3 mile tempo + 4 x800m intervals

Well I had to try the workout I gave Dale last week so here it goes.

2 miles warm up

3 miles threshold 19:15 (6:30, 6:30, 6:15)

4 x 800m intervals (2:50, 2:47, 2:46, 2:45)
1 lap recovery jog between each.

1.5 mile cool down.

It was a tough workout. I think next time I would add another threshold mile and try and be closer to 6:20 pace. I am not used to those 800s and both my calves were sore today. It is still really cold at 6:00am!

It snowed on all day Sunday and we ended up with about 6-8 inches! Last time we got snow like that was December 17, 2008. I had a great workout that day too!

Tempo + AT run with Dale (Mixed Systems Workout)

I met Dale this morning for a good workout at Joe Walker. I suggested a mixed systems workout. I had read about these type of workouts in Running Times but couldn't find the article (I think it was a McMillan article). Then I found another source when I got to work in the morning. You have probably heard of an interval workout or a threshold workout. Usually they are done separately. In a mixed workout you do a little of both. Exercise Physiologist, Jason Karp discusses them in his book: 101 Developmental Concepts & Workouts for Cross Country Runners. It is a great book because he gives examples of some great workouts and the objectives and coaching advice for each one. He calls this workout AT (acidosis threshold or lactate threshold) run/VO2max intervals mix. He suggests 2 to 3 miles at AT pace followed by 3 to 4 x 800m to 1000m at VO2max pace with a 1:1 work-to-rest ratio. For Dale this would mean 3 miles at 7:00-7:10 pace followed by 4x800m at 3:10 to 3:20. I decided I would run with Dale to pull him along for the AT portion and then run all 4 miles at 6:20 pace for my own AT workout as my AT pace is Dale's VO2max pace. Jason Karp's description of the workout objective is "To increase acidosis threshold and VO2max by combining AT-paced running with VO2max-paced running and to practice running harder off a comfortably hard pace." The part I like the best is "to practice running harder off a comfortably hard pace." What is this? It is race simulation, running hard when you are tired, pushing in the last few miles of a half marathon. Run at your threshold pace for 10-11 miles and then push it in with whatever you have left. Of course this workout is a much shorter version of the real thing, but that is what training is all about. Give yourself a little taste of what it feels like to run hard when you are tired and let your body adapt and remember that feeling.

Dale was a little slow on the AT portion of the run but came back hard on the track and ran each 800m under 3:20 and his last one in 3:10! Jason Karp's coaching point is to "make sure athletes don't run the AT-pace segment too fast." Better to run a few seconds slower than a few seconds too fast any way. I asked Dale if it was any harder to run those 800s after the AT portion. He said, "not really." That guy is in good shape.

My training paces for that workout would be 3 miles at 6:15 to 6:20 pace and then 4x800m at 2:45-2:50. That sounds tough. I will have to try it some day.

My mile splits on the track were 6:11, 6:15, 6:10, and 5:56. The Joe Walker track still measures long. My garmin beeps almost 50m before I hit the 4 lap mark on the track. My total mileage for today was 10.5!

There are some great workouts in Jason Karp's book. I will continue to try some and share them with you in the coming year!

10K THRESHOLD RUN

Today was one of those great days that reminds me why I love running. Well number one I felt great, but also I got to run with Clay and Dale who were running intervals at the Joe Walker track. Their goal was to run 6x800m in 3:20 or less. I didn't feel like running intervals but wanted to run with Clay and Dale so I decided to just keep running at that pace while they were recovering and pick them up again for their next 800. It gave them exactly a 1:1 work to recovery ratio. I ran another two laps while they ran one recovery lap. We helped each other out. I pushed them on thier 800s and and they helped keep me going toward the end of this long threshold run. We cheered each other on, took turns leading the group, joked around a little, and all got in a great workout. We all even got progressively faster as the workout went on. I think they finished with 3:10 and 3:08 for their last 800s! One of my favorite things about running is that we all have some common ground/pace and we can run together. You can modify any workout to make it a group run. I enjoy pacing other runners and working together. Clay and Dale helped me today just as much as I helped them. Thanks for a great workout guys. "There is no satisfaction without struggle first."--Marty Liquori.

In the past few years I have paced some friends to some great times.
I paced Clay to a 19:36 5k 2 years ago.
I paced Dale to a half marathon time trial of 1:37:52.
I paced Ron to a mile PR of 6:53.
I paced Dan to a half marathon time trial PR of 1:31:04.
I paced Andi to a 21:19 5k last year.

