NEAR THE TOP

16 hours after a nice long run in great conditions I woke up to at least 8 inches of snow (with more still falling) and 20 mpw winds. Luckily I got out of bed early enough that I was able to beat the traffic. There were reports throughout the day of people needing 5 hours to drive 20 miles in western Wisconsin.

This has to rank right up near the top of my all-time worst runs. Of course the trails weren’t plowed, so I was blazing my own path. That got old in a hurry, so I tried the roads. They weren’t plowed well either and I didn’t want to dodge cars in those conditions. Worst of all was the snow being pelted in my face by the strong winds. When I was running northwest, I had to basically run with my eyes closed. You know how you have your eyes open and you blink? I was doing the opposite. I had my eyes shut and I’d open them for a fraction of a second to make sure I was in the middle of the path. After about 20 minutes of this shit I realized I could run back-and-forth under the awning of a strip mall. The sidewalk was clear of snow and the building blocked the wind. It was probably about a 200 meter stretch that I ran over and over for another 12 minutes before calling it a day after 4 “miles.”

I had shoveled the driveway before work, but since it snowed throughout the day it needed to be shoveled after work too. My wonderful wife was just finishing when I got home. Of course, the snow plow can by soon after that, so I had to shovel the end of the driveway again. I haven’t seen the numbers, but I’d guess we got close to a foot of snow. I told my daughter that it’s hard to believe we didn’t have any snow yesterday.

I thought about running again tonight, but with the long run yesterday, shoveling, a workout tomorrow and a race this Sunday, I decided to skip it and make this my easy recovery day.

Quote of the day:
“Everyone is an athlete. The only difference is that some of us are in training, and some are not.” Dr. George Sheehan

RESISTANCE TRAINING

Before someone adds my mileage and tells me I only had 86 miles last week, let me say I forgot to mention that I ran 6 miles on the treadmill Friday night.

My only goal for today’s long run was to get in 3 hours. I didn’t care about the pace, how far I went or picking up the pace towards the end. I just wanted to be on my feet for 3 hours. Within the first 3 steps, I knew it was going to be a good run. My legs felt great and the weather was perfect – 35-40 degrees and fairly calm. Plus enough snow had melted recently that I was finally able to make the local golf course useful again. I ran on it for about 70 minutes before heading to my favorite trails. They weren’t in as poor shape as the ones we tried to run on yesterday, but they weren’t much better either. I’m still trying to figure out if slipping in the mud is better or worse than slipping on the ice.

After about 70 more minutes I headed back to the golf course to finish my run. Earlier in my run there was a hole that had a bunch of golf balls in the fairway, even though no one was around. I thought nothing of it and kept running. As I was nearing the end of my run I decided to pick them up. Luckily I had on a vest that had lot of pocket space for the 47 BALLS I picked up!!! I almost felt guilty, but hey, if you’re lazy enough not to pick up the balls after practicing your “sport,” it’s not my fault.

The only problem now was that I still had 25 minutes left to run and 47 balls weigh a lot. I decided to take my vest off and just run laps around one of the fairways for 15 minutes and then run home. The good news is I felt great for the 15 minutes without the vest. That’s especially good since that was from 2:37 to 2:52 of the run. The remainder of the run home was tough, but I just considered it a new form of resistance training. When I finished, I’d run 3:03 and called it 22 miles.

Quote of the day:
“I don’t train. I just run my 3-15 miles a day.” Jack Foster

RAISE YOUR HAND

Yesterday I mentioned the possibility of running with a bloggerland legend today. Raise your hand if you started your blog because of Alison. I did. Luckily she was in town for the D3 National Indoor meet and things worked out where we were able to meet for a run. Whether she brought along Nelson and Melissa because they wanted to get a run in too or because she was afraid of my psycho killer tendencies, I’m not sure. I can see how some people would be apprehensive about meeting someone that they only know from the internet. However, when you’ve been reading each others blogs for over a year, I’d say you have a pretty good sense of their personality. Besides, if Chelle and Evan survived meeting me, Alison had a good chance too.

Anyway, we had a nice 77-minute run together. We found some trails that would have been awesome, had they not been covered with ice. After slip-sliding for awhile we decided to turn around and finish on the roads. The three of them mentioned something about the local accents, but I’m not sure what they were talking about.

Later in the afternoon I jumped on the treadmill for another 5 miles. My timing turned out to be perfect as the Xterra triathlon championship race was starting just as I turned on the TV. Now that’s something I think I’d love to try. This particular race was at Lake Tahoe and the scenery was incredible. Not sure I’d like competing at 8,000+ feet about sea level, but it sure was cool to watch.

After complaining about missing runs on Wednesday and Thursday, I still finished the week with 92 miles. Given the stairs and marathon paced run during the week, I’ll take it.

