Goals- it's time again!

What do you want to do in 2011? What will your A priority race be? Time to decide, once you do you can pretty much plan the rest of your training and racing around that top priority race, then you can pick a couple of B priority races that you want to do well at keeping in mind that you want to peak for the big A race of the year. Any other races become train through races, C priority. It is possible to have two A priority races in a season but they do need to be spaced out enough that you can peak for the first, recover sufficiently, rebuild and peak again for the second A priority race. A periodized training program is a perfect solution if the training leading up to the first and second race is done correctly and enough recovery has been taken, that of course is the tricky part and it helps to have someone outside yourself giving you an objective opinion on what and when you should be doing certain types of training and racing. It is also fun to plan, I spent Saturday afternoon with Sam and Anna, planning races and figuring out what the general outline will look like for his 2011 season, it's important to have a series of goals to help you through winter training in the Northeast. Nothing like counting back the number of weeks until the first race of the year and you realize it isn't actually that far away when you look at the calendar from that perspective.

What do I want to do in 2011?
Boston is the first big race of the year. It has to be an A priority race for me, it's a marathon. There are many people who can use a marathon as a "train through" race or a "something to do after an Ironman since I spent so much time training anyway" race or a "I am going to build of my run mileage through the winter for a spring race" and then not worry about how fast they actually run it but I don't have the mental capability right now to let go and just "run easy and have fun" and no matter what your goal is, the last 8-10 miles of a marathon are really hard, it's a long way and I'm going to run it as fast as I am able to hopefully recreating the "zone" I had in Albany last year. That was just about the perfect race and I will never forget that feeling, I want it back. Last year I was sick so much leading into Boston that the inconsistency in training led to a weak second half. This year I want to make sure I stay well, put in the kind of base mileage and actually increase my mileage during the winter and I want to enjoy every phase of the training no matter how dark or how cold it is outside, I'll be happy running because I can. I can then go to Boston relaxed and happy, knowing that I did all I could to prepare properly and by then the pace I want to run will feel "easy" for the first half and I can have "fun" pushing my limits over the second half.
Leading up to Boston I will run a 5k next Sunday to see where my fitness is currently at (a free pint at the end is a huge draw- thanks Susan for sending me the link to this one!).
Jan 9th- 10 miler to Bluepoint Brewery (more free pints hee hee)
End of January I will run the Manhattan Half Marathon in Central Park again (always fun to go in with my racing buddies and hit the diner in Commack afterwards)
February- something... it's a tough month for racing anywhere but I'll find something.
March- Hopefully I'll get back into the NYC half marathon again, I think they post lottery results soon otherwise I'll have to do the Suffolk half marathon on dreaded Nicholls road.
April 18th- Boston marathon. 139 days from today.

I will then be ready to throw in the performance towel and run some races purely for fun:
Early May- North Face Endurance Challenge half marathon in the trails
Mid May- Greenbelt 25k
June- Women's mini- 10k in Central Park (love this race)

