Training Overview #21 – Week of Oct 28 thru Nov 3, 2019 – I Like to Train

Since over the next couple months my training will be minimal, in some ways, with the holidays, weather and travel ahead I plan on briefly touching on my training for each week but start each post with some thoughts on various subjects such as: training, diet, equipment, etc..  My hope is this will stir some thoughts on looking at your own training and all it contains as well why you do what you do.

Thoughts on Training:
While my focus for the immediate future is Boston in April and The Dirty Kanza 200 gravel race the end of May my training in the grand scheme of things extends past these two events.  For this reason I try and keep this in mind even when focusing on a particular event as I am now.

I do have to admit that when it comes to training I find that I like training simply for the sake of training. Are there days I dread going out, sure, but those dreads usually revolve around the time of day I need to get training in, weather or simply just being tired.  Due to training mostly by myself , not necessarily the best but the way it is for me, the hardest part usually is just getting out the door and once that is done things get better.  That all said I still enjoy training and I know this because even if I did not have a race I was aiming for I would still want to train.

In some ways just training for the sake of training can be easier since then I can just do as I feel on any particular day.  Whereas, when training for particular races I try, I say try, and be more focused for the type of race so my training hopefully readies me for what is ahead.  This focus can often make training more stressful as I can worry if what I am doing, or have done, is what is best for the event I am focusing on.

There is a danger though in liking to train.  That danger is not resting enough as often since there is no particular focus one can find themselves, as I do, continually training and only resting when injury or burnout appears.  Due to this I think even if you just like to train you need some structure to make sure you get the needed rest.  That rest may come in shorter, but more prevalent, times or simply resting by season since, especially with riding, winter, if that is the season you choose to rest in, is a great time to rest as it is often more difficult to train.  Bottom line is that no matter why you train you need rest, even if that rest takes different forms.

I share all of this as when training seems more like drudgery then you may need to stop and reflect on why you train.  If you are training for a race or event then that remembrance may help to re-focus and push through the drudgery or rest if that is what is needed.  If you train just to train because you like it and drudgery shows itself the easy answer is to just rest or do something different as maybe the drudgery is due to boredom or over during it but either way a change in course may be needed.

So why do you train ?

The Past Week:
I started to filter in some shorter easy runs and worked to keep than at 4 miles or less – you will see that I went slightly over but did keep it close.  Also, depending on weather and schedule I wanted to get in a couple rides and to that end I did with rides of 40 and 30 miles.

As far as the run I did they were basically flat and at an easy effort that worked to minimize the discomfort on my right foot/ankle.  This was pretty much accomplished with all the runs starting out with my ankle being tight and a little sore but as the run progressed felt better.  Still could tell it was sore but felt much better as run went along.  I did notice as I ran a little more quick and for more fluid things felt better but need to be careful with that as it can lead to training too hard.  But also I have found while this works well to minimize soreness there is a speed/effort that starts to go the other way once done.

On Sunday I can what felt easy and it was pretty cold out at 26F but ended up being a quicker run that felt very comfortable.  To me this was good sign as the run was by feel with only seeing my watch as the mile flashed up.  Foot was sore later in the day but usually is after sitting some so soaked my foot that night to help out before I did some stretching and massage.

With regards to riding I did a 40 miler on Tuesday that was basically easy but did have a few tempo sections to blow out the cobwebs.  Then on Thursday I rode on the trainer due to rain and wanting an easy 30 miles.  I had planned on riding  long ride on Saturday but it was very cold in the morning and then ended up deciding to go out with the family for the day – a much better thing to do.  While I wanted a long ride this is a period of easy riding and running so a long ride was not required but something I just wanted to do.

