Big Iron

So now that I am back traveling a bit more for work, I am going to have to adjust how some runs play out. The plan to continue moving faster in short runs still played out. After reading a nice piece by Beck the idea of increasing cadence was added.  I had five faster efforts as follows w/ cadence noted.  There is no warm up, just start rumbling.

4.4 @ 8:44 (?)

4.4 @ 8:45 (160)

4.4 @ 8:25 (166)

4.4 @ 8:33 (172)

5.1 @ 8:26 (168)

Another decent level of volume pace work.  

So the trails are still in bad shape.  I opted for a mostly road run on Sunday to finish the week.  I had last Saturday off and struggled a bit with 14 last Sunday.  Glad to report this 15.1 went fairly decent with a pace of 9:36 and a 158 cadence.  I was surprised at the lower number, as I felt like the turn was better than that.  Still have a lot to discover here.  If anything it gets me thinking about different ways to do things.  The week odometer ended at 51.3 miles.  

I set my watch up in time zones of sub 7:30, 7:30 to 8:00, 8:00 to 8:30, 8:30 to 9:00, and 9:00+.  Would like to try and see if any progress is made as I continue.  Knowing one is tracking data is hard to ignore, but I am trying.  

Vanishing Point

Recently I learned the Ice Age 50 mile has been moved to September 11th. This falls on my 60th birthday. It has promoted me to drop my current habit of running at a very slow pace in the name of just piling up miles. After much thought and writing out various schemes I have developed a strategy. It is as follows. Monday thru Friday Run twice a day at an up tempo pace for 35-40 minutes. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings run with Big Kick Track Club easy. Fridays will be looked at as well if I am gassed. Saturday off. Sunday I will alternate weeks with a long run and a trail pace run at goal pace. The pace run will allow me to figure out what I can possibly achieve. The A goal for now is 8:30. The mileage will fall between 55-65 per week. Last week I was a bit aggressive. This left me waxed at the end of the week. I will attempt to back off a bit on the up tempo runs. I did 6 out the door up tempo runs of 4.3 miles and averaged 9:01, 8:44, 8:13, 8:14, 8:29, and 8:21 on those. Friday I opted for 6.2 easy and Saturday off. Sunday was 14.0 @ 10:52 and I struggled a bit the last 5 miles. Ended the week with 58.2 miles. It wouldn't hurt to cut weight. I was 178 on Tuesday. I am 5'11" so there is room there. Historically if I am in the low 170s that is good for me.

5:46:02

The John Dick 50k was a couple weeks ago. It was -5F at the start. Trails were decent for this event. I signed up for the regular time which asked for a 6 hour or less finish time. It was a 5 looper and I carried little, opting to hit the truck every loop and then check in. I was hoping for about 1:10 on the first loop and that's what I hit. I started mixing it up with a couple guys. Kept trash talk to minimum for obvious reasons. The second loop was 1:06 and feeling okay I went with it. The third loop was another 1:06 so I kept on trucking big momma style. Started bone chipping a bit on the 4th loop and hit 1:11:30. Legs were sore and I was gassing a bit as the trails suffered up top from some snow mobile action. Shotgunned a coke and grabbed a touch of grub before setting out. There is no one near me. Started feeling well again on this last loop, but the sands of time meant nothing at this point so I twinkle toed the last loop in 1:12:30ish. Enjoyed some chili and talking to a few regulars. The course was slower than last year, but all in all not a bad day. Not sure what is next. For now it is good to get out most everyday and take what I am given. Have no confidence Ice Age 50 miler will go off in May, so maybe an evaluation is needed.

