2008 Running Recap (mileage totals).

December ended up being my lowest mileage month for the year! Total mileage was only 61 miles (I only ran 9 days the whole month). That brought the mileage for the year up to 1175 just missing the 1200 mark. My average run over the year was just about 7 miles per run.

Here are some of the highlights from the year:
Boston Marathon in April 3:13:56
Newhall July 4th 5k (18:20).
Breaking 20 minutes (19:57) on the Pelona Vista Cross Country course (3 mile).
Aqueduct half marathon time trial in Ocotober (1:24:33).
Topanga Turkey Trot 15k (1:14:05) 11th place!
Mile time trial in December (5:14).

Some of my favorite workouts from the year included:
18 mile fast finish on the aqueduct on March 2.
Grass Mountain intervals on August 17.
Grass Mountain race man vs. bike September 6.


Now it is time to look forward to 2009.
Here are some of my goals for the year.
1. I will run 1500 miles in 2009.
2. I will run 4:55 mile (1600m) by the end of May 2009.
3. I will run a sub 18 min 5k by the end of 2009 (Palmdale Turkey Trot).
4. I will run a 2:55 marathon at the CIM in Sacramento December 6, 2009.
5. I will run 30 miles for my 30th birthday in July.

Here is an article that I wrote for this months HDR newsletter on goal setting.

Setting goals for 2009

During my professional career I have read articles and talked to employers who say they like to hire runners! Even in my own interviews with future employers, my running has been a positive mark on my likelihood for employment. Their reasoning is simple: Runners know how to set goals. They know that it takes hard work to attain those goals. Furthermore, they are typically consistent and dependable on a day to day basis making the “baby steps” towards the big picture. Yes, its time to starting looking towards the new year and set goals for where we would like to be and what we would like to do. Many of the readers of this article probably have some sort of goal in mind for their running for the upcoming year, and if not you may be soon. The purpose of this article is to help you set attainable and realistic goals.

First, I recommend writing your goals down, that way you can see them and read them. Start your goals with “I will” instead of “I would like to.” This makes certain that you are dedicated to this goal. Also write down a date of when you want to accomplish your goal.

Next tell your family and friends about your goals. They will help keep you accountable on days that you don’t feel like going out on your long run. Then post your goal around your house and work area so that you see it and read it often. The more you say the goal the more you will believe it will happen. Keeping a running journal or training blog is a good way to keep track of your progress.

The most difficult part of goal setting is making them realistic and attainable. It is hard to predict what you will run for your first marathon. My first marathon I had no idea how to predict what I would run. Before training for a marathon I had never run more than 14 miles at once. I didn’t want my goal too high and then be disappointed if it was not met. I also wanted to make it challenging enough that I would be proud of my accomplishment when it was met. I predicted 3:20-3:30 and ran 3:15.

Now there are calculators online that can help you predict what your potential times for other distances might be based on a recent race time. Input your last 5k time and it will give you equivalent efforts for other distances. The formulas are based on physiological research and comparing times of different runners. Some not only predict equivalent times but also give you your specific training paces for certain workouts. I have found some to be very accurate. Here are my favorites:
http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm
http://www.attackpoint.org/trainingpaces.jsp
http://www.runnersworld.com/ also has a training calculator that you can use and then plug into their SmartCoach tool that will give you a training plan to work with.
Remember these calculators give you a prediction of potential to base you goals on. You still have to train for that specific race and goal time.

The great Yogi Berra once said, “You’ve got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there.”
Happy running in 2009!
Karl Stutelberg, PT


Finally, here is Dr. Maharam (Runners World's running doc) list of medical resolutions for runners for 2009.

7 mile easy run (53:55)

A week later I got another run in. This morning it was about 27 degrees when I left. I just wanted to get out there and run for an hour before Thursday's long run. I ran 7 miles at an average pace of 7:42. It was an evenly paced easy run.

Do you have a cold? Wondering if you should exercise through it? The answer is YES! Read about it here. Dean Karnazes says YES in his new book too.

No Sleep...No mileage

I have been in Henderson, NV over the long Christmas weekend. We have had a great time spending time with family. My brother got married on December 26th and I was the best man! It was a great day!

The boys have had a blast with two sets of grandparents and have had fun playing with new Christmas presents, but have not been sleeping well at all!

Micah seems to be teething and Matt wakes up when Micah is crying since we are all sharing a room. Consequently, neither Andi nor I have gone out on a run while here. Sometimes that is the way it goes.

I did get a new Ironman watch and some new Nike pants and long sleeved shirt for Christmas. Can't wait to try them out!

Planning a good hard run on New Years Day with training partners Clay and Dale. Plans are being finalized currently, but will be between 10 and 13.1 miles at 7:30 to 8:00 pace.

8.5 miles marathon pace (61:30)

I ran this morning for 8.5 miles to even out my 6.5 miles on Sunday. The course was around Lane Park and back with a little added around the neighborhood. After a mile warm up I settled in close to marathon pace for the rest of the run (6:45 to 7:00) and ended the run in 61:30 (avg pace 7:14. It was a nice morning, not as cold as I thought it would be, and just a slight breeze from the west. I finished the workout with 4x150m accellerations in front of the house.

Quote:
"If you run 100 miles a week, you can eat anything you want -- Why? Because (a) you'll burn all the calories you consume, (b) you deserve it, and (c) you'll be injured soon and back on a restricted diet anyway." --Don Kardong

6.5 miler (48:56) recovery run

Stayed up too late last night to get up early enough for a long run. Split time with Andi before church to try and both get in a run. I ran to the hill at the end of 45th and did a loop up the hill twice, then back home for 6.5 miles in 48:56 (avg pace 7:32) Last 2.5 miles were under 7:10 pace. My calves were tight from the near all out effort on the track yesterday, but not too bad (symmetrical soreness as I like to call it).

After looking back in the blog archives again i noticed that my VDOT for the half marathon time trial on October 26, 2008 (1:24:33) was 55 compared to my VDOT for yesterdays performace, which was 56. So maybe I am still improving over time even with some fairly random and inconsistent training.

Update: Based on Runnersworlds age-grade calculator (which levels the playing field based on age) Clay and I put out almost identical performances on Saturday. He scored 70.7 and I scored 70.9. To read more about the age grade system click here.

1600m time trial Karl 5:14, Clay 5:57

Clay and I decided to meet Saturday at Joe Walker Middle School earlier in the week to help each other on a 1600m time trial. After a good warmup (it was about 50 degrees but a cold wind on the back stretch) Clay ran his mile. He was hoping to break 6 minutes. I ran the last 800m with him and he came in at 5:57. I then did some accelerations on the track and got ready for my mile. I was hoping to break 5:20 but didn't know if it could be done today. Although I was well rested having not run since Wednesday. Clay ran ahead of me on the back stretch for the 3rd and 4th laps as I like to have someone to chase. It helped me stay focused on the second half of the run. My splits were 75.5, 80, 80, 78.5 for a 5:14 mile! (VDOT=56). See Clay's blog for pictures. Today was really just a base line for the spring. I would like to drop 20 seconds off that time by the end of May. Total mileage with warm up and cool down today was 5 miles.

I looked back at Clay's blog from last year and I ran 5:23 on September 18, 2007. I haven't run as fast as I did today in 6 or 7 years, and it felt easier than a year ago.

Here are two videos from Coach Chapman with Team Indiana Elite about their core circuit workout that reminds me a lot of the workout we presented on at our last running clinic, besides the dynamic stretching. This is worth a watch.
Video One (The Workout)
Video Two (The Interview)
Coach Chapman describes the benefits of his workout well stating in one 24 minute workout his athletes get general strength training, neuromuscular training, and cardiovascular training. He also states this circuit workout allows his athletes to run more mileage, faster workouts, more workouts per week, and recover quicker. Sound familiar? It sure is cool that some coaches are starting to GET IT!
Mountain climbers and burpees are part of the routine. They are even doing "kettlebell squats" with a handled medicine ball! Although most of their exercises look pretty easy!

Finally, a link to an abstract from a recent article in Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research linking less flexibility to better running economy, of course these are all fairly balanced collegiate runners.

4x1mile cruise intervals, just beating the snow!

I didn't get out to do my threshold pace run yesterday so last night I checked the weather and there was a chance for rain/snow but little wind so I decided to bump the workout to today. I did a 2 mile warm up then 4x1mile cruise intervals (threshold pace) with 1 minute recovery in between, followed by a mile cool down. It is a great workout. My cruise intervals were 6:22, 6:17, 6:16, 6:10. My calves were a little tight, but other than that I felt great. I planned the route such that I didn't have to run into the wind/light rain for more than half of any interval. The rain was light but cold and felt like small sleet or hail. I finished the 7 miles in 49:22 (avg pace 7:03). The temp when I started was 37 degrees (felt nice) but by the time I finished it was 34 degrees and starting to snow.

As I write this at 1:30pm on my lunch it is still snowing. It has not stopped for the last 6.5 hours. I went home for lunch and here is what the house looked like. I took the boys out for a quick photo. See stutelbergscoop.blogspot.com for more pictures.Update: The snow finally stopped this evening. It snowed for more than 12 hours! See our snowman here.

10 mile long run (1:11:56)

It was a little windy this morning but not enough to keep me inside. The low temp last night was about 25 degrees which is pretty cold for us socalers. I felt really good out the door this morning and was cruising at 7:30 pace even on the uphill miles. I got in 10 miles total in 1:11:56 (avg pace 7:11) which was my long run for the week.

Mile splits were 7:40, 7:21, 7:20, 7:15, 7:22, 7:07, 7:03, 6:56, 6:47, 6:56. Again it is always up hill for the first half and downhill on the way home. The route was a long rectangle with the turn around point being N and 55th W.

100% chance of rain all day tomorrow. 70% chance of rain on Wednesday with the possibility of snow during the colder hours.

Tuesday morning should be a good time to run. I will probably do a threshold run that morning.

8 mile treadmill fast finish (58:34)

Due to higher winds and colder temperatures I stayed inside today on my treadmill. I wanted to get and hour run in if possible. I ran the first 4 miles at about 7:30 pace, the next 2 at 7:15 pace, then a 6:50 and a 6:40 mile to finish. It felt pretty easy on the treadmill (avg pace 7:19). I kept the grade at 2.0 (flat). There is supposed to be wind and rain off and on the next 5 days so I may hit the treadmill a few more days this week.

Congratulations to Clay Patten who ran a 41:34 at the Santa Monica 10k. I guessed 41:30, so I was pretty close. A good confidence builder as he has taken off 3 minutes in less than 2 years including injury. With a mileage build up he should be ready to run a fast half marathon this spring.

Jordan Hasay won the Footlocker HS Cross Country Championships today. There were 3 returning champions in the girls race and it looked like she sat back and kicked to win in 17:22. A great way to cap off an amazing high school cross country career. See the interview with the winner here.

After a week off I'm back 5mi (37:24)

I was recovered from the flu by Tuesday but I have no excuse for Wed. and Thurs. I finally got out for a run this morning. It has been cold out here with lows in the mid 20s which is part of what kept me in bed this week. Today it was very cloudy and looked like it might rain, but the temp when I left was 40 degrees. I had a great run on the level surfaces around my neighborhood. I ran 5 miles in 37:24 (avg pace 7:29).

Good luck to Clay tomorrow running the Santa Monica Christmas 10k, sub 42min for sure!

The 30th footlocker highschool championships is this weekend in San Diego, CA. It is amazing how many of these kids went on to become Olympians. Check out this video with interviews with past runners who went on to great things.

Visit Flotrack.org For More Videos

Sick Stutelbergs Stay Inside

For those of you wondering why I didn't post this weekend, it is because the whole family had some form of a flu type virus, even though we all had flu shots. No mileage for any of the Stutelbergs this weekend.

Congratulations to my buddy Ron Gallagher for finishing the Las Vegas Half Marathon in what I believe is a PR (2:13:08).
His dad also ran a PR and his wife Julie finished strong after recovering from being sick that week.

Jordan Hasay won the Footlocker West Regional at Mt. SAC this weekend. It was a slow tactical race to qualify because Nationals is in one week. She is the only person ever to win Regionals 4 years in a row. Check out the pictures and results here.
I think I would be intimidated if I was in high school and one of the other runners in my race was wearing a USA singlet.

4 slow recovery miles

I ran only 4 miles this morning and I really didn't want to go any farther even if I had the time. My legs are still tight from the race this weekend. The most sore part of my body was my feet. The small muscles in my feet are not used to working that hard to react and balance on the trail. They usually don't even have to think as most of my runs are on level road. They were feeling better this afternoon. The four miles took me 34:25 (just over 8:30 pace).

The Las Vegas Marathon is this weekend. My buddy Ron Gallagher and his wife Julie are running the half this weekend. It will be Ron's third half marathon this year! Before this year he had run zero half marathons. Good luck Ron & Julie, can't wait to hear all about it.

Some words of advice: learn from my mistakes. I ran my second fastest marathon at Las Vegas in 2006 (3:04:12), but I could have PR'd had I not made the rookie mistake of going out too fast, and it was my 5th marathon.
My first 10k was 39:56 (6:25 pace)
My half split was 1:25:42 (6:32 pace)
My 30K time was 2:05:35 (6:44 pace) This must be my 30k PR!
If I had maintained that 30k pace for 8 more miles I would have run 2:56!

I felt great for 15 to 16 miles but then hit a major wall at about 19 miles and finished in 3:04:12, which means my second half was 1:38:30!
You WILL feel great for the first half of the race. Don't let those feelings take you out too fast. Stay within yourself and know your goal pace (Garmin makes this easier with virtual partner), even running a little slower for the first quarter of the race is ok. As Clay would say, "You must respect the distance."

My three fastest marathons are Grandma's (2:58), Las Vegas (3:04), and Boston (3:13). Of those three my slowest first 10k was 42:36 (6:51 pace) at Grandma's where I PR'd (2:58:37). At Boston my first 10k was 41:50 (6:44 pace). Both of these races were very evenly paced (I went out in 1:28 at the half in both races) until the last 10k in Boston were cramping issues did me in. At Grandma's my first 10k was 42:36 and my last 10k was 43:35. Talk about even! The stars were aligned that day.

This is the last year that the Las Vegas Marathon will be put on by Devine Racing (the company that just sold the LA Marathon to pay off their debts). Next year the Las Vegas Marathon will be the Rock n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon, and they think they can draw 30,000+ runners. This is probably the best move in the history of the Las Vegas Marathon. Very exciting. The Rock n' Roll group knows how to put on successful races. Read all about it here and here.