Business Speak

Competitive runners who also work corporate jobs face obstacles that full-time runners don't.  Some are pretty obvious -- time limitations mean that you don't sleep enough, or miss a workout due to last minute travel, or don't have time to foam-roll and stretch.

But there's another obstacle that's less immediately obvious, but still quite significant.  The mentality that's encouraged in the modern corporate workplace is not the optimal mindset for competitive running.

Yeah, sounds a little overthought, doesn't it. 

But that's exactly the point.  The corporate world encourages overthinking and overanalysis -- qualities that interfere with the mental focus that works best for competitive endurance sports.

For example, we all have bad races.  And many times, the best thing to do after a bad race or workout is to move on.  You can give it a bit of consideration to see if there were obvious causes, but don't obsess on it for days.  Just put it out of your mind and move forward.  Sometimes we just have bad days.

Not so in the corporate world.  Major incidents and failures call for root cause analysis - often a lengthy identification of all potential causes for the event, followed by extensive evaluation of each.  And determination of the culprit.  Saying "we don't know what happened...it was just a bad day...let's move on" can result in moving on to a new company.

Similarly, projects in the corporate world have road maps.  Figure out what you want to accomplish, map out the steps for getting there, and set checkpoints to assess where you stand.  And missing checkpoints or deadlines or steps on the road map is not good, come year-end evaluation/bonus time.

In running, we have training plans, which are similar to road maps.  But with a key difference.  Sometimes it's better to miss the checkpoint or the deadline.  Or to skip a step.  At your goal race, it's not how well you executed the training plan, but how well you ran the race, that matters.  But mental habits formed in one context are hard to shed in the other.

And the corporate world also relies on benchmarking.  For example, in the information security context, groups will compare their security practices to their peers in the same industry, with a focus towards ensuring that they meet the industry standard.  But constantly comparing how you're training or racing relative to others, and revising accordingly, is a sure path to running disaster long term.  Desi Davila could be considered the industry standard in training for a marathon, but that doesn't mean I should train like her.

In a way, this is good.  The fact that the modern corporate mindset is counter productive to running means that running also provides an opportunity to take a vacation from working life, even if only for 30 minutes during a tempo.  Shut off from the grind and live in the moment.

But being able to shift from corporate mentality to running mindset is also a skill, and one that's surprisingly hard to develop.

Training log - Week ending 8/25/12

This week was 79 miles of “real running” and 15 “miles” pool running, plus 2000 yards of swimming breathing drills -- training log is here.  

Great week for the most part.  My workouts on Tuesday and Friday felt really good, and I finished each with a lot left in the tank (which is good, the last thing I want to do is to throw away my best race efforts in my workouts).  I was really happy with Friday’s 10K tempo.  I’ve been dreading the prospect of 25 laps on the track, but I know that they’re part of marathon training.  So when my coach told us all to take advantage of the great weather and to go for at least 5 miles, with the 10K encouraged, I bit the bullet.  And it was fine.  Mentally tiring, but physically one of the easier tempos I’ve done (I intentionally kept it slow).  Dragon slayed, yay.

I’m also pretty happy with how good I’ve gotten at keeping my shakeout runs really restrained (I’ve been working at this).  The trick is just to try to see how many people I can get to pass me during a run.

The upcoming week is a cutback, as I’m racing a 5K on Saturday.  I’m hoping for good weather and a chance to show my stuff.

Dailies

Monday:   In the morning, upper body strength work plus injury prevention stuff, 1000 yards of swimming breathing drills, and 45 minutes of easy pool-running for “4.5 miles.”  3 very easy miles (8:31 pace) at night, followed by foam rolling.

Tuesday:  In the morning, 14.5 miles, including a track workout of 3 sets alternating 1600, 800.  Splits were 5:57, 2:48, 5:48, 2:48, 5:45, 2:44.  Felt good, like I could have done another set if needed.   Followed with injury prevention work and 20 minutes of easy pool-running.  Floor barre and foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:   12 miles very easy (8:31), followed by a yoga class.  Later did another 4.5 miles easy (7:53).  Also foam rolling at night.

Thursday:   In the morning, 25 minutes of easy pool-running for “4.5 miles.”  1000 yards of swimming breathing drills, and some injury prevention/strengthwork.  3 very easy miles (8:47 pace) at night, followed by foam rolling.

Friday:  In the morning, 14.5 miles, including an 10K tempo in 40:48, split as 6:40, 6:34, 6:32, 6:30, 6:29, and then 8:03 for last 2000m (6:29 pace).  6:34 pace overall.  Tempo notable for a) being my first 10K tempo ever, b) my shoe getting uncomfortably loose during the very first lap (which was a nice distraction, if also a bit slowing) and c) the fact that I lost count of laps and was pleasantly surprised when I realized that I was actually done a lot sooner than I expected (especially since my shoe was REALLY loose by then, and I wasn’t sure it’d make it any further).

Followed with injury prevention work and 20 minutes recovery pool-running.  Pilates and foam-rolling in the afternoon.

Saturday:   In the morning, 11.5 miles easy (8:07 pace).   Upper body strength work plus injury prevention stuff and foam-rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday:   In the morning, a progressive long run of 16 miles, split as first 8 at 8:22 pace; next 4 at 7:25, last 5 at 6:51 pace.  Annoying run.   I took a gel at my normal spot even though my stomach felt a bit full, and the gel didn’t agree with me, resulting in stomach issues (which also means that the pacing for the last third is deceptive, as I ran way too fast for parts of it during my stampede to the portapotty).   Followed with injury prevention work and 20 minutes of shakeout pool-running.  Yoga and foam rolling at night.

Yet another fall racing option

Once upon the time, in what seems like a lifetime ago (but was only about 18 months back), I was in the abyss of my broken-foot-imposed-non-stop-pool-running-saga.  And I had an interesting conversation with my non-running primary care doctor about my future athletic endeavors during that time.  Specifically, she suggested that I should just stick to pool-running instead of land running even after my foot healed, since they were more or less the same, I clearly enjoyed the pool-running, and it was less risk of injury than land running.

I worked very hard to explain to her exactly WHY this wouldn't work for me.  One of the points that I came up with was simply noting that I run so that I can compete, not simply to stay healthy or attractive, and there are no pool-running competitions.  If you want to race, you gotta run on land.

Great point, with one problem.  I was apparently wrong.

Introducing the first ever "Underwater Marathon" (as well as some shorter distances).

[hat tip to RunnersWorld for bringing to my attention]

Anyhoo, it's being held on September 9 in Pennsylvania, and isn't sold out yet.  You've got your choice of  5K, 10K, or half marathon distances, as well as the full marathon distance.  All run on underwater treadmills

The race is lacking in some of the traditional amenities -- no mention of a certified course, no pace teams, no water stops, no posted elevation map.  Heck, I don't see medals or t-shirts...  On the plus side, I'm pretty sure it's about impossible to cut the course for this race.  And hydration shouldn't be an issue.

So there you are.  There are water-running races.  I stand corrected (in chest-high water).   This one doesn't fit in my schedule well this year, so I'll have to skip (in truth, the entry fees are also a bit pricy for me, especially since they're not giving out t-shirts).  But if anyone runs it, please let me know.

Training log - Week ending 8/19/12

This week was 78.5 miles of “real running” and 12 “miles” pool running, plus 2500 yards of swimming breathing drills -- training log is here.

Good week of training. My allergies (hay fever) are starting to really kick in, but I’m an old hand at handling them. Specifically, regular checking of my resting HR (if I feel horrible and HR is up, I’m sick or overtraining and need to rest; if I feel horrible but HR is normal, it’s allergies), and being sure to ease into my workouts. Plus all my allergy handling tricks.

