Off Season (what does that even mean?)

Recovery Week numero uno is done and as I move on to Recovery Week numero dos, I'm prepared to begin my "Off Season" plan. The off season does not equal little to no running. It means scaling back the intensity of running while incorporating more cross training and/or rest. This is done to alleviate the physical and mental strain of 9 months of heavy training. The off season is an opportunity to reflect on the training year - reviewing what went well and what needs work. For me, this means scouring my training journal for clues as to why I kicked ass from May - September and why my performance began to regress from October to the present. Once potential causes are identified, a plan for change can be made. 

My journal revealed many factors that may have given me swift feet in spring & summer - twice per day runs two times per week, hill repeats, trail running, and of course, I was relatively fresh as I was in the first half of the training year. The most glaring contributor to my slowing pace of the past 6-8 weeks is the melting of all runs into moderate effort runs. My speed work was no longer fast enough, my recovery and long runs not slow enough, and eventually this led to my body getting stuck in middle gear. This is a common trap many runners fall into. When pushing too hard in easy runs (which, as you will read below, should be the majority of runs), over time the moderate level effort (just below the lactate threshold) becomes exponentially more taxing on the sympathetic nervous system, creating a burden of fatigue in which running faster, attaining PR's or performance goals, becomes more difficult. 

To remedy this situation (I hope!), I'm turning to the 80/10/10 training principle. This means 80% of my runs should be easy or within Zone 2 of the Heart Rate (HR) chart (see below). This allows my body to recover quickly, while still expanding my aerobic base. It also teaches my body to use fat for fuel for the long haul, rather than banking on glycogen (sugar), which can lead to bonking. Doing most runs slow, contrary to what one might expect, does not make you a slow runner. It allows your body to adapt and grow at a healthy rate that can support your fast runs. Fast running, such as tempo runs, should comprise 10% of my running volume in the HR Zone 3 and the final 10%, to include high intensity interval training can dip into the anaerobic thresholds of Zones 4 & 5. Research notes, "One study involving Spanish runners found that those who did 80 percent of their training below the lactate threshold (LT), 10 percent at LT and 10 percent above LT improved their race times significantly more in five months than runners who did the same amount ofrunning but performed only 70 percent of it below LT, 20 percent at LT and 10 percent above LT."

Following HR Zone guidelines is a good way to insure you're running your easy runs easy and hard runs hard. Do the HR numbers need to be adhered to religiously? No, but keeping an awareness of them, as well as running by feel (i.e., can I easily conversate?), will greatly help me stick with my off season plan. The easiest, most common way to figure out HR Zones relates to a basic formula of subtracting your age from 220 and then multiplying that number by.60 to know your Zone1/2 range, by .70 to know your Zone 2/3 range, etc., but this method fails to accommodate the highly fit athlete. To get a more accurate suggestion of HR ranges I will use the Karvonen system, which begins by my checking my HR immediately upon waking (while still lying in bed - count your heart beats for 20 seconds and multiply by 3, or count your heart beats for 1 minute) for three consecutive mornings. I then plug the average of those numbers into a formula that will give me HR guidelines.

Zone 1
– 50-60% of max heart rate. This zone corresponds to an athlete’s aerobic base and is typically reserved for a warmup and cooldown.

Zone 2
– 60-70% of max heart rate. This is an aerobic zone where an athlete can run comfortably and utilize fat as a primary fuel source. Conversation should be relatively easy.

Zone 3
– 70-80% of max heart rate. This is the last aerobic zone before crossing the anaerobic threshold. Training in this zone is challenging but sustainable for most athletes.

Zone 4
– 80-90% of max heart rate. This is an anaerobic zone which by definition implies the absence of O2 resulting in a negligible amount of fat metabolism. Therefore, our bodies are primarily using carbohydrates as a fuel source. Athletes in Zone 4 may mutter only a few words at a time.

Zone 5
– 90-100% of max heart rate. This is the top of the heart rate chain and leaves you gasping for air after only 10 to 20 seconds of work.

My two post race recovery weeks are the perfect time to start slowing down my runs. This will aid my physical recovery, while mentally letting me accept the slower pace as beneficial (this means combating my fears that running slow will make me lose my gains of the past year). When this second week of recovery ends, I will reintroduce some light speed work once a week (as opposed to twice per week) and spend more time cross training til the end of the year.

If this blog was too technical and dull for your liking, I promise to spice up the next one with the scoop on our 2015 adventures!

P.S. This week Joe crossed over the 1,000 mile mark and I crossed over the 1,200 mile mark!

Tyranena Beer Run

I am relieved to report that Joe is not doping with EPO (see previous blog post)☺ While he performed extremely well, finishing in 1:37 (a sluggish 7:28 pace - HA!), this was not a PR. My 2:18 (10:35 pace) finish was the slowest time I've logged in a race in 2 years, BUT this was the hardest course (aside from trails) I've possibly ever run (Door County may be a close second or a tie). There were hills. Long gradual nearly imperceptible hills. Short steep hills. Moderate hills that never seemed to top out. After a time, even level ground appeared to have a slight uphill grade, though Joe says this isn't true and that my perception was warping the path, creating an optical illusion. Rosanna, with whom I ran the entire race (Note: this was the first time I ever ran an entire half marathon with someone, and this was the first time Rosanna ever ran a full race without listening to music), agrees with me. The 3.5 miles logged on the Glacial Drumlin Trail in theory was flat, but yet steadily climbed ... shared delusion? shared hysteria? 

