Tuesday, December 31, 2013
So What Am I Training For?
To keep this post short, my two main goals for 2014 are the Louisville Mini Marthon in April and the Quad Cities Marathon in September (and I hope to keep that marathon fitness for the Bourbon Chase 2 weeks later). Quad Cities is one of those great mid-range marathons where they have some reasonably fast runners, but want to fill in the field with halfway decent runners, so they are fairly liberal with their "elite" status. They accept fast 1/2 marathon times into their elite program, and in order for me to feel like I've at least earned that status I would like to run under 1:12 for the 1/2 marathon (roughly 5:25 pace). I have an all new training plan to try to achieve this, which I will describe in some detail in the next few days. As for now, I'm glad to have just finished my final run of 2013 so I can get that terrible year of running behind me and look to 2014, which I hope will be one of my better years of running ever. Happy New Year!!
Monday, December 30, 2013
Phase 3: Sharpening
This final stage is the shortest of all of them, normally for me with my high school runners it falls in the last 2-4 weeks of the season, leading up to Regionals and the State meet. I often look at my runners and if they are looking pretty worn down at the end of the season I will start this phase a week early, but I don't want to go too early in fear of having them reach their peak to quickly.
One key tip for this is that I don't drop their mileage significantly. I may take 1-2 miles off any given run each day, and the long run falls to roughly 8-10 miles tops for boys and 7-8 tops for girls, with no long run in the last 2 weeks of the season.
As for workouts, the key is to give them good, quality work that will get their legs feeling fresh and ready to race, while making sure no single workout is too tough to make a quick recovery. An example workout I do is to have my runners run our 5k cross country course and I mark off areas to begin pickups and recovery with alternating colored flags. I usually just do an estimate for distance but make the pickups anywhere from 200-400 meters, with roughly equal recovery. I tell them, for example to run hard until they see yellow flags, at which point they run a recovery pace until they see blue flag. They then run a pickup again until they see yellow flags, and continue this until they complete 5k. Again, distance is less important than effort, so I just place the flags at varying intervals. This workout encourages hard effort, but by this point in the season running a 5k should be easy for the entire team.
A second workout I do in this phase is sets of 3x600 meters (normally 2 sets) with 1-2 minutes recovery. Here I do a standing recovery to encourage the runners to make sure their legs are getting full rest, and it encourages them to hit the intervals harder. The intervals should be considerably faster than race pace. When the workout is over, the runners have done just over 2 miles of hard running faster than race pace and their legs should be able to recover from this fairly quickly.
The key here is to be sure you can recover quickly from any workout, as you want your legs to be fresh come race day. Mileage itself only drops by about 20-25% per week tops. A drastic drop in mileage in this phase generally causes more problems than it helps. Remember, at this point you are used to running lots of miles (whether for you that is 30 miles per week or 80+ miles) and you don't want to shock your body with too much rest.
That's about all I have for training phases. None of this is groundbreaking stuff, and absolutely none of it is original thinking by me. I took ideas from coaches I've worked with and coaches I've studied over the years and come up with this plan of training based on what I've learned from those men and women. I've had great success training like this, and anyone is free to use these ideas in any way they see fit.
One key tip for this is that I don't drop their mileage significantly. I may take 1-2 miles off any given run each day, and the long run falls to roughly 8-10 miles tops for boys and 7-8 tops for girls, with no long run in the last 2 weeks of the season.
As for workouts, the key is to give them good, quality work that will get their legs feeling fresh and ready to race, while making sure no single workout is too tough to make a quick recovery. An example workout I do is to have my runners run our 5k cross country course and I mark off areas to begin pickups and recovery with alternating colored flags. I usually just do an estimate for distance but make the pickups anywhere from 200-400 meters, with roughly equal recovery. I tell them, for example to run hard until they see yellow flags, at which point they run a recovery pace until they see blue flag. They then run a pickup again until they see yellow flags, and continue this until they complete 5k. Again, distance is less important than effort, so I just place the flags at varying intervals. This workout encourages hard effort, but by this point in the season running a 5k should be easy for the entire team.
A second workout I do in this phase is sets of 3x600 meters (normally 2 sets) with 1-2 minutes recovery. Here I do a standing recovery to encourage the runners to make sure their legs are getting full rest, and it encourages them to hit the intervals harder. The intervals should be considerably faster than race pace. When the workout is over, the runners have done just over 2 miles of hard running faster than race pace and their legs should be able to recover from this fairly quickly.
The key here is to be sure you can recover quickly from any workout, as you want your legs to be fresh come race day. Mileage itself only drops by about 20-25% per week tops. A drastic drop in mileage in this phase generally causes more problems than it helps. Remember, at this point you are used to running lots of miles (whether for you that is 30 miles per week or 80+ miles) and you don't want to shock your body with too much rest.