By the numbers: I didn't know how long I would be able to keep up that pace today. At first I was hoping to make it 4 miles, but at that point I felt very relaxed so I decided to push on and take it one mile at at time. I went through 3 miles in 19:30. The last two miles were tough as the pace continued to quicken and I realized that I could make it 6 miles and might as well make it an even 10k. My Garmin said I hit 10k after 24 laps and my time was 38:30. I continued for my 25th lap and finished in 39:56! I am not sure which is more accurate the Garmin or the Joe Walker track. After talking with Dale and Clay I think the Garmin might be closer in which case I am amazed that 38:30 felt as comfortable as it did. On the Garmin my last three miles were under 18 minutes! Total mileage for today was 9.


"In races and training, a runner experiences fatigue, hunger, and thirst and learns to go without to achieve their intrinsic goal of running long and hard. Similarly in life, a runner learns what’s really necessary to be done in support of their (naturally intrinsic) pursuit of happiness." --Dominic Grossman (ultrarunner)


Some great links today to share:
First the Dallas Marathon has a challenge with some of the top local high school athletes to run the marathon as a relay with the elite men. 10 boys running 2 miles each and 6 girls running 1 mile each against the elite men. Hopefully the kids can maintain a 5:15/mi pace to keep up. What a fun experience for those kids!

The army is changing some of its training requirements. They are focusing more on diet and adding new exercises for core strength and flexibility but cut out the 5 mile endurance runs which, "officials say can lead to injuries in new recruits who aren't accustomed to the mileage." WHAT! I think they will be disappointed in the fitness of their recruits. I know they have a high incidence of injuries in boot camp, specificaly stress fractures, but if they would just progress these kids gradually and not make them run 5 miles in army boots their injury rates might not be so high. I think this is a mistake.

Two other articles:
First one about new research on altitude training.

Another on older training methods when recreational running first started and used for fitness and competition. It is fun to read some of the old misconceptions. The New York Times even printed this warning, "to take part in a Marathon race is to risk serious and permanent injury to health, with immediate death a danger not very remote." It took a bunch of crazy runners to prove otherwise. I'm proud to be a "crazy runner."

7 miler with 3 threshold miles

It is winter out here for sure. I don't know what the temps were exactly this am but I am guessing in the mid to low 30s. I heard that Clay was running at the track early, but I got up a little late and headed down there anyway. He was running 16, 4, 4, 4, 16, 4, 4, 4, 16 (a great workout) and I got there just before the second 1600. I decided to hop in with him and help him through a 6:30-6:40 mile then continue for a while at that pace around the track letting him use me as a rabbit to chase. He wasn't feeing it this morning and stopped his workout after the 6:45 mile with me. My Garmin says my first mile was 6:36, then I continued for 2 more miles on the track by myself fighting a cold breeze on the home stretch each lap. My last two miles were 6:16 and 6:10. Almost exactly 19 minutes for 3 miles. I then jogged home easy for 7 miles for the day. Again felt pretty good about my workout.

Hoping for a long run on Thursday morning. Lows the rest of the week will be in the low 20s! Time to bundle up!


I'll leave you with a few quotes I read recently.


"My advice to you is to identify the qualities of an Olympian that you can control, (dedication, research, hard work, mental strength, visualization of your goals, sportsmanship, balance, confidence) and make those your focus. Live like an Olympian. Put yourself in positions to be successful. That’s all you can do."
--Lauren Fleshman (2010 US 5k Champ)

"I drive myself out of bed. I tell myself, this is what's going to get you to where you want to go, so you're gonna do it."
--Heidi Westover (elite US marathoner (2:35) and elementary teacher who logs 200+mile weeks)

“Shoot for the moon. If you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
--Unknown

10 miler (6 miles at threshold pace)

I got in another hard evening run tonight. I like my Rancho Vista loop with extra Marie Kerr Park loops because it is well lit and has a decent shoulder. After a warm up mile at 7:07, I pushed the pace a little harder than I have in the past but wasn't able to sustain the pace as long. Tonight I was running on lack of sleep and poor nutrition this week. The next six miles were as follows: 6:25, 6:16, 6:18, 6:11, 6:15, 6:27 (avg 6:18). By this point I was spent. I decided to shut it down after 7 miles, I was thinking about shutting it down after about 4 miles. I then cruised home at 7:30 pace and finished the 10 miles in 1:07:20 (avg pace 6:44).

Long trail run planned for Saturday morning.

The biggest track news this week was that Eric Flores of California Lutheran University threw the hammer 214 ft 3in. He was voted SCIAC athlete of the week. Why is this so amazing you ask? Well that mark is the best hammer throw in NCAA Div. III history! It would have won the NCAA Div. I National Championships last year by 12ft. His shot put throw this year would have been NCAA Div. I All-American last year. Did I mention that he is a sophomore? I just checked it out and 236 ft is an Olympic "A" standard, 210ft is an Olympic "B" standard. Maybe we'll see Eric at the 2012 Olympic Trials.

I will leave you with a video of coach Brad Hudson. This is a segment of a lecture he gave at the Super Distance Summit 2010. The entire interview has not been posted yet but I found this segment very interesting.