Wow- that's a lot of running races, guess I feel like running!
I will use May to build up some cycling and I do not plan on doing any long endurance based triathlon this summer. Over the last few years the thought of spending 5-6 hours in the saddle frequently for an Ironman has been very unappealing to me so I haven't gone back to Ironman distance since 2005. It's now 2010 and the thought of spending 3-4 hours in the saddle frequently to prep for a half ironman is equally unappealing to me. I'm not sure why this is, maybe because I am forced to train solo so much of the time so that Dave and I can balance out training and family life. Maybe I used to enjoy cycling more when I didn't care how fast I ran on the day after a long ride. In any case, looking back on the last 10 years I've done 3 Ironman's and I've done a half ironman every single year for the last 12 years. 12 half iron's, 3 Iron's, 5 stand alone marathons. It's been a good run.
I want to get back to really enjoying triathlon. I consider myself more of a runner than a triathlete these days and I've often thought of changing the "triathlete" in the header above to "runner" but I don't just run to the exclusion of everything else. My roots are in triathlon and I want to get the racing fire back. I want to race short and fast. Sprints, olympic distance, endurance rides with a pack up to 50 miles and not having to worry about tacking on anything longer, an xterra. Pure fast, red zone racing until I feel like I'm going to puke. For some reason this is more appealing to me than riding at 75-80% for hours followed by a long run. I'll leave the option open though, If I get the training miles in on the bike while I am enjoying myself training and racing at the "puke threshold" then maybe I will do a half in the fall, something local that I can sign up for last minute. Maybe not, I start school next fall and I have a feeling I will be completely overwhelmed by balancing life, family, training and school but I don't want to do what I did this year and sign up for a half for the simple reason that they close out so early. It's just not as important.
I did not get into the NYC triathlon however and that was disappointing.
So Montauk Lighthouse Sprint is on the "to do" again- love that race.
NYC triathlon is August 7th, maybe there is a way I can get in, otherwise it will be The Port Jeff swim/run biathlon and then the Schiff Scout MTB triathlon at the end of August. Maybe Mighty Hamptons in September, that would close out a season well but I think that is also a race you have to sign up early for now and I'm not sure I want to do that and then get to September and not want to race. I still have time to decide. I'm planned through July, 7 months of racing. Looking forward to it!

Go Christine

"I know so many runners who live in the past and don't make adjustments physically or mentally for their age. They end up injured and not racing. I try to dwell in the present and recognize the limitations placed on me by age. Just because a person is 55 doesn't mean she can't get out on the track and do some speed work. I love the feel of doing speed work. Running has made me who I am and I don't want to lose that, and I hope I can inspire some women to keep running as they get older."


~ Christine Kennedy, 55-59 AG winner at the 2010 Boston marathon. That first sentence is a gem, she's inspired me. She ran a 2:57 and she's gunning for a 2:54 this year and a new world record. Her history and the article are a really interesting read. To read it, click here. 

Before the run, to stretch or not to stretch... not!

"Macca was in his zone. I was in my zone. He was convinced to win. I was convinced I would win. Everybody had their own strategy. But we both knew it was gonna hurt badly for the showdown."

~Andreas Raelert

Embracing the pain to come. I love this quote, it came from an interview on Slowtwitch with the second place finisher at this year's Kona showdown. Good read and it was almost a sprint finish, a complete duel to the end, great to watch.

