I'M BACK

After a week long vacation, I'm back. Anyone want to guess where we went?

Here's a hint.

We had a great time; no emails, no blogs, no facebook, etc. Totally unplugged. More photos to follow.

I don't have much to mention, running-wise. Let's just say it was my lowest mileage ever for a non-injured, non-marathon recovery week. But I think I needed it. Running was getting to be a drag. I finally had a decent run the Friday before leaving. Then I struggled through three 5-mile runs in the heat and humidity of Florida. Yesterday I was back in Minnesota and enjoyed a 2-hour run in October-like weather.

It's too early to tell what all this means for Whistlestop, but I'm pretty sure that anything fast is out the window.

Quote of the day;

"I didn't want to put limitations and expectations (coming into the race). I felt like 12:58 was maybe not far-fetched, but it was definitely a little bit of a pipe dream." - Dathan Ritzenhein after dropping his 5K PR from 13:16.06 to 12:56.27 and in the process bettering Bob Kennedy's 13-year-old American Record.

FAKE IT

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that you can’t fake the motivation needed to run well. And right now it feels like I’m trying to fake it. I thought turning 40 would magically get me all fired up, but it hasn’t happened. I’m still putting in 50-70 mpw, so I’m pretty fit. However, any semblance of following a plan went out the window two weeks ago.

MattyG has written about being “overcooked” leading up to a couple of races. That’s how I was feeling in early August, so I’ve basically backed off my mileage a little and added in more easy days. I did manage a 20-miler on Sunday. I had 22 planned, but prior to the run I realized I didn’t have any gels in the house. I tried to make it by carrying 20 oz. of Gatorade with me, but it just didn’t cut it – just before mile 19, I was done. I’m sure the 65 degree dew point didn’t help either.

Right now I’m hoping to survive this week before going on vacation next week. After that I’ll try to make one final 6-week push towards Whistlestop.

Anyone watch the men’s 10K last night at the World Champs? How does Bekele (and all the other runners) kick his foot up so high behind him? Seriously, his heel hits him in the ass with each stride.

Finally, be sure to check out my latest interview.

Quote of the Day;

“You’re unique… just like everyone else.” – greeting card I got for my birthday

MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S 3-MILE

How’s that saying go – a goal unwritten is just a wish - something like that? Well whether it was a goal or just a wish, I accomplished something last night that I thought was achievable this year. Yes, I met Olympian Carrie Tollefson. Okay, maybe it’s silly to have a goal, er, wish, that you can’t really control. However, I have a few connections throughout the running community and she’s visible enough that it seemed like a likely goal, er, wish. Whatever! Anyway, she was at last night’s Midsummer Night’s 3-mile, along with her husband. Although I’ve interviewed him, I had never met him in person. And the Lehm-kuhles were there too. Unfortunately, Katie wasn’t there. Apparently, running the World Championship 10,000m is more important.

I hyped this race pretty good after last year’s 1st annual event – more so because of the post-race gathering, than the race itself. If it’s possible, this year even topped last year with its hot dogs, Vitamin Water, popsicles, Great Harvest bread nuggets, and 2 beer tickets. Combine that with a microfiber shirt and I had no problem paying the $30 entry fee. More races should take note!

My only gripe – and it’s a big one – is that this year they replaced Surly and Flat Earth with Michelob Ultra. Not to be a beer snob, but give me 1 Surly over 2 (or 6) Michelob Ultras.

Anyway, this was my second race as a Master and it’s the second time my chip has screwed up. Both times my results were corrected, but last night it kept me from winning the men’s Master title and some great swag. I spoke with the race staff afterwards and they assured me they’ll get everything straightened out, so I’m not worried.

Going into the race I figured I’d break 19-minutes and thought 18:30 might be possible. I ended up running 18:19 (6:01, 6:07, 6:11) and finished 9th overall. For comparison, last year I was 3rd overall in 17:50. Complete results can be found HERE.

