Eugene Build--Training Log Recap

*Had 27 week build into TCM, then took off only 4 days before started what was planned to be a 24 week build into the Shamrock Half Marathon. In late December I got the call from Matt Downin with the offer to join Team Strands, by January I was on Team Strands and booked a early test race to see where I was at off base training. I went to Austin, Texas and didn't run the race I really wanted but still came out with a huge PR of 1:07.48. Since that race and even some signs during that race things haven't felt 100% again. That was 14 long weeks ago, along the way I have had some solid workouts and jumped into 3 races using 2 (Shamrock 8K and Adam Johnson Run) of them as workout efforts and having to drop out of the one that I tried to race(Sea Ray10K). All signs point to I've went too long without a recovery break and it is showing now with all the ups and downs in training, constant sore throat, mentally worn out, and having troubles sleeping through the night. The combination of getting sick over the winter and rushing back and not planning better recovery were the mistakes. My hopes are still to finish off this long build with one last race this weekend and hope to manage something solid. Most likely this week I won't do any workouts now and just run really easy to try and recover enough for that one last crack at racing!

Some running stats from the past 52 weeks:
52weeks-4018 miles ran
Days missed-33 (16 of those were planned and never more then 4days straight)

Crazy thing is I usually miss between 12-20weeks a year due to injuries so this past 52 week Stretch I'm really proud and happy about. Just made the mistake of not taking a planned 1-2 week recovery break of little to no running and I have put my finger on that as the reason for my past 8-12 weeks having many ups and downs in training.

Past 30 weeks of training recap:

1: 14miles (4days off after TCM)
2: 40miles
3: 60miles
4: 59miles
5: 75miles *4mile Steady-State(5:27avg), Stride Wkout(15x20sec), LR 1:45
6: 79miles *6mile Hilly SS (5:28), LR 1:45
7: 80miles *SW(12x30sec), 5K Race (15:20), LR 1:45
8: 72miles *8mile Hilly SS (5:29), LR 1:45
9: 76miles *SW(12x30sec), LR 2HR
10: 87miles *8mile Hilly SS (5:27), LR 2HR
11: 84miles *10mile Hilly SS (5:26), LR 2HR
12: 73miles *6mile SS (5:21), 15mile LR Progression
13: 89miles *Hill Wkout(10x90sec), Fartlek (4x8min on/3 min easy rec), LR 2HR
14: 90miles *Fartlek (15x1on/off), 5mile Tempo(5:10), LR 2:05
15: 80miles *SW (20x30sec over hills), LR 1:50 (Calf Issue forced missed wkout)
16: 80miles *5xMile, Fartlek(10x1on/off), 3m Half Marathon(1:07.48/5:10avg)
17: 80miles *Two 2hour LR's, most running inside due to snow!
18: 95miles *HW(10x90sec), Fartlek Hilly(4x80n/3off), 19mile LR
19: 84miles *HW (12x90sec), 10K Tempo (5:12), LR 2HR
20: 62miles *Fartlek(20x1on/off), (Sickness started)
21: 90miles *Fartlek(10x3 on/1 off), LR 20miles
22: 58miles *LR 2HR (Missed days with Flu)
23: 96miles *CI 800s, 7mile Tempo(5:19), SW(15x35sec), LR2HR
24: 90miles *CI 800s, Shamrock 8K (25:09), LR 20+pacing Marian
25: 85miles *4xMile(4:50avg), Adam Johnson Run(15:09), LR 1:30
26: 75miles *Fartlek(14x10n/0ff), Tempo Intervals(3x2miles), LR 1:45(w/surges)
27: 80miles *CI 1000s, Sea Ray 10K(DNF 6400 @5:01), 17mile LR Porgression
28: 95miles *CI 800s(+hill sprints), 2x4mile Tempo (5:08/5:14), LR 2HR
29: 68miles *Fartlek (10x1on/off), 8Mile SS (5:18), (Started feeling run down again)
30: Eugene Half Marathon Week (Looks to be nothing but easy running now)

Training Log 4/20-4/26 2009

68miles on 10runs in 6 days:

M: 50minutes/35minutes (Hill Burst in am run)
T: 60minutes w/Fartlek (10x1on/1off)
*Entire run was steady effort, felt pretty smooth!
W: 60minutes(Hilly)/ 35minutes
T: 40minutes/ 35minutes
F: 12miles w/8Miles @ Steady-State(42:27/5:18avg)
McMillan Pace Chart called for 5:15-5:20 pace range
Splits: 5:17, 5:18, 5:17, 5:16, 5:20, 5:16, 5:20, 5:20
S: 40minutes/ 30minutes
S: OFF (Unplanned but much needed, hopefully smart move that helps)

Recap: My body has been in a tug of war where one day it feels good and then the next it feels pretty darn bad. Last week I felt excellent and almost like I had kicked this sickness/worn down feeling out of the picture then this week turned into a battle. Felt good through Tuesday but after that felt worn down and burnt out 3 of the next 5 days. Woke up Sunday and knew I wasn't going to run, just general fatigue and maybe getting close to crossing into "Over Training" territory if I haven't already. I don't think I have over trained in the sense of working out too hard just more in the sense I have went too long without a recovery break(1-2weeks of no running). Bottom line is I had trained hard for 20+weeks(with those hot summer months which takes a lot out of you) for TCM and after that only took off 4 days before jumping back into this current stretch of 27weeks without a solid break. That's a long stretch especially for someone that is use to 2 chunks of each year being lost to injury(6-10weeks lost each time). So good thing is I have kicked the serious injury problem the past year but now I'm experiencing my first full year of training without an extended break and maybe that is the cause to my extended run down feeling.

