Friday, November 28, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Turkey Trot!
OK, Ya Turkeys,
Thursday morning is the big Turkey Trot, the five-mile pre-gluttony (mmm... gluttony...) tradition that is the only race, besides that thingy in February, that I can never seem to let myself miss.
A lot of us are running it, and if you're here in Austin for the holiday, there's no good reason for you not to. It's $30 at this late point, but you can opt for the $10 Thundercloud voucher over the shirt, effectively making the race $20, which is well worth it for something to lord over your fat relatives when you go back for a second pecan pie - not a second piece, mind you, but a second pie.
The race starts at 9:30. Keep in mind, this is a pretty big race - about 7,000-8,000 participants annually, I think, and it's likely growing. So, it's one where you want to allow yourself time for the bathrooms and to worm into the crowd at the start.
So, we'll meet at the corner of 12th and San Jacinto. I'll actually try to get there around 8:50, in case anyone wants to warm up and do some light drills, but we'll be back there around 9:00-9:05 to hang out before we head down at about 9:15.
As you know, the course is different this year because of that "footingball" sport that takes time away from basketball coverage on Sportscenter. It'll be easier, but not a breeze:
If you're running this for time, it'll be important to get in the right pace area, even though people are stupid and ignore that, and in the 7:00 per mile area, you'll get stuck behind a walking family of five that looks like Tech's offensive line, walking two great danes and a chihuahua, and pushing strollers. As always, don't burn up too much energy dodging people - look for clear lines through the crowd that require minimum extra travel, and if you need to get past someone, just ask nicely.
In the past, you immediately had to run up MLK, which sucked. This year, we'll be heading south on Trinity to Sixth, starting us on an uphill, but then giving us a good downhill to Sixth. Go ahead and get in as good a pace as you can on the hill without winding yourself, then be conservative going down the hill.
Sixth is going to be pretty flat, even with some slight downslopes. Get into your comfortable pace immediately. Five miles is an interesting distance, being almost smack in the middle of a 5K that you'd run hard, and a 10K, where you have to pace a little more conservatively. In terms of effort, you won't be conversational, but you won't be wheezing - your respiration rate will be up, but in a nice, steady rhythm, probably in that two steps per inhale to one step of exhale range.
The one mile mark is around San Antonio/Nueces.
You turn right on West Lynn, just after passing the mile two marker - you guys have the benefit of having run up this street more times than probably any other running group in Austin, and probably more than over 95% of the runners out there. You know what's coming, you know it's going to take some time from you. You can work just slightly harder, but don't get yourself breathing too hard - you've got three miles left, and if you get your legs burning now, you're going to have a tough time holding a good pace.
Westlynn will flatten out and even give you a little downhill relief around Galaxy Cafe, before 12th Street. You'll have it flat and easy all the way down, jagging right briefly on Niles, then hopping onto Windsor.
Take a look to your left, and think, "at least I'm not running up Rainbow, though I could kick everyone else's ass doing it, because Rob is a jerk and plans half our runs that way."
Instead, you'll run down East Windsor, the long side of our Rainbow workout. This is tricky - I think with two miles left to go, you can start cranking it up a little, but you have to remember you'll be getting a long uphill on 12th Street, from just past Lamar, all the way to Guadalupe/Lavaca - almost half a mile of rolling uphill.
So, I think you want to let the downhill here take you a little, maintaining good form, but not letting it mess with your breathing much. You'll pick up more time on Parkway all the way to 12th.
The 3 mile mark is just after the turn onto Parkway.
On 12th, you just have to dig in. Hold your form, and try to stick with the pace you've been at, which has probably been a bit faster for the last mile. Go block to block if you have to - I don't think it'll really be that bad.
Mile 4 mark is around San Antonio and Nueces.
At Lavaca, or whenever you feel the hill crest, the terrain becomes varied, so this is where you want to make the conscious choice to crank up the pace. With less than a mile to go, cut loose, but be looking ahead and anticipating - use the downhills a little for speed, and a little for recovery. You'll have a little hill going back up to Trinity - at this point, get into it - don't run it fast enough to tank you, but don't let it take much time from you.
Trinity's going to roll a little, too, but you're so close at this point, you should just be going for it.
