Back on the [Training] Wagon

Holiday season is in full swing and as of Tuesday so is Boston training. If it seems like only a few weeks ago I was running a marathon that's because I was.

I had planned to hold off training until after the New Year but on Monday one of my teammates sent out the following email:*

Hey guys,

A few of us were reflecting on how we can come together as a team and compete better in the NYRR points standings next year. We have a good core group of runners so I think half the job will be showing up to the races.  I see no reason why we could not challenge the 3 teams directly ahead of us.

Concerning training I know I have been guilty of doing most of my workouts/runs on my own. On many Tuesdays/Thursdays I contemplate going to team practices in the Park/6th Street track but when juggling my schedule I usually end up working out near my house. I figure I will end up running alone anyway so might as well run close to home. In the spirit of team camraderie I will start making the effort more often to workout with the team. When I know I can make it I will RSVP on the meetup site (will try a few days in advance) and drop you all a quick line via e-mail to let you know I will be there.

Hope all is well and see you out there (I will be in Park tomorrow for 7PM workout),

Chris 

 

Obviously the guilt-trip worked because I showed up at both our Tuesday and Thursday workouts. Tuesday night was hill sprints, the first speed work I've done since Philly. Because we took a full rest period between each sprint, the workout itself didn't feel that tough, but boy was I sore on Wednesday!

 

Last night the workout was 5-8x800 at 5k pace. I got off work late and had to run directly to the track which means I ended up with a 3 mile warm-up. Apparently, that was a good thing because the repeats went  great. Along with two teammates, I did 7, though I'd planned at stoping at 5. We managed to do all of them pretty close to pace, though for the last one we kind of let it all out.

 

The point of this rambling is that I think my abbreviated recovery went pretty well because I felt fresh for Thursday's workout and on my Friday morning recovery run as well. I'm going to continue cutting myself a little slack for the next few weeks, but I think this training cycle has the potential to be pretty awesome!

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*Edited for reader clarity.

One is the Loneliest Runner...

I've been very lucky the past few weeks because, with the exception of the days during my trip to Vermont, I've been able to make every team speed workout. I used to do speed work alone almost exclusively and usually in the early morning. Since that's what I was used to it didn't totally suck seem that bad. Chalk it up to "what you don't know can't hurt you," because now that I've started doing speed work in a group, it's hard to imagine flying solo anymore.

The hill I used for my 200s, Morningside Dr.

Unfortunately, I've got a very busy week at work and I knew there was no way I'd be out in time to make last nights 7pm workout in Central Park. Did I just decide to skip the workout? If you're guess is yes, you probably haven't been reading this blog for very long. I decided to do the workout tout seul and before work.

What was the workout? Hill repeats--twelve to fourteen 200m repeats at 5k pace to be precise. You know what? It wasn't all that bad. I got up super early and discovered that it's a lot cooler at 5am than 7pm (okay, I already knew that, but the part of me that likes sleep tends to overpower the part of me that likes lower temps). I also discovered that I can still push myself without "good" peer pressure since I did the full 14 instead of stopping at 12.

The moral of the story: I can miss a team workout and still do the work but it's definitely more fun when you have others yelling at you encouraging you to do your best.

Vermont Travelogue Part 2: Montpellier Mile Race Report

When planning my trip to Vermont I did my usual "find a race" research and stumbled upon the Montpelier Mile. I haven't raced many road miles because there are few opportunities to do so, but every year in September I do the 5th Avenue Mile. This smaller race in Vermont seemed perfect because (a) it would be a great opportunity to practice the mile and (b) it would be short enough that it wouldn't disrupt my otherwise relaxed vacation.

After several days of exploring, Tuesday evening rolled around. Both my Aunt and Uncle decided to drive me to Montpelier, which is only about 30 minutes from Stowe. They were even kind enough to let me listen to my "pump-up jamz" (i.e., trashy pop and hip-hop) on the ride down. We found parking without too much problem and walked over to the bib pick-up which was across the street from the gold-domed capitol building.

I got in some strides and some loosening up drills, made about fifty visits to the port-a-potties and then it was time to line up. The only downside to this race was the starting line. They have kids and recreational runners line up on one side and more seasoned runners line up on the other. Unfortunately both groups start at the same time. It was a little chaotic initially but I don't think it cost me more than a second or two overall and it was fun to see how speedy some of the kids were out there.

The course itself was great. It was flat (which is no small miracle in Vermont) and it was clearly marked every 1/4 mile. Although it was an out-and-back, the turnaround point was a rotary which meant you didn't have to worry about a sharp turn. Having it set up that way actually made it feel faster than courses that simply run in a straight line.

I came in at 5:39. Maybe I should be disappointed by this time but I'm not. I've done very little speedwork recently aimed at shorter distances recently, having taken things relatively easy lately. Hopefully between now and September's 5th Avenue Mile I'll be able to do enough speedwork to get my time back down.