Short but effective

I had 45 minutes this morning to get in a run. I opted for the treadmill again because it has been wet and cold and I didn't want to spend the first 30 minutes trying to warm up. I started the treadmill at an incline of 3.0 and set the speed for 7.5 mph or about 8:00/mi. I continued there for 15 minutes of warm up. Then I started to increase the speed. For the next 5 minutes I ran at 8.5mph, then increase to 9.0 for another 5 minutes. After that I started increasing the speed by .1mph every minute until I got to 9.5 mph and then maxed out the speed on my treadmill at 10.0 mph for another mile. I finished with a cool down mile at 7.5 mph again. I finished the 6 miles at a 3.0 grade in 43:40 and got a good 20 minutes of threshold type running. The first 10 minutes were a little slower than T-pace and the last mile was a little faster than T-pace. It was a good workout in 45 minutes.


A few announcements:
Clay Patten and I are continuing our free running clinic series on March 6th at 11:00am at Valley Physical Therapy Group in Lancaster, CA. The topic is Recovery: The key to getting fitter and avoiding injury. We will be discussing post workout recovery, adding recovery into your training plans and a specific marathon recovery plan. I hope you all can come.

The following day, March 7th, Clay is hosting a mountian fun run starting at the PCT and San Fransisquito Rd on an out and back course that would be a maximum 15.5 miles. It is a great and challenging section of trail. See the high desert runner website for details.

Finally, reioutlet.com is having their annual super clearance sale starting Friday, Febuary 12th. Check it out online right away as many items go quickly.

73 entrants so far for the LD50. I think they usually get twice that. 66 days til the race.

Andi's cruise intervals

Andi finished her workout today. She ran a 15 minute warm up followed by 5 min at T pace (threshold pace) followed by 1 minute recovery jog, repeated 5 times. So there was a total of 25 minutes at T pace. T pace is about 90% vVO2max or 88-92% of max HR (heart rate). I find an easy way to estimate your T pace is to add one minute onto your time for one all out mile or 1600m.

For example, I can run a 1600m in about 5:15, well once my hamstrings aren't so tight and I get some leg speed back. If I add one minute onto that I get 6:15 pace for threshold runs. This also is the pace that you could run all out for one hour when well rested and properly trained. It is usually a little slower than 10k pace.

Based on her 5k time last July, McMillan calculates 7:04 to 7:13 pace for Cruise Intervals.

Andi executed almost perfectly. She came back and said, "that was tough." The second half of the run is up Rancho Vista (a little hilly). She averaged around 7:00 to 7:15 during the "cruise intervals." Her heart rate was around 170 during each bout at T pace and peaked at 175. Using the 220-age this puts 170bpm at 90% for her.

Her mile splits were 8:13, 8:08, 7:22, 7:12, 7:15, 7:55, 7:43. Total mileage was 7.5 in 58:16 (avg 7:41). I told her to do some form of this running at T pace (total 25-30 minutes) once a week as lately she has just been putting in the easy miles and needed to add a new training stress to her program.

Nice workout Andi! Can you go backwards on that formula I mentioned? If Andi can run 7:10 for T pace then can she run 6:10 for a 1600m? Maybe we will find out at the AVC All Comers meet at the end of the month!

Threshold run

It is 6:30am and I already got in 10 miles today! It was dark and cold out there! I ran a warm up from my house to the aqueduct (2 miles) then did a 6 mile threshold run up there (splits= 6:46, 6:39m, 6:32, 6:30, 6:24, 6:10) and a cool down back home (2 miles). Total mileage was 10 in 1:12:54. I didn't mean for the splits to get progressively faster, the plan was to run at 6:30 pace for 6 miles. The cold temps took me a little longer to get loose. Also, I could barely see out there even with my headlamp, so I may have held back a bit so I didn't trip and fall. Now I know what it is like for Marla Runyan. Right after my turn around spot I saw two meteors! Awesome!

I missed my Tuesday run due to 60+ mph winds, and was just too lazy yesterday.

The 40th running of the New York City Marathon is this Sunday. There is definitely coverage on universalsports.com and possibly on TV. The race is doubling as the US Men's Championships so there should be some great competition and times. Ryan Hall, Meb, Abdi, Brian Sell, and many others are running.

Actor Anthony Edwards is also running for shoes 4 Africa.

Anthony Edwards returns to TV in the NYC Marathon from Anthony Edwards

More treadmill training, Karl is tired of the wind!

Some of you may be wondering, how windy can it be out there? This Karl must be a wimp when a little wind keeps him inside. Well for the last 6 days we have had a constant 20+ mph wind here. The mornings are usually the lightest wind but all week it has been gusty. I'm talking gusts up to 40-50mph. It just isn't fun to run in that (unless you can run in one direction the entire way). There is a reason why there are 5000 wind turbines (windmills) in the mountains just to the north of us.

