August 10, 2008
I Hate Wild Animals
I hate wild animals.
Ever since I got molested by a monk seal off the Big Island of Hawaii, I just hate wild animals. Can't stand encountering them in the wild. Don't want them near me.
This last Friday, I was running in Rancho San Antonio. I was about 1:30 down in my 2:30 run and I was in my second half of my negative split. I proceeded to enter into my favorite hill loop on Coyote Trail. I feel pretty good and am maintaining a good clip up to the top and right before the top, half in the trail lays about a third of a big ass rattlesnake!
I screeeeeech to a halt.
I see the rattle itself; it's almost 3 inches long and the tail it's attached to is about 2 inches thick. Crap I thought, I don't want to get bit! I look at it. It's just laying there. No movement at all. Is it dead? Or just laying there in the sun. But rattlesnakes are pretty sensitive; it should have picked up my stomping up to it well before I saw it. Still, it's just laying there. Taunting me? About to spring a trap on me? Should I move closer? Check it out? Maybe it's dead. The rattle isn't rattling. Don't rattlesnakes do that to warn off predators and stupid humans like me? Should I try to run past it and maybe it's not fast enough to strike me if I'm sprinting past?
This all goes through my head in about 5 seconds.
I say no way. I do a 180 and hightail it out of there back the way I came. No way am I going to risk getting bit by a poisonous 4 foot rattlesnake!
I hate wild animals.
Last year in the fall, I was running in Rancho San Antonio again. I'm on the trail from the parking lot to the farm and I'm behind this other woman. We're running along and all of a sudden, I hear this clopping of steps from ahead of us. It gets louder and louder and I realize it's a doe, running at full tilt. About a length behind her is this buck, with about 7-8 points on its antlers. I see the woman ahead of me duck to the side and let them pass.
But then, the doe flashes past me and the next thing I see is...antlers! Crud! I leap aside and the buck just races past and my heart rate leaps as I realize that a full speed running buck, probably weighing a few hundred pounds, driving it's antlers ahead of it would have probably put some big holes in my torso and tossed me 15-20 feet behind me. Ack!
I hate wild animals.
You know - you see them in zoos and in the movies. They look so tame and cute. They're always doing good things.
But then reality hits. You see them in the wild and you realize they are really dangerous animals. All of them. Even the plant eaters. They are all schooled in kill or be killed. Us humans, we're stupid. Spoiled. Can't even put up a decent fight against a charging buck or a rattlesnake. Worthless.
I hate wild animals. I run as fast as I can the other way when I see 'em.
Posted by dshen at 08:02 PM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2008
Importance of the Negative Split
If there is one training principle I have come to both love and hate, it's the negative split. It's also one of the most important.
In short, it means that you increase effort and, thus (hopefully) speed, on the second half of your workout or race. Workouts can also be gradual in increasing effort, resulting in descending time so it is some times called descending workouts or intervals (ie. in swimming, you can do a set at descend 1-2-3, which means you descend time over the next three intervals). No matter what you start at one pace, but you end up at increased pace/effort.
Our bodies race like we train. When we go all out during a race, we often put out the most effort and have the highest speed during the first part of the race, when we're fresh. Then when the second half of the race comes, we find ourselves getting more and more tired and often slow down as we hit the finish line.
This is bad! Slowing down as you approach the finish line, often starting from miles out, means:
1. You're getting tired and depleted. Maintaining speed becomes a grinding experience or impossible. Your heart rate starts leaping higher and higher and you have no choice but to slow down or else you'll flame out...or pass out.
2. Your better trained opponents are now passing you. That sucks right? You try to pick it up and you can't!
3. As you get depleted, your muscles get stiffer and stiffer as lactic acid builds up. It just becomes a painful experience as you force your muscles to keep going, and you may be reduced to walking, or weak spinning for cycling, or for swimming your stroke rate just keeps dropping as your arms feel like lead.
4. Mentally, it just makes the race feel like the worst experience ever. You're glad to hit the finish line and you wonder why in the world did you ever subject your body to that kind of torture.
However, training via negative splits or descending intervals means you condition your body to be able to perform while tired and give more energy during the latter half of the race. You learn to pace yourself and not go all out in the beginning, and your body learns to give that extra kick in second half while your energy levels begin to wane.
In every workout I do, I try to always finish with more effort than I begin. I slowly ramp effort and speed throughout a workout and then by the end of the workout, I am sprinting towards the parking lot where my car is. Or I'm on the way home on my bike and after doing laps on Kings Mountain, I'll raise my energy level pedaling and get close to sprinting home on the bike.
It's a tough workout, but over time your body gets used to it. Come race day, you'll be thankful for training this way. During races you're always putting out 100%+ effort and you need to be conditioned to give extra effort even while your energy level is dropping.
