Blog Update - 4-05-2009

Been having a great training progression over the past couple of weeks. The training program I am using is designed by Keith Watson, a local professional tri coach. Yes, I am simply training for the BB, but it seems his focus is working well for me. In general we have a workout every day with about 5-6 runs a week and with 1-2 days of cross training. In addition to this, there is at least 2 days of core work with some strength training. I have continued doing the core workout I got from RW awhile back at two sets. In addition to this I have added push-ups generally doing about 4 sets in 20-25-20-20 so far. I will probably add to this next week. I also need to add some of the other strength stuff that he has added to the program, specifically the leg squats (no weight). The most unique part of his training program I feel is the focus on running drills and form. He is very focused on a high turn-over count of at least 90 foot strikes per minute with preferably 95 or higher. The purpose obviously is to get us to have a more mid to forefoot foot strike without concentrating on the actual strike as this is often the key to injury. I am definitely feeling like I am running with less effort these days with a little more speed. What I notice most is that I am not nearly as tired after a run and especially on the day after as I was before. I think a lot of this has to do with the better form...the IT problems have all but disappeared at this point even with 1:24 for 10 miles yesterday. This of course confirms what I had learned from Jeremy Rodgers that IT is most typically the result of over-striding. There are of course other causes like muscle imbalance, leg length discrepancies, etc. However, form is the typical culprit.

Overally, yesterday was a good test of my fitness I think. I did a nice 10 with an average pace of 8:06 with 3 pickup for 10 minutes each starting with 7:40 down to 6:45 for the last one. After the 6:45 I walked for about 60 seconds and started back up again. I was able to maintain a mostly sub-8 pace for the rest of the run. Additionally, I was not that tired at the finish and I felt fine for the rest of the day. Today, I had a 10X60" session generally running between 5:40s and 6:00. Definitely a little sluggish, but overall the speed was still there.

We will see how this ramps through the session. I am a little concerned with the lack of track work, but I think the fast intervals and progression runs might be a nice substitute. I guess we will see!

Easy run with Lily in the Jogger - 4.38miles

Easy run with Lily in the stroller. Easy on a Friday!

Started a BB09 training program yesterday with a coach. Focused mostly on drills and form. Heal-strike bad, mid-foot good. 90+ strikes per minute cadence, looking 15 feet out front with elbows driving straight back and hands near the chest. Amazing how much easier it is running with a shorter gait and a quick stride...

4.86 Home from Hospital

Felt great today. Knee is definitely getting better, just a few little "tweaks" here and there. Ironic today, really bad accident in front of the hospital on the way home. Would have had to exit via the Campus Drive exit which would have surely been backed way up...287 north was really bad. So, running home may have saved me time!

Anyway, really encouraged after today. May be able to do some tempo or intervals tomorrow morning. May do some hill repeats next week as well, but will ratchet back to 2-3 max and then make way up from there...as the article suggested of course.

Great article by MF on stride. Definitely a big interest of mine over the past year...almost an obsession for sure. Fascinated by the ability to mitigate injury through form. I guess this appeals to my ski racing and crew days where form is almost everything (well, strength and endurance are important as well). Really want to try those Lunaracers as the LunaTrainers definitely did not work for me. The weight of the things are amazing!

Great post by JOHN HALAMKA on Google Health. Fascinating technology, but so simple. Disruptive? Not sure.

4.98 to Work

Easy run to work. Terrible sleep the night before as we went to bed a bit late and O woke up not long after, was up for an hour or so. So, not in the best, most alert state for the run. Noticed that my legs were a little tired and my left knee kind of hurt early in the run. This evened out a bit, but might have been favoring the knee as my right one flared up a bit near the end. Really just sore with no acute pain, but annoying nonetheless. HR was much higher than it should have been given the pace. Was even a bit hot in my pants and shell. Weird weather.

4.77 Hospital to Home along Coal Creek

First run since the little knee "tweak" at Eldora on Saturday. Was going a bit fast down a narrow, groomed trail when I hit a slight knoll. Lost a little control as the stiff Volkl's unloaded out from under me. Saved the fall, but tweaked the back side/outside of my knee. No pop and was able to ski the next few hours without incident. However, on the way home had intended to do a Betasso loop or two. No dice, as each stride definitely hurt with a near feeling of the right knee giving out...or rather, it felt that way when it hurt during the stride. Anyway, iced and rested it since.

Today, after much worry about the potential for a prolonged injury, the knee felt ok. I could feel the tweak if I overstrided or landed with my knee straight, but as long as I ran with decent form and a slightly bent knee under my center of gravity the knee felt fine. I even did a stride down in the low 7's and it felt better if anything. So, it seems that there is no real acute injury and that whatever happened is on the mend. Even several hours after the run as I write this the knee does not feel tight or painful. So, no ACL tear for me...

Overally decent run at a reasonable pace given the slight uphill all the way up Coal Creek, through Old Town and to Home. Faster than I normally run this route...probably because there was not drastic head wind as I had feared.

