Library

I love the library.

I went with KZ today.  We returned something like 20 books.  The kids tear through books these days, almost to a fault.  They can get so wrapped up in books they get lost in being able to do anything else (more KZ than JZ).

I love it for the music mostly these days.  I pick up 3-5 CDs each time we go.  

What I pick up for music seems to fall into these categories 

• music that I loved when I was a kid and still love (example, Van Halen - the first album melts your face off still, 20+ years later), 
• music I loved when I was a kid but, after re-listening seem to love as much anymore (example, Tears For Fears - Songs From the Big Chair).  
• I also pick up artists I have dug in the recent past and want to check out their new stuff.  Last week, for example I got Aimee Mann's new album %$#! Smilers! ... that I was considering buying - but I got it at the library instead.  
  
• Greatest Hits ... I picked up Black Crowes Greatest Hits today.  Killer album.  
• I also try to make a point of reaching out for new music.  This week I picked up Tool 10000 days, Billy Braggs Reaching to the Converted.   I have heard very little of either of these artists but Lucho rages on Tool, and Dave D loves Billy B.  Figured I'd give a listen.

I did also pick up two books:  Brain Training for Runners by Fitzgerald and The Self Coached Runner II ... I love the running books from pre-1990.  The older the better it seems (in most cases ... my two most recent book purchases are Noakes Lore of Running and Hudson's Run Faster).

KZ got no less than 8 books.  She will have read all of them (each about 250-300 pages) in the next 2 weeks.

The library is one of the best public services ever.

Sunday 113008 14 miles

AM - had planned to run with some group but those plans fell apart.  Got out early with the dogs including my in-laws German Wire Hair Pointer.  This was a core workout while running.  Tacked on time post dogs, including exploring what I thought was a new trail going in.  I spotted some work occurring on the east side of 287, south of Dillon and wondered if this was a precursor to the Lake Link and Rock Creek trails getting connected.  I suspected the work that I spotted from 287 had an entry off of Dillon - and sure enough it did.  It winds from the old Dillon down to 287 ... and dead ends there ... hopefully just for now, as Lake Link is just 200 yards away from that - albeit with a river, 287 and a railroad in the way.  I negotiated the potential trail as it could be ... lots of work to occur there if that is going to happen.  103 minutes, 14 miles.

Week

M 10, 77 min
T, 8 with pick ups, 60 min

W 7e, 54 minutes
TH, 12, with 5K race (17:25), 85 min

F - 10, 76 min

S - 12, 90 min

SU - 14, 103 min

Miles on the week - 73 

Miles on the month - 327

Minutes on week 525

Minutes on month - 2630s on the month

Saturday 112908 12 miles

Solepepper Sports group run this AM with   Lucho,  Jeff and Jenni Keil, and Phil,  from the blog community were there - and that was it!  I got there a bit early and did 3 miles (22:30) and then joined up with the group.  We headed west of Superior on the dirt.  Lucho and I yapped about trails west of town, training, etc and decided that we just needed to be faster in races.  So, now that is decided.  Got in 67 plus with Lucho, calling it 12 on the day, 90 minutes.

Got home, made breakfast burritos for me and the kids (eggs, avocado, sauteed peps and onions, some feta).  And then did some core.

I have been impressed by the work that Jay Johnson has done, including his Building a Better Runner from the ground up DVD.  I got this DVD last year, about when I jacked my groin.  A good deal of what is on that DVD is also available on Nike's site - as Jay now (appears to be) works for them.  In any case, the workouts I wanted to start incorporating last year ... well, I will look to start now. 

I did the Myrtle workout this AM - 20 reps of all suggested exercises (each side = 20) and the lunge warm up (again, 20 reps each side) These are not super hard, but they are not easy.  I can feel the muscles they are working, particularly in me arse.  Additionally, these exercises point out an imbalance my strength.  I am clearly weaker on my left side, and I can feel my groin protest more on that side for these exercises.  I have to attribute this imbalance to the lawn mower foot.  That is just what it is.   Now it is up to me as to what I do to deal with it.  I can feel the weakness in the groin - but it is not nearly as bad as it was last year.  I need to strengthen it.

My kids laughed at me as I did these - particularly the "Fire Hydrant."  But these are good for a guy like me that works on moving in one direction all the time, and not effectively stressing the other planes of motion.

Post of the day (or maybe yesterday)

Friday 112808 10 miles

1 year of blogging completes today.

76 minutes.  Easy.  10 miles, around my home five mile route

Good post I found on Steve Jones.  I was on a run with Steve once.  We were talking about the days where he was killing it.  I was in high school at about that time and I told him how there was a poster in our locker room in HS of him crossing the line at Chicago, arms overhead, the Beatrice banner breaking across him.

"Damn," he replied with a smile and a wink  "My only wish was that my poster was up in the girls locker room."

Got some cal work in towards the evening:  20 lunges each leg, 40 push ups, 30 crunches, 60 sec plank, 20 supermans, 30 squats, 30 pushups, 60 sec leg lift, 30 sit ups, 40 push ups, 100 raises on the calves, 20 lunges each leg, 30 sit ups ... and then light stretching.

The flip

I ran with MK earlier in the we and we shared an interesting observation.  When I was 17, I was running probably 30 miles a week.  And I could run 2 miles under 10 minutes. 

But if you asked me to run 10 miles that would have been a very long run for me, and probably would have left me worked over for several days. 

The silliness I accomplished last weekend of running up and down various Boulder peaks would have been near impossible.

Now I am 39 and run consistently over 70 miles a week.  I can run up and down Boulder peaks without significant issue and sometimes do it multiple times in a week.  I go for runs that are 90 minutes in length and I consider them typical runs.

But, right now, breaking 10 for two miles would be near impossible.

How's that for a flip?

This is ties into what I mean when I say, "I need some speed back."

I visited the McMillan Calculator to see what would be some proposed paces based on yesterday's 5k, and also to see what those paces would be for a 16:40.  The calculator is a pretty cool tool and you can have some fun with it as it hypothesizes what your times ought to be over a range of distances from the one race time you enter.  I stared at the projected times and noticed a shift.  Up until about five years ago, I'd look at the shorter distance times and be closer or even faster than them but struggle to be faster or as close to the longer distance times.

Buried in the calculator results, I found suggested paces for speed workouts at 200 and 400 meters.  For 17:25, these ranged from 32.3 to 36.4 for 200s and 68 to 80 for 400s.  For 16:40, these ranged from 30.9 to 34.9 and 65.1 to 77.4 (the range is because it is based on what you are doing in the workout).  I can hit these numbers but they are not easy.  I HATE to admit it but a sub 70 quarter is stretch for me and that used to feel easy. 

I have moved away from being able to hit those shorter distance times with ease and closer to the longer distances.  The flip ...

Work to be done ...

Thursday 112708 Boulder Road Runners Turkey Trot 5k

Race: Boulder Road Runners Turkey Trot 5k

Conditions: Overcast, low 30's, slight breeze, CU Tech Park course

Goal:  Sub 17

Result: 17:25 (5:21, 10:59, 16:45)

Report: The race seemed to get out pretty fast for me.  Intuitively I knew it was not real fast, based on where I was and simple pace sense, but it felt quick.  After the first 600, the crowd thinned out and the places began to settle in.  I passed the mile in 5:21.  While that is where I wanted to be I knew that it would be a stretch to hold that pace based on how I felt.  I felt flat, but also a bit over my head with the pace.  I slowed in mile two in 10:59 (a 5:38) (not really by choices).  Just at the top of Innovation Drive, Peter Hegelbach passed me with a strong surge and put about 20 yards on me.  I had no fight here but was able to bridge that gap some in the closing half mile.  At the "three mile mark" (or 200 to go on the closing lap on the track), I clicked the watch at 16:45.  Ouch - that was a 5:46.  I was able to must a slight kick and finish it off in 17:25 (40 sec).

Tangent comparison:  8 years ago I won this race.  Yes, it is the only significant race I have won in the city of Boulder.  And I ran 16:13.

Things Done Right: While I did not achieve my goal, I am showing progress.  Last year, in this same race I ran 17:54.  Additionally, while Peter still nabbed me, I am closing the gap on him as compared to the Rocky Mountain Shootout a few weeks ago.

Things Done Wrong: My warm up was a bit jacked but I don't think that made a huge difference.

Take aways, tweaks, modifications, lessons learned:  Obviously I am a bit disappointed that I fell short of my objective but I am not surprised.  On whole I am happy with the progress that I am showing, but I certainly have some things (opportunities!) to work on.   There is definitely a piece of me that is burning with the sting of doing poorly here.  I will look to channel that into remaining focused.

I had an off day.  That is probably worth a dozen seconds or so but that does not put me under 17.  I am close, I just need to tweak in some stuff to bring this to reality. 

I am lacking in both endurance for this event (as evidenced by my slowing in pace over the race) and speed (as evidenced by my feeling a 5:20 was a bit hot).  I need to work on both.  I doubt I could break five for the mile right now.

