"Running should be free, man" Cabello Blanco
The past couple of weeks I've been working on intelligently rebuilding my miles from that dusty pile of remains my once-spectacular running career had become. My problems stem mostly from anxiety. They range from the ever-present race anxiety to foot breaking anxiety. So I've been working on developing different systems and training methods that work for me but probably sound unheard of to most. Have fun!
Free Run
A free run means leaving your watch, your ipod, heart rate monitors, iphones, etc....at home and taking nothing with you but your shoes...if you aren't into the barefoot thing. When I get too absorbed by the community of racing and perfection and fastness I find it helpful not to know how far I've gone, not to know how fast, but instead to focus on how my feet sound on the trails, what my pace settles into instead of what it "should" be. It's nice, at least once a week or two to step back and just run until I'm good and ready to be done instead of when I'm supposed to be. What it helps me the most with is when that love of running is zonking out a little bit and I need to get it back.
U-Pace Run
We've all heard of T-pace and I-pace, race pace, and easy pace. Let me introduce you to my newest philosophy in the bunch: U-Pace. As with the traditional grade school method of grading U-pace stands for "unsatisfactory" as in this pace is so dang slow and pathethic that it deserves a grade given to a second grader who isn't even trying to learn subtraction. It's unsatisfactory. That's how I feel. But really...the second meaning for U-pace is "ultra marathon pace" I'm not into taking days off of running. I feel really bad about myself when I do and I tend to feel worse the day after a day off. So instead of taking a day off in every 4 day cycle (I tend to work my schedule in 4 day increments unlike most people who work them in 1 week increments) I schedule 1 U-pace day. U-pace days are typically not allowed to be any longer than 30 minutes and (for me) not any faster than 8 minute miles. I try to shoot for 9-10 minute pace usually though. From the second I step out the door until I stop my watch I am in the mindset that I must be running a pace that I could easily maintain for 100 miles. It is supposed to be painfully slow. this.is. recovery.
4 Day Cycles
As I mentioned above I gave up scheduling things in week-long incremnts. I still add up my mileage every week to see where I'm at, but in general I prefer to do my running schedule every 4 days instead of every 7. Before when I ran I was just trying to make it through a week: long run, easy, hard,easy, hard, easy, long. My whole week was centered around the mileage goal which I was always either trying to reach or trying not to go over. In addition my week also centered around those long runs making sure I didn't schedule hard and long too close together....there were too many touchy variables that I had to be careful of, too many goals to make. Maybe someday I can go back to that but right now my training flows around 4 main days.
Day 1. Long. Go as long as you feel comfortable (but no more than 10% longer than you went on your last long day) If you can't do more than 8 don't. If you feel ready to do 13 or 14 or build by 10% it's up to you.
Day 2. Drop your long run by about 20%. I typically follow a 20 minute rule though based on how I'm feeling. If I did 1 hour and 20 I usually run an hour. If I ran my long in an hour I usually do 40. This pace should be relatively easy. At the end 6-8 strides of 50-100 meters. (barefoot if you can)
Day 3. Tempo and speed. Minute-wise this run should be about the same as day 2. However, add in some sort of speed work. Right now, I'm staying away from intense track work so my Day 3's are based around heavily upon long tempo runs. For example: a warm up of 10 minutes easy, 20 minutes @ tempo (about 40 seconds slower than race pace) and a 10 minute cool down. OR a 3-5 mile progressive run (getting faster as you go.) OR a fartlek
Day 4. Rest, regroup, and re-evaluate. On the beginning of all day 4's I always take time to really pay attention to my body and what it may need and how it's feeling after the previous three days. What's sore? What needs extra stretching? If I'm really hurting somewhere and afraid of injury it's the day 4's that are the days off where I would hypothetically just swim or bike. Once the regrouping is good and I feel confident that I don't need a day off, this then is the day for U-pace so I set out of my house for 3-4 miles at a nice 8-10 minute per mile trot. Followed by 4-6 strides of 50-100 meters.
