March 26th: Training the Mind

            It’s really quite amazing just how much our mind controls our ability to run and perform. For most runners, this is one of the most interesting times of the year. Living in the Midwest, it’s the time of year where you can run without a shirt one day and debate whether you should wear 2 or 3 layers the next. It’s also that time of year where you’re in between racing seasons and you have likely put in a lot of hard work the last few weeks; in some cases, you probably don’t even realize just how fast you have been running. With the weather gradually warming, our muscles began to loosen up, and we’ve been more excited to get outside to run and enjoy the weather which has lead to a lot of faster runs. The cold weather front that has hit us this past week combined with a couple weeks of “over training” has a lot of us are feeling a bit more tired than normal. The good news is warmer weather is on its way, and it only takes a couple days or even one great run to become rejuvenated so hang in there. Don’t over think your training and have confidence in your plan. It’s perfectly normal to have ups and downs in training. It’s good to make subtle adjustments in training to compensate for how we’re feeling, but keep the big picture in sight and get through the lows. While it’s critical to physically train our bodies to perform better, it’s equally, if not more important to train our minds.

Training Summary:

            My goals going into the week were to hit 95-100 miles, work on my mental toughness, and get in some key speed work. After my disappointment with my performance at the Irish Jig, I followed up the next day with a 20 miler where I averaged 5:38’s. It was really a challenging run because I ran an out and back where the wind was predominantly at my back for the first 10 miles and I split a 55:40. The second half of my run was against the wind which presented great physical and mental challenges, but I really did enjoy it. A 5:38 pace 20 miler ties my fastest 20 mile training run ever which encourages me for the up and coming months. We had a minor speed workout on Tuesday and I ran 8 x 200, 200 rest on Wednesday. I threw on my spikes to work on form and calf strength and I really paid for it. Despite only running in the 30-31 second range, this workout destroyed my calf muscles and was much harder on my legs than my 20 miler. The 200’s also put me in oxygen debut and really made me work on dealing with the unfamiliar pain that comes with sprinting. Keep in mind, I’m a marathoner and I haven’t really done speed work since last spring. I ran the same workout on Friday, but wore flats instead. This was much easier on my legs and everything felt easier. Assuming I get my second run in today, I should hit 100 miles this week with one 2-a-day. All in all, I felt tired going into this week, but I set realistic and challenging goals for the week that I was able to achieve which I feel great about.

            On another note, I’m interested to see what people’s preference is regarding training in minimally cushioned training vs heavily cushioned shoes and made a poll to see what everyone thinks.

I Guess it Happens

         Today was the first real race back, and I must say I’m a bit disappointed with how everything went. I took a fall and banged up my knee a week and a half ago and it really has affected my running the last week and a half. The stress of finishing grad school, the job search, not running for 3 days, and other things really have been adding up. I ended up running a 15:09 at the Irish Jig this year which is only one second slower than last year. However, the conditions were much better this year and I didn’t get out there and compete. I felt very sluggish and tired going into the race. Given that I’m coming off of a 3 month layoff due to a stress fracture in my hip, I would’ve been happy with a 15:09 six weeks ago. However, as a runner, things just weren’t clicking today, and I really ran poorly. My stride was extremely inefficient, and I was landing with my heel out in front of me rather than underneath me. All in all, today was a pretty disappointing day. I really didn’t get out there and compete. Hopefully I can use this as motivation, get back on the training horse and have some better days.

            Moving forward, it really is just time to put in the work. I’ve felt that I’m ahead of where I was at this point last year, but I really need to start cranking out the long runs and put in the work so I stay ahead and perform better down the road. I have to remember that I opened up with a 15:08, 15:30 at the Irish Jig and London Downtown 5k last year and still managed to run a 30:28 at the Meteor 10k a couple weeks later. I rarely open up the spring season with great performances so I’m trying to keep everything in perspective.

            On another note, I am excited for the Wisconsin game and the UFC title fight. I’m taking Wisconsin in the game and “Bones” Jones in the fight tonight. I think he’s the next Anderson Silvia which probably isn’t good news for him because I don’t seem to ever be right about the fights. Should be fun to watch.

1st Race Back

            With the Irish Jig next weekend, I decided to head over to Jerome’s home town and run a little tune up at the Leprechaun Loop 5k. Racing longer distance races requires a completely different mindset and pain tolerance than racing 5k. My fall racing schedule consisted of 3 half marathons, a marathon, and 8k so I really wanted to race a shorter distance to knock a little rust off. As Jerome and I were driving to Port Huron, Jerome went on to tell me that Port Huron had gotten 4-5 inches of snow. I honestly didn’t really believe him, but sure enough, we arrived at his mom’s house with snow all around.

