Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘training’ Category

The View

Posted in motivation, Physics, training, tagged , , , , , on April 1, 2011| 6 Comments »

No, not that View

[tweetmeme source=”luau” only_single=false http://www.URL.com]

When I first met my wife, one of the things she talked a lot about was long-term gain versus short-term gain.  It was a philosophy of hers that applied not just to the financial aspects of her life but to life in general.

The long and short of it is that most of the time, the value of long-term gains almost always outweigh that of the short-term.  Generally speaking, if you sacrifice the long-term for the short-term, in all likelihood you’ll end up paying for it later, usually negating any gains made in the short-term.

It’s not an easy philosophy to stick to.  In this day and age of immediate gratification, we, as a society seem to have lost our ability to see down the road any further than our next meal, paycheck, trip to the mall.  It’s easy to give into the flash and dazzle of getting it/doing it/buying it/watching it/eating it now, forgetting that a few hours later, that sensation will, at best, be a dull, forgettable feeling, and, at worst, a feeling of regret and, at times, literal pain.  But memory can be short.

The long-view is hard.  Patience is hard.  It can be full of doubt and even despair.

And that is part of the reason why it is so rewarding.

Marathon training has taught me that.

***

After a long day of work or a night with too little sleep, most of us just want a little decompression time.  A little “me” time.  Time to veg, turn our brains off and put ourselves back together.

For many of us, that “me” time is usually spent in front of a screen, our mouths full of scooby-snacks.

I want to redefine what “me” time, or “veg” time is.

***

For me, whether it’s morning, noon or night, when it’s time to run, there is always, ALWAYS an internal struggle:

  • Do I run or go back to bed?
  • Do I run or do I chill out on the couch?
  • Do I run or go to bed at a decent hour?

Sometimes the balance leans toward the run, others it leans towards potatoing.  I’ve reached the point, however, where I know I will be much happier in the long run if I go for the run.  Choosing the bed or the couch may feel good in the here and now, but eventually I get restless, antsy, and sometimes downright grumpy.

Most people view running as an exertion, a time where you spend energy instead of re-charging, and on the surface they are right.  You can’t argue with physics (not in this universe anyway), and the laws of physics clearly state that to move an object you must use energy.  Even if you are able to overcome the inertial gravity of the couch or bed and get yourself in motion, you’re still fighting air resistance and gravity.

It takes work to run.

But sometimes, on a meta-physical level, 1 – 1 ≠ 0; sometimes 1 – 1 = 2. And that’s where running as the new “vegging out” time comes into play.  After a good run, I can be physically spent, but my mind is refreshed and alert.  A good run can wash away the imaginary burdens of the day and help you work through the real ones.  The blood coursing through your body and the endorphins firing off in your brain allows your mind to work on problems in the background while your consciousness only has to work on the simple task of putting one leg in front of the other.

You can get some of the same effects from sleep (and believe me, sleep is an integral part of overall health – a topic for another time), but you certainly cannot get them from potatoing on the couch with a bag full of Cheetos.

At the end of the run you get the added bonus of knowing you improved your health just a little more, buying yourself another day, another week, another month with your family on our little planet.

In the end, is waiting an hour for the satisfaction of a good run that much longer to wait that plopping yourself on the couch?  One of the benefits of marathon running has been a new ability to mentally speed up or slow down an hour depending on the situation.  Besides, the couch will still be there at the end of the day.  If you run first, you’ll smile knowing you got to take advantage of the best of both worlds.

Then you can curl up on the couch and watch a little trashy TV, you know, like the View!

Bookmark and Share

Why do you run?

Read Full Post »

Bounce

Posted in boston marathon, rest, training, tagged , , on March 31, 2011| 8 Comments »

[tweetmeme source=”luau” only_single=false http://www.URL.com]

Do you feel that?

That almost rhythmic bounce? A rapid, nervous hammering?

Do you feel it?

Do you know what it is?

It baffles scientists every year around this time.  It’s in the air, it’s in the ground, it’s in the pit of our stomachs.

I finally figured out what is causing it.

It’s the up-and-down movement of over 27,000 knees as runners preparing for the Boston Marathon enter their taper*.

***

Despite this being my 6th marathon in 18 months, I can already tell this taper is going to be the hardest yet.  I’ve trained harder and run longer than any other training cycle – I just want Boston to get here.

