Dang it is cold out there. It looked nice and even felt nice when I first went out but when I got out there a bit - ick. Nice wind from the west with a good nip to it. Not Fairplay cold but I was underdressed for that.
It is the day before a race so I mulled that over quite a bit today. I like to see some improvement tomorrow. Most of it will need to be in the second mile. I need to be careful to be relaxed in the first mile, begin to work in the second and then suffer in the third. I am hoping with the money on the line that there will be a fair number of folks - and hence some competition to work with.
I did not feel great on the run today - which I would expect as it is an easy day, and it was cold. This, however, sets up for evil thoughts called excuses. I could hear the excuses coming from those dark corners of my brain: my heel hurts, my legs are heavy, blah, blah, blah. Whatever. I have trained well for the past month and the race is a way for me to check that. Worst case, I run slower than I did a month ago. In the grand scheme of things that does not change anything. The race keeps me focused on where I am now and the goals I want to reach. Bring it.
Friday, January 11, 2008
The maybe thoughts ...
I have a few maybe thoughts ... these are thoughts of things that may be. Maybe I will do this, maybe I will do that. Maybe I won't.
... I have been kicking around doing a 50 miler. San Juan has come to mind, but it comes late. Heck, registration might already be full given it got coverage in Trail Runner. So, if I do one, I might elect to do one earlier, like Collegiate Peaks ... and that is one I can elect to do as a 25 miler instead and it is closer to home, the altitude base camp (ABC). The thought of why I might do this is the entire going a further distance, playing with the nutrition, being out there for seven or more hours kind of thing. The concern is that this leaves me tapped, or worse - hurt, so that the goals for the rest of the summer are risked. There is no right answer here ... just something I am kicking around.
... I have this idea that I'd take a day or two off from work, drive to Manitou ... run to Barr Camp with a light backpack of stuff, stay the night ... the next day, I run to the A-frame, then the top, do the 3-2-1 workout, and then run back to Barr Camp ... wake up the next day, run to the top easy and then all the way back to Manitou and head home. Maybe I can talk JV or DM into this. The goal here is obvious, course recon, altitude training. Getting away for two days to do that is a sacrifice to my family though. It might be better for me just to train at ABC from a family perspective, but it is not the same as getting on the hill. DM once told me that each trip to Pikes was good for a minute on race day. Hmmm ... 218 days until race day. What if I started going today.
... I have been kicking around doing a 50 miler. San Juan has come to mind, but it comes late. Heck, registration might already be full given it got coverage in Trail Runner. So, if I do one, I might elect to do one earlier, like Collegiate Peaks ... and that is one I can elect to do as a 25 miler instead and it is closer to home, the altitude base camp (ABC). The thought of why I might do this is the entire going a further distance, playing with the nutrition, being out there for seven or more hours kind of thing. The concern is that this leaves me tapped, or worse - hurt, so that the goals for the rest of the summer are risked. There is no right answer here ... just something I am kicking around.
... I have this idea that I'd take a day or two off from work, drive to Manitou ... run to Barr Camp with a light backpack of stuff, stay the night ... the next day, I run to the A-frame, then the top, do the 3-2-1 workout, and then run back to Barr Camp ... wake up the next day, run to the top easy and then all the way back to Manitou and head home. Maybe I can talk JV or DM into this. The goal here is obvious, course recon, altitude training. Getting away for two days to do that is a sacrifice to my family though. It might be better for me just to train at ABC from a family perspective, but it is not the same as getting on the hill. DM once told me that each trip to Pikes was good for a minute on race day. Hmmm ... 218 days until race day. What if I started going today.More maybe thoughts to come.
Diet conversations ... choices
There is some great conversation going on over at Lucho's and CV's blog re: diet, discipline, choices. I have often said that the endeavor to be fit, that is to become tomorrow something better than what you are physically today, is the same journey if you are trying to break four hours for the marathon or 2:20. And I beleive that. But I also beleive that the journey for those at the so called top of the sport is different. It requires a discipline, a infinite set of minor choices, that most of us can't relate to. I am not saying this because I think I am there and that I am making those choices - but rather I have seen those who strive to do so, and then do it. To some, it makes these folks seem talented. They may have a talent, but it is their choices to exercise that talent that make them champions. These folks are different - you can almost smell it. It is the Matt Carpenter-Dave Mackey-Scott Elliot types of the world. I beleive that we are less impressed with their physical talent, but are rather are more impressed with their choices to be disciplined to exploit it to the furthest ends. We, as athletes, all make these choices. They just make more of them and with a more disciplined focus: to improve, to be the best, to win the race, to be a champion.
And so while our journey to be a faster runner is based on many of the same priniciples, the majority of what separates us is how much we are willing to sacrifice to do that. Yes, physical talent weighs in there ... but you can't change that - can you? If you were not blessed to run a 46 second quarter, then you may never run a 46 second quarter. That is realistic. But rather than focus on that, why not focus on the infinite number of choices you make to be better ... in diet, sleep, training, that next interval, this run, being a family member ...
Related reading ... the summer of the caveman.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Thursday 011008, 11 miles, Sanitas
I ran Sanitas today, wanting a tempo effort, and something that would tax me cardiovascularly but not sap my legs. I want to come back and run the Oatmeal Fest 5K as a test to see where I have come (or gone) since Thanksgiving.
Sanitas is a nice little compact climb. 15-20 minute and you are done. I think I have done this in the 17s, but in referencing the log from last year, I can only find that I did it as quick as 18:38. Today, I went into it carefully, at a tempo mentality. When I saw where I was at when the watch hit 18, I figured I could make a go to break 20 and did with a 19:56. It was a little icy on the upper half, and this did cause some slipping. I got a good little burn in the end, but I have to say, this was one of the best workouts I have felt in a bit. It was controlled, but a solid push. I felt that I could dig in a bit. So all good. The downhill was a bit more of a trick - it actually took 15:17 to come down. I was not looking to fly down but I had to be careful with all that dang ice!
Sanitas is a nice little compact climb. 15-20 minute and you are done. I think I have done this in the 17s, but in referencing the log from last year, I can only find that I did it as quick as 18:38. Today, I went into it carefully, at a tempo mentality. When I saw where I was at when the watch hit 18, I figured I could make a go to break 20 and did with a 19:56. It was a little icy on the upper half, and this did cause some slipping. I got a good little burn in the end, but I have to say, this was one of the best workouts I have felt in a bit. It was controlled, but a solid push. I felt that I could dig in a bit. So all good. The downhill was a bit more of a trick - it actually took 15:17 to come down. I was not looking to fly down but I had to be careful with all that dang ice!
After all this, I ran into downtown and ran with MK for a chunk. As has come commonplace with my runs with MK - we shared great conversation. MK is my brother - we connect so easily. I can tell you a million things about MK - all you need to know is he my brother. Today's conversation was a mix of discussion on his high school coach (killed while running at the age of 39 by a car), our families, the caloric bank account, current training (this section is mostly about me because while MK runs right now, he will tell you himself - he is not training), blogs, the 'Rock, and workouts we used to do that seemed normal at the time that seem out of reach (but they ain't) now.
Round trip today was 90 minutes, 11 miles.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Wednesday, 010908, 8 miles
I felt a bit sluggish - no surprise given the workout yesterday. Did an easy hour (8) on a gray, humid, cold Colorado day. I will look to do a workout tomorrow that taxes my cardiovascular system but does not kill my legs too much. I'd like to be able to bounce back well for the 5K on Saturday.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Tuesday 01082008, 9 miles, quarters
2.5 mile warm up over to Monarch track from the office. This was one of those days where I could feel I was a bit off, and was concerned with how the workout would go anyway. Mentally, I was focusing in on a problem at work, and it was gnawing at me in a way that I could feel that was making me edgy. Should I separate these efforts and thoughts? Yes. Do I have discipline to do that? Not totally. I still did the workout, but I could feel that I was a not fully in the game even in the warm-up. In fact, I think that is a bit reflective of how I have felt on some of these workouts for a bit: I am getting in there and doing something to advance or maintain fitness, but I am having issue in getting that break through, dig in, kill it type workout. Today it might have been work, or the long run on Sunday that caused it (but that was not so much the case over break I guess).
