Running Outside My Comfort Zone

Yesterday’s workout: Morning:  5 miles recovery  Evening:  2 mile warm up, followed by 3000m @ 5Kish pace, 4x400 relay at a crazy-sprint pace, and a cool-down “predict your time” mile  

A lot of runners (myself included) get stuck in a rut from time to time. Same schedule, same routes, same paces.   It’s comforting to stick to what you know and what has worked in the past. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it, right?   But I’d argue that we all need to shake things up once in a while and try something completely different. Not only does it give our bodies a new stimulus to adjust to (which will hopefully provide positive adaptations), but it gives our mind a much needed break from the monotony of training as well. Which is why yesterday found me toeing the line for a sticky, hot and humid 3000m race at our local track.

We are fortunate in Richmond to have a very supportive running community. One of the things that they put on each year is the Summer Track Series.   As the name implies, it’s a series of track events held each week in the summer – at 6:30pm in the evening. Everyone is welcome, and registration happens at 6pm the night of the events. So you just show up, sign up, and run!

I haven’t been on a track to run true intervals in years. The past several marathon training seasons I’ve been using the plan from Pfitzinger’s Advanced Marathoning book and due to the nature of the longer intervals he suggests, I’ve been able to run them all on the roads.

I’ve been comfortable in that little world – with no short intervals, and no real races longer than 15K. But I was recently issued an invitation by a friend to join him for the 3000m at the Summer Track Series. Since I’d normally have a tempo run on Monday, I figured I’d just leave that off the schedule and run the 3000m on Wednesday instead. It’s sliiiiightly different than my regular tempos since a) it was not at 5:30am and b) it was ridiculously hot and humid since it’s held at the end of the afternoon.

But show up I did and I found myself lining up with a bunch of local high school speedsters.  I warmed up, then nervously walked around. Everyone was doing drills and strides and stretches. I figured some strides wouldn’t hurt and knocked out a couple before lining up for the 3000m.   After a crash course in track etiquette (Do I move over into lane 1 after the gun? (In this case, Yes) Do I run around people or holler at them to move? (Run around them)), I found myself staring down seven and a half laps at a pace faster than I’d ever run for that distance. I took a deep breath, the gun went off, and we ran.

I settled into a pretty decent groove after a lap or so. It was work, but it felt like I could maintain it for the duration. Despite running a 6:10 pace, with two laps to go I got lapped by the high school boys (which didn’t feel great, but also made me appreciate their speed!). Throughout the race I also had to dodge slower folks and I also tried to hold lane 1 open for the guys I knew were coming up behind me. In the end I crossed the line in 11:59. Per my Garmin, I’d done more distance with the people dodging (1.94 miles – making my pace 6:10), but the official pace was 6:25.   I was happy enough with the pace given the heat and humidity, and definitely felt I’d gotten in a solid effort.

After the 3000m, my friends and I signed up for the 4x400 relay and got crushed by the high school kids. It was pretty fun to get out there and try to run as fast as we could for a lap (and try not to drop the baton!).   Our cool-down for the evening was a “predict your mile” – one mile on the track with no watches. We didn’t race it, just ran at a steady pace and tried to guess what time we’d end up with. I guessed 7:13 and ended up at 7:25 – I guess I was more wiped out than I thought!

Either way, the evening on the track turned out to be a good effort and more importantly, it was FUN.    It was fun to try something new, to be a bit nervous.  And it was a great reminder to step outside that "safe" comfort zone on occasion and mix it up.  I encourage all of you to try something new this month.  If your city has anything like this, get out there and sign up!  Or choose another event or race that's outside your own distance preferences and give it a go.  You may surprise yourself at how much fun you have doing something completely different.  Even though I couldn’t keep up with the kids half my age on the track last night, it was a fantastic opportunity to feel young at heart.

Back of the Pack: How Being Last Can Make You Faster

When I first started running, a colleague and friend of mine invited me to come and run with him and some others on Tuesday evenings for “Tuesday Track Night”.   The plan was to meet at my friend’s house, warm up by jogging to the track near his place, run the track workout, and then jog back. Since I was thrilled to be invited to run with others and I knew this would help me learn how to do track work, I told him I’d show up. That first Tuesday I learned a few things:

1)   The track was 2 miles away. Therefore the “warm up” was almost as long as the 3 miles total I’d planned for that evening.

