Friday 022610

The calf was probably 50 percent better than yesterday. I could have run today.  But I chose not too.  Well, mostly.  I sniffed it out a bit with a easy 10 minute jog with the dog (I tried to get the kids to jog with me but they were not so interested today).  Anyway, the calf is quite a bit better.  But I still may take another day or two off it, and at best definitely keeping it pretty light on it.  Had tentative plans to run with FastEddy tomorrow, but I will have to scratch on that.

Anyway, I recall recently telling someone who was dealing with an injury to be chill – as they were fit.  And if they needed something to  do, they should do core until they puke.   (Photo from the Incline Club with its founding father in the position of honor).

Brilliant.  These words have a way of sitting in the back of your head, worming their way to the front of your skull when you face similar conditions.  Like today, as I was not running.

I ain’t going to lie.  I have not been doing crap for cross training, core, stretching, calisthenics, etc.  Nope.  I have been running.  I’d rather be running than doing that stuff.  And when done running, heading for a brew (this time of the year).  But today, I was not running. 

I worked from home in the afternoon, and thought I should have hit the office instead to get the bike…  Nah … So core it was.  Push ups, planks, crunchs, lifts, myrtle, blah, blah, blah.   I did not puke, but I did do well or last long, and I had that woosey “aw crap, really?” feeling you get in your arms, legs, and hips after a good go of core for … well, a period a lot less of what it should have been.  Too embarrassed to post.

Hmm, maybe the running gods decided I needed to focus on core, struck up a voodoo doll of my fine figure and put a needle in my right calf.  By setting me back, perhaps they forced me to see a weakness I really need to work on?  Either that or I need a big dose of testemaxzzz.

More seriously … I need to incorporate this crap into my life a lot more so that it is a habit.  I have made it a habit that it is not.  Plus apparently this guy is doing a hundred push ups a day.

Hang nine and live it.  If you ain’t livin’ then yer dyin’ …

Monday 031609

• So the Achilles was doing that thing as I walked around today - and feeling better.  This has been the same behavior it has had for the last two days and then I have proceeded to set it back by running on it.  So I am not running on it today.  Frankly - that sucks.  The last three days have been crazy beautiful.
• Hit the stat bike for 65 minutes.  After a five minute warm up, I went 25 x 1 minute on, 1 minute off to break things up.  Then lifted weights for 15-20 minutes (bench, mil press, tri push downs, tri ext, bi curls).  Followed with myrtle.  Legs were wobbly post the bike and I had sweat like crazy.  There were puddles on the floor around the bike (I purposely chose not to run the fan on myself - I really don't know why).  Pushed the weight a bit ... made the arms wobbly too. As was the case Friday night, the bike ride really loosened things up nicely.
• I failed to mention that I also hit it pretty hard with massage yesterday. We hit the rec center pool. I sat in the hot tub for a good stretch, with the  , working the soleus. I can't massage the Achilles directly - at least not with any significant pressure.
• About 75-25 not going to run tomorrow.  I feel really good now but I have to be conservative in rehabing this thing back.
• I have noticed a trend in blogging runners as of late ...  Can you figure out what it is?
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• Science at the Hang Nine palace tonight.  KZ did a test run of her science fair experiment.  She took my HR resting (60 - hey it was post dinner!) then had me walk on the treadmill at 0% grade for 2 minutes (84), 5% for 2 minutes (90), 10% for 2 minutes (96), then 15% for 2 minutes (102).  Gave her some ideas as to how she wanted to run the experiment going forward.  I kept burping through the whole thing ...  post all this, we stepped outside (whole fam) and watched the Shuttle and the ISS fly overhead.  Very cool.

Monday 022309 4 miles

• Awesome post on Carpenter.
• So I was feeling the last two days a bit today.  Hungry (like I can keep eating even after I have had my fill), tired (even though I got a good night sleep) and a little stiff.  I get more stiff when I sit around and actually the best thing for me on these days is some movement.  Not surprising that I felt like this given yesterday vertical and the tempo on Saturday.  So - this is good.
• Keeping attuned to what my body was telling me, I jogged 30 minutes today (4 miles plus).  Once I got moving, I felt compelled to keep going but decided that I'd keep this day easy.
• Hit the gym with the extra time instead.  I have been getting in my core (myrtle) work a couple times a week - but also pushing some weights as well.  Typically when I have hit the weights, I have been doing high rep (say 20-25) low resistance type stuff.  I shifted that back last week to lower rep (6-10) higher resistance.  Ow.  So this is good too.  I do a mini circuit of chest, tris, shoulder, back, bis, mixing the myrtle work in between.

Wednesday 011408 10 miles

Since my last 5k, I have been training a bit ... more loosely.  I feel like I am just in a habit forming phase:  trying to build good habits of running, sneaking in some core, getting in a long run, being a good soldier so to speak ... but not going nuts. 

