Aw yeah!

The miles are fun. I miss running this much and I am feeling pretty good. I needed to take a bit of a break yesterday due to overuse, but I feel great today and will get in a nice run after work with my dog. It is amazing to me how fast the miles help and how smooth the runs start to feel. I need to continue to be careful and a bit conservative for my calves, but other than that, I feel great. I think that after a couple of months in this routine, there will be a noticeable difference in my fitness and racing ability. I will get in a long run this weekend and then a moderate run on the following day. I will have a weekly total around 70 and that will be good for the first week of "mileage focused running". I will up the mileage about 10% each week and stay consistent with the speed-work and tempos. I considered jumping in the California 100 mile race, but I am not sure I would even make it (I would make it, but it could and would most likely be very very ugly!!!). It is in my old stomping grounds and has something like 14,600' elevation gain throughout the run. I will stay away from this one for now, and think about something more reasonable (like a 5k)! I know, big difference, but so what. Racing is racing, and I miss it! I have noticed that the competitive edge comes back pretty naturally when the training gets more serious. I use to dislike losing to Adrienne at Cribbage, but now it is all I can do to not tip the board over :) I don't, but I think about it.

I am looking forward to getting up into the mountains and finding lost lakes and seeing all the wild animals soon. I still have a few months before the snow clears, but until then, I will continue on with what I have been doing.

Adrienne is running great as well. She did 10.5 last weekend, and that was her longest run by quite a bit for quite a while. I think she will hit somewhere around 10-13 this weekend as well, and that will be where she stays for another week or so. She is working up to doing a comfortable 20miler, and then we will take a weekend and both go LONG! Everything else is moderate and just a little speed added in. The training is reminicent of Marty Liquori's trainiing back in the day (save the fact that he was fast as a cheetah, and did consistent 30 milers after races). But if the body can take it, and there are good results coming from it all, then more power to the system. I do not see any need to go over 70-80 considering the goals that I have, but if I can, I will. I love being out there running!

Finch

Miles and Miles

The return of the Trials of Miles. I really do enjoy running good miles and a good pace. I have been very healthy and, although it may be a tactical error in getting race-ready, I think the potential benefits outweigh the potential costs. I am going to put in a slew of miles here in the next few months and see how my body reacts. I have had some of the best racing of my life off 80-100 miles per week. I do believe that I can run strong and fast at 50 miles a week, and race very competitively, but if I want to race a a top-level, I need to put in some big miles to compliment and help with the speed. I will take it easy and make sure that my legs are responding well. So far, so good. I did a 16.5 miler, and I do 10 most days at lunch, and then go home and run with my dog. The hope is to keep the 400 repeats going once a week, and pick a day that I feel good and get some good tempo work in. I will write more in a bit about it all and the progress, but for now, I must go run.

Finch

Dreadmill

Well, it is pretty crappy weather out today, and I brought running shorts and a microfiber short-sleeve shirt to work with me. Time to hit the treadmill. I did 10 on the damn thing. Hit a 2 mile warm-up and then went into a nice session of 14x400 @ 5min pace with an easy 9min pace recovery. 1 mile cool down and I was done. Just boring!!! It is nice to feel very very easy at 5min pace and get through the workout very relaxed. It will be nice to get out on the track and get some work in at 4:40 pace and see how that works. It should be fine, and I like this gradual progression. My legs are healthy and I have some decent speed.

I still need to figure out what I want to race next, but I am looking forward to jumping into something. I have a bit to go before I have the ability to hold 5min pace over a 5k at altitude, but it is on its way.

I think it will be useful to up my miles a bit, but I am going to go at it slowly and see how everything responds. I am not able to get the rest I need to do the stress work and hold 100 miles a week, and I am not sure that is necessary, but I want to find somewhere near an optimal accumulation, and speed work mix. Heck, it may be 60miles a week. Who know!?

