12 mile run

12 miles on the Nike campus.
Last 6 miles @ 39 minutes.
I feel that these runs are getting easier.
Better aerobic strength will allow me to tap
into my speed at the end of my race.
If I don't have the aerobic strength,
then access to speed is denied.

10 mile run

10 mile run @ 7:00 min pace on hilly course.
surged up the hills on the last two miles.
Feeling good.

Yesterday was just an easy 4 mile run. with a 3:00 minute hill surge.

10 mile run Nike Campus

10 miles on the NIke campus. I picked up the last two miles a little bit
and ran 5:50 pace.

8 miles and 16 x 200m

Very hard day off training. Ran in snow, hail, and sleet.
2 mile warm up
8 x 200m with 45 sec rest @ 29 sec.
6 mile run
8x200m @ 28,28,28,28,29,28,27,27 with 200m jog rest
37 degrees F
I also ran in road racing shoes to save my
legs from the doms.

Tired today

4 mile warmup.
1xmile @ 5:10
Just a little workout to keep the wheels turning.
I was pretty tired from ripping out a deck this morning.

12 mile run 7:00 am

Today I got up early on a beautiful sunny but icy cold morning and ran 12 miles on the Nike campus. I took the day off from running yesterday because of a busy schedule.

Later in the day, I decided to a hill workout. 5x200m hills at 80-90% effort.
I also did a 2 mile warmup and 1 mile cool down. Total of about 15 miles today.

I also did 100 sit ups and 20 pullups.

Now time for 4 hours of practicing the piano.

8 mile run on Wildwood trail

This morning I was a little sore from the workout yesterday. I decided to do an easy 8 mile run on the wildwood trail starting at the world forestry center. Over the last 20 years I have run thousands of miles on these trails.
Tonight I am playing a gig in the Pearl district.

8 mile run today

Another cold, dark, rainy night running solo on the Nike campus. Felt pretty
tired and sore today. My body is slowly adapting to the aerobic training.

10 mile run

Tonight, I ran 10 miles on the Nike campus. Easy 7:30/ mile pace.

8 mile am run and 4 mile pm run

Ran a good 8 mile run on the nike campus. I did a bunch of surges on the small hills that are on this trail. I plan to do another run tonight after I get rested and refueled.

Ran up a hill with a 1000 foot climb. Did some hard surges for extra aerobic work.

I also have been drinking a lot of Aloe Vera juice.

http://naturalhealthezine.com/health-benefits-of-aloe-vera/

10 miles today

Two runs today to get a total of 10 miles today.
am. 6 miles on the Nike campus @ 7 minute pace
pm 4 miles easy jog.

Base Training

I took a few days off to begin another macro-cycle of training.
My plan is today about 2 months of 70 miles per week.
I will then start some interval training in mid April and
begin racing again in May and hopefully peak in July.

Yesterday was 10 miles on the nike campus.
30 pullups, 3 minute plank


Today am 4 miles ending with 5 minute mile on the track
pm 6 miles on the Nike campus.

Sunday night I did 1 mile @ 5:00 min
followed by 2x(400m + 200m) @ 56,28 and 56,27
I did a 400m jog between sets and 100m slow jog between intervals.
The weather was very cold and I was not feeling
very good.

Last 4 days

1/24 rest day fighting cold virus
1/25 rest day

1/26 A pretty good track session. 8 x 300m cut downs.

2 x (4 x 300m) @ 45,44,43,41 and 45,44,43,42
2 laps jog between sets and 400m between intervals.

1/27 am 1 x 2miles @ 10:58. This felt a little more difficult than in the past.

Sometime back to back workouts, less than 48 hours apart,
are great ways to get bigger fitness gains due to the enhanced training effect.
This is also known as crash training.

It is important to schedule equal amount
of recovery days as consecutive hard training days during crash training.

10 miles on the nike campus

I had a 3 hour gig last night then played piano for two church services. Had hardly any sleep. After about 2 hour nap, I felt ready to do an easy 10 mile run. I ran easy 7:30 mile pace. I always like to do a couple surges on the last mile.