That's about all I have for training phases. None of this is groundbreaking stuff, and absolutely none of it is original thinking by me. I took ideas from coaches I've worked with and coaches I've studied over the years and come up with this plan of training based on what I've learned from those men and women. I've had great success training like this, and anyone is free to use these ideas in any way they see fit.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Phase 2: Race Specific Training
Here's the phase that is open to a lot of change and personalization. As the phase is titled, it is obviously based entirely around which distance will be your focus, with the paces geared towards your goals for that distance. I will give two sets of examples. I will lay out my specific training for my marathons and 1/2 marathons in a separate post, so this will focus on how I prepare my high school runners for their Cross Country season. In a typical Cross Country season Phase 2 will normally run from early September until mid to late October.
First, with my high school runners there is a major overlap between phases. Hills play a large part of Phase 1 and most of Phase 2. The reason for this is that hills are basically speed workouts in disguise. While they don't encourage as much leg turnover, the strengthening they provide more than make up for any lack of true speed (and a short enough hill can be hit hard enough to create some good turnover as well.
In a typical block of Phase 2 training, I will normally do a hill workout every 7-10 days. However, mixed in with these hill workouts will be more race-specific work. For this phase (normally lasting about 6-7 weeks) I two two different types of workouts (in addition to hills) which evolve as my runners' fitness grows. The first workout is done on an 800 meter loop (give or take 50 meters) where I estimate distances of anywhere from 200-600 meters for the runners to run up-tempo. Early in phase 2, this workout ends up being 200 meters fast with the remainder of the loop being recovery. This workout evolves gradually over the course of several weeks until by the end of phase two my runners are running 600 meters hard with 200 meters recovery. By working them at a pace faster than goal race pace, my runners legs get used to the strain of racing, and are able to hold a very fast pace for longer and longer. Normally by the end of Phase 2 my Varsity runners are hitting their 600 meters close to the pace they were hitting their 200's early on.
My other set of workouts, which I really focus on during the latter half of Phase 2 are my long intervals. These intervals again start shorter and evolve over time. These intervals normally start at about 600-800 meters with roughly equal recovery. I like to put my runners on loops that take into account recovery and interval, so if their goal is 3:00 for 800 meters, I tell them we start a new 800 every 6 minutes. This means if they run faster than 3:00 they get extra recover, and if they run slower they get less rest. This can be done for any ability level (every 7:00, every 8:00, etc...). For my slower or younger runners, they do shorter intervals that normally take 3-4 minutes (remember, your body doesn't know distance). These workouts evolve until we are doing repeat miles at the end of Phase 2, at or faster than 5k race pace.
Throughout Phase 2 the long run is greatly stressed. For my HS runners I normally set aside 1 day about 2/3 of the ways through Phase 2 and set it as a "Longest Run of the Year" day. My runners take a lot of pride in their long runs and most of them look at what they did on this day the previous year and try to top it. These are the days my runners run 13-14 miles (10 for the girls). Every other long run is normally 10-12 (8-9 for the girls).
Through Phase 2, as in most of my training, I put the runners on a mileage cycle of 3 weeks higher mileage followed by 1 week down, where mileage is cut by about 25% and no long run. This recovery phase is VERY important and should never be skipped.
NEXT - Phase 3: Sharpening
First, with my high school runners there is a major overlap between phases. Hills play a large part of Phase 1 and most of Phase 2. The reason for this is that hills are basically speed workouts in disguise. While they don't encourage as much leg turnover, the strengthening they provide more than make up for any lack of true speed (and a short enough hill can be hit hard enough to create some good turnover as well.
In a typical block of Phase 2 training, I will normally do a hill workout every 7-10 days. However, mixed in with these hill workouts will be more race-specific work. For this phase (normally lasting about 6-7 weeks) I two two different types of workouts (in addition to hills) which evolve as my runners' fitness grows. The first workout is done on an 800 meter loop (give or take 50 meters) where I estimate distances of anywhere from 200-600 meters for the runners to run up-tempo. Early in phase 2, this workout ends up being 200 meters fast with the remainder of the loop being recovery. This workout evolves gradually over the course of several weeks until by the end of phase two my runners are running 600 meters hard with 200 meters recovery. By working them at a pace faster than goal race pace, my runners legs get used to the strain of racing, and are able to hold a very fast pace for longer and longer. Normally by the end of Phase 2 my Varsity runners are hitting their 600 meters close to the pace they were hitting their 200's early on.
My other set of workouts, which I really focus on during the latter half of Phase 2 are my long intervals. These intervals again start shorter and evolve over time. These intervals normally start at about 600-800 meters with roughly equal recovery. I like to put my runners on loops that take into account recovery and interval, so if their goal is 3:00 for 800 meters, I tell them we start a new 800 every 6 minutes. This means if they run faster than 3:00 they get extra recover, and if they run slower they get less rest. This can be done for any ability level (every 7:00, every 8:00, etc...). For my slower or younger runners, they do shorter intervals that normally take 3-4 minutes (remember, your body doesn't know distance). These workouts evolve until we are doing repeat miles at the end of Phase 2, at or faster than 5k race pace.
