Base Building

Man, it’s been over two weeks since we posted up on here.  Sorry about that.  A lot has gone on and I know Bob will want to talk about his Half and all of his buddies who hit PR’s on what was just a perfect race day.  But for me I’m just going to talk about boring old training stuff.

 

My Outdoor Track season ended back at the beginning of August and I moved from there into a Rest Phase of training.  It’s pretty much impossible to maintain a peak fitness level so there have to be times where one backs off the intensity to let the body and mind recover and get ready to grow again.  The mental part is as important as the physical in that it helps us avoid burning out and losing the desire to really push.  My Rest Phase lasted about six weeks.  I still ran some, but only about twice a week and always at a conversational pace.  Nothing intense, no racing, no intervals, no real pushing at all except for that fast finish I did down in Manteo a couple of weeks ago.  After those runs I remember feeling like my heart wasn’t even beating hard and my breathing was as relaxed as before I started.  But I still got a run in and that would keep my circulatory system operating smoothly and allow me to move into the next phase, Base Building, without having lost all of my endurance.

 

I also used my Rest Phase as a time to start building muscle back that I had lost during the last nine months.  Hard distance running actually removes muscle mass over time and eventually your top end speed begins to decline because you simply don’t have the muscle cells there to move you.  So I used my Rest Phase to begin adding that muscle back with weight training.  I think it was El G that said he spent his Rest Phase time “getting fat.”  He was never, ever fat, but he lifted weights the most during that time to build muscle so he could put it to work running later.  My weight days are divided up into Leg Day, Back Day and Chest Day.  I do core exercises and kettlebells throughout the week to augment that and round out my body’s work.

 

Leg Day to me is the most important and that consists of doing squats, deadlifts, lunges, step ups, calf raises, box jumps and skipping exercises.  This routine builds my power and trains me to transfer that with some pop in my legs and stride.  I’ve only done five workouts for Leg Days so far, but I’m now comfortably squatting 205 pounds and deadlifting 185.  Three sets of 5 each.  I’m set to move up again in both those this next Monday to 225 and 205 respectively.  I know I could do more right now, but then I wouldn’t have enough to do the lunges and step ups!  I do those with the big straight bar, too and load 115 pounds on for the lunges and 135 pounds for the step ups.  The lunges I do slow and steady to work on balance and I do those in 3 sets of 5.  The Step Ups I do with 135 pounds on the bar and I use the 12” box.  I step up starting with the left foot then bring the right up so I’m standing on the box, then step down with the left foot first then the right foot so I’m back on the ground.  I do ten of those then immediately switch to stepping up with the right foot first.  So 20 at a shot for three sets.  Makes my heart pound!

 

It also makes my legs strong, along with my hips and improves my balance.

 

I’m continuing my lifting through at least the first half of my Base Building phase since I really need about three months of lifting to get my body to significantly different place.  To help that part along I’m adding sprint workouts back into the mix once a week.  Those are the ones where I sprint all out for somewhere between 50 and 90 meters with complete recovery between each rep until I do two reps slower than the previous one back to back.  My goal is to see my 100’s drop into the low 13’s and my 200’s get done around 26 or 27 seconds.  That should make running 37’s feel  easy and that’s where I need to be to go sub 5 in the mile.

 

The Base Building part is just like it sounds.  Sort of boring to write about.  I’m running three times a week right now doing somewhere between 5 and 10 miles.  I did throw in a 14 mile run with a bunch of the Outer Banks Running Club folks and that was fun.  The main difference between my runs now and the rest ones is that instead of cruising along at somewhere around 8:30 minutes per mile, I’m doing them all at under 8:00 pace.  I still don’t feel like I’m busting it or anything but I definitely focus on doing negative splits each time out.  This week I’ve done a 5 mile run and this morning a 7.5 miler.  Saturday I’ll do 10 miles and try to stay below 8 minutes.  Next week I’ll move the 5 mile up to 7 and repeat the other two.  Little by little I’ll move them up, and then add a fourth run of about 3 to 5 miles on Sunday.  I’ll also begin doing some fartlek and Tempo runs in there as well.

 

Ten weeks from now I’ll have a nice solid base of endurance underneath me along with some stronger, more powerful legs.  That’s when I’ll start the Hills for several weeks and move back onto the track with a focus on February and March as peak time.

 

Mentally, I can hardly wait.  I’m beginning to chomp at the bit all ready, so I know I’ll be ready to kick it hard when I finally turn myself loose again!  Geez, I love this stuff.

The Song of Gilligan

It is exactly three weeks from the half marathon.  Three weeks.  This will be the fifth time I have done this particular one.  I remember when I did it the first time.  I said it will be my last one...ever.  So, five of these and a couple of other ones later and I'm still at it.  I keep saying that I'm not going to anything with the word thon in it again.  But, I keep signing up.  As the pain goes away from my last marathon, I am even considering doing another one of those.  I kind of feel like the last one beat me.  I'm trying to decide if I can live with that.  My biggest realization in the last few weeks is that I am pretty much full of shit.  I don't mean to be.  I fully intend to concentrate on shorter races, like 5k's, but then something happens and I get the urge to do something else.  I've done three Tough Mudders.  I thought the first one would be my last.  The second one definitely was my last.  Until the third one.  The third is probably my last.  The cost is getting prohibitive.  That is my main reason.  The cost is crazy high.  I have also gotten to the point where I don't just sign up for lots of stuff anymore.  The costs of numerous races is just a lot of money.  I'm trying to pick and choose the ones I really want to do and the ones that are for a good cause.  I would like to do something Tough Mudderish, because I like to climb over stuff and I like mud.  I like the upper body challenge.  Blah, blah...blah.  This is really boring.  I am boring myself to tears writing this.  Do I stop?  Have I gone too far to delete?  It is sort of like an out and back run.  Once you go too far, you have too far to go back.  All the sudden you are running a crap ton of miles, or in this case, writing a crap ton of words.  I'm like the Gilligan of blog post.  Go out for what you think is a three hour tour and then I'm stuck on a island for years.  This post is my island.