After the race (and a quick change in a public bathroom), we went for dinner at the New England Culinary Institute's restaurant on Main Street. The food was great and we got done just in time to take in some of the fireworks. It was definitely a great evening and it more than made up for the fact that my flight home the next day prevented me from seeing the fireworks in NYC.

New Flash: Heat Makes Running Harder

Those of you living along the eastern seaboard have probably been experiencing the same heatwave that struck us this week in New York. We went from temperatures that were slightly below average for June to temperatures that are slightly above average for a pizza oven. I don't mind running in the heat so much, but doing speed work in the heat is a whole different story.

When it comes to speed work in the heat, there are several options. The first one is: don't do it. But, any of you who read about my Boston race know I refuse to let heat stop me. You could also take your run inside to the treaddreadmill (but then again, you could also put a sharp metal object in your eye--that doesn't mean it's a good idea). Another option is to do your workout in the pre-dawn hours or after sundown. This is what I did last summer, but now that I'm running with a team, I have to run when they do.

Alright, so I just laid out three ways to cope with the heat and shot each one of them down. Why? Because there's a fourth option--adjust your workout. You can still get a great workout by either slowing the pace a little, reducing the number of reps or total distance, or doing some combination of the two. If you want to know how to adjust your speed for the heat, this handy calculator lets you plug in your normal speed and what equivalent speeds are as the mercury rises.

I used the adjustment strategy in my workout last night. We were scheduled to do 6 sets of 4x200 at 5k pace. Rather than adjust the pace too much, I cut the final set (so 5 sets of 4x200) and increased the rest in between sets. That way I was still able to get in a decent workout without killing myself. And then of course, I had my secret weapon lined up, a post-run ice cream from Ample Hills Creamery.

The 3-2-1 Workout

My team's coach is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet--he's super supportive during races and workouts. I'm also convinced he's pure evil. Okay, maybe he's not evil, but he sure comes up with some tough workouts! Last night he introduced a new one to our repertoire, the 3-2-1.

What is the 3-2-1, you ask? It's 3 miles at marathon pace, followed by 2 miles at half pace, followed by 1 mile at 10k to 15k pace. It doesn't sound so bad in theory but a couple things made it especially tough yesterday:

3) There are no breaks in this workout--you are running the full 6 miles without any rest or recovery.

2) The 2 half-marathon pace miles were done on Cat Hill (you know how much I love Cat Hill) with 800m up, followed by 800m down and then repeated.

1) As an added bonus, it was incredibly humid last night.

That final mile at 10k pace was definitely a killer, but I have to say I felt great after the workout. There's nothing like that post-speed work feel, something you have to remind yourself during the workout when you feel like quitting.

Since today is supposed to be a killer with highs in the mid-90s, I'm off for a morning run with some teammates. It may be warm and sticky now, but it's only gonna get worse. Ah, summer.

Tempo by Twilight

My posts have been a little sporadic this week because I'm getting ready to be sworn in as an attorney. Becoming a lawyer is like going through puberty: it seems to take forever, it's filled with uncomfortable moments, and just when you think it's almost over, there's another step. Anyway--barring any last minute surprises--I will be sworn in next Monday. 

Now back to running-related content.

On Tuesday night (boy does that seem like ages ago!) I met fellow Whippets in Central Park for our Tuesday speed workout. This week we had a tempo run on schedule. Out of all the different kinds of speed work, I find long tempo runs to be the hardest to do by yourself so I was only too happy to have other folks to run with.

The term "tempo run" gets thrown around a lot these days and folks seem to have very different ideas what it means. In my book (and by that I mean my copy of Daniels' Running Formula), a tempo run is a run done at a "comfortably hard" pace, something you could sustain for about an hour.

We didn't quite fit the Daniels definition on Tuesday, though we weren't far off. After an easy mile warm-up our goal was to do 6 to 8 miles at 15 to 30 seconds slower than half-marathon pace. The idea was that the pace wouldn't feel too difficult for the first several miles, but in the later miles it would be more difficult to maintain. It may be helpful here to throw in an alternate name for tempo runs: steady state runs. You're trying to maintain a consistent pace throughout the run even as fatigue sets in. [Note: Someone reading this blog might blow a gasket because some folks, like Greg McMillan, do not use these terms interchangeably.]

So, how did we do? I ran with three other guys and only one of us had a GPS watch. Since we were doing a four mile loop with no intermediate markers, we only had two chances to check our pace. That meant the run mostly went by feel. For the whole run we average around 6:45 pace. Our second loop was about 2 minutes faster than the first loop which probably isn't ideal, but it did serve as a confidence booster. Had I been running on my own one of two things would have happened: (1) I would have slowed down during the second loop, or (2) I would have called it quits by mile 6. All in all in was a great workout. Better still, it didn't start raining until after we had finished.