Quote of the day:
“Training is principally an act of faith.” Franz Stamfl

FUNKY TOWN

I admit I’ve been in a little funk this week. Not sure if it’s the mileage catching up with me, the addition of hills and stronger runs or just the rainy/cloudy weather. I have this tendency to work on something till it’s about 90% done, then I start looking for the next project. Granted this current project isn’t 90% done, but my base-building is pretty close. After next week I’m going to move into a hill phase. I just have to be careful that I don’t slack off this upcoming week. I can see talking myself into using the week as a taper for my race on the 19th.

I was hoping to get another run in last night, but again, things didn’t go as planned. Last night was the first night of Lambies for Katie. That’s basically a 45 minute class through the church for 2-3 year olds. It’s designed to teach the kids how to sit and listen to stories, do crafts and spend time with a parent. Katie wanted me to take her and I didn’t have a problem with that. We were home early enough (7:30) where I could have jumped on the treadmill for another run. But I didn’t. I laid on the couch and watched CSI.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I’m going to end the week with 25 miles and lose fitness. I should still be around 80-90 miles (depending on whether I skip any more runs or not). It’s just that setting a mileage goal for the week and then skipping a couple of runs can be a real bummer.

This morning I had a nice 7 mile run with Scott. I’m guessing we were running 7:30 pace. So it was more of a moderate paced run the day after a strong aerobic run. If things don’t change in the next 15 hours, I’ll be running a bloggerland “legend.” I don’t want to jinx it by giving away her name, so stay tuned for my next entry.

One follow-up note regarding the heart rate I saw on Wednesday’s recovery run. I got down to 8:06 pace on a treadmill while keeping my HR under 145 bpm. About 2 years ago I performed Hadd’s 2400 meter test on a track. If you’re curious who Hadd is, go to letsrun.com’s message board and search for Hadd. For this test you run 2400 meters at heart rates that are 10 bpm apart with a minute rest between reps. Looking back, I ran;

bpm pace
145 9:20
155 8:27
165 7:38
175 6:53
185 6:08

While I’d love to believe I went from 9:20 pace to 8:06 pace at 145 bpm, I’m skeptical. I wore my HRM again for yesterday’s strong effort and was around 175 while running 6:50s. That’s not very different than the data above. So HRM experts does this seem likely? What does it mean if 9:20 to 8:06 is correct, yet my pace at 175 hasn’t changed? Intuitively, I’d say it means I need to work on bumping up my LT by running more tempo and strong aerobic runs. Probably means I need to put the HRM back in the sock drawer too.

Quote of the day:
“If someone says, ‘Hey, I ran 100 miles this week. How far did you run?’ ignore him! What the hell difference does it make?...The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles.” Bill Bowerman

WHAT I (RE)LEARNED TODAY

I’d like to think that skipping last night’s run allowed me to be wide awake and ready to go at 4:25 this morning – 5 minutes before my alarm was set to go off. I woke up to temps in the mid-30s and practically no wind.

Today I was either going to do a progression run or a marathon pace (MP) workout, depending on how I felt. If I was tired I’d just gradually drop my pace and take whatever came to me. If I felt good, I’d drop my pace quicker and try to hold MP longer.

After a 2 mile warmup I was feeling pretty good, so I started to pick up the pace. It always takes me that first mile to get going, as you can see by my splits;

7:43
7:05
7:00
6:50
6:58
6:45
6:54
6:49
7:08
7:09

I didn’t look at my watch until the 4th mile. That was probably a mistake because when I turned around after the 5th mile I thought I could drop down to 6:40 pace, which is sub-2:55 pace. I ran a decent mile finishing in 6:45, but being off my just 5 seconds messed with my head. I slowed a little the next mile and then regrouped a little for the mile after that. But by the last 2 miles my mind was all over the place. Honestly, I’m surprised I ran 7:08 and 7:09. It felt like I was going 7:30 pace.

Anyway, here’s what I (re)learned today;

Start slower – 14 miles is a long way, there’s plenty of time to pick up the pace. Besides, I’d rather finish feeling strong and build confidence.

Focus on the process not the results – enjoy the act of running “fast” and don’t worry what the watch says. In fact, don’t look at the splits till afterwards.

My mental training has a long way to go – if I can’t pull things together after seeing 6:45 instead of 6:40, I’m in big trouble.

Remember Daws’ comments on marathon effort versus marathon pace – training shoes, bulky clothes, not being tapered, etc. will affect pacing (i.e. 6:40 pace in March doesn’t equal 6:40 pace in June).

With all that said, Grandma’s is still 14 weeks away. Don’t freak out just yet.

Quote of the day:
“Any idiot can train himself into the ground; the trick is working in training to get gradually stronger.” Keith Brantly

KICK, KICK, KICK

That sound you hear is me kicking myself for only running 5 easy miles today. I had every intension of running another easy 5-7 miles this evening, but it didn’t happen. Amy went out with some friends tonight. Not a big deal, but she happened to drive away with the only toy that Katie likes to sleep with – a stuffed Winnie the Pooh. As a result, Katie had a tough time falling asleep. She’s usually sound asleep by 7:30, but tonight she fussed till just after 8. I didn’t want to jump on the treadmill in case I had to run back to her room. By the time 8 o’clock came and went I had already talked myself out of running a second time. Getting up at 4:30 would be hard enough without another run.

As I was talking myself out of running, I was thinking about what Joe Rubio says; “Make your hard days hard and your easy days easy.” Since yesterday was hard and tomorrow will be hard, I shouldn’t beat myself up too much about missing this run. It does reinforce that I need to get up early (even on Wednesdays) and get as much of my running in before work as possible.

Believe it or not I dusted off my heart rate monitor for my easy run today. I was curious to see how fast I could run and still keep my HR under 145. I’ll have to check my old log books but I think I used to run around 8:30-8:40 pace while at 145 bpm. Today I got down to 8:06 pace, so that’s promising.

Quote of the day:
“All the top athletes wake up in the morning feeling tired and go to bed feeling very tired.” Brendan Foster

PFITZ'S PLAN

Just in case this got lost in the comments, I wanted to thank “gh” for finding the link to Pfitz’s plan. I thought his 55 mpw plan was online, but it looks like it’s his 70 mpw plan. I also wanted to make it clear that I didn’t think it’d be a piece of cake for someone running 40 mpw to jump into this plan. It’s doable, but it will require some work. I just wanted to make sure that people are aware that his plan doesn’t call for 18 straight weeks at 55 miles.

I did manage an easy 5 miles over lunch today. This evening I met my training group, as well as the Macalester College men’s team, for a session of stairs. After warming up we ran for 15 minutes on the tower stairs and then ran 15 minutes on the Wabasha Bridge stairs. We were supposed to run another 15-minute set on the Science Museum stairs, but they were blocked off (darn), so we ran a couple of hills. I don’t know why, but I like hills a lot more than stairs. Maybe it’s because you can get into more of a rhythm and you can lift your feet as little as you’d like on a hill. I definitely felt more of a burn on the stairs.

Afterwards we had a pizza party at “The Pit,” which is a room in St. Paul that our coach recently rented. It’ll mainly be for spinning sessions, a place to meet before workouts and wild, crazy drunken parties – at the end of the season, of course.

On the training side of things, I’m getting my miles in. All those places that tend to hurt on runners (knees, Achilles, plantar, ITB, etc) are feeling fine. My main concern is getting enough rest. The one thing that really screws things up is these Tuesday night runs. For a guy that runs the majority of his mileage in the morning, these workouts really make getting up on Wednesdays tough. The Tuesday night runs are also probably the most productive from a training standpoint, so I don’t want to give them up.

On the mental side, I’ve just been practicing my relaxation before bed each night. One of the books says it takes 21 days for it to “kick in.” That’ll be right around my next race. If the relaxation drills don’t put me to sleep I try to visualize me running this race. I was thinking the other day; when I’m doing my relaxation exercises, I think about running, but when I’m running, I’m thinking about relaxing.

Quote of the day:
“There was not a lot to do, and sitting around waiting for your red blood cells to multiply is not the most fascinating of pastimes.” Brendan Foster on summer altitude training at St. Moritz, Switzerland

2006 GOALS

I haven’t run yet today. I plan on getting in 5 over lunch and then 10-12 with hills/stairs this evening. I just had lots on my mind, so I wanted to write this post.

With all the race reports yesterday, somehow I missed Bart’s awesome report from Napa. There’s nothing like a 24-minute PR in tough conditions. Up next: sub-3.

I recently mentioned my friend Casey and his 1,000-mile summer while in college. Well, I had lunch with Casey yesterday. Even though we work a suburb apart, it was the first time I’ve seen him in probably 2 years. And guess what brought us together? I question he had on heart rate monitors. Go figure. After a hiatus from running he started back up on January 1st and has even signed up for Grandma’s. He wanted to know which HRM to buy and I told him he could have one of my old ones – he’d just have to replace the battery. It turns out my new office will be very close to Casey’s house, so maybe we’ll be able to hook up for some training runs in the near future.

Elizabeth recently spelled out her goals for the upcoming season and that’s something I’ve been meaning to do too. Here’s a list of 2006 goals that I’ve come up with so far;

1) PR at Grandma’s.
2) Sub-2:55 at Grandma’s.
3) Focus on high mileage over the summer, rather than racing.
4) Meet one of the Minnesota age-group standards.*
5) Top 2 in my age-group at my alumni race.
6) PR at Chicago.

*Minnesota has a data center that ranks runners in 5-year increments, based on their times at different distances. To be eligible, you have to run a qualifying time. These times have been set, based on how many people historically achieve them. So the more popular distances, like 5k, 8k, 10k and half, will have harder standards, relatively speaking, compared to distances that aren’t raced as frequently, like 12k (only 1 in the whole state), 20k, 25k and 30k. For example, the 35-39 age-group standard for the half is 1:17:45 (5:56 pace) yet the standard for the 20K is only 1:17:00 (6:12 pace).

For my age-group the easiest standards to achieve would be;

30k 2:00:30 (6:28 pace)
20k 1:17:00 (6:12 pace)
15k 56:00 (6:00 pace)
12k 43:40 (5:51 pace)
25k 1:36:15 (6:12 pace)
Marathon 2:48 (6:25 pace)

The hardest would be;

8k 26:55 (5:25 pace)
10k 34:00 (5:28 pace)
5k 16:30 (5:19 pace)

30k, 20k and maybe even 15k seem doable to me – but, again, there are only a handful of races of those distances during the year.

I’m not sure what kind of coverage Kirby Puckett’s death is getting nationally, but in Minnesota it’s a HUGE story. I was still in Wisconsin when he led them to their first championship and in the Navy during the second championship, so I wasn’t around during his prime. From everything I’ve read or heard; he was the most beloved athlete around - by fans, teammates and even opponents. He had a bunch of family members die at a young age and apparently he knew he wouldn’t make it passed 50. He died at the age of 45 after suffering a massive stroke. Even if you’re not a baseball fan and have no idea who Kirby Puckett is, the article I linked above is still worth the time to read.

Quote of the day:
“A goal unwritten is a wish.” Unknown

CONGRATS

Am I the only blogger that didn’t race this weekend? Congrats to everyone that did race over the weekend. I won’t link to all their blogs, but they include Duncan, Seebo, Chelle, Alison, Elizabeth, Curly Su, DaiseyDuc, and Drew. In addition, training partner Jenna made the trek to warmer climes and ran the Sarasota Half Marathon in 1:20:30 to finish 5th OVERALL. She was the first woman by over 7 minutes.

As for my own running, my legs felt really good this morning. I guess keeping the pace easy for two-and-a-half hours yesterday didn’t take a lot out of them. Now did I give up some level of fitness by going “too slow?” Who knows? Sometimes time on your feet is all that matters. Anyway, I managed 10 miles this morning, with the last half at just under 8:00 pace.

On another running note, runningtimes.com used to have a link to Pfitz’s 18-week, 55 mpw program. It looks like they redesigned their site and I can’t find the program any more. That’s probably a good idea since you didn’t really need to buy Pfitz’s book if you had access to that article. Anyway, I was going to post the article to show Ryan (and others) how “easy” the program is. While it says it’s 55 mpw program, that represents the maximum mileage that you top out at. I don’t know off the top of my head, but you probably only reach that amount of miles 2-3 times during the program.

Hmm, it seems like I should have more to write about, but I don’t. Go read some race reports from the weekend.

Quote of the day:
“If you want some thing you’ve never had before – you need to do some things you’ve never done before.” Unknown

TRAINING UPDATE

I haven’t posted in awhile, so I’ll just start with a quick training update.

Friday morning I ran an easy 6 miles. Towards the end of the run I added 4 easy strides. That’s the first time I’ve done strides all winter. That evening I met Mary for another easy 7 around Lake Harriet and down the Minnehaha Parkway.

Saturday Evan and Scott were kind enough to drive to my house at 7:30 AM. After a 2.5 mile warmup we ran a “Zeke certified” 8 mile loop. The idea was to start out at 7:10s and drop to 6:50s. The only problem with this approach is that this is a very hilly loop so it’s hard to compare mile splits. We went through the first (less hilly) half in 28:08 and came back with a 28:28 second half. Not bad considering my legs were fairly flat. A 2.5 mile cooldown gave us 13 for the run.

While that gave me “only” 81 miles for the week, the first 3 days were rather light (only 26 miles). So after Tuesday of this upcoming week, I should be back up around 100 miles for the previous 7 days.

Sunday I ran by myself for 30 minutes before joining my training group for a long run. During the solo section I knew it would be a very easy day, pace-wise, as my legs were really tired. Luckily all the fast runners didn’t show up, so I had no inclination to run fast. I ran with the group and just enjoyed the company. That means I was able to get in the duration I wanted (2:30), but it also means I didn’t get in a lot of distance (17 miles.)

Quote of the day:
“Dead tired. Dog tired. Sore as hell…” Entries from Laura Mykytok’s training diary

1-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Well, it’s been a year since I started this blog. If you haven’t poked around my blog (other than reading my current posts) you’ll find a welcome post as well as some of my history under the “more about me” section off to the right. That’s were you’ll find stuff like how I started running, and what my PRs are, as well as 100 odd things about me – just in case you don’t “know” me well enough yet.

I mentioned that my next race will be an 8K on March 19th. Here’s my report from last year’s race. I thought a lot about this upcoming race during this morning’s workout. I ran 8 x 1 mile with 1 minute rest. During the first 5 miles I imagined that they were miles from the race and I thought about each of the affirmations I mentioned yesterday. On the last 3 reps, I worked on the last 3 affirmations again.

One thing I added to the “when I act ‘as if’ I get a lift” affirmation is the ‘as if’ part. Some books say to act as if you’re winning the race or leading the Olympics, etc. Sometimes I’ll act as if I’m out on a training run with Jenna and we’re cruising along. I’ve even acted as if I were a woman and battling for one of the top-5 or 10 spots overall, rather than being the 100th man. Anyway, this year I’m going to act as if I’m Mark. I don’t Mark personally, only from getting passed by him 3 TIMES last year in 3 separate races.

Mark starts out slow and picks up the pace as the race progresses. Last year he passed me during the 2nd half of this 8K and went on to beat me by 36 seconds. 6 weeks later he beat passed me around the halfway point of a 10K and ended up beating me by 52 seconds. A week later he passed me about 25k into a 30k race and beat me by 1:35. From there he went on to set a huge PR at Grandma’s with a 2:50:35 and then PR’d again at Twin Cities in 2:49:07. This year I plan on acting as if I’m Mark.

Back to my 8 x 1 mile repeats. They were a little slower than I would have liked; starting at 7:15 and working down to 6:45, but not bad. I felt a lot like Mike describes in his post today. The downside about feeling awesome on Tuesday’s hills and having a great workout is that it takes awhile to recover. I want every workout to feel that awesome, but I don’t want to be rested for every workout. With that said, I don’t put too much stock in my times for these workouts. I’m just trying to put in a harder effort and boost my fitness.

Today’s quote probably has little meaning to anyone other than me. One day a few years ago I was doing a tempo run through a residential area, probably running around 6:30 pace. A little boy, maybe 6-8 years old, was playing in his front yard as I ran by and he said this out loud. I still think about it often when I need a pick-me-up.

Quote of the day:
“He’s flying.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

First off, Happy 5th Birthday to my oldest daughter, Kinsey. It’s very hard to believe she’s 5 already. That’s about the age of my oldest memories, so I better watch what I say and do a little more closely from now on.

Today was an easy recovery day. I ended up running twice, 6 miles each time. During the first run I spent a lot of time thinking of various affirmations I want to think about during an 8K I’m running on the 19th. For shorter races I like to have one for each mile, so I came up with 5 for this race;

Mile 1 – “Relax to achieve the max.”
Mile 2 – “Calm and confident, I run great.” (remember from yesterday, “calm” is my cue word)
Mile 3 – “When I act ‘as if,’ I get a lift.” (‘as if’ would be something like acting as if I’m winning the race)
Mile 4 – “I love hills.” (since there’s a gradual uphill during this mile).
Mile 5 – “I’m a well-oiled machine.”

I’m sure all of these will come to mind at various stages during the race. The reason I like to have a new one for each mile is just in case my mind is wondering all over the place, they help re-focus me. I figure if I have positive statements that are pre-planned, it’s harder for negative thoughts to enter and stick around.

I got some good news at work today. We are moving into a new office building that is closer to my house. So, instead of driving 24 miles to work, I’ll drive 18. The new office will have a shower, but no workout facility. Not a big deal, but it was nice having a treadmill at home and at work. I guess that means I’ll have to come up with a bunch of new running routes. Either that or I’ll just run from home since my commute won’t be as long. Probably the biggest bummer is that we won’t have a cafeteria like we have now. Right now we have subsidized lunches. I can eat an entrée with veggies, a side-salad, and usually fruit and cottage cheese for $3.50. I won’t be bringing all that food myself. Overall, the move will be good for me. I was worried they were going to move further away, so I can’t complain.

Quote of the Day:
“I think there’s only one sensible place for a person to be at 5:30 in the morning. That’s in bed. And what am I doing? I’m out running. And I completely hate this.” Derek Clayton, first sub-2:09 marathoner

NEW STANDARDS

I’ve probably mentioned it before, but man what a difference being rested for a workout can make. After taking Saturday off and running 8 easy miles on Sunday and Monday, I felt great for tonight’s hill workout. The last time I ran hills with my training group I was drilled by Jenna, Joyce and Roger. Tonight Jenna was the only one I couldn’t keep up with and Joyce and Roger were a ways behind me, so the workout was definitely a confidence booster for me. The workout included 2 separate half mile-long hills, one steep and one gradual. We ran the steep hill 3 times and the gradual one twice for a total of 10 miles.

Overall, February was a very good month for me. After being on-pace for 0 miles after the first day, I finished with 326 miles on 26 days of running and 37 runs. With the new standards I’ve set recently, my mileage could have been a little higher. It’s amazing what missing one run, especially a long run, will do to a week and even a month. In any case, February was my 2nd highest month ever (behind January) and it was my highest February ever, by 28 miles (a mile a day). Around the middle of the month I started getting away from the little things like lifting, ab work, diet, etc., but did focus more on the mental side. One of my goals for March is to get back to doing the little things, especially the ab work.

No mental stories today. Instead I thought I’d share what I’ve been doing so far – other than reading books. Each night before going to bed, I focus on relaxation. I combine 3 different techniques; deep abdominal breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and cue word relaxation.

I start with the deep abdominal breathing, which basically involves slowly breathing through your nose. First I fill my abdomen, then the middle part of my lungs and finally the upper part of my lungs. Once they’re filled, I’ll hold the breath for 3-5 seconds before gradually exhaling. As I exhale I’ll say the cue word “calm” and focus on the tension releasing from my body. After exhaling I wait another 3-5 seconds before taking another breath.

After about 5 breaths I’ll switch to progressive muscle relaxation where I flex a muscle group, hold it for 15-30 seconds and then gradually release it. As I release the muscles I again say my cue word and really focus on how it feels to be relaxed. I start with my face and then move down my body; shoulders, arms, back, butt, and legs. The idea with the cue word is that it becomes a stimulus for achieving a relaxed state. It creates an association between the cue word and the relaxed feeling. With enough practice, it can be used in competition to become instantly calm.

Quote of the Day:
“Mind is everything: muscle – pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind.” Paavo Nurmi

YOU TOO CAN BE GREAT

Not much to report running-wise today. Since I’m keeping my mileage low for the first few days of the week (and since I run with my training group on Tuesday night) I decided to run at night rather than in the morning. That allows me to sleep in till 6 for a couple of days. So I ran an easy 8 miles on the treadmill tonight while watching mindless sitcoms.

I still haven’t really figured out how I want to approach blogging about mental training. When I read something interesting I’ll probably just post it. Plus I’ll post what my training is like.

I’ll preface this story (from The Total Runner) by saying I have no idea if it’s true or not, but it is a great example of visualization:

Hundreds of years ago in ancient China, a famous, accomplished concert pianist was incarcerated by the opposing fraction for his participation in a regional uprising. After eight years of solitary confinement, he became a free man. Four weeks into his “new” life, he put on a performance that was judged by his peers to have gone beyond anything he had ever done. Amazed by this, they asked how this could be possible having been in an empty cell for so long. He stated that he diligently rehearsed for this concert for hours each day. But there was no piano, they said. His reply was that although they took the instrument, they left the mind: he “felt” the keys; “saw” his hands sliding across them; “heard” the intricate melodies; and “smelled” the perspiration on his body after an arduous “recital.”

Recently I wrote that the “key” to being a successful runner (or anything else) is so surround your self with successful, like-minded people. As much as I’d like to think I came up with that concept, I was browsing through The Competitive Edge last night and came across a section on this topic. The section opens like this;

We are influenced by forces exerted by others, an infinite array of behaviors, of things people do and don’t do, of strokes that sustain us and abrasions that sap our energy. A handshake, a nod, an encouraging word, a piece of true advice, a smile, a compliment, an approving look, a heart-to-heart talk, a cheer, a hug. A frown, a shove, a shun, a word behind your back, a disloyalty, a knock, an insensitive remark, a criticism, a boo, a lie.

I’ve seen runners of extreme talent reduced to cinders and their racing destroyed by the people around them. I’ve also seen runners of little ability buoyed and inspired to great racing by the people around them.

Elizabeth and Curly Su have also posted on this topic recently. So today’s quote of the day is dedicated to them.

Quote of the Day:
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can be great.” Mark Twain

I KNEW IT

I knew it would be tough. I had a lot (for me) going on socially this weekend and I knew it’d be tough to get my mileage in. In fact, I was planning on taking Friday off from work in order to get my long run in. However, since I ended up taking Wednesday off to stay home with the girls; that wasn’t really an option any longer.

Friday morning I was up at 4:30 to get my run in. That evening I went out with some high school friends. We try to get together every 4-6 weeks. Our get togethers usually keep us out to 11 or 12, but once in awhile we’re having a blast and stay out later. After meeting for dinner we happened to go to a bar that had a band I’ve heard goods things about and have wanted to see for awhile - Boogie Wonderland. They were really good and the scenery was awesome too. In addition to all the babes, there were some other interesting characters. My friends and I like to give certain people nicknames so when we reminisce we can simple say “Do you guys remember Aquaman and Great White guy from that time we saw Boogie Wonderland?” Anyway, I didn’t make it home till 1:30 and, as usual, my kids had me up at 6:30.

If this had been a “normal” Saturday, I could have gotten in my long run and then snuck in a nap in the afternoon or gone to bed early. “Unfortunately,” Saturday we celebrated my daughter’s birthday with our families. I swear these kinds of gatherings take more out of me than a 20 mile run. Basically, what turned out to be “I can’t get my long run in” turned into “I’ll take the day off and start my cutback week a day early.”

I ended the week with 78 miles on 8 runs, including a couple of nice strong aerobic run. So I won’t beat myself up too much. I do need to make sure I start to get in some 20+ mile runs though, and I’ll use this as motivation.

With my “low” mileage for the week, I’m not going to take a full calendar week for a cutback week. I’m going to back off for the first few days of the week and then build back up. Backing off included an easy 8 miles on the treadmill today. With the day off, my legs felt great and I dropped the pace to 7:30s toward the end. I was hoping to watch the men’s 50k x-c ski race during this run, but they didn’t air that race until the evening. Not sure if anyone else watched it, but it was awesome. Those guys make it looks so easy. Speaking of x-c skiing, congrats to everyone that raced the Birkie (North America’s largest x-c ski marathon) over the weekend. I’m tempted to do it next year.

Quote of the Day:
“The fact that I am able to settle down and physically and mentally relax is one of my greatest strengths. It is something every athlete should seek.” Rob deCastella

SIMPLE QUESTION

How does Sasha Cohen fall on her FIRST jump last night? Tell me that's not mental.

SIMPLE EXAMPLE

I was going to address relaxation today, but Miler raised some good points with his comments yesterday and I wanted to address them. While it seems the author took some liberties, I do see his book as more than a “pep talk.” I believe, with practice, I can improve things like relaxation, visualization skills, ability to focus, positive imagery, etc., which will lead to better running and faster times.

In fact, I know these things work because I used them effectively in college. During winter break of my sophomore year I read The Competitive Edge and practiced my mental skills. That indoor track season, without any change in training, I was doing workouts with guys that had been drilling me during cross country. I went on to set PRs at 3K and 5K.

Here’s another simple example that shows, if nothing else, that just being more aware of your mental state can help. Tuesday night (before this new focus) I was running hills with my training group and (I’m ashamed to mentioned this) I verbalized that I was a terrible hill runner. Wednesday I was thinking about this during my run and I realized I’m not a terrible hill runner. I might not be the fastest, but I’m strong. I don’t get tired, which allows me to recover quicker than other runners. So now when I run hills I don’t think “I’m terrible,” I think “I’m incredibly fucking strong” (f-bomb added for emphasis).

Today’s run gave me a chance to practice some of my mental skills. I ran a 12 mile strong aerobic workout that included 4 x 2 miles with a minute jog in between. The first two were into a slight wind. Looking at the times (14:59, 13:57, 13:34, 13:52), it’s obvious that it takes me awhile to get going in the morning. This reaffirms what I learned last year at Grandma’s. Even though I hit the first mile right where I wanted to be, it felt like I was pushing too hard, too soon. I’ll keep that in mind for this year. I’d rather use the first 2-3 miles as a warmup, even if it means being 1 minute slower than my goal time.

Some of the things I tried to practice today included staying as relaxed as possible by using a cue word (which I’ll talk more about during the relaxation post), acting as if I’m running with someone, and trying to hold onto a thought as long as possible. This last one is tougher than it sounds. Next time you go for a run try thinking about just one thing, like your breathing, stride, arm swing, etc. for as long as possible. It’s amazing how quickly other thoughts flood your mind and you won’t even realize it. One minute I’m focused on my stride rate, the next I’m thinking about emails I need to send, my next blog entry, how much Sasha Cohen looks like an elf, etc. - just random thoughts zipping around my head.

I believe if I can hone those skills in the next 4 months, I’ll have a better shot of reaching my goal at Grandma’s. The last thing I want is to put in all this training, only to screw the pooch on race day because I left the mental aspect to chance.

Quote of the Day:
“The deepest personal defeat suffered by human beings is constituted by the difference between what one was capable of becoming and what one has become.” Ashley Montagu

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK

That sound you hear is me STILL knocking after mentioning not getting sick in yesterday’s post. The first thing Amy did after arriving home from work was throw up. She said she felt better after that, so I went for my run. Upon returning she said she threw up 2 more times. Then she proceeded to sleep for the next 12 hours. It’s “interesting” that the 3 people in our family that got the flu shot have all been sick. Not sure if the flu shot has any affect on the 24-hour bug or not.

Not sure if just mentioning mental toughness was enough or if other factors like running later in the day, warmer (35 degrees) temps, etc. were involved, but I had a great run last night. After taking Bailey for a mile, I proceeded to run a new “10 mile” loop in 71 minutes. This is the same loop I ran in 84 minutes last weekend when the windchill was minus 17. It might be a little short, but not much considering I ran the last 4 (certified) hilly miles into a headwind in 28:40. The 4 miles before that were mostly downhill with a gentle tailwind. In any case, it was a nice run. The pace was very similar to my last marathon-paced workout, but this time it just felt like a quick training run, not some special workout that I had to get pumped up to run.

While at home yesterday, I took the opportunity to start re-reading The Total Runner: A Complete Mind-Body Guide to Optimal Performance by Dr. Jerry Lynch. He’s also the author of Running Within and Thinking Body, Dancing Mind. Reading some of the statements below, it’s hard not to get excited about the possibilities;

1. Most people rarely utilize more than 10 percent of their physical and mental capabilities.
2. Elite athletes invariably state that 80-90 percent of their performance is attributed to their level of mental fitness.
3. Belief in limits creates limited people…both history and experimental data show that humans possess vastly larger capabilities than those they now use.
4. Don’t limit yourself in any way. Let go of the past. Get off your beliefs. Give yourself the space to become everything that you are capable of being. You are the only one that can fulfill your imagined potential.
5. Being mentally strong is a learned behavior. The more you practice with the mind, the easier it becomes and the better you will get.
6. The inner powers you discover are not new; you already possess them – you just habitually fail to use them.
   

I could go on-and-on, but I think this story sums things up nicely.

Prior to Roger Bannister breaking the 4-minute mile, over 50 reputable medical journals throughout the world claimed that such speed by a human was not only impossible, but unthinkable. Once Bannister transcended that “limit,” the sub-4 mile became commonplace as over 50 athletes mimicked his performance over the next 18 months. Once Bannister lifted the barrier other athletes could mentally “see” that it was possible.

Quote of the Day:
“Beliefs are limits to be examined and transcended.” John Lilly

NEW FOCUS

I think one of the most amazing things this winter is that I haven't gotten sick (knock on wood). Kinsey had the stomach flu a week ago and Katie had it last weekend. She still has loose stools (I guess it's technically not diarrhea unless she's going 5 times a day) so I'm home from work today, along with Kinsey.

Last night I ran for 75 minutes with my training group. The run wasn't as fast as I would have liked, but we did run 4 or 5 nice hill repeats. I suppose if I want to go faster I have to run better on the hills and stay up with the leaders.

A few things have inspired me to change the focus of my blog a little bit. No, I'm not talking about changing from quantity to quality or changing to 5Ks or ultras. I'm talking about focusing on the mental side of the sport. Mike Platt's article that I posted the other day got me thinking. Then Curly Su's post got me thinking some more.

We hear how important the mental aspect is all the time. But what do we do about it? Do you think Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods just turn it on and off whenever they want? Or do you think they practice their mental skills? I'd say the latter. And if it's good enough for Michael and Tiger, it's good enough for me.

I know these skills can be improved with practice and I know I should do them, but I rarely do. Why? Probably because it's hard to see them working. It doesn't feel like I'm doing anything. And there's not enough time in the day already. I'm going to use this blog to help "force" me into practicing my mental skills. I have a bunch of books on the topic that I'm going to re-read and I'll share what I re-learn here.

So with this post being about kids and mental fortitude, today's quote of the day is actually a poem by children's author Shel Silverstein. If I teach my children only one thing, I hope this is it.

LISTEN TO THE MUSTN'TS

Listen to the MUSTN'TS, child,
Listen to the DON'TS
Listen to the SHOULDN'TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me -
Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be.

SPEAKING OF RACES

I don’t have much to report since my main run isn’t until this evening. I ran an easy 5 miles this morning.

I filled out by Chicago Marathon entry form yesterday and will get it in the mail this week. It looks like it’ll work out very well because Amy is off from work, the week leading up to the race. So we’ll be able to head to Chicago early and hang out for a few days.

Speaking of races, I’m debating when my next race will be. I was planning on holding off until April because I thought it would help keep me from peaking too soon. But my favorite (non-marathon) race of the year is an 8k on March 19th. I’m sure Lydiard would scold me for not being patient, but that’s alright – I can live with that. I asked Mike about this awhile ago and he suggested running at 7/8th effort to help keep from peaking too early. I like that idea.

Right now I’m trying to hold my mileage in the 90-100 mile range for another week before cutting back. That’ll give me 3 solid weeks in a row. My legs feel fine, but getting out of bed has been difficult this week. Even with 8 hours of sleep last night, I didn’t want to get out of bed.

I thought today’s quote of the day would tie nicely to recent posts by Mike and Eric.

“Running was never anything natural to me. It took a long time for me to be able to run well, and I still don’t look very good doing it. I had to do 30 and 35 mile runs in order to get my body attuned to running marathons, or I would just die off at 20 miles. Tenacity was my only gift.” Kenny Moore