Let's regroup here.  Due to the fact that this is a running blog, I'm going to say something about running.  Today, while running through the woods with my friends, I made the statement that I could run forever if my legs didn't get tired.  They laughed, because the legs always get tired, but what if they were so well conditioned that they didn't?  At least for a long time.  When I was coming off my plantar's issue a few years back, I experienced a moment of zen.  I had such a bad case, that I could not do regular runs for months.  That is when I started doing the step workout, switched to training in Vibram's, running in Kinvaras and fully embraced the minimalist thing.  Taught myself to run on my forefoot again, like I did when I was a sprinter in high school and college.  Got my stride back, and stopped being a plodder.  Anyway, I strengthened my feet and my calves by doing lots of step work.  Also, did lots of kettlebell work.  When I started running again on the road and the trails, I made sure that I did a quality run.  Quantity did not matter at the time.  I just wanted to run and finish strong and with a positive attitude.  If that was two miles or three miles, it was fine...as long as I finished strong.  The kettlebells and the steps worked my legs in a way that was just incredible.  Flash foreward to my first 5k after my comeback and my legs never died.  They felt strong the whole way.  I was actually surprised to see the finish line.  It was awesome.

Knowing that my long runs have not been real good leading up to this half, I have been beating my legs up in other ways.  They are sore and tired.  I am hoping to pull all this together in the next few weeks and have a decent performance in the half.  In a way, this is like my first one again.  I just do not know what to expect.  I know I can finish.  I know that I can do okay, but I'm just not sure what okay means. Last year I knew that I could do a sub 1:50 if I was on my game.  This year, I'm not sure.  I'm getting excited to find out.  Then on to bigger and other things.

I believe this is one of the reasons I still love running.  I'm still surprised and amazed to see what my body will do on any given day.  I have to stop writing now and find a way off this island.

Choices

This was a pretty good week of running.  I did 13 miles on Sunday.  That is the most since the marathon in October.  It seems like it has taken me a long time to get back to this distance.  Both physically and mentally.  The physical thing started with the knee issue.  That got better, but I couldn't seem to push it.  Couldn't get past certain mileage.  For a while, I thought I may have lost my love and desire for running.  It seemed to coincide with my loss of feelings for my business.  I love to build.  I've spent years teaching myself the trade and the ins and outs of the business.  I made many mistakes.  My business plan was to make cabinets and sell them.  Pretty simple, really.  I jumped in and made lots of cabinets.  I loved it and I grew.  I got lots of jobs.  Too many jobs.  Knee deep in cabinets all the time.  I got behind.  I had some horrible customers.  I had some employees that milked me dry.  I was not the best manager.  When I say that, I need to make it clear that I would love to work for someone like me.  Someone who is passionate about what they do, and really only cared that the end product was good.  I am a person who hates being told what to do.  I'm quiet about it, but I hate being told what to do.  Probably makes me not such a great employee.  But my work ethic is strong.  I will work like a mule.  When the economy started to tank, I still had lots of jobs, but not lots of money.  I told myself this is not why I got into the business.  I did not want to be a manager who told people what to do and watched.  I'm hands on.  I want to be involved in the designing, the building, the installation, etc.  I started the business with a cavernous workspace.  Hardly any electricity, no showroom, no office.  On my first appointment, I had a brochure of door styles and a piece of paper to take notes.  I got the job.  I started framing out a showroom and office and making displays.  I worked all the time.  It was exciting.  Every time the phone rang it meant opportunity.  Over time, I became a slave to the business.  Payroll every week.  Overhead expenses.  I would dread when the phone rang.  I wanted to throw my cell phone in the river.  I finally had enough.  I wanted to downsize.  I wanted to be just me again.  But how to finish all these jobs with no employees?  Work all the time is how.  I had to deal with the fact that I was going to be behind, but the product would be nice.  I had some angry customers, but all the jobs got done.  I am proud of all of them.  The jobs, that is.  I got stiffed royally a few times.  Not getting paid at a time that I was already a bit sour on things really added to the fun.  But, I knew it would all be over as long as I stuck to my plan of not taking a job just for the money and not getting dependent on an employee or any other help.  This process took about two long years.  I finally cleared the slate around December of last year...2012.  I took a part time job.  Not because I didn't have work, but to see what it was like to do something else.  A couple days a week.  I like the job.  It is easy.  Just go to work, do my thing and go home.  Rinse and repeat.  It was a bit hard to balance that with the business at first, but I started to get used to it.  I thought maybe I should just get out of the business entirely.

My running during the last few years sort of became my sanity.  I would run when I could fit it in.  I'd save my Saturday mornings for the running group.  I would almost always work after the run, but I wouldn't schedule anything until I had run.  I remember having an appointment after a 13 mile run a few years ago and I could barely stand up.  I am in much better shape now, but then 13 miles was monumental.  I had to ask them if it was okay if I leaned on their table.  I explained that I was training for a half.  I would laugh sometimes at what I thought was going on in people's minds.  Here's this cabinet guy who could barely walk and he's saying he is going to do a half marathon.  He has to be full of crap.  Anyway...my worst days in the business sort of coincided with my best days of running.  2012 had me dreading work yet I was pr'ing in every race I entered.  The year ended with the marathon in October, running wise.  Business wise, it was December.