After 2 rest days, I feel good.

My workout today was 2 mile warmup.
1x600m @ 1:32
1x400m@57 sec
1x300m@43 sec
2x200m@ 27,26 sec

100 plyometric box jumps. Very
difficult after a speed workout.

I made some good progress on my pace robot
that I am building. It is an autonomous differential steering robot that follows
the white line on an all weather running track.
The difficult thing is getting it to go at an exact
speed while staying on a white line. I am about ready
to take it for a test ride. It will be used to help
pace me for workouts.I also added sonar to it so it won't
plow into anyone.

I finally figured out how to make it have cruise control
with PID. PID is fancy feedback control equation
for closed loop systems.

I have had fun getting to learn the Arduino programming
environment. It is a version of C with a lot of
libraries that are available. Its a great place to
start if you want to build something that requires
a microprocessor.

10 miles on the nike campus

10 mile run on the Nike campus. I ran the last 5 miles with a guy named Mo Farah who is
England's top distance runner. Also a 3:33 1500m pr. He is being coached by Alberto Salazar. He told me he is running
100 miles per week. its always fun to chat with the best runners in the country and in the world. It seems that they
are all showing up in Beaverton.

My race today

I ran this race after a 4 hour drive to Seattle and only 1 hour warm up.

One of my better track workouts

With a race 1 week from today, I decided to work on

an 800m race simulation.  It was a bit more difficult

to run fast in 35 degrees outside temp. 

I started with 1x600m @ 1:26,

200m jog then 1x200m @ 29,

200m jog then 1x200m @ 28

I then took about 3 laps jog 

and decided to work on a

some 1500m date pace work.

1x800 m @ 2:07 and 3x400 @ 64,60,61 with 1 lap jog

These felt very relaxed. I was able to find

some guys to run the second part of this workout.

It made it much easier to share pacing duties. 

After running a lot of sub 60 sec 400m  pace in 

workouts, it is relatively easy to run at my goal

mile pace.    

28x100m repeats @ 14 sec and last 4x100m @ 12 sec

Tonight I started with a 40 min run with about 1000 feet of elevation climb.
I came to the track ran a high volume of 100m repeats. 28x100m with short rest.
I averaged 14 seconds for the first 20 and 20-24 in 13.5 and finished the last 4 in 12.5.
I felt pretty fresh since yesterday was a 20 minute recovery run.

This workout is very comfortable since the intervals are not long enough to get into oxygen
debt. I felt this workout was great finding a rythm at race pace. It is great practice to get so many intervals at race pace. One way to get a lot of practice at race pace is to shorten your intervals to 1/8 th your race distance and do 2 or 3 times the volume of your race distance.
For example, I hope to run 1:52 for 800m. That breaks down to 56 sec/400m and 28 sec/200m and 14 sec/100m. A good workout for me would be 24 x 100m @ 14 seconds. I always like to tag on an extra 4 intervals faster than race pace to practice a good finish. Races are often won by the person with the best kick.

In addition, doing this workout is meaningless without having the strength to go with it.
If I just do interval work, then I will just be good at doing intervals. I must add
a lot of stregnth work if I plan to race well in middle distance events.

Another track workout in freezing temperature

Started with 2 miles @ 10:50 min

2x(400m+200m) @ 57,29 sec and 56,27 sec

Again the effort felt like two seconds faster per 400m interval

than what I ran in this workout.  It was difficult to get warmed up even

wearing hats, gloves, half tights, etc...  After the two mile

I had to sit in my car with my heater on high for a few minutes before starting

my faster intervals .

I am sure that intervals in the cold will translate to faster

times in warmer weather with the same effort.  When I come home 

from a run in the cold and try to play the piano before getting warmed up,

it feels impossible. My fingers are half paralyzed. Similarly, when I run fast intervals

on the track, it is like I was shot in the butt with a tranquilizer gun.