I started with 2 x 200 to open up the legs a bit (36s) 
and then did the 400s which all came in at 75-76, except the last was at 73 high. I then did 2 more 200s (3 minute rest after the 400s, and then 2 minutes after the first 200) in 34. I got to keep after this workout. I could write about what I used to do all day - I am here now and I can do something about it (and something will happen whether I choose to do something or not). I once had a little bit of speed. And I let it go. I can't make that mistake again. I used to be able to get this workout (8 x 400, 1 minute rest) with the 400s all under 70, and some of them even as low as 66 or 65. Not today. Ah, you reap what you sow. The good news is that there seems to be some improvement in the general speed since the 200-200-400 workout from last month
and then did the 400s which all came in at 75-76, except the last was at 73 high. I then did 2 more 200s (3 minute rest after the 400s, and then 2 minutes after the first 200) in 34. I got to keep after this workout. I could write about what I used to do all day - I am here now and I can do something about it (and something will happen whether I choose to do something or not). I once had a little bit of speed. And I let it go. I can't make that mistake again. I used to be able to get this workout (8 x 400, 1 minute rest) with the 400s all under 70, and some of them even as low as 66 or 65. Not today. Ah, you reap what you sow. The good news is that there seems to be some improvement in the general speed since the 200-200-400 workout from last monthWarmed down for 3.5 miles. Total was nine on the day over the course of about 75 minutes.
1 year ago today ...
50 minutes – 5 miles. My ass was dragging. Got together with JV for a jaunt up Sanitas but I was dragging up and dragging down. Called it after one loop and decided to rest up a bit.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Monday 010708, 10 miles
75 minutes, 10 miles, easy. I thought I'd feel a little tired from the longer run yesterday but I bounced back fine. Once I was rolling, everything felt good. Started for about 17 minutes before hooking up with MK in Boulder (light snow falling), and we went for 38 minutes. Tacked on another 20 min to wrap it up.
One year ago today and yesterday ...
Sunday January 7 2007 Tried to make the trek up Green. Got to the last ridge, and the snow, ice, cold and wind were playing havoc with Lucy’s paws (I think I would have gone for it if I was alone even though my feet were pretty cold). The wind was strong enough that any running I did up that made tracks had nearly vanished as I came down. The going was very slow. I went up to the high ridge in about 63 and was still about only 7700 feet up. I came down in just over 40. Calling this 100 even though the watch read 1:45. There was a good deal of not moving fast as I tumbled and slipped in the snow, and had to work with her.
PM – wanted to get some actual running mileage I guess. Went back and forth with an easy mile (6:52, 0%), then cranked it up to 5% (6:46), then back to 0% (6:40), then 5% (7:00), then kept it at 0% through the next mile at 6:50, and then progressed it up a .5% every quarter mile and increased the pace every 30 seconds to 6:12. Finished off with a slow (12+ minute mile at 10 percent to cool down). 7 miles – 53 minutes. I think this also gives me an other 1000 feet.
End of week thoughts – the diet was a bit questionable this week with the birthday parties over the weekend. I got in a good number of climbs, over 13K on the week. A lot of this was slow slow slow though because of the snow snow snow. If I can get 700 minutes a week all the time, geesh! Glad I got some speed work in before the big snow hit again, but I need to extend on it a bit.
Saturday January 6 2007 – AM, cold out, on the mill. Easy mile (7:03), followed by 3 on the mill at 10 percent (first mile was 10.5). Struggled a bit here this time (27:30 after first mile was 9:40). Finished off with 3 miles that built in 20+ minutes.
PM – with TG at 9PM, blowing cold snow, from his place – 41 minutes, 5 miles easy.
One year ago today and yesterday ...
Sunday January 7 2007 Tried to make the trek up Green. Got to the last ridge, and the snow, ice, cold and wind were playing havoc with Lucy’s paws (I think I would have gone for it if I was alone even though my feet were pretty cold). The wind was strong enough that any running I did up that made tracks had nearly vanished as I came down. The going was very slow. I went up to the high ridge in about 63 and was still about only 7700 feet up. I came down in just over 40. Calling this 100 even though the watch read 1:45. There was a good deal of not moving fast as I tumbled and slipped in the snow, and had to work with her.
PM – wanted to get some actual running mileage I guess. Went back and forth with an easy mile (6:52, 0%), then cranked it up to 5% (6:46), then back to 0% (6:40), then 5% (7:00), then kept it at 0% through the next mile at 6:50, and then progressed it up a .5% every quarter mile and increased the pace every 30 seconds to 6:12. Finished off with a slow (12+ minute mile at 10 percent to cool down). 7 miles – 53 minutes. I think this also gives me an other 1000 feet.
End of week thoughts – the diet was a bit questionable this week with the birthday parties over the weekend. I got in a good number of climbs, over 13K on the week. A lot of this was slow slow slow though because of the snow snow snow. If I can get 700 minutes a week all the time, geesh! Glad I got some speed work in before the big snow hit again, but I need to extend on it a bit.
Saturday January 6 2007 – AM, cold out, on the mill. Easy mile (7:03), followed by 3 on the mill at 10 percent (first mile was 10.5). Struggled a bit here this time (27:30 after first mile was 9:40). Finished off with 3 miles that built in 20+ minutes.
PM – with TG at 9PM, blowing cold snow, from his place – 41 minutes, 5 miles easy.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Sunday, 010608, 15 miles, and the week in review
I felt I had a fair week of training - one where I advanced fitness rather than maintaining or losing it. I wanted to get a longer effort in though and so landed on a 2 hour run today. I kept the whole thing easy. The mileage might be higher than 15, but there were a couple of stretches where I was clanking through snow or mud. I headed east, through Vista Ridge, around the landfill, out by the HS, back by the new Rec Center.
I need to do more of these longer runs - making them a steady part of the training diet, simply because they are a bit of a weakness for ... maybe more in my head than anything else. I never struggled outright physically, but I find it to be a bit of work to run out there by myself for two hours. As I have said, "work to do."
Again, it was a decent work for me: I'll give it a B.
Mon - 3 miles in the cold in Fairplay
Tues - 13 miles, with mile repeats
Wed - 14 miles with Lucho
Thurs - easy 10 miles
Fri - 10 miles, with 3 miles tempo
Sat - AM 7 miles, PM 5 miles
Sun - 2 hours easy, 15 miles
77 miles on the week, 2 "fair" workouts, a 2 hour run, and a mid - longish run at a better clip. I guess the mileage is decent in light of the fact I had a three on Monday. Next week I will look to do a 5K test in the Oatmeal Fest. I want to get a check to see if fitness has advanced, and if so, by how much. I will look to balance the work with a speed workout earlier in the week. The plan calls for quarters, but I may adjust that to eights depending on the weather (and if I am forced to the mill). I have to do thinking about how I want to balance the rest of the week, and still get other good stuff in.
I am toying with the idea of a daily food log. I think it would be interesting to put that out there, to write down what I am eating, see how it compares to what I want to eat, how it effects training, the entire caloric input thing. It just seems to damn tedious to write that all down.
