Pete's Blog

Training 6/8/08 - 6/14/08

6/8 - 14 miles

   AM:7 easy - tired

   PM: 7 easy w/ 6x150

6/9 - 16 miles

   AM: 10 easy - little better

   PM: 6 easy w/ 8 x hill sprint

6/10 - 11 miles

   AM: 3x2 mile threshold average 9:57, really sucked, slow and painful

   PM: no run - right arch sore

6/11 - 20 miles

   AM: 2 easy, 8 mile moderate progression, 2 easy - 43:50, not fun at all

   PM: 8 easy w/ 6x150

6/12 - 15 miles

   AM: 4 x 1000 @ 2:53, 3x400 @ :65, interspersed (1000 - 400 - 1000, etc) @ Golden Gate Park polo field

   PM: 5 easy - right arch sore

6/13 - 17 miles

   AM: 12 easy

   PM: 5 easy

6/14 - 17 miles

   AM: 3 x 2 mile threshold (9:46, 9:49, 9:56) painful positive split, not the way to do it.

   PM: 5 easy

Total Mileage: 110

Training 6/1/08 - 6/7/08

6/1 - 10 miles

   AM: 5 easy - tired

   PM: 5 easy - left knee hurts where the IT band attaches

6/2 - 10 miles

   AM: 10 very easy - left knee still tight, also have picked up a sore throat

6/3 - 6 miles

   AM: 6 easy - knee sucks, sore throat now full blown cold

6/4 - 13 miles

   AM: 6 easy - knee better, still sick

   PM: 7 easy w/ 6x150 fast

6/5 - 15 miles

   AM: 2 easy, 7 moderate progression run (37:53), 1 easy

   PM: 5 easy

6/6 - 14 miles

   AM: 9 easy

   PM: 5 easy - still sick, really windy this week.

6/7 - 16 miles

   AM: 4 easy, 4xmile at 5:00 (R 1min), 2 easy - really awful, sick, hot day, tired, not good at all.

   PM: 6 easy w/ 6x hill circuit

Total Mileage - 84

This week was a lesson in patience, and suffering. I got sick and managed to screw up my knee for a few days. The knee was, I think, a result of adding some new exercises to help relieve my chronic hip pain. Too many new exercises can make anyone sore, and these seemed to dial in on my left IT band. It didn't seem too serious and went away with some light mileage, ice, and ibuprofen. The cold was nothing serious and is almost totally gone as I'm writing this. Looking back, they were two inconsequential ailments that joined forces to totally screw up one week of precious training.

Two weeks until I race the Bjorklund Half in Duluth.  On Tuesday I plan on bringing the heat with a big threshold workout, probably 3x3mile, 1x2mile. Anaerobic threshold, often known as lactate threshold, (and not to be confused with aerobic threshold) is pretty close to half marathon race pace if you're running close to an hour for the race. Jack Daniels' training schedules are filled with T pace workouts that are usually broken up into 2 - 4 mile segments (sometimes 5 for the real scrappers). The idea is to take about a minute rest for each mile of threshold running. 3x3 miles at threshold pace would be 3 miles fast, 3 minutes rest, 3 miles fast, 3 minutes rest... you get the idea.

Over the course of a training cycle the total distance run in each threshold workout would increase. But, before increasing the total distance I like to increase the length of each repeat. For 8 miles of total work, start with 4x 2miles, then 2x3miles + 1x 2mile, then 2x 4miles. After that go up to 10 miles total, and so on. Since the half marathon is 13 miles, I had hoped to get in at least one session of threshold work totaling 12 or 13 miles, but the injury/cold last week has me a bit behind so I'll enter the race a bit underfunded, but that's life.

Heading North

June 21st will be my first race of the summer, the Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon in Duluth, MN. My friend, Chad Johnson, who runs for the Brooks Hansons Team won the race last year and will be back to make my life difficult. The organizers increased the prize money this year so the field should be solid.

It is very cool to see that they named the race after Garry Bjorklund. Bjorklund was an American badass back in the late 70s and early 80s. He ran fast on the track (27:46 for 10k) and the marathon (2:10:20), and also made the 76 Olympic team in the 10k. Sporting the de rigueur 80s moustache, and owning one he sport's classic nicknames, BJ won Grandma's Marathon twice.

