Wheeler Farm Loops

Great session, Jake. And a cracking block of quantity and quality. 2013 looks like it's going to be a breakthrough year for you - well deserved. Happy new year.

Incredible week Jake! We are very fortunate to get to see such training. I drove the Phoenix Marathon course today. The hill at 5-6.5 will be tough but after that there is very little danger. I think the key will obviously be to hold way back until you crest the hill so you can take advantage of the rest of the course. It looks nice because its not the quad buster like some other courses. I'm running the half which looks like a really nice course. Great week man!

Thanks gentlemen.

Derek I appreciate that info on the course. Sounds like the first 4-5 are pretty downhill, huh? I wish they would just make the whole course like the last 19 miles and get rid of that nonsense at the start :-)

The 1/2 course is awesome. As long as you don't get a headwind, its one of the fastest non-aided courses around.

Almost 6000 for the year. wow!

How have you trained your body to recover and bounce back so quickly from each session... awesomeness:)

I was wrong. On Dec 6 you did 6 x 1 w/.3 rest. I commented that in a few weeks you would be going faster with only 1 minute rest. You were faster but no rest. I thought that was interesting. Shows how fast you are adapting. Incredible recovery rate.

Christie - I think it's a combo of consistency, genetics, and most importantly - my attitude. I truly believe having fun w/ this whole thing and staying positive about it, and not taking it too seriously (but still taking it seriously) helps a lot. Running is just fun for me... Even when it's work. Somehow I've found the right balance. High training volume either breaks you down or builds you up. If you can do it and not get hurt, your body can do amazing things. Also, I eat lots of animals! Since I started taking getting plenty of real protein more seriously, my ability to recover quickly has gone up a lot.

Derek - I thought about that workout today as well. It comes together quick. I look at interval work as a bridge to get me to the workouts that really matter - the longer, sustained efforts at race pace. Those are the ones where you really "find out"

The bad news is that I had an error in my spreadsheet, and was already over 30k push-ups when I did my last set this afternoon. I fear I've overstrained my poor, non existent upper body :-)

I'm going to work on a longer blog post, Christie, to answer you question. You've got the wheels turning in my head now. And I'm about to get on a plane and have nothing better to do.

SLEEP is probably the most important thing for recovery. 8-9 hours, every night (10 when possible!) does wonders. The body can repair itself very well when given the chance.

Great year Jake! I've had fun following your progress and chatting on the occasional trot. I agree that you've got an awesome attitude and it is infectious. Happy New Year!

Great finish to the year, wow! 30 min @ LT sounds brutal.

Now to go check out the race where you win your weight in beer...

Very cool poster. Happy New Year!

Great poster. You like you're blowing hard, but in control. Did you ever have ballet lessons:)? The photo's got you right on your tiptoes - brilliant.

Joe - if only the half-marathon wasn't ~60 minutes at LT :-)

The Top 4 from that race are all positioned in the second row in that picture, ready to strike... that must have been taken somewhere around the first mile mark.

What an amazing workout to cap off your Arizona microcycle! Strong work Jake. And thanks for sharing your advice on how to recovery quickly -- you mentioned a lot of pearls and I need to hear them. I look forward to your post sharing even more details.

Lastly, great job on the push-ups. And you even lost count -- I love it! I firmly believe that having a strong upper-body is an imperative part of peak performance for fast distance runners. I had a very strong upper-body in college, but I haven't for many years. But I finally do again! Several months ago, I started lifting weights for my upper-body. I believe pushups are just as beneficial. The reason I'm instead doing upper-body weights is because I'm already in the gym doing hamstring weights, so I might as well. Obviously, distance runners should work for upper-body strength, NOT bulk. That is very important. But I'll tell ya what, a strong upper body can really help race performance, especially when the rest of the body is tired at critical stages of the race. If you focus on powering the arms, the legs automatically follow. Even just a few months ago, my arms would get tired during high-effort runs. Not any more. My arms feel strong and are an anchor to the rest of my body (in a good way). I've always worried about bulking up because of upper-body strengthening, but I've lost 5 pounds in 2 weeks, so that's not happening :) Sorry for being verbose and possibly sounding preachy -- you just struck a cord with something I strongly feel is beneficial for distance runners.

Its impossible to bulk up when you are doing high mileage :-)

Sometimes, when I'm running fast but starting to tire and need to sprint, I think "DRIVE THE ELBOWS BACK"... b/c the legs will follow what the arms do. I used to run that mantra through my head when running the 800m or anchoring the occasional 4x400m relay in high school.

Anyways, I agree with you... it helps to be strong in the upper body to maintain form and good posture in the late stages of races.

Good point Jake. High mileage does not equal bulking up :)