Coming into the finish, keep those leg muscles relaxed, and focus on footspeed, not stride length - you don't want to pull a hamstring, here...
Most of all, have fun with it!
See you there,
Rob
Thursday morning is the big Turkey Trot, the five-mile pre-gluttony (mmm... gluttony...) tradition that is the only race, besides that thingy in February, that I can never seem to let myself miss.
A lot of us are running it, and if you're here in Austin for the holiday, there's no good reason for you not to. It's $30 at this late point, but you can opt for the $10 Thundercloud voucher over the shirt, effectively making the race $20, which is well worth it for something to lord over your fat relatives when you go back for a second pecan pie - not a second piece, mind you, but a second pie.
The race starts at 9:30. Keep in mind, this is a pretty big race - about 7,000-8,000 participants annually, I think, and it's likely growing. So, it's one where you want to allow yourself time for the bathrooms and to worm into the crowd at the start.
So, we'll meet at the corner of 12th and San Jacinto. I'll actually try to get there around 8:50, in case anyone wants to warm up and do some light drills, but we'll be back there around 9:00-9:05 to hang out before we head down at about 9:15.
As you know, the course is different this year because of that "footingball" sport that takes time away from basketball coverage on Sportscenter. It'll be easier, but not a breeze:
If you're running this for time, it'll be important to get in the right pace area, even though people are stupid and ignore that, and in the 7:00 per mile area, you'll get stuck behind a walking family of five that looks like Tech's offensive line, walking two great danes and a chihuahua, and pushing strollers. As always, don't burn up too much energy dodging people - look for clear lines through the crowd that require minimum extra travel, and if you need to get past someone, just ask nicely.
In the past, you immediately had to run up MLK, which sucked. This year, we'll be heading south on Trinity to Sixth, starting us on an uphill, but then giving us a good downhill to Sixth. Go ahead and get in as good a pace as you can on the hill without winding yourself, then be conservative going down the hill.
Sixth is going to be pretty flat, even with some slight downslopes. Get into your comfortable pace immediately. Five miles is an interesting distance, being almost smack in the middle of a 5K that you'd run hard, and a 10K, where you have to pace a little more conservatively. In terms of effort, you won't be conversational, but you won't be wheezing - your respiration rate will be up, but in a nice, steady rhythm, probably in that two steps per inhale to one step of exhale range.
The one mile mark is around San Antonio/Nueces.
You turn right on West Lynn, just after passing the mile two marker - you guys have the benefit of having run up this street more times than probably any other running group in Austin, and probably more than over 95% of the runners out there. You know what's coming, you know it's going to take some time from you. You can work just slightly harder, but don't get yourself breathing too hard - you've got three miles left, and if you get your legs burning now, you're going to have a tough time holding a good pace.
Westlynn will flatten out and even give you a little downhill relief around Galaxy Cafe, before 12th Street. You'll have it flat and easy all the way down, jagging right briefly on Niles, then hopping onto Windsor.
Take a look to your left, and think, "at least I'm not running up Rainbow, though I could kick everyone else's ass doing it, because Rob is a jerk and plans half our runs that way."
Instead, you'll run down East Windsor, the long side of our Rainbow workout. This is tricky - I think with two miles left to go, you can start cranking it up a little, but you have to remember you'll be getting a long uphill on 12th Street, from just past Lamar, all the way to Guadalupe/Lavaca - almost half a mile of rolling uphill.
So, I think you want to let the downhill here take you a little, maintaining good form, but not letting it mess with your breathing much. You'll pick up more time on Parkway all the way to 12th.
The 3 mile mark is just after the turn onto Parkway.
On 12th, you just have to dig in. Hold your form, and try to stick with the pace you've been at, which has probably been a bit faster for the last mile. Go block to block if you have to - I don't think it'll really be that bad.
Mile 4 mark is around San Antonio and Nueces.
At Lavaca, or whenever you feel the hill crest, the terrain becomes varied, so this is where you want to make the conscious choice to crank up the pace. With less than a mile to go, cut loose, but be looking ahead and anticipating - use the downhills a little for speed, and a little for recovery. You'll have a little hill going back up to Trinity - at this point, get into it - don't run it fast enough to tank you, but don't let it take much time from you.