Katie Miles
I base all runs off of 7 minute pace (except U-pace obviously). This means that when I add up my mileage regardless of how fast it actually was I count it as 7 minute per mile pace. It's easier to keep track of mileage this way and bases training on effort instead of junk miles. So yeah...I lose sometimes when I have some soft of epic run that I do 6:45 pace for 12 miles. But it also allows me to have days where I do 7:30 pace for 8 miles if it's hot or I feel crappy. This system (based on 'badger miles' used at the program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) allows for the flexibility to base each run on how you're feeling and not what you "have" to do.
Equal Opportunity Cross Training
Swimming is and 1:1 ratio. Minutes spent swimming=minutes spent running. It takes me about an hour to swim a 5k. This equals the effort that It would have taken me to run for an hour. I.E. it goes down in the log as a 3 mile swim and effort-wise is equal to about an 8 mile run. Biking is a 4:1 ratio. All biking miles must be divided by 4 and then logged. A 40 mile bike is equal to a 10 mile run. An 80 mile bike is technically equal to a 20 mile run. HOWEVER the wear and tear is much less SO if it's a U-pace day and I bike instead I am not limited to biking for only 16 miles to equal a 4 mile run. This system is set. No changes, ifs, ands, or buts.
and finally....
Zero Pressure Racing
Races in 2012 have a clause attached to them. I am required by myself to only tempo them. If I'm feeling awesome and not scared then O.K. I'm all over this whole racing thing, but for the time being there's no pressure to "win" and times? Times don't matter. I can run a 25 minute 5k for all I care as long as I don't get injured.
It's new and it's different but right now there are the things that are working for me. Hopefully they can start working for other people as well. It's not traditional at all, however "tradition" wasn't working for me. Right now I'm just enjoying the time where I get to run free and as fast...or slow ...as I want
Monday, July 23, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Four Random Things Friday
"Sometimes the most beautiful thing you can do for someone is simply to believe in them"
1. So I think that I've changed my mind about something. I know I love biking and swimming. But I just don't think that now is the time for a triathlon. I'm just not quite ready and the idea isn't exciting me like it used to. I think the fact that I swim 5k's all the time and ride 100-112 miles frequently kind of took some of the excitement out of an ironman. I'm not even in good shape and I can do this. However, I can't run a marathon And obviously, I need to get on that before I go and sign up for an ironman. That's exactly what I plan to do. I feel slightly like I'm betraying biking and all the hundreds of miles I put in but...running is my first love and I have things to finish before I stop the competitive running completely. This does not mean I'm not doing an ironman. It simply means I don't have the time right now...and I'm still a little caught up in this whole "running dream" that one has to die before I start over with a new dream.
How am I going to do this you may be asking? Here's a quick run-down of the plan: I'm running two half marathons one in October (a trail half) and one in the end of September/beginning of November. THEN I'm running a marathon in December (please please please no injuries)
2. I had the nicest most wonderful thing happen to me the other day. One of my customers sent an email to my manager ...and I quote "Katie sold me on Wheel and Sprocket and Trek" and then it goes on to tell about how wonderful their experience working with me was. I love humanity :) And I love that humanity loves me back.
3. I'm sick of being really poor. I don't know if I can take 5 more years of this. urg. It disgusts me to realize that I can barely pay for groceries because I CHOSE TO GET A PH.D. how is that fair? I had a job interview yesterday for a position called a psychometrist....but for the first time in my experience I had NO IDEA what they thought of me and also for the first time in my experience I was not offered the job on the spot. I've never actually had a job interview that didn't end with a job so now I'm extremely nervous and freaking out about what they thought of me. I also have this running critique in my head that sounds like a broken record saying things like "you should have prepared better...you used the word "like" one too many times...you didn't make yourself seem invaluable to the company...you didn't advertise your abilities well enough" arg...well I'll inform you in a couple more weeks if they actually thought it went as horribly as I thought it did. I can always work at a bike store the rest of my life I suppose...
