I’ll admit it, I have a tendency to to write or say something about training, and then completely go back on it and do something else. Sometimes it will be years later when I change my mind, other times it will be within a matter of days or weeks.

Some examples:  I used to think it was best to keep speed-work days pretty short. Later, I figured out that was the worst thing to do, and adopted doing Big Workouts, where the total mileage for the day is 14-16 miles. I also at one point thought that short intervals were a great workout; later I dropped that idea in favor of long tempos. During the peak of my running, I thought that days off were an opiate for the masses. Now I think they can be necessary to maintain the balance of life.

My most recent flip-flop is that I’ve already bailed on the training plan I outlined in a recent blog post. I had decided that since my body can’t handle high mileage anymore, I would do all hard workouts and a large portion of my total volume on the elliptical machine. I still think the concept was good, but it turns out that pragmatism was lacking.

In a nutshell, I hated it. After three weeks of going to the gym every morning, dripping sweat all over the elliptical machine, and, yes, getting some great workouts in, I had the following revelation. I am a runner. I run so that I can run…longer and faster. I run because I enjoy the feeling of running. I run because running is intrinsically good. When I replaced running with elliptical, training ceased to be enjoyable, and I very quickly lost all motivation. My end-goals were the same as before: racing. But the process of getting there had changed, and it turned out that the process is as important as the result. I found out that if I destroy the process and replace it with something else, I no longer want the result, and I quit altogether.

It was an interesting little journey, and I’m okay with the results. So the little cross-training experiment failed, big deal. I am now back to running every day. And I’m happy. Spring is here, the weather is beautiful, and it’s great to be alive, get outside everyday, and run. My training is not terribly structured right now, but I get a little tempo once a week or so, throw in some doubles when I’m motivated, and now I’m actually starting to feel the hints of fitness, much like how my lawn is showing hints of green. Perhaps in a few weeks or few months that hint will bloom into the real thing.

My body is holding up fairly well. After much deliberation, research, and consultation, I decided to start Enbrel, a biologic medication that treats Ankylosing Spondylitis (A.S.) and other auto-immune diseases by dampening the immune system and stopping inflammation before it even happens. It can actually slow or halt disease progression, opposed to NSAIDs, which treat only the symptoms (similar to putting a band-aid over a gaping wound).

After two weeks of Enbrel, I am not pain-free, but my hamstring tendons have improved greatly, my knee pain/stiffness has subsided, my hip pain has vanished, and my feet are “good enough”. A fair amount of foot pain and back stiffness remain, but it is tolerable. So I am encouraged by the early results, especially since it usually takes several weeks or months to realize the full effects of the medication.

The main downside to Enbrel or any other drug in its class is that it makes me more susceptible to getting sick. As a trade-off to eliminating pain and inflammation, I must now carefully monitor my health and my actions, which includes not to over-exerting myself. In other words, even if Enbrel forces the A.S. into remission, it’s not a free pass for me to run like crazy and do the kind of mileage I did before. Training 100+ miles/week often straddled the thin line between brilliant performance and crashing with sickness, fatigue, or injury; it’s truly a strain on the body no matter who you are.

That said, I am optimistic about training and racing. In the past, 70 or even 80 miles per week was pretty easy on my body, and I think I could handle that without compromising my immune system. But there is still a long way to go to even work myself up to that point. For now I am content to enjoy the spring and a fresh start on running. Mileage and performance are not in the forefront of my mind, but I’d be lying if I said I never thought about it.

But my current goals all revolve around the present and near-future, and I am not looking past May. I am running the Striders Half Marathon in Ogden in early April, mostly as a tuneup and exploratory race for the Indy Mini. Striders is a good course and a fun race, one that I’ve won before. I look forward to revisiting it and seeing how close I can get to my previous times. Four weeks later I will have the Indy Mini, and then beyond that I have no idea! In any case, I hope to have a fun spring and summer with running, and perhaps try a few races I have never done before. Happy training everyone.

A couple years ago, I thought I had it all figured out. Marathon training was simple: just do 2 big workouts per week (15+ miles), an easy long run, and fill the rest of the days with easy doubles until I hit 100+ miles for the week. It was a formula that took my marathon time down from above 2:30 to under 2:20. And I expected it to work into the future.

Getting hit with ankylosing spondylitis (A.S.) has changed everything. My body’s old limits are no longer valid, and the disease has imposed on me new limits. Through trial and error (most error), I’ve figured out that if I go over 50-60 miles/week, I start to break down. Mostly it’s the tendon injuries that sideline me.

