Week 2: BQ Training with Run Less Run Faster

Aug 4, 2013 by Greg Fowler

Here is my report for week two of sixteen of my Outer Banks 2013 marathon training.  I am following the 3:25:00 Boston Qualifier plan outlined in the book Run Less Run Faster.

To review week one, click here.

Short version: Week two went well, and I hit all the workout numbers & time goals, but the long run was much tougher than I expected.  So, after two weeks, I’m still on track.  For the long version, keep reading.

Cross Training. Tuesday and Thursday

Successfully completed the two prescribed swim workouts. This week’s swims called for doing 12 sets of 1 length free and 1 length kick. I also added a second workout on Thursday evening, a 1000 meter freestyle swim.  On Saturday went for a slow (lower heart rate) 40 mile bike ride.

Grade: Pass

Run workout #1. Monday

At the high school track.  This workout called for four 800m runs in 3:08 with a 2 minute rest interval. 800m is two laps around the track. Results:

• 800 #1: 3:00
• 800 #2: 3:05
• 800 #3: 3:10
• 800 #4: 3:06

Grade: A-. Again, another after work day workout.  Arrived at the track about 6:30pm.  Since I drove the car this time, I was not warmed up.  So, I took a bit and completed about a mile and a half walk/easy run warm up.  Thunderstorms earlier in the day had knocked the temperature down to about 83, but it was very muggy.  Went out too fast on #1, as usual, as I was getting my feel for pace.  Eased up too much on #3 at the end, and just missed the 3:08 target.  Overall, good solid workout.

Run workout #2. Wednesday

Run #2 called for a seven mile run: one easy mile warm up, then five miles at a 7:49 pace, then one mile easy cool down. Last week I said this was the run I was most worried out.  When Wednesday night rolled around, I was pretty tired and not really interested in running hard.  I knew I had to suck it up, though, and give it 100%.   Told you this plan would be as taxing mentally as physically. I walked about a mile before I started my easy mile 1 run.  Here are the results:

• Mile 1: 9:24
• Mile 2: 7:36
• Mile 3: 7:44
• Mile 4: 7:47
• Mile 5: 7:32
• Mile 6: 7:36
• Mile 7: 9:36

Grade: A. As you can see, miles two through six were faster than target. Again, I befitted from afternoon thunderstorms in the area that cooled the temperature to about 82 degrees.  I was very happy with this.

Run Workout #3. Friday

The last run for the week called for 15 miles at an 8:34/mile pace. I had more confidence in my ability for this pace and distance after last weeks successful 13 miler.  However, some poor planning on my part had me scheduled for a doctor’s appointment at 8:30am.  I could have waited until Saturday, but I wanted to go on a group bike ride then.  So, it was up at zero dark thirty again to beat the heat.

Walking out the door on Friday morning, I knew I was in for a challenge.  It wasn’t terribly hot at 75 degrees, but heavy rain the night before had left a muggy morning.  Can humidity be 110%?  Technically, no, but it sure felt like it.

Though the workout called for an 8:34/mile pace, I wanted to hit about 8:30.  After ten miles, I was right on track, and my son joined me at the entrance to our neighborhood as a I passed.  The plan was for him to pace me the last five miles.  We made it about three, then my wheels came off.  I started having some serious stomach troubles and slowed considerably.  Despite my last two mile splits being 8:52 and 9:02, I made the goal and finished in 2:08:27,  an 8:32/mile pace.

Grade: A

Week Two Summary

A good solid week, probably thanks to cooler than usual weather this summer.  I feel like I’m still on track.  The body feels pretty good, and I’m not sensing any early signs of  trouble.

I didn’t expect the troubles on the long run, but it was a good learning experience.  I was using electrolyte tablets in my water that I’ve used in the past without trouble, so I’m not going to blame them 100% for my stomach problems.  However, I will likely go back to plain water and sodium tablets for this week’s long run.  I consumed 48 ounces of fluid on that long run and still lost over four pounds.

Up Next

Here’s what is in store for week three:

Run #1: Track work. 1200m in 4:47, 1000m in 3:56, 800m in 3:08, 600m in 2:20, 400m in 1:32 with 200m rest intervals between each distance. Yuck.  Too much to keep up with!
Run #2: 1 mile easy, 5 miles @ 7:34/mile, 1 mile easy
Run #3: 17 miles @ 8:34/mile

Cross Training: Swim  of 20 x (kick  one length, rest 20 sec)

Runs #2 and 3 worry me this week.  Not only is the intensity stepping up, I am finding that I am more tired later in the week.  My long run is going to have to be on Saturday this week, so I may take Friday off from any cross training.  The temperature forecast right now looks OK, too, but it is August in central South Carolina, so we should have plenty of humidity.

