Training

Back on the horse again.

I've started training again, this time with intent. I'm going to race in Moab at the Red Hot 55k. This is a new distance for me, truth be told I've never raced longer than a half marathon, which wasnt all that bad, considering I did it on less than 35 miles a week and with a LOT of junk miles. Being a new father has a weird affect on your time management skills, I now get up at 5 am to make the gym before 6 and run on my lunch break just so I have time with my daughter before bedtime. Afternoons and weekends filled with junk miles and half assed training sessions are not options for me any more. Mileage for the sake of Mileage will surely derail my training plan in the form of injuries, loss of motivation or lack of preparedness. I believe that the foundation of my plan for this 55k goes back to my ability to suffer, the mitochondria are there, they still work. My V02max is shit, I have no speed left in my legs, no time or cartilage left for 50-100 mile training weeks, so sharp focus and attention to detail will have to get me to the start line in February. Good old fashioned stubbornness and grit are going to get me through the finish line.  Thinking top 1/4 in my age group would be a decent accomplishment considering my current fitness state and time line. Next adventure planned, goal set, time to get to work.

Now what?

What’s in a comeback? Is getting back up enough? Attaining levels you reached previously? Or surpassing those levels? I guess it depends on what you’re coming back from. For me I guess it has always been a struggle to define what “back” is. After a lot of set backs physical and mental I had to ask my self this question, what would I be satisfied with? Will I ever PR in the 400? Probably not. Will I complete a marathon? YES. Will I break 2:20? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Recovering from injury or sickness affects different people in different ways. Some embrace the time off, focusing on missing pieces of their lives, or trying to enjoy things they missed during training, most of the time they comeback whole, refreshed, hungry. For others it’s more like going through withdrawals, they are sick, miserable, irritable and nearly obsessed with getting back out there. These are the people who struggle, they feel less than whole, less than worthy, they become depressed and moody. If you've ever read Once a Runner, you know how I know this. Becoming healthy and returning to the things I love doesn't have end of the world implications to me anymore. This doesn't mean that I do not strive and work for that, it's more about perspective. I used to lose sleep and obsess thinking about missed workouts and down time. It owned me. For nearly 9 years now I have been on the edge of "coming back", I've accomplished a lot in that time, this is where perspective comes into play. I'm no longer a college athlete with one goal in mind, covering ground as fast as possible without the benefit of internal combustion technology. I'm a more whole, complete, athlete. I see athletic endeavor as the goal, being able to do damn near anything, 50 second quarter speed doesn't define me, being an athlete, not just a runner does defines that portion of my life, it makes me whole and happy. I'll run again soon, how far and how fast is still yet to be seen. I'm not done, but I'm not "back" yet either. In the mean time I'll be eyeing that 2:40.

Moving ahead

Coaching is always something that I wanted to do, ever since my college career finished up I wanted to provide others with the same sense of camaraderie and fitness that I enjoyed. There is nothing quite like the feeling of being hunched over gasping for breath, lead legs, fuzzy vision and a sky high heart rate, and looking at a  friend who shares the same sweet misery.All with a smile and a laugh to your self thinking about how these feelings are universally communicated, without words.
Towards the end of my college career there were a lot of negative events that shaped the way I view training and coaching. Having a narrow minded coach who held fast to the old school philosophy of racking up hundreds of junk miles a week was eye opening for sure. This "training" plan consisted of a long, sometimes up to 3 mile warm-up daily, very light stretching (if any at all), no discussion regarding the up coming workout (there was nothing to say, you'll see what I mean later), ABSOLUTELY NO motivation, then a VERY long run at varying intensity. Did I mention no cross training, we would do 1 session of plyometrics per week that involved wall sits, stepups and calf raises. Once per week! There were 3 quality workouts a week, 2 interval sessions and a long run. The 2 interval sessions were erratic and spotty, quality was always sacrificed for quantity. When questioned about the intention of a workout our "coach" would respond with "this is designed to build fitness." What a load of BS! Needless to say this all came from a man who qualified for the Olympic Trials twice in the marathon and never competed at the trials due to injury. Think about this, it's very telling that a guy who trained in the manner was often injured. I guess it depends on goals. If your goals are to be a national champ, then you better be running, a  lot. However, what kind of running is much more important than strictly how much. Having a few people that listen to me regarding training, I take that task very seriously. I hope that I can grow this thing I started and help others in places where my mentors failed me.
Cheers!

