Weekly Summary

20 - 26 June 2011 (16 miles)

Mon:  rest (Denver vacation)

Tue:  rest (Denver vacation)

Wed:  rest (Denver vacation)

Thu:  rest (Denver vacation)

Fri:  run/walk to Northside Social for lunch (13 miles)

Sat:  short run, at/above lactic threshold (3 miles)

Sun:  nada

Weekly Summary

13 - 19 June 2011 (64 miles)

Mon:  run/walk to Northside Social for a morning muffin (13 miles)

Tue:  into McLean for breakfast (4 miles)

Wed: 

Thu:  W&OD Trail, end-to-end (45 miles)

Fri: 

Sat:  rest (Denver trip)

Sun:  hotel treadmill (Denver vacation) (2 mi)

This was an unusual week - I took the day off before doing the W&OD end-to-end, then planned plenty of recovery time afterward ...

W&OD Trail End-to-end

For some reason yesterday seemed like the day to run the W&OD Trail end-to-end.  And if I don't run much next week (I'm traveling with family and long runs will be hard to fit in) I'll have a ready excuse - I'll be recovering.

The W&OD trail runs from Shirlington to Purcellville,  44.8 miles end-to-end.  Here is the map from the "Friends of the W&OD" website.

I ran the east to west direction

Mary dropped me off in Shirlington at the 0 mile mark early (on her way to work), with a little light rain and the chance of thunder showers making me wonder if this was a good idea.  The cool rain the first hour or so was actually very nice - it warmed up later in the morning, and I got some rain later in the afternoon, but all in all a beautiful day out there.

I ran with a hydration pack, and stopped at two "aid stations" on the trail.

 The Whole Foods market is literally right beside the trail in Vienna - I got a multigrain bagel and a muffin, and two Odwalla smoothie drinks

This 7-11 was also right along the trail, around Herndon I think.  I got 2 liters of cold bottled water here to refill my hydration pack.  I also drank from several water fountains along the trail.





I saw some great countryside along the trail, and a little bit of wildlife. 

 Cool bug

I passed this guy

Not pictured:  some deer, groundhogs, and rabbits.

The last 10 miles were getting to be a bit of a grind to the finish.  Mary had parked at the trail's end and come down the trail about a mile to  walk me in  - that was nice.  Here is the marker at the Purcellville end of the trail.

I am so done ...

It was a Grand Day Out.  My feet had some hot spots, but this morning it doesn't look like there will be any blisters.  I'm sore this morning, but nothing to worry about!

Now the C&O Canal end-to-end is hanging over my head like a monster ...

Weekly Summary

6 - 12 June 2011 (51 miles, 9:31)

Mon:  ran into McLean for breakfast (5 miles), later ran to pool and back (4 miles)

Tue:  ran to Cassatt’s for breakfast and home again (8 miles)

Wed:  Wash & Lee HS “track night”.  Ran 5 x 1 mile with full recovery in between (5 miles)

Thu:  ran to pool (2 miles) and return (4 miles)

Fri:  run/walk to Northside Social for a morning muffin (13 miles)

Sat:  ran to breakfast and home (6 miles)

Sun:  to Starbucks and home (3 miles)

More Thoughts on Training

There is a classic book on running, titled “Lore of Running” by Tim Noakes, MD.  It is a virtual encyclopedia of knowledge on running physiology, training and racing.  One section of the book contains short summaries of how the most accomplished and successful runners have trained over history.  There may not be one single best way to train, but Noakes identifies what has worked for these great runners.

I particularly like the description of Mark Allen’s approach to training.  Allen might be best known for having won the Hawaiian Ironman six times.  His three-phase training program began with several months of patient, low heart rate training, never exceeding a heart rate determined by Phil Maffetone’s formula.  By nailing his heart rate to that number, he could see his running time over distance improving by 3 or 4 seconds per kilometer per week.  As long as his performance continued to improve, he would stay in this first phase of training.

There is a saying in engineering management that “you can’t manage what you don’t measure”.  A heart rate monitor and a running watch are important management tools.  If you don’t measure your heart rate and time yourself over distance, you won’t get the feedback (and the encouragement) that comes with seeing that small but regular improvement.

Allen thought the months of relatively easy training in the first phase was the key to his competitive longevity, and thinks that more people don’t train that way because they are too ego driven and too competitive.  For me, the real shocker advice from Mark Allen is that he believes that as he aged, he would spend less time building strength and peak speed for events in phases following this patient aerobic training phase.  For athletes over 50, he suggests they may best spend little or no time at all in other phases.  

Another reason for staying with a long 'patient' phase is that I'm starting with some excess weight. Finding some hills to run repeats on, or doing speed work on the track would add some variety to my workouts, but also beat my body up and add some injury risk.  Just waiting for the time spent in this base phase to do its work removing some pounds will hopefully do just as much for improving my pace as would adding high intensity training at this point in my program.  For now, I plan to stay patient ...

Weekly Summary

30 May - 5 June 2011 (55 miles, 12:26)

Mon:  sailing out of Annapolis (0 miles)

Tue:  to Chain Bridge, down Potomac Heritage Trail into Georgetown (Booeymonger's), up C&O Canal to Chain Bridge and home (18 miles)

Wed:  (0 miles)

Thu:  ran to Northside Social for lunch, ran home (13 miles)

Fri:  to Chain Bridge, down Potomac Heritage Trail into Georgetown (Simple Green), up C&O Canal to Chain Bridge and home (18 miles)

Sat:  McLean loop (6 miles)

Sun:  rest

Potomac Heritage Trail

There is a piece of the Potomac Heritage Trail system that runs between Chain Bridge and the Key Bridge.  This trail parallels the better know path along the C&O canal on the Maryland side of the Potomac.  From where I live it's a neat way to get into Georgetown on foot.

