CRC 5th Annual Birthday Tequila 400m - SUN 5-5-2013

Charlotte Running Club turns 4 years old on Sunday May 5, 2013. We celebrate the club birthday each year with the Tequila 400m. When we founded the club in 2009, we were doing a 400m workout at JCSU in an massive (in fact kind of dangerous) thunderstorm. On our last 400m, we take a shot of Tequila and then ran an all out 400m. Here is the original crew.

Even if you don't want to "race", come celebrate and cheer! Please keep social media pictures to a minimum as we have certainly have fun at the event but it is not something sanctioned or we want to make too public given the nature of the activities.

Where: Corner of S. McDowell St and Baxter Street (1 block down from Dilworth Neighborhood Grille) 5pm gather for the Tequila - 5.15pm race starts.

Format: At 5.15pm, each racer will have a shot of tequila in hand (lime and salt will be available and optional). At the sound of the gun start, take your shot and then you are off running. First male and first female to the finish wins cash!!! Added $10 bonus to anyone you breaks Thomas Eggar’s course record.  Happy Birthday Charlotte Running Club!!!

Registration: 5pm - $5 cash gets u one dixie cup with a shot of Tequila (bring milk if u are a non drinker) and a chance to win cash if you are the top male or female finisher. 

SPEED

I learned or at least re-enforced four training principles about distance running the past few weeks.  Several of you who are a bit more experienced in the sport may say duh but never the less I am sharing because it is important to my growth as a coach to document what I believe helps make a runner better.

1) SPEED.  It's the title of this blog and a component I have overlooked at times the past 2 years.  I was so wrapped up in marathon training the past 2 years that I often errored on more miles and long tempos.  Those components are needed but where I think I did not do enough was inject speed into my marathon cycles.  The funny thing is that when I plan my athlete's marathon cycles I am usually pretty careful to have some balance however, for my own training, I tend to go extreme. 

Last fall I figured I have good foot speed so I would really go big on longer tempos and more intervals.  For me, the problem was 6 min pace became very fast to me.  I had not done anything quicker.  

While I am focusing on 5k/10k this Spring, for me, speed is what completes me.  It is what I have always been good at and what I need to be confident and sharp. This became glaringly evident to me Sat when I did a workout with a large group of marathoners.  I held with them for the first 4 miles at 6 min pace and then I jumped on the track to roll a 4.48 mile.  With a 5-10 min break, I jumped back in for another 4 mile loop.  What I found is that 5.50-6 min pace after the hard mile felt very comfortable and in fact almost "slow".  I was reminded that one of the benefits of running much faster than your marathon pace during marathon training is the marathon pace then feels much more comfortable as you have been down at paces much quicker. 

2) REST.  This past week I had the luxury or at least, I made a commitment to be in bed around 9pm every might.  I had one night a little before 10pm however, I woke up an hour earlier.  I got nearly 9 hours of sleep every night.  Mileage will make you stronger for sure but only to a point.  If you can't find time to rest and recover, mileage will wear you down and probably lead to an injury after a few weeks.  If you want to increase your mileage and intensity, that is a good goal to help you improve but you had better figure out how you are going to rest more as well.  The body requires time to rebuild.  I have seen some local runners who hold down a 40 hour job that seem to run their best around 60 miles with maybe the occasional 70.  I would argue that unless you have a less demanding job than 40 hours and/or less family commitments, pushing much above that is very challenging to find the proper time to recover.  It can be done especially if you have built your body up to it over a couple years but there is a point of diminishing return.

3) STRENGTH TRAINING.  Another one that alot of you will say duh but how many of us know this, say we are going to do it but really don't commit?  I have been logging my strength training sessions just like I log runs to keep myself accountable each week. My goal is to visit the gym a minimum of 2 times and I strive for 3.  Why the gym?  Why not just at home?  Again, accountability.  If I commit to going to the gym, I know I am going to be there at least 30 minutes working out.  A nice additional advantage is that while I am there, I am stretching alot and doing various type of leg and hip flexor exercises that loosen me up and help get me stronger.  I can clearly see the advantage of the strength training when I am doing intervals as my upper body is now actually participating in the workouts instead of just flapping in the wind.  I also think the strength training is helping me stay out in front of possible injuries that have slowed my training down in the past.