As I guessed, the treadmill is a bit of a false positive indicator for me.  This gives me a bit of a baseline of how those performances stack up to true performances.  I will need to adjust the workouts to accommodate (either by increasing speed or maintaining speed and increasing grade).

I can see a need to do more workouts that challenge me at 5:20 or better pace so that I become better accustomed to that.  2 miles at 5:20, followed by work at faster paces for example.

Additionally, I think some of this is just not being recently race experienced.  I need to get out there a bit and stick my nose in it more.  This was probably the best workout I had in weeks.

I think I came into the race a touch heavy.  I weighed 143 race morning ... which is probably about 6 pounds heavier than typical race weight for me. Supposed a pound is worth 2 seconds a mile.  So that would be 12 seconds a mile or 36 seconds over the race.   I am not going to get too worked up about this (although that would put me at 16:50!), particularly today but I will look to get better in food as fuel focus as I will look to log my diet over December for analysis.

So in summary

• Focus on the weaknesses and opportunities previously mentioned (core, diet, speed) and continue to drive consistency
• Manage diet via a food log in December
• Continue otherwise with current focus

Other stuff:  Woke up with the typical bundle of nerves self questioning mind set that seems to come on race morning.  The tug of war between my rational self and neurotic maniac began in my head:  what's that twinge in my legs?  Chill out, you are fine.  I feel bloated.  Don't you feel bloated?  Sure, whatever, it will all go away when the gun goes off. 

And on it went.  TZ and KZ were volunteering at the Humane Society this AM so I had a new logistical twist to my race.  JZ was coming with me, which meant we had to coordinate this amazing 8 year old to be (tomorrow) around the start and stop in 35 degree temps.  He rode shotgun as a champ.  I set him up with a chair at the finish, the IPOD (he likes to listen to Queen) and the camera (as he wanted to take some shots).  This is his shot of me at the finish.  I think he is the next John Fieldler.

The race was a bit of a who's who in Boulder.  Seen in the crowd and in the race were Alan and Shayne Culpepper (Olympians), Steve Jones (former WR holder at the marathon), Matt Reed (tri bad ass and really hard to miss since he is like 7'6"), Tim Deboom (last guy to win back to back Kona's)

2 mile warm up (15 min), 3 miles in race (17 min), 7 mile warm down (after I got home) (53 min) ... 12 miles in 85 min.

Team mates from Fleet Feet did great.  Results, on line ... Names highlighted below:

1. Gabe Small      23   15:56  5:08
2. Matt Hill       28   15:59  5:09
3. Matthew Russell 25   16:02  5:10
4. Tim Deboom      38   16:04  5:11
5. Andy Schon      22   16:06  5:11
6. Robert Thayer   24   16:08  5:12
7. Jake Timm       30   16:11  5:13
8. James Johnson   40   16:13  5:13
9. Jayson B Swigart28   16:26  5:18
10. John Tribbia   26   16:29  5:19
11. Colin Anderson 18   16:36  5:21
12. Andy Ames      45   16:38  5:21
13. David Armentrout19  16:52  5:26
14. Eric Bunch     27   16:58  5:28
15. Matt Reed      33   17:03  5:30
16. Ashi Guiles    17   17:08  5:31
17. Alex Weinheimer17   17:13  5:33
18. John McCarthy  16   17:16  5:34
19. Peter Hegelbach44   17:16  5:34
20. Mike Sausa     17   17:17  5:34
21. George Zack    39   17:25  5:37
22. Rich Dissly    43   17:29  5:38

Last year ... 

1. Peter Remien   16:12  5:13    
2. John Tribbia   16:16  5:14    
3. Jim Robbins    16:18  5:15    
4. Sean Nesbitt   16:23  5:17    
5. Jacob Timm     16:29  5:19    
6. Greg Castro    16:36  5:21    
7. Gabe Small     16:40  5:22    
8. Dan McIntosh   17:25  5:37    
9. Daniel Lupa-Chazen  17:27  5:37    
10. Peter Valentyik    17:32  5:39    
11. Brice Young   17:37  5:41    
12. Jeff Beuche   17:39  5:41    
13. Todd Straka   17:40  5:41    
14. Alex Weinheimer  17:49  5:45    
15. Suppe Kaintainen 17:54  5:46

Wednesday 112608 7 miles

Popped out of the office mid day and there was DB getting to head out, so I joined him.  Easy six with him and then tacked on a mile.  7 miles, 54 minutes.  Feel good.

Giving thanks

When I think about it, I live a charmed life. 

I say, "when I think about it," because I have to think about it, unfortunately not in terms of what I have, but what if I did not have those things.

That is to say, when I think or hear of those that have suffered a loss of something I take for granted, it is more in that moment that I treasure what I have.

This occurs on various scales.   I hear of people struggling financially, and I realized how blessed I am to have a wonderful job.  I hear or see of people in strained marriages or divorces, and it makes me appreciate more the wonderful friend and wife I have in Tracy.  I hear of people who have lost a son in a desert far away in the name of our country, and I want to grab my children and never let them go.  I learned of a person at my work who recently found out they have months to live due to cancer, and it makes my aspirations to be 10 seconds faster in a 5K seem trivial.

All to often in this blog, as a reflection of my life, I am wrapped up in the pursuit, the destination, what is over that next hill, rather than living in where I am now. 

I live an amazing, charmed, blessed and wonderful life.  I am thankful, grateful, but admittedly, I forget this all to often.  I often think about how to improve it, better it, increase its wonders.  I reconcile this by saying I do these things to honor how charmed it is, as squandering this gift would be the ultimate crime.

But it is good to take pause and look around and say "damn Zack, you are one lucky SOB."  And be humbled by all of it and be deeply appreciative and thankful.

I guess what I am saying is while I look around the table over the next couple of days, I am going to try to be humbled by the incredible magic that has been dealt to me and appreciate it at my very core ... and be thankful.

Improvements

I posted a short time ago about strengths and weakness. Shortly thereafter Lucho posted about some of his winter goals.  Included in this was a premise I have discussed with him before.  It goes like this:  can you pick an activity that if you stuck with it, it would improve your marathon pace by 3 seconds a mile?  What if you did 10 of those activities?  That would be an increase in pace of 30 seconds a mile or 13 minutes over the course of the marathon.  That is pretty significant.

So of course, in regards to this idea and strengths and weaknesses, I have been thinking.  I have been noting what those are, could be and also noting that I have not done a lot to act on my weaknesses (noted as diet, hydration, core strength, inconsistency in training approaches (versus being consistent in overall training), slow to learn and loss of speed).  When I say I have not done a lot, I think of, as an example, diet.   Trigirlpink had a contest to track how many fruits and veggies you eat in the month of November.  I stuck with it for a few days but then my motivation to track that came unraveled.

I realize that this lack of commitment to that activity represents a weakness, or an opportunity, or a place where I can up my game and maybe get 3 seconds a mile if I stick with it.  I often think of JV who loves running hills to no end, but abhors speedwork on the track.  I think he could be phenomenally better if he got out and did some track work, but he just does not enjoy doing that. 

And it seems so easy to me when I look at that.  He just needs to do some track work.  Right.  And I just need to have a better diet.  I commented to him once in that blog post:

Your position is really no more whacked than anyone's ... you could get markedly better if you addressed you did flat speed work. But you don't enjoy it so you don't do it. Really no different than making choices on diet, core work, etc. It becomes a question like this: do I enjoy the end result enough to do these things that I do not typically enjoy?

In order for me to address my weaknesses, I need to define actionable items as to how I will address them.  Sure, with diet I can say "eat better" but I need some sort of "stick" to manage that more effectively and assure that I am.  How will I measure an improvement, or establish a goal in my diet to define improvement?  See, I can do this with mileage, or minutes, or time on a workout ... I just need to do it on the activities and weaknesses around that aspect of my training to address it.  In other words, in my running, I have some general goals to support more specific objectives.  These include at least 70 miles a week, 250 miles a month, 2 hard sessions a week, a longer run a week, and a mountain run once a week.  I toy with these a bit depending on what other activities are occurring but these are measures I can fly by (side note, I am considering adding a run of at least 3 hours in length every three weeks, alternating b/w road and hills).

Creating such measurable goals for weaknesses will change.  This is a starting place.  My mileage goals change.  There will be weeks where I need, want to do 95 miles a week and other weeks where I do 60.  Additionally, these goals are at a pretty low bar ... but I need to start somewhere.

Possible measurable goals for my current weakness opportunities (and places where I can gain 3 seconds a mile) include:

• 2x a week - grass or hill strides
• 3x a week, 20 minutes (solid) of core work (planks, push ups, pull ups, fit ball, lunges, calf raises, crunches, etc)
• 3x a week, 10 minutes of light stretching
• and the one that I am ducking and avoiding the most ... keep a food log for a month, do the analysis on that to drive measurable improvement in terms of what I eat, how much I eat, and look to see trends in how those effect performance

More to come.  Now I will see if I can put these into action.  As always, this blog is my training log and so I will seek to describe success or failure here.