I still don't blame my knee issue on running.  My knees have gotten much stronger since I have been running more in the last few years.  I blame my job for my knee issues.  Kneeling, carrying...whatever. But, my knee was hurting for a long time.  Did the marathon hurt it?  Did the job hurt it?  Both. probably, but for the first time, I could not do both.  I needed to take a break from running.  Because of the business.  If I can't walk, I can't make money.  Two things that I loved to do were hurting me.  One financially and physically and the other physically.  I considered quitting both.

My part time job offered me a full time position this week.  I had a few days to think about it.  My running, to me anyway, pretty much was not going well.  I was thinking why bother anymore.  I can lift weights, and do other things.  Then, this week happened.  13 miles and it felt good.  Sprint work a few days later and that felt really good.  5 miles and dinner with some great friends on Wednesday, and today another 6 with more great people.  After my run today, I installed a bathroom vanity that I custom made.  My customer told me what nice work I do.  I called the part time people and told them that I was going to stay part time.  I've decided to stick with the business and the running.  I have way too much invested in both to quit.

I've been reading a book by Og Mandino.  The Greatest Salesman in the World is its name.  I haven't read a motivational book since my days in the mortgage business, but I thought I could use it.  Here is a quote that I like from it.

"I will live this day as if it is my last.  And what shall I do with this last precious day which remains in my keeping?  First, I will seal up its container of life so that not one drop spills itself upon the sand.  I will waste not a moment mourning yesterday's misfortunes, yesterday's defeats, yesterday's aches of the heart, for why should I throw good after bad?

Can sand flow upward in the hour glass?  Will the sun rise where it sets and set where it rises?  Can I relive the errors of yesterday and right them? Can I call back yesterday's wounds and make them whole?  Can I become younger than yesterday?  Can I take back the evil that was spoken, the blows that were struck, the pain that was caused?  No.  Yesterday is buried forever and I will think of it no more.

I will live this day as if it is my last."

Now, I've got to get some sleep.  I have to run in the morning and I have lots of shit to build.

A post not about running, training, P90X, cross-training or any other super searchable words

So let me tell you how things work in my house.

My wife told me the tank on our toilet seemed to be sloping backwards.  I took a quick look at it and tell her it's because it's an old style toilet with only two bolts.  These things sit up straight because the rubber seal between the tank and the bowl has four little feet on them and after awhile they get squishy and it slopes forward or back.  "I just need to replace it," I say, "Only take fifteen minutes."

"We'll stop by Lowe's after church," she said while brushing her teeth.

We get into Lowe's and walk around to the plumbing supply area and I can't find the part I want.  I start describing it to the guy (there's always 'the guy' at Lowe's) and he says, "Yeah, that's an old toilet. We'd need to order that."

Debbie pipes up and says, "Let's just get a new toilet."

Fine.

So we cruise around two aisles and pick out a new one.  On sale!

"Hey," Debbie says, "We've talked about remodeling the bathroom anyways.  I hate that shower unit."

The Old Shower

"Sure," I chime in.  "We can tile the walls, get a nice tub and new fixtures. Let's see if we can find a tub that will match the toilet."

So we walk around the corner and immediately find a great one on sale because it's a display model and they were discontinuing the model.  There were only two left and we grabbed the left hand drain one and put it on one of those big ol' trolleys, leaving the toilet on it's own little one.  Fortunately, the designs of the two looked remarkably similar so we were really pleased with our luck.

From there we hit the flooring department to look for tile, and went to the piles of them they had on clearance.  There were several different kinds and I had figured we only needed about 60 tiles.  We narrowed it down based on color wanting to keep it fairly neutral in case we decide to sell or rent the place in the future.  The tiles we settled on were only 58 cents a piece which is just ridiculously cheap, so we decided we'd bump up the design a little bit with some sort of accents.

Normally in showers where I'm doing 12 x 12 tiles I'll go about 5 feet (tiles) then rotate the tiles at 45 degrees.  Makes a nice look.  In this case we also picked up some cool glass accents that I'll use to create a 3" divide between the first 5 tiles and the angled ones at the top.  It's going to be really nice.

So we haul everything home after miraculously getting it into the Equinox I'm driving right now.  Then from there I got it all upstairs.

We decided to just set it all in the guest room because it was going to take me a bit to get all this work done since I was only going to be able to work at nights and on weekends.

Notice how that one box of tiles is opened?  Bottom right of the picture there.  Well Debbie pulled some out and carried them downstairs.  I get down there and she's laying them out on the foyer floor.

"I really hate this old slate in here."

"Only because it's hideous," I reply, "So what are you thinking?"

"How much would it cost to tile the downstairs?"

"I figure we've got just under 790 square feet down here, so not even $500!  I'll call Lowe's and see if they've got enough of those tiles left."

They did and delivered them two days later.  41 boxes of 'em.

While waiting for the tiles to get there I made some attempts to get the slate up.  No dice.  They were installed into a bed of wet cement as opposed to be glued down to a slab.  The kitchen has tile that would pop right up, but then I'd have to level that floor with the foyer.  Same was true about the ugly laminate we have in the dining and living room areas. The laminate was glued down, so it wasn't going anywhere and was a nice flat surface. I checked the bottoms of doors and measured the dishwasher and decided I could just go right over the top of everything.  Not the best way to go about things, but sometimes the most cost-effective.

From there we talked about the layout and snapped some lines to follow to ensure the pattern matched up perfectly from the foyer and around the hall and kitchen.  Then I started removing doors and hauling stuff out of the kitchen, like the big hutch full of dishes, cookbooks and glassware.

Now our house looks like Oscar Madison's place.

 

Dishes on every flat surface

 

Tools on the table and floor

 

 

 

Everything shoved out of the way for the layout work

 

Doors and tile all over

 

Well, since I didn't have any of my tile saws up here I decided to get started doing all I could without cutting anything or putting myself in a tough spot to get a tile under a door jamb when I go to put those pieces in.  I've done that before and it's a big mess and pain in the butt because those pieces have to slide under the cuts I make in the jambs so I've got to leave room to slide the tiles.  And this way I could get that critical layout work done as well as get the dishwasher out of the way.

 

I got a long way prior to going to Manteo for the weekend and coming back with a saw which I needed to use to get things finished under the dishwasher.  Once that was wrapped up and put back together I got to get all the dirty dishes out of the sink and cleaned up at last.

 

So here's where I am right now:

 

Kitchen Floor

 

Foyer Floor

 

Connecting the two in the Dining Area

 



And here's where the toilet is that started it all:

 

... sigh.

 

"It'll take about fifteen minutes."



Planning to run . . . or not

Ed -

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!

A day when I live the motto: Everything in moderation; especially moderation.

This is a day where I eat way too much for too long, then sit around and watch the Lions get crushed by some other football team, and pass out with some child or grandchild playing tonka toys and treating me like a jungle gym.

Can't wait.

But this sort of day doesn't just happen.  It takes planning, dedication and attention to detail.  Otherwise you're full after the first plate and there's bound to be more stuff there than I even want to try to eat, but I don't want to be rude so I've got to at least try everything.

This is why I don't drink beer before eating.  Nope.  Beer can come later after the second plate of pie or cookies.  Actually it's best to stay away from anything carbonated to avoid feeling all bloated artificially.  The real bloat comes later after two or three servings of ham, turkey and mashed potatoes.  So I switch to wine. 

I prefer red, but will start with something light like a pinot grigio to have with salad and fruit, then move onto a Cabernet or Shiraz with dinner.  Once I hit the couch, though it's all Budweiser.

So let's talk about running.  (Who needs segue?)

I had mapped out the next 8 weeks of training with three runs of 8 miles or more, one flamboyant workout, one kettlebell class, and two upper body workouts included in each week.

Then I went to track practice on Sunday with my track team The Pony Express.

It was an extra day where I would've rested so I wanted to do something easy and just hang out with everybody.  So I did a short pyramid of 100, 200, 400, 200, 100 with 60 seconds between each one.  It's always fun running fast on an indoor track because you feel like you're just flying.  In reality my times weren't bad at all.  I ran a 16 second first hundred, then 33, then 1:20, 33 and finally a 15 second for my last 100.

I felt winded and had the lactosis going pretty well, but knew I could do that again with a few minutes rest.  But a couple of the coaches had other plans.

"You have plenty of endurance," Kessner said, "but you need speed."

"Top end speed," chimed in Spoon.

Kessner said, "If you want to run four 80 second 400's back to back then you need to be able to run one in 65 or less."

I can't argue with the logic.  Especially since both of these guys are always ranked in the top 20 in the U.S. and are experienced coaches as well.

We talked about what I had planned for myself over the next 6 months or so, and they basically overruled some of it, so we added one day a week of sprints.

On Sunday after my pyramid workout I ran 5 more 50 sprints against all the sprinters in the group.  The object is to run in control, but at about 90 to 95% of full speed.  Focus on form and foot speed.  Kessner, who's over 55 and still runs the hundred in 12 seconds, was in the lane next to me.

I know he was holding back because I beat him every time.  Actually, I won 4 of the 5 sprints.

Ego had everything to do with that.  I knew these guys were holding back so I kept them in the corner of my eye and then pushed all out the last 20 meters or so to move ahead.

At any rate it was a real confidence booster and so we stretched while they debriefed me on what I needed to do from here.

Once a week find 50 meters or so of flat pavement or a track.  Run a full out sprint and time it.  Wait 5 minutes before doing another.  The idea is to be fully recovered.  The second sprint should be a little faster than the first.  Wait another 5 minutes.  I should get a little bored, but don't rush.  Fully recover.  This isn't interval training.  After about four or five of these sprints my time should begin to slip slower.  When I do one that is about a half second slower than the last it's time to quit.  I'm done.

This will build my top end speed and I will still be doing my three long runs per week to keep my endurance where it needs to be.

When it's time to start the interval training again, my leg speed will be faster than it has been which will make my intervals faster.  And my races faster.

The thing I learned after the first day that I thought seemed sort of easy because I was never breathing hard is that it ISN'T easy.  My butt, inner thighs, and calves still feel sore.  Which caused me to miss one day of running as I rested it to avoid hurting myself right out of the gate.

I may need to take a couple of weeks to move back up to those three long runs with these sprints worked into it all.

So back to Thanksgiving.  Have a Great One!!

A Sample Benefit of Running in Races

Ed -

As you can tell from both Bob and my recent posts we haven't been doing a whole lot of running.  Well, I haven't.

Bob ran a marathon a few weeks ago, and that's some serious running.

As for me and my pursuit of the sub-5 mile, I'm in a rest phase for the next two months and not doing a lot.  Three to four days a week of easy to moderately fast paced distance runs, trying to get in something over 25 miles a week.  On non-running days I'm doing my Flamboyant workout along with weight training for both upper body and legs, and kettlebells.  That's a lot of stuff for being "rest" come to think of it, but it's not the high intensity of hills and track work.

Seeing how running 7 or 8 miles in the dark could get boring to describe over and over, I thought I'd write about one of the things I enjoy about racing.  Especially, big road races.

The scenery.

Human scenery.

Runners come in all shapes and sizes, but it just seems to me on race days they all look really good.  I say that with a little bit of leer, but not so much that it's pervy.

For the most part it's just an admiration of human form when it's in healthy shape.  Tone muscles, strong posture, and people's faces tend to reflect it as well in their smiles and eyes.  They just look good.