4) GROUP TRAINING.  I probably sound like a break record as this comes up so often when I talk about training but I continue to be a huge believer that we are better off training together than separate.  Does this mean all runs and workouts are done together?  Absolutely not.  In fact there are times when I think there is good value to do a workout solo or get out on a easy run on your own.  However, for your more significant training during training cycle, the benefits of linking up with others is tremendous.  Take my two workouts this past week.  I did 800s on Wednesday.  Paul and Jamaar were not doing the same workout but they warmed up and down with me, did a portion of the workout and were there encouraging me.  Heck, I am not even sure I would have go out of bed to go to the workout if I did not know they were waiting to start at 6am!
Saturday was another great example.  18 runners showed up at Providence Day school to participate in various forms of marathon tempo workouts.  While several of the runners had slight variations of the workout, they all found a way to weaver their individual needs into the group effort.  A couple folks showed up who are not yet back up to full steam but wanted to get some miles in and show support for the others.  The result was an awesome atmosphere where I really believe some of the performances and effort would not have existed with out the collective power of the group.

Running is not complicated and at times I think like any activity that one invests significant time into it we tend to over-analyze.  So even as a runner who has been doing this for 30+ years and coaching for several, I find myself continuing to learn and adjust.  Happy Running!

Cupids Revenge - Feb 9

I was not sure if we were going to do this again this year but Thomas Eggar and Michelle Hazelton are rolling  back from Cary and are all in so the 3rd Annual Cupid's Revenge is on!

Details:

• 8am Cupids Cup 5K race
• Run your guts out for the 5k. Do not save anything.
• 10 min to get water/gatorade/gu in you, drop warm clothes with Aaron
• 8.30am, off towards Providence road (approximately 1 mile from finish of Cupids Cup)
• Providence/Providence - ease into marathon pace heading towards the Arboretum
• Linz to be in the car with music support and water/gu at Fairview/Providence
• Approx 7.5 mile tempo to Arboretum Shopping center (corner of Providence and 51)
• Regroup in the Cinebarre parking lot (next to Taco Bell) for water/gu, dry clothes
• Optional 2-3 mile warm-down and transport back to Cupids Cup. 

Needs:

• Runners for 5K and Tempo.
• Runners who just want to do the tempo
• Pacers for the tempo
• Drivers for the tempo

If you are interested to help with an accurate head count, please email or FB:  Aaron Linz, amlinz@yahoo.com

This is a terrific marathon training workout especially for runners in the middle of a Boston cycle.  Providence road is rolling much like the Boston course.  Working together in packs to help each other out with the tempo is a great way to accomplish this effort.

CAUTION:
This is a fun workout but advanced. You are attempting to push your body when your legs are already tired from a hard 5K effort.  Do not attempt this if you are not in shape.  Please discuss with your coach and/or see how it fits into your training schedule.  It will tire you out and require a few easy days to recover.
We have run along Providence road side walk which switches sides once and there are a few lights.
Cars > humans when it comes to physics so even if you are jammin your tempo, be prepared that you may have to stop and wait for a light and/or break in traffic.  If you get hit by a car, you won't run very fast the rest of the year.

If you have not yet registered for the Cupids Cup 5k, here is the link:
http://events.carolinashealthcarefoundation.org/site/TR/CupidsCup/CHF2011?fr_id=1310&pg=entry

2012 Racing Recap

Each year I think it is important to reflect on your accomplishments not only to remind yourself of success you have had but to find lessons learned so that you can enter the new year with renewed hungry and goals.  As a full year’s body of work, 2012 turned out pretty well.  I was over 3700 miles for the year, healthy most of the year, had lots of fun on runs, met new folks and raced respectably.

Huntersville Half Marathon 12/8/12 3 6:11 1:21:11 – Despite my slow time, I competed hard and really enjoyed this race. Learned that running a half out of shape and for “fun” is a heck of a lot harder than I thought J

Charlotte Southpark Turkey Trot NC 11/22/12 10 27:10 -Yes! I still have some gears!  Got double chicked but by 2 nationally recognized talents.  For a race that I had no expectations and had not trained for, I was very pleased with the outcome.  Validated that of the two shitty options at TR, the DNF was lesser of the evils.

Thunder Road Marathon - DNF at mile 18.5 – The notorious double back after a bad marathon.  ALWAYS a terrible idea as proved yet again.  Could I have finished and suffered like MCM?  Maybe but while I hate for a DNF to be an option, it saved my legs with about 2-3 weeks recovery.

