The quest for success is also a funny thing. What you perceive as success one minute, would be old news the next, and then whats next. I think about this concept all the time. I love the journey. Mostly when I talk to other runners who are successful they also enjoy the journey. Coaches are bathed in the journey. Putting one foot in front of the other, asking yourself what can I do today to be better for tomorrow and then next day you do the same thing. It is the 4th straight year of developing this mindset with regard to running. I cruised this week because it was a recovery week and I felt outstanding. The pace was "easy" all week and I was faster then I have ever been. Funny. Here is how my week went:
Monday-Off
Tuesday-Hill repeats. I ran the same course as last week but added 2 more repeats. They are 1/2 mile on and 1/2 mile off. I did 4. My goal was to have an easy 1.5 to the hill, hill X 4, 1 mile cool down. Each hill I wanted under 8:00. I was fired up for this run and I could not hold myself back on the warm up. That was 8:45 pace. Then I hit the hill at 7:45, 7:50, 8:20 (brain fart), and 8:02. Then 9:15 as a cool down. 6 miles total. At lunch so it was still hot. I was happy about this. The 3rd repeat I just thought I was going the right speed and I wasnt. I mentally checked out. I got it back on the 3rd one.
Wednesday-Easy progression run. It was supposed to easy. I couldnt hold myself back. It was not what I wanted but I was out there and feeling awesome. It was supposed to be an hour and I wanted to progress each 20 min chunk. I ran with the faster group and I wanted to see if I could hang with them. Here are the splits: 9:52, 9:32, 8:19, 8:20, 8:24, 8:48. I decided not to push it since I was supposed to be recovering. I felt awesome.
Thursday-Rest
Friday-Shakeout, easy run. KD and I decided to turn a shakeout run we do when the girls do their pregame run into a scambling event. Then we finished up 3 more miles. My watch says I went 4 miles but I must have went a 1/2 mile up. It was a blast. Easy 4.
Saturday-Race and travel day, no running.
Sunday-I wanted 7 easy miles. The route was the 6 tunnels route. I went "easy" and was able to run it without walking and even close to walking. Even in the end of July I could not do that. Today was 6 minutes faster than the last time I ran this and I wasnt even pushing at all. I ran the hills, I felt amazing. I was thinking about whether or not the difference is physical, emotional or what. Its both. I was just cruising today and it was 9:15 average. Awesome weather, great run, and so happy about it.
Tomorrow-12 miles. Long run. Looking forward to it.
Stats: If all miles are complete tomorrow it will be 37 miles. Weekly mileage goal was 35. Specialty run was not accomplished but the overall week went well. approximately 180 miles in the last 30 days. By far and away my biggest month of running. Quote:
"You must give up the person you used to be, to become the person you want to be"
Les Brown (something close to that)
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Seeing things through new eyes....
Since last weeks post was about my lack of racing and yet I continue to be surrounded by racers, I could not wait to watch the Ironman world championship online. Ya see this is my dream race. The start of my triathlon career was to just to see if I could. One step in front of the other and here I am. Where is that? No mans land but progressing at an alarming rate. I spend A LOT of time talking about developing runners. Developing fitness, developing running programs. One thing I never saw before was the patience the racers at Kona have experienced. I am nearly 5 years into my endurance life, these guys are 3-4 times that. karl and I have talked about this but it is glaring at me now. Karl is 3 times that and of course he is much faster, recovers easier, and can do any race any day. Bg shout out to Karl for his second place finish this weekend. Way to go dude.
I watched this race from different eyes. I can see a whole bunch more things that I didnt see before. These coaching eyes saw these athletes from a different perspective. The racing tactics, fitness, and performance they demonstrated was now not so foreign to me. I watched this race and got so fired up. I know that if I keep my head on straight, I keep training right and healthy I will be there. I have in the past thought that since I was starting so far back that I just dont have it in my to do that. Thats not fair. I have to be patient. I have to develop into this caliber of athlete. Boston? That is doable too. I thought after my first marathon that it would never happen. That is part of my old life. My new life says, if the fitness I have right now is possible for a 1:15 min PR in one training cycle, why not over time shave the rest? I have a long way to go but now I understand better what I am doing. This has only doubled a hundred times, so will it continue to double? Im sure. I dont have all the answers but I can see how this progression goes. It would be easy to say with no biking or swimming, how can my triathlon skills be developing? Well my fitness is so fluid right now. It is moving the right direction. I feel like I get better every week. Here is how I got better this week:
Monday-Off
Tuesday-Hill repeats. I ran 1.5 miles to a hill, I did 0.5 up/0.5 down X 2 with a 1.5 mile cool down. 5 mile total. The up was an average of 7:52 and the second was 7:45. The hill gains 100 ft in that 0.5 miles. I felt very strong. The weather was perfect, my rhythm was strong. I definitely need to do more reps of these.