The weather cooled off this week, which was really nice. I’m feeling really good about my Friday and Sunday workouts. Friday’s tempo is making me think that breaking 64 for a 10 miler is a strong possibility. And Sunday felt especially good – the “MP feel section” for the last part of my long run was fluid, restrained, and easy, I could have held the pace easily for several more miles. Exactly how it’s supposed to be. I don’t have a goal time per se for my goal marathon, because I think it’s a bit foolhardy to set a goal time for my first marathon (my marathon goals are simply to negative split, with my last 5K being one of my fastest of the race). But having sub-7 pace for the final third of a long run feel so comfortable and restrained is still a good feeling.

Dailies

Monday: In the morning, upper body strength work plus injury prevention stuff, 1000 yards of swimming breathing drills, and 30 minutes of easy pool-running for “3 miles.” 4 very easy miles (8:48 pace) at night, followed by foam rolling.

Tuesday: In the morning, 14.5 miles, including a track workout of 3x1600, 2x800. Splits were 6:01, 6:02, 5:54, 2:48, 2:46. Ran the first one a bit too fast for how I was feeling, and so had to work my way out of a hole for the second repeat. Followed with injury prevention work and 20 minutes of easy pool-running. Floor barre and foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 11.5 miles very easy (8:17), followed by a yoga class. Later did another 4.5 miles easy (7:52). Also foam rolling at night.

Thursday: In the morning, injury prevention stuff, 1500 yards of swimming breathing drills, and 25 minutes of easy pool-running for “2.5 miles.” 3 very easy miles (8:24 pace) at night, followed by foam rolling.

Friday: In the morning, 14.5 miles, including an 8K tempo in 31:53, split as 6:29, 6:26, 6:23, 6:22, 6:13 (6:25 pace overall). Pilates and foam-rolling in the afternoon.

Saturday: In the morning, 10.5 miles easy (7:58 pace). Upper body strength work plus injury prevention stuff and foam-rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday: In the morning, a progressive long run of 16.5 miles, split as 8:24 pace for first 5.5 miles, 7:26 for next 4.5, and 6:54 for last 6.5 (overall pace of 7:34). Followed with injury prevention work and 25 minutes of shakeout pool-running. Yoga and foam rolling at night.

what not to wear (part 3)

So, from time to time I venture into the world of online shopping.  As an avid pool-runner, I go through bathing suits pretty quickly, so I'll often browse sites to see what I can find.  And Zappos never disappoints.

Third in a popular series (see previous posts here and here), this is another edition of  "What Not to Wear (when pool-running)."

I didn't realize they wore bathing suits at Ren Faires.

This model couldn't be happier to be wearing this suit.

Cue theme from Bonanza!  Or maybe the Beverly Hillbillies.

This is what happens if you don't put your suit
in the suit spinner with the straps DOWN.

The safety suit -- works great for
ensuring the lifeguards don't miss you
when you're lifeless at the bottom of the pool.

This suit is $337.99 (down from $450).  What a bargain. 
Especially since plain black suits are so hard to find.
Even the model is impressed.

TSA approved swimsuit!  No need for scan or physical patdown!

Training log - Week ending 8/12/12

This week was 70 miles of “real running” and 16 “miles” pool running, plus 2000 yards of swimming breathing drills -- training log is here.  

Not too shabby.  I raced a mile this weekend, and so cut back slightly on mileage while also moving my traditional Friday morning tempo workout to Thursday night.  I had some trepidation about the Thursday night workout, as I’m not really a night runner, and in the past I’ve had problems with my stomach when running hard at night.  And, of course, it was 90 degrees with a DP of 72.  But once I got going, it was fine. 

I kept the run well below tempo effort for the most part because I was racing on Sunday, but I’m fairly certain that I can do a full workout in the evening now.  Good to know, since I’ll likely be doing so once or twice this fall (on weeks when I need to move the long run to Saturday, due to a Sunday commitment).

