a newfound aspect of training

Despite the airplane's best attempts to keep me away, I've finally made it home after eight days of traveling the south east part of the country. We visited our first meadery, lounged on the beach, rode the intertubes at Schlitterbahn, people watched at the airport, watched the next generation exchange vows, toured a farm, visited a Civil War grave site, did a little beekeeping (yes, you read that right), and ate too many cupcakes. What we did NOT do a lot of, is training, and it was.... wait for it. Wonderful! I did one early morning self-practice yoga session on the beach, and Matt and I did get in a nice 4.7 mile adventure run on some pretty technical trails (pictured below) we found, but that's it. The thing is, I'm not worried about it. In fact, I was just about to write that I'll call this a 'rest week', but for the first time in a long, long while (maybe since I first began running), I don't feel compelled to label my downtime. Not even label, really.... justify it with a label. I read a lot of my Relentless Forward Progress book and studied a lot of the Rock Creek Runner blog, simply because that's what I wanted to do. In retrospect, I think that's what would have served me best these past eight days and I'll likely continue with this 'whatever I feel like doing' program, while channeling all of the information I'm compiling into mental preparedness. The 24 week plan leading up to the 100 miler officially starts one week from today, and at the moment, as I lie here typing this out, I feel like I may actually have a smooth transition into it.

Stay tuned...

practice makes progress... i hope

Practice puts brains in your muscles
~ Sam Snead

Aside from the three ultras I did in May and June, I haven't run more than six miles at once (and usually, it's more like three) since the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. I wish I could say that this was due to taper or rest or whatever makes runners go through a mileage dip, but it was/is medical. Nothing serious... just endocrine related and, as it turns out, has to be managed a little more than I thought. Anyway, my system is starting to level out again and the energy is returning, which means at this point, any struggle I have in running is largely due to having fallen out of running shape. The first step is admitting it, right? Or accepting it? I'm not sure which word is used, but it has to be one of them, and I've chosen to do both and then to fix it. Immediately. And here's how....

So I have this training partner, and she is the most easy-going, totally flexible training partner on the planet (example of said easy-goingness and flexibility in the screen shot below), and we come up with some fairly random ideas to shake up a perfectly normal routine. Things like catching a bus to a town 30 miles away and running back, zig zagging a neighborhood to fit a 15 mile run into one square mile, or running the city with no plan or set mileage, only a debit card to stop for the occasional shot of espresso or bottle of water. Every once in a while, though, we try something out that proves itself useful. Not just useful, really... effective. One such brainchild was heart-rate training.

In the spring of 2014, I approached Wendy (oh yeah... my training partner's name is Wendy) with the heart-rate training plan, a concept I'd read about a few years ago in Rich Roll's book Finding Ultra. To really, really simplify it, you train in a frustratingly low heart rate zone that increases your aerobic capacity and teaches your body to utilize your body fat for its primary source of fuel, rather than relying on so many simple sugars. It's called the Maffetone Method. Truthfully, I just wanted an excuse to run slower because I felt so shitty all the time (again, the endocrine thing, but I didn't know it yet). Anyway, she was all for it because, well, that's how she is. So we did it, and it was fantastic. This type of running was so hard to get the hang of it at first, but once we did, it was very enlightening. We learned more than we ever expected about our bodies and how they react to various stressors in running, as well as teaching our bodies to run very long distances on little fuel and still feel good the next day. The heart rate training lasted for the length of marathon training at which point we resumed our regular running, which just kept getting stronger and stronger. Until it didn't. 

Fast forward a year or so later to yesterday when we met for a swim and had a little gnash about having lost so much running fitness in the past two months after backing down (me because of the health stuff and her trying to heal a nagging plantar issue). So I suggested we try another heart rate run with a full lap around the lake (if, on the off chance someone is reading this and said someone is out of town, "the lake" refers to Lake Hefner). In true Wendy fashion, she was all for it.

