweet bread, but it is a bread - not a cake. I modified the recipie so that it could fit into my bread machine (her recipie would make about 3 bread machine double batches!). TZ liked it enough that she had me make another batch that we stopped after the kneading - so that we could make braids out if it instead. Also made a broch-ricot pasta (one of KZ's favorites). Topped it off with a Hazed and Infused (for me, not the kiddos).
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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 I knew pretty early I was going to take today off. The day was busy with holiday events, including the kids looking for eggs, prepping food for a meal with family and friends, collecting with them in the afternoon. I'd be lying however if I said I did not think about doing the MAF test today. I would have like to have, particularly to avoid the label that Kerrie has appropriately dropped on me ;-). But the need for the rest, the family events made it pretty easy to take a break today from running. And yeah, the snow that showed up last night (that had completely vanished by this evening) made it easier to not get up for that 0730 run. But, I would have like to have seen how I had progressed with MAF training over the last couple of weeks ... I will look to do that soon.
 I have been thinking about this whole blogging thing and reminding myself why I do it. It is pretty easy for me to blog when training is going well, or I am racking up some miles. It is harder when I am struggling. I started it as an on line training log, to capture this journey, because I suspect I may want to look on it some day. I also felt that while no one might read it, by putting it in a public forum, it held me accountable to an open standard of what I was doing. Yes, this is just a mental trick ... but it works for me.
This past week was 56 miles on the week. 259 on the month and 916 on the year. I spent 45 minutes in the evening doing light core, and stretching.
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| The family is on Spring Break this week so I did not need to drive the kids in. So I biked in. I kept it easy, wandering around on various roads and paths to the office ... looking for various ways I could get off the road and short cut the trip. "Short cuts make for long delays," as I learned once again (damn barb wire fences) It was about a 50 minute spin. HR was b/w 130-151. Ride home was about 40 minutes (a bit more direct and more downhill)
My legs are still significantly tired. As they have been for the last few weeks. Maybe I ought to just race burros ... (seriously, if I could get a Burro, I'd do this in a heartbeat). I had contemplated running anyway, and maybe even MAF testing it today. I found plenty of reasons not too and took advantage of them. I realize that today was not totally rest though. I am debating now if I am being just a plain old wimp with my mileage and my concerns about being tired of if this something I just need to work through, get through a wall. Am I breaking down or breaking through?
I think I may have set myself up as someone who is "anti-MAF." I am not. I am not fully blessing this approach either however. The general thought of MAF is that signficant time is spent doing aerobic work to develop that system exclusively. Over time, you will become more aerobically strong, and be able to work at faster paces while remaining aerobic. I agree with this idea. The part that I have questioned is the need to remain aerobic during the entirety of a base phase. I have been "MAF-izing" for the most part for the last month. I have gone above 150 (a MAF rate) a few times (and one time, way over, when I climbed Sanitas with JV ... 170, but even then we were talking), but rarely over 154 (I think Sanitas was the one time. There have been probably 3 or 4 occasions where I have gone north of 150). Lucho has been kind enough to explain to me that the development of the anaerobic system can compromise the development of the anaerobic system. I think this is the part that I am struggling to get my head around as to why that is true. And if this is true, why is this training approach (MAF) so poorly known amongst distance runners, particularly that of the marathon? I mean, it worked for Mark Allen, how come we don't hear Hudson's gang talking (or name any of your favorite running athletes) about it?
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| Night Sleep Time: 0.00 | Nap Time: 0.00 | Total Sleep Time: 0.00 |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| Early AM - 3 miles, ~7 min pace, groin sore (4), hammies tight (2), otherwise feel fine. Would have brought Lucy but she inhaled a rawhide right before I left so I decided to spare her. Or maybe me.
AM Rode into work, easy spin, mtn bike - 42 minutes. No groin pain whatsoever!
Mid AM ... had a great yap with that guy who is killing it at BS&B. If you ain't reading his stuff, you ought to. This guy is training hard, racing well, and living the life. I noted this in our "conversation ... I said:" I was thinking yesterday that I might be thinking too much about my training ... and hence I need to take a bit of the so called caveman approach for a bit ... run more, not give a crap about HR gear, run fast when I want, run slow when I want, run mountains, etc ... I have had a bit of a wash in March: good mileage for a bit, bad mileage for a bit ... nothing really pushing the pace. Not a big deal in the grand scheme as I am 21 weeks out (more of an issue in my head rather than in race preparedness), but I need to get on the horse again ...
Totally unrelated, someone at work sent me this ... JW, let's form a team!
Mid day - up on the Davidson Mesa. 'nother beaut day. Groin felt a bit better (2), hammies tight (4), and my Ach. was pissed on the left side (screw it, it is always something). 8 miles. My left hammie got increasingly tight as the afternoon wore on (cripes, is this a training blog
More warped music to free (or bend) your mind by ...
PM - end of day rode home. 25 minutes. Zero pain in the groin. When I bike these days, it just feels good. No pain. I can control how much I want I hurt with pace. I used to feel that way when I run, but not lately. Hmm. Might be a message there. Might need to cross train more. Thought about getting out for an other run in the evening, but life prevailed.
Pikes race stuff ... the other day I posted that I think Pikes needs to change registration (long term) to one based on qualifications (graded by age) rather than continuing the practice of allowing anyone who can meet the current standards. Looks like there are some similar musings on Kona by a local tri guy. |
| Night Sleep Time: 0.00 | Nap Time: 0.00 | Total Sleep Time: 0.00 |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 269.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 269.00 |
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| Night Sleep Time: 0.00 | Nap Time: 0.00 | Total Sleep Time: 0.00 | |
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Later in the day I was working a bit with 