A FAQ I get frequently from athletes is whether or not to stretch prior to running. For the past few years, my answer has been "no", yet, go to any race, or meet up with a few people prior to going for a run together and you will notice people stretching. If you ask them "why", most often these very same people do not really have an answer with the exception being "because I always do it", which really is not a very good reason to do something when you think about it. Yet, in the world of exercise, many people do things "because they have always been done that way" and some things work and others do not and this is why I love science. Through study, we learn, requestion and make new hypotheses. For the layperson I can understand that this can be very frustrating because it sometimes appears that people do one thing for awhile in thinking that it is good for them and then suddenly research tells us it is not so. Usually these inquiries become very controversial, particularly the "3 set weight lifting rule" which is bunk- another one of those things that people do because they and everyone else they see in a gym is doing it; stretching before running is another. The controversy with stretching is that people stretch before running because they think it prevents injury, yet research tells us this is not true. When that was first revealed a few years ago, many people in the health field balked at first, mainly because it was always done. Think back to any sport you played growing up, the coaches typically had you stretch first as a group, to "warm up and loosen up" and another new study was just released this week in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning research, this time targeting performance in elite runners comparing stretching to non-stretching for a one hour timed run for distance. Titled "The Effects of Static Stretching on Energy Cost and Running Endurance Performance", Wilson et.al. found that stretching before an endurance event decreased endurance performance and increased the energy cost of running. How can a few static stretches affect your speed? The researchers provided a short review of the literature that "reported a strong association between running economy (RE) (i.e., lower energy association between running velocity) and long distance performance...[as] RE seems to be the most important variable to discriminate top level athletes in a homegeneous group of long distance runners". Wilson et.al. showed that stretching done statically "appears to acutely decrease muscle force production capactiy". The researchers go on to explain that the drop in performance is attributed to greater stress-relaxation of muscle tissue which can lead to decreased muscle tendon stiffness and strength. Why is this a concern? Strength and muscle tendon stiffness lead to greater running economy so Wilson et.al. hypothesized that "as static stretching decreases force production and muscle tendon stiffness for up to 1 hour, it may increase energy consumption during an endurance event, decreasing the performance of trained athletes". This is precisely what they found. Using the 5 most common static running stretches (seated hamstring stretch, calf stretch by hanging heels off a block, standing quad stretch, runner's lunge and the glute/hip abduction stretch done lying on the floor- opposite foot over opposite knee, pull knee to chest) in the experimental group; the researchers compared 10 male elite level runners for 1 hour total. The first 30 minutes were at 65% of VO2 max and the second 30 minutes were at a pace dictated by the runner with the goal of achieving the most distance within that 30 minute window. The findings demonstrated that the mean distance run was significantly greater in the nonstretching group (6.0 +/- 1.1 km) vs. the stretching group (5.8 +/- 1.0 km) for the performance run and that the mean energy expended was significantly greater in the stretching group (425 kcals vs. 405 kcals) for the run at 65% of VO2 max. The researchers speculate that the stretching may induce an increase in the number of motor units recruited which may increase energy expenditure decreasing the time to fatigue and that the decrease in muscle tendon stiffness may change stride frequency both of which need further study. Also of note, the researchers indicated that a limitation to the study is that it only included male participants... females have less muscle stiffness than males (~29% less) so further study is needed there as well.
So what to take from all this?
If your goal is long distance running then avoid static stretching prior to the run to save yourself some energy and actually get to the finish line faster! For my fellow exercise scientists out there, gets studying the effects on women, measure changes in stiffness related to ground contact time and find the mechanisms that cause the detrimental performance effects and energy costs. By the time I get to actual dissertation research, I hope more light is shed on the processes! For now, warm up by actually doing the specific activity you are engaged in, jog easy, do some strides and make it as close to start time as possible to have the most desireable effect. Then by all means, stretch when you are done with running to alleviate stiffness and promote recovery!

Skill

I have so much to write about, Clearwater, an awesome new research article I just read, just have to make some time to catch up on the posts.
This is for all the bikers out there, you have to appreciate this man's skills!

Feeling relaxed

Taken from the pier just to the left of our hotel room, I wanted to share the view of where I am running every day this week. We touched down in Tampa on Wednesday night. Thursday morning I ran 4 miles barefoot on the flat, powdery white sand beach here. Round 2 coming up shortly but for a bit longer and in shoes today as soon as Dave comes back from his last pre-race swim. 70.3 World Championships for him tomorrow morning, send him some good vibes!

Reliability/Specificity

In a rush to beat the approaching dark, it was a race out the door to begin with. I did manage to grab my headlamp, forgot the light gloves and the water bottle, oh well, at least it isn't at the 30 degree mark yet.

