9100 Feet Above Sea Level

I wish I had a picture of it. Along the dark, snow-dusted path was nothing but me and the prints of whatever critter was running ahead.  Only the faint amber light of the street lamps up the hill revealed them.  I looked ahead and just where the horizon met the darkness, the critter was stopped, looking over its shoulder at my approach.  Sam (yes, I named it) scurried ahead a few yards to disappearing into the darkness, but only momentarily. My strides carried me forward to where I could see Sam again, stopped and looking back at me for a second before taking off.

We played this game a few times, covering maybe a mile, before I had to turn around.   It was nine degrees Fahrenheit and I was at about 9,100 feet above sea level.  Dinner was about ready, prepared back at the condo by Bao and Emily, so that night’s run had to be short.  I covered five and a half beautifully peaceful yet challenging miles.

It’s not often than I get to run in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.  I read about elevation training all the time- Ryan Hall, Meb Keflezighi and the rest of the Mammoth Track Club train at 7,800 feet.  Dr. Jack Daniels, TNT National head coach, is a big fan.  And though he believes it takes weeks of training at altitude to see the benefits, I still wanted to get me some.

 

Happy to be running.  Surprised?

Sunday morning I woke relatively early, at 7:41AM, excited to get out the door.  I borrowed Bao’s Camel-pak (I didn’t think to bring mine), grabbed the Gu that Emily bought me the day before, threw on a few layers, and headed out into the 14 degree Fahrenheit, partly cloudy day.  This time, I brought my iPhone to take pictures.

My legs felt heavy- a symptom of the altitude I’m sure, but probably also a result of the day of snowboarding we had on Saturday.  And ok, maybe the rum and Cokes we had the night before, too.  I seemed to have forgotten my heart rate monitor, so I measured my effort the old fashion way- by my breathing- and set out at an E3 level.  This was about an 11 minute per mile pace, much slower than I usually do, but not surprising.

View from the condo

I warmed up after a while and adjusted to a 10:30 pace, and at some stretches, sub 10.  I stopped to take pictures along the route, and to Gu.  I passed a few dog walkers.  Eventually there were other runners, but not many.   

I was hoping to find the critter prints from Friday night, but the path was clear… until it wasn’t.  It seems the town on Dillon maintains the path quite nicely, but once I was beyond the town limit, I found myself trudging through some four inches of snow.  No big deal- most of it was stomped down by those who took the trail before me.

A sign to my right encouraged angling.

About 4 miles in, the trail got more treacherous, almost disappearing.  Deep boot prints, about 6 to 8 inches deep were all that marked the direction. And the path diverged.  I stopped to consider my options.  Robert Frost would have suggested I take the road less traveled.   Also, I had told Emily that I wouldn’t be out more than an hour.  I had felt pretty sluggish that morning, though I prepared for the trek as if I were going to run a half marathon.  Turn back and call it an 8 mile run or go forward, choosing a path?

Yeah, I went on and followed Mr. Frost’s advice.  I took one path that seemed to get smaller and smaller until it started feeling like I was running in people’s back yards.  It may have not have been a trail at all.  So I turned back.  At the point where the paths diverged was a sign that read Keystone – 2.4 miles, so I figured, I guess I’ll run to Keystone.

My Salomon XAComp 5s and I tackled the snowy trails.

My 10 minute per mile pace turned into a 12 minute per mile pace through the somewhat deep snow.  My effort level was more like a 4.5 than a 3 at that point, as I huffed and puffed my way through.   After another mile of this, the path cleared a bit- something, maybe a snowmobile, had packed the snow down pretty good making it easier to progress.  I got to the edge of the village, took a Gu, texted Emily that I decided to run to Keystone and would be back in an hour (she wasn't surprised), snapped a couple more pictures, and headed back.   

With my engine warmed up, I was feeling good.  On the way back, I was able to pull off negative splits.  I dipped under 8 minute miles a few times. It’s times like this when I’m seriously thankful for finding running.

Massive breakfast after.

Three The Hard Way

Sorry to disappoint, but this post isn't about the epic blacksploitation movie of 1974.  This post is about me trying to figure out how in the world I'm going to fit in all my Ironman training workouts.

Sure, Jim Brown is an Orangeman and Fred Williamson is awesome, but I'm Jim Kelly all the way, baby.

Fred Williamson: Swimming
1 hour GTS (Monday)
30 Minutes form (Wednesday)
30 Minutes form (Friday) 
 
I've only seen this one film with Fred Williamson which is a lot like my swimming experience.  I have come a long way since my first preseason session.  Now into the 3rd week of swimming group training sessions, I am decidedly average.  At this point, technique is the focus.  The coaches have given us drills to practice and I can already see a difference.

I am practicing alternate side breathing, trying to get that timing right.  I feel like I cannot hold my breath long enough for three strokes comfortably.  When running, taking a breath every three steps is a normal cruising/easy pace for me.  But three steps equals one second.  So I'm sucking in air every other second (since I also breath out for 3 steps).  My swimming strokes take maybe 1.5 seconds each (or longer), so my goal is seemingly to suck air every 4.5 seconds.  It just seems like an eternity.  I instinctively have been trying to stroke faster.  Coach Meghan pointed out that this is the opposite of correct.  I have to relax- slow things down even- so that I don't need so much air (or need to exhale so much).