Stay tuned and POFIFOTO!

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Week1: BQ Training with Run Less Run Faster

Jul 28, 2013 by Greg Fowler

As promised in last week’s post, Madness and Methods, here is my scorecard for week one of marathon training.

In case you missed last week’s post, here’s the basic background:  I am using the training methods described in the book Run Less Run Faster to train for the 2013 Outer Banks Marathon on November 10.  Despite not quite meeting the authors’ suggested speed for a baseline, I am attempting to train for the Boston Qualifier time for my age group and break 3:25:00.  In this program, each week I will attempt three runs at the prescribed lengths and paces and complete at least 2 cross training workouts.

In the book, the authors actually refer to week one as week  sixteen, since we are sixteen weeks out from race day.  I will reverse the sequence, though, and call it week one.  Here’s how I did.  I’ll grade cross training on a pass/fail and I’ll give the run workouts a letter grade.

Cross Training. Tuesday and Thursday

Successfully completed two swim workouts.  This week’s swims called for doing 20 lengths of the pool with a kick board and resting thirty seconds between each length.  I also added an easy (low heart rate) 18 mile bike ride on Sunday to shake out Friday’s hard run.  Grade: Pass

Run workout #1. Monday

This called for 3 x 1600m at 6:31/mile with a 400m rest interval.    I did this at the local high school track.  You probably know 1600m is four laps around the track (1 mile). So do this three times, with a one lap break in between the sets. Results:

• Mile 1: 6:13
• Mile 2: 6:35
• Mile 3: 6:40

Grade: B+ .  Started after work at almost 7pm. Temperature was close to 90 degrees and muggy.  Not terrible for South Carolina in July, though.  I did take an Accel Gel at the house, then rode my bike very easy to the high school for my warm up – almost 5 miles taking about 22 minutes.  I went way too fast on the first mile (don’t recall ever running a mile that fast), which cost me on the third.  The last 1/2 mile really hurt.  Need to be more consistent on the splits.  Tough to do on the track, though.  For cool down, I rode my bike back home.

Run workout #2. Wednesday

Run #2 called for a six mile run: two easy miles warming up, then two miles at a 7:03 pace, then two miles easy cool down. Results:

• Mile 1: 10:07
• Mile 2: 9:04
• Mile 3: 6:56
• Mile 4: 6:55
• Mile 5: 9:45
• Mile 6: 9:37

Grade: A.  As you can see, miles 3 and 4 were faster than target.  Afternoon thunderstorms in the area cooled the temperature to about 82 degrees.

Run Workout #3. Friday

The last run for the week called for 13 miles at an 8:19/mile pace.  Can’t say that I was too optimistic about this one. I was tired, and, unfortunately, Friday morning at 6am was the only time I was going to have to run in the coolest weather.  So at 5:55am Friday, I hit the road.  At this time of morning, it was still pretty dark, so I stayed in the safer roads of my neighborhood for the first few miles.  This meant some bigger hills than I’d like, but  I just looked at it as an opportunity for a negative split.  Sure enough, I had a really great second half of my run and completed it in 1:47:29, an 8:14/mile pace. Surprised myself on this one.

Grade: A

Week One Summary

Overall, week one went very well, and I’m off to a good start.  Physically,  I have some muscles talking that haven’t spoken up for a while, but I feel pretty good. If week one is any indication, though, this is going to be as tough mentally as physically.  Work, family schedules, and weather all add to the stress of hitting the workouts.

In addition to the workouts, I worked hard on hydration, drinking plenty of water each day and cutting back my soft drink and intake significantly.  I’m working on eating better, too, but that’s pretty tough.  I did manage to cut out my morning drive-thru hash browns.  Baby steps, I guess.  I’ve also made sure to ice down my troublesome left foot in the evenings after runs, even if it feels fine.

Up Next

Here’s what is in store for week two:

Run #1:4x800m in 3:08 (2 minute rest interval)
Run #2: 1 mile easy, 5 @ 7:49, 1 mile easy
Run #3:15 miles @ 8:34/mile
Cross training swims: 12 x (swim 1 length, rest 15, kick 1, rest 20)

Run #2 worries me the most this week.

Stay tuned and POFIFOTO!

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Madness and Methods

Jul 21, 2013 by Greg Fowler

If you wake up and don’t want to smile,
If it takes just a little while,
Open your eyes and look at the day,
You’ll see things in a different way.