I need to do more of these longer runs - making them a steady part of the training diet, simply because they are a bit of a weakness for ... maybe more in my head than anything else. I never struggled outright physically, but I find it to be a bit of work to run out there by myself for two hours. As I have said, "work to do."
Again, it was a decent work for me: I'll give it a B.
Mon - 3 miles in the cold in Fairplay
Tues - 13 miles, with mile repeats
Wed - 14 miles with Lucho
Thurs - easy 10 miles
Fri - 10 miles, with 3 miles tempo
Sat - AM 7 miles, PM 5 miles
Sun - 2 hours easy, 15 miles
77 miles on the week, 2 "fair" workouts, a 2 hour run, and a mid - longish run at a better clip. I guess the mileage is decent in light of the fact I had a three on Monday. Next week I will look to do a 5K test in the Oatmeal Fest. I want to get a check to see if fitness has advanced, and if so, by how much. I will look to balance the work with a speed workout earlier in the week. The plan calls for quarters, but I may adjust that to eights depending on the weather (and if I am forced to the mill). I have to do thinking about how I want to balance the rest of the week, and still get other good stuff in.
I am toying with the idea of a daily food log. I think it would be interesting to put that out there, to write down what I am eating, see how it compares to what I want to eat, how it effects training, the entire caloric input thing. It just seems to damn tedious to write that all down.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Jumping rope
My daughter and I jumped rope for about 45 minutes this AM. I still suck at it but it is amazing a.) how much of a good workout this b.) how quick you learn and c.) how off balance I am with my gimp (left) foot. In this short session she had me doing cross overs (aka hugs), and then we were jumping the same rope together. Maybe simple to you, but to me it was nutty! I am finding that I can do single leg jumps on my right foot fairly well (for me) but I struggle with the left - work to do!
And so it begins
First - training partner, 14er master JV has got a blog up! Great runner, incredible climber, ridiculous humble and all around good guy. If you want to read about a guy who gets up high quickly and smartly - check him out.
Most of the people I know don't really care about the New Year, and I have not met anyone who has made a true New Year's resolution in as long as I can remember. That said something about this time of year gets folks thinking about what they will want to accomplish five to eight months from now, when the days are long, the weather is warm. Maybe it is the fact that the days are getting longer. Or maybe it is because we have a bit more time to think since we all huddle indoors for a little bit and get away from work for a spell. Or maybe it is the New Year. In any case, it is the same. We begin to plan. My daughter has begun to kick around the idea of a trip to Yellowstone this summer. My wife and I are kicking around some camping trips with the kids and their friends.
Runners, of course, are no different. December - January for runners is like April for baseball. When baseball starts, all dreams are possible. In December - January, runners begin to plan their Bolder Boulder aspirations, thier summer race goals ... they recommit to diets gone astray, focus on core work (well it is too damn cold to run anyway) and base training (even if it is cold you need to run).
The Pikes Peak race has lit the fire a bit too - announcing their registration scheme for 2008. The registration ran amuck this past year, and caused much debate afterwards as to how to resolve (lottery, first come first serve, uping qualifications standards, etc). 
But the posting of the approach (regardless if you agree with it or not) gets people's juices flowing in thinking about facing their demons on the mountain come August. Sooo ... 224 days to go ... will Carpenter return? Will Portilla return and take the woman's ascent record? Will Mackey come back and get Carpenter? Will Call, 2:16 marathoner, return to stake his claim in the Ascent? Will Elliot come out of the woodwork to show uncanny climbing skills on the mountain after a year off? Who are the young guys behind that will continue to show up and press the old masters on the mountain? Does Goldsmith take back the hill on the woman's side or does O'Neill finally nab her? Will Zack look like this again at the finish of the race? Does JV conquer his demons on the mountain? Who are the new players? Does Simon return to prominence after a self described bad year? Does the prize money in the fields even drive a greater depth than ever?
But the posting of the approach (regardless if you agree with it or not) gets people's juices flowing in thinking about facing their demons on the mountain come August. Sooo ... 224 days to go ... will Carpenter return? Will Portilla return and take the woman's ascent record? Will Mackey come back and get Carpenter? Will Call, 2:16 marathoner, return to stake his claim in the Ascent? Will Elliot come out of the woodwork to show uncanny climbing skills on the mountain after a year off? Who are the young guys behind that will continue to show up and press the old masters on the mountain? Does Goldsmith take back the hill on the woman's side or does O'Neill finally nab her? Will Zack look like this again at the finish of the race? Does JV conquer his demons on the mountain? Who are the new players? Does Simon return to prominence after a self described bad year? Does the prize money in the fields even drive a greater depth than ever?224 days to go.
Saturday 010508, easy 7, easy 5
AM - I did not sleep real well, mostly because I am blowing out this cold. I got out in the AM and was a lightly sore in the quads, and did an easy seven. The roads are a bit of a mess - a combination of packed ice, snow, slush and water. My street looks like the end of some melting glacier. Most of the sidewalks are clear though. I told my wife the streets are of the consistency of a half hour old margarita (am I showing a desire there?). PM - My daughter was at a birthday party and so I ran from the Flatirons Mall (ick) out to 128 and south on Simms, scoping the new office route. Windy - there is a front blowing in. Easy 40 minutes, 5 miles. Looks like there will be some decent hills out there.
Some catching up posts on runs from last year. I felt good about my 10 in 64 yesterday until I saw that last year I did 11 on this day in 64. I know I have some work to do - in fact a lot of work to do but I am also optimistic with how the training is going - yet also a bit impatient with its progress (contradictory I realize). I need to be getting out with more folks that are going to push me a bit - to up the ante. In some regards, I feel that I have been actually able to effectively start training this week: scheduled workouts to go after, pushing a bit in some runs, a bit more mental focus - I just need to keep building. I have been relagated a bit too much to the treadmill this week (necessary given the weather). I want to use that, but I realize that it can provide a bit false positive data for me - ultimately, I need to get to the track and measured courses. Oh yeah - I think I am nearly through this cold - I was able to blow out a bunch of ugly stuff on this run.
Last year at this time:
Friday January 5, 2007 A bit disappointed as I had hoped to join SE for a jaunt up Bear via Fern but it snowed another freaking foot today. Got out late in the afternoon as the temps dropped for an easy but steady 92 minutes out towards HWY52. Right Achilles is complaining but bearable. I will probably skip the long run Sat or Sun and go long with Elliot on Monday. This may have been a bit longer than 11 (45 out, 47 back in the dark) but I am calling it 11 because I think I was a bit long on some of the runs earlier in the week.
Thursday January 4, 2007 Easy getting out in the AM – 3 miles with Lucy, 24 minutes. Slippery and snowy still.
PM – 11 miles, 64 minutes. To get some turn over, after a 28 minute warm up, I ran 11minutes. x 1 minute on, 1 minute off. Cooled down about 15.
Wednesday January 3 2007 MK cancelled on me so rather than going slow on the roads, I joined JV for a romp up Green. The snow is definitely getting softer, sloppier and probably a bit slower. I took it relatively easy through out and ascended in 55, descended in 31. (86 minutes, 7 miles). So the Green steak is alive!
Friday, January 4, 2008
Friday 010408, Ten with a tempo
I wanted to get a tempo in today. As it was sloppy out (melting snow, but still lots of packed ice), and windy (comes with the warmer temps), I hit the treadmill. I have ambitions to get this workout back to the SBC trail. There I will head out (and slightly up) at a slightly slower than 10K pace for 3 or 4 miles, and then come back slightly faster then 10K pace for 3 or 4 miles. When I was doing this a few years ago, it was effective in teaching me to control the effort on the front end and push the effort on the backend. Unfortunately, as I get more fit, I have historically become better equipped to execute poorly. When I am out of shape (or less in shape) I am forced in executing to whatever I am capable of. When I am in better shape, I have this tendency to go out to fast.