To that end, I feel I can get in 70 miles a week almost mindlessly, with a few key runs - 2 harder runs and a long run.  I am not digging too deep in any of these efforts right now.  I am not doing doubles regularly right now either.  I am not getting too worked up about diet right now.  I am not killing the long run on building into it. 

So I am playing, enjoying myself, certainly training but just building basic habits ... and not living in edge city  yet.  I may even race through this phase to keep that juice in the mix but I am not peaking for a race at this time.

Today, 10 miles +, 75 minutes on yet another beautiful day.  Wind free, sun shining, cool but the snow was melting.  I headed west on the roads from the office, then swung back.  I started at 7:40 but then was moving easily at 6:50-7:10. I finished off the run with 8 15-20 second sprints up the Simms Hill.  I had contemplated doing a tempo today but I put that off ... just didn't feel it today.

Evening ... core, 20 min

Monday 122908 4 miles

A few notes ...

1.) Happy birthday today to my wonderful 11 year old daughter KZ!

2.) I do need to get out a few of the Jay Johnson Running DVD's. I thought I'd get them out before the Christmas holiday - I just let that task get away from me. Matt, Sunny, Lucho, James/Beth, Phil - yers are coming. JV, Kerrie - let me know what you think of yours. I just started watching the volume 2 DVD (and other than being reminded that I need to get back to vol 1!) I am again impressed.
3.) I re-read all of my January entries from '08. That is why I keep this blog (in part) but I don't do a review of what I did as often as I like. In reviewing it, I am forced to ask myself what am I really changing? Core? Diet? Volume? Speed? ... one of the best entries is with advice from Galen. This is clear ... January is where things begun to become unravelled with my hernia issue. If I don't have that as an interuption, then by definition, my training is changing. But other than that - should I expect markedly different results with the same approach to my training?
4.) Got in four miles at the end of the day (37 min) ... dark. Windy. Cold. Tired from skiing. While skiing today, I was in a lift line and I slipped backwards. My legs separated farther and farther and farther back until I was almost in a full split. JZ asked me ... "why are you doing that Dad?" It looked like I was doing some funky stretch, which I was but not on purpose. I thought my legs were going to just rip off. Ouch. I managed to eventually get out of it.
5.) An interview with Mountain running legend John Wyatt

Saturday 122708 5 miles

I am totally geeking out over the Garmin and its web software, Motion Based (I added a link to georgezack.motionbased.com on the right of the blog).  This seems to be a great device.  I am eager to get back to some of the lower routes in Boulder to see how short they are and how slow I am actually going.  Well, maybe not too eager ...

Pressed for time today, and so it was a short one.  Well, that is not totally true.  I could have got my butt out of bed early.  But it was dark, windy and cold.  Like 0 cold.  I delayed until about 0830 AM to get out.  During the delay I got in a really good solid set of core - like 30-40 minutes worth.  These are definitely helping ... the hardest part for me are the squats.  I can feel the weakness there the most, particularly on the left side.  When I do the front lunge on the left side, the adductor on that side yells quite a bit.  

After a warm up with the dogs (dropped them off and stripped off a layer), I did six 30 second strider hills to open things up.  I took all the rest I needed on these but they were tough.  The HR monitor had my HR on these as ridiculously high.  I suspect my actual max might be near 200, 190ish ... not the measured 220+ that the HR monitor has picked up.

42 min, 5 miles.

Wednesday 121008 - 11 miles

11 miles.  Easy.  I am a bit beat up from yesterday.  Which is good.  Which is why I went easy today.  Got outdoors around the dam south of the office, exploring new trails.  82 minutes.

Food Log

AM - piece of bread w/marmalade

late AM - breakfast burrito (gut bomb of egg, hash browns and sausage w/cheese)

Dinner - kids' school had a benefit at Noodles (buy dinner and they donate 25% of sales back to the school).  Had the pesto cavatappi w/chicken, mooched off the kids left over mac and cheese.

Did a modified myrtle routine in the evening.  My left adductor (those the ones that pull the legs into center, right?) is pretty sore ... tied to my groin issue.  

Friday 120508

AM - it was 5 degrees when I woke up.  So ... it was a core workout AM.  Myrtle, pedestal, and some push ups mixed in.

The day came unraveled for me today.  I felt like blah in the AM, and did not run.  And then things at work, as they sometimes do, went nuts.  I am dealing with that now.  And KZ is in a concert tonight.  I expect no running today unless I get something on the mill late tonight.

Later ... I thought about when we got home about running.  It pisses me off at times that I let the run get away from me and so even though it was 930, I was tempted to lace them up.  But I was beat.  I was nearly falling asleep in the concert towards the end.  So I decided to just call it a night ... but I was a bit disgruntled.

