maffetone

9/29/2015: Morning Run: 5:30 a.m., 6.2 Miles, Central Park Loop; Preparation v. Results

/ Jim McEvoy / Leave a comment

This Morning’s Run

My left quad is still slightly sore from the Bronx 10-Mile, but not sore enough to warrant a day off. So, back to marathon training! This morning’s run felt decent, although the soreness in my left quad held my pace back a bit. I started to find my pace toward the end of the run, but no worries. The first run after a 10-mile race plus extra mileage will likely never feel 100%.

Later today I’ll hit the gym for leg and core exercises. And stretching. Lots of foam rolling and stretching!

Jim Gets Philosophical: Preparation v. Results

Fall in love with the process

 I found an Instagram post yesterday that read “Fall in love with the process, and the results will come.” I really like this sentiment. I found it after reading a couple Bronx 10-Mile race recaps that focused almost exclusively on the runner’s results. My own recap discusses my results (although I tried to recap what the actual race felt like, and attempt to demonstrate my training and race preparation through Time on My Feet). The post reminded me that the most important part of all this racing is the process we runners engage in as we train and prepare.

I’ve found that when I make my race results (or results in any area of my life) the only goal toward which I am striving, I tend to attach more value than I should to them. If I attach too much value to them, I let the results dictate my self-worth. When the results dictate my self-worth, they make me anxious. When I get anxious, I become less capable of performing at a high level. When I am less capable of performing, I don’t achieve the results I’m hoping for anyway, which leads me right back into the cycle of anxiety, decreased capability, and underachievement.

So, I focus on the aspect of competition that I can control: the preparation. I make a training plan and I stick to it. That doesn’t mean I write the plan on Day 1 and follow every single letter on it: I adjust for fatigue or extra energy when necessary, add races and other events as they come up, and try to live a full life outside of running. I take suggestions from friends and athletes who have trained before me, and am always willing to try new things. I try to share my knowledge with others, and support people who are trying to improve their own running. I hold myself accountable, and don’t blame others when I miss or don’t complete a workout because I didn’t sleep enough the night before. I am ultimately responsible for whether I do the work.

If I prepare well, I can stand in the starting corral and feel confident that whatever my race result, I did my best to get to the line. Sure, I might miscalculate something during the race, or maybe I underestimate race difficulty during my preparation. Even so, I can’t devalue my experience because of these missed opportunities. What I can do, however, is learn from the experiences and do better next time.

I still enjoy my good results! I enjoy them, however, in the context of my preparation. The most satisfying moments are those when you achieve something, and you can reflect on how hard you worked to achieve it, recognizing your effort and the help you received along the way. That’s how I feel about my results from the Bronx 10-Mile: I worked myself back from injury through physical therapy and a totally new training style, lifted lots of weights and did tons of core exercises, went to bed early and woke up even earlier to keep my training consistent, and I crushed my previous longer distance race paces by over a minute per mile. I say this not because I’m arrogant, but because I know how hard I worked to get to this point. I can pause for a moment of gratitude, and then it’s back to the work.

The problem that most people have with training is that training can feel uncomfortable both mentally and physically. Even though I do most of my training runs at a moderate pace, I still feel soreness. I also get mentally worn out some days, and just want the running to end! I’ve learned, though, that there’s joy in fighting through the discomfort. It doesn’t always come instantly in the form of endorphins. Sometimes it hits you when you’re walking down the street and you think, “Hey, you stuck with that workout and now you have nothing to regret.” Sometimes it hits at the end of a race, when you cross the finish line and think, “It wasn’t any one workout that got me here, but those times that I could have quit and didn’t certainly helped.” And finally, it hits you when you realize that you’re building a personal accountability that reflects in other areas of your life, including your work and personal relationships.

Fall in love with the process. Every step, every ache, every achievement. Once you’ve got that down, the results don’t even matter that much.

Happy running, everyone!

Race Preview: The Bronx 10-Mile, September 27, 2015

/ Jim McEvoy / 1 Comment
Bronx 10-Mile

Reposted from nyrr.org

With the Bronx 10-Mile plus eight additional training miles scheduled for this Sunday, I am taking today and tomorrow off from running. I’ll hit the gym for upper body and core workouts, and maybe run an easy two miles tomorrow morning, but otherwise I will be spending time off my feet.

