Aw Snap (VO2Max News)

"Whoa snap yo." That's what my friend Stephen said when I showed him this piece about a new-fangled way of measuring VO2Max that is making some scientists scratch their heads. Thank you to Sweat Science for leading me to this article. Very interesting stuff.

Back in the Saddle

It's been too long - this always seems to happen, I get all excited about blogging and for a few weeks I post and post and post...and then real-life gets in the way and I disappear for awhile. In my defense, I took about a 3 week break from running so there wasn't much running-related material to talk about. Over the break Leslie and I found out that we won spots into the New York City Half Marathon which was pretty exciting once I got over the sticker shock ($128pp...yikes). Anyway, the best part of this whole thing is that our friends Stephen and Emily from NJ also won spots in the race so all four of us are running the race together. Personally I'm probably more excited just to hang out with them for a weekend than I am to run in the actual race (though that is also exciting).

Once we found out, I immediately set about formulating a training plan to prepare for the race. If you've read this blog before, you know that I've been reading Jack Daniels' book (Daniels' Running Formula) and throughout the book he gives training templates for races of various distances. I was hoping to find a half-marathon training template, but alas, I had to settle for a marathon program - which I then modified to suit my needs. The basic premise of Daniels' training formula is that two days out of every week are devoted to what he calls "Quality" (Q) workouts. For longer distances one of the Q days is devoted to a long run, usually done on either a Saturday or a Sunday, and the other Q day is typically devoted to a speed workout. The rest of the days in the training schedule are devoted to easy-to-moderate running with an emphasis on getting miles in and letting your body recover from the Q days.

I decided to start the program pretty conservatively with a couple of weeks of fairly low mileage since I was coming off of a 3-week break. I didn't want to jump in and immediately start tallying 30-40 miles a week so as to avoid injury, while at the same time getting my body used to running on a regular basis again. So far I've really enjoyed the structure of it. I've noticed that I really anticipate the Q workouts because for the rest of the time, it feels like I'm really holding back...the quality workouts are really my only chance each week to "let it fly." I really like knowing exactly what I am going to be doing each day because it takes a lot of the guesswork out of training and really focuses me on what it is I'm trying to accomplish.

My goal for the NY Half is 1:30:00. Not to toot my own horn, but I feel like it's an ambitious goal because a) I've never raced (let along run) that distance before and b) to run sub-7:00/mile for 13.1 miles would be equal to the pace of my fastest 10K to date. That being said, I am confident that if I stick to this training program and keep my end goal in mind throughout - I will be able to do it.

Leslie chose a different training program which I also find interesting; she is using Hal Higdon's Intermediate Half Marathon training program which is very similar to the Daniels' formula. My brother is currently training for another marathon and he's using The Hansons' method which emphasizes the consistency of your training (i.e. maintaining high weekly mileage totals throughout the course of the program). I'm struck by how many different ideas are out there on how to train for longer distance races. I don't tend to think that any one program is better than another, but from person to person one may work better than another.

Long-term my goal is to run in the Chicago Marathon this coming fall. With that in mind I tailored my training program for slightly higher weekly-mileage totals than is probably normal for half marathon training. The idea behind the higher mileage is that I over the course of the next 10 weeks or so I will get my body used to running 35-40 miles per week which is pretty much the starting point for marathon training. I'm very pleased with how this year has started in terms of running and I'm excited to see how my body responds to this program.

I would love to hear about other people's programs and goals. If you're a veteran of longer races, how did you figure out which program was best for you? Did you seek out a program or develop one on your own based on experience?

If Only It Were the Legs

Sometime last week, I noticed that there was a point of discomfort in the middle of my back, but it wasn't bothering me much at all, it was just something I noticed. I was running normally, I was sleeping normally and aside from the occasional "grab" I probably would have forgotten about it. Then I went for a long run on Saturday, my longest run ever actually, a 10+ miler. I felt great, I ran great, but when I got back I noticed that that point of discomfort had become a little more pronounced. Later that night it was really starting to bother me and it bothered me during most of my off-day the next day. I woke up yesterday morning and it was not really that bad so I decided to go for a run at lunch yesterday and I only made it a mile before my back had completed seized up and I couldn't really breathe. I would describe the pain as a "spasm" of sorts, though it doesn't seem to be connected to any muscles, it's more in my actual spine, right in middle of my back.

