By Mike
If you've been following my posts this year you'll know that this has been one horribly inconsistent year. While the triathlon's I've done have been more for fun than for competition, I've had a few good runs including a 15K PR and a half-marathon PR. With only about 2-3 hours a week to train, I decided to focus my season largely around running given the low-maintenance nature of it (especially when compared to triathlon!). Despite the challenges I saw some gains and some potential so I decided to run a marathon to cap off the season--the 2011 Zappos Las Vegas Marathon to be precise.
After my successful 15K in late October, I felt confident that I should be able to smash my old marathon PR of 3:29. I had a nice and easy week of training the week following the race with plans finish off with two more solid weeks of training following by a peaking period (taper) leading to my December 4th marathon. I was targeting a 3:10 or lower. Unfortunately my last good day of training ended up being November 8th and I never really got back into solid training mode after that. I went from being confident of crushing my marathon record to being really unsure of what my fitness was. Still, I had my flights and hotel booked and the race was already paid for so I figured I'd still go and give it a shot hoping my fitness from the summer and late fall was still with me. Plans of a 3:10 went out the window but I still thought that a conservatively run race would still lead to a slight PR. Lindsay wasn't racing but planned to come with me as well so if nothing else it would be a weekend in Vegas. :)
Race Day
If you're not familiar with the Zappos Las Vegas Marathon, it's actually a night race, with the last ~13 miles being run up and down the strip. The race started at 4pm which meant plenty of time to wake up, eat and make it to the start in a nice leisurely manner. It can get cold in Vegas on a December night but the weather on December 4th was possibly the best you could hope for (low 40s and sunny at 4pm) so I had that going in my favor. Lindsay accompanied me to the start so having her there gave me a chance to wear warm clothing up until the final few minutes before the start gun.
After a speech by some random celebrity and the national anthem, the gun went off and so did we. The first few steps felt surprisingly tough. Despite trying to keep an easy and conservative start my shins started to feel very tight and painful almost from the get-go. My first two miles came in at a ~9:00 pace (definitely not 3:10 or even 3:29 material). I stopped, massaged my lower legs and mile 3 felt much better. I settled in at a conservative 160bpm heart rate for miles 3-8. In my past marathons I raced a few bpm higher with a very even split so I knew this was a conservative target HR. Unfortunately my pace at this heart rate was about 0:45 to 1:00 min/mile slower than desired. In terms of perceived effort it also felt like 166+ bpm and not 160 bpm. By mile 8 I was feeling more tired than I felt at the end of my 15K just over a month ago and that was over 1:00/mi faster and at a much much higher heart rate. It was clear from the beginning that "something just wasn't right" and now at mile 8 it was painfully obvious that things were going downhill (and I don't mean a nice gradual descent to the finish line). My legs were starting to run out of gas and while I could have pushed hard for a few more miles I asked myself why. I definitely didn't need to finish another marathon. I wouldn't get any satisfaction from a finish--just a much slower recovery process post race. I decided to stop pushing and just took it super easy with plans to exit the course when it looped back to the start area at mile 13.1. Found Lindsay at the half-way mark and told her that I just wasn't feeling right. Got my stuff from the bag drop off area and we just went to dinner instead.
Race Review
While I only did half the race, I got a pretty good impression of the whole course and event. The race was pretty well organized--registration, bag drop off, packet pickup, etc all went smoothly. Despite the very large race size (some 40K registrations) it was easy and hassle free to get to the starting corrals. The corals were surprisingly uncrowded too. Water was evenly placed but the sports drink was not available at a most of the aid stations (at least within the first 13 miles). On course port-o-potties were extremely sparse and located at unpredictable spots. Many male participants decided to turn random walls, posts and fences into bathrooms as a result. The first half of the race was also on rather desolate terrain going through miles of dark, quiet residential neighborhoods and a small section of highway and then past a factory at one point. There were maybe 2-3 bands playing but that's it. Also the race is often described as being a pancake flat course but the first half (with it's various onramps, offramps, overpasses & underpasses) is anything but. While I didn't do the last half, I am familiar enough with the strip to confirm that it is quite flat so that's probably where its flat course reputation comes from. The strip was also far more lively than the first half of the course too. One other thing I would change is the timing of how the half-marathon race and marathon race intersect. In 2011 they had the half-marathon start 1n hour thirty after the marathon with the last half of the marathon course being the same as the half-marathon course. This lead to hundreds, maybe thousands of marathoners running right into the back end of the half marathon field. While they tried to keep each race in it's own "lanes" it didn't quite work that way but I could see what they were trying to do. All things considered it was a "OK" run race though it does leave some major room for improvement with regard the half-marathon/marathon timing and the on-course aid station & port-o-potty availability.