Bronx 10-Mile

Previous Bronx 10-Mile start. Reposted from nyrr.org.

Yesterday, I wrote about race preparation, and offered three pieces of advice: 1) know your pace; 2) know your course; and 3) be willing to adjust. I’ll add a fourth: nutrition before and during the race. Here’s how I’ve followed my own advice in preparing for the Bronx 10-Mile:

1) Know Your Race Pace: I’ve overcomplicated this question, and here’s why: Because I’m running the NYC Marathon in five weeks, I don’t want to hurt myself or ruin my strong training base by going too hard during this run. However, I have only raced once since March (at the Percy Sutton 5k), and am pumped to be racing again. I also plan to run an additional eight miles for marathon training after the race, so running the race hard—at a pace faster than my anticipated marathon pace—will likely lead to muscle soreness and extended recovery. But! I want to see how my right hip has healed post-injury, and a hard run will provide some insights. Also, racing is fun!

So, the answer to the question is not that difficult: If I choose to race the Bronx 10 Mile, I will try to hit a 6:15/6:20 minutes per mile pace; if I choose to tempo run the race, I will hit a 6:35-6:45 minutes per mile pace. Which option I choose will likely be a game-time decision.

As for overall race pacing: I plan to start out slightly slower than goal pace, adjusting for downhills and uphills, and pick up steam throughout the race until I’m pushing well past goal pace for the final 2.5-3 miles. During that final push I will focus on passing other runners and maintaining my position.

2) Know Your Course: The Bronx 10-Mile course is an out-and-back on the Grand Concourse, with two additional out-and-backs between miles 4 and 7 (Bronx 10-Mile Course Map). With eight aid stations (at miles 1, 2, 3, 5, 6ish, 7, 8, and 9), there will be plenty of water. Since NYRR did not publish an elevation map, I created my own (rough estimate) using MapMyRun. Outside of a mild uphill between miles one and three, and again around mile 6.1, the course is fairly flat, and features a generally downhill final three miles.

Bronx 10-Mile

Not 100% percent perfect, but a rough estimate of the Bronx 10-Mile elevation profile.

Thus, besides the limited uphill portions, this is a “let ‘er rip” kinda course. As long as you recognize that you will run miles one through three and mile seven slightly slower than goal pace, you can post a solid time by maintaining your pace on the flats and exceeding it on the downhills.

3) Be Willing to Adjust: Because my knowledge of the course came from a self-created elevation map and other runners’ recaps of past Bronx 10-Miles, I might be missing something. Therefore, I am willing to accept that I could encounter additional uphills or wind resistance or other factors that make the race more difficult than anticipated. And that’s OK. The only expectation I have for myself is to finish and to have fun.

4) Nutrition: I wrote briefly in a previous post about my interest in learning more about the low-carb high-fat diets that many ultra endurance athletes favor. While I might embrace that method in the future, for now I’m sticking with what I know: carbo-loading two-three days before the race, and either a gel or a pinole/chia snack about 4-5 miles into the race.

The following comprises my meal plan for the next couple of days:

Breakfast: non-fat Greek yogurt with a teaspoon of added honey; two slices of sourdough bread with peanut butter; two-three eggs

Lunch: baked chicken with sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce; kale salad with carrots, tomatoes, and parmesan cheese; one cup cooked brown rice

Dinner: another cup cooked brown rice, chicken or other protein, baked or stir-fried vegetables

Snacks: vegetables, bananas, nuts (my current favorite are cashews, but almonds and walnuts are also tasty), and lots of water

That’s about it. I will spend the next day or two overthinking whether I want to race or train this run, but in all likelihood, I’m going for it. I’ll be heading up to the race with my sister and my friend, Mike.

Are you running the Bronx 10 Mile? If so, good luck and say hello!

Happy running, everyone!