I had been holding out hope that I would be able to at some point resume my old high-mileage training, and get back to marathons. But just recently I’ve finally accepted the fact that A.S. and marathoning don’t mix, and my condition will likely prevent me from ever running how I used to again. Yes, it was a bit of a sad realization, but it was actually more liberating than anything. Once I accepted that as a fact, I felt like a weight had lifted off my shoulders, and I was free to look at and pursue running from a different perspective. The pressure of being what I once was is gone, and now I can look forward to running becoming something new.

Clearly hard marathon training is now out of the question, but I had proven this past year that I could still successfully train for and run quality races at the 5K through half marathon distance. So that is where my focus will now lie. If anything, it’s getting back to my roots, as I was a 5K/10K specialist long before I had even dreamed of running a marathon. I’m excited at the prospect of the shorter distances, of different types of training, and of potentially even setting new PR’s that I’ve neglected over the last several years.

So in essence I need to relearn how to train. I had figured out marathon training, but now I need to figure out 5K/10K training, and specialize it for running with A.S. with the training load I can handle. For now, the centerpiece of my training will not be running, but the elliptical machine. I’ve found over the last year that it is possible to get an excellent workout on the elliptical, and my heart rate elevates to levels similar to running while on the machine. When I push hard on the elliptical, I often get my HR up to near 180, which is 90% of my max. Seems good enough for most types of training!

My new staple elliptical workouts are 10×3-minutes hard, with 1-minute recovery, and 2×15-minutes hard, with 5 minutes recovery. These are designed to simulate CV and MP workouts. As I get stronger on the elliptical, I plan to extend the time of the “tempos”.

Perhaps the best aspect of cross training is that since there is no pounding, I can recover faster and work out more frequently. Rather than doing 2 hard workouts per week, I will be able to do 3 hard workouts per week. I firmly believe that I can achieve a high state of fitness from cross training like this, and that it will translate to good races.

Of course I will need to run too, but for now I’m just doing 2-3 miles/day on the weekdays, and a 9-miler or so on Saturday. Once the weather warms up, the snow melts, and I get more daylight to work with, I’ll add a second 4-5 mile run with the jogging stroller in the evenings after work. Adding doubles will give a total running volume of 45-50 miles/week, along with a cross training volume about 5 hours/week. This cross training volume I convert to 30 “miles”, based on the approximation of 10 minutes on elliptical = 1 mile running (Jack Daniels suggests 1 unit of cross training = 2/3 unit of running) . So the end result will give me up to 80 “miles” per week of total training volume, which is certainly sufficient to run some nice 5K/10K/half marathon races.

Some of you readers (assuming I still have readers) may wonder, why isn’t 70-80 miles/week good enough to run a marathon? Simple: I’m not doing any long runs or big workouts. Everything is short and sweet. A huge part of marathon-specific training is geared to adapt the body to handle of pounding and fueling of a race longer than two hours. It is that type of training I’ve determined I can no longer handle. No more 20-milers, no more huge tempo runs or interval workouts, no more runs over 60 minutes in duration. Dropping those kinds of runs, I believe, will keep me healthier, but they will also prohibit me from really doing any race longer than a Half.

So marathons are out, but other races are in. And I’m excited about it. I feel like it’s a fresh start and a new challenge. And is this to say I won’t ever run a marathon again? No, it’s just saying that I won’t ever train for a marathon…in the near future. I could easily see myself taking this training plan, adding one longer run (16-18 miles), and then jumping in a marathon for fun. But it would have to come at the end of the season, and would have to be dialed back with lowered expectations.

But who knows what the future will really bring? I’m just grateful for everyday out there I have to run and be active. I look forward to trying to PR at the Indy Mini Marathon in May, and to perhaps running the USATF LDR Circuit again this summer.

It is officially winter now, but up here in northern Utah we’ve been in the throes of winter for several weeks already. Sub-20 degree temperatures, icy roads, and snowy hummocky sidewalks have quickly become the norm. Back when I skied a lot, this would have made me jump with glee. But at this point skiing is an aside, and I am focused on being a husband, a father, and runner. And all this snow is very, very bad for running.

I managed to get through my shin injury in October, and had a great November and early December. Mileage crept back up to the mid-60’s, and I was throwing in a weekly tempo run or two at about 5:40-6:00/mile pace. All in all, I was feeling good and fit, and excited to slowly increase my mileage over the months. Then winter hit. And motivation dwindled. And my body began to ache in various spots.

Some of the aches and pains are due to A.S. Others are due to running on slippery, snowy surfaces. And others are a combination of both, ever reminding of the fact that I cannot train how I used to, that once I hit 70 miles/week I’m an injury waiting to happen.

So far I’m still healthy enough, but I can feel protesting in my left knee. And I constantly worry about my shin flaring up again, or my foot flaring up again. If only it were spring, then things would be better…but unfortunately today is only Day 5 of winter.

