TAPER Taper taper Use Your Brain 9 of 12

If you read my blogs, you know how I feel about excessive miles down the stretch and especially LONGER runs than you need in the taper. Never the less, let's review a few key points:

1. Most running schedules are archaic dogmatic old school unscientific programs that will ensure you finish the race slower than you should, and you will probably finish IN SPITE of the particular author's advice. (yikes, here comes the emails from the GGGS's!)
2. Most runners will execute the dreaded"pretest", a longer than need run in the last 6 weeks, to mentally assuage their weak minds that they can "do" the distance, instead of steadfastly believing the taper works, and instead of a maximum effort on race day, ensuring a mediocre race, or worse, the dreaded "bonk" that they, except for us small cadre of counter intuitive, scientific, critically thinking but genetic losers, will think it "came out of nowhere" even though they trained really, really hard, and chalk it up to bad luck, bad shoes, or the elliptical moon being in a shortened synodic month.
3. Complete your longest runs 8 weeks out, or pick another race.
4. Almost, almost (hehe) ALL runners are overtrained at the start. (it's just that they follow schedules mentioned in #1 above)
5. Almost, almost all runners will go out too fast and FAIL to run negative splits (and many pace groups run positive splits, in my experience)
6. If you use periodization schedules backwards from race day, for both lifting, cross training, and running, you'll be happier in the death zone. (the last 10k when the bear jumps on your back)

7. Ok.... get a blank piece of paper. Draw a big X on it. Lets get ZEN like and stare at it a few minutes. Uhh, not THAT long, unless you pass it over to me. Tell me grasshopper... what do you see? 
(If you say a big X, you actually may run a great race, because you need a brain to feel pain!)
So down on the lower left, that's the line for intensity on this axis laden example. In Western culture, we would say it goes UP. That's intensity. Now, guess where we go next. No, not to the refer for Haagen Dazs (how did I know you were a woman?)
So up on the upper left, in Western culture, we'd say the line goes DOWN. That's LOAD or mileage. 
Write INTENSITY on the line going UP, and MILES on the one going down. Wha lah!
At the far left bottom, write "6 weeks left".
Near, but not quite all the way to the END of lower right bottom of the page, write "1 week left, STOP RUNNING almost". 

8. Take this paper, and put in under your pillow, next to your last tooth. Eventually, over less than one 4 week periodization schedule, the paper will stop crinkling, and your spouse or dog, or both, will start to come back to bed.
9. Go to bed every night from now on until race day and repeat over and over again the following until asleep:
"I will not overtrain, I will not go out too fast, I will not overtrain, I will not go out too fast..."
Naahnaah naah umm umm ummm neewah neewah  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............
COME TO THE LIGHT....... COME TO THE LIGHT..... you CAN run less miles and get FASTER....

Himself

Using your Brain 8 of 12 .....Gear

Gear Choices

1. SHOES Ok let's start right at the most important item of your gear. Shoes. There are a myriad of choices nowadays, well beyond the scope of this blog topic. So let me lay down a few major ideas here for shoe selection. 