What a rush to be accelerating and passing other competitors and feel like a million bucks as you accelerate towards the finish line!
Posted by dshen at 06:08 PM | Comments (1)
May 21, 2008
Computing Grade
One thing that has always confounded me is percent grade.
When I'm on the treadmill, I always run at 1% grade which supposedly simulates a flat surface due to the fact that the treadmill's moving surface changes the dynamics of running slightly (versus you moving across the ground). When I train hills, I hit the up button on the grade and increase the % percent grade. Seems simple, but when I go outside to run and try to equate a treadmill grade to whatever hill I'm running on, I get confused.
It's the same when I bike. For instance, on the Tour De France, they talk about Category 1 through 4 climbs:
In general terms, Category 4 climbs are short and easy. Category 3 climbs last approximately 5 kilometers (3.1 miles), have an average grade of 5 percent, and ascend 150 meters (500 feet). Category 2 climbs are the same length or longer at an 8 percent grade and ascend 500 meters (1,600 feet). Category 1 climbs last 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) with an average 6 percent grade and ascend 1,500 meters. Beyond category climbs include an altitude difference of at least 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) from start to finish and have an average grade of at least 7 percent.
Since I'm nowhere near a Tour De France class rider, I'm assuming that these climbs are pretty brutal, especially the Category 2 and 1 climbs. I might be able to get up them, but I certainly wouldn't be winning any races anytime soon.
But what do these percentage grades actually feel like? Last year, I did laps on Old La Honda and it's about 3.35 miles long and climbs 1280 ft. According to Stanford Cycling, it averages 7.3% grade.
OK. Old La Honda is tough for me and now I sort of know what 7% grade feels like. Still there are portions which feel even steeper than that.
Now onwards to the computation. I finally figured out that grade is rise in height over a given distance, and then you multiply by 100 to get percent.
So 7% grade is a rise of 7 ft. for every 100 ft. travelled. Hmmm still tough to visualize. Let's convert that to an angle from the horizontal. So taking the arctan of the triangle formed by 7 ft. high over 100 ft of distance, that's an arctan of 7/100, that's about a 4 degree slope from the horizontal. Doesn't seem like much but definitely hell to pedal!
Posted by dshen at 07:11 AM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2008
Neuromuscular Run Training
About 3 weeks ago I had a small epiphany. I thought about neuromuscular training for the bike and the workouts I do to make my cycling better. I thought to myself, "isn't there neuromuscular run training?"
I suppose there are things we have done on the track, like strides, skipping, high knee running and the such. But one thing I really wanted to work on was speed this year and felt that there was one area which I hadn't done much of, which was leg turnover and getting used to running fast.
So I hopped on the treadmill and did a warmup, and then proceeded to do 30 seconds run/30 seconds rest while increasing the MPH to 12 MPH. Man that was hard! The first time I reached 12 MPH (the max of my treadmill) I could only keep that up for about 15 seconds! The second time I tried this, I managed two intervals of about 20 seconds (takes 10 seconds for the treadmill to reach 12 MPH) and each time I reached and blew through my LT in that short amount of time.
I realized that this was good. I was training my body to relax and move at that speed. My body and leg turnover were being stressed and forced to maintain that rate by the relentless nature of the treadmill. There is no way to not keep it up; otherwise you'll fly off the back of the treadmill! This can't be repeated effectively outside because you'll always naturally slow down when you get tired.
I told my PT person about this and he related to me that at San Jose State, they do this kind of training all the time. They actually use a cord around the waist to tie someone to the front bar of the treadmill so that it helps keep them on the treadmill and forces you to move your feet under you. It still doesn't prevent you from falling flat on your face, so you gotta move your legs!
I am going to try more of this in my off season before I hit the track for real workouts. I am curious to see if this will have an effect on my run speed, which I really want to work on in the first half of this year. My next goal is to increase the amount of intervals I can achieve at 12 MPH and get my body used to leg turnover, body positioning, and form required to maintain these speeds.
Posted by dshen at 09:03 AM | Comments (1)
June 09, 2007
Training the Ironman Shuffle Begins!
Running for the first time on Thursday morning, I decided to see how fast I would have to move my legs in order to achieve a certain pace. Given this was my first time running after Ironman Brazil, I was going to run a form run but at the end I usually do some fast running for 30 seconds with 30 seconds break.
After 10 minutes of drills, I made it to the second half of my 20 minute run at which time I began my fast short runs. I compacted my stride and proceeded to speed up, rest, speed up, rest. I made it all the way up to 9 MPH which is about a 6:20 min/mile. Boy did my legs cycle! Normally when I run track workouts on the treadmill, I can get almost up to 10 MPH (6:00 min/mile). But that is with my normal stride. Compacting my stride really made my legs churn FAST! I knew that I would have train this specifically to get my body accustomed to such a high cycle rate for my legs.