Post Race and End of Season Thoughts
Las Vegas Marathon was an inconsistent race to end an inconsistent season featuring both PRs and PWs. Inconsistent schedules lead to inconsistent training which lead to inconsistent results. Surprisingly, my chronic right hip problem definitely didn't benefit from this type of training either. :) I'm currently going through some physical therapy and hope to find a good ART specialist in the Seattle area as well. At least part of reason I had a strong year last year was due to a blend of consistent training (steady ~8 hours a week) and frequent preventative trips to my ART specialist Dr Bochner in NYC. Work schedules aren't always predictable but I can at least make time for preventative maintenance like ART and applicable strengthening exercises. Sounds like the makings of a New Years' resolution. Happy New Year everyone!
Showing posts with label marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marathon. Show all posts
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Magnuson October 15k Race Report
By Mike
Ran this race on October 29, 2011 as part of my marathon training. I wasn't too sure how I wanted to pace it since I was just coming off a minor injury (or major inconvenience) and I haven't been running too much (~20 miles per week). Part of me wanted to try a marathon pace effort and the other part of me wanted to do a true race effort.
The morning was a nice 50 degrees and partly sunny. Gun went off and I tried to pace by my watch. My watch kept reading 7:10 pace with a very high heart rate though... oh crap I recalibrated the watch on the treadmill and it didn't seem to correspond to actual running outside. Not only that but the mile markers were way off... my first mile came in at the 8:30 mark with my watch reading 7:10ish. At the very start of the race, my heart rate was also picking up some other peoples' watches too.
Realized I just had to go by feel at least for the very beginning. It was around this point that I decided to just race it. The race was somewhat crowded at the start with the 5k and 10k racers starting at the same time as the 15k runners. Rather than pace off the incorrect mile markers or my poorly calibrated watch I just decided to pace with some of the faster folks (most of whom I suspected were doing the 5 or 10k). That definitely helped.
Aid station situation was not ideal. I didn't get any water during the except for a tiny half sip at the 5k mark. They didn't set up the water table properly.. there were no volunteers handing them out and the many of cups were empty. I had a half filled cup at 5k and I drank nothing at the 10k mark. I didn't bring any gus with me either since I wasn't planning on taking this "race" too seriously. I was really starting to feel it after 10k and the only thing that kept me going was this one other 15k racer. She passed me passed me at the 4-5 mi mark and dragged me along for a few miles. I drafted her for 2 miles, then ran shoulder to shoulder and then made my move to repass her at the 7 mi mark. It was sort of a 2010 IM Macca moment. I could tell she put out a big effort to catch me in the first 4 miles because she started slowing down a tiny bit at mile 7. With ~2 miles left I just decided to go all out and try to catch the one other 15K runner ahead of me. Even though there was a nice out-and-back section, I wasn't sure if he was 1st place or not since the course was now intermixed with 10k runners.
There was a short while when it seemed I might be able to catch him but he seemed to have the same idea as I did for the last 2 miles (accelerate hard). I didn't catch him but I had a strong finish with slightly negative splits for each 5k. My finish time was ~1:02:50.
Plugging in a 1:02:50 yields a 3:08:30 marathon assuming similar course (I think Vegas will be harder). It's short of my goal of 3:05:00 for a BQ so I'm going to try and get two more hard weeks of training and see if that does it. In any case, I feel confident about beating my marathon PR of 3:29:38 but I don't know if I'll be strong enough to BQ at Vegas.
Ran this race on October 29, 2011 as part of my marathon training. I wasn't too sure how I wanted to pace it since I was just coming off a minor injury (or major inconvenience) and I haven't been running too much (~20 miles per week). Part of me wanted to try a marathon pace effort and the other part of me wanted to do a true race effort.
The morning was a nice 50 degrees and partly sunny. Gun went off and I tried to pace by my watch. My watch kept reading 7:10 pace with a very high heart rate though... oh crap I recalibrated the watch on the treadmill and it didn't seem to correspond to actual running outside. Not only that but the mile markers were way off... my first mile came in at the 8:30 mark with my watch reading 7:10ish. At the very start of the race, my heart rate was also picking up some other peoples' watches too.
