Author: theironpalm

It’s been ages since my last post (Jan 2018).  About 20 months.  So much has happened since then.  I was up and down with my training for the first 6 months of 2018.  On July 4 I started my current run streak which now stands at 465 days of at least running a mile.  This consistency has really paid off.  I started with an 80/20 half marathon plan and instead of running a race I rolled that right into the 80/20 marathon plan.  Along the way, I ran a few races.

The streak started with the ARR 4 on the 4th (37:35 9:24 pace).  (Just as a baseline I ran a 26:52 5k and a 55:23 10k at the beginning of the year)..

9/28/18 Desert Twilight XC 5K 25:27

11/17/18 Gilbert 10K 51:58

12/08/18  Scottsdale Half Marathon 1:5839

2/09/19  Phx/Mesa Marathon 3:59:23  (PR) Finally broke 4 hours.

2/23/19 Litchfield Park 10K 53:17 Still was recovering from the marathon but still 9 mins faster than the previous year when I blew up in that race.

3/03/19 Mountain to Fountain 15K 1:24:32

3/30/19 QC5  24:35

I had by now switched into trail running mode

4/20/19  Sinister Night Run 54K 8:19:28

5/18/19 Adrenaline Night Run 50K 6:51:47 (PR)

6/15/19 Hypnosis 54K 9:30:25

7/4/19 ARR 4 on the 4th  (32:51)  Close to 5 minutes faster than the year before)

7/13/19 Siskiyou Outback 50 Miler 14:38:38

I was pretty much done with Ultras at this point and decided to get back to the roads.

8/04/19 ARR Summer Series #5 5k  24:51

Following the 50 miler as recovery, I did the 80/20 8-week 5k plan.  No week over 20 miles.

Desert Twilight XC 5k 23:47 (1:40 faster than the year before).

 

I am now about 4 weeks into my marathon training plan.  I am using a Hanson’s inspired Power Based plan this time.  The goal race is Rock N Roll Arizona in January.  I am also adding the swim and bike portion of a sprint triathlon plan on top of the marathon build.

 

The first month of my training plan went pretty well.  Running was about 15 easy miles each week.  I did 4 weeks of the 10-Minute Trainer program.  It was a good program to start off with.  The first 2 weeks I was just trying to make it through but the last 2 weeks I was able to push a little harder.   I didn’t really dial in my diet until the last 2 weeks.  I started at 169 and am down to 162.  I ran a 5k yesterday and am only about a minute slower than I was in October.  After not running much in Nov. and Dec. I am glad I did not slip too far back.

I start the T25 tomorrow.  I was really getting bored with the 10-minute trainer workouts by week 4.  I will also have the Pancake run 10k on Sunday.  It will be the 2nd in the ARR Grand Prix Series.

I am about 6 months away from my 50th birthday.  I really don’t feel like a fifty-year-old, but I don’t want to wake up on July 11 feeling like an old man.  The gift I will give to myself is to enter my 50’s in the best shape of my life.  The key things that need to happen need to be:

• Clean up my diet
• Consistency with running
• Consistency with cross training

Current weight is 169.2 lbs

Body Fat 26.6%

The goal is to lose 30 lbs in 6 months.

I will start the exercise part of my program with doing 30 minutes of the 10-minute trainer workouts for the first 4 weeks.  I think I need a good solid month of these easier workouts to build the daily habit of working out.  I will then go through the 10-week T25 program.   I should be in good enough shape at that point to complete the program without having to modify the workouts.

In addition to those workouts, I need to continue my running.  I am doing 4 weeks of easy running (3 -4 miles 4 to 5 times per week).  I am going to follow John L. Parker’s programs out of his Heart Monitor Training for the Compleat Idiot.  After the first 4 weeks Starting from Scratch plan, I will move on to his 12 Week Novice Program.

So both my running and workout plans should be done in about 15 weeks.  I will then check my progress before committing to what I should do the last 3 months before my birthday.  If all goes well, I would really like to do P90X for the last 3 months.

I am nearing the end of Week 14 of my 24 Week Training Plan.  I have been following Jack Daniels plan for 5k to 15 k racing.  My main goal is to have one solid year of consistent training.  In the spring I ran a 5K in 30:36 having not trained since Ironman AZ in November.  Finally started training again in the end of June.  I have been extremely conservative in adding to my weekly mileage.  I started running 2 miles a day for the first 3 weeks (avg. of about 9 miles).  I then moved up to 12, 16, 20, and now I am at about 25.  I stayed at each level for 3 weeks before moving up.  Monthly mileage totals:

June  20 miles

July  57 miles

Aug  34 miles (lost a week and a half to a cold)

Sep  67 miles

Oct 39 miles so far and it is only 10/13.

I am in Phase 3 of the plan so the speed work is a little tougher, but I am enjoying it.

Results are slowly improving.  By the end of the summer I was running in the 27’s for the 5k.  Had a nice race at the Twilight meet on Sept 29 finished 26:36.  Came back last week at the South Mountain Classic and ran 25:58.  So I am not crushing it,  but I am happy with the progress.  I still think my fastest times are ahead of me at all distances.