USA Track & Field Announces MUT Runners of the Year

USATF announces MUT runners of the year in this article...

JZ turns 8

This Friday, JZ will turn 8.  He is an amazing little man, and seems to teach me something everyday.  We celebrated his birthday yesterday at the local rec center.  At this rec center (in fact, it seems at all the rec centers in Colorado) is a pool-playscape with a bunch of slides, etc.  Some pix ...

JZ is really into Shamu since our trip to Sea World.  Hence, he requested a Shamu cake. 

The plate underneath is a turkey platter I won - one of my few practical items I have won in racing.

Happy soon to be 8 year old.

His sister, contemplating skiing.

GZ riding the tube out of the tunnel slide.

"dude, I love you like a brother but that thing on your head needs to go."

2nd grader friends are about the best you can get.

The 10-11 yo sisters are not impressed.

Tuesday 112508 8 miles

Still needed to shake some of the fatigue out of my legs from the Saturday effort.  I think today's run accomplished that.  I laced up some new Racer STs to assure some familiarity for Thursday.  I love how when you put new shoes on, that feeling of remembering how wonderful new shoes are.   I have not laced up a new pair probably since June or July.  Got rolling into my run at a good clip, out for a half an hour, and then back on a slightly longer route on the same time.  Threw in 8 x 30/30 at the start of the return.  These are really pickups that shake out my legs, get me moving a bit faster than 5K race pace and then I back off (30 seconds on, 30 seconds off).  This seems to work as a good wake up call for my legs, gets the heart pumping but does not leave me worked.

60 minutes, 9 miles

Suppe lives

A year ago, I ran the BRR Turkey Trot and got confirmation of something I had already suspected. I was slowing down.

I ran a 5K under the name Suppe Kaintainen. I did this name change as a poor joke ... It was very cold on T-day last year. I was bundled up with a jacket, hat, sunglasses but was still suprised that I was not recognized by the race registrar (she and her once Olympic bound husband do nearly all the races in Boulder). In fact, she looked at my name and asked me what its origin was. I mutterred 'Finnish,' thinking I had been caught. I wondered if she was toying with me, but my sense was she did not know that Suppe was really George.

17:54. In any case, I hope to improve on that effort this year to show forward progress. I'd like to go under 17 as well. There are some indicators that I am near ready to do that, but not all the markers are in place. I'd feel more confident if I had some outdoor workouts nailed rather than just indoor treadmill ones. Nonetheless, I will look to start at 5:20-5:25 and dig in from there. If it does not happen, nothing really changes ... I keep at this. If it happens, nothing really changes ... I keep at this.

This Sunday, the Incline Club starts its antics in Manitou Springs. Their pre-season newsletter flew out late last week. I guess with 262 days until race weekend it might be time for folks to start thinking about that.

Favorite Workouts #4 - the out and back

In most workout training plans, there is the concept of the tempo run or the threshold run or some sort of run done at a pace that is above your typical comfort level.  There is a ton of science regarding these efforts, but generally, there is some basic principles:

• the run is performed at a pace that is not easy, but some level of "moderate" to "hard"
• is usually at least 20 minutes (but can be much longer than that)
  
• teaches pace for a particular race effort
• teaches the body to deal with increasing fatigue over the course of a continuing run

My favorite derivation of this is the "out and back."  Specifically, after a warm up (I usually warm up for two miles), you go out some distance or time and look to equal or better that on the way back.  I nearly titled this post the "out and back on the South Boulder Creek Trail for 8 miles" because that is my personal favorite derivation of it, but it can be accomplished with nearly any particular distance.  This workout teaches pacing on the front and the back end, patience, pain management, and focus.  

On the out, I look to achieve an "easy plus" pace.  This is slightly faster than my easy pace effort.  The effort is not hugely difficult.  When I get to my turn around (in my case, four miles), I look to maintain or better this pace to the start.  The burden of the miles prior begins to manifest itself, along with the increased effort, and this second half requires a degree of focus, and some level of push.

As I advance in a season, both ends of the effort get quicker but the spread between them should not be huge.  In other words, don't roll out on the "out" at 8 min/mile pace to roll "back" in 5:30s."  For me, a differential of about 2 minutes between the two legs on an eight mile run is fair (or about 30 seconds per mile).  Again, I do this as an eight miler typically, and as a prep for a 10k, but it could be done at any distance or time division.  Heading out for 11 minutes and trying to come back in 9 for example would be a nice derivative.

One other note, I do this on a relatively flat surface to keep the effort relatively comprable.  There have been occasions where I have dropped elevation to start, and then had to climb back up - very challenging to beat that time on the way back.  The other way, in my opinion, could be less effective, unless incorporated as part of mountain training - e.g, a significant climb up and then a drop to emulate race conditions - but then the back time needs to be adjusted to be compared to other efforts, not just the climb up.

North Face 50 in two weeks - show me the money

Northface throws down the money in the NF50 Ultra in two weeks in San Fran.  The winner gets 10K clams.  Last year this was a battle between Steidl and Carpenter, with Uli edge Matt in the last six or so miles.  I expect to "see" another epic battle this year.  Steidl has demonstrated stregnth and speed over the long "flatter" stuff.  Matt is one of the toughest cookies out there, dominating on anything that is over 10K in elevation.  SF ain't that high, but it has some tough climbs - right up the alley of the guy who has essentially dominated Pikes for nearly the last 20 years.

Plus, who know who else will show up.  I don't completely trust the entrant list at this point.

Monday 112408 10 miles

I got out to Teller Farm this AM and it is probably the coldest stuff I have run in all fall (well, other than that winter in August I dealt with).  I got in a little less than a half an hour before I met MK and he told me that it was 18 degrees then (at 7AM).  My choice of shorts, euro cut no less, was questionable at best.  

Interestingly, I was more sore TODAY than I was yesterday.  I could actually feel a little bit of crud in my quads, but nothing major.  More than the soreness is that there is just no pop in there - some basic fatigue.  Hoping this shakes over the next day or two.

10 miles, 77 minutes.  Dang it was cold.

Spent the rest of the day off from work and celebrating my son's 8th birthday at the Rec Center.  Pix forthcoming.  We had a pool party (smart) and a Shamu cake (kudos to the wonderful KZ).   

Sunday 112308 6 miles, week in review

I am rather suprised:  I am not sore today.  Well, actually ... I am sore in two places.  My right knee and my rear end.  But these are where I bashed my body against rocks.  But other than that, I am free of any issues.

Three weeks ago after the Basic, I felt soreness for a few days.  I attribute this lack of soreness to - well, doing the Basic three weeks ago; and having the opportunity to recover throughout the run yesterday (including eat).

I did not get to run until the afternoon, and colder breeze had begun to blow in from the NE.  Despite feeling good, I elected to keep it short today to ensure a solid recovery.  45+ minutes, 6 miles.

Week ...

M - 13 miles with Secret Hills, 101 minutes

T - 7 miles, 47 min, "rolling"

W - 13 miles over two runs, 94 min

Th - 10 miles, 62 min, with 3 mile test in 16

F - 7 miles, 56 min

Sa - 270 min, 23 miles, lots of climbing

Su - 45 min, 6 miles

Miles on week = 79 miles

Miles on month = 254 miles

Minutes on week = 675 minutes on week

Minutes on month = 2105 minutes on the month

Good week on whole.  Lot of thoughts on where to tweak it (later).

Side note:  ridiculous public expenditure of tax dollars on "art."

Favorite Workouts #3 - Lindens

Okay, this workout might be hard to replicate.

One of the advantages of living in Colorado is that there are hills.  Ridiculous hills.  Hills that will make you weep, beg for momma, puke (seriously) and leave you wondering at the end of running them if you can walk for 20 minutes. 

There are hills like this in lots of places of course.  This one in particular is called Linden.  It is a road hill that rises at about an 8 percent grade over a half a mile with about an equal drop on a loop course.

The workout is simple ... do five of these.  Up the hill, down the hill.  Each effort is progressively faster and the rests need to be even as well (no slacking).

This differs from other hill workouts with the length of the hill.  I find that first one feels easy - almost too easy and it is easy to get carried away and run it too fast.  The second one is also not so bad.  But suddenly at the third one, about half way through you are under going dental surgery.  It freakin' hurts.  The fourth and fifth are all about proving what you are made of.

Good luck with the warm down.

Teaches me hill pace.  Teaches me to run hard when I am tired.  Teaches me not to eat lunch before doing this workout unless I am interested it tasting it twice.

Saturday 112208 SoBo, Bear, Green, Flagstaff

Summary - 

SoBo: 8 miles 3,000 vertical
Bear: 6 miles 2,800 vert
Green: 5 miles 2,400 vert
Flag: 4 miles 1,200 vert
23 miles/9,400 vertical

About 4:30 of running over nearly 5.5 hours.  This was sort of like four runs over the day ... closely spaced.

