A Cunning Plan

2011 had a number of highlights, but now is the time to look ahead, to lay plans, to set goals for 2012. For me the next big A goal is a no-brainer.

My next big 'A' goal is a sub 3 Hour Marathon at Boston 2012.

To that end I have come up with a plan so cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel. Im going to get myself in sub 2:50 shape and then run a controlled sub 3 pace. It's fool proof I tell you.

OK So maybe there is one small issue, Sub 2:50 form is over 15 minutes faster than my current PB. Perhapes 2:50 is beyond my reach, but heck if you dont aim high youll never reach your full potential.

So over the past few weeks Ive been doing a bit of research, looking at how I trained for munster, looking at what worked, where i can improve. Where I can tweak my training to get a better result, I have put together a training plan.

The Training Plan

My training for Boston is going to be once again bassed on Lydiard. Which means high millage in the Aerobic Zone. For Münster I mistook the variance in Aerobic pace, that is in a Lydiard Plan for the effort of the workout. Its not all about running at the same pace every day. There should be a lot of variation in paces, form the slow pace of the weekly long run, right up too the Sub LT threshold runs at faster than Marathon Pace. I will be including a lot more varience in my pace in this training round.

Another big change for me will be the shift to training in the mornings. My running group meets in the evenings, unfortunately the groups normal pace is now a slower recovery jog pace for me, with 3 group runs during the week, I was simply loosing too much training time. The shift to training mornings allows me to train at my pace every day, and then use the group runs as additional recovery paced jogging. I have already given pre-dawn running a trial and it works for me

My current training break will officially end on Nov 27 when i run the Aasee Candlelight 10k in Munster. In the fist few weeks of training after that I will be building up the millage, and time spent running with the goal of follow the plan below.

Mon: AM - 75 min Easy or a Progress assesment, PM - Recovery Jog
Tue: AM - 120 min Medium Effort Pace, PM - Cross training
Wed: AM - 80 min Easy, PM - Recovery Jog
Thur: AM - 130 min Medium Effort Pace, PM - Cross training
Fri: AM - 60 min Sub LT (Hard Aerobic Effort Pace), PM - Recovery Jog
Sat: 90 min Marathon Pace Conditioning.
Sun: 180 min Easy Effort Pace.

I will endeavour to be better about doing a proper warmup routine prior to my morning runs. I will continue to Include a core strength program in my training. I am planning to add a once weekly stretching regime, although not immediately prior or post running workout.

In February I will be running the Hamm Winter Lauf Series. 10k, 15k, and HM. These provide a really good estimate of Marathon form when you add all three results together. For example my total in 2011 was 3:24 and then I ran 3:23 in Vieena. I will not do any tapering for these races, and after them I wont race again until Boston, that way I hope to elimate the inconsistency that I had prior to Münster due to tappering for HM races.

"Knowing where you want to go is easy. Mapping out the plan to get there is challenging. Doing it requires total commitment" - Josh Cox, 

So now that i have my goal, and the cunning plan that is guaranteed to achieve it, Im 2/3rds done... all i need now is a little commitment.

 

2011 a Season of PB's

Im currently taking a short training break. The idea is to give my body and mind a chance to re-group before I start what is likely to be a hard 3-4 months training for my first big 'A' goal race in 2012. A break like this is also the ideal opportunity to look back over the achievments of the previous season. A lot has happened to me this year.

Highlights

I still remember that amazing feeling i had running through the streets of Vienna, grinning from ear to ear and thinking to myself 'Wow your really doing it, your running a marathon'. Only a year before that i was going through several bottles of vodka a week, and on the edge of a slippery slope into a really dark place. Instead to inspire my kids Id taken up running, and now there i was running my Debut Marathon.

After Vienna I'd planned to focus on anaerobic training for shorter races instead I hurt my achilles, and thought that the enforced break in training would put a sub 20 5k well out of reach. But my kids cheered me on at the local 5k in haltern, and somehow I managed to pull that sub 20 and my first ever age class win out of the hat.

I then turned my sights to the Münster Marathon, I started building up the milage again, training even more than i did for Vienna. There were a number of Half Marathons in the build up that left me more than a little uncertain that i was in shape to run my targeted 3:10, but on the day it all seemed to come together, my pace plan worked a treat and i was able to storm home to run a time that surprised me as much as anyone, 3:06. I used it to apply for Boston 2012, and it was accepted.

To close out my 2011 season I decided to reward myself with an Ultra Marathon, the Röntgenlauf. Id not really done any specific training, just relied on the Aerobic base my Münster training had built. The race itself was fantastic. My result more than acceptable. It has me itching for more in 2012.