Since I am not coaching this year, I have had more time to train.  Middle School has a later start than Elementary or High School, so I can get my training in the morning.

There are no big races on the horizon.  I want to race everything in the ARR Grand Prix next year.  I will either do another 24 week Jack Daniels plan or something out of “Build Your Running Body”.

On the immediate horizon is the Nike Southwest race in November and then I am going to test out my 10K fitness with the Mesa Turkey Trot.

Looking over my blog post titles over the years, I see that many have to do with getting back into training after a long layoff.  Instead of just doing that same post again, I think it would be beneficial to see why my training stalls over time and what I can do to actually achieve my goals.

I think the biggest problem with my training over the years has been jumping into too big of goals before I am ready to tackle them effectively.  My first marathon back in 2010 is a great example.  I didn’t really have a lot of shorter running in the bank before I started the 16 week or so training plan.  The same thing is true for most of my other “big events”.  The consequence to this is that I usually get injured or frustrated during the training leading up to the event.  If I do actually compete in the event, I’m usually so beat up after the event, that I can not get back into training very quickly.  So after a long recovery period, I have lost all the fitness gained and back at Square 1.

How do I stop this vicious cycle and actually starting getting the results I want?  I believe the answer is that I need to train consistently for an extended period of time before I embark on even training for my next big race.  I’ve decided to follow Jack Daniel’s 5k-15K training program.  What I like most about the program, is the VDOT charts for determining training paces.  I know a lot of people think it is too rigid, but I honestly believe that most people train too hard on their easy days and too easy on their hard days.  I will base all my training paces on my most recent 5k race efforts.  So, based on my last 5k time of 30:47, my easy training runs should be at 12:15 per mile.  I will have basically 6 weeks of all easy runs. I will only increase my training pace when I earn it in a race and drop on the VDOT chart.  It is humbling to be at the top (slowest) VDOT on the chart, but also exciting to see all the short term goals I can accomplish over the next 24 weeks.

I am now 2 week into the plan.  It has been a struggle to run at 12:16, I am usually running closer to 11:30.  It is hard to keep any kind of a fast turnover at anything slower.  I am staying under control and only running 15 miles per week.  I can increase my mileage every 3 weeks and only by 1 mile for the number of training sessions I have in a week.  I am planning on just increasing by 5 miles a week every 3 weeks.  I will run one of the Arizona Road Racer Summer Series 5K’s on July 15 to adjust my training paces.  I am already having to resist the temptation to add something to the training plan or try something new.  But the plan is to follow the plan to the end.

 

Weeks 20 and 19:

At the end of June,  I mapped out my entire training plan that will take me through to Ironman Arizona.  I am choosing to follow the plan in the “The 12-week triathlete”.  For the first 8 weeks, I will follow the 4-week base and 4-week build part of the Olympic Distance (advanced) program.  I will then follow the 12-week intermediate Ironman distance plan.  I really like the simplicity of the program.  At this point I don’t need a lot of fancy workouts, I just need to get time on my feet, in the saddle, and in the water.

Lessons Learned for IMAZ 2015: The biggest problem with my training last year was a lack of consistency.  I got a lot of great workouts in but never really was able to sustain a large string of workouts together.  I had a lot of great long bike rides on the weekend, but rarely made the time to include many weekday rides.  Where the run should have been a strength, I never really got into running shape during the course of the program.  Like most people I was most scared of the swim.  I believe the swim turned out to be my strongest leg of the race for me.  I was really able to relax and keep a nice smooth stroke throughout.  I believe with a little more consistency, I can greatly improve my swim time, but more importantly leave myself in better shape for the bike and run.

With the heat, I have been completing all of my bike workouts on my trainer indoors.

Week 20:

July 1:  Swim 30 minutes/Weights

July 2:  Run 4 miles

July 3:  45 min. bike/ Run 2 miles

July 4:  45 min bike/(missed swim because the pool closed early)

July 5:  Swim 30 minutes/Weights

July 6:  Bike 1 hour/Run 2 miles

July 7:  Run 5 miles

Week 19:  July 8-13 same as previous except completed swim.

Tomorrow is the July 14 which will be my long run of 5 miles to complete my first 2 weeks.

I am really happy with how I have started July.  I haven’t missed a day and feel really strong.  Last Thursday I got a Thai Sports massage and my body wasn’t as knotted up as in previous sessions.

Focus for the next 2 weeks is to really dial in my diet.  I also want to finish July strong so I have established good training habits for when I go back to work in August.

 

 

 

I once again find myself in the “worst shape” of my life.  That is kind of a telling statement…”worst shape”.  Since I say it all the time I must be in a constant state of deterioration.  Every time I make a little improvement and then get derailed I end up farther back than where I initially started.  Maybe if I stop starting over, I can at least stay in a reasonable state of fitness.  Over the next few days, I am going to analyze why my training gets derailed so often and what I can do about it for the future.

