MightyMojoMentorGroup -- (Full House!) (Page 197)

I wanna do a 10k somewhere in november, just so I have a short-term goal to train for, and then probably do a local 10k thats done every month until I get to february/march. Something to get me through the winter

JEFF -

No surprise that you don't feel perky yet, and at this point you might want to think about how much of a "letdown" you are feeling from having done the iron, but have nothing truly substantive to pursue right now.  this mental state is very common amongst iron finishers, especially firt-timers.  I had been warned about it heading into my first, IMLP '04, and to stave off the mulligrubs I had signed up for Timberman half-iron, four weks after IMLP.  That was mostly a brilliant plan, at least from a psychological perspective, with the only drawbacks being (a) it took me a while to get back into even half-decent training, and (b) I never felt too "sharp" at Timberman.  I was mostly pleased with the T-man result, a 5:30:59, but it was more from having a very deep Base/Build at that point than from having specific focused training.

ANYHOW, for you, is there anything you can set your sights on over the next month or so/  Somhtning to still train for, but with slightly reduced duration/intensity?  I'm aware of two races coming up in New Roads, LA, an oly on Oct 22 (23?) and a half-iron around mid-Nov (10th? 18th?).  I'm sure there are a few bike events or straight running races you can do, but for me in '04 what was important was having something to TRAIN for --- even though my training for T-man, as i said above, was not quite what i would've wanted it to be.

I wonder how much of your lack of perky might be related to not really having anyone in your immediate sphere who recognized your accomplishmnet.  I saw a post you made on the main forum here in which you mentioned (words to the effect) that when you showed up at work on Monday, no one treated you the least bit differently.  I know you didn't expect a party or tickertape parade, but if you just kind of felt as if you did Redman in a vacuum......then it might be that you are still feeling caught in that vacuum.  Maybe?

I apologize for playing armchair psychologist here, and I hope I am reading more into the "perky" comment than you actually meant by it, and that all is mostly well.  But if not, then maybe some smidgen from the above will be useful.

I'll be back in a few minutes.

JEFF again -

Nice post about the swimming "lesson", and your reflection son your own swimming and the possibilities of having a swim partner, and maybe a ride/run partner, too.

It sounds as if you performed a terrific service for him, first through your advice and second through the phone videos.  And you're right -- I too wish i had someone to do that for me way back when!

I'm sure I've made this analogy before, but if not.....

A number of great hitting coaches in MLB have been former catchers who had rather poor career averages themselves.  most notable is Charlie Lau, who probably hit .243 on his career, but went on to coach Wade Boggs and, I think, Carl Yastrzemski.  This just goes to show that people can be astute students and instructors of a sport, all in the absence of being especially proficient themselves.

I feel that i am really good at seeing swimming flaws in other people, and I guess that means I know what should be done over the course of a stroke cycle.........and yet I can never implement it to my own stroke; as a swimmer, i am a career .243.  That will never cease to frustrate me, that given all the work (time??) I have put into swimming, I am still MOP in the swim.

For you, though, there is still hope.  I seem to remember you being kind of frustrated last season about your swimming, but along about June of this year it seemed to show improvements, and then you had that most excellent swim at Redman, and now you are also giving sage advice.....is it possible your Inner Fish has been released on the multisport world??  I will stay tuned for future swimming developments from you, to be sure!!

JEFF once more -

DOH!!!!  I forgot your mention of Dallas Marathon, and to my mind that will be really good to train for as a post-Redman release-race.  Well-played, getting that on your sched!

DAVE -

Well, sure, those times look fast -- but that's because they ARE fast!  Yes, it was point-to-point and "mostly downhill", but still -- you had to move your feet quickly and not allow your engine to blow up.  That is a fabulous time, and while you maybe can't yet expect that on a hilly, "technical" course, you know what it feels like to bust yourself for 10km at a very quick pace. 

Your comment about distance races hurting less than short ones is intriguing, and time-honored.  I ahev spent no small amount of thought over the years working that through, and the best i can come up with is that degrees and levels of pain and suffering are present at all distances, but manifest themselves differently -- and I can never tell which is the worst.

For example, i did that fast 10km three or four days ago (I think I outlined the paces in a post to you), and suffered quite a bit over the final 2km, but then yesterday i did a leisurely 11.3km.....and felt fairly cruddy during it, too.  Now, that might not be what you are after, as the 10km was built for speed whereas yesterday was not, so i'll try again.

