100 crunches
50 sit-ups
treadmill 5 miles 37:24

"Racing 50 or 100 miles is about strength and endurance. It's about nutrition and hydration. It's about patience, stubbornness, and determination. It's about a lot of things, but it's really not much about leg speed. Sure there are great ultra runners with great shorter distance speed, but there are also great ultra runners with mediocre (at best) shorter distance speed.

The fact that Tony K's 5k PR is about 16:30 should be all the proof one needs on this point. In nearly every ultra he runs he beats dozens of runners who would beat him if the race were a 5k. Why? Take a look at his training. He runs a ton and he runs uphill on rugged trails. He does more in training to build his strength and endurance than anyone I've ever known of. And more importantly he does more or less nothing in his training to build his leg speed. Or take me as another example. I'm blessed with a bit more leg speed than Tony, but it was when I stopped thinking that I needed to try to sharpen and hone this leg speed that I began to have the high level of success in ultras that I've had over the past 20 months."

55 pushups
25 jacknives
50 leg raises
50 crunches
TBDL 2 x 5 x 185

Steve's recommended plan (Follow this for December) - Do nearly all of your running at 150 bpm and over time your speed will increase even though your heart rate will stay the same. Run every other day and row the other day. Don't do anything else.

wall sit 2:15
55 pushups
25 jacknives
Plank 1:30
TBDL 5 x 185
treadmill 5 miles 34:54

"Throughout my career I have widely varied the amount of time I’ve spent in the weight room from up to an hour six times a week to doing only five minutes of core a day leading up to last year’s Boston Marathon. What did I find? Well, the results were all about the same, but perhaps my best result since I ran 2:06 in 2008 was from last year’s Boston Marathon when I did only five minutes of core a day and spent the extra time that I usually spent in the gym doing self-therapy with a roller, massage stick, and softball." Ryan Hall

box jumps 2 x 25
DBDL 10 x 120lbs
row 5000 20:04.2

"My goal is to hurt a little bit every day to make sure I am callusing my body." Shalane Flanagan

A.M.
25 burpees
TBDL 2 x 10 x 120
10 burpees
1 min wall sit

P.M.
25 box jumps
treadmill 5 miles 36:26

Rowing is an expression of power and endurance. To simplify matters you can consider four areas that determine rowing condition: maximum power, anaerobic capacity, specific aerobic capacity and endurance.

Maximum power – can be determined by a seven-stroke standing start on the Concept 2 rowing ergometer. With the monitor set to display watts, record the average watts over the seven strokes;

Anaerobic capacity – set the monitor on the Concept 2 to one minute and record the average power in watts rowed flat out;

Specific aerobic capacity – record the time taken to row 2,000m on the Concept 2 and the average power in watts;

Endurance – as above, but over 5000m.

The average maximum power of the seven-stroke test can be expressed as two values: the actual power and used as a ‘100% reference’, against which the other values are measured.

As a rough guide in a rowing crew:

The average anaerobic power measured over one minute should be between 90% and 100% of average maximum power; Specific aerobic capacity measured over 2,000m should be between 55-65% of average maximum power; Endurance measured over 5000m should be between 45-55% of average maximum power.

What have I learned this year?

-Time isn't that relevant in races.
-Running specific training helps you get faster, but it is over the course of months, not days or weeks.
-leg strength and general cardio fitness is an important part of running cross training.
-compare 2009 to 2010 race times and training program. 2010 was faster, but probably not as much as you would expect given the significant increase in miles run. Improvement is made over years if you stay consistent. Otherwise your fitness pretty much is stable most of the time.
-you don't need a watch, it doesn't really matter what your times are, it's all about the effort level.
-stay healthy! Injuries are a waste of time. Take extra rest days and easy days to make sure you stay healthy.
-2011 program - focus on running (faster pace and shorter distance mid-week and longer runs on weekend) and TBDL. Stick with this program all year. Stay with an "annual" workout pace and frequency so you can stay consistent all year long.
-be in race shape at all times (reinforces how you should feel physically and mentally all the time)
-no one is paying you to race, have fun. Challenge yourself, but enjoy the experience and the challenge, it matters more than the results
-have a life.
-take pride in eating healthy and with discipline. Treat eating with the same general approach you treat training. The donuts and cinnamon rolls don't taste that good. Eating junk is short term thinking.