Wednesday-Easy 4.
Thursday-8 mile progression run. I was pumped for this workout. I wanted to see what I could put on the last part of the run. I was wondering how fast that last mile could be if I was able to keep myself even. Here are my splits: 9:59, 9:13, 9:03, 9:15, 8:50, 8:52, 8:34, and 8:18. With hills and keeping myself back i feel very strong about this result. I stayed back, I went fast when I wanted to, and I felt totally in control. When I do this again I think the plateaus can be faster.
Friday-Long Run. I was disappointed in last weeks long run. I wanted to redeem that. I also want to know what this marathon pace should be. The goal today was simple. Keep it as even as possible around 9:45. I averaged 9:46 through all 16 miles, 2:38. This is by far my best long run. I was in control, I did not have any issues. I started to get a little tired at the end and the effort to run close to 9:45 was much harder but I got through it. Karl will want splits so here they are: 9:40, 9:51, 9:45. 9:49, 9:30, 9:41, 9:38, 9:24, 9:59, 9:55, 10:38, 9:57, 9:56, 10:18, 10:25, and 9:52. The hills are hard to avoid around the house. I wasnt even that tired or sore. I felt very good about this workout. No pain, no musculoskeletal issues. I had a little water but nothing else. No nutrition issues. Sully ran 10 his longest run.
Saturday-I had to run with the cross country team. I just wanted to go easy. There isnt anything easy about Mt. Charleston. I forgot my watch but I figure I went 8. It was snowy, cold, and awesome. It was a great workout for the team and I enjoyed the surroundings. 8 miles total.
Sunday-Again, I had to run. I ran 4 miles easy. Out and back 4 miles.
Stats: 45 miles total. I got my 8 mile progression, my long 16 miler in, and my weekly mileage goal. Overall, a great week. If every week went like this everyone would run. I know that the good weeks make the bad weeks tolerable so I am in check. I am happy but not satisfied. Quote:
“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be”
George Sheehan quotes
In my case, athlete. become the athlete I was meant to be
I watched this race from different eyes. I can see a whole bunch more things that I didnt see before. These coaching eyes saw these athletes from a different perspective. The racing tactics, fitness, and performance they demonstrated was now not so foreign to me. I watched this race and got so fired up. I know that if I keep my head on straight, I keep training right and healthy I will be there. I have in the past thought that since I was starting so far back that I just dont have it in my to do that. Thats not fair. I have to be patient. I have to develop into this caliber of athlete. Boston? That is doable too. I thought after my first marathon that it would never happen. That is part of my old life. My new life says, if the fitness I have right now is possible for a 1:15 min PR in one training cycle, why not over time shave the rest? I have a long way to go but now I understand better what I am doing. This has only doubled a hundred times, so will it continue to double? Im sure. I dont have all the answers but I can see how this progression goes. It would be easy to say with no biking or swimming, how can my triathlon skills be developing? Well my fitness is so fluid right now. It is moving the right direction. I feel like I get better every week. Here is how I got better this week:
Monday-Off
Tuesday-Hill repeats. I ran 1.5 miles to a hill, I did 0.5 up/0.5 down X 2 with a 1.5 mile cool down. 5 mile total. The up was an average of 7:52 and the second was 7:45. The hill gains 100 ft in that 0.5 miles. I felt very strong. The weather was perfect, my rhythm was strong. I definitely need to do more reps of these.
Wednesday-Easy 4.
Thursday-8 mile progression run. I was pumped for this workout. I wanted to see what I could put on the last part of the run. I was wondering how fast that last mile could be if I was able to keep myself even. Here are my splits: 9:59, 9:13, 9:03, 9:15, 8:50, 8:52, 8:34, and 8:18. With hills and keeping myself back i feel very strong about this result. I stayed back, I went fast when I wanted to, and I felt totally in control. When I do this again I think the plateaus can be faster.
Friday-Long Run. I was disappointed in last weeks long run. I wanted to redeem that. I also want to know what this marathon pace should be. The goal today was simple. Keep it as even as possible around 9:45. I averaged 9:46 through all 16 miles, 2:38. This is by far my best long run. I was in control, I did not have any issues. I started to get a little tired at the end and the effort to run close to 9:45 was much harder but I got through it. Karl will want splits so here they are: 9:40, 9:51, 9:45. 9:49, 9:30, 9:41, 9:38, 9:24, 9:59, 9:55, 10:38, 9:57, 9:56, 10:18, 10:25, and 9:52. The hills are hard to avoid around the house. I wasnt even that tired or sore. I felt very good about this workout. No pain, no musculoskeletal issues. I had a little water but nothing else. No nutrition issues. Sully ran 10 his longest run.