Throughout Phase 2 the long run is greatly stressed. For my HS runners I normally set aside 1 day about 2/3 of the ways through Phase 2 and set it as a "Longest Run of the Year" day. My runners take a lot of pride in their long runs and most of them look at what they did on this day the previous year and try to top it. These are the days my runners run 13-14 miles (10 for the girls). Every other long run is normally 10-12 (8-9 for the girls).
Through Phase 2, as in most of my training, I put the runners on a mileage cycle of 3 weeks higher mileage followed by 1 week down, where mileage is cut by about 25% and no long run. This recovery phase is VERY important and should never be skipped.
NEXT - Phase 3: Sharpening
Phase 1: Base Building
Phase 1: Base Building
This is a phase that is common to most training plans, and I generally agree that is is one of the most important phases to prepare for a season and, more importantly, decrease the chances of injury. The base building phase is going to be different depending on the runner. For example, for the high school, college or post-collegiate runner who is coming off a short break from training (1-2 weeks) the base-building phase takes on much less importance. However, for a runner who is coming off an injury or an extended amount of time off this phase is much more important. This phase can be altered in length to suit your needs. Some athletes only spend a few weeks in this phase, while others will spend 2-3 months in order to build back to a level of fitness that will allow them to begin to complete workouts in the second phase. My best piece of advice is to listen to your body. If you are at a point where you are approaching peak mileage and your long runs are comfortable, then you are approaching the latter stages of Phase 1 and are ready to start thinking about moving on. However if your runs are a struggle and your long runs are not where you would like, you may want to back off a bit and spend a few more weeks at this phase. I normally advise at least 1 day off a week, but for those who don't believe in days off make 1-2 days VERY easy (about half your normal run). With my high school runners I generally spend 6-7 weeks on this phase (beginning July 15 and taking them all the way to Labor Day during Cross Country season). That is usually enough to get them built up close to peak mileage and prepare them for the hardest training that is to come, in Phase 2.
I usually lay out my training around workouts and long runs, meaning I place these runs into my week and fill in the rest of the days with easy runs and their distances based on how I feel. An example for me with a 40 mile week would be:
3 days of medium distance runs (5-7 miles)
1 day VERY easy or OFF (3 miles)
1 Long Run (8-10 miles)
1 Fartlek: Pickups would be in the 2-4 minute range. An example: 4:00, 3:00, 2:00, 1:00 with 1/2 the time for recovery.
1 Hill workout (hill should be about 300 meters long and not too steep), with total running during the hill workout to equal about 20 minutes. Warmup and cooldown should fill the rest of the time.
Note that the workout days should be based entirely on feel, not on pace. I would normally throw in the workouts on Monday/Thursday or Tuesday/Friday, the Long Run Sunday and the rest of the runs filling in the other days. I don't like to put specific runs into specific days in this phase, as I don't mind taking an extra day to rest between workouts if I feel it is necessary. Also, if you have to drop one run from the week because you are feeling worn down, drop one of the workouts first and only do 1 that week. In this phase, the workouts are less important than just running.
Also, I used the 40 mile week example but you can alter this based on your own mileage. If you want to do 20 miles per week, cut all my runs in half. If you want to do 60, add 1/2 to the runs.
I can't stress enough that this phase should be based ENTIRELY on how you feel. If you feel worn down, take it easy. If you feel good, just keep up with the plan. Don't add too much mileage but don't be afraid to increase mileage by 10% each week.
NEXT - Phase 2: Race Specific Training
This is a phase that is common to most training plans, and I generally agree that is is one of the most important phases to prepare for a season and, more importantly, decrease the chances of injury. The base building phase is going to be different depending on the runner. For example, for the high school, college or post-collegiate runner who is coming off a short break from training (1-2 weeks) the base-building phase takes on much less importance. However, for a runner who is coming off an injury or an extended amount of time off this phase is much more important. This phase can be altered in length to suit your needs. Some athletes only spend a few weeks in this phase, while others will spend 2-3 months in order to build back to a level of fitness that will allow them to begin to complete workouts in the second phase. My best piece of advice is to listen to your body. If you are at a point where you are approaching peak mileage and your long runs are comfortable, then you are approaching the latter stages of Phase 1 and are ready to start thinking about moving on. However if your runs are a struggle and your long runs are not where you would like, you may want to back off a bit and spend a few more weeks at this phase. I normally advise at least 1 day off a week, but for those who don't believe in days off make 1-2 days VERY easy (about half your normal run). With my high school runners I generally spend 6-7 weeks on this phase (beginning July 15 and taking them all the way to Labor Day during Cross Country season). That is usually enough to get them built up close to peak mileage and prepare them for the hardest training that is to come, in Phase 2.
I usually lay out my training around workouts and long runs, meaning I place these runs into my week and fill in the rest of the days with easy runs and their distances based on how I feel. An example for me with a 40 mile week would be:
3 days of medium distance runs (5-7 miles)
1 day VERY easy or OFF (3 miles)
1 Long Run (8-10 miles)
1 Fartlek: Pickups would be in the 2-4 minute range. An example: 4:00, 3:00, 2:00, 1:00 with 1/2 the time for recovery.
1 Hill workout (hill should be about 300 meters long and not too steep), with total running during the hill workout to equal about 20 minutes. Warmup and cooldown should fill the rest of the time.
