It's Good To Be Back

Kicking the Blerch's ass that is.

Training the week went well for the 1/2 marathon in September.

Saturday's long run had a wicked elevation gain when I decided to try a new route for my 9 mile (14+ km) long run. I ran from the plateau I live on to the trail along the East side of Lake Sammamish.

Here's the terrain profile:



It was a hard run back up to say the least. That one mile took me an extra 4 minutes to climb back up that hill.

I also knew today would be hard but it still kicked the crap out of me. I tried to run around with the kids when I got home but was totally beat and sat out their antics as I recovered.

The best thing though, is I put in the miles, was only 2 seconds per mike off my planned pace, which I think is decent for the elevation I added in.

It's good to be beat kicking out longer miles.

My Beat The Blerch Training Plan

Back to work and I am finding that without a plan, getting in my 5 days a week of exercise is hard.  So,
it's time to come up with an actual plan to train for the Beat the Blerch 1/2 Marathon Trail Run in September.

I have not written down a training plan in a long time and boy does it look daunting. The hardest step though is just deciding to do it. To run. Then comes choosing a goal and making a plan.

So, here's how I plan to tackle each week:

• 3 runs (1 Speed, 1 Tempo, and 1 Long)
• 2 swims
• Strength Training (various exercises to improve core muscles and supporting muscles)

Here it is my plan if you want to download it:

• Microsoft Excel

So, how did I come up with this plan?

I go and run a 5-K as fast as I can to set a baseline to use for figuring out my training and race pace. Your 5-K (or any race distance) result can be extrapolated to other race distances and used to figure out training paces. This needs to be done first.

Then I map out the days from the training start date to the race day. I then label each week from 1 for race week back to the start week, incrementing as I move back in time from race date to the start date. This way I know how many weeks I have to train for the race.

Then I craft a plan based on the Run Less, Run Faster book by Bill Pierce, Scott Murr, and Ray Moss. The plan is called FIRST (Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training). The 5-K time is based on a personal best I ran recently to set a baseline for training. The other paces (short tempo, mid tempo, etc) are in minutes/mile and are derived from the book.

Tackling Exercise

How to train for a 1/2 Marathon when I am back to work full-time with less free time to fit in workouts.

Planning for the 1/2 Marathon
Trial Run in September 

That was one challenge I knew I would have. First things was to take account of my leisure activities and figure out what I should cut out to free up time.

So, out with reading Sci-Fi, at least as much as I was reading. Also out with some of my other projects I had on the back burner (namely some electronics I had planned to work on).

Ok, that frees up the time I no longer have but I still need to fit in workouts. Don't we all have this problem.

To make it work, my wife has switched with me so that she drops the kids off at school, allowing me to leave for the gym, a swim, or a run. So, to fit this in and work it means I just went from an up at 8-8:30 schedule to an up at 5:45-6:00.

Up that early I can get to the gym, workout, shower, and get to work before 8am.

I don't enjoy giving up the late nights and that has been a hard part. But dropping back to a few nights of 6 hours sleep has wrecked me and I have had to go back to a 10pm bedtime.

That's me, early to bed and early to rise now.

The good thing at the office with this arrangement is that most people come in between 9:30-10:30 and work late. Myself and a couple others come in early and leave early, by our coworkers standards but then we put in the same number of hours as them and still make it home to see our kids in the evening.

So, that is how I am fitting in my workouts at the moment.

How do you find the time to get a workout in?

April Fitness Month Recap

Finishing a run with an aching thumb,
infected by a metal filing from the ex-lawn
mower.

Well, I declared April to be Fitness month to try to kick my ass into gear with training.

I started the month with a bit of a low as I did not get into the Beat The Blerch race just before April which I had been thinking of as the impetus for My April Fitness month. Then at the end of the month (as I will post tomorrow) I got into the new day that opened on Saturday. So now I really need to keep training.

The month started with a big lull as my parents visited and I took time off to hang with family and do projects. Then I felt I had some making up to do to salvage the month.

It felt good to get out regularly running again. I saw improvements in my times and could feel improvements in my cardio. I was able to climb a couple little hills easier and I broke a 10km run for the first time in forever.

In the pool, I decided to go for my 35 minute goal and then decided well I have time, let's just go for 1 mile and see how I do. When I started swimming, I worked myself up to 1 km in 30 minutes. I felt that was decent and I have done that whenever I go to the pool.

Now, having cracked 1 km in about 25 minutes and 1 mile in 40 minutes I have decided I like the mile better and it is an exhausting workout. It feels awesome and like truly being alive to feel your muscles pull you through the water faster. And not much is better than being able to go from stopping each lap a couple months ago to now swimming 60 laps with few rests in between.

So, overall, though I did not hit my number of days of exercise that I had set-out to complete. I felt the month went well. I hit some new or needed milestones in my training and I am ready to keep the training going and figure out my plan for the September 1/2 Marathon I will run.

Here are my totals for the month:

Image: Endomondo.com

Prepping for Sprint Training

Mark after a training run
in a Blizzard one Ottawa
Winter

I've read sections of the 4 Hour Body off and on. One of the sections that interested me was the 2 chapters on Ultra-Endurance running (Ultra-Endurance I and Ultra-Endurance II), about using sprint repeats to train with less distance for long distance running. So, I want to do this form of training and see how it improves my times and ability to run longer distances.

First though, I must get my base training built up so that I am ready to do the training. This form of training is going to be hard due to the speed required for the sprint repeats. To get up to base I will need to be able to do 5 km in 24 mins. That means a pace of 4:48 min/km (or 7:44 min/mile).

In the past I have run 2 Marathons and multiple shorter races and training runs. Lately I have not run further than 10 km and my pace has dropped off a lot. My fastest 5 km recently is 26m:48s. So to get to the base for this training I will need to shave off almost 5 mins.

Once I have achieved the base pace, it will be time to start laying out the sprint training plan and begin it. I will document how it goes once I start it.

Improve Your Run Performance Up To 15% By Listening To Music

Image: running.about.com

I love to run with music. I would say that in general I find it weird when running with a running partner since I miss my music. Races with no music allowed (there are some) I avoid.

For as long as I have run (and there have been reasonable devices) I have run with music. I even used to run with a Walkman but that truly sucked, lugging around that thing and switching the tape over part way through a run.

For yesterday's run I resurrected an old faithful podcast I used to listen to while training for the Ottawa Marathon's 1/2 Marathon in 2007. I have since used this podcast on and off for a great source of electronic music mixes that have the paces I desire for running.

The podcast is Podrunner.

A quick search will lead to lots of articles about running with music and how it can improve your performance by up to 15%. Like this these:

• Music Enhances a Run
• Music Can Boost Your Running Performance by 15 Percent

An important part of listening to music is to choose the correct BPM (Beats Per Minute) (See: Find The Right BPM for Your Perfect Running Playlist with This Chart). Research shows that an idea workout level is 120-140 BPM. Some articles just go with 130.

When I trained with the CBC Ottawa Gotta Run 2007 segment, our coach Rick Hellard, of Zone3sports, taught us the importance of running at 180 BPM. That is the rate of foot strike for top runners. They normally have a shorter stride than recreational runners and they hit the ground more frequently.

So, for me, when I am in running shape, I enjoy running at 180 BPM. Today's run at 180 BPM was maybe a little ambitious but I certainly got a good workout from it.

Try out Podrunner yourself for easy mixes at your desired BPM. I find they improve my runs and are a critical part of my training plan. Here I am talking about it in 2007 (Running Tunes).

The Book I Wish I Had When I Started Running

I recently downloaded Bruce Van Horn's new book, You Can Go The Distance

This is the number one book I would recommend for those getting into running or who have run a bit but want to step it up a notch.

Bruce is very motivational, follow him on Twitter @BruceVH for a steady stream of positive thoughts and motivational quotes.

Bruce makes you want to go out there and do it.  He makes you want to go the distance.  And he helps your realize you can.

When I started running I knew nothing.  I had poor form, no idea about hydration, eating right, training (I trained too much and injured myself many times), and no mental fortitude to run a Marathon.

I then went one a multi-year journey of learning.  I ran, I did clinics. I got to run with CBC Ottawa in the 2007 Gotta Run series.  I tried many training routines.

In short, I took the long road to learning what Bruce puts down in a concise and easy to read book.

Don't do that, get this book, read it and go the distance!

Amazon Review for You Can Go The Distance

Mountain Bike Race: Stinky Spoke

Today I got invited to the Stinky Spoke Mountain Bike Race.

Ok, let's do an inventory.

• Out of shape: Check
• 1 Mountain Bike Ride in past 6 months: Check
• More than one Mountain Bike Ride in past 6 months: Nope
• Race includes a large vertical gain: Check
• Past years have seen snow (I know, like really, snow in Seattle, who'd have thunk it), sleet, rain: Check

Ok, let's do it.

Now, how to maximize my training for a race in, did I forget to mention, 14 days!  Yes, January 18, 2014.

Well, tonight I am doing squats and kettle bell to put my legs in pain.  Then tomorrow running.

Then I will figure out the rest the next two weeks as I attempt to not finish in last place :-)

Let's rough this plan out:

1. Sat: Strength Training (Kettle Bell, Squats, Lunges)
2. Sun: Run
3. Mon: Ride
4. Tue: Swim
5. Wed: Ride
6. Thur: Run
7. Fri: Ride
8. Sat: Run
9. Sun: Strength Training (Kettle Bell, Squats, Lunges)
10. Mon: Ride
11. Tue: Swim
12. Wed: Run
13. Thur: Ride
14. Fri: Easy Run
15. Sat: RACE!!

That's looks crazy compared to my last 6 months of "training."

How far?  How long?  Heck if I know, let's wing it with 40 mins for runs, 45 mins for swims, 1 hour for rides, and 20 mins of strength training.

I will report back here with progress.