Daniels' Running Formula

If you've read a post or two on my training, you know I've talked about Daniels' Formula before. I spit "Vdot" and "I pace, M pace, T pace" around when I'm blogging here. Some of you know about him and why the Formula has made an enormous difference in running athletics. For those who do not know; if you are a runner with any goals at all, you MUST own this book!

At the Garden State Track Club annual Gala event, we were fortunate enough to have an ACTUAL Dr., Jack Daniels, attend to speak about his experiences as a modern Pentathlete and the breadth of his studies through 45yrs with many incredible athletes. So, last night, I met the man himself! He signed a new copy of his book for me! It was truly an incredible experience hearing his perspectives on training methods as he experienced them while serving in the Army in Korea and as a Pentathlon Olympics Hopeful. He went on to medal at two separate Summer Olympic Games.
He is a truly remarkable man!

The man that truly opened my eyes to proper training methods

Today I'm reinvigorated about training. Sitting to write to you about this. I'll probably ignore the first 1/2 of the Super Bowl to lay pen to paper on a official plan for my Boston Marathon training; as I've been flying by the seat of my pants for the past month on that. I'm going to make wise choices and live to fight another day, and another and another. Seeya out there!

He signed it! He signed it!

Interview with Adirondacks Marathon Champion, Matt Cheney

Hey everyone at long last I got around to talking with/about another runner here on the blog! 

I got a hold of recent Adirondacks Marathon winner, Matt Cheney. I find him to be a fascinating runner! Here's a Q and A we did! Enjoy the read!

The winner, Matt Cheney! His prize, a hand carved wooden bear!

Anis: Matt, as mentioned, we hear you won a marathon; but first, where did you grow up? Who is Matt Cheney?

Matt: I grew up in Beaver Falls, NY located a few minutes west of the beautiful Adirondack Park and about an hour south of the Canadian border. I come from the most supportive and loving family imaginable. I ran cross country and track in high school for Beaver River. I then went to college at Cedarville University where I received my degree in Geology and continued running. I currently live in Princeton, NJ with my amazing wife, Rachel. She is getting her Master's degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. I work at Princeton Running Company.

Matt and Rachel post race with Matt's time still on the clock, a blazing 2:32:06 on a tough rolling course!

Anis: Who or what led you into competitive running?

Matt: I began running when I was 7 years old. My Dad and I trained and raced together in local road races. It was during these times I found I had some natural ability and fell in love with the sport. My Dad encouraged me to run a specific race in 6th grade to see how I stacked up against some other kids my age from surrounding towns. The seed of running to win was planted after I crossed the finish line in 1st place that day.

Anis: I know you ran in college, through those years did you think you would go into marathons later?

Matt: There were a lot of trials for me in college, running-wise. I had difficulty with food, body image, injury, and disease within my family. Through it all, I trusted God and His plan for my life. I knew I had the work ethic to be a good runner. I suppose I just didn't know how to tie running into every other area of my life in a healthy, sustainable way. I did know that I longed to be out in nature for extended periods of time so the increased distances came naturally for me. 26.2 miles is a great distance to race. You learn important traits about yourself through a powerful medium such as a marathon.

 Anis: Is your training similar or different to your collegiate training methods? How so?

Matt: Thanks to my coach, wedding officiant, and long-time friend, Will, my training methods have become what some would consider, unconventional. It fits my personality absolutely perfectly. I have been vegan for well over a year now, which I see as part of my training. Also, we incorporate many taxing, long-distance sessions over the course of a build-up for a race. This is quite different from college where we would do the same workouts week after week and have many recovery days each week. Short answer: It is extremely different.

Just running up a Mountain, no big deal. Matt trains like a real man!

Anis: If you could be any animal with super powers, what animal and what super Power?

Matt: Falcon with Atmokinesis (control of the weather)

Anis: That would be incredible! Tell me, why is running important to you?

