Wednesday, January 3, 2024

End of Year Musings

  • Last week, on December 30th, I snuck in one more time trial on the track. I had never run 10 miles in less than an hour before. And so I decided to give that a go as well. The plan was to do 5:59s through 8k, and then lower it down to 5:55s the last 8k plus a curve. All was going swimmingly through 9k, until two soccer teams showed up at the field for a scrimmage and commandeered lanes 1 and 2, literally putting their gear all throughout the first two lanes of the backstraight. Long story short, I think I had a 59:30 in my legs, but I finished 40 laps and a curve (16100 m, if I had been in lane one), in 59:58.8. Probably got an extra 150m or so with the interruptions. My watch tracks 1600s as miles when it's in track run mode, regardless of whether you're running in lane 1, lane 9, or on the infield. Regardless, I ran 10-plus miles in under an hour. 
  • My legs were absolutely thrashed after the effort, which I did 4 days after the 10k. 4 days on, they are still thrashed.
  • On December 29th, I hit 3,000 miles in the year, for the first time ever. I’d say this has a lot to do with the first bullet.
  • Without question, 2023 was my best year of running in the last 25 years, and high in the running for my best ever. Ran 3 very good time trials and 3 good races. Should have run more races, but the ones I ran all worked out pretty well.
  • Back in 2013, when I set the goal of running a sub-17 5k, my logic was simple. When I was a high school and DIII college runner, I had decent speed but wasn’t that great aerobically. At my peak, my shorter-distance times were much stronger than my long-distance times. Then I barely ran for ten years. Then I ran ultras for four years, which made me aerobically fit, but I had no wheels. I thought, if I could reclaim some semblance of my high school speed while maintaining aerobic fitness, then when I returned to running longer distance races, I would be a much more competitive runner. At the time, I thought I’d be there in a year. Instead, it took me 11 years to get back to sub-17 shape. 
  • A lot has happened in the last 11 years. I started a business, got married, moved to Salida, had a nasty leg injury, had a kid, and became a track coach. All that stuff changes you, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. 
  • So, what now? I am officially burnt out on time trials. There’s a decreasing marginal return on chasing times in time trials as a master’s runner, and now that I’ve been doing it for a while, the big returns are almost certainly done. I’ve been chasing times every time I’ve gone down from low altitude just about every time I’ve gone down since 2018. The appeal has waned. I could chase 5-minute miles every year, but the only reasonable time to do that here is in the summer, and that’s the best time to get out in the mountains. I enjoy the track more than most, but I still prefer the latter to the former. 
  • I think the next step for me is to keep doing the same stuff with the training, and then to run more random races, from 5k to marathon, whenever I’m in the mood. It’s time for me to de-emphasize time goals and emphasize life and running experiences. I still want to run sub-80 for a half and sub-2:50 for a marathon, but the impediment to that isn’t lack of speed anymore. It’s aerobic volume.
  • My “bucket list” of races is perhaps atypical. Hardrock doesn’t really appeal to me, but I want to run all the big road races, from Bix 7 to Lilac Bloomsday to the 5th Avenue Mile. I’d like to do all the marathon majors. I’ll throw some mountain races in there, too. At some point I’ll need to get revenge at Pikes for the stinker I ran there in 2021, but it won’t happen next year. 
  • I love running, even the mundane and boring workouts. And I finally feel like I’ve figured out a training program that works for me and enables me to race to my potential while staying healthy. I have no illusions about being some national-class athlete. Heck, I might only be the 4th or 5th best master’s runner in Salida right now. But regardless, I do genuinely feel that I am maximizing my limited talent given the time and life constraints I’m under. I think that’s all you can ask for.
  • My training is very simple, for those who are curious. I run 6-9 hours a week. 75% of it is very easy mileage, at 70% of Max HR (120s, for me). About 23% of my mileage is at “sub-threshold” intensity, broken up into intervals of 1 to 10 minutes. I do about 2% in high intensity work, between races, time trials, hills, and more specific stuff. I think what is unusual about my training is that: 1) the volume of sub-threshold is much higher than what most people do. I’m usually doing over 100 minutes of it a week. And 2) the easy running is much easier than what most people do. 
  • The question I have now is whether I’ll be able to apply what I’ve learned to longer distances and different surfaces. Look forward to figuring that out. The 10-mile PR is a good sign that this training will do well at longer distances, but the proof is in the doing.