Quote of the Day;

“Every marathon I ran, I knew I had a faster one in me. Even though I’d be spent, even though I’d be cramped up, I knew with a little more training, a little more preparation, a little more experience, I could run faster.” – Dick Beardsley

SURPLUS

Leave it to my friend Eric to figure out what ails me. You’ve heard of ADD, well I have ASD;


The questions I asked the other day are meant to be rhetorical. I’m not so much looking for answers, as I’m just trying to share the wide variety of things that pop into my head during a run. I’m guessing I’m not the only one that has similar thoughts floating around in their grey matter.

I do need to sit down with my training plan and adapt it a little. I’m thinking 2 easy days after every hard workout ought to do the trick.

So yesterday was an easy 5 miles. This morning was more of the same. I may try to get in another run tonight to help keep my weekly mileage up. Tomorrow night is the Mid-Summer Night’s 3 mile. I blogged about it last month. Come out for a fun run and some beer.

Quote of the Day;

“I viewed every marathon as a test of my manhood. It wasn’t enough for me to win the race. I wanted to bury the other guys.” – Alberto Salazar

PIPE DREAM

Turning 40, running a “bad” 10K, having a 20 miler start out very sluggish, and just a general overall malaise lately have me asking – okay, re-asking - a lot of questions about my running lately.

Seriously, one minute I’m thinking I need to train harder, the next minute I’m thinking I need to cut back. One minute I’m thinking 85 mpw of easy running is what I need and the next I’m thinking 55 mpw with a couple of hard workouts would be better.

Maybe I should consider taking one day off per week, like I did with Pfitz for Gma’s. Maybe that’d be enough for a physical and mental break.

Or how about cross training on that day off? Maybe add in some biking – or better yet – some roller skiing. Is it time to set my sites on The Birkie? At least I’m still seeing improvement in that sport. Maybe if I started my training earlier, I could take a crack at sub-3 there.

Of course, spending the weekend in Madison had me thinking about Ironman Wisconsin.

It’s like just when I thought I was figuring this running thing out, the rules have changed. As much as I’d like to deny it, all those things you hear older runners talk about as they age appear to be true. I can’t just transition from one program to another without feeling some adverse affects. Running weeks on end – doing 2-3 hard days per week - without a day off are most likely in the past. I’d need to adjust and find what works for me – now!

Earlier I was thinking that with a little hard work, I’d have a shot at a PR (2:57)in the fall. Now I’m not so sure. To be honest, I’d be happy with one more sub-3 – and I’m not even sure that’s a possibility based on the times I’ve been running lately. Yes, I know all about recovering from Grandma’s, being in the middle of marathon training, the dog days of summer, etc., etc. So there’s no need to comment on that. Even with all that mixed in, my training paces leave me wondering if 6:52 for 26.2 miles is a pipe dream.

In any case, I have 9 weeks till race day.

I finished last week with 58 miles on 5 days. I couldn’t bring myself to get up before the family and run in the rain while in Madison. Hence the 2 days off. Yesterday I ran 8 miles with 8 x 8 second hill sprints. This morning I ran 10 miles, including 2 x 1.5 miles at 6:40 pace – or what I’m calling half marathon pace – with 2:00 easy in between.

Quote of the Day;

“Some people dream of success while others wake up and achieve it.” - unknown

SHEER DISBELIEF

Unbelievable!!!

That's how I felt at the end of this morning's 20 miler. No, not because of some endorphin rush after running for 2:45. But because of how shitty I felt for the first 3 miles of this run. If you had stopped me one mile into the run and asked if I thought I'd be able to repeat that 19 more times, my answer would have been a big N-O!

There I was with the day off of work, running the best trails (Lebanon Hills) in the metro area and all I could think about was how crappy I felt. I wasn't able to just let my mind wander and enjoy my time on the trails. Then about 3 miles into my run I stopped to squat in the woods and when I started running again, I felt fine. The flats no longer felt like hills and the hills no longer felt like mountains.

