Archive for July, 2009

• Lewis & Clark Training Plan

  Date: 2009.07.26 | Category: running, Uncategorized | Response: View Comments

  

• Screenshots & tempos

  Date: 2009.07.26 | Category: running, Uncategorized | Response: View Comments

  Today was a great day for a long run! I woke up a little later than I wanted to (after 6) and was dreading what the temperature would be when I would be ready for my run. I was pleasantly surprised that the temperature was 67 and decided I had to get out there ASAP to take advantage of it. I ran 8 miles with an average pace of 9:29 (slightly faster than the 9:42 the program I have called for). Here were my splits:

  

  Negative splits, baby! I just learned how to do screenshots a week ago, so … yeah. No one ever told me what that print screen button was! Check out my pace on a graph with elevation:

  

  The blue line is pace and the green is elevation. It didn’t feel that hilly so I’m not sure what is up with that. I know it’s fuzzy.
  So this last week, my workouts were:
  Weds: 5 miles @ 9:40 pace
  Thursday: 30 minutes elliptical, 20 minutes stairmill
  Friday: 6 miles (1 mile warmup @ 10:00, 4 miles @ 8:14, 1 mile cooldown @ 10:00)
  Saturday: 2 miles @ 10:00, 30 minutes elliptical
  Sunday: 8 miles @ 9:29
  Total mileage: 21
  Next week looks like this:
  Monday: 4 miles @ 9:36
  Tuesday: crosstrain/rest
  Wednesday: 4 miles @ 9:36
  Thursday: crosstrain/rest
  Friday: crosstrain/rest
  Saturday: 9 miles @ 9:36
  I wanted to mention that this week’s tempo run was a bit easier than last week’s. Physically, and mentally, I was better prepared for running 8 minute miles. I am really enjoying pushing myself physically like this. I was reading Women’s Running magazine and the editor’s letter was all about how she had basically accepted herself as a middle-of-the-pack runner and hadn’t really pushed herself with speedwork. But she realized she wasn’t middle-of-the-pack at all once she incorporated speedwork. It really resonated with me (and so did Jillian’s podcast that I mentioned last week). When I was new to running and completed my first seven-miler, I thought it was so amazing and I felt so proud. Running at speeds that I haven’t before feels the same way. There is a newness to it and it really adds something to running that I had been missing. I think it really will help with making my long runs easier too. Now I see what all the fuss was with tempos.
  Happy running!

• What are you really made of?

  Date: 2009.07.20 | Category: running, Uncategorized | Response: View Comments

  Last week I learned an important lesson. I was listening to a podcast from Jillian Michaels (which you can find here or look for the program “Sunday” from KFI on iTunes) and she was talking about how we think ourselves out of succeeding or even trying to push ourselves physically, because we’re afraid of success or changing our preexisting ideas of who we are and what we can do. Here are some snippets of what she said (it is much better to listen to and pretty long so I had to cut a lot out):

  The chubby contestant . . . gets on the treadmill and they are giving me the “I can’t sprint this fast” . . . and they always end up doing it and we end the scene. How many times? Every season, right? . . .

  I’ve got this girl on the treadmill and I ask her – I don’t know, I think it was to run 10 mph for 30 seconds. We were there for an hour and a half, right, going back and forth back and forth. . . . She is giving me the “I can’t, I can’t”. . . An hour and a half later, she finally does it. . . . Of course she could do it. . . . The point is that we function in a comfort zone that is so far below what it really is.

  And then it falls into your hands – because once you know you can, you have an obligation to do it. And that’s scary. So I want to ask you, what prison is your mind keeping you in? How far below your potential are you truly functioning? Because if I can take a 250 pound girl and have her run at 10 mph, what can the average person do that they don’t realize they can do? . . . Why are you cheating yourself? What are you really running from? What is so fearful to people about being great? And why do we not allow that into our world? Now is the time to take that step to push out of the comfort zone and to let yourself fly.
  
  Later that night, I had planned on doing the tempo run which was 1 mile warmup and 1 mile cool, and 3 miles @ 8:10. I wasn’t sure I could do that so I told myself to go a little slower. I did do 3 miles at 8:20-8:27, which I did not think I could do. I did give myself some breaks between the tempo miles, and when I went to turn up the notch on the speed after a break, I felt some apprehension that I couldn’t do it, so I just told myself that I could do it and reminded myself of Jillian’s advice. Afterwards, I thought, why didn’t I just go for the 8:10 pace? Why did I set myself up into thinking that I obviously couldn’t do 8:10 miles and that it was ok to just do less? I am still proud of what I did with my tempo workout, but now I am wondering what I am really made of. Because, let’s face it, 8:10 miles aren’t that different from 8:20 miles logically – it’s the emotional difference between the pace that prevented me from doing it.

  So with that said, I challenge everyone else out there to challenge themselves. You are made of tougher stuff than you think you are. I know this is true for me.

• Review!

  Date: 2009.07.14 | Category: running, Uncategorized | Response: View Comments

  This week’s plan: W: 2 mile easy run*, F: tempo (5 mi. including 3 @ 8:10), S: 7 mile @ 9:42

  So far I haven’t worked out this week. I am trying to work more this week at my proofreading job to make up time for missing taking off the 3rd of July (holiday). So I have not had as much time to run in the afternoon/evening as usual, but really it’s a motivation problem.

  I did have a couple of servings of pasta with shrimp scampi so I should be raring to go for tomorrow’s run.