Wow, did I forget how hard it is! I think we ended up only running about 6.5 miles of the 10 mile run and walking the rest in - not because of fatigue, but because it got to a point where I couldn't keep my heart rate below the specified 142. I really wanted to just run to the finish anyway, but a) that defeats the purpose, and 2) there's no way in hell I could listen to my Garmin scream at me for being out of zone for another 3.5 miles. All this to say, I'm pretty dang proud of making a plan and sticking with it. It was a practice both in mind and muscle, and so, the progress continues.

Stay tuned...

coming back to myself

Life opens up opportunities to you, and you either take them or you stay afraid of taking them. 
~ Jim Carrey 

So, I'm sitting here in my 'office' (also known as Elemental Coffee), not working and about to crack open my brand new, uncreased much-anticipated book. I'm hesitant, though. My head isn't in it, and I really need it to be. Well, that's not entirely true. My left brain is totally amenable, but man that right side.... That right side just isn't quite engaged yet, and that is the bit that matters. Oh, the book? It's called Relentless Forward Progress by Bryon Powell. This guy's name is all over the trail and ultra running world, and I'd been sporadically reading his articles for quite some time before losing myself in, well, I don't know what. Life. Lots of good - no great - life, but still. A big chunk of me was swirling out there and it took a long time for me to even notice. Anyway, back to the book. I've recently become obsessed (perhaps more accurately, addicted) to this podcast called No Meat Athlete by Matt Frazier.

Insert plug here: Seriously. If you haven't listened to it, you should. You can be a total carnivore and never want to run a step in your life and it's still good.

Plug over. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

So, as I said, I've been listening to this podcast and got to the episode called Ultrarunning Basics (episode 9, if you're interested), which, as it turned out, featured an interview with Bryon Powell. It was then that I first learned about his book. Fast forward a few days and our friendly post guy delivers it to my doorstep. Skip ahead one more day, and here it sits unopened, next to my laptop, just waiting for its spine to be cracked.

I think I need to get out of my head first, though... just a quick break.

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You know that feeling of fighting yourself and you're not sure of the reason or of what piece of you is fighting what? If not, don't worry about it. You're lucky. Smile and be thankful. I know that feeling all too well, and all too often, but fortunately, I can usually find something to settle the dust. Today that something was a yoga class I had to talk myself into attending. No, I mean it. I was literally sitting in the parking lot and telling myself that even if I don't feel better after, I won't feel any worse. Thank all holy things I'm stubborn because I went in, unrolled my mat, and 60 minutes later, walked out of there drenched in sweat, quads still shaking, but feeling totally resolved. I came home to four dogs (two of which we are dogsitting) and was happily licked clean before sitting down to knock out two blog posts and a social media project for a couple of clients. And now... now I sit here with a glass of wine and an OPEN book that just a few hours ago, I could barely look at.

Oh! I never even mentioned that this book purchase has a purpose! You know that day that I "re-heard" Bryon Powell's name on the podcast? That was also the day that I decided to celebrate my 40th birthday in the best way I know how: a 100 mile trail run. Actually, in the interest of honesty, I wasn't looking for one on my birthday. I just happened to see an ad for it on one of the running emails I get, noticed the date, and thought it sounded like a fabulous idea. We'll see, right? Anyway, I decided that I actually want to train for this and not half-ass it like I've done for all but one (truly, just one) race in my life, and this book feels like the one to use for three reasons:

1) Fate. The universe had to be telling me something by sending me that ad, that podcast, and the inexplicable perspicacity to declare that my goal (which was instantly met with full support from my other half) all on the same day.
2) I trust and appreciate his style. He's experienced and solid in his methods while understanding that nothing is one-size-fits-all.
3) He's plant based. I'm back to plant based after a five year omnivorous stint, and it's comforting to hear ideas and perspective from someone who shares a similar dietary lifestyle.

So, today is exactly six months from my birthday/race day, which means today starts training. Actually, I think it's a 24 week plan, so the set running schedule doesn't start for a week or two, but the head and heart start today.

Stay tuned.