Beaver Dam Mountain Biking

Competitor- time trialer or racer?

What kind of runner or racer lies within? For some it is the win or beating an age group rival that provides the necessary motivation. For others it is the perfect race, hitting a goal time or completing a distance. These are the things that motivate us daily and on race day. For me it was always about having the perfect race. I could turn myself inside out for a good time or having a great race. This also resulted in a lot of DNF's in my career. I could gladly stop if things were not going well and race another day. I had some great runs but, some disasters too. As an older athlete I am more cautious, willing to let the race or training session unfold rather than pushing every moment and hoping for something great to happen. It seems than runners in my era were willing to push themselves hard for a 26 min 8K that ended in 12th or 25th place. The median time for marathoners is about 4.5 hours these days. People tell their stories of beating cutoffs and such. It is better not to waste a race on that. Wait until you can hammer and then get out there. Maybe your inner athlete can guide your choices but, put out 100 percent whatever choice you make. It will make you strong and swift. Maybe just in our minds...

Flow on! Sweet Singletrack

Flow. That is what mountain biking seems to be about. There is effort involved but, not the effort you have to put out while running singletrack. Riding at my local trail I get a chance to improve my skills and get in a ride. I have been riding my Single Speed(SS) 29er more and more on trail rides. When I ride my geared bike, it makes the uphills a little easier but, takes away my attention from roots and rocks and such. With the SS I just get on and ride, concentrating on taking the cleanest line. Trail running is about making sure you don't fall or twist an ankle. Trail riding is about not biking into a tree! While riding yesterday I had one of those rides where everything comes together, dry trail, good weather and good choices about the lines I took while riding. When I got to the end, I wondered what made the ride so good. It was getting in the flow and going with it. Maybe that is a good lesson for life.

Projects other than running

Okay, so running and the like can be all consuming. I find to have a balanced life I have to have mutiple interests going at once. Sometimes these things move to the front burner and get more attention. They remain interests without being full fledged hobbies. I will share a few of mine. What are yours?

Spending time with Charlene
Taking care of dog walking business
Walking my dogs
Reading NY Times and doing crossword
Birdwatching
Learning more about reptiles, butterflies and moths
Planning outdoor trips- Kayaking, hiking
Rock climbing
Strength training
Keeping up with blog and motivation email
Finding new places on Gazeteer
Studying maps and using compass
Reading political history
Mountain biking
Spending time with friends
Visiting Baseball Parks
Reading about long gone car racing tracks in NC
Trying new BBQ places
Going to new places to eat in small towns
Planning day trips
Coffee roasting
Trying new beers, wines and spirits

The list goes on and life is good.

Now that hurt!

I was talking with one of my friends about the Tobacco Road Marathon that was held today. It made me remember my first marathon at Camp Lejeune. 10 miles in 65 and change, 20 in 2:11, last 10k in 54 minutes for a 3:05. Ouch! Sometimes these things just don't go right despite all the planning. There is always another race. That is why overall fitness is important as it helps you recover from the rough days and get to the next start line. Sounds sorta like the work week. Just getting to the end is enough sometimes...

Perspective

Nice ride today I was telling myself. Pushed hard for 30 miles and was feeling pleasantly tired. I had passed an older guy on his bike early in the ride and now he was coming up to me in the parking lot. He said I looked smooth out there on the bike and he asked a couple of questions about my bike, how far I went etc. He then mentioned he was 80 and still liked to ride and he had ridden with a buddy that was slower. We said our good byes and I was thinking I hope I am riding at 80, then I noticed his Korean War Vet tag. Maybe bike riding is the easy part of getting to 80...

Agression and running

Over the years of pushing hard on most runs, I have wondered what drives me? What drives other runners? For me to be on a training run or ride and get in the groove of pushing hard is propelled by agression. Anger makes you make mistakes and pushes you over the limit, agression allows you to tap into something to handle the pain. There is no greater joy than being on a training run with an equally matched partner and dropping the hammer. It does not matter who overcomes the other but, the agression has allowed me to push places I never knew I could. No Zen like state for me of the miles passing, just drop the hammer and let it rip. This how ever does not seem to work for runs over 2 hours. By that point fatigue has bled out all my aggression. I have learned over the years that if I am out front of another runner, I am very hard to catch  but, usually don't provide much of a fight once passed. I have given all I have by that point. What drives you to get out there and exercise or race?