And fashion plays into it, too.  There are some seriously flattering running clothes on the market.  Of course there's some seriously unflattering stuff, too and guys seem to wear that more often than girls.  One of my sisters would see some guy dressed just horribly and mutter matter of factly, "Single."

I try not to look "single", but don't always succeed.

The sheer number of people at a race is great for a people watcher like me, and I do enjoy gathering of great looking people talking, laughing, running and enjoying a moment in life.

During a Half Marathon I ran in the Outer Banks I linked up after the first mile with a guy from New Jersey.  He was trying to run a 7:30 pace and so was I, so we stuck together.  Having a partner with the same goal pace is really helpful during a run because you take turns encouraging each other at different points.

I found the pic I bought from that race...

 

 

And that's New Jersey next to me.

Well he and I were moving along and about the 6th or 7th mile we came up on a girl wearing those very tight black running short-shorts and a bright green running bra top.  She was in excellent shape (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) and was moving at a pretty good clip.  But not 7:30.

The guy and I didn't say anything to each other and just kept running, but we didn't pass her.  Just trotted along.  Slowly dropping off our pace.

Quietly.

Running along.

After a bit I noticed him look at his watch so I looked at mine.  8:05 pace.

I said, "so what do you think?"

He replied, "how about another quarter mile or so?"

"Sure."

Once we passed her and moved back down to about 7:15 to catch up with our goal he summed it up with, "wow."

"Totally."

Having five sisters did teach me that it's not just us guys "admiring" the other sex.  In fact one of my friends demonstrated that in a previous post when I put up a picture of a guy I know to comment on his freaking strong legs.

She pointed out his ass.

; )

So as a repeat for Karen:

 

So there you have one more, often unspoken, benefit to running.



Just Running

Ed -

I've been feeling a little lost the last few weeks.  Since the track season ended (a little abruptly due to my ribs) and I've moved into a rest phase, I just don't seem to have a grip on what I'm supposed to be doing each morning during my runs.  I had been doing so many different interval workouts, distance runs to keep some endurance in me, that now that I'm only running four times a week and it's all long distance I just feel . . . I don't know.  Bored.

This is where having a goal and a plan pays off.

Before my little running tour I did for y'all last week I sat down with my spreadsheet and mapped out the next couple of months.  Fortunately, I have a 5K (The Colony Lost and Found 5K) I plan to race in there along with a 10K (Runner's World 10K) the week after which will I'll be running with Bob and some of his running club members up in PA.  That gave me the excuse to put a couple of interval workouts back on the calendar.  It also had me dig back into a book I've been reading called 10K & 5K Running, Training & Racing: The Running Pyramid.  The title is as about as long as the book.

It's by David Holt, who I believe is a Brit, and it's written with a high level of science and explanations.  Not boring, but being so ADD I have to be really focused to read a lot and retain any of it.

I also had my little training folder out with all sorts of workouts, and white papers I had printed off the web regarding training along with my spreadsheets of my training over the last 4 years.  Thanks to keeping that stuff and making notes I could really see where I would focus on one particular thing, or just did one particular thing because I didn't know any better, and it helped me plan what I should be doing now.

And for now what I'm supposed to be doing can be a little boring.  Distance three to four times a week.  Nothing shorter than five miles, alternating longer with shorter days, working up to nothing shorter than eight miles by November.  However, it's recommended that those runs are more than just steady state runs, and I should still work in an interval session at least every other week.

Thank God.  I'd only been at this for a couple of weeks and I was going stir crazy.

So Saturday was the 11 plus mile running tour I did at about 7:45 pace.  Sunday was rest, and Monday was a Tempo run.  Now this is something that you've probably heard me say I was missing this past summer.  Greg McMillan calls this training Stamina Training.  He divides conditioning up into three groups: Speed, Stamina, and Endurance.  It took me this racing season to really figure out what he meant, but Stamina and Endurance are really different.  Endurance is the ability to run for an hour or more at a good pace.  Stamina is being able to run at your lactate threshold for a mile up to a 5K.  For instance, that last 1500 I did my first 400 in 72 seconds and felt fantastic. But by 800 meters my arms were tired, I could barely breathe and my legs felt like lead.  Lactic acid had flooded my body and I wasn't trained to process it better.  I ran a 5:21.  Just a month before that I went out at a 78 first 400, felt great and held pace to finish in a 5:16.  Those six seconds in that first lap were beyond my Stamina training and I boinked.

I had not done any Tempo runs or long enough intervals as part of my workouts.  It was all Speed or Endurance.  And we need all three to be fast.

This past Monday was a Tempo run.  I did a four in seven.  One mile easy at about 8:30 pace, then I pushed up with a goal of doing the next four at 7:20.  Then I would run the last two miles easy as well, but no slower than nine minutes to force me to deal with the lactic build up.

The four mile section of my route that I ran starts out fairly flat, slopes downhill for a quarter mile, then up a steep hill for a quarter mile, then flat again to a long rolling but mostly downhill mile then finishes with a half mile back up hill.  I felt like I was pushing it pretty hard, but held on and ran those four in 29:04 or 7:16 pace.  Then I backed down for half a mile to about nine minute pace then pushed back up the last mile and half with an average of 8:30 for the last two.  Really good run.

One day of rest, a little upper body and core stuff at home, then on the track this morning for the first time in a month.  And it felt like it.

I ran 800's.  I only did four, but they were 3:04, 3:01, 3:01 and 2:59 with about 2:50 rest between each.  I didn't puke but made that nasty gagging noise after the last one.  I could have definitely made myself puke with a 5th one, but there was a guy on the track this morning with me running some 100 and 200 repeats, and I didn't want to freak him out.  Plus, this is supposed to be my rest phase so I'm not out killing myself.  "Less Intense" is my mantra at the moment.