=======================================================

Long version: In lieu of the Grand Canyon trip, JV schemed up a trip of the Boulder Peaks with "full ascents."  What this meant was ...

... an ascent up South Boulder out of South Mesa Trail head via Shadow and back...

... then drive over to Cragmoor, ascend up Shannahan Ridge and then Fern up Bear ...

... then drive over to Chautauqua and up Green via Saddle, Amphitheater , Greenman and back, then up Flagstaff via the Flagstaff trail ...

... then drive over to Sanitas for an up and back on the west ridge.

We estimated this at 25 miles and 10000 feet of climbing.  I posted an invite on the Boulder Trail Runner listserv earlier and the week.  I got a couple of nibbles but no outright takers.  At the last minute, Bob, often mentioned on Lucho's blog reached out and agreed to join. 

In retrospect I had mixed feeling about sending out the invite.  I feel a need to be a bit of an ambassador of the sport but inviting folks to these sorts of excursions is a bit of a risk.  Given Bob's credentials (and yes, Bob does exist) I was not worried about that.  But I was a bit worried that this sort of trail "running" would not be up his alley.  In any case, I knew there was ample opportunities to pull out and I was looking forward to meeting him.

We met at the South Mesa Trail head at 7:15 and started rolling up the Towhee trail at an easy but honest pace.  I BS'd with Bob, getting through some of the typical preliminary "nice to meet you" information.  I went into a powerhike in Shadow, knowing that blowing my wad here would be cause for me to pay in spades later.  JV was back a bit and stated he did not feel so well.  This actually worried me a bit.  When JV does not feel good at the start of a run, more times than not he feels good at the end of a run.  He doubted my vocalization of this of course.

We reached the saddle below SoBo in 47 and change and the summit in 55:07.  I felt amazingly good, almost as if I had not just done 3K of vertical.  We descended together, although Bob mentioned downs were not his thing and he hung back.

Down in 41:36 (96:44 of running).  We all watered up, got a snack at our cars and headed north to Cragmoor.   This transition took 18:51 (total time running 96:44, 1:55:35 full running time).

Bob and I got out pretty good at Cragmoor and gapped JV pretty good.  Bob gave me a smile about half way up Shanahan Ridge and pulled ahead about 10 yards.  I decided to let this go as I was not ready for a throw down with a bunch of miles and climbing ahead.  We passed the Mesa Trail cross over in about 10:10-10:20.  Admittedly this is a bit hot, but not overly so.  I think my recent "turn over" work has made this section of the climb feel easier (good!).

Once in Fern, we began the powerhike and JV, of course caught up to us on the steeper stretches.  We hit the saddle here in 28 and change and began the last leg up to Bear. 

Admittedly, this is my least favorite trail in OSMP.  It is stupid steep and the footing really sucks.  I powerhiked nearly all of it.  Bob was not liking it, and JV became his mountain goat self and scurried past both of us.  We hit the summit in 45:46 (run time ~2:22, total time ~2:41).  We waited a touch for Bob to catch up who asked where the running was in that last stretch.

I smiled.  I know exactly what Bob is talking about.  I used to think this stuff was STUPID.  It was not running.  Yeah, it was work but it was not running.  Basic Idiots That Climb Hills is what I used to think.  We'll I still think that ... it makes for a nice acronym.  It is a necessary part of my training now but it is certainly different.

JV took off on the descent.  For the first time on the day, I felt the twitch in my legs of fatigue.  The bounce in my legs went away quickly on the steep drop of Fern.  This descent (31 minutes) was not hard but it was clear that the miles and the climbing were beginning to exude their toll.

Bob, who had warned us that descents were not his game, disappeared.  JV and I hung out in the Cragmoor lot for a good stretch, eating, drinking and wondering where Bob was.  He ended up coming back UP Cragmoor, which means he missed the little dog tail that brings you down into the neighborhood.  No sweat.  We then buzzed over to Chautauqua.  This transition took us ~29 minutes (running time = 2:53, total time = ~3:42).

I really began to feel the work as we climbed out of Chautauqua.  I held it together fairly well until some of the upper rock slides and then let Jeff and Bob pass.  Jeff suddenly looked great and skirted away (as I had predicted).  Bob slowed and I passed him back.  The upper stretches of the Greenman trail were ice covered.  We got up in about 43 minutes (run time = 3:33, total time, 4:30).

I wanted to descend via gentler Ranger but JV talked us into the shorter Greenman route.  Again, JV disappeared, Bob went easy and I felt the thrash in my quads on the way down.  A ~30 minute descent and I met Jeff in the Gregory lot (run time = 4:03, total time = 5 hours)  We debated whether we ought to swing back to the cars for food and H20 while waiting for Bob, but got some water from another BTR'er in the lot.  Bob came out Gregory Canyon - indicating a different descent path.

Bob decided to jump at this point and Jeff and I started up Flagstaff.  My watch politely informed me that I had filled it with splits (not just from this run but several) so some of my splits at this point are guesses.  I am not sure, for example how long we took to transition here but I will guess 15 minutes (for a total time of 5:15, running - 4:03)

Running ... I was cooked.  We had hit the big peaks and this should have been a "no brainer" as one of the lesser peaks but I was leveled the legs.  While I had felt great earlier in the day, I was forced to hiking segments that would otherwise be easy.  And that is fine ... that was the purpose of this run.  More on that later.

JV pulled away again and I reached the "summit" in 26 minutes(!) (run time = 4:29).  JV pulled away again on the descent and I took two diggers on the way down.  These two events were notice to me, in case it was not clear, that I needed to pull the plug.  I knew I could do Sanitas but that would be just punishment on top of a taxed body that I did not need.  I also wanted to have a little bit on tap for my 5K later in the week.

Back down in about 20 minutes for about 4:50 of running (my times and JV's don't quite match up, but I know I got at least 4:30 of running).  I announced to JV I was done.  After about 20 minutes of sitting in the back of my Element, eating and drinking he asked if I still wanted to quit, and put the hook out that it "was just Sanitas."  I was tempted as I was already beginning to feel the recovery effects but decided against it.

I want to get a run like this in every 3-5 weeks, although it can be on roads (so equivalent mileage but shorter on time).  It definitely is a good side of the training program.  I realize there is some risk in doing this run 5 days before a goal 5K but ... I think it might be less than doing 23 miles on the road five days before a goal race.

JV, of course finished it up.  His report will be on his blog.  And as I expected, he looked better at the tail of the day when compared to the front.

It was great to meet Bob (hope to get to run with him again) it was a great adventure with JV on a gorgeous day.  This was my 49th time up Green since last Thanksgiving, my longest vertical in any one day EVER, probably one of my top ten longest runs in terms of mileage and time.  A good workout!

Friday 112108 7 miles

Took it easy - real easy today.  7 miles, 56 minutes

Favorite Workouts #2: Secret Hills

I got the idea of this workout from author and runner Mike Sandrock.  He used to call this workout "Secret Hills" and apparently he got it from Rob Decastella.  It is not really a secret but everything with Mike in those days was a secret ... secret training, take the turn on this secret path, etc.  I am pretty sure that the entire secret of this workout when out the door when he put it in his book "75 Tough Workouts."

In Boulder, we'd start at the Trident Coffee Shop and then run via a variety of secret paths (usually by people sleeping under bridges in the early AM) up to Chautauaqua.  The warm up was about 15 minutes but it included a good deal of climbing up to the park from downtown.  I think that is less important, but in those days the climb seemed to already take some zip out of my legs.

In Chautauaqua, we start at the entrance to the park and head east on the road that goes around the grass meadow, climb up towards the Dining Hall, then swing past it to the entrance of the Enchanted Mesa.  Run the Enchanted Mesa to the intersection of the Mesa trail.  I am not sure of the exact distance or the exact climb on this but if I had to guess, it is probably near a mile and a half and some ... a couple hundred feet of climbing.  The effort, which is near 5K effort takes about 9-12 minutes and leaves you wobbly because it is a climb.  So, if trying to do this run elsewhere, find a slightly climbing run that would take you this length of time. 

On the Boulder route, I have made it a habit of taking note of a split at the fire hydrant while heading up the Enchanted Mesa and the connector to the Kohler Mesa.

Another key attribute of this run is that it gets really hard at the end.  So, just when you are hurting, ready to break, the hill grade picks up and forces you to consider your mettle.  I have gotten to the Kohler Mesa connector on PR pace only to fall apart in the last 90 seconds of this run more times than I'd like to admit!

We'd then jog down to the Bluebell shelter loop (3-5 minutes) and do repeats on the east hill there and then come down the west side.  The repeats up take 45-60 seconds, and then the interval is 75 to 120 seconds of recovery.  This hill is steep (at least 8-10 percent), and you do these hard.  

