#runningwithpump

I took a bit of a posting hiatus this past week or so as I drew up a game plan for this spring and summer’s training cycle. In the spirit of pump’s recent post I realized it’s time to put this out there for public consumption and for my own accountability. 

Some unknowns remain, well, unknown. First and foremost, I still don’t have my schedule yet for next year and, given the rigors of my program’s first year, the schedule will largely dictate what races I end up doing. So I don’t exactly have “target races” as much as “I may be able to sneak in a race that weekend”. Secondly, Meg and I may be moving out of the city shortly and a different training environment and commute could influence the type of training I pursue. 

That being said, some general goals for this spring and early summer are:

1) Focus on distances from 5K - half

2) PR at each of the distances above

3) Achieve a time, at least at one distance, that converts to a BQ using the McMillan calculator

4) Average a race a month

5) Focus on local races near my hometown

In detail:

Focus on distances from the 5K to the half marathon distance

Specifically, the shorter end of that spectrum. After running a handful of shorter distances during the late winter and early spring I’ve really started to appreciate the ability to gather frequent feedback on how training is progressing in the form of frequent racing. Despite my protestations to the contrary, I remain a Type A person and the random factors associated with longer distances from the half marathon on up drive me crazy. I love numbers and tracking my progress and the possibility that a bad storm, humidity, or a random infection could deter my efforts on race day is something I still struggle with and perseverate on during training. To be fair, part of what made reading race recaps from Boston this year was watching people push through some truly brutal conditions to run awesome races - the weather amplified the glory of their efforts. But factoring in the random events plus the unknowns of my fellowship schedule has too great of a potential for implosion during the next 6 months so I’m kind of forced to focus on the shorter stuff. Plus, it’s working for me right now in the sense I can feel my fitness dramatically improving - so I’ll stay this course. 

PR at each distance I run this spring and early summer

Pretty simple. I’m nowhere near my ideal level of conditioning and have plenty of room to grow. 

Achieve a time, at least at one distance, that converts to a BQ using the McMillan calculator

This won’t mean I’ll be ready to train for a BQ during my next marathon cycle (unless things really progress). I tend to target, on race day, a pace one “rung” down from what I trained for as a way of running negative splits and keeping myself from blowing up - so to train for a BQ, and then do it on race day, would mean I improved much more dramatically over the next few months than I’m anticipating. But this will be a way I can contemplate the bigger picture as I focus on shorter, faster efforts this spring and summer. 

Average a race a month

For the feedback it provides in terms of training and the benefits I see in my fitness. I’ve noticed my training progresses more steadily when I’m getting out there on the roads on a regular basis to push my effort out of my comfort zone.

Focus on local races near my hometown

My hometown has a strong running community that I’ve been detached from during my medical training. I joined XC late - as a junior in high school - and never really got the full experience, so it’s still rewarding for me to catch up on the local races and follow the kids as they progress. The coaches both are former coaches of mine with whom I have good relationships, and the distance guy for the track team is a former teammate - they’re cool with alums stopping by for an easy run or to help out with meets. Interacting with the teams, both as a volunteer and a familiar face at the starting line, appeals to me as my medical training lightens up and I have more time for volunteering and racing. 

I finished reading the Hansons Marathon Method book.  Once I carved out an afternoon to really dig into it, I finished it relatively quickly.  There are lots of tables, graphs, and appendices, so it's a pretty easy read.

Here were my immediate takeaways from the book:

- It is a miracle I finished NYCM and St. Jude in the time I did.  By the Hansons' logic, my average weekly mileage fell short of the training prescribed for running a half-marathon.  Based on my VO2 max, my full marathon time should be significantly better than my current PR.  #slacker

- The book made me appreciate all the changes that happen to your body during marathon training.  The book goes beyond saying "do this and you will get faster"- it actually explains the why and how that happens (increased capillaries, more mitochondria, developing slow twitch muscle fibers, strengthening the heart muscles, increasing the volume of plasma in the blood, etc.).

- The recommended marathon frequency is no more than 3 marathons every two years.  Gulp.  Well, we know I've broken that rule big time and let me tell you I have been paying for it in terms of it taking a much longer time for me to recover.  

- Warm up.  Cool down.  Static stretching.  Cross-training in addition to weekly mileage (rather than in place of a running workout).  All the crap we would like to ignore is what can make or break the effectiveness of training.

- Easy runs aren't junk.  They make up approximately 50% of the mileage in the Hansons plan and are tailored to provide active recovery and promote slow twitch muscle fiber development.  They shouldn't be ignored or run too fast.

- The plan includes a 10 day taper and a two week post-race recovery, which really clicked for me based on my experiences this fall.  Running a half marathon two weeks after running NYCM was definitely not ideal.

- Racing should be kept to a minimum during training. This is something I have vowed to get better about anyway, so now I will have a reason to avoid excessive racing, which thanks to my FOMO tends to be one of my worst habits.  

The plan is to see how the Mississippi River Marathon goes in February and then select a fall marathon and some goals from there.  I'm still pushing my luck in terms of the frequency of marathons, but extenuating circumstances resulted in me having three marathons in four months. (I couldn't say no to NYCM and I got to roll over 2013 entries for St. Jude and Mississippi to make them up.)  I won't start marathon training until sometime in June, so there is some time for real recovery.

If you're interested in using the Hansons Method for you next race, I recommend reading the whole book.  Don't just flip to the training schedule and start running.  I think understanding the logic behind the process is pretty crucial to sticking with the plan.

Also, you can check out these guys who have successfully used Hansons to set PRs and qualify for Boston (like true bad asses):

http://seechrisrun.tumblr.com/