Proper last construction....every runner runs, strides, and hits the ground differently. Toe tappers and heel strikers are on different end of the spectrum, so if you mix the wrong shoe with style, you will be miserable and slow. Generally, the more you move towards motion control, the slower you will be. The more you move towards lightweight racers, the more perfect your stride should be, and the more injuries you may end up suffering as distance is increased.
But wait, this isn't monolithic; you can mix them for the desired workout. Just never go completely against the desired useage, like use a racing shoe on at 20 miler... you'll injure out.
And as always, execute moderation between useage. Morph between running shoes, don't just retire a shoe or run all miles in a new shoe. Studies indicate our feet will accomodate a variety of strides and cushioning, just use moderation in change. This is REALLY BIG.
Finally, manufacturers constantly take really great shoes and progressively move them to "the middle" as the line model ages, to encourage more sales.
Nike is the worst at this. Pegasus was my favorite. One year the model is a great trainer, the very next year the same model becomes a motion control shoe, the next year it's a bigger toebox. Go figure. My recommendation: Once you find your fav shoe, buy large quantities of the EXACT same year, and stockpile them. Then rotate in new shoes, date them with indelible ink, and that way you'll know when to retire older worn shoes. X out the worn ones for gardening, painting or donating. It's 2012, and I still run in new 2005 Pegasus for my primo events.
     2. CLOTHING.... cotton kills as we say in mountain climbing. So only wear cotton in the desert on hot days. the rest of the time there is a panoply of smart fiber products, just be aware of chafing.
     3. PACKS..... there's now a few choices but here's my take. Fanny packs are great for slower longer runs, but no bueno if racing. Hydration packs are wonderful for hauling gear, fluids and phones. They are GREAT for trail running, longer runs in training, and in bad weather. But for real road racing, I like to clip or pocket my goos/blocks /sharks, and just use a fluted 16 oz. water bottle stuffed in my pants on my back hip, held in place by my pant string. Undiluted, I cut my fluid to 50% concentration by mixing water in my mouth at aid stations, ie. take a swig of gatorade full strength just before aid, then swig a cup of water to cut. that gets me to my 7% solution.  :>)
    4. SOCKS....I like to train a bit in cotton or acrylic to build callous, and use smart wool blends for longer distance. If it's going to be wet, wool blend or straight poly pro/ acrylic types that don't hold water. For instance, dry marathons, wear smart wool blends, if it's raining, acrylic. Just keep in mind acrylic can cause blisters faster. I also like to take plain old vaseline and LIGHTLY coat my feet and toes before long distances to keep abrasions/blisters to a minimum.
    5. BANDANAS....these darn things serve so many purposes, they are my most often used piece of gear. I like to wear around my neck for heating/cooling and keeping sun off my neck. They can be used as a doo rag on your head or to keep in heat if cold. They can be used to wash and hydrate your hands, skin, face. Desert runners should always wear for a light tourniquet in case of a bite. They can be worn under a hat fluttering legion style to protect the head and neck of skin if sunny. A versatile piece of equipment, wash them alot and make them super soft, then wear them in all seasons.
    6. HATS.... I prefer visors in concert with bandanas, rather than a hat. I have a good head of hair, and I just plain overheat, so I like more versatility. Personal preference. I also like the UNDERSIDE of my visor/hat to be black, to knock down sunlight diffusion for my light sensitive eyes.
    7. SUNGLASSES.....I like the light PINK tints, to better see trails, cheaper $30 wraparounds to knock down wind, and if I sit on them, scratch them or lose them, no biggy rather than expensive $100 jobs. I buy 3 pairs at a crack for about $25 price, and vary style and color. If you get headaches, it could be the way they sit on your nose, so play with different styles.
    8. NEVER... never test new equipment/food/shoes/gear if the event is important to you.  :>)

Ok, there you have some gear ideas. Please add your own comments/ ideas and go enjoy a run.

Fasteddie

Use Your Brain Series 7 of 12 Course Management

I'll continue now on super smart ways to use your brain to help you run faster, smarter and with a concentration on the MENTAL aspects of running mo betta!

Course Management

This subject is sooo large, I could get carried away and be even more verbose than usual.
After the two biggest mistakes marathoners make, mentioned again for the umpteenth time in my previous  (6 of 12) blog on this series, COURSE MANAGEMENT is the single best way to steal minutes from the clock when running marathons. I estimate two equal runners, one employing these techniques, and one not, may see a difference as much as 10 minutes or more in marathon finishing times. That's about 23 seconds a mile, or more, just for being SMART. That's HUGE!!!! On the bubble for a BQ? The difference may be right here.

I'll try and enumerate some of these ideas, but you may want to add your own, or comment so I can add them here. Thanks for your input!

