As I was running last week I thought about quitting things. To be successful at a high level at anything you have to sacrifice other things. In other words to do something well, you have to quit other things.
I was one of those kids that would say when prodded during some sort of exertion, "I am not a quitter!" Much of that comes from my family. We like to finish what we start. However, as I age and progress at a small number of things I choose to focus on those things so that I can take them as far as seems fit. My running is the prefect example of something that I have decided to excel at that I have quit other things to focus on. I no longer play my trumpet or act and I ride my bicycle sparingly. Those have all be incredible life changing events, but at this point in my life I am spending that time finding out how well I can run.
You will quit things in life. Be careful to consider the opportunity costs involved in quitting something. Are you quitting something because you don't like it or because you like something else more or both? It is worth your time to finish things that you start, but it makes sense to pursue things in the long term that can provide you some success. Defining success can be hard, but it makes the result that much more enjoyable.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Lessons from Failure
Ryan Hall started taking a day off, and ran a 2:04. That's the a short description. For a longer description read this Running Times article. One of the things that stuck out to me about the article, is something that has been reflected in my own life, a sense of balance.
Hall mentions the people in the 70s and 80s that had full times jobs and still ran great marathons. He suggests that they were happier in life because they were doing more than just running. Perhaps I beat him to the idea. I am really enjoying working and training. While I was unemployed I had plenty of time to train, but I was not really happy so my training was subpar. Having both I am seeing my training progress in 2011 in ways that are faster than any other training situation I have been in, ever. Although the first six months of 2006 might be an exception because I made huge breakthroughs that season, but it was the first consistent training I ever had year round.
What are the lessons? I can not focus on one physical aspect of my life and ignore other aspects and hope to progress at the one thing I am focusing on. Other lessons, the most important day to double when training for the marathon is after a long run (except for the special block). I can not go hard every day. Having a steady income is good so that I know I can pay my bills and eat the whole wheat pasta, steak, fish, cheese, and other expensive foods I feel give me that extra few seconds in the marathon or that faster recovery between workouts.
Hall mentions the people in the 70s and 80s that had full times jobs and still ran great marathons. He suggests that they were happier in life because they were doing more than just running. Perhaps I beat him to the idea. I am really enjoying working and training. While I was unemployed I had plenty of time to train, but I was not really happy so my training was subpar. Having both I am seeing my training progress in 2011 in ways that are faster than any other training situation I have been in, ever. Although the first six months of 2006 might be an exception because I made huge breakthroughs that season, but it was the first consistent training I ever had year round.
What are the lessons? I can not focus on one physical aspect of my life and ignore other aspects and hope to progress at the one thing I am focusing on. Other lessons, the most important day to double when training for the marathon is after a long run (except for the special block). I can not go hard every day. Having a steady income is good so that I know I can pay my bills and eat the whole wheat pasta, steak, fish, cheese, and other expensive foods I feel give me that extra few seconds in the marathon or that faster recovery between workouts.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
I Live in Iowa: Week 19
Another good week. I worked 42 hours this week. Part of that was a half day field trip to a logging operation that is using one of our skidders. It is nice to get out into the field and see the stuff actually be used. We can see how they use these things and the short comings they have.I like learning the details about our machines that are not as good as our competition or as good as a previous edition. It gives us something clear to improve.
I ran 101 miles this week including a 22 mile long run and a couple of workouts one with a 4:49 mile. That is the fastest mile I have ever run in a workout and it's a nice step in the right direction. I did end up chasing mileage on Saturday afternoon and doing 14 miles instead of 10 miles so that I would get over 100. It sounds ridiculous but in a month or two when I look back at this stretch of training that 100 mile week will give me more confidence about my training.
I spent a number of afternoons coaching the UD team. It is very exciting to be working with these people. They are excited to be there and there is so much to teach them. I think that without a doubt every athlete on our cross country team is going to have a great season. Most if not all will probably have significant personal records.