In any case, I had aspirations to jump on the mill and bang out six with the first three at six minute pace, and then build from there. Simply, I am not there yet. I could give a dozen excuses, but I am not there yet. That is a bit frustrating, but it is what is. And the good news is that I have progress from where I was last month. I can feel that I am progressing and digging in, it is just not as quick as I like - even though it is steady progress.
I opened with a warm up mile of 7:30, quick bio break (back up the stairs) and then 6:00, 5:57, 5:53. I found it hard to dig into this - similar to the workout earlier this week. It was not overly hard, but I was not strong, or as strong as I would like. My HR was floating in the mid 170s for this. It was not super labored, but not easy and so I backed off here - 6:53, 6:59, and then I ramped it up a notch. The HR had dropped into the 150s, and then I ramped it back to float at 160. It climbed a bit over the run to 163. 6:49, 7:06, 7:06, 6:30. I was not paying attention to the pace in particular after the three but playing with it to keep it solid and keep the HR near 160. This run turned around in just under 67 (about). Again, nothing to brag about, but progress from where I was even a month ago. It is coming. Slowly. But coming
I kept distracted through this run by watching the X-Men on the laptop. I have been itching to
see this movie (or rather series of movies for sometime). I have delayed mostly because it is not the kind of movie my family would dig (or may not be ready to see). I loved the X-Men as a kid though. I remember getting my first comic of them at the local book store and then going crazy in wanting to get that next issue, subscribing, becoming tied into the whole genre, digging the so called depth of the characters between Kurt Wagner, Logan, Scott Summers, Jean Grey and becoming a Marvel over DC (DC never had it, although Batman was cool - the movies suck though). I had tons of these comics as a kid. Unfortunately, they vanished when I left the house (sold by a sibling I think) for the USAF.
see this movie (or rather series of movies for sometime). I have delayed mostly because it is not the kind of movie my family would dig (or may not be ready to see). I loved the X-Men as a kid though. I remember getting my first comic of them at the local book store and then going crazy in wanting to get that next issue, subscribing, becoming tied into the whole genre, digging the so called depth of the characters between Kurt Wagner, Logan, Scott Summers, Jean Grey and becoming a Marvel over DC (DC never had it, although Batman was cool - the movies suck though). I had tons of these comics as a kid. Unfortunately, they vanished when I left the house (sold by a sibling I think) for the USAF.Apparently all of these are now on line (for a nifty subscription fee). I might need to check that out to revisit my youth. It was some of the best fiction reading I ever had anyway.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Thursday 010308, 10 miles
A bit tired today from the effort on Tuesday and the good run yesterday. Went easy the whole way to recover. 38 out, 40 back on the plowed sidewalks of Louisville.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Wednesday, 010208, 14 miles
I got out in the afternoon with Lucho. From his place, we ran east through Anthem, and then back. I went a bit light on the clothes - I was dying to get into shorts after running with three or four layers all last week. Towards the end of the run (the last 35 minutes actually) I was starting to feel it - in fact, I am defrosting now in front of the fire. We finished the loop in 1:45 and change.Great run though - exactly the kind of stuff I need. A little bit of a physical and mental push to have me run a bit more, at a pace a bit more quick then I would do outright on my own. I think I get a bit more of a benefit than Lucho in this regard from these runs. We thought the mileage might be a bit closer to 15. But it was not quite 15. So it ain't. It is 14.
One year ago today: AM – On the mill for 26:30 and 3 miles at 10 percent. This was a good sweating workout! I am impressed by Tim doing his five miles at this grade under 45!
PM – got a second day up Green. Went up in 55 (via CASGRGr) and down in 31. Still packed snow
PM – got a second day up Green. Went up in 55 (via CASGRGr) and down in 31. Still packed snow
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Tuesday 010108, 13 miles w/ mile repeats
My plan called for eight hundreds this week. The eight hundred workout is 6 x 800 meters with one minute rest. I have found that I my average for the repeat there is typically about 4-5 seconds faster per 800 than what I will do per mile in a 5K. So in other words, if I average 2:30 per 800, I will go about 5:10 per mile (or 2:35 per half) in a 5K. It has been a long time since I have gotten faster than 2:30 in that workout, and when I do - I begin to pull the rest in shorter.
All that is wonderful, but I did not do that workout today. I want to do that workout on a track, and as I did not get home from the hills until late, it was a treadmill day. Given that, I decided to go with miles instead.
I was not on top of it, and I knew it from the start - but decided to make a go of it anyway. After a 2 mile warmup (>15), I did 3 miles with 3 minutes rest (at 5mph, so a quarter jog) at about 5:30 to 5:35. None were outright killer, but I did not feel strong. It may be the cold that I am fighting (fwiw, I was sweating like it was a GA summer in the basement). This brought me to 5.5 in 43:40, and so I finished it off with 7.5 in 55 for 13 in 98:40. Not stellar, but I was glad to push through it given my state.
I did some quick checks and it looks like I did 3400 plus miles last year. Assuming there is some error in there, I will call it an even 3000 miles. I probably could get stats for the number of times I went up Green and Bear, but it really doesn't matter - they are still there.
I will go easy tomorrow and then look to do a tempo of 6 to 8 miles on Thursday or Friday. Ideally, this would be on SBC trail, but given the snowed in conditions, I might mill that as well. In any case, I will look to start at around 6 minute pace and pick it up through the run.
Workout from 1 year ago today: Went up Green in the snow with Lucy. Real easy … We went up Amphitheatre to Saddle to Greenman and summitted Green in about 65 minutes (this was with a couple of stops to talk to passers by and to deal with leash dynamics). We came down Ranger to Gregory in about 45 minutes – Lucy was loving it. I was soaked from the knees down as we played in the powder. Given the stops I am going to call this 7 miles and 100 minutes (rather than 110).
All that is wonderful, but I did not do that workout today. I want to do that workout on a track, and as I did not get home from the hills until late, it was a treadmill day. Given that, I decided to go with miles instead.
I was not on top of it, and I knew it from the start - but decided to make a go of it anyway. After a 2 mile warmup (>15), I did 3 miles with 3 minutes rest (at 5mph, so a quarter jog) at about 5:30 to 5:35. None were outright killer, but I did not feel strong. It may be the cold that I am fighting (fwiw, I was sweating like it was a GA summer in the basement). This brought me to 5.5 in 43:40, and so I finished it off with 7.5 in 55 for 13 in 98:40. Not stellar, but I was glad to push through it given my state.
I did some quick checks and it looks like I did 3400 plus miles last year. Assuming there is some error in there, I will call it an even 3000 miles. I probably could get stats for the number of times I went up Green and Bear, but it really doesn't matter - they are still there.
I will go easy tomorrow and then look to do a tempo of 6 to 8 miles on Thursday or Friday. Ideally, this would be on SBC trail, but given the snowed in conditions, I might mill that as well. In any case, I will look to start at around 6 minute pace and pick it up through the run.
Workout from 1 year ago today: Went up Green in the snow with Lucy. Real easy … We went up Amphitheatre to Saddle to Greenman and summitted Green in about 65 minutes (this was with a couple of stops to talk to passers by and to deal with leash dynamics). We came down Ranger to Gregory in about 45 minutes – Lucy was loving it. I was soaked from the knees down as we played in the powder. Given the stops I am going to call this 7 miles and 100 minutes (rather than 110).
Various pix, good music, and blogs
Back into the land of the fast broadband.
First, I am setting up a separate blog regarding my family. I have long wanted to set one up so I can share pix of the kids (and those amazing things they say), but without having to worry about what freak is out there watching it on the 'net. Apparently I can set up access to individuals with blogger, and so have created a separate blog for that. I am just getting it started, so there is nothing there just yet - but that will soon change. If you are interested drop me a line.