For me, a 5km in a tri (have never done a stand-alone 5km race) hurts lots at the time, but the discomfort is over within minutes.  For a half-iron, or straight half-marathon, I don't really feel at my limits during the 13.1 miles of the thing, but i am definitely laboring to some degree.  And for olys and stand-alone 10kms, it is a compromise between those two.

I guess it all comes down to pacing, and when I think about my "ideal" tri-race run times, I have:  21'-22' for a sprint,  45'-46' for an oly, 1:45-1:50 for a half-iron.  So, obviously, the pace i am carrying to meet each of those three ideals is quite a bit different, and I guess that tells me that doing a 5km in a tri in, say, 21:28, is going to hurt, and moreover --- that I don't ever expect to do an oly run in double that, which would be 42:56.  (I WISH!!!!)

So, whatever those pace differences are, i am willing to put out that effort for a sprint 5km.......but don't dare for the oly 10km.  Could I?  I don't think so, given that my best-ever stand-alone 10km runs have been 42:16 and 42:20, in '03 and '04.  I think I would have a much better sense of this if I spent more time just straight-running, or even did more stand-alone road races, as so much of my current insights are informed by settings in which I am doing my running off the bike.

Getting back to YOU, though, I love that you have the 44' stand-alone time as a counterpoint to the 50' time at Pitt Tri, and I am very excitted to see how your time next July improves.  I'll just say that i expect it to be far closer to 44' than to 50'!  Any other 10km races in your sights?

Finally, you did a really fine job of structuring your running volume with two weeks hard and one week easier.  The sequence of 20-19-14-23-20-16 is just about ideal for someone at your stage of "serious" running.  Well done!

GEORGE -

My thoughts on Muskoka are pretty muddled.  If it goes there, there will be THREE M-dots in the "high northeast" -- Lake Placid, Mont Tremblant, Muskoka.  Factoring prominenetly into this is my "conspiracry" theory about WTC, that it is there to take over the traithlon world and, in the course of doing so, set fees for races that are beyond what i can afford.  And in taking over the world, they will also squeeze out all of the RDs who labor so diligently to put on good races at reasonable costs, and with many of them having procceeds going to charities.  (Doesn't that all sound perfectly logical?)

Beyond that, i don't know why the northeast sohould have three of them ---- although i think the rumor is still out there that within a year or two or three, IMLP will no longer exist.  Many of the locals are very fed up with how it messes with their lives, and so if that one disappears...........then having two M-dots in the northeast probably isn't unreasonable, given the population base within about 500 miles of MT and Muskoka.

Basically, i just want WTC to disappear, and I guess if they are now in Muskoka ---- I will feell surrounded!!  I mean, LP is 2.5 hours to the south, MT is about 2.75 to the north, and Muskoka is 4.0 to the west.  (Or, i can re-invent myself as a wealthy iron-person whose body can handle Big Training again.........and start doing all those "prestige" races that are surrounding me!)

On to the next one.

GEORGE again -

Ha!  My p-b experience is just about the opposite of yorus, but then again --- I have LOTS of experience with the thing!  I dare say that you will flail less as you work more with it, but it's the type of toy that needs to have a purpose for when it is to used.  It CAN be good for focusing on the front end of your stroke, and also for a recovery swim after a long run or ride.  And if you ever see specific workouts that involve the p-b, consider them.  But if you decide to abandon it now, for a while, anyhow, that probably won't set you back at all.

I have said before that one should think about stopping a swim session as soon as their form starts to fall apart, and I mostly believe that is true -- epsecially for swimmers who are fairly new to serious swimming.  But that doesn't necessarily mean leaving the pool and going home; rather, it means just changing things up.  It can be a good time to focus on drills, and for me, it is drills that do not involve the parts of my swimming that seemed to have just gone south.  as an example, if I am doing big laps and aiming for 19 strokes per length, and I slip up to 22 or 23...........then I will NOT do drills that involve my arms.  I might do more kicking, or maybe body-rotation stuff, but I'll give the arms a break.  THAT might be in the form of closing out the workout sans arms, but heck -- there's always something to do in the pool!

Core strength will be a good off-season goal, and it also has the carryover effect on your cycling and running.  Alot of swim power can be generated by the core, and for those of us (I am one......) whose weakest muscular link is the core, strengthening it is highly beneficial!  (Mine isn't a disaster, but it could be better......and maybe if it WERE a disatater, i would find it easier ot devote time and energy to!)

JOHANNE -

I can almost 100% guarantee that your "little scenarios" will pay off at IMAZ -- and into the future.  Their effect maybe can't be quantified, but they fall beautifully into the categories of Being Prepared and Attending to Details.  You'd be surprised by how many people do their entire iron training with no real structure in place ---- and there you are, scrupuloulsy playing "small ball" from time to time, amidst all of the bigger efforts.  Very admirable!

Lucky girl, having that free acupuncture service!  My back has been wonky for eight days now, and I think i should get to my A.R.T. person...but money is an issue.  So, having free therapy (including the herb mix) is a HUGE perk!  I hope ANNE sees the comment about that -- she'll be "green" with envy!

I suspect you know the rule of thumb about colds -- that if they are from the neck up, it's okay to exercise through them.  Once something gets deep into the throat, and especially down to the lungs, it is NOT good to do workouts.  So, if what ailed you was a "head cold", then running through it was a harmlessly wise thing to do.

Where on god's green earth was that photo taken -- and how come YOU get to run in such remarkable gloriosity?!?

THOMAS -

A 10km race/month shouldn't hurt, but they won't help a whole lot unless you train moderately well for them.  That said, though, mnay people effectievely "train through a race", meaning the race is just there to make the training more interesting.  In  asense, that's the thinking behind so-called "C-priority" races --- the ones that really don't matter.  Up until just a couple years ago I always ahd a few of those each season, but now I don't feel they are a  wise investment.  Even the least-expensive tri or du carries a price-tag of $69 minimum, and I just can't justify that (or more) times three or four.  Last year I started off the season with 2 dus and a tri that were local and didn't mean a thing to me........and about $210 later I felt pretty stupid about it.  (Lynn has worked quite diligently over the years to convince me of my all-too-frequent stupidity when it comes to tri--related expenses.........).

Back to you and those 10km races, though, doing them will help with races in the future; alnmost any race helps with races-to-come.  there is no substitute for actual races, and in a sense, at least for me, they give me "permission" to make mistakes ---- one of the  big benefits of inexpensive "C" races!  By "mistakes", i mostly mean those that come from pacing errors, which usually means going out too fast, but can also be the opposite.  I guess it involves judging who the competition is, and how to either work with them or not get sucked up into a pace that is good for them, but not workable for you.  Anyhow, i support your plan to race frequent 10km is the off-season.

As for my swimming, yes, i aheva  great set-up there in the Rideau River.  For many years I swam in a semi-enclosed bay along the St. Lawrence River, and felt i had a decent set-up there;  no buoy lines, but i could go from one headland to another, and had a good idea of how long it should take. 

I am lucky to be at home in almost any type of water.....and i guess that means I am confident.  But more of that is "fearless" --- which I try to be aware is just a short step from "dangerous".  In my earlier days (say '00-'07) at this stuff, I did some insanely stupid swims -- ones in which I was hand-and-feet numb within a minute, or ones in which I battled huge chop.  What makes these insanely stupid is that I always swim along, which is generally a bad idea even in great conditions. 

The worst of those swims were down at the St. Lawrence, and such cold conditions meant that it was at either end of the OWS season --- which means no one else was ever even at the beach area, so if I got in serious trouble............  I sometime stalk about OWS in which i have returned to my car and needd to put my car key between the heels on my hands because my fingers weren't working --- and that is not hyperbole at all.  I can joke about it now, but in hindsight it was just idiotic to put myself in that position (and it happened far more than just once).

All that self-criticism aside, it has been useful to me to go through that misery of cold and big waves, because it the rare races i have done in truly dicey conditions, I haven't been fazed by them.  i guess that's a plus to being stupid, yes?

ANYHOW, those days are mostly behind me.  I tend to eschew big waves and heavy chop, and will limit my swims to ones in which I don't get numb.  My recent talk here of "64/65' or "64/61" is my way to kind of publicly remind myself to pay close attention to my swimming conditions.  Yesterday was a chilly day (air igh of about 52F), and rainy, so when I go to the river this afternoon I expect the water to be lower than 64 -- which is what it was from Tuesday through Saturday.  I'm guessing today will be a "62/63".........which'll put me clsoer to the point at which cold hands travel through cold air, and the chill never leaves.  I'm predicting that by the end of the week it will be "61/61". and that's when I should pack up the wetsuit until next May.  So sad!!!  (But I have done more than 75 OWS this season, which is some sort of record for me!) 

THOMAS again -

Today will be OWS #88 since May 18.  Seven have been in races,  about eight have been in random water bodies, and the rest have been along that beloved buoy line put out on the Rideau river by the the Rideau canoe Club -- bless ther hearts!!!!

FWIW, my niece's boyfriend lives in Amsterdam and has recently taken up rowing and is passionate about it.  So there's more than one of you!

STEVE -

I can't take credit for modulating my training volume. I just did my best to follow this plan prescribed by Mr. Hal Higdon. THOMAS, you may find this useful: http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51124/10K-Advanced-Training-Program

I talked about the plan with one of the Level 1 USAT coaches I know. We agreed that it was solid, but that for a 10K, it might have been worthwhile to do some longer distances in the speedwork. I know my local Fleet Feet training group speedwork sessions (led by a Mr. Ryan Johnson who ran a :39:00 10K yesterday) usually involve some variation of 200, 400, 800, 1,200 pyramid or thereabouts whereas Higdon's plan was built exclusively around ever-increasing numbers of 400s. Also Higdon also doesn't lay out a particular rest time / distance / HR he wants you to achieve during the recovery. I think I started out resting 1:30 (same as the run) and shortened it up to 1:00 later on. Maybe that's particularly vague because he wants you to buy his book, "Run Fast" which I may do at some point.

GEORGE - Muskoka is getting closer. MT is 12 hours for me, LP is 10, and Muskoka is 8. How about Toronto (6), Buffalo (4), Erie (2 1/2), or Ironman Pittsburgh (0) which has a nice ring to it?!

Just caught this. Whatevs....Of course it's cool.

MOJOS - The time to make decisions about next year's races is being forced upon me. Right now there is discounted registration for the Pittsburgh Tri (July) (the question there is Sprint or Olympic?), and tomorrow the Pittsburgh Marathon (May) goes on sale and is discounted between 10-3 (do I do the half again, full!!, or nothing?). This year, I felt that the run-specific training for the HM went on a little long into the tri season to the detriment of cycling and swimming.

I'm also considering one of the HIM events I mentioned earlier (Mountaineer, Rev3 Cedar Point, Savageman, or ???) so another HM wouldn't hurt. I'm just a little hesitant about being willing / able to get in the requisite bike volume. Pretty sure I'd need to venture out of the basement and off of the trainer if I want to conquer 56 miles when my longest ride to date is closer to 30.

Also, this event caught my eye this weekend: http://www.100miletriathlon.com/. Though that one's longer than a HIM.

Partly to that end, I've cooked up a winter training strategy for myself that has me interested. You may remember that our tri club participated in the USAT National Challenge Competition last year. Each month has a focus: December is swim, January is Bike, and February is run. I tend to enjoy immersing myself in one sport and seeing more rapid improvement (as in this recent bout of run focus training) than trying to be a jack-of-all-trades. I really don't have the time to do 9 workouts / week, and I subscribe to the thinking that you can maintain your fitness at 2 workouts / week but it takes at least 3 to improve. Couple this with the article that Matt Fitzgerald recently wrote for Triathlete extolling the virtues of single-sport training, and I was sold. I'm thinking 4 workouts / week in that month's sport and one or two in the others. Once March rolls around, I'll assess where I'm at and start to look at race-specific training (possibly with a coach this year?).

What think you?

STEVE - I totally missed this and the following post from you! I guess you could say I was pretty out of it last week post Redman! 

Definitely open to suggestions on a cooler weather HIM! I'm *done* with guessing about the weather around here. I can squeeze-by (barely) biking in the heat, but no way on the run. It just tears me apart, and not just mentally. I take a med that has "heat intolerance" as one of its main side effects, so it's really not me just psyching myself out about the heat - it's my body saying "What the f--- are you doing to me!? Get out of the heat, woman!" Also, looking back, I think growing up in this part of the country and playing softball my entire childhood/young adulthood left me with several cases of heat exhaustion that weren't realized as such at the time, but I now know that I did repeatedly take myself there and so that has also left me more susceptible to overheating.

Weight: My coach agrees that I need to lose weight. I'm pretty frustrated in that when I first started my weight loss journey the pounds just seem to melt away each week. Then I plateaued for about six months, then training for a HIM saw me gain weight. Geez. Anyway, my coach is demanding suggesting that I log every bite of food that goes into my mouth on Training Peaks daily so that she can review what I'm doing wrong. I've tried the excuse that I'm middle aged and slower metabolism, but she ain't buying it. Oh and I have to weigh my food now, too. I'm thinking she hit the nail on the head with that last suggestion. I can eat the heck out of some healthy food! Portion control is an issue for me. 

Getting back to heat: I doused myself with water, dumped ice into my sports bra, stuck wet sponges in strategic places all over my body, and also drank lots. It just wasn't enough. However, I will try to embrace your thoughts on not letting the heat become my enemy. It's just hard when I have a medical issue that doesn't think the same way.

STEVE - I really wasn't that bothered with my swim time - I knew that they trot up to T1 was a long one, and so I gave myself a break and didn't think about it after that. I was really just focused on what lie ahead - I knew it was going to be a long day. I didn't know that it was going to get that hot - I was thinking low to mid 80s, which is still hot for me, but I had no idea it would turn out to be mid 90s. That's Oklahoma weather for ya...and I personally think there's a conspiracy amongst local meteorologists to downplay the heat and wind around here. Like I told people on the Redman FB page: Add 5 degrees to the temp, and 5-7 mph to wind speed and you'll have an accurate forecast. But 10 degrees higher? Sheesh! 

As for playing around with solids...I will do anything to not have stomach bloat like that again. I still don't know what went wrong - but a friend of mine who was in the med tent with me said I had Gu Belly (aka "Gu Gas." I didn't know that existed. If that's the case I'm staying away from Gu's. But what gets me is that I fueled with Gu's at my first half mary, and in oly distance tri's and never had that happen. I'm still thinking it was the heat, or some weird GI issues I had going into the race. I guess only more races and time will tell, right?

I felt ok last week - I think that the culmination of another very hot summer paired with an increase in bike training and finally training for a HIM took its toll. I had headache all last week, experienced apathy, sluggishness, and slight irritability. Ok, moderate irritability. I did manage to get in a couple of rounds of golf and that seemed to help my mental state. I start back training today, so I'm hoping I feel better after an easy 5K run that I'm omw outside to do right now.

Oh, and great races last weekend! You are one very fast man! You're complaining about coming in 2nd in your age group cracks me up! I would give anything if I had that problem!  

Wow, congrats, DAVE! Way to go - you are FAST!

Gu seems to work for me in a ride only scenario for a century or so-say 5-6 hours, assuming I start with a good breakfast or pre ride meal. It seems to work well for short to mid length runs, even long runs to a point. But over 6 hours or so or combined with ANY other fluid and I get unpleasantness. I am sort of certain the addition of a relatively bland solid like the saltines or pretzels at Redman settled things for me-gave my stomach chemicals something to do besides rumble and gurgle and rebel. It really did not take much, but I grabbed a handful often. I also had forgotten, but for a time on the run, I had some odd pain in my jaw, reminiscent of my old acid reflux days-the same food stuff seems to have cured this. Purely anecdotal but compelling.

A little over a year ago when my running began venturing into longer distances I had a similar experience in my jaw which disappeared about the time my acid reflux abated.

JEFF - I will keep that in mind regarding Gu. I will have to do some thinking about what I can take with me on a run course - I don't like wearing fuel belts. I may have to get used to them, no? 

Ok, I'm now going to play armchair cardiologist and say that the jaw pain is super strange and I'd be concerned about heart issues. I know that some people report jaw pain when they're getting ready to have/having an MI.

Dave - I'm hoping you'll get to do the IMCanada in Muskoka someday. 

In planning your 2013 schedule you should check out an Okanagan Lake swim in Peachland (about a half hour north of Penticton).  It's called: "Rattlesnake Island Swim".  You can either swim from the island back to Peachland (3.1km/1.93mi) or you can swim from Peachland out to the island then back to Peachland for a 7km/4.35mi.  This year it was a slow swim due to choppy conditions.  If you check out their website you can see how many people did it but it is not a big race say 50-100swimmers and even though the swim is in August it is absolutely wetsuit legal.  I just thought you might have a few minutes of fun checking it out.

This afternoon I thought I was crazy to be planning next years schedule so I'm glad to see I'm not alone.

It is kind of interesting to hear people talking here because the attitude is very anti WTC.  I feel that I must support Challenge and work to make it successful to spite them.  I guess the best way to spite the WTC is to participate in their competitions races and see that they thrive.