Matt:  Running gives me purpose, peace, autonomy, time to play, a chance to see the world around me, a sense of God's presence. Running cuts through everything else going on in my life. When I am moving quickly over the earth, it simplifies life and eliminates what is not important.

 Anis: In regard to runners and coaches , who do you look up to?

Mattt: I look up to my current coach, Will. He has taught me to never lock an idea or method into my mind. It is important to always evolve and treat your body like an experiment to see what works and what you can learn. Each body is unique and responds to training methods in different ways. Find what works for you. In regard to athletes, Brendan Brazier, Scott Jurek, and Kilian Jornet. Brazier's book Thrive transformed both my life and my running. I still use many vegan recipes from his book to this day. Jurek has a powerful life story that really speaks to me, he's a legend in trail running, and he's also plant-based. I enjoy Kilian's love and fervor for the world around him. He is like a little kid on the playground when running up a mountain. It is a joy to watch.

Anis: Where you live these days, what is your favorite loop or trail system?

Matt: Sourland Mountain Preserve. Rocks, hills, and geese. What's not to love?

Anis: The readers should know you enjoy a good laugh, what is your favorite Comedic film?

Matt: The Princess Bride

Anis: Inconeivable! I know you are a faithful man, can you tell us if this guides your running and life equally?

Matt: My faith in God certainly guides my running. I believe I have been given this running ability for a reason. This life is not about me. I long to use my running to share the Gospel and help individuals in need around the globe. At this point, I don't know how that will occur, but I trust God's plan and timing. It is important to see the world through God's eyes in difficult times like these. I was very moved by Kilian Jornet's plan to help the Nepalese after the devastating landslides and flash floods a few years ago. I believe running should be about giving back.

 Anis: Do you have a life goal for running?

Matt: I have many life goals for running including races, course records, and FKTs. I look forward to racing the Boston Marathon, Western States 100, and Olympic Trials among others. However, my main goal in running has already been mentioned. I want to help people in need around the globe in whatever capacity I can.

Anis: Do you think Pheidippides took walk breaks on his run to Athens from the plain of Marathon?

Matt- Pheidippides actually ran from Athens to Sparta (250 km), which is a much more impressive feat of endurance. The Spartathlon commemorates this epic journey every year. And I'm sure he, as well as every runner each year, takes walk breaks!

Anis: What is the Marathon you most want to compete in while you are on the way up the ranks?

Matt: The Boston Marathon!

Anis: I heard you are starting a coaching business, can you please tell us about that?

Matt: It is called TerraMotus Endurance Coaching. You can find me at www.terramotusendurancecoaching.com. I really want to help individuals realize their potential. We are all capable of much more than what we ask of ourselves. I want people to see that in some small way through running. I have a number of different plans to choose from. If you ever wish to talk about running or ask questions about an upcoming race, adventure, etc. feel free to email me at terramotuscoaching@gmail.com.

So there ya' have it folks! That's Matt Cheney, what a guy!!! He's a unique runner, glad to say I know the guy. Reach out to Matt if you need a coach, if I were you I would do it!

Strava is fun

I have been using Strava since January 1st. I had been recommended to do so by a teammate, Josh Neyhart. Several of our other teammates also started tracking their training there recently too. With my old running journal having vanished into "virtual" thin air, I wanted to utilize another free resource.

The user experience in the App is pretty solid. I access it through my iphone 5s and haven't have any problems so far. There are some layout snags I don't like when operating from the website itself, and when I run let's say as far as 10.09 miles according to my TomTom GPS watch and Strava's data sometimes tells me I ran 9.9 (they only display tenths, not hundreths), that annoys me quite a bit. I understand the reasons with GPS measurement's challenges, but now I'm running .1 extra on most of my runs like a crazy man.

Overall, it is very useful to glance back through the past recent weeks to see trends in my overall training volume. Following and liking the training of friends and Pro Athletes is awesome!