Don’t stop, thinking about tomorrow,
Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here,
It’ll be, better than before,
Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone.

–Don’t Stop, Fleetwood Mac

It wasn’t long after my disappointing second half collapse in the 2013 Columbia Marathon, that I told my friend and training partner, Craig, that I was going to shoot for a Boston Marathon qualifying time (BQ) in my next marathon.  “You mean you haven’t been?” he replied.  Ha, ha.  Amateur night is Thursday down at the comedy club, my friend.

He was right, though.  I hadn’t been holding anything back in my marathon efforts.  However, my best wasn’t good enough.  As a matter of fact, it was not even been close.

If you don’t know, to run the  Boston marathon, you must qualify in your age group by beating a certain time in a certified marathon.  This year, I moved up an age group, shaving 10 minutes off my time needed just by getting older.  Still, the time to beat for my 45-49 age group is 3:25:00.  That’s three hours twenty-five minutes, a 7:49/mile pace.

How far away am I?  My best marathon so far was 3:47:40 at Myrtle Beach in 2011.  So, my best is twenty-two minutes short of where I need to be, about 40 seconds per mile too slow.  That may not sound like much, but over the course of 26.2 miles, it is.

How do I plan to do this? I am returning to the “method” or training plan/philosophy I used in that best time at Myrtle Beach in 2011.  For the next 16 weeks, I will be following the Run Less Run Faster (RLRF) plan for beating 3:25:00.  The authors of RLRF say 3:25:00 is realistic if your 5K time is 21:06 or better.  My best recently was 21:26. That puts me a bit short but I’m just dumb enough to try.

During the week, I will do three quality runs.  The first will be a speed work session at the track.  The second will be a tempo run, slightly slower and usually longer than the speed work.  The final will be a long run, ranging from 13-20 miles. The workouts are a bit more intense than I have done in a while.  I will have a tough time meeting the run workouts, especially in the summer heat.  That’s part of the plan, too, though.  Suffer in the heat, and hope a November race is nice and cool.  That is much better than training in the cold and having an unusually warm race.

How does one run less and yet run faster?   By substituting “junk” mile recovery runs with cross training that works the aerobic system while resting the legs.  My cross training will consist of swim and cycling workouts, and I will do these between run days, not running two days in a row.  When I first attempted to follow this plan in 2011, I did no swimming, and my cycling was done on a low end exercise bike I bought for the house.  This time, I have access to a gym pool, and I plan on doing mostly swim cross training.  I also have a road bicycle now, so I may add an additional sixth workout on days after my long run, an easy recovery bike ride.

So, can I accomplish 3:24:59 or better?  We’ll see. Another source, The Runner’s World race predictor calculator, says I can do 3:25:34 with a 5K time of 21:26.  Should be interesting.

Final Puzzle Piece

In addition to following a more structured plan again, I have one other strategy for this race.   Since my last three road marathons were fairly hilly courses, I plan to return to the coast for this effort.   I have signed up for the Outer Banks Marathon in North Carolina on November 10, 2013.  Apparently there is only one hill, a bridge about the 23 mile mark.

That’s it for now.  Each week leading up to the marathon, I will post my scorecard for the week.  In the scorecard, I will list what the workouts were and how close I came to completing them in the appropriate time.

POFIFOTO!

 

 

 

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Motivation: Past and Present

Jul 16, 2013 by Greg Fowler

But it’s alright with me now
I’ll get back up somehow
And with a little luck, I’m bound to win
I’ll fall in love, I’ll fall in love again

–I’ll Fall in Love Again, Sammy Hagar

In summer 1983, a young man moved to my town.  Let’s call him Jack.  Like most kids moving to a new town, Jack made new friends.  Being tall, blonde, and athletic, this wasn’t hard for Jack.

Problem was, unbeknownst to me,  Jack became really good “friends” with my girlfriend.   I was soon history.  Word traveled much slower back then in the prehistoric land line phone days, but eventually word got back to me there was a new kid in town that contributed to my demise.

So, school started back, and there they were, roaming the halls together, Jack, the football player, and my ex, the cheerleader.  They sure made a cute couple, at least to everyone but me.  One day word came that Jack was going to try out for basketball.  Word on the street was that he was pretty good. Might even vie for a starting spot. Well, guess who’s territory that was.  That’s right.  Mine.

To say I was looking forward to tryouts was an understatement. I had a new motivation and focus.  Poor guy showed up never had a chance.  There may have been more flagrant fouling than usual, but that’s could just be called aggressive defense.  I don’t remember for sure, and YouTube didn’t exist, so there’s no evidence. Jack did make the team, but he didn’t take my starting spot.  We are actually friends today, thanks to teammate bond trumping other issues.