When I do an anaerobic workout, the increase of lactic acid seems to have

double the effect. I think it may be eliciting a greater training response

that could result in greater adaptations that will result in improvements

with a proper recovery. After all, when we run hills, train at altitude,

run intervals, etc... We are trying to elicit a bigger training response

resulting in great compensations or physiological adaptations not to 

mention the improved mental toughness that is achieved from getting

outside your comfort zone. 

Rest day

Today I played the piano in two church services.  I was pretty tired today and decided to take it easy. I jogged about 20 minutes and did a few pull ups.  Tomorrow I will attempt two mile warmup in 10:20 followed by 2x(400,300,200) @ 56,42,28

2x4x300m in sub freezing temp

I am now entered in the 800m scheduled Jan 15 at the first of a series of University of Washington Indoor meets. My goal is to run a sub 1:55 opener. 

Today was a pretty solid workout considering the cold and windy conditions.

I started with 4x300m @ 45,46,46,46 with 60 sec rest. I was wearing many layers and road racing  flats. After a lap jog, I put on my spikes and ran another 4x300m @ 43,44,43,43  with 90 sec rest

and finished with a 29 sec 200m . 

This workout would translate to a faster workout in warmer conditions. This session definitely felt the same intensity as running this same workout 2 or 3 seconds faster in warmer weather. 

 There is nothing like very hot shower alternating with freezing cold shower to feel completely recovered.  Forget the concept of exposing yourself to cold as being the reason for getting sick.

IT IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE!!!  Getting exposed to cold temperatures for short durations has been shown to boost the immune system.   I just did a little research about cold therapy and found that there are amazing benefits. Before you jump into an ice bath, make sure that you are healthy enough to do so.  If you are healthy enough to do moderate exercise, then you are very likely healthy enough for total body cold therapy.  It may be a good idea to get check with your doctor to make sure that you are in good enough health to start an exercise program and or cold temperature therapy.  I found that it helps to warm your body up before taking a cold shower or ice bath. Try a warm sauna followed by a cold shower. Eventually build up your tolerance by decreasing the time in the Sauna or warm shower.  Also, I am now more dependent on a cold shower in the morning than I am for coffee. In fact, no more coffee for me, just a healthy cold shower and I am instantly healthier, happier, and wide awake.  Don't forget a healthy glass of carrot, apple, ginger juice.  Why feel like @!@#bleep%%%3 all the time?  Try a little exercise, raw juice, and cold therapy and  you will start to enjoy life a lot more. 

8 mile run on Nike Campus

6 pm run on the Nike campus. No one on the trail but me. 

Feeling pretty recovered from yesterday's hard track session.

Next track workout will most likely be 8x300 meters @ 43-44 seconds

with 1 minute rest. 

12x200m average 28.5 with 45 sec rest and 60 rest

Today I did the 12x200m workout  35 degree weather. There was even a small snow flurry while I was doing this workout and it was a little windy during the first half.  I averaged 29s and 30s for the first six.  I did 1 lap jog and ran the next 6 with a few 27s and 28s and finished my last 200m in 26. I added 15 seconds more rest on the last six and to be able to comfortable run at 1:48 800m pace. 

My plan to PR in the 800m my current PR is 1:51

After doing 2 years of 1 speed workout per week at a pace faster than race pace. It is much easier to do slower race pace intervals with short rest. In fact it felt like I was very controlled at 29 seconds per 200m. Why not do speed work year round? For me it is one of the keys to me being ranked number one at www.mastersrankings.com  in the 800, 1500, and mile for sub masters.  

My philosophy for gaining speed for the 800m run.  

For the first 4 months of a macrocyle starting in August, I continue to 

do 1 speed session per week. An example for me is 6x200m cut downs

29,27,27,26,25,24. My rest is usually a slow 200m jog 

close to 1:30 or 2:00 min rest. I continue doing this during

a three or four month base training phase.  In October, I  lowered

my mileage and introduced a 2 mile tempo runs  or vo2 max boosting workouts. 

An example for me is 2 mile @ 10:@20 or 6x800m @ 2:20. 