JMTR

Well the Jemez Mountain Trail Half Marathon was interesting to say the least, I finished, not as fast as I had hoped, however considering I was limited to 1 run a week for the 3 weeks prior to the race, not a bad outcome. The first 3 miles were easy, gradual rolling hills alternating road and trail, the single track portions could be frustrating trying to get around people who took off way to fast and payed for it only 3 miles into the event. Around mile 4 the climbing started, well not really but there was some elevation gain. It is worth mentioning that this was a cupless event, meaning that if you are like me and thought you could by a HydraPouch the morning of the event you were mistaken and would be running with a water bottle in your hand for the duration. The first substantial aid station was around mile 4, I would soon find out why. The climb. Before I go any further let me be clear, I love a tough race, my fondest memories of X-C involved river crossings and mud pits with single track trail climbs in Jackson Hole, this will not rank among those fond memories. The majority of the climb took place between miles 4.5-6, if you like inhaling hot dirt while shuffling up switchbacks trying not to vomit, this place is for you. I know how bacon feels. Beyond the never ending climb the entire course is the the burn area from a few years ago, the surrounding area is beautiful, the course it self, not as much. Returning back to starting elevation was a relief, miles of rolling hills made for easy trucking on the way back, by mile 6 however I thought I had torn my hip flexors (yes plural), I could not stand up straight and the down hill pounding was not all together enjoyable. To make matters worse the course was long, only by 1/2 mile, but I was well ready to be done before 13.1 let alone 13.7. In all it was a great race, very well organized with a ton of support, it is part of the La Sportiva Cup, a brutal series of mountain races all over the west. It was a great day, my wife Anna supported me and was amazing, she fed me tried to stuff me with food, even stole a few post race Pilsners for me, thanks babe. With all that being said my goals have now shifted, I believe that I still have a few fast 5k or 10ks still in my legs (maybe not my back). Running a little shorter and faster will be my next M.O. for the next few months with trying to attempt a fast 10k in september. I feel good about that, I know it and I own that type of training, forcing my body to cooperate with me accept the sometimes brutal nature of 5 and 10k training will be a hell of a challenge. I'm up for it.

Black Box Running Group / Jemez Mountain Trail Runs

I'm pretty happy to announce that Black Box Fitness (Home of CrossFit Caliente) and Ellis Endurance have aggreed to start a running group. This group will be open to any/everyone, it's free and will meet weekly. Sunday, April 7th will be the first run at UNM North Golf Course (Law Library) @ 8:00AM, we will meet every sunday following, same time, same place. I hope this grows into a competetive club that will have a large, competitive and visible presence at area races and events.
Also I signed up to run the Half Marathon at the Jemez Mountain Trail Runs, and have been running more consistantly over the last few weeks, I've spent a lot of time and Black Box lately and am feeling a lot more fit, I just need to translate that to running fitness and put in a few more miles. Hope to see everyone on Sundays.

Starting Over

Well it's  been a long time since I updated this thing a lot has happened, I got into amazing shape, got married and got horribly out of shape in short order. This process is beginning again, I'm commiting my self to competing in the Corrida de los Locos race in Janurary. This may be a tall order but I'm confident that I can get to a respectable time with a lot of work, Black Box was amazing the first time around, I didnt keep things new enough and shyed away from running. I've attempted to lay the ground work for a loose assocation with Black Box, a relationship which is still in it's infancy. It would be a great way to get this club up and running, a new group of people to train with and a different look at running and racing. I'll be posting more info as it comes in.

Small steps

To say it's been an interesting few weeks would be an understatement, with a new dedication to my fitness and health I changed my diet and workout habits drastically. I joined CrossFit and adopted the diet that come with the territory, I was very sceptical at first, a diet that relies on meat based proteins and natural fats as huge staples definitely got my attention. But after some research and a little cooking I realized this a great way to eat if you are like me and love meat. It's already based on things I love to eat, meat, fat and rich filling foods, however removing cheese from my diet was a struggle to say the least. Eating more calories and filling up on red meat and basic vegetable combos like tomatos and avocados with homemade mayo is by far a better alternative to lettuce and protein shakes. But any way on the to workouts, CrossFit is unlike anything I've ever done before, Olympic lifting with flexibility and gymnastics type moves is a hell of a workout, every workout kills you in so many different ways, one day may be squats with huge amounts of weights to near failure, the next day maybe 1500 meters on a rower for time with burpees and scaling 6ft walls. It's never boring and competition is great.
I've continued upping my weekly mileage the last 3 weeks, starting with 3 miles a few times a week to test my shin splints out. 2 weeks ago I threw in a 4 miler to test the waters, last week was a big one for me.

Here is the break down

Tuesday 3 miles
Thursday 4 miles after a pretty killer workout at BlackBox
Friday another 4 miles
Saturday with Team in Training was 6 good miles, the last 2 were with a few rests to help out some other runners.
Sunday 4 miles. I had a great day, one of the first days I could struggle through the mid run fatigue and finish strong without everything going to shit.

Although this week didn't follow my normal "3 weeks before a 10% increase" schedule I'm fairly confident I can handle it no new soreness or tweaks. Other than being pretty drained I felt great, and I cant wait to get my mileage up to something significant and get a little speed under me. It's so long since I been able to go fast, to be able to find that fluid 6 min pace, lock it in and cruise for as long as you want. I miss that feeling more than I want to admit to myself. Well I'm probably going to get fired if I don't get back to work, time to end this. Cheers.