Deep breath. Whew. It really doesn’t matter. That’s what I remind myself. There are no races of any importance until May or so. There is absolutely no reason for me to push into higher mileage; there is no reason for me not to back down and relax; there is no reason not to take days off or cross train when I feel my body protest the rigors of training. It will all come together in due time.

And so what if my breakdown point with A.S. is now 60-70 miles/week, rather than 100+ miles/week?  I must make do with what I’m given to work with. It’s in my nature to push whatever limits I can find. And I will continue to do so during the near future with running. I will run the most mileage I possibly can in search for the next P.R. and in search of a 2012 Trials qualifier. But if that limit is lower than what I would like, I just need to accept it and make the most of that volume of training. The keys are patience and adaptability.

Next race: The Painter’s Half Marathon in St. George. This race is mostly an excuse to for my family to get out of Logan and get some warmer weather down in St. George. But at the same time, I would like to run well, perhaps in the 1:10:-high range or so. Hopefully this race will keep me motivated enough to keep hitting the roads, treadmill, elliptical, and weights…but still keep it all in check and stay healthy.

I frequently listen to the Dave Ramsey Show (and encourage anyone else with an interest in personal finance to do so as well). Each show, Dave reads a “Quote of the Day”, and most of them are pretty inspirational and worth chewing on. Dave’s quotes the last several days have been especially good, and I’ve swiped them and posted them below with some of my own musings regarding their application to running.

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work” - Steven King

There is a host of pedigreed, talented runners out there who do not come remotely close to their potential. On the other hand, I’ve seen an even greater number of unheralded runners develop into great marathoners. Some of them (*gasp*) didn’t even run track or cross country in high school or college! Whether your goal is sub-4:00, sub-3:00, or an Olympic Trials Qualifier, you will make your greatest gains through sheer workload. Find the right mix of consistent training volume and intensity, and pursue it with passion, and you will soon find yourself burying those who are supposedly more “talented”. (although I think that the ability to push yourself and show intense drive is a talent in itself).

“Success is the maximum utilization of the ability that you have” - Zig Ziglar

How do we truly rate success in running? Is it breaking a certain time barrier? Finishing high in a race? Beating a particular rival? I think all those things can factor into success, but the most important criteria of success is simply meeting your potential. Not everyone has the genetics to win races or place in age groups, but everyone has the opportunity to push themselves to their limits, to answer the question: “What is the best I can be?” Reaching your maximum potential transcends any race time or placing. It is independent of age, course layouts, bad weather, or sore knees. It should be what we ultimately pursue. The times and race finishes will follow.

“There’s only one way to succeed in anything, and that’s to give it everything” - Vince Lombardi

How bad do you really want it? Are you willing to sacrifice and push the envelope in order to achieve greatness? How bad do you really want to qualify for Boston? How bad do you want to break 3:00? 2:40? 2:30? 2:20?

These are the types of questions I regularly ask myself, and challenge the readers of this blog (all three of you) to ask themselves as well. The legacy of your running and the stories you accumulate will last longer than the pain of any workout or the sugary taste of those Friday donuts. For myself, I have decided that it is worth sacrificing most of my non-family free time to run, stretch, do core drills, and get extra sleep. It is worth watching my diet and eating healthy. The yard looks like trash, but I am fit. Socializing can be done while running. Beer is good, but Olympic Trials is better. Sleeping in on Saturday is nice, but reaching for my maximum potential is done while awake.

It’s difficult to stay inspired and motivated during hard training cycles. I personally struggle with the “little things”, so need some motivation along the way. Hopefully these quotes will inspire you as they’ve inspired me. No more brurgers until I qualify. Happy training!

Al Gore was right. Along with the unfortunate polar icecaps, we are experiencing relentless heat up here in the usually cool realms of the northern Utah. Although our temps normally dip down to the 50’s at night, I’ve been waking up (in a pool of my sweat) to upper 70s. This is bad. Did I mention I get up at 6AM? Did I also mention I usually do a second run at 6PM? Here’s an inconvenient truth: running in 95+ degree temperatures sucks! (And so does living in an house without air conditioning…).

I usually prefer to do high mileage (80-100 miles/week) during the summer because:

1. I have more time to run during the summer
2. There is more daylight to train in during the summer
3. There are more races, and therefore more incentive to train, during the summer.

Last summer was beautiful. No 100-degree days that I can recall. However, I was laid up with about 17 different injuries and didn’t run a step from May through August. What a waste.

This summer is a different story. I’m healthy and motivated to hit those two-a-days and those 100 mile weeks, but the weather is turning into an inhibitor. An inhibitor that I’ve been ignoring.

Despite the intense sun and soaring temperatures, I’m still hitting my mileage, still getting in all those evening doubles, and still booking those Big Workouts…perhaps against my best interests. Dehydration is surely a factor, and a dangerous one at that. Fatigue and lethargy are also in the mix to bring me down. Perhaps I should bag it during the summer and do my high mileage during the winter and early spring.