What do you do to deal with the taper?

*For the uninitiated – the taper is the last 2 – 3 weeks of training for a marathon.  During this time, runners reduce their weekly miles somewhat dramatically, leading to what many call Taper Madness – an overflow of nervous energy where runner don’t know what to do with themselves and often get a little grumpy.

Bookmark and Share

Why do you run?

Read Full Post »

Chicken or Egg

Posted in motivation, training, tagged , , , , on March 29, 2011| 9 Comments »

[tweetmeme source=”luau” only_single=false http://www.URL.com]

Over 15 weeks down, less than 3 weeks to go.  I’ve been diligent. I’ve stuck to the program.  Whatever Pfitz has told me to do, I’ve pretty much done it.

And you know what?  I feel pretty good.  Over 700 miles into this training cycle and I’m feeling pretty damned good.  Not that I was expecting not to, but after logging more miles in the last 4 month than I ever have in any given 4 month stretch, I wasn’t completely sure that my body was going to hold up.  But, knock on wood, it has.

I love my training.  I love training for the marathon.

But I wonder, am I training for the marathon or am I running the marathon for the training?

***

I started running two and a half years ago in support of my wife.  She had signed up for the Hyannis Half-Marathon, and  I just couldn’t let her run it alone.  I had never run more than 4 or 5 miles at a time and I knew that 13.1 miles was going to be a long distance (especially in the middle of the winter on the Cape).

In this particular case I was training for the event.  I knew that I needed to get in shape to be able to complete that distance.  Despite not having a plan, I quickly went from running “0” miles per week to 30.  With the half-marathon on the horizon, I kept pushing my distance just little bit with each subsequent run until I finally hit the 10 mile mark in a single run.

That’s when something clicked and I went from being someone who ran every now and then to a runner.

Though someday I would like to, I never did end up running the Hyannis Half.  What I did take away from that stretch of time though was having a goal race on the calendar helped keep me motivated to get up and run every day.  A few weeks before Hyannis, I ran my first 10K.  A few months later I finally ran my first half-marathon.  I immediately set my sites on a full and signed up for a fall marathon.  The following year, 2010, was filled with almost a race per month.  With each of these races I found motivation to keep putting in miles even when neither my body nor my mind wanted to.

As exhausting as the training could be, my soul was happy…full.

My training reached a high point last summer when I became hyper-focused on doing well at the Inaugural Smuttynose Marathon in New Hampshire.  It was BQ or bust.

Even though my ultimate goal was to run a BQ at Smutty, I look back and wonder, was I training for the marathon? or had I signed up for the marathon so I would train hard?

In the end, it doesn’t really matter, right?  The end result is the same.  Whether you sign up for an event as motivation or are motivated to do well at an event, the goal is to do the best you can.

This winter I’m back at it.  Training with a vengeance – looking to improve on my time at Boston.  Still, I’m not sure whether it’s the goal or the training that’s driving me.

Do you train for marathons? Or do you run marathons for the training?

Bookmark and Share

Why do you run?

Read Full Post »

Hamlet

Posted in boston marathon, training, tagged , , , , , on March 28, 2011| 11 Comments »

[tweetmeme source=”luau” only_single=false http://www.URL.com]

To GU or not to GU, that is the question…
Whether ’tis nobler to hit the wall
or take on possible stomach issues

That is the thought that ran through my mind for nearly 13 miles of my run on Sunday.  I have been a little gun-shy of  ingesting anything other than liquid refreshment during my runs since my stomach disaster in New York back in November.  That experience, though mildly triumphant, was physical misery.

I knew I was going to have to make a few adjustments for Boston.

The first adjustment I made coming out of New York was to give in to Gatorade. It was not my preference, but I knew that if I didn’t want to carry anything (i.e. a water bottle) at Boston, that meant I would have to take what they were serving.  That transition went easily enough.  I have to say, as much as it pains me to admit it,  I have grown to actually like  Gatorade.

But how many calories am I really going to be able to replace with a sip or two of Gatorade every mile?  Sure, I’ll be fine with the hydration aspect of the race, but if I don’t replace the carbs at a higher rate (8oz. of Gatorade has only 50 calories), it will be sooner rather than later that I hit the wall.

