Run1Fast Blog

Setting a training Routine. 6mos till IRONMAN.

2/17/2014

Just under 6 months till my ultimate test!! My first Ironman. While training started back in November, I figure the 6 month mark is a significant milestone. Unfortunately there was a little set back this past week (see Dog Bite) but otherwise training has been going well. Nov, Dec, and Jan was all about getting in the base. 5k of swimming a week, 4hrs of bike (not nearly enough, but thats what it was), and 50mi of running. Running has been my main focus still, as I prepare for the Boston Marathon in April.
One thing that I have decided on is to implement a routine. While it might sound very basic, but without a routine you can easily get off track or start missing workouts. Plus, with a routine, I can help myself and my family know my defined schedule. While I might not always keep to it, it is a good goal to have. As the wise Bruce Denton (Once a Runner) used to say, Live like a clock.
Do you have a Routine?
What are the pitfalls you have found and how do you avoid them?
Where is the best place for flexibility in your schedule?
This plan allows for me to keep track of what I am doing, where I am going to be, and provides the structure I need. Too many mornings (or evenings.
My Ironman Routine.
Monday: AM - Sleep or easy shakeout - basement.
PM - Masters Swim - CAC Boulder Gym
Tuesday: AM - Run Workout - Fairview Track (or road next to track)
PM - Easy Swim - CAC Boulder Gym
Wednesday: AM - Ride - Basement or Road from home.
PM - Mid week long run - BRC (Boulder Run Co).
Thursday: AM - Masters Swim - CAC Boulder Gym
PM - Rest
Friday: AM - Run Workout - Fairview Track (or road next to track)
PM - Ride - Basement or Road from home. Lunch ride if time permits.
Saturday: AM - Brick Workout Bike Run - CAC Boulder Gym
PM - Rest or Easy Swim - CAC Boulder Gym
Sunday: AM - Long Run - Boulder Res
PM - Swim - CAC Boulder Gym

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Man's Best Friend? - Forced Recovery Time

2/4/2014

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My little dog Lucy (left)
WARNING GRAPHIC pic below.
Dogs are man's best friend, except when they aren't. I have a small French Bulldog named Lucy, who by the way did not attack me. She is more likely to have you chase her than her chase you.
Much younger, around the age of 6, I was bitten by a dog. It was quite traumatic as things like that are when you are young and small. So for many years, I was very much afraid of dogs. Then as time progressed, I got more used to them or at least a little more comfortable around them. Then my sister got a dog which I would see when I was home from college. My parents inherited said dog, along with another one that my sister also got but became a bit too much for her and her trio of kids to handle. Anyway, I got over the fear of dogs and finally in Dec of 2012, convinced my wife to get a Frenchie.
Fast forward to this past Sunday. Common in Boulder is the Green Dog Tag. If a dog has a green tag, which means that owner says they can control the dog with just their voice, then the dog does not have to be on a leash in Boulder. This works out great for 98% of the dogs. Its that other 2% that you have to be careful about. Most run ins with dogs on trails is more of a nuance than an issue. A friendly lab runs up next to you or tries to jump in front of you to play while you are running along.
But then there is the other dog. The one that looks all innocent right up until you get near them and their butt pops up in the crouch position. Then you know in a split second, there is going to be trouble. Thats what happened Sunday. I was running along the Boulder Res trail (near Coot lake) when it happened. The lady walking the dog (turned out to be the owners neighbor) saw me coming and moved the dog to the left side of the trail as I ran along the right edge of the path. A distance of 10ft from side to side, but not enough time for me to react. The dog sitting on the trail seemed innocent enough until that last second when it sprang up. I was just even with the dog when I felt something was amiss. It jumped and lunged at me. Paw up on my left thigh and CHOMP with the teeth. Right through one of my good pairs of running pants too. A few swear words were let loose and a demand that the lady grab the dog before he had a second chance to get me as I wallow in the snow.
We walked the half mile back to the parking lot and exchanged contact info. This is where I learn she was the neighbor and not owner. I also took a look under my pants and saw a thumb sized chunk of thigh missing and the quickly bleeding and bruising gash that was the cause of my pain. Then my chief concerns became that the dog was not wearing its tags, so I had no proof that the dog had its rabies shots.
Off to home to get in some dry clothes then asking my wife to cut her treadmill long run short by 4 miles to drive me to the urgent care. Fortunately she said no problem and she would finish it up in the afternoon, ha. 2hr urgent care wait then into the back to hear the prognosis. During this time, the owners did contact me and send me the proof of vaccinations. And has offered to cover my medical costs when I find out what the "damage" is. Sitting with the doc, he took a look and knew right away a few (5 total) stitches, a tetanus shot, and a course of antibiotics to ward off any infection, would all be needed. After about 45mins from start to finish, I was finally able to get on with my day. A day which included a second bummer with the Denver Broncos losing the Superbowl.
Most dogs are good dogs. Some just need a bit more training than others. Now time for 4-5 days of rest and no swimming till the stitches get removed in 10 days. Its a bummer, but at least it is a good week to do it as Boulder is projected with a foot of snow in total this week and temps in the single digits.
GRAPHIC PIC BELOW-Click READ MORE to view. Gash is size of adult male thumb.