Note that the workout days should be based entirely on feel, not on pace. I would normally throw in the workouts on Monday/Thursday or Tuesday/Friday, the Long Run Sunday and the rest of the runs filling in the other days. I don't like to put specific runs into specific days in this phase, as I don't mind taking an extra day to rest between workouts if I feel it is necessary. Also, if you have to drop one run from the week because you are feeling worn down, drop one of the workouts first and only do 1 that week. In this phase, the workouts are less important than just running.
Also, I used the 40 mile week example but you can alter this based on your own mileage. If you want to do 20 miles per week, cut all my runs in half. If you want to do 60, add 1/2 to the runs.
I can't stress enough that this phase should be based ENTIRELY on how you feel. If you feel worn down, take it easy. If you feel good, just keep up with the plan. Don't add too much mileage but don't be afraid to increase mileage by 10% each week.
NEXT - Phase 2: Race Specific Training
My Training Philosophy
I'm not yet sure if this post will end up being incredibly short or
incredibly long. It's hard to really outline my philosophy on training
because it is constantly evolving, but I have some core beliefs that I
always hold to.
First, I want to make it clear that my own training philosophy and my coaching philosophy are slightly different (meaning I coach my high school athletes differently than I coach myself). There are certain things I do as a runner that I would never ask my high school runners to do. For example, I am a big believer in a base-building phase to training that includes mileage, some short up-tempo work and strides that lasts several weeks early in a season, especially for a high school team that has a tendency to get out of shape in the off-season. However, for my own training I normally incorporate workouts into my early stages, more for my own sanity than any true belief in completing hard workouts early in training. I enjoy completing a hard fartlek or interval workout way more than completing a 60 minute run.
Second, I don't want to seem like these ideas are entirely my own. I've studied and worked with great coaches in my career and these ideas are bred from what I've learned from other people. None of this is original thinking. Instead it is a synthesis of things I've learned and turned into my own.
Anyway, my training for long distance races has been something I've studied over the past several years in an attempt to make my marathon experiences less frustrating. I've run 2 marathons in my life, and in both cases my body decided to quit on me around 16 miles, making me miss my goals by over 10 minutes each time.
I've always been a big believer in Arthur Lydiard's foundational belief that aerobic capacity can be built with virtually no limits and should be the basis for your training system. I am a huge believer in the long run, even for my high school athletes who run as much as 14 miles during their training in cross country season. I have always placed a long run as the most important run of the week and made my early workouts focus on aerobic capacity more than anything else.
However, I recently read an article about the the coaching philosophy of Renato Canova and my idea of long distance training immediately changed. The focus on "hard" long runs went completely against some of the ideas I had already had about training. I had always figured that if I did several runs of 20-22 miles, the pace didn't matter as long as the distance and time were there. He basically says that the buildup of the "slow" long run should be in your base-building (what he calls the global phase), and your true marathon training should last about 3 months (called the specific phase).
The "Global phase" can be as simple as a season of short racing (5k/10k) and can include your slow long runs. However, once you get into your specific phase, the hard long run becomes important. This means that you shouldn't be doing 20 miles at 7:00 pace if your goal for the marathon is 6:00 pace. You should be doing 18-20 miles at 6:10 pace or so.
Another belief, outside of the "hard" long run is the fact that you need to remember that your body doesn't know how many miles you've run, how far your intervals were, or long the hill was. What it knows is how many times your heart beat, how many steps you took. The point is that doing specific intervals isn't always necessary. I know lots of people who are obsessed with making sure they run a specific number of miles or a specific interval workout. But your body doesn't know it's running 400 meters, 800 meters, 2 miles, etc... If you can't get to a track or a specifically marked area, it's not that difficult to run a similar workout as a fartlek with no markings, or just guessing distance and measuring off your own course.
Also, hills can and should be a strong foundation for any training. Hills help build explosive speed in the legs and can take the place of pure speed work, especially in the first half of any training cycle. I make hills the foundation of the first 2 1/2 months of my cross country season each year, with great results.
I'm a big believer in effort more than pace for many workouts. That's why early on I put an emphasis on fartleks and tempo runs more than intervals.
However, for those who believe in intervals, think about this for a second. If you can't get to a track and you want to do 800 meter intervals, find a place or loop you think is close to 800 meters and do your intervals on that. Then you may not know your specific pace but you will know if you are keeping a steady pace, or if you're slowing down or speeding up. I have a loop that's about 750 meters long where I do intervals all the time. I know my times should be faster than my goal 800 pace, but my body doesn't care that it's 50 meters short. It cares that I'm running for 2 1/2 minutes hard.