Realized I just had to go by feel at least for the very beginning. It was around this point that I decided to just race it. The race was somewhat crowded at the start with the 5k and 10k racers starting at the same time as the 15k runners. Rather than pace off the incorrect mile markers or my poorly calibrated watch I just decided to pace with some of the faster folks (most of whom I suspected were doing the 5 or 10k). That definitely helped.
Aid station situation was not ideal. I didn't get any water during the except for a tiny half sip at the 5k mark. They didn't set up the water table properly.. there were no volunteers handing them out and the many of cups were empty. I had a half filled cup at 5k and I drank nothing at the 10k mark. I didn't bring any gus with me either since I wasn't planning on taking this "race" too seriously. I was really starting to feel it after 10k and the only thing that kept me going was this one other 15k racer. She passed me passed me at the 4-5 mi mark and dragged me along for a few miles. I drafted her for 2 miles, then ran shoulder to shoulder and then made my move to repass her at the 7 mi mark. It was sort of a 2010 IM Macca moment. I could tell she put out a big effort to catch me in the first 4 miles because she started slowing down a tiny bit at mile 7. With ~2 miles left I just decided to go all out and try to catch the one other 15K runner ahead of me. Even though there was a nice out-and-back section, I wasn't sure if he was 1st place or not since the course was now intermixed with 10k runners.
There was a short while when it seemed I might be able to catch him but he seemed to have the same idea as I did for the last 2 miles (accelerate hard). I didn't catch him but I had a strong finish with slightly negative splits for each 5k. My finish time was ~1:02:50.
Plugging in a 1:02:50 yields a 3:08:30 marathon assuming similar course (I think Vegas will be harder). It's short of my goal of 3:05:00 for a BQ so I'm going to try and get two more hard weeks of training and see if that does it. In any case, I feel confident about beating my marathon PR of 3:29:38 but I don't know if I'll be strong enough to BQ at Vegas.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Finding my running legs again
By Mike
The NYC marathon is only 4 weeks away and I'm due for another check-in on my training. In my earlier posts I mentioned I was targeting a 3:10 and was in about "3:20 shape" and some point in the summer with months of training still ahead.
The last few weeks have been tough though. Training has not gone well since the end of August. Up until then it was great. I had absorbed about as much training as training as I could have and was due for 2 weeks of rest leading up to my half-iron race in Sandusky, OH (Rev3 Cedar Point). The only problem was that I had to move my apartment. We hired movers of course (no way I was planning on doing that kind of physical labor during my taper) but as luck would have it, our movers were shall we say... less than competent. I ended up doing 9 hours of physical labor on a Friday two weeks before a half-ironman. Needless to say I was completely fried. My legs felt like dead weights and I was unable to complete even basic recovery workouts for the 12 days that followed.
I still had a great half-iron (5:06) but it was about 10 minutes slower than I planned, losing most of that time on the run (actual 1:41 vs planned 1:32 run split). What seemed to kill me was my ankles... there was just no bounce or spring in my step. With each step I felt like my foot would "stick" to the pavement. I felt like I was at risk of falling on my face if my back foot would have taken just a millisecond more to come forward and support my forward body lean.
Since then I've been trying to get back into running... to find my running legs again. Of course getting sick with this cold/flu thing that's been going around has not helped. I ended up having to back out of a half-marathon tune up race I was planning on doing last weekend. I've probably done no more than 30 miles since Rev3 (4 weeks ago), with ~8 of those miles coming from today's "long run". I had to stop and turn around at about mile 4. My legs couldn't take it any more and the 4 mile return trip was a definitely a slog.
Yes, I admit the last 6 weeks have been tough. The positive thing is that at least my heart rate was low (relative to pace) during these last few runs so I don't think I've lost much cardio fitness. I've just been unable to maintain an effort higher than zone 2 or do anything more than 4 miles without great discomfort. I have 4 more weeks so who knows what will happen but I am very doubtful of my achieving the previous goals I set for myself.
I'm probably going to just continue training by feel and trying to put on as much mileage as my legs can comfortably handle rather than following any sort of training plan. We'll see what that translates to come race day so at this point I won't be making any predictions.
The NYC marathon is only 4 weeks away and I'm due for another check-in on my training. In my earlier posts I mentioned I was targeting a 3:10 and was in about "3:20 shape" and some point in the summer with months of training still ahead.
