About those less fortunate than us

This Friday I had my regular breakfast with the Executive Director of Green Doors, the non-profit I’ve been involved with going on 6 years now. He and the staff took part in a poverty immersion exercise recently in Dallas and he shared some of the things he experienced. I’ll recount some of those things and I’m sure they will be putting together a more comprehensive update.

Of their group of five people each person was classified as homeless or in extreme poverty. The difference was in what you got to keep with you for the 24 hour period. For those that were “homeless” they were only able to keep their underwear, yes that is it, no shoes, no money, no ID. And during the time in the exercise were given tasks to complete. They had to get some clothing, scrounge for food, find somewhere to sleep. This weekend was the weekend there was a lot of rain and the two that were classified as homeless slept outside, as it was described to me sleeping in mud with water collecting in their ears. Out of the 5 of them one looked “scary”, he could only find a wife beater to wear, is 6 foot tall and was dirty with mud so when they begged for money he had to stay out of sight. Those in “poverty” were able to stay in a shelter and had some money to use during the exercise. Their descriptions will be much better as well as the lessons they learned and the thoughts that went through their heads.

Helping those that are homeless already is one thing to focus on. The other is preventing people who are at risk from becoming homeless in the first place.  If you’re curios about who the homeless and at risk of homless are  in the US and Austin are and what types of programs can help them visit the Green Doors web-site.

Travelling so close to the race and keeping up with the training

I’ll be out-of-town all week (Mon through Friday) this week, luckily it’s all in one city and at the same hotel so not as crazy as press tours or going from city to city for events during a product launch. This is just two weeks ahead of the Portland Marathon though so it’ll make it interesting. I didn’t plan on Portland being an “A” race originally so I wasn’t really concerned about when I’d be travelling until my plans for Portland changed from it being a “B” race to an “A” race.

I packed my bags today, yes that’s plural. I have a bag for work clothes etc and a bag for my running stuff. That includes:

• Shoes, shorts, socks, watch
• GU, recovery drink powder in individual packets,
• Cliff builder bars, Kashi bars, boxes of raisins
• NuuN electrolyte tabs
• Stretching rope
• TP massage kit
• Instant ice packs
• Compression socks
• Hand-held water bottle

Yes that’s quite a bit, it’ll be tough getting my runs in because of late dinners etc but I think I’ve got my schedule figured out. It would be a real shame mess up the work put in over the last 5 months of training by being lazy this week.

Last Long Run of the Season and Final Race Prep

The Team is 2 weeks out from Portland and today was our final race prep and long run. The run was between 23 and 24 miles with 20 miles at a faster pace of 20 seconds per mile slower than marathon goal pace (MGP). For a 2:50 marathon MGP is 6:30 minutes/mile so the goal was 6:50 for the run. I ran with Larry the whole way and we were on pace overall. The course had some up and down hills so a relatively even effort resulted in some faster and some slower miles. It seemed like everybody had a relatively good day, for those racing Portland it’s just two weeks to go and the taper begins. It was a good course, Ruth biked the route yesterday and we had cones every mile to use to lap our watches.

Time for each mile today:

6:43
7:09
6:49
6:50
6:46
6:48
6:52
6:52
6:41
6:45 (10 Mile Average 6:49)
6:44
6:45
6:52
6:47
6:54
6:44
6:41
6:55
6:53 (9 Mile Average 6:48)
6:17 (10 Mile Average 6:45)

Portland Marathon Race Plan … Take 1

Technically this could be take 2 but I wasn’t really grooving to my initial plugging in the numbers into the spreadsheet attempt so here it is. A few overall points:

• This is the most aggressive goal I’ve ever set for a race. Not just the time but how close to my limit this goal is. I usually race at a pace where it isn’t all the way at my limit.
• I decided a month ago to go from a 2:55 marathon goal to a 2:50 marathon, I’m hope I’m somewhere in that range.
• Hills … I don’t really like them so I need to account for the fun between miles 16 and 18 at Portland
• The paces listed are targets, I’ll be around that but overall I’ll be able to gauge how I’m doing looking at the overall time at each mile.
• This plan is for me, I didn’t write it as a template for anybody else. We all have different strengths and weaknesses and need to make our own specific adjustments.
• All of this may go out the window depending on what Steve says

I plugged in my plan into the Rogue Portland Marathon spreadsheet and here is my current plan … subject to tweaking and/or major changes I’ve broken up the race into 5 sections.

Mile 1 through 8

Take it at 2:50 effort (6:30 pace). In some races I’ve felt terrible in the beginning but things pick up. I’m going to rely on my training and stick to this effort and make adjustments at the points in my plan where I’m supposed to. One or two bad feeling miles can quickly go away so it’ll be about the entire 8 miles.