Turkey Trot 10k
41:04 (5.85 miles)
43:45 for a full 10k
52nd overall (out of 856)
12th in 31-40 age group (out of 115)

100 squats
20 jump lunges
55 pushups
treadmill 3 miles 21:28

Potential workout program
1. Run 3-4 days per week (one long, the rest tempo or above)
2. TBDL and rowing on non-running days

TBDL 3 reps x 230 (tweaked back on 3rd rep)
55 pushups
100 squats

Here is the schedule:

April 16 -- Reno 5000 5k
May 1 -- Rock n River 10k
May 14? -- Silver State 50k
June 25 -- Western States 100??
July 16 -- TRT 100 (if not WS)
Sept 18 -- Journal Jog 8k Sept 25 -- Lake Tahoe 10k
Oct. 9 -- Bizz Johnson Marathon
Oct. 29 -- Healdsburg Half

The year is built around running a 100 mile race in the summer (assuming I can get in one) and a marathon in the fall. The other stuff is mostly for fun and is designed to support my training approach for my goal races.

I learned 2 key things this year. 1) race time and placing doesn't matter, effort does. 2) stay healthy and be in race condition all year round.

I had been far too focused on my watch during training runs and in races. I think one of the unfortunate things about technology is it makes it too easy to over-analyze running, which at its core is a very simple activity. As soon as you can embrace the fact that your 3rd mile split in a 10k doesn't really matter, you will become a much better runner.

I have tried a number of different training approaches the last couple of years and I learned an important lesson. Whatever your fitness level is when you show up for a race, that's what it is. Effort and pain gets you a little faster time, but you will never show up to a 10k in 44 minute shape and run a 35 minute 10k that day.

Regardless of the training program, my times tend to be fairly similar across races. It seems I have reached a base level of speed and endurance that can only be improved in small increments. For example, in the Journal Jog this year I ran a 34:14, and the year before I ran 34:55. I probably ran triple the training miles this year versus last year. Now I wasn't really do any speed work before the Journal Jog this year, but even if I could have dropped another 20 seconds off my time, I would have run 60 seconds faster than last year. To get that 60 seconds, I had to run nearly 1,200 miles (about 3-4 times what I ran the prior year), which probably took around 175 running hours. The prior year I devoted about the same number of hours to training, but it included a lot more cross training and weight lifting. So all of that running specific training got me 60 seconds in the race. Now, I have fun doing the training, and I was happy to see the improvement, so I was happy. But my point is if you aren't having fun or if you are risking injury, it just isn't worth the extra 60 seconds to make yourself miserable. I'm also not willing to lose the 15-20 pounds that I would need to in order to get really fast, so I know I have a self limiter to my race times (which I am totally fine with).

With these lessons and background, my plan for 2011 is to run far less miles than you would expect to train for these races. I will supplement my training with daily leg weight and plyometric work. Most of my training runs will be shorter and faster and I may be getting a weight vest to wear on my longer runs. I totally acknowledge that this isn't the optimal way to train for a race. The proper way to maximize my times for the above races is to run a ton of long, slow distance miles. But that is not realistic with my schedule and I know that running 50 -60 miles per week just burns me out anyway. So my plan is to get 80% of the race benefit from my training with less than half the work. I will probably run 3-4 days/week max, with shorter speed work during the week (typically between 3 to 8 mile runs) and one long run 2+ hours on the weekend. If I get into a 100 miler, I will stretch the weekly long run to 3-4 hours. I will take it pretty easy (probably run 15 miles max per week) for December and still keep things pretty light in January. Then I will get more serious after that.

