Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

First Dam Run 5k

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Location:

Fort Collins,CO,

Member Since:

May 15, 2003

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

Unaided PR's:
5K: 14:48 (Track - 2001)
10K: 30:45 (Track - 2001)
10K: 31:32 (Bolder Boulder - 2013)
Half Marathon: 1:06:09 (Duluth - 2013)
Marathon: 2:17:54 (Grandma's) - 2014)
Marathon: 2:19:47 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2013)
Marathon: 2:19:49 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2010)

Aided PR's:
10K: 29:38 (Des News - 2011)
Half Marathon: 1:05:30 (TOU Half - 2011)
Marathon: 2:18:09 (St George - 2007)
Marathon: 2:17:35 (Boston - 2011)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis in June of 2008. Started taking Enbrel in March, 2009.

Run as much as I can, and race as well as I can. Make the most of however much time I have left as an able-bodied runner.

Training for the 2018 Colorado Marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

  Run until I'm old, and then run some more. Stand tall.

Personal:

1 wife, 2 kids. 1 cat. Work as a GIS Specialist/Map Geek

Endure and persist; this pain will turn to your good. - Ovid

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. - Romans 5:1-5

 

 

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
23.900.003.100.0010.0037.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

Today's Sunday Blog topic: 2005 training, the Grand Slam, and multiple marathoning.

Over yesterday and today I transfered my Polar training for 2005 to the Blog. 2005 was a breakthrough year for me, in that I finally utilized smart training, and finally figured out how to run a marathon properly. Both of those accomplishments were greatly influenced by me reading "Advanced Marathoning" by Pfitzinger and Douglas. The ideas in the book help me formulate a good training plan that employed a lot more tempo and marathon-pace running, and less VO2Max. It also helped me with proper tapering, hydrating, and fueling, which are crucial (and often underestimated) for the marathon.

This was also the year I ran the Grand Slam. Why did I do the Slam? I was so jaded from the TOU Marathon in 2004, when I put all my marbles in the one race and lost big. So I decided to do the opposite in 2005: run a bunch of marathons until I got it right. Also, there would be no pressure on me (from myself) to perform really well at any of them, which would allow me to loosen up and RUN MY OWN RACE. Well, to make a long story short, I ended up doing really well in ALL of them, and came out with some nice PR's, and a lot of valuable experience. So in order to run fast, I had to try to run slow. What this meant was that in all my previous marathons, I tried to run a pace beyond my training, and ended up running slower than I should have because of those improper race-day tactics.

The downside of doing the Slam was that I got injured (knee and lower back). I chose to abuse ibuprofin and just run through it, and did so "sucessfully", but I ended up taking October-December completely off in order to rehab and recover. And when I started running again in January, I developed similar injuries again. Either my biomechanics changed or my body's ability to heal and/or absorb shock had been compromised. I hadn't had an injury before the Slam for the previous 10 years of competitive running. I do not blame the Slam itself, but rather me running it too hard with TOO LITTLE BASE.

People often ask me about the Slam and for tips. Here are my tips, ideas that I did use or SHOULD HAVE used.

1) Build a big base during the 4 months preceding the first race (Ogden). 70+ miles/week for at least couple months is optimal. Once the Slam starts, you will be forced to drop mileage due to constant recovery.

2) Pick 1 or 2 races as your focus races. Run the others as "workouts" -- ie do not "race" them. For me, my focus races were Des News and St. George.

3)Negative or even-split every race. Do not hit the wall. I found that races that I negative or even-splitted, my recovery was an order of magnitude faster than races where I hit the wall and ran a slower 2nd half.

4) How do you not hit the wall? Run your race, not someone else's race. Ignore "the pack" and run a pace that seems too slow at first. You have 26 miles to get your PR. Going out hard the first few miles can ruin the last half of your race. But going out easy can make the last half a dream. I ended up passing a lot of people that are normally faster than me in the last miles of races using this strategy, and even unintentially won money by winning the "war of attrition". Pfitzinger says that running a negative split means that you could have ran faster, but that's what we want in the non-focus Grand Slam races.

5) Run for "active recovery". Hydrate and fuel EVERY aid station, even if you are not thirsty or tired. Walk through, if needed. I actually walk through aid stations now to get more fluid, and I don't believe it nets me any loss in time, because I "get it back" later. Take liquid and fuel after Mile 20, even though it will not help you for the current race, it will help you recover from the race faster, which is key for the Slam.

6) Do not taper heavily for your non-focus marathons. Since you just did a marathon a few weeks ago, your mileage will probably not be that high to begin with, and your fitness can not afford a big taper. One week with 20% reduction should do it, and then the marathon itself will add 26 miles for the week, so on paper, there will not be any drop in mileage at all!