Overview of Weeks Runs and Rides (Strava Data Here)
Monday:  Ride - 41.1 Miles
Tuesday:  Run – 3.25 Miles
Wednesday: Ride – 30.5 Miles
Thursday:  Run – 4.2 Miles
Friday: Run – 4.0 Miles
Saturday:  Rest Day
Sunday:  Run – 4.4 Miles

Totals:
Running Miles –  15.9
Riding Miles –  71.6
Total Time –   6:09

Monthly Total:
Running Miles: 102.9
Riding Miles: 227.1
Total Time:  41:00:08

The Week Ahead:
As I start some travel late this week, and into December, I am looking to get in some easy runs and two rides with one ride being longer – all depending on weather.  As the month of November is a rest month I just want to keep things moving and do what I can to get my right foot better so that when I start into December I can begin working my mileage up for both running and riding.  This way when I get to January I can begin my push for Boston and Dirty Kanza

As always if you have questions let me know in the comments below.

Last Week's Overview #20

Training Overview #1 – Week of June 10 thru 16, 2019

This is the first installment of my sharing of my training over the next year.  As I stated in my post last week, here, the three main goals for the up coming year, into May of 2020, are: Grand Canyon R2R2R this October, Boston Marathon April 2020 and then Dirty Kanza 200 gravel race May 2020.  These are the main goals and do not include other rides and races I will be doing but just the main ones I have on the radar.
post,

The tough part with the upcoming training plan is achieving the correct balance with miles/time running and riding.  It is hard enough when I am using riding as a form of cross training but when I have goal races for each sport I need to figure out not only the balance but what to do in both.  The tentative plan is, in the future, to do more speed work running and limit the length of runs, at least till closer to Boston, to help with some foot issues, and use the bike for longer endurance work.  This seems to fit well with the runs and bike rides/races I will be doing.  The issue with me is I have for so many years run and ridden based on miles so when I am in some ways focusing on both sports and not just as cross training I have to be careful to not over do it and realize to look at the total work done and effort put out.

Seal BEach Pier

Overview:
The plan for June is to keep running mileage, in weeks with more riding to 25 miles or so and in a week where I have less riding mileage be at about 30-40 miles or so.  To that end this week I ran 3 runs for a total of 21.5 miles as I had three rides with two of them being 32+ mile rides with some harder segments and then this past weekend doing my longest ride to date since getting back into it at 107 miles.

The runs went fairly well all things considered since the temps for the first two on Monday and Wednesday were 104 and then 90 with the last run this past Sunday being a much more pleasant at 65.  All the runs were relaxed and at what felt like an easy pace but the two in the heat were hard just due to the temperature.  The problem with heat even with easy runs is they deplete you and felt that by Thursday.  My right foot was sore but feeling better and my back while sore does loosen up as the run goes on.

As far as rides the two mid-week ride were fairly good.  The first one was only hard due to it being 99F and while riding in heat to me is easier than running it was still hot and when climbing it gets warm.  The Thursday ride I went harder on a longer Strava segment to get my best time but not all out and was a controlled ride I knew I could go faster on.  Then this weekend I did a long ride by myself and the weather was pretty much perfect as it was overcast and 63F till about an hour to go when the sun came out and started warming up.  The ride was mostly downhill till half way then uphill coming back with almost 75% of the elevation gain in the  last 30 miles which makes it a little harder than when spread out over the entire ride.  I also, so as not to overdo it and pay later, did not push too hard for the first part of the ride so did not bank a higher average speed.  The goal for these long rides is not necessarily speed but to get in the mileage and time in the saddle

Diet Notes:

Huntington Beach Pier

The Week was pretty normal as I did as usual  for me, being LCHF in how I eat, in trying to keep my carbs to 100 – 150 grams per day with the rest from fat and protein.   When I do runs, and rides, if they are shorter than an hour or two I simply take a water bottle or two depending on length and heat.  However, on these long rides, 107 Saturday, I either play with race nutrition or simply use the ride to hone being able to burn fat more effectively.  For this week’s ride the goal was fat burning and went pretty well as really the only carb intake on the ride was a Maurten Gel in the last 17 miles relying instead largely on SFuels drink for the ride with one  FBomb Nutbutter at about half way along with a Vespa. The SFuels,  whom I am an Ambassador for is very low to no carbs drink  and works great to take in fluid and minimize the intake of carbs.  Again, for races or rides I want to go harder on I take in strategic carbs as needed but far less than I used to before working on an alternate way to fuel than being carb-centric.  I also took in 6 S!Caps electrolyte capsules as they work well to mitigate cramps and I use PR Lotion which I have found effective to minimize lactic acid build up.
The following was my pre-ride fueling and ride fueling:

Pre-Ride:

• Modified Bullet  Proof Coffee  (MBPC) – Coffee, Butter, Coconut Oil, Collagen, Raw Egg, Heavy Cream and Chocolate Primal Fuel
• One 20oz bottle of water with 2 scoops SFuels and one Vespa Concentrate
• 1 Small cup of Oatmeal with butter, heavy cream and blueberries

Ride Fueling;

• 3 – 20oz Bottles of water with 2 scoops each of SFuels
• 2 – 20oz Bottles  of just water
• Had one Vespa at 55 miles 
• Also had one F-Bomb Nutbutter
• With 17 miles to go I did take a Maurten Gel – probably could have done without it but was a little tired so felt like not draggin it in so took the gel

Overview of Weeks Runs and Rides on Strava:

• Monday: Run – 6.5 miles 
• Tuesday: Ride – 32.6 Miles 
• Wednesday: Run – 8.5 Miles 
• Thursday: Ride – 32.6 Miles 
• Saturday: Ride – 107.1 Miles  
• Sunday: Run – 6.5 Miles 

Totals:

• Running Miles –  21.4
• Riding Miles – 172.2
• Total Time – 13h 23m

So that was the week that was.  This week I am looking for around 25 miles running and 140 miles riding with a 100 miler planned again for Saturday but with much more climbing so will be a longer ride time wise.

I share all this as much for me as anyone else since it makes me review the past week but also to share my mistakes as much as successes so others may glean something form it.  As always if you have a questions just leave a comment.

A View to the Future

Well, post Derby Marathon training was going well till just a few weeks ago when in a week I got bit by a dog, leaned back in my office chair and tipped it over then after a morning run went to work and sat for too long.  All of these seem to have added up to my back seizing up and then to exacerbate the issue I helped move some furniture with the end result being a back that was out of whack which led to a sore hip and those two seemed to have worked together to make my Accessory Navicular  Syndrome/Posterior Tibial Tendon pain get worse.  Thus, after a great lead-up to, and race at, the Derby Marathon I now have back, leg and foot issues.  While the good thing seems to be that the problems were not necessarily related to training issues it is in some ways more frustrating as, at least with the Dog, I could not avoid them.  I should add after some chiropractic adjustments and dry needling things do seem to be heading in the right direction.

Why do I share all of this and how does it relate to this post?  As I was heading to California for work for a month in June I had decided to enter and run a 33 mile trail race but as I write this post my back and hip are still not where they should be and my right foot is also sore and running long on trails seems to make it worse.  Thus while I hate to miss out on races I took a long term perspective and decided to not run the race, even if things feel better before the coming weekend.  I made the decision not simply based on how I feel now, or may feel in a few days, but also based on long term plans and goals.  Too often I make decisions based on the next month or two but having long terms goals for the next year played into what I should do now.  I could probably do the race but know that after I am done I would probably have to cut back mileage again for a month, or worse injury my foot more, and lose out on what I have been aiming for this year – running and riding consistently.

What are these plans that I have for the next year:  Grand Canyon R2R2R in October of 2018, Boston Marathon in April 2020 and Dirty Kanza 200 Gravel bike race in June 2020.  While two of those are quite some time away and could probably allow for some down time the R2R2R run is only 4+ months away and I want my back and foot in the best shape they can be in.  You may also wonder, or not, how a 200 mile bike race ends up being in my list of running goals.  Well, for some time I have had foot issues and have found that my distance limit, at least for now, seems to be the marathon. Truth is even the marathon distance creates some issues but of a lesser degree that I can deal with.  What I have found is that riding does not hurt my foot and since I really like riding it is a great fit to help scratch that Ultra itch without compromising my health and also works to give me the needed aerobic work for a long period of time to be able to help with my Boston training.  Hence I will be looking to do some gravel racing in the future.  Dirty Kanza is on my list for next year but since it has a lottery to get in I cannot be sure I will be able to ride it in 2020 but will be training as if I will and if I do not get in will find another ride to do and look to 2021 for the DK200.