And yet, I put off incorporating any kind of gel or gu or semi-solid substance into my long runs.

I have been training hard this cycle.  I’ve seen improvement and am feeling confident.  Unfortunately, that confidence has been feeding into pushing off my GU dilemma.  With each successive long run, I was finding that I was running faster, drinking less and feeling better and less fatigued at the end of each.  I tried to convince myself that maybe I could just run Boston without any help.  All of my runs of 17 – 20 miles have me ahead of pace, and for almost all of them, I’ve felt strong at the end.  In one recent 18 miler, I drank a total of maybe 3 or 4 oz of Gatorade and that was it – and I felt great at the end.

I almost convinced myself.  Almost.

What happens if I hit the wall at 23 or 24 or 25? Once you hit the wall, you’re done.  Oh, you can still finish the race (see my marathon debut), but if you truly hit the Wall, it’s a death march the rest of the way, even if you do take something afterward.  After the Wall, you aren’t gonna hit your target time.

And that thought haunts me.

How pissed would I be if I were cruising along to a 3:15, or dare I say it, a 3:10, and my body ran out of fuel somewhere in the last 10K?

So yesterday, with just over 3 weeks to go, I decided I would suck it up and re-introduce GU into my running.

Truth be told, I almost left them in the car, for fear of getting stomach cramps 10 miles away, but I thought better of it.

Now it became a question of when.  Most gel-makers recommend taking one 15 minutes before race time and then once every 45-60 minutes thereafter.

***

I didn’t take one before my run.

***

When I hit 6 miles 45 minutes later, I didn’t take one.

***

When I hit 12 miles at 1:32 I still didn’t take one.  I kept thinking, what if I get nauseous?

***

I realized that New York was playing with my mind.

I just had to do it.

So at mile 13, a full 1:39 after starting my run, I finally downed a Lemon-Lime GU.

And you know what?  It wasn’t so bad – I’ll just have to make sure that I time it with a hydration station during the actual race – and maybe the GU had something to do with being able to rip off a 6 minute mile for mile 20.

So now I have to figure out just how many GU’s I will need.  I’m leaning toward only bringing 2 with me – one for mile 10, and one for mile 20.

Any words of advice?

Bookmark and Share

Why do you run?

Read Full Post »

Predawn

Posted in other, training, tagged , on March 25, 2011| 19 Comments »

In the dark
Alone

Emptiness
Subsides

Energy
Restores

Soul
Renews

Before
Sunrise

I will walk tall
Another day

Because I run
Predawn

[tweetmeme source=”luau” only_single=false http://www.URL.com]

Bookmark and Share

Why do you run?

Read Full Post »

Brad Pitt

Posted in boston marathon, Odd Ball, other, training, tagged , , , on March 23, 2011| 17 Comments »

[tweetmeme source=”luau” only_single=false http://www.URL.com]

It’s less than 4 weeks away. It looms larger and larger with each passing day. The Boston Marathon will be here before we know it, and to be honest, I’m starting to get the butterflies.

But I’ve been training hard. Once or twice a week I’ve taken to running parts of the Boston Marathon course. The hills coming into Newton, especially after 17 miles, can be brutal whether in the race or on a training run. But I’ve stuck to what I said back in November – I have been trying to live by the mantra – Train for the Terrain. Hills have been part of my training.

What the hell does this have to do with Brad Pitt?

I want you to look at something:

What do you see?

Yes, yes, it’s Brad Pitt. Yes, it’s Brad Pitt with his past girlfriends. But take a closer look. In each of these pictures, you will see that Pitt has adapted himself to take on the look of his main squeeze of the moment.

Uh, right Luau. Been reading a little too much US Magazine lately? What the frak does this have to do with running and the Boston Marathon???

Well, it has less to do with the Boston Marathon specifically and more to do with Marathon Training in general, as in training for the terrain – adapting to the current situation. My hope is that I have managed to “Brad Pitt” my training and will be perfectly matched up for Boston – downhills early, uphills late, more downhill near the end.

My stated goal at the beginning of the cycle was 3:15 or better. That still remains the goal, though I’m gonna take a long, hard look at 3:10.

How’s your Spring Marathon training going? Have you Brad Pitted it? I wonder if you can work the verb “Brad Pitt” into a conversation today?

