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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Sunday, 29 August 2010 |
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Recently I had a conversation about gender equality and played the devil's advocate (arguing against) rather unsuccessfully. My main argument was that women don't really want full equality because if men and women were truly equal under the eyes of the law, there would be two obvious changes to society, neither of which are favorable to women.
1. Separate bathrooms would be illegal (they could be challenged under Separate but Equal).
2. And women would not be exempt from the draft. (The draft currently discriminates against men.)
However, it was quickly pointed out to me that the consequences of these changes would be minor.
Regarding 1: I shared bathrooms with women all throughout college while living in coed dorms and never had any problem or discomfort.
Regarding 2: Israel already requires men and women to undergo military training and honestly, if there was a draft in America protesters would flood the streets as more people should have done prior to the Iraq war, but I digress.
I'll admit I was surprised at how simple and rational full gender equality (under the law) seemed to be until I realized that a major change had been neglected: women would have to compete equally with men in sports. Separate award systems for women would be illegal as would separate teams.
Is it worth it?
Born to Run likes to make a big thing about how women ultrarunners regularly compete at the same level as men. Ann Trason is cited as an example, but I'm not sure this generalization is based on sound evidence and in the larger world of athletics it matters little.
Food for thought. |
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New Age Running - Don't knock it cuz it's fluff |
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Sunday, 15 August 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
As I continue to run 15-20 min every other day and delicately transition back from injury, I'm doing so in an old pair of flats. My logic is that since I'm running so little, and I am interested in barefoot, or at least minimalist) running, then I might as well also use this opportunity to transition away from cushioning, support, etc. So far so good.
Yes,
Born to Run has indeed gotten under my skin. So far, I've had no problems running in flats, but like I said, I'm running so little I could probably run in cement shoes without getting hurt.
Here are some passages (paraphrased) from
Born to Run that interested me.
Run easy. Light. Smooth. Fast. In that order.
Concentrate on making your running easy if nothing else, then easy and light, then easy, light, and smooth. Once you accomplish all three, you will be fast. -pg 111
I think this is great advice and though it's not very specific that doesn't matter. No coach can tell a runner, "no, don't fire that muscle group, fire the other one." Instead, by thinking "I want to make this feel easy" the runner can adjust his own stride in minute ways to find the running sweet spot.
Supposedly the following was Coach Vigil's advice to Deena Kastor on how to run faster:
-Practice abundance by giving back.
-Improve personal relationships.
-Show integrity to your value system.
Pg 119
What does this have to do with running? Well the first three tips can hopefully lighten one's psychic burden, thereby taking a load off the feet. ;)
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Thursday, 05 August 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
Good stories entertain, great stories also teach lessons. I cracked open Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall expecting information: an explanation of the benefits of barefoot running. I hoped for rational arguments and clinical data. I expected magician's tricks and irrational emotional appeals. Born to Run provides neither, or both, depending on how you look at it. Suffice to say I was neither annoyed enough by the flimsy logic to put it down nor was I fully convinced by the one-sided science provided.
But what surprised me about Born to Run is that the first third of the book (thrilling page-turner that it may be) is not about running. Then about midway through, when the book gets around to the subject of the title, it becomes more than a good story. It becomes a great story.
We're introduced to memorable meaningful characters, the author finds words worth waiting for, and the reader learns more than a few truths, though it's often hard to believe the truths are real.
Aside: "All stories are true. Some stories actually happened too." For a better understanding of that, you need to read The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. You won't regret reading it. Trust me.
Yes, the author's style in Born to Run feels more suited to Paul Bunyan than Paula Radcliffe, but the book succeeds because it's got important things to say and the author is skilled at his craft.
The skeptically-curious runner looking to decipher the DaVinci code of barefoot running can take it or leave it, but for anyone who is not looking to argue with the book from start to finish, I highly recommend Born to Run. Besides, the skeptically-curious reader already knows the sober yet hopeful truth: the barefoot runners are on to something, but it's not a cure-all.
Here's a video
of the author giving a little intro to the book. Check out his form (leg form, not arm form.) Somebody's been holding an ipod in one hand, but not the other.
Tsk. Tsk.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Friday, 16 July 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
I am not running again. I did in fact hurt, perhaps even re-injure, my hamstring by running, so once again, I am resting. I skipped Boilermaker entirely and have not taken one step of running since the Thursday before that race.