The purpose of this workout is to get in good hill work.  It provides a "speed" workout that does not beat you up the way the track does.  The repeats after the long hill are key.  You are tired and don't want to run fast but you "teach" your legs (and your form) to do so.  When you are rigging up at the end of a 5K, you'll "remember" these and be able to hold solid faster paces.

Crawl home for a cool down.

Favorite Workouts #1: Half mile repeats

Starting a series of posts here that I will put up over the next couple of weeks.  These are some of my favorite workouts.

First, I guess I need to caveat what I mean by favorite:  these have been the ones that have been most effective for me and hence I enjoy.  There is a flaw in that definition of course - there might be other workouts that I don't enjoy as much and hence are not performed enough to be effective.

There is also another flaw in this definition ... enjoy.  In some cases, these workouts are ones that I really struggle to perform well in.  In fact, they seem to induce conditions in my body to those not in endurance sports would think are related to someone being physically tortured.  Or dying.  Or both.

Finally, these workouts are just elements of an overall program.  A base of mileage is needed.  A long run is needed.  Consistency is needed.  These are ones that I throw in when I want to measure myself outside of a race, or prepare myself for one.

So why share these?  Simply because I have been learning (or re-learning) that there is no need to come up with new stuff, or new workouts.  These work for me.  They worked 10 years ago.  Yeah, there are some new ones (intro'd in the last few years) but generally things are the same.  As part of a training log, I feel obliged to list these in case I forget again.

Oh yeah ... the listed order does not mean this one is my favorite of all.  It just happens to be the one I was thinking about at the time.

And that brings us today's listed workout:  half mile repeats.  Here is the structure of this workout.  6 x 800 with 1 minute rest at at 4-5 seconds faster than 5k pace (whether that is current pace or goal pace is somewhat up to you).  So, by example, if you want to run 16:40 for a 5K, your 1600 pace would be 5:20 or 80 seconds a lap or 2:40 per 800.  For this workout, you'd run these at about 2:35-2:36.

I do this on the track simply because I like the measured nature of the workout and the feedback I can get on the various points of the interval.

I find this workout combo's a pace slightly faster than goal pace along with a short rest.  It also seems to follow the tempo of a 5K race which is one of thirds in my opinion.  The first third ought to feel easy, the second third like a workout, the last third hurts like hell.  Similar in this workout - the first two seem to float by, the next two are some work and the last two are why you did the first four.  I have historically kept the rest on these "inactive," meaning I finish, usually walk up to about 20 yards back up the stretch before heading back to the start.

I also think this is a good "predictor" workout.  Now there is all sorts of controversy as to if workouts are good predictors.  Again, your call.  I have done this enough over the years that I can judge where I am in a 5K pretty well based on this workouts results.

I have, on a few occasions gotten into good enough shape that I have shortened the rest on this workout.  For example, there was a point where I was starting to get the repeats down below 2:28 pace.  This would "predict" me at 2:33 per half or 5:06's.  I had other data that led me to believe that I would not hold that pace over 5K but something closer to 5:10-5:15.  To alter the workout up a bit, I shortened the rest to 45 seconds.  It is amazing how fast 45 seconds can go by in those cases.  My average moved to 2:30, and I ran an 16:14 a week later on a course with a good number of turns.

Another variation of this is 5 x 1000.  I find this to be actually much tougher.  I used to do these with (the now deceased) Andrew Crook.  Andrew would have us do these in lane 7 at Potts Field (the CU track) to limit the stress on our hips in the curves.  We'd finish about half way up the back straight and then would jog back to the staggered start around the top curve.  This rest was a bit longer - usually 1:45 but it was active.  I found that holding these at slightly faster race pace were a challenge.  Andrew, at the age of 40, was barreling these out at just under 3 minutes and then later that year ran 15 flat at sea level.

So finally, this workout (or one of its near variations) is one staple of a proving ground for me.  I might be able to pull together mileage and a tempo run, but this provides a lens into one side of fitness for me.

Thursday 112008 10 miles, treadmill test

Needed to keep on my modified schedule and so workout today (rather than Friday).  As the high was in the low 30s and it was spitting freezing rain, I C.S.'d out and hit the treadmill.  While in the shower last night I was contemplating what to do today.  I was juggling between another 2 mile effort (where I ran slightly faster than 5K pace) and another 8 mile effort (longer tempo).  Then it hit me:  neither - do a three mile hard effort emulating a 5K.  Perfect.

Warm up, 2 miles with some pick ups in the second mile to get faster pace dialed in.  7:13, 6:20.  Quick potty break and then back at it for the three miles.  5:24, 5:19 (10:43), 5:17 (16:00).  This is about where I thought I would be on the mill (faster than actual).  First mile was okay, second mile was getting tougher and third mile required some degree of focus.

Caught my breath for a couple post the effort and warmed down for five.  6:58, 6:41, 6:15, 6:47, 6:29.  Screwed around with upping the pace every minute until I started to move over the line and then would bring it back.

10 miles a few ticks under 63.  While I am cautious about my treadmill results, as they are not the same as running outside, I am optimistic on the progress I have shown on this over the last couple of weeks.  On whole this was a bit harder than my 2 mile time trial a few weeks ago, but that is expected.  This workout is good for that.  Now I just need to do this trial for six miles! 

I mulled over a series of posts I am going to start soon which would be related to my favorite workouts.  Also will revisit the topic of strength and weaknesses.

Wednesday 111908 13 miles (7, 6)

AM - 7 miles, 51+ minutes.  Hey, I got my arse out of bed for an AM run.  It helped that it was 60+ degrees.  I felt great. 

PM - 6 miles, 42+ minutes.  It was getting cooler as the sun was setting.  Supposedly we will have a high of 30 tomorrow.  This after a high of 80 yesterday.  Felt good on this one too.  Well ... in the legs I did.  My stomach was pissed because of the pizza and latte I had for lunch. 

13 miles, 1:34 on the day.

Tuesday 111808 7 miles

mid day - 80 degrees?!  WTF?!  Bare back on an Indian Summer day that is not supposed to be here on a tight lunch.  47 minutes, 25 out and rolled back "moderate" in 23.  Felt good.  I can feel that the overall velocity of my runs has picked up over the last month.  Where I think this sort of effort in the pace would be near seven minute pace, it is closer to 6:30's or better now once I get moving.   7 miles, 48 minutes.

Had an opportunity to run again around 9PM but I was ready for the rack.  So I didn't.

It gets self indulgent psycho babble after this ...

Justin and I were talking a bit about Pikes the other day.  I won't pull punches here as I said to him what I was thinking in terms of the really big goal:  4 hours with a 2:30 up, 1:30 down.  I have thought I could do that if I put it all together in training and on race day.  Strong words I realize since I have only run a 2:37 Ascent, and a 1:40 down and a best Marathon of 4:32 there.  But it is fair to dream.  Then believe and then dare.  I guess by putting it out there I can be criticized if I don't achieve it.  But I am okay with that.  It is a stretch goal.  It will not be easy.  It will require a compliment of strong training, excellent execution, bringing my fitness of hill climbing and speed together in a fashion that I believe I can but I have yet to do.

And so to that end, I am admitting that it going to be my goal race next year.  I will be approaching the training differently than I did last year but I will ultimately point to that mountain.  I have yet to feel that I put an effort down there that is representative of what I can do.  My 4:32 came on a bad day for me.  I fell apart.  I think on any other day I'd probably would have pulled a DNF but I could not let that happen there.  Last year's 4:50 came on the second day of a double, in snow.  I have my woulda' coulda shoulda stories there ... I need to change to them to what I did.

Thinking about this, and the journey along the way gets me fired up.  I think about trips to Pikes to prepare, workouts I want to kill on the road, on the track, on the hills west of Boulder, the races I want to do.  I feel compelled to get it all down and I think I will at some point.

For the few folks that read this blog, this might seem like self indulgent babble.  It is.  It is my training log first and foremost.  I don't keep a different training log.  I expect this "diary," like most training logs to be BORING, self obsessed, ridiculous.  I am trying not only to capture the picture of what I am doing in training but what I am thinking, what is motivating me, what I am feeling. 

In any case, the short term focus will remain on the 5K and 10K stuff and getting those times back into something I deem self respectful.  The obvious target of getting back under 17 for 5K on Thanksgiving will stick.  I am not quite sure if I am there yet ... I have had some workouts where I am pretty confident I could lay that down, but others where I believe I am still pretty far off.  Just need to get out there and find that out.

Doubler Certificate

Got my Doubler certificate today:

Impressive certificate.  Nice photo, nice printing, good paper.  Well done by the Pikes crew.  I will most definitely order the Doubler shirt as well and let my kids give it to me as present.

Monday 111708 13 miles with hills

First, props to BG for PRing in the half (breaking 90) and Phil hitting his goal of sub 20 for the 5k.  I love this stuff.  Setting a goal, preparing and sacrificing to meet that goal, toeing the line to execute it ... and doing it.  Or not doing it.  That is equally as fine to me actually.  But these two did it so that is a happier story.