The last few weeks have been tough though. Training has not gone well since the end of August. Up until then it was great. I had absorbed about as much training as training as I could have and was due for 2 weeks of rest leading up to my half-iron race in Sandusky, OH (Rev3 Cedar Point). The only problem was that I had to move my apartment. We hired movers of course (no way I was planning on doing that kind of physical labor during my taper) but as luck would have it, our movers were shall we say... less than competent. I ended up doing 9 hours of physical labor on a Friday two weeks before a half-ironman. Needless to say I was completely fried. My legs felt like dead weights and I was unable to complete even basic recovery workouts for the 12 days that followed.
I still had a great half-iron (5:06) but it was about 10 minutes slower than I planned, losing most of that time on the run (actual 1:41 vs planned 1:32 run split). What seemed to kill me was my ankles... there was just no bounce or spring in my step. With each step I felt like my foot would "stick" to the pavement. I felt like I was at risk of falling on my face if my back foot would have taken just a millisecond more to come forward and support my forward body lean.
Since then I've been trying to get back into running... to find my running legs again. Of course getting sick with this cold/flu thing that's been going around has not helped. I ended up having to back out of a half-marathon tune up race I was planning on doing last weekend. I've probably done no more than 30 miles since Rev3 (4 weeks ago), with ~8 of those miles coming from today's "long run". I had to stop and turn around at about mile 4. My legs couldn't take it any more and the 4 mile return trip was a definitely a slog.
Yes, I admit the last 6 weeks have been tough. The positive thing is that at least my heart rate was low (relative to pace) during these last few runs so I don't think I've lost much cardio fitness. I've just been unable to maintain an effort higher than zone 2 or do anything more than 4 miles without great discomfort. I have 4 more weeks so who knows what will happen but I am very doubtful of my achieving the previous goals I set for myself.
I'm probably going to just continue training by feel and trying to put on as much mileage as my legs can comfortably handle rather than following any sort of training plan. We'll see what that translates to come race day so at this point I won't be making any predictions.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Marathon Check In
By Michael Donikian, USAT Certified Coach, NASM-CPT
A while back I made a bold statement.. 3:10 or bust for NYC Marathon. I thought it was time to make a post about how that's coming along. In short, it's coming along. I was a little bummed about my very recent run performance at NYC tri where I ran slower than last year, despite improved fitness. Ok. A LOT bummed. But there were good reasons for that and I take it as just a one off.
Today I did a brick which included an 8 mile run. Within the run, I chose a hilly 10K section to attempt to run steady state at about marathon pace. I ran it at a pretty steady 7:24 pace (a little slower up hill / a little faster downhill). I maintained roughly the same average heart rate I did in NYC marathon last November despite the 93 degree temperature today so I think it's a good preview of what's to come. Assuming I maintain the same pace, that's puts me at about a 3:13... so I'm not terribly far off and I still have many weeks of training ahead.
A while back I made a bold statement.. 3:10 or bust for NYC Marathon. I thought it was time to make a post about how that's coming along. In short, it's coming along. I was a little bummed about my very recent run performance at NYC tri where I ran slower than last year, despite improved fitness. Ok. A LOT bummed. But there were good reasons for that and I take it as just a one off.
Today I did a brick which included an 8 mile run. Within the run, I chose a hilly 10K section to attempt to run steady state at about marathon pace. I ran it at a pretty steady 7:24 pace (a little slower up hill / a little faster downhill). I maintained roughly the same average heart rate I did in NYC marathon last November despite the 93 degree temperature today so I think it's a good preview of what's to come. Assuming I maintain the same pace, that's puts me at about a 3:13... so I'm not terribly far off and I still have many weeks of training ahead.
Friday, March 5, 2010
The Uncertain Season
I must admit, I'm feeling a bit anxious about this upcoming season. For better or for worse, triathlon races can fill up very quickly and thus I always feel the need to set my schedule a year in advance, especially if I want to do any high-profile races. But this year, I only have the NYC Half Marathon, the Boston Marathon, and the NYC Marathon on my schedule. Not one race from May-October, and not one cycling or triathlon event. Sheesh.
Needless to say I've been focusing on my running for the upcoming events, but I am itching to get back on the bike (once the weather finally turns). I haven't swum since the Timberman 70.3 Half-Ironman triathlon and with no triathlons on the horizon it's hard to force myself into the pool. I need something to light a fire in this belly!
