2011 Goals

2010 was a very successful year of running for me. I set new PR's at 5K, 10K and Half Marathon, transitioned to minimalist running shoes and changing my running form. However, I missed out on running a Marathon due to injury, and want to avoid making the same mistakes again in 2011. So, I am going to keep my running goals simple this year.

1. Run a Marathon.

2. Run a sub 1 hour 40 minute Half Marathon

3. Not gain any weight in 2011: Starting weight 153lb (10st 13lb).

Injury prevented me from running a Marathon in 2010, so the goal of running a Marathon has a number of sub-goals attached to it:

1a. Listen to my body and rest whenever I need to, regardless of my training schedule.

1b. Run the easy miles slowly. I have a tendency to run the easy miles faster than 90 seconds slower than Marathon pace that I should be running them at.

1c. Avoid running too many races. I ran too many hard miles in race conditions in 2010 which I believe contributed to my injuries.

I can't wait for 2011 to arrive and to start my Half Marathon training on New Year's Day!

2010 Goals

As 2010 ends and 2011 begins I thought I'd take a minute to update you on the goals that I set for 2010... As you can see from the results below, I had a good year - completing 4 out of 5 goals.

1. Buy a new, bigger house: Complete!

2. Not gain any weight in 2010: I started the year at 157lbs (11st 3lb) and currently weigh 153lb (10st 13lb).

3. Run a sub 1:45:00 Half Marathon: Complete! I ran 1:41:40 at the Shamrock Half Marathon

4. Run a 5K dressed as a Hot Dog: Complete! I ran the Monster Dash dressed as a Hot Dog.

5. Run a Marathon: After spending most of July and August injured I decided to defer my Marathon until 2011.

Stay tuned for my goals for 2011!

The Perfect Ten

I recently purchased Bart Yasso's 'My Life On The Run' (which is an excellent read) and came across his 'Perfect 10' training program.

For better or worse, we live our lives by the Gregorian Calendar. We think about time in days, weeks and months and as a result, it is easy to think of training programs in the same way. Most Marathon training programs are 16 weeks in duration and each week starts on a Monday and ends on a Sunday.

Bart believes that 'recovery' is the most important part of a training program, and that it is impossible to get in the required number of strenuous activities, easy activities and rest days in a typical 7-day cycle. He mentions that clinical studies have shown that because running utilizes the same repetitive motions, excessive workout intensity and duration does not allow for proper physiological adaptation. Muscles and tendons fatigue easily, and as a result, injuries occur. "Failure to allow for easy days and rest days between quality workouts is the most common training mistake and leads to injury". So, Bart's Perfect 10 training program has more emphasis on rest and recovery so the quality workouts are more beneficial.

This all makes sense to me. I know that I need to do a tempo run, a speed workout and a long run each week, but that I also should do 'easy' runs or workouts the day after each of these activities. That means I would need to run 6 of every 7 days, giving me only 1 day of rest each week - which historically for me, is a recipe for injury.

So, I think I am going to give Bart's Perfect 10 Half Marathon training program a try, with the Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon as my target. I am by no means set on running the Raleigh Rocks race as I have no idea how my time I am going to have for running once our Baby arrives, but it at least gives me a target and something that I can use to test out this training program.

The program calls for 100 days of training, cycling trough Cycles 1, 2 and 3 three times and then a 10 day taper. With the Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon scheduled for April 10th (which is conveniently day #100 of 2011) , I need to start my training on Saturday January 1st, 2011.

Here are the 10 day cycles:
Cycle 1
-------
1: Tempo Workout (20 minutes)
2: Rest/Cross-Train
3: 5 miles Easy
4: Speedwork (3 x 800)
5: Cross-Train
6: 5 miles Easy
7: 5 miles Easy
8: Long Run (6-8 miles)
9: Rest
10: 5 miles Easy

Cycle 2
-------
1: Tempo Workout (25 minutes)
2: Rest/Cross-Train
3: 5 miles Easy
4: Speedwork (12 x 400)
5: Cross-Train
6: 5 miles Easy
7: 5 miles Easy
8: Long Run (10-12 miles)
9: Rest
10: 5 miles Easy

Cycle 3
-------
1: Tempo Workout (35 minutes)
2: Rest/Cross-Train
3: 5 miles Easy
4: Speedwork (3 x 1600)
5: Cross-Train
6: 5 miles Easy
7: 5 miles Easy
8: Long Run (12-15 miles)
9: Rest
10: 5 miles Easy

Taper:
-------
1: Tempo Workout (20 minutes)
2: Rest/Cross-Train
3: 5 miles Easy
4: Speedwork (3 x 800)
5: Cross-Train
6: 4 miles Easy
7: Rest
8: 3 miles Easy
9: Rest
10: RACE DAY

Hills, Hills Everywhere!

As I mentioned in my last post about rotating my shoes, I have been trying to slowly increase my mileage without adding difficulty/intensity - I slowed down my pace and wanted to avoid hills, in the hope that I would be able to avoid injury. There is one slight problem with my plan... I am struggling to find running routes from the house that don't have "hills".

Here are the elevation charts from some of my recent "flat" runs.

This run took in Falls River and the new Landfill park

This run included the Greenway, Camp Durant Road, Durant Road and Capital Hills Road.

The flattest run that I can find is the Greenway. However, it is only 1.5 miles long and still has a 100 ft ascent/descent!

These hills will be great for me during my training once I have built up my base fitness and strength, but until then, I know that I need to be extra careful to avoid running on them too much too soon.

Recent Training Runs:
12/6 Nike Free (3.00 @ 8:32)
12/5 Saucony (6.00 @ 8:47)
12/3 Saucony (6.00 @ 8:37)
12/2 Nike Free (3.00 @ 8:18)
12/1 Saucony (5.00 @ 8:48)
11/29 Nike Free (3.00 @ 8:54)
11/28 Saucony (7.25 @ 8:51)
11/27 Nike Free (3.00 @ 8:34)
11/25 Saucony (Gobblers 5K @ 6:58)
11/24 Nike Free (3.00 @ 9:15)