Trinity's going to roll a little, too, but you're so close at this point, you should just be going for it.
Coming into the finish, keep those leg muscles relaxed, and focus on footspeed, not stride length - you don't want to pull a hamstring, here...
Most of all, have fun with it!
See you there,
Rob
Monday, November 24, 2008
Night of the Moustache Rocked!
For detailed photo questions, like, "Who's the hot chick with the lip hair?", click a picture, then the link to my Flickr site.
Friday night, everyone's efforts finally came together at the Night of the Moustache Benefit at the Tiniest Bar In Texas.
Despite the chilly weather that decided to set in on the day of the event, people turned out in force for the event, kept warm by moustaches, friendly dogs, an army of space heaters, and the grill that churned out dozens of sausage wraps and veggie burgers.
People gave heartily at the door in return for moustaches, gave more at the grill, and the silent auction was hotly contested. Mercedes Orten's cookies alone brought in $21 in tips (Mandy's would have also helped, had they not all been eaten by us as we were setting up).
We're still waiting for the final figures from the sales of the Lone Star keg that was quickly floated, and the vodka and tea drinks. Receipts from the door, silent auction, and other donations alone totalled $1,397. The bar receipts will likely take us close to $2,000. That's a cool grand for each of our two great charities, Emancipe+ and the Dick Beardsley Foundation.
Emancipe+ may also be able to use the money to qualify for a match from a grant fund, doubling the amount to $2,000.
I'm extremely proud of everyone for pulling together, being willing to help, and making this happen. I've got to give some special thanks, though, to:
Mandy, who, in addition to bearing a wealth of movie quotes and encycolpedic knowledge about varieties of deviant behavior, also has a natural instinct for promotion. She suggested we use the already-booked entertainment, she suggested the silent auction, contributed to it, and pitched in Friday night. She's largely responsible for Team Spiridon in the first place, even though she isn't able to run with us this season.
Eve, for designing the great flyers and picking up my slack at the 11th hour to make up really nice looking bid sheets. Again, she's been a strong supporter all along, and is always willing to help/plan waffle parties.
Stacy, for printing up a ton of said cool flyers, as well as our press releases, on a beautiful laser copier. Hopefully, we'll see her back running with us soon...
Lounell, for mobilizing her entire office in a search for moustaches, even turning up good deals from suppliers in Hong Kong.
Daniel, who thought a benefit concert would be a great idea in the first place. Up to that point, I only knew the benefit would involve beer.
Jean, another Spiridon original gangsta, who, due to being due in... January?... can't run with us this season, but is still supporting us, and came out to help set up and work the door.
Mercedes, for her overwhelming positivity, and her awesome chocolate chip cookies.
Laura, Jenn, and Jane, who did anything else that needed to be done, which amounted to a whole lot, all the time.
The Girlfriend, Christina, who kept me at an efficient level of mentalness last week (and often, really), even helping me make decisions on the 50 sausages we bought, when she's a vegetarian.
David and Jason of the Tiniest Bar In Texas, and their evil henchmen, John, Connor, and James. They're always down for an event, particularly one for a cause, and they're more interested in making the event a success than in making a buck. They've been great to us, and we shall do our best to pay back with our patronage of their establishment (that means lots of Lone Star tallboys for me).
Finally, a huge thanks to all the great businesses that donated for the silent auction, and didn't bat an eyelash when I came at them a few days before the event:
- The three great running stores in Austin: Bettysport, Hill Country Running Company, and RunTex. Please, shop at all three - we always need to make room in this town for healthy competition like them that do things right, and care about the running community and the people (and dogs and cats) in it.
- Tito's Vodka
- Mellow Johnny's
- The makers of the fantastic movie, Spirit of the Marathon (which we're helping to bring to the Alamo Drafthouse on Austin Marathon Weekend)
- Dirty Dog Dog Wash
- Nike (thanks, Ash!)
