http://www.christhefoo.com The Musings of The Music Man Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:18:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 © chris.rodriquez@gmail.com () chris.rodriquez@gmail.com() 1440 The Musings of The Music Man chris.rodriquez@gmail.com No no http://www.christhefoo.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://www.christhefoo.com 144 144 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/670 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/670#comments Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:18:54 +0000 Chris http://www.christhefoo.com/?p=670 http://js-kit.com/rss/www.christhefoo.com/p=670 0 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/666 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/666#comments Sat, 20 Feb 2010 04:10:06 +0000 Chris http://www.christhefoo.com/?p=666 http://js-kit.com/rss/www.christhefoo.com/p=666 0 4:06 40 Days, 269 miles and 0 injuries. Knock on some wood please... The idea started back in the end of November when I saw a Daily ... 40 Days, 269 miles and 0 injuries. Knock on some wood please... The idea started back in the end of November when I saw a Daily Mile friend who was doing some serious mileage in preparation for a charity run across the US. At the time he was doing 10 miles a day and announcing he was going to do that for a week then increase to 11 the following week and so on until he got to 13 miles a day. I was completely awestruck as I had done a run streak before but I was always alternated hard and easy runs as well as long distance with short distance. A typical week during my run streak was as follows: Monday - 7mi Tuesday - 10mi Wednesday - 12mi Thursday - 10mi Friday - 3mi Saturday - 18mi Sunday - 3mi I wouldn't dream of doing a long week like that without the 3 milers and the 7 miler. Even sometimes I would drop it down to 5. But after seeing him do that and spending a lot of time lurking the Ultra List the seed was planted that I could do it if I really just tried. After injuring my calf at the end of November (post Long Beach Marathon when I really should have been taking it easy) and struggling to maintain any sort of consistent mileage for 2 months I finally decided that I was gonna do it. Since I didn't register for any races and we wound up moving back home to Bakersfield I figured I could devote some time to a lot of low intensity runs. My plan was simple: I didn't want to continue the injury so I decided that I needed to do a lot of slow, low mileage runs before I really started to attack the bigger weekly mileage. So in the same vein as Greg on Daily Mile I would do a number of the same distance runs for a time. I came up with mileage that matched the days - mainly cause I was anxious to get the mileage up but also when I got to the higher mileage runs I would be at them for a longer period of time so my volume would sort of taper off from week to week. 3 days of 3 miles 4 days of 4 miles 5 days of 5 miles 6 days of 6 miles 7 days of 7 miles 8 days of 8 miles 9 days of 9 miles (which I am currently in the middle of finishing. 7 down, 2 to go) etc... So the original plan was to get to 13 days of 13 miles which would put me at 91 miles per week. As I get deeper into the mileage I am starting to realize that the sky really is the limit. At this point in the "experiment" I see it being open ended. I figure that as long as I can keep from feeling super run down (translation: eat like a madman) and I don't injure myself then I will continue indefinitely. There have been some tough days in this for sure. Days when I haven't eaten enough and paid the price on my run. Some days I finish a run wanting nothing more than to fall asleep for the rest of the day. And there have also been the usual assortment of aches and pains that go along with running but so far my response to this has been positive. I have been keeping a close track on my stats throughout this experiment and much to my surprise, as the miles pile on I have actually gotten faster! I didn't expect that but I suppose it's not entirely implausible: the effects of training after all. Anyway, I don't know that I have a point to all this. As always thanks for reading. And if you're not doing anything tomorrow, I'm running the Bakersfield Track Club 1/2 marathon tomorrow to cover my 9 miler (and then some including running the 2 miles to the start and back home afterward). I am super excited to run it as I have been training a lot on the course already and I haven't run a 1/2 marathon in a year so I am expecting a HUGE PR! Race starts at 8am tomorrow at Yokuts park off Truxtun and Empire. Hope to see you there. Life,,Love,,run chris.rodriquez@gmail.com no No http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/662 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/662#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:11:18 +0000 Chris http://www.christhefoo.com/?p=662 http://js-kit.com/rss/www.christhefoo.com/p=662 0 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/656 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/656#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:10:08 +0000 Chris http://www.christhefoo.com/?p=656 http://js-kit.com/rss/www.christhefoo.com/p=656 0 4:34 It makes me very happy to look over my training recently and see so many runs at or around 7min/mi. It's all about the red ... It makes me very happy to look over my training recently and see so many runs at or around 7min/mi. It's all about the red line... The red line, for the uninitiated, is the point where you physically and, more importantly, mentally can't take anymore. It is when the combination of lactic acid and common sense tell you that you can't sustain this pace. Consequently, it's the backbone of my current marathon training plan. Actually to refine it a bit, I guess you could say that I am toying with the idea of speed not being a limiting factor in my marathon training. To be fair, I can run fairly fast for long periods of time. I ran 7:37 for most of the Long Beach Marathon. I am very proud of my PR in that race (3:29:31). But still, if my hamstrings had not failed me at the end I probably could have come in a little faster and not brought my race average down to 8:00. So I am trying this new method of training... 1st-base building=lots of mileage at slower than marathon pace. Admittedly, I am skipping this phase in a manner of speaking. I mean, I still run the occasional LSD (long slow distance) but I feel like the 1500+ miles I have logged already have me at a pretty strong base (famous last words). 