Then today, I went out for a 2 hour ride. Feeling good upon reaching home, I decided I would start shuffle training today. So I threw on my running shoes and then I shot out the door with two goals in mind. First, I really needed to get my body used to hitting the ground running after the bike so as not to lose time on the run. Second, I ran with the Ironman shuffle as fast as possible to see just how it would feel.
It was tough! My legs were tired from the ride, and I could not lengthen my stride at all. I was forced to run with the shuffle! So I just churned them as fast as I could. I went out into my neighborhood and then around and back for only about 7:30 minutes. I knew after this run that this would take some time and effort to train. Next time I will have to bring my GPS to see how fast I am actually running with the shuffle style.
Posted by dshen at 04:49 PM | Comments (0)
May 31, 2007
Treadmill Requirements
Someone just asked me about treadmills. After running on several in clubs and owning two, I have these requirements:
1. I often run for over an hour. The timer must be able to deal with that and not reset to zero after it hits an hour. Otherwise I lose count.
2. I want a keypad that can quick jump me to a given incline or speed. Hitting the up and down arrows a million times sucks.
3. It must have a water bottle holder. Gotta drink. Even better if there are two holders.
4. It must go faster than 10 MPH. 10 MPH is a 6:00 mi/min. Someday I hope to run that fast and need to practice running faster than that to achieve that speed.
5. It must go higher than 10% grade. If it can do negative grades, that's fine.
6. It should have a full size running surface and not a compact one. Some of those made for apartments are smaller than normal. If the running surface is too small, I sometimes hit the back edge while striding.
7. HR monitor optional. I don't need it although sometimes it is interesting to take a quick read of your HR.
8. Programs optional. I mostly run with my coach's workouts, so I don't use those pre-programmed workouts.
9. I don't need it to fold up.
Posted by dshen at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2007
Sensation of Passing
Passing that dude at Rancho San Antonio made me think of all the times I've managed to pass people in a race.
It's a weird feeling to pass someone during a race, especially if you are very close in velocity. It isn't like driving a car where you press on the gas and you zoom up behind someone and then you pass them by. Visually, the other car grows in your eyes and then whooshes by and then shrinks behind you.
Since there isn't this acceleration for humans, the visual effect is much different for me. In fact, it's much slower.
I pull up behind someone. I usually think I'm faster than him, but can't tell for sure. I seem to be gaining, but his speed is often shifting as well, so sometimes I gain and sometimes I lose ground. But generally I maintain speed and have confidence that my constant speed is better than surging and wasting energy by accelerating. There is time left in the race and I can slowly overtake this guy. But visually, it seems as though I am barely gaining at all.
That is...until I get about 2-3 feet away. For some reason, as soon as I get to that distance, and still running at constant speed, the guy I'm passing seems to pause, and then rush up all of a sudden. I seem to accelerate and pass him in a flash.
It's weird. But what a rush to pass someone during a race.
Posted by dshen at 03:39 PM | Comments (0)
March 03, 2007
Runnin' with Turkeys
Yesterday, I ran Rancho San Antonio and did my painful hill repeats.
The turkeys were out in force. Ten hens with one big male, tail feathers all spread out like he was somethin' else. Peacockin' ain't just for pickup artists! But it was fun flying past them and seeing a whole bunch of wild turkeys struttin' about while I was doing my intervals.
4 loops this time. I was going to do 5, but on the 4th I'm going up the hill and I come up behind another dude. He was running ok but I managed to pass him. I keep going at steady pace, but then I hear steps and his heavy breathing right behind me. I pick it up a bit just to keep ahead, but I hear him breathing and know he is only a few steps behind me. I get a bit more competitive. I pick it up more and he is still just behind me and I'm running hard now but not so hard that I'm flaming out.
He on the other hand is taking heavy breaths. I know his flame out is near and wonder if he will pass me. I pick it up a bit more and then...as I pull up to the top of the hill, I hear Mr. Heavy Breather drop off and know he just flamed out. I soar up and over and proceed fast down the other side.
Turkeys and a bit of pick me up all in one day. Nice.
Posted by dshen at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2007
Thank God for Velocy
Today I ran a complete workout without having my feet swell up or get major blisters. Ever since Asics changed their design, I've been going nuts trying to find running shoes that fit me good enough to run in. Everything was either too tight or my foot would flop around inside, causing lots of problems like swelling and blistering.
But today, thank God for Velocy. These cool shoes that help you get into Pose method running also have a shape that fits my feet perfectly without causing them to swell and also blister.
The downside is that Velocy isn't a mainstream shoe. They could go out of business and I'd be back to ground zero on running shoes. Time to go out there and stock up before they disappear!!!!
Posted by dshen at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)
December 15, 2006
First Run with Velocy Shoes
Yesterday morning, I ran for the first time on my Velocy shoes. If you recall, Velocy running shoes are supposed to be designed such that they help you run on the balls of your feet. How interesting a feel these shoes presented!