2)   His group was FAST. Their leisurely 8:30-9min mile pace to the track was faster than my RACE PACE at the time.

3)   Trying to summon the energy in my legs for the 2 mile jog home almost killed me – and had me pretty much convinced that it would be the only time I came out to run with his group

By the time I practically crawled to my car after the jog back, I was totally wiped out. And FRUSTRATED. My friend, however, was unperturbed. “You’re coming back next week, right?” he shouted as I waved meekly and drove off.   Not likely, I thought to myself.

That next week as Tuesday rolled around, he extended the invitation again. “Come run with us!” he badgered. I told him that I was too slow, that it was too hard to keep up. But I did enjoy being on the track with the others and even just having other people running near me, if not WITH me. So I showed up again.   I was huffing and puffing to the track – feeling so wiped out from just trying to keep them in sight on the warm up that I had hardly anything left for the actual track work. And even less for the cool down.   But I survived, and week after week I showed up.   I was always the last one to finish the warm up and the track work.   And they’d polished off their Gatorade and thrown on their flip flops before I’d even crested the last hill to complete the cool down.   Occasionally one of the guys or gals would take pity on me and drop back to my pace to run it in. And everyone was as nice as could be. But it was tough being last. Every single week I was last. Every. Week.

I wish I could say that I magically got faster quickly, and that it wasn’t hard after a while. But that’s not the case. I struggled in the back for months with them. And even when I no longer was able to run with that group, I’ve found myself in the back of the pack in almost every group I’ve ever run with. But now, you see, I seek to put myself in that position. Because I’ve learned a few things along the way about being in the back:

1)   It builds your knowledge base. You get to see and talk to (for at least SOME portion of the run or before and afterwards) folks that are faster than you. You hear about their training techniques and quirks, their good races and their bad ones.   Race day strategies and new workouts they are trying. You get a chance to learn from them about what works, and what doesn’t.

2)   It forces you to learn YOUR pace.   It’s easy to get caught up in conversation with the pack at the start of a run. You tell yourself that you can hang on and gut it out to stay with them as they start to pick up the pace. But a mile or two in you know you’ve made a mistake – and on the rest of the run you suffer for it. It only takes a few repetitions of this before you realize something VERY IMPORTANT: You have to run YOUR pace.   It’s important on a long run, and it’s even more important on race day.   Yes, that means that you have to let the pack go while you hold the pace that’s right for you. And while that’s not always the most fun, it’s a lesson that will pay dividends on race day.

3)   It lights a fire. Each week you may find yourself convincing your mind and body to hang with the pack for just one more minute, or one more mile before dropping back a bit to run your own pace. Each week as you watch the pack pick up the pace and slowly pull away from you during the run, it inspires you to get better. To work harder.

4)   It teaches you perseverance. It’s not fun to always be last. It’s frustrating and disheartening and has made me cry angry tears on more than one occasion. But if you can swallow your pride and just keep showing up and working hard, you’ll discover just how tough you are and how much determination you have.

5)   It makes you better. Last but not least, when you run with a faster group you WILL get faster.  As you see them up ahead, your mind and body will want to close that gap – and you’ll find yourself running slightly faster than you would on your own which leads to your body getting stronger each week. Even if you are in the back of the pack every time, provided you continue to work hard, you WILL improve.

It won’t happen overnight, but running with a faster group will make you a better, stronger runner. As you get better you’ll notice that you are able to hang with the pack for a bit longer each week, and one day you’ll look around and notice you are running near the front.   And when that happens…smile, pat yourself on the back, and start looking for a another group.

Marathon Essentials - Building a Base

This past week it was 76 degrees. At 5:20am.   As I started off on what was sure to be a “slog” through the planned ten miles, I searched my mind for reassurance that there was a good reason for me to be logging so many miles in these weeks before my official training plan really begins. It’s summer time, and for those of us planning on racing a fall marathon, that means it’s prime time to be finishing up our work on building a solid base. I am utilizing a 12-week marathon training schedule this season to prepare for Harrisburg, PA on November 9th. Which means that for me, official “training” doesn’t start until well into August. But in these spring and summer months of May, June, and July, I’m building a solid foundation in hopes that in August, I’ll be able to capitalize on that base and have a strong training season.   But I got to thinking: What exactly is the definition of a “base” for marathoners – and what’s the best way to build a great one?

