Six Minute Training!

Yeah, I tend to wander from training plan to training plan. And in-between, I have no training plan or goals at all. Now I have a new plan (I haven't even tried it yet, but I like it). I read about it in a recent NYT article entitled "You Can Get Fit on Six Minutes a Week?" Then I started doing some research about the Tabata training plan that this article seems to be based upon.

The Tabata training protocol is named after Izumi Tabata, a Japanese researcher who worked with the Japanese speed skating team. The protocol consists of 6-8 intervals of 20-second full-speed sprints interspersed with 10-second rest periods. Dr. Tabata found that these workouts increased speed and endurance. It is basically a form of high intensity interval training.

How can one ignore a training plan that has you doing 6 minutes of work per week? And it is supposed to increase your power, VO2max, and endurance! The main idea is to cycle through a series of 20 seconds hard followed by 10 seconds easy (running, cycling, swimming, etc). For running, it might be hard sprints for 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of easy walking, then repeat for 4-10 cycles. The key is the very hard bursts of speed followed by very short rest periods. The research seems to indicate that the ratio of hard-easy should be 2:1 (20 seconds:10 seconds). Imagine if a workout could be as simple as:

1. 10-15 minutes of easy warm-up jogging
2. 6 cycles of 20 second sprints, 10 second walks (total = 3 minutes!)
3. 10 minutes of easy jogging

Do this workout twice a week and you are set! I assume you could have a few easy runs the rest of the week, but some people think the 6 minutes of hard work (with warm-up and cool-down) is enough. Hard to believe this short workout actually does lead to both improved speed and endurance. Yes, there is evidence this workout improves your muscular and cellular endurance! Hmmm...I may give this a try. Why not insert a 3 minute workout into my routine twice a week? Even my lazy ass can commit to that...until the next fad comes around.

The Tabata protocol was originally used by Japanese Olympic speed skaters. Maybe it can be adapted for serious amateur runners. If nothing else, all runners should mix up their training and include some speed work. Check out this nice NYT article about Sara Hall's training, "Changing Speeds to Go the Distance."

A few web sites that discuss Tabata training:

Tabata Training-Short & Effective Workouts
Tabata Training 101
The Secrets of Tabata
1996 Izumi Tabata research article abstract

If you want more references or articles, you can try web searches on "high intensity interval training" or "tabata protocol." You might try "Izumi Tabata" or "Martin Gibala" (two researchers in this area). If you search YouTube, you'll find a few videos of people doing the Tabata sprints.

The real problem with this training? How am I supposed to listen to my Kid Rock on the iPod if the workout is only 3 minutes long? Don't even get me started on what I'm going to do with my 2-hour World Soccer Daily podcasts!

Western States 100

The Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run is this weekend. It's the premier 100 miler in the world. Scott Jurek is back after taking a few years off (he has won WS100 7 times!). There are tons of elite runners at this year's race. Should be an awesome event with lots of drama. My money is on Scott Jurek to win again.

Two local Illinois runners to watch: Juli Aistars and Mike Siltman. They won't win, but they are excellent, dedicated runners. You may have seen them at McNaughton Park or Clinton Lake ultras. I wish them, and all of the WS100 runners, the best.

Race web cast

Runner's World Story

One day I'd love to run this sucker...and the other 3 "Grand Slam" races. Four mountain 100 milers in one summer! Now that's fun. Not to be confused with the Illinois Trail Ultra Grand Slam (also fun, but much less demanding).

PS: While you're following the WS100 race, don't forget the USA vs Brazil Confederations Cup soccer final on Sunday afternoon. Can the US pull off another big upset? I hope so! The game will be televised nationally on ESPN at 1pm Central time (Sunday, June 28).

RACE UPDATE: Hal Koerner and Anita Ortiz win the race! Scott Jurek dropped out at Devil's Thumb (47 miles). Juli Aistars DNF'd at Duncan Canyon (23 miles) and Mike Siltman DNF'd at Robinson Flat (29 miles). Must have been a hot day!

Moon Walk Disgrace

The Moon Walk competition ended and they finally posted the results while I was in Louisiana...