But nay, I say we press on.

High mileage is doable in the heat, and so is high performance amidst all that volume. Here are my keys to achieving high mileage during the height of summer:

• Drink water like mad. Yes, dehydration is an issue while training in the heat, but fortunately there’s a cure: water. I keep a water bottle next to me a work all day and will go through it a couple times before I clock out. This helps me recover from my morning run and preps me for my evening run.
• Gin and tonic, hold the gin. I’ve been avoiding alcohol like the plague lately. The funny thing is that it doesn’t even sound good. Whenever I think I may want a beer or other “adult beverage”, I just think about my morning run approaching in 10 hours or so, and any urge disappears. I can’t afford the performance hit of a diuretic, not in this kind of heat.
• Nap so much it embarrasses your dog. As if logging 80-100 miles/week isn’t tiring enough, the heat completely removes any remaining energy and ambition. Combat this with a solid 8-9 hours of sleep at night, plus naps whenever you get the chance. Last Saturday, I managed to take two separate naps within a span of 4 hours, a new PR. I think increased sleep is key (in tandem with increased hydration) to maintain high performance during a stressful time.
• Never miss a morning run. The earlier the better. Better to get up at the crack of dawn and take a nap later than to miss your window of heat-free running. For double-days, make the morning run twice as long as the afternoon/evening run.

High mileage during the thick of July is quite doable with a bit of discipline. Keep hitting that water bottle and remember that autumn is right around the corner!

Trigger Point Technologies hit a home run with their TP Massage toolkit, which is designed to release trigger points, restore muscle elasticity, and improve biomechanics for runners, cyclists, and other athletes. For me, TP massage as been key component of returning my body to health and my recent rise in running performance. (see my full review on TP Massage Ball).

Another oft-overlooked aspect of injury prevention, performance, and biomechanics is core strength. Many runners will be willing to train for hours and hours each week, but fail to put any time into improving their core — the result of this neglect is sometimes poor biomechanics that propogate into injury.

While actively recovering from my barrage of injuries in 2006, I dedicated myself to improving core strength, both during phyical therapy and at home. From wobble boards and stability balls, to simple crunches and bridge exercises, I consistently invested about 15 minutes per day into my core muscles. And it has been time well spent, as I have logged over 1400 miles in 5 months and set several big PR’s…all while staying injury-free.

The TP Stability PODS are designed to increase core strength through challenging balance and symmetry. They come as a set of three different-sized, concave, foam…er…pods (for the lack of a better description). The differential heights of the three pods represent three difficulty levels (I, II, and III). In other words, it is much harder to find balance with the tallest pod than with the shortest pod, which engages greater work in the core muscles.

Those who use wobble boards and stability balls will immediate see the challenge and utility of the TP Stability PODS. Due to their concave shape and foam material, it’s pretty difficult to find your equilibrium while using these things! I enjoyed using the PODS to spice up my normal core exercises, such as my “bridges” and “bird-dog” poses. I found that I was unable to hold my stability poses as long when using the PODS, and activitated a more intense workout compared to without them. This new challenge was quite welcome, as I was getting rather bored with my exercises lately.

The PODS also play well with other apparatus. For instance, doing pushups with my feet on a stability ball and hands on the PODS was a great full-body workout. There are other inventive POD exercises that can be done in synergy with a stability ball or even the TP Baller Block. Just as you can intensify just about any core exercise by using a stability ball, you can further intensify any core exercise by applying one or more Stability PODs to any of your points of contact with the ground.

TP Technologies has also developed a series of POD exercises specifically for runners. They are essentially various forms of one-legged knee raises and hip abductions that stimulate balance and symmetry. While these exercises won’t engage an intense “burn” or anything, they do activitate the deeper muscles of the core, which are often under-developed. I’ve been performing these balancing exercises 3-4 days/week for a couple months now, and have noticed a sizeable improvement in my balance, and have been able to steadily increase my balancing time on the POD. These exercises remind me much of the wobble-board poses I had performed during formal physical therapy sessions while rehabbing a groin strain, only I’m not being billed $150/hour by some therapist.

Trigger Point Technology’s Stability PODS should be considered by any athlete looking to prevent injuries, rehab injuries, or simply increase performance. There is sooo much good training and rehab that can be completed right at home. A set of PODS sells for $26, which is much less than the amount my physical therapist would bill my insurance for 15-minutes with a hot pack. Products like the PODS empower athletes to take their health into their own hands and implement home programs.