I met him afterwards.  His name is Ben and he's going to be running the Philadelphia Marathon in November; his second one and first in over 20 years.  We talked a bit about Yasso's 800's and he is planning to be back out on the track in a couple of weeks to run his last workout of those before the race.  I'll be resting that day with an easy 3 to 5 mile run since it's the Wednesday before the 10K in PA, but I think I'll go down to the track and do one with him.

It's so cool to meet other runners and hear their stories and some of their training.

The rest of this week includes a seven mile run tomorrow at around 8:00 pace, kettle bells on Friday, five miles with at least six fartlek bursts on Saturday, then 12 miles on Sunday.  The following week has a short hill workout in it on Tuesday, but will be a very easy week since I have the 5K next Saturday.

From there I have a nice balance of mainly long runs made up of steady state, tempo and fartlek, with an interval workout of some kind built in every other week to keep my speed up.  Three months of this and I should have a nice base built up to begin the stamina and speed training in mid to late January.  The Endurance, Stamina, and Speed combination shifts from a focus on Endurance to being on Stamina for the next three months, then to Speed going into the summer.  The plan is to peak for the 1500 and 800 in July when I'm at the State Games of America in Hershey, PA.

Good to have a plan.  Helps keep the boredom away.

Those "Not Feeling It" Runs

Ed -

Maybe it’s because I ran after work instead of in the morning.  Maybe it’s because my legs were still worn out from Friday’s Kettle bell class, Saturday’s 12 mile run followed by two more days of squatting and walking up and down stairs as I began tiling my covered porch.  This morning I got up to run and my hamstrings were still killing me, so I bailed and put off the run until tonight.  Whatever the reason, I just wasn’t feeling it as I headed out for a 5 mile up tempo run.  Sub-8 pace was the goal and I was hoping to hit 7:45.

You know what I mean by “not feeling it," right?  In the first 100 meters you’re all ready breathing too hard and by the end of the first half mile your legs are like lead along with your hands.  I warmed up like always, but it just felt all wrong.  I had done the same static stretching routine I’ve done for the last couple of years, then I started out my run and aimed to hit the first 800 in just under four minutes.  Typically, I just roll from there at whatever pace I’ve set out for the run.

But this wasn’t typical.  Not completely unusual, obviously, otherwise I wouldn’t expect you to understand what “not feeling it” meant, but I wasn’t cruising along like usual.  This run was quickly becoming work.

Maybe it was the heat.  Or the humidity.  Whatever the reason; I was struggling.

“Here’s where the ‘mental’ kicks in,”  I said to myself as I looked at my watch and figured a 3:45 split as a target for my next 800.

Whenever I’m not feeling it, that’s what I tell myself.  Kick in the ‘mental.’  This is where I just decide to shorten my run into 800 or half mile splits, and focus on hitting marks for each segment.  Allowing myself to quit on it whenever I just can’t do it any longer, but pushing for as long as I can.  I also remind myself that I have more in me than I think I do.  Just go one more half mile.

Breathe in all the way down into my lower back.  Run with my hands driving my legs.  Relax my eyes like I’m going to go to sleep.  Efficiency.  Stride. Drive.

Tonight, I reached mile 3.5 and was more than a minute ahead of where I needed to be.  And this was on my hilly course.  Lots of rolling hills with some steep, though short, inclines.  But I knew I was fading and still had my “short hill” workout section to climb in the last mile of my run.  That was going to hurt and it was still a mile away from me.

I quit thinking about the pace and just thought about pushing for the next half mile, listening for my watch to let me know when I hit my mark.  I tried not to think about the approaching hill and even told myself I could take it easy going up it.  But when I got to it I dug down and started to drive up.  It’s only one hill.  I do this thing ten times during my workouts.  Run dammit.  Push.

I felt my stomach tightening as I got to the half way point on the hill and knew there would be gaggage when I crested the top and that feeling had the effect it normally has on me.  I lengthened my stride and sped up.  Let’s see what you got, Ed.

I hit the top of the hill and allowed myself to slow down, but kept moving as I fought to get air into my lungs again and felt the burn in my thighs move all through me.  From here out it’s pretty flat and I only had ¾’s of a mile to go.  I picked a spot about 50 meters ahead to coast, then picked up my pace again.  This is the part that makes me stronger and faster.  That last half mile or so, where I’m dead but I just keep going.  This is the growth rep.  Get it.

And here is where the satisfaction shows up.  I started out feeling like crap, but I played a mental game with myself to break the run into small segments, telling myself I could quit on it whenever I wanted, but also telling myself I could go further than I thought I could.  Repeating that mantra of “just one more split, Ed. Go one more.”

I got to my house and stopped my watch.  Just over 5 miles in 37:26.  I was way too winded to do that sort of division in my head so I hit the down arrow on my garmin which would show me my pace.  My goal was sub 8 and my hope was 7:45.  My average was 7:26.

Oh baby, that’s sweet!

As a P.S.  I ran again this morning doing a 3 mile recovery run at just under 9 minute pace.  My legs felt very tired when I started out, but loosened up nicely by the end.  Despite the humidity it was a great feeling run and I know it did its job of flushing out the lactic acid from last night and kept those healing fluids running through me to help me recover and continuing to build my endurance.

Cross Training for Running

Ed -

So I've had a lazy week running-wise.  Did that 7 mile "fast" run at 7:36 pace then followed up the next day with 3 miles easy (8:30 pace), but I didn't do the long hills I planned for Thursday morning.  I was still sleeping in after a two plus hour drive back from Northern Virginia and a visit with several high school friends.  We had a great dinner and all, but if you ever driven down 95 from DC towards Richmond, you know what went on.

Accidents and construction.  Didn't get home till after midnight so I bagged the run.