What is a Base?

Legendary New Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard took the running world by storm in the 1960s with his creation of the base.   In the illustration below of Lydiard’s training pyramid, the base is the 3-6 months of aerobic conditioning – a time of slowly building up mileage and providing the necessary stimulus to increase your aerobic system’s capacity.   A good base period strengthens your skeletal system, muscles and connective tissues to prepare you for the harder training to follow. Without putting in the time to develop a solid base, you risk injury when you begin to ramp up the intensity later in the season.   Having a solid base also allows you to recover slightly faster when the real work begins. And since recovery is such a huge component of successful training, that’s key.

How to Build Your Base:

While Lydiard’s boys were famous for logging 100-mile weeks, most marathoners don’t need to be putting in quite so much mileage in the base phase. What IS important, however, is to slowly build up a good base of mileage that considers your age, ability, gender, fitness, and event.

Build Up Mileage 

The mileage you run during your base varies for each runner. If you’ve only ever maxed out at a 40-mile peak, now’s not the time to jump to an 80-mile week. But base building is the time to gradually ramp up the mileage and get your body used to the mileage you are going to ask of it when you start your training block. You can try adding a few more miles than you did in your last base phase, so that each year you may progressively end up with a higher “peak” – building each season on the previous one.   Your long runs on the weekend should gradually increase as well, but there’s no need to be running 18 or 20 milers just yet.

Strengthen Your Body

The base is a great time to incorporate some strength training into your routine. If your schedule allows, a good strength and core session 2x a week can make a huge difference. Your cardiovascular system tends to improve rather quickly – but your musculoskeletal system can take a bit of time to catch up. Some supplemental strength training during your base phase can go a long way towards helping your body handle the subsequent higher mileage weeks without injury.   If you belong to a gym, a strength/conditioning class or a circuit in the weight room is a good place to start. No gym? Not a problem. There are tons of bodyweight-only exercises you can do to develop your overall strength and core. Jay Johnson has one (along with videos) here: http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/video-general-strength-exercises

Run By Feel

The base building phase is a great time to practice listening closely to your body and your “inner coach”.   While it’s tempting to sport your Garmin for every run and keep a close eye on the mileage and pace, running by feel is an essential skill for all runners to develop.   You need to learn to listen to your body and feel the difference between a medium-hard effort and a full-out effort.   You’ll need that skill late in your races as you work to squeeze every last drop of energy out of your body and run strong to the end.   Fail to listen to your body and you risk pushing too hard too early and running out of gas before the finish line.   To practice in your base period, leave your Garmin at home and try to start slowly on each run – allowing your body to gradually warm up and ease into the pace – and aim to end each run on a strong note (but not an all-out sprint!).

Add Some Speed 

One of the slight clarifications/modifications to Lydiard’s idea of the base is the incorporation of some faster running. Coaches such as former Olympic marathoner Jenny Spangler recommend some light speed work (such as fartleks and strides) once or twice a week during the base. Other coaches recommend slightly longer work (such as a tempo run) to help ease the runner into the mental and physical demands of the training ahead.   From what I’ve read, this seems to be a great time for runners to choose the workout they want to do – since fartleks, strides, and tempos all seem to provide similar benefits. If a tempo run on a Tuesday morning sounds more appealing to you than 10x2 minute fartleks, well, have at it!

What this means for me:

So after looking at all of the great base-building info that is out there, here’s my personal plan. This next training cycle I’m hoping to hit a peak of around 90, so I’m gradually working my way up over these next weeks. Right now I’m hovering around 55-60 miles per week, with one or two days of faster “speedwork-lite”.   I tend to like fartleks better than tempos, but I’ve been making myself do 20-minutes of tempo a week just to try and overcome my aversion to them.   I’ve also been incorporating some strides during the last half of one of my runs. For strength and core work I’ve been heading twice a week to the YMCA to do a Body Pump class (group strength training) and a core class. As for running by feel, I need to get better about leaving the Garmin at home, and that’s something I’m working on.

Final Thoughts

Getting that aerobic engine primed with good, steady aerobic effort over the course of many weeks is what Lydiard’s base training is all about.   If you can do that successfully and consistently season after season, you’ll have created a wonderful foundation to build upon in your quest to become the best runner you can be.