It was early morning and I decided to run on the treadmill with a form run, which is a jogging warmup, some drills, and then some quick, short speedwork.
I put on my Velocy shoes and I remembered the first time I put them on at the NYC Marathon expo. They are stiffer than usual and not as much cushion as you would expect from a running shoe. The sole is curved slightly to encourage your foot to roll forward on each stride and thus get you into a forefoot running style. I was not sure I believed that the structure of the shoe could make this happen, but I had to try them to be sure.
Note that I already run with the Pose Method, which is basically a forefoot running style. So I wondered what difference these shoes would make on my running style...? I do admit that when I get tired, my form gets messy. I also acknowledge that my left leg runs slightly different than my right. It's something I've been trying to even out over the last 2 years of running Pose.
Upon hopping on the treadmill, I could immediately sense a difference in running. The arc in the sole definitely put me more forward onto the balls of my feet while running. With each step, I could feel the foot rolling through the arc of the sole. I think for the most part, their claim is true that it does help get into that form. But I also wonder that since I am already running Pose, that the change is not that dramatic. I would love to have someone who runs midfoot or even heel strike to try these shoes and see what happens.
I also wonder if these shoes are acting as a crutch for running a form which I should train my body to naturally do, which is what I've been doing up to now. If I ran on these shoes more often, would I feel worse going back to normal running shoes? Or would I be better at forefoot, aka Pose, running because of them?
Hopefully before the season starts, I can run more on these shoes and be able to compare them to running with normal running shoes.
Posted by dshen at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)
November 05, 2006
Turned in My Timing Chip
Alas, I turned in my NYC Marathon timing chip yesterday. I had hoped that some miracle would have happened and my hacking cough would have gone away. But no such luck.
I am very disappointed to be brought down by a sickness. 4 months of training, seeing great track times and growing strength on hill repeats - it was tough to realize that my body would not hold up to 4 hours of max performance in cold weather racing (it's been in the 40s everyday I've been here in NYC; the last 3 years I ran NYC it was in the 70s!).
Rather than risk this developing into something REALLY bad like pneumonia, I elected to not race. It's a first for me: to not race due to sickness and it was bound to happen sometime.
At least I was able to defer my entry until next year. Not sure if I will race it though; I've got my sights on either Ironman Florida or Ironman Western Australia and that may mean that NYC isn't possible. NYC is usually on the same weekend as IM Florida, as it was this year. IM Western Australia is usually on Thanksgiving weekend or the first weekend of December, which means NYC is very close to the race.
Onwards to off season training. I want to work on strength in my legs this winter, in preparation for a strong race season next year.
Posted by dshen at 06:21 AM | Comments (1)
October 23, 2006
Redlining it to NYC
These last few weeks have been really interesting from a training perspective. I have experienced true "redlining" of my abilities in many of my workouts.
This has really shown up in my track workouts at trying to maintain a super high pace for a given distance, whether it's 800 meters or distance tempo workouts of up to 4000m in length. It also showed up last weekend for the Long Beach Half Marathon where I could feel and, later, see my effort and heart rate rise to super high levels for the entire race.
It's a weird experience being in a redlined state for a long time. At points during my track intervals, I have gotten to the point of almost feeling dizzy and passing out, and then backing off a tad to maintain as high a pace as possible. In the longer distance tempo workouts, I have focused on leg turnover and, in maintaining a certain leg turnover rate, my HR jumps to a really high level.
It's good practice. Pushing my tolerance to higher thresholds allows me to keep performance high for longer periods of time and maxes my output.
It's potentially bad in that one of these days I may push over some physical limit and pass out during a race. That would definitely NOT be good.
Afterwards, I find that my body is a bit slower in recovering after these workouts. I have maintained my effort so close to my lactate threshold for so long that I feel it in my lungs and body for days afterwards.
I don't know of any other way of training to push my performance higher; I need to continually push my body to the edge to eke out that last bit of speed. As long as I don't push over the edge, it seems that my body recovers and learns so that next time I improve and it's not so bad.
I look forward to seeing what happens at NYC in two weeks when I will maintain this level of output at marathon distance.
Posted by dshen at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)
October 01, 2006
On the Way to NYC
Yesterday, I ran my favorite hill loop, the Coyote Trail, in Rancho San Antonio. Well, favorite is a controversial term. I ran the loop seven times logging in 17 miles, legs burning out on the last two loops as I up my intensity, and feet getting totally abused on the steeper downhill coming down off Coyote Trail back to the starting area. Total time, 2 hours and 42 minutes.
Although it hurts (got blisters on both feet from the downhill action), I can't think of a better way to prepare myself for the five bridges in the NYC course - my nemesis on the last three NYC marathons.