I guess the burning question now is – Is the Boston Marathon Juliette, Gwyneth, Jennifer or Angelina?

Bookmark and Share

Why do you run?

Read Full Post »

Fire

Posted in motivation, training, tagged , , on March 11, 2011| 7 Comments »

[tweetmeme source=”luau” only_single=false http://www.URL.com]

I love running.

I believe in running.

I preach running.

You know this.  Anybody who spends more than 15 minutes with me knows this.

If there is a problem, running either IS or can lead you to the solution.

I definitely have a passion for running, a burning fire.

It is…consuming.

So I get a little frustrated when people don’t get it.  It’s hard to me to understand how people do not understand that running (and when I say running I mean any sweat-producing exercise) can make them feel better, be better.  I get even more frustrated when people get it, but don’t do anything about it. 

How can you not be taking care of yourself?  How can you do this to yourself?

Like I said, I get frustrated.

But then I remember – I didn’t start running until I was almost 39.  It was just over two years ago that I started running regularly.

And I knew long before!  I knew the benefits of regular exercise and what it could do for me.  But I didn’t.

I didn’t.

And that is what I tell myself when I see friends and family placing health low on their priority lists.

The fire will come. Hopefully.  Or maybe it won’t.

I hope it does.

I do.

I can stoke it for you temporarily, but in the end, the fuel must come from within.  The fire has to burn from within.

Burn.

Bookmark and Share

Why do you run?

Read Full Post »

The Seed

Posted in motivation, training, tagged , , , on March 10, 2011| 11 Comments »

[tweetmeme source=”luau” only_single=false http://www.URL.com]

Being the parent of a child with autism has taught me that success breeds success.

One of the therapies many children like Brooke receive is called ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis). In the simplest layman’s terms, an instructor teaches a child how to do a task by breaking the task down to its most rudimentary components. What you and I take for granted as one, single task, is often a lot more complicated than you think. Even simple games like memory or putting toothpaste on a toothbrush have to be taught step by step, each step building on the previous one. The key is providing a child like Brooke an opportunity to succeed with each step before moving on to the next one. When done properly, children like Brooke can succeed, even thrive, in their environment. The downside is that if done improperly or without caution, a child like Brooke can fail miserably at the task and refuse to go forward or learn the wrong way to do the task, leading to further frustration down the line. Once something is learned for these very rule-based children, it is extremely difficult to un-learn it.

The same can be said about running.

Confidence and belief start small. At birth, just like us, they come in many different forms (loud, quiet), but early on, they are fragile, easily shattered. That confidence, that belief, has to be cultivated, nurtured, cared for.

I have seen many people declare that they are going to start running – it will be part of their new exercise regimen, and this time dammit they’re gonna stick to it.

Three weeks later they haven’t run in a week and a half. The excuses will be there (-oh, I’ve been crazy busy. -oh, I just haven’t been feeling well. -oh, I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately) and I will do my best not to roll my eyes.

Now you may think that I’m being a little harsh with the eye-rolling. Let’s get this straight right now before the comments start flying – I am NOT rolling my eyes at the person. I am rolling my eyes at the way the person went about this new regimen. I am rolling my eyes because I went through the exact same thing – I did not respect running.

I was an on again, off again runner for a long time. My “on’s” would last about a week. My “off’s” would last about a year. Every time I would start again, I would do the exact same thing as the time before. I would put on an old pair of sneakers, I would run 4 or 5 miles and then I would be in pain. The learned experience (the bad form, the lack of pacing) from the first time I went running as an adult (if you could call me that at 22) stuck with me, not as a learning experience, but as one that got repeated over an over again.

I thought I could just go out there and run. It’s just running, right? And to a degree that is true. However, if you aren’t athletically gifted (which despite what the wife says, I am not), your body can do some really weird things the first couple of times you go out there. Fortunately for me, out of complete dumb luck, this last time around I accidentally did things the right way. I started with low mileage (2-3 miles per run, 3 times per week) and built up from there. True, I probably built up too quickly over the course of the following few weeks, but the point is, I started slowly and let my body experience “success” at running before moving up to the next level.