Miles 1 to 8

I’ll likely lose around 15 seconds in mile 2 and 3 and on the downhill mile 4 to 6 make up 10 of those. That should put me at the end of 8 miles +5 seconds for a 2:50 marathon target.

The plan is the same for A, B and C for the first 8 miles.

Mile 9 through 13

The beginning of mile 9 is the first checkpoint. The decision here is do I think I can hit a 2:50 or not. If I think I still have it in me then Plan A is in force. If not then it’s Plan C, a less aggressive race plan but hopefully still a PR.

Miles 9 to 13

Plan A & Plan B

If I felt good (relative term) through miles 1 to 8 then Plan A & B are the same for this section. I need to try and shave some time now for what I’m going to lose in the hill between miles 16 and 18, but not all in one mile. My MGP is close to my limit already of what I think I can sustain so I’ll try and go 5 seconds under that for 4 miles. That should shave 20 seconds and put me at -15 seconds overall for a 2:50 marathon target.

Plan C

This is if miles 1 to 8 are a real struggle and breaking 2:50 just doesn’t seem like it is in the cards. I’ll slow to a 2:55 marathon based pace of 6:40 minutes per mile for this section.

Mile 14 through 18

The start of mile 14 is another check point. Since I just pushed a little for 4 miles I need to determine how that went. More than that I need to get back into a rhythm and just run through the hill in this section where I expect to lose 30 to 40 seconds. If things go well I’ll end this section down 10 to 20 seconds from a 2:50 marathon target which I’ll need to make up in the last miles.

Miles 14 to 18

Plan A

Don’t push from 14 to 16, stick to 2:50 based marathon effort (6:30 min/mile pace) but no faster and expect to give up 40 seconds in the hills.

Plan B

If the shaving of time in Mile 9 and 13 seems to take too much out then switch to 2:55 marathon based paces. Another 10 seconds a mile slower than A.

Plan C

Keep on trucking at 2:55 paces.

Mile 19 through 22

Don’t push … HOLD!!!

Miles 19 to 22

Plan A

Stick at 2:50 marathon pace of 6:30 min/mile

Plan B & C

Stick at 2:55 marathon pace of 6:40 min/mile

Mile 23 through Finish

This is a downhill section (according to the map) with some rollers according to Ruth and Steve. So plan to hold effort, well it’ll feel more like pushing … it is a marathon after all. So the miles are 5 seconds a mile faster on the 3 miles that are downhill than Miles 19 through 22. And then back to flat effort last 1.2 miles.

Mile 23 to Finish

Plan A

3 miles at 5 seconds faster than MGP then at MGP to squeak under 2:50 hopefully

Plan B & C

I hopefully backed off early enough with the checkpoints where I can just run this by feel and push as hard as I can and see where I end up.

Last down week before we taper

This was the last down week before the marathon on October 4th. Next weekend is the last race prep after which it’s a two week taper. Long run was right under 16 miles averaging a 7:44 min/mile pace. Leg’s definitely don’t feel snappy but the race is three weeks away so hope they’ll be ready by then.

New Marathon Race Shoes selected … they’re Brooks for the first time

This is a complete change for me as far as shoes go. For years, ever since I started running the only shoes I’ve consistently worn are Mizuno’s. I recently tried the Brooks Launch and really like them, so much so that for the first time ever I’ll be running my marathon in a pair of shoes that aren’t Mizuno’s.

Brooks Launch

A little on the history behind the change

So why the change. As I wrote earlier I started wearing the Elixir instead of the Precisions after my last injury for just a little more support. After a while I did notice that my toes pinch a little in the Elixir, not too bad but something I need to pay attention to and if everything else isn’t going perfectly it can become annoying.

For a while I was alternating between the Mizuno Elixir, Mizuno Precision and Asics DS Trainers. One issue I started having was with the metatarsal pad on my right foot. I have hpyer flexible shoes and I though the relatively stiffer DS trainers might be better for me … wrong. I started having more issues and went in to see John (the store manager) at Rogue Equipment. The slightly less flexible DS trainers were apparently making me work harder on my push off, I asked him about any other shoes I should try out and he suggested the Brooks Launch.

So what do I like about the launch?

When I put them on and was just standing they just felt different, and different in a great way. I felt like my entire foot was on the ground. The way the weight seemed to distribute was different than any other shoe I’ve worn. The forefoot is also cushioned very well and as I took a few strides in them the stride felt great and very natural. They’ve very light as well. One thing I’ve disliked in the past about brooks has been the cut around the ankle. In other Brooks shoes I tried the show would push up against my heel, another problem that isn’t there in the Launch at all. I’ve now put over a hundred miles on my pair of launch and decided that I’ll use them in my marathon in Portland in 4 weeks … I just got my race pair and will break them in on a couple of runs over the next two weeks and then we’ll see how it goes.