3.45 Hospital - Home - Slow Tempo

Wow, new feature in RunningAhead for GPS integration. Works great! Love it. I have held off on switching to another log pending the delivery of this new feature, looks like it was worth the wait given that I have over 2 years of data already on RA.

Anyway, rushed workout...was going to bag it to drive home as Katie had to pick MollyO at the airport. But, said screw it and left work early. Took the most direct path home, straight into the wind up 42, by the stump dump and then straight up Pine. Ok run, had a decent pace as the run progressed. Fairly slow in the beginning, but worked into a sub-8 for most of the way after the bottom of the Aquarious Hill. Gait was ok. Knee was a bit soar to start, but went away after about 5-10 minutes. Felt great once home and showered.

I would classify this as a slow tempo based on the HR being over 160 for the last 2 miles or so.

5.63 3 X 3-2-1 at work

Tried a workout structured somewhat off of GZ. Thought it would be an interesting workout with an opportunity to hit it fast with a decent break. Rested between 60 and 90 seconds between most of the repeats. The first set and half of the second were into the wind and a bit uphill at the CTC. The second half of the second and the third were mostly downhill with a tail-wind. The hardest 3 was the middle where I maintained around 6:24 whereas the easy one was just under 6 minutes. Felt great overall, had a short, smooth gait with a quick stride. Felt natural and fast overall.

The right knee started out a bit sore but subsided as I warmed up to the point where I did not even notice it about 10 minutes into the run. Actually, it never felt worse as the day went on either which is good.

Tomorrow is K's 38th, so this will be a rest day. Looking forward to it for sure.

Lots of great posts out there recently. NYT article on Matt Carpenter was particularly great. What great motivation that buy provides, to still be killing it at 44 is amazing. I can only hope my improvement progression extends that far.

A couple of misc stuff; 12 chin-ups and 2 sets of the RW core workout.

Easy 4.64 at work with some hill sprints

Did an easy run from the hospital out to the EarthRoamer hill. Did a set of 6 10 second sprints at max with a full walk recovery after each. Felt great overall.

Had this sensation of speed today, had to hold myself back from inching below marathon pace and below(sub 8 min mile). Really worked on my posture today; noticed my torso was out of alignment with a sag around my lower torso. Straightened and felt like I was being pulled forward. Kind of cool. Unfortunately this sensation decreased after the sprints. And, a few hours later noticed my right knee was starting to hurt again. Like last week, should have limited these down to 2-3 to start rather than the 6 I did today. They just feel so great, just need to build up the joint strength I guess. Will ice tonight and re-evaluate the run tomorrow, may be another elliptical if necessary.

VERY easy 2.87 with the kids at Davidson

Ran with the kids. Pushed Lily and the boys rode their bikes....on the Mesa. Had to stop a lot with them, but it was nice to get out there with everyone, an extra 2.87 that I would not have gotten. Better than nothing for sure.

Started a push-up program for the heck of it. Inched out 26 decent form push-ups which puts me at level 3 which basically means that I start at week three of the 4 week program with 100 as the goal. Less than 30 minutes a week!

Got to keep the core going as well. Got this from Runnersworld. Two sets to start.

10 miles in 1:25 - 15X4 progression

Tried the 15 minute intervals at a steady increase in speed for each one. Did the first one a little longer at 16 minutes with a pace of 8:21. The second one was just at 15 in a pace of 8:01, the third one was at 7:39 and the last 15 was at 7:25. Took between 1 minute and 2 minute between each, just long enough to get some water from the pack and allow for the HR to settle back down under 130 or so. The first avg HR was 147, the second 153, the third, 163 and the final was 172 with a max of 179.

Overall great workout. Did not feel beat up at the end nor did I feel particularly tired. Was happy at the end of the last 15 though. Did an ok job with the short strides.

4.93 to Work

Easy run to work in 40:22 for a pace of 8:12 with and avg HR of 151.
Felt kind of sluggish and heavy today. Did 5 30" strides near the end
of the run. These felt a little better...

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4.91 home from work...

Easy run from work. Had a nice short gait. Counted in the bigging, came out at 45 strikes per 30 seconds or 90 a minute. Need a little faster, but improvement nonetheless. Felt quiet for most of the run, but got a little harder near the end as I hit the slight hill up into Louisville. Good run, decent avg HR. A little headwind. Glad to be out without a gale-force wind!

3.77 on the elliptical

47 minutes for 700 calories. Great workout. Did 3 sets of 3 2 1 with a minute off in reverse. The 3 was at 15, 2 at 16 and the 1 at 17 (level on Sport.



Felt awesome.



Right knee a little tight from the hill workout, probably should have done 2 or 3 rather than the 5 sets. Pain is on the back side, deep inside. Very dull, non-acute. 1 out of 10.