So, that was my motivation all those years ago – girls, jealousy, pride, revenge.  Looks like there should be a sermon in there somewhere.

Has much changed since then?  I hope so.  I do get slightly motivated by girls, though, but that’s just when trying to speed up as I’m getting passed by one!  These days, I’m motivated by a few different things.

First is health.  I took up running in late 2008 because I was out of shape and the job was about to get stressful.  Running really helped me survive 2009.  I lost weight and became fit.  It was a big challenge to learn the fine line between being fit versus constantly injured, but I think I found that. I’ve not really mentioned it here before, but 2012 made 2009 look like a walk in the park.  Running helped get me through that as well.

Second is continuous improvement.  I took up running later in life.  I’m not an ex-high school cross county star coming back after twenty years.  So, I believe my best running days are still to come, and I suppose I’m on a quest to find out my limits.

So, how can you, dear reader, fall in love again (or maybe for the first time) with running?  Here are some tips:

• Find a running/workout buddy.  Call this an accountability partner.  You don’t have to do all your runs or workouts together, but it really helps to check on each other’s progress and provide encouragement.
• Go run somewhere new. Are you primarily a road runner?  Then go find a trail.  Like the trails?  Then go find a new one.
• Enter a race.  Go ahead and pay for a 5K one month from now and start training today.  If you haven’t run in a while, don’t be concerned about time, just plan on finishing.
• Don’t think racing is for you?  Volunteer to help at a race.  You may be surprised at the people out there and say “Hey, I can do that, too.”
• Finally, set a stretch goal and let others know it.  This is what I’ve done.  And here it is: Beat 3:25:00 in my next marathon, which will qualify me for the Boston Marathon.  That’s quite a step up from my previous marathons. I’ll reveal more on this goal in my next post.

Until then, POFIFOTO!

 

 

 

 

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Race Report: Hewitt 5K aka Blind Squirrel

Jul 2, 2013 by Greg Fowler

The Cause

Normally, my spring running seasons ends with the Jailbreak 5K over Memorial Day weekend.  After that, the warmer weather and higher humidity do a number on my already mediocre speed, and the number of events to choose from drops dramatically.  This year, I decided to make an exception.

A new race popped up, and it was for a very worthy cause.  The Hewitt 5K was held on Saturday June 29th at Chapin’s Crooked Creek Park.  The race was to help raise money for a pavilion at Chapin Baptist Church that is being built in memory of Parker and Haley Hewitt, two children who lost their lives in a car accident four years ago.  Sounded like a great reason for me to put myself through the pain of a possible hot and humid 5K.

The Race

So, on Saturday morning, I set out to Crooked Creek Park.  In an un-Greg like move, I decided not to research the course route beforehand.  I knew some high school cross country meets were held at the park, so   I suspected the course might have some off payment sections.  I arrived in plenty of time to get my packet and warm up.  The good news was the sky was overcast and it was a bit breezy.  Bad news was the typical South Carolina summer morning humidity was there. Oh, well.  This was still better than I expected.

I could see the finish line was setup in the middle of a soccer field.  So,  the off pavement suspicion was confirmed.  During my warm up, I also discovered some white arrows on the pavement and decided to follow them.  They took me down winding paved trails.  I suspected this was part of the course.  I  followed them far enough to encounter some short steep hills and turned around to head back to the start area. During my two miles of easy warm up, I didn’t have any trouble working up a sweat.  I was ready to go.

So, there I was at the start.  A month had passed since my last race, also a 5K, and even a PR.  I’d been training hard, and really wanted to improve on that PR, but I knew that would be tough this morning.  I felt twenty-two minutes would be a victory given the humidity and course.

I’ll try not to bore you with too many details.  Here’s how it went.  I went out pretty fast with the lead pack.  After a half mile or so, we hit those paved trails I had found in warm up, and I couldn’t keep with the lead group.  I found myself in no man’s land, running by myself.  A few minutes later, my watch beeped for the first mile split and it said 7:12.  That seemed too slow based on that start.

Unfortunately, my brain cannot turn off the number crunching, and immediately I knew that I’d need to run 6:30 mile splits the remainder of the way to get a PR, if my watch was indeed correct.  About then, I hit that first short step hill.  It felt like someone put the brakes on me. Then there were some more rolling hills.  With no one close behind me, I just decided to try to keep a steady pace.