My week is coming unraveled a bit.  It looks like JV and I will not make the Grand Canyon trip.  Yeah, I know it would be epic and we put out there that we might do it but after discussing it, we decided to save this one for another time.  There are a variety of good reasons to do it, and an equal number of reasons not to.  I can say that I feared sitting in the damn car on the way home more than the actual run itself.  I think that might be old age.

As an alternative, we are kicking around doing all the "formal" Boulder peaks this Friday via "full routes."  This means we'd do climbs of around 2500 for each peak.  If we did this we'd start at the south end, with South Boulder Peak (SoBo) via Shadow, then over to Cragmoor for an Ascent up Bear via Fern, then over to Green via Chauatauqua (I am betting JV would take the Flatiron route now that I think about it ... it is probably the shortest but the steepest) and then Flagstaff, and finally Sanitas.  He roughly adds it up to 25 miles and 10000 plus of vertical. 

Damn, maybe the Grand Canyon would be easier.  JV is sneaking up on something like 600000 feet of vertical this year.  I have no idea how much I have really as I don't track that but it has to be over a 100000 (given I have done Green 48 times and it is about 2500 and I had one weekend this summer where I did 15k over two days).

Anyway ... numbers.  That is a whole post I have brewing in my head on numbers, science, etc.  But for another day.  Here are the numbers for today.

Secret Hills ... I last did this on October 17 and so was interested in seeing how I had progressed since then.  Today, up the Enchanted Mesa in 10:25.  Last time I passed the fire hydrant in 4:20, and then the Kohler Mesa connector in 8:50 and finished in 10:35.  This time I went by in 4:25, 8:45 and 10:25.  I did start a little hot last time as JV started with me on my heels and I paid for it on the upper stretches. I started a bit more reasonable this time (five seconds slower) and was able to run that middle section 10 seconds faster, and then finish the steep stretch in about five seconds faster.

I did not really progress at all on the hill repeats though.  I ran these in 56 (first, gummy legged), and locked in around 52 for the next seven ... all with 1:39-1:40 rest.  It hurt, but felt solid.  I will keep digging on this.  This is one of those workouts where I can feel fitness developing and weakness falling away.  It comes at a baptismal price mind you but it works that way.

I jogged into the evening darkness for another 48 minutes, with Marty.  Marty has done this workout and is pretty familiar with the times and so wanted to know what I had done.  When I told him, his response was, "Not bad.  Solid."  (this is a nice way of saying, well at least you did not tank the workout).  He then followed it with, "well, you are 39."  I picked up the pace.  Damn 2:20 marathoners.

101 minutes on the day, 13 miles.

Oh yeah, week ... unraveled:  I pulled this workout back to Monday as I am in meetings all ay on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sunday 111608, 8 miles

We were up in Fairplay today.  The gang drove up out of Alma and up Windy Ridge.  In Windy Ridge, there are several bristlecone pines.  Some of these are thought to be over a thousand years old.  

From the shoulder of Bross, at treeline, looking back at Alma and Fairplay.

I  ran easy behind the "sag wagon."  Well, sort of easy.  As easy as climbs like this up can be.  At 11000 feet.  So in other words, I was running slow but working.   Fair climbing, high altitude, 

with the road being mostly clear but some snow.   All good.  8 miles, 64 minutes. Once we got up onto "Windy Ridge" it was VERY windy.  I went from being warm and over dressed to cold and under dressed in about 100 yards.   The wind was actually howling up here.  I mean it was not just blowing hard but you'd periodically hear this high pitched moan in the sky.  I told my kids it was a yeti in the distance. 

In the actual distance ... Pikes Peak (so from a northwest perspective) ...

Week ... all singles.  567 minutes on the week, 72 miles.  Again, a bit lower on the mileage than I like but considering I am not putting in a big run over the last two weeks (family obligations), that is not surprising.  1430 minutes on the month (about 24 hours), 175 miles.   I am pretty certain that this is about the mileage I want to get on singles, but I can push it up with doubles (another 10-30).

M - 93 min, 11 miles, Eldo

T - 10 miles, int. work, 76 min

W - 12 miles, 90 minutes

Th - 8 miles, Green 88 min
Fr - 11 miles 69 min - tempo-ish
Sa - 12 miles, 86 min - pick ing up last mile
Su - 8 miles, 65 min, easy, high alt.

Not sure how I am going to approach next week.  Will depend on if we (JV and me) do R2R2R or not.  JV  and I talked about it tonight.  There is definitely a HUGE allure to do this because of the total epic nature of it.  That said, logistically it is a bit of a PITA.  I am less concerned about running the thing than the 12 hour drive there and the 12 hour drive back.  Additionally, there is certainly some guilt on my end ... I feel a bit over indulgent escaping for a weekend to go play in the G.C.  when I could be doing something closer to home (like running all the Boulder Front Range Peaks from bottom to top) and still be with my family. Not to say not stinking up a car with Jeff.  I think we are 50-50 on whether we do this next weekend or not.  We will do it ... just not certain when yet.   I admit, I am also, frankly scared of what it will be like to run 44 miles!  And how much that will jack me up!  It would be a whole new experience for me whenever we do it.

Saturday 110508 12 miles

Solepepper Sports, Alan Culpepper's new running store (and one actually in east Boulder County) opens today and they had a group run to kick it off this AM.  Lucho, Kerri (great to see her back out!), Jeff and Jenni Keil, Phil, Justin from the blog community were there, along with about 50 other folks.  Very nice turn out to kick off the store on a cold(er) Saturday morning.  In the mix were other folks like Janucki, Torres.  Very friendly happy atmosphere and it was good to see so many people starting the day this way. 

I got over to the store a bit early to get in some extra time.  I just under 45 minutes, looping up on the Davidson Mesa, before joining the group down at the store.  Started slow with the group, BSing with people, including Lucho and Phil.   There were several routes to consider - some doing 4, some doing 6, some doing more.  When we peeled off for the six, I picked it up some to catch up to Justin.  Shot the crap with him about Anton, possible upcoming Grand Canyon  trip, Pikes next year.  He and a couple of other guys swung back around for another loop on the Davidson but I headed down (as I needed to get back home) via Dyer Road with about 4 other guys.   

They quickly picked up the pace on the downhill and gapped me by about 15 yards.  At first I let it go, thinking, "ah, I don't need any of that crap, I did okay yesterday."  But then I thought about it.  I have let folks go like that in runs a lot.  Maybe that is wisdom for saving it for my hard runs.  Maybe it is age and a little less of the competitive urge flowing in my system.  I did not like the thought of the latter and so I caught back up to them and moved into a 10K pace.  They responded and so, I went to the next gear, ready to push backall the way to the store.  Totally juvenille but it felt good.    They backed off as we turned behind Lowes.  I slipped it back a notch for a few seconds but then pushed it again.  No good reason for this other than it felt good.  Good in my heart ... not in my head.  Or my legs.

12 miles, 86 minutes.

Tunnel Pic

I got asked where the picture at the top of my blog is from.  This is the train tunnel that is slightly off the top of the Rattlesnake Gulch trail (approx 39 deg, 55' 13.17" N by 105 deg 17' 36.13" W).  I have contemplated running this tunnel but never have had the balls to do it.  After checking how long it was on Google Earth, I am glad I did not.  Any guesses?

It is about 1570 feet long.  Or over a quarter mile.  That means if I got half way down it, and a train entered it, I'd have to bolt out on railroad tracks back out over 200 yards.  Given that I'd be going no faster than 14 miles an hour (at best), if the train was going 28 mph ... it'd be really close.  Too close.

Friday 111408 11 miles

A combination of feeling sluggish, and the cold weather (it snowed here today but not really significantly) had me scrap plans to head to Boulder for my scheduled hill workout.  Instead, I took to the mill and figured I'd take the miles as they came, while watching the Shuttle countdown.

7:00, 6:36, 6:15, 5:53, 5:44, 6:38, (1ok in 39:30), 6:18, 6:35, 6:19, 5:42, 6:12 ... 11 miles in 69:12.  Did not feel great.  Did not feel bad.  Was not hard.  Was not easy.  This was sort of a fartlek-y tempo.  Not sure I could have nailed a hard workout but I was glad this one came in.

Thursday 111308 8 miles, Green

Met up with JV this AM in the best city park in the world.  It was windy as all heck.  Once we got into the lee side of the hills though it was not bad at all.  Climbed up Flagstaff out of Chautauaqua, then over to Green and came down the cutoff between the Flatirons.  I guesstimate this bugger at 8 miles.  88 minutes.

We (JV and I) are tentatively planning up a trip to the Grand Canyon next week for a Rim to Rim to Rim session (40+ miles).  Details are still somewhat in the air.  This would put a kink in my 5K plans but the opportunity to do this now is knocking ... so I might just answer.  More to come.

