State of the Sport... to me

This week and next are camp weeks for Northeast Ohio Cross Country Camp, at which I served as a counselor for a few years back in the day. Fredo is one of the camp directors… as h has been for quite a few years now. This week Craig Virgin (Wiki page here), pictured below, is the keynote guest and he arrived at camp last night… Fredo sent me a text upon his arrival. Craig is staying at the camp for several days, as he will address the campers during the close of week 1 and then the new campers at the opening of week 2.

All this got me wondering / thinking… why am I so uninterested. Craig Virgin, one of the greatest US distance runners of all-time, etc. and you couldn’t pay me $100 to head out there and meet him. It’s nothing against him personally, the same can be said for the fact that up until about 3-4 years ago, I could name every top-tier high school runner in Ohio, best times, credentials, where they are going to college, etc. Now, I can’t name one kid… local or national. And another clear example of my ‘disconnection’ to the sport… I have not visited Lets Run in (at least) 2 years - now that's something.

I don't think it is by coincidence that my son is 3.5 years old and that lines up about right with the timeline.

In regards to my personal passion for the sport in regards to my running, that hasn't diminished… not in the least. But with my family and my career… and about 15, to what seems like 100 other things… the last thing I think about is the sport from the standpoint of following it - other than when I come across a random 20 minutes of a meet on TV.

My focus on the sport no longer goes beyond my training, or the athletes I advise. Selfish, maybe… but I don’t ask for anything from the sport, so it’s not like it’s some one-sided relationship. At this point, I can honestly admit… I have zero interest. Name the runner (all-time great, Olympic Champ), invite him or her to within 10 miles of my house, give me a free ticket, and I doubt I would even make an attempt to go. This is just where I'm at right now... and with no issues about it.

... maybe some of that makes sense and a few of you can relate, maybe it makes no sense at all.

* This week - as noted - is a down week in my training cycle. The goal is to hit about 60-65 miles with an AT workout and a track workout. I also wanted to take a day off (Monday), but that turned into two days off (Monday and Tuesday) due to work travel and meetings in Nashville, TN.

I did however get my AT workout in (although very lackluster) yesterday, and tomorrow morning I will be hitting the track, as the plan calls for: 6 x set of (800m @ 2:28 w/ 200m jog, 400m @ 70 w/ 2:30 rest). Should provide some decent cadence work at sub 5:00 mile pace. 

* Timothy

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Plan 'falls' into place...

I have been very hesitate about creating a 'set plan' for the fall racing season. As always, it has been in the back of my mind - as my training has progressed - to toe the line for a fall marathon.  My thoughts were with Columbus first (familiarity is a huge advantage on race day), and then possibly Richmond, or Philadelphia, if the timing for one of those was better.

But after putting some more thought into it, I have decided that I'll pass on a fall marathon.  Instead I will be focusing my training in on gaining the goal of hitting two new PRs... specifically at the half-marathon and 10k distances.

In terms of what races will I be zeroing my assaults in on... I have a handful of half-marathons in sight... and the way they are spread out on the calendar, it would be realistic to race 3 or more if need be (although, that's a lot of half-marathons during one training block).

As for the 10k, I'll have 2-3 really good shots... and those all fall on different weekends than the half-marathons I'm looking at.  At least on paper, this all looks doable and sets up very well.

So that's where the focus lies - working towards the goal of grabbing two new PRs this fall: over 13.1 miles and 10000 kilometers.

* I'm in Nashville for a few days for work - which is great timing as I didn't have to worry about my training or packing all my running gear... reason being, I slotted a much needed down week this week along with a scheduled day off (today).  After 5 straight weeks at, of over 80 miles, the legs were due.

As I noted in my last blog about dew point, Saturday morning I headed to the track for a workout with Aaron, Steve, and Kevin.  It was a very solid effort despite the weather conditions - actually, the weather was slightly better than I had expected / planned for.  The objective of the workout was met, as we did a mix of LT and 10k pace stuff - more importantly, I was just glad to have some company and get the work in.

Then as Sunday morning arrived, I headed out the door solo for my weekly long run. After a very easy and slow first 8 miles, my legs really started feeling quite good, so I dropped the pace for 2 miles as I closed in on the 10 mile mark just to see what they had.  There was some life, so I decide to really get after it for the next 6 miles.  Then, once I got to 16 miles, I just took the last mile easy... sort of a cool down - as I was very content about the long run progression of pace and how the legs felt after Saturday's workout.

All good signs that the fitness is coming around. 

* Timothy

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Dew point...

... and that folks, is the equation to calculate dew point.

Many runners concern themselves with the basics - temperature and the humidity... however dew point is the number that I tend to look at for the most insight of what awaits when i head out the door to cover some miles.

When we moved to Charlotte in the spring of 2007, we learned quickly what training during a southern summer was all about.  However, as I read up on training in such conditions, I found a lot tied into dew point, but when I talked with people - dew point always went unmentioned.

In terms of training... most of the time once the dew point starts to climb into the mid-60, the effect can be quite negative in terms of putting in a quality effort and reaping the true benefits of your workout. However, most of the time during the summer, we runners just deal with dew points in this range.

But once the dew points start creeping towards 70*... and over - this is when workouts need to be pushed back and training schedules need to be flexible enough to 'live to fight another day'.

What happens to the body in the presence of high dew points - body's normal process of perspiring (sweating) is impeded. Once dew points reach the 64*-70* (and up) range, the evaporation of sweat is impaired immensely, leading the body to overheat and operate at a much lower than optimal level while training.

Bottom line - if you have a workout or long run planned and the dew point is around hovering 70* (or higher), you may be better off waiting a day or two and putting in some easy mileage instead - then checking the weather to see when you can reschedule the quality effort.

 
 *** But then again, you can buck my advice... as I will be doing tomorrow morning and try to put the effort in despite the conditions.  Tomorrow morning I am meeting a handful of others for a track workout... dew point is forecasted to be 75* at that hour.

I will report back with firsthand data on what sort of mark that leaves! 

* Timothy

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