It's clear that I am going to feel healed and ready to run before I am healed. So, I'm committing myself to an hour each day of stretching and core exercises. (It's hard to do this stuff for an hour, but I usually make it at least 40 min.)
Here's my routine:
-Front pillar
-Side pillar
-Crunches
-Push ups
-Super mans
-Leg lifts (lay on side and lift top leg. Looks like scissors)
-Downward facing dog (yoga stretch)
-Figure 4 stretch (lying on back, cross one leg over other and hug to chest)
-Child's pose (it's another yoga stretch, but I do it off-center and pull to stretch lateral muscles in my back)
-Hamstring stretches with a belt around my foot.
-Eagle stretch, but slowly and using the belt to assist.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Sunday, 04 July 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
Distance running is better than all other athletic activities because it's a sport of moderation, self-knowledge, self-control, the middle path, Zen, discipline, a metaphor for life, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah. And just like in life there is no guide for the hard questions of distance running such as, WHEN CAN I START TRAINING AGAIN?
So I'm still injured, sort of. I qualify that statement because I have begun running, but it's unclear whether the running has arrested my recovery or not. I'm not running fast or doing intervals or anything like that, but the hamstring is still not fully healed and I'm getting really sick of riding my bike.
Also I'm in the awkward position of having nagged the ... ahem... "sticklers for rules and regulations" in charge of the Boilermaker into giving me elite status this year only to have gotten myself injured. I have some other choice names for these people (I mean, why the hell can't I use my time and place from your race the previous year to get elite status in YOUR RACE this year?), but I'll keep those to myself since this is a public blog.
Do I sound frustrated?
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Friday, 25 June 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
So I'm still injured. Ran 2 days in a row and 60 min for one day then I felt mighty sore again so recovery is not proceeding as rapidly as I would like. You can imagine my frustration.
With little else to say about running, I'd like to talk about the meaning of 'difficult' because I've been hearing this word a lot lately in a variety of contexts, one of which is producing a lot of anxiety in me.
I've broken it down and determined that 'difficult' is used to mean one of the following things:
1. The obvious: physically, mentally, or emotionally strenuous.
As in: boot camp is difficult. Or, graduating college with a high GPA is difficult.
2. Time consuming.
As in, cleaning the house is difficult.
3. All too commonly: I have no idea what that entails, but don't believe in myself enough to attempt it.
As in when healthy non-runners say: The marathon is difficult. Or lay people say, "Math is difficult."
4. It lowers my self esteem.
As in, I know I will make mistakes and I will take them personally.
My problem is #4. When I say, math is difficult, I mean that I know I will make mistakes and I will take them personally, as in "I'm such a dummy for getting that wrong." Naturally, I'm going to work on detaching myself from these mistakes: "Mistakes were made, will be made. I'm still a good person."
Now if people could stop telling me that grad school is going to be difficult, it would be good for my anxiety level.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Friday, 18 June 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
Only in the last week has my training crept tentatively back towards running. Yesterday I went nearly 40 minutes at a slow pace. My stride still feels stiff and discomfort lingers in my hamstring. After the run my back will tense throughout the day, but the symptoms gradually fade.
You might say I did a double workout yesterday since I worked core in the morning after the run and again in the evening before dinner. Then why do I feel like such a slacker? Why is it easier to motivate myself to do core than it is to do more of my much needed stretching? Why have I yet to break out a hot pad which could also speed my recovery?
I have concluded my employment at Klein Steel and am now taking time off before grad school. I have a million little projects and hobbies I would like to work on (or so I tell myself) yet I feel like I've done nothing but procrastinate.
I feel that my lackadaisical attitude towards both running and projects is related to the difficulty in putting important, non-urgent projects ahead of un-important, urgent projects.
It's easy to get wrapped up in the small sense of accomplishment that comes from unimportant, urgent projects, since most of the important, non-urgent projects take much longer and have less certain chances of success, but that's like eating a bag of Doritos in lieu of cooking yourself dinner.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Friday, 11 June 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
The training log can be a motivating device, but it can also push us to do stupid things. Thus I am grateful I stopped keeping a training log. With life so busy with work and trying to manage housing in two different states I can't even remember how long it has been since I last ran.
In some ways, the break from running has even been welcome. I miss racing, but the extra time in the evening on weekdays has been a panacea. But not-running is starting to wear out its welcome. I know because other forms of exercise are finally starting to feel less like work and more like necessity.