Finally it is VERY important to make sure you take advantage of your recovery. If you aren't allowing your body time to recover then you will never reap the benefits of hard training. I personally like to take 1 day off per week, but sometimes I get into stretches of running with no days off and in those cases I take a day of very short mileage (3-4 miles). I also break my training into 4 week cycles, taking 3 weeks of hard training followed by 1 week of easier running, cutting my mileage by about 25% and cutting the long run short or cutting it out altogether.
I generally try to break my training into 3 phases: Base building (for me this includes some workouts), Race-Specific training (meaning I am focusing on my goal pace or a bit faster), and Sharpening (focusing on speed in the last 2-3 weeks before a race). Follow the links below for examples of how those phases look:
Base Building
Race-Specific Training
Sharpening
First, I want to make it clear that my own training philosophy and my coaching philosophy are slightly different (meaning I coach my high school athletes differently than I coach myself). There are certain things I do as a runner that I would never ask my high school runners to do. For example, I am a big believer in a base-building phase to training that includes mileage, some short up-tempo work and strides that lasts several weeks early in a season, especially for a high school team that has a tendency to get out of shape in the off-season. However, for my own training I normally incorporate workouts into my early stages, more for my own sanity than any true belief in completing hard workouts early in training. I enjoy completing a hard fartlek or interval workout way more than completing a 60 minute run.
Second, I don't want to seem like these ideas are entirely my own. I've studied and worked with great coaches in my career and these ideas are bred from what I've learned from other people. None of this is original thinking. Instead it is a synthesis of things I've learned and turned into my own.
Anyway, my training for long distance races has been something I've studied over the past several years in an attempt to make my marathon experiences less frustrating. I've run 2 marathons in my life, and in both cases my body decided to quit on me around 16 miles, making me miss my goals by over 10 minutes each time.
I've always been a big believer in Arthur Lydiard's foundational belief that aerobic capacity can be built with virtually no limits and should be the basis for your training system. I am a huge believer in the long run, even for my high school athletes who run as much as 14 miles during their training in cross country season. I have always placed a long run as the most important run of the week and made my early workouts focus on aerobic capacity more than anything else.
However, I recently read an article about the the coaching philosophy of Renato Canova and my idea of long distance training immediately changed. The focus on "hard" long runs went completely against some of the ideas I had already had about training. I had always figured that if I did several runs of 20-22 miles, the pace didn't matter as long as the distance and time were there. He basically says that the buildup of the "slow" long run should be in your base-building (what he calls the global phase), and your true marathon training should last about 3 months (called the specific phase).
The "Global phase" can be as simple as a season of short racing (5k/10k) and can include your slow long runs. However, once you get into your specific phase, the hard long run becomes important. This means that you shouldn't be doing 20 miles at 7:00 pace if your goal for the marathon is 6:00 pace. You should be doing 18-20 miles at 6:10 pace or so.
Another belief, outside of the "hard" long run is the fact that you need to remember that your body doesn't know how many miles you've run, how far your intervals were, or long the hill was. What it knows is how many times your heart beat, how many steps you took. The point is that doing specific intervals isn't always necessary. I know lots of people who are obsessed with making sure they run a specific number of miles or a specific interval workout. But your body doesn't know it's running 400 meters, 800 meters, 2 miles, etc... If you can't get to a track or a specifically marked area, it's not that difficult to run a similar workout as a fartlek with no markings, or just guessing distance and measuring off your own course.
Also, hills can and should be a strong foundation for any training. Hills help build explosive speed in the legs and can take the place of pure speed work, especially in the first half of any training cycle. I make hills the foundation of the first 2 1/2 months of my cross country season each year, with great results.
I'm a big believer in effort more than pace for many workouts. That's why early on I put an emphasis on fartleks and tempo runs more than intervals.
However, for those who believe in intervals, think about this for a second. If you can't get to a track and you want to do 800 meter intervals, find a place or loop you think is close to 800 meters and do your intervals on that. Then you may not know your specific pace but you will know if you are keeping a steady pace, or if you're slowing down or speeding up. I have a loop that's about 750 meters long where I do intervals all the time. I know my times should be faster than my goal 800 pace, but my body doesn't care that it's 50 meters short. It cares that I'm running for 2 1/2 minutes hard.
Finally it is VERY important to make sure you take advantage of your recovery. If you aren't allowing your body time to recover then you will never reap the benefits of hard training. I personally like to take 1 day off per week, but sometimes I get into stretches of running with no days off and in those cases I take a day of very short mileage (3-4 miles). I also break my training into 4 week cycles, taking 3 weeks of hard training followed by 1 week of easier running, cutting my mileage by about 25% and cutting the long run short or cutting it out altogether.
I generally try to break my training into 3 phases: Base building (for me this includes some workouts), Race-Specific training (meaning I am focusing on my goal pace or a bit faster), and Sharpening (focusing on speed in the last 2-3 weeks before a race). Follow the links below for examples of how those phases look:
Base Building
Race-Specific Training
Sharpening
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Why I Started Running...
I began my running career in high school, and I've never felt like my
story was one that was unique to just me. As a current high school
coach, I now understand the importance of looking for numbers wherever
you can find them.