Tonight Coach Meghan gave us a gem- advice on the timing of breathing.  There are times when my swimming feels really good- glimpses through the clumsiness of what it should actually feel like. But I never really grasped what I was doing that made it feel so.  I just had to "warm up", I guessed.  But it's the breathing timing.  I was a split second off as related to my stroke.

Jim Brown: Cycling
40 minutes form drill (Tuesday)
80 minutes form and intervals (Thursday)
120 minutes endurance ride on rollers (Sunday)

Ever see Slaughter's Big Ripoff?  It's one of my favorites from the era. Great soundtrack.  And Ed McMahon's infamous line, "Are you sure you don't want any breakfast?  Breakfast is a very important meal," absolutely applies.  Holy moly does riding make me hungry.

I've been doing most of my riding indoors, due to the cold weather, as per the coaches' orders.  Frankly, I was surprised when I saw the coaches cancel practices due to bad weather.  And our cycling GTSs on Sundays have been indoors.  As a runner- a runner that will run through anything to avoid a treadmill- my first thought was that cyclists must be a bunch of pansies.

Then I went out riding in what I thought was *nice* weather.  It was cold.  Not really that cold.  And windy.  But really, not that windy either.  But by my 4th lap of the park, my toes and fingers were frozen and I was a snotty mess.  I couldn't breath and I was having trouble shifting gears.  After 14 miles, I called it quits.

Oh yeah... wind chill.

So most my miles come on rollers.  There's no bracket holding the bike up for me.  I have to balance.  It's pretty hardcore.  Like Jim Brown hard core. I'll get into this in more detail in a future post.

Jim Kelly: Running
8 miles of speed work (Tuesday)
3 miles coaching (Wednesday)
12 miles easy/coaching (Saturday)
5.3 miles race pace brick (Sunday)

Running is my favorite.  Like Jim Kelly is my favorite blacksploitation star.  A cross between Bruce Lee and Shaft, how could he not be?  When training for *just* a marathon, I would regularly do 3 to 5 running workouts a week (plus cross training).  I have a structure to these running weeks- 3 quality sessions, usually consisting of speed, strength, and a long run. Then some other fun stuff, like coaching.  So here I am trying to maintain a similar schedule yet not over train.  I think it will be possible.  I'm basically cutting back on the easy miles and only doing speed, pacing, and coaching miles and a long run.

Ok, so it doesn't sound like I'm cutting back at all, but I am.

My planned weekly mileage hovers between 20 and 30 miles right now, rather than 35 to 45 as it normally would.  I am fortunately in the kind of shape where I could rip off a marathon at any moment if I had to, so my focus is to not burn out.  I have to keep this up for 6 more months (oh my god, I only have 6 months) so I need to take it easy and just focus on sharpening my speed and form.  In fact, I've only been doing a long run every other week.  I think that will change, because I enjoy them so much.  But it'll just depend on my body and my energy level.

I did my first hill session in a long time last Tuesday with James and Nate.  It was glorious. Speed work will take priority for me at this point in the season.  Getting in at least one workout a week of speed would be great.  Tonight I may crash the spring season GTS and climb some hills with them.

Summer 2012: The Next Generation

Pam Grier: Strength Training
Free weights- Chest and back plus SEXCC circuit (Tuesday)
Free weights- Legs plus SEXCC circuit (Wednesday)
Free weights- Arms and shoulders plus SEXCC circuit (Friday)

No, the Coffy actress is not in this movie, but I need one more character and she probably epitomizes (hard) core workouts more than anyone (plus, she's a cancer survivor).  I really love free weights.  It brings me back to my high school football days and lifting in my friend Matt's basement while referencing Arnold's book.But I'm not lifting to bulk up, like the 17 year old version of myself was.  I'm looking to become a better athlete. So my workouts have changed- they're more dynamic and use several muscle groups at a time (if I can help it) rather than just isolating.  Plus, I do about 12 minutes of SEXCCs.

What's the SEXCC?  It's an abs/obliques specific circuit, basically steps 6 and 7 of the SEXC7s.  for my routine, I do:

• 60 seconds of roll up- V leg lifts
• 45 seconds planks front, then right side, then left side (2:15 total) times 3
• 60 seconds of Crazy Ivans (oblique rockers) times 2

I can't emphasize enough the importance of strengthening your core.  Seriously, for you runners, you drive your body forward with your core.  Your legs are just there to catch you (maybe I'll explain this in a future blog...).
 ____________________________________

So those are my scheduled workouts.  I have yet to complete all of them in a week and I'm not too worried about it. This plan is more of an idealistic goal rather than a minimum that I must accomplish.  Week by week I focus on what I feel is behind, even if it means sacrificing a run =(.

So far, so good.

If you've actually read this far, here's your reward...