Sunday brought daylight savings time, great to have an extra hour to kick around on Sunday morning and nice to have a little more light early but during my work week, I have to be there so early that it benefits me to have it stay lighter later on into the evening so "fall back" doesn't really work to my personal benefit. What I did get out of my run today were several things worth noting, the first being the awesome array of colors in the sky in my race against the setting sun. I was bargaining with myself before I left the house... the schedule I wrote for myself today dictated 5 x 600's and 4 x 200's and I considered moving it to Thursday but as my feet hit the ground and the turnover began, the intervals were exactly what I needed to calm a hurried mind. I ran up the big hill away from my house at a faster tempo than usual but I felt good and distracted with the sky. The orange, pink, grey, purple, blue and white striations were beautiful and each time I glanced in a different direction I was reminded of how amazing a sunset can be and equally grateful to share a part in it. With the sun disappearing below the tree line and my first two miles in it was time to start running faster. I have no pace goals for early speed training. I am even reluctant to refer to what I did as "speed" training because I am actually base training for Boston. In between the 600 meter efforts where my mind blanks out to nothing but feel for my body and concentration on the effort at hand, I thought a lot about repeatability and specificity in training. When most people see a main set for a run workout that includes repeats in meters they usually associate "track" with the intervals and it doesn't always have to be that way. My first repeat was mostly downhill, the second and third were uphill into a headwind. The fourth was on a straightaway with a tailwind and the last was on a slight downhill. Sure, I could have went to the track and did the same workout with faster times recorded but that wasn't what this workout was about. Boston is ridiculously hilly and I need to be able to maintain my marathon LT speed while running up and downhill. A flat track isn't going to meet my specificity needs unless the workout calls for steady 400's on a goal pace that I want to repeat every few weeks for reliability measures, to see my progress and compare my data. Tonight was all about facing the elements. I could be running uphill into a headwind during a race, and I need to be able to maintain a fast turnover downhill without blowing my quads to oblivion like last year. Lessons learned.
As to why I am doing 600 meter repeats so early:
I'm not speed training per se now. Any faster efforts are all about turnover, getting the legs moving at a quicker cadence. I concentrate on a quick turnover and whereever that pace ends up is fine. Sometimes it's close to 5k pace, sometimes its closer to 10k pace in a headwind but the pace is not important now, just the quick turnover. Base training involves a lot of running at aerobic speeds while I steadily increase my mileage each week but I don't want to get caught in the trap of constantly running long, slow, distance (LSD for runners) because in the end, all I'll specifically train for is running long and slow if I do that. I am interested in running long and fast and that requires a set of tactics. I switch up my turnover sessions and I only do them once per week, typically after a two day rest period off running. Today was perfect for that. I ran 12 steady Saturday in the hills, walked around NYC cheering my friends on for the marathon on Sunday, had a nice recovery spin last night so today my legs were ready for "light and quick" - the two words I repeat to myself during the intervals called for. The workout went by fast and so did the light. It was full dark for my last two miles down the hill to home. Headlamp on I thought to myself that I much prefer the early morning darkness to early evening dark if I have to choose. There are just too many cars in the evening, yet the mornings can be a bit spooky when I'm out there alone. I glanced over my right shoulder before crossing the road and saw a big cresent moon lighting up the road over County Road 51. Watching my step on the illuminated ground before me, I was hoping I would see the carcass of the racoon I passed earlier before stepping on it. Poor foragers, this is the time of year when the road kill levels go up. On the last couple of runs I've seen several dead deer and racoons, hit by cars in their quest for winter food and it reminded me to be viligent and visible, glad that I had on my reflective vest and shoes. I lost my race with the sun today but I will get plenty of it for the rest of the week; off to 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater. Dave is racing Saturday and Van and I plan on getting plenty of swim time and run time on the beach each day. A little bit of summer before the stark reality of Round 2 winter training begins.

Phase I

"The world's a rollercoaster

and I am not strapped in

maybe I should hold with care

but my hands are busy waving in the air..."

~Incubus

We have some really good things up and coming...really good and I'm really excited about it and when the time is right I'll share it with you, for now we are in Phase I - development.

Phase I for marathon prep as well: development phase, aerobic conditioning, laying the groundwork, putting down a foundation, working the base mileage, staying in the comfort zone. I'm 15 miles in already this week, 12 more tomorrow. In a couple of weeks I'll be up at 30 again, I'll maintain that for a few weeks then creep it up to a steady 35-40 interspersed with a down week around 25 or so miles every couple of weeks. Then Phase II will begin, right around January for the marathon prep and for the new and exciting thing to come. Mileage will increase steadily and I'm hoping I can tolerate a bigger base mileage this winter. A step up from last year. I have lots of tricks up my sleeve for this round and I'm ready to break them out!