As a runner, I can’t say enough about core strength in general. I sincerely believe that increasing core strength and improving biomechanics was a key aspect to my recent half marathon improvement from 1:12:50 to 1:09:27. TP Massage and Stability PODS were just a couple ingredients in my stew of training, but they most certainly helped.

If you’re interested in core strength, investing in a stability ball should be your first step, and I also recommend giving the Stability PODS a try.

[Pictures are from Trigger Point Technologies’ website]

In just the past month, I have had to travel on business to three different destinations on three separate occasions. This plethora of traveling has often made it difficult to run, but since I maintain an active racing schedule, I really can’t afford to have these trips impede on the 80-90 miles of weekly running required by my training program.After my most recent trip, I returned home fatigued and endured a series of terrible runs on the ensuing days. I’ve been spending these trips sitting around a conference table, not hiking around or digging ditches, so it was not immediately clear to me why travel is so taxing on the body.

However, after serious reflection, I identified several reasons why traveling can be perilous to a running regimen…

Read the entire article at The Final Sprint!

Doubles…the dreaded “two-a-day”. Those phrases invoke not-so-fuzzy memories of high school cross country practice. Get up at 6AM, pound some stair laps, and then duke it out again on the roads at 3PM. Since most people on my prep team didn’t run at all during the summer, these double sessions (combined with racing three times per week) would “crash” most of us in shape by the conference and sectional meets.

Upon entering college and starting a new phase of my running career, doubles were completely eliminated from my training. Instead, our program focused on medium-length single runs (10-12 miles). My weekly mileage never topped over 80, which was not a hard volume to accomodate with singles, and I decided at that point that two-a-days were only for high school kids and obsessive-compulsive freakazoid runners.

This sentiment has changed, partially because I have become an obsessive-compulsive freakazoid runner. In other words, I become a marathoner in my post-collegiate running. Once my mileage reaches over 80 miles/week, I typically start incorporating doubles between 1-3 days/week. Here’s why:

1. This is a safe way to increase mileage without increasing pounding. It’s a lot easier to get 90-100 miles/week on 9 or 10 runs than on 6 or 7 runs.
2. Since runs can be shorter, you tend to get beat up less and reduce chance of injury (for the given training volume).
3. More running = more efficiency. Every time you go out and run, it increases blood volume and burns calories. There’s no such thing as “junk miles”. Doubles make you fast.
4. It’s a great way to recover from a race and do high mileage at the same time. For example, following up a half marathon or 10K with some doubles over the next week will allow the body to recover quickly and keep building aerobic fitness.
5. A short morning run is a good way to increase performance for an afternoon workout or race. Even an easy mile will help with this. I’ve found that running in the morning will help get the blood flowing and put some spring in my step for my evening run. It’s surprising how often I will wake up feeling slow and tired, jog with the dog around the block, and then feel like a new person when my evening run rolls around.
6. Doubles are a good way to keep mileage high on short race days. An easy 5-miler several hours after a 5K or 10K will keep your mileage stable and also “work out” some of the race soreness. Remember, easy is key, and running on a different surface is recommended as well (ie grass, trail, etc.).

At 70 miles/week or less, I don’t see much point in doubles, except on race days and recovery weeks. At 80+ miles/week, I think they are a good thing and should be considered by most people. If you’re struggling to get your mileage up, struggling to maintain mileage on recovery weeks, trying to lose those last few pounds of winter fat, or want a performance boost for workouts, give doubles a shot.

There’s been some interesting discussion on the Tinman Forum (The Run Zone) regarding taking days off running. I’ve had some mixed ideas on this over the years, so the topic interests me. In high school, I always took one day off per week. Then in college, I took 1 day off every 21 days. Post-collegiately, I’ve slacked a bit more and taken a day or two off a week. Hmmm…I was slow in high school, then fast in college, and then slowed down post-collegiately…is there a trend here?

Tinman may say so. In his opinion days off are valid only when:

1. You are sick
2. You are injured
3. During planned rest breaks.

But during the real training season, days off act as mental crutch, and you don’t really need it. This mode of thought, by the way, mostly applies to highly competitive, elite, and aspiring-elite runners (ie - nerds). Normal people usually have too much of a life to run every day.

According to Tinman, downfalls to taking days off are:

1. Loss of blood volume
1. Loss of V02Max
2. Loss of efficiency
2. Diminished motor-neural and sensory awareness. You don’t realize you are pushing too hard when you return (all stocked full of glycogen).
3. You think you can push harder when you come back from resting, but this is not a good idea.
4. All this can make people more prone to injury (a paradox)

As Tinman puts it:

“Frequency of running is directly linked to efficiency. If you run more often, you improve your efficiency. You run along using less energy. You extend your stamina. You simply don’t get tired like you used to!”

To put it another way, in order to race faster, you must run more. If you take days off, you will not reach your true potential. It’s a personal choice, but when it comes down to it, it’s that simple!