I even spent some time socializing with non-runners and non-coworkers. I kind of did everything this week, except go climbing. I haven't climbed in months and my finger tips are weak. For now that is okay, but I do miss climbing.
Something that kind of set in this week, is that I'm really just paying off my loans. Money comes in and money goes out and I'm still sleeping on an air mattress and driving my Toyota Previa with 273,280 miles. It is something to enjoy (getting out of debt), but I feel like I'm getting nowhere. Maybe I need to get some new clothes... I basically wear the same four pairs of pants to work.
I ran 101 miles this week including a 22 mile long run and a couple of workouts one with a 4:49 mile. That is the fastest mile I have ever run in a workout and it's a nice step in the right direction. I did end up chasing mileage on Saturday afternoon and doing 14 miles instead of 10 miles so that I would get over 100. It sounds ridiculous but in a month or two when I look back at this stretch of training that 100 mile week will give me more confidence about my training.
I spent a number of afternoons coaching the UD team. It is very exciting to be working with these people. They are excited to be there and there is so much to teach them. I think that without a doubt every athlete on our cross country team is going to have a great season. Most if not all will probably have significant personal records.
I even spent some time socializing with non-runners and non-coworkers. I kind of did everything this week, except go climbing. I haven't climbed in months and my finger tips are weak. For now that is okay, but I do miss climbing.
Something that kind of set in this week, is that I'm really just paying off my loans. Money comes in and money goes out and I'm still sleeping on an air mattress and driving my Toyota Previa with 273,280 miles. It is something to enjoy (getting out of debt), but I feel like I'm getting nowhere. Maybe I need to get some new clothes... I basically wear the same four pairs of pants to work.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Breaking Through Mental Barriers
Friday night in my workout I ran a 4:49 1600. That's the fastest mile I've ever ran in practice. It's a mere 15 seconds slower than my personal record. Had I had some company I could have probably ran a 3000m personal best. That pace has never felt that easy for me before. What that means is that I'm in shape relative to the kind of shape that I have been in in the past, specifically for the 5k distance kind of events.
The problem is that instead of doing two more miles at that pace I mentally wore myself out thinking about the fact that I ran a 4:49 and stumbled through two 800s before calling the workout quits. I have high goals for myself. I would like to be able to run that kind of 1600m interval six times in a workout, it is just that actually getting to the level where I can throw down that kind of pace for that length of time comfortably is a shock. It is taking me some time to adjust to the fact that I am that fast of runner. I dreamt about running this kind of pace in a workout and then I do it and all of a sudden I have to adjust the other workouts I do to be in line with the kind of shape that I am in. Of course running is nonlinear, I feel great one day and a week later I feel terrible. You have to tack into the wind you can not sail strait into it.
I have at least one 5k coming up Labor Day, and I will probably do a few open 8k cross country races this fall and I just registered for the Des Moine Half Marathon October 16th. I used to think of personal records in terms of seconds and maybe 10 or 15 seconds in any given race, but now, am I in shape to PR by a minute in the 5k? Perhaps that is a long shot, but 30 seconds? I probably have that locked up right?
The best part of all of this, aside from the obvious 3k/5k PR shape that I am in and the implications for a future 10k PR is that this was nearly 30 seconds per mile faster than I need to race my marathon in December. Marathon pace has to feel slow. It is still hard work, and it will obviously not feel slow as I do workouts, but on race day I have to be able to cruise the first 2/3 of the race or at least the first half of the race feeling like 5:18 is slow. One of the best ways I can think of doing that is running 4:xx mile pace in workouts and hopefully in some shorter distance races.
Friday was a nice workout. For me to succeed at my goals this fall I will have to have a number of nice mental breakthrough workouts and mental breakthrough races. Physically I can progress very fast, I need to allow myself mentally to progress as fast as I am able physically. Fortunately, I am getting closer to the goals.
The problem is that instead of doing two more miles at that pace I mentally wore myself out thinking about the fact that I ran a 4:49 and stumbled through two 800s before calling the workout quits. I have high goals for myself. I would like to be able to run that kind of 1600m interval six times in a workout, it is just that actually getting to the level where I can throw down that kind of pace for that length of time comfortably is a shock. It is taking me some time to adjust to the fact that I am that fast of runner. I dreamt about running this kind of pace in a workout and then I do it and all of a sudden I have to adjust the other workouts I do to be in line with the kind of shape that I am in. Of course running is nonlinear, I feel great one day and a week later I feel terrible. You have to tack into the wind you can not sail strait into it.
I have at least one 5k coming up Labor Day, and I will probably do a few open 8k cross country races this fall and I just registered for the Des Moine Half Marathon October 16th. I used to think of personal records in terms of seconds and maybe 10 or 15 seconds in any given race, but now, am I in shape to PR by a minute in the 5k? Perhaps that is a long shot, but 30 seconds? I probably have that locked up right?
The best part of all of this, aside from the obvious 3k/5k PR shape that I am in and the implications for a future 10k PR is that this was nearly 30 seconds per mile faster than I need to race my marathon in December. Marathon pace has to feel slow. It is still hard work, and it will obviously not feel slow as I do workouts, but on race day I have to be able to cruise the first 2/3 of the race or at least the first half of the race feeling like 5:18 is slow. One of the best ways I can think of doing that is running 4:xx mile pace in workouts and hopefully in some shorter distance races.
Friday was a nice workout. For me to succeed at my goals this fall I will have to have a number of nice mental breakthrough workouts and mental breakthrough races. Physically I can progress very fast, I need to allow myself mentally to progress as fast as I am able physically. Fortunately, I am getting closer to the goals.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
My Second Marathon: California International Marathon 2011
I am registered for the 2011 California International Marathon December 4th, 2011. Why this particular one? I was having trouble getting motivated to start building up my training again to go out and progress a few minutes in the marathon, so I thought, is it possible that I can achieve the 2:19 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials standard? Because the entire year 2012 will probably not have any qualifying marathons for the 2016 trials so that year I am more or less forced to focus on other distances. Thus it is take a shot at the trials this fall or wait at least a year and a half to qualify for the next trials. Can I qualify for the 2012 trials? My answer was and is, yes, it is possible but I will need as much time as possible. A lot of things will have to go really well between now and then and on race day, but it is possible. I give myself a 4% chance of success. I have run a 10k that fast, I have run so many long runs and a few ultras that I do not expect to hit the glycogen wall, because I didn’t at Green Bay, and it’s a net downhill course. Plus, I’m in as good of a training situation as I have ever been in.
I expect there will be a group of men going after the standard and I plan to sit in behind them for as long as possible. Hopefully that is 26.2 miles. This could fail by slowing to 5:25 pace at 25 miles and running 2:19:01 (Which I would totally appeal because most courses are a little long to ensure measuring error and my chip time might be under the limit.) If success is defined by running faster than 2:19 there are many different ways that I could fail. I know that my chances are slim. Regardless of how crazy you think I am, I am giving myself the opportunity to succeed. On December 5th I will know more about myself than I do now. I don't give myself the chance, I will never know what is possible.
I expect there will be a group of men going after the standard and I plan to sit in behind them for as long as possible. Hopefully that is 26.2 miles. This could fail by slowing to 5:25 pace at 25 miles and running 2:19:01 (Which I would totally appeal because most courses are a little long to ensure measuring error and my chip time might be under the limit.) If success is defined by running faster than 2:19 there are many different ways that I could fail. I know that my chances are slim. Regardless of how crazy you think I am, I am giving myself the opportunity to succeed. On December 5th I will know more about myself than I do now. I don't give myself the chance, I will never know what is possible.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
I Live in Iowa: Week 18
This week was busy. It was not the most organized week because I am rusty at time management. Thus blog posts were few this week. Anyway, on to the action!
I worked 42 hours. As a contract employee or engineering services I am hired to work a minimum of 40 hours per week while the engineers working directly for the company are hired to work 45 hours per week. So basically we all arrive at my honeycomb at the same time (about 7AM), but I am typically the first to leave. Sometimes I am the last to leave but more often than not I am first. As far as interested things this week at work, I had a project that I started on and spent about two days on and finished. Basically the geometry was a robust enough design to withstand the accepted loading conditions. That is kind of a rare occurrence. There are almost always changes we FEA people recommend. Secondly, I will be getting a new project which happens to involve a fiberglass part. Perhaps this will mean modeling composites, which I have never done and I would like to do.
I started my coaching job at the University of Dubuque. This is exciting because there are so many things that I have learned over the years and I am excited to pass as much of that on as I can. Already I have started to share my experiences. This team is full of potential. I won't say much more because I do not want to make any sudden and not thought out statements. Suffice to say, I'm excited.
I ran 102 miles this week. It is my first 100+ week post-marathon. The week was a bit of a flop though because I only did a short hills workout and two long runs. I did no quality work in the 5k-half marathon pace range that I need to be doing 2 workouts a week for at this point. The reason is that I slept in for a 5AM workout once and two nights I was refused to run on a track because a turf sport was having practice.
What else did I do? I went out to eat twice. I worked my way through Entourage season 3. I slept over eight hours a few nights. Oh yeah, I went on a 33 mile bike ride, one that went well. There were attacks on the hills (which I like) but nothing overly aggressive so that everyone could catch up at the tops of the hills. Also, the stock market is bouncing around with 400+ point swings becoming common. All I think I know is that the price of oil looks to be going down a lot at the pump in the near future and another recession is probably not going to happen, Italy has some issues, Germany is set to take over Europe (this time for real), and there are jobs out there. At least there are jobs in Dubuque, Iowa. Construction equipment is flying off the assembly lines, engineers are in demand, and there are "help wanted" posters at a number of businesses around town. They may be minimum wage jobs, but $7.25/hour is better than nothing.
I hope you had a good week as well. If not, this is a new week. This is the first week of the rest of your life.
I worked 42 hours. As a contract employee or engineering services I am hired to work a minimum of 40 hours per week while the engineers working directly for the company are hired to work 45 hours per week. So basically we all arrive at my honeycomb at the same time (about 7AM), but I am typically the first to leave. Sometimes I am the last to leave but more often than not I am first. As far as interested things this week at work, I had a project that I started on and spent about two days on and finished. Basically the geometry was a robust enough design to withstand the accepted loading conditions. That is kind of a rare occurrence. There are almost always changes we FEA people recommend. Secondly, I will be getting a new project which happens to involve a fiberglass part. Perhaps this will mean modeling composites, which I have never done and I would like to do.
I started my coaching job at the University of Dubuque. This is exciting because there are so many things that I have learned over the years and I am excited to pass as much of that on as I can. Already I have started to share my experiences. This team is full of potential. I won't say much more because I do not want to make any sudden and not thought out statements. Suffice to say, I'm excited.
I ran 102 miles this week. It is my first 100+ week post-marathon. The week was a bit of a flop though because I only did a short hills workout and two long runs. I did no quality work in the 5k-half marathon pace range that I need to be doing 2 workouts a week for at this point. The reason is that I slept in for a 5AM workout once and two nights I was refused to run on a track because a turf sport was having practice.
What else did I do? I went out to eat twice. I worked my way through Entourage season 3. I slept over eight hours a few nights. Oh yeah, I went on a 33 mile bike ride, one that went well. There were attacks on the hills (which I like) but nothing overly aggressive so that everyone could catch up at the tops of the hills. Also, the stock market is bouncing around with 400+ point swings becoming common. All I think I know is that the price of oil looks to be going down a lot at the pump in the near future and another recession is probably not going to happen, Italy has some issues, Germany is set to take over Europe (this time for real), and there are jobs out there. At least there are jobs in Dubuque, Iowa. Construction equipment is flying off the assembly lines, engineers are in demand, and there are "help wanted" posters at a number of businesses around town. They may be minimum wage jobs, but $7.25/hour is better than nothing.