About the half way point, we looped around a couple of baseball fields.  Here, I could glimpse behind me and saw a guy less than 100 yards back.  He looked like a possible age group threat.  My number one goal now  became to not let him pass me.   I was fading, and I hoped he would, too.  Eventually, we emerged from the paved trails and headed back into entrance to the soccer field.  My watch said 19:00, and I could see the finish line.

Unfortunately, we still had to loop back to the far side of the field and back.  The guy behind me was now very close.  I was fading faster than he was.  We rounded the last corner and a spectator yelled ‘He’s gaining on you!’ I don’t know if he was lying or not, but I did my best to pick up my pace and held him off, managing a 22:13.

Turns out he wasn’t in my age group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blind Squirrel Finds an Acorn

If you aren’t aware, most races have an overall winner then  break up the field into age groups, usually in 5 year increments.  This gives us regulars a chance to compete.  Five years ago, in my first 5K, I actually won first place in the mail 40-44 year-old group.  I didn’t really know what fast was in a 5K back then, and I thought my 23:30 something was not bad, until they announced the overall winner .  He was my age, but ran the race in under 16 minutes.    Oh.

Over the past 5 years, I had not placed first in my age group again.  I did manage a third that first summer, but since summer of 2009, I’ve been shutout.  Until now.  My 22:13 was good enough for 1st place in the male 45-49 group and 12th overall.  As a bonus, they didn’t give out medals, but instead gave sugar cookies with the race logo in icing.  Much better than a medal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh yeah, Heather Hunt finished first at 18:37.  Pretty darn impressive for a 38 year old, I think. For the complete results click here: http://www.strictlyrunning.com/results/13hewitt.txt.

POFIFOTO!

 

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Fool In The Rain

Jun 9, 2013 by Greg Fowler

 I’ll run in the rain till I’m breathless
When I’m breathless I’ll run till I drop, hey
The thoughts of a fool’s kind of careless
I’m just a fool waiting on the wrong block, oh yeah
– Fool In The Rain, Led Zepplin

As the remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea moved through South Carolina the other day, my son and I headed out for a run in the rain.  What a difference a few years can make.

Flashback: February 2009

The day before my first race, the weatherman delivered good news and bad news.  The good news?  The late February race had a forecast of pretty warm weather for that time of year, in the fifties.  The bad news?  The warm weather was bringing an almost 100% chance of rain for the race start.   Having just started running over the previous eight weeks, I had become fairly adjusted to running in the winter cold.  However, I was totally unprepared for running in the rain. So, here it was, the day before, and I was frantically searching Google for ways to deal with rain.

The next day, the weatherman actually got it right.  It did pour down rain, and I had my first run in the pouring rain.  Not only was I now hooked on running, I was hard core.

So why should you run in the rain? 

Here are a few reasons:

1. They rarely cancel races for rain.  If you haven’t run in the rain, how do you know if you’re prepared for a race in the rain?

2. It makes you tougher mentally.  A few weeks before my last marathon, I was scheduled to run my final long run.   The only window of opportunity I had for the weekend run was 8:00-11:00 Saturday morning.   Unfortunately, it was 40 degrees and raining hard.  I went anyway.   After 3 hours and 18 miles, I was soaked and nunb from the cold, but I was ready for the marathon.

3. It is fun and makes the neighbors shake their heads. It might even make you feel like a kid again.

 

Here are some tips for dealing with the rain as a runner:

1.  Use BodyGlide on your feet.  Remember that frantic search of Google I mentioned earlier?  BodyGlide was the discovery that day.  I works well in many other places, too, not just feet in the rain.

2. Experiment with socks. I feel thin are best. Injinji toe socks are my favorite. That 3 hour rain soaked run I mentioned earlier?  Injinis.  No blisters.  Amazing.

3. Try trail running in the rain.  If the trails are wooded enough and the rain is on the light side, the trees may keep a lot of the rain off.

4. Check radar, if possible, and don’t run in a thunderstorm. I hope this is self-explanatory.

5. If you choose to run with storms in the area, take a phone with you.  I misjudged radar speed last summer and was caught a few miles from home in a lightning storm and had to call in the home rescue squad to come pick me up.  (On the bright side, I had an impressive speed workout on the way to meet the car!)

6. Make a poncho. On race day, warming up in the rain is not fun.  Make a poncho out of a trash bag and toss it aside right before the start.

7.  Another race day warm up tip: If the parking logistics work for you,  warm up using a backup pair of shoes, then change socks and shoes as close to race start as possible.

I hope I have convinced you to at least try running in the rain.

POFIFOTO!

 

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