These, by the way, are the paraphrased words of Tinman, but I think I’m agreeing with most of it. It makes sense to me…how may days off do you think elite runners like Alan Webb, Paul Tergat, or Meb take? (actually that would be an interesting set of stats…)

However, most of us have to take days regularly, whether it be because of religious convictions, unforgiving work schedules, or family committments…all very valid reasons. This is the real world, after all, and there is life beyond running. I should also note that many training programs or phases of programs demand scheduled days off (ie immediately after a marathon, coming back from injury, etc.)

But I’ve become convinced that for those of us who do not have obstacles to running every day…we should! After being on a 6-day/week for several months, I’m now easing back into my 21 days on, 1 day off routine. It’s going pretty well. The key is to make sure your easy days are easy. Now, rather than taking my day off, I’ll just do a lower-volume run (4-8 miles) at a slow pace, and just let my body relax and unwind. Even a 2-mile jog is better than nothing, and will allow the body “active rest”. I am no more tired than before, I’m still injury-free, and training (and racing!) is going quite well. I hope to hit my true potential someday, and this may be one element of that puzzle.

This is obviously a fairly controversial subject among runners. Feel free to disagree with me, just explain why!

I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m getting a little tired of racing every other week. For me, the Striders 10-miler this weekend is going to put the “training” back in Training Series. That what this is, right? A training series to get in shape for the Ogden Marathon.

I had a hard time recovering from the 10K, and spent much of the subsequent week trying to recover rather than punishing the pavement with vigorous training. I hope to avoid this trend with the 10-miler. The key is that the race itself needs to be a big threshold workout. This is difficult, because I will have to shut my mind off to its competitive urges early in the race. I think in the second half of the race, it will be good to “practice” racing and open it up a bit, perhaps running the last several miles at full tilt. But 4-5 miles of hard racing is a lot easier to recover from than 10 miles!

Hopefully this will pan out for me. I think that I got “real” racing out of my system with the 5K and 10K. It was great to come back from injury and race hard, but now I’ve gotten over some of the initial excitement of racing, and it’s time to buckle down, train hard, and complete some quality workouts in preparation for a marathon.

My goals for the 10-miler are:

1. Relax and run marathon-pace for the first half or so.
2. Improve my uphill running. Make sure no one runs away from me on ascents.
3. Race hard the last half. Practice race strategy and bury some people through hard surges.
4. Improve my finishing kick. Run a last mile that I can truly be proud of.
5. Average under 6:00/mile overall for the race.

As far as predictions, I think with all the hills, winners will be somewhere in the 57:30 range (5:45/mile). I also think a lot of other people will back off this race and focus on their training too. With this race out of the way, folks will have four solid weeks of quality training before the half marathon. Getting banged up on a difficult 10-miler would waste a week for recovery. That being said, for those willing to hang it all out, this may be a good race to make up ground on the competition, get some good circuit points, and perhaps win some money. As for me, I have to bite my cheek and force myself to think “big picture.”

Oh, and the course map with analysis? No time right now! Maybe tonight…

Until then, I’ll have to be content with the google map of the course. I will say that judging by this map and profile, it will be an easier course than the 5K or 10K. Note that the last few miles are identical to the second half of the 10K. Don’t let the lower vertical exaggeration of the longer profile fool you…it’s the same hill! But the first half of the race will be relatively easy, allowing people to get into a better rhythm.

This is the second and final installment in “Scaling the infamous Wall”. Make sure you also go back and read “Part I: Marathon preparation”.

The big day is finally here and its time to run the epic marathon! You have prepared and trained hard for last several months, weeks, and days, setting yourself up for success by training with a plan, tapering effectively, living healthily, carbo-loading, and calculating your true pace. You are ready…SO DON’T BLOW IT!!…

Read the full article at The Final Sprint!

I vividly remember my first marathon. I can still visualize the preparation, the excitement and anticipation, the effortlessness of the first half of the race … and the pain and agony of the last eight miles!…

Read the full article at The Final Sprint!

If you browse through any running magazine, website, or forum, you are sure to see a menagerie of articles and posts about overuse injuries. Stress fractures, tendonitis, “runner’s knee”, groin strains, and that beast, plantar fasciitis, all come up with surprising regularity. Let’s face the unfortunate truth, injuries can be a part of running…

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My running outlook for the rest of January is hazy…hazy. Yesterday was our first red-burn day in over a year. A high-pressure system has swallowed most of northern Utah, leaving us with cold, inverted air that traps vehicle and livestock exhaust alike. My pristine little mountain valley currently has air quality that rivals Los Angeles. It’s a strange phenomenon.

