Another Great morning for the run last Saturday – a little muggy but it burned off and did not get too warm by the time we finished the 16 miles.– 75degrees, 84% humidity. 

Again, let me know if you are planning on doing the Wednesday and/or Saturday, or Sunday sessions.  We should have a couple of new faces.

Note:  If you can make a contribution to maintain our Port A Pot at Truman, let me know.

Thanks to Cris, Myles, Jim M., and Rae Jean or their donations.  GOTTUGO donates the unit and we cover the consumables for $47 per month.

I just completed a video for Monkeysee.com on “Beginning Tips for Trail Running”.  You can see/critique it at :  http://www.monkeysee.com/play/14392-tips-for-first-time-trail-runners    You should recognize the venue :-)

Tom Nelson has constructed a site to show our routes and water stop locations for the long run coming up each week.  Check back to the following website later in the week for the latest info on water support:  http://www.runningahead.com/groups/truman/Forum

This week we will do 7x 800’s ;  with 1 lap slow jog between.  I plan to be there.  The session will be dependent on if the rain is anything other than a drizzle.  Gather at Squisito’s after.

Saturday Run –  ***START AT 6:00am. **** This will also be a Build Run. 16 MILES again or 12 miles + 4 miles (one loop) of the AHS Trails for those training for a Trail Run or 7 miles for the A-10/Half Marathon group.  If you are just joining the group and are not sure if you are up to the distance, touch base with me before we start.

NOTE:  I am putting out Hammer Recoverite at the 2 Mile Stop.  Same route as last week: The route will be out Rt 450 to  LEFT Rt 424, LEFT  on Bell Branch, LEFT on Rutland, and RIGHT back onto Rt 450 (Defense Hwy); back to the Arundel Signs Water Stop and head back to Truman.

Sunday Trail Run – The days are getting warmer so let’s start at 8:00 am.  This should NOT be a tempo run.  You ran long on Saturday and do not want to overdo it Sunday, even if it is on the trails. When done correctly, these runs are great for shaking off the stiffness from the previous day’s long run.

The Intermediate Group will be doing their run at 9:00am from Truman Park N Ride, for 5 mile run out to South River Road intersection, turn RIGHT, under the Rt 50 overpass and out to the Rt 450 intersection at the Arundel Sign Water Stop -  and back with two 2 minute walk breaks. 

The ROSARYVILLE TRAIL RUNS are coming up – Sunday 12 July at Rosaryville State Park near Upper Marlboro, MD.(about 30 minutes from here).  Distances of 50k, 25k, 15k, and 10k.  Start is 7 am. This is a great way to get introduced to trail running or to get in a good training run for the JFK 50. You can register at  www.bluepointtiming,com  -or- volunteer by contacting Rene Cover at  rene.cover@macys.com

AND

The BEN MOORE MEMORIAL HALF MARATHON & 10K is on Saturday 1, August from Truman Park N Ride,  starting at 7:30am.  You can register at the same place –or- we need about 20 volunteers.  If you can help, contact Rene to volunteer.  We can set up a Workers Run also.

I set in on a seminar by Mark Allen, six time winner of the IRONMAN CHAMPIONSHIP’s in Hawaii and selected as the ‘Fittest Man Alive’ by Outdoor Magazine a couple of years ago.  The subject of the seminar was the value of using Heart Rate for training.  I met Mark at the Hawaii IRONMAN when I was there as a ‘competitor’  (read – ‘scared sh…….ess novice wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into’ :-)  ) and he was an commentator.  During the bike racking the day before the race, I saw him between TV interviews, I introduced myself and I asked him if he had any advice for someone who had never done an Ironman, much less Hawaii and was scared  sh……ess.  Mark is a little shy but very personable, and I could sense the sincerity in his response – ‘Trust your training, break up the race into small segments – and JUST KEEP GOING FORWARD’.

Back to Heart Rate training.  Mark said he has either done or been part of numerous studies that have convinced him that training by HR is the best way to achieve one’s optimum fitness.  This is because of all the ways to judge fitness and workout intensities like power output, lactate threshold testing, or perceived exertion; a person’s HR automatically adjusts for all the variables that can affect performance – rest, hydration, nutrition, heat/cold, humidity, life stresses, etc. etc.  With any other method, if any one of those variables is even slightly different for a workout than when the measurement was taken, the workout Zones will not be accurate.

    70% to 80% of your workout should be Base training.  That is why you keep hearing me ‘preach’ to keep most of your training below your Base effort of 70% of your aerobic HR threshold.  The formula Mark uses for himself and for the pro’s, and recreational athletes like us is derived from work Dr Malfone has done.

Max Aerobic HR  =  180 – Age; then subtract 5 bpm if the person is a beginner (has not been training regularly before or has been de-trained due to injury or illness), ADD 5 bpm if you have been training 2 to 4 times per week for a year or more, and ADD 5 bpm if you are over 55.  Again, 70% to 80% of your training should be BELOW the resulting number.

   Think about it; your body (even the leanest) has about  500 miles of Fat to burn but only about 2000 calories of Carbohydrates to burn, for me that’s about 2 hours worth.  Teaching your body to be comfortable (efficient) burning fat, the longer you can endure.

   During the seminar Mark commented about how hard it is for those he trains to get out of the engrained mindset that ‘to get fast, you have to train fast’.  I chuckled as you all know that YOU fall into that category as well. At least, Mark Allen and I have SOMETHING in common :-)

    He spent about as much time on speed work; which he describes as anything ABOVE that MAHR.  No more than 15 to 20 minutes TOTAL should be spent above MAHR.  To bring that home; our 7 x 800’s tonight will result in about 20 minutes above MAHR – taking out the cool down’s, and ramp up’s at the start of each 800.

   If you would like to hear some first  hand confirmation, talk to Tom Nelson has been conscientiously using this approach for a good year now and has had great results.

“We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves. The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable." Roger Bannister 

Ron

Ron Bowman
BLUEPOINTTIMING.com
410-573-1929
c: 410-570-0003

Add a comment

Posted by Steve Carton on July 8, 2009 11:24:00 AM EDT #