The NYC course, sans the bridges, is relatively flat to rolling with long, gradual uphills at times. Some smaller steep hills exist as you cross into Central Park, but that's about it. What makes this course hard is the fact that there are five bridges in the course which cross back and forth from borough to borough. These annoying bridges are relatively steep hill climbs and interrupt your normal tempo rhythm through the city streets. Last year, it was the 59th Street bridge which literally sucked the energy out of my sails, and initiated the longest "wall" I've encountered to date - about 9 miles worth!
My hope is that doing those hill repeats, I can get strong enough to tackle the hills at speed and have enough left over to finish the race. I am optimistic now that I've done 7 relatively strong hill repeats which are all steeper than the bridges by far.
Yesterday, I weighed in at 150 lbs with clothes on. Wow. Dropping fast. That means I am about 148-149 lbs without clothes on. Last year at the beginning of the NYC Marathon, I was 147 lbs the morning of. I wonder if I'll be less this year with a month left to go, and the most intense endurance training coming up.
The less I weigh, the less I carry around with me, and I waste less energy because I'm not carrying around useless weight.
Onwards to more speedwork during the week, crossing over into long tempo sessions. Then, long endurance fartlek intervals on the weekends to round out the training.
Posted by dshen at 09:30 AM | Comments (3)
September 26, 2006
What We Should Learn From Our Kids
I live in this apartment building. When I emerge from the elevator with my kid, she takes off running down the hallway because she wants to hide and then scare the heck out of me when I turn the corner.
Just recently, I can't help but study her running.
Her torso is very still and relaxed. It does not sway from side to side. Her arms pump easily as she takes off down the hallway. They move backwards and forwards and do not waste in side to side motion. She runs a natural Pose Method, completely on the balls of her feet and I watch her legs kick in perfect form backward, and no wasted side motion at all, on each stride.
This is the way kids run. They have an instinctive way of moving and it is very economical and efficient. Somehow, they just know how to do this. There is no learning, just doing. It is the way that we, as adults, apparently are trying to learn again, and we call this the Pose Method, or any one of many names we can call the perfect running form.
I marvel at what we've lost as we grow to be adults. Ever watch other people run? You see people's torsos bent over like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. You see arms sway back and forth across their bodies, like they're doing the watusi. Their legs churn, but yet they heel strike or have some weird foot flopping as the leg kicks backward on each stride. Watch other people run and see. Then do something really radical like videotaping yourself and...shudder....
As we grow older, we've lost that instinctive way of running in the most efficient and effective way. We learn new habits like sitting on couches and watching TV and doing that REALLY WELL. We forget what it's like to be a kid anymore, in more ways than one. Whether it's running or being creative, or being silly, or just laughing your heart out, we've lost the kids in ourselves.
People always say we have a lot to learn from our kids, and athletics is no exception.
Posted by dshen at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)
September 24, 2006
ARG Asics Why Did You Change?
For years I've been running in Asics Gel Nimbus running shoes. They are neutral (no motion control) and supposedly have the most cushioning of any running shoe. And they worked great for 3 years. Until now.
This year, they decided to make the toe box narrower and the tongue has padding in it. This combination meant that all of a sudden, my foot was bound by the shoe more tighter than before. After about half an hour of running, my foot started to swell and then caused bruising against the edge of my hard orthotics. Bruising the ball of your foot is no fun. You can't really run hard until it goes away and it's pretty painful to walk on.
This went on for about 3 weeks with me trying to figure out what was wrong. After 3 weeks of trying new tying methods, taping the orthotics down, new padding, etc. it boiled down to the change in the basic design of the shoe.
ARG!
I had 3 weeks of painful running because Asics chose to change the design of their shoe! The old design was fine. Why did they mess with it?
So I tried out the new Adidas A3 Microride which is extremely cushy in the forefoot, due to its cushioning cylinders which run along the bottom of the shoe. And they don't bind my foot and make it swell.
Sorry Asics. I made the switch. You and other manufacturers should learn that you shouldn't have keep messing with a working formula.
Posted by dshen at 07:38 AM | Comments (0)
September 21, 2006
Crazy New Goal
OK so after I found out about Yasso 800s, I told my coach about it and he gave me a workout progression based on 800s. I started running 800s and now I'm doing that at about 3:05-3:19 per 800.
My new (CRAZY) goal: run a marathon in 3 hours. YIKES. But given my 800 times, it looks like I can get close...?
I'm psyched and going for it!
Posted by dshen at 09:32 PM | Comments (0)
September 06, 2006
Yasso 800s
Today I traded emails with a buddy of mine who is a sub-3 hour marathoner.
If you do the calculation, to run a 3 hour marathon, you'd have to maintain a pace of 6:52/mile the whole way, and that's not counting dealing with the terrain and environment (ie. if it's hilly or hot/humid day).