PB's everywhere

The first Races of the season were the Hamm Winter Series. 10k, 15k, and HM. They worked into the Vienna build up really well, and it was great to run these races where i do most of my training. I set PB's in each, which would become a theme for the whole season, with just about every race I ran leading to a new PB.

I started the season with a 5k PB of 25:47 I took 5 minutes off in the first 5k of the season, and a further minute of a week later to set my current PB of 19:35

I broke my 10k PB everytime I ran the distance, taking it from 43:07 at the start of the season down to 40:28 at the start of Autum.

My Half Marathon PB was a little more resistant, helped by a great start to the season in the Hamm Winter Series, and warm temperatures prior to Münster. Still it was 1:43:20 prior to the season and i have a race PB of 1:34:02 now. Which given my 1:31 second half to Münster should be a pretty soft target.

In the Marathon I debut'd with a 3:23 and improved it to a 3:06 Five months later

Training

Some of the dramatic improvement in my running times this year has to be contributed to simple beginners improvement. However during the year my training has migrated towards being primarily focused Lydiards principles, on improving my Aerobic condition. Im sure that also played a significant part in my results. It remains to be seen if i can continue to improve next year, but i dont see why not.

There is certainly room for improvement in my training. I will be working on improving my consistency in the buildup to Boston. My Münster training was disturbed by too much racing in final weeks before tapering. I was unable to use my HR monitor due to some 'technical difficulties'. My training was also a little one dimensional too much long slow and not enough medium fast aerobic training.

It surprising but ive also really been enjoying my training break over the last few weeks. I have even done a little less recreational running than I'd initially planned. The break is almost over. Im feeling re-energized and ready for the coming season. If its anything like this year has been then its going to be a doozy.

Messenger of Run Happy.

Unter allen Bewerbern gehörst Du zur neuen Testläufer-Generation, herzlichen Glückwunsch! Nach der Auswertung aller Bewerbungsbögen sind wir zu dem Entschluss gekommen, dass Du genau der Richtige bist, um unsere Produkte zu testen und darüber zu schreiben. Deshalb erhältst Du nun von uns den Status:

„Messenger of Run Happy“.

Ok, for those that dont read German what that means is that ive been selected to take part in the Brooks Test-Runner Program. My 'brief' is to give an open and honest review of various products that will be sent to me. As you can imagine Im pretty excited about this. Not only because it means that i will have the opportunity to try out some brand new products. But also because I can be reasonably certain that someone at Brooks will be paying attention to my feedback, If that means that in some small way i can contribute to a better product then thats pretty neat too.

At the moment I have to admit that i do feel a little like Tahi, 'one lucky kiwi'  .... although given it's a (true) story about a kiwi with one leg... im not entirely sure how far I'd like to take the comparision.

Im not really sure what's coming or when it will be here, which is all part of the excitment at the moment, but what ever does arrive will be put through its paces. I have quite a bit of running planned this month, and then come December Ill be starting the rampup for next year, for Boston, and my attack on the 3hr barrier.

Boston

I have a confession to make! I applied to Boston 2012 and didnt tell anyone. Not sure why i kept it too myself, I guess incase I got rejected so I could slink off quietly.

In Munster I ran a BQ-5 qualifying time, Whilst Boston had allways been at the back of my head, I didnt realise that Münster could also be used as a qualifying race until Henning a friend from DM mentioned that he was using it to run a BQ time. Id originally planned to try and BQ in Spring 2012 at the Düsseldorf Marathon.

Ive also been planning to fly home to New Zealand sometime soon, so with a little prod from Ryan i investigated the possibility of combining the two... The plane ticket to come back via the US isnt significantly more expensive than returning over Asia... so on the spur of the moment i submitted my application.


Dear Paul:

Please make note of your Submission ID #: 2011960.

Thank you for submitting an entry to the 116th B.A.A. Boston Marathon. It is important to note that your Submission ID does NOT constitute entry into the race, but confirms that your entry has been received by the B.A.A.

September 16th

With a BQ-5 I was able to apply on the 16th. On the 19th i was happy to hear Henning had also submitted his application.


Then its a game of wait and see. I was under the impression that the last block the normal BQ times was still a first come first served system like the previous year. Unfortunately I heard via DailyMile that it wasnt, that this year the set a cutoff time of 1:14 faster than the base BQ time in each age class. Which means that Henning recieved a rejection email.... I was also sad to hear another great runner friend from DM Javier also recieved a rejection email, he missed the cutoff by 1 second. That really has to hurt.

I received a conditional acceptance, The BAA registration office needed a copy of my race certificate from Münster, with a translation of the details on it so that they could verify the qualifying details id submitted.


Dear Paul,

Thank you for submitting your application for entry into the 2012 Boston Marathon.