1. Pre Race Rituals: Proper loading, clipping your toenails 7 days BEFORE race day, making the night before your race night ( ie. Thursday night for a Saturday run) a long stress free sleep night, testing all your foods and drinks, and your packs, bottles etc. in training runs, an ever so light vaseline rub on your feet, food 1 1/2 hours before race, only water the hour before race, glide or vaseline on all your chafing areas, pills including acid reducers starting 2 days before, and on race morning, laying out ALL clothes and drop bag by 6 pm night before, sleeping pills, on and on. Carry a large garbage bag in your drop bag in case of bad weather. You get it. It should be ritualistic and second nature, a checklist can really help.
2. Stay away from family and friends who want to party and sightsee. This is YOUR race.
3. Race strategy: This includes a wrist pace chart or ball point pen splits for 10k, half, 20 and 23 miles on back of your hand. Also, being REALISTIC and adjusting pace for wind, rain, temperature, humidity, sleep, prior races or taper mistakes all and more need to be addressed PRIOR to your first step!
4. Have a FIRM idea of pretested foods and ingestion times BEFORE the gun goes off. I have already addressed the glycogen/fat/ protein issues of racing. You need to ingest not only liquids, but 800-1000 calories during the race to avoid bonking. Eat early (20 minutes after start for first 100 calories) and often. Practice this on long runs.  I start with goo while my stomach is fresh, then move on to gummy bears/sharks/blocks inside and under my lips my lips, and end with sugared dried mangos out of a ziplock baggie in my shorts
5. RUN THE TANGENTS. One of my favorites before they ruined it by adding a half, the RockNRoll Marathon, San Diego, comes to mind. It snakes thru downtown, out route 163 to Mission Valley, then circles through Mission Bay.  Like lemmings, runners follow the runners in front of them. My strategy, run the shortest distance between two points. This means running tangents. On the RnR course, this is worth 4 or 5 minutes just on legally running the inside curves of the race. So from now on, run tangents. Look for the inside turn, and always be looking ahead for the straightest line through the course.
6. Aid Station Strategy.  If you follow the herd, you will be forced to stop or adjust pace at aid stations. Instead, try this. Take your gel, gummy bear, or whatever about a quarter mile before the aid station. As you approach, GO TO THE MIDDLE of the road. Run past the hordes, then on the back side, look for a volunteer holding water or, my fav., Gatorade if they have it.  Ask for it low, as for some reason they all hold it high, causing you to break stride and slosh it all over the place. Next, poor out the overfilled cup until only half full. Crimp it and head back into the middle of the course and slowly finish the drink. And get ready for the next aid station!
7. Consider planting your favorite mixes on the course the night before. Often, the liquids provided by race directors are not what you train with. I like to stow my 16 ounce bottles, half full, at 13, and again around twenty. If you keep it full strength, drink it before aid stations, and cut it with water at aid stations per #5 above. If you DO cut it in the bottle or in a pack, science tell us it should be 7% for easy stomach absorption. I have found that Gatorade cut equal with water is about right. I never take big gulps, but nip more often throughout the race. I like throwaway 16 ounce bottles that I can tuck on my back hip, in my waistband, crushed a bit so it doesn't slip. I like to take my goo and use 4 safety pins and attach 4 of them to my front shorts, on the waistband. Then I use plastic baggies for any other goodies like Ibu (take it later in race if at all as studies show it's no bueno for kidneys), dried mangos, or vaseline, and keep them in a pocket or waist. This way I avoid a hydration pack or hip pack on road races. For ultras, trails etc., I do recommend packs.
8. Work with a partner or make a friend on the course. Pace, race strategy, and aid all get better when you have someone to share it with, and the miles go faster too. I've made alot of friends out there.
9. Associate the last 10 miles with your favorite training run. This is a great way to convince you self that you can do it!
10. Dis Associate pain and time for 20 miles. Then, in the death zone, ASSOCIATE the pain. Go to it, acknowledge it, take stock of it. The marathon is two races. One to mile 20, the other a 10k to get your medal. Take the challenge head on and accept that pain is part of the deal. Being hard is what makes it so great!

I think all of you may have additional ideas. My list is in no way complete. But try to learn these lessons, and apply them with focus, and you may find you're squeezing the course for those extra minutes here and there to get you to your goal time. Happy running!