I was finally able to relax and enjoy the run while thinking about things like; "Hmm, this trails seems pretty isolated. If something happened to me, it could be weeks before I'm found. It might be time to find that RoadID I bought a few years ago."

Today's long run called for the last 30 minutes to be at a moderate pace. Of course, early in the run I had no idea if I'd make it the full distance let alone add in a little workout at the end. By the time I got 2 hours into the run I was sopping wet from a steady rain. I decided to venture home and run the last 5 miles on the treadmill. After a quick change into dry clothes and a mile on the treadmill, I picked up the pace and ran the last 4 miles at 6:58 pace.

All in all this long run was quite the adventure. I was glad to get it in because we're heading to Madison today, so there's no other opportunity for a long run this weekend.

Quote of the day;

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." - Robert Collier

SOMETHING TO DO WITH THAT

It looks like "aging up" helped at Sunday's race. I ended up 3rd in the 40-44 age group, whereas I would have been like 7th in the 35-39 age group.

I haven't even thought about "training" the last 2 days. Yesterday I slogged through a very easy 5 miles and this morning I made it another easy 8. My legs are still tried - running a 6 mile cooldown after Sunday's race probably has something to do with that.

You've seen his blog, now check out Matt Gabrielson's interview with Runner's World.

Quote of the day;

"What I've learned is it's not about having a great workout, it's about continuing to be consistent and getting yourself set to be ready to go on that one day. I need to trust my training that I've done and not overdo it toward the end because there's a line you can cross. There's no magic workout that's going to happen in the last two or three weeks." - Matt Gabrielson

SLOW(ER)

I believe the U of M’s coach, Steve Plascencia, was 39-years-old when he placed 4th at the 1996 Olympic marathon trials. The following year he continued to tear up the roads as a Masters. There was an interview in one of the running magazines with him during which he said something like there’s not some magical switch that goes off when you turn 40 – slowing down is inevitable, but it happens at different rates and at different times for everyone.

That gave me hope. However, after Sunday’s race, I’d swear that there is a magical switch in my body and it’s been turned off. Paces that I could easily run for a half marathon in the middle of winter off of base training just a couple of years ago are now a struggle to maintain for 10K.

Sunday I ran the Hennepin Lake Classic 10K and had to sprint* to break 40 minutes. My splits ended up being 6:20, 6:24, 6:27, 6:27, 6:36, 6:26, 1:17 and my 5K splits were 19:52/20:05 for a 39:57.

*I thought I was sprinting until I watched the leaders of the 5K race.

After running 39:15 at Get in Gear in April, this is more than a little frustrating. And it leads to a whole bunch of questions;

Is my new training program working or not?
Is this program too much for me? Am I overtraining? Do I need to do fewer workouts?
Do I just not respond well to VO2 workouts? Did Friday’s hill workout leave me tired?
Am I on the right path for a marathon?
If I truly run well just off of a lot of base miles, should I just go back to that type of training?
Is all of this just a matter of getting older?

I know Hudson has a section for Masters in his book. At 39-years-old and 11 months, I didn’t think I needed to read it. Now I do.

And I think I’ll have to start paying attention to Joe Rubio’s Masters Plan;

1) Take your recovery days easier - take them seriously.

2) Do less hard sessions each week than when you were younger. Do less within each hard session.

3) You can be "on" occasionally, so best pick the times you want to hammer wisely.

4) It takes longer to get in shape as a masters athlete. And it takes much less time to fall out of fitness than 20 years ago [or 30 ... or 40].

5) Injuries take an eternity to get over, and there seem to be many more of them along the way. If you can stay healthy, you are way ahead of the game.

6)Family first, career second, running third, beer a close fourth.

7)Masters racing is all about fun and friendships.

The good news is that I feel fine and I’m not hurt or sore – just slow(er).