Tuesday, December 26, 2023

35:54 10k Time Trial

Knocked out another goal time. This one isn’t just a masters PR. It’s a lifetime PR.

Family went down to Georgetown, TX, for the holidays, which is just outside of Austin and where my wife’s family lives. 

Since I’m not getting any younger and I’m in as good of shape as I’m likely to ever be in, I’m trying not to let any low altitude trips go to waste. Wanted to try to run a few good times while I was here. 

Doing a time trial the day after Xmas isn't ideal in terms of diet, sleep, etc., but this was the day that lined up best with weather and schedule. 

I went down to the local track to give a 10k a go. I think the last time I had pushed a fast 10k was the Bolder Boulder my freshman year of high school, so whatever I produced for this effort was likely to be a PR. Decided to try to go out in 5:44 miles and see where that led me. It was a struggle from the beginning. I ran the first mile in 5:47, then 5:42, 5:44, 5:45. 5:47, 5:47, then 81 to close. 25 laps. Woof. Felt like I was redlining the last 10 laps. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get there until 200 to go. HR was higher than I would have thought possible for a 10k. This one hurt.

Judging by recent times, altitude converters, and Jack Daniels pace equivalents, I thought sub-36 was going to be relatively easy. It was not. I was hanging on for dear life the last few laps, and I feel like garbage now. Either way, sub-36 had been on my radar for a while, and I got there, even though the effort was way harder than I thought it might be. 

Friday, November 24, 2023

Broomfield Turkey Trot

Ran 17:02 yesterday at the Broomfield Turkey Trot. 6th overall, 1st master. Results here. Their "clock time/chip time" distinction is wonky. I had 17:01 clock time on my watch.

Brother lives in Arvada, and we were in town for the holiday. Sister-in-law suggested the Turkey Trot, so three of us ran it. 

Thought I was in sub-17 shape at altitude, but I couldn’t quite get there. Course started downhill and then worked its way back up. Started in 5:20 and then just couldn’t quite sustain the pace on the gradual uphill back to the start. Course was a smidge short, too. 3.07 by my watch. 

I keyed my race off a guy that passed me just short of the mile. He had some gray hair, so I figured (correctly) that he was in my age group. So I just sat on him with the intention of trying to outkick him at the end. Everything went perfectly when I passed him on the last straightway--and then he went to the left to run his second loop of the 10k.

My wife ran 25:20, which is a PR for her. That was the result of 7 weeks of 4-days a week training (including one threshold session per week). She could totally be in the 22s or maybe faster if she cared, but she’s more into yoga than running. 

Fun to get out and race with family. I’m 46 now, but I still feel like I’m improving, albeit marginally. 




Tuesday, October 3, 2023

September Summary

 259 miles with 12000 gain in September.

A slight downtick in volume compared to the last few months but a slight uptick in quality/intensity. I did a few track sessions without injuring myself, so that’s a positive.

I also started playing around with this guy recently. 



Not sure it’s led to any radical changes in my training, as I was already doing "Norwegian-style" training before I got it. But it has caused me to make some subtle tweaks and adjust workouts in ways that I think might be beneficial. There was a learning curve associated with it, but now that I’ve gotten the hang of it, it’s nice to have bio-feedback that reinforces that I’m at the right intensity for what I’m trying to achieve. Discovered a few counterintuitive things I’ll be able to use going forward. And it appeals to my wonky nature. 