That's pretty freakin' fast.
So I asked my friend about how fast your track paces would have to be in order to have a chance of running a 3 hour marathon. My sub-3 hour friends are running 400s at about 65-75 seconds and 800s at about 2:30-2:45, and able to maintain that over as many as ten repeats.
In fact, some guy named Bart Yasso, the race services manager at Runner's World magazine, came up with this workout of 10x800 on the track, and if you can run this workout at fairly even pace, you can get a prediction on your marathon time. Another writer named this the "Yasso 800" workout. So basically, if you can maintain a pace of minutes:seconds for each of ten 800s, then your predicted marathon pace would be about (minutes->hours):(seconds->minutes). My friends on the track who are sub-3 hour marathoners typically can run 10x800 at about 2:30-2:45 per 800, so that would mean a predicted marathon finish time of 2 hours and 30 minutes to 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Ugh. Currently I could probably sustain a 400 of about 1:32 and 800 of about 3:35-3:40! Good prediction of a 3:40-ish marathon finish time so not bad. But a far cry from 3 hours!
This morning I did 10x400 and was redlining towards the end of the last few 400s to make a ~1:32 finish!
At least now I have a rough measuring stick on how to improve. To get from 1:32 on a 400 to 65 seconds, I merely need to run that twice as fast. To get from 3:35 800s to 2:30 800s, I just have to run about a third faster. Easy.
...(sigh)....
Posted by dshen at 04:20 PM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2006
Running Injury Free
A buddy of mine just started a new site called dailystrength.org. It is a place where you can get support and advice for various problems or issues you may have in a multitude of areas of your life.
There was a post about running and knee problems, and how people were down on running and didn't know how to solve those problems.
So I posted my 3 big solutions to my running problems, as the combination of these has basically kept me running injury free for about 2 years now. In addition to that, there are 2 more solutions which also contributed to my injury free state:
The big 3:
1. I use hard orthotics. Not the soft kind you find at a shoe store, but ones that are created from plaster molds of your feet. They basically remove any and all possibility of pronation and, thus, one source of strain to your knees and muscles.
2. I run using the Pose Method, which teaches running on the balls of your feet and definitely NO HEEL STRIKING. Running on the balls of your feet means that there is one extra joint to absorb impact and has been shown through some studies to reduce impact stress by as much as 50%.
3. Every week I go to get ART and Graston Technique. The two methods of massaging your muscles remove adhesions that form and build up over time. If they build up over time, then your muscles get less flexible and the possibility of injury increases as the muscles get tighter and tighter until all sorts of bad things happen.
The 2 other things are:
1. The old method of training meant beating up your body again and again until it breaks down to the point of injury. The new way has recognized that you don't need to beat up your body as much as previously thought in order for peak performance. Your body needs rest and time to grow stronger. So no more overtraining leading to pain and injury!
2. Crossover training effects from swimming and cycling have immensely affected my running ability. It has also meant that I don't need to break down my body by running alone in order to be at some high level of fitness. I can improve my abilities through other less impact activities and run faster.
Posted by dshen at 01:35 PM | Comments (0)
November 09, 2005
Post-Marathon, plus 3 Days
Freeze My Willies
After the race, I jump in a bathtub of ice cubes for 10 minutes. Thankfully it numbs everything and I can only stand it for 10 minutes. But on Monday, I hop in again but this time for 15 minutes. Definitely nerves are getting killed off in the icy water, or maybe I'm just getting better at being a tough guy...
The ice bath really helps flush my muscles of the lactic acid and reduces inflammation.
Delayed Onset Soreness
Whoo hoo - big time! After my first ice bath, I am pain free! BUT...the next day that all changes. My calves seize up in a lactic acid frenzy and going up and down stairs is pure torture. Also, the rest of my body aches....
Never Forget Your Salt Tablets
I think I figured out why I feel so abused after this race. I think it's because I didn't have enough electrolytes and salt during the race, which causes my muscles to perform poorly and under more stress.
After the race, I felt my skin and it was real gritty from the salt that I sweated out. Definitely something to keep fine tuning.
Nike Triax Foot Pod Off
So I wore a Nike Triax watch with foot pod and heart rate monitor for the race. I would have worn a GPS but it doesn't work very well in Manhattan with the buildings blocking the satellites.
Unfortunately, looking at my paces on the website and what was recorded by the watch, the Nike Triax is definitely off, even after I calibrated it on a track.
The Nike Triax said I ran only 25.3 miles. During the race, I remember looking at it and despairing at the pace it was showing me, which turns out to be slower than what the website said I ran.
How annoying to be thinking I was totally cratering when in fact I was not!
New Fighting Weight
Post-marathon weigh-in has me now at 147.8 lbs, versus 151 weigh-in at Ironman New Zealand. Now I have a new benchmark for what I should weigh during long endurance races....