Forget it Jake

2020 was a year of firsts. I finished with 3,528.7 miles, ran 451.7 miles in February, had a 120 mile week, and had my longest training run of 43 miles. The reason was because I was signed up for a last man standing event. That never happened. Now I don't know a lot about how metrics work today. I know I have a watch I selected for my 35th anniversary in 2019 that keeps track of everything. I like it because it tracks distance and time. It also has an extremely long battery life. As one can imagen it tracks sleep, heart rate, steps, stress, etc. I just found it tracks fitness level of which mine is 29.7 out of 100. When I hit the Major Tom control panel for age equivalence it says I'm 79. So I have that going for me. I am capable of carrying a 200+ heart rate for a very long time, so I'm going to grab my Dolphin race shorts from '77 and see if I can break 14:00 in the 5k around the lake here. It just all seems plausible now. I mean I also do toe crunches, so on a good day without snow maybe I could achieve a mid-pack 5000 time from the '72 Olympics. We are all so better than that now. I am so close to the end of the tunnel I can reach my hand out into the light. Curious as to what is out there. I know music from The Band won't be playing. Probably tough to find a decent chili dog. I might chuck my phone. The wife will have one. "You going huntin'." "Only if'n I lose somethin'." Maybe those cool tunes from the Charlie Brown days will be around. "What's your dogs name." "Gene or Steve."

I don’t feel tardy

I will write more about 2020 in the near future. It was a good year in many ways and I learned a ton about keeping the big momma rolling down the highway. My log shows who I ran with during the year. This sounds cut and dry, but there are variables. Just one of the dozens of examples of achieving a run credit goes like this. If a group starts out on a run, how long do you need to be with me before you go in the log? Good question. The 2020 results show the highest totals in decades. It also shows a real thinning of the crowd at the lower numbers. Without further ado I want to acknowledge the Dew Master for regaining the title this year. It was real close and there was a bit of controversy, but these numbers are true and legit. 1. Dew Master - 73 2. State Champ - 71 3. Robert of Hubertus - 48 4. Crawford Women's IA Legend - 12 5. Grubby - 4 Straight up Tina - 4 7. I am Angela - 3 Bartz - 3 9. Lammers - 2 Mallach - 2 Andrea - 2 Clem Men's IA Legend - 2 That is a good bunch of people right there. It was an honor sharing the road, trail, and many a laugh with you. The biggest take away is State Champ informed me he is 67 and not 68 as I keep claiming. Million times bowing.

Jimmy crack corn

Got out Sunday and kicked up some dirt with Dewey and Tim. Actually more snow than dirt. No need for the fire trucks to be on Devcon 3 as the 11.5 miles only averaged 11:58 per mile. The 2 time state champ has agreed to another year of running. Moves pretty good at 67. Dewey and I just try and gather the crumbs of wisdom that fall by the way side. Mostly discussed who played who on old TV shows. I think we even knew Florence Bush was the hair stylist on Leave it to Beaver and that Earl Hagen the Music Score for Andy Griffith. I chewed copenhagen so that was easy to remember. Especially when we called putting one in as an "Earl." After weeks of 72.8, 86.3, and 80.2 I ended this week at 55.6. Struggled this Monday AM as I averaged 12:15 per mile over the 6.3. That was w/o any walking. A bit more determined in the PM I covered 4.3 total with 4 x .35 miles in 2:41, 2:41, 2:33, and 2:31. It felt fast, but that is mile paces of 7:40, 7:40, 7:17, and 7:11. Stand aside. We can't risk another frontal assault.

Motorhead

Did not feel a long effort today so the plan was to get at least 10.5 in. I plodded along out toward the back roads and actually saw a few people out weaving the magic. As I was cranking it up to a solid 11:50 pace I saw a guy up ahead wave and move steadily away from me. Motivated, I churned out a 3 mile tempo hitting 10:20, 10:02, and 9:15 miles. I grinned and finished 10.7 miles averaging 11:15. I definately need to lose 10 pounds. That starts today. I can't be the Larry Allen of distance running (reference to the retired Cowboys O-Line)and rumble along as smooth as a Chrysler Newport. Something needs to change, which is basically put the fork down. Damn. Let me see how this all goes. A new year is almost here so time for some wholesale changes.