Bit of a bloody mess sometimes, though. Not in the British sense of "bloody mess," but in a literal way. You definitely get some weird looks!

Friday, September 1, 2023

August Summary

279 miles on the month with about 15k of gain.

I hit 2037 miles on the year this morning, which is more mileage than I ran in four of the last five years, with four months left in the year. Unless I get hit by a bus in the next 10 days or so, this will be my biggest year of training since 2017, when I was doing almost no workouts of any kind, just long days in the mountains. 

I have never run more than 3000 miles in a year. Not when I was training for ultras. Not when I ran in college. I had big blocks of 70-100 mile weeks back then, but there were always injuries in my big years that kept the yearly totals down. Since I’m already more than 2/3rds of the way there, hitting 3k has become a bit of a mini-goal for me this year. 

Another very long-term goal is hitting 100k lifetime miles. Even though I’ve never been a high mileage guy, I have been consistent runner since I was 12. I’m over 57k lifetime now, so I would need some degree of mileage focus to get there. But projecting out 15-20 years with my current volume or something close to it, it’s not that crazy of a thought.


Wednesday, August 2, 2023

White Whale

I ran a 16:42.4 5k this morning. On a concrete path near my parents’ place in Morgan Hill, California. Elevation 350. Flat as a pancake. 58 degrees. 5 mph crosswind. The slightest bit of drizzle. Perfect conditions. Nearly perfectly even splits. 
That's the fastest I've run since I was a sophomore in college.

On October 17th, 2012, I wrote a blog post here with the title “16:59, 35:59, 1:19, 2:49.” I was 34 years old at the time. 

Those were my running goals for 2013. But I didn’t run any of those times in 2013. Or in the nine years that followed. 

But I finally got it done this morning. Nearly 11 years in the making. At the tender age of 45. 

The formula that worked for me: 1) Consistently good volume (for me) (62.9 mpw avg. since May 23); 2) High volume of threshold intervals (10-18 mpw at between 5:50 and 6:20 pace); 3) easy days very easy (HR sub-135); 4) Super shoes (duh). 

Zero race-pace training. Two sessions of hill repeats. Two races. Otherwise, all easy days and threshold training. 

I’ve tried lots of different training techniques over the last 10+ years. I’ve done big volume with big vert. I’ve done max sprints and max intensity. I’ve done Vo2 Max work. Etc., etc. More combinations of all of the above than I can remember. But this has been the most effective training regimen for me. This was the one that got it done. 

--

285 miles in July with around 20k in gain. That's the most I've done since July 2017. And I think it's the most I've ever done while doing consistent workouts. 

Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Vail Hill Climb 3rd Masters/13th Overall

Ran the Vail Hill Climb this weekend. Got 13th overall and 3rd master. Results here.

Not sure if this was a good race or a bad race. Course was 7.7 miles with 2233 ft. of gain. I ran 8:15 pace, which was really a 6:19 mile, followed by an 8-minute mile, followed by some 9-minute miles, followed by 6-minute pace for the rolling hill last .7. Kept my HR steady-ish, but the course went uphill and I slowed down.

At first, I thought it was an underwhelming result. But the runner who finished one place in front of me ran at DIII nationals in cross country last year, which is something I never managed when I was a DIII runner back in the day. And the guy who finished two places in front of me is a 1:16 half/2:36 marathoner. I am nowhere near that good. I suppose I finished about where I should have.

Some pics.

A little too eager at the start. Been going to too many track meets.


Finish

This young man had never seen me race

These guys are better than I am at running up mountains.

264 miles in June again. Just hit 1500 miles on the year today. That’s a lot for me, considering the fact that I only ran 1575 in all of 2021. No wonder I sucked at Pikes Peak that year. 

I ran the same number of races in the last two weeks as I had in the last four years. That by itself is an achievement for me. Nothing immediately on the agenda after this other than to continue to build and run races when I feel like it. I hope to roll with it and sign up for races when it works for my schedule.