Quote of the Day;

“You have to hate to lose, more than you love to win.” - unknown

ROUSING START

Ahhhhh! 40-years-old! A co-worker described it as a “monumental” birthday. I would have to agree. There’s something about it that makes you want to stop and think about your life a little more and reevaluate where you’re at. I’m sure for some, that reevaluation leads to the purchase of a sports car or a Harley. Runners would be content with a kick-ass summer of road racing

Leading up to the “event” I had thoughts of really getting serious about all the ancillary things that I think will help my running. You know, a better diet, more time working on strength training and flexibility and less time playing video games, less alcohol, etc.

Then my birthday arrived, so of course we had to celebrate. That meant cinnamon rolls and bacon for breakfast. Somehow we’ve gotten into the habit of cinnamon or caramel rolls on the weekend. However, bacon is a treat. It’s one of those things that makes you think, dang this stuff is good – I could eat it every day! There goes my diet. Then I opened gifts, including the new Wii Sports Resort. There goes my “free” time for strength training and stretching. 2 thumbs up on Resort, by the way. Then just after I cleaned my house of alcohol, we had a little party and I was left with a fridge full of wine and beer.

So my 5th decade is off to a rousing start.

Quote of the Day;

“I will say, I was really bummed to turn 40. It’s one of those monumental birthdates in life that you just downright feel old. Just ask your kids…..40 is ancient.” – a co-worker of mine

SO LONG...

Hmm, where did the week go?

I decided to make this a cutback week for a few reasons;

1) I started the week with a day off.
2) After recovering from Grandma’s I’ve had weeks of 65, 63 and 75. Not killer mileage, but that 75 was my most since last August.
3) I’m racing on Sunday.
4) After this week, we are 3 weeks out from our week-long vacation. So I can cutback now, train hard for 3 weeks and then cutback while we’re on vacation.

Here’s what I’ve done since my last post;

Tuesday – 8 moderate miles with Scott in Hyland
Wednesday – 8 easy miles with 8 x 8 second hill sprints
Thursday – 10 easy miles with Rick from home
Friday – 12 miles with Scott including 5 x 3-minutes uphill at 5K pace

That puts me at 52 for the week, so I should finish with 57-60 miles. It also means I closed out July with 281 miles on 28 days of running.

And with today’s run in the books, I also closed out the 34-39 age-group.

So long…

Quote of the Day;

“You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it true.” – Richard Bach

RECAP

Not a whole lot to say today, so I’ll start with a recap of my training. Saturday I joined Kim for a run at Lake Nokomis, which would allow us to watch the Boston Scientific race. We pondered why they have a separate women’s elite race for about 12 gals. I’m guessing the women would be fine with having one wave.

Anyway, this ended up being a fartlek type workout. We ran pretty hard early, slowed down to cheer, ran hard, cheered some more, found Jenna and ran a cool-down with her for awhile. Then I added a couple of miles in the low 7s to end with 16 miles for the day and 75 miles for the week.

I knew it was going to be a difficult task to get a run in yesterday. It was Katie’s 6th birthday and we had lots planned. After waking up in the tent in our backyard and opening presents, we headed to Waseca for a family picnic. Then it was back home around 5 PM for a quick snack before heading to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of Hysteria, I mean, Mall of America. If you bring proof of your birthday, you get unlimited rides for free after 5. We ended up staying till nearly 8. By that time I knew I’d be putting a zero in the log book. But after 11 solid days of training, I’m okay with that.

Given yesterday’s rest day, I decided to get in my hardest workout of the week this morning; 14 miles with 8 at MP. This was my first such workout in awhile, so I thought I’d go with more of a progression-type MP section, rather than going out hard and bombing. So, after a 3 mile warm-up, I eased into it with miles of 7:13 and 7:12. From there I was able to dip below 7-minute pace, including 6:48 and 6:45 for my last 2 miles. Overall, I think I averaged 6:58 pace for the 8 miles. Not really my goal MP, but I always seem to train slower than I race, so I think I’m okay.