Here are some screen shots from the App. I enjoy seeing what people are doing out there; the maps, the graphs, the paces, who's going out on big hills and crushing it like a beast!
I couldn't help but share my own stuff. Yup, bragging on a Monday. This was one of my best 20milers in a long time, I am proud of the effort. Boston training is going pretty well! Get on Strava, join the party!

Yesterday's LR, general stats and first 5mile splits

splits from 6-20, it also tracks your best efforts for a variety of distances

aaaand the segments created by the network of users!

12k essential to success in long distance running

Today was my first workout of the year that I walked away feeling solidly accomplished from. Recent running has been consistent and I'm gradually putting the pieces where I want them to be. I have had a hard time plotting when I wanted "big workouts" to start for my build up for the Boston Marathon (to be my 6th, and overall my 13th). Recently losing my job has put my mind in a spin, and running often has felt like a stress break, but I haven't really drafted "a plan" other than run a little bit longer each Sunday if I feel up to it.
A lot of times, you get out there and do workouts that just feel too fast or mundane as you have run them more times than you could guess. I look at training like eating, sometimes you are hungry and want to take huge bites and devour something like a glutton. But even in those instances, if one bite is too big, it can get ugly. Going too fast on long intervals is a similar concept.
The whole workout could be going very well up to a point, and then you just get greedy. You start pushing a pace that is a little bit too fast and then you are over your Threshold. Some of us are foolish enough to stretch down from Half Marathon pace to10k pace or quicker. It's easy to let it happen, and I am pretty sure I have been guilty of this at least once. But not today! Today was brilliant, I covered 2k, 6 times, jogging 2:00-2:30 between reps (partly due to Middle Distance Runners needing to start their 200m reps without crashing into us). The slowest interval was 7:04, the fastest was 6:53.
Threshold pace shouldn't hurt that much if you are running the correct pace and taking ample recovery. Look at it like this, To run at your Threshold isn't easy running, but it has a much bigger margin for comfort and error. Small miscalculations in pace can be corrected throughout a long interval, and don't amplify as harshly when you go too fast. You may ask "Why 2k, why not 1600m, it seems long to keep going for such a while?" Because I like getting a mile split and then continuing on at the same pace, it has the hidden benefit of race day preparation. If I check my watch for "my mile", I want to imprint in my mind "good mile, keep going", over and over and over again. That is one reason, and having your head in the right place about your pacing is a damn good reason to do something.
Many inexperienced runners might be reading and asking "Wait, we run Half Marathons kinda slowly, that doesn't sound like a speed workout!" Well, don't ignore the fatigue factor kids! by the 5th and 6th interval I started to feel the pressure. For you, a similar effort might be just 2 or 3 times 2k, but try them, see what it feels like to keep on your pace for 400m longer after getting that mile split, then take your recovery of 1/3 the interval time. Total volume for these types of workouts are well explained in Daniels' Running Formula.
I had originally considered running a 7th interval, but the track had some icy spots on it, and the 6th went very well! I decided, that's it, I did work, I don't hurt right now. It's done. This workout is over. I'm a happy guy tonight.
And for your viewing pleasure: Anis runs on a relay team!

Anchoring the 4x800m B team at the Frank Colden Invitational on 2/6/16. Absolutely a rust buster, I am not a Mid-D guy! Earlier in the day I raced 3000m in 9:17, yea that was a rust buster too, working on it!

Half assed winter training and a trip to the UK

At the foot of the London Bridge

I have been long absent from writing about my running. The winter really crushed my spirits. So, catching up, I went to London after Christmas and the New Year to see my friend and protege, Johan. I met Johan while I worked in Jersey City at the now defunct Runner's High Newport. Johan wanted to be a runner, in short, I told him to learn long distance training theory. He has run very well, and quite a bit. It seems he probably has run now 6 or 7 marathons in under 3yrs. He holds a marathon best of 3:02, and I am fairly sure he will soon get under the magical 3:00:00 mark. It was good to spend some time with my friend in his adopted home. London is huuuuge, we spent a lot of time in the tubes, but it was cool to be in a different place for a short while. After this trip, the winter reeeally felt like winter.
So here are a handful of photos from the trip, and as you continue on, I'll fill you in a bit about my "training" through this winter.