Second, if you have not heard of Kevin Reeves - you should have. The guy is an amazing musician. His album is out there for free. The youtube video below hardly does the guy's album any justice.
Third, finally, a couple of shots from South Park (yes, it really does exist and I love it there).
Monday 12312007
I got up early (4) because we were supposed to ski today and I wanted to get something in. It was still very cold (0) out and crazy windy. I think I may have developed a small case of frost nip in the face. I had aspirations of 5 or 6 but the conditions were ridiculous, it was dark, and I was pretty cold.As it turned out, we did not ski - I70 was closed for most of the day. I did a good deal of core (about an hour) and jump roping (I still suck but am improving quickly). I did a couple of sessions of a couple hundred jumps (my high score is 300+ now versus 12 on Christmas day) and single leg jumps of 30. This is much harder on the gimped foot - not that it hurts but balance is tougher there.
I feel a little compelled to to do a year end wrap up - how many miles logged, minutes logged, highlights, lowlights, things accomplished, new things discovered - but this internet connection, or rather my patience with it, would just not handle that. I will see if I can get that up in the next week or so.
I am heading back down to Boulder County today (Tuesday) - hope to get a good workout in this afternoon.
I feel a little compelled to to do a year end wrap up - how many miles logged, minutes logged, highlights, lowlights, things accomplished, new things discovered - but this internet connection, or rather my patience with it, would just not handle that. I will see if I can get that up in the next week or so.
I am heading back down to Boulder County today (Tuesday) - hope to get a good workout in this afternoon.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Sunday 12302007 Tempo at 10000ft
Today was epic. Over the years, I have logged thousands of miles, thousands of runs. A few stand out as epic. There are, of course, the races that come to mind There are also those runs or workouts that just stick out because you just kill it. Everything comes together, and even though you are breaking your very flesh it is as if you are pushed by some greater force. You float above the earth, and for a moment, you exceed what you were – almost running as some greater representation of yourself. Other runs stick out because something different happens: you fall (although if you run mountain trails enough these get forgotten because you do it often enough), you see something different or spectacular, or it is just an absolutely ridiculous experience.
MK, BL and I once did a quarter workout in a blizzard snowstorm on Potts Field. Snow was flying off our shoes and hitting the trailing guys in the face. We pushed the workout despite the conditions. A contingent of Japanese runners sat in the press box looking at us, shaking their heads and laughing. Another time MK and I ran on a day that was so windy in Boulder that birds were tumbling through the air. We actually saw a guy walking who got hit with a gust of wind so hard he was pushed 10 yards off the trail.
So in that vein, today was a ridiculous run. My mother in law looked at me when I was planning my AM with my bride and said, “you may not want to run today. It is pretty windy out there.” And it was. The trees were rocking back and forth, the sky was gray, and snow was blowing from the ground as well as coming down lightly. The mountains that are typically the spectacular show to the west were gone in a haze of white and gray. I replied, “I may not want to run, but I want the alternative less.”
“What alternative is that?”
I paused. I figured going into the lengthy response was not really what she wanted to hear and so I simply quipped, “an IV in my arm in August.”
Of course that might happen anyway. But her statements, while she may not have realized it, lit a bit of a fire under my tail. I decided to head out to the Mosquito Pass road – a road that climbs from south of Alma to Mosquito Pass. In the summer, this run is a bit of an altitude staple for me – providing a decent climb (3000 feet) but at a reasonable grade (over 8 miles). It gets harder as you go along of course as you lose oxygen but the footing becomes tricky as the road becomes a 4 x 4 course. This time of year, it is nearly impossible to get much further than a mile or two past the old small township of Park City. In the spring, you can usually get a few more miles up before you run into some mini glacier.
Today, I had no intentions of heroics on the road, but wanted to get out and get in a solid effort (out and back) and chose the road to check out its conditions and simply to get a different view of things. From the get go, I knew it was windy but I thought it would be pretty manageable. It is about a 2 mile run to the road from the house, but most of this is in some trees. It was cold, windy, with a lot of snow blowing in the air, but manageable. I started at an honest pace – one that would be easy to start but one I knew I could dig into over the run and challenge me over the course of an hour. Once I got to the road – that all changed. The wind was coming directly down from the valley and hard. I kept pulling my neck warmer over my face – but that kind of sucked as it made it hard to breathe and fogged up my glasses. I was pushing hard, but the wind was slowing me to 8m/m. Ice was building up on the sun glasses – my breath was freezing on it! As I got into the open fields that are up the road a bit – visibility, which had been maybe 200 yards, went to a couple of feet. Literally, I was in a cloud of white and gray could see nothing beyond me. I had a concern that some car would come out of nowhere and nail me - a couple did drive by. I could imagine the faces of the people and it served as some goofy internal motivation.
Forty minutes in and I was definitely worked but I did not want to have any excuses today. I pushed even though I was probably beginning to slow. I thought this might be the hardest I have worked for 7 minute plus miles – but that would not be true in light of Pikes. 8 miles in 57 minutes but a good tempo workout. I am fighting a minor cold – mostly causing me to sneeze and have a bunch of clear crap leak out my nose.
I am going to try to get up real early tomorrow and do a shake out of four or five miles – as we are expected to ski the rest of the day. I expect to be back in Boulder County come Wednesday. I am welcoming the warmer temps and my treadmill. Expect shorter posts as I get back to work. Low week for mileage, 43. I think that is the lowest (other than weeks off) in a long time.
MK, BL and I once did a quarter workout in a blizzard snowstorm on Potts Field. Snow was flying off our shoes and hitting the trailing guys in the face. We pushed the workout despite the conditions. A contingent of Japanese runners sat in the press box looking at us, shaking their heads and laughing. Another time MK and I ran on a day that was so windy in Boulder that birds were tumbling through the air. We actually saw a guy walking who got hit with a gust of wind so hard he was pushed 10 yards off the trail.
So in that vein, today was a ridiculous run. My mother in law looked at me when I was planning my AM with my bride and said, “you may not want to run today. It is pretty windy out there.” And it was. The trees were rocking back and forth, the sky was gray, and snow was blowing from the ground as well as coming down lightly. The mountains that are typically the spectacular show to the west were gone in a haze of white and gray. I replied, “I may not want to run, but I want the alternative less.”
“What alternative is that?”
I paused. I figured going into the lengthy response was not really what she wanted to hear and so I simply quipped, “an IV in my arm in August.”
Of course that might happen anyway. But her statements, while she may not have realized it, lit a bit of a fire under my tail. I decided to head out to the Mosquito Pass road – a road that climbs from south of Alma to Mosquito Pass. In the summer, this run is a bit of an altitude staple for me – providing a decent climb (3000 feet) but at a reasonable grade (over 8 miles). It gets harder as you go along of course as you lose oxygen but the footing becomes tricky as the road becomes a 4 x 4 course. This time of year, it is nearly impossible to get much further than a mile or two past the old small township of Park City. In the spring, you can usually get a few more miles up before you run into some mini glacier.
Today, I had no intentions of heroics on the road, but wanted to get out and get in a solid effort (out and back) and chose the road to check out its conditions and simply to get a different view of things. From the get go, I knew it was windy but I thought it would be pretty manageable. It is about a 2 mile run to the road from the house, but most of this is in some trees. It was cold, windy, with a lot of snow blowing in the air, but manageable. I started at an honest pace – one that would be easy to start but one I knew I could dig into over the run and challenge me over the course of an hour. Once I got to the road – that all changed. The wind was coming directly down from the valley and hard. I kept pulling my neck warmer over my face – but that kind of sucked as it made it hard to breathe and fogged up my glasses. I was pushing hard, but the wind was slowing me to 8m/m. Ice was building up on the sun glasses – my breath was freezing on it! As I got into the open fields that are up the road a bit – visibility, which had been maybe 200 yards, went to a couple of feet. Literally, I was in a cloud of white and gray could see nothing beyond me. I had a concern that some car would come out of nowhere and nail me - a couple did drive by. I could imagine the faces of the people and it served as some goofy internal motivation.