Umstead the Muse

Since moving to the Raleigh/Durham area in January of 1994, I have run at Umstead thousands of time. A conservative estimate of 200 times per year times 16 years gets me up to 3200 visits. I have gone there many, many times twice per day. Add in all the hiking, biking, canoeing and dog walking and it probably is up to 4000 at least. Why the devotion? It takes consistency and a love of outdoors. I love being outside and Umstead is close to where I live. Others area I have run over the years have been McAlpine Greenway park in Charlotte, Duke Forest in Durham and the American Tobacco Trail in Apex. Even when my muse Umstead has hurt me through falls, heat, ticks and rainy cold, I still go in search of the inspiration. The muse has sustained me through inury, divorce, self doubt and confusion, adding clarity and peace through the connection. Some days my motivation wanes or life gets too busy but, I always go in search and Umstead never fails to help me find myself again.

Spring Flowers in Five Points

Took some photos of the spring flowers today!

This is how I feel when someone trips while trail running!

What are all these long runs for?

Being someone who has enjoyed the sustained effort of 3-4 hour long runs, I ask myself what is the actual purpose? If the benefit is mental, then have at it, run for hours. If the purpose is preparing for marathons or ultramarathons, maybe we need to take a look at the benefit.

According to most of the literature I have read over 30 plus years on running, most of the physical benefit occurs in the first 2 hours or 20 miles, whichever comes first. The benefit to ultramarathoners running longer may come with adaptation of the feet, legs and fueling for longer races. The runner needs to explore the world beyond 20 miles to see what happens. This does not need to be a regular habit. In fact longer, slow runs make you slower.

Runners get fast by running faster, not by running for hours on end. The faster runner at 10K, half marathons and marathons will be the faster ultrarunner. The people who win races are not slow. The sport is accessible by runners of all speeds and they can have a great adventure. Does anyone really want to be out there for 12 hours in a 50 miler?

When I started running in 1978, ultras were a fringe sport for marathoners who were too slow to compete on a national level. This means 2:15- 2:20 guys. Looking back I realize these guys were not slow but, found a sport where they could excel. Look back over their training logs and you will find lots of faster running. The faster athlete is stronger, fitter and can handle the demands of the long race without running 4 hour runs. Get out and improve your form, run shorter faster runs and you will enjoy your running even more. Racing hurts. Prepare for it by getting fitter and faster. Your legs and body will thank you.

Tempo,Lactate Threshold, Cruise miles How do they fit?

Speedwork. Intervals. Lactate Threshold Runs.Tempo Runs. Cruise Miles.
From all my years training with different methods, it seems that these methods are used incorrectly to achieve results. They all morph into an effort that is a little too hard for the required result. Lets start with clarifying the terms.

Speedwork: To me these fall into max effort done at a distance of less than 200 meters. They help with running economy and efficency. To stay relaxed while running at 95- 98% effort will help develop actual muscular strength. Your muscles learn to recruit and fire what muscles they need to run fast. Untrained, your muscles simply fire all at once. This is necessary as a drill for runners, it also helps with running form.

Intervals: These are simply periods of rest time between hard efforts. Most runners say they are running intervals when they are doing multiple reps at a hard effort. Such as 8 X 400 or 3 X 1 mile. It is a vague term that leads to no particular results.

Lactate Threshold Runs: Now here is where science gets involved. More information is coming out about the muscles and body's use of lactate as an energy source. For now LT( Lactate Threshold) runs mean the fastest you can run before your muscles start to produce more lactic acid than they can clear. Think of sprinters as producing much, marathoners little.
The process of progressive loads of work help your muscles adapt and produce less lactate with continued effort. The feeling you get when you drop your pace 10 seconds a mile in a 5k and start to slow after that is the body's inability to clear the lactic acid produced by more workload. LT is closely related to V02 Max. These runs also help efficency with the chemical systems in your body. I will explore LT more completely later.

Tempo runs. Ah, the salvation of every long distance runner. Since LT cannot be determined accurately without lab tests, runners use the subjective term of tempo running to approximate the LT response. Tempo runs are a steady 20 mins of an effort you feel you could maintain for an hour race. This produces a training response without overloading your system and leading to overtraining. This is where runners can dial in paces they may need for longer races. I have used 3 miles on the track as a tempo run for years.

Cruise miles. These runs are supposed to be efforts longer than 2 minutes but around 3- 4 minutes. Most runners use miles at cruise pace to simulate race effort. Think of 3-5:30 min miles with 60-90 second rests versus 3 miles in 16:30 at once. This helps manage the effort instead of having a 3 mile time trial.

Hope this helps clarify the terms so you can use the correct method to acheive your goals.