The Regents Canal, where Johan and I put in some miles on several runs. Interesting, but not as nice as the D&R Canal Path

Johan and I along the Thames by Tower Bridge...at 4:45pm. It is just a bit sad how early it gets dark there. We stayed in good spirits, but alcohol surely was a factor.

Some art that I saw while in London. I like old dirty cars.

The display of flourescent tubes produced some interesting shadows on the adjacent wall. I found that more interesting than the "art exhibit".

Soviet Propaganda

In front of the British Imperial War Museum. This shell could be fired roughly 15-16miles as I recall.

Maybe the other beers were better, this one I thought was uninspiring. But the English Breakfast was very tasty, sadly I was too hungry to remember to photograph it before I attacked it like a starving wolf. Overall, this was a nice place to take in a meal.

Trafalgar Square, fancy huh?

The tubes, weird little walkway over this line. The tubes are a maze.

A street in Camden Town, near Johan's apt. The ground was wet the entire 6 days that I was there.

So,winter, yeah, we all had to deal with it.  I can't quite figure it all out, but being in your 30's is a lot different than teens or 20's.  Darkness, cold, ugh. This winter really got me down. Too many days came and went where I just couldn't motivate myself to get out the door for a run before or after work. Between my work schedule and constant half-injured state, rolling my left ankle on broken pavement by the Army Reserve base near Kilmer Rd, I skipped indoor racing this year. It feels a bit weird, and I want a time trial prior to the Miles for Music 20k on 3/23. My training calendar looks a bit like a piece of swiss cheese. Not proud of myself for this. But as I write this, I've run 6 days in a row and feeling a lot better about it.

Since the Club National XC Championship in December, I figured I could take a week off, and get rolling with training for the Boston Marathon. Despite what I would call fairly inconsistent training, I have done a long run every weekend.
Week 0-14 in Richmond Park (outside of London, UK).
Week 1- 16
Week 2- 16.5
Week 3- 17.6
Week 4- 21
Week 5- 19
Week 6- 19
Week 7- 22.2
Week 8 -21
Week 9- 20.06
Week 10-18.35
Thinking back, I know that I've put in more volume and it led to success. I still have some time, and being that my overall weekly volume has been about 75% of the ideal. I just don't want to be kicking myself later thinking, I should have added 15mins to some of these long runs. The good news is, I've maintained fitness and probably have my self more ready for a marathon than I might think.  I have had a tendency to finish these runs at or just udner marathon goal pace, and not tearing myself up too badly in the process. The intervals workouts I have done are faster than those that I did in 2010 or 2012, that has to be a good sign.
My goal is likely to need adjusting, which is incredibly frustrating, 2:29:59 might have to wait a while longer still. Perhaps, 2:30:59-2:31:59 is possible. All in all, I want to feel like I'm competing and battle it out with other high quality marathoners from Hopkinton to Boylston St. I want another duel to the finish with someone like the one I had in 2010.

Raynaud's Disease: how a runner deals with it

I first heard of this condition about a year ago. Honestly, I've had thousands of conversations about people's various running-related health issues while at work in one of numerous running shops. Much of it is seeming to blur into my memory, but naturally, some things will stick in your mind. I do recall hearing someone use this name, one I'd never heard of before; and so I was naturally curious.
A woman mentioned it rather matter-of-factly, she called it a syndrome.  I suppose it sounds less scary to call something a syndrome rather than a disease. A syndrome sounds like you were unlucky and just got stuck with it.  While people will almost immediately wonder if a "disease" you have is contagious.  Raynaud's is NOT contagious! The Mayo clinic has a good informational page about it online here.
She simply said, "Your hands get cold very easily and can't warm up!" In a nutshell, that's it. How ironic, just as this lady is telling me about it, I simultaneously start to suffer from it! Maybe this explains why my Mother says she is cold all the time? Lame.