So I stayed inside again today. I got on the treadmill while the boys were napping but after a mile at 8:00 pace Matt woke up, I then ran a 6:40 mile while he watched and then Micah woke up. I thought that would be my run for the day but Andi came soon after and said I could get back on while she watched the boys. I did another mile warm up at 7:30 pace and then did 3x.75 miles at 6:40 pace with .25 mile recovery at 7:30 pace (not much of a recovery). On the last mile I included a .5 mile at 6:20 pace then a cool down. Matt actually came in and sat on the bed and watched me run for another 20 minutes. So total mileage for the day was 7 miles with some threshold/half marathon race type pace included. All mileage was done at an incline of 3.

Weather.com says that this next week is not going to be any better so anticipate more treamill workouts this week.


In the news:
A high school boy from Missouri broke the national high school high jump record with a jump of 7 feet 5.75 inches (and he is only a junior)! This mark would have been 8th place at the Beijing Olympics!

Also some great advice from the Runnersworld "Running Doc" on meniscal tears and surgery in runners.

9 mile run, fast finish at threshold pace

It was a BEAUTIFUL day today. Quite possibly the best weather day of the year so far. It is finally "shorts weather" even in the early morning. I headed out on 45th again to Towncenter, south on 30th and back on Rancho Vista (for you locals). I felt great this morning and settled into a marathon type pace early on. I pushed it up the hills on Rancho Vista, at threshold pace, up to 50th and then cooled down. Here is the break down mile splits.

7:50, 7:31, 7:18, 7:09, 7:03, 6:34, 6:39, 6:25, 6:53.
Miles 6, 7, 8 were coming up Rancho Vista!

It is a fairly hilly course but nothing too steep. You can really push the hills and not kill yourself. The only flat portion is on 30th for one mile.

Total time for 9 miles 1:03:25 (avg pace 7:03).
Calves and hamstring felt great.

What did everyone else do on this gorgeous day?

PS. They now make accelerade with caffeine! And there is a great deal on REI Outlet. For those of you not aware. Accelerade has a 4:1 carb to protein ratio. The protein has been shown to speed up the absorption of carbs and assist with recovery. The caffeine has been shown to improve performance. This may be the new SUPER BEVERAGE!

Easy runs and tempo run

This dailight savings messed my morning runs up. Although it has been warming up it is now dark at 5am when I need to go running. I am not letting that be my excuse any more. I have a head lamp you know.

Tuesday:
I had a half hour to get in 4 miles around Quartz Hill. Took just under 32 minutes (7:56 pace avg).

Thursday morning I ran the same course that Andi and I ran on Sunday but did a tempo run for the portion on the aqueduct and the first mile back down. Total 7 miles (2 miles warm up, 4 miles tempo, 1 mile cool down) The middle miles were between 6:10-6:40. It took a while to get going. I haven't run hard in a while. Total time for 7 miles was just over 50 minutes (just over 7:00/mi pace).

Time to start logging some serious mileage.

Next events:
May 3, 2009 Orange County Half Marathon
July 5, 2009 30 miles for my 30th birthday

Don't forget to check out Thirsty Thursdays with Jack Daniels

Saturday: 9 mi FF; Sunday: treadmill hills

Yikes! It has been one week since my last post. Here is the recap from last week.

No running during the week. Lots of alibis. Cold weather. Snow on Friday. I did do 20 minutes of strength training MWF during lunch.

I missed a planned easy run with drills and a cruise interval workout.

Saturday I decided to do a fast finish long run, but only had time for a little over an hour. I did 6 miles easy (avg 7:30 pace), then 2.5 fast finish, followed by a half mile cool down for a 9 mile total. The splits on the 2.5 mile finish were 6:07, 6:04, 3:02. Total time for 9 miles was 1:04:26 (avg pace 7:09). It was a great morning for a run except for the patches of black ice on the road due to the freezing temps Friday night (slippery).

Sunday I only had some time while the boys were napping to hop on the treadmill. Today was a scheduled hill repeats workout so I tried to mimic that. The design worked out well. I did a 3 mile warm up at 8mph (7:30 pace) on an incline of 3. Then increased the incline all the way up to 10 (the maximum). I proceeded to alternate 1 minute at 9mph with 2 minutes at 3mph for the next 30 minutes (10 total repetitions). The incline stayed at 10 even on the rest periods. The first 6x1 minute hill repeats were at 9mph, the next 4 were at 9.3mph. The last one went on for 1.5 minutes as I wanted to see what 10mph felt like on an incline of 10 (that is pretty fast, no joke). I cooled down at 7 mph with a total distance of 6.5 miles.

On Jack Daniels PhD. treadmill chart, for 9mph at 10% grade the equivalent effort on level ground is about a 4:10 mile, no wonder I was spent after 1 minute at that pace!