Finch

Back to It

I am not sure what I am going to do next, but I will pick something out soon. I have had a good week and I find myself running around 6:20 quite comfortably on my 6-8 mile runs. That is a good improvement from what I was doing, and it shows some pretty good progress. It would nice to have that down at 6:00, but that is probably still some time away. I will probably get going on some workouts again this week, and see how my body responds. I am sure it won't be a problem, and it should be fun to stretch the legs out. I was snowboarding this past weekend from Thursday to Sunday. There was 20" of new snow!!! It was pretty awesome. I spent some time on the rails in the terrain park, and got them down pretty well and even developed a bit of style on them. Scary though! I am looking forward to consistently warmer weather and getting some color on this white boy body! Once I decide what I am racing, I will be sure to let you know! Until then, I will be running :)

Finch

Oh Yeah...

Adrienne has been itching to get back into some running and I think I have her convinced that Santa Barbara 9 Trails is the way to go. It is a 35 mile race that has somewhere around 11000' - 12000' of climbing in it. I know it sounds crazy to some, but in many ways training for this race is much easier than training for a fast 5k. The race is not until November and (assuming that we can get in this year), she will have plenty of time to build a base, race some fun races, do some long long runs and get ready. I am excited for her. I will do the race as well, and it will be fun to test some limits. I will continue training the same way, but getting that long run up there come summer time. My goal is to be able to build that 7min pace running efficiency while I increase the long run. Hopefully I can race a long race at that training pace. Who knows. It is really a side goal, but one that I will put some attention toward come late summer. Adrienne should love the experience. :)

Finch

The Race

Well, it was a nice day out in San Diego. Heat was not an issue as it was overcast and windy. I felt good going into the race and had some nice runs the previous two days. On race day, our relay team was just outclassed. There were some very good teams racing and we did not have a shot at winning. It was a great day for the group that flew me out there, Multisport Ministries. There was a lot of interest in the group, and the group will grow from the exposure. Cutting to the chase...

I did not get the chip, formerly a baton in track relays:), until around 36 minutes after the leaders left. We were in 9th or 11th at that time, and the run was almost all on sand! Bummer! I took off well and was holding 5:20s on the hard packed/mushy sand. It was at the peak of high tide, and the hard packed sand was mostly covered in ocean. I felt good and smooth at 5:20s and figured I could hold it and maybe pick it up in the last few miles. Little did I know that when we reached the SEAL base, we had to run on very very soft sand for a good distance (over a mile). This was easily the worst part of the run. Especially the second time around! I got through the soft sand and had a bit on dirt road and gravel road. That was a nice time to attempt and make some time back. I felt good throughout the run, and even coming in, I was feeling strong and relaxed. I ended up with the second fastest run time on the day with a good group of runners out there. Two of the guys are about 1:10 guys and both have gone under to hit 68 minutes on road courses. I assume that with a bit more work, I will have that ability back in my legs. Save the sand, I was comfortable at 5:20s on the hard packed, and that would be a good time given I have really only put in 4 good weeks of training. I am looking forward to training more and seeing how it all turns out. Our team ended up in 3rd or 4th, as most people were running 1:25-1:30 something out there. I came in with a 1:19, a minute behind a pro Kenyan runner. I'll take it!

The real surprise of the trip was the following day. I went out to my old high school and did a 7 mile run. When I came back, the team was doing 400m repeats, and I decided to join in. I was only there in time to do 6 with them, but I was comfortable at 63-66. I don't know where the speed came from, but I could jog out of a 63 and hardley felt anything. That was a good feeling and gets me curious to know what I could do in a mile with a bit more work. We'll see...

Anyway. It was fun to race again, and I am looking forward to getting on a more reasonable course and see what I can run. My legs feel great and as healthy as ever. I will stick to the good ol' Lydiard way, and just keep on truckin'. I am going to start adding some more miles to the mix, but that will be the only change for now.

Back again soon!

Finch