Also of note, Bjorklund played himself in the often overlooked 1985 flim "On the Edge". The movie stars Bruce Dern as a blacklisted distance runner at the end of "amatuer" era. He makes his comeback to the sport at the Dipsea Race (called Cielo Sea in the movie) in Marin County, north of San Francisco. BJ comes to the race as the favorite and ends up duking it out with Bruce Dern's character on the slopes of Mt. Tam. Its always cringe worthy to see actors trying to play athletes during any on-screen sports scenes, but even more so when there's a real world class athlete in the scene with them. Think about how pedestrian Robert Redford's Rob Hobbs swing would look if A-Rod was in the scene with him. That's sort of how BJ's smooth stride makes Bruce Dern look on the trails of Marin. Nonetheless, "On the Edge" is well worth the price of a Netflix night.

Training 5/25/08 - 5/31/08

5/25 - 10 miles

   AM: 10 easy

5/26 - 21 miles

   AM: 4 easy, 2x3 mile (R 3min), 2x2 mile (R 2min), threshold pace, 14:39, 14:38, 9:44, 9:41, 2 easy

   PM: 3 easy, 6x150, 1 easy

5/27 - 17 miles

   AM: 12 easy w/ 6x hill circuit - very tired

   PM: 5 easy, exhausted

5/28 - 18 miles

   AM: 4 easy, 10 mile moderate progression (54:30), 4 easy. Slow with very heavy legs.

5/29 - 12 miles

   AM: 6 easy

   PM: 6 easy w/ 8x50 meter hill sprint

5/30 - 17 miles

   AM: 5 easy, left quad sore

   PM: 12 easy

5/31 - 18 miles

   AM: 18 easy, 1:56

Total mileage - 113

The threshold workout on Monday was fantastic. The pace was farily even, and the effort was tough but under control throughout. I did pay the price the next two days. Tuesday and Wednesday I was unexpectedly exhausted from the threshold workout.

When I return to serious training after a marathon I always make the mistake of thinking I can easily run 130 miles a week with several workouts. That type of training is normal when I'm fit and getting prepped for a big marathon, but is difficult without a proper buildup. By not understanding my fitness level, I constantly overreach this time of year and pay the price with days like Tuesday and Wednesday. On the bright side, every week should bring better stamina and get me closer to top form. 

 

Training 5/18/08 - 5/24/08

5/18 - 10 miles

   ING Bay to Breakers 12k, 8th Place, 36:44

5/19 - 16 miles

   AM: 11 miles easy

   PM: 5 miles easy, sore left quad

5/20 - 22 miles

   AM: 3 miles easy, 12 mile moderate progression, 2 miles easy.  64:12 for 12 miler, 5:42 down to 5:00.

   PM:   5 miles easy

5/21 - 18 miles

   AM: 6 miles easy w/ 6 x hill circuit

   PM: 12 miles easy

5/22 - 12 miles

   AM: 3 miles easy, 8 mile moderate progression, 1 mile easy. 43:40 for 8 miler, 5:42 - 5:08.

   PM: Rest, sore right foot

5/23 - 15 miles

   AM: 5 miles easy, 7 sets (1000, jog 400, 400, jog 400) at Golden Gate Park polo field.  1000s were 2:54 to 2:51, 400s were unmeasured. Very heavy legs. Two weeks ago the 1000s were 2:48 - 2:47 with fresher legs.

5/24 - 0

   Right foot very sore after the intervals yesterday. Ice, ibuprofen has it feeling better.

93 miles total.

Dr. Saxena told me my foot pain is an irritated tendon that should heal with arch supports and continued icing. I'm not too worried about it, that type of thing has come up regularly for years and always gone away in a week or two. The big problem is my left hip that has hampered me for years. This week I started a new program with Kristin at PT Works in Los Altos. We do a series of flexibility and strengthening exercises. The benefits were apparent instantly. My hip didn't hurt at all during the intervals on Friday, or on an easy run this morning.