Dean Karnazes posted some of the information he collected at the Running USA conference last week here. The stat that I find most interesting is that of runners that run more than 100 times a year, 94% of them are college educated. I guess college is teaching us something.

Finally, Mark Denny PhD. wrote an article on the ultimate limits to running speeds for humans. I don't know how he formulated the results but they are interesting to think about none the less. Also, amazing how close Paula Radcliffe's marathon record is to the upper limits for females. He predicts that there is only room for .36% improvement on her women's marathon world record. Check out his predictions here.

Have a great week.

Saturday Threshold + Sunday Hills

We have had some awesome weather this past weekend with highs around 70 degrees and very little wind (only a little Santa Ana breeze this afternoon). Total mileage for the weekend was 17.5.

Saturday I did 10 miles total including 4 miles easy, 4 miles at threshold pace, and 2 miles cool down (carrying a bunch of bananas). The first 4 miles was a little quicker than I had planned (7:22, 7:18, 7:18, 7:22) but didn't seen to affect me too much. I started the threshold portion on M just past 55th and ran up to 65th, down to L-8 and then finished in front of VONS. The mile splits were (6:24, 6:16, 6:18, 6:14). L-8 is a great road to do a threshold pace run on. It is relatively flat but then are some slight ups and downs that keep it interesting. Much like CIM I assume. I finished and took a break at VONS were I picked up 2 dollars worth of bananas that we needed for the boys and then cooled down the 2 miles home carrying my fruit. Total time for 10 miles was 1:09:54 (avg pace 6:59).

Finished January with 81 measly miles running. Ran only 11 days this month. Lots of alibis. I feel like it was enough to maintain fitness. The quality was there, just not the quantity. Ready for a February push.


Sunday I wanted to do some hills but didn't have time to drive up to 70th so I zig zagged over to my hill at the end of 45th (a 4 mile warm up in 29:10) and then did 5x200m hill repeats in 40, 40, 41, 40, 37. The hill is not nearly as steep as 70th (grade tops out at 5%), but it is still a decent workout. The Garmin says the hill is .13 miles which when you multiply by 1600m=208m. My times were decent then compared to 200s on the track. Recovery was a walk/jog to the bottom. Cool down 2.5 miles home for a total of 7.5 miles in 53:43 (avg pace 7:09) I included the time up the hills not down.

Two decent workouts this weekend.

Congratulations to Clay and Dale at the Surf City Marathon/Half Marathon today.
Clay ran 1:33:16 shattering his masters half marathon PR of 1:54:53 set in 2006. Read his commentary and see pictures here.

Dale ran 3:21:50 in the full marathon, also shattering his PR of 3:49:15, which was on the same course, and also in 2006. Read his commentary and see pictures here.

Both were UNDER my predicted times. You guys have come a long way in 2 years. I can't wait for CIM!

Colorado Trip

For those of you wondering why I have not posted for the last 10 days it is because I was on vacation! We drove up to Mesa, Colorado where Andi's grandmother has a cabin and we stayed for 5 days. The only internet access was dial up and not worth the hassle so here is the summary of our week.

We arrived in Colorado on Sunday the 11th.

Monday I ran the Wagonwheel run which is 10k total on an out and back course from the cabin to the Wagonwheel bar in the town of Mesa. It is all downhill for 5k then all uphill back to the cabin for a total of 10k. The start is about 6450ft elevation and the turnaround is at about 5700ft. We used to keep track of our best times on this run but I couldn't find the old results to compare my time. I ran 47:41 (avg pace 7:41) at about 75% effort on the way down and 85-90% effort on the way up. My mile splits were 7:34, 7:33, 7:11, (5k split about 23 min), then 7:51, 8:18, 7:44 on the way up. The first and last .6 mile is on a dirt road which is covered in snow and ice so you have to run a little slower to stay in control.

Tuesday I had 30 minutes to get in a workout so I ran the .6 miles to the highway to warm up and then did 6x1 minute intervals up hill with equal rest running slow downhill. The grade on the hills peaked at 10-15% but averaged about 5-10%. I finished with a cool down back to the cabin for a total of 4 miles in almost exactly 32 minutes (avg 8:00 miles).

Wednesday afternoon my father-in-law Don and I drove up to the top of the mesa and cross country skied at Mesa Lakes (about 9800ft elevation). I cross country skied 4.5 miles in 1:04:20. See pictures below.
Thursday afternoon Andi and I drove up top again to cross country ski on some groomed trails called Skyway. It was beautiful and we ended up skiing 5k in 50 minutes and peaked at 10,700ft elevation. See pictures below.I also did about a mile of snow shoeing and learned the hard way that your feet get pretty cold if you wear running shoes strapped onto the snowshoes. We took the boys sledding and got Matt on downhill skis and cross country skis for the first time. They both had fun in the snow.We also downhill skied, ski jumped, practiced soccer headers, tight rope walked, and played baseball, golf, bowling, and tennis all on the Crane's Nintendo Wii.