- Thundercloud Subs
- Austin Guardian
- Third Base Sports Bar
- eŌs Dermatology and Med Spa
- The Longhorn Club
- Girl Guitar Austin
- Amanda Thomas - another original Spiridon runner, who does beautiful stained glass work
- Frugal Media
- Fit One Austin
Our fundraising and funraising (and occasional hellraising) aren't over, though. We got miles and miles yet to run. I know not everyone is comfortable with mroe direct fundraising, but I'm hoping some of you will join me for some of the more traditional bit of, "Hey, I'm training my butt off, here. I'll run the half marathon or marathon, and you'll give some money to charity, aight?" I'll get those details to you soon...
Thanks again, everyone. For my runners, your attitude (mmmostly...) and hard work (mmmostly...) make all this tremendously worthwhile for me, and our ability to do some good outside of our own lives is just a massive bonus. Keep working, keep smiling, keep running...
Monday, November 10, 2008
San Antonio Race Prep
Fuh-lat.
No, wait! I know you might not be running San Antonio, but you're just going to go surfing off to read about some stupid celebrity crap. Might as well read this, so you start absorbing some of it now, and maybe start practicing some of it before your Saturday long runs, so that by the time the races hit in January, you've got a set routine, and you're not experimenting with things like eating and clothing and going twosies. And yes, this is a bit of a repost from before. I can only keep things so fresh.
OK, so it's close to showtime. You can't just piddle through the week and show up to run Sunday morning. Well, you can, but it would be, um, dumb. This is not a 5K. So, here's a bit of a guide...
Preparing this week:
Get familiar with the course - it makes a difference. You've all seen how much better runs go in familiar territory. Problem is, it's in freakin' San Antonio. Still, go to the race website and print out a copy of the map. Try to get a sense of how the course works, what landmarks you're going by. Look at the elevation map - there's not much too it. But try to figure out where the hills (if you can call them that) are, where the uphills and downhills start and end. Make notes.
Drive the course - Again, not practical, here, unless you're going down early enough, and you're bored.
Visualize - Pick up the map every now and then, and run the race in your head (at high speed - please don't sit at work staring at a map for three hours). Run chunks of it in your head. Feel the rhythm of the stretches that will require more effort, and the ones where you'll be able to recover. I promise you this will be a huge benefit to you.
Segment the Course - Break the course into manageable chunks of two to three miles each. Getting through each chunk will be an accomplishment, and it'll be easier than going at all 13 miles at once.
Plan Nutrition - Part of knowing the course is knowing when you'll take your nutrition. What I do is work backwards - I want my last Gu 3 miles out from the finish, and I want them every 30-40 minutes. Water stops are at every even-numbered mile. So, I know I'll Gu at miles 10 and 6. Figure out how many you'll need, and go buy them now - RunTex sells out of everything but "Your Nephew's Dirty Diaper" flavored gel before races. You can also get gels at bike shops, REI, and Academy. You also need to know how you're going to carry what you need to carry.
Have your outfit ready.
Check the forecast periodically. Right now, it's looking perfect - low forties for the start, only getting to 59 by noon, moderate humidity. A bit of wind. Sunny - important to know. The air temperature may be cool, but if you go wearing black, the solar heating alone could be an issue.
All that said, now, just accept that the weather will be what it will be. That acceptance will give you another big advantage over people that are agonizing about the weather all this week. It might turn out 29, windy and cold. Fine - what will you wear? Find those pieces, lay them out now.
It might be 65 and humid. Fine - what will you wear?
The rule is to dress for 20 degrees warmer than the temperature. You should know by now what you like. Now is also not the time to try new shorts, socks, jogbras, or some shirts. That's a sure entry to that popular game show, “What’s Gonna Chafe?”
Remember, up to 40% of body heat is lost through your head, most of the rest through your extremities. Plus, blood flow is redirected by your body to keep your organs and brain warm. So, hat and gloves are the most crucial things in cold weather.
In case of rain, have something disposable, or a trash bag with holes for the arms and head. It's nice to be dry while standing around at the start line, then you can rip it off when you get moving.
Got Bodyglide? Bandaids?
Thursday and Friday:
Hydrate. Get a couple of liters of water in you a day, depending on your size. Use some ElectroMix, Nuun, or something similar - available at Central Market, Whole Foods, RunTex, or bike shops.
Check the race website for any last-minute changes to instructions. Make sure you get to the packet pickup in time!