  *Speaking of which, I will probably not do only 2 miles. I think the last time I did was because I had to stop running due to an injury. It will more likely be 4 or so since stopping at 2 miles would just make me sad.

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  As promised, I am back to review Running on the Sun. Running on the Sun is a documentary about the Badwater 135 race that takes place in Death Valley in July and is, like its name, 135 miles. I know. Does that not blow your mind? The race is limited to 40 runners, and if you want to run it, you have to apply and provide the race committee with a running resume (people have these!). This is not because they want to keep it to the pros or elites. None of the racers were the professionals that you hear about winning Boston or the London marathon. They keep it low-volume and difficult to get into because the race has serious health risks and you could die attempting it.

  According to the film, a third of participants that take off from the starting line pull out of the race. The vast majority of the film focuses on the race itself and some of the participants’ struggles through it. All of the racers had a “crew,” sometimes just made up of a friend or two or a wife (the race seemed to have more males based on what the film showed), and sometimes more.

  At the start, the temperature is said to be 105 degrees F at 9:30 a.m. (and noting that temperatures get up to 130 degrees). After about 15 miles, the film starts to focus on the injuries that the racers begin to suffer. Heat exhaustion, blisters, upset stomach, vomiting, cramps, and possible onset of heatstroke. At one point I wondered what the rating of the movie was, because the unflinching documentation of blister popping got to be a bit much for me. Soon, runners start to drop out of the race and get hooked up to IVs due to severe dehydration. Two of the competitors are handicapped (one finishes).

  In order to be considered a finisher of the race, you have to complete Badwater in 60 hours. If you want to get the Badwater buckle, you have to complete it in 48 hours. Yes, a buckle. It is silly, but it reminds you that there is no material equivalent to the experience and accomplishment of finishing what may be the most grueling race known to mankind.

  Every single non-runner I’ve talked to about the film asks, “Why would you do that?” The film tries to answer this question by responding that it is all about “pushing your physical limits.”

  As a runner, I think it is more complicated. I haven’t tried, nor do I think I will try, to run Badwater, but running is about doing it because it is there. You climb a hill, then you climb a mountain, then you climb Everest. For some people, it is the last triumph. It is always there, until you do it. And then the next day, you can say that you did it…. Which gets old after a while so you have to do it again. You can say that you implemented a change in the office to more efficiently document things using TPS reports, but the accomplishment of a physical challenge is very real. And it is not a common feat. There is the eliteness of an ultra marathon, and of course it is there with Badwater. My personal take is that there is a lot more to it than pushing yourself.

  My main complaint with the film is the “disowning” of the racers who DNF. The film does not go back to them and interview them about what they think they did wrong, and if they think they will attempt it again. While that may have been kind of depressing, I think they could have fit it in before some of the happy finishers. I think that it would have made it a fuller story.

  But if you are curious about Badwater, or you are a distance runner, you will probably like this one. It is mind-blowing.

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  I did put another running documentary in my Netflix queue so there will be more where this came from!

  -Michelle

• Training Plan Thoughts & more

  Date: 2009.07.12 | Category: running, Uncategorized | Response: View Comments

  This week’s workouts:
  Wednesday: 4.21 mi @ 9:30 pace (easy run)
  Thursday: rest
  Friday: 5 miles total, 1 mi @ 10:00 warmup and cool, 3 x 800 @ 7:42 pace, 10:00 recovery jog (speedwork)
  Saturday: 50 minutes biking and lifting (arms)
  Sunday: 6 miles?, average 9:57 pace (long run) (I accidentally stopped the watch and didn’t start it back so I lost data)
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  Training plan thoughts
  The training plan I’m using for the half marathon is the “Smart Coach” training program on Runnersworld.com. I’m a little skeptical right now. First of all, the speedwork this week was out of my league. It called for 5 miles, with a warmup and cooldown, and 2 x 1600 @ 7:42. I have never attempted a 7:42 mile, but I gave it a shot and discovered my max is 800 meters at that pace. Now, you give the “Smart Coach” your goal time and specify how hard you want to train and what your mileage base is. Perhaps my goal time is too aggressive, but I figure I can try to improve my speedwork from now until the end, and there are only two other speedwork sessions in the 10 week program that it gave me.

  However, this morning, I was looking at the long runs and the peak long run is only 9 miles. That just seems… wrong. As much as I want to try to just stay the course with a program, I think I am going to need one 12 miler. Otherwise I don’t think I will feel ready.

  Another issue with programs I have looked at is that the long run pace is always dramatically slower than my goal half-marathon pace. I would like to run the marathon in 1:50, which is 8:23 pace. The long runs on the Smart Coach program peak at 9:30 pace. Supposedly, tempo runs are supposed to get you trained for your half-marathon goal pace, and your long runs are just supposed to get you used to the distance, but that wisdom is counter-intuitive for me. I feel like I need half-marathon practice in my training.

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  Today
  Anyway, today’s run was not very good. After beer drinking more than normal last night, my stomach was not really up for the challenge. I pushed through it anyway, and took a few walking breaks, which screwed up my pace time. The good news is that the dog is wiped out! She saw two bunnies on the trail, tons of squirrels and birds – so it was a good day for her.

  Yesterday I got an iPhone and there is an application on it called iFitness, which looks pretty handy. You could run with the iPhone and use it as a gps, but I still love my garmin 305. I think iFitness would be really handy at the gym for lifting weights though. I am terrible at keeping track of what I do there.

  I’ve got Sunday chores to do (laundry, groceries, etc.), and at some point today I am going to try to watch Running on the Sun, a movie about the infamous Badwater race. I will be back for a review!