The mile itself went well (report).   My official time ended up being 5:30.7, which is a PR by a second.  I was actually hoping for faster, as I believe I’m capable of running in the 5:20s.  I ran a pretty fast 400m at the end of my Tuesday workout, and it would have nice to have hit that split for the last 400m of my Sunday race.  On the other hand, it’s not a bad thing at all to believe that you have yet to reach your potential and that future PRs await.  

And since one of my biggest strengths as a runner is my ability to sustain a high percentage of my speed over long distances (my speed doesn't drop much as the distances get longer), the fact that I can run this fast for a mile bodes good things.

Dailies

Monday:   In the morning, some weights work, 35 minutes of easy pool-running for “3.5 miles,” and 1000 yards of swimming breathing drills.  4 very easy miles (8:22 pace) at night, followed by foam rolling.

Tuesday:  In the morning, 14.5 miles, including a track pyramid workout of 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 – splits were 1:30, 2:55, 4:21, 5:51, 4:22, 2:49, 77.  Followed with injury prevention work and 20 minutes of easy pool-running.  Floor barre and foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:   Two runs today – 8 miles very easy (8:43) and 7.5 miles easy (8:01).  Also did yoga and foam rolling at night.

Thursday:   In the morning, 3 miles very easy (8:33 pace) plus foam rolling and stretching.   8 miles at night, including a restrained 5K tempo workout in 20:03 (average pace of 6:28, split as 6:37, 6:28, 6:15, and 0:43 – didn’t up it to tempo effort until the last mile, out of caution).  Followed the tempo with 15 minutes of shakeout pool-running.

Friday:  In the morning, 60 minutes of easy pool-running.   7 miles very easy (8:19 pace) in the afternoon, with some drills and strides, followed by foam-rolling/stretching.

Saturday:   In the morning, 1000 yards of swimming breathing drills; 2.5 miles (8:39 pace) as a very easy shakeout in the afternoon, plus foam rolling and stretching.

Sunday:   3 miles easy jogging, plus drills and strides, then a mile race in 5:30, followed by 11 miles aerobic progression – the overall pace was 7:37, split as 3.5 at 8:30 pace, next 3 at 7:35, next 3 at 7:03, and then final mile at 6:21 (practicing friend’s kicking technique) before jogging to car.  Followed with 30 minutes shakeout pool-running.  Yoga and foam rolling at night.

Race report: PVTC Track Mile, August 12, 2012

I ran the mile today at the PVTC All-comers meet, finishing in 5:30 by my watch (*my fingers are oh so crossed that I hit my watch late…it’s be fun to have broken 5:30).  Either way, it’s a mile PR, so yay.

Edit: official time of 5:30.7

This meet usually breaks into 2-3 heats.  In the past, I’ve seeded myself in the second heat (the announced cut-off being 5:20), and ended up running solo for most of the race.  This time, I decided to jump in the faster heat, under the theory that at the worst, I’d be running by myself BEHIND people, rather than by myself in the lead.  The former is more conducive to a fast time.

As it turned out, a teammate of mine was also in the race, and would be doing the fast heat.  She and I usually end up doing workouts at similar paces, though she specializes in the mile, while I focus on 10 miles and beyond.  I figured that she’d be a bit ahead of me, so I could use her as a mental towing point.  And then even more fortunately, my coach decided to jump into the race, with a plan to hit the first quarter at a time that would work pretty well for me.  So that was my game plan – stick with my coach for the first quarter, and then take it from there.

And, it worked pretty well.  My splits ended up being:

First 409m – 1:25

Next 400 – 1:22

Next 400 – 1:22

Final 400 – 1:20

So, pretty well paced, with the last lap the fastest. 

My one wish is that I could have picked it up more the last lap.  I had plenty in the tank to do so, and all the will in the world.  I had someone right ahead of me to chase down, and chase I did, but couldn’t catch him (UGH).  I think I just don’t have this “sprinting” thing down – instead I just do my distance running thing but turn over my legs faster.  This works pretty well for my kick in longer races, but kicking in a mile is a whole different ball game.