East River Mile Repeats

Thursday nights are track workout nights for my running team, the Dashing Whippets. Although I've been running with them for a little over two months now, before this week I had only made it to one track workout. There are two main reasons why I haven't been to more workouts. First, when I joined, I was halfway through my marathon training plan and didn't want to switch plans midway through the cycle. Second, these workouts are at the East River Park track. While it's a pretty decent facility, it happens to be about 1.2 miles from the nearest subway. As you may remember from a previous post a good track is hard to find in Manhattan.

I really want to get faster this year so last night I sucked it up and headed to the East Village after work. I always dread track workouts (any speed work, really) and I was still sore from Tuesday's workout so I had no idea what to expect from myself. The schedule called for 4 - 6x1600m repeats at 10k pace with 400m recoveries in between. As Scott, the coach, explained, the idea is to train yourself to run tired. It's as much mental as anything else. He offered the three of us who had run Boston an alternate workout (3 - 5x1200m with 800m recoveries) but we all decided to try the 1600s.

The workout actually went pretty well. I did the first 1600 in 6:10 but felt surprisingly good. After what seemed like an incredibly short recovery I did the next one in 6:06. Scott had said that those of us still in marathon recovery could stop at 3 if we wanted so as I began the third one I paid special attention to how my legs were feeling. I did it in 6:07 and decided I felt good enough to end on a even number. It helped that one of my teammates, Tom (who also did Boston), was running at about the same pace.

For the final repeat I tried to stay on pace for the first three laps. Once I got to the 200 mark, though, I began picking it up. When I hit the final straightaway I kicked it to finish the mile in 5:57. It was definitely tiring but I was extremely happy that I stuck with it. Now I'm really looking forward to a summer of speed work.
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 Yesterday's Run: 7.5 miles total.

Getting Your @$$ Kicked By a Cat

Last night was my first speed workout since Boston and, as it turned out, my first set of hill repeats since last year's Boston training cycle (in my usual training I replace repeats with hilly long runs).  Anyway, on Tuesday nights my team--like so many others--meets for speed work in Central Park. With Brooklyn just over two weeks away I figured it was time to get my legs moving again.

Last night's workout? 5x800m hill repeats on Cat Hill. For those of you who (a) don't live in New York or (b) don't run in Central Park, Cat Hill is located on East Drive between approximately E 75thand E 81st. It's called Cat Hill because of Edward Kemeys' bronze "Still Hunt" sculpture of a cougar.* At just about a quarter mile and an average of 3.7% grade it's not the longest or steepest hill in the park--those distinctions belong to Harlem hill which is a third of a mile at 4.4% grade--but it still makes for a good workout. To get 800m we kept going after the crest of the hill, enjoying some downhilll, another rise, and some flat to finish just past the Met.

Our goal was to do the repeats at 10k pace. I haven't run a 10k since last summer but my old pace was around 6:10. Several of the guys said they would be running around a 6:15 pace and that sounded good so I set off with them. The first one felt comfortably hard. Could I have kept running at the end? Yes. Did I want to? No. Turns out we had run it in a sub-6 pace. We jogged back down and tackled the next one--5:45 pace. I joked about doing the third one at 5:30 pace--we didn't, but it was still sub-6. By now I could feel the marathon in my legs.

After three I wanted to stop (the workout schedule did say 3 to 5 repeats) but one my teammates suggested I do the next one a little slower and at least get in an even 4. I heeded his advice and did a 4th, still under 6:00 pace. After that one I knew I had to do all 5 but I took the last one a little easier, right around 6:08 pace--probably my actual 10k pace these days. After the repeats (including a slower 6th one to pace a teammate who still had one to go) I jogged home making it 9 miles for the night. It was a tough workout but I was really happy with myself afterward. I can't say my legs were happy with this morning, but that's why they invented the recovery run.

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* Before Kemeys' statue was added in 1883 this stretch was called Cedar Hill.

On Track

Today was my last "hard workout" before Boston. I've used Pete Pfitzinger's training schedule for several marathon cycles now (although this was my first time using the 12-week plan instead of the 18-week one) so I know what to expect. That said, his final track workout always gets me a little nervous--it's mile repeats. 

I dread mile repeats. Last night I lay in bed thinking, Do I really need to do these? I know what a mile feels like... Couldn't I just run 800s instead? Or better yet, skip the speed work altogether? Well, I conquered that inner voice, though not until this morning when my alarm finally went off. (I'd probably been awake for at least an hour wondering when the misery would start.)

As with a lot of my speed work, I do mile repeats around the Central Park Reservoir. Because it has markings every 20 yards and is clearly labeled 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile, and so on, it works pretty well. You don't get the same hamster feel that a track can sometimes give you and it's easier for me to get to than the nearest track.

