The Creature from the Black Lagoon

Tempo run today.  The "Dreaded Eight Mile Tempo" or DEMT to be exact.  This is the nickname for this workout given by the followers of the F.I.R.S.T. training plan.  The DEMT is meant to be run at a pace that is slightly slower than your 10K pace.  For me, the goal tempo was about 8:30 min/mile.

Normally, you want to run a warm up mile before hitting your tempo pace, but today was an exception for me.  Even though the calendar says mid-May, we are having a little reoccurence of winter.  It was pouring rain and cold!  So I thought I might warm up faster by running faster.  I had chosen the dirt trail around part of Paradise Lake as my route today.  For the first couple of miles I managed to dodge the worst of the puddles, but by the time I hit mid-way it was a lost cause.  My shoes and socks were soaked, and I was spraying myself with mud with every step.

By the time I was done, I looked like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. 

Ridge Run 5K Race Report

Yesterday was the second annual Ridge Run 5K, benefiting Pine Ridge School in Magalia, CA. 

I got there at 8:30AM to register for the 9:00AM race.  I hadn't preregistered because I wasn't sure if my schedule would allow me to run the race.  There was also a hike to a local waterfall that some folks from church were planning. 

After registering, I said hi to to some acquaintances and then decided to go for a warm-up jog.  At this point, I realize that I have no clue what the race course is going to look like.  It was not published with the race info.  I had assumed that it would just follow the local roads for some sort of out and back.  As I began my warm-up I pass one of the school's P.E. teachers who offered to show me some of the course.  It turns out that there is a whole network of trails behind the school--touring through some really pretty pine forest.  I did about a mile of warm up and decided I had better get to the starting line. 

The other thing I found out from the P.E. guy was that there was no water provided on the course.  No biggie, it's just a 5K.  I'm a water kind of guy on runs, so I decided to bring water along, even though I would only take a few drinks.

At 9:00AM, they walk us down to the start line, briefly explained the course (I sort of quit listening here, because I wasn't familiar with the street names anyway and I figured only the first place runner really needed to know).  They did a quick head count and there were 64 runners toed up.  Away we went. 

I usually check out the runners near me and look for someone that I might aim to pick off during the run.  There was an gentleman about 20 years my senior who looked really ready to go.  He was wearing a bright red shirt and I thought he'd be easy to keep track of.  The course started with a loop around the parking lot and then a left turn on the road.  Red shirt guy took off like a rocket up the steep incline--I guess I'll pace off of someone else. 

The course followed the road for roughly the first mile and then turned onto the forest trail.  While the turn was marked with chalk and a cone, a runner two guys ahead missed it and went about 50 feet out of his way.  I hollered after him as I made the turn.  He caught up and passed me pretty quick.  The trail portion of the run was a pretty, but technical.  Lots of hills and some pretty sharp turns.  I almost rolled my ankle, but saved it just in time. 

The trail portion lasted for a little more than the next mile.  I think my poor GPS was getting poor signal in the dense forest, because the distance seemed to be off.  The course turned back out on the road and somehow meandered back to the same parking lot we started in.  It went through the parking lot and into a back school field and then briefly onto some more trails.  Since my GPS distance wasn't correct, I had no idea we were as close to the end as we were.  A final sprint to the finish!

My official time:  22:42, a new PR by 17 seconds.  I managed to come in 6th out of 64 and grabbed 2nd in my age group.  The guy in fifth place had been at the CareNet race two weeks ago and had been determined to beat me.  He ran a great race. 

After the 5K, they put on a 1/4 mile kids' race.  My son Ben lined up with about 20 kids under 10 years old.  He was about midway through the pack at the start.  When he came into view at the finish, he was in second.  So we ended the day with matching 2nd place medals.  Nice!

Rotate Your Shoes!

Apparently you're supposed to rotate your running shoes.  Who knew?

Problem #1 here is that running shoes are spendy.  Back in January, I went and got fitted for a pair of running shoes that would handle my unique feet.  I have a pronounced over-pronating stride, which means I roll from the outside of my heel to the inside on toes.  But to make matters worse, I have my robo-ankle.  I broke my right ankle in three places back in 2004 and had surgery.  I am now sporting a titanium plate and nine screws.  (So if I run screwy, that's why!)

After a thorough fitting I went with the Mizuno Wave Alchemy plus the Superfeet inserts.  After about 350 miles, that pair of shoes has started to feel a little flat.  So, I ordered two more pairs.  Yup, two pairs of identical shoes (well one has a red logo and the other and orange logo).

The plan here is to rotate the shoes.  It is supposed to give the shoes greater life by giving them a chance to fluff back up in between runs.  Sounds good to me. 

I track my running on RunningAhead.com by uplaoding my GPS data, but the site also allows me to track mileage on my shoes.  Ok--I know that's a little geeky, but I've long ago come to grips with that.

Pfitz Who?!

Pfitz, who's Pfitz? 

Oh yeah, he's the guy with the marathon training plans right out of Dachau.  I really tried to do Pfitz (I was looking at his 18/55 plan), but it was just too much too soon for me. 

While I've been floundering the last 6 or seven weeks, I realized that I have two problems:  I have pretty much been just running slow runs since my Half Marathon and I have been a slave to the "long run must occur on the weekend" theory.

Well this week I was able to tackle both issues.  I ran my long run on Tuesday.  As a Pastor, the weekends tend to be a little busy.  Working up to the Half Marathon, I could get away with squeezing in the long runs on weekends, but it's just not an option right now.