Quote of the Day;

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein

PURE ENTERTAINMENT VALUE

Not sure what to write about the Torchlight 5K. It's been 7 years since I’ve run this race and the course has changed a little. It’s an interesting event because probably two-thirds of the first mile are along the Torchlight Parade route, so people are lining the sidewalks to watch – even if they only expected to see a parade. Being in downtown Minneapolis was cool, but it made it difficult to get in any sort of up-tempo warm-up and even strides were difficult.

I’m not sure whether this race was certified or not – but I do know that they’re mile markers were way off. With all the high schoolers in the race and the spectators on the sideline, this race went out pretty hard – and so did I. Still I have a hard time believing I ran a 5:38 first mile. In any case, I definitely slowed down the second mile, yet my split was 5:30! Now I’m just tracking my splits for pure entertainment value. Not surprisingly, “mile” 3 takes forever; 7-flat. I “sprint” home and finish in 18:56. That’s 2 seconds faster than my last 5K, but again, I have no idea whether or not it was accurate. Still it was a good effort. I ran a couple miles afterwards with Kirt and called it 9 miles for the evening and 14 for the day.

One of the nice things about my other blog is that some of the local photographers have been kind enough to give me photos. The bad thing is that now that I know them, they like to capture my image more than before. For example, Wayne took some great photos from Torchlight, but included one nasty photo of me – it’s the 67th photo. After looking at that, scroll back one and look at the size of the headphones on that kid that beat me. Plus, he has long pants and a sweat shirt tied around his waist. Another reason not to like 5Ks.

Good times afterwards as we hung out on Harriet Island for a couple of beers while listening to Kubla Khan. I didn’t get to bed till 11, but luckily I was able to sleep in and run a very easy 6 miles during lunch.

This morning I ran 11 miles including the last 10 minutes at a moderate pace.

Off topic, could you at least give me a courtesy wash of your hands after going to the bathroom – especially if you come out of the stall? I don’t know if you went #1 or #2 in there, but flushing and then making a bee line back to your cube just doesn’t seem right.

Quote of the Day;

“Goals are fuel in the furnace of achievement.” – Brian Tracy

NEW ONE

This may be a new one. Yesterday I woke up at 4:45 for my run. I fed the dog and took her for a walk. After we got back the skies opened up and it started to pour. I drove across town for my run and was ready to go by 5:30. The only problem was that I couldn’t make myself go. All I thought about was how tired I was during my last workout and how I didn’t want to spend the next 90 minutes in the rain. So I went back to my car and fell asleep for a good 75 minutes.

I can’t remember ever doing that before, but it felt so good!

I was able to get in a very easy 5 mile run over lunch and then another five last night while watching the Tour. Seeing Jens Voight wipe out going down a hill mountain around 50 mpw makes me glad I’m a runner. Ouch!

I ran another very easy 5 miles this morning and I’ll toe the line at tonight’s Torchlight 5K. I don’t really have any goals for this race other than to get in a hard workout in the middle of the week. It'll be interesting to see how I compare to my time (18:58) at Brian Kraft.

A little more on Brad Hudson’s book. I’ve mentioned how he talks about adapting your training based on how you’re responding. Of course, that’s easier said than done. One of the things I like is that he gives some examples of what to look for – like being able to handle distance, but struggling with hitting your speed workouts. And he also gives examples of how to correct these imbalances. I think that’s what’s missing for a lot of the books on the market. They lay out a plan and then figure you’ll just follow along as closely as possible.

Only being on my fourth week of his plan, it’s a little too early to make adjustments based on the workouts I’m struggling with. However, as someone who generally has a hard time running the fast stuff, I’ll definitely be keeping that chapter close by.