One of the negative things I have heard about the launch is that the cushioning in the heel isn’t very good. Now heel striking isn’t something I really do, and anybody wearing shoes as light as these probably shouldn’t either … unless they’re on a very very easy run/jog. So if you do heel strike you may … ok I could say don’t try these shoes … but whatever shoes you do wear work with your coach or somebody to stop heel striking

August 2009

• 298 (319 miles in July)
• Hill workouts, rollers, and track work added to the training
• 2 Race Preps
• 2 runs missed because of travel/vacation on down week
• 1 home based gym workout missed
• Training paces now for 2:50 based marathon instead of 2:55
• 1 month till Portland

The coach, Steve Sisson, assesses Team Rogue’s Race Prep 3 for the Portland Marathon

This is a follow on to my post of my own experience with Race Prep 3, undoubtedly the toughest workout of the season for Team Rogue.

Steve discusses what we thought would be a good measure of a successful workout and also how he felt about his own run.

Also, Damon … one of two people I’ve been running with consistently this season had a tough day but pulled through. He’s just gotten back from a slight injury but he should be good by the time we run Portland in 5 weeks.

Race Prep 3: Didn’t nail it but I can’t complain too much

Today was undoubtedly the toughest workout of the season for Team Rogue. Here is the description:

1.5M Warm-Up
1M Build to Top Speed at Track
2M Recovery
5M @ MGP w/ 3-5 min recovery
4M @ MGP
5 to 6M Hills
6M Continuous Progression Run Track

• 2M @ MGP
• 2M @ HMGP
• 2M @ 10K (26.15)

1.5M Cooldown
Total: 27.5M

After my workouts the few months I decided to drop my training paces from a 2:55 marathon target to a 2:50, which makes each of my paces around 10 seconds a mile faster. Going into today’s run I knew it would be very difficult so anything I could manage once I got on the track without completely blowing up would have been a victory. I just couldn’t manage it once we hit the 10k part, I was just a little slow at the HMGP as well but all in all this is the best I’ve ever run this workout so I’m pleased. My 2:50 target paces are:

• MGP: 6:30
• HMGP: 6:10
• 10k: 5:50

Here’s how it actually went:

Mile on Track: 5:35
5M @ MGP Pace: 6:23
4M @ MGP Pace: 6:27
Track MGP 1 6:27
Track MGP 2 6:33
Track HMGP 1 6:11
Track HMGP 2 6:13
Track 10k 1 6:45
Track 10k 2 6:35

It was amusing, as soon as finished the last mile targeting half marathon pace instead of speeding up I just slowed down. It was really nice to have some of the people not racing Portland on the track handing out water and Gatorade and more than that encouraging us to keep pushing. I could have blown up a lot earlier if Mike hadn’t been there with his spatula threatening to scrape me off the track. Thanks Mike, Ken, Mus, Kristen for the support.

Steve has been running with us so we can’t really complain about the workouts anymore. I recorded a video interview of him after the workout that I’ll post later this weekend.

5 Weeks to Portland, 4 Weeks to Toronto. GO TEAM!

Resetting my goals and adjusting my training for the Portland Marathon

I started this season without a real time based goal for the Portland Marathon. OK that’s not quite true … I did have a range of between 2:55 and 3:00 in mind. As I stated earlier in the season my main goal was to get to Portland injury free. My training has been going much better than I expected, both from aches and pains and fitness standpoint. From the first tempo run, to the first race prep and the second race prep this weekend I’ve had good runs even with the heat this summer. After talking with Steve today I’ve decided to change my goal and training for the rest of the season (6 weeks) leading up to Portland in the following ways:

1. The next four weeks are when the Portland group switches to track work, tuning up and peaking for the race. My original plan was to switch back to a tempo phase, run Portland and then get into Boston training. I’m now going to do the track work and try and peak for Portland.
2. I’m going to try and run the workouts at paces for a 2:50 marathon instead of a 2:55. That’s 10 seconds a mile faster for marathon goal pace (MGP) and half marathon goal pace (HMGP). That means from a 6:40 mile/min MGP to a 6:30 mile/min MGP

The 10 seconds a mile faster won’t be easy and I’m not sure how I’ll do with all the track work and upcoming race preps. I’ll have to see how things go and set a target time for Portland. There are still a lot of variables including the weather, work stress, and how my body reacts to the stress of the faster paces but given how well things are going I need to try and see what I can do.