With long a long term look I am going to attempt to do a weekly roundup on the blog of the previous weeks training and thoughts on how it went.  Included in this will be comments on diet for the week as how I eat is important to my success in what I do and especially in the longer runs such as Boston and rides such as DK200.  You can also follow me on Strava if you like.  Also, over the next year I will be have posts on training in general on what I think I did correct and,  just as important, what I did wrong and would change.

If there are things you want to ask let me know as I will work to answer those questions.  I am not the best for detailed training plans, at least for myself, but do tend to go into a week with a general plan and for this coming year there are a couple things I want to do.  One is to add in some speed work since for Boston I would like to aim for 3:18 and will need some speed work.  Secondly with Dirty Kanza being 200 miles and thus a very long day on the gravel I want to do a number of much long rides where I am out for 10+ hours or more.  Sort of funny as those two goals seem counter to each other, speed and distance, but I think if I do them correctly they can complement what I want to do in the next year.

That is the plan now time to execute – stay tuned

Time For Review - Looking at the Path Ahead

If you are like me you plan your races and do them come what may.  The problem with that philosophy is it can be detrimental to your health if you are not careful. I am not talking about backing out of a race due to under-training or out of fear you will not do as you would like but when you have a health issue.  We are so ingrained with the “gut it out” mentality that often we do more damage than good from being “tough”.

Well that ended up being the case for the end of this year.  After what seemed like a really good 3-4 months of training I hurt my foot running a not so technical trail at the end of August that led to missing a trail ½ marathon I had been looking forward to in September.  Not running the race, while not what I wanted to do, was necessary as I could not run much at all due to the pain in my foot.  So I took time off and figured I would get ready for the Monumental Marathon in Indianapolis in November.  Training was OK, not what I wanted, but all things considered it was going well.  Then I came down with the flu and was in bed for 36 hours with the result being when I got up I had a pinched nerve in my back that sent shooting pains down my right leg and caused my right knee to be a little week.  After some more time off and a few Chiropractor visits I thought all was good for the marathon with a week to go.  Well, I wake up 5 days from the race and once again my pinched nerve is back and I have a hard time walking without a shooting pain, let alone try and run.  I had thought about waiting a day or so to call things off but being honest with myself even if my back felt better by then it would not be wise for my long term health to run a marathon which is hard enough on ones body as it is let alone with a nerve issue.  Basically that led me to just call it a wrap for the year and take a few weeks off so as to then start up again to get ready for some races in March and April of 2017.

This leads me to what is truly important and that is taking the time to review the year and see if I could have avoided the way the year ended and seek to plan for the year ahead.  I have been running for 43+ years but to this day I still have issues with not getting things just right and it usually comes from not being as focused I should be on the overall picture.   One of the problems that can stem from running slower and focusing on MAF (Maximum Aerobic Function) is that you can tend to think you’re fine while the reality may be that you are still overdoing it.  While MAF training indeed can help you avoid injury it does not guarantee you will not over-train.  You can still run too much too soon and while you may not crash and burn as in the past when you were running too much too fast you can start to run so close to the edge that it does not take much to go over the edge.