I also really missed speed and tempo work.  Thursday, I went out to the High School track and after warming up, I knocked out 6 X 800's--they felt great.  I think I really needed to step on the gas and blow the gunk out. 

What does all this mean for a training plan?  It means I'm going to follow the F.I.R.S.T. plan for a first marathon.  That would be the Furman Institute For Scientific Training.  Here's what I love about FIRST:  Just three: "Key Runs" a week--an interval, a tempo, and a long run.  In between these you are supposed to do two XT days--this week I worked in a 7 mile mountain bike ride and the other was a easy two-mile run. 
You can also do these key runs in whatever order works for you.  So this week, I did 3, 1, 2. 

7 miles tomorrow with 5 at tempo pace. 

CareNet Human Race 5K Race Report

Saturday was the Human Race 5K.  It was a really great event.

Can I just start by saying how great it is to run a race in your own town.  I left at 8:25 and showed up at 8:30 for sign-in.  They had a very well-staffed sign-in table to handle race sign-in and t-shirt pickup. 
The t-shirts were very well done and they had plenty in every size.
After signing in, I said hi to Linda Kalanquin, the Director of CareNet and looked for my friend Tom, who is a fellow pastor in our community.  Tom is a three-time marathoner and I hoped to see him at the event. 

The race was scheduled to start at 9:00, so I went for a little warm-up jog just before then.  I'm not much a warm-up guy, preferring usually to just warm-up as I go, but I figured that 5K was short enough to warrant a little warming up.  I got back from the warm-up and they had a few preliminary remarks--thanking the supporters, a quick story from a CareNet client, and then Tom shared a little--then off to start line.

A crowd of 40 or so participants lined up and away we went.  The course was 1.55 miles up the Paradise Memorial Trail and back.  They had volunteers doing traffic control at the three road crossings and a manned drink station at the turn-around point. 

I quickly took the lead position and most likely started out way too fast.  The trail goes uphill with a 254 foot elevation gain over the first 2.5K.  I was going too fast, but it felt ok.  The hardest part was actually being in the lead.  I am used to being able to cue my pace off of runners in front of me and it felt a little loose without that.  As I made the turn I passed my nearest competitor, a young lady who was about forty feet back.  I told her "you're gonna beat me."  She caught me a little ways down the road.  We ran together for a while, but it was clear that she had more speed and more gas in the tank, so I told her not to let the old man slow her down. 

She eventually took off and grabbed her first place finish.  I came in second overall and first place among the men.  It was a also a PR for me at 22:59.  I'm going to cherish the race, because it will probably be my only opportunity to lead the pack.

After crossing the finish line I congratulated the winner and went to grab some water at the snack tent.  I decided that I would just take a case of water over to the finish line and encourage the finishers with some water. 

What a fun day!  Can't wait until next year's event.

Three Week Vacation

Well, it appears that I took a three-week vacation from the blog. 

That roughly correlates with my running lately.  Let me explain what I've been up to.

The first full week of April I was out of town.  Had the opportunity to spend a week with my Dad in southern Nevada.  We had a great time but unfortunately, I only got in one two-mile run that week.  I had hoped that we'd get in a bunch of mountain biking, but our days were very full and tiring and we only managed one short ride.  So there is this henious 5-day gap in my training log.

I tried to get back in the saddle the next week.  I was out of town on business but managed to get in a quality run on Monday and Wednesday last week.  Unfortunately, then I ended up taking two days off followed by a lame two-mile run, and then another two days off.

Yikes, my training log is starting to have all the charm of a West Virginia smile.

So this week I am endeavoring to get back into a regular training schedule.  I managed to sneak in a 12 miler on Tuesday and a six-miler yesterday.  I found a great (new to me) trail to run on.  It is the old train tracks base that was used to bring lumber down from the forest.  Train tracks are gone leaving a nice smooth, steady climb and no cars to worry about.

This weekend, I'm entered in the HUMAN RACE 5K.  It is a benefit fun run for CareNet, a local pro-life crisis pregnancy center.  I think it is their inaugural 5K, so I'm not sure how well organized it will be or even if there will be a timer.  But, I really believe in the work this group is doing and I can time my own race on my Garmin.  Can't wait!  I am hoping for a new PR. 

Cravings and Foam Roller Terrorism

Today is a rest or XT day.  That means, I am doing some light flexibility work, some core strengthening stuff, spending some time on the foam roller and dusting off the unicycle.

I got through the flexibility and core work and my body sent a strong request:  "we would appreciate it very much if you would be so kind as to feed us a Peanut Butter and Honey sandwich, if it's not too much trouble, thank you ever so much."

Into the kitchen I go.

Ok, all the PB and Honey craving cells in my body gave out a collective "that's just what I wanted."  How do they know what they want?  I have no idea.  Most days I just try to eat a nice variety of things and let them get what they need that way.  Today, it was definitely PB & Honey on the menu.

Back to the foam roller.  These are the latest craze in the fitness world.  But it turns out that the technology for foam rollers isn't new at all.  It turns out that these have been around for some time.  Vikings used to foam roller their victims as they plundered and pillaged, giving rise to the haunting battle cry, "plundra plundring och använda skumgummirulle."  Later, they were used as a medieval torture device (ofergietan þæs hengen, broc þæm fám wealoa).  Lately, our high tech military satelites have captured images from remote al-quaida training facilities where jihadists practice foam roller terrorism (نهب نهب واستخدام الأسطوانة رغوة).  Seriously, these are great everyone should have one.

 Now, where did I put that unicycle?