Use Your Brain #6 of 12 Irrefutable Signposts for Setting Pace

 Hi Everyone,
You have all heard me preach about the TWO biggest mistakes marathon runners usually make:

1. Arriving OVERTRAINED at the race
..... most schedules have you running LONG LONG runs too close to the race, from which it is impossible to recover to maximize race day potential. I harp on this over and over again, as these poor runners with a marginalized base/ability put in 20 milers or even longer within 6 weeks of the race, or worse!, instead of focusing on half marathon distances at increasingly faster speeds.
The GGGS's never stop in relentlessly trying to overtrain us older, every day genetically inferior, heavier MOP'ers.  (middle of the packer's) with JOBS.
Remember, if you are female, and over 98 lbs., or male and over 118lbs., you are OVERWEIGHT for this sport!  LOL!

2. GOING OUT TOO FAST
..... oye vey, like how many times we got to go over this one??? You can read my other blogs on the subject of negative splits. Until you learn to control your ego, which some never ever master in running, you will not optimize your marathon effort. Succinctly, you run the second half faster than the first half. Even if it's ONE second. If you can't believe this works, or you are unable to to this, I understand. But you will never run your best race, IMO!

So, if we do not violate either rule 1 or 2 above, how do you know what pace to run at?

If you GUESS, more than not it will be wrong, either slow of too fast.
At least too slow leaves you alive, and you can practice a negative split, and get even faster next race. What a concept.... focus long term!
Too fast is too miserable. You learn nothing, and your next race becomes another ego driven crap shoot almost surely ending in missed splits and tons of pain. I am an average athlete, who is a subset runner, who has run tens and tens of BQ's, and I am always TRYING to run negative splits. It's just plain easier and more successful to run that way!

One of my favorite indicators is half marathon time.  Common wisdom for faster runners, under say, 3:30, is to DOUBLE your hard half effort, and add 10 minutes. Add time as you float out the overall time. Say, 4:00 hours, add 15 minutes. These are perfect efforts, not adjusted for weight, temperature, altitude, age etc. so in reality, I like to automatically add 5 minutes to those numbers, run the first half accordingly, then run a negative split. Train shorter, muscle building speed increasing workouts and say nyet to overly long runs that teach you to run slow, and eat precious muscle tissue.
Also, this methodology makes you focus not on distance, 
BUT ON HALF MARATHON TIME, where the SPEED is!

The Yasso 800's indicator time, even in my "prime" in my 40's was unattainable. That's because I weigh at least 40-50lbs. more than the guys writing these articles. (see my blogs on the GGGS.... genetically gifted, genetically sifted). For me, it was always a minimum of 10-15 minutes more than indicated yasso times. See below for a host of indicators, or find your own.
(But I LOVE laddered every other week 800's for building speed for marathon runners).

So my advice:
1. Be more astute in your pre race indicators. The links below help in a variety of ways to set your pace based on immediately preceding performances.
2. You gotta RACE 1/2's and below, for at least 4 months prior, then keep extrapolating. 10k's are a must, and you need to master the half long before 6 weeks prior to your marathon race.
The last 6 weeks is almost all taper, baby!
3. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU WANT TO RUN, IT ONLY MATTERS WHAT YOUR FITNESS LEVEL WILL ALLOW! STOP LYING TO YOURSELF, and start running like a controlled, negative split, realistic ATHLETE, not some unhappy high mileage weeny running flameout with excuses. :>)  (is there anybody I didn't offend?)
4. .....and hey, read this blog more often! Thanks for listening.

Yasso 800's
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-255-624-0,00.html

 5, 10 and half conversions:
http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=6765

Galloway
http://www.jeffgalloway.com/resources/gallracepredict.html

PacePredictor
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/general/rws-race-time-predictor/1681.html

Marathon Recovery.... Eddie's Ideas

MARATHON RECOVERY IDEAS

I am interrupting my series on "Use Your Brain" to address questions on Marathon Recovery, as some of us ran the extremely well organized and beautiful 2012 St. George Marathon yesterday. Figure out a way to get a bib for my fav race. The St. George folks knock it out of the park, year after year.

The glow of the marathon has worn off just a bit, and there you are in bed the next morning, and the floor seems a million miles away. Worse, the stairs may not be negotiable, especially if there was a lot of downhill pavement running.