People with respiratory problems are encouraged to stay inside or wear masks when they go outside. Obviously running outside in not in my interest. But I figure running outside could be no worse than smoking a few cigarettes, which is indefinitely better than running on a treadmill.

Although I have treadmill access through my gym, I am reluctant to do extended running on them due to injury concerns. In a nutshell, treadmills can cause you to overstride, due to the “ground” moving under your feet. For the split second your feet are on the mill, they are actually moving backward; this is unnatural and has been known to cause injuries. I’m a bit paranoid of injuries, having missed most of 2006, and will take my chances outside with the freezing cold and PM-2.5.

Since moving to northern Utah I’ve developed a bit of a trail running habit. During the summer months the local mountains frequently invite me onto their paths of dirt and rock, and I gladly accept…

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Running injuries present many challenges. Getting the injury diagnosed and implementing a rehabilitation program are at the forefront, but keeping your SANITY during the potentially long layoff is often overlooked and can be very problematic….

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I tried to run naked once a week. By “naked”, I actually mean “without a watch”. We runners love our gadgets, and the sports watch is the granddaddy of all running accessories…

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I have to admit, I’m starting to get a little bit antsy. It has been about 9 months since I’ve ran a real race, but I still have a good 5 weeks until my first scheduled race (Striders Series 5K). The upside is that this gestation period has enabled me to shake my injury bugs and to develop a big base. The downside is that I’m sick of winter and sick of building base. As Cody put it the other day in his training blog, “Just another day, blah.”

But here’s the thing: despite my impatience, the longer I hold off racing and the longer I build base, the stronger and faster I will be in the long run. When I do run that first 5K on Feb 10, it will probably be my best season racing debut in many many years. For that matter, it will be the first real 5K I’ve ran in shape since Draper Days in July, 2004. This is my first year since college I’ve actually taken the time to build a big base before doing any sort of race! Most years I’ll go ahead and run the Canyonlands Half Marathon after just a couple months of running 30-40 miles/week. In fact, last year I was back to racing again just a few weeks after I resumed running after a three-month layoff. Sure, I told myself that I would “hold back” and treat the races like “workouts”, but I just can’t do that in reality. I was lying to myself; I’m way too competitive to hold back. Having a good base this year will give me the freedom to deliberately let loose from the get-go.

So yes, I will continue unabated with the base-building and set my eyes on long-term success, not instant gratification. To keep things more mentally (and physically) interesting, I’ve started throwing in a “Tinman Tempo” once week, added 100m striders a few days a week, and intend to start doing some CV fartleks in a couple weeks. These three workout types are part of Tinman’s base program, and should greatly increase aerobic fitness during base training. My mileage this week will be 53 on 6 days, plus some elliptical training. I’ll hit 60 miles/week (on 6 days) in a couple weeks, and by the time I race, I will have been in the mid-60s for several weeks. Not a huge base volume by the standards of many, but I think the key for base is not just volume, but also time. The longer one keeps at it and runs consistent, steady mileage, the faster they will be at the end of the base period, even without doing speedwork. This is what I’ve experienced in the past, and is what I anticipate experiencing this winter and spring. Yes, I’m itching to race pretty bad, but I’m looking forward even more to injury-free, strong running over the next full year.

Let me start off by saying that I don’t like the term “resolution“, which is overused so much this time of year that it almost implies failure. Instead I use a term that as a runner I can wrap my mind around easier and is more meaningful to me: “goal“. Being goal-oriented is important not just in everyday life, but in our running lives as well. As the proverb says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty; but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty…”
I generally set running and life goals throughout the year, but do so in a fairly disorganized fashion. I don’t necessarily think them through, write them down, or tell other people about them. I felt that although it was good that I had goals, I could probably be more effective with them.

Effective 2007 goal setting was on my mind last week, and I happened to be listening to the Dave Ramsey Show (my favorite financial radio show), and Dave did a segment on well-rounded goal setting. I was working at the time and couldn’t focus my full attention on the segment, but fortunately I found a synopsis on another blog.

Dave says that our lives consist of seven major components, and goals must be set for each component in order to be successful. These seven areas of life for goal setting are: Career, Financial, Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Family, and Social. It is important to note that goals must be specific, measureable, and have a set completetion date. For example, “I want to lose weight” is a goal almost doomed to fail. A more powerful goal would be, “I want to lose 7 lbs by March 1st.”