4. Sorry for another one about running...but yesterday I think I somehow had the best run of my entire life. I did an hour and 18 minutes all at a little bit sub-7ish. I had to make myself stop after that. I know, I know, I'm as surprised as anyone. I didn't know I had that in me and yet....
It was then that I decided on doing this whole marathon thing. Maybe even an ultra. Who knows? (MUST KEEP EATING CALCIUM)
My apologies for being so hyped up on some sort of weird running high today. I promise I'll be back to cursing about it the next time something starts hurting.
But otherwise...happy Friday :)
1. So I think that I've changed my mind about something. I know I love biking and swimming. But I just don't think that now is the time for a triathlon. I'm just not quite ready and the idea isn't exciting me like it used to. I think the fact that I swim 5k's all the time and ride 100-112 miles frequently kind of took some of the excitement out of an ironman. I'm not even in good shape and I can do this. However, I can't run a marathon And obviously, I need to get on that before I go and sign up for an ironman. That's exactly what I plan to do. I feel slightly like I'm betraying biking and all the hundreds of miles I put in but...running is my first love and I have things to finish before I stop the competitive running completely. This does not mean I'm not doing an ironman. It simply means I don't have the time right now...and I'm still a little caught up in this whole "running dream" that one has to die before I start over with a new dream.
How am I going to do this you may be asking? Here's a quick run-down of the plan: I'm running two half marathons one in October (a trail half) and one in the end of September/beginning of November. THEN I'm running a marathon in December (please please please no injuries)
2. I had the nicest most wonderful thing happen to me the other day. One of my customers sent an email to my manager ...and I quote "Katie sold me on Wheel and Sprocket and Trek" and then it goes on to tell about how wonderful their experience working with me was. I love humanity :) And I love that humanity loves me back.
3. I'm sick of being really poor. I don't know if I can take 5 more years of this. urg. It disgusts me to realize that I can barely pay for groceries because I CHOSE TO GET A PH.D. how is that fair? I had a job interview yesterday for a position called a psychometrist....but for the first time in my experience I had NO IDEA what they thought of me and also for the first time in my experience I was not offered the job on the spot. I've never actually had a job interview that didn't end with a job so now I'm extremely nervous and freaking out about what they thought of me. I also have this running critique in my head that sounds like a broken record saying things like "you should have prepared better...you used the word "like" one too many times...you didn't make yourself seem invaluable to the company...you didn't advertise your abilities well enough" arg...well I'll inform you in a couple more weeks if they actually thought it went as horribly as I thought it did. I can always work at a bike store the rest of my life I suppose...
4. Sorry for another one about running...but yesterday I think I somehow had the best run of my entire life. I did an hour and 18 minutes all at a little bit sub-7ish. I had to make myself stop after that. I know, I know, I'm as surprised as anyone. I didn't know I had that in me and yet....
It was then that I decided on doing this whole marathon thing. Maybe even an ultra. Who knows? (MUST KEEP EATING CALCIUM)
My apologies for being so hyped up on some sort of weird running high today. I promise I'll be back to cursing about it the next time something starts hurting.
But otherwise...happy Friday :)
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Human
"After all, we're only human"
I've been realizing lately and when I say lately over the past year that I'm not as invincible as I normally pretend that I am. This realization began of course with the breaking of the foot and is finishing because with each and every dumb thing that I do I realize that I'm just going to get hurt if I continue on with my stupid path. I've said it before, but I promise I'm doing my very best to take care of myself...but I'm really not good at it.
So, on my run today, I asked myself what is the point of being only human? As humans we constantly create and emulate things greater than us, things that we can never aspire to be. We write about characters that could never be real, invent superheros to solve the problems we can't, and religiously follow our own twisted standard of perfection.
But what's wrong with being "only" human? Without being human we would never know pain or sorrow or love or friendship....what I'm saying is that we'd be robots.
Lately I've been struggling a lot with who I am and what I'm doing and where I'm going. I assume that this is nothing more than all 22 year olds go through at this exact point in their lives.
Do I do the grad school thing?
Do I settle down and get married?