This is roughly what I'll experience. Yup, it's uncomfortable both to feel and see.

I know you're going to click that link and take notes...but I'll go on.  While it is not completely understood, it affects the extremities.  Simply, your fingers and toes get very cold, because they are losing circulation in response to exposure to cold temperatures.  Usually, it affects only one or two fingers or toes on each hand or foot. I have it. Another cause is stress.  Tough brave runners like you and me go out and run all winter long. If you're training hard, you're cold and stressed. While many of us run for stress relief, some of us train hard.  When you hammer it, surely an episode is going to happen.

It happens often enough, that I'm fitting someone for running shoes, and they'll complain "My hands get very cold!" or "I hate running in the winter my toes get cold easily".  For years, I thought, "These people are soft." "What a bunch of crybabies!" I mean, ya' know, just put on gloves or mittens and suck it up! Run faster and you'll heat up! Layer up, it's not like you're crossing Siberia, you'll live!  I'm thinking, this has to be one of those "rich-people diseases", you know the kind that you only find out you have if you're wealthy enough to go for multiple Dr's visits to get a diagnosis for something that isn't that big a deal.

However, in recent years, my body is clearly going through changes (I have a feeling I'm going to get some wisecracks for that one!).  This condition will begin to show up in people age 15 to 30, lucky me, I got it on the late end! So, maybe these folks have it too and they just don't know it?
My fingers and toes simply start to lose circulation when temperatures start dropping.  Even if I start a run when it's 55 degrees, if the temp drops 3-4degrees and the wind is blowing, I am likely to lose some dexterity in my fingers by the midway point of the run.  If I start a run at the freezing point, forget it, it's game over for my hands.

 If I fail to layer effectively, I have about 10minute until my hands are going numb.  I've lost count of how many times I've ended a Sunday morning Long run with my pinky fingers numb on both hands.  Even after the car is warmed up and I have the heat blasting; my fingers and toes (again, some not all) will look like something that recently arrived at a morgue. Even if I'm indoors quickly, showered, and dressed warmly, the circulation still doesn't return for quite a while.

Did I see a Doctor and get a diagnosis? No.  Do I need to do this? For now, I think not.  If I were experiencing other odd symptoms, or if it were truly as severe as some image I've seen on the web, I might want to get checked out. The signs are obvious enough once you experience it enough times, especially if you're the only person who is wearing gloves and still complains that their hands are cold!

Potential long term risks: If the problem is severe enough, it could lead to complete closure of arteries to the area, creating a for necessity of amputation to the affected extremities. But these cases are rare.

How this affects your running and related life stuff:
Q: How fun is it to try tying a loose shoe lace with cadaverous fingers?
A: Not much.

Q: How easy is it trying to dig for a key out of a pocket when you can't operate those same lifeless fingers?
A: Not at all.

Q: Do you think it will be enjoyable when your hands feel like they are slowly going to freeze off of the rest of your arm?
A: I assure you, it will not be.

Q: Cooking after an episode of this?
A: Quite difficult.

Combating this problem:

1. Wear multiple layers of warm clothing, start warm and shed a layer: Starting a run in the cold, when you feel cold already is a bad thing, it makes it very hard to get your body temperature regulated when you're loosing too much heat.
2. Wool socks for your toes: There are some very well designed wool running socks on the market, I have some from several different brands.
3. Wear a light, loose glove and a light loose windshield mitt over it: Avoid compression around your wrist. Also, be sure that you do not over-tighten your watch strap over outer layers of clothing!
4. Bring hand warmers: maybe just one and switch hands if your hand starts to get too warm. Sounds like a lot of work, but on a long run you won't mind the distraction.
5. Duct tape over the mesh of your running shoes: If you don't own water/wind resistant running shoes, this is a cheap, messy, yet effective method to keeping your toes dry and warm through a greater portion of a winter run. It's not perfect, but it's helped me a lot in desperate times.
6. If running away from home, stash warm dry clothes in your car, change out of wet things immediately! Straightforward, simple.
7. Move about 600-1000miles South of New Jersey: If you don't mind a lack of diners and people toting hand guns, this could be the easiest solution.