Forty minutes in and I was definitely worked but I did not want to have any excuses today. I pushed even though I was probably beginning to slow. I thought this might be the hardest I have worked for 7 minute plus miles – but that would not be true in light of Pikes. 8 miles in 57 minutes but a good tempo workout. I am fighting a minor cold – mostly causing me to sneeze and have a bunch of clear crap leak out my nose.
I am going to try to get up real early tomorrow and do a shake out of four or five miles – as we are expected to ski the rest of the day. I expect to be back in Boulder County come Wednesday. I am welcoming the warmer temps and my treadmill. Expect shorter posts as I get back to work. Low week for mileage, 43. I think that is the lowest (other than weeks off) in a long time.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Friday 12202007 Easy 10 at altitude
Did I say it is cold? It is cold. Not Loring AFB cold, but still pretty dang cold (at LAFB I saw 25 below ambient, and 80 below with wind-chill and stuff - people and machinery - just does not work the same in those temps). I think the ambient was six at the start of the run today. Got out for 80 minutes, 10 miles today on the roads in Alma - Fairplay. I kept it easy but steady. Just a solid endurance, recovery run. I was tired but I kept at it and felt good about that. Nonetheless, it got tough towards the end. All the runs are tough towards the end here since there is nothing but an uphill to get here. And I was coming from the south and so for the last 25 minutes I was getting smacked in the face with a bitter wind. It really felt like a smack. I was wind burned on the cheeks, nose and lips when I got in. I have been moving cautiously since – almost expecting for the bug that hit everyone else to hit me. I had a slight headache, but that is not atypical up here. I might have a slight cold coming on.
These days have been a test for the motivation. Lucho and CV have blogged about this recently. Truly getting out and getting into it is half of the battle. In some regards, I get a bit discouraged that am just trudging along up here, and not digging into some gutsy workouts. So there is room to improve. But then again, I think – crikey, its 10 below out here with the wind chill and I am running up a 6 percent grade at 10000 feet 30 plus weeks before my goal race. I don’t want to take too much solace in that thought, as it could lead to some complacency. I don’t need to self talk myself a ton to know if I should be out there … it is just it be a lot easier if it were 55 degrees and sunny. I look at this past training week and I am unsatisfied. I am unsatisfied with the mileage I got in, how my runs felt, how many hard workouts I got in, fighting through the weather … etc. In a way this is odd. If five years ago I told you December was going to be a 250 plus mile month, with a week at only 40 plus at altitude – I’d be stoked. I am not now.
I was rethinking the training plan a bit on the run this afternoon. While I want the shorter term focus to be on getting back base turnover back, and working myself into a self respecting 10K, I don’t want to lose the focus on the big picture of a long mountain run. As a result, I might need to tweak some of the longer runs to gear towards that more often, and force the nutritional issues more (during the run). I might need to tweak the plan a bit.
I tend to not talk a bunch about my family on this blog because … well I worry about exposing them to the internet freak show. But today is my daughter’s tenth birthday. She is an amazing human. It was a blink of an eye ago where she fit in the cradle of my arm from my wrist to my elbow. I can’t blog enough to state everything she is now. It has been an amazing and beautiful journey with her so far, and I look forward to the next day, year, decade with her. I love you crunch ‘n’ munch. Happy Birthday!
These days have been a test for the motivation. Lucho and CV have blogged about this recently. Truly getting out and getting into it is half of the battle. In some regards, I get a bit discouraged that am just trudging along up here, and not digging into some gutsy workouts. So there is room to improve. But then again, I think – crikey, its 10 below out here with the wind chill and I am running up a 6 percent grade at 10000 feet 30 plus weeks before my goal race. I don’t want to take too much solace in that thought, as it could lead to some complacency. I don’t need to self talk myself a ton to know if I should be out there … it is just it be a lot easier if it were 55 degrees and sunny. I look at this past training week and I am unsatisfied. I am unsatisfied with the mileage I got in, how my runs felt, how many hard workouts I got in, fighting through the weather … etc. In a way this is odd. If five years ago I told you December was going to be a 250 plus mile month, with a week at only 40 plus at altitude – I’d be stoked. I am not now.
I was rethinking the training plan a bit on the run this afternoon. While I want the shorter term focus to be on getting back base turnover back, and working myself into a self respecting 10K, I don’t want to lose the focus on the big picture of a long mountain run. As a result, I might need to tweak some of the longer runs to gear towards that more often, and force the nutritional issues more (during the run). I might need to tweak the plan a bit.
I tend to not talk a bunch about my family on this blog because … well I worry about exposing them to the internet freak show. But today is my daughter’s tenth birthday. She is an amazing human. It was a blink of an eye ago where she fit in the cradle of my arm from my wrist to my elbow. I can’t blog enough to state everything she is now. It has been an amazing and beautiful journey with her so far, and I look forward to the next day, year, decade with her. I love you crunch ‘n’ munch. Happy Birthday!
Training plans and thoughts
Well, my vacation is starting to take root. I actually started doing some stuff that reflects this. One, I got to dig into a training plan for Pikes and other races for next year. Two, I started to think about work in a big picture, positive change sort of way (versus the day to day tactical). You could say it took about two weeks of vacation to get to this mental state, but there was a good deal of activity in this time off due to the holidays. Or it could be that it was a bit more quiet here today since everyone is taking it slow – recovering from hours of retching. So far, I have somehow remained free of the bug … but I am expecting it to hit anytime.
So in regards to the planning for racing for next year … this has been a good activity for me and this plan far from complete. It is 33 weeks to Pikes. This requires me to take a pretty big picture view of how I want to get to that race. The planning activity forces me to consider my weaknesses, my strengths, the amount of time I can dedicate to this goal … I am asking questions as to what sort of workouts are going to be best in gearing me up for results … long runs versus hill workouts versus track workouts versus tempo runs. I have had this question in my mind: what would the ideal training month look like for me? What training could I accomplish and then say – yeah, I am ready. It seems that I have a workout or two that I feel good about, but I don’t have a string of weeks or months that I feel comprehensively put it all together. And hence, the plan.
It is easy to say, well – I am going to run 95 miles a week, do 6 x 800 in 2:30 with a minute rest on Tuesday, run Lindens on Thursday with an average under 4 minutes, and then do a long run of 25 miles over Flag, Green, Bear and SBP on Sunday. And then the next week I’d run to Mosquito Pass and back in 3 hours … blah, blah, blah. There is no lack of good workouts that I want to do, and can do alone. Reality of work, family, health, come into the mix and I need to have some flexibility in my training plan. And so there is this balance of driving to the plan, and realizing that I cannot be a total slave to this plan. But nonetheless, I need a plan. I have been running more on a day to day basis, or at best – a week to week basis. This is okay in a lot of regards – it is running and that is good. But it ain’t training. I need to train as a part of my running.