7) Monitor your body, and think long-term rather than short term. If you are injured, suck it up and drop out of the circuit. Some injuries will go away on there own, but others will not, and continuing to run will make things worse and have long-term consequences. I've had a rough year since the Slam because I did not listen to my body and tried to mask my pain with NSAIDs. Don't do it!

8) Enjoy it! Running the Slam takes you to a lot of great courses and beautiful areas in Utah. Relax and admire the scenery during your race. Be inspired.

I think that the Grand Slam in 2007 will "only" consist of 4 races rather than 5. This should make the circuit more achievable, and allow for faster times.

I found that despite relatively low mileage, I built a tremendous amount of fitness through doing the Grand Slam. Why is that? Well, my theory is that Slammers do tons of marathon-specific workouts...what is a better marathon workout than 26.2 miles at MP pace? Fewer long training runs are needed, as the marathons themselves build a lot of fitness and train the body to burn fuel efficiently. Even my general speed was pretty good by September, as demonstrated by a strong Peruvian Dash finish. Finishers of the 2006 Slam had a lot of PR's and remarkable performances as well. This leads me to believe that multiple marathons are a good way to go. Of course, doing 5 in 6 months is little extreme, but if you train for months and months and do your marathon...why not do another in a month or two? You've worked very hard over several months to build your marathon fitness, and if your recovery from the first marahon goes well, why not jump in another? You have already done the work, so the second marathon is "free", and I believe the probability of a PR in a second marathon (if spaced far enough apart) is good.

Those are my Sunday Blog thoughts. As usual, other people's experiences and comments are welcome.

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
5.000.000.000.003.008.00

Got up early and went to gym. Did 30 minutes on elliptical and lifted, stretched a little. Ran 30 minutes into Providence toward Millville and then back along the TOU course. Ran an additional 6 blocks with the dog. It's nice that it gets light now by 7AM, but we're still loosing the battle against daylight!

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.000.000.000.000.006.00

Ran from my house to the end of the canal trail and back. Legs are feeling pretty good and bouncy.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.004.004.00

Went to gym, did 40 minutes hard on elliptical, lifted, and stretched.

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
5.000.000.000.000.005.00

Ran River Heights Loop with Cody. Ran about 7:10 pace. Then did 4x200m barefoot strides in grass (32, 31, 32, 32). Felt good today.

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.000.000.000.003.007.00

Ran to gym (plus a little extra on the paved River Trail). Did elliptical for 30 minutes and 4-way hip machine. Ran home.

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Race: First Dam Run 5k (3.1 Miles) 00:18:18, Place overall: 3, Place in age division: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.900.003.100.000.007.00

First Dam Run 5k. 18:18. This is a small local fun run that I've wanted to do for awhile and decided to run it this year for fun and and to see where I'm at. It was also symbolic in way, to be able to line up at a race again, even if it's not to be a "race effort". My goal coming in was to run around 19:30 or so, and just relax and have some fun with it. As usual, though, I got a little competitive, and bumped it up as the race went on. The 5k course is a loop with about the perfect amount of turns to keep it from being too boring, but not so many that you can't get a rhythm. My elevation profile showed 79 feet of gain and loss, so pretty fast topography. I ran with Dave for the first mile, and we got out easy and let all the rabbits go out hard, and most came back to us by the end of the first mile. Went through the mile in 6:20, in 9th place. Right on. At about 1.25 miles, I picked it up a little and Dave stayed at the same pace. I passed about 3 more people and got a mile split of 5:52. Oops, I didn't know that I could even run that fast. Oh well, it feels pretty good, and I'm not laboring at all, so I go with it. The third mile, more people ahead of me are dying off, and I increase my pace a little more in order to pick them off. Racing from behind is fun. Finally, with about a half mile left, there's just one guy just ahead of me. I'm not sure if he's the leader or not, but on the off-chance that he is, I decide to pick it up for the finish and pass him. He was hurting and coming back fast, and I passed him with about 300m left. As I crossed the finish I saw two other guys walking around, so that last guy apparently was not the leader. Oh well, 3rd is fine too. 18:18 overall (chip time was off two seconds), 5:33 pace the last 1.1 miles. 1st and 2nd place were about 16:40 and 17:10, respectively, which is why I never saw them; they were always one turn ahead. Cooled down afterwards, but legs still feel pretty fresh, like they just did a short tempo or mp run. Very good sign. No more races until 2007, though, nothing but steady base work for the next few months.

Comments(6)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
23.900.003.100.0010.0037.00
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