Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Murderers Row, Just Chilllin. Talking Running.


About every Ultra Running Blog has this video on today, I'm lifting from Bryon Powell's very excellent site iRunFar.com.

Imagine Albert Pujols, Derek Jeter, Josh Hamilton, and Joey Votto just showing up at your local bar to talk about hitting and drink some beer* with whoever showed up. That's about the level you get when Scott Jurek, Anton Krupicka**, Geoff Roes, and Dave Mackey are together. Awesome.

The link to a 20 something video is here:


*Yeah, with Josh it'd be ginger ale. Work with me.
**AKA Unfrozen Caveman Runner.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Weekly Summary - 1/9-1/15

One of the many lesson's I've had to learn (As with most, the hard way) since I've started distance running, is the importance of the slack week. About every three or four weeks, one should dial it back a bit to allow the body and mind to recover somewhat. With me, since my training can be so inconsistent, it's not something I follow religiously. Since it's rare for me to put together 3 solid weeks, my slack weeks tend to be forced upon me rather than a choice I make.

Such was this week. I did decide that next week would be a a break, since I did have 3 weeks of at least having done three pretty solid long runs, if not big mileage weeks. It would also give me 3 good weeks of training before the Syllamore 50K plus a week taper. However, nature decided that I needed a week off and so delivered Little Rock's once a winter snow. We got about 5 inches here in West LR, which for most people is nothing much, but for a Southern city, makes all the grocery stores look like the Do Lon Bridge scene from "Apocalypse Now". So I knew the Ouachita Trail would be snowed over most of the week if I could even get out there. And with all the rocks and switchbacks, it would be a recipe for injury. The plan, then, became just get out and get in some shorter runs, maybe a few at pace, to keep the fitness up. And then really plan on pushing it the next 4 weeks to be ready for the race. We'll see how that works.

So here's the math:

Sunday: 2.1 miles around the neighborhood (9:36) 10:26/9:41. Snowed all day. This was supposed to be a rest day, but I couldn't help myself. About 9:30 at night I dug out the old Gore-Tex Montrails and took a short one around the block. Certainly got some strange looks, but felt great to be out. There's nothing like running in snow and ice to make you concentrate on foot placement and balance.


Monday: 6 miles around the neighborhood (55:29) 9:49/9:32/9:30/8:48/8:54/8:42. Still lots of snow on the ground, so the footing was crap. Again, really helped to concentrate on forefoot striking to keep upright, but couldn't run hard on the downhills like I like. Still, a good run, even if I had to dodge idiot kids on 4-wheelers. Really felt like an actual dedicated runner to be out in the cold and snow.

Tuesday: Rest day.

Wednesday: 3.0 miles of hills on the dreadmill. (43:00) Weather cleared out enough that I could get out, but cold as Hell. So went to the gym, and practiced hills on the treadmills. Which I hate. Put the hill workout on max and mostly concentrated on power-hiking the big inclines at less than 16:00 pace and running the lower ones. After about 40 minutes I just plain got bored, and my shins were starting to get tight, so I went home.

Thursday: 13 miles in 2:02:07 On Chenal Trail (1.3 mile laps - 12:02/12:17/11:57/12:16/12:05/12:28/12:20/12:40/12:02/11:55) Normally would be my long run day, but my slack weeks usually cut that one down. The trail was open, but mostly still snow and ice covered, which again made me concentrate on footing. Felt good, but really concentrated on throttling it down, like I would on a real long run. Splits were all over the place, but a good easy run.

Friday: 7.8 miles in 1:10:26. On Chenal Trail (11:55/12:12/11:44/12:13/11:38/10:42) Another easy run, since the trail had a lot of ice. Happy that I had good negative splits. I really need to concentrate on going out slow as I get closer to race day.

Saturday AM: 2 miles in 14:30.74 ( 7:33/6:57) Only had a few minutes in the morning on a busy day, so grabbed what time I had pushed it a little. About a half mile into it, just decided to burn it as much as I could. The splits will tell you why I run distance, not 5Ks

Saturday PM: 4 miles in 38:02 Got in a nice little night-time run. No music, no cadence, just one to enjoy. And enjoy I did. Really dialed it back, and glad I did. Just wanted to listen to my breaths, concentrate on form, and screw time. One of those times when I just go out to run because it's what I like to do. Came home and slept like a baby.

Next week's goals. I'd like to get up over 60 miles, but since Monday's a holiday I'm not sure what I'll have time for then. At least want to get north of 23 miles on my long run, and only take one day off (Sunday). The real issue will be fueling. I'm not known for eating enough, so I've got to make the effort to get enough food in my gullet. The last thing is to see if I can run at least 20 miles in the MT101s to test out running the 50K in them. I'd really like to go with the lighter shoes, but not sure if my feet are ready for the lesser support. I've got 4 weeks to push it hard to try and have a good result at Syllamore.

Weekly total: 37.9 miles, 9947 feet gained
Month total: 96.4 miles, ,25,510 feet gained
Yearly total: 96.4 miles, ,25,510 feet gained

Days to next race: 34 to Syllamore 50K




Monday, January 10, 2011

This doesn't happen in Little Rock very often



We got about 4 inches of snow last night. Even though it was supposed to be a rest day, I couldn't help myself. Went out about 10:00, grabbed my old Gore-Tex trail shoes and hit the road.

It was still flurrying a little, and there was so little traffic in the neighborhood that there was still powder on the street. For a little bit I felt like I was in the mountains. So quiet. Only did a couple of miles, but enjoyed the Hell out of it. As much as I really don't care for these shoes on roads my feet stayed dry and warm, which was nice.

Who knows when I'll have that chance again.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Training Summary: Week of 1/2

Sunday - Rest

Monday - 6.2 miles (1:26:20)Kids unexpectedly had the day off school, so took them with me to the gym. Did 2.6 on the eliptical, then 3.6 on the treadmill (which I hate) on max incline. This actually is a workout I need to work in, since a couple of my next races have some substantial climbs.

Tuesday - 10.1 miles on the Ouachita Trail (1:57:21/4136 ft gained) A real rocky, curvy stretch. Felt decent, but never got into much of a groove. Longest run in the racing flats so far. The goal is to be able to run in them full time. Negative splits, which is a standard goal (1:00:04/57:18)

Wednesday - 5.2 miles on my neighborhood trail (46:03/1304 ft gained) 1.3 mile laps 11:50/11:37/11:31/11:03. Standard maintenance run.

Thursday - Rest

Friday - 20.4 miles on the Ouachita Trail (3:59:38/6752 ft gained) Long run. Felt great on the way out, and really made the point to throttle it back initially, but since this is a fairly flat section ended up pushing it a little much on the way out and started to crash a bit on the way back. Could also have been the fact that I really was trying not to use many gels (ate 5 total). 9.7 out and back (1:51:20/1:59:31) So a pretty bad split. Then added a mile (7:47) to push the total over 20 miles.

Sat - 10.4 on local trail (1:40:41/2783 ft gained) 12:42/12:58/12:50/12:46/12:29/12:39/12:13/12:02 splits. Woke up really sore, think the extra weight of the heavy mileage shoes had something to do with it) Went out slow today, and really never felt like speeding it up. Just kind of a mellow cruise.

Weekly total: 52.2 miles, 14,975 feet gained
Month total: 58.5 miles, ,15,563 feet gained
Yearly total: 58.5 miles, ,15,563 feet gained

Days to next race: 38 to Syllamore 50K