Freezing while waiting for the race to start

Conspiring with the hills, was the wind. Sustained winds of 15-20mph, gusting up to 40mph, served as an invisble blockade, hampering forward movement while sucking your breath away. It also stripped warmth from a body in motion, facilitating a deep down bone weary chill that would stick with me long after a hot shower and multiple layers of fleece. There came a point in time where each gust of wind would illicit the involuntary groan, "Fuck me!"  

This course may have been one of the most challenging one's I've run (but then again, you must remember that in the past 3 weeks, we've also run a half marathon and a 15k, so maybe that added to the perceived difficulty of this event), but it was also one of the prettiest. The first 2 miles led us along city streets past old, quaint houses. Miles 2.5 - 6.5 skimmed the shore and bluffs of Rock Lake. We ran past wooded lots with beautiful homes overlooking the lake from a perch - Rosanna and I shopped a bit, choosing homes that would be suitable for a girls weekend getaway. The hills were especially steep and rolling in this section, but the scenery dulled the senses, and perhpas encouraged us to run too fast. By the time we left the lake behind, logging a mile on country roads (with cows sticking their noses between fencing) connecting us to the Glacial Drumlin Trail, we were beginning to tire.

SIDE NOTE: The late 11:30a.m. race start was a mixed bag. It was nice to sleep in and to let the day warm up (38° to 44° - "Woohoo", said sarcastically), but the down side of a late start is fueling correctly (by mile 9 my stomach was turning inside out with hunger) and losing the day (by the time the race ends, you drive home, etc., it's dinner time).

The Glacial Drumlin Trail covered Miles 6.5-9.5 on a mainly crushed limestone path that required extra efforts to push off the ground. This gorgeous stretch of the race, with the white bark of Birch trees juxtaposed against blue patches of sky (the sun tried to make an appearance for a while, but was ultimately denied), with areas of dense woods, occasional spots with isolated homes, and an exceptional stretch with bodies of water on both sides of the elevated trail, should have been a time for us to press the turbo button and zoom, but alas and alack, legs were turning to stone and our pace dramatically fell. 

Exiting the Glacial Drumlin Trail, the final three miles would feel like a constant wind tunnel through the abandoned spacious open streets of Industrial Parks. There were several cruel uphills in the final miles. It was in the last 3-4 miles, that a few short walk breaks were needed to stave off muscle cramps. Later I would learn that Joe walked a couple times too. Finally, we cruised to the finish line - crossing the timing mat at the exact same moment. Despite the time on my Garmin, I had no regrets. Just like Purdue, I gave all that I could to the race. The few times we walked, it was necessary and smart, rather than mental weakness. 

Collecting our medals, food and space blankets, the search for Joe and my friends Bobbi & Dan (they ran the 7k race option) began - Joe, bringing winter coats for Rosanna and me. Finding them, we braved a few more minutes of biting wind, posed for pictures, then entered the large white tent, slightly warmer with human body heat, filled with runners and their beer (remember, this race is held at a brewery). I will always be at a loss for how a beer could be desirable after a race, but then again, I don't like beer under any conditions. Not a fan of root beer either, I instinctively used my freebie ticket for a Tyranena soda, and let me tell you, that root beer was awesome! My body musta needed sugar ASAP☺ A festive air permeated the tent, music could be heard thumping beneath the din of 1300 racers swapping race stories while eating their lasagna dinners (included in the race fees), heads bowed as pictures were posted to Facebook, as texts were sent to family and friends.   

It didn't take long for full body convulsions to set in, hands exhibiting Parkinsonian tremors. We made the final venture into the cold to get to the car, to drive 45 minutes home, to shower, to roll out, to make pizza and to settle in with movies (Maleficent - much better than I expected, Deliver Us From Evil - also very good). Ahhhhh, to be done....with this race and with the training season.

The Tyranena Beer Run Half Marathon was my 20th half, Joe's 17th. It concludes our 2014 racing season. Joe had an exceptional comeback year - picking up speed, increasing his volume, PR'ing often and avoiding injury. I had a banner season as well - reducing my pace, increasing my volume (averaging about 26.5 miles per week), PR'ing 4 times and staying injury free. Now it's time to rest. To let the demands of the past 9 months, particularly the past 4 weeks, wash away. The remainder of the year will be dedicated to an active recovery. Exactly what that means will be the subject of my next post ... The Off Season, and beyond that, will come news of our 2015 plans!  

Last Call

Nine months of hitting it hard, racing every month and training with fine precision, will come to an end in two days. Saturday marks our 5^th and final half marathon of 2014. The Tyranena Beer Run Half Marathon is held at the Lake Mills, WI Tyranena Brewery. This race is notorious for many reasons – its late 11:30a.m. start, its hilly course & its free beer and lasagna post-race dinner. Because this will be our third race in 4 weeks (taxing to the body), because the race is hillacious and because 20mph winds are predicted, we (or least I) do not expect to PR. I just want to do my very best. If Joe PR’s, I will accuse him of using the infamously banned EPO!☺(EPO, Erythropoietin, is a is a naturally-occurring hormone produced by the kidneys, that stimulates the production of red blood cells. The more red blood cells you have, the more oxygen can be circulated throughout your body, fueling muscles to be able to run longer and harder. This hormone can also be manufactured and injected into the skin or directly into the blood stream to boost athletic performance). Stay tuned for a full race report, plans for the “off-season” and our grand plans for 2015!