Quote of the Day;

“You are never a loser, until you quit trying.” - Mike Ditka

PRETTY OBVIOUS

When I posted my previous 12 workouts yesterday, I was just trying to get a general view of what I’ve been doing lately that could lead to a poor workout. Steve’s comment made me go back and look specifically at what I did prior to each 10K paced workout. Doing that makes it pretty obvious;

Monday – hilly run at Lutsen (9 miles)
Tuesday - OFF
Wednesday – 4 x 5 minutes at 10K pace

Saturday – 19 strong miles
Sunday – 8 x 8 second hill sprints (8 easy miles)
Monday – 4 x 1 mile at 10K pace

I guess I should be thankful that; 1) I can run a decent workout when I’m rested and 2) I am putting in some hard work.

So it makes sense that I’m tired. It’s just that the workout called for 4 x 1 mile at 10K PACE. It didn’t say 10K EFFORT. The effort was there, the pace wasn’t. But I’m okay with that. I’m pretty sure I could hit all the workout times needed if I wanted to taper for every single workout – and then spend a day or two recovering. But I’m not training to run the most impressive 4 x 1 mile repeats. I’m training for a fall marathon. So I’ll forge on knowing that I’m putting in the work now for an October payoff.

Quote of the Day;

“Bite the bullet, old man, and don’t let them think you’re afraid.” – Rudyard Kipling

LOTS OF QUESTIONS

I’m still trying to figure out how to get in some of my workouts when I run with a friend and during my Saturday Group runs. Throwing in 20 minutes at MP towards the end of a run isn’t really a problem. However, I’m not sure what to do when the plan calls for 15 x 1:00 at MP with a 1:00 jog. I might just have to run solo that day.

Saturday the group was meeting in the northern metro, which is kind of a hike. So I made arrangements with Jenna and Paul to meet at Fort Snelling. The plan called for 18 miles at MP + 10%. If I base my MP on 6:40 pace (2:55), that’d mean I’d need to run 7:20 pace. Overall, we ended up running 19 miles and averaged 7:35-7:40 pace. Given that I saw a bunch of 7:20s on my Garmin, I think it was a solid workout.

Yesterday I ran an easy 8 miles with 8 x 8 second hill sprints at the end. That gave me 63 miles for the week on 6 runs.

This morning the schedule called for 4 x 6:00 at 10K pace. Last week I ran 4 x 5:00 while running sub-6:15s. Therefore, I just decided to run 4 x 1 mile today with a 3:00 jog in between. I felt fine and thought I was running the correct pace, however, the times just weren’t there. I made the mistake of not getting a halfway split on my first repeat and ended up running 6:37. I got a half split on the second one, but it didn’t help much, I still ran 6:32. The third one was a little more respectable (6:21) but I was working pretty damn hard. I was tempted to “adapt” and bag my last one, but thought I’d take an extra minute rest and then just try to run one more a little more conservatively. It ended up being 6:43.

Of course, a workout like this leads to lots of questions. Do I need more speed? More strength? More miles? More rest? Am I just fatigued? Did I screw my running by skiing all winter? Or is this just what it’s like to get old? Do I need to add weight training? Increase my range of motion? The list goes on and on.

One thing is for certain, I didn’t run poorly because of the dog days of summer. It was 60 degrees, calm and cool. If summer ever shows up, I’ll be really slow!

My honest answer is that it’s probably fatigue. I went from being the king of easy runs to king of adding some type of stimulus to nearly every run. Here’s my last 12 days;

Thursday – moderate hilly run with last mile at MP
Friday - 4 x 8 second hill sprints
Saturday – 2 hours with the last 20 minutes at MP
Sunday – 6 x 8 second hill sprints
Monday – hilly run at Lutsen
Tuesday - OFF
Wednesday – 4 x 5 minutes at 10K pace
Thursday – moderate hilly run
Friday – strides
Saturday – 19 strong miles
Sunday – 8 x 8 second hill sprints
Monday – 4 x 1 mile at 10K pace

The good news is I feel fine – I was just slow today. I’ll keep a close eye on this though.

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I really like watch championship events when they’re in Europe. There’s nothing like watching the Tour or the British Open (or both) with your cup of coffee and getting your sporting events out of the way early.

