Training 101 Pacing

Working at the store and coaching a variety of individuals has taught me that there are no stupid questions and that no stone should be unturned if you want to really help others get into shape and continue to stay there.  Before we even get into talking about days a week and workouts versus easy runs, we need to talk about pace.  Many people are either running each and every run too hard or too easy and getting much less from their training than they should.  With correct pacing, and the same amount of time training, you can make gains you didn't even realize were possible. 
Here's the skinny...  If you're running too fast, you are essentially in a no-mans' land where you are making yourself more tired than you need to without gaining any more fitness from it.  If you're going too slow, then you're not going to have your HR high enough to really create an engine that burns fat well or gets more efficient. 
Example:  5K PR=18:40...  using a VDOT Chart from Jack Daniel's Running Formula book, your training pace for easy runs should be 7:45 per mile.  Your longer Threshold/Marathon Pace workout pace would be 6:49 per mile.  No mans' land is the pace between these two.  If you run your long easy runs at 7:20 pace you're probably not gaining any more fitness but when you finish, you're probably going to be more beat up, tired, and need more time for recovery before you do another challenging workout.  So, by slowing your pace to 7:45, you gain the same fitness and feel better the next day to boot.  Lesson 1 in the books.  If you have ?s, give me a holler.

DNF Death March

Crazy weather we've had for March.  It's been killer for training and getting some trail running in but I'll be the first to admit, I roasted (with the help of Nate Canton and Andy Sayers) the first lap of the course for the Hawkeye 50K and essentially myself in the process.  As the heat rose on the second lap I tried to keep the pace the same as the first lap and as I hit the mile 25 aid station, the volunteer looked at me somewhat funny and asked, "are you o.k.?"  I thought, what the heck, I'm fine, you don't see the 5 min. lead I have????  She must of known something I didn't yet because about a mile-and-a-half later, I was walking up the climb out of the spillway and planning my dismount;)  I walked a bit with an upset stomach and tight hammies and then walked and jogged into the finish area around mile 28 and that was it. The wheels just fell off and I didn't feel up to rolling the last 3 miles on two flats.   Hats off to the top three guys who hung tough and stuck with it.  I felt great about my fitness and how quickly I recovered from the 30 mile day with warm up and warm down (well sort of a warm down.)  Now to keep the ball rolling for the Ice Age 50K where we'll try to grab the record that's been there for almost 20 years.  Hopefully I'll at least finish it right.

Hawkeye 50K this weekend...

A week down and a week easy and now headed to the Hawkeye 50K for a nice long effort this Saturday.  Looks to be great weather and coach gave me the green light to race this baby which is way more fun than using it as a 31 mile training run.  I'll keep you posted with post-race results and such but this will mark the beginning of the ramp into the US Mtn. Running Championships.  Was 7th by 4 seconds last year and have to be top 6 to make the team.  We'll see if we can get it locked down this time;)...

SS Nationals Results

Well let's get first things first.  We had a great trip out and back with good friends from town and were stoked to see a huge Iowa contingent of almost double digits.  That being said, with course changes that couldn't be side stepped, and performing under my own expectations, I was very grateful to have my buddies Greg and Teenan stop in to keep things upbeat.  The course made it mandatory to get a good start with few ideal places for passing.  I led for the first quarter mile or so and then slipped into 3rd place for quite some time after Josiah took the lead.  You could definitely tell we were racing high (around 9100 ft) and I ran as well as I felt I could.  Hats off to Josiah for such an incredible racing season and another National Championship win as well as to Jared Scott for running like mad the 2nd half of the race and earning a 2nd place finish.  We're spending the week recuperating and starting to get excited for the Spring/Summer racing season with (2) 50K races and the US Mtn. Running Championships to come.  I hope you enjoy the video, it's getting me out of my post-race depression.  Thanks Greg!