Friday night:
This is actually your best night to get your carbs, not the night before. Have a reasonable-sized plate of pasta, not too late in the evening. And get to bed at a reasonable hour. You can forego the clubs for one damned night.
Saturday:
Stay off your feet. This is not the time for a hike, lawn work, walking at the race expo for four hours like I did in Chicago trying to decide if I should buy and wear new clothes for the marathon when I know not to do that (I didn't).
Oh, and don’t forget to pick up your race packet.
Eat early - eat at 5:30 or 6, be done by 7 or 7:30. Why? Because you want to be able to sleep, and you want the food to digest, so that it'll be usable in the race, but yet not filling up your lower intestines demanding immediate release at mile five. Having to pee is fairly common, but you do not want to have to go #2, losing time while your legs cramp up in a cold, nasty porta-potty. And if you try to hold it, your core will tighten up, expending more energy and messing with your mechanics.
Don't drink too late - you want to be able to sleep without getting up constantly through the night.
Get everything together Saturday night, not Sunday morning:
- Pin your race bib to your shirt or shorts. If you are slightly OCD like some coaches, this could take you half an hour to get it perfectly straight. It has to be straight. It just does.
- Put your gels, electrolyte capsules, whatever you're taking on the course, in whatever you're taking them in.
- Pack your drop bag with your pre and post-race stuff.
- Make sure you have what you need for breakfast.
Figure out your morning schedule - work it backwards:
- The race is at 7:30am.
- As big an event as this is, you need to be parked and out of the car at 6:30am AT THE LATEST.
- Maybe it'll take you 30 minutes to get there, so you need to leave your place at 6:00. Make sure you know how to get there.
- You want to use the restroom (#2) before you leave. Give yourself time (because you never know) - so, on the pot by 5:45.
- You need to allow at least an hour for your breakfast to digest, so you need to be eating at 4:45.
- Set your alarm for 4:45 (you'll eat first). Yeah, this is insane. But so is running 13 miles, so... what the hell?
- Set multiple alarms. Use your alarm clock, your phone, yuor running watch. Get a friend to call you. Leave nothing to chance.
Race morning:
- GET THE HELL UP. No snooze button. This is when being nervous is a good thing, because it'll wake you up.
- Eat first, and have a glass of water, and coffee, if you need it.
- If you've done things right, you have an hour to check the weather, put on your laid-out clothes, make sure your bib number really is straight, and relax. Check the temperature and forecast.
At the race:
- DO NOT BE LATE. Period. Non-neogtiable, no excuses. You need to park, drop your bag (if there's a bag drop), not be overly frazzled, and get you a little warm up around 6:45. Just run 8-10 minutes, and at a few points, pick up the pace for a block or so. When you're done with that, do some light drills.
- Don't guzzle water. If you've hydrated well, and had some when you got up, you'll be fine with what you get on the course. Drink too much, and you'll have to pee.
- Still, hit the porta-potty after the warmup.
Get to the start line and in your corral by 7:15. Find your friends. Then... relax. Soak up this moment. Look around at all the people that are about to do something pretty cool. You're one of them. You're probably also better trained and better prepared than most.
This is a lot of stuff, I know. But again, you're running 13.1 miles, asking a lot of your body. You've worked hard, and you deserve nothing less from yourself than to be as knowledgeable and prepared and mindful as you can possibly be going into this. You're all going to do great.
I'll add a rudimentary race plan tomorrow. It's super complicated: don't go out fast; go the right speed in the middle; and, go faster at the end, if you can.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Danger! Run, Will Robinson!
Yes, danger, indeed.
We've hung together for ten weeks. You've all gotten comfortable with running consistently, running hard, running long miles. It's becoming familiar... you're feeling confident, even if you worry a little about the next new distance on the calendar.
It's here that your worst enemy lurks. It's the whispered undertone just beneath invitations from friends and family. It lies in wait in the cushions of your couch, alluring and sticky, ready to clutch at you like a Venus flytrap. It sings beckoningly in the chorus of the holidays. It flits amidst the days and hours, compressing them here, loosening them there. It is abetted by the changing of the season, by days that are ever colder and grayer and fall more quickly to darkness.
It's one monster with many faces: Complacency; Apathy; Routineness.
