Winter Wonderland

Beautiful day in Lynn Woods w/ the family. Looking at this picture, I just wish I could freeze everything right there.

Rowing vs Running Rambling thoughts

On an 8 mile run the other day I got to thinking about training, and training through the lens of my own development.  I rowed competitively in college for 4 years. While I was no stellar athlete, I still managed to progress over 4years to a point where I could compete at a fairly high collegiate level. While struggling along in the middle of the pack now, when I was rowing I had broken out of that pack (at least into the chase pack) or to compare, if I was running at the level I rowed at I wouldn't feel stupid racing in really short shorts and racing flats. But lets start at the beginning- I have never been quick, my shuttle run times were always pathetic during the President's Fitness in elementary and jr high school, I lacked acceleration and speed in sports I played-hockey, baseball, soccer. But as I began to shed weight and had a growth spurt (around 9th grade) I found I had some level of endurance, which was above what my peers had. I began Cycling and mt biking and found myself ahead of the pack when distance was involved. The recognition that I had this endurance came without a whole lot of training. I remember the running portion of the Fitness Test in 9th grade, there were two parts a 100 yard dash and a 1 mile run. In the  100 yard dash  out of the 20-30 boys I clearly remember being in the bottom half. Feeling horrible about myself and my unathleticness, I moped over to the start of the mile and began to plod along. After two laps I began to pass most of the boys who had sprinted out ahead and finished fairly easily in the top group. I do remember that it was a "surprise" to myself and others how someone so slow in the dash could run so well (relative to the others) in the mile. I mention this because at this point I would consider it point 0. I had very little consistent aerobic training to explain the better performance at the mile, the only explanation is that I have a fairly good motor out of the box  for endurance. I'm not claiming to be an aerobic monster or even have an average level of endurance, but I am saying is that it seems like my proportion of speed vs endurance is heavier on the latter. This whole thought process got me thinking about running vs rowing and how I managed to progress fairly rapidly in rowing. My mind began to wonder into training theories so here is what I was thinking about:
Two things combine to make you move over a distance:
Mechanics: I am taking about efficiency here. In rowing the energy consumed per stroke given a constant pace. In running I'm talking energy per stride at constant pace.
Motor: I am talking about all the exercise science mumbo jumbo here, VO2max, lactate threshold, slow twist/fast twitch etc etc, all of which I am rather ignorant. In reference to energy, I would consider this the max amount of energy your body could contribute to an effort.

Now each of us has a genetic disposition that determines the point zero ratio of the above for each sport we participate in. 
I happen to think that in my case, the mechanics or rowing were simply better suited to my body than running and made better use of my strong motor.
Now I really don't know why I wrote all this down, it was simply my thoughts on a run.

Subpar Week-Mileage Wise?

Got kind of screwed w/ weather, took one day off, went snowshoeing in  some really crusty stuff on wednesday-only logged 2.5miles for nearly an hours worth of work. Saturday my stomach was not feeling great so I cut what would have been 8 miles down to 6. But Sunday I logged a 9miler (probably the longest single run in a long time). Volume wise i would say I probably broke even for the week. Thankfully the Stew Chase was postponed until late March (probably due to the fact that there is absolutely no shoulders on any of the roads due to snow banks), last week I felt ready, but this week I didn't. Hopefully I can get back on an even keel and stop this rodeo ride w/ good days and bad days. Still,  I had consistency this week which is a plus.

182 /3 days off

Slight twinge inside right shin last two days so I took a rest day. Also had 10 inches of snow which made it tough going. 182miles for the month, that is my 3rd biggest month and I really didn't try that hard, longest run was 8.6 miles, but the key was I only took 3 days off during the month. Not surprising I had a bit of an ache in my leg, but I will try and maintain this level of conistency and at least for the next 4 weeks, limit my longest run to 10miles. I am hovering around 177lbs, ideally I would like to get down to around 170. The weight just doesn't come off now like it used to 10 years ago. I can remember weighing 170 in fall and dropping to low 150's every spring, breaking below 150 in the summer. If I have no lingering pain I might let it rip at the Stew Chase 15k this weekend. Looking to run comfortably at 7 min pace and have a lot in the tank to drop it for the final 3 miles.

On track

Boston Harbor-You know it's cold when 38deg water is steaming.

Building strength takes time and persistence. I have 5 weeks of near consistency 37,36,40,39,43, very pleased with this mileage considering a good percentage of it was done on snowshoes or slopping through slush. It all adds up to time on my feet one way or the other and I feel like I am getting stronger. Yesterday I started to feel a little bit of fatigue during the first 2-3 miles and it gradually just melted away as I warmed up (not easy to do when it is 10 degrees out).  That is a good sign. Keep plugging towards the 15k on the 6th to see where my fitness is at. The Boston Prep 16 miler yesterday had a temp of 8 degrees/-22 for wind chill at race time. Brutal cold on a brutal course, no thanks, not this year.

Superstitions and Training Plans

I have become increasingly superstitious about signing up or talking about running races since I had to bail on the 2009 Manchester Marathon due to swine flu and the 2010 Yankee HC due to pain (appendix issue not yet diagnosed). As such I consistently feel like I will shoot myself in the foot if I sign up for anything or mention that I am going to do a race. Anyhow, I finally got the balls to delete the "racing postponed until further notice" entry under upcoming races and pencil in the Stew Chase 15k in a couple of weeks. Of course I will wait until the morning of to sign up, but health wise I am progressing in the right direction and feel confident that it is time to dust off the cobwebs. Last hard efforts were Mt Washington in June and a 5k in May, so I have been doing nothing but trying to maintain some base mileage after a couple surgeries and the flu. The last few weeks I have found myself more and more "holding back" on runs.  My goal training wise is going to be focusing more on "frequency" .  After surgery I was forced to run shorter, to make up for this I ran more often in those recovery weeks. My total volume was low but my frequency was high. I have found myself taking a day off in every 7 to 9. I think that having frequency targets rather than mileage targets might be a better goal to ultimately increase mileage overall. I was reading something in Runners World by one of the Hansons and he talks about the callousing effect of frequency-which really hit home. Last year I was aiming for 40 mpw and usually taking 2 days of rest, sometimes 3. I think if I was focusing on only just getting out there, I would have been better off. For some reason I developed a tendency to make every run at least7 miles, or think that it was a waste if I did anything less. Over the past few months I have become comfortable w/ 3-5 mile runs, when that is all I can get. I actually think running for over an hour this time of year has been detrimental to my overall training, due to injury and illness in the past. The goal will be to get comfortable running 7-9 consecutive days w/ out rest and once that is establish, gradually increase the length and intensity of specific runs.

2010 Year End

Pros:

• Life, family, friends, health
• Job promotion
• 1:30 for 13.1 @ Alton Bay
• Mt Washington Rd Race w/ E.C.
• Family Vacation in the White Mountains
• Sold House/Moved to the beach
• Good Healthcare
• New perspective

Cons:

• Dropping out of Yankee HC 10 miler
• No Lynn woods racing
• Appendictis turned out to be an appendix tumor-2 surgeries/2 cat scans/Hospitals and Doctors Offices- something I will always have to think about

2011 Goals and Objectives

• Take stock in the positive, appreciate the small things, focus on family
• Stay flexible
• 40 mpw consistent w/out injury or illness, slow and steady fitness improvements
• Take GMAT
• Apply to MBA program
• Take time off this summer with family for vacation
• Yankee Homecoming 10 miler
• Marathon