Upon verification of the qualifying time you submitted from an international race your application will be approved for acceptance.

September 23rd

So I emailed them the pdf certificate you can download from the Münster Marathon web site and my translation of what was on there. I still wasnt sure i was in, would they accept the Münster Marathon as a valid qualifying race? This morning my doubts have been laid to rest.

Dear Paul A. Henry,

This is to notify you that your entry into the 116th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 16, 2012 has been accepted, provided that the information you submitted is accurate.

A Confirmation of Acceptance card will be mailed to you via US Postal Service mail in October.

September 30th

So it appear that i need to start organising my travel and accomodation plans.

I have to admit that i do feel really bad for the guys I know that applied and got rejected, It would have been really great to have caught up with them either prior or post race to chew the fat and tell tall stories about our running deeds. But i know that both Javier and Henning easily have BQ-10's in them and that if they want it they will be able to qualify in the coming years, tighter qualifying times or not.

From Jogger to Runner

How to class someone, either as Runner or Jogger is an age old problem with no solution that is satisfactory to all. Its a Problem that Ive read about in the past, and at the time the solution that i liked the best was 'I am a runner because I say I am'. So I wanted to look at what lead me to start seeing myself as a Runner instead of a Jogger.

I started Jogging in 2010 to get fit, to give myself time to think, to burn off frustration and nervous energy... and it worked really well, You can read about how i got started jogging here. I had entered a few races and was enjoying myself, but i didnt consider myself a Runner. Even after i bettered my 10k PB, or when I ran the Cologne Half Marathon in an injured friends bib i still though of myself as a Jogger.

For me the feeling came in the begining of 2011, I was training for the Vienna Marathon, doing lots of Aerobic training, and my pace at a comfortable effort was improving rapidly. I guess for me the feeling of being a Runner rather than a Jogger is linked to pace. Both the ability to run at what i consider a fast pace, and the desire to continue to improve it.

Those initial reasons I had for jogging have now become secondary. It doesnt mean that I dont still need them, just that now ive come to accept them as what seems like a guaranteed side effect of running. So why have they become secondary? Well basically running has helped me get my life sorted out, its helped me become someone i actually like being rather than that sad, angry, depressed guy i was before.

I guess i could have decided to just continue jogging and use my spare time in some other activity, if it wasnt for that interesting aspect about running. Ultimately your allways competing against yourself, which really appeals to my personality. Now the primary driver for my training is to improve my current performance. To achieve the performance goals that I am setting for myself. Basically most of my running now is running for runnings sake.

But what exactly was it that got me to start to feel like a Runner? When i think about it there was one standout training run during my training. It was an Out and Back 20km route that id started using for Marathon Pace training runs. I Remember one day being about 15km in, looking at my Garmin and seeing that i was cruising along comfortably at a pace under 5:00/km. I remember thinking to myself. 'Wow, now your running Paul.' That was the moment that started me on seeing myself in a different light. Seeing myself as a Runner.

And at the end of the day, how you see yourself is the most important thing, and thats why i like that definition of Runner. 'I am a Runner because I say i am!' If you see yourself as a runner then you are one, at least in my books.

How I became a Jogger

If you ask me how to get started in this running game, Ill preach to you about listening to your body, not increasing millage too quickly, not worrying about pace, Ill suggest training bassed on time rather than distance, basically all the things that i didnt do when i was starting out myself. The enlightened man would suggest that i learnt from the error of my ways, but thats not strictly true, I actually think i was just lucky to get away with it.

So how exactly did i get started on this journey that took me from a depressed guy that was starting to drink way to heavily, to an athlete that belts out a 3:22 marathon less than a year later?  Well actually my start is probably pretty similar to many others, its only really in the ongoing training, and the training volume that i differ to most other new runners. 

I guess i was lucky to be born with good genes, i have never really been significantly overweight, and exercised more or less irregularly mainly as part of being a father to 3 kids. But in the 6 months prior to when i started running my health had suffered. Id started at around 97Kg, dropped to 88Kg in about a month, and then bounced back up to 100Kg as a result of starting to drink more heavily. The circumstances in my life could have easily seen me spiral out of control, so it was really fortuitous that i laced up those old sneakers one  afternoon and decided to run to the bridge and back.

My very first run was 11-May-2010. It was 3.59km and I completted it in just over 21 mins, which I guess wasnt too bad all thing considered. I do know that i was absolutely buggered at the end of it. I was running in a pair of old sneakers, that I usually wore to mow the lawns in.

Perhapes the next step seperates me a little from many others. Over the next few days I immersed myself in internet research about running. I watched youtube, i read blogs, i read articles at runners world. What that did was fuel my interest. To make sure that i would keep at the running and not stop after a few days. I told my kids that i would run the Local 5k City Run. The next day I discovered it was only 2 1/2 weeks away.