At current, the plan is focused on gearing me back into a (for me) a respectable 10K. There are a couple of thoughts behind this. One, guys like Salazar, Shorter, showed strong marathon prowess when in good 10K shape and have gone so far to say that the difference in the training between the two events is relatively minor (the difference being in the long run). They have added that when they trained for the marathon strictly, they actually performed more poorly then taking this speed / 10K mindset into the mix. There is, of course, a balance to this mindset. I hope to achieve this balance of mileage, the long run, the speed work and hill work in my plan and hence my training. For what is worth, McMillan wrote about this sort of approach (getting the speed first) in a Running Times article. This approach forces me back to faster workouts that I eschewed last year – as I hid in the comfort of slow runs in the mountains. The second thought behind this is that gives me a set of intermediate goals before Pikes. The focus after this 10K frame will shift to getting more to altitude, more long hill runs at altitude. I won’t outright drop speed work on the track after this block, but the sessions will become more focused on work like Mosquito Pass, Lindens, Green, etc.
In this whole thinking process, I have been giving a fair amount of thought to diet. I have thought for a while that details to the diet were a component missing to my training plan both in the day to day training and on race day (what I eat during the long race). More than anything, I think I need to change my thinking about how and what I eat – in other words, I am thinking I need to rewire my brain on the whole damn thing. I have long been a implicit subscriber to the “Once a Runner” mentality that if you “burn the engine hot enough, you can use anything for fuel.” If you asked me explicitly about diet, I say some crap about how it was better than most, that I was not too fussy about it, but it was balanced and it met my needs. But the more I think about it, I am not sure this is true in practice. I have found that over the past couple of years, my metabolism has significantly changed. As in slowed. In addition to needing to eat less, I will need to be more efficient in the fuel that I take in.
So – both of these are really lead ins, right? What is your training plan George? What is your diet plan George? I feel an obligation to post both of those here as they take better form to hold me accountable (even if only three folks read this!) in some form to that plan. The food part will take a longer arc as I mentally work through that. Here are the first 10 or so weeks of the training plan, but it needs some work (namely, I need to plug in some races). I put this out there, fairly raw. It could change as I think about it today, this afternoon, tomorrow, next week and get feedback.
Well, my vacation is starting to take root. I actually started doing some stuff that reflects this. One, I got to dig into a training plan for Pikes and other races for next year. Two, I started to think about work in a big picture, positive change sort of way (versus the day to day tactical). You could say it took about two weeks of vacation to get to this mental state, but there was a good deal of activity in this time off due to the holidays. Or it could be that it was a bit more quiet here today since everyone is taking it slow – recovering from hours of retching. So far, I have somehow remained free of the bug … but I am expecting it to hit anytime.
So in regards to the planning for racing for next year … this has been a good activity for me and this plan far from complete. It is 33 weeks to Pikes. This requires me to take a pretty big picture view of how I want to get to that race. The planning activity forces me to consider my weaknesses, my strengths, the amount of time I can dedicate to this goal … I am asking questions as to what sort of workouts are going to be best in gearing me up for results … long runs versus hill workouts versus track workouts versus tempo runs. I have had this question in my mind: what would the ideal training month look like for me? What training could I accomplish and then say – yeah, I am ready. It seems that I have a workout or two that I feel good about, but I don’t have a string of weeks or months that I feel comprehensively put it all together. And hence, the plan.
It is easy to say, well – I am going to run 95 miles a week, do 6 x 800 in 2:30 with a minute rest on Tuesday, run Lindens on Thursday with an average under 4 minutes, and then do a long run of 25 miles over Flag, Green, Bear and SBP on Sunday. And then the next week I’d run to Mosquito Pass and back in 3 hours … blah, blah, blah. There is no lack of good workouts that I want to do, and can do alone. Reality of work, family, health, come into the mix and I need to have some flexibility in my training plan. And so there is this balance of driving to the plan, and realizing that I cannot be a total slave to this plan. But nonetheless, I need a plan. I have been running more on a day to day basis, or at best – a week to week basis. This is okay in a lot of regards – it is running and that is good. But it ain’t training. I need to train as a part of my running.
At current, the plan is focused on gearing me back into a (for me) a respectable 10K. There are a couple of thoughts behind this. One, guys like Salazar, Shorter, showed strong marathon prowess when in good 10K shape and have gone so far to say that the difference in the training between the two events is relatively minor (the difference being in the long run). They have added that when they trained for the marathon strictly, they actually performed more poorly then taking this speed / 10K mindset into the mix. There is, of course, a balance to this mindset. I hope to achieve this balance of mileage, the long run, the speed work and hill work in my plan and hence my training. For what is worth, McMillan wrote about this sort of approach (getting the speed first) in a Running Times article. This approach forces me back to faster workouts that I eschewed last year – as I hid in the comfort of slow runs in the mountains. The second thought behind this is that gives me a set of intermediate goals before Pikes. The focus after this 10K frame will shift to getting more to altitude, more long hill runs at altitude. I won’t outright drop speed work on the track after this block, but the sessions will become more focused on work like Mosquito Pass, Lindens, Green, etc.
In this whole thinking process, I have been giving a fair amount of thought to diet. I have thought for a while that details to the diet were a component missing to my training plan both in the day to day training and on race day (what I eat during the long race). More than anything, I think I need to change my thinking about how and what I eat – in other words, I am thinking I need to rewire my brain on the whole damn thing. I have long been a implicit subscriber to the “Once a Runner” mentality that if you “burn the engine hot enough, you can use anything for fuel.” If you asked me explicitly about diet, I say some crap about how it was better than most, that I was not too fussy about it, but it was balanced and it met my needs. But the more I think about it, I am not sure this is true in practice. I have found that over the past couple of years, my metabolism has significantly changed. As in slowed. In addition to needing to eat less, I will need to be more efficient in the fuel that I take in.
So – both of these are really lead ins, right? What is your training plan George? What is your diet plan George? I feel an obligation to post both of those here as they take better form to hold me accountable (even if only three folks read this!) in some form to that plan. The food part will take a longer arc as I mentally work through that. Here are the first 10 or so weeks of the training plan, but it needs some work (namely, I need to plug in some races). I put this out there, fairly raw. It could change as I think about it today, this afternoon, tomorrow, next week and get feedback.
Training Plan
Week Date Ending Long Run Mileage Workout 1 Workout 2 Strides Notes
1 1/6/2008 14 70 eights Tempo 8x
2 1/13/2008 14 70 Oatmeal 5K quarters 8x look to break 17:30 in 5K to show improvement
3 1/20/2008 16* 80 Tempo twos and fours 8x
4 1/27/2008 16 75 Miles Green 8x attempt to make long run building
5 2/3/2008 18 80 Tempo twos and fours 8x
6 2/10/2008 16* 65 Kilos Green 8x
7 2/17/2008 18* 70 Race? quarters 8x look for race in this period?
8 2/24/2008 16 75 Secret Hills Tempo 8x attempt to make long run building
9 3/2/2008 20 85 Tempo twos and fours 10x
10 3/9/2008 18* 70 Miles Green 10x
And oh yeah … I will get some pix up from our getaway to the mountains here once I get back to the land of broadband connectivity.
So in regards to the planning for racing for next year … this has been a good activity for me and this plan far from complete. It is 33 weeks to Pikes. This requires me to take a pretty big picture view of how I want to get to that race. The planning activity forces me to consider my weaknesses, my strengths, the amount of time I can dedicate to this goal … I am asking questions as to what sort of workouts are going to be best in gearing me up for results … long runs versus hill workouts versus track workouts versus tempo runs. I have had this question in my mind: what would the ideal training month look like for me? What training could I accomplish and then say – yeah, I am ready. It seems that I have a workout or two that I feel good about, but I don’t have a string of weeks or months that I feel comprehensively put it all together. And hence, the plan.