Just a Tempo in the Dark

Sometimes, the thing that drives you is as simple as having just enough time to get in the run you need before another obligation.  That extra little bit that motivates you to move your ass isn't always something like a cliche of visualizing yourself sitting in a lead pack with 400m to go in the "big race", or other such cheesy scenes from a poorly directed film about running.  Too often, training at a high level is isolating, and you just need to do it on your own, by numbers alone, the facts are that not too many people have the time or the drive to do what you're doing.  So, you need to play psychologist with yourself, and ignore the desire for social interaction fairly often.
    Circumstances as they were, my best possible option for a traffic-free tempo run, was to head over to Ferris High School in Jersey City.  This track is not 400m around(this I already knew).  This track is not an oval(also knew this).  This track is not entirely flat(did not know this).  As I arrive there, it is a good while past sunset, and all the artificial light from buildings and street lamps are glaring off of the many puddles strewn about this dilapidated 3-lane strip of worn out rubber.  I run 1 lap around to survey the landscape.
   This track is lumpy.  That is to say, there are spot where you're going to step into a depression, and then your next stride you will stumble upon a spot that is risen higher than ground level, and then back into another depression.  This seemed to be most evident on the beginning of the back straight, but was a ripple compared to the sloped crater that spanned lanes 2 and 3 on the next corner.  The turns were crudely rounded corners, none of which had any semblance of symmetry.  To add to the obstacles, there were several large piles of goose droppings in some well placed spots.  I tell you, those devil birds must have known I was coming!
   So, I started my 6-mile Tempo, weaving around puddles and goose droppings, adjusting stride length to avoid tripping on uneven ground, holding tight through the "turn 3" to avoid the crater.  As I got a feel for the track, I got a feel for my body's rhythm.  I felt pretty good, and the toughest factor was the tight turns(all 108 of them).  In the end I wracked up 27+ laps on this piece of ground.  I checked my watch often, on most laps I clipped about 76secs.
    Google Map Pedometer(best tool on the internet for runners), would prove later, that this was in fact 356m, not 350m(as someone had told me it was).  The way I ran this thing, I did roughly 363m on each lap.  This shed new light on my feelings about the relative success of the workout.  As I ran back to Runner's High to meet up with the Group Run, I kept double checking the math in my head and continued believing that I was in the 5:45-5:48range at best, when in fact I was averaging 5:36per mile!  The cold, damp weather, the isolation, and the poor excuse for a track couldn't hold me back!  So today, I'm feeling a little bit like Ronnie James Dio(RIP) did in 1983! 

    Just a Rainbow in the Dark!  LOOK OUT!

20 mile runs and patience

As a runner, I often dissect and analyze what I've done.  In training for a road marathon, I like to count the number of 20+ mile runs I've done leading up to race day.  I find a simple correlation here, the more runs you do that are 20+, the better you will perform.  Could my observation be an simpler?  Sure, someone could debate this until they are breathless.
"You don't want to overtrain"-To this I say, start building up your endurance as soon as you know you want to run a marathon, look at marathon training as a larger project beyond where you currently stand and the next race.  You shouldn't place a value on yourself as a runner or person in general based on how "fast" you run 26.2miles on limited training.  If you run appropriately paced runs and build gradually, endurance comes over time. Patience is one of the most important ingredients to enjoying a successful training period.
That said, I'm eagerly looking forward to the rest of my training for Boston.  I almost wish I had an extra 4 weeks so I could visit a few more long run venues that I so rarely get a chance at.