I don't think any of you are thinking of actually quitting. But it can be easy to let your momentum and desire fritter away and fade. Because this running thing is no longer new and novel, because the first question of whether you could run distance at all has already been answered, because the $150 wallop to your checking account has dissolved into your economic past, and because I don't think I've done enough to kind of keep that fire going, because of all this, the pull of other events in your daily life, and even the pull of fatigue and listlessness, might seem stronger than your will to run, and clearer than the vision of your goal.
You miss a run, whether solo or with the group. Then another. You sleep through a long run. You might decide to recommit, but you come back and something real happens - sickness, an injury, a personal or work issue. Just like that, your goal is compromised, if not missed.
This is the point in training where people are in danger of losing focus and motivation. It's easy to do, certainly. But it's also one of the challenges you have signed up to face and conquer.
This training is more than a diversion. It's not a project you can set aside and not finish. It's not the exercise gadget gathering dust in the closet or under your bed. Whether you realize it or not, this training is a question you chose to ask yourself about who you are, who you want to be, and what you can do.
If you quit this now, are you happy with the answer? If you quit this now, what else will you quit?
Take some time to think about what you set out to do in September or whenever you decided to commit to running a half marathon or a marathon. Remember the work you've already put in. Consider the tremendous things you've already accomplished. Think about what you want your answer to be, and what this all could mean to you. Reengage and recommit yourself. Show up. Stay involved. Set two alarms. Get enough rest. Recover properly. Take care of yourself. Run.
Lisa hates that she hasn't physically been able to run. I'm sure Amber (strep throat), is, too. They'll both be back.
You've all come a really long way in the past ten weeks. Don't short yourself now. It's all a matter of choice. To paraphrase an advertising punch line - someone busier, and more tired than you, is out there running right now.
We've hung together for ten weeks. You've all gotten comfortable with running consistently, running hard, running long miles. It's becoming familiar... you're feeling confident, even if you worry a little about the next new distance on the calendar.
It's here that your worst enemy lurks. It's the whispered undertone just beneath invitations from friends and family. It lies in wait in the cushions of your couch, alluring and sticky, ready to clutch at you like a Venus flytrap. It sings beckoningly in the chorus of the holidays. It flits amidst the days and hours, compressing them here, loosening them there. It is abetted by the changing of the season, by days that are ever colder and grayer and fall more quickly to darkness.
It's one monster with many faces: Complacency; Apathy; Routineness.
I don't think any of you are thinking of actually quitting. But it can be easy to let your momentum and desire fritter away and fade. Because this running thing is no longer new and novel, because the first question of whether you could run distance at all has already been answered, because the $150 wallop to your checking account has dissolved into your economic past, and because I don't think I've done enough to kind of keep that fire going, because of all this, the pull of other events in your daily life, and even the pull of fatigue and listlessness, might seem stronger than your will to run, and clearer than the vision of your goal.
You miss a run, whether solo or with the group. Then another. You sleep through a long run. You might decide to recommit, but you come back and something real happens - sickness, an injury, a personal or work issue. Just like that, your goal is compromised, if not missed.
This is the point in training where people are in danger of losing focus and motivation. It's easy to do, certainly. But it's also one of the challenges you have signed up to face and conquer.
This training is more than a diversion. It's not a project you can set aside and not finish. It's not the exercise gadget gathering dust in the closet or under your bed. Whether you realize it or not, this training is a question you chose to ask yourself about who you are, who you want to be, and what you can do.
If you quit this now, are you happy with the answer? If you quit this now, what else will you quit?
Take some time to think about what you set out to do in September or whenever you decided to commit to running a half marathon or a marathon. Remember the work you've already put in. Consider the tremendous things you've already accomplished. Think about what you want your answer to be, and what this all could mean to you. Reengage and recommit yourself. Show up. Stay involved. Set two alarms. Get enough rest. Recover properly. Take care of yourself. Run.
Lisa hates that she hasn't physically been able to run. I'm sure Amber (strep throat), is, too. They'll both be back.
You've all come a really long way in the past ten weeks. Don't short yourself now. It's all a matter of choice. To paraphrase an advertising punch line - someone busier, and more tired than you, is out there running right now.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Grace, Pace and Space
There's also a new post over on Run Drink Repeat... about my first eight miler...