I slept fine last night, though I feel it seemingly every time I move. I was thinking last night, as runners, most of us are usually concerned that we will injure our legs in some way, whether it's an IT band issue or knee problem or shin splints, our efforts in preventing injury are usually centered around protecting our legs. That makes sense given the pivotal role working legs play into the running thing, but as I'm experiencing now and have experienced in the past, a hurt back can sideline you just as quickly. I wish it were my legs that were hurt, because when you have achilles tendonitis or shin splints you have a pretty good idea of how long it will take to heal. Here I was thinking I was fine to run yesterday only to have the problem flare up again and now I don't know how long it will be.

I guess I'm not too disappointed to have this injury now. I do have a 5K coming up in about 12 days, but I think with some appropriate rest and stretching, I should be ready to go for that. I had planned to take a 1-2 week break after Thanksgiving as a means of letting my body rest for awhile. Jack Daniels' recommends taking an extended break from running at least once per year and it seems like well-reasoned advice. I really pushed it in October running 116 miles which is, by far, the most miles I've logged in any month this year. I didn't break the 10% rule anywhere along the way, but I can tell that my body needs a break. I would love to hear from those of you out there who have had back injuries in the past - particularly I'd love to hear about various stretches I can do to alleviate some of the discomfort.

Pushing it to the Limit

I know I'm not the only one who has this problem...you know the one, the one where nearly every training run becomes some sort of race against the watch. Even on the days where you say to yourself, "ok, I'm gonna take it nice and slow today" you get about halfway through your run and you find yourself repeatedly looking down at your watch. I think this problem is especially prevalent amongst those of us who are just getting back into competitive running after a long break, or those of us who are new to running. That said, I've talked to some veteran runners (my brother for example) who say they struggle with this problem from time to time as well. I think the sport of running is prone to becoming a 'clock game' even though that is probably counter-productive.

The longer I go on with this blog, the more I'm probably going to talk about legendary running coach Jack Daniels. I'm currently reading his book and I've heard from more than one serious runner that it is "the book" to own and read when it comes to training. I've already learned a lot about how to train more intelligently and I'm only halfway through the book. One of the early sections in the book is about "E" pace training which refers to easy or "recovery" runs. According to Daniels, "When you do easy (E) runs to recover from strenuous periods of training or to carry out a second workout on a particular day, and when you do your long (L) runs, you should run at a pace which is very close to (E) (easy-run) velocity, which is about 70% of V02max. Long runs (L), improve cell adaptation, and lead to glycogen depletion and fluid loss (important considerations for distance runners), but should not be demanding in terms of the intensity (pace) being utilized." If you're confused about VO2Max, read my post on it, or if you're curious to know what your "E" pace would be given your personal VDOT number, please visit this website.

Daniels' fundamental motto for runners is, "Always have a purpose for every training session." When you have a purpose for every training session, a training run rarely has a chance to become a clock game. As I've tried to adopt this motto in my own training, the stopwatch has still played an important role, but my perception of it's role has changed. Last night for example, I went on an "E" run - 6 miles at an easy pace, because my legs needed a break after back to back days of speed work. I remember from Daniels' book that he said that the "E" pace is almost a laughably easy pace...it's a pace you feel like you could keep up forever. My particular "E" pace is 8:24 and I'm happy to say that my average mile was close to that (8:16) and I felt great afterwards. I haven't gotten to the part of the book where Daniels talks about how often you should be training at an "E" pace, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that he recommends these type of runs more than other types of training. Here's a "running pyramid" from his book that has me thinking "E" runs will be more plentiful than others.

Anyway, there's plenty more to know about these training levels so if you're really interested, go get the book, it's not even that expensive (~$17 shipped from Amazon). All this is to say that it really takes some effort to prevent your training runs from becoming a race against the clock. So many times over the past few months I've started out with every intention of taking it easy, only to get to the end of my run trying to beat some time or achieve some overall pace level. I'm not there yet, but I starting to learn that this actually hindering me rather than helping me.