I've been biking a lot and I've started a core regimen that I desperately hope to ingrain in myself even once running starts up again, because I am convinced that at least the back-portion of my injury was a result of insufficient core work.
Here's what I've been doing core-wise:
2 sets of
Front pillar for 1:30
side pillar for 1:30 each side
regular crunches for 1:30
Supermans for 1:30 to 2 min
Except I'm not doing supermans until my back heals more.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Thursday, 20 May 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
No human should sit in a chair all day. What did pre-agricultural humans do? Sit cross legged on the ground? What did they sleep on? I'm curious.
Not that we can't or shouldn't improve. I believe in progress and don't wish to be a nomadic hunter gatherer, but chairs are a bane of my existence.
First off, I'm small and one size does not fit all when it comes to chairs (or desks). Also my car is absolutely bizarre. It's like it was proportioned for a chimpanzee, some animal with a significantly longer arm-length to leg-length ratio than I, or any other human I know, has. (Or am I the only one that likes to drive with my legs stretched out and my arms bent?)
Long story short, I'm injured and sitting hurts more than usual. Of course I didn't get hurt by sitting. I got hurt by running, but I'm a runner, not a sitter so I fling blame innappropriately.
I hurt myself at the Flower City Half Marathon. Trained through it. Made things a lot worse at the Mountain goat run. After that I kept training but took every other day off. Days off felt good, but as soon as I ran, the pain was worse than ever, a clear indicator that I needed to stop running, a clear indicator that I tried to ignore until I could ignore it no longer.
I have 3 distinct points of pain; lower back, glute, and back of my leg near the knee. I went to Dr. Reinhardt and got some Active Release Therapy. He's the one that identified the sources of the pain as one of my lat muscles, glute, and "hamstring insertion point" behind the knee.
It's not major, but I knotted up those muscles bad. I should be on the road to recovery after a week off, but that means no Lilac. Sad story.
I tried to swim for training and even that hurt my back. That was before I went to Reinhardt. That's when I realized I was really in trouble. I mean, if I can't swim, what can I do?
It's like Zen Koans:
What is the sound of one hand clapping?
What did your face look like before you were born?
How do swimmers train when they get injured?
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Wednesday, 12 May 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
I was inspired by Mike Insler's blog to post about my eating habits.
I'll start by listing the facts and saving commentary for the end.
I drink almost only water. I drink juice on occassion when I remember to buy it, but literally nothing else. No coffee, tea, or soda. I don't like Gatorade and it upsets my stomach after races.
I eat the same things for breakfast and lunch almost every single day. Breakfast is a PB&J sandwich on whole wheat bread, banana, apple, tortilla chips, and chip dip or salsa.
Lunch is a big bowl of yogurt parfait which I mix myself. It consists of: granola, cheerios, nuts, cinnamon, fruit, and yogurt. Fruit, nuts, and type of granola varies.
Dinner is one of the following: spahgetti, rice & bean burritos, eggs on toast, burgers (beef, turkey, or veggie), or microwaved potato(s).
Desert is ice cream and or cookies.
Damn, I'm hungry just writing this.
Some comments:
I eat red meat very rarely, sometimes I'll go a whole month without any. I just had my blood tested and my iron levels are fine. Usually the spahgetti and burritos I make are vegetarian. So I'm not vegetarian, but relatively close. It can be done while running hard.
I always have vegetables of one kind or another with dinner, but I always "hide" them by mixing them in.
My dinners are more interesting than they sound above. For example: Eggs on toast may sound lame, but I add sauteed onions, and put tomatoes and melted cheese on them. Sounds better now, huh? Each of the dinners are similarly fancied up.
You probably noticed I eat what would be considered breakfast for lunch and lunch for breakfast. This seems to work better for me in terms of digestion when I run in the evening.
Currently I have no plans to change my diet though I plan on eating a bit more than I have in the past because I think I've been under-eating a small bit even though my weight has been constant.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Thursday, 06 May 2010 |
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Hot on the heels of the half marathon, I raced a hilly 10 miler in Syracuse. It'd be easy to race more than once a week all summer and most of the winter in Western, NY, but I'll probably not race again until Lilac.
Race write-up can be found here.
