Back in the saddle

Well it has been quite some time since my last post, my apologies. 

My March was fantastic and I hope your March was the same.  My brother got married in San Diego, I set a distance PR, and my New Mexico Lobos made it out of the first round of the NCAA tournament.  But sadly it is now April and time to get to work.

April should be quite interesting.  My stage race is about two months away and I am starting to get nervous about my training.  While I hit 125 miles in March, the majority of it was on pavement and unfortunately that does not necessarily translate to trail miles. 

That said, efforts have been kicked up.  Today I started Tuesday/Thursday 2-a-days, which consist of a 3-4 mile run in the morning followed by a faster track or group run in the evening.  I figure that pushing my body to the limit should help me battle 60 miles over a three day period. 

Dieting.  Yeah, this part sucks.  I have an incredible sweet tooth and often nothing makes me happier than ice cream...but I have decided to cut ice cream, and dessert in general out of my diet until after the race.  Additionally, soft drinks and beer have to go too.  Hoping this can help me get to a good fighting weight by race day. 

These next two months should be very interesting and I'll be sure to keep you posted on my progress. 

See you out there,
TF

A little help from my friend

"To be or not to be" is the probably the most famous phrase in Hamlet, but if Shakespeare wrote about running would this phrase be changed to "to run solo or not to run solo?" 

If you asked ten runners of different levels that question, chances are you would get mixed results.  But why is that?  Some will say that it is easier to keep motivated and that running in groups can strengthen friendships.  Others might counter that running solo enables you to focus on your goals and train the way that you want to train.

Personally I have always been more of a solo act but more recently I have started running with groups. Due to my ever-changing weekly work schedule it is different to meet up with groups, so I usually run solo. That said, when I am in Atlanta during the week there is one group that I really enjoy to meet up with on Thursday and Saturday. 

Thursday is all business. We meet at a local restaurant at 7p but nobody really shows up until about 7:10p and we run about 4.5 miles.  These days are quick.  While we all run the same course at some point testosterone peeks its little head and splinter groups form.  On Thursday you are only a stud if you finish in the first group, or at least that is what the voice in my head tells me. 

Saturday is a much more relaxed run.  Typically ranging anywhere from 9-13 miles, we run at a slower pace and chat about anything and everything.  For example, when I wear my Vibram Five Fingers, people always want to talk about them.  Are they comfortable?  Can you run far in them?  Do you want us to slow down?Can you actually feel those rocks you ran on? Or they make outrageous claims such as they are no good...etc.  The group and the chit-chat actually makes this run much more enjoyable.  The constantly conversation, bragging, and poking fun of one another takes the mind off other stressful things in life. The run always ends with grabbing a cup of joe from the local coffee shop, Octane, and walking a couple blocks back to our cars. 

If you have decided to read on this far you might be asking yourself, what does this all mean?  Well, this past weekend I ran my first Endurance Race.  It was 12 hours of running around a 1.03 mile loop.  Initially I thought I would absolutely kill it, even claiming to a good friend (Jerry) that I would get to 50 miles but that was just my ego talking.   Besides I have actually never ran more than a 50k and have certainly not trained enough to scratch 50 miles!  What a dope. 

After running for about 4 solid hours I decided to ask my wife to walk a lap with me.  She obliged and it was probably the most fun I had ever had during a race.  She told me all about how our little Bernacrazy threw up in the car on the way to doggie day care and how bad it (her car) now smelled.  We walked together a total of five times that day. It was an awesome opportunity to combine one of my favorite things with my absolute favorite person.  In fact, had she not been at the race and pacing me I probably would have cut out early but instead I made it for about 7 full hours and racked up 35 miles. 

So no matter what your choice is, sometimes running with someone makes the day/race/trail and most importantly the memories that much more enjoyable.   

See you out there!
Todd

Hello March!

So far, so good.  A strong start to March is really quite refreshing, especially considering my not-so-great February. If I was not on a plane, working in a hotel conference room, or giving a presentation, I was sick.  Yeah, it was brutal and hence my excitement for March.  Sometimes you just got to rest, so that is exactly what I did.
 

Date	Duration	Distance	Pace	Calories	Terrain	City/State
2-Feb	0:43:51	5.18	8'27"	863	Road	Atlanta, GA
4-Feb	1:43:51	9.5	9'03"	1582	Trail	Atlanta, GA
6-Feb	1:50:04	11.76	9'21"	1957	Road	Atlanta, GA
9-Feb	0:06:34	0.77	8'26	129	Road	Atlanta, GA
9-Feb	0:34:57	4.39	7'57"	731	Road	Atlanta, GA
11-Feb	2:17:39	13.63	10'06"	2267	Trail	Atlanta, GA
13-Feb	0:34:33	4.17	8'16"	695	Trail	Raleigh, NC
14-Feb	1:11:53	7	10'16"	1164	Trail	Raleigh, NC
21-Feb	0:50:24	6	8'24"	998	Road	Atlanta, GA
27-Feb	0:26:48	3	8'55"	500	Road	Atlanta, GA
	Feb Total	65.4
	Jan Total	72.95
	2012 Total	138.35

Looks like I am pretty far behind my goal at this point but it really does not matter.  I still have 10 months to go to get to 1000 miles. 

See you out there.
Todd

Stretching it out

As funny as it might sound, one of my 2012 goals is being able to reach down and touch my toes without bending my knees.  My flexibility has always been horrible.  I remember being in the fifth grade and doing the president's fitness test. If you have forgotten what it is, see below:
The Presidential Physical Fitness Test recognizes students for their level of physical fitness in five activities:

• Curl-ups (or partial curl-ups)
• Shuttle run
• Endurance run/walk
• Pull-ups (or right angle push-ups or flexed-arm hang)
• V-sit reach (or sit and reach)

Curl-ups, shuttle run, endurance run, and pull-ups...easy.  The sit and reach, well it made me want to go back home and play Zelda.  I recall feeling so embarrassed, to the point of wondering if my performance in this grade school activity would prevent me from being cool and getting ladies in the future (I soon realized it was my fondness for turtleneck sweaters and NKOTB that kept the ladies away.)

 

image courtesy of blisyoga.org



Fast forward twenty something years and I still would perform horribly at the V-sit.  Therefore, I have taken a proactive approach to improving my stretching game...I signed up for Yoga for the Stiff Guy.  Seriously, that was the name of the program offered at the Decatur Yoga & Pilates. This class was the perfect setting.  Filled with about 20 other guys like me who absolutely STINK at stretching.  My only worry after entering the class was thinking about who I would blame if I happened to fart...fortunately that never happened. 

It did not take much or long for me to fall in love with yoga. The absolutely calm feeling after a class. I am so relaxed that I do not even get upset when the silly car in front of me stops at the flashing yellow light (dumb driver.) I really cannot get enough of it.  While I am still unable to touch my toes with straight knees I feel it is making a significant impact on my body. 



image courtesy of oldschooltrainer.com



As it relates to running, I also think the yoga is helping improve my performance.  I have always focused on strength training and as a result I have always had a very strong lower body, but being a 220lb super muscle man who can dead lift 505lbs is not ideal for endurance running. Sure the strength is good but carrying that weight gets tough over 32+ miles. Heck, it is tough no matter how far you go.  Therefore creating lean muscle, which yoga and stretching does, I believe will significantly benefit my running.  Only time will tell but thus far I do think it is helping and I WILL TOUCH THOSE TOES SOON!

What about you...are you a pre-run stretcher, or do you hate stretching?  Are you too macho for yoga, or have you had a sip of the yoga kool-aid?

See ya out there!
Todd "the yogi"

Sweetwater Sweetheart Half Marathon

I do not usually plan...much. 

Originally I had intended to register for the Sweetwater Sweetheart half back in early January while it was cheap but never really got around to it but decided at 9p on Friday to run the race.  Fortunately it had been a lighter week for me in terms of running (12.75 on Monday and 4.5 on Thursday). 

Saturday morning was freezing...for Atlanta standards.  It was a horrible 39 degrees when I got in the car at 645am and by the time I got to the race the temperature dropped to 33 degrees, boo. 

The race started a couple minutes late, which sucked because all of us runners were stuck out on a hill and the wind was BLOWING.  Finally we started and things heated up.  Doing the majority of my trail running at Sweetwater, I was pretty familiar with most of the course.  We took the usual trails until we hit the 4 miles point, then we took a left over a bridge that I had never been on and now I know why.  At mile 6 the hills were nasty.  So nasty that you could not run down the other side because you would have fallen.  So after about 3 miles of that, we turned around and did it again...

Once things smoothed I managed to run down some people and was feeling pretty good.  (My mind was telling me that it must had been all that yoga.) At the final water stop, some spectator told my little group that we were in the top 25, which really kinda shocked me and it gave me a little extra energy. 

Finally my watch beeped for the 13th time and I knew the race was nearly complete so I gave it one last push as we raced up a hill.  Unfortunately, there was no finish line at the top of the hill but I had used a good bit of my remaining energy to push up it and pass some people.  Anyway, the race went on for another half mile but finally ended. 

I was pretty pleased with my time (2:17:39) ended up finishing #26 overall and #1 in the 30-34 age group.  Boom!

Mile	Time	Pace
1	8:20	8'20"/mi
2	17:04	8'44"/mi
3	26:58:00	9'54"/mi
4	36:41:00	9'43"/mi
5	49:38:00	12'57"/mi
6	1:02:46	13'08"/mi
7	1:11:52	9'06"/mi
8	1:21:54	10'02"/mi
9	1:33:11	11'17"/mi
10	1:43:45	10'34"/mi
11	1:52:25	8'40"/mi
12	2:02:27	10'02"/mi
13	2:11:49	9'22"/mi

See you out there!
TF

Mmmm...bacon

Man, that Superbowl was awesome, eh?  Well if you are anything like me you cared more about the commercials than the actual game.  As has been the case for a couple years now...Doritos always produces the best ads.  This year the man's best friend ad took the cake.  Speaking of taking the cake, let me get to baconfest. 2012 was the inaugural baconfest and it consisted of 3 different variations on the Holiday Bacon Appetizer.  The only rule was you could not stick to the authentic, attached, recipe.  The variations are below.

• Bacon and shredded parmesan
• Bacon and brown sugar
• Chicken taquitos wrapped in bacon

Isn't your mouth watering now?  Mine would be had I not pigged out.  While all variations were excellent...the bacon and brown sugar were awesome.  Kinda had a breakfast taste, yum.  The chicken taquitos won the award for most innovative.  

Monday - City run...

With all that bacon a long run was necessary and while I bragged about running a baconfest half marathon, I cut it short at about 12.75 miles. While not meeting my goal and having to eat some crow, those 12.75 miles made that Monday run my longest Monday run...ever.  

Tuesday - Yoga

More on this yoga stuff later.

Wednesday - Indoor Trainer - Bike 

Found a pretty cool little workout online...

Warm up:  Include your warm up time.

Part 1:  20(40), 40(20), 60(60), 40(20), 20(40) - 2x
Recovery time in bracket expressed in seconds. So, you sprint for 20 seconds, recover for 40, sprint for 40, recover for 20 etc.
This training is challenging but it goes quickly. Repeat this drill twice but recover for 5minutes between sets. You can add another set if you really enjoy this.
Again, recover for 5 minutes between part 1 and 2.

Part 2:  2min hard, 4minutes easy - 3x
This part does not require you to go flat out. Use the 2 minutes as a sustained effort rather than a flat out affair. Keep HR out of the anaerobic zone. Ride at your aerobic threshold level….that is below race pace. This type of interval really asks you to keep up a pace. Your aim is more of an endurance effort, burning slower and more efficiently. As an example, if you normally average 35 km/hr on a flat course on a race, work on riding at 31-32km/hr per 2 minute interval. Ensure you do not go into the anaerobic zone.

Warm down: As always leave about 10 minutes to warm down.
Thursday - Group run

Thursday - Group run...

Met with a group of about 20-25 people.  Felt like a little rabbit, darting to the front of the pack...only problem was I was not familiar with the course.  Had to drop back but finished third overall.  Very good run.  Roughly 4.7mi in about 34 minutes. 

See you out there!
TF

Sh*t ultrarunners say

Absolutely hilarious.   

Best quotes in my opinion:

• Boulder is the mecca
• If you can run a marathon, you can run a 50k 
• Got an extra sock?
• How many toenails have you lost? 
• Wanna grab a beer?

Share your favorites.