Do I focus on my career as a triathlete instead?
Would I like a dog or a cat someday?
One or two story house?
Sports psychology or forensic psychology?
The questions, I assume differ for everyone but the point is the same. In this world we're all running with no direction, no definite plan, no knowledge of what could or could not happen in the future.
So do we keep running towards it?
The answer I came to as I was running today was yes. Keep running as fast as you can and do everything that you can along the way. What's a beautiful run in the woods if you don't stop and admire the view? Why bike 50 miles if you're not going somewhere with beautiful scenery?
I guess what I'm just saying is that I've been realizing that no matter how much, or how fast I run towards my goals or away from my problems we're all equally lost in this life. We're all equally confused as to how to do our best job to be perfect. Why? Because we're human and we fail at being perfect each and every time.
But, in an answer to my origional question that's the beaty of being just human. We make mistakes. We regret them, we make the right choices. And all through out this mess we realize that being perfect is not what it's about. It's about being the best human possible. Nothing else in eternity has the chance we do: to mess up and find beauty along the way anyways. I think that's the best part about being human. That, and the fact that we have other humans to share that imperfect life with.
I've been realizing lately and when I say lately over the past year that I'm not as invincible as I normally pretend that I am. This realization began of course with the breaking of the foot and is finishing because with each and every dumb thing that I do I realize that I'm just going to get hurt if I continue on with my stupid path. I've said it before, but I promise I'm doing my very best to take care of myself...but I'm really not good at it.
So, on my run today, I asked myself what is the point of being only human? As humans we constantly create and emulate things greater than us, things that we can never aspire to be. We write about characters that could never be real, invent superheros to solve the problems we can't, and religiously follow our own twisted standard of perfection.
But what's wrong with being "only" human? Without being human we would never know pain or sorrow or love or friendship....what I'm saying is that we'd be robots.
Lately I've been struggling a lot with who I am and what I'm doing and where I'm going. I assume that this is nothing more than all 22 year olds go through at this exact point in their lives.
Do I do the grad school thing?
Do I settle down and get married?
Do I focus on my career as a triathlete instead?
Would I like a dog or a cat someday?
One or two story house?
Sports psychology or forensic psychology?
The questions, I assume differ for everyone but the point is the same. In this world we're all running with no direction, no definite plan, no knowledge of what could or could not happen in the future.
So do we keep running towards it?
The answer I came to as I was running today was yes. Keep running as fast as you can and do everything that you can along the way. What's a beautiful run in the woods if you don't stop and admire the view? Why bike 50 miles if you're not going somewhere with beautiful scenery?
I guess what I'm just saying is that I've been realizing that no matter how much, or how fast I run towards my goals or away from my problems we're all equally lost in this life. We're all equally confused as to how to do our best job to be perfect. Why? Because we're human and we fail at being perfect each and every time.
But, in an answer to my origional question that's the beaty of being just human. We make mistakes. We regret them, we make the right choices. And all through out this mess we realize that being perfect is not what it's about. It's about being the best human possible. Nothing else in eternity has the chance we do: to mess up and find beauty along the way anyways. I think that's the best part about being human. That, and the fact that we have other humans to share that imperfect life with.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Signs I'm an Exercise Addict in RFF Form
"Maybe some women aren't meant to be tamed. Maybe they just need to run free until they find someone just as wild to run with" -Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City
1. The good news is my foot is not broken (but the whole world knew that except for me I think.)
2. The bad news of course, is that I'm still an idiot. This is why:
3. Last week I raced on Wednesday.
4. On Saturday I decided to run for an hour and 20 minutes. Genius.
5. So then I woke up on Sunday and I ran a bit and my foot started hurting later that afternoon. I fell into some sort of hysterics about my foot being broken again. I didn't do my second run Sunday night, I didn't run Monday and Tuesday was more of an experiment in pain tolerance than a jog. Wednesday I didn't even touch my running shoes.