My team ("Center for Teaching Excellence") in the 2009 Moon Walk had been in 3rd place for almost the entire competition. It's been fun over the last 10 weeks to see how we, and my buffalo friends, have fared. Team Buffalo were vying for 1st place during the whole competition. I knew my team would never be able to catch the top two teams, but I was fairly confident we would hang on to 3rd place...maybe even extend our lead over the other teams. Well, I was wrong. We ended up in 4th place (almost 5th). I cannot believe the team that passed us REALLY logged those miles. How do you increase your AVERAGE miles run by 50 miles over a weekend? Especially if you have 18 members on your team! It's not possible. Maybe I should have gone back and "logged" a few walking steps to make up for not measuring my steps with a pedometer the first 3 weeks? Or changed all of my trail runs to "hikes" so they would count double? Once a week is over, it should be locked down and done. You don't go back and change the miles you logged. The competition ended on Friday (June 12) at midnight...but you could still log your miles until Monday (June 15) at midnight. That simply encourages cheating. My team was solidly in 3rd place on Sunday morning...and ended up in 4th place come Monday evening. A bit discouraging.

The idea of this whole Moon Walk was to motivate people to be active and develop a healthy lifestyle that includes regular exercise. The spirit of the competition was not to be sneaky and deceiving by not logging miles until weeks later or changing your past logged activities. The manner in which this whole event ended has left a bitter taste in my mouth. It's a disgrace.

One positive note to this whole thing...Team Buffalo did pull out an honest win! Congratulations to them for all of their hard earned miles. It's nice to see trail runners pull out a deserved victory.

Gambling, Drinking, Eating, & Heat

Gambling, drinking, eating, and miserable heat have all gotten in the way of my running here in Louisiana. Oh well. It's all about compromises, right? I almost ran late last night after dinner, but Little Miss Sunshine distracted me (great movie). Plus the Pad Thai and Singha beers were still settling in my stomach. Plenty of time to run...less opportunity to gamble...especially with my mother! No time to blog--I've got casinos to hit on this Father's Day morning. First day of summer too...can't wait for the real summer heat to envelope this place. Yikes.

Running in the Big Easy

If you think central Illinois is hot & humid in the summer, try New Orleans! It's outrageously hot here. I'm visiting now and running is almost unbearable. Every single day the temperature is around 98 degrees...with heavy humidity and sun. Even at 6am, the temps are already in the high 70s. The only saving grace is that everything is flat. With no hills, it's tolerable to run. I'm DRENCHED with sweat within the first mile, but that should help me kick start my "Howl at the Moon" heat training. Silver linings abound...you just need to look. I can get some tasty coffee (the cafe au lait is awesome) after each run. And the sticky buns help me replenish the carbs.

"Consultant" Jeff has advised me to run two-a-days while I'm here. I'll try to accomplish that...even if they are simple 5K morning and evening runs. Isn't the 2-runs-a-day thing more Goggins like? Hmmm...might need to find a new consultant that's easier on me. I look forward to getting back to Illinois and doing some easy "Riddle runs" in the cool and dry Midwest weather.

Laissez les bon temps roulez! I'm already turning back to my Louisiana roots.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Mark this date...Saturday, March 27, 2010 is the official date for the 4th annual Clinton Lake 30-Mile Trail Run! I just received confirmation from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. This year all of my paperwork was approved fairly quickly. Maybe it's due to us having a new governor who restored some funding to DNR sites? Or maybe it's my well-noted charm and attention to detail? Anyway, we are set to go! Even though we have early approval from DNR, I still don't plan on opening up registration until September or October (before the Farmdale Trail Run). Remember, we still have two races left in the 2009 Illinois Trail Ultra Grand Slam. Since the old McNaughton Park 50/100/150 mile races are gone, I imagine we'll have a slightly revised Slam for 2010. There will likely be a new McNaughton Park ultra in spring 2010 and I'd like to include them in the Slam. I'll keep you posted.

In case you forgot, I have several changes planned for next year's Clinton Lake ultra...as stated in my blog post from April 25, 2009.