Couple o runs

Having trouble hitting the 30 mile mark these days. Got some sort of a head cold on Saturday and as such kind of wimped out a bit on Sunday. Ended up with 8.69..fairly muddled miles. Ran with KW, our new coach for EGSMC. Somehow got the motivation to organize a training group at the hospital. Been wanting to do this for years as I have run across so many people who ask me about my running at work and about various races, etc. Just wanted to provide a good program to help people run and maybe run better. It is funny how this thing has evolved. Mentioned the group to a co-worker whose husband happens to be a tri coach who happened to be interested in doing some volunteer work/pr/marketing who happened to love the idea of a running group for fairly new runners in the 10min mile - 13min mile range. Funny how things work out. So, the vision has always been to structure this thing very much like the run-the-whole way pace groups at F4 or BBTC. And, this is exactly how it appears to be working out. Anyway, did my first run with KW the coach and he of course was naturally a lot faster than me, especially when I am feeling like crap. We started mainly sub-8 which really should not have been a problem for me, but it seems on that day I needed a bit slower of a warm-up to get going. Anyway, was able to chat about the program, goals, etc. most of the way regardless of the feeling of discomfort. Avg pace of 8:23 with an avg HR of 163...which really sucked. Should have been well below 160 for the avg pace. Oh well.

Missed my planned Monday as the day was perfect for a visit by the kids at the park by the hospital. Made a decision to prioritize the family! Well worth it for sure.

Finally got out today after blowing off my mid-day run. Went to check out the wind before my planned time...decided to bag it as the wind was just whistling through the hospital with dust storms all around the construction surrounding the place. Wise decision. Fortunately, left work early and was able to cobble together a decent 3.89 around old-town in about a 8:15 with an avg HR of 150. Funny how different this run was than Sunday, faster with a much lower HR. Weird. Maybe it was the tail wind in the beginning, although most of the second half was a combination of the Old Town hills and head wind. Regardless, felt a bit tight and sluggish today for some reason. Finished up the workout with a set of 5 X 10 second sprints up Washington. Modeled the workout from an article I read in the latest Running Times by B Hudson. Loved it actually. Felt like I was floating up the hill, total forefoot with very quick turn-over. Definitely "pawing" my way up the hill. Felt stronger after the workout as described in the article. Will keep this one up.

Short tempo to work

Did 3 sets of 5" on with 5" off. Last off was short as I made it to work sooner than the 5. Ran the first 5 in a 6:44, second in 6:34 and the last one in 7:03 with a 20' stop for traffic...would have been close to the first one I imagine.

Felt great!
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New and kind of new gear today

First run with the Nathan 008 backpack. Maybe will take a little getting used to. Like the ease of water access vs the hassle of my Amphipod bottles. Also preferred having the gear on my back rather than constantly moving around my waste...something about carrying 50+ ounces on my back is very appealing compared to the less than 30 I can carry with the belt. Just bought myself another hour! The front pockets are great as well. The only gripe at this point is the feeling of my breathing being restrained with the straps around my waste. Probably just need to futze a bit more with the various straps. Will try the pack on my work commutes without the bladder. May be better to carry the berry, wallet and additional crap I might need.

5th run with the Pumas today. Still feeling nice...had to switch out the factory inserts for my old Brooks. My feet feel tired after running in them. I think they are almost as flexible as the my old Frees, but with more cushion. I think my feet are just getting stronger. Or, they are just tired from my snug Technicas!
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The kids with the grandparents

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Easy 5 in the mountains

Did an easy 5 at 9000 feet today in Dillon. The run was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I thought it would be easy...even had hopes of hitting 10 or so. But, laziness got the best of me. Or, maybe I just wanted to get back before the movie ended that the kids were watching. I had a feeling that they would be challenging after the 3 hours they spend skiing lift 7 at Loveland (and the grandparents did not deserve this!).

Amazing day at the slopes. First day I actually skied next to and behind the boys as they navigated their way down the trail on their own. Nothing like seeing them learn a new skill, especially one that has been such a big part of my life. One of my first dreams about parenthood was one of skiing with my kids. We are now 1 day closer to skiing together all over the mountain. My 3 year old (the boys are 6) was even turning today ... On her own! Wow.

Anyway, back to the run. Started feeling a lot better after about 4 miles. Actually, I could have added a few more had I had a bit more motivation... And did not have the kids alone with the grandrents...

Regardless, it was a textbook recovery week. Down to 4 runs from 5, from around 30 down to around 20. Still a bit pathetic, but better nonetheless. Sticking to building base with some strides. Will add some 400's or 800's and maybe some 20" hill sprints. Back to 5 runs for sure.

Need the running to stay motivated (and sane) everywhere else.


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~5 miles to work

Great easy 5 to work in around a 8:10 pace. Kept avg HR at 151. Pumas felt great. Switched out the original foot beds for some thinner ones. More room overall, good adjustment.

Stride was great. No pain at all!
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Take the day off!

A little tight in the right knee today, feels more like some simple soreness rather than anything acute...as if the knee is just getting in shape. This would make sense as my 11.8 mile run yesterday is the longest I have done since the marathon in October. Maybe I am just being optimistic.

Actually, as the day is going on the knee is feeling better.

Need to make sure to hit my 4-days this week as me and the family will be hitting the mountains this weekend; this no long run. I am not thinking this is a problem; kind of thinking of this week as a recovery week.
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