Now some people may feel uncomfortable with this “babying” of oneself to breed success, but I draw a line of distinction from the “everybody wins-nobody loses” philosophy in that running is not primarily about competition. Yes, I run races. YES, I get competitive with those of equal ability. But running to me is about feeling good. It’s about that rush of blood coursing through my body, my focused energy, or chi as those who follow Chinese martial arts will know it. It’s about the endorphins carrying me through the day with a smile on my face. These are the fruits one harvests by taking care of the seed when one starts running.

That’s the thing though – you have to take care of the seed early. Pay attention and listen to your body. The best thing I did early on in my latest attempt at running was pay attention to my form. I am still a work-in-progress. My form is far from perfect. I still strike with my heel. I still bounce up and down when I run. However, I do both to a much lesser degree than I once did. As my form gets better and more efficient, the nagging aches and pains diminish. I haven’t had a serious injury in quite a while.

I find that I am enjoying my runs more and more, despite the fact that they are getting longer , harder and faster. Just when my body should be feeling like it’s taking a beating, it feels great…

…all because, I took care of the seed.

Bookmark and Share

Why do you run?

Read Full Post »

Miserable

Posted in boston marathon, training, tagged , , , , on March 3, 2011| 14 Comments »

[tweetmeme source=”luau” only_single=false http://www.URL.com]

I sat in my car, staring down the road in front of me.   It was 6AM, the snow had been coming down for hours.  The ground was covered in an inch or two of wet, wet snow.

Do I really want to do this?

I was staring down the starting end of a 20-mile run.  20 miles.  20 miles is a tough run under great conditions, much less snowy ones that were quickly turning worse.

Maybe the treadmill would have been a better idea.

The thing was, the treadmill wasn’t an option.  I had made arrangements to meet my buddy Doug at mile 13 at 8AM. We were running a portion of the Boston Marathon course.

Why did I do that!?!?

My last 7 miles were going to be the first 7 miles of his own 16 mile run.

The minutes ticked by.  6:10 snuck up on me.

Sigh…

It was time to go.  My plan was to run slowly.  The weather and the road condition, snowy with the added bonus of slush, were not conducive for a quick paced trek.  Traction was not high.  I started in the high 8’s/low 9’s.  At just about the mile marker, I stepped off a curb into about 3 or 4 inches of slush.

Great!!!

Water rushed into my shoe.  I love my Kinvaras because they are so well ventilated.  Great for hot, summer days; not so great for slushy conditions.  I laughed.  What else could I do?  I trudged on, trying to keep my feet under me.  As I hit my first hill, I could feel my feet slipping beneath me.  Each stride was not only a battle of getting up the hill, but of making sure that I didn’t lose my feet and land on my face.  Each step required renewed focus, moving from one foot to the other.  I drew a deep sigh of relief as I crested the hill, only to realize that I would now be battling the slippage in a completely different way.

This is going to be miserable!!!

And so it went through this hilly section of the Boston Marathon course.  Finally, I made the turn off of the hills and headed for the next town.  As I tried to let my mind relax a little, a large truck drove by just a little too fast, a little too close for comfort.  If that wasn’t scary enough, he went through a large puddle of slush just as he passed me.  This sent sent a mini-tsunami of slush and ice splashing against my bare legs.

I’m awake!!! Holy Crap I’m AWAKE!!!

Holy cow that was cold!  I gathered myself together.  As I continued on through the growing layer of snow, I wondered why I had only worn little footie socks.  Snow was beginning to accumulate on my bare ankles.

What the hell am I doing?

Just after entering the town of Wellesley, I was greeted by a hill that seemed to go on forever (though I think it only goes for about 2/3 of a mile). Ever-slickening conditions made the climb rather interesting. As I crested the hill I looked at my watch.  I was now running low 8’s.

Too fast.

I tried to slow down, but the legs kept churning.  Low 8’s turned into high 7’s.  As I passed the 7 mile marker (where I was meeting Doug), I realized that I was about 5 minutes ahead of schedule.  Despite telling myself that I needed to slow down, my legs were finally starting to feel strong. Passing Wellesley College, I was brought back to the Marathon last April and all of the screaming college girls offering kisses to the runners (no, I didn’t stop for any!).  I checked my watch as I hit the next mile.  7:30!

7:30? Slow down, Dude!!!

