Runnig with the Buffaloes

Just finished reading "Running with the Buffaloes" by Chris Lear. It follows the Colorado Cross Country Team the season Adam Goucher won the national title. There is a person in the book that really resonates with myself. That person is Chris Severy. He was a Biology major who loved cycling but gave it up bc of the tactics and people. He loved running and cycling hills and taking risks. An atheist who could not understand faith or having something "in Gods hands" the only faith he could grasp was that hard work would pay off. He lived in an off the grid cabin 2500 ft above campus bc he believed it would enrich him personally.

The similarities continue on a more minute scale until one occasion. He decided to start bicycle commuting to school. I decided the same thing living in a tent in Utah also 2500 feet up from town. On a Monday morning I hiked 300 ft down the mountain to the road and got on my bike all dressed and clipped in. Then I decided it was too cold to use my brakes properly (hands would be cold and I would be riding in fists) and I could not wear my sunglasses bc it was too dark and not wearing them would make my eyes freeze. I walked up to my car and drove down. Chris did not make that same decision and never made it down his mountain. Something caused him to veer off the roadway and hit a tree killing him instantly.

I haven't really figured out what to do with this message. Maybe it was the way the book was written when it mentioned Sev's death. I guess I will just run.

Testing shows progress.

Been a week since the 5 x 1/2mile repeats. Went faster (3:08,3:06,3:05,3:06,2:49)Z4 7:15 Z5 1:45. I was in Zone 4 for 1:45 less and Z5 for :15 more then last time and took a total of 10 seconds off the work effort. This is important bc sometimes those 2 seconds per 800 don't seem like much. The first four are always controlled and then I try to stay in the first half of zone 4 after .2 miles. This just works best with the stroller and provides a decent baseline for testing for faster efforts at a similar HR. Got up t0 182 on the last one. Only get that high about once a year. Also easy to repeat. There was some smoke in the air so I also took it a little cautious.

Cross practice was last night and this series is going to be AWESOME. Weekly races to report on as well. The competition here is really good so just hoping to have solid efforts.

Stay on Target, Stay on Target.

A little Star Wars reference to start off. Training has been going alright but I almost lost focus on the weight loss. You see, I think I have accomplished about what I want to sitting around 180 and at 5'10". My low weight since adulthood I believe is 163 twice and running felt sweet. I know I can get lower then that and it would be nice ot see what target I can hit. I also think I will be less injury prone (not that I am) and less fatigued (not trying to loose weight all the time).

Here is the science. The site I use also has a predicted time that show 4 different models to get you a predictor and the rest of the site is pretty awesome as well.
http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/weighteffect.php?metres=21100&hr=1&min=23&sec=59&weight=172&weightunits=lbs&Submit=Calculate

In my own research in recent years the "beefiest" triathletes to do well are Andy Potts, TJ Tollakson, and Raynard Tissnik. They all sit right around 22.4 BMI. TJ is also 5'10" and my build and he weighs in a little more then 156 most the time but gets down there on his best performances and has talked abotu his struggles with "performance: wieght quite a bit. I think I just want to hit the upper end of this and get to at least under 160 to see how my performance can improve.

At 172 I set my 5K (18:00) and 13.1 (1:24:00) records and if I were to get down near 156 I would be in the mid 16's and 1:17 for the half. I also truly "feel" like I would be able to hit these.

The best race I ever had in comparison to others in the Mountain climb. The worst was a downhill 1/2 in Bryce Canyon. When I am light the downhills get better. I think I transfer over the hills from cycling. My build and weight is somewhat close to Lance so it makes sense that I can hold my own cycling uphill but not running. I am always in the constant battle to train well (which I know you need to be properly fueled, which means not loosing weight for me) and being lighter. I know other people also struggle with this as many of our current weights are healthy bc of our lifestyle btu maybe not in performance.

5:26 timed mile and new motivation.

Well, it wasnt in the cards. Today was a low weight day. Historically intervals on a day like today are bad to say the least. I ate a lot this morning to try and get some fuel back in me but still felt like crap (it is hit/miss on track night at 6 pm, typically either awesome or horrible). Warm up was prolly too short and my flying start 100's were only around 19 seconds.

Went out in 35 (4:40 pace) and around the lap in 73. Bad idea. Then 2:35, 4:00, 4:26. I had had almost as fast uphill 1/2 mile with the stroller earlier in the week. It was the lungs that were the weak link. That makes sense given the training I have been doing. I am going again in two weekends on my own terms and with a much longer and better warm up. Gonna use this time to really hit the intervals hard. Gonna try and get some more Zone 5 stuff going.

Real workout in quest for 4:59 mile

Hit the packed gravel trail with the stroller today for 9.3 miles with 5x 1/2M intervals trying to hit Z4 by .15M into the interval. Managed 3:06,3:07,3:09,3:10,2:53 with 9 min in Z4 and 1:30 in Z5 all on the last interval. I think that is around all you can manage with a stroller in the conditions that I was in. Maybe might be able to hit 2:45 on a good day but that would be it.

On Tues I go for one of the Tony Rigdon challenge goals. (actually he missed this obvious one but added it after I said something. The goal is a sub 5 minute mile. Now I have never done this before so it is a little more elusive and my training has not been up to par for it. I think it is short enough though that I will be able to push through. That last interval today was meant to simulate how it would feel. The only thing I think will hold me back is just an off day or not having the speed the first 400. If I make it 3 laps it should be in the bag. We will see.

Off to Glacier National Park for the weekend to hike to a glacier before they dissapear.

Bike ride I wont do again.

Took the Cross bike with road gearing (39/25 granny) out to marshall grade and shaved 40 seconds off the climb down to 13:04. Then hit the fire roads and spend 36 min in zone 4 and 10 in zone 3. I had to stand quite a bit to just to get the speed to hold the traction. about 2500 climbing so pretty good effort. The down hill was BONE jarring and I thought my arms were going to be bruised.

The weight loss is going well and I nailed 54 miles with the stroller last week with some better efforts. Starting to get some data with the HR strap so I can change the workouts week to week. I think I might be able to top out at 60 so I am gonna hit itensity after 45 miles in the belt.

The weather cools down here next week so I am looking for some good runs. No body fatigue other then dead tired by the end of the day. Thats been the case since the baby though.

Getting the Ironman bug, more on that later....

Science and Stitches

Well, found out the side stitch was prolly me running too much out of comfort zone with poor form and poor breathing technique (why I felt so slow). It also makes sense that the crit I was able to do this without a problem bc my insides were not bouncing my diaphram onto my liver and spleen repeatedly. Seems like my lungs and legs were there but I just wasn't ready to race. (95 stroller miels in 13 dats before) The first mile was prolly around a 5:45 with the hill converted so it makes sense. At least it feels like my endurance is there. 9.3 miles in the hills with the stroller in the heat and it felt great.

Now to the Science.
I really need to get back to testing and keeping track of my effort. I don't think I am going ahrd enough at some points of my runs and slow enough on others. Gonna go back to being a Slave to the HR monitor when using the stroller just bc it is a different activity and my percieved excertion is all over the place. Gonna try and get up in sone 4 more often as this is the Zone I think I can race in effectively.

PS: I also updated my Training Log LINK so that ti looks a little better. Please use the new one.