pre-breakfast of champions ...?

this morning my friend trevor helped me to put in my longest run in my training cycle (29km), and thereby wrap up the most mileage that i have managed to log in any one week period (110km).  if you read the previous post you'll recall that this morning's run was something of a late substitute for an originally scheduled 'simulator' run of 26.2km at marathon pace.  

i'm (still) glad that i made that switch.  whether or not it will pan out as being the best move possible for attaining that elusive BQ goal is yet to be discovered.

anticipating the strain that this particular early morning run would put on my system, i decided to incorporate a few nutritional elements that would hopefully help me stave off the dreaded wall effect, and fuel me through to a strong finish.  in particular:

1. i brought along some hydration (water) and fuel (homemade chia gel) with me.  this may not sound unusual to you, but for me it's not normal practice to take along any food or drink on training runs.  i always run before breakfast, and i find it to be of real psychological benefit to motivate myself with the allure of chocolate milk and waffles.
2. i did carboload a bit yesterday.  sticky rice for lunch, spaghetti for dinner - yum.
3. i started drinking beetroot juice this week.  i'd read this week that beetroot juice is apparently a natural (i.e. not banned!) performance enhancer for endurance athletes because it contains nitrates that can help your body to require less oxygen to do more work.  now, i'm not convinced that i'm the calibre of athlete for whom the performance benefits of beetroot juice will make any more of a difference than making sure to not go out too fast at the start of a race ... but i also figure that it can't hurt me.  except that i don't find beets all that super tasty - so in order to down the appropriate amount i 50/50 blend it with apple juice.  

end result?  today's run felt really quite good.  i managed (or at least think i did) to keep decent form through all 29km, and while the legs inevitably felt fatigue i can't say that i ever felt like i hit the wall.  plus i imagined that i would do well to finish up with a 5:08-5:10/km pace, and by the time i rolled back into my driveway i'd completed at a 4:58/km pace (even with walking breaks to make sure that i wasn't wearing spreading the chia gel all over to become the marathoning chiapet).  chalk it up to what you will, but i think that i just might try downing some more beetroot juice in the next few weeks, and packing a bit of fuel for the long runs.

oh, and breakfast was still oh so good when i got home. 

pre-breakfast of champions ...?

fail to plan, plan to fail - part deux

ever had those times where you solve a problem in your sleep?

the sleep two nights was one of those nights for me.

not that i went to bed thinking that i had a problem ... but it may have been an instance of my body revealing something to me that my mind had not yet perceived.

with 5-1/2 weeks left to go in my marathon training, i have on my schedule for this sunday (yes, easter sunday) to run what the hansons call "the simulator" - a 26.2k marathon-pace training run designed to psychologically and rhythmically put one through the paces of the actual race.  only a scaled-down version.

however, what has me concerned is that i'm doing this dance with overtraining.

 
in the previous "fail to plan, plan to fail" post i'd noted that the program that i'm working with now operates on the principle of cumulative fatigue.  train on tired legs, and that will prepare you for running the latter part of the marathon.  i get that (and believe me, i feel that) - but combined with the 34% total mileage increase over my peak month during the last training cycle (even my first month of training for this race exceeded my peak month for my previous race) i'm concerned that i might be pressing for too much too quickly.  it's not that i'm picking up on any of the telltale signs of overtraining - my mood's alright, i'm not finding my constitution particularly rundown, and i haven't acquired any injuries - but i do think that i know enough about myself to anticipate that running a marathon simulation (even the kilomathon version) might bump me over that edge.

so, as i've ofted told myself, i'm going to trust my training.

the inclusion of the simulator was my tweaking of the prescribed plan, and not originally part of the program.  i've already doctored a number of the training runs to include hill sprints, 10x1min. fartleks, 6x100m strides as well as tacking on extra kilometres here and there.  so while it's far from unadulterated, at this point i don't feel like backing off from the simulator is a serious detraction from my training.  i still put in my regular MP run today, and will instead stick to the originally scheduled long run for this sunday.

have you ever found yourself overtrained?  what were the real red flags for you?  and how did you escape that spiral?

p.s.  make sure to check out stan's last two posts about marathon training and his progress toward boston - they're top notch.

fail to plan, plan to fail - part deux

left-handed vs. right-handed running

observational data tells me that more left-handed gloves are lost than right-handed ones.

....

but first, a bit of context:

a couple of weeks ago i made my confession to the faith community to which i belong - i have an addiction.

i am addicted to collecting lost, frozen winter outerwear.

i do this as i'm running.  in the last three seasons of winter training (outdoors of course) i've managed to collect headwear and mittens galore.  in fact, two of my favourite toques (a billabong and an underarmour) i came across as frozen flat to the roads.  both times i had to pry them off of the pavement and carried them home, rigid as a discus.

but what i've discovered this winter more prominently than any other is that most of the gloves and mittens lost/discarded on the roadways, sidewalks and snowbanks are left handed.  easily by a 4 to 1 ratio.

while you may not care how many people are walking around with just a covering on their right hands, it has become a minor frustration to me as i try to compile pairs to be able to actually wear.

this is all preamble (necessary or unnecessary) to a quick comment about winter running gear.  i don't know whether or not it's because i've grown up in the snow belt of south-central ontario or because i'm just a little off-kilter (i definitely have been accused of the latter), but my standard winter running apparel consists of:

• a nike dri-fit, lined shell jacket (about three and half years old now, purchased with a g/c from the local sportchek)
• a running room canada-branded reflective nylon sleeveless vest (because my shell jacket is almost completely black with only minor reflective accents)
• women's running room fit-wear reflective wind pant (easily 10 years old, with nylon front-of-leg panels and polyester rear-of-leg panels - bought from a goodwill store)
• the underarmour beanie toque (found dead on road)
• various combinations of gloves and mitts (also victims of snowplows)
• underneath all of the outerwear is usually my standard running gear - polyester tees or l/s tops, unlined poly compression tights and poly socks (all in single layers)

this gear has served me well in all sorts of conditions, ranging from 0 deg. celsius (the point at which i usually put away the shorts) to -35 deg. celsius and 20-25cm snow days.  i try to observe the general rule of 'dress for 20deg (F) warmer' in order to prevent overheating, and the subsequent possibilities of overperspiring leading to hypothermic simulation.  so you won't find me looking like the michelin man.

i also don't tend to run with any kind of hydration or fuel.  being a morning runner, i'm motivated by the desire to get home and have breakfast.  hunger has a way of motivating me to move faster.  while i don't necessarily recommend this as a good running practice (dehydration can be a significant issue in the winter), i find that it does help train my body to burn fat more efficiently.

anyway, i'd love to hear what other outdoor winter runners wear as they combat the elements.  and it would be great to also accumulate more data to confirm whether or not other neighbourhoods are populated by right-handed only glove wearers.

left-handed vs. right-handed running

fail to plan, plan to fail

never having run (for all intents and purposes) prior to the spring of 2009, i can safely say that i didn't know what i was doing when i agreed to a friend's challenge to run a half-marathon on labour day that year.

up until that point, all that i'd managed to do was to make it through a music video or two (from the 1980s of course) while on the treadmill.

since then, i've managed to complete three half-marathons, one 30k race and three full marathon distances - and generally speaking, i've been progressively getting better/stronger/faster ... (cue Six Million Dollar Man music)

i'm sure that part of this has been a result of now a couple of years of conditioning myself as a runner.  last week marked a milestone as i completed my first 60+ mile week of training, and today my mileage in 2013 has eclipsed 1000 km.

but i'm also confident that part of my steady improvement in racing is attributable to the training plans that i've followed.  i find this area of conversation very interesting, as it forces me to assimilate all sorts of things that i've heard and observed about training and coaching. for instance:

• various elite distance athletes train without a coach (e.g. jason hartmann, and until recently ryan hall)
• the kenyans and japanese distance runners tend to run and train in groups (whereas i tend to run and train alone - maybe it's because i'm such an introvert)
• the great haile gebrselassie once said in an interview that racers should not be nervous standing at the start line, because at that point it's just about showing off all the work that you have already done in training
• it was said about patrick makau (current world record-holder in the marathon - 2:03:38) that he "trains to race fast, not to train fast"
• i had the privilege of meeting and getting to know paul hefferon, who finished 2:16:46 in his debut marathon at the 2012 olympic trials in houston running with the hansons brooks distance project
• my friend (and planned pacer at the 2013 mississauga marathon) stan ong is a sub-3 hour marathoner who trains by feel
• if it's been said once it's been said a million times ... when it comes to race day, you have to trust your training

to date i've tried to followed three different race preparation schedules.  for my first two half-marathons, it was a training plan for the disney half-marathon that was sent over to me by a co-worker who had raced at disney world.  then for the 30k and first full marathons, i used a version of the runner's world intermediate marathon plan.  for the last two marathons, i worked with the 'ryan hall marathon training plan' as published by nissan's innovation for endurance program.  and now, spurred on by mostly positive reviews and my friend paul's association with the hansons brooks distance project, i've been using a modified form of the advanced hansons marathon method plan.

this plan that i'm currently using has (in my mind) two distinctives about it: 

1. the principle of cumulative fatigue - the idea that every run is pretty much executed on tired legs.  this is the first program that i've tackled that has me running six days out of the week, and the premise is that training within a maintained level of fatigue simulates the final 15k or more of the marathon, thereby acclimatizing you to pushing beyond 'the wall'.
2. the 16 miler - most programs will include a 16 mile run, just not as the longest run in the schedule.  the hanson brothers and their teams have found that making sure that the longest run in any given week is not disproportionate to the total number of miles logged in the week (e.g. not more than about 25%) emphasizes the importance of each training run (and type).

so far, so good.  i'm pleasantly surprised at how i've managed to sustain the 6-days-per-week schedule, and while i'm not clearly seeing gains in pace, i have to admit that this is really the first go at training where i've given myself specific times in which to try and complete specific distances.

i'm always curious to hear about what other training plans have worked for other people - feel free to weigh in on my experiences or your own.  for now, i'll finish out the hansons marathon method and bring the definitive update after may 5 in mississauga.

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fail to plan, plan to fail

everything i needed to know i should have learned as a kid

having just read a status update from my good friend lewis on dailymile, i thought that it was timely that i post a quick little something about tying shoes.

i must admit that i was already thinking about this, as i had the experience last thursday of running a marathon pace training run with my right shoelace flopping about untied for about 3 km.  frustrated with this poor-performing technology, i went on a trusty google search to determine the best way to tie shoes for running.

little did i realize that i wasn't tying my shoes properly at all.

for the last 37 years.

i came across this video which - although it made me feel more than a bit juvenile - taught me the proper way to lace up shoes:

after having watched the video and applied the appropriate technological advancement, i can now vouch for two things:  

1. it feels weird to tie my knots this way.
2. my laces have not even come close to coming undone.

oh ... and if you've ever wondered why running shoe manufacturers punch an extra set of holes further up and lower than the set that would seem to be at the top of your shoes, here's why.

everything i needed to know i should have learned as a kid