The Virginia end of Chain Bridge

Getting on to the Potomac Heritage Trail can be a little dicey at this point.  I wait for an opening in traffic (it's a tough crossing), dash across the road, and jump the guardrail right by that post with the traffic lights.  There is a small web of dirt trails in the bushes there that will take you down toward the water's edge.  [UPDATE:  I found you don't need to cross over the road here at all ... there is a path on the upstream side of the bridge that takes you down the bank and safely under the bridge]  One of the first things you see is the remains of the old Chain Bridge, right below the current bridge.

'Old' Chain Bridge ruins below the current span

As you start down along the trail toward the city, you have to cross several rocky areas where water runs into the Potomac.  I've had different amounts of luck picking my way across with dry feet ... usually I get my shoes wet somewhere.  The trail at first isn't really obvious - you just stay along the river bank, choosing your way through all the rocks.  My Brooks Cascadias were made for this.

Rocky trail at the Chain Bridge end of this run

My sister in Hawaii has hikes that take you to waterfalls - we have them right here in the city too.  This is one of about three that I saw yesterday.

One of DC's waterfalls

At about the halfway point the trail starts to offer more and more runnable bits of trail, and by the time you get to Key Bridge it's a pretty clear trail.  This picture is the 'end' of the trail at the Roosevelt Island parking lot.  From here there is a footbridge over the Washington Parkway that gets you to where you can cross the Key Bridge into Georgetown.

End of the trail near Key Bridge

It seems like a lot of my outings are about going someplace to eat - I've been running to breakfast,  lunch and dinner.  The Georgetown turn-around is a good place to get some food - I like the salads at Sweet Green, right on M Street.

Good spot for lunch on the run

After all those rocks on the Potomac Heritage Trail, it's a much quicker return to Chain Bridge along the C&O canal, though of course it is about the same 4 mile distance each way.  This is a great time of year to do this loop - cool breezes, and no bugs. 

My Training Philosophy

The basic elements that describe any training program are the intensity and duration of activity, and recovery time. You stress your body by doing some activity for a period of time, and then during recovery your body adapts to the stress.  When most people start a new workout schedule to get in shape they put most of their focus on the element of ‘intensity’.

The advantage of higher intensity training is that it can maximize the improvement in fitness in the time available.  If you have a limited amount of time to train, it might make sense to try to find the optimal level of training intensity to maximize the benefit for the effort you are expending.  Unfortunately, there is a corresponding level of increased risk of overtraining fatigue and injury if you don't correctly identify your personal limits.

What I am doing this summer is exploring the other end of the intensity and duration spectrum – I am stretching the duration quite a bit beyond what I have done before (or had the time to do) and at the same time lowering the intensity. 

This approach fits me for the following reasons:

• I have the time to do it (currently 10-12 hours a week)
• I can cover some good urban distances on foot.  Nobody wants to ‘sacrifice’ all that time grinding out meaningless miles.  I am making covering ground on foot part of my lifestyle this summer, getting me to interesting destinations (even if I sometimes use the metro to help me get home …)
• My personal goals include covering some long distances on foot, and spending ‘time on foot’ is a big part of endurance events.

Weekly Summary

23-29 May 2011 (54 miles, 10:53)

Mon:  local run (McLean loop) (6 miles)

Tue:  ran to Cassatt's and home (8 miles)

Wed:  Across Chain Bridge, down C&O canal to Georgetown for lunch, across Key Bridge and home.  Left calve muscle is sore. (16 miles)

Thu:  Powhatan loop (6 miles)

Fri:  Ran to Northside Social for a sandwich, took metro back to West Falls Church (9 miles)

Sat:  McLean loop (6 miles)

Sun:  (0 miles)

16-22 May 2011 (35 miles, 6:50)

Mon:  Custis Trail to Georgetown, lunch, then back up C&O canal to Chain Bridge (18 miles)

Tue:  ran to Starbucks and home (3 miles)

Wed:  ran to Cassatt's and home (8 miles)

Thu:  in NY (0 miles)

Fri:  in NY (0 miles)

Sat:  in NY - ran up North Road a ways, and back (5 miles)

Sun:  in NY (0 miles)

9-15 May 2011 (56 miles, 12:06)

Mon:  ran to Roosevelt Island, up Potomac Heritage Trail to Chain Bridge, then home (16 miles)

Tue:  dropped car at Chesterbrook, returned home, piked up car, returned car ... (3 x 1.2 miles)

Wed:  ran to Booeymongers in Georgetown for breakfast, up C&O canal to Chain Bridge, and home (16 miles)

Thu:  McLean loop (CCW) (6 miles)

Fri:  ran to Cassatt's with Jen (9 miles)

Sat:  ran to St Paul's and home again (5 miles)

Sun:  

2-8 May 2011 (59 miles, 12:30)

Mon:  drove car to repair shop in Vienna, ran home, ran back in evening to pick it up (2 x 8 miles)

Tue:  ran to breakfast and home (8 miles)

Wed:  local run (McLean loop) (6 miles)

Thu:  loop through Georgetown (19 miles)

Fri:  ran to pool and swam a few laps (2 x 2 miles)

Sat:  local loop (McLean loop) (6 miles)

Sun: