Pull-ups: 36 today / 919 June
Push-ups: 175 today / 4,207 June
It looks like I’m roughly where I need to be mid-way through Week 4 of the 18 week plan. Today’s 7 miles at marathon goal pace was on target, with the distance taking 51:43. That comes to a 7:23/M pace, which is actually about 5 seconds per mile faster than what I’m shooting for in St. George. And, while I did this run on the treadmill, I wanted an honest test so I chose a random “course” that interspersed about 3 miles with incline of 2-3%. In St. George, in contrast, most miles will actually have a slight decline so hopefully that will help me stay on pace as my energy starts to go later in the race.
Pull-ups: 72 today / 883 June
Push-ups: 225 today / 4,032 June
No run today, as planned. Upped the pull-ups and push-ups a bit and threw in some core for good measure. I expected my legs to be tired after yesterday but didn’t feel it much this morning. My shoulders and chest, on the other hand, feel pretty shredded every morning now but once I ease into the day I find that the strength training isn’t a problem.
Tomorrow is a 7M pace session should be a good challenge. Halfway rested, 7 miles at marathon pace wouldn’t (or at least shouldn’t) be particularly taxing. With yesterday’s 4+ hour run, preceded by 6M on Monday and 7M (including the mile repeats) on Sunday, and I’m not exactly race fresh. But that’s the idea – running for increasing distances at marathon pace on tired legs may be the best way to simulate how I’ll feel 15 or 18 or 22 miles into the actual race. If I can’t hold 7M at race pace at this point in the training, I’m probably doing something wrong. That said, nothing is a given and I don’t expect the workout to be a breeze. If key workouts didn’t come with a little bit of uncertainty, a sense that I’d be genuinely testing my fitness and progress, there’s hardly be any reason to do them at all.
Pull-ups: 36 today / 811 June
Push-ups: 166 today / 3,807 June
Breaking from my training schedule, I headed out for a 7am start on the Riverplace Nature Trail. Andres had already completed the first of his planned 4 out-and-backs on the nearly 6-mile-long trail. I was out for a shorter 16 mile session so Andres (who is training for a series of ultras culminating in the Rocky Raccoon 100 Miler in February) already had over an hour of hard running completed when I joined him.
Despite the relative break in the heat, with highs down from 105+ over the last week, it was already in the 80s and super humid by 7am. By the end of the run it was in the mid-90s. I’ve done very little training in the heat so far in 2011 so it took a lot out of me, as did the terrain. From what I’ve read, the round-trip for the trail sees about 3000 feet of elevation change. I don’t know how accurate that it but it is almost always going up or down, usually with logs creating steep and sometimes winding stairs right across the hills and ridges, with large stones spanning the (currently bone dry) creek beds.
Here’s one such stretch of the logs:
Between the heat and the constant climbing and descending, our pace was slow. Very slow. I don’t typically stop my watch for breaks (to pee, refuel, adjust this and that) but still the total elapsed total time we were together seems ridiculously long. I totaled right about 17M on my Garmin, though it may have been marginally longer since the GPS sometimes cuts the distance across a switchback. Either way, over 4 hours for 17 miles seems absurd but it felt like the effort of an easy marathon on a cool day. The trail sign says a single round trip hike for “a person of average fitness” should take about 3 hours so doing 3 such trips – in sauna-like weather – in 4 hours allows for some perspective.
It really is a beautiful and interesting trail. Last time out there we saw a coyote about 20 feet away (that’s really close for a coyote) and today I ran across a snake. By that I mean to say that I ran directly over a snake – bottom of shoe directly across its back with my full weight. I didn’t even notice but I did see it slither away after Andres pointed it out.
Here’s another photo that gives some sense of the endless look of the stairs. It is like this for miles in both directions, with more runnable stretches linking them up.
At about end of the third “out,” roughly 14 miles in for me, we decided to pop out into the neighborhood, as we were overheating and running low on water (which we had been replenishing at our cars at the other end of the trail). With 3 hard miles left and the heat and fatigue, we wisely opted to venture forth into Riverplace (an upscale neighborhood where sweaty, dirty, shirtless guys may or may not be appreciated walking up to front doors unannounced) in seek of a hose. No answer at the first house was as good as permission so we hosed down, refilled, and were on our way back.
Andres was dealing with leg cramps (it is really hard to get enough salt and hydration in those conditions and he had been running for an hour longer than me) but we continued to push the pace on the final return of the morning. He did great and I felt reasonably good, though I’m not sure that would have been the case with another 6 miles on my legs at that point. We ran it in pretty hard with something that felt like (but wasn’t much of) a sprint to the cars.
Other than being generally worn out and dehydrated, it was a good training run. Perhaps a bit more than might be ideal for this point in my marathon build-up but it is always good suffering with a friend. After a recovery shake, nap, and an avocado-and-eggs-on-sprouted-grain-bread-with-salsa-special, I found the energy to crank out the pushing and pulling of the day. And do dishes, laundry, get in some legitimate work, swim with Sagan, and get dinner started. Good times.
Pull-ups: 39 today / 775 June
Push-ups: 200 today / 3,641 June
Just an easy 6M and a bit of core work today. But, due to a major guilt trip from running buddy Andres, who is running 24M on hilly trail tomorrow, I’m switching things around some this week. I had planned on 16M on Friday but I’m instead going to head out tomorrow morning with Andres because otherwise I’ll have to listen to him telling me “but I’ll be so lonely” and “we haven’t run together for weeks” and all that. Really, I’m looking forward both to the trails, which I’ve been foregoing in favor of the treadmill lately, and the companionship during a few hours in the heat and dirt.
The plan is now for me to meet up with him an hour or so into his run and just hang on for 16-18 miles. Since he’s quicker than me, especially when running for “just” a few hours, I’ll likely suffer more than I’d otherwise choose to on this kind of workout. But, it isn’t like my self-crafted training plan is precision science and going a little harder or longer than originally planned isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’m not looking for any sort of red-line effort but the heat, hills, and distance will be yet another good test.
Pull-ups: 36 today / 736 June
Push-ups: 100 today / 3,441 Jun
Mile repeats have become a key weekly workout since starting the St. George Marathon build-up and I expect this to be a trend for the next few months. They may not always be my favorite but I feel like they give me the most quality of any of my workouts, at least they have in the first three weeks of the program I’m following. And they certainly give me a great snapshot of my fitness and performance.
Today I was able to knock of 4 X 1M, with each mile completed in 6:22. That is, I’m pretty sure, the first time I’ve ever strung together 4 miles at that sort of pace, either in training or a race. Of course, I included the planned 3 minute walk rest between each mile but I felt good on each rep and I’m pretty sure I could have gotten in at least one or two more without suffering too greatly. The workout, including warm-up and cool-down, was right at 7 miles and I finished feeling good enough to get in some of the daily push-ups and pull-ups.
—
Why I heart treadmills. (See sexy pic of mine below – that might be enough to explain the attraction.)
I’ve mentioned more than once that I am a somewhat rare runner who really likes treadmill training. It feels almost a like a dirty secret and I’m more apt to talk with fellow runners about my great adventure-packed times on trails or epic long runs that have, from time to time, included more than one municipality. The truth is, though, that whether long runs (I’ve done up to 30M), hard repeats/intervals, or “hill” work, I feel comfortable on a short moving indoor track. That’s not to say that the workouts are usually easy. They aren’t. But the controlled, measurable environment helps me focus on getting what I need from the workouts, especially when it is 105 (or 5) degrees out. Some folks think that treadmills are boring or don’t allow the runner to push himself as hard physically or mentally. None of that is true, at least in my experience.
First, the boredom factor. That’s rarely an issue for me in any area of life – I just don’t bore easily. But on the treadmill I get the benefit of being alone, either with my thoughts or, more often, a world of entertainment I’d otherwise miss. Since I’m not a huge t.v. watcher outside of training hours it is my chance to settle in for triathlon or road racing or track and field coverage, or MMA, poker, or my personal recent favorite, back-to-back-to-back-to-back episodes of The World of Adventure Sports.
Now, onto the “runners need toughness that treadmills don’t provide” argument. There’s nothing easy or soft about running mile repeats on a treadmill. Or hill repeats. Or running for 6 hours. Unlike running on the roads or trails, treadmills don’t know if my legs are tired or if my drive is low and, therefore, keep me on pace without allowing me to slowdown without acknowledging a breakdown in will power, which I’m less likely to do if it takes a deliberate action like hitting the “speed down” button. And, for better or worse, the treadmill I use most doesn’t include declines in typical programs. So, unlike the relative break of running the downhills outside, virtually all of my treadmill miles are flat-to-uphill, which has made me stronger on all terrains.
Of course, I admit that treadmill-only training isn’t ideal. I still absolutely love forest and mountain and canyon trails and, to a lesser extent, hitting the road when the course is interesting or at least new. And the treadmill can somewhat soften one to the elements, beat the body up more than trail, and mess with one’s ability to learn the feel of proper pacing (or running in anything other than a metered, straight-forward treadmill cadence). But, I am able to appreciate my treadmill time for what it is while still enjoying the different aspects of running in varied conditions outside. But for you treadmill haters: my time on the treadmill has made me faster, improved my endurance, and is (almost) always time I enjoy. That’s good enough for me, even if it does make me feel just the tiniest bit less like a “real” runner.
Pull-ups: 36 today / 700 June
Push-ups: 166 today / 3,341 June
There’s this guy in Austin with whom I’ve competed in at least 16 races. His name is Scott Birk and, according to Athlinks.com (where our race results are collected), I am 0-16 in head-to-head competition with Scott. Athlinks automatically determines likely “rivals” and he has been at the top of “my” list for quite some time.
While I don’t know Scott personally, he has impressed and inspired me. Not only is he 12 years older (though by looking at us many might expect our ages to be reversed), he is an enormously big, strong guy. I’m talking 16-inch biceps kind of big. Well over 6′ and probably 220lb+. And solid. You just don’t see runners that big very often. And certainly not guys running as fast, as far, and as often as Scott. Somehow he does it all with a good attitude and grinds out the training miles year in, year out, while juggling a full time job and family. I mean, look at this guy:
I recently referenced Scott in a conversation with ultra-running-guru-friend Olga Varlamova. While I struggle to get marginally quicker while fighting to not lose too much weight, this guy just effortlessly flies by me in every race carrying at least 50 extra pounds of lean muscle. Some guys have it all and the rest of us just work as best we can with our limited talent. That’s what I was lamenting a couple weeks ago.
Scott died this past Monday when he was hit by a car while crossing the street out on a training run, within walking distance from my neighborhood. He is, appropriately, being mourned and celebrated. A recent interview with Scott was released for the first time yesterday. I could relate to Scott’s pride in his wife’s running, as each mile Alison runs means more to me than most of my races. The part about Scott helping his son with his middle-school cross-country running really tore my heart out.
While mulling over the enormity of his family’s loss I was able, at least for a little while, to not give a shit about hitting my next PR or how many runners are faster than me or if I’ll have a chance to run Boston or my first 100M or R2R2R or whatever else. I just wanted to wrestle-snuggle with Sagan, and he didn’t mind a bit. When he falls asleep in the next few minutes, I’ll have some time to sit on the couch and watch mindless t.v. with Al. That sounds perfect.
Come tomorrow, I’ll hopefully be eager for hitting my mile repeats hard. I think I might just have some extra motivation to see what I can do and a hard running day sounds like a good idea. But, if I don’t, that’s ok, too. A 6:45 mile or even a missed workout doesn’t seem quite so catastrophic right now.
Too often in recent months I’ve been reminded how fortunate we are to be doing anything we enjoy. Being able to run is something I’ve never taken for granted but there are a lot of other things that I think we’d all do well to appreciate more than we do. I’m sure going to try. Here in Austin on a scorching hot Father’s Day Eve I’m going to go put a pull-up on my sleeping son and give thanks for the opportunity to do so.
Pull-ups: 30 today / 664 June
Push-ups: 175 today / 3,175 June
10 miles is a good distance. Though technically my “long” run of the week, it is short enough to squeeze in whenever, rather than having to plan the day around it. It is long enough to feel like some real work was done but short enough to leave me with plenty of energy for the rest of the day. I got it done on a treadmill at a hotel gym in Orlando on the last full day of my non-Disney vacation. The first 7 miles were split up a couple times by pull-up breaks, which I decided to intersperse with the running since the treadmill’s kill switch button was situated in such a way (right in front at hip level) that I literally ran into it a couple of times. Since hitting that emergency button required a complete restart, I ran the 10 miles in a few chunks. All of it was on a gentle “rolling hills” program, and I was disciplined enough to stay nice and slow the first 7 miles, progressively speeding up until I hit just above 7-minute/M pace at the end.
The push-ups and pull-ups are becoming quite a chore. And for a guy who is almost always eager to fold some more laundry or wash a few more dishes, let it be clear that I’m using the word “chore” in its more generally accepted, largely negative, connotation for all the pushing and pulling. 17 days in and I continue to wake up sore every single day.
Pull-ups: 42 today / 614 June
Push-ups: 175 today / 2900 June
Yesterday I had a good 5 miler “downhill” on a treadmill that I jacked up the the back with a few towels. Pretty ghetto looking and the others at the resort gym were clearly kind of confused. Reading that last sentence back I realized that (1) nobody probably worries about simulating a negative grade for training runs in any actual ghetto and, (2) treadmills are far more common in resorts than in ghettos.
I just kinda nailed that workout. 4 X 1M repeats, the first 3 at 6:31/M, the 4th at 6:22/M. None felt too tough and rather than recovering from the 4th I went right into another mile at 7:24/M (marathon pace). I felt strong throughout and am a bit relieved that Thursday’s poor session seems to have been just an off day, rather than an indication of bigger problems. I’m not sure if I’ve found the right speed to run these, as I want to push myself but still be able to manage the pace as the reps increase over the summer.
There is a rather strong correlation between the quality of my workouts and the availability of inspiring content on the DVR. Today was coverage of Track & Field at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York. Watching these pros (and even some amateurs) running so fast actually makes it easier for me. I mean, the guys running the 5000 meters in something like 4:20/M somehow really makes it easier for me to ignore the pain I’d otherwise feel during my 6-something/M repeats. Similarly, nothing like Ironman or a major marathon coverage to make a long run on the treadmill feel like I’m kicking back on the couch.
Pull-ups: 36 today / 519 June
Push-ups: 175 today / 2350 June
Running on long, seemingly endless roads in blowing sleet is hard. 17 miles of solo hill repeats is hard. Racing in blowing sand is hard. Hours of trudging through hip-deep snow in the mountains, unsure of how to get back and out of food is really hard. And so is heading into a 50M run when it is 8 degrees out. But nothing takes as much out of me as heat, specifically the relentless, humid, blazing heat of Austin in the summer. It isn’t so bad for hanging out at the pool or on the lake or in the shade with a margarita or three but it is a lot like punishment for endurance athletes. Luckily I have (1) learned to love the treadmill and, (2) been able to find a way to get to higher elevation to escape some of the most brutal parts of the year.
Below is the forecast for the week, right from my iPhone. By my quick calculations, we can expect it to be approaching 200 degrees here sometime in September.
Kind of Like Fun 