The next morning we viewed the course which was simply an out and back that was primarily run on the “board walk” (essentially a sidewalk that’s twice as wide as a normal sidewalk). Jerome and I warmed up on the course to see what the conditions would be like and the boardwalk was plowed, but it was covered in ice. Being as I took a spill on a morning run earlier in the week and I already had a sore knee, I was less than thrilled and contemplated not running the race. I really didn’t know much about the competition other than there was a 1:49 800 runner in the field. The first ¾ mile was on street and sidewalk where I thought I’d be able to open up my stride and really try to run fast. I took the first mile out pretty hard with a couple guys running for the Elite Feet Team. After about 600 meters I took the lead completely and came through the mile in 4:49. The last ¼ mile of the first mile was extremely slow. To put it in perspective, Jerome was running the 10k and he was running 4:57 pace at the ¾ mile mark, but once he hit the snow and then boardwalk, he ended up hitting the mile in 5:10. I’m not sure what type of pace I was running the first ¾ miles in, but I would guess somewhere around 4:40? The second mile was a 5:22 and I really was just trying to stay upright while maintaining a lead. I almost took a digger shortly after the turn around. The race was simply wild after the turnaround. While the icy boardwalk made it challenging to run, the race did have a couple hundred people in it and everyone was looking down and watching their footing. Needless to say, that made coming back against traffic in the opposite direction very interesting. Fortunately, major collisions were avoided, but I definitely had a lot of stop and go running. Coming off the boardwalk, the guy in second place was making a surge and I believe he caught me and was right on my heels. At that point in the race, I was pretty tired and completely out of rhythm so I just focused on reestablishing the pace and was able to hold him off. I believe my last mile split was a 5:10. While I was a little down that this mile wasn’t a little faster, I do have to keep reminding myself that there were a few sections on it where I essentially had to slow down to near stops to avoid collisions. I think my final time was around 16:01, but the race was good tune up for me. It really makes you appreciate how great of a job the people running the Playmakers races do. This race was definitely memorable and actually ended up being a lot of fun. The pub crawl afterwards was a pretty good cap to the weekend and the mental break was definitely needed. All in all, it was a pretty fun weekend.

March 5th Post

            As seasons change, there is one important question that needs to be asked. Is this the season that we once again back down or is this the season that we get after it and really go for it? Yes, you know what I’m talking about. I’m sick of those red-winged black birds and I’m sick of backing down. They’re the size of my fist, but yet they think that they can just buzz around my head while flapping their wings and pecking at my head. So what are we going to do about it this year? A lot of ideas have been tossed around. Do we do nothing? Maybe we should write a letter to the city and petition to allow for their extermination? Should we run with rocks in our hands? Tennis racquets? Should we organize group runs with the MSU tennis team? I understand the birds do not want people within x feet of their nest, but why don’t they just build them in places away from sidewalks or paths? Does anyone have any more good ideas here?

            On other notes, I posted my racing schedule. If you’re going to be at a race that I’m at, you should let me know so I can keep an eye out for you. I also posted a poll asking what people consider to be an elite time for both male and female US marathoners. I think it’s really interesting to see what people perceive as elite for both sexes and I hope people respond.

Summary of my training week:

            I have finished my 7^th week back from running and every workout to this point has indicated to me that I’m in at least as good of shape as I was at this point last year or maybe even better. The workout that I ran this week was identical to the workout that I ran this week last year. It was the Mt. Hope Cemetery fartleck workout. Lansing is a pretty flat area and one of the better places to incorporate hills into a workout is actually a cemetery. The workout is quite simple. On flat stretches or uphill segments, you run hard while you recover on the downhill segments. It’s really a taxing workout. To my astonishment, we had 11 guys from Team Playmakers Racing show up for the workout. It was absolutely awesome. It was my first workout with the team in quite some time. I was overly excited for the workout and I went out too hard. I hadn’t run any hill workouts this year, while I was running hill farlecks every week last winter. Despite the lack of hill training this year, I ended up finishing workout 38 seconds faster. It seemed that most of the guys at the workout also made the most of the day and ran quite well. Needless to say, I was pretty excited for both myself and the team. It was pretty cool to see a group of guys just getting after it.

My legs are starting to feel a little sore/tired from the process of getting back to running. My main focus this past week was to make the average pace of each run faster than the prior weeks while running about the same mileage as last week. I’m getting to the point where my easy runs are in the 5:50-6:15 range which is a good sign for me. Everyone has different strengths as a runner, and I believe mine is to run efficiently at faster paces while my body recovers. I hit 87 miles this week with two 5.5 mile a.m. runs. I really don’t have a mileage plan or workout plan mapped out and really am enjoying the process of running how I feel.