No avail.  Over the next five miles, as I made my way to Natick Centre and back, despite making a conscious effort to keep it under control, and being hyper-vigilant of both ice and traffic, I averaged just under 7:30/mile.  I arrived at our meet up point 10 minutes ahead of schedule. 13 miles in 1:42.  Not bad for such craptastic conditions!

Soon Doug arrived and we were on our merry way.  Conditions were worsening, but it was great to have the company.  As we made our way through Wellesley and back to the Newton Hills portion of the Boston Marathon Course, we chatted away.  He reminded me about the heartbreaking story of why he ran Boston last year and why he is again running for the same charity.  The story is —>HERE<—. We talked shoes, we talked running.

The falling snow was turning into sleet.

Lovely!

The intersections were ankle deep in slush now.  Even if we were able to avoid the puddles (which I wasn’t), we were continually assaulted by the splashing of passing cars.

Finally on the Newton Hills, we were able avoid the flying slush, but of course, now we faced “the Newton Hills”.  I was about 17 miles in at this point (which coincidentally is where they lie on the course), and the legs were heavy.  We pushed our way through, yapping away the entire time.

Before I knew it, I saw my car in the distance.  Arriving at mile 20, I gave Doug a quick hug and sent him on his way to finish his run.

Man! What a miserable frakkin’ day!

I hopped into my car and headed home, downing a couple of mix1’s to speed recovery.

I. Was. Exhausted.

When I got home, I trudged upstairs to kiss the wife and the kids.  We chatted for a minute and then I went upstairs to shower.  I was beat.

What a miserable, miserable outing.

Or was it?

A little later, I saw this on my wife’s Facebook page status:

my husband just ran 20 miles. in the snow. and is all sorts of cheerful. please tell me it’s ok to hate him. just a little.

The thing is, she was right.  I was totally cheerful.  I was beat. Yes.  I was exhausted. Definitely. But I also felt great!  Despite the conditions and the traffic (maybe because of the conditions and the traffic), I had a great time out there.  Would I want to run that every week? Well, no.  BUT, I gotta say, in retrospect, I had a great time.

Thanks Doug for keeping me company for the last 7 miles!

Bookmark and Share

Why do you run?

Read Full Post »

More Pringles

Posted in Odd Ball, training, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 24, 2011| 19 Comments »

[tweetmeme source=”luau” only_single=false http://www.URL.com]

Back in December of 2009 I put out a list of shows I called Pringles for the Brain.  They were shows that I enjoyed zoning out to when running on the treadmill. I thought maybe it was time for an update on what shows populate my Treadmill DVR. The current roster includes:

Chuck (NBC – Mondays 8PM) – currently one of the best shows on TV

CSI (CBS – Thursdays 9PM) – always good.

The Cape (NBC – Mondays 9PM) – New, campy and fun

Fringe (Fox – Fridays 9PM) – I think this is my favorite, it is The X-Files improved

30 Rock (NBC – Thursdays 10PM) – possibly the funniest show since Seinfeld

V (ABC – Tuesday 9PM) – New, after starting slowly, the show is picking it up

The Mentalist (CBS – Thursdays 10PM) – one of the more entertaining shows on TV, I wish I could do what Patrick Jane does

Family Guy (Fox – Sundays 9PM) – New – raunchy fun…sometimes crosses the line

Lie to Me (Fox – was on Mondays) – similar to the Mentalist

The Event (NBC – Mondays 9PM) – if LOST and 24 had a baby, this would be it

Human Target (Fox – was on Wednesdays, may be cancelled) – reminiscent of shows from the 80’s

The Good Guys (F0x – was on Fridays, may be cancelled) – would be a shame if this were cancelled, Bradley Whitford is extremely entertaining

Chase – (NBC – was on Mondays, may be cancelled) – Annie and her crew were growing on me, I hope they bring the show back

So there it is.  This army of shows has helped me through several long runs when the roads were just too icy to risk injury.  It’s tough to stay motivated for 20 miles on a treadmill without something to distract you, right?  If you have a treadmill but don’t have a DVR hooked up nearby, I highly recommend it, otherwise you’re stuck watching whatever is on the tube at the time.  At 4AM, when I run, there ain’t much on.

I would love to hear what you like to watch while zoning out and putting in miles.

Bookmark and Share

Why do you run?

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »