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Sunday, April 29, 2012

Up and Down (and back UP)


“When you’re up [You’re UP!]. When you’re down [You’re DOWN!]. When you’re up against Cornell track: [You’re UPSIDE-DOWN!] head track coach Nathan Taylor would lead the entire team is this chant during our most fiercely competitive meet: The Heps (Ivy League Conference Championships). Despite striking fear in the hearts of our opponents and sounding somewhat corny to their fans, the obvious point of the cheer tended to put things in [somewhat of a] perspective.

Almost every runner I know has experienced the rollercoaster ride of having a great season or year of races followed by some really bad ones.  I’ve always told myself “Distance Running is a fickle sport” and that sometimes-hard work and dedication don’t pay dividends right away. In my book “Running For The Hansons” I personify Distance Running and joke about our rocky relationship – a relationship that breaks and mends hearts.  Injuries, illness, and overtraining are often the culprits leading to major running disappointments. At times I’ve been so frustrated I wanted to quit: One time I went a whole year without running a single personal best- at other times I’ve been so anemic and/or mysteriously over trained that I’ve regressed with progressively slower times. Whole seasons have turned sour and championship races and major marathons have become haunted memories of when I “choked” or failed to run up to my potential.

But then I always remember all the things that running has given me: the camaraderie of being on a team (from high school cross country and college track to post-collegiate running at Hansons), meeting a bunch of cool people, and being able to travel to different races across the country/world). I’ve had great years where I ran personal bests in every event from the 800m to the marathon. The fitness gains, the amazing sensation of the legs and lungs working in harmony at the physical capacities that the body was designed for have been satisfying to say the least. Winning conference titles, qualifying for NCAAs and competing in two Olympic trials have been highlights in my running, but such performances are kind of just means to an end. 

[Running a lot also means I eat a lot of pizza! Here is the first homemade pizza I've made where I actually had to knead the dough by hand...I had no idea what I was doing but it turned out okay]

After the initial high of finishing my first ultra marathon at the Chuckanut 50k last month I’ve been having a bit of a rough patch.  Nothing that I can’t overcome in the near future, but enough to be considered a “set-back.” Because of my knee injury I had to take a forced 3-week break. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot - but when you are used to training 50 weeks out of the year it grinds on your psyche. Coming back has been hard as I’ve experienced pain in my plantar fascia, various ankle tendons, and now my SI joint…all on my left (injured side) My theory is that in my weakened state of limping around for 3 weeks I failed to put enough weight on my left side and thus lost some structural integrity. There’s always a chain reaction of events going on when it comes to mechanics and the spread of injuries/pain. Now, back training at close to 90 miles a week, I am paying for my loss of strength with some pain. I’ve brought out the golf balls and tennis balls and grinded these sore areas down; I’ve popped pain pills (ibuprofen) and applied ice. I’ve started doing hurdle drills:
["Hurdle Drills": yes, I am aware that my shoes don't match - I'm not partial to any particular brand at the moment. Also,  those headphones may or may not be from a '90s sony walkman...]


 Slowly my strength, mobility, (and fitness) seem to be coming back but it is not without a struggle. I’ve been doing the majority of my miles uphill to stress cardio and reduce impact forces. Usually I wouldn’t be in such a rush to get back into shape but without any sponsorship support (and with prize money on the line) I need to bust out some good performances and prove my worth.  

The continual challenge for self-improvement and self-discovery are always there and that’s why I like to embrace running as a lifestyle.  Overcoming the lows and progressing through any adversity in life are what help define character. Running has helped me see this perspective as it has become fused into my identity. I feel very fortunate to have such a supportive network of family, friends, teammates, previous sponsors, and other runners who have allowed me to pursue what I am passionate about. Such good fortune has made it easier for me to appreciate and actually see that my whole life, and my entire running career, has always, overall, been on the “up.” 

["Cross Training" after a 2hr long run in the woods. Don't need no gym]

Hope everyone is having a great spring and enjoying some sun. Best of luck with your training and racing.

-Sage

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Committed To Going The Distance

I thought the exact same thing when I crossed the finish line after my first marathon (Houston 2007), and at the finish of my first ultra/trail race (Chuckanut 2012): “Whoa, I’m dizzy” and, more importantly, “I want to do that again!”
 (Long way to go at the Chuckanut 2012. Credit: Glenn Tachiyama, http://www.pbase.com/gtach)

Sometimes our mind tries to suppress the painful memories of racing hard on low blood sugar, dehydrated and depleted. It warns the body to stop trying such feats of endurance, such torture. This is usually the case after I run a “disastrous” marathon (NYC 2008, Boston 2010, Olympic Trials 2012, etc). At other times though, it is our body that rebels against the mind’s stubborn will - the will that forces us to always push the envelope, train with reckless abandon, and to sign up for that next race.

Well, as eager as I was to start training hard for my next ultra after Chuckanut, I had to take a forced break due to my knee injury.  I ended up taking almost 3 weeks totally off (something I hadn’t done for about 5 years since I got mono in college). The break was hard mentally, but I knew I couldn’t start up running with a limp. Here is a picture of my leg 4 weeks later after my fall:


As you can see I’m still only about 95% healed, but I am planning on running about 90 miles this week. Scar tissue will continue to form, and I will be marked for life. Cool!