I
entered high school at Christian Brothers College High School in St.
Louis in 1996 with a vague hope of playing basketball for a school that
was really at the peak of basketball success in St. Louis. At the time,
my school boasted two future Division I players, one of whom (Larry
Hughes) later became a Top 10 pick in the NBA Draft. As a freshman with
very little self-confidence, I eventually decided I was too scared to
even try out and gave up hope of playing any sport in high school.
I was fortunate enough to have been enrolled in PE class with Chris Scott, who was a 3 sport coach at CBC, one of which was Cross Country. In the course of 1 semester, we had to run the Mile for a physical fitness test twice. On no training, I ran miles of 6:54 and 6:35, and Coach Scott immediately began to recruit me to run Cross Country the next fall. I was wholly against this, as running those mediocre miles had both resulted in severe asthma attacks. I also had no idea that I was capable of running more than a mile at a time. Fortunately for me, Coach Scott was persistent, even contacting my parents on report card day to try to get me to run. Eventually he convinced me to come to summer running and see if I liked it.
I remember my first day of summer running, where Coach Scott took all the new runners on a 3 mile loop course, starting on Clayton Road, down to Skinker, running up to Wydown (hence the name, "Wydown Loop) and turning onto Big Bend before finishing back on Clayton. Coach Scott kept the entire group together and stopped for a few minutes about halfway. This was a brilliant move by him which allowed the entire group to get back together, and to me it gave me the rest I needed to finish out the loop.
Summer running met 3 days a week and every day for
the first few weeks was spent on the Wydown loop. After that first run,
we were sent on our own, with coaches running the loop up and down to
check on the strung out runners. This was when my first bit of running
stubbornness kicked in. I made it a goal each day to run a bit further
on the loop before I stopped to walk. For me running this same loop
every day gave me a concrete gauge of my improvement and I could see how
much stronger I was getting each day.
After I had mastered the Wydown loop I was moved up to the Forsyth loop (this was the next turn on Skinker after Wydown), which was roughly 4 miles. By the end of the summer I had this loop mastered as well, and had gotten to the point where I could cover 6 miles at a time with little struggle.
I will never forget our last day of summer running. At this point I had been put in a group with the next season's Junior Varsity runners, and on the final day we were told to run 8 miles. For me this was unheard of, and for the JV runners it was an annoyance. In an act of defiance I won't soon forget, we ran into Forest Park (about 1/2 mile from school) and to the St. Louis Zoo, where we found an air-conditioned building to sit in for about 25 minutes before returning to school. We never did get caught for that stunt, and my first 8 mile run was postponed until that fall.
My first season of Cross Country, which was my Sophomore year of high school, was a mixed bag. I established myself early on as a top Junior Varsity runner, regularly finishing in the top 5 on JV (on a team of 60+ runners total). I ran my first 5k close to 26 minutes, but by the end of the season had run 19:02. I remember crossing the finish line for that race thinking it would be the last race I ever ran, as Cross Country had been a great experience, but I had decided it was too difficult to continue on the next year. Again, however, other people had other plans. The other JV runners convinced me to come out for track, and I begrudgingly agreed.
My first track season was what really got me hooked on running. For whatever reason, I was immediately smitten with the shorter, more intense races that track season brought. I spent my entire first track season running the 1600 and 800, posting respectable times for a first year runner, most notably a 4:51 mile that gave me my first ever win in any type of running event. Myself and a friend of mine had spent the entire season racing to see who would break 5:00 first, and then once we both had the bragging rights were to go to who had the fastest time at the end of the year. I was the first under 5:00 and I also had the fastest time at the end of the season. Running the mile is what got me hooked on running, and I was convinced that running Cross Country the next fall would only help my mile times. Apparently my track exploits had caught the attention of the Varsity runners, because that summer they pulled me aside and told me that I was now going to be training with them. This wasn't the coaches' decision, this was the older runners seeing something in me that told them I may be able to help the team in the future. It was that gesture that I truly feel is what finally turned me into a runner. From that point forward, I knew I had found a new passion in my life.
I
entered high school at Christian Brothers College High School in St.
Louis in 1996 with a vague hope of playing basketball for a school that
was really at the peak of basketball success in St. Louis. At the time,
my school boasted two future Division I players, one of whom (Larry
Hughes) later became a Top 10 pick in the NBA Draft. As a freshman with
very little self-confidence, I eventually decided I was too scared to
even try out and gave up hope of playing any sport in high school.I was fortunate enough to have been enrolled in PE class with Chris Scott, who was a 3 sport coach at CBC, one of which was Cross Country. In the course of 1 semester, we had to run the Mile for a physical fitness test twice. On no training, I ran miles of 6:54 and 6:35, and Coach Scott immediately began to recruit me to run Cross Country the next fall. I was wholly against this, as running those mediocre miles had both resulted in severe asthma attacks. I also had no idea that I was capable of running more than a mile at a time. Fortunately for me, Coach Scott was persistent, even contacting my parents on report card day to try to get me to run. Eventually he convinced me to come to summer running and see if I liked it.
I remember my first day of summer running, where Coach Scott took all the new runners on a 3 mile loop course, starting on Clayton Road, down to Skinker, running up to Wydown (hence the name, "Wydown Loop) and turning onto Big Bend before finishing back on Clayton. Coach Scott kept the entire group together and stopped for a few minutes about halfway. This was a brilliant move by him which allowed the entire group to get back together, and to me it gave me the rest I needed to finish out the loop.
 |
| You can see Clayton,Skinker,Wydown and Big Bend forming our loops |
After I had mastered the Wydown loop I was moved up to the Forsyth loop (this was the next turn on Skinker after Wydown), which was roughly 4 miles. By the end of the summer I had this loop mastered as well, and had gotten to the point where I could cover 6 miles at a time with little struggle.
I will never forget our last day of summer running. At this point I had been put in a group with the next season's Junior Varsity runners, and on the final day we were told to run 8 miles. For me this was unheard of, and for the JV runners it was an annoyance. In an act of defiance I won't soon forget, we ran into Forest Park (about 1/2 mile from school) and to the St. Louis Zoo, where we found an air-conditioned building to sit in for about 25 minutes before returning to school. We never did get caught for that stunt, and my first 8 mile run was postponed until that fall.
My first season of Cross Country, which was my Sophomore year of high school, was a mixed bag. I established myself early on as a top Junior Varsity runner, regularly finishing in the top 5 on JV (on a team of 60+ runners total). I ran my first 5k close to 26 minutes, but by the end of the season had run 19:02. I remember crossing the finish line for that race thinking it would be the last race I ever ran, as Cross Country had been a great experience, but I had decided it was too difficult to continue on the next year. Again, however, other people had other plans. The other JV runners convinced me to come out for track, and I begrudgingly agreed.
My first track season was what really got me hooked on running. For whatever reason, I was immediately smitten with the shorter, more intense races that track season brought. I spent my entire first track season running the 1600 and 800, posting respectable times for a first year runner, most notably a 4:51 mile that gave me my first ever win in any type of running event. Myself and a friend of mine had spent the entire season racing to see who would break 5:00 first, and then once we both had the bragging rights were to go to who had the fastest time at the end of the year. I was the first under 5:00 and I also had the fastest time at the end of the season. Running the mile is what got me hooked on running, and I was convinced that running Cross Country the next fall would only help my mile times. Apparently my track exploits had caught the attention of the Varsity runners, because that summer they pulled me aside and told me that I was now going to be training with them. This wasn't the coaches' decision, this was the older runners seeing something in me that told them I may be able to help the team in the future. It was that gesture that I truly feel is what finally turned me into a runner. From that point forward, I knew I had found a new passion in my life.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Where I Am Now
In trying to figure out how to tell what I've done since my injury, I thought it best just to show a progression of my times over the course of my running career. I will use my most commonly raced distances (Mile, 5k, 8k, 10k, 10 Miles) and you will see a steep progression from 1997-2006, then a plateau or regresssion after that (Also note that I've run two marathons, in 2010 [2:53] and 2012 [2:50]).As you can see, 2013 was easily my worst year of running. I really need 2014 to be a rebound for me.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
So What Were My Glory Days?
I'm not going to write here that I was once a great runner and I'm trying to get back to that. The truth is, I was an average runner, perhaps above average on a local level. I was fortunate enough to run on a scholarship at a Division II college, and after college I had 2 1/2 years of success on a sub-elite level, mostly in Louisville. I was fortunate (though I didn't really realize it at the time) to not have to work much in my early twenties in order to get by, so I had plenty of time to train at a high level. Looking back, I really regret not taking my running more seriously. A quick look at my training logs from 2005-06 shows a disturbing trend of inconsistency. I may have run several weeks in a row of 60-70 miles, only to follow it up with 1-2 weeks in the 20's and 30's. I took for granted what talent I had, and ran some decent races off of this type of training. I was self-coached and irresponsible with my running. However, I did have some success, starting at the end of 2005.
I look at my running and realize my VERY best days fell between New Year's Eve of 2005 and Thanksgiving of 2006, so really just 11 months of my life were wholly successful. In that time I ran PR's at every distance I raced from 1 mile-10 miles. It started on New Year's Eve with a 54:08 10 mile race, which was significant because I was apparently running that race with strep throat and the illness cost me nearly a week of training. I then ran the Louisville Triple Crown and finished high in every race, most notably a huge PR of 32:01 for 10k, which got me 2nd place in the Rhodes City Run (earning $350 in the process). I also ran 15:22 for 5k in a massive downpour and 54:21 for 10 miles. My season ended a few weeks later when I ran a 5k PR of 15:18 at a track 5k organized by a close friend.
I spent the late Spring and Early summer doing general 5k training, with the occasional speed workout thrown in at the Clarksville Summer Series (hopefully more on that this summer). While I didn't think I was doing much speed work it turns out that I had set myself up to run a great mile, and I ran what I consider my last really great race in July, finishing second at the Southern Parkway mile, running a surprising 4:10. This race ended up being a mixed blessing...
I followed that race up with a new motivation for training and a long-term goal of running a sub-4:00 mile. I set a goal of the summer of 2010 as my time to break 4:00 (hopefully taking 3 seconds off my time each year) and hopefully running at an elite level from 2010-12 before moving up to longer distances. I began an aggressive training plan that fall, which saw me run near my PR for 5k, as well as a PR for 5 miles (25:40). I had set myself up to race every 3-4 weeks, with heavy training going in 3 week cycles leading up to my races, with a week down. The problem came when I didn't plan to race in November, giving me 6 consecutive weeks of heavy training, which eventually led to a stress fracture in my shin, which ended up derailing my entire running career.
So that's where I've been. I have now spent the past 7 years trying to get back to a high level of training, with mixed success. I'm now 32 and hoping to have a few more seasons of great running, but my recent history has shown that is much easier said than done. More to come...
I look at my running and realize my VERY best days fell between New Year's Eve of 2005 and Thanksgiving of 2006, so really just 11 months of my life were wholly successful. In that time I ran PR's at every distance I raced from 1 mile-10 miles. It started on New Year's Eve with a 54:08 10 mile race, which was significant because I was apparently running that race with strep throat and the illness cost me nearly a week of training. I then ran the Louisville Triple Crown and finished high in every race, most notably a huge PR of 32:01 for 10k, which got me 2nd place in the Rhodes City Run (earning $350 in the process). I also ran 15:22 for 5k in a massive downpour and 54:21 for 10 miles. My season ended a few weeks later when I ran a 5k PR of 15:18 at a track 5k organized by a close friend.
I spent the late Spring and Early summer doing general 5k training, with the occasional speed workout thrown in at the Clarksville Summer Series (hopefully more on that this summer). While I didn't think I was doing much speed work it turns out that I had set myself up to run a great mile, and I ran what I consider my last really great race in July, finishing second at the Southern Parkway mile, running a surprising 4:10. This race ended up being a mixed blessing...
I followed that race up with a new motivation for training and a long-term goal of running a sub-4:00 mile. I set a goal of the summer of 2010 as my time to break 4:00 (hopefully taking 3 seconds off my time each year) and hopefully running at an elite level from 2010-12 before moving up to longer distances. I began an aggressive training plan that fall, which saw me run near my PR for 5k, as well as a PR for 5 miles (25:40). I had set myself up to race every 3-4 weeks, with heavy training going in 3 week cycles leading up to my races, with a week down. The problem came when I didn't plan to race in November, giving me 6 consecutive weeks of heavy training, which eventually led to a stress fracture in my shin, which ended up derailing my entire running career.
So that's where I've been. I have now spent the past 7 years trying to get back to a high level of training, with mixed success. I'm now 32 and hoping to have a few more seasons of great running, but my recent history has shown that is much easier said than done. More to come...
Friday, December 20, 2013
Why I'm Doing This...
Let’s see if I can actually do this. I’m starting this blog for several
reasons. First off, I just enjoy writing
and since running is really my main passion in life, I figure I should find a
way to combine these two things that really give me joy. Moreover, I really need a motivational tool
to help keep my on track (no pun intended).
I’ll get into my running history at a later time, but I’ll start by saying the fire hasn’t been burning nearly as hot lately as it has in the past. After several years of mediocre performance, I lack the confidence and motivation to really train hard for a single race. I wish that wasn’t the case, but it seems more often than not lately my running has begun to feel like a chore. Instead of being something I look forward to in my day, my run is something I have to get over with, and that’s not the right mindset when you enter your training. So I’m planning on starting to write to help motivate myself.
I’ll get into my running history at a later time, but I’ll start by saying the fire hasn’t been burning nearly as hot lately as it has in the past. After several years of mediocre performance, I lack the confidence and motivation to really train hard for a single race. I wish that wasn’t the case, but it seems more often than not lately my running has begun to feel like a chore. Instead of being something I look forward to in my day, my run is something I have to get over with, and that’s not the right mindset when you enter your training. So I’m planning on starting to write to help motivate myself.
I also hope, if I’m luck enough to get a few people reading this, to maybe inspire others, or at least give some ideas or advice to anyone in need of some motivation themselves. As you’ll find, I’m a very experienced runner who has had some success on a local level, and I’ve also been a coach now for 9 years. I always like to share my experiences and my ever-growing knowledge of the sport I love.
This blog will generally follow my training and racing, normally with a specific goal in mind and how I plan to achieve that goal. I’ll include workout details, as well as other supplementary material that will give any potential readers an insight to how I go about training, recovering, and making time for pursuing my goals. I’ll also occasionally include anecdotes from my life as a high school coach, and some of the workouts I have my runners do.
In my next post, I’ll give a bit of background information about myself and explain my goals and my training philosophy that will (hopefully) help me achieve this short term goal. I hope you enjoy.
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