2009 Clarksville Duathlon

Why couldn’t we have had this weather last weekend.

Overnight there were flood watches and warnings issued.  It pissed down rain pretty much all night.  When we woke up at 5 am, we were drying out, with all of the rain north and south of us.  By the time we left, the hole we were in filled in, so it pissed down rain again.  But no lightning, so all was good.

Transition was set up in the rain.  The pre-race brief was held in the rain.  The start went off in the rain.  And it was 52F.  Perfect.  But it must have scared some folks off.  I don’t know how many registered, but only 24 folks showed up to race – 20 individual competitors and two 2-person teams.

The course was a 2-mile run, a 13.1-mile ride and a 2-mile run.

Mind you, other than four quick 5-mile rides this week to make sure the bike worked properly, this was the first time I had ridden since doing this race a year ago.  I was banking on my running fitness getting me through the bike leg.  Of course, running fitness was highly questionable after last Saturday’s very warm Country Music Marathon.  Typically after a Saturday marathon I’m feeling fine by Tuesday or Wednesday.  Even during a short run yesterday my legs felt like bricks.  So I really had no idea how I’d do today, but that wasn’t a worry.  This is a fun race that is all about going all out.

So the start whistle blew and we were off.  The idea was to get out quickly and then settle down.  Mind you, settle down needed to be right at LTHR.  Actually it ended up a bit higher, with most of the run in Zone 5a:

Run Leg 1, Heart Rate x Distance (with Pace)

Both Goddess and I measured a touch over 2.1 miles for the leg on our Garmin 305’s.

So that was 2.1 miles in 14:59, for an average pace of 7:06/mile and a peak of 5:55/mile,which I used to get ahead of the start line melee.

Arriving at T1, I was fourth overall.  First was way the hell in front, while second and third were about ten seconds ahead.

I forgot how much fun it is to bend over to change shoes while your heart is exploding in your chest.

Out the gate on the bike and I settled in, making sure I didn’t put too much power to the cranks in the opening miles, knowing that this was a rolling 13.1-mile course with a few turns.  Those that pushed hard in the beginning would pay dearly near then end and especially so during the final 2-mile run.

A mile in, a cyclist flew past me like I was standing still, putting me in fifth overall.  He’ll become important later.  Two miles later, I passed the guy in front of me, so I was back in fourth.  By now the rain had stopped, so it was quite pleasant. 

There was a hilarious moment at mile 4.5 as we had to negotiate a hairpin turn onto a new road.  I saw a minivan approaching the stop sign as I was slowing to make the turn.  The lady driver had her window down and was telling the volunteer that he needed to do something about the cyclists, because with the mist in the air we were impossible to see.  Mind you, in my chosen field of meteorology, surface visibility is an important parameter to observe and forecast.  I looked off at the tree line in the distance that I could clearly see, which I estimated to be 1.5-2 miles away.  I couldn’t figure out why I could see those trees, yet she couldn’t see us in the opposite lane.  For the next mile or so I calculated that she must have been traveling in the neighborhood of 750 mph in order to not have the appropriate reaction time.

I want that van!

Anyway, as I said, the course had some rolling hills.  Here’s a shot of the Garmin-calculated grade, with a curve of my speed (blue line) overlaid:

Bike Leg, Grade x Distance (with Speed overlay)

Between miles eight and nine, I was passed, putting me back in fifth.  The much older gentleman that flew by had some speed.  Immediately thereafter, the guy that I passed between miles three and four passed and asked if this was a drafting race.  I found it interesting that he was able to catch and pass me, since he was a couple of hundred yards behind me when I passed the lady with the amazingly fast van and fell ever further behind with each mile after that.  I replied “No, it’s a USAT-rules race”.  He should have known what type of race it was, since they handed out a USAT rule crib sheet with every registration packet.  I passed him a second time about a half-mile later.  I don’t know if he was drafting; only he knows that.  But his bridge up to me was while I was maintaining a 22mph average through that stretch is pretty impressive.

In the last mile, I saw first and second heading out on their last run leg.  Soon after, a woman went flying by too.  Turns out that the guy who flew by me at mile one of the bike leg was part of a team.  So that meant I was fourth overall in the solo division.

And to the right I am on my (archaic by triathlon standards) Softride with old, old-school Spinergy’s as I dismount going into T2. 

I am quite upset that they no longer make those bikes and I can’t have another for my next bike.

Considering that I had only 20 miles in my cycling legs for the past year, I was very, very pleased with my bike leg.  Goddess and I both measured 13.33 on our Garmin’s.  I covered the distance in 40:12, for an average speed of 20.37 mph.  Not too shabby.

I hit T2 in fourth overall and flew through.  The much older gentleman that rolled in to T2 in front of me arrived at least a minute before, but I exited right on his tail and passed him within 100 yards, putting me in third.  Then I settled in to work.  This time I knew I’d be cranking the legs as hard as they’d go.  I focused on my turnover and tried to keep the cadence high.

Run Leg 2, Heart Rate x Distance (with Pace overlay)

We were running out one mile, turning around an orange cone and heading back in.  At about 3/4 mile, I heard feet behind me.  Turns out it was the guy that asked about drafting.  He had some wheels on him.  Much more than I had.  We hit the turnaround at the same time and he pulled steadily away after that.  At this point I settled in for a bit, waiting to see if he would tire.  With a half-mile to go, he did slow, so I ratcheted up the pace.  He turned around and saw me coming, so he picked it up and held me off through the finish line.  So I finished fourth overall amongst the solo racers, first in my age group.

For the last leg, since the exit to transition was in a different place than the start line, I measured the advertised 2-mile run at 2.15 miles, covered in 15:52, for a 7:22/mi average.  Not as evenly paced as the first leg, but still not too shabby.  Especially with the 6:17/mi pace as I crossed the finish line (below left).

This was the second edition of the Clarksville Duathlon.  If you read last year’s race report, you’ll recall that they had some issues, which are to be expected with a first-run event.  I can guarantee you that they more than overcame those issues and put on a high class event this year. 

I also have to give the organizers a huge congratulations for picking such a great cause to give all of the proceeds to – Fisher House.  As you may recall, I ran a donation drive for Fisher House last year as I was preparing to run my 40-miler in Baghdad.  And if you come to this post from my blog’s main page, you’ll see that the link to Fisher House remains in the upper left.  I maintain that it’s a great cause to support, so if you’d like to, please click and donate.  I get nothing from it (I already got my t-shirt), so don’t worry, all of your donation goes directly to Fisher House.

So if you are anywhere near the area next May, I highly recommend this event.  The timing, one week after the Country Music Marathon, is perfect.  It forced me to get out on the bike and spin my legs to loosen them up.

—————————————–

Now it’s time to look forward. 

If you stayed awake through my post about planning and Training Load, you’ll recall the segment on Training Influence.  If you didn’t stay awake that long, the gist of it is that based on my personal recovery rate, the training that would have the most influence on my next race would typically be approximately 28-32 days prior to the race.  After that, there’s diminishing influence until the my taper date, which is typically 10-12 days prior to the race.  After the taper date, no amount of training will have a positive influence on the race, so that’s the time to back off and let the body rest.

Anyway, since my next race is on May 30th, my calculated max training effect date was yesterday.  But I clearly didn’t go out and crank out a 20-miler.  No way.  Not after last week’s very warm marathon.  However, the marathon, even though it took a lot out of me, could have a huge positive influence on the outcome of the race at the end of the month.  Much like the 60K I ran in mid-March had a huge positive influence on my ability to survive last weekend’s very warm marathon.

So if you are in the Paducah, KY area at the end of May, meet me for a fun run, otherwise known as RUTS.  Run five, 13, 26, 50 or 60 miles.  Your call.  But having fun is mandatory.

CMM 2009

Just a quick post.  Family’s in town and lots of things going on right now, so the race report will wait.

Let’s just say it was freakin’ hot.  The temperature at the 7am start was right around 70F (21C) and it just got hotter from there.  By noon, it was 86F (30C) with a gusty southerly wind of 12-25mph.  All week long I knew that it was to be a run of survival, although I was still motivated to break four hours.  That didn’t happen.  But I’m still quite pleased with the results, considering the conditions.

Finished in 4:32:20, less than three minutes slower than last year’s edition, which was overall 20F (11C) cooler.

 

Even with the heat, I was on track through the half marathon to negative split and break four hours.  But even then I already knew it wasn’t going to happen.  I was OK with that.

Lots of folks took rides in ambulances.  The heat was taking its toll.  Unfortunately, a 25-year old Soldier collapsed and died after finishing the half-marathon, but they are saying it wasn’t heat related, but a “cardiac event”.

Damn shame.

Rockin’ Weekend

Unfortunately, no concerts were involved.

Friday was a beautiful day.  Cloudy, a bit of drizzle, temp in the low-50’s.  A gorgeous day for a long run.  And that’s what I did.  A 20-miler, my last “long” run before next month’s Country Music Marathon.  The plan was go out with the race in mind, negative split the course and keep my overall average pace within 30-seconds of my goal pace for the marathon.  And that’s exactly what I did.

First was figuring out a course the replicated the CMM, which is fairly hilly during the opening miles, then flattens out as the course winds its way along the Cumberland River.  I think I did that pretty well, although I know this 20 mile course is a bit tougher.

On top is my course, on bottom is the CMM course that I ran last year.  This year they’ve made some minor changes to the course, but nothing drastic.

 

At the risk of jinxing myself, I am now confident in a significant PR for a marathon.  Now it’s just a matter of managing my fatigue, tapering well and avoiding a last-minute injury.

Saturday was a day at work.  It started out slow, then turned into quite an interesting afternoon as we issued a tornado watch for the area and then watched everything blow up around us.  It’s one of those days of mixed emotions.  You don’t want it to happen, but when you lay it all out there and forecast it when the day is nice and bright and sunny and there isn’t any activity anywhere near, you sure do hope that it does; y’all abuse us weather folks enough, remembering only the times that we get it wrong (which really isn’t that often). 

But this guy got it wrong:

  

So very wrong.

Once the storms blew up around to our west and headed our way, we kept our fingers crossed that there wouldn’t be any significant damage and ideally no injuries. 

It rolled through and we had reports of hail and wind damage in the area, as well as one highly questionable report of a funnel cloud, that, if the spotter was correct, would have put the funnel directly over my head as I was standing outside.  A good look at the radar afterwards confirmed that there wasn’t any rotation. 

But the real worry was up north, out of our area of concern.  An EF-3 tornado rolled through a rural area of Kentucky.  We were interrogating it pretty hard on the radar and shaking our heads, but had to turn our attention to those storms that were still coming at us.  Luckily there weren’t any reports of significant damage or injuries in our area of concern.

Sunday turned out to be much, much colder.  Everyone out west got the snow, we just got the cold.  So after work it was an easy 5-mile run in tights and doubled up long-sleeves.  And that run took me over 60 miles for the week. 

And that definitely puts me on track for a marathon PR.

But we shall see.

Planning

After the long, geeky, techy post the other day covering the SportTracks plug-in Training Load, I did some thinking (uh oh, that’s dangerous).  I realized that during that post, I only covered past performance.  I should share how the plug-in can help with planning.

Granted, my experience with using it for planning consists of one race – the LBL 60K.  But by all measures, it was a highly successful race for me.  And I’m confident in saying that my “discovery” of this tool had a significant role in my success.

Here is the updated chart, with all of my planned workouts up to and including the Country Music Marathon (CMM), which is on April 25th (click to open in a new window to see detail).

If you compare this chart to the ones that I posted in that last post, you’ll see that I’ve clearly resumed my training.  And I’ve jumped back in with a vengeance.  This week is a scheduled 60 miles, which should be interesting, since 60 miles was my breaking point leading up to the 60K.  This morning’s run finished up an accumulated 20 miles in the previous 36 hours, leading into a 24 hour rest interval, then a 20-mile run tomorrow morning.  I’m definitely beating myself up this week.

And that load is by design.  As you can see in the lower right, the calculated max training effect would be today, March 26th.  So I loaded up my runs to straddle today, which luckily my work schedule accommodated.  Also, if you look at the Training Influence curve (the shaded red area), you can see that my Acute Training Load (ATL) , aka “fatigue” (the thin red line) coincides closely with the peak of the Training Influence curve.  Theoretically, that’s my peak.  Then my fatigue falls off rapidly as I begin my long-term recovery.

As the Training Influence curve falls away to the right, less and less of the workout for that specific day will have an influence on my race.  Therefore, it’s counterproductive to schedule a long run (say 20 miles) on 11 April (for example), since it would significantly fatigue me, but little of the potential fitness gains from the run would be realized on race day.  And once the Training Influence line crosses into the negative side of that scale, that’s when I start my taper.  As you can see in the lower right, that date would be April 15th, ten days before the race.  After that, it’s short, quick runs at race pace to keep the motor running, but not fatigue it.

Looking at the overall picture, the blue shaded area is my Chronic Training Load (CTL), aka “fitness”.  The dark blue fitness is past and current; the light blue fitness is forecast based on scheduled workouts.  I’m self-coached, so I use Training Peaks’ Virtual Coach to help me build the framework of my training plan.  Once I’ve developed my training schedule in Training Peaks, I manually transcribe the workouts over to SportTracks.  Luckily I need only a few parameters to get the Training Load plug-in to work.  The most “difficult” portion of the forecast workouts is determining what my average heart rate will be for the workout.  But all I have to do then is look at similar workouts that I have completed and plug in that number.  Pretty easy.

Once I’ve got the planned workouts loaded, I can see how effective the plan could be.  I can then adjust my plan based on the forecast impact to my fitness.

So the peak of my fatigue will be realized with tomorrow’s 20-miler.  That’s to be expected.  But I recover quickly over the weekend, since I’m working and have an easy 5-mile run scheduled for Saturday before my standard Sunday rest day.

But then I realized that I have an even higher peak to my fatigue levels, which falls on April 1st.  As I look at the workouts, nothing out of the ordinary is scheduled for that day.  A comfortable Zone 1/2 5-mile run to work in the morning, and then a tempo 7-mile run home after work.  But then I looked at my rolling 10- and 28-day mileage totals (not shown on the chart above) and see that by running those two workouts as planned, my 10-day total mileage as of that day will be 82 miles.  By comparison, my training leading up to the 60K topped out at 69 miles for a 10-day period.  So I’ll have to monitor my body carefully and adjust accordingly.  No sense in running myself into an overuse injury.  But by smartly loading (overloading) my body, I can start the race stronger than I would if I hadn’t.

As scheduled, I would be rested on race-day morning.  The way I see that is by looking at my Training Stress Balance (TSB), which is the shaded gray area, which reaches into the positive numbers on April 18th, a full week before the race.  But as I look at the chart, I can already see areas for improvement that would deliver me to the start line even more rested and ready to race.  Like a haircut, with a little nip here and a snip there, I can adjust my workouts and recover more deeply.  For example, I have a 5-mile tempo run scheduled for April 15th, which is the start of my taper.  That’s the little spike in fatigue.  But as I look at my Training Influence curve, I can see that a tempo workout that day would translate very little to race day, so I’ll likely relook that specific workout.  And there are a few others in there that I’ll look at tweaking as well.

As it stands right now, I’d arrive at the start of the CMM less rested than I did for the 60K.  The problem with that plan is that the CMM is my “A” race this spring season and the 60K was a “B” race.  So based on the information conveyed in the chart, I know that I’ll have to rework some of my workouts and back off on both volume and intensity in the coming weeks.

And we’ll have to see how it works out on April 25th.

Sof Sole Adapt Footbeds – Review #2

This is an update of my original review here.

That review was written after the first 100 miles of running.  I now have 338 miles on them, spread over 60 runs since January 1, 2009, including my very wet, very muddy 60K just 11 days ago.

The verdict?  Awesome!

They don’t look much different than they did at 100 miles, which was only slightly different from brand new.  The difference?  There’s slight fraying along the outer edge of the upper layer of fabric.  But it’s nothing that I’d get concerned about.  It’s just a function of my shoes. 

I rotate among at least three pair of running shoes so I’m never running in the same pair of shoes for back-to-back runs.  There are several reasons for this.  Mainly, the shoes last longer.  I retire my shoes with just 300 miles on them, so I’d be buying a new pair of running shoes every 6-7 weeks if I had only one pair.  Also, by letting them rest between runs, the cushioning in the sole has a chance to regain its form (and function).  Also, since I’m such a heavy sweater and have absolutely no issues with running in the pouring rain, it gives the shoes to dry naturally.

So I have 3-4 pair of shoes and only one pair of Sof Sole Adapt Footbeds.  That means I’m sliding in/sliding out the foot beds at least once a day, oftentimes twice a day.  But that’s not a bad thing either, especially since it also gives the beds a chance to dry out between runs.  But that also explains the wear that I’m experiencing.

Physically, the changes that I noticed in the first review hold true.  I’ve pretty much quit needing my foam roller and Stick for my legs and my tennis/golf balls for my plantar fasciitis.  Absolutely no issues any longer with the ITB or PF.  And I’m stronger for it.  With the abuse I’ve put my legs through over the past three months, I’m pretty confident now in saying that the foot beds were a significant part of the change.

Would I buy a few more pair to keep in my shoes?  Absolutely.

In addition to the Adapt Footbeds, I was also given a pair of Sof Sole Athlete insoles and Sof Sole Stability insoles.  I’ve had the Athlete insoles in my work boots, which I wear five days a week.  They’ve held up very well and are very comfortable, even getting me comfortably through several long ruck marches with 35+ pounds on my back.  I have yet to try the Stability insoles, mainly because the ones that I have are geared toward those with a low arch and I have a pretty high arch.  They do make the Stability insoles for both medium and high arches.

I’ve also had a chance to try out their Lite performance socks.  These socks are thin and well constructed.  However, on my first run with them, which was just over six miles, I came back and found a hole in the bottom of my right sock.  It had worn through completely.  However, for me this isn’t an issue with the socks, since I’ve seen it with others as well.  The first time I ran in my beloved Injinji’s (which happened to be a marathon), they had a hole wear through them too.  This isn’t a fault of the socks, it’s a function of my shoes.  In both instances, I wore only the thin socks, instead of my standard thin sock liner (Injinji) inside a pair of cushioned Thorlo’s.  In other words, I have plenty of room in my shoe.

So in both cases, wearing just the thin sock allowed my foot to move around much more than normal, which would lead to increased wear and eventually holes.  Having said that, I think that their socks are quite comfortable and very well constructed. 

Lastly, they provided me a pair of Yaktrax.  Unfortunately, winters here in Kentucky/Tennessee are pretty mild.  We only had one day of measurable snow, so I tucked them in my pocket to try out while I was on a run.  But the snow was melting so quickly that there were few areas that I could strap them on and give them a try.  I would have ended up spending more time running on rocks, gravel and pavement than I would have on ice or snow.  I knew that would tear them up quickly and I wouldn’t be able to give them a fair shake.  But I keep them handy just in case we get another cold shot.

Bottom line?  I am convinced that Sof Sole makes quality products.  And no, I am not getting paid to say that.

But lo! Men have become the tools of their tools

WARNING:  This is a tech-heavy, geeky post tying a lot of training concepts together.

h/t to Henry David Thoreau for the title.

I read the quote yesterday, stuck in a tube hurtling at 400mph through the atmosphere over the upper midwest, reading “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan.  It’s a very interesting book that deserves a write up in another post.  Grab a copy now.

A couple of posts ago I had mentioned that I had run across a tool that had me reevaluate my training, specifically when I need to peak and when I need to begin my taper.  I’m pretty certain that this “discovery” helped me in my very successful 60K last weekend.

The tool?  It’s a plugin called "Training Load”, used in the excellent free software called SportTracks.  SportTracks is everything that Garmin Training Center and Suunto’s Training Manager should strive to be.  And having used both extensively, Suunto’s Training Manager beats GTC hands-down.  But neither can match SportTracks.

What’s so magical about the Training Load plugin?  It calculates the accumulated load of training (hence the name), which can then be used to determine your fitness, your fatigue and your form.  The higher your form, the more ready you are for a particular race.  I’ll touch more on that later.

For those of you who’ve looked at other tools such as Training Peak’s WKO+, this appears to be fairly similar.  I have not used WKO+, mainly because I don’t need the added expense since I don’t have a power meter on my bike.  So I’ll stick to the free SportTracks for now.  But even after I buy a power meter in the (hopefully not too distant) future, I may stick with SportTracks, since Training Load will use the data from the power meter as well.

I’ll throw out the disclaimer now – I am by no stretch of the imagination an expert in all of the concepts I’m about to describe.  I’ve done a lot of reading on each, but I recognize the fact that there’s still a lot of discussion on how to derive and what these numbers mean.  Even the “experts” admit that these charts and their interpretation is something of a “black art”.  Much like my chosen field of meteorology, you can have four people look at the chart and get six different opinions.

First I’ll throw out a screen shot of the tool (click to see full size):

Lots of data on the left and bottom, but those aren’t important right now.  Besides, if you can’t figure out a calendar, you’ll never figure out this software.  If this describes you, click here and read about your other exploits.

We’re mainly interested in the graphical part of the program, because a picture is truly worth a thousand words.

The x-axis is calendar dates, starting at about 19 November 2008 and ending about 6 April 2009.  This scale works well since it is bookended by two significant races – my current marathon PR run during the Flying Monkey Marathon on 25 November and my latest race, the LBL 60K Trail Run on 14 March.

The total training load of each day’s run is indicated on the y-axis by the gold vertical bar.  The more significant the load, the taller the bar.  Compare the marathon and 60K events to the daily runs.  The training load is calculated by the amount of time spent in each training zone and each training zone is given a weighted value so that one minute in Zone 5 is given more weight than one minute spent in the lower zones.

NOTE:  I’m not giving specific values here because it differs for each person.  I’m still trying to figure mine out, so the numbers that you see in the graphic will not compare to another person at all.  The proof is in the pudding on race day.

Each day’s training load is calculated and a cumulative training load (CTL) is calculated.  That’s the blue area of the chart.  CTL is also known as “fitness”.  As you can see, I’ve gradually improved my fitness from the end of December until now, which shows the results of my training program.  All things being equal, it’s pretty easy to see that my fitness was significantly better leading up to my 60K than I was for the Monkey Marathon.  That backs up my tests, which have proven that I’m in better shape now than I was just five months ago.

Starting at the Monkey Marathon, my fatigue was through the roof, then dropped off rapidly as I took my year-end break from running.  Fatigue is also known as Acute Training Load (ATL) and is signified by the solid red line.  On the y-axis, higher numbers are more fatigue and lower numbers are less.  Pretty simple, eh?  Starting with my training in late December, you can see where my cumulative fatigue started increasing, but would drop every few weeks as I took my recovery weeks.  A couple of the more significant dips were from having to take a complete break from training due to illness or overreaching.

As you know, success in endurance sports is all about fatigue management.

The corollary of fatigue is form, shown as either “performance” or Training Stress Balance (TSB).  That’s the gray area of the chart.  As fatigue increases, form decreases.  As fatigue decreases, form increases.  After the Monkey Marathon, my form was in the tank, meaning that I likely wouldn’t have been able to race again in the weeks following with any degree of success.  It wasn’t until 5 December, when the TSB value equaled zero, that I could be considered fully recovered from the race.  After that date, as I continued to rest, my form improved.  But since I wasn’t running, my fitness (blue area) was decreasing.  And that’s always the dilemma of racing like we do, trading fitness for form.

One interesting thing to note is that as form improves, recovery time decreases significantly.  Compare the time it took my form to return to zero after the Monkey Marathon to the time it took me to return to zero after the 60K (12 days vs 6 days).

Once I started running again in late December, my form “suffered” as started my training in earnest.  As my fatigue increased, my form decreased.  But, most importantly, my fitness slowly started to increase. 

At this point, looking at the chart above confirms a lot of what you can feel in your bones, specifically the fatigue.  It’s often hard to feel your fitness improving when you’re smoking yourself week after week.  But taking a look at the fitness (blue shaded area) of the chart can give you that boost that you need, especially when you feel like you can’t do any more.  For example, my heaviest week as far as cumulative fatigue was at the end of January.  You can see that my fatigue (red line) spiked and my form (gray shaded area) hit the floor.  That week I hit 44 miles of running, including a 10-mile tempo and 15-mile long run, as well as a couple of shorter interval sessions.  While the mileage wasn’t as high as later weeks, the intensity was there.  And since the higher HR zones have a heavier weighting, there was more of an impact on my fatigue and form than at any other time.  By comparison, the week of 9 February I ran 60 miles for the week, but at a much lower overall intensity, so I was actually (gradually) recovering during that higher volume week.

Phew!!!!  That’s a lot, isn’t it?

I started using the Training Load plugin in late January, soon after it was released.  It was a huge step in visualizing the ebb and flow of training throughout the year.  And thanks to a bit of creative database work, I was able to combine my workout data from my Garmin and Suunto HRMs, giving me a look at all of these parameters (CTL/ATL/TSB) since January 2007.  No sense in posting the pic here, since it’s really a jumble of lines and colors, but trust me when I say it’s a treasure trove of information.

But that’s not what I got all excited about with the Training Load plugin.  In late February, while I was sitting here suffering through a bout of the flu, I found that there was an update to the plugin.  With that update, I could now look at a curve called “Training Influence”, which is the red shaded area in the chart below.  Here’s the same chart as above, except with the “Training Influence” curve loaded (click to see bigger):

 

Based on custom values, I can now visualize when I should be peaking for a race and when to begin a taper.  These custom values are based on my ability to recover, which are different from other folks.  Previously I had been using a standard three week peak, followed by a 7-10 day taper.  But once I loaded this “Training Influence” curve, I realized that I would be starting my 60K fatigued.  How did I know this?  Simply by setting my target date to the races that I have done in the past, I looked at when I built to my peak and when I started my taper.  I noticed a trend – I had peaked about a week later than I should have, which had the result of cutting short my taper.  This meant that I toed the line at each of the races in a fatigued state, with my form often not up to the “0” line.

Unfortunately, I discovered this tool while I was sick on 20 February.  Based on the calculated curve and the data listed in the lower right corner, I needed to have scheduled my peak for 12 February.  Each day after 12 February mean a decreasing positive effect on the outcome of my race in 14 March.  And once I reached 4 March, no workout I did would have a positive effect on my race, so that would be the start of my taper.

After this discovery, I quickly reshuffled my training schedule and backed off an epic run scheduled for 28 February.  The impetus behind this was realizing that it wouldn’t have the positive effect on my race outcome as I had previously thought.  That turned out to be a good move, since the cumulative effects from my flu and trying to get right back in to running hard kept me from running anything significant that weekend anyway.

By 4 March, my mileage was dropping drastically.  It was tough to keep the effort under control.  My run frequency remained, but had to cut back the distances and intensity dramatically.  In other words, a taper properly executed.  The interesting thing for me was watching how each little run affected my form, evidenced by the blips in the gray shaded are as I approached race day.

But as you can see, my form (gray shaded area) during my taper improved significantly, pushing into the positive category, indicating my recovery was on track.  By race day, my recovery was complete and my form was as good as it could get without completely taking a month off from training.

And the proof was in the pudding.

So how about for planning?

Here’s the chart with my Training Influence target date set for my next race, the Country Music Marathon (CMM) on 25 April:

Thanks to a trip this week that kept my too busy to run, which actually worked out well after Saturday’s 60K, I’ve completely recovered based on the chart.  I guess I could race again right now, although it would have to be a shorter distance.  But that’s not my goal.  The CMM is the goal.  And I hope to PR again this year.

So using the Training Influence curve, I see that I need to really ramp up my running this coming week, with my maximum training effect on 26 March.  Luckily I have Friday off, so I can schedule a long, long run for the 27th.  Then I’ll closely monitor my fatigue in the following weeks, begin my taper on 15 April and attack the course on the 25th.

And we’ll see if it works out for a PR.

That’s a lot, isn’t it?  If you’ve made it this far, let me know.  I’ll buy you a beer when we meet.

For some additional reading on the topics, here’s a start:

Jim Vance

Alan Couzens

Development and Testing of the Performance Manager Chart in WKO

Quantifying Your Fitness with WKO+

Tapering with WKO+

Optimizing Athletic Performance by Influence Curves  (really explains the science behind the “Training Influence” curve)

There are a gazillion other links out there covering these topics.  Read, read, read.  Then use.  But don’t become a tool of the tool.

Or better yet, don’t be a tool.

How Fun Was That?

Hella fun is what it was.  I was grinning from ear to ear almost the entire time.

Salty Eyes

Official Finisher’s Belt Buckle

37.2 miles of mud (I changed socks at 24 miles)

LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES 60K TRAIL RUN

(that’s 37.2 miles for you metrically challenged)

7:38:31

(that’s a 12:17/mile average)

Total Elevation Gain: 3017’

Race report to follow in the next few days…

Broken

Photo by Maerten Prins

Well, every training cycle I have to push until I find my breaking point.

During my IM training in 2007, I found it a few times.  The volume differed each time.

In 2008, while training for my 40-mile birthday run, I found it in August, running about 50 miles per week while working 80-90 hours per week during my deployment to Iraq.

This year (so far) it’s running 60 miles per week, with a bout of the flu thrown in there for good measure.  Work hasn’t been particularly stressful or time-consuming, so it’s a minimal contributor.  And there hasn’t been any of the typical indicators of overreaching or overtraining.  The morning heart rate is steady at 46, no drastic fluctuations in weight, no loss of appetite, etc.  None of the classic signs.

It started yesterday afternoon, during my scheduled “short” run*.  It took everything I had to get 5.65 miles in that hour.  Nothing was sore, nothing hurt.  I just didn’t have any spring or any push to my step.  I mentioned to Goddess that I actually felt, and ran, like an old man.  But no worries, it happens from time to time.

A full night’s sleep last night and this morning brought a rousing game of Frisbee football for PT.  It’s not my favorite, but I do enjoy getting a good interval sprint workout out of it.  But it was the same as last night’s run.  There was no go.  Nothing.  I forced a few sprints for the disc, but it just wasn’t there.

Meh.

So instead of squeezing in a couple of “short” runs and a final long run before my 60K race in two weeks, I’m starting my taper a bit early.  No sense in trying to force a few miles in, especially this close to race day.

Plus, it gives me time to enjoy a few other things – like watching “Dead Poets Society” right now, a bit of work on the old truck and, most importantly, time with Goddess.

* “short” run – It’s all perspective.  At this point in training, anything less than ten miles is a “short” run.  Anything over twenty miles is a long run.

Ace

This won’t mean much to most, but it’s a bit of bragging.

Being in the military, fitness is a significant part of our job.  Matter of fact, we’re actually afforded a couple of hours every day during work hours to work out.  How perfect is that for me?  So we set aside the first two hours of the day for organized Physical Training (PT).  The downside for me is that the workouts are basic enough to challenge those that aren’t in shape, but not so challenging that it breaks them (that’s not the goal).  So I’ll often run the five miles to work and then start PT.  Then I’ll run home at the end of the day, stretching my afternoon run from 5-13 miles or more if need be.  Rinse, repeat the next day.

Anyway, the proof was in the pudding this week.  We had our PT test, which consists of a waist measurement, crunches, push ups and timed 1.5-mile run.

The waist measurement has been the bane of my existence.  In order to get a perfect score of 50, one must have a waist measurement of less than 32.5″ (for men).  Age is not a consideration, nor is height.  It’s actually measured just below the navel.  And for every half-inch greater than 32.5″, one loses 1.25 points.  Even though I was in shape to race Ironman-distance races, I still had enough around the mid-section that I’d lose 8 points before I even started.

But thanks to switching to a Primal/Paleo diet at the start of my deployment to Iraq, those inches have all but melted off.  I did lose some weight by switching, but mostly the fat melted away as my body composition shifted.  But don’t mistake my use of the word diet to mean that I went on a diet.  No, I actually had done a lot of research and decided that the way I had been eating hadn’t been working for me, so I modified the way I was eating.  For those who don’t know what Primal or Paleo diets are (and don’t click on the links above), the gist of it is getting back to a more natural way of eating, minimizing the processed foods and eliminating grains (for many different reasons).  Some mistakenly call them “low carb” diets, which they are not; it’s just a matter of getting carbs from natural sources, not processed sources.  Perhaps that will be a different post, since this one is already getting sidetracked.

Anyway, thanks to the sculpting that the diet change has brought about, I now measure at a cool 32.0″ just below the navel.  So that hurdle is out of the way.  The rest is easy.

Crunches – must do more than 47 in one minute.  Done.

Pushups – must do more than 40 in one minute.  Done.

Timed 1.5-mile run – must run faster than 10:21 to get full points.  Done, with a very comfortable, evenly paced 9:45.  Even after putting  20-miles on the legs in the previous 36 hours.

Now, I’ll admit I took advantage of my age group.  Once one turns 40, the run time gets a bit slower and the pushups and crunches are a few less; only the waist measurement doesn’t change.  But I actually ran faster than the 35-39 and 30-34 age groups require for a perfect score.  So next month’s goal is to add the few extra pushups and crunches and then ace the 35-39 age group PT test.  After that…

Plus, it’s fun to leave the twenty-something’s strewn all over the track during the run.

Sof Sole Adapt Footbeds – Review #1

Thanks to a comment I left on Ray’s blog entry on Sof Sole Energy Footbeds, I was contacted by a Sof Sole representative and asked if I’d like to give them a try and review them.  Of course!

I won’t rehash the baking/shaping portion of the foot beds that Ray discussed, even though it was an interesting process.  Instead, now that I have just over 100 miles in them, I’ll talk about their durability and effectiveness.

Unlike Ray, I have a very high arch.  But before this I had never used any specific foot bed, instead just using the foot beds that come with my New Balance shoes.  They’ve served me well.  The company sent me their Mediums, which cover men’s shoe sizes 9-10.5 and are trimmed to fit.  I wear size 9.5 4E’s (extra, extra wide), so surprisingly no trimming was required.  They set snugly in the shoe, with no gap anywhere along the edges from heel to toe.

Once I had “baked” and shaped the Adapt foot beds, I was pretty impressed with the amount of arch support I was getting compared to the standard NB foot beds.  But that was just standing in them.  I wasn’t sure how they would feel while running.  One thing that I had to get used to was the more crowded feel of my shoes, mainly because these beds are a bit thicker than the NB beds.

Out on the road and trails, these foot beds have been excellent for these first 100 miles.  The amount of cushioning is just perfect.  Not too much, not too little.  I have had absolutely no issues with these beds.  But of interest are some possible benefits:

- Since putting these foot beds in, I’ve had less issue with plantar fasciitis in my right foot.  I had been teetering on the edge of having a serious case of it all through last year.  But continual rolling on the foot on golf balls and keeping the bottom stretched kept me from going over the edge.  Then the break from running during November-December helped it get a bit better, but it still nagged me.  During the past month, I have not done any stretching or rolling.  But I can now barely feel any issues with my plantar fascia.

Now, do the foot beds have anything to do with it?  I don’t know.  But I do know that I have not had to do anything with my foot to keep it from flaring up.  The only difference is that I have been using these foot beds.

- Since putting these foot beds in, I’ve had even less of an issue with my left iliotibial band.  Like with the plantar fascia, my left ITB has been a frequent nuisance over the past couple of years.  Nothing debilitating and never tight enough to cause significant knee pain, but typically just a dull ache through the length of the band itself.  I’ve had to attack the thing frequently with my massage stick and foam roller.  But like with the plantar fascia, I’ve done little to “maintain” the ITB over the past 100 miles; I just haven’t needed to.

Perhaps it’s the additional arch support of these foot beds.  But then again, perhaps not.  But it boils down to the fact that the only thing different are these foot beds.

As far as the beds themselves, they are holding up very well.  Since I continually rotate amongst three pairs of running shoes, I am constantly swapping out the beds.  There’s only minimal fraying along the edges; certainly nothing to be concerned about and actually a testament to the construction, considering they’ve been moved in and out of shoes for 20 of the past 22 days.

I’ll keep posting reviews every hundred miles or so.  So far I’m quite impressed, realizing that these are definitely a bargain for the $30 list price that they go for.

Also, a few future reviews will include the other insoles that they included, as well as socks and (weather cooperating) Yaktraxs.