Wheeler Farm Loops

Perfect tempo this morning! The fact that you were holding back a bit shows the fitness gains you've already made in the last 4-5 weeks of training. I'm excited to see what happens once you do start hammering these workouts in the coming weeks for the Phoenix Marathon.

You don't have your potential races up on here!

Because I can't decide about that 3K and still need to ask Competitor for an entry to RnR AZ!

I guess I can put up my tentative schedule :-)

Great tempo, man that is cold weather.

I like the variety of AT runs too -- what are your thoughts on Hadley's "wave" run for an AT/MP workout?

I think its great. Although probably not his creation - that's pure Canova (right, Bam?). I'm guessing Hadley probably openly admits that's where the idea comes from. But I like the way he mixes it into his schedules for both the marathon and half marathon. Workouts like that are the reason the east africans are able to run the marathon so much closer to their lactate threshold. I'm going to start using it, but not for this cycle. I can only incorporate so many things in the next 2 months. I want to "save" that for the spring/summer as a new workout stimulus. I'll probably do it a lot in HM-specific cycles, the 1/2 mile alternations. The workouts look pretty tough on paper but the benefits are huge.

From his book - "This workout has been popularized by Coach Renato Canova (he calls them ‘alternations’) and it is very useful in helping the body learn to clear lactate from the system at faster

speeds, thereby improving our lactate threshold which is a key determinant in our half marathon race

pace."

And there ya go... thanks Andrea :-)

Great workout Jake. I agree you couldn't have shot for much faster than MP out there today. It's too cold and too much risk of something bad happening going faster than MP.

What's your course like for this 10 miles? Flat? Rolling? Loop?

Flat loop --> http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/159446407

I'm continually preparing for Chicago / Berlin / London :-)

Awesome workout Jake! I think the fact that these tempos feel so controlled is a great thing and just shows how fit you are right now. I cannot wait to see how you do in Pheonix in March.

You're an animal Jake. It's mind boggling that you can run workouts like this.

Nothing wrong with flat tempo loops! I was going to ask, "Doesn't it get boring doing the same loop over and over". But then I remembered I ran my workout on a treadmill this morning! Haha.

-7? WHAT IS THAT!? It's 80 and sunny today. You guys are nuts!

I like using a loop for tempos. Good way to lock into a rhythm, and just practice running your pace w/out wasting mental energy. Its good practice for how the marathon is supposed to be run (turn your brain off!)

Tom... we don't need the Florida weather updates :-)

As long as you were headed north the temp was no big deal, the south on the other hand.... Fantastic workout Jake.

Another great workout, Jake. I agree with Andrea apropos (what a pretentious word) of your fitness gains.

Hadley stated that he sort Canova's approval for his book and the old fella gave it.

The phrase, 'lactate clearance', in terms of wave runs/efforts, is a misnomer and is, imo, a weakness in Hadley's system. I know, who am I to question such a legend etc?

On the wave stuff/'lactate clearance', he actually says, you're better doing the full-on stuff without the recovery rather than the wave runs, especially if you're training for the marathon.

Now, where the whole lactate stuff gets interesting and, is vitally important for guys looking to run quicker than 2:20, is in Canova's system...

It's difficult to pluck it out, as it will be seen out of context. But here goes: The idea is that you run at HM pace and have short recoveries at mp (very late in your specific/special phase i.e. 5/6 weeks out from marathon day). It's not about 'lactate clearance', in fact, it's the opposite: lactate utilisation. You are training the body to use lactate and this is how you narrow the margin between HM pace and Marathon pace. But like I said, viewing it like this is like saying you need spuds to make a Spanish omelette...

First, in terms of lactate etc, you have to work on lowering lactate threshold. How do you do this? Now that's another story...

That's a good point - using the word "clearance" is not really correct, as we now know that lactate isn't necessarily a "bad" thing and its a source of fuel. You are training your body to use it.