Wise Quote
Tim Noakes in Lore of Running states:
"In a marathon, the race really begins from 32km onward, during the last 10km. From here to the finish, the marathoner's brain speaks of logic and therefore appeals to the first voice, which will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. The marathoner's only recourse is to call on the spirit, which forutnately functions independently of logic. It accepts that marathon training goes beyond logic - that humans were not designed to race marathons any more than they were designed to scale Everest. And the human spirit soon learns that the marathon is one way for ordinary people to define irrevocably their own physical, mental, and spiritual limits. By the 32km marker, the marathoner must be ready to define these personal limits."
Such a truism. I ran literally a 9 mile "wall" and many times felt like quitting. But it was worthwhile as I broke through the damn wall at mile 24 to speed up to the finish.
When I tell people I ran the NYC Marathon, often the first thing that comes out of their mouths is, "Oh I can never do that."
How easy it is for someone to define their limits under such favorable conditions. Is that the true test of the human spirit, to be defined on the couch in front of a TV?
I say NO.
Our growth comes from trials, and we really grow when we test our limits. Busting through a 9 mile wall was one of the hardest things I've ever done, with body aching, IT band protesting, right quad cramping, even both forearms threatening to cramp under electrolyte loss. It hardens my spirit like nothing else!
Posted by dshen at 07:40 PM | Comments (0)
November 06, 2005
NYC Marathon Race Report 11-6-05
It's 430am and I get up to prepare for the race. The night before I lay out just about everything I need so that I won't forget anything. But of course, I already find out that I don't have any electrolyte tablets in my apartment, a fact that will prove critical in the race later.
But I fill up my race bottles with flat Coca-Cola, put GU gel in my fuel belt, get my race number belt ready with the race number and attach my timing chip to my running shoe. I double check that and then I throw everything into my bag and off I go.
I arrive at the NYC Public Library and it's still pitch dark. The stars are shining in the sky so I know it's going to be a warm day, as it has been the last few days.
I sit on the bus next to a guy from Oregon. He says he's trying to get to 50 marathons, one for each state. More power to him. I am not sure my bod could take so many marathons in so short a time, or else I'm gonna die before I hit 50 states worth of marathons.
The sun finally starts coming up as we get over to the starting line in Staten Island. Different starting area this year. I don't see the usual half-a-huge-PVC pipe pee-ing station. And it's organized more by color too - I am in the Blue section, so they have their own food and UPS trucks to take our stuff to the finish line.
I chat with this woman from Iowa who is running her first marathon in NYC. Hope she finishes OK.
So my pacing really sucks, and this year I decide to follow some of the pace leaders. For kicks, I decide to follow the 3:40 group since I am thinking I will finish in 3:45; but who knows, maybe I'll have a great day and finish in 3:40!
In the start of these races, my mind is usually filled with so many emotions and thoughts. I think about my goals in this race and wonder if I will do OK or crater somewhere in the middle. I think about my whole life surrounding racing and what it means to me.
I think about support, of which I don't have any live support this year, but yet so many others have friends and family to cheer people on. But I've told people not to come; NYC Marathon is not an easy one to watch for your friends. You need to plan very well. And the last two years I've been totally off my time estimates and I am sure supporting spectators would have been wondering if they missed me or not. But somehow, it is nice to have support if it's there.
I think about my daughter and how much she means to me, and missing her very much. I also think about my new life in this startup and wonder where that will go.
My brain is a jumble, but it all returns to race focus as soon as the cannon goes off.
The crowd surges forward. I am ahead of the 3:40 group for a while, but not for long. With so many people, it's impossible to keep pace. I blow right through and around people trying to get back on track, and I see the 3:40 pace leader doing the same.
The Verrazano Bridge serves to be a heavy duty warm up - it is an annoying long hill, and we are glad to see the other side where we increase our pace to make up lost time.
The next 12 miles are a blur. I manage to pull ahead of the 3:40 pace leader and the group and keep that lead until a mile or two after mile 13.1. I hit that at 1:51, a bit slow for 3:40, but in range for a 3:45 finish.
Then I reach the 59th Street Bridge and my ass is kicked. It is fairly steep and it drains me going up and over. The 3:40 pace leader has joined up with his buddy who is also leading another 3:40 group. They blow by me and I lose them.
But I never get my pace back. The climb wipes me and I don't get a chance to recover. The following miles are a series of gradual, grinding uphills where I don't get the chance to recover and rest.
At mile 20, my right quad starts twitching like it's gonna cramp. This is where those electrolyte tablets would have made a HUGE difference.
I don't get my groove back until about mile 24 when all of a sudden I find some more energy, and I get my pace back up to about 9:00-ish per mile. And miraculously, the cramping subsides as well. I manage to finish following the 3:50 pace leader and my time is 3:51, which I am very happy for. It is a new PR for me and a substantial improvement from my last year's time of 4:24.