At some point, I’d like to learn how to actually “get up on my toes” and do all the other sprinter things – I think that will help a lot.  I did try pumping my arms more down the home stretch, and that seemed to help some.  Afterwards, a teammate who can run a very fast mile explained that he actually slows down his cadence and just tries to push off harder with each step – I tried this later today, and it actually seemed to work well.  So I may try that in my next mile. 

But that’s for the future.  This was probably my last mile for the year, as the weather’s starting to cool, and I’m getting excited about longer races.  Though I believe I have a much faster mile in me (especially if I ever decided to focus on the distance), this was a satisfying way to end my summer.  And I think all this mile racing has been really helpful for me in terms of speed development and making my stride more efficient, which will pay off in my goal races this fall.

Other notes:

• Warmed up with 2 miles very easy, then  1 mile easy, then some drills+strides.
• Weather was fantastic – temp 73, DP 60.   I felt pretty sluggish at first, but that was totally attributable to pollen (which is now starting to rise).  As is always the case with my allergies, as soon as I actually started running hard, I felt good.
• I was really good about running hard but relaxed here, and running faster withOUT tensing up.  Gold star here.
• If my coach permits, I may tack on some 200m repeats from time to time, this faster stuff does good stuff for my form.
• I was a bit tempted to hang around and hop in to run the 400m or 800m in this race, but decided to go for a longer run with some teammates instead - marathon training officially started this week.  Next summer I think I'll make more of a point to run some of the really short stuff, just for the heck of it (plus perfecting my kick).
• If I can run a 5:30 mile, and feel that I could have slowed and gone a bit longer, then maybe a 5K at sub-6:00 pace ain't that far away.

Training log - Week ending 8/5/12

This week was 76 miles of “real running” and 14 “miles” pool running, plus 2000 yards of swimming breathing drills -- training log is here.  

Pretty good week overall.  I ran my tempo a bit too hard on Friday, but corrected by keeping the long run pretty restrained on Sunday, so yay.    I’ve started adding shakeout runs the evenings before my workouts, and I’ve actually felt better in the morning workouts .  The key is just to keep them short (20-30 minutes) and very easy.

Next week will be a cutback, as I race a mile on Sunday.

Dailies

Monday:   In the morning, some weights work, 35 minutes of easy pool-running for “3.5 miles,” and 1000 yards of swimming breathing drills.  4 very easy miles (8:17 pace) at night, followed by foam rolling.

Tuesday:  In the morning, 13 miles, including a track workout of 2x1600m, 3x800m – splits were 5:57, 5:48, 2:46, 2:45, 2:47.  Followed with injury prevention work and 25 minutes of easy pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:   In the morning, 12 miles easy (8:15 pace) followed by yoga.  Later, 4 miles easy (7:52).  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:   In the morning, upper body strengthwork followed by 45 minutes of easy poolrunning for “4.5 miles” and 1000 yards of swimming breathing drills.  2.5 miles very easy (8:30 pace) plus foam rolling and stretching at night.

Friday:  In the morning, 13 miles, including a tempo workout of 25:14 for ~4 miles/6400m (average pace of 6:31, split as 6:31, 6:17, 6:16, 6:10).  Followed with injury prevention work and 20 minutes of shakeout pool-running.  Pilates and foam rolling in the afternoon.

Saturday:   In the morning, 11.5 miles easy/aerobic (8:02 pace, but a bit too humid to call this truly easy).  Upper body strengthwork plus stretching and foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday:   In the morning, 16 mile long run, with some moderate progression (kept very restrained due to tough conditions – temps of 79-83, and DP of 73-76).  We averaged 7:58 pace, split as first 3 at 8:26, next 8.5 at 7:58, final 4.5 at 7:38.  Followed with injury prevention work, and did 15 minutes shakeout pool-running.    Yoga and foamrolling in the afternoon.