The general and prevailing wisdom is to look at your taper schedule for the last 30 days to race, and do it in reverse. I'm ok with that, if you must, but my ideas, as usual, are a bit different, especially since I think most runners don't taper correctly. (If you read my blogs, you also know I disagree with most training schedules, and tapers, especially on long runs)

Who says you have to run, anyways?
Go back and read my blog July 18, 2011 Injuries: the Five Step Process, then come back here.
Ok, you just ran a marathon. You pushed everything to the limit. Recovery is now in order.
If you didn't injure on the course, now is a wonderful time to try to do so. Just crank up those miles right away.
Me?, I'll be goofing off for a while eating INnOut Double Doubles, Animal Style!

The studies I have read show biking/spinning, not rest or running, engender the fastest recovery. My own experience also supports this.

Weight lifting: Now's the time to add muscle back that your body ate the last 6 miles of the race.
Spinning: Don't go bonkers, or show off in class, just cruise for a few days and have fun, talk and tell stories.
Food: My rule is to eat whatever I want for a few weeks, I earned it! This will re charge your brain and your attitude too.
Running: Not much, my body is injured, time to heal.

Week One:
Day One after: hot showers, ibuprofen, easy walks and SPIN biking or flat cruising on the bike. If you didn't eat big yesterday, today's the day. Protein and fluids encouraged.
Day Two: For me, it's the SECOND day that hurts the most. If you've read my blogs about recovering from injury, you know I think the best way back up the ladder is to workout, then wait TWO days to see how you feel. Well, you INJURED your body on race day! so take two! Spin biking etc. ok for 20-40 minutes, low levels.
Enjoy the rest of the week, run how you feel, but keep miles SUPER low, like 6-10 MAX. for the WEEK.
No long run first weekend. 

Week Two:
Same again, add some miles, but spin and crosstrain. Hit the weights, add back muscle your body ate to finish the race. No hard runs, no hard speed under any circumstances. Go long for 8 on Saturday IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT.

Week Three:
Ok to start racing 5k's, 10k's, just no PR's, and even a half IF YOU ADD 12 minutes. However, the third week in recovery is always miserable for me. I usually feel ok for two weeks, then it's as if my body says "not yet"  in week three, and I struggle as my body reminds me I trashed it a mere 20 or so days ago.

and so on. Don't go OC. Remember, yo can't run from the bench or the doctor's office.

GENERAL NOTES:

1. The RACE INJURY SHADOW is really dangerous for the first 3 weeks. If you injure out at weeks 4, 5 or 6, look back at your frisky schedule in the first 3 weeks, you prolly came back too fast.
2. The RACE SHADOW itself can last 8-12 weeks or more. PR's are 12 weeks for sure. Downhill races, also 12 weeks. This means no hard speedwork, no high miles, no long runs, just have the patience to let your body recover. Re establish your training routine, but at a lower level than prior to the race. Re read "Injuries, the Five Step Process" again, to remind yourself not to ask too much of your body. The marathon is not a workout, it's an INSULT to your body. Treat it as such!
3. CROSSTRAIN in the shadow. You lost muscle, add it back. You lost your mental edge, enjoy life and replenish. You stressed body parts, let them heal. Spinning/biking is an excellent way to add blood flow without stressing running parts, allows them to heal, yet keeps aerobic capacity up, and burns calories so you don't balloon out. Weightlifting reasonable amounts of weights can re set body tone lost on the taper. If you want to recover faster in the future, add weight training to your schedule long before your marathon date.
4. Beginner marathoners will take WAY longer to recover than veterans. PR's will also require seemingly geometrically longer times to recover. Downhill pavement races also require extra time, and are painful for days after the race.
5. If a 3:30 marathoner runs a 3:45 race, recovery is very fast, but if that same runner squeezes out at 3:25, the recovery time can double, or even triple over the 3:45 run. That's why I preach every marathon need not be a PR! Here's a concept..... run a marathon and make running a negative split the primary focus, 15 minutes slower overall time... it will make you a way mo betta runner in the long run.
6. If you still don't run NEGATIVE SPLITS like I preach herein, your recovery time will be longer, as will the race shadow for injuries. (I snuck in a 4 minute negative split for my first BQ on my new knee at St. Geo. yesterday :>))

There's plenty of time to go out and set some new goals, so enjoy your recovery for at least 30 days and run how you feel, with caution on your side!  Happy running! Fe