Category Archives: Running

Across the Years Training Week 15 Recap

So I signed up for my first 24 Hour foot race and detailed my high level training plan and my nutrition plan.

So now I will detail my training from Week 15

Best running week in a couple of months and that made me feel really good. Not a huge week of running by any means but significant progress and my runs felt relatively good, so that is very positive. Continued with every other day running as I have desired and no major issues.

Also had 3 solid and tough gym sessions along with the running which made this week probably the toughest yet and I was crazy exhausted on Saturday and Sunday. Worse than I have been in a long time.

So a few different things that I wanted to share (in no particular order):

  •  I have worked with a company whose products I am very fond of and we are going to have a very cool giveaway (for a product that I am receiving this week and will be reviewing) for mid December and there will be a tie-in and promotion with my race. I am really excited about this opportunity and will let you know the company and the product very soon! So cool!
  • I just wanted to state something else that is very straightforward… the days that I workout I do not have more energy. I have less.. sometimes a lot less. Sometimes I feel like a prize fighter that lost very badly… and am just laying on the couch later doing my best to get through the rest of the day. I write this because I have heard people say in the past “I just don’t have energy if I don’t work out in the morning” and have actually read this recently on a few blogs. I am not being sarcastic when I say I truly don’t understand this. I mean perhaps if someone is doing 30 minutes of easy walking or something, but serious training can make getting through the day (and accomplishing things) harder not easier for me. I dig deep into the energy well when I am running 10 miles or at the gym for 2 hours and later I do not feel energized. What I will say is the days when I don’t workout, I do feel a heck of a lot better and really enjoy and use the energy that I didn’t expend that morning. When I am working through a serious week (and then continuing week after week) I am consistently building a bigger energy base that I can then use once I taper and stop beating myself up (and it is only then that we realize how effective all of that training was) but while I am in the middle of a tough week I don’t feel energized… I can feel like a slug that needs a nap! To those that truly do feel like their hard training gives them more energy throughout the day… I salute you! And have no idea how this is the case. The reason why this weekly recap is late is because I was too tired on Sunday to write it. I was just totally unable.
  • I have been thinking about dieting the last 6-7 weeks out from the race. Not a starvation diet by any means, but essentially the very beginning of a 16 week bodybuilding contest prep type diet. Very similar to what I am currently eating (very clean, high protein and clean carbs with some healthy fats) but without cheating and no alcohol. I have to be honest that the only reason I am thinking of doing this is to look a bit better at the race and have a few less pounds to carry. I am thinking of a maximum of 3-5lbs and I am currently only “thinking” about doing this… I would like to and think that the discipline would be good for getting me into race mode, but at the same time I really don’t feel like doing it : ) We will see.
  • So perfect running weather has hit St. Louis. Wow what a difference running in the mid 30’s up to 50 degrees at the start of your run makes. It is always a revelation every year. Just makes everything so much easier and enjoyable. I love Fall. There are those that can handle the heat of July a lot better than I can (I really struggle and don’t enjoy it) but I thrive in the cold. Not looking forward to below 15 degrees but the 30’s and 40’s are perfect for my training right now. The average temps for the race are between 35 – 70 (throughout that day) and very dry (naturally as it is Arizona) so I don’t anticipate the weather playing a big factor.
  • I got a brutal (really there were parts that were just intensely teeth grinding painful) myo fascial massage yesterday but I think it really helped again. He focused again on my right foot and this time on my left calf. The work that he did on my right calf last time helped tremendously but I noticed I continued to have some numbness late into my runs on my left foot. I determined with my chiropractor that it wasn’t tight shoelaces (which can definitely make your foot go numb and is one of the reasons that I run with the elastic laces that give as your foot moves) that was occasionally making my foot numb but tight calves and their impact on the nerves that run down my lower leg to my foot. These tight calves were again a result of my running in the track spikes at the beginning of the summer. He also worked on my whole legs and back. I can’t run until Thursday because of how serious the trauma was to the muscles, but when I do I believe my running should feel very free. I have one more session scheduled with him before the race.
  • A fellow SLUG (member of the St. Louis Ultrarunners Group) John Cash won a 24 Hour Race “24 The Hard Way” in Oklahoma City, OK over the weekend (with the astonishing total distance of 139.45 miles!! 24 Hours for just a bit over 10:15 pace overall… AMAZING) and qualified for Team USA at the 24 Hour World Championships! How incredibly cool and motivating is that. He hit 80 miles at the 12th Hour.. and I would love to hit 80 miles at the 22 Hour! Way to go John!!
  • I signed up for a Charity 6 Hour Run in late November called “Miles for Food” here in St. Louis. I have done this run before and really enjoyed it. Not only is it for a great cause of raising money and canned goods for charity, but it is a fun flat course with two separate loops that you can run for 6 hours. I am looking forward to using it as motivation to log a serious long run. Will probably be my longest run before the race. Not for certain, but probably.
  • I recently remembered that there is a technique for charging your Garmin while you are running. I read about it in an #ultrachat on Twitter a couple months ago. I am almost certain that I favorited that tweet by the individual that wrote about how to do it and I am going to look that up this weekend and see what is involved and if I can do it. It has something to do with getting a USB attachment to a charger that you hold in your waistpack and it charges the Garmin as you go! How cool would that be and be able to track my pace the whole time. Would also save me a lot of money in not having to buy another Garmin before the race! Was unsure if I was really going to do that or not… but if I can get this to work I won’t have to worry about it! I will most definitely fill you in on the details of how to make it work if I do.
  • I have to admit I am really looking forward to not working out for a while in January! I am not one of those runners who doesn’t know what to do with themselves after a major race or just doesn’t feel “right” without working out. Don’t get me wrong… I wouldn’t like taking 2 months off sitting on my duff.. but probably 3 weeks or so off of running and my guess is at least 2 weeks off from the gym after this race sounds great. I can find plenty of things to do… like catch up on some backlogged blog posts!! : ) I hear about some runners that get this “itch” 5 days out from a major race, but I will be fine and enjoying it!

