A review of my attempt to become "fit".
I thought that it might be a good thing to review what I've been doing since the Derby Marathon as I've had a renewed focus on getting fit.
(I've had a lot on my mind during this recovery week, so this will likely be long. Hopefully there will be a nugget or two that you may benefit from?)
Weekly Total Hours Summary
May 1st - 4:33 (week after marathon, got back on bike)
May 8th - 5:36 (another easier week with easy runs, cycling and swim sessions)
May 15th - 6:25 (easy week with Memphis in May triathlon relay on the weekend. I ran a 40:15 run leg for our relay team.)
May 22nd - 15:46 (big week due to the Horsey Hundred Weekend and first major test of endurance in couple years, other than maybe hiking Pikes Peak?)
May 29th - 10:29 (took a couple days of rest after HH then ran Mutt Strut with Kelty, capped the weekend off with 67 mile ride on Sunday... trying to keep cycling mileage going to reap the benefits of the HH.)
June 5th - 14:18 (stuck to the "standard" week that I've been doing and rode 60 miles on Sunday, feel the bike endurance developing, despite very slow riding speeds)
June 12th - 13:10 (used Saturday to test my endurance again, ran 17 miles in morning, 12.5 at Todd's road and 4.5 with client, then rode 67 miles. first attempt at a "big training day" in couple years. actually felt pretty good.)
June 19th - 15:33 (June's "big cycling weekend", rode 102 with Eric on Saturday and 68 with George on Sunday... felt tired Sunday night. I think the hills that we rode on Saturday made a major impact on the intensity level of the rides.)
June 26th - 10:46 (second attempt at a "big training day", more detail in the BG Race ideas post)
Ideas on endurance and/or improvement
1. One thing that should be noted is that all training done within this period was on the low end of the intensity scale, because my goal was to obtain fitness and wasn't thinking about performance. When I mentioned this to an individual, he commented that I was already fit. But I disagreed :) The little intensity that was inserted into my schedule were the two 10k races I did (highly intense sessions) and the 2 rides I did that included some extensive hill climbing (Elk Lick, Halls, Grimes and McCalls).
2. My "base" started developing again around the middle of June, but has a long way to go still. Looking back, I'm a little disappointed in myself about getting caught up in the Derby Marathon training, without having a fully developed base fitness. A great sign of my fitness developing was a Tuesday Hill run from John's Run / Walk. I completed the entire run, felt great using a sub moderate effort, heart rate average was 145 bpm and we ran around a 7:30 pace. That's way better than any pace/effort/hr ave result I had during the training for the Derby.
3. The little bit of intensity that I did was enough to require some additional recovery / easy sessions.
4. Nutrition was a key focus for a solid three weeks and the benefits were pretty drastic. My energy levels were steady, insteady of up and down and my weight came down 3-5 pounds. Unfortunately, I dropped the ball after my first "big training day" and have seen the negative effects of using too much processed sugars as "recovery fuel" again. As noted before, the use of sugars is commonly more of an emotional crutch than a necessary "re-fueling" practice.
5. The three weeks of: big training day, big ride weekend, big training day was followed up by a BG 10k run of 37:58 (or 38:01), either time is better than I've seen since 2003. Although that race along with the effects of slight dehydration, left me using the rest of the week as recovery and light exercise. (I anticipated this though and had it planned into my schedule)
6. July through October, I'll include 1 big training day session and one big cycling weekend per month to continue building my fitness. At this stage of my development there's no reason to think "fast", because there's nothing fast about the race ability I have now. (Maybe in 2008, I'll change my approach). In August and September, I still plan on using 2 half ironman distance races as the big training day sessions, so that should be fun.
7. Currently, my "standard week" is all aerobic work at approximately 13 hours. I would like to get to a point in 2007 were my standard week is around 18 to 20 hours. I told Jeff yesterday that a goal I have set in my head would be to complete a 20/20 block. 20 weeks of 20 hours. The consistency and volume of that is scary at this point, but exciting too.
8. The 20/20 goal will also take a complete commitment but also an understanding from those around me, which always creates a little anxiety. There will have to be some serious social engagement declines, less time used maintaining our www presence and maybe even a look at my work commitments, as working 50+ hour weeks (with both jobs) and training like that would put a pretty big stress on the balance in my life.
Hey everyone smile... because this endurance life is fun. And remember: health then fitness and then performance!
(I've had a lot on my mind during this recovery week, so this will likely be long. Hopefully there will be a nugget or two that you may benefit from?)
Weekly Total Hours Summary
May 1st - 4:33 (week after marathon, got back on bike)
May 8th - 5:36 (another easier week with easy runs, cycling and swim sessions)
May 15th - 6:25 (easy week with Memphis in May triathlon relay on the weekend. I ran a 40:15 run leg for our relay team.)
May 22nd - 15:46 (big week due to the Horsey Hundred Weekend and first major test of endurance in couple years, other than maybe hiking Pikes Peak?)
May 29th - 10:29 (took a couple days of rest after HH then ran Mutt Strut with Kelty, capped the weekend off with 67 mile ride on Sunday... trying to keep cycling mileage going to reap the benefits of the HH.)
June 5th - 14:18 (stuck to the "standard" week that I've been doing and rode 60 miles on Sunday, feel the bike endurance developing, despite very slow riding speeds)
June 12th - 13:10 (used Saturday to test my endurance again, ran 17 miles in morning, 12.5 at Todd's road and 4.5 with client, then rode 67 miles. first attempt at a "big training day" in couple years. actually felt pretty good.)
June 19th - 15:33 (June's "big cycling weekend", rode 102 with Eric on Saturday and 68 with George on Sunday... felt tired Sunday night. I think the hills that we rode on Saturday made a major impact on the intensity level of the rides.)
June 26th - 10:46 (second attempt at a "big training day", more detail in the BG Race ideas post)
Ideas on endurance and/or improvement
1. One thing that should be noted is that all training done within this period was on the low end of the intensity scale, because my goal was to obtain fitness and wasn't thinking about performance. When I mentioned this to an individual, he commented that I was already fit. But I disagreed :) The little intensity that was inserted into my schedule were the two 10k races I did (highly intense sessions) and the 2 rides I did that included some extensive hill climbing (Elk Lick, Halls, Grimes and McCalls).
2. My "base" started developing again around the middle of June, but has a long way to go still. Looking back, I'm a little disappointed in myself about getting caught up in the Derby Marathon training, without having a fully developed base fitness. A great sign of my fitness developing was a Tuesday Hill run from John's Run / Walk. I completed the entire run, felt great using a sub moderate effort, heart rate average was 145 bpm and we ran around a 7:30 pace. That's way better than any pace/effort/hr ave result I had during the training for the Derby.
3. The little bit of intensity that I did was enough to require some additional recovery / easy sessions.
4. Nutrition was a key focus for a solid three weeks and the benefits were pretty drastic. My energy levels were steady, insteady of up and down and my weight came down 3-5 pounds. Unfortunately, I dropped the ball after my first "big training day" and have seen the negative effects of using too much processed sugars as "recovery fuel" again. As noted before, the use of sugars is commonly more of an emotional crutch than a necessary "re-fueling" practice.
5. The three weeks of: big training day, big ride weekend, big training day was followed up by a BG 10k run of 37:58 (or 38:01), either time is better than I've seen since 2003. Although that race along with the effects of slight dehydration, left me using the rest of the week as recovery and light exercise. (I anticipated this though and had it planned into my schedule)
6. July through October, I'll include 1 big training day session and one big cycling weekend per month to continue building my fitness. At this stage of my development there's no reason to think "fast", because there's nothing fast about the race ability I have now. (Maybe in 2008, I'll change my approach). In August and September, I still plan on using 2 half ironman distance races as the big training day sessions, so that should be fun.
7. Currently, my "standard week" is all aerobic work at approximately 13 hours. I would like to get to a point in 2007 were my standard week is around 18 to 20 hours. I told Jeff yesterday that a goal I have set in my head would be to complete a 20/20 block. 20 weeks of 20 hours. The consistency and volume of that is scary at this point, but exciting too.
8. The 20/20 goal will also take a complete commitment but also an understanding from those around me, which always creates a little anxiety. There will have to be some serious social engagement declines, less time used maintaining our www presence and maybe even a look at my work commitments, as working 50+ hour weeks (with both jobs) and training like that would put a pretty big stress on the balance in my life.
Hey everyone smile... because this endurance life is fun. And remember: health then fitness and then performance!
posted by gary at 5:32 PM
3 Comments:
hey gary, i saw your comment over at Jessica's site and thought i would stop by and say hi. i have a question for you...you mentioned that your running improved greatly from mostly cycling...does the same hold true for other types of cardio...in particular, i am thinking about long sessions with the elliptical trainer at the gym as an occasional break from my long trail runs...give my joints a break now and then.
matt - i guess "greatly" might be an overstated comment, but in 2006 my fitness seems to have improved in all measures when i started and then increased my cycling. there are two reasons that i beleive cycling helped:
1. I could increase my volume of exercise (duration/time not miles) without breaking down.
2. I gained some leg strength and power in my legs that I lost when I went to a run only 4 month period.
I do like eliptical trainers because they take away some of the pounding from the pavement, but it is hard to get the same two benefits that I mentioned above with an eliptical.
Just some thoughts. I would need to know some more about your running history, health, injury, etc... before I could say more. Maybe I'll go check out your site soon :)
thanks for your insight, gary...I appreciate your time and I like to learn a little from everyone I meet in the blog world.
I am a beginning trailrunner and running my first ultras this summer and fall. I was a good runner in high school...18 minute 5K, 4:50 mile...that was a long time ago and I recently recovered from a long bout with neurological disorder. anyway, I have just been getting back into long distance trailrunning this year...my goal is to finish these first ultras and improve over time. what you wrote about improving while cycling really intrigued me.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home