- Neal
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2010 Flower City Half Marathon |
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Monday, 03 May 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
The Flower City Half had a fast and dramatic debut.
Click here for full details.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Tuesday, 20 April 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
In college I would write post-race recaps. Initially I did this for my parents and a few friends back home. Eventually I came to enjoy the writing for its own sake.
Recently I've been looking over my race write ups from college, particularly my freshman and sophomore years, and I'm shocked at how casual my attitude was. Casual is a positive spin on it. Others might call it unambitious or meek. In so many races I'm comfortable backing down from a challenge, accepting place and neglecting time, or accepting a good time even though people are passing me at the end. Most of the write ups I've been reading are from my Sophomore year. That's when I set the (still standing) Williams indoor 5k and outdoor 10k records! So it's not like I was running easy.
I'm not entirely sure what to make of this observation. On the one hand, I wonder if the casual attitude kept me sane and prevented a burn out. On the other, it seems clear that I still lacked the confidence to go guts for glory in a race. Since it has been long enough to forget these write-ups, I wonder if the tone of them changes as I read through my Junior and Sophomore years.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Thursday, 08 April 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
I got back from my third and final college visit and have chosen to attend the University of New Mexico. It will be goodbye Rochester come August and hello 5000 foot high desert and Computer Science PhD grad school.
I ran in Albuquerque when I visited and the temperature was actually colder than in Rochester (last Friday). The run was flat and almost all paved. I did find a golf course (what a waste of their precious water) with some dirt trails, but it wasn't very large. I'm hoping that the local runners and XC team know where to get off road.
I met a UNM student wearing "
Five Finger" shoes. I've got to say I'm intrigued despite what I imagine my podiatrist would think. I may try these out, transitioning to them very gradually, of course. The question is, how can these jerks charge $70+ for glorified rubber socks?
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Monday, 29 March 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
Chad, Kizzle, and I did a killer workout on the perpetually windy RIT outdoor track.
2 x 3200 - 5 min recovery
2400 - 4 min
1600 - 3 min
1200 - 2 min
800 - 1 min
400
I started off at 5 min mile pace, though the second 2-mile slipped above 5:05 pace. The whole rest of the workout was a strain to push the pace down to sub 5 pace. Even the 1200 was only a fraction of a second under. I did manage to push the 400 down to 65 seconds, but I wouldn't have been able to if not for the sound of Kizzle and Byler's footsteps behind me (and also the shame of having been badly out-sprinted at johnny's).
The workout truly felt more horrible than the 5 mile race. Everything after the mile ended with doughy legs that would rather have drowned than tread water.
I'm tired, and not just physically. I'm tired of work, tired of selling my house, tired of trying to impress grad schools. I looked at the
videos of the Running of the Green and realized I did not have the eye of the tiger.
I am negotiating my own ongoing relationship to the sport of running and I just don't ever see myself training as ferociously and single-mindedly as I did in college ever again. Not that I will neglect opportunities that come my way, but it's a different world I live in now. Priorities change. Life happens.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Thursday, 18 March 2010 |
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A last minute change of plans kept me in Rochester for Johnny's Running of the Green and the USATF Niagara 5 mile championships.
Click here
, for the full write-up.
Thanks to Eric Boyce for all the video footage. All the photos are taken (without permission) from the DNC. No copyright infringement is intended, but I figure they are fair game if I was able to get them off facebook.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
The USATF 15K championships is this Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida so it's time for some tapering.
Two weeks before I did only one hard workout and took an extra day off, though that choice was born out of necessity as I was flying out to Colorado to check out potential grad school at Boulder. I did get in two runs in Boulder (will the altitude help me run well this Saturday?).
This week I did one workout of 5 x mile, alternating between my 15k and 10k pace each 400. This is perhaps faster than I really needed to go the week of a big race, but it will probably be fine. I'll be taking today off out of necessity, then doing brief medium-pace (not fast) runs on Thursday and Friday. These last few runs I like to think of as "reminder" runs.
"'ello legs. I've been going easy on you for ten days now. Just a little reminder that you need to be ready to run."
They know the routine by now.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Friday, 26 February 2010 |
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Running is not easy to enjoy. To many that comes as no surprise, but those of us who confidently say, "I'm a runner" as if this is a common object of a to be verb expect running to be generally pleasant. We enjoy training runs and feel good after workouts if not during, but we also get competitive and we keep logs and train the way we ought to in order to optimize our race performance. Improvement can lead to dissatisfaction with anything but more improvement. Running fast can begin to feel like the norm. Anything less feels like failure.