I made it to kettle bell class this morning, though, just fine.  And you know what I learned?  I don't have a core.

I have decent looking abs, don't get me wrong.  Not that it's a ripped 6 pack, but you can see the ripples and it's nice and firm.  However, when we did the kettle bell toe touch thing where you lie on your back, raise your legs to 45 degrees, extend your kettle bell with two hands above your face, then lift your shoulders up off the floor and reach for your toes with the kettle bell I simply didn't move.

No movement.  Lots of grunting, but no movement.

I wiggled all over the place and my legs swung up and all around, but the only part of my upper body that would move was my chin.  I'm sure Bob would have a really nice visual right here like "I looked like a catfish flopping on the bottom of a skiff while a troop of cub scouts cheered and farted," but I'm not sure what he'd come up with.  Ross the extremely fit trainer shouted all sorts of encouraging stuff, but my abs weren't going to pull my shoulders anywhere.

We switched to a leg lift exercise and that went better, then right into a bicycle type maneuver where I actually got my shoulders up some.  Then we rested 30 seconds to do it again.

The second set actually was a little better than the first and I think its because I had myself balanced a little better, but after about four good squeezes and some definite, although limited, motion from my upper body; my abs were seriously burning.

The third set was just ugly all the way around.

Ross said we all did great, but I'm pretty sure he rolled his eyes at me and I had this flashing image of him in a blue shirt with brightly colored patches and a yellow bandanna tied around his neck.  Still he talked to me a little and said we'd continue to work on core stuff after all of the other swinging, punching and squatting we were doing with the kettle bells.

"You're gonna get strong," he said.

No doubt in my mind.

Have to get a long run in sometime this weekend and keep on schedule for the fall races!

7 weeks

Bob -

This is more of a thought in writing than a post.  It is what I need to do to get through the marathon on October 7th.  Due to work conditions and a somewhat sore back, I have missed some important training runs for the last month.  Mostly my long runs.  I have still been doing  some decent miles, but not what is on my training plan.  Historically my legs give out way before my wind.  My leg endurance is what is lacking right now.  I did 15 miles on Saturday, which I was kind of happy with, but I was supposed to do 20 and my legs were fried at the end.  This tells me that I have to beat the crap out of my legs for the next 7 weeks until the marathon.  I need to build up the muscle endurance necessary to do this.  To me this means I am going to do cross training on my bike and really kick it up on the kettle bells.  Ed mentioned the kettle bell workout in a previous post and I swear by them.  I have also gotten away from them for awhile due to work and other lousy excuses.  This is a story for another day, but I did one of my best 5k's last year after primarily training with kettle bells and dropping weight.  Due to some issues, I could not run like I wanted to at that time.  The k-bells kept me in great shape.  I also have a few pounds I need to lose.  Probably 5 to 7.  I want to lose the weight while building muscle.  This means eating healthy and strength training.  Muscle is extremely important.  It is to me and it is to everyone.  Upper body strength helps with your running.  Sound stupid?  Try it.  Muscle burns fat.   Burnt fat means a leaner body.  A leaner body means more speed.  I am currently around 185.  I think I want to be at 178 for the marathon.  I want to be leaner, stronger and faster.  It has worked in the past.  This is what I want to do and need to do.  Lose weight, gain muscle and bust my legs into shape.  My legs are going to be what gets me the time I want in the marathon.  They cannot give up or give out.  There is no shame in it, but I do not want to walk at all for 26.2 miles.  I have a time goal.  For awhile I thought that I may not be able to achieve that goal due to my training inconsistencies.  I know that if I stick to the plan I have in mind I can still do it.  The ball is in my court.  It is totally up to me.  I need to do this to hopefully retire from the marathon world and concentrate on 5k's and other stuff I really enjoy.  Maybe join Ed in a Master's track meet.  There it is.  That is what I need to do.  Now I have to do it.

Changing it Up

Ed -

I started to call this "Picking it Up" but that wasn't as accurate a description.

My summer track season is over, I'm not going to run in the meet in Northern Virginia the first weekend of September, so it's time for me to increase my distance runs again and start back with the strength training.  Plus, I'm going to run in a couple of 5K's and 10K's this fall and I need to build my endurance up again if I'm going to actually "race" them.

From what I've read and have been experiencing over the past year, its very beneficial to change your training around from time to time and break your year up into phases.  Each phase focuses on something a little different and is designed to keep building you up overall for one particular goal.  Like climbing stairs.  You keep moving up but each step is a different step.

I figure there are four phases: Endurance, Stamina, Speed, and Rest.

I'm going into the endurance phase right now.  That's where I'll focus primarily on longer runs every other day or so.  I'll also vary the speeds.  Some will be very slow paced, like almost 2 minutes per mile slower than my 5k pace, and some will be like races.  Each week I'll move my long run out further and then move my shortest run of the week up a little, too.  During this phase I'll also do strength training in the gym.  Starting with lighter weights and lots of reps, moving to heavy weights and low reps.  It's kind of backwards thinking, but it worked well last year.  Lot's of squats and lunges with the big weight bar.  My kettle bell classes will strengthen my core and connective muscles to allow me to move to heavier stuff without injury.

I'll do a little more stamina stuff in the winter.  Stamina is that middle ground where the idea is to go as fast as you can for as long as you can.  Think tempo runs and long intervals built into continual runs.  One workout I like is to run an easy first mile then go into three miles at just over 5K pace so I'm completely spent at the end, then keep myself moving for a slow fifth mile.  Alternating fast and slow miles for an 8 to 10 mile run is great, too.

Speed is what I've been doing most of the summer with track workouts and short hills designed to improve my top end speed.  Lot's of intervals and the occasional vomit fits.