Marine Corps Marathon DC 10/28/12 7:20 3:12:09 – End of a torturous training cycle that netted me nothing other than a grueling last 14 miles.  I am proud of this race because I had to suffer and gut it out to finish.  I learned about about training reflecting back on this cycle.

Wipro San Francisco Marathon CA 7/29/12 5 41 6:34 2:52:23 – was supposed to be a “fun” marathon. It was and gorgeous course which is why I ran it but learned that running a marathon is painful the last 10K no matter what.

Grand Canyon Rim to Rim - 6/17/2012 – not a race but an 8 hour adventure I will never forget.  Huge thanks to Mr. Jaskot for helping make it out of the Canyon.

June Track Series NC (Myers Park) - Ran 4.34 mile which keeps my streak alive of running faster than my age (4.39 was my target).  Also ran a sub 10 min (9.58) 3200m on a separate Tues during the track series.

King Tiger 5K NC 6/2/12 9 5.21 16:38   - Ran this one as I had never done it before.  Got smoked.  Just never had any mojo in this one.

Brooklyn Half-Marathon NY 5/19/12 3 38 5:40 1:14:15 - life time PR!  Felt great

Bulldog 5K NC 4/28/12 1 5:32 17:12 – got a win less than 24 hours since win the night before.

Waxhaw Town & Country 5K NC 4/27/12 1 5:29 17:05  - Did just enough to win as I was planning another 5k the next morning.

Elizabeth 8K NC 4/21/12 1 5:28 27:1   - wonderful race.  Pushed but not to the edge.  Got the W!

Charlotte RaceFest Half NC 4/14/12 2  5:25 33:43 – Life time 10k PR on a tough course!

Get Your Rear In Gear 5K 3/10/2012 1 5.20 16.34 – Ran under the alias Art Monk.  Was a last minute decision.  Felt great and ran well.

Charlotte 10 Miler NC 2/25/12 3 5:43 57:18 – Ughh. Got my tail kicked in this one.  Was 3^rd but I was not happy with my performance.

Frosty 50K NC 1/7/12 1 6:57 3:36:07 – Got lucky Went thru marathon around 2.58 and as a slow year for winning time.  The last few years fellas have gone thru the marathon in the mid to low 2.40s but a win is a win!

2012 - Figuring It Out

There are a lot of Charlotte running topics I could have selected to end the year on but the one that stuck out to me as a theme for 2012 is Figuring It Out.  What exactly do I mean by that?  The phrases takes on a few forms for me.

1) Our Charlotte Running Club board in 2012 started to click in year 3 with business as usual.  We were able to get additional technology in place, assign some rotating responsibilities to better share the workload and we started to look towards bigger objectives.  We brought on 4 new members to the board who appear like they will be active leaders.  We added new officers to the club. We figured out how to make the club sustainable and find a balance that supports the board members in leading but still leaving time for their day jobs, family and their running.

2) Several male and female runners discovered just how good they can be.  The ones I know of consistently trained with a group and then saw the results in races.  They realized they were just as good and in some cases better than the folks they training with which provided them with the confidence to push the boundaries even further.  I look forward to a couple of these folks having a phenomenal 2013.  The Figured out they can run and compete with the big dogs.

3) Another set of runners in Charlotte experienced injury set backs or family changes that altered their running routine.  It forced several of them to re-evaluate priorities and work thru a better model of running/family/job balance.  As a result, most all of them have a template that is much more sustainable for ongoing enjoyment of the sport and will be able to share in the challenges and fun of running in the upcoming years because they figured out how to make time for running in their life.

4) On a personal note I figured out two things in 2012:
a) I did more self experimenting as a runner on my own training to understand first hand how the body will reacted.  While each runner handles physical and mental demands slightly different, I think going thru the training myself ultimately makes me a better coach which is part of my running transition plan from chasing personal in races to helping others achieve their racing goals.
b)  I realized over  the last half of 2012 that father time is finally setting in.  Even as recent as this Spring I was running some life time PRs however, quickly my body is changing.  I need to be aware and monitor my training closer.  The training I did years ago is probably not realistic for me.  PRs are probably just about out of touch and as a result, I need to strive for ways to stay motivated to compete.  I love to compete so it really is just a matter of re-adjusting my expectations about what I can accomplish these days.  So I have figured out my body is slipping but I have some more exploring to get the formula right in 2013.

Thank you to all of you I ran with in 2012 and supported not only the club by me personally in my running adventures.  It was another memorable year and I look forward to a wonderful 2013.