I really liked the idea of structuring my goals this way, and over the weekend came out with a series of goals for these life areas for 2007. It was a challenge to make some of these goals measureable, but I eventually got the hang of it, and have started pursuing these individual goals. As I was working on my general personal goals, it occurred to me that running is multi-faceted as well, and a holistic group of running goals should address all of the aspects of running in order to be more effective. I made a few modifications to Dave Ramsey’s categories to come up with the Seven Goal Categories of Running. They are:

1. Perfomance - Goals for races and events. Times, rankings, finishes, etc.
2. Primary Training - Mileage, workouts, training schedules, etc.
3. Ancillary Training - Crosstraining, lifting, stretching, other activities that benefit running
4. Injuries - Weight loss/maintanence, injury-prevention, injury-recovery, etc.
5. Spiritual - This is a tough one, as it’s hard to set measureable goals for something abstract. But there is something sublime about running, and there are ways to foster our spiritual side through running.
6. Intellectual - Books, knowledge, training theory, etc.
7. Social - Developing relationships, running groups, etc.

Again, in order for these goals to be effective, they need to be measureable, have a completion date, and be specific. Since my particular running goals are for 2007, the set completion date for many of them are simply by the end of the year or racing season. Below is a subset of my 2007 running goals:

• Performance: 5k under 15:10, 10k under 32:00, half marathon under 1:10, marathon under 2:25
• Primary Training: Follow Daniels Running Formula for spring and summer training, Maintain 70-80 miles/week for all spring and summer, Two speedwork sessions per week during racing season
• Ancillary Training: Visit gym three times/week, Stretch hamstrings and hip flexors 10 minutes/day
• Injuries: Maintain weight between 130-133 lbs all year; TP Massage Ball 30-60 minutes/day
• Spiritual: Use Sunday runs as time of prayer and meditation
• Intellectual: Finish reading The Lore of Running; Re-read The Running Formula; Write two blog entries/week
• Social: Add at least one new person to my group of running buddies; Get to know every person on my racing team.

I should note that some of these goals are things I’m already doing, and I simply want to keep doing them. I think it’s important to have some “lay-up” goals to keep us encouraged and not overwhelmed.

So I’ll have to wait and see how this method of goal setting will work out for me this year. This is the first time I’ve tried something like this, but I’m very optimistic. I’ve printed the list and tacked it to my bulletin board by my desk to remind me, and I’ve also told others about them to help keep me accountable. On that note, I’ll end by saying that it is important to share our goals with others. Feedback can help “sharpen the saw,” refine ideas, and enable accountability. Happy New Year, and good luck with your own goal setting and 2007 running!

Well, it’s that time of year again. As winter continues to advance, we runners pass our time by speculating on our spring and summer racing season. For many, winter is a time of base-building, but it is essential to during this time to plan ahead for key races in the future, as the races that we aim for will influence the upcoming training plan.

As for me, I thought I had everything figured out: build base over the winter, then start incorporating speedwork specifically designed for success in 5-k and 10-k races, run 5k’s and 10k’s over the summer for the LDR Circuit, and then, if all is going well, gear up for a fall marathon, either Top of Utah or St. George. For one thing, I’d like to get my speed back, but also after my year-long bout with injuries I’m wary about exposing my body to the type of training needed to run a marathon (not to mention the marathon race itself). All those 20-milers can beat the tar out me, compared to the training volume needed to race well in 5k/10k distances.

Well, I’m second-guessing myself now. The Ogden Marathon is calling me. It’s not just their new website design either. The longer I stay healthy, the more I think I can handle a spring marathon. I’ve decided to break it down into Pros and Cons.

Cons (against running a spring marathon, no particular order)

• Marathons are hard
• Still afraid of what 20-mile training runs every week will do to my knees, back, and foot.
• Desire to focus on redeveloping my speed and running a fast 5k; marathons make you slow
• Delaying return to marathoning could make a fall marathon better due to developing other systems

Pros (for running a spring marathon, particularly Ogden)

• The marathon is my best distance, why avoid it?
• All signs indicate that I’ve fixed whatever biomechanical issue that has been hindering me, and I can sustain marathon training without injury
• The Ogden Marathon is the logical finale to the Striders Series; I will be fit enough to do it and will have a huge amount of base under my belt
• Ogden Marathon is a lot closer to Logan than Salt Lake; it’s advantageous to do any LDR Circuit race that is in Ogden
• Ogden Marathon has good prize money and a pretty good chance to actually win some cash. I can always use cash.
• My long-term goal is to qualify for Olympic Trials. Running a spring marathon may help me to qualify this fall.
• I like the Ogden Marathon. I like the course, the organization, and have had success there.

Do these pros outweigh the cons? I’m not sure yet. I don’t have to make this decision anytime soon, but by March I will need to start gearing my training to whatever course I choose. It’s either focusing on a spring marathon, then 5k’s and 10k’s, and then a fall marathon, or focusing in 5k’s and 10’s all spring and summer, and then a fall marathon. Obviously a big difference between a 5k and a marathon. I believe that training should be specialized to fit a particular type of race. Generalists are kind of good at everything but really good at nothing. It’s either 5k/10k or marathon, but not both.