Clyde's Comeback!

That's too bad you're not feeling the best. Probably some rest will help. I've still been fighting this hip issue. It seems like whenever I try to do a hard workout or a long run, the hip starts acting up.

Clyde, Is there possibly a more humane time of day to do that workout? I mean really.. Your throwing off your body and it's circadian rhythms by doing so and in the end all it does is end up being sub-par and not beneficial. I know this because I used to work graveyard shifts and work run at all different hours of the day. All it did was get me overtrained. Just food for thought because I know how much effort and work you have put in this year.

I agree with Steve that the 4AM thing is not doing you any favors. Everyone is different, but personally I can't get going that early...the nervous system just isn't awake yet (to borrow some Sasha terminology).

Also, there's no way I could handle Monday-Wednesday. I usually stagger Monday-Thursday for the reason of one extra day of recovery.

Secondly, I've been looking over your paces. Your tinman pace looks right on, but your intervals looked a bit aggressive. For instance, you were averaging 3:14 for your CV 1000's...that is about 32:15 for 10K, which is faster than your 10K PR (and 5K PR for that matter). CV pace is the pace you can hold for 45 minutes, so is closer to 13K pace for you. You were closer to V02Max pace. 3:20 might be more appropriate. Last weeks miles might have been a little fast too, but I don't know what the course or the wind was like. Also, don't be afraid to run 8-minute pace on your easy days. And don't be afraid to cut back mileage a little either. Mileage is great, but big workouts are better. You can always cut back on doubles. 90-100 mpw is still quite a load on 6 days/week.

Finally, some of your fatigue could easily be from the water skiing and other activities last week. Non-running activities tend to trash our fragile muscles (I was sore for a full week after playing ultimate frisbee last year). I recall you being pretty messed over from skiing last year right before Bryce (abdominal strain?), so don't underestimate its effect on your body.

My point is to not give up on the big workouts. Instead, modify things a bit to find your comfort zone, such as keeping Big Workout days to just one run, running later in the day, running your intervals slower, running your easy runs slower, spacing out the Workouts farther, and even shifting one workout to Saturday's long run instead of during the week to give more recovery time.

Just a few thoughts!

Clyde -- as a lurker, I really enjoy your blogging. Hope things improve. Its incredible to be able to see such great feedback from people like Steve and Paul.

Paul -- for Tinman tempo do you use 5k place plus 15% or just 5k plus one minute? I've seen it described as both.

Riverton - I've seen Tinman describe it several ways as well. Usually I end up doing 50s/mile faster than 5K pace on a good day, and 60s/mile faster than 5K on a "heavy leg" day. The 15% rule falls in the middle somewhere. For example, the fastest 5K I ran last year was 15:23 (4:55/mile), and most of my tempos were between 5:45-5:55 pace flat, slower than 6-pace on uphills, and

Thanks for all of your help. The time really does stink but it's almost an unwinnable war. We have to go early so we can all be done and to our job stuff, and if we wait until afternoon/ evening it's just too hot. I don't know what the news said it was here yesterday but they always have it wrong. It was 109 at my house yesterday at 5:30 p.m. But I agree that's a big one.

Paul- thanks for putting things in prospective for me. I'm going to "stay on the bus" with a few tweeks to the program. Slowing things down during big workouts will help and then possibly cutting some of the mileage off the top as well. I also think a trip to April will work wonders to refresh the system. The non-running things have played a major factor on me the last two weeks. Running aside I'm just trashed around the house and at work... Then out running I just feel doomed. So I'm glad that is all over too and I can get back to life. I think this morning was a comb of everything in the universe tag teaming me to death. Things can only get better! Thats the good part about it.

Another perspective is that training is simply a series of battles that comprise the larger war. It's okay to lose a bunch of battles en route to winning the war. Take a look at my training blog from last year, and I had several workouts that I either cut short, missed my target times badly, or never even started. You just have to stay flexible and adaptable, be willing to lose a couple battles for the greater good, and stay focused on the long-term. Easing back on pace and/or mileage may be losing a battle, but it's ultimately a win if it prevents burn-out.

Yeah I read your blog almost everyday last year and coming into these series I told myself that I didn't have to complete the schedule at 100%. It's just hard because I'm so competitive about things- it eats me up when I can nail a workout. Although that attitude could lead to disaster.

If it makes you feel better, you did twice as many repeats today as I did before I pulled the plug. Must be something in the water today. Take a look.

http://jon.fastrunningblog.com/