But man, I hurt all over. For some reason, this year's race was more taxing on my bod than last year. I move through the finish line with everyone else and my legs feel very abused. I make it to where I pick up our race stuff and I change out of my sweaty, smelly race clothes, and into some clean clothes.
As I move (verrrrryyyy slowly) out of the meeting area, I reflect on the fact that I can't move very fast at all. My legs and feet hurt a lot, and I say to myself that I can't do this race again next year. I need a break!
All the while, I am wishing that some strong, muscular guy would come over and carry me home.
Don't you ever wish that this would happen to you?...No?...Never?
Hmmm...well I was just kidding then...really...
Posted by dshen at 02:08 PM | Comments (0)
October 16, 2005
Roar of Lions
I am not in California any more. I am on the plains of Africa. The wind blows across the grasslands, the sun is high in the sky. I glide effortlessly across the land, each footfall moving me forward, the hills around me racing past my eyes.
I hear the roar of lions, and a lion is now running next to me, leaping through the brush as my legs cycle fast and endlessly, the grass whipping by me and the lion leaps....
I see the flames of a black dragon, its wings beating down above me. I feel the raw power of its jaws, its claws as it bursts down from the heavens, accompanying me on my run across a barren landscape where it dwells...
I feel the heat of the jet engine, a MIG-29 accelerates alongside me as I speed through the sky, the cloudscape racing past, and in the fury of my passing through the sound barrier they explode...
And now I am Rocky Balboa and I am running towards the city square, the crowd behind me surging with me but they cannot catch me, because I will win, I am a champion, I mount the stairs and with several bounds I am on top, and they scream Rocky Rocky Rocky...
...Motivational delusions from the Long Beach Half Marathon, 10-16-05.
Posted by dshen at 07:04 PM | Comments (0)
July 01, 2005
Run Like There is No Finish Line
I wore my favorite long sleeve shirt today by Nike. It's got this incredibly cool slogan on it - "Run Like There is no Finish Line". Wow. What a great motivator! I got this shirt last year at the NYC Marathon.
One problem though. It's black. So I put it on because there is this huge fog bank hanging over the bay area around 7:30am. By the time I get to Rancho San Antonio at around 8am, the fog is almost all burnt off.
Boom. The temperature rises about 15 degrees and now I'm roasting....!
Hard run today. My coach has me doing long intervals at speed to get my stamina up. Here's the workout:
20 min build from easy to steady
30 min broken into 9 min steady, 1 min easy -- continuous
30 min broken into 20 min steady, 5 min mod-hard, 5 min easy
15 min broken into 5 min mod-hard, 10 min steady
15 min broken into 5 min mod-hard, 10 min steady
10 mins easy
Ugh. Major pacing problems in the rolling hills of Rancho. Especially as I get into the mod-hard intervals. The last one was grueling in the heat of the morning. Gotta get more acclimatized to running in heat. If I ever make it to Kona this year, I'll need to be able to function at peak condition in 90 degree/90% humidity conditions....
But this was my third time doing this workout, and the second time on this path in Rancho. I have one more workout of this sequence and hopefully by then I'll have gotten adjusted to the pacing and the built my stamina up to handle the short choppy (annoying!) hills as well as summer heat.
Posted by dshen at 11:06 PM | Comments (0)
May 30, 2005
NIKE Free and Barefoot Running
On Friday I went to Metrosports to pick up another pair of my favorite trail running shoes, the Asics Gel Eagle Trail IIIs. But another pair of running shoes caught my eye this time - the NIKE Free.
Created by NIKE to allow your feet to be protected but still have the biomechanical benefits of running barefoot, the NIKE Free can take your feet from the pampered, protected environment of the nicely insulated, cushioned, supported surroundings of a century of innovation in running/walking shoes to the scary, open place of running with naked feet.
I had read a lot about barefoot running lately. Many experts tout the benefits of strengthening the muscles in your feet to reduce the probability of injury. It also changes your running stance because heel strikes are not possible (they are painful!) and you need to run on the balls of your feet. This also provides an added benefit of an extra shock absorption joint into your kinetic chain.
I took them out for a brick run after my grueling King's Mountain ascent and definitely there was a difference from these shoes to my normal Asics Gel Nimbus shoes, which are Asics's most cushioned neutral shoe. Definitely more pounding on the feet as the NIKE Free's do not have much adding at all, and also definitely more flexing of the shoe due to the slices through the bottom sole rubber.
I hope to run more on these shoes over the next few months to build up my foot muscles. They recommend a gradual buildup over the next few months, and certainly not at distances/speeds as you would normally run.
It will be an interesting experiment.
Posted by dshen at 07:05 AM | Comments (0)
