Intervals -- why am I doing this again?

Today I got bitch slapped by reality, or actually the weather, which is one variant of reality. I was planning to do a long run of at 16-18 miles, mixed in with 10 1 mile intervals. It was raining slightly, or 'misting' as we like to say around here (in Seattle we have many different terms for rain), nothing too hard, but it was 35 degrees, so I put on a shell instead of a tech tee, strapped my headlamp on (thanks to Daylight Savings, it is now pitch black at 6:00 AM), and headed out, full of ambition.

I had downloaded the days workout into my Garmin. 10x1 mile at 8:40. I felt a little slow going out, but chalked it up to the disoriented feeling I was getting running in the rain, in the dark. It is fairly surreal -- my headlamp lights up a small cone of streaking raindrops, and very little else, so I start to zone out (and slow down).

When I started the intervals, I knew something was wrong. My get up and go had got up and went. And it was raining harder. No more mist, more like psuedo hail. Then snow, big fat flakes that chilled my face to numb as they fell and stuck. Still, I soldiered on, trying to maintain a pace that seemed pretty achievable from the glow of my laptop that morning, but was proving to be a painful challenge on the hilly Mercer Island loop.

A younger and less intelligent me would have ground myself down into a little nub trying to do the intervals, but I'm older, and less inclined to hurt for no reason, so I quit. I turned around, changed my plans from 18 miles to 11, and packed it in. I ran a couple of intervals on the way back, but by then my legs were so frozen that it felt like I was running through (very cold) molasses.

Later, in the shower, I analyzed the workout. Heres the thing. I know I'm fairly motivated. I know that I'm working hard. My heart rate told me so. And that ended up being the key. Why am I trying to maintain some arbitrary pace up and down a hilly course? I should be running these intervals by heart rate -- by setting a target to stay above -- or below, depending on the goal of the interval -- I'll run at a specific effort, and the pace will be what it is. This feels a lot more real than trying to do intervals at X:30/mile 'because so and so said to', or because X:30 means I'll run a marathon in Y:45. Those are completely arbitrary, completely false goals, and I will crash and burn trying to make them work. On the other hand, I firmly believe that if I can run to a specific heart rate, I will see improvements in speed, because I will see improvements in efficiency.

Old Guy Training

This whole marathon training thing has brought me face to face with my advancing years.
The last time I seriously trained for running was when I was 30, training for my first 1/2 Marathon. I had never run 13 miles before and as a result I prepared as well as I could, which meant that I went out, ran as fast as I could for as long as I could, took the next day off, and did it again.

This time around that approach really doesn't work. I just can't recover between efforts, even with a day off. Maybe it's the kids, maybe it's the job, maybe it's the additional 10 years. But after a long run or a speed workout I'm cooked for at least a day if not two. However, I'm running much longer than I ever used to, and at least as fast.

Which reminds me of my favorite 'old guy' story. Actually it's an 'old bull' story. There are two bulls, one young, one old, sitting at the top of a hill, overlooking a pasture, staring down at a bunch of attractive (to bulls, anyway) cows. The young bull says to the older one: "Hey Pops, lets run down the hill as fast as we can and fuck a cow!". The old bull turns, looks at the younger one and says "Hey kid, lets walk down and fuck em all." I wish I had been this intelligent about training earlier, when I actually had the ability to recover quickly from a hard workout. But youth is definitely wasted on the young, and I can't turn back the clock.

These days I'm running one long day, up to 1/2 to 3/4 is at marathon pace, and one fast day, consisting of mile splits at 1-2 minutes faster than marathon pace. Both runs include stretches of 'Gallow-walking', as recommended by Jeff Galloway. I usually walk until my pulse drops to <> 15 miles, the other one will be around 8-9 miles, and the easy runs all under 5.

I'm hoping that the speed work as well as the marathon pace runs on the longer days will effectively get me faster. I definitely feel like speed is the last thing to come around. The other stuff, like stretching, climbing, pullups and squats, really helps balance out the pounding from the running. As the days get longer I'll probably skip one of the runs and get in a medium length bike ride.

One benefit of being 40 is simply 10 more years of experience. In the last 10 years I have grown a lot as a person. I've become a father, I've lost my father to cancer, my entire perspective has shifted from 'what can I do for fun next?' to 'what can I do for my family?'. The additional responsibility gives me the perspective to not take training so seriously. At the same time I am able to fully commit to training when I am doing it, because my time is so limited. Any pretensions of actually being 'elite' have disappeared completely. I'm doing this because I like it, not because I'm good at it. I can honestly say that I enjoy running more than I ever did before, because it gives me 2-3+ hours of silence in which I can work things out.

Last week my long run was a relatively flat 18 miles -- in freezing hail and rain. I froze parts of my body I never want to freeze again. However the run itself was a great confidence booster -- mostly due to the weather. Training has been a constant adventure, pushing these distances that I've never done before has been a lot of fun.

The marathon course was published online yesterday, and it actually looks kind of hilly. So that, plus the fact that we're going to Disneyland next week, makes me want to 'burn one down' on Sunday, maybe a good 18 miles with hills. An easy run on Monday, climbing on Tuesday, and speedwork on Wednesday prior to leaving for CA will probably set me up just right to take it easy and recover while in the land of Mickey Mouse.

Marathon, Man!

Two weeks ago I turned 40. Usually, I get depressed around my birthdays, but I'm 40, and my knees and back actually feel pretty decent. I'm running 12 miles on my long runs, and while I'm not moving too fast, I am still moving.

So, I'm thinking its January, I'm already doing 12 miles, and it feels decent. Maybe its time to step up and see if I can actually do a Marathon...like in May or June. What better way to celebrate turning 40?

I'm going to sleep on it. Actually I'm going to see how the next couple of runs go. I'm stretching to 13, 14 miles over the next couple of weeks, and if those feel decent, I'll start to work in some speed.