It is easy to say, well – I am going to run 95 miles a week, do 6 x 800 in 2:30 with a minute rest on Tuesday, run Lindens on Thursday with an average under 4 minutes, and then do a long run of 25 miles over Flag, Green, Bear and SBP on Sunday. And then the next week I’d run to Mosquito Pass and back in 3 hours … blah, blah, blah. There is no lack of good workouts that I want to do, and can do alone. Reality of work, family, health, come into the mix and I need to have some flexibility in my training plan. And so there is this balance of driving to the plan, and realizing that I cannot be a total slave to this plan. But nonetheless, I need a plan. I have been running more on a day to day basis, or at best – a week to week basis. This is okay in a lot of regards – it is running and that is good. But it ain’t training. I need to train as a part of my running.
At current, the plan is focused on gearing me back into a (for me) a respectable 10K. There are a couple of thoughts behind this. One, guys like Salazar, Shorter, showed strong marathon prowess when in good 10K shape and have gone so far to say that the difference in the training between the two events is relatively minor (the difference being in the long run). They have added that when they trained for the marathon strictly, they actually performed more poorly then taking this speed / 10K mindset into the mix. There is, of course, a balance to this mindset. I hope to achieve this balance of mileage, the long run, the speed work and hill work in my plan and hence my training. For what is worth, McMillan wrote about this sort of approach (getting the speed first) in a Running Times article. This approach forces me back to faster workouts that I eschewed last year – as I hid in the comfort of slow runs in the mountains. The second thought behind this is that gives me a set of intermediate goals before Pikes. The focus after this 10K frame will shift to getting more to altitude, more long hill runs at altitude. I won’t outright drop speed work on the track after this block, but the sessions will become more focused on work like Mosquito Pass, Lindens, Green, etc.
In this whole thinking process, I have been giving a fair amount of thought to diet. I have thought for a while that details to the diet were a component missing to my training plan both in the day to day training and on race day (what I eat during the long race). More than anything, I think I need to change my thinking about how and what I eat – in other words, I am thinking I need to rewire my brain on the whole damn thing. I have long been a implicit subscriber to the “Once a Runner” mentality that if you “burn the engine hot enough, you can use anything for fuel.” If you asked me explicitly about diet, I say some crap about how it was better than most, that I was not too fussy about it, but it was balanced and it met my needs. But the more I think about it, I am not sure this is true in practice. I have found that over the past couple of years, my metabolism has significantly changed. As in slowed. In addition to needing to eat less, I will need to be more efficient in the fuel that I take in.
So – both of these are really lead ins, right? What is your training plan George? What is your diet plan George? I feel an obligation to post both of those here as they take better form to hold me accountable (even if only three folks read this!) in some form to that plan. The food part will take a longer arc as I mentally work through that. Here are the first 10 or so weeks of the training plan, but it needs some work (namely, I need to plug in some races). I put this out there, fairly raw. It could change as I think about it today, this afternoon, tomorrow, next week and get feedback.
Well, my vacation is starting to take root. I actually started doing some stuff that reflects this. One, I got to dig into a training plan for Pikes and other races for next year. Two, I started to think about work in a big picture, positive change sort of way (versus the day to day tactical). You could say it took about two weeks of vacation to get to this mental state, but there was a good deal of activity in this time off due to the holidays. Or it could be that it was a bit more quiet here today since everyone is taking it slow – recovering from hours of retching. So far, I have somehow remained free of the bug … but I am expecting it to hit anytime.
So in regards to the planning for racing for next year … this has been a good activity for me and this plan far from complete. It is 33 weeks to Pikes. This requires me to take a pretty big picture view of how I want to get to that race. The planning activity forces me to consider my weaknesses, my strengths, the amount of time I can dedicate to this goal … I am asking questions as to what sort of workouts are going to be best in gearing me up for results … long runs versus hill workouts versus track workouts versus tempo runs. I have had this question in my mind: what would the ideal training month look like for me? What training could I accomplish and then say – yeah, I am ready. It seems that I have a workout or two that I feel good about, but I don’t have a string of weeks or months that I feel comprehensively put it all together. And hence, the plan.
It is easy to say, well – I am going to run 95 miles a week, do 6 x 800 in 2:30 with a minute rest on Tuesday, run Lindens on Thursday with an average under 4 minutes, and then do a long run of 25 miles over Flag, Green, Bear and SBP on Sunday. And then the next week I’d run to Mosquito Pass and back in 3 hours … blah, blah, blah. There is no lack of good workouts that I want to do, and can do alone. Reality of work, family, health, come into the mix and I need to have some flexibility in my training plan. And so there is this balance of driving to the plan, and realizing that I cannot be a total slave to this plan. But nonetheless, I need a plan. I have been running more on a day to day basis, or at best – a week to week basis. This is okay in a lot of regards – it is running and that is good. But it ain’t training. I need to train as a part of my running.
At current, the plan is focused on gearing me back into a (for me) a respectable 10K. There are a couple of thoughts behind this. One, guys like Salazar, Shorter, showed strong marathon prowess when in good 10K shape and have gone so far to say that the difference in the training between the two events is relatively minor (the difference being in the long run). They have added that when they trained for the marathon strictly, they actually performed more poorly then taking this speed / 10K mindset into the mix. There is, of course, a balance to this mindset. I hope to achieve this balance of mileage, the long run, the speed work and hill work in my plan and hence my training. For what is worth, McMillan wrote about this sort of approach (getting the speed first) in a Running Times article. This approach forces me back to faster workouts that I eschewed last year – as I hid in the comfort of slow runs in the mountains. The second thought behind this is that gives me a set of intermediate goals before Pikes. The focus after this 10K frame will shift to getting more to altitude, more long hill runs at altitude. I won’t outright drop speed work on the track after this block, but the sessions will become more focused on work like Mosquito Pass, Lindens, Green, etc.
In this whole thinking process, I have been giving a fair amount of thought to diet. I have thought for a while that details to the diet were a component missing to my training plan both in the day to day training and on race day (what I eat during the long race). More than anything, I think I need to change my thinking about how and what I eat – in other words, I am thinking I need to rewire my brain on the whole damn thing. I have long been a implicit subscriber to the “Once a Runner” mentality that if you “burn the engine hot enough, you can use anything for fuel.” If you asked me explicitly about diet, I say some crap about how it was better than most, that I was not too fussy about it, but it was balanced and it met my needs. But the more I think about it, I am not sure this is true in practice. I have found that over the past couple of years, my metabolism has significantly changed. As in slowed. In addition to needing to eat less, I will need to be more efficient in the fuel that I take in.
So – both of these are really lead ins, right? What is your training plan George? What is your diet plan George? I feel an obligation to post both of those here as they take better form to hold me accountable (even if only three folks read this!) in some form to that plan. The food part will take a longer arc as I mentally work through that. Here are the first 10 or so weeks of the training plan, but it needs some work (namely, I need to plug in some races). I put this out there, fairly raw. It could change as I think about it today, this afternoon, tomorrow, next week and get feedback.
Training Plan
Week Date Ending Long Run Mileage Workout 1 Workout 2 Strides Notes
1 1/6/2008 14 70 eights Tempo 8x
2 1/13/2008 14 70 Oatmeal 5K quarters 8x look to break 17:30 in 5K to show improvement
3 1/20/2008 16* 80 Tempo twos and fours 8x
4 1/27/2008 16 75 Miles Green 8x attempt to make long run building
5 2/3/2008 18 80 Tempo twos and fours 8x
6 2/10/2008 16* 65 Kilos Green 8x
7 2/17/2008 18* 70 Race? quarters 8x look for race in this period?
8 2/24/2008 16 75 Secret Hills Tempo 8x attempt to make long run building
9 3/2/2008 20 85 Tempo twos and fours 10x
10 3/9/2008 18* 70 Miles Green 10x
And oh yeah … I will get some pix up from our getaway to the mountains here once I get back to the land of broadband connectivity.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)