In reviewing the preceding 5 months, before I got hurt running a fairly easy trail, I found I had run the following mileage:

• April - 125
• May - 157
• June - 189
• July - 195
• August – 229 (Including 20,000 ft Climbing to get ready for a trail race)
• September – 97.6

I share this not to pat myself on the back, hey many run much more, but because I should have seen
this was too much too soon based on my past year of running.  While I felt good the mileage increase left me vulnerable to injury or sickness and that is exactly what took place.  As some background my usual plan of attack is to run 3-4 higher mileage weeks, in this case 50 or so miles, running 5 days a week then take one week and run less mileage, 30 or so miles, and then repeat that.  My big mistake was in not looking at the cumulative affect, monthly mileage/hours, and the bigger picture.  I should have leveled off my monthly mileage and not kept letting it go up.  Hey, I felt good and was not running too fast, well at least did not feel that fast, so what could go wrong.  I had a few good 5ks mixed in there and some good long runs so all seemed well.  Till, as they say, the wheels fell off.

 Now that I think I have seen where I erred so what’s next.  Well the next step is to come up with a revised plan to help avoid the errors of the past year in the coming year.  With a 50 miler planned for March 2017, Land Between the Lakes, and a 50K in April 2017, Yamacraw 50, I need to work to not be injured by the time I get there but also trained as well as  rested.  The plan is to make sure I not only look at my weekly mileage/hours but also monthly totals o my mileage/hours are the most beneficial and not working to injury.

Another aspect I want to work on this coming year is some form of cross training consisting of using my bike trainer and also some lifting.   Using the bike to get MAF aerobic training in without the stress on my legs and the weight lifting to work some sorely under developed muscle groups which also may have contributed to my problems this year.  With all of this I need to make sure I do not slack on my active stretching and exercises to work my hips and such.  I am also going to take some easy days and run a mile or two in my Xero sandals to help strengthen my feet which I think is important.

That said I also am contemplating running less short runs, and with the cross training running less days, at least for some weeks.  For example I would be running 3-4 days getting in 40 miles with a day or two on the bike, still working to keep my workout days to 5.  As I am working towards a 50 miler I think running longer when I run and resting more instead of filling up those extra days with shorter millage may be beneficial.  The following would lead to a typical week looking something like this:

• Monday – 8-12 miles (65 – 110 Minutes) @ MAF
• Tuesday – 10 – 20  Miles Bike (35 – 70 minutes) @ MAF & some Weights
• Wednesday – 10 Miles (80 – 90 Minutes) @ MAF
• Thursday – 10  Miles bike (35 minutes) @ MAF & some Weights
• Friday – 15 – 20 Miles (120 – 180 Minutes) @ MAF
• Saturday and Sunday Rest or maybe do the long run here and rest Friday and Sunday
• Totals – 33 - 40 Miles Running (270 – 360 Minutes) /20 30 Miles Bike (70 – 105  Minutes)
• A rest week would be much like above but lower mileage and minutes.

As I get closer to the 50 miler I want to do a couple back to backs so they would look like this:

• Monday – 10 Mile Bike – (35 minutes) @ MAF & some Weights
• Tuesday – Rest
• Wednesday – 10 Mile Bike – (35 minutes) @ MAF & some Weights
• Thursday – Rest
• Friday – 20 -25 Miles (160 – 240 Minutes) @ MAF
• Saturday – 20 – 25 Miles (160 – 240 Minutes) @ MAF
• Sunday – Rest
• Totals – 40 Miles Running (320 – 480 Minutes) /20 Miles Bike (70 Minutes)
• This type of week would then be followed by an easy week with Monday and Tuesday off.

Of course these are just some thoughts on what I may do to work to keep my miles and time working out at a place that gets me ready for my racing but also keeps me healthy.  Another key to this is to not create a schedule that is written in stone and working to keep to it no matter what.  Yes I do need to make sure I get the work in but I also need to be flexible enough to adjust things as I go along.

I hope this post, if it has done anything, has made you think about looking over your training from the last year and seeing how you could improve it.  Don’t take my plan and use it but develop one for yourself.  I do want to encourage you to work on MAF training (see my article here: MAF: What is it?) as I feel it is a great way to train if ones health is a top priority.

Plan for what is ahead and be ready to adjust as need be.  Also, as I need to, make sure to re-evaluate on a regular basis during the year so you can see how things are going.

As the year progress I will work to update how things are going with practicing what I preach.