I hope you had a good week as well. If not, this is a new week. This is the first week of the rest of your life.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
A+B+C+D+...
Life is a game that takes us a long time to figure out. As running is a subset of the seconds of my life, it too involves a number of factors that I strive to understand. A professional career is the same way, many components requiring different skills. Cooking is the perfect example, many components at the right times and in the right quantities each component with it's own standards for optimal flavor.
I am not very good at sitting still. I mean that in the metaphorical sense. I see people who go to work, go home, and watch tv. It seems to be a popular past time that is more pronounced now than when I was younger. As much as I enjoy sitting in front of the tube at the end of the day, I can not imagine that being my main activity. This was a bit of an atypical week for me because the cross country runners arrived and I started coaching after work, and since I have not fallen into a rhythm yet I was running as the sun went down at least three days this week.
Time management is a critical skill and something that I have not really had to employ since 2009. It is possible to do so many different things in a day or week, but the more anyone desires to do, the more efficient with time that person must be. One of my favorite things about high school and college track was hanging out after practice stretching, and going to eat, spending several hours not being terribly productive. Those days were somewhat rare in college as I spent quite a lot of time studying and in meetings in the evenings, yet there were still many of them. Now as I am trying to figure out my schedule I am working on figuring out the optimal order the ingredients of my life will be on a daily basis. Will I run three times per day? Before work, with the cross country team, then after practice? How will I eat supper in that kind of situation, because I do not run well directly after I eat. Should I really try to wake up at 5AM every day to get my main run in during the morning? The problem is that many of my workouts take an hour and a half or more and that would mean waking up around 4:30. Plus, I have never really run well early in the morning. On top of all that, when do I do laundry? It sounds like a simple problem, but I need an hour and a half to do laundry, and I prefer to do it during the week, but with a 9-10PM bedtime that means getting done with everything else by 7:30-8:30, which is pushing it.
It will certainly get figured out. It always does. Until further notice the best way to contact me is using my phone number. I have over 2000 unread emails, not counting the emails I automatically have filtered.
I am not very good at sitting still. I mean that in the metaphorical sense. I see people who go to work, go home, and watch tv. It seems to be a popular past time that is more pronounced now than when I was younger. As much as I enjoy sitting in front of the tube at the end of the day, I can not imagine that being my main activity. This was a bit of an atypical week for me because the cross country runners arrived and I started coaching after work, and since I have not fallen into a rhythm yet I was running as the sun went down at least three days this week.
Time management is a critical skill and something that I have not really had to employ since 2009. It is possible to do so many different things in a day or week, but the more anyone desires to do, the more efficient with time that person must be. One of my favorite things about high school and college track was hanging out after practice stretching, and going to eat, spending several hours not being terribly productive. Those days were somewhat rare in college as I spent quite a lot of time studying and in meetings in the evenings, yet there were still many of them. Now as I am trying to figure out my schedule I am working on figuring out the optimal order the ingredients of my life will be on a daily basis. Will I run three times per day? Before work, with the cross country team, then after practice? How will I eat supper in that kind of situation, because I do not run well directly after I eat. Should I really try to wake up at 5AM every day to get my main run in during the morning? The problem is that many of my workouts take an hour and a half or more and that would mean waking up around 4:30. Plus, I have never really run well early in the morning. On top of all that, when do I do laundry? It sounds like a simple problem, but I need an hour and a half to do laundry, and I prefer to do it during the week, but with a 9-10PM bedtime that means getting done with everything else by 7:30-8:30, which is pushing it.
It will certainly get figured out. It always does. Until further notice the best way to contact me is using my phone number. I have over 2000 unread emails, not counting the emails I automatically have filtered.
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