Once every 4 years, with feeling

Horse jumping is silly, and equestrian shouldn't be in the Olympics.  The horse does all the work.

Not exactly. And it's definitely not "horse does all the physical, rider does all the thinking."  Nor is it "the rider just steers.  And if you've sat on a horse during a trail ride, you haven't really ridden -- you've just been toted around.  Comparing a trail ride to riding a horse is analogous to sitting on a snowmobile versus skiing.

 

Above is a great example of someone who isn't doing much more than steering and letting the horse do all the work. Doesn't work very well, even over fairly small jumps, does it? That's from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in the modern pentathlon. And most of the rounds were like that - it was really sad to watch.  Pentathletes do train for the sport, but not enough, because they have to focus on 4 other sports as well.  And... it shows.

***

Here's the best way I can think of to explain it. If you've ever run the steeplechase or hurdles, then you know the importance of meeting a jump in stride.

Meeting a jump in stride is crucial in jumping horses. But it's more complicated, in that a) you're getting a horse to meet the jump in stride (rather than just yourself) and b) there's a wide variety of jumps. Verticals (just straight up and down) usually require the horse to jump from a shortened stride and a slower pace, while wider jumps (oxers and triple bars) require a faster pace and a different take-off spot.

And, each horse is different in just how they need to be placed at the jump.  Some jump best from 3-6 inches further away, some from 3-6 inches closer.  Some jump better from a faster pace, some don't. Some have longer strides, some have shorter.

Plus, unlike track and field steeplechase or hurdles, you're not jumping all single hurdles arranged in a large oval.  Obstacles are arranged off of tight turns, or in combinations - for example a course might be set as a vertical followed in 3 or 4 (depending on your horse) strides to a large oxer, and then a right turn to another oxer before turning left to three jumps with a single stride between each (a triple combination).

 As for the physicality, there's a lot more involved here than just staying on (though that can be challenging in itself).  Placing the horse at the jump is very physically demanding. You're accomplishing it via a combination of shifting your body weight around, pulling on the reins (sometimes REALLY HARD) and squeezing with your legs (again, sometimes REALLY HARD).  And you're doing the same thing between fences to keep your horse active and ready.

You're also balancing the horse - again using your own body weight, plus legs and arms, to cause the horse to carry its weight in a certain way so that the horse can best jump the fence.  Generally, you want to "package" the horse so that its center of balance is further back towards the haunches, with the rear legs reaching well under the horse, in order to have the most powerful jump.

 One of our top US riders, Margie Goldstein --
this is a good example that shows how
the rider is packaging and placing the horse.

And, once you're in the air, you need to position your body in such a way as to enable the horse to jump its best. Which is pretty darn hard.  Depending on the horse, you may need to hold your body a bit back on take-off, and then catch up in the air, or take extra care not to let your rear touch the saddle until you've completely cleared the fence.  I showed a horse in a division that often required tight turns, but I couldn't touch her mouth in the air at all - as soon as I did, the legs went down, and we pulled a rail.  So, had to be very careful to look and shift my weight, but NOT touch the reins, until we'd landed.

Looking and shifting weight for a tight left turn, but NOT pulling on left rein.

 ***

It's a physical sport, and a tough one.  Riders have very strong inner thighs, biceps, and core. Ridiculously strong cores.  Heck the Koreans want abs like ours.

And though riding is not as intensively aerobic as running/cycling/endurance sport of choice, it does have an aerobic component to it.  I was still riding when I first got a HR monitor, so I wore the monitor for a few rides for the heck of it.  Riding at the canter (not just sitting on a trail horse, but riding) put my HR into the 160s, below tempo but above easy run HR for me.  I never wore a monitor while jumping, but I'm willing to bet that it got up into the tempo range, based on how I'd breathe while riding a course.

***

So yes, it's a demanding sport.  I promise.  And with that, my rant is concluded for the next 4 years.  Or until someone else tries to tell me that the horse does all the work.