I am not counting the cross country skiing miles on total mileage but they sure made my adductors sore!

We returned home on Saturday night and today Andi and I both took turns running in the morning. I ran over to our new house with an extra loop around Lane park. It was a threshold workout starting with 2.25 mile warm up, then 2 miles at threshold pace 12:30 (6:12+6:18), then 2 minutes easy, then .5 miles uphill on 55th St. in 3:20, then a 1 mile cool down. Total mileage was 6 miles in 42:46 (avg pace 7:08). The threshold pace portion started on L-8 from 45th to 55th, then one loop around Lane Park for a total of 2 miles.

Total running mileage over the last 10 days was 16. Time to get back on a routine.

Congratulations to my buddy Ron who PR'd this weekend at a 5k in 26:24 after a 20 minute warm up on his bike. This time also improved his VDOT since his mile time trial last November.

Threshold run: total 7 miles (50:19)

I haven't done much hard training in November so far. If you look back there is a lot of easy runs. I started my weekly hill workout last week and the last day I did a threshold run was on November 8th at the Palmdale 5k. I was itching to do some faster running and decided to stay close to home. I did a 1.5 mile loop warm up and then ran 3x1 miles at threshold pace with 1min 15sec recovery jog between them, then did a half mile in 2:58, and finished with a 1.5 mile cool down. My miles were 6:26, 6:13, and 6:15. The roads are very flat around my house and they are set up in a nice grid pattern which makes estimating mileage easy (I don't have to keep looking at my Garmin until I know I am close). For example: My second threshold pace mile was on J from 50th to 40th.

Total mileage was 7 miles in 50:19 (avg pace 7:11). Next time I will add another mile to that workout.

In the runningtimes news Ryan Hall has announced that he will run the Boston Marathon in 2009. The last American to win the Boston Marathon was Greg Meyer in 1983! He can use his Beijing Olymipic Marathon time for his qualifying time..he he. I guess that means he won't be running in the Flora London Marathon next year, since it is 6 days later. My advice: Add some good hills late in your long runs Ryan!

Addendum: The fires in southern California caused a cancellation of the Pasadena Marathon this weekend due to very poor air quality. I hope they can rebound for next year as this was the inaugural running.

Finally a link to Greg McMillan's core training for runners DVD, that looks to be very similar to Clay and my strength training routine.

10 miles total with 3 threshold pace miles

I did not get a run in on Saturday. It has been getting cooler here in the morning (low 40s) and those pre-sunrise runs are harder to make happen. I had to dig out my running pants for my run on Sunday morning. We still slept in and I left about 7:30. I wanted to get in a few miles at threshold pace again so I went out to Lane Park for my warm up. It is exactly 1 mile around the block there so I did that twice, then a 2.5 min recovery, followed by one more mile, for a total of three mile at threshold pace.

My threshold pace should be about 6:20, although I haven't raced since July 4th, and I haven't done any time trials to gauge my fitness. My first two laps (miles) around Lane Park were 6:11 min each and my last mile (after that 2.5 min recovery) was 5:55. It didn't feel like my HR was up too high (my HR at threshold pace is around 165-170) so maybe I am getting a little fitter. I was pretty well rested too since I only ran once during the work week, which was an easy run. Total distance for the day was 10 miles in 1:11:32 (average pace 7:09). This was a similar workout to September 13, 2008 when I was running 6:20-6:30 pace on my threshold runs.

If I do another workout similar to that one again I will start to add one more mile (with about 1-2 min recovery in between) at the same pace until I am up to 6 or so. That would be a pretty killer workout. Since I only have two weeks until my next race I will probably do some more hills this week, and maybe one more tempo run either next weekend or early next week. Probably only two more quality workouts before race day.

My dad sent me the newspaper from Minnesota after the Twin Cities Marathon. They also run a 10 miler and 5k that day. Olympian Kara Goucher won the 10 miler in a course record 53:15. She was using this race as a tune up for her marathon debut in New York City on November 2nd. Her coach, former NYC and Boston Marathon winner, Alberto Salazar, who had a heart attack last year and a defibrillator placement, ran the 10 miler as well in 1:08 and change!

10 mile progression run (1:13:27)

After a week of easy runs I was ready to do some quality training today. I got up early to drive up to the aquaduct for a 10 mile run. The workout was divided into three parts (3 miles easy, 3 miles just above marathon pace, and 3 miles at threshold pace with a 1 mile cool down). I started at 70th going west on the aquaduct with a turnaround at 110th. There was a slight head wind (breeze) on the way out. The pace progressed every three miles with miles 7-9 at threshold (LT) pace. This was a tougher workout than I expected because there was a 6 mile warm up at a moderate pace before the LT miles.