DON'T read into this recap like I'm giving up on the upcoming half marathon. I still think with some extra rest this upcoming week I can bounce into one more "good" day and run a nice PR! The training phase has been solid and with some recovery I can PR....I know I can!

Upcoming: Will plan to blog this week with a recap of the last 27 weeks of training this build has contained along with some more Eugene travel updates and plans.

Puma Gear AGAIN!

*Christmas has now came for the 1, 2, 3, 4, no make that 5th time this winter! I can't be more thankful to Strands, Puma, and most importantly Matt Downin for this type of support. Far change from early college days when I was lucky if I got one pair of trainers. Today I received 5 more pair of Puma trainers, another pair of flats and loads of Strands Screened Puma gear. The shipment is always so big because all of that stuff mentioned comes for Marian as well. So basically we have a little Puma outlet in the apartment that has been building since January. I'm like a lot of runners so the next best thing to the training and racing is getting sweet running gear!

*Update on Eugene Trip. Matt wanted us to get out a day earlier so that we could rest up a little extra plus help out at the expo Friday. The airline is wanting to charge a insane amount to change the flight, basically they want to double the rate that we already had booked. So not looking good right now on changing things unless Matt and Strands give me the "go" on the extra charge. Doesn't seem like a good move though even though I would love to get out there a day earlier and see so much more of Eugene. So the plan as of now is get in to Eugene around 1:30 Friday and then we will pick up the rental car and drive to the expo to help out until it closes around 6pm. We will be working the Strands both with a couple other Team Strands runners and Strands employees trying to get people signed up for Strands accounts so that they can get instant results from the races. It is going to be pretty cool, the athlete tracking through Strands will send my finishing time to my page once I cross the line. Not sure if they have splits going to each persons page live or not but I'm sure they will eventually if not already. Also by working the expo now this trip doesn't come out of our racing budget with Strands. It is now just a extra trip with all expenses covered.

So PUMPED to see Eugene, meet lots of runners, meet more Strands employers, and most importantly run a good race!

Training Log 4/13-4/19 2009

95miles on 11runs in 7 days:

M: 55minutes/35minutes
T: 15up--4x800 CI Pace--10x40sec Hill Sprints--4x800 CI--15down/ 35minutes
W: 90minutes on Johnstown Road
T: 60minutes/37minutes
F: 15up--2x4mile Tempo(5min jog rec)--15down
Set1: (20:32= 5:00,5:09, 5:11, 5:12)
Set2: (20:56=5:11, 5:15, 5:18, 5:12)
S: 40minutes/30minutes
S: 2Hour LR (Steady+Hills)

Recap: Overall I would say this is one of my better weeks in awhile. The workouts were smooth and faster while still staying in the range of what my pace chart says I should be running for my goal half marathon time in 2 weeks. The 20:32 1st set on the 2x4mile Tempo is actually the fastest I have ran on that course for a tempo, which isn't the fastest surface. Two weeks out from Austin Half when I ran a 1:07.48 PR I did a 5mile Tempo @5:10 pace coming through 4miles at around 20:42. So to run the 1st set of a 2 set workout faster then my best tempo run before Austin is a really good sign that I should be ready to go after a PR in Eugene!

Marian Training: Well it looks like after today Marian is one of those runners that can quickly bounce back from a Marathon and even use it to propel her to faster stuff shortly afterwards, 3 weeks ago she ran a solid debut marathon(not exactly what we wanted but still solid) since then she had a week easy that included a 3mile Tempo in a local race. Then came a week that included some CI 800s to pick up her pace and ended that week with a Fast Finish long run that she averaged roughly 6:30s for the last 10miles of the long run and finished it off with a 6:05 last mile. This past week has been more CI 800s and then the big TLT workout today of 10min warmup, 4mile Tempo into 60min steady run into another 4mile Tempo before 10min cooldown (roughly 18 miles in total). But more importantly she hit her 4mile Tempos in 6:10 and 6:18 avg. TLT's are very tough workouts described by Jack Daniels and the point is to get benefits of LT running along with LR running. With us sticking to only 2 harder workouts a week for her it makes for a great way to get in everything she needed this week. I think she is ready to make up for what was a "so-so" debut marathon for what she was capable of running.