I'm also not impressed by Kelowna.  Their city mayor has said they made their bid to keep IMC in the Okanagan Valley for the good of the valley but they also have said they'll hold the race on the same day as Challenge.  Hardly in the best interest of this part of the valley.

TRINA -

No!  No, no, no, no, NO!  I do not think you have to get used to fuel belts.  I tried one once for a brief (like, 10-min) run, and hated it.  NEVER AGAIN!!!

My solution is deSoto 4-pocket tri shorts (www.desotosport.com), where the pockets are two down the sides on both legs.  they are ever-so-slightly elasticized, so nothing woggles around inside them.  Each pocket could hold two gels, if necessary, far more than is safe to ingest on a half-iron run. 

I also wear DeSoto tri jerseys (mostly Forza line, sometimes Carrera), and these have three pockets in back.  Their positioning is about like that on a cycling top, but they are smaller and also slightly elasticized.  So between the tops and the bottoms, I could carry a whole lotta "stuff" if I wanted.....although usually I don't want to.

For sprints, i never use the 4-pocket ones, as I carry nothing.  But the 4-pocketer is on me in olys, where I usually carry one gel on the run --- but use it only about half the time.  It's really just security in case things go real bad.

For half-irons, i may carry two or three gels, depending on (a) how many aid stations there are, and (b) what brand of gels they are using.  But at least two of the three I would carry are "old standbys" -- brands and flavors that I feel are less likely to make me nauseous.  It would be disastrous for me to get to mile 11 of aHIM run..........and see the only gel there as a Hammer raspberry (like Hammer gels, mostly, but not raspberry!!!!)

I owe you more from those other posts, but i have to be quick for now.  See ya later!

GEORGE -

Good grief.  The mayor seems to have forgotten the year (or two), along about '05-'08, when locals threw roofing nails along the bike course (early, maybe 4 or 5 miles in) as a way of showing their displeasure with road closings and massive traffic kerfuffles.  So, if he/she is thinking that two races of that magnitude is "good for the Valley", then I'm not sure full consultation with the locals has happened. 

Maybe I'm missing something, though, and of course that is pure, unadulterated economics.  But my guess is that all of the discontents have nothing to do with the tourist industry, and so don't even get a whiff of any "trickle-down" from monies going to the lodgings and eateries and up-scale shoppes.

In all possible fairness, many people really like the "show" that WTC puts on for them.  (See?  I can't even use "all possible fairness" without also including "show"!)  I guess it just all comes down to vastly different tastes, and why so many people love the bells and whistles of the Rock 'n' Roll marathon series.  If people want an EVENT, a HAPPENING, for their big race, then R&R and WTC probably can't be beat.  But i only want an event up to a certain point, and far more important to me is that I don't (a) pay too much for entry, and (b) have to share the course with far too many others.

But hey -- don't get me started!

STEVE, luckily for me the cost of races should not be a dealbreaker. Not that I'm swimming in bills or anything but some of the local 5ks cost around 5 euro, excl chip so around $10 at most. For my HM (which was a big one here in NL) I paid probably about the equivalent of $30. My sprint tri was around $35 I think. I don't know why there is such a big difference in pricing, but I guess I'll take it. And yes you're right I do have to train for them. Right now I've built up to about 36km a week spread out over 4 runs (two 6km and two 12km). I intend to keep it at this mileage for a while, maybe increase one of the 12km runs. 

Small world regarding the rowing! It's really quite a small sport, but can be very addicting because you can make gains in speed VERY quickly. It is a team sport but very much unlike football or soccer as you can very directly influence each other's performance (you're in the same boat, literally, after all!) but then again, you always look at the back of your teammates... 

DAVE, thanks for the link! I think I read about Higdon in the past. I don't know, however, whether I'd call myself an "advanced" runner just yet though :P Did you use this program yourself? I also heard about Jack Daniels? (not the bourbon :D) There probably are just so many programs, I just have to pick one and stick to it!

THOMAS -

I wouldn't call myself an Advanced runner either having only been running since Spring of last year, but the training volumes looked doable and I figured following that plan would bring me the best results. Sort of a "go big or go home" sort of decision. Plus, when it says race pace or mile pace, that gives it a wide range of difficulty. (I tried to do the mile pace work under 6:00 / mile pace, but my treadmill only goes up to 10 mph! For the tempo, I'd have to look at my files, but I tried to be in the mid- to low- 7:00 / mile range).

I'm sure other plans would deliver good results. I think the key for me was running often and the speed and tempo runs with the caveats I mentioned in the post above.