57 Percent

Got lots of thoughts about the waste land that was my racing the 2nd half of 2012.  I will commit thoughts to paper once I collect what I want to share.  Lots of lessons learned just not a lot to show.

Here is a quick recap of my marathon history.

14 attempts, 2 DNFs.  Not counting my two 50k races.  Batting a little over 57% success rate.

Year	Race	Time
2012	Thunder Road	DNF
2012	MCM	3.12.09
2012	SFO	2.52.23	little slower than plan but was fun
2011	Kiawah	2.47.37	fell way off pace but hung on for decent time
2011	Toronto	2.42.15	good marathon
2011	Grandmas	2.41	PR
2010	Richmond	2.41.32	PR
2010	Boston	2.42.41	PR
2009	MCM	2.45.52	PR
2009	Thunder Road	DNF
2008	MCM	3.02.58
2008	Greensboro	2.52.37	PR and win
2007	Thunder Road	3.03.19
1997	MCM	3.16.24

Training on Faith

It's been awhile since I last blogged.  Blogging in not real high on my to-do list.  Occasionally though I feel like writing if for no other reason than I have an hour to kill before I pick Ella up from school.  Today is the first day of yearbook committee for her.

My last blog was titled "Running Alot".  I have kept that theme throughout 2012.  This summer I put in good miles and included a run across the Grand Canyon in June and the San Francisco marathon in late July.  I recommend both if you have the opportunity.

After a few light weeks post San Fran, I cranked the training back up the week of August 20th with 78 miles.  From 8/27 til present, I have had a 6 week stretch of 80+ weeks (89, 89, 100, 83, 104, 83).  In September I logged 404 miles.  I fought thru some painful runs with back and knee issues, but I have been able to manage the injuries with special thanks to Mark Kane who takes awesome care of me as my PT guy.

My running log is always available at:  http://www.runningahead.com/logs/996382c6d2194ae091a0a3b4addd049e
Quick plug for RunningAhead.com as it is a terrific online running log.

As a coach, I preach consistency and building strength week in and week.  I practice what I preach.  Fortunately, I have been able to find a good work/family/running balance that has allowed me to post these big numbers and still find time to recover.  Really for most of 2011 and all of 2012, I have been building, building, building each week and month.  No big breakthrough events, key workouts or races.  Just solid and consistent training over and over and over. I have taken good care of my body with proper nutrition and rest which has helped me keep this training regimen going.

So why the heck am I blogging?  Because I find myself in new territory for the first time in my 28 years of running.  I have limited idea of what kind of shape I am in.  I made a decision this training cycle to not repeat what I have done for 11 previous marathons. I have a history of working very hard in intervals and not doing enough tempos.  It really is a function of what I enjoy and am good at.  I LOVE getting on the track and cranking out 400s or doing mile repeats.  I just feel fast with any type of shorter intervals.  Longer tempos are boring to me and frankly, I suck at them!

I usually do a few races during a marathon cycle to sharpen my racing skills and to get some satisfaction and return on investment for all the training I have done.  I recommend this and build it into the schedules of the athletes I coach.

This training block, I put all my emphasis into marathon specific training.  I have done this by keeping my mileage consistently high, implementing more doubles, and entering the majority of my workouts tired.  I have also completed more tempos and intervals of longer distances. I have not raced this cycle.  As a result, I have no good measures to past performance. No races to measure against.  No comparable workouts to compare against.  It kind of sucks because I love to race and challenge myself yet I have kept to my training plan which is focused exclusively on preparing me for a good marathon.

I have had days where I can barely hold an 8 min pace on a recovery run and workouts where I have been fighting to even stay at my marathon pace.  With 2.5 weeks until my target marathon, Marine Corps Marathon, all I have is faith that what all the miles and training my body to run well when I am tired is will have me prepared to run well at the marathon distance.

My legs and body are exhausted however, that is about where a marathoner should be with 3 weeks to go.  From here on out, I have a few more hard efforts but mainly, it is time to rest and start feeling like I am fresh again.  This is a period of the training I can't stand as I am supposed to do less.  I get very anxious waiting for my body to feel good to go.  But, because I put in so much volume, it is critical to the plan that I get the spring back in my legs.

Have I prepared well enough?  MCM will tell me that for sure.  I am satisfied that I did not repeat the same marathon training cycle that has gotten me far but seemed to peek me out around the low 2.40s. The marathon has so many variables that add up to whether you have a successful day so I can't guarantee anything.  More to follow Sunday Oct 28th.