As much as I was dreading today's run, it went pretty well. It was definitely brisk out this morning, but I got to enjoy the sunrise over Central Park about halfway through my run. Even before the sun comes up, the pre-dawn reservoir is a nice sight to behold:

Photo from Central Park.com (You think I do speed work with my camera?)

The repeats went pretty well. I started out aiming for 10k pace, but probably ended up closer to 8k. They were 6:07, 6:04, and 6:02. Those are better than I did last cycle and my legs felt pretty fresh. Hopefully after a week of easy running they'll feel even better.
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Today's Run: 8.3 miles at 7:28 pace (that includes the mile repeats and recovery jogs).

Running as a Mental Sport

This is hardly an original thought, but running is definitely a mental sport. I was reminded of this fact in a big way today during my medium long run. Yesterday I got in a speed session, 8x800 at just under 5k pace and last night I hit the gym for some strength training and stretching. Add yesterday's activities together and what do you get? Sore legs!

A lot of times the mental struggle begins when my alarm clock goes off. Do I really want to get up now? Couldn't I just do my run later this afternoon? Or take an extra rest day? Didn't I feel a tickle in my throat last night or something? Thankfully, I didn't have to deal with any of that today--I woke up feeling good to go. When I got out the door, though, and started running, it was a different story. Not only did my legs feel tired and heavy, but I had a 10mph headwind the whole route. That meant the challenge today was finding the mental drive to finish the run, to ignore my tired legs, and to resist the temptation to hop on the subway every time I passed a station.

Let me be clear, it's important to recognize the difference between discomfort and actually pain. Running through discomfort is a good thing. You practice using you mind to conquer your body and this is the kind of practice that lead you to push the pace harder in a race or to cover new distances. Running through serious pain is not a good thing--it's a stupid thing. You can end up injuring yourself (like I did with my Achilles a couple of weeks ago) and damaging your future performance potential. Alright, now that I've got that disclaimer out there, let's talk about how the whole mental thing works.

Today I kept thinking about a bigger goal. In this case, that goal is Boston. I know who tired I will feel in the final miles of the marathon. I kept telling myself today, no matter how tired your legs feel, they will feel more tired on April 16 and stopping will not be an option then. I also thought about my reward for this morning's run. When I run to work (as I did today), I buy a giant from the cafeteria for breakfast. I kept telling myself, you have to earn that delicious muffin.

There are plenty of other mental strategies you can use--during the marathon I have a special phrase or mantra (harder, better, faster, stronger--thank you Daft Punk!) that I save for the final miles. Even though I don't listen to music on most runs, if I'm doing a long run by myself, sometimes I'll break out my iPod for the final 2 to 3 miles. The extra energy I get from the music sort of simulates the extra energy I get in most races as I approach the finish line crowds.

What's the point of all this rambling nonsense? It's just as important to practice these various mental strategies during your training as it is to put in the physical effort. Knowing how to use these mental strategies on race day can really give you a boost. Let's just hope I can practice what I preach on April 16!
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Today's Run: 13.3 miles at 7:50 pace.

Training Essentials: Compression Socks

Note: As we get closer to Boston (only two weeks left of real training until the taper!!!), I'm going to highlight some of the items that have been "essential" to me during training. Now, for all you literalists out there, by essential I simply mean things I wouldn't want to train without. 

Today I'm starting with one of my favorite items--compression socks.

The main theory behind running socks--yes, like with most running trends, it's theory, not fact--is that the compression of the lower leg increases the blood flow flushing out the fatigue causing by-products from a hard workout. Some folks swear by them on race day including elites like Chris Solinsky and Paula Radcliffe, while other folks use them exclusively as a post-run recovery tool.

What do scientists think? According to a 2007 study conducted at Stellenbosch University in South Africa wearing compression socks during a race or workout doesn't actually improve performance. The same study, however, found that wearing compression socks after a tough workout leads to a faster lactate recovery rate. 

So when do I wear compression socks? I wear them during some harder workouts (like today's 7x800 speed session) and often on long runs. I don't know for sure whether they help, but they certainly aren't hurting my performance. I also use them as a recovery tool. Post-race or just when my legs are feeling a little sore, I'll put them on around the house for an hour or so. [Note: From personal experience, don't wear them to bed--your toes will not be happy in the morning.]

As for which ones I recommend, there are a dozen or so brands out there. I have tried and like 2XU, CW-X, and CEP. I like the sleeves better during a run (they only cover your calf so you can wear normal socks) but the full socks better post-run. Are these the holy grail of running? No. Could I train without them? Obviously, since I didn't get my first pair until marathon #4. That said, I'm hooked on them now and definitely think they're worth checking out.