Other: This Nike online commercial is too funny "Naked Running Camp" coming to a town near you soon: http://insidenikerunning.nike.com/2009/04/16/get-naked/

Training Log 4/6-4/12 2009

80miles on 10 runs in 7 days:

M: 30minutes/ Track CI 8x1000 with 200m float
Splits: 3:06, 3:05, 3:06, 3:05, 3:05, 3:05, 3:07, 3:01
T: 60minutes/ 30minutes
W: 30minutes/ 55minutes with 4x200
T: 42minutes at Ritter
F: Sea Ray 10K--lots of warm up(see below)--6600 then dropped.
Splits, 4:56, 9:55, 14:56, 20:02 through 6400.
S: 75minutes back in Huntington
S: 17mile (1:44.51) Progression LR at Ritter
(5m easy--5m Med 29:22--5m Med-Hard 26:57--2m easy)
Miles 5-15 in 56:19 with the last 800 of the run at 2:35-6

Recap: I would have called this week a huge disappointment after Friday night but that might have fired me up now to the point I'm ready to really attack and get focused. I think even with some solid training taking place I had been going through the motions slightly. Sunday on very tired legs I came back and did a quality LR and got more out of it then planned. I have 3 weeks until the Goal Race of the year at the Eugene Half Marathon.

Sea Rays: If you don't want to read some excuses then stop reading right here. This was a very tough day. Woke up to rain then changed to sunny skies before around 4pm saw Tornado's come through the entire TN area. Knoxville luckily got hit with only very strong storms but for a little while it looked scary. Around 7:30pm I had figured the meet was canceled until the next morning so I made up my mind that after such a long day no matter what I wasn't racing. So I went and got my first "real" food of the day and downed it very quickly. Roughly 1 hour later as we were preparing for bed and a early morning I got a call from Fro that the 10k was in 3 hours. For some reason I went against my best interest at that point and tried to get really excited and prepared to race. Showered got some coffee and got to the track around 9pm(usually in bed at this point). The next 2 plus hours was just standing watching some good 800/1500/5K races. We started warming up a little before 11pm. I was in a zombie like mode at this point but still felt I could get some adrenaline when on the line. Around 11:30 were on the line to start when the POWER goes out...race official say "Ok guys put your sweats back on it will be another 20-25minutes. I ran some laps and considered not even starting(so that gives you the mind set I was in at this point). Finally closer to midnight we start and I'm in no mood to race. By 6400 I knew I was getting nothing out of this and walked off the track got my gear and went back to the hotel where I didn't sleep a bit thinking about how wrong this race day had turned out and very disappointed that I yet again missed big time when getting on the track.

*Here is the part that is tearing me up...I had a plan and felt quietly confident about it. I was telling everyone that asked I just wanted to break 31minutes which was a lie. My goal/plan was negative split 15:20-30 at 5k then come back as close to 15flat as possible. So the goal was 30:20-30 and I wasn't even in that goal range by 2miles. I was 15:35 at the 5K with no negative split possible.

Upcoming: I can let a 10K blowup keep me down and probably ruin my goal spring race or i can use this as a new fire to get more focused and try to have 3 weeks of very solid training before Eugene Half Marathon. I think I bounced back on Sunday mentally by fighting through a LR Progression that was unplanned and on very tried legs/body from the Friday/Saturday of not much sleep.

Training Log 3/30-4/5 2009

75miles on 8runs in 6days(Recovery Week):

M: OFF (Planned)
T: 70minutes w/Fartlek 14x1minute on/ 30minutes
W: 75minutes on Johnstown Road
T: 12miles w/Tempo Intervals (3x2miles with 5min jog rec)
@Ritter Park Creek Path
Splits: 10:08, 10:21(Into Wind), 10:07
F: 60minutes during rainy/windy day
S: 1:45 on Gallia Bike Path/Town Loop
(Threw in 60sec surges every 5min during the last 40min)
S: 65minutes with Marian/ 30minutes

Recap: Solid week, having some up and down days with my energy levels. I've been training hard since end of October and throw in the winter sickness and it all adds up to my body probably being ready for a mini-break. Eugene Half Marathon is in 4 weeks, so after 2 more tougher training weeks I plan to taper down for hopefully a very nice half marathon pr and then take a short break to re-charge. As for the training this past week I feel that the workouts while running them tired still were where they needed to be at pace wise. The 3x2miles is a workout that in the past I love to hammer the last one under 9:50 but stuck to the plan of nothing faster then 10:05-10:10(effort felt harder though). Hopefully this recovery week kicks into gear this week and I'm able to log some good miles with a Monday workout and 10K race Friday. It feels like forever since I was gearing up to race(January Half Marathon in Austin) so hopefully that gives the legs some added adrenaline!

TEAM STRANDS NEWS

*When you think of brands that instantly up your cool factor, PUMA has to be one of the first that comes to mind. Like most distance runners, we at Team Strands could use a little extra swagger, so we were excited to hear that PUMA was making us our very own racing kit. They have given us a sneak peak of the uniforms, so we thought we'd post em and see what you all think.

*If you have facebook please join the "Fan of Team Strands"

*Also on facebook is a Fan page and group for "Puma Running"