The hill circuits are simple form drills and hill sprints combined into a single weekly workout. The hill is 60 meters long and starts at about 8% grade and gets closer to 12% at the top. During the early season sessions I sprint up the hill at a 90% effort. At the top I jog around a parking lot for a minute to catch my breath, then perform one plyometric exercise per circuit. These plyos rotate from bounding to lunges to squat jumps. Another minute jog halfway down the hill and I'll do one form drill, either skips, high knees, butt kicks, fast feet (Mookies), or cariocas. Jog down to the start of the hill and one circuit is complete. Closer to the end of the season the sprints get faster and the plyos get shorter. Location is key to the workout. Its tough to find a steep hill that has a flat section (or two) for drills, and a switchback trail to jog down with minimal impact. The total number of circuits starts at 6 and gradually moves to 9 by mid-season.

The hill circuits and progression runs were two elements that I added in early 2006. They corresponded to a decrease in my marathon time from 2:16 in the fall of '05, to 2:12 in spring '06. I have no way to prove that these workouts were catalysts for that change, but they sure didn't hurt. Last year a bout of plantar fascitis kept me off the hill circuits, so I 'm excited to bring them back into the fold. 

   

ING B2B

Sunday morning brings us San Francisco's biggest contribution to the world of running, the ING Bay to Breakers. This year's race will be my fourth B2B and my goal is a top 5 finish. Fifth place has been around 4:45/mile pace for the past few years, which seems like an ambitious target given my current fitness.

Former Nike Farm Team steeplechaser, the great Josh Muxen, will once again be in charge of the elite race. As always he is doing a fantastic job, seemingly getting zero sleep the week of the race, but still attending to the needs of all the athletes. He send KRON 4 (big local TV station) my way earlier this week. They filmed a short piece of me running and answering a few questions. It aired on the Tuesday morning news and hopefully they'll use some footage during the race coverage on Sunday.

The local media in the SF Bay Area is completely focused on the big three professional sports. Cal, Stanford, and The Sharks get some play when they have a good team, but running gets no love. That's what makes the ING B2B weekend so special. We actually get some attention. The Bay Area has so many top runners, along with a competitive club and high school scene, and a huge population of Team in Training type recreational runners. The audience is there if the sport is presented properly. Hopefully the TV coverage will feature some running-knowledgeable commentators and isn't dumbed down as is so often the case. My dream team for a road race would be Toni Reavis and Ed Eyestone, with Ado Bolden thrown in if it were a track meet. Like Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin at the Tour de France, they don't talk down to the audience,they focus on the competition, and have the background knowledge to understand the strategy and tactics unfolding in the race. Those three traits are found in almost every single TV commentator covering baseball, basketball, or football so why is it so elusive in our sport?   

On Saturday morning I struggled through a tough race at the Fifth Third River Bank 25k in Grand Rapids. My left hip tightened up on me in the second mile and continued to hurt the rest of the race. The pain was manageable at a slower pace so I cruised along at 5:10-5:15 per mile for the final 2/3rds of the race.

Fixing this hip pain is now my top priority. Its hurt off and on since 2005, and cost me countless opportunities to race well and train effectively. I believe the pain is a result of my pelvis being out of alignment and causing one leg to be effectively longer than the other leg. The leg isn't actually longer, but since the pelvis is tilted, one leg rides higher and is shorter. I got some great advice from my new friend Derek Kite in Grand Rapids. He suggested a variety of core strengthening exercises to balance out the lower back and hip muscles, along with some chiropractic adjustments to straighten out the hips. Without the strength work the adjustments will be worthless because the hips will fall back into their old alignment. From what I've read, it shouldn't take too long to see some results from this approach. Hope it works...

Welcome

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog. I love to run and I also love to write. I want to use this format to share ideas about training, racing, and other topics near and dear to my heart.

For those who, like me, are constantly trying to figure out the most efficient way to achieve peak fitness, I'll share my weekly training logs. They contain the handful of successes and failures that I face each week. Hopefully, these logs can be a small addition to the huge body of training knowledge already available on the Internet.

As this week goes on I'll more thoroughly introduce myself. Check back often and please leave comments so I know who I'm talking to...

Up and running

Must run today