Food

2 yogurts, bagel, breakfast burrito, big bowl of spag with bread, homebrew (maybe something else in there, I forget).

Running DVDs

So check this out.

I had heard a podcast with Jay, and read one of his recent posts where he said the tempo run was the most bang for your buck.  I found this interesting because I had just read an article where Owen Anderson claimed nearly the opposite - that intervals were the most bang for your buck.

Jay's answer is right on the money ... it is when you are spending that buck that determines as to if it is the most bang.  Check out his response: 

George-
Thanks for the email—keeping me on my toes! You are absolutely right- over a short period of time, say 6-12 weeks, “repeats” or “intervals” will quickly improve fitness. However, the problem is that approach will not, if repeated month after month, improve fitness and it will actually lead to first a plateau and then a decrement in fitness. Virtually every good coach will assign some VO2 work (”intervals”) for roughly 6-12 weeks in a training plan, yet very few will assign this work twice a week all year long because there comes a point of diminishing returns with this type of work. My goal as a coach is to help the athlete improve their aerobic fitness over the course of months and years, and it is within that context I stand by the importance of threshold running.

I completely agree that within a 6 month period a 5k runner should do some sort of VO2 max work: 4-6×1000m, 10×500m or even 3×2000m. This work would likely come in the 3rd month of that training cycle and in those weeks you do get “the most bang for your buck” with the VO2 workout vs. the threshold run. However, you could argue that in the first month of a 6 month cycle you’re getting more “bang for your buck” with the long run. And the point I want to hammer home is that in throughout the 6 month cycle there should be some sort of threshold running each week or at least every 10 days.

As I’m writing, it’s obvious this “biggest bang for your buck” thing is a slippery sloop because it is also individual to each athlete. I’ll give you an extreme example. I like to assign a “speed development” day to a 1500m runner I work with once every 14 days in the main competition phase of her training. This is the only 1500m runner I’ve ever assigned this type of workout to, but it’s because she’s extremely powerful and her nervous system is quite responsive to this type of training. The workout looks like a sprinter’s workout: after an intense warm-up, including sprint drills and plyometrics, she will do 3×30m from a standing start and then some 150’s from a falling start. She will then do some hurdle mobility, but in a quick, rhythmic manner is that more plyometric than it is postural. My hunch is that she gets the “most bang for her buck” in this workout because for her unique set of talents the neural stimulus is important. But remember, this period is preceded by 40 weeks of traditional 1500m training, during which she’s primarily focused on her threshold running (as well as her long runs and V02 or “interval” workouts).

I hope that clarifies things a bit and George, thanks so much for writing in as it forces me to better communicate both the micro and macro aspects of sound training.

As I have said, I have been impressed by the work that Jay has done, including his Building a Better Runner from the Ground Up DVD.   Check out Jay’s five general strength training videos: Lunge Warm-Up, Back Routine, Myrtl Routine, Pedestal Routine and the Medicine Ball Routine.

I am also sort of blown away by his accessibility ... I mean I really did not expect a response!

In any case, I got a couple of copies of the "Building A Better Runner" DVDs that I can give away to a.)  folks who contact me with their mailing address b.) will watch them and c.) will give me (and hence Jay feedback on what they think of them.   Lucho, Phil, Jeff V, Matt, JW, Beth ... speak up if you are interested.  As regular contributors, you guys get priority.

Tuesday 120208 12 miles

If you feel like a riot then don't you deny it ...

AM - Tuesday AMs are bit tighter in terms of time as KZ has band.  Instead of running, I got up and did the Myrtle workout - 20 reps of all suggested exercises (each side = 20) and the pedestal routine (at least 1 minute each).  This was a nice way to wake up.  I added some other stuff in too (crunches, some back work, push ups) and all told this was about 20 minutes of work.

Run today ... got to check out some shoes that I am testing for a local manufacturer.  Took them out on an out and back on the flats.  I got out in 38:30, came back in 38:37.  It was a lot harder on the way back as I was fighting the wind out of the west and it is generally uphill on the back.  All told, 12 miles in 77:08.  Good out and back sustained effort.  The ride out was easy ... a bit creaky from yesterday but felt good.  I was running in the dark at the end ... I will be glad to have the days growing back a sliver at a time come three weeks from now.

Food

AM - cup of coffee, toast with marmalade, and a poached egg

AM Wt - 144 (sheesh!)

Mid day - some tea.

Lunch - hummus, roasted tomato, spinach flatbread thingie from the cafe with some weird cheese, and some fries.

Dinner - chicken pot pie with 1/2 sweet potato.  Levity Amber Ale x 2.

Other stuff ...

Great post on snowshoe racing by Dave D. today

I am not sure this is true, because I found it on the web.   But if it is, it is pretty sickening. 

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

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)