One of the reasons my season is so up in the air is that I am back in school and my finances, time-off, and even location for the summer were unknown for so long. I just decided that I will be spending the summer in Seattle so that at least allows me to start making some decisions. Do I stick around an extra weekend and try for Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens? Travel with the rest of Team Sports Bistro to attempt the Rev 3 Half-Distance race at Cedar Point (Sandusky, OH) in mid-Sept (once school starts again, ouch)? Or do I just do some local Sprint and Olympic distance triathlons in and around Seattle? It's very hard to train when there are no races or goals on mind, so now I need to come up with a schedule. I'm watching my teammates formulate their season, training and racing plans, and set some goals and engage in friendly smacktalk. I want that!
If there are any suggestions for good races in the Pacific Northwest, I'm open to them!
Needless to say I've been focusing on my running for the upcoming events, but I am itching to get back on the bike (once the weather finally turns). I haven't swum since the Timberman 70.3 Half-Ironman triathlon and with no triathlons on the horizon it's hard to force myself into the pool. I need something to light a fire in this belly!
One of the reasons my season is so up in the air is that I am back in school and my finances, time-off, and even location for the summer were unknown for so long. I just decided that I will be spending the summer in Seattle so that at least allows me to start making some decisions. Do I stick around an extra weekend and try for Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens? Travel with the rest of Team Sports Bistro to attempt the Rev 3 Half-Distance race at Cedar Point (Sandusky, OH) in mid-Sept (once school starts again, ouch)? Or do I just do some local Sprint and Olympic distance triathlons in and around Seattle? It's very hard to train when there are no races or goals on mind, so now I need to come up with a schedule. I'm watching my teammates formulate their season, training and racing plans, and set some goals and engage in friendly smacktalk. I want that!
If there are any suggestions for good races in the Pacific Northwest, I'm open to them!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
3:10 or bust for NYC Marathon
There I said it. Publicly.
As an added twist, within team Sports Bistro we're having a little friendly competition on who can run the fastest marathon in 2010. I can't predict whether I'll win this fun little game, but I can predict what a reasonable finish time for me is.
So you might be wondering how I came up with 3:10. During my experience as both a competitor and coach, I've come up with a number of ways to predict and validate run performances. I'm going to share some of these methods and assumptions with you and use myself as an example as I walk you through the steps. It requires some physiology background, but if you get the science behind it you can then use a similar set of steps to make your own prediction.
#1 Do the training appropriate for the distance and the goal time. Sorry no way out of this one. I can easily write myself a training program that gets me there. The hard part is finding the time to actually execute it! Big assumption -- but I think I can pull it off.
#2 Use a run race predictor to predict the result of a future race based on a previous one. You can find many of these online with some simple searching. The more similar the two races, the better the validity. I'm going to use my PR on a hilly 4 miler (26:46) which predicts a ~3:20 for me. Admittedly, a 4 miler is not close to marathon, but the underlying fitness potential is still there. I also very recently ran this 4 miler in a time of 29:19 at a comfortable (non-race) pace. Cutting 2.5 minutes would not have been hard if I went all out. 3:20 is a good starting point but it's not 3:10 so...
#3 Factor in some improvement from your starting point. (otherwise what's the point of training?) 10% is a good amount. My belief that an athlete should be able to improve by about 10% if he/she follows a well structured training plan for the course of ~26 weeks. This assumes that the athlete is not already near the limits of human performance or the absolute limits of his/her own ability... otherwise you might be lucky to get 0.5% better. One can estimate absolute performance ceilings through a VO2 max. A 3:10 (on a flat course) roughly equates to someone with a Vo2 max of 50 ml/min/kg. With a personal V02 max of 60+, I have enough headroom to know I'm not nearing those limits. Since my lactate threshold is also quite high, I have to assume that mechanical efficiency is my limiting factor. 3:10 is also well within 10% of the 3:20 predicted time (see above). It's actually only 5%.
#4 Cross check this goal time with your zones. I use Joe Friel's system predominantly. A 3:10 marathon (7:15 pace) is roughly mid-zone 3 effort. I can check my heart rate at goal pace and see if it lines up in the middle of zone 3. Today that ~7:15 pace I need is more of a zone 4 effort. Hopefully with some improvement I can drive it down to zone 3. I will need to continuously monitor the relationship between my paces and zones as training progresses and see if this goal is still realistic.