Wednesday 111208 12 miles

PM - 90 minutes, 12 miles (maybe +).  Ran down around Standley Lake and then headed east out to US36 via the Big Dry Creek Trail ... and back.  Jammed to Smashing Pumpkins the whole way.

New trails

So I was a bit lost the other day when exploring Eldo.  I really did not know what trails I was on ... so I guess maybe I was not lost as much as I did not know exactly where I was although I knew how I got there.

I reached out to the BTR group and got my answer.  Specifically, I believe I was on the Goshawk Ridge trail.  Maps of how these trails intend to connect are online. (large 16MB)  (that is a big whomper of a file though ... 16MB).  While surfing the OSMP site, I also located a KMZ file for those of you who use Google Earth (also about 16MB).  It displays all the trails in the OSMP system.  Cool.  Geeky.  But cool.

Strengths and Weaknesses

I was talking with JV the other day about strengths and weaknesses in terms of running.  Specifically, I think in a race up anything greater than 11 percent, JV is going to beat me like a drum.  We have gone up trails closer to 20 percent and he scurries up them like a goat and I struggle to hike up them, often going to all fours.  If I am going to get JV, it has to be on the flats, or the downs (although, he is bridging that gap and if I can get him to do some true speed work, he'd really be dangerous).

One of the points of this conversation was, in racing, one needs to play to their strengths.  Part of the reason why I am trying to redevelop my fundamental 5k / 10k fitness is so that I can exploit that as a strength in mountain races.

It got me thinking as to what my strengths are, and more importantly - what are my weaknesses ... in terms of running.  Now, by my definition, a weakness is an opportunity.  In other words, it is something you can control or choose to change.  Yes, there are weaknesses outside of these, but I choose not to focus on them because I can't change them.  For example, I have a left foot that is slightly malformed because of a lawn mower accident I had as a kid.  I can't change that.  It just is (although, I guess it could be argued that I could take actions to assure it impacts my running as little as possible).  You can't change your genetics, your height ... so don't focus on those things.  When considering weaknesses and strengths, consider what you can manage, change, alter, exploit ... versus those things you cannot control.

On my front, I write these to put them out there and to, as are most things in this blog, in some regard, hold myself a bit more accountable.  By publishing my weaknesses, my warts, I am hoping that identification forces me to better address them, overcome them.

I think if I ever got into the coaching business, I'd ask an athlete to consider listing these as part of the "discovery" of that athlete (including their fitness training racing history, etc ... goals, willingness to commit, etc).

This list is likely to shift and change (in fact, I hope it does).

Strengths:

1. I am generally consistent.  Meaning I get out more days than I don't.  This is because I enjoy doing this running thing on a variety of fronts, not just the fitness gains.  Consistency in training provides a base I can exploit in races.  I have been running pretty consistently for a dozen years now, and in a broader sense, 25+.
2. Hill climbing - generally speaking, I have been considered, amongst my peers as at near similar fitness a decent hill climber.  In other words, when we'd hit a hill, they would tend to slow a bit and I would tend maintain pace.  Now some of this is based on the grade of the hill (as indicated above) but for most normal grades ... like those you encounter on a road

Weaknesses

1. Diet - totally this is something I could improve on.  My diet is not bad (particularly when I see pounds of candy disappearing at my office via the consumption of my co-workers), but it is not well focused or particularly dialed in tight.  I often eat without thinking of the consequences.  For example, the other night I had a second burrito.  It was a good burrito ... loaded with veggies, etc ... but I only had it because it tasted good, not because I needed it.  I understand on some occasions this is okay, but I tend to live in that habit more than not.  I can change this with more conscious consideration and choosing of how I take in food as fuel.
2. Hydration - stupid, stupid, stupid but I often let myself get dehydrated.  My most often digression is at work.  I get too busy to drink.  Stupid.  Just a choice I need to make.  I have gotten better about this but I still have days where I am looking at dark yellow pee when I don't need to.
3. Core strength - I have totally slacked off on basic strength work.  I have used my groin pull as the reason why, and there is some truth in that but ... but I can be better by just choosing to take 20 minutes a day to do squats, crunches, push ups, pull ups, planks and some fitball work.  Maybe a little less net surfing (blogging) and a bit more dedication to this is the choice I need to make.
4. Inconsistent - while I profess to be consistent above, my training can be inconsistent in its approach.  In other words, rather than adopting some training approach and sticking with it for some time, I am always tweaking something, changing it.  That alone is not a bad thing but it makes it difficult to ascertain what aspects of my training are working (or even allowing them to take effect).  I switch from long running to speed work to hill work.  I think there is some benefit to this "muscle confusion" approach but I think there needs to be a choice to maintain some consistency in the approach to let that aspect of training sink in.
5. Slow to learn - related to above, I feel that I am often slow to learn about what my training and results have presented me.  That is part of the reason of this blog of course.  I fail to take a longitudinal view of my training and get a holistic view of what training is most effective for me (although I think I am getting better with this).  And despite being a scientist by training, I am less than enamored with collection of scientific data in my training all the time.  I continue to debate with myself of how much of this I will choose to embrace so I see my goal / opportunity here being choosing to be more focused on learning from my experiment of one with input from others.
6. Lost speed - sooo, I have chosen to focus on mountain running and as I have written here for some time, I believe it has slowed me down on the flats.  The choice here is obvious - get focused on working on that speed development.  I faced this yesterday that I find it a bit of a mental battle to get to a place where I am running - training like that.  I need to choose to get to the track, to the speed work and not hide in the mountains all the time.

What are your strengths and weaknesses and what will you do about them?

Tuesday 111108 10 miles with track work and more "Indulgence"

For whatever reason, as I was defining my schedule for this 5K block run up to Thanksgiving, I did not define workouts on the next two Tuesdays.  I can't recall if that was because I expected to cut back on workouts (unlikely) or if I wanted to reassess where I was at in terms of fitness at this point and then define the workouts (likely).

So I hemmed and hawed.  I knew that I really needed to get a speed workout going on outside and that I need to get to the track.  For the last two years I have been hiding in the comfort of mountain runs.  When not doing that I hide in the comfort of a tempo run.  I have been avoiding the precision of the track for some time.  It stings, I know it and I need to get over that.  It stings just because it does hurt physically, but it also does not lie.  It tells you straight up as to where you really are in terms of pace, distance, etc.

Warm up (27 minutes).  Felt like butt.  Partly because of the thrashing I knew I was going to face, but I really did feel like arse.  I definitely was fighting something over the weekend (based on other physical symptoms we don't need to review on here) and I think I am still recovering from it.  I considered bagging the workout, but decided against it.

2 x 200 with 200 rest.  I do these to get the HR up a bit and ready for the task at hand.  Additionally, these are faster than the subsequent repeats I will do so those then feel a bit easier.  34s.  Grr.  Really?  Was it just a few years ago that 31s were a walk?

800.  2:39.  A good wind was coming out of the NW now.  Not a killer wind, but one that was definitely breaking my form up a bit on the top curve of the track.  Whatever.  I had my excuse.  Ideas of doing 4 by a mile in 5:20 had been left at the start.  Grr.  1 minute rest. 

4 x 400 with 1 minute rest.  76, 76, 75, 75.  None of these were straining but they were not really fluid either.  Just trying to keep getting that turn over back.  No problems with the groin with any of these which was good news.  2 minutes rest after the last.

800.  2:40.  Definitely was beginning to feel it on the second lap.  The sun was setting now and the wind was picking up.  Tried just to shorten the stride up on the top of the curve and increase the turnover.  1 minute rest.

4 x 400.  77, 74, 76, 75.  Got a bit carried away on the second (I should get carried away more often) but was sucking wind on the last two.  Good.  I need to suck wind like this more often.  I realized coming down the home stretch of these that I had not felt this sort of numb "speed" pain feeling like this in a while.  It is different in the mountain runs.  They both hurt but one is a kick to the left nut and the other is a kick to the right.  Or something like that.

2 x 200.  35s.

20 minute warm down. 

Calling it 10 miles over 77 minutes.

... Continuing to plow through the Indulgence DVD, now onto the bonus features.  I checked out the "Where does Anton Run?" featurette.  That was pretty cool ... as there was a grading of runs based on difficulty and remoteness.

I am not sure I could recommend this thing as a movie for people to buy.  Don't get me wrong.  Cool movie ... fun to hear Anton talk his stuff (particularly in the bonus features).   Cool to catch it if you can, but ... I guess I'd recommend borrowing it (thanks JM!) and and ... making your own movie.  Yeah ... I'd love to see your movie.

It seems to me that when we train for 5ks, 10ks, we often train over that distance.  In other words, it is not uncommon for us to do training for those events that includes not only runs that are shorter than those distances (at faster paces) but also runs much longer than that (and slower).  This typically not true with the marathon or longer distances.  It is pretty rare that folks will train with miles over the marathon distance in any one run.  In other words, nearly all the training is done at distances less than the marathon rather than doing say 40 mile runs.  I know there are some that don't adhere to this rule but that is the general approach.  The obvious rationale is the miles at those distances, including the ultra distances, are just too debilitating.  And so that makes sense.

