Unofficially Summer!

It's Memorial Day in the States. First, I would be greatly remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to acknowledge the veterans and express my gratitude for their service to our country, and for fighting for the rights that we consider to be so fundamental.

Second, this is supposed to be the unofficial start of summer. Oregon didn't seem to get that memo...or maybe it just chose to ignore it. I woke up to rain pattering against my bedroom window this morning, which made it quite difficult to want to get out of bed. I eventually did, but I still haven't ventured out for today's run (or really, any errands, for that matter). Rather than start this week's training, I'll reflect on last week's.

Last week's workouts (week ending 5/26)
Running - x5 (27.20 miles total)
Cycling - N/A
Core - x2
Strength - x1
Foam rolling - x3
Salt bath - N/A

For the first time in a while, I went trail running. I did 4 miles on the Wildwood Trail on Monday. While the hills weren't easy in the least (the first two miles were uphill, and resulted in a 600' climb), it was a great way to just lose myself in a run. I normally shy away from this run because of that climb, but my runner friend Darren reminded me that I shouldn't shy away from the hills and trails because they'll make me stronger and less injury-prone. 

I also did my first unstructured fartlek workout on Friday. (Up until now, I've just done basic intervals with the same amount of rest between each interval.) And dare I say it was actually kind of fun? 

In the days after Eugene, one of the big things that I noticed was that my appetite decreased. I've read about runners eating just as many calories post-marathon as they were during the peak of their training, so for that reason, I was grateful that my hunger levels decreased. This week, I noticed that my hunger levels increased, which I'm convinced is due to the increased activity (i.e., increased mileage, 5 days of running instead of 4).

I did one day of strength work (20 min) and two days of core work (about 30 min, collectively). After my core work yesterday, I concluded that I should put more emphasis on ancillary work. My goal for this week is to do at least 2 days of core work and strength work (2 days for each). Three days of each would probably be optimal for making me stronger overall, but when setting/achieving goals, it helps to break up the bigger goal into smaller, more attainable benchmarks.

Running Articles
I came across a couple of interesting articles this week. I can go into detail about these in another post, but I wanted to share them with you now.

"The Exercise Equivalent of a Cheeseburger?"
(Source: Wall Street Journal)

The article claims that endurance running (over 30 miles/week) could result in elevated levels of coronary plaque and increased vulnerability to other adverse cardiac conditions. If you follow me on Twitter, you already know that I'm skeptical and critical of this article. The references that it cites are limited and hard to track down, and the one I could find was a flawed study. My friend and MPH classmate Annie suggested I use my skills from grad school to compose a more developed and eloquent critique. This is in progress.

"Why Long Runs and Workouts Don’t Need to Feel Like You Could Run Goal Pace for the Full Marathon"
(Source: Runners Connect)

I've been asked before why marathon training runs max out at 20-21 miles if the race is 26.2 miles. I think that this offers an interesting (i.e., one I've never heard before) perspective on the subject.


"Summer Reading: 2013′s Best New Running Books"
(Source: Competitor.com)

I haven't read any of these, but some of them look really interesting. Hopefully, I'll be able to read some of them this summer!


Coaching Update
Thanks to Erin and the lovely world of Twitter, I've looked into the USATF and RRCA Coaching Certification courses. Both are well-regarded, but I'm more inclined to take the USATF course. USATF is the sport's governing body, and the course prepares one for both club- and school-level coaching. Sadly, neither is being offered in a convenient location for me anytime soon. (C'mon guys, add some more west coast dates!) 

Have you read any good running books/articles lately? And if so, which one(s)?

Elites and the Rest of Us

As you may have noticed, I've been doing a Monday recap of my training from the previous week. I'd like to keep that up, because it gives me a chance to reflect on what went right/wrong in the week's training, and a chance to pass that wisdom onto you.


Last week's workouts (week ending 5/19)
Running - x4 (20.29 miles total)
Cycling - N/A
Core - x2
Strength - x1
Foam rolling - x4
Salt bath - x1

My workouts felt pretty good. My run on Friday was at a 7:13/mi pace and my run on Sunday was at a 7:05/mi pace. I'm not quite sure where the speed came from, but I'm not really complaining either. My right quad felt a bit tight after my run on Sunday, but I think the side leg raises, clam shells, and salt bath helped that one out.

Running Celebrities
More exciting than my speedier training runs -- I met Kara Goucher on Saturday at the Portland Rock 'N' Roll Half Expo. (For those of you who don't know, Kara's an Olympic runner, and a fellow Portlander to boot.) Thanks to Twitter, I learned that she'd be speaking at the Expo on Saturday. So I showed up, just expecting to hear her talk. What I didn't expect was that she'd be doing an autograph and photo op after her talk.

In honor of the "pics or it didn't happen" saying...

I'll be honest -- the runner nerd in me was a bit starstruck. Fortunately, that didn't last very long.

But back to her talk. It was interview-style -- some guy (I have no idea who he was) asked her questions about her running career for about 30 minutes, then he took a break so that the audience could ask questions (this was about 10 minutes), and then her husband and son joined her on-stage to discuss the career-family balance for a few minutes.

Her solo portion of the talk was excellent! A few highlights:

-She had tried other sports, but running was the first one that felt natural. In her words, "Running was the first sport where I didn't have to think."

-Elite runners, like the rest of us, have good races and bad races. Sometimes (e.g., her 2007 World Championship 10K), the elements are going to all come together, and the race will feel incredible (and possibly surreal). But in some races (e.g., 2009 Boston Marathon), she's given it everything she can and has fallen short of her goal. She was initially disappointed by missing a goal she felt was realistic, but then she asked herself, "Now what? What can I take from this to become a better runner?"

-You're not always going to meet every goal. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't set your goals high. Setting high (but realistic) goals for yourself keeps you challenged.

I really felt like I could relate to her. For me, running just felt...right. What's more natural than putting one foot in front of the other?

And like her, I've had good races and bad races. My surreal race was Chicago -- I crushed my half-marathon PR by 5 min, and my full-marathon PR by 13 min. I remember thinking "Holy $#%@, did that just happen?!" when I crossed the halfway mark, and just being floored when I crossed the finish line and saw 3:11 on my watch. And my bad race? Eugene. I was disappointed that I didn't achieve a goal that I felt was realistic, but looked at my performance to try to find ways that I could improve as a runner.

Once I felt like I could relate to her, I began to think that maybe the elites are a lot like the rest of us.

Career Thoughts
As you may know, I'm finishing up grad school in a month and am hunting for a job. This job hunt has forced me to consider what kind of career I really want. And what I'm realizing is that I want to be involved in coaching in some way. The idea of helping others live healthy lifestyles and become better runners appeals to me. And now that I have a point A and a point B, how do I get from A to B?

Any tips/leads for getting into coaching?