1.  Starting a plan with an unrealistic view of current fitness.  This usually means that after being very inconsistent with my training over the course of a few months I decide to start training for an upcoming race.  I will, of course, pick XYZ Marathon over the Let’s Have Fun 5k So 16 weeks to XYZ Marathon and I think I can just jump right into “Week 1” of Run your Fastest Marathon Ever (hereafter called the RYFME) training plan.  So the RYFME plan has you base your training paces on a recent race performance.  “Recent” is a relative term.  I will usually fall back on that Thanksgiving Day 10-mile race where I averaged 8:30 miles and finished one place away from winning a free pie.  The one problem was that race was in 2013 and was at the end of the most consistent 6 months of training in my entire life.  The first day of RYFME will, of course, be some absurd interval workout (10 X 800’s in 2:30 with a 10 sec rest in between).  One of three things will happen.  The first option is that after the second interval I collapse on the track stagger home to look for a better training plan on the internet.  Option 2 is I actually finish the workout but blow out my knee and spend the next 2 months looking  for a better training plan on the internet (A variation on this option is the I am too sore to run the rest of the week and spend the time looking on the internet for a better training plan).  Option 3 is I struggle through the first week and over the next month complete about a quarter of the workouts get frustrated and you guessed it….search the internet for a new training plan.

New alternative approach:  Don’t plan the first month or two, just run easy at least four times a week.  Don’t use any training plan that is based on a “recent race” unless you have raced recently.

Ever since I was a little kid, my mom would always make sure to tell me I was a good kid.  At least once a month, “Craig, you’re a good kid.”  When I was younger it was usually because I was screwing up, and she wanted to remind me of how I should behave.  Sometimes it was when she knew I was struggling with something, and she was trying to boost my confidence.  Other times it was honestly her way of telling herself she didn’t do a horrible job raising me.  More recently, I know it was her way of telling me she was proud of me and loved me and saying good bye.

Mom never really understood my relationship with running.  When I ran cross country in high school, she always worried I would “hurt my feet, right before basketball season.”  As an adult she finally stopped asking me if I “won” after a race.  After my father passed, I ran a 50K in Sedona and Mom came to watch (Yes, I know ultra-running is not a spectator friendly sport). As I finished towards the back, I think she finally got that I wasn’t running to win anything.  She said, “I think if you ran a little faster, you could be done a lot sooner” with a totally straight face.

On Wednesday night as I was leaving the hospital she asked me what my plans were.  I was heading to the gym to get my swim workout in.  She said, “Do good…..aw you always do good…do better.”

Mom passed on Friday night.  She told me I was a good kid one last time…but I am more thankful for the challenge to do better

The first week of my training program went perfect.  I didn’t miss any workouts for a total of 9:20 training time.

Totals: Swim 4593 yds, Bike 67 miles, Run  12 miles.

None of the workouts seemed too difficult at this time, however the swims did take more time than I had planned for.  This was the most consistent week of training I have had all year, and I have about 2 more weeks to establish some healthy training habits before school starts in August.

I am not planning on any races until September.  I will do a Splash and Dash on Sept 17th at Tempe Town Lake and a few days later the Lifetime Fitness Olympic distance on September 20.  Still debating on whether to do a half Ironman in early October (if I can still get in) or another Olympic up at Lake Powell on October 24th.

I am planning on dropping 20 lbs during the next 18 weeks.  First week I am down 2lbs.  The only problem all week was wrenching my back loading a couple bags of cement into the truck.

Soon after my marathon last year, I had the crazy idea to enter Ironman Arizona.  I felt pretty beat up from the marathon and the couple of running events I did in the following months.  I was a little fried on my running training and thought a new challenge was in order.

I still remember watching the Ironman on TV.  I was always so amazed at guys like Dave Scott, Mark Allen and Scott Tinley.  Who can forget the finishes of Julie Moss or Paula Newby-Fraser?  In addition to the champions, each race would also feature “ordinary” people, and I, like many others, thought maybe someday…

Knowing the race filled up with in a day, I decided to volunteer at the 2014 race in order to get priority in registering for the 2015 race.  So on Nov. 16 I stood at the corner of Rural and Rio Salado Parkway in Tempe keeping pedestrians from walking in front of racing bike riders for about 5 hours.  I was thoroughly impressed by both athletes and the spectacle of an Ironman event.  The next morning I joined hundreds of other volunteers at 5 am to line up for our chance to register.  I had the opportunity to speak with several people in line.  This was to be my first exposure to culture of triathlon.  Just as I have rarely met a runner I didn’t like, I have found triathletes to be a very generous and fun group of people.

There were a few raised eyebrows from people when they heard I had never competed in a triathlon before.  Already a little overwhelmed by the enormity of the task ahead I began to doubt the advisability of this endeavor.  But for every raised eyebrow there was at least one person who said “Hey, go big or go home!”

The line moved quickly and before I knew it I was registered for Ironman AZ 2015.  My training in the last 8 months has been sporadic at best.  My first 3 races could be described best as The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly.  I have no time goals except to get out of the water before the 2 hour 20 minute cutoff, get off the bike before the 5:30 cutoff, and be done by midnight.  Like most new triathletes,  the water scares me the most.  I now have a very healthy respect for the open water swim.  My 18 Week Training Program begins on July 13th.