Regarding your question, I'll link one of the great threads in Letsrun history, circa 2005, for those who might not have ever seen it - "Mr. Renato Canova: Could You Please Answer a Question About Effective Ways to Improve the Lactate Threshold?"

http://goo.gl/X7oXw

I love Canova's first post on page 2:

"Hallo, I'm the REAL Renato Canova, not the moron answering at the beginning of the post."

Really? Not one mention of Suzy Favor Hamilton in these comments?

Y'all are operating on a much higher plane than me.

It's nice to see our sport get some publicity!

Thank you Rob for getting the discussion back on course. I'm going nuts here. My best friend from college just texted me:

"If the high school version of me knew this, he would have been on the next plane to Vegas!"

and

"I'm going to start a fundraiser to get *former teammate,, name withheld* an appointment!"

High school?

No mention in the article of whether she plans to quit or not.

She should have done one of those "sponsored posts" on letsrun.

Hey... I'm glad its Suzy and not Regina Jacobs!

why quit...she could triple her price now!

Suzy's maiden name seems appropriate.

I'm busy pondering the fact that her husband knew about this all along.

I'm about Suzy's age. This has me thinking of ways to spice up my boring schoolteacher, husband, father, trapped in suburbia existence.

I'm not kidding, I'm literally busting a gut reading the lets run discussion thread. Most hilarious stuff ever!

a 10 page pile on of jokes, ridicule, and disrespect -- that thread is terrible.

great workout, especially in these temps. it was soo cold this morning.

The Canova thread? Its more than 10 pages... 113, to be exact. People do need to be give Renato some slack, english isn't his primary language.

'The Canova thread?' Jake, you is asking for a good spanking. That said, in some places you'd pay dearly for that:)

OK Allie, now I feel bad.

But then I might also say that if you are married with a seven year old daughter and you are working as a hooker to help work through your "midlife crisis", you deserve all the disrespect that comes your way. She has also gone out of her way for many years to market herself as a role model for young girls.

"She has also gone out of her way for many years to market herself as a role model for young girls."

Yeah that's the part that is very "Lance-like" to me. Its one thing to do something questionable and keep it quiet (not that its OK) ... but its another thing to go out of your way to promote yourself as the exact OPPOSITE of your real actions.

Its really quite sad.

And to think, some people just got on this thread to talk weather / workouts... you had no idea what you were in for today :-)

rob - i will agree with you on that and i wasn't trying to make anyone feel bad (remember, the internet is a poor communicator of tone and intent). that comment wasn't a personal attack on what you said; just my opinion.

i stand by my statement in that i think the thread is terrible, but i also think 99% of letsrun threads are terrible, for all the same reasons i listed above. so i probably shouldn't have said anything.

anyway. go seahawks. go english cuisine.

Allie (and Jake) - I would say there are two ways to look at this story.The first is to assume that Suzy Favor Hamilton is a "normal" person. In which case I have little sympathy for her and little guilt for getting a few laughs out of it. She calls what she did a mistake. I would call something a person chooses to do over a twelve month period way more than a mistake - by that point it's a lifestyle. She has had twelve months to ponder the ramifications of her actions, the morality of them etc., and she has continued. People never describe their actions as mistakes until they get caught.

On the other hand, I have read enough now to suspect that she may not be a healthy person and may be mentally ill in more than the run-of-the-mill way. If this is true then I do feel bad for her and making light of the situation is wrong.

Since I don't know which is true and she has a family that will be affected by this, I will refrain from further piling on.

32 comments and it isn't even 4. I can't keep up. Another great workout especially in this kind of weather. Berlin is a race I have always wanted to run but Chicago just seems like an equally fast/cheaper/more convenient option. But then again, Berlin would be a good excuse to visit Europe for the first time.

It would be really fun to go run one of those european marathons... but coming from the western USA, I think the travel would take a lot out of you. Chicago isn't a bad flight. I'm sure we'll be there at some point in the next couple years.

I can't believe you are actually listed right now to the right there under "lone faithfuls: need a comment".

he hasn't hit 40 yet...pretty low for a thursday.

Solid job Jake -- especially in the cold. OTQ in 2013 here you come!