The first three mile splits were: 7:57, 7:57, 7:58
AVG HR=135

The second three mile splits were: 7:17, 7:15, 7:21
AVG HR=150

The third three mile splits (LT) were: 6:26, 6:27, 6:11
AVG HR=170

I ran into Clay just as I was finishing my 9th mile and ran my cool down with his warm up.
The cool down mile was: 8:29
Total time for 10 miles was 1:13:27 (average pace 7:20)



I just finished reading an article from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning from 2005 titled: A Comparison of Methods for Estimating the Lactate Threshold.
The researchers tested subjects in a lab to find their true LT values and velocity at LT. Then each subject performed 4 tests, over 3-6 weeks, designed to estimate their lactate threshold pace. The purpose was to find which tests were most accurate and give runners an simple way to determine their training paces when lab tests are not available.

The four tests were VDOT, 3200m time trial, 30 minute time trial, and Conconi Test.

They did a 400m and 800m time trial to obtain values for Jack Daniels' VDOT formula.
The 3200m time was entered in to a regression equation to find LT pace.
The 30 min time trial was done on a treadmill where AVG pace over 30 min=LT pace and AVG HR for the last 20 min=HR at LT.
The Conconi Test was an old validated test done on a 400m track but it seemed too difficult to describe here, and you need an assistant.

The results showed that the VDOT and the 30 min time trial were the closest estimates of running velocity at lactate threshold. They gave the 30 min time trial the advantage because it also gave the runner an estimated HR at lactate threshold for those that set training intensities based on HR.

I found it interesting that they only did a 400m and 800m time trial for the VDOT formula. Number one, because those distance are almost completely anaerobic; and number two, they are very easy to recover from and reproduce often. They mentioned this in the discussion and state that longer race distances put into the VDOT formula may be even more accurate.

The 30 minute time trial was done on a treadmill, not a track, and I'm not sure why. It seems to me that you could still get average HR information and it would be easier for the runner to adjust their pace during the effort if they ran on a track. The only part that bothered me was that I thought threshold pace was closer to 10k-15 pace (or the all out pace for 1 hour), and I don't know too many people that can run a 10k in 30 min.

Either way the researchers felt because if it's simplicity, accuracy, and amount of training information given, the 30 minute time trial was the best method for estimating lactate threshold.

I personally have been using the VDOT formula which is based on a recent race time at any distance, due to the fact that you don't have to do any time trials, especially if you are racing fairly often. I find that it is very accurate for my estimated training velocities, and equivalent race times at other distances.

Threshold run with hill (7 miles - 49:22)

Again I went to the closest hill from my house. After a 2 mile warm up I did about 20 minutes at threshold pace over a .8 mile loop that has a short hill in it. My pace during the threshold portion of the run was around 6:20-6:30 with my fastest mile 6:09 which included mostly level road. The threshold portion was just over 20 minutes and included just over 3 miles.

Total mileage for today: 7
Average pace over entire run: 7

Grass Mountain: Man vs. Bike (ok Man vs Man on Bike)

Clay and I went out to Grass Mountain this morning. The workout was a little different today. I have never run straight up the 2.7 mile climb, we always do it in an interval format. Today I decided I would see how long it would take me to run the whole way. We set it up as a race with me running and Clay on his mountain bike. He has biked to the top in around 23 minutes and I had reached the top in a 1 min run / 1 min power hike format in a total of 25:20. I figured I could probably run it about 1-2 min faster with steady running and thought we might be close at the finish.

We ran once up together on our usual interval format with Clay setting the pace. We reached the top in just over 28 minutes, jogged slowly down, refueled, and then Clay switched to the bike for the head to head matchup. I took the lead for the first 3/4 mile but Clay quickly caught me and created a nice lead as the hill levels out in the middle. The last half of the run was me trying to catch him on the steepest part of the hill. Every time I turned a corner I could see him ahead and I didn't appear to be gaining any ground. He finished about 1 minute ahead of me and my time was 23:20, 2 minutes faster than my interval format time. Average pace was 8:37. It was an all out effort for both of us as Clay beat his previous time by a full minute.

I hit the mile mark at just under 8:00, was at mile 2 at 16:30 (8:30 mile) and then it took me 7:00 to run the last .7 of a mile (which is 10 min pace). It really gets steep toward the end (averages about 15% grade). 6 mph at a 15% grade is equivalent to 5 min/mile effort on Jack Daniels, PhD treadmill grade effort chart.

It took 2.5 minutes to reach my steady heart rate of 170-174 and I maintained it for the duration of the run. With an approximate max HR of 190 this would be about 90% of my max or a threshold run, with a cool down back down the mountain.

Total mileage for the day was 11 miles.



I have found some pretty good info online this week that I would like to share.

First Runners World listed schools that offer marathon training classes here.