So onto last week:

Tuesday the 22nd: 7.1 Miles running/walking using the same technique as I used the week before of running 1/3 and then walking 1/6 and repeating. My overall pace was good at 11:22. It was gorgeous cool weather and was dark most of the time when I was running. I loved it.

Wednesday the 23rd: Went to the gym after work and had a great session.
I 5 sets of conventional deadlifts ending with 365X5. I was happy with that.
21 sets for Lats
17 sets for Triceps and felt really strong

Thursday the 24th: 6.5 miles running/walking but walking less. I decided (for a couple of reasons.. needed to get back home to get to work and also thought it would make the training a bit tougher) to run 5/6 mile and then walk 1/6 mile and repeat… eliminating the middle walk period. Hit 10:05 pace overall with many of my running periods being in the 8:50 – 9:15 pace range.

Friday the 25th: 2 sets of 20 rep squats (ending with 185X20) and then 235X8… god it felt good to squat again. I am truly built to squat. It just feels right.
14 sets for chest with 9 sets of flat bench dumbbell presses ending with 100’sX2. Was a great feeling to finally get 100’s back up again.
3 sets of barbell shrugs for traps.
Ran out of time but wanted to get core in. I didn’t hit core this week but definitely plan on getting it in twice this coming week.

Saturday the 26th: A 10 mile run! Yay. Was nice to get back to double digit miles. I did these in the 5/6 mile running and 1/6 mile walking fashion with 10:32 pace overall. Definitely felt like a workout (and I was quite tired later that day from this workout and everything earlier in the week) but wasn’t bad. I used “Chain’d Out” Branch Chain Amino Acid powder in one of the bottles that I drank during my run and I like it. As I have written before I believe that consuming protein during the race will be very important and so I am experimenting with different types and I had no problem with Chain’d Out. I am using it now during my gym workouts too. I like it a lot (it is Appletini flavor : ) and do think that it helps keep my energy higher.

Sunday the 27th: 5 sets for Glutes/Lunges and got up to 135lb barbell side lunges for the first time. That feels pretty strong but I slightly tweaked my SI joint in my hip when I was putting the barbell down at the end and need to get that loosened up by my chiropractor on Thursday. It’s definitely not right but I don’t think it will have any long term effect or stop me from running on Thursday.
16 sets for Delts
12 sets for Biceps
Ironmind Captains of Crush Gripper Holds for Time. I enjoyed these and they made my forearms super pumped

Best of luck in your training,

Chris