Ever grab a couple different leftovers for lunch and then wonder what the heck you were thinking? I just got done eating tamales and BBQ pork chop with rice. Interesting combination.

Quote of the Day;

“In a country where only men are encouraged, one must be one’s own inspiration.” – Tegla Loroupe, Kenya, 1994 NYC Marathon champion

LUTSEN PHOTOS

Me and Kinsey kayaking, while most people were at work. Look at that synchronization of our padels.

Katie and Kinsey at Gooseberry Falls.

Kinsey and Katie looking at Lake Superior. No, they don't always get along this well. Just look at that blue sky!

Katie and Amy riding the gondola at Lutsen.

Me and Kinsey riding the gondola.

Our "puppy" Bailey at Gooseberry Falls.

A pile of my shoes that I photographed to go along with an upcoming article I wrote. No, this has nothing to do with Lutsen, but it's still a running blog.

WORD OF MOUTH (AGAIN)

We’ll start off today’s post with a little word of mouth. If you haven’t found it yet, be sure to check out Team USA Minnesota’s Matt Gabrielson’s blog. Rather than just spitting out a bunch of numbers regarding his training, Matt shares his insights into what it’s like to one of the best runners in the nation – and world. Follow along as he trains for the World Championship marathon that will be run in Berlin next month. That’s Germany. Not to be confused with New Berlin, Wisconsin.

Last year I blogged about the first annual Midsummer Night’s Run. Well, it’s that time again as the second annual event will be held on Thursday, August 13th. Mark your calendars for this small, low-key, 3 mile race through Cleary Lake Regional Park in Savage. Afterwards they had free beer, er, FREE BEER, from not 1, but 2 different local microbrews; Flat Earth and Surly. That alone makes the $30 entry fee worth it. So, while I’d love to finish in the top-3 again, I’d much rather have more people around to party with afterwards – as long as they don’t run out of beer. Who knows, maybe Katie McGregor will come out and party with us again.

Another thing I like about this race and next Wednesday’s Torchlight 5K is that I don’t have to waste a weekend running a 5K. I can mix them in during the middle of the week and then still get in my “real” training on the weekend.

I spent some time last night “adapting” the training plan I laid out 3 weeks ago to take into account the races I’ve decided to run. Torchlight will be my last race in the 35-39 age group. Hennepin Lakes Classic 10K will be my first race as a Master. Then I’ll drink beer, er, run at Midsummer Night’s. On Labor Day I’ll run Victory 10K followed by the City of Lakes 25K. That’s what I have tentatively planned at this time.

Yesterday I ran 12 miles, including 10 with Scott. Most of these were run through Hyland Park. With the terrain and the company, I can always count on these as being moderately hard runs. This morning I ran a very easy 5 miles with some strides. I may try to get in another 5 tonight.

Quote of the Day;

"People do not lack strength; they lack will." – Victor Hugo

WRONG PATH

Ever think you’ve chosen the wrong career path? That thought crossed my mind during a guided kayaking trip via Lutsen Resort. My oldest daughter, Kinsey, and I went on “a 3-hour tour” and I thought that the guide had it pretty good. He kayaked on Lake Superior in the morning and then on a calmer in-land lake in the afternoon. In the winter he leads cross-country skiing and snowshoeing tours. Sounds like a good gig if you can get it.

We also spent time riding the gondola at the ski hill, skipping rocks, playing shuffle board, swimming (in a pool), eating s’mores, and checking out Gooseberry Falls.

Monday I was supposed to run 9 miles with 4 x 5 minutes at 10K pace. Having never been to Lutsen before, I didn’t really know where to run. I knew there were some trails by the ski hill, including the Superior Hiking Trail, so I just parked at a trail head and started running. Note: it’s pretty hard to run confidently when you are on new trails and you have no idea where you’re going. One minute I was on a nice trail, then all the sudden I was running in wet knee-high grass. When that happened, I turn around and found a different trail. I ventured onto the Superior Hiking Trail only to find it incredibly rocky and rooty (is that a word?). I wasn’t so much “running” as I was doing that high knee tire drill that football players do.