The next two weeks i started training every second day. I ran the same route each time, pushing the pace as much as i could, or at least trying to get to the point where i could run at a consistent pace the whole way without slowing down too much. I knew if i could run that far in training then Id be able to do the 5k on race day... maybe not walk the day after but id do it come hell or high water. Over the course of those two weeks my knees got progresively more and more sore, my legs were still stiff every day. I was really starting to struggle.

Then i made a big mistake, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I decided that my sneakers were a bit too grotty for the city run and put them through the washing machine.... which was wrong. DO NOT WASH SHOES in the washing machine, they shrink. I tried running in them but it was no good. I was faced with a big dilemma, no shoes and a 5k in 3 days. So over lunch the next day, I walked to a local running shoe shop. They put me on the treadmill, did a foot scan, the whole enchilada. The Sales clerk then offered several pairs of shoes the 'suited me'. A pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10 were the most comfortable and what i came away with.

No sooner was i home that night, and i was out for a run. the knee soreness during the run was gone...although the stiffness and ache afterwards was still there. From my research i knew to take a rest day the day before the race...well i needed too regardless to be able to run without stiff legs. The 5k race rolled around and i started off conservatively and increased the pace throughout, finshing in a time of 25:47 Breaking the 26min mark that i thought i wouldnt be able to reach. I was over the moon with my result, it must have been the shoes....speaking of shoes, If i hadnt just bought new running shoes i may well have let the running slip at that point, but now i had these shoes, I couldnt justify spending that amount of money on running shoes and then not running in them.

In the weeks that followed My legs finally adjusted to the new regime. the soreness during running was long gone, and the stiffness afterwards was also becoming a thing of the past, Id increased my run from just to the bridge and back to be around the top half of a local lake...a 5.5k course. The next change was to switch to running in the mornings, it meant id have more family time in the evenings, and had the added benifit of avoiding the small flies and insects that frequent the lake shoreline.


Once i was able to run comfortably for 40 mins i started to add in a little extra distance once a week... I was starting to think about running a 10k race. First it was 7km, then 8.5km... then 11km... then 15km.

I started to enjoy the running, it was no longer a chore to get up early and run, i actually wanted to do it. I was feeling good about myself, i was able to go out and run for a whole 10k or further. I was now able to consider myself a Jogger. It was during this time that i started to have my first 'Forrest Gump Moments', running around the local lake, with mist rising off the water and the sun coming up over the horizon.... magic, and i only got to see that because i was now a jogger.

My Previous Running History

Like most kids raised in New Zealand i led a pretty active life style. My school holidays were more often than not spent at my grandparents who lived on farm, my cousins lived next door, we were pretty much left to entertain ourselves. We played lots of sports and roamed all over the farm, mostly in bare feet. bare feet were ok, as long as we washed them before coming in the house,  but i was under strict instructions from nana to keep my hat on, especially when playing under the macrocarpa trees.

I first ran races as a kid at the local athletics club, but showed no real talent. My Robotic style  involved lots of effort but very little fluidity, It was however enough to win me the odd third place in a 100m dash but i dont ever recall enough of the good runners ever being sick so that i could actually win a race. First place was rewarded with a 'prize' from the clubs tuck shop. Never having won i had no incentive to train. besides i think my parents saw it more as an opportunity to get rid of us kids for a few hours one night a week rather than as a sporting endevour.

I did do a little long distance 'fun running' before going to highschool, a couple of 5k's a 10k. The teacher coaching us ( who was relatively young and caught up in htis new jopgging fad) said i had potential, since i was usually found running with the faster group. But on arriving in highschool i started playing basketball as my sport of choice, my weekends were spent hiking and camping.

Fast foward to my early 30's. I started a new job and they had a gym and physical trainer on campus for the staff. I started running in my lunch breaks as a way to meet people from outside of my department and because they actually frowned on people working through their lunches, a novel idea to me at that time. I built up my miles trained hard and completed my first Half Marathon in just under 2 hrs. I shaved 12 mins off that time a few months later running a half in the waitakeres. But then I got poached, a firm made me an offer i couldnt refuse, and my new duties (like working through my lunch break again), and lack of gym put an end to my running.

Since then I have had to chase my kids around a bit, and i tryed to lead an active lifestyle, bike tours or walks with the family on the weekends, but didnt do any specific sport. I was blessed by nature with a reasonably good metabolism, and although my weight slowly increased with age, i was usually able to eat and drink what i wanted without too much regard.

So thats it, no years running on a Highschool cross country team, No College track team, No extended history of distance running, at most i flirted with it a few times.