Probably more than you wanted to know, but that is how I'm looking at the running world right now. Have fun, stay healthy, enjoy the experience and be pleased with the effort you put into the process. If you do that, everything else will take care of itself.

TBDL 5 x 2 x 230
treadmill 6 miles 43:40

When I was a distance runner at the University of Nebraska, Coach Jay Dirksen used to tell us, "You've got 23 other hours in the day for your other commitments, so give me this hour." It was his way of saying, "no excuses for missing practice!"

Of course, Dirksen didn't acknowledge the fact that practice rarely was only 1 hour, but his point still resonates with me. Workouts and training are important, especially when you're wanting to excel. We did morning runs on our own, and Sunday long runs as well. If he had said 22 hours, he would have been more truthful, but again, the point still resonates. We had to do the work to reach our goals, no matter what our other commitments.

Joe Friel recently said in a tweet, "#6 mistake of self-coached athletes? Inconsistent training. High goals? Don’t miss workouts. Ever." There is no greater truth than this.

So if you've got high goals, don't give me excuses for missing workouts, especially when it comes to life and commitments. School is important, work is important, but so are your goals, right?

If you sleep for 8 hours, work for 8 hours, and fill 4 hours eating, commuting, studying, etc, then you still have 4 hours of time to get your workouts in. Don't tell us you can't do it, just be honest and tell us, "I chose not to do my workouts, and to not work hard toward my goals."

TBDL 10 x 2 x 225
55 pushups

TBDL 3 x 4 x 215
treadmill 5 miles 35:08

"If you want to improve your performance in the marathon, stop worrying about minimalist shoes, caveman diets, and new-age running form, and start worrying about getting out the door and running a little more than you did last week. High mileage works! It is the single best method for the greatest percentage of runners to improve in the marathon."

-Peter Gilmore

TBDL 5 x 4 x 215
55 pushups

TBDL 3 x 4 x 215
track 2 x 2 miles w/5 min rest
13:50, 13:51

"It's very hard to understand in the beginning that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants to quit." Dr. George Sheehan

TBDL 5 x 4 x 215

TBDL 3 x 3 x 215
run 6 miles ~47:00 (Arlington)

Until proven otherwise, there's only one way guaranteed to make you a faster runner: Train faster. (Up to a point, training more will also do the trick.) I would add, and this may be just a personal bias, that it's a good idea to train at a variety of paces: sprints, vo2 max pace, lactate threshold pace, marathon pace, easy pace. And also that uphill and downhill running are both helpful.

Do other stuff if you enjoy it. Build other muscles if you seek bicep bulges or total fitness. But if you're at a point in your life when you mainly care about racing faster, put your emphasis on training faster.

TBDL 3 x 3 x 215

Carl Lewis once said: “Relax and let the speed come out.” Just like famous sprint coach Bud Winter’s mantra, “Relax and win"

TBDL 3 x 3 x 215
50 pushups

TBDL 5 x 2 x 215
50 pushups
run 12 miles ~1:38 (Arlington)

TBDL 5 x 2 x 215
treadmill 4 miles 27:55

"By the end of the morning today the time to beat on the bridge hold was hovering around 10 minutes. Fast forward to 5pm and the high water mark was well into the teens. 6pm, 20 minutes. By the close of the 7pm class, 24 minutes. Our athletes in the evening are no more capable than those in the morning. Hell, two of our best are part of the 6am crew (cough… Kareem… a’hem… Alison). The point is, the people in the morning didn’t have the luxury of knowing how long a bridge should be reasonably held, they just went for it.

Think of all of the things you could accomplish knowing this very fact: our capacities (be it in work or the gym) are largely limited by our brain’s expectations of a future outcome. Read that sentence again.