OK, a quick note on pace. Again, on your long runs, unless I tell you otherwise, you want to be going easy. I'm horrible at this - I'm checking my watch, every mile. I'm basing my expectations on what I know I've done before at this level of conditioning, but it's still not the smartest way for me to be training myself.
Look in any running book or website, and they'll tell you that a good training program has you doing "LSD". Sweeeet. No, you hippies, that means "long slow distance". You have to remember that "running" is not just one thing, one strength. It's a combination of elements, all of which we try to address in different ways.
Basically, you want to reach and sustain a pace that keeps you in the realm of aerobic energy production. Naturally, your muscles, your skeleton, your cardiovascular system, even your energy production at the cellular level, will respond.
A lot of this is because of fuel. Think of yourself as a car that some gearhead has stuck a nitrous tank on. At easy speeds, like when you're working aerobically, you go well enough on gasoline, the way you were meant to run. When you push the speed past a certain point, you hit the nitrous to add some boost to the fuel, which will now burn hotter with the same amount of oxygen. The problem there is, that boost is short lived, and has consequences, like voiding your warranty and possibly causing you to blow a seal, which is and isn't as nasty as it sounds.
Thing is, we're better than cars, because our bodies can respond and improve themselves.
In response to the increased, prolonged oxygen demand of lengthy runs in the aerobic zone, your body will build new and more extensive capillary beds in your muscles that are critical for the delivery of oxygen.
Your cells will produce greater size and number of mitochondria, the little guys that are responsible for energy production, which in turn will enable you to actually maintain a faster pace, even in shorter races. On top of that, the enzymes in the mitochondria responsible for energy production become more active, leading to even more efficiency.
Your body will learn to conserve its primary fuel - glycogen. When you're out of glycogen, your time on the road is drawing to a close. Your body will respond to greater fuel consumption by burning it more efficiently, and storing more of it in favor of increasing its use of another fuel for energy - fat. If you keep your speed under control, your body will read the writing on the wall, realize you're going to continue to do this stupid running activity on a regular basis, and it will use more fat and less carbs on a regular basis. Result - you'll go longer without bonking, and you'll look hotter. Those are both good things.
Somehow, in ways I don't understand, your musculoskeletal system will even become stronger to put up with the repetitive impact and stresses.
There's a bunch of other crap that happens - fast-twitch muscles changing teams to slow-twitch, something about Mia's globes... uhh... science... Whatever.
Finally, a lot of what we're getting into is the mental aspect of simply enduring the distances and the times involved. At some point, you will have been running for an hour and a half, two hours, then realize you've got another hour or two to go. You only learn to cope with that by doing it, by putting in the time - without an iPod, I should add.
Now, if you go too fast in your long runs, you push out of the aerobic threshhold, and all those systems don't have to respond, they don't have to improve. You may be able to run a distance, but you've missed out and being better, faster, less... hurty.
Go too hard too much of the time, and you dramatically increase your risk of injury, even burnout. You won't feel like a bad-ass watching in February, if you're wondering if you screwed yourself up. And running yourself so hard that you peak right around National Bicarbonate of Soda Day (that's December 30 for you people without decent calendars) does you no good on February 15, either.
Go fast on Tuesdays. Bump up the pace a little on one of your solo weekday runs - Monday, perhaps. Bump up the pace for the last mile or two of your Thursday run, which will be the longer of your solo runs. In a couple of the long runs, I'll ask you to run MGP or HMGP for a certain number of miles, usually near the end, where you'll hate me the most for it.
All my coaches tried to pound patience into me, but I was in too much of a hurry to listen. I still wrestle with the siren's call of the stopwatch, but I'm a better runner when I win that struggle.
Now, by the same token, you don't need to be just dogging it out there. If your buddy is a lot slower than you, then you need, to some extent, to do your own thing, or find someone different to run with, and hook back up afterwards. You may also be forcing them to run faster than they should, so you're not helping them, either...
I also mean to enforce less loitering, slacking, dallying, dawdling, loafing, frickafracking and general lollygagging at the water stops. There'll be none of that at the races, so you need to start minimizing your inactive periods.