6. Luckily I have the best family in the world. For that I can never be thankful enough.
7. My aunt came to visit on the Fourth of July and so I drove south to visit her and my parents. Distraught about my foot, and life in general I spent the morning with her talking about running and my injuries, and life and stretching out my tight hips and checking over my running form.
We discovered that I'm still favoring my heel. After 9 months I'm still afraid to run on it. So therefore, on my left leg I fall into the habit of running on the outside of my foot. Perhaps...perhaps this is why my arch is hurting.
And in addition, I fell into the "too much too soon" trap again. I don't have a good reason for why I needed to run for an hour and 20 minutes only two days after my first race since November. I freely admit my exercise addiction and that's probably why. I know you're rolling your eyes right now, but running is just so stinking addicting. Unfortunately I've barely been able to run since.
After the 3 hour stretching/massaging/therapy session with my aunt (who is apparently a miracle worker) I was able to run 5 miles pain free. I wasn't in the mood to test my luck so after 40 minutes I stopped running. But it was pain free and that's the important part. I also concentrated really, really, hard on my foot plant and that seemed to help me a bit too.
So now it's been massaging and stretching 24/7 and worrying about running or not running and trying to get back to running a ton. Story of my life. But I'm still learning my lesson, and I'm still learning about moderation, and still learning that you can't just take out all of your frustrations in a 12 mile run per day (not yet that is) Curse these stupid self-inflicted injuries.
8. I will do an ironman. Maybe and ultra marathon. Just gotta keep being patient with myself, and keep a good head on my shoulders when exercise addiction threatens to take over.
9. My job interview went well this week. Crossing fingers I get this job ...even if it means leaving the bike shop :(
This week's goal: Cut down on running, and keep believing :)
Happy weekend everyone. Stay cool in this ridiculous weather.
1. The good news is my foot is not broken (but the whole world knew that except for me I think.)
2. The bad news of course, is that I'm still an idiot. This is why:
3. Last week I raced on Wednesday.
4. On Saturday I decided to run for an hour and 20 minutes. Genius.
5. So then I woke up on Sunday and I ran a bit and my foot started hurting later that afternoon. I fell into some sort of hysterics about my foot being broken again. I didn't do my second run Sunday night, I didn't run Monday and Tuesday was more of an experiment in pain tolerance than a jog. Wednesday I didn't even touch my running shoes.
6. Luckily I have the best family in the world. For that I can never be thankful enough.
7. My aunt came to visit on the Fourth of July and so I drove south to visit her and my parents. Distraught about my foot, and life in general I spent the morning with her talking about running and my injuries, and life and stretching out my tight hips and checking over my running form.
We discovered that I'm still favoring my heel. After 9 months I'm still afraid to run on it. So therefore, on my left leg I fall into the habit of running on the outside of my foot. Perhaps...perhaps this is why my arch is hurting.
And in addition, I fell into the "too much too soon" trap again. I don't have a good reason for why I needed to run for an hour and 20 minutes only two days after my first race since November. I freely admit my exercise addiction and that's probably why. I know you're rolling your eyes right now, but running is just so stinking addicting. Unfortunately I've barely been able to run since.
After the 3 hour stretching/massaging/therapy session with my aunt (who is apparently a miracle worker) I was able to run 5 miles pain free. I wasn't in the mood to test my luck so after 40 minutes I stopped running. But it was pain free and that's the important part. I also concentrated really, really, hard on my foot plant and that seemed to help me a bit too.
So now it's been massaging and stretching 24/7 and worrying about running or not running and trying to get back to running a ton. Story of my life. But I'm still learning my lesson, and I'm still learning about moderation, and still learning that you can't just take out all of your frustrations in a 12 mile run per day (not yet that is) Curse these stupid self-inflicted injuries.
8. I will do an ironman. Maybe and ultra marathon. Just gotta keep being patient with myself, and keep a good head on my shoulders when exercise addiction threatens to take over.
9. My job interview went well this week. Crossing fingers I get this job ...even if it means leaving the bike shop :(
This week's goal: Cut down on running, and keep believing :)
Happy weekend everyone. Stay cool in this ridiculous weather.
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