#5 Fuel efficiency? What percentage of your energy comes from carbs vs fat at any given intensity level. If you're a carb burner you're very likely to run out of fuel and bonk mid race even if you choose an appropriate zone/pace/intensity. This is a problem I know have -- I've been tested on the metabolic cart and can see how I switch to carb burning mode at even moderate intensity levels. While I could circumvent this problem on race day via carbo-loading the day before and taking sufficient gels and sports drink I probably wouldn't survive the training plan that gets me there; I'd be constantly tired and exhausted. This constant tiredness has absolutely plagued me in the past. I recently started following Bob Seebohar's nutrition periodization protocols in hopes of making myself more fuel-efficient. I will try to get myself retested on the metabolic cart and see how well it worked!
OK - that's A LOT of assumptions! But none of them are that far fetched. I'll post some regular updates and let you know how it's going.
As an added twist, within team Sports Bistro we're having a little friendly competition on who can run the fastest marathon in 2010. I can't predict whether I'll win this fun little game, but I can predict what a reasonable finish time for me is.
So you might be wondering how I came up with 3:10. During my experience as both a competitor and coach, I've come up with a number of ways to predict and validate run performances. I'm going to share some of these methods and assumptions with you and use myself as an example as I walk you through the steps. It requires some physiology background, but if you get the science behind it you can then use a similar set of steps to make your own prediction.
#1 Do the training appropriate for the distance and the goal time. Sorry no way out of this one. I can easily write myself a training program that gets me there. The hard part is finding the time to actually execute it! Big assumption -- but I think I can pull it off.
#2 Use a run race predictor to predict the result of a future race based on a previous one. You can find many of these online with some simple searching. The more similar the two races, the better the validity. I'm going to use my PR on a hilly 4 miler (26:46) which predicts a ~3:20 for me. Admittedly, a 4 miler is not close to marathon, but the underlying fitness potential is still there. I also very recently ran this 4 miler in a time of 29:19 at a comfortable (non-race) pace. Cutting 2.5 minutes would not have been hard if I went all out. 3:20 is a good starting point but it's not 3:10 so...
#3 Factor in some improvement from your starting point. (otherwise what's the point of training?) 10% is a good amount. My belief that an athlete should be able to improve by about 10% if he/she follows a well structured training plan for the course of ~26 weeks. This assumes that the athlete is not already near the limits of human performance or the absolute limits of his/her own ability... otherwise you might be lucky to get 0.5% better. One can estimate absolute performance ceilings through a VO2 max. A 3:10 (on a flat course) roughly equates to someone with a Vo2 max of 50 ml/min/kg. With a personal V02 max of 60+, I have enough headroom to know I'm not nearing those limits. Since my lactate threshold is also quite high, I have to assume that mechanical efficiency is my limiting factor. 3:10 is also well within 10% of the 3:20 predicted time (see above). It's actually only 5%.
#4 Cross check this goal time with your zones. I use Joe Friel's system predominantly. A 3:10 marathon (7:15 pace) is roughly mid-zone 3 effort. I can check my heart rate at goal pace and see if it lines up in the middle of zone 3. Today that ~7:15 pace I need is more of a zone 4 effort. Hopefully with some improvement I can drive it down to zone 3. I will need to continuously monitor the relationship between my paces and zones as training progresses and see if this goal is still realistic.
#5 Fuel efficiency? What percentage of your energy comes from carbs vs fat at any given intensity level. If you're a carb burner you're very likely to run out of fuel and bonk mid race even if you choose an appropriate zone/pace/intensity. This is a problem I know have -- I've been tested on the metabolic cart and can see how I switch to carb burning mode at even moderate intensity levels. While I could circumvent this problem on race day via carbo-loading the day before and taking sufficient gels and sports drink I probably wouldn't survive the training plan that gets me there; I'd be constantly tired and exhausted. This constant tiredness has absolutely plagued me in the past. I recently started following Bob Seebohar's nutrition periodization protocols in hopes of making myself more fuel-efficient. I will try to get myself retested on the metabolic cart and see how well it worked!