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Fatigue? Normal or Overtraining

1/22/2014

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All athletes get tired. That is part of the circle of life for a competitive athlete. You wake up, workout, eat, day job, workout, eat, relax and then SLEEP. But as the routine continues day in and day out, it usually gets progressively worse.
All of it gets worse. The workouts get longer and harder. You continue to eat more and hopefully you're picking the right foods and recovery snacks. Your sleep starts getting shorter and harder. So when does the cycle end? When does your body (and mind) get used to this progression? As the fatigue builds up, you start to doubt and question your training. And hopefully, before its too late, you ask yourself one important question. Is the fatigue you are feeling normal or is it overtraining?
First, what is overtraining? Overtraining is when you have pushed your body too hard, for too long, with too little rest. Overdoing it for so long that one or two days off and decent sleep will not help. There is a reason why rest days are scheduled in your training. Even elites need rest days. These rest days allow you to wake up the next morning and perform a workout with the necessary energy (both physically and mentally). Workouts are supposed to be hard and tiresome, but overtraining is where every workout is hard and tiresome, even the slow workouts.
Fatigue on the other hand is just tiredness from the prior day or two of hard runs. After a rest day or two, you can come back and nail a quality workout. Fatigue is short term (1-3 days) whereas Overtraining is long term (2-3 weeks). Fatigue makes you tired, cranky, hungry (sometimes lack of appetite) and mentally exhusted. But the good news is, after a couple days of easy running or off days, you're right back at it.
When I schedule my training blocks, I know from past experiences every 4th week needs to be a Rest/Down week. Then I can build back up. Also, after a long hard Sunday run, I need to wait until Wednesday to do my next hard workout (as opposed to the usual Tuesday). These are all tips that I have learned to combat fatigue and avoid falling into the black hole of Overtraining.
So dont worry if you slept in yesterday and missed an easy ride or shakeout run. Every so often, thats just your body telling you to take a break. When you start missing multiple workouts, or cant hit any of your paces like your used to, then sit down and ask yourself, is the fatigue you are feeling normal or is it overtraining?

My highschool cross country coach had a great quote that has always stuck with me. "One of the most courageous things an athlete can do, is to know when to rest."

This topic is hitting home right now as I transition into my Ironman training (Ironman Boulder Aug 2014). Boston Marathon in April is still a high priority, but I know I need to incorporate swimming and cycling into my plan sonner than later. The only way to do that (that I can figure out) is to wake up early and hit the gym/pool. Being NOT an early bird (I usually only do 2x morning workouts a week). Transitioning to waking up at 5:45am 4x a week is getting to get a bit tough. I am sure I just need to get used to it and work my way through the fatigue. My body (and mind) will figure it out soon...or else overtraining will rear its ugly head.

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New Years Resolution - Ironman Boulder 2014

1/14/2014

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My new years resolution - I will be an Ironman. After college, I dabbled in the triathlon game for a few years. I really enjoyed the biking and I tolerated the swimming. Having been a runner in college (Rochester Institute of Technology), I got into triathlon have graduating. 4 years of running and focusing on just that (well school work too) took its toll and I decided to mix it up. Within a few years, I had a few sprint and olympic distance races under my belt. I even raced a half ironman distance..in middle Georgia..in June. I learned what a bonk was really like and why people take GU and nutrition on the bike and run for a reason.

On to my decision, Ironman. I have wanted to complete an Ironman for many years. But due to traveling for work, my triathlon racing dwindled. Fortunately when travelling, you can always find a place to run. So my running and even a few marathons increased and my PRs got faster. Then in Jan 2013, a career change and all the traveling stopped. And I do mean change. I went from 80,000 skymiles, 180 hotel nights, and 50 rental cars ever single year for 8.5 years. Now, 2 or 3 trips each year for work. Quite the change. But it allows me time to get on the bike and get wet in the pool. My wife has completed 2 Ironman events in the past few years, so I knew how much training there wil be and how much personal time I will have to give up. I think?

Then in July 2013, Ironman announced an Ironman in Boulder Colorado, Tri capital of the world. Aka, my backyard. The course already has my blood sweat and tears on it. No really, there is a blood stain on the creek path from where I had slipped on ice and landed hard on my elbow. Anyway, an Ironman triathlon and here comes the kicker....no travel. I get to sleep in my own bed, cook my own meals, and no airline, hotel, bike shipping, etc.

It was a no brainer decision. Then time came to sign up. Figuring it was going to sell out right away (who wouldnt want to race at 5430ft), I blocked off my work calendar for 10am Mountain time, in order to be online ready to get in the race. I logged in to my active.com account (having reset the password the night before just to be sure) and filled in all the info. Then came payment/submit. $728.22 total (after registration fee, active.com, USAT fee) WoW! Do I really want to pay that much to suffer for 140.6 miles? Then I realized it was a drop in the bucket as compared to want it will cost for my 8 months of training leading up to the race. Submit. I was in. In hindsight, it ended up taking 8 days to sell out as opposed to the 10mins I was expecting (or 45seconds that it takes IM Florida or Arizona).

So time for my resolution. I will be an Ironman come August 2014. What will that entail? I can only assume, early nights to bed, early mornings in the pool, longer than usual long runs followed up with laps in the pool, and seeing a lot of the Colorado countryside via my bike(s). I have the Boston Marathon in April, then probably an olympic tri in the early summer, and a handful of races scattered in between. But mostly, I have a heck of a lot of training to get done. I have a lot of great family support, great support from my sponsors, and even people at work that dont mind a long lunch here or there while Im out running or cycling as long as work gets done.

On to 2014. Follow my training here and on twitter @run1fast. Oh, some people ask why Run1fast? Its because, think to yourself, Run1fast. Run 1 race/training run/workout/anything fast. Faster than your PR/last year/last month/yesterday. Its a mind set to keep pushing yourself to better yourself.

Ill try to keep this up to date. Check out my Calendar tab to see how the training is going.

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Setting a training Routine. 6mos till IRONMAN.

Man's Best Friend? - Forced Recovery Time

Fatigue? Normal or Overtraining

New Years Resolution - Ironman Boulder 2014

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