Rest should be less of an afterthought for me and should be mixed in throughout the year.  I've read some middle distance folks will take a couple of months off of running completely in the fall if they're only focused on racing hard in the summer.  I tend to use the two weeks before a 10K or other race as my rest weeks.  I'll scale back mileage and just do two or maybe three runs each week, all of them pretty easy with maybe a little fartlek thrown in to keep the legs springy.

This past summer I used my broken ribs as rest for about 8 weeks in the peak of the track season.  Turns out that didn't hurt me too badly as I was able to turn that 5:16 in the 1500 despite very little real training the two months leading up to it.

Of course the trick here is to keep a little of all of these going at all times.  During my endurance phase I'll throw in a tempo run or long hills each week.  During the stamina phase I'll toss in some track work or short hills.  Regardless of the phase I'll always keep one long (10 miles or more) each week and I'll give myself two (sort of because I don't do it well) rest weeks before races.

So there's my dissertation on a year's training.

Rock on.

Crank It Up!

Oh, the places you'll go

Ed -

and the people you'll meet.

I went to my first kettle bell class today at the gym.  A friend of mine who is addicted to kettle bells and big ass clubs (I think that's what they call them) has been trying to get me into that sort of training for awhile.  She looks totally buff, I've watched KB videos and it looks like they're good all around body workouts, but I had no idea how I would work them into my busy, rapidly approaching OCD running schedule.

Well, since my season has kind of wrapped up for the short stuff I need to lower the intensity of my track workouts, add strength training again, and rebuild my mileage base I thought now's as good as time as any to try it kettle bells.  And my wife saw that this class was now being offered at 6:00 am every Friday morning.  Done.

Sweet mother of mercy what a great little exercise.  I used the baby bells (8kg) but did the entire workout of Turkish Get Ups, Two in One's, Squat Jumps, Renegade Rows, Bent Over Rows, Military Press, Single Arm Swings and a couple of other things with really cool names.  Sweat dripping off my face grunting, thighs quivering and gasping for air I thought that was just the coolest thing ever.

The class had a wide variety of people in it and everyone did really well.  I was the only newbie and could tell.  Their stamina was better and technique looked really good for the most part.  Plus it was fun.  Music was good, one lady who I've seen at the gym a number of times was singing now and then.  I joined in when Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" came on.  People laughed.  Let 'em, I was doing squats and still got the hip thrusts in when the line "picked up the phone, dropped it on the floor, said unh! unh! was all I heard," came on.  Made me smile.

The instructor, Ross, was really good.  Young guy and sort of matter of fact and was tuned into each person.  He'd shout out what we were supposed to do and demonstrate it and tell us to do 12.  He'd then move around the room, get to me and quietly say, "you do 20. Faster. Come on.  Move." Then turn and adjust someone else's technique some.  Turns out the guy was a miler and half miler in college.  Ran a 4:08 mile and a 1:50 800.  On my way out he asked me if I was a runner and we talked about that some.  I got some great advice on my next cycle of training and he said that the kettle bells were as good or better than plyometrics and he'd make sure to get me more jump squats in and "explosive core" maneuvers to improve my power transfer and other fancy shmancy terms that apply to serious runners.

I signed up for the 5 more weeks of this!

Hills

Bob -

Today is hill day.  Every Friday we do a hill run.  As long as our schedules allow, we do anyway.  We try not to let anything get in the way of this workout.  For me, the Friday hill run and the step workout is the key to my running.  The long run is important, but honestly I am in this running thing to be in really good shape.  Really good shape means to have overall muscle tone and fitness.  Increased strength and muscle tone leads to less injury.  To have overall muscle tone means that I have to bust my butt doing things like hill runs and kettle bell workouts and push ups and pull ups.  I would love to try the Flamboyant Ed workout, but I am afraid that I will fall down, so I'll have to practice that at my shop for a while before I go public with it.  Like Ed, I have found that the more intense type workouts have led to my greatest gains in running.  They also allow me to eat more than I should.  I like to eat...a lot.  I cannot eat the bird size portions that is recommended.  If you look at the height/weight charts, I am considered over weight.  Quite a bit.  I do have some pounds to lose, but if I weighed what the charts say I would be too skinny and have no muscle.  So, I pay no attention to those things.  By doing the harder workouts, thusly and therefore, I am able to eat like a human and maintain my weight and get stronger.  When I was struggling with my heal issue and some other stuff and getting frustrated, I decided to cut my running back and set a goal of just running a few miles with the intent of finishing each run strong.  I mean strong both mentally and physically.  Kicking it in, while not kicking myself for not going farther.  Not saying things like, "I only ran 3 miles", or whatever.  I concentrated on working hard in the gym and building muscle.  Working on my legs, which I never really did before.  After a few months of this I was amazed at the fact that ran my fastest 5k in years.  My legs didn't die like they did in the past.  I also found that I could run on consecutive days which I was never able to do before.  So, back to the hill run.  This is a little over 5 miles.  Not alot, but it starts with one of the toughest little hills in our area.  We feel like we are going to die, and then it is flat for about a mile for a decent recovery and then all hell breaks loose.  1.3 miles of hills with really no break.  There is no flat spot.  No matter how many times we have done this, it is never easy.  We know we are getting better and stronger, but that just means each time we are going up faster, so there is no magic moment of it being easy.  Wheezing, cursing, huffing, puffing and near horking we get to the top where we rest a bit.  There is no worse feeling than doing this run for me.  Then it is mostly downhill to the end.  Once we are done, everything is great and we forget how bad it is until we start to do it again the following week.  The great thing about it is that it is short, intense and over relatively quickly.  The payoff is huge.  The moral to this particular story is that hard work pays off, steak fat is good (I will take yours if you aren't going to eat it) and I have developed lovely calves.