Alright. Get running.
OK, a quick note on pace. Again, on your long runs, unless I tell you otherwise, you want to be going easy. I'm horrible at this - I'm checking my watch, every mile. I'm basing my expectations on what I know I've done before at this level of conditioning, but it's still not the smartest way for me to be training myself.
Look in any running book or website, and they'll tell you that a good training program has you doing "LSD". Sweeeet. No, you hippies, that means "long slow distance". You have to remember that "running" is not just one thing, one strength. It's a combination of elements, all of which we try to address in different ways.
Basically, you want to reach and sustain a pace that keeps you in the realm of aerobic energy production. Naturally, your muscles, your skeleton, your cardiovascular system, even your energy production at the cellular level, will respond.
A lot of this is because of fuel. Think of yourself as a car that some gearhead has stuck a nitrous tank on. At easy speeds, like when you're working aerobically, you go well enough on gasoline, the way you were meant to run. When you push the speed past a certain point, you hit the nitrous to add some boost to the fuel, which will now burn hotter with the same amount of oxygen. The problem there is, that boost is short lived, and has consequences, like voiding your warranty and possibly causing you to blow a seal, which is and isn't as nasty as it sounds.
Thing is, we're better than cars, because our bodies can respond and improve themselves.
In response to the increased, prolonged oxygen demand of lengthy runs in the aerobic zone, your body will build new and more extensive capillary beds in your muscles that are critical for the delivery of oxygen.
Your cells will produce greater size and number of mitochondria, the little guys that are responsible for energy production, which in turn will enable you to actually maintain a faster pace, even in shorter races. On top of that, the enzymes in the mitochondria responsible for energy production become more active, leading to even more efficiency.
Your body will learn to conserve its primary fuel - glycogen. When you're out of glycogen, your time on the road is drawing to a close. Your body will respond to greater fuel consumption by burning it more efficiently, and storing more of it in favor of increasing its use of another fuel for energy - fat. If you keep your speed under control, your body will read the writing on the wall, realize you're going to continue to do this stupid running activity on a regular basis, and it will use more fat and less carbs on a regular basis. Result - you'll go longer without bonking, and you'll look hotter. Those are both good things.
Somehow, in ways I don't understand, your musculoskeletal system will even become stronger to put up with the repetitive impact and stresses.
There's a bunch of other crap that happens - fast-twitch muscles changing teams to slow-twitch, something about Mia's globes... uhh... science... Whatever.
Finally, a lot of what we're getting into is the mental aspect of simply enduring the distances and the times involved. At some point, you will have been running for an hour and a half, two hours, then realize you've got another hour or two to go. You only learn to cope with that by doing it, by putting in the time - without an iPod, I should add.
Now, if you go too fast in your long runs, you push out of the aerobic threshhold, and all those systems don't have to respond, they don't have to improve. You may be able to run a distance, but you've missed out and being better, faster, less... hurty.
Go too hard too much of the time, and you dramatically increase your risk of injury, even burnout. You won't feel like a bad-ass watching in February, if you're wondering if you screwed yourself up. And running yourself so hard that you peak right around National Bicarbonate of Soda Day (that's December 30 for you people without decent calendars) does you no good on February 15, either.
Go fast on Tuesdays. Bump up the pace a little on one of your solo weekday runs - Monday, perhaps. Bump up the pace for the last mile or two of your Thursday run, which will be the longer of your solo runs. In a couple of the long runs, I'll ask you to run MGP or HMGP for a certain number of miles, usually near the end, where you'll hate me the most for it.
All my coaches tried to pound patience into me, but I was in too much of a hurry to listen. I still wrestle with the siren's call of the stopwatch, but I'm a better runner when I win that struggle.
Now, by the same token, you don't need to be just dogging it out there. If your buddy is a lot slower than you, then you need, to some extent, to do your own thing, or find someone different to run with, and hook back up afterwards. You may also be forcing them to run faster than they should, so you're not helping them, either...
I also mean to enforce less loitering, slacking, dallying, dawdling, loafing, frickafracking and general lollygagging at the water stops. There'll be none of that at the races, so you need to start minimizing your inactive periods.
Alright. Get running.
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