OK - that's A LOT of assumptions! But none of them are that far fetched. I'll post some regular updates and let you know how it's going.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Building a "ridiculous base"
The topic of base training has been on my mind a lot lately. For this season 2010, I want to focus on the half-iron distance with a minimum of two such races. I also want to do another marathon. Such a race calendar requires a strong base of fitness. But what does it mean "to have a strong base?" You'll often hear things like "oh he ran faster because he had the stronger base." Is this correct? Well maybe... but probably not. I don't think base fitness has much to do with speed, performance, or race results. Base fitness is like the foundation of a building. A strong foundation is an absolute requirement for a tall skyscraper but no one would ever confuse the foundation with the building itself. So what is base training then?
My personal definition of "fitness base"
It's the ability to endure repeated bouts of training and racing. Note my definition doesn't speak of speed or performance. It's mostly about surviving or getting through it -- day in, day out.
Base training thus is the process one goes through to achieve the base necessary for their target race or season. In my experience, many athletes tend to either do too much base or too little. When just starting out, I think most individuals will run at a pace and for a distance that is higher/faster/longer than appropriate for base training. This tends to lead to injuries, burnout, and just a string of bad news.
Enter base training
Base training can solve the aforementioned problem by reducing intensity and increasing frequency. I recently saw one article about doing 30 runs in 30 days (FYI - this is an advanced training approach and not for all) to build a huge base. It's a good read and it sort of sparked some fresh ideas for my own training. A solid base will help you get through a rigorous training season, avoid injuries, and do race after race with quick recoveries in between. While, advanced athletes may be able to get away with a "30 day" base, typically much longer base periods (with more rest) are required for everyone else.
The base training trap
After a couple of months of proper base training you might find yourself actually enjoying training now that you're injury free and that you can complete a workout and not be destroyed the next day. Great news! Just don't get caught in the base training trap of doing this forever. Guess what happens during your race when you train exclusively with base training? (Hint: Reread my definition). Exactly - you end up "just surviving" the race. This goes back to my previous analogy with buildings... the base is not fitness but rather the foundation for fitness. After weeks or months of base training, athletes get used to the slower speeds and intensities and have difficulty (physical or mental) reaching their previous medium or high intensity zones. I see it all the time in marathon runners who run the same pace for a 5K, 10K, or marathon. People seem to lose perception of the various exercises zones / intensities. They become extremely efficient at that one pace and are uncomfortable with anything else, especially with the higher intensity workouts that will actually develop the fitness they are looking for.
So as you go about and build your own "ridiculous base" (I know I will), keep in mind that this is only the first step. What you do after those initial "30 days" or X months will be what actually gets you to your goals. As always, feel free to reach out to us if you're looking for help achieving your goals.
My personal definition of "fitness base"
It's the ability to endure repeated bouts of training and racing. Note my definition doesn't speak of speed or performance. It's mostly about surviving or getting through it -- day in, day out.
Base training thus is the process one goes through to achieve the base necessary for their target race or season. In my experience, many athletes tend to either do too much base or too little. When just starting out, I think most individuals will run at a pace and for a distance that is higher/faster/longer than appropriate for base training. This tends to lead to injuries, burnout, and just a string of bad news.
Enter base training
Base training can solve the aforementioned problem by reducing intensity and increasing frequency. I recently saw one article about doing 30 runs in 30 days (FYI - this is an advanced training approach and not for all) to build a huge base. It's a good read and it sort of sparked some fresh ideas for my own training. A solid base will help you get through a rigorous training season, avoid injuries, and do race after race with quick recoveries in between. While, advanced athletes may be able to get away with a "30 day" base, typically much longer base periods (with more rest) are required for everyone else.
The base training trap
After a couple of months of proper base training you might find yourself actually enjoying training now that you're injury free and that you can complete a workout and not be destroyed the next day. Great news! Just don't get caught in the base training trap of doing this forever. Guess what happens during your race when you train exclusively with base training? (Hint: Reread my definition). Exactly - you end up "just surviving" the race. This goes back to my previous analogy with buildings... the base is not fitness but rather the foundation for fitness. After weeks or months of base training, athletes get used to the slower speeds and intensities and have difficulty (physical or mental) reaching their previous medium or high intensity zones. I see it all the time in marathon runners who run the same pace for a 5K, 10K, or marathon. People seem to lose perception of the various exercises zones / intensities. They become extremely efficient at that one pace and are uncomfortable with anything else, especially with the higher intensity workouts that will actually develop the fitness they are looking for.
So as you go about and build your own "ridiculous base" (I know I will), keep in mind that this is only the first step. What you do after those initial "30 days" or X months will be what actually gets you to your goals. As always, feel free to reach out to us if you're looking for help achieving your goals.
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