2nd-speed phase=traditionally this would mean track work. Doing repeats of a set distance (200m, 400m, 800m, Mile) but I loathe the track so much so I make it fast 3mi or 5mi runs. Either an all out effort for 3 miles or a fast music playlist fartlek run of 5 miles. So far this has worked for me on the speed front and avoided the boredom of a pure track workout. I know it's a necessary evil so at some point I will try it but for now: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. 3rd-strength/stamina phase=long run time and hill repeats. Well, I am a lazy runner so hill repeats are probably out unless I get a wild hair up my ass (probably 20min stair sessions at the NoHo subway station). I love long runs anyway so it's gonna be long runs. The new goal though should be long runs at my marathon pace which should theoretically be easier since I spent the time getting more accustomed to running fast. If all goes according to plan, the speed will be there and I simply need to work on my stamina/strength ie...not having my hamstrings (or any other muscle group) give out on me. After all these things I should be peaking and will be all set to run a BQ (Boston Qualifying time if you haven't been paying attention). I want to go out on a limb: I would like to run a 7min pace for my next marathon. This would not only mean a BQ but a a PR of 26mins. I know, it's a little ambitious but it follows my M.O. of "anything worth doing is worth overdoing." Of course I will be happy with successfully completing yet another race, no matter what the time, but the 7min pace is what I am shooting for. It's what several more "red line" runs will be all about. When the mind is telling me to slow down or worse, to stop, that is what I will go to: the vision of seeing 3:03:27 on the time clock over my head as I cross the finish line. I can't wait. As always, thanks for reading...and for commenting (hint hint) Life chris.rodriquez@gmail.com no No http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/655 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/655#comments Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:51:58 +0000 Chris http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/655 http://js-kit.com/rss/www.christhefoo.com/p=655 0 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/654 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/654#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:30:50 +0000 Chris http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/654 http://js-kit.com/rss/www.christhefoo.com/p=654 0 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/653 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/653#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:38:00 +0000 Chris http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/653 http://js-kit.com/rss/www.christhefoo.com/p=653 0 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/649 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/649#comments Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:30:34 +0000 Chris http://www.christhefoo.com/?p=649 http://js-kit.com/rss/www.christhefoo.com/p=649 0 3:55 I should call this post I am a lazy hurt bastard but Evolution has a better ring to it, doncha think? I still would classify myself ... I should call this post I am a lazy hurt bastard but Evolution has a better ring to it, doncha think? I still would classify myself a Lazy Runner (see item #2) . I feel I should quantify that for this post... I am now running a pretty solid 7 minute mile. If I were to rank how that feels on a scale of 1-10 (difficulty) I would say it ranks as a 5. I have, since the beginning of taking running seriously, been running "5" runs about 95% of the time. That is to say, I have been running rather lazily. I would argue that most runners (hell any field/subject really...artists, programmers, chefs, data entry, any random talent/gift/skill) are their own worst critic and I think that is where the battle lies: I believe/know (is there a difference between belief and knowledge in your mind and self worth?) that I am a lazy runner. I don't try too hard and at the same time, I am terrified of slipping too far back to where I was. I have said for the longest time that my increase in ability has to do with my weight loss. I still believe this. I can literally count on 1 hand the amount of runs I have had where I made my heart jump out of my chest and really pushed myself to my limit. Again, we are our own worst critic but lately I feel like the limiting factor in my progress is my own laziness. I run by feel and the feeling I am always shooting for is comfortable...a "5", not so easy that I fall back in my progress and not so hard that I really have to work. It's where I have stood for literally hundreds of miles. So therin lies the rub: it's time for an evolution. And damn if I am not hurting these past 2 weeks. But I think the word du jour is Patience. I have some technical things to continue to work out. For 1, I think I have taken the Chi Running concept a bit far and am running too far forward on my feet. I am dead certain that my foot strike is causing me a lot of problems with my calve muscles (the hurt bastard part from above-shin splints are an absolute BITCH to run on!). But more importantly, I think I need to get over my fear of losing the "5" runs: That is to say, I should try for a "7" or "8" or *gasp* a "9" run on of these days (interval workout maybe). At the same time I should actually do a "2" or "3" run as well and feel good about it. Sometimes your legs need that slow shakeout. I need to evolve as a runner if I am gonna achieve the lofty goals I have set for myself. I guess the problem is that it's hard to hide from yourself. You can keep it up for a time but sooner or later you will emerge and do what you do. It's those moments that you need that evolution/revolution. Or put more simply: it's time for a swift kick in the ass. As always, thanks for putting up with my indulgences... Life,,Love,,run chris.rodriquez@gmail.com no No http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/647 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/647#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:36:55 +0000 Chris http://www.christhefoo.com/?p=647 http://js-kit.com/rss/www.christhefoo.com/p=647 0 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/646 http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/646#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:11:21 +0000 Chris http://www.christhefoo.com/archives/646 http://js-kit.com/rss/www.christhefoo.com/p=646 0