In January, I begin to shorten the rest intervals of my speed sessions while

decreasing the speed and increasing the volume of my speed sessions.  An example might be 

12x200m @ 28 with 1 minute rest. An example workout for 3 days

later may be 8 x 300m @ 43 seconds with 90 seconds rest. Several months

ago I was doing this workout as a cutdown 45,44,43,42,41,40,39,38 with 2 or 3 minutes rest. 

I plan to do some longer intervals like 2x400m @ 52 with 4-5 minute recovery.

It is important to introduce long intervals at race pace as we get closer to doing some

racing. 

For the next few months I will gradually increase the speed of my intervals while

keeping the short rest. In addition, I will also decrease the volume proportionally.

An example for a 200m interval workout in 3 months will be 4-5 x 200m @ 24-25 seconds with

1 minute rest or 3x400m @ 54 seconds with 90 seconds rest. With this training 

method I will have had to have completed a few 2x400m @ 52-53 seconds with 3 -4 minute rest. This last part of the Macrocyle will be the peaking phase. With this gradual adaptation, I believe I can maintain this peak fitness for 2 to 3 weeks. I also believe it is important to continue 1 long run and 1 tempo run per week late into the macrocycle. For the 3 week peaking phase, it is important to eliminate the long run and the tempo run. 

Running in the cold rain ? Not a problem

I just got a good idea for my next workout.  Galen Rupp and Alan Webb are training inside the Nike Employee building where they are doing their speed workouts. The workout that was posted online was 12 x 200m @ 28.5 seconds with 45 seconds rest.  I decided that I am going to do this same workout on Thursday. It will be a bit more challenging with the current weather conditions.  Because I don't have access to any indoor facilities,  I have been adapting to the climate by doing my track workouts in the rain.  In order to do this I usually have to do a warm up at near my threshold pace. For example, 2 miles @ 10:20.   I also have to wear a few extra layers to get extra warm. When it comes time to the workout, I shed the rain gear and I will be ready to do my speed workout since I have elevated my core body temperature.

  I believe that training in adverse conditions has made me more mentally prepared to race in bad weather. It is inevitable that there will be stormy weather in the Spring during the track season. I don't remember one race in early Spring that it was not cold, cloudy, windy, or rainy. The human body has the ability to adapt. I don't think training indoors is going to help me when I need to be mentally and physically ready to race in a rain storm.  I also get a good boost of confidence when I pull off an amazing workout in the worst conditions. 

http://trackfocus.com/usa-xc/rainy-day-tales-galen-rupp-alan-webb-and-the-second-floor-runway-in-the-mia-hamm-building.  

Easy workout but felt difficult

Tonight I did warmup  2 mile @ 10:50.

Followed by 6x200m @ 28,28,2827,27,27 with 200m jog recovery.

40 degrees F and pouring rain.  Still feeling a little tired from fighting

a cold and a 10 mile run yesterday. 

Finished with 30 pullups and plyometrics, 50 knee high bench jumps. 

Recovery:  Fresh carrort, apple, ginger juice, foam roller, anti oxidant supplements, 

stretching, hot/cold shower and 9 hours of sleep. 

10 mile run on the Nike Campus

Yesterday I played the piano for two church services.  Later that day I ran a 10 mile run around the Nike campus in Beaverton Oregon.  Saturday I had to take a rest in order to combat a cold that was coming on.

2x1.5 mile tempo run

I had a nice time running around the Linfield Campus in McMinnville.
Feeling great after taking a day off from running.
Tonight I had fun playing piano at the Christmas Eve Service at the
Covenant church.

Recovery

I felt surprising well good this morning after a very difficult track session last night. I took two Aleves or Naproxen to help with some aches and pains. I try to stay away from OTC medications, but I was feeling a little beat up. 

I ended up doing a 30 minute recovery run. 2x500 half squats with no weight.

1 x 1o0 sit ups, 2x20 pullups, and a lot of light stretching. 

I will take another easy day to prepare for a sub 10 minute 2 mile run for a little

VO2 max boost.