But tonight, before the sun goes down I'm going to get out in these fat fluffy wet snow flakes, this snowicane or hurrizard or whatever they're calling it, and simply run until I feel like stopping.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Friday, 19 February 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
A 200 meter track is not great for the legs. I can feel the results of different stresses on one leg as opposed to the other when I'm done and that sort of asymmetry makes me nervous, but one thing I find the short track great for is biofeedback.
Biofeedback is the use of some kind of technology to help a person learn to control an otherwise subconscious physiological activity.
In my case, I'm trying to stay focused on the present, keep my mind now here and no where else. This is really hard. The mind's tendency is to wander.
Here's where the biofeedback comes in. When I'm trying to run 37 second laps, not 36.5 and not 37.5, a wandering mind slows me down. I get feedback on the wandering of my mind every 37 seconds, which I find to be a good interval for this reminder. The feedback comes from the clock flicking to the next second a step or two before I cross the starting line, not right on it. This is a reminder for me to come back to the present. It's a little poke in the ribs saying, hey, stay with me here.
It makes great practice for staying in the present and getting away from future worry and past regret, something we could all use. Call it physical meditation if you will.
- Neal
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2010 Cornell Kane Invitational |
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Tuesday, 16 February 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
I raced the 5k indoor last Saturday at Cornell.
Click here for the complete write-up. I'm going to leave race write-ups on my personal site rather than duplicate them here.
For a list of all previous race writings, click here.
I will continue to post training info and musings here.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Wednesday, 10 February 2010 |
Please post your questions or comments at our Forum.
So occassionally I can't force myself out the door for even the shortest run and even a drive to the gym feels like an epic burden.
On those days I've found that one can still get a great workout at home without any equipemnt. Here are some things I do in no particular order. A bunch of these work best as multiple sets:
-Yoga
-Pillar - front and side
-Pushups
-Other core exercises: sit ups, etc.
-Supermans (back strength)
-Calf raises on the stairs
-Split squats
-Frog jumps (assuming sturdy floors and sufficiently high ceilings)
-Balance: close your eyes and stand on one leg for 2 minutes. Harder without shoes on.
Also I do a couple exercises as injury prevention. These take a bit more explanation.
-The Neal - I'm not kidding. This is what it is called. Ask anybody who runs or ran Williams XC. This is what they call it.
Start by standing on one leg and doing the running motion (other leg cycles, but doesn't touch the ground and arms pump). Once you're balanced at this, add a gradual tilt. First tilt forward from the hip as if you're leaning into the wind (cycling leg should move behind your center of gravity). Then tilt backwards as if doing a trust fall (cycling leg should move forward of center of gravity). Repeat the tilts a few times. Increase vigor of running motion if you can then switch legs.
-Rotating hop lunges
I made up the name of this one to be a description of what they look like. Imagine you are standing in the center of a large clock laid out on the ground with 12 directly ahead of you.
Hop forward to 12 o'clock, landing only on your right leg and just as you land swing your torso to the right. The goal is to develope knee strength so pay attention to that knee. If it is buckling to the right as you throw your weight onto it, you're doing it wrong. Hop back to center, landing with both feet, then hop out to 1:30 (45 degrees right) on only the right leg again, twisting your torso again as you land. Hop back, then hop to 3 o'clock.
Repeat 15 times on each leg.
The left leg, however, hops out to 12, 10:30, and 9 o'clock.
-Leg up twisties
Put your leg up on a bench or stairs. Lunge into the stairs and swing your arms and torso over the leg (so if right leg is on the bench, swing to the right). This is another knee strength / stabilizing exercise like the last one. Repeat 20 times, then if your right leg is up, put your right fist on your right hip and reach over your head to the right with your left hand. This time as you lunge forward push your hips to the left and reach over head to your right. Repeat with opposite leg.
There you have it. My most bizarre stretching / exercise secrets revealed. Well almost. The other secret is that I won Nationals on a ton of aqua-running training.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Friday, 05 February 2010 |
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I did another stellar track workout recently:
6 pairs of 800, 400. 800 pace was around 2:20-2:22. 400 pace was around 66-68. The next quarter was started 4 minutes after the last half began. The next half was started 3 minutes after the last quarter began.