Next time you walk into our gym and look at the work that is ahead of you, picture yourself far exceeding your expectations and the next thing you know, that pipe dream becomes your reality."

TBDL 5 x 2 x 215
55 pushups

TBDL 5 x 2 x 215

TBDL 5 x 2 x 215
55 pushups
treadmill 10k 43:15

TBDL 5 x 2 x 215

TBDL 5 x 2 x 205
55 pushups
run 8 miles 1:02:51 (Arlington)

TBDL 3 x 2 x 205
55 pushups

According to Johnson, sprinters retract their trailing leg quickly for two reasons: it generates power, and it means that the foot has a shorter distance to travel before it arrives back in position for another stride. Salazar said, “One thing sprinters say is: Go to the ground. Don’t wait for the ground to come to you.” By “going to the butt,” he believes, Bekele can take more strides per minute—which gives him greater speed.

TBDL 5 x 1 x 205
50 pushups
run 6 miles 46:08 (Arlington)

Potential Race Calendar

April 16 -- Reno 5000 5k
May 1? -- Rock n River 10k
May 14? -- Silver State 50k
June 25 -- Western States 100 (if accepted)
July 16 -- TRT 50k
Aug 20 -- Leadville 100 (if not accepted to WS)
Sept 18 -- Journal Jog 8k
Sept 25 -- Lake Tahoe 10k
Oct. 9 -- Bizz Johnson Marathon
Oct. 29 -- Healdsburg Half Marathon

TBDL 5 x 1 x 205

"If something is too hard then you do it until it's easy."

TBDL 4 x 10 x 150

"Act as if you already are. This is one of the many mantras that we employ when it comes time to go after a goal that is beyond what has already been accomplished. Breaking new ground physically requires you to first break that mental barrier so that it can come into being." Terrence Mahon, Team Running USA's head coach

DBDL 3 x 15 x 120
55 pushups

The typical 2:11 marathoner is capable of running a sub-48-second 400m. Folks, that is flying!
Research confirms the importance of pure speed to distance running performance. A study by Finnish researchers found that 20m sprint times were nearly as powerful a predictor of 5000m race times as VO2max.

It may seem strange that anaerobic training enhances distance-running performance when there is virtually no anaerobic component to actual distance racing, but it’s true. The primary reason appears to be that anaerobic training increases the bounciness of the stride, so that the feet come off the ground faster and more forcefully. This improves running economy, because half of the energy that propels forward motion during running is supplied not by the body but by the force of impact, and the less time the feet are in contact with the ground, the less of that free energy is lost.

In short, for runners the point of performing types of training that involve anaerobic metabolism is not to developing anaerobic metabolic capacity but rather to increase the speed and power characteristics of the muscle fibers.

Sprinting

It’s amazing how few runners ever run at full speed—I mean full speed, the way you ran virtually every time you ran as a kid. All-out sprinting is not only exhilarating, as every six-year-old knows, but it is also great training, even for distance runners. Sprint training increases stride power and running economy, benefits that transfer all the way down to marathon speed and below. Sprinting also forces your body to confront the technical limiters in your stride, resulting in better form.

A little sprinting goes a long way. Elite coach Brad Hudson has his athletes perform a set of 4-12 steep hill sprints of 8-10 seconds once a week after an easy run. The steep hill serves to reduce the risk of hamstring and Achilles tendon injuries. This is about all the sprinting you ever need to do, except at times when increasing your raw speed is a major fitness priority, when you will also want to perform repeated flat sprints of 100 to 300 meters, also once a week.

Runners should lift heavy loads!

Studies prove it. For example, in a recent study by Norwegian researchers, a group of 17 runners experienced a 21-percent increase in aerobic endurance after doing heavy barbell half-squats for eight weeks. How heavy? The runners did four sets of just four repetitions with their 4RM max load—that is, with the greatest amount of weight that each runner could lift four times.

http://running.competitor.com/2010/11/training/anaerobic-training-for-runners_7409