More importantly, I’ve signed up for some future races:

5/20: Portland Rock n’ Roll half marathon (not sure how my speed will be)
6/16: Mt. Washington Road Race (all uphill, it’s going to be a blast!)
7/28: White River 50 (my first 50-miler = will be interesting)
9/29: UROC 100k (Ultra Race of Champions, it should be a loaded field).


The idea here is to slowly build back my fitness, focusing on speed first before adding specific endurance. Of course with uphill sessions and regular 20+ mile long runs in the works I am always trying to add strength. I’m going to race more than what is listed above and I’ll be looking to add events as I go along during the rest of the year.

In closing, I’m going to re-post an excerpt of something I wrote for the LetsRun.com message boards a month before the Olympic Marathon trials this year. I think it helps define why I am still running competitively and chasing after these crazy dreams:

“The plight of the 2:14 to 2:18 US Marathoner: Why do you do it? You don’t do it for the money. You don’t do it for the fame or glory.  You don’t even do it because you think you can make the Olympic team or beat the Kenyans/Ethiopians. So why? Why do you keep sacrificing your time and energy towards something that most of society would consider a selfish and frivolous endeavor? Why do you go to bed early on Friday and Saturday nights in the prime of your mid-twenties? Why do you run 120 miles a week in the cold wind, rain and snow? Why?

Because you can. Because through years of racing and hard training in high school and college you discovered that you had a knack for something. You achieved high enough in one aspect of your life enough to be considered as belonging to the top 1%.  You decided to set the impossible goal of seeing how close you could get to your full potential in something quantifiable.  And in the process you realized that you are a part of something bigger than yourself…you are a part of the depth of American distance running,

It isn’t the path that the “practical” person would take. It is a road full of risk and a high rate of failure. But in the end it doesn’t matter if you meet your ultimate performance goals because at least you tried. You took the bull by the horns and sought out on a journey that most wouldn’t dare to embark on.  You believed strongly in something and decided to act upon that belief.”

So yeah, there it is in a nutshell: my answer to the question “Why do you run?” Over the course of the next couple months I plan to post here more often about my training and add content. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

-Sage

Saturday, April 14, 2012

The View Is Worth The Climb


 “Hills are your friend.” My dad used to always say this to me before races and difficult training sessions that involved rolling terrain.  Several years of racing cross country, marathons, (and now trail ultras), I hear that statement as positive self talk in my mind, although it is slightly modified to “Uphills are your friend.”



The fact of the matter is that unlike a lot of ultra trail runners that I’ve seen, I suck on the downhills. As mentioned in my Chuckanut 50k race recap, I was amazed at how quickly some of the top runners were able to descend technical single-track at high rates of speed.  In racing with 2011 Mountain Running Champion Max King for the first 2.5 hours at Chuckanut, I had a front row view to his amazing downhill running abilities.

So in this blog post I’m going to focus on my strength (and something I may be a little more qualified to talk about) i.e. uphill running. 

Running up hills has many attributes that can make you a faster, stronger, and more versatile runner on the trails. Considering the elevation gains during many notable ultras (Leadville 100 and the Speedgoat 50 come to mind first) or on just about any mountainous trail run, specific preparation to tackle steep ascents is essential. Famed running coach Jack Daniels mentions the “law of specificity in training” in his book Daniels’ Running Formula, which basically comes down to this: if you want to improve your ability to run uphill, you must practice and train your body for the specific demands involved. Such demands, or training stimuli, involve a myriad of cardiovascular and skeletal-muscular adaptations.

In terms of training your heart and lungs, running up hills gives you a lot of bang for your buck. Even in covering relatively short horizontal distances, the amount of vertical gain you can achieve on an ascent (and the amount of time you spend climbing) requires a high level of work output. In other words, it is quite easy to devise lactate threshold and Vo2max workouts within a hill session, as often your heart rate has skyrocketed very close to those respective intensities. Such intense efforts strengthen the heart muscle, increase stroke volume, and improve your ability to keep blood lactate levels at a constant, manageable level. These attributes of aerobic fitness development, as well as increased aerobic enzyme activity, and changes in the density and size of mitochondria, will improve your ability to cover all distances more efficiently.

In term of training your muscular system, running up hill has traditionally been a method employed by coaches to develop strength and improve running form. For example, Arthur Lydiard’s training is known to involve a specific hill phase involving regular uphill repeats. Famed marathon Coach Renato Canova has advocated the improvements in neuromuscular coordination derived from running short, steep hill sprints. Essentially, when you run uphill your running form changes so that you have to work specific muscles (quads, glutes, calves and your core muscles mainly) in a way that will make you a more economical runner. The high knee lift, a slight forward lean, a shortened stride with a more pronounced midfoot strike and toe-off, and an exaggerated arm swing pays dividends on developing your speed over time.

As I prepare for the rigors of the Mt. Washington Road Race (7.6 miles at an average grade of 12%) I find myself starting to think about runs in terms of vertical gain rather than just horizontal miles. I’ve found that the variety in training can be refreshing to a trail runner who is constantly seeking challenges and adapting. The benefits of running uphill not only include an increase in fitness, but also lead to a higher level of fulfillment and enjoyment in the sport.

Train Smart
Race Hard
and Run Happy,

-Sage

@SageCanaday
www.Vo2maxProductions.com