This workout rolls right along with little time to think or fret and when Chad, Kizzle, and I did it the track was packed. Nothing heats up an 800 quite like fifteen guys starting their 400 right behind you.
If you lift a baby calf over your head, then you lift that same animal over your head every day, eventually you will be able to lift a full grown cow over your head, right?
A lot of runners have this mindset of running the same distance every day, perhaps incrementally increasing mileage. It's the easiest thing to do when you're all alone. I know that's what I default to in the absence of a support network.
The problem is it doesn't work. That's why these track workouts are so great. There are people all around to keep me accountable, energized, and frankly, keep me paying attention, especially when I think I'm safe out in lane three and a half dozen runners are suddenly breaking stride to get around me.
A lot of my workouts are opportunistic. I do what other people are doing where and when they are doing it. I like to think I'd be burning rubber in their absence, but it is simply not the case.
We are social animals.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Tuesday, 02 February 2010 |
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I dare say that the USA is addicted to progress, maybe all people the world over are. We want to believe that things will be better for future generations (which has caused a lot of stress recently, what with the economy, environment, etc). We seek a sense of progress even if the tangible gains are completely, well, intangible (I'm looking at you Farmville players out there.) It's not such a bad thing to list progress amongst are cherished values, you just have to watch out for the neurosis of progress which we runners are particularly susceptible to.
However, I've got a progression here that has thus far felt very tangibly productive. Get a load of this track workout 10k prep progression:
Week 1: 6 x 1600 at 10k pace plus 2 x 800 faster.
Week 2: 5 x 2000 at 10k pace plus 2 x 800 faster.
Week 3: 4 x 2400 at 10k plus 2 x 800.
Week 4: 3 x 3k at 10k plus 2k a bit faster, and a 1k even faster.
This is what Chad, Kissel, and I have been doing at RIT and it goes on:
Week 5: 2 x 4k, 2400, 1600, 800
Week 6: 2 x 5k, 1600, 800, 400
We just finished the long 3k's of week 4. The mind starts to wander as fatigue sets in. I start to consider collective nouns. Certainly "set" seems to be the word for intervals: a set of intervals. But, I thought, "set" is such a dry and colorless word. What about:
A misery of intervals.
An intensity of intervals.
An abuse of intervals.
An abattoir of intervals.
Unlike the training, this progression of collective nouns is totally worthless. See the difference between valuing progress and obsessing over it? Farmvillians, you see?
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Wednesday, 27 January 2010 |
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For indoor track workouts I like to figure out roughly when I'm going to finish a mile or 2k or whatever then ignore the clock except for the last digit. I'll use the last digit to make sure I'm on pace and then, when I see that final time it’s a nice surprise, "I'm done already?!"
Often I'll even ignore the lap splits. I like to get in the moment as the laps fly by. My thoughts go to: This is how my feet feel, this is my breathing, posture. I'll move my awareness through my body like a captain surveying his ship. Is everything in tip top shape? Very good. Carry on.
Pain gets the same treatment: side stitch? fatigued legs? Duly noted. Carry on.
Worrying does no good. To slow or not to slow is a split second decision. Make the decision. Stick to it. Analyze the result afterward. Second guessing is for late evenings staring up at the ceiling with regret. Actually, it's not even any good there, but damn hard to help it sometimes.
- Neal
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Written by Neal Holtschulte
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Friday, 22 January 2010 |
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It's about time I gave some info on what actual workouts I'm doing. I did a good one a week ago:
5 x mile at 74 sec 400 pace with lots of rest (3.5 min). I followed that up with 2 x 400 in 71.
It felt pretty good, smooth and fast to start off with, but increasingly difficult as the miles wore on. It got harder to concentrate, easier to worry about lap counting or other nonsense, or, the silliest distraction of all, how I would write it up on this blog. Afterward I felt sore but without any serious pain, the perfect workout feel.
Yesterday I ran 5 x 2000 at the same pace and also felt good (except for the blood blister that formed on my heel). I think the 2K's felt even easier than the miles. It's amazing how that works. There are so many invisible variables affecting a workout. Sometimes you feel like crap, sometimes speed is a breeze.
I've been getting in two hard track workouts per week as well as one long run on the weekend. I'm in good shape and I'll be in the best Spring shape since college if I can keep this up.
- Neal
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