Saturday-I had to run with the cross country team. I just wanted to go easy. There isnt anything easy about Mt. Charleston. I forgot my watch but I figure I went 8. It was snowy, cold, and awesome. It was a great workout for the team and I enjoyed the surroundings. 8 miles total.
Sunday-Again, I had to run. I ran 4 miles easy. Out and back 4 miles.
Stats: 45 miles total. I got my 8 mile progression, my long 16 miler in, and my weekly mileage goal. Overall, a great week. If every week went like this everyone would run. I know that the good weeks make the bad weeks tolerable so I am in check. I am happy but not satisfied. Quote:
“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be”
George Sheehan quotes
In my case, athlete. become the athlete I was meant to be
Sunday, October 2, 2011
No Racing is Killing Me....
As a coach I prepare my athletes to run. As a PT I help my patients to run/perform. Usually I have a steady dose of one race after the next, one stepping stone to the next. I do not have that right now. Although I am on the clock with the Las Vegas Marathon. It is months away. While I prepare for this race I am running very well. I am dying to see where I am. I am dying to see what my goal for Las Vegas should be. When I started all this I read that 4:30 was the cut off. That would be a 50 min PR. Can I go faster than that? What does my fitness say right now? Here is how my week went.
Monday-Rest
Tuesday-Preview the race course. I ended up with 5 miles. 3 miles under 8:20. The details have been fuzzy.
Wednesday-Race course again easy. 5.5 Miles easy at 9:15 pace.
Thursday-6 miles under 9. 10 min easy, drills and strides. Then 2 laps on the 5K course. It didnt actually occur to me that it would be near 10K. And if I run it under 6 that my 10K PR would be in play, IN TRAINING. My official 10K PR is 53:42. I ran 53:45. I also clocked the 10K at 6.26 miles. Hmmm. It was a 8 miles effort. I felt strong and holding back. It was 2 X the 5K course. The first 5K was 25ish and the second was 28ish. The avg was 8:35. I wasnt too tired. In race conditions I can go harder, the cross country world calls this course a slow course.
Friday-Long run. Since the meet is on saturday, I had to get my long run on friday. 14 miles. I wanted sully to reach his max so he ran 8. Then a 6 mile add on. The first 8 I felt like I could run forever at 9:30-40 pace. Then I dropped sully off, headed back out. I thought I would run my 6 mile loop. The big hill zapped me. Then the mental games started. The last 6 were a grind. Too slow, too much mental. I think it was a culmination of the week. I was pooped. I got it in. No injuries just tired and sore.
Saturday-Meet. I didnt have training clothes on or my watch but I walked and ran a ton. Nothing official as mileage goes but I was very tired.
Sunday-Training run at elevation. I forgot my watch but did 20 min easy, drills/strides, and then hill repeats, 10 in cool down. I think about 6 total. Felt OK. Looking forward to a new week.
Stats: 38 miles total. All goals met. I can get my nutrition better and I can rest more. I may need to add some strength/core work. I can feel the adaptation. Quote:
"the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
I am definitely in a new stage of challenge
Monday-Rest
Tuesday-Preview the race course. I ended up with 5 miles. 3 miles under 8:20. The details have been fuzzy.
Wednesday-Race course again easy. 5.5 Miles easy at 9:15 pace.
Thursday-6 miles under 9. 10 min easy, drills and strides. Then 2 laps on the 5K course. It didnt actually occur to me that it would be near 10K. And if I run it under 6 that my 10K PR would be in play, IN TRAINING. My official 10K PR is 53:42. I ran 53:45. I also clocked the 10K at 6.26 miles. Hmmm. It was a 8 miles effort. I felt strong and holding back. It was 2 X the 5K course. The first 5K was 25ish and the second was 28ish. The avg was 8:35. I wasnt too tired. In race conditions I can go harder, the cross country world calls this course a slow course.
Friday-Long run. Since the meet is on saturday, I had to get my long run on friday. 14 miles. I wanted sully to reach his max so he ran 8. Then a 6 mile add on. The first 8 I felt like I could run forever at 9:30-40 pace. Then I dropped sully off, headed back out. I thought I would run my 6 mile loop. The big hill zapped me. Then the mental games started. The last 6 were a grind. Too slow, too much mental. I think it was a culmination of the week. I was pooped. I got it in. No injuries just tired and sore.
Saturday-Meet. I didnt have training clothes on or my watch but I walked and ran a ton. Nothing official as mileage goes but I was very tired.
Sunday-Training run at elevation. I forgot my watch but did 20 min easy, drills/strides, and then hill repeats, 10 in cool down. I think about 6 total. Felt OK. Looking forward to a new week.
Stats: 38 miles total. All goals met. I can get my nutrition better and I can rest more. I may need to add some strength/core work. I can feel the adaptation. Quote:
"the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
I am definitely in a new stage of challenge
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