Needless to say, there was no way I was going to manage 4 x 5 minutes at 10K pace. Instead, I managed 9 miles and just tried to run at a moderate pace when I had good footing. Then at the end of the run, I ran up to the top of the hill where the Alpine Slide is located. I would have loved to have a camera with me, but the thought of falling and landing on my camera crossed my mind.

Yesterday we had to check out by 11, so I didn’t want to “waste” time running. I thought I’d do it when I got back home, but I eventually talked myself out of running. I had lots of “good” excuses; 1) it was 8:45 PM by the time I would have started my run and the thought of running, even an easy 5-6 miles, and then getting up at 5 AM didn’t seem too appealing, 2) my hip was sore either from sitting in a car all day, running up ski hills, or kayaking (yeah, having to steer with my legs seemed awkward), 3) I’m used to Pfitz’s program where I was taking one day off per week and I’ve just run 10 days in a row. So I’m easing into fewer days off.

One of the nice things about Brad’s “adaptive” approach to training is that if I miss or change a workout, I’m just adapting to how my body is responding. So I shouldn’t have any guilty feelings.

This morning I ran 10 miles and was able to get in my 4 x 5 minutes at 10K pace.

Quote of the Day;

"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” - Epictetus

BORING POST

We're off to Lutsen for 3 days this morning. Not sure if I'll have internet access, so I thought I'd at least update my latest training.

Thursday I ran 10 miles (8 with Scott), mostly in Hyland Park. The last mile we dropped down to 6:40.

Friday I ran an easy 5 miles with 4 x 8 second hill sprints at the end.

Saturday I joined my regular group for 16 miles. The first 13 were just under 8:00 pace and then I ran the last 3 miles at 6:43 pace.

This morning I ran 8 easy with 6 x 8 second hill sprints.

CAGE THE BLACKBIRD

Just when I thought I wouldn’t have anything to write about today, a red-winged blackbird swooped out of the sky and scared the shit out of me.

This morning I was running an easy 8 miles, minding my own business, listening to my new favorite band - Cage the Elephant - when, all the sudden there was a loud hiss in my ear. Now I’ve had these effin’ birds dive-bomb at me before, but I can’t ever remember having one fly right next to me and hiss in my ear. Just once I’d like to take a tennis racket to one of them. And don’t even get me started on the geese…

I think I’m going to change the “Summer of Chad” to the “Summer of Brad”. Hmm, that’d be SOB – maybe that’s not the best option. I’ll keep thinking about it. In the meantime, here are some more Hudson-isms;

Key sharpening workouts are most effective when they closely simulate the speed and endurance demands of your race.

The aerobic system is only one of two major physiological factors in the running performance equation. The neuromuscular system (stride power, stride efficiency, and fatigue resistance) is the other major factor.

The adaptive running approach to aerobic development is not maximize aerobic development, possibly at the expense of neuromuscular fitness factors and/or specific endurance, but to cultivate just the right level of aerobic support to achieve race goals.

There are three specific jobs you must accomplish in your training to develop the level of aerobic support you need to achieve a peak-race goal. First, you must build and maintain adequate running volume, as average weekly running volume is the strongest influencer of aerobic fitness. Second, you must develop a sufficient level of raw endurance to comfortably cover the distance of your peak race. Third, you must perform workouts that are more and more challenging to your aerobic system as the training cycle unfolds.

I’m pretty confident that my neuromuscular system is pretty much dormant. So I hope there’s a lot of room for improvement. Again, that’s one of the reasons from switching for just a pure mileage goal for the summer. It’s also part of the reason for switching from such programs as Pfitz and Daniels this time around.

Quote of the Day;

"It is hard to fail but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” – Theodore Roosevelt