But Anton seems to be breaking that rule a bit, or at least dancing with its edge.  He certainly does not do 100 mile runs as training sessions, but when a guy does 200 miles a week ... he is getting closer to training at his race distance than most marathoners do.  There is, as you catch in the movie (or any article out there about Anton these days) a cost for his investment in this regard.

Planning the races

I have been reading NE runner Jim Johnson's blog for a bit.  He puts up some solid times, has some fun videos (especially the rants from Dave), and the picture at the top of his blog is a classic.  He races a lot.  Like nearly as much as Bernie.  He recently posted his plans for 2009, and it also has about a race a week planned.

I think I'd like to race that much but I'd not like how that would interfere with the other aspects of my life and my family.  But, that said, I do need to sit down and begin to sketch out those plans.  So, JJ's post motivated me a bit to get off my arse and post up some of this stuff. I guess there are some thoughts swimming in my head on this and so ... a starter sketch below ... some of these overlap and are likely to be dropped.  Key races are colored.  Some of these are ideas ... some of these are must haves.  I browsed Rocky Mountain Sport, Coolrunning and Colorado Runner mag to find some calendars.  Most have not really fleshed out for 2009 - so much more to come on this.

Steve G asked about my plans post September next year.  That definitely is part of the planning I need to do because in a sense the game changes there.  I become 40, and will be thinking about some races specifically as a master, including some USATF XC races.  Essentially this pushes out any idea of doing a 50 (or more) out to about 2010 at the soonest.  

2008

• November
  • 27 CU Turkey Trot 5k
• December
  • 7 Colder Bolder 5k

2009

• January
  • 10 - Lafayette Oatmeal Festival 5K (aka, the Quicker Quaker)
• February
  • 1 -Screamin' Snowman Snowshoe Race (!)
• March
• April
  • Collegiate Peaks 25 miler
• May
  • 9 -Greenland 50K
  • Bolder Boulder 10k
• June
  • Garden of the Gods 10 miler
  • Mount Washington Road Race
  • 20 - Mount Evans Ascent
  • San Juan Solstice 50?
• July
  • Vail Hill Climb
  • Summer Trail Round Up
  • Leadville Marathon
  • Barr Trail Mountain Race
• August
  • Eldorado Springs 4 miler
  • La Sportiva Eldo 10k
  • Pikes Peak Marathon
• September
• Imogene Pass Trail Run

Monday 111008 11 miles, Eldo

I continued my informal explorations around Eldorado today.  It takes me about 10-15 minutes to drive there from my office, and gets me into the heart of the hills pretty quick.  

I had contemplated parking in Eldorado, and then heading up but instead parked at the South Mesa Trailhead lot and climbed out on the Homestead Trail.  I typically take the Towhee up to the Mesa, so this switched things up a bit.  Once I got onto the Mesa, I cut over the "Sound of Music" meadow and down the old Mesa trail.  Apparently, based on some old signage I see, this is what the Mesa trail used to be.  It drops pretty quick into the town of Eldorado, nearly into someone's back yard (which is why I had trouble finding it from the town a couple of weeks ago).  I took some mental snapshots of it this time so I could find it if I ever decided to climb out.

I crossed back down through the sleepy town, and then back up the "hidden" path on the south side.  Rather than taking the connector over to the Fowler trail, I kept plugging up to the road.  I think the road too might be considered the Fowler trail.  After climbing for a bit, there was a trail that was marked with an OSMP tag but no name, heading further south.  I plugged up this and it was a decent climb.  At the apex, it descended about a 20 yards before splitting.  The spit to the right went about 300 yards before hitting a private property fence.  The split to the left hooked up with a trail that is obviously under construction and is one of the new trails OSMP is putting in.  I ran down this for about 15 minutes before it dead ended at some road.  I was not clear as to exactly where I was at, and while I wanted to explore a bit more, it was getting dark.  I climbed back up this new path, and double backed down towards Eldo.  It was a bit sketchy running the road from Eldo to South Mesa Trail head at this time of the evening (and so I will look to avoid that in the future).

All told, 93 minutes.  I'll call it 11+.  Probably 80% of this run was on trails I had never been on before so it was pretty cool.  I definitely felt that increased set of senses as I was running on unfamiliar trails, with it getting dark, and only the hum of the train heading up towards the Moffat to create errie sounds.  My body felt MUCH better than yesterday!

Sunday 111008 9 miles, week in review

Plan was to pop up early Sunday and get in about 2 hours. 

Actual was on Saturday I started feeling pretty lethargic.  The expected question here was why did I feel this way?  Was I tired because of recent training?  Because of diet?  Because I was fighting some cold virus thingie?  Don't know ... In any case, I had hoped for a good night sleep on Saturday and a good solid building long run. 

Not so much I guess.  I woke up after a fitful night of sleep and could tell in the first mile I was thrashing, running slow, feeling tired and heavy legged.  I knew I ought not to thrash through two hours ... so, that was smart ... I guess.  I was not sure as to how much to do to feel satisfied (and so this is probably dumb!).

70 minutes, 9 miles.  Felt beat the rest of the day and even took a 90 minute nap in the PM.  I think I got a bit on back track through the night, hitting the rack at 10, and crashing through 6:30 this AM.

Not a bad week, but a bit shy on the volume I want to maintain right now.  Some of that is due to a pick up in my work.  I am a bit disappointed that both of my key workouts were on the mill last week and that my long run got botched but there the mill was the best bet in light of the weather, and I had some basic consistency in there.

• M - 12e (4, 8) (90 min)
• T - 11 w/ 8 mile tempo on mill (47 min) (69 min)
• W - 11 (4, Green) (105 min)
• Th - 10e (75 min)
• F - 10 w/ interval work (2 miles - 10:27, 2 x .5 in 2:36), (64 min)
• Sa - 11e (81 min)
• Su - 9 (70e)

554 minutes, 74 miles on week.  863 minutes, 103 miles on the month of Nov.

Saturday 110809 11 miles

AM - cooler but the winds have left for now.  81 minutes, 11 miles - easy.

Friday 110708 10 miles with interval work

I have been thinking about what I want to race next year.  My focus right now is on getting back some level of 5k/10k fitness back.  It gives me something of a mental break from burdening myself with races for next year ... but that said I am still thinking about them a bit.  The 5k /10k focus also gets me back in touch with a form / speed that I think is necessary to have to do well in the summer mountain races I am thinking about.

Okay, so that said ... I have been kicking around transitioning to some longer events, ultimately culminating in Leadville.   I have played with the idea of doing a 50 first and then a 100 (as that makes sense) but have also entertained just doing a hundred to see if I survive (even though that makes no sense).

But I am nearly completely certain that I am not going to pursue the ultra gig next year for a couple of reasons.  1.)  I have some mountain races that I have some unfinished business at 2.) I am turning 40 at the end of next summer and I think I will pursue some races along the "fresh master" avenue (like USATF XC).  Leadville will still be there ...

Today's workout validated that in a sense for me.  It was one of my better workouts in a while. I elected to go with the 'mill today, despite my misgivings on its ability to provide true feedback.   I went this route because I wanted to get a solid interval workout in and the winds were whipping pretty hard outside.  Given the choice of fighting with the winds and not being happy with the results, or fighting with the gerbil machine and putting that as an asterisk next to the results, I went with the 'mill.

2 mile warm up.  First mile was easy, second mile had some strides in it so that I could feel accustomed to a quicker pace.  I did not feel so hot ... I am fighting a cold, had this real thirsty feeling.  For a couple of moments, I contemplated bagging the workout but then decided that I'd dig in and see what I could make of it.  (7:30, 6:36 - quick break to pee and then got going).

2 miles at slightly faster than current goal 5K pace.  I felt that if I could run a bit faster than current goal 5k pace, it would be near 5K race pace as converted via a treadmill (if that makes sense).  I thought this would be a good building effort - similar to what one feels in a 5K.  The first third of a 5K feels easy.  The second third feels like a workout.  The last third feels like battle, as it should.  I would go through the first two thirds to familiarize myself with pace, and see where I was at:  5:18, 5:10.  I picked it up in the second mile a bit to get a feeling of pressing some.  10:28 for two miles.  I never felt overly worked or super strained - there was no kicking.  It feel like good speed (to use a Dieter term).

Bio break.  Mile recovery 7:23.  Then a half mile on at 5K race pace effort (or slightly faster) and a half mile off.  Did this twice.  2:36, (3:40R - so 6:16), 2:36, (3:41R - so again 6:16).  I was surprised at how easy these felt.  I mean there was work to roll with this, but it was not like some of the efforts I have had lately.  Certainly easier than that damn Boulder Basic.

Jogged out with 3 miles.  6:59.  6:28, 6:17.  10 miles in just a few clicks over 64.

I need a few races now, just to get that feel and to get a time in.