One of the better runs that I can remember- fatigueless and strong... angry and motivated thoughts. I ran Magnolia which is somewhat famous.. .and very close to my house. Below are pics from the session-
This is just above my house as you tip over the peak at Wonderview..
Typical views on Magnolia- this is looking up at the Eldora ski area. The weather today was t-shirt warm.
Here's the elevation profile..
I was woken this morning by a nightmare. It's the first time that I have had this dream... it usually comes to me when I'm awake, but my awake mind could never make it as real as deep REM sleep could. I dreamt of the failures that I had at the Ironman and the regret of it all. I woke up feeling the emotional pain. In my dream I felt the high of finishing the Hawaii Ironman in 16th place over-all as an amateur, then the next year being picked to place in the top 5 and falling way short (25th place) because of a stupid decision on the bike. Ouch.. I stood up from my bed and was in my running clothes before I even started to make coffee. That's something. On Magnolia the dream was still swirling in my head and my stomach and I vented on the hills. My GPS read 5:20 pace on several of the longer downhills and my HR monitor was hitting 180 on some of the steeper ups. Self-flagellation is very effective for taking your mind off of the past, it snaps you back to reality and forces you to focus on the here and now. When I think of what I can learn from my mistakes of the past the thought that I didn't work hard enough rarely enters the equation (I truly believe that all of my mistakes have happened in the races themselves). Yet I still can't shake the idea that if I work harder than the next guy I can beat him. If I am able to push myself down and kick me in the stomach enough times... eventually it won't hurt me anymore. I'll get up every time a little bit stronger. I believe that my biggest weakness is also my greatest strength.. and that's my ability and desire to train as hard as I can. So as I begin this next phase of my jogging 'career', I am truly torn between doing the moderate and smart run schedule... and going with my gut instinct that has been born of regret and self inflicted hardship and is only satisfied by being pushed down and beat up.. only to see if I can get up again. Sorry for the rant... If you are one of my athletes and you think I am hard on you, you ain't seen nothin. Step in to my head one time on days like this and you'll think I'm stroking your hair.. We'll see what path I follow- my gut or my rational (waking) thoughts..
11 comments:
I love read this stuff Lucho. I read a lot (too many) training blogs and most of the time the training reports are bland recitals of workout data with a few words of commentary about 'feeling pretty good' or 'feeling kinda tired'. This includes my own posts, by the way.
It's cool to read your stuff and get a little glimpse of what is making you tick.
Thanks JP! I am sometimes reluctant to allow people to see what makes me tick... it's not always sunshine and puppy dogs. I carry a tremendous amount of anger with myself. I'm a work in progress and I fight tooth and nail to make myself a better person. The only way to do that is to realize my faults and confront them. This blog has been a HUGE help to me because I don't often tell even my best friend (my wife) these things. Venting on the blog is a release for my thoughts. Thank you for listening.
ps- Average HR was 161 and I felt freaking awesome! ;)
Tim, it's great to see you back at it. That inner dialogue has obviously been an on-going theme on your blog (training vs. racing). Can you train smart/hard but save the "beat-downs" for those A and B+ races?
I love the avg. HR! You felt great, that's the key. Get back on the horse, Haas. And great pics.
Live the (good) dream!
JP - you should talk to him in person! (that is if you can get over the city white camo skins ... and no, I am not making that up.)
Tim, we need to get you a guitar man. And a big big big amplifier. You in those skins, with a guitar, and the rage in the cage ... yeah, I'd check that show out.
Sorry I missed the Mag session but this one sounds like it was better as a solo trip anyway. Let's get some of that stuff in soon.
Matt- The average HR really wasn't that high in relation to my LT (175-180).. over-all it was a fairly moderate run, but again, I am very well rested. I'm getting back on a herd of horses.. thanks.
GZ- Any thoughts from you on the path I should take? Jeff and I had this talk this morning- am I doing the right training? Should I keep pushing the miles with the faith that it will pay off in 2-3 years?