Maffetone at Work! Also 9/22/15: Morning Run, 5:30 a.m., 6.2 Miles, Central Park Loop

/ Jim McEvoy / 1 Comment

I’ve written a lot of training run recaps. This morning’s will be short: I ran this morning, and it was lovely. Check out my Training Plan for updates on what I’m up to on a daily basis. I’ll be expanding that page to include the exercises I do at the gym, and welcome any and all feedback on my plan.

Now, for something far more interesting!

I have posted relentlessly about Dr. Phil Maffetone’s 180 Formula for heart rate training, and written about my experience training almost exclusively using this method for almost five months. I have discussed how I PR’d at the Percy Sutton 5k—running a 5:56 per mile pace and besting my previous 5k PR by over a minute—by performing training runs at my maximum aerobic heart rate, and doing (at most) three anaerobic workouts prior to the race. In short, Dr. Maffetone’s method has worked for me. But what about for other people?

Larisa Dannis

Larisa Dannis (reposted from Runner’s World)

Here is a great example from Runner’s World of the Maffetone Method at work. Larisa Dannis, a former recreational runner, ran the USA 50-Mile Road Championship in 5:59:11 in October of 2014, becoming only the third American woman to run 50 miles in under six hours. She will represent the United States in the IAU World 100K Championships in Doha, Qatar in November. She also came in second in the women’s race at the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, and was the first female finisher from the mass start at the 2014 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:44:14, only 74 seconds shy of qualifying for the Olympic trials.

How does she train? You can probably guess! From the Runner’s World article: “Dannis trains via the Maffetone Method, doing all of her training runs and races in very specific heart rate zones. It’s an unconventional approach, but one that’s helped her transform herself from a relatively average runner to one of the best American ultrarunners in just a few years.”

The article also discusses her specific heart rate training: “Dannis wears a heart rate monitor to make sure that she’s doing all of her training runs and races in the proper heart rate zone. Over time, she’s learned what heart rate she can sustain for various distances, and uses those numbers to guide her in all of her training and racing. For example, she averaged 134 beats per minute during the Western States this year, and she knows that she needs to be in the 163-165 range during a marathon.”

Finally, “Dannis spent nearly two years building her aerobic base, aiming to not exceed a set heart rate in training. She estimates that she still does more than 90 percent of her training at an easy, aerobic pace.” She has incorporated more speedwork into her routines over time, she says, which also contributed to her excellent finishing time at the 2014 Boston Marathon.

Dannis also employs the piece of the Maffetone puzzle that I am just starting to put together: the nutrition plan. From Runner’s World: “Dannis credits the transformation in her running to three things: training via the Maffetone Method, focusing on whole-body strength (she particularly likes kettlebells), and eating a whole-foods diet high in healthy fats and high-quality protein” (emphasis added).

Such a diet contradicts the common wisdom that runners need to consume a diet high in carbohydrates before, during, and after a race. Anyone who runs road races knows what I’m talking about: carbo-loading for two-three days before a race, sucking down multiple sugar-happy gels during the race, and pounding all sorts of pancakes and other starchy treats after the race as a reward for a job well done. The idea behind the carb-heavy diet is that the body burns lots of sugars while running, so the runner needs to consume lots of sugars to stay properly fueled.

A diet high in healthy fats and protein, however, combined with the maximum aerobic heart rate training advocated by Dr. Maffetone and others, leads the body to burn more fat for fuel. Fat is a more efficient energy source than sugar, and the body creates fewer harmful byproducts at a cellular level when training aerobically and burning fat. This allows faster recovery times, more efficient training, and overall improved health.

At least, that’s the theory. As I do more research, I will expand on this topic. For now, because Dr. Maffetone’s heart rate method has worked for me, I’m willing to explore his guidance on the dietary component of endurance sports. As one running buddy once said after declaring his love for tuna melts, “I sometimes wonder just how good I could be at this sport if I nailed the nutrition component.” Some “food” for thought. Get it?! I’m such a dork.

Finally, I like Dannis’ attitude about racing. She says, “‘Running has always been a very personal endeavor for me. I find satisfaction and excitement through challenging myself rather than competing with others.”

Love it. Focus on improving and running each race better than the last. Results come in many forms.

Happy running, everyone!