I found two great quotes in a Perform Better magazine.
The first is: "Any trainer/coach can make an athlete tired. But not every trainer/coach knows how to mae them better" - Brian Grasso, YCS.
He has a great website here with some interesting articles about training kids at various developmental stages. He lists 4 sports that he feels every pre-teen child should participate in to develop in to a well rounded athlete. Can you guess which 4 sports ...................................soccer, swimming, martial arts, and gymnastics. You can read his reasoning here.

The second quote is: "It is absolutely possible to add fitness to dysfunction, but that doesn't make it right." - Gray Cook, MSPT, OCS, CSCS
This is what sets a Physical Therapist apart from ATC's and trainers. We correct the dysfunction and add stregnth on top of that. Check out Gray Cook's website here.

The last great info pieces that I found were video clips of a coaching seminar where Pat Tyson (Mead HS and now Univ. Kentucky coach), Terrence Mahon (coach of Deena Kastor & Ryan Hall), and Juli Henner (Georgetown Univ. coach) discuss CORE TRAINING and SUPPLIMENTAL VARIATION. Terrence has the best commentary and both videos below are worth a watch (about 8 min each). Terrance has a great definition of core training and really GETS IT. They also talk about becoming and ATHLETE and not just a RUNNER.

13.1 total miles with 5 miles @ threshold

Today I ran another half marathon the day after the men's Olympic marathon. The workout last week included intervals, so today I included 5 miles at threshold pace. Threshold pace is defined as the pace at which your body STARTS to accumulate more lactate than it can clear. They call this "comfortably hard." To improve your lactate threshold you must spend time running at or near that point to improve your body's ability to clear it. It turns out to be the pace at which you can run all out for about one hour, or somewhere between 10k and 15k race pace. It is 88-92% of your velocity at VO2max or heart rate. Isn't it amazing, that a human can run at 90% of their maximum HR for an hour!

There are a few ways to do this type of training. Interestingly, Jack Daniels, PhD states that the ideal duration of a steady threshold run is 20 minutes (from Daniels' Running Formula). You can also break it up into cruise intervals, where you are running many shorter workbouts with a very short recovery. Or you can break up the 20 minutes or so into shorter workbouts also with little rest (I guess this would still be considered cruise intervals). Either way they should all be done at your threshold pace, not faster. Be careful not to go too fast on cruise intervals. If they feel too easy then do more, or shorten the rest.

One of Jack Daniels' runners Magdalena Lewy-Boulet qualifed for the US Olympic team in the marathon. In the last issue of Running Times she states that one of her marathon prep workouts is 5x2 miles at threshold pace. This would equal 10 miles at threshold pace, or very close to an hour at threshold pace.

Today I decided to use the same workout but step it down a bit, since I'm not a world class athlete. I did a 4 mile warm up. Then I did 2x2 miles at threshold pace and 1x1 mile at threshold pace with half a mile (4 minutes) recovery in between workbouts. I finished with a 3 mile cool down back home. The threshold workbouts were on the road around Lane Park, which is almost exactly 1 mile. The first 2 miles was done in 13:17, the second 2 miles was in 12:58, and the last mile was in 6:17. Total miles at threshold pace was 5, total time at threshold pace was a little over 30 minutes. My heart rate during the threshold workbouts was between 165-175. It was a tough workout for sure.

Total time for the 13.1 miles run today was 1:38:28. The HR graph looked totally cool on my new Garmin Forerunner 305.

Based on my last race time (18:20 for 5k) my threshold pace should be about 6:20 so I was very close most of the workout. My body is learning how to clear lactate more efficiently as we speak.


So the men's Olympic marathon was yesterday. I would say that was the most exciting race, for a distance event, in the entire Olympic games, other than the women's 10k. The athletes actually raced from the start!! The temperature was in the mid 80s for most of the race and many runners struggled with the heat. Twenty-one year old Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya won the race, and got the first gold medal for Kenya in the Olympic marathon, in 2:06:32. For the US Dathan Ritzenhein was 9th (2:11), Ryan Hall was 10th (2:12) , and Brian Sell was 22nd (2:16) for respectable finishes. The best recap can be found on RunnersWorld.com.

Video interview of Ritz after the Olympics on flotrack.org. Article here.

OMG, check out video of Brian Sell's race shoes from the Olympic marathon here.

Also, US Bryan Clay, won the gold medal in the decathlon. He is a graduate of Asuza Pacific University (where Andi got here MPT) as was 1992 Olympian Dave Johnson (see APU school records). If you have the newest issue of Sports Illustrated (yeah the one with Michael Phelps on the cover) there is a great interview with Bruce Jenner in which he tells why the winner of the decathlon is truly the world's greatest athlete. Also read here and here. Bryan sounds like a great guy!



Anyone else as bummed as me about NBC's tape delayed coverage of the Olympics? Columnist Predicts Beijing is 'Last Olympics We Will Suffer Through in Tape Delay'