I'm amazed at how much fatigue I was carrying- after 1 month off I feel amazing! I never knew I had this kind of energy.
How were the Skins?
Tim - when you and I started running together last year, you told me the goal was all about getting to the '12 trials, and, if I recall correctly, banging out some fast stuff as a master.
Is that still the goal?
If it is, then I think that "moderately" high (moderate - there is that word again) mileage makes sense for you. You have the capacity to do 160 miles a week (probably more). But, while there might be a time for that, more weeks than not, I think you will benefit from 70 (at the low end) -110 mile weeks with a mix of quality in there (whatever you want that quality to be ... hills, intervals, track, tempo runs, progression runs ...).
I think, and I think Bob and I have talked about this in regards to you, that some more racing would benefit you. It breaks the journey up both physically - and mentally - in a variety of ways.
Skins ... I have not run in them but I did wear them on the way up. My right ass cheek always gets tight on that ride up. Can't say that the skins helped that but my legs were very warm when we arrived. I think I am going to try these after a few long runs and hard workouts. FWIW - they remind me of mid to late 80's tights ... we just did not think of them as a recovery tight back then (by the way, I have some from then that make those skins you have look very tame ... I could be in any hair band that I wanted).
Generally, I think if your goal is the same, you keeping the moderately high mileage (not sacrificing quality or quantity), you could kick some serious ass in the marathon in a few years AND also be taking some scalps in masters competition. Part of the thing that I have been thinking about a lot lately is the entire commentary by Salazar ... his best marathons came when he approached them as a 10k guy. Let's talk on this on a run.
Hey - I meant to ask ... do you have a different resting HR up there compared to your old place?
Thanks GZ.. more on that when we run again, if I can talk AND hang with you.
I haven't taken a resting pulse up here... but you have me curious now. If I can remember I will get a few.
T
Tim - FWIW - last Monday I was pretty worked up on something myself ... and I had an awesome run ala self flagellation.
I checked my HR up in Fairplay this AM and it was 6-8 beats higher (resting) than normal. I need to cross check here tomorrow AM.
Last I checked, it was me trying to hang with you! That memory of you dropping the pace mid run on me and saying "come on, run!" has been motivation plenty of times. Thanks.
Ha! Now it's your turn! Be gentle..
interesting thoughts....i am really big into rest, maybe a little too much, but i think that my ability to back off has truly helped my longevity in sport.
i'm sure you know many people who are "workout heroes"(there are tons around here) and have the ability to repeatedly kill it in a workout however, they can never back it up come race day. again, i attribute that to not having the discipline to go easy and recover when it is the time to do so.
a comment that i always remember is what one of my former track coaches told me(fwiw, he coached olympians etc...), he said the difference between an elite runner and a recreational runner could be told through the difference between their hard and easy days. i can't remember the exact stats but it was something like 1:30 per mile pace difference for the elite runners and something like 15 seconds/mile difference between hard and easy for the rec. runner. i also see this at swimming, the slower the lane, the harder people swim the warmup. i love that...
don't worry, lucie is on her way, she should arrive with the cheese in another day or two. sit tight.
as for walker, yeah, let me know, i'll race you on my mtb. and if jk weren't such a pu$$y on his bike, i'm sure he'd join us.
Kerrie- Perfectly put! Jeff IS a pu$$y.
I just made a similar comment on a previous post about the rest difference between elites and people like myself. It's interesting what you said- 1:30 per mile slower for elites... 15" per mile slower for mortals. That will be sticking in my head. And I think it's exactly right. I am probably going to try to keep my training just as hard as it has been- but every 4th week will be a huge drop in miles with recovery.
If you can come out of this injury and start back on the road to Ironman, you may find the rest has done you some good?
I'm glad the weather is nice for Lucie.. I'll send Ben down this morning to meet her.
Post a Comment