No EPL = More Run Like Hell

Now that the English Premier League (EPL) season is over, I have a lot more free time on weekend mornings. Since the games are in England, they show up live in the US early in the morning, usually around 7 or 8am. That meant my weekend long runs were held ransom to the EPL schedule. If good teams were playing, I skipped the long run (or did it later, and often shorter, in the day). Now the season is over...even the Champion's League and FA Cup. I am left with only the United States based Major League Soccer (MLS). The MLS players and teams are not of the same quality (or entertainment value) as the EPL. Plus, the games tend to be played late in the afternoon or evening. That means more time for crazy long runs each weekend morning! I still find myself browsing the Fox Soccer Channel looking for games, but only World Cup qualifiers are available--many times as reruns when I already know the score. So, soon I will be heading out for more weekend runs. I may head out to Turkey Run State Park next weekend. Jeff showed me a series of great interconnecting trails. It would be easy to get in 10-15 miles of diverse trail running. The park is in west-central Indiana and run by the IDNR--it's not a far drive from central Illinois. I still can't figure out why more buffalo trail runners don't put this park on their regular schedule of runs. The trails are maintained all year and there are lots of ways to make your run shorter or longer depending on how you feel.

I still miss the EPL, but I look forward to traveling to distant sites to get in some new trails. Before I know it, August 15 will be here and a new season of EPL soccer will begin. Best of luck to the newly promoted clubs: Birmingham City, Wolverhampton, and Burnley. It's going to be a long haul for you, but Hull and Stoke stayed up last year. Hope springs eternal.

I am getting ahead of myself. For now, soccer is over, and it is time to run like hell! Note "Highway to Hell" in my current iTunes play list (list on left sidebar of blog).

Riddle Fired, Goggins Hired

Catchy title for this post, eh? Jeff is now fired as my motivational coach and David is hired. I am transitioning to a more serious training schedule and I need serious motivation. Riddle just doesn't cut it anymore! I'll keep Jeff on as my occasional consultant and running partner. He knows more about running than almost anyone I know. And he's a great running historian too. That counts for something. He's just not the best at saying "Get your ass out there and run!" or "Double your miles this week!" or "Suck it up!" Goggins will let me know that "Pain is my friend!" The pictures on the left are from David Goggin's web site (pre & post running). If you desire motivation to run, check out his web site and blog. Before I forget, I wish David the best in his recovery from heart surgery (he recently had a heart defect repaired--see his most recent blog posts).

Here is an example quote from my new coach's web page and blog:

(David Goggins February 22, 2009 post entitled "Enjoy Pain")
A lot of people think that I have been running my whole life. The fact is that I hadn't even ran a marathon until November 2005. I came off of a deployment from Iraq and I heard that several SEAL/s had been killed in a combat situation. I wanted to do something to raise money for their families. Being a SEAL, I knew that selling hot dogs and having a bake sale wouldn't do it. So, I googled the 10 hardest events in the world and the Badwater 135 came up. I called the race director and explained the situation. He was somewhat amused that I had never even ran a marathon and wanted to attempt one of the hardest foot races in the world. After talking with him he made it very clear that this race wasn't to be taken lightly and that I would have to qualify in order to participate in the race. I had to qualify by running 100 miles in 24 hours. It just so happened that there was a race in San Diego the following weekend. It was a 24 hour race where your run straight for 24 hours around a 1 mile track. So, six days later my wife and I grabed a lawn chair, lunch box cooler, myoplex, and ritz crackers to take to the race. That's right... only those items. Also keep in mind that I weighed a lot at the time. I took off running and felt good for about 70 miles. Then I stopped to take a break. That was the first problem.....I sat down in the lawn chair and my blood pressure went crazy due to poor nutrition. I sat there for about 10 minutes and I had to go to the bathroom really bad. When I attempted to stand, I quickly realized how bad of shape I was really in. I was so dizzy that I couldn't stand for a second. So, after retaking my seat in the chair I looked at my wife and told her that I had to go to the bathroom. She looked at me confused. So, I told her more clearly... "I'm going to take a s*** on myself in this chair." And so I did... I then saw the blood running down my leg when I urinated. My wife being a nurse informed me that my kidney's were shutting down and that I needed to go to the hospital. I told her that I had 30 miles left. She helped me up and we started walking around the track at a 35 minute mile pace. I asked her If I would complete the 100 miles in 24 hours at this pace and she said no. So, I did what I had to do and some how by the grace of God started running again. I completed 101 miles in just under 19 hours. I had broken all the small bones in my feet and my kidneys were failing. My wife drove the car onto the race course and put me into the back of the car. We live on the second floor of an apartment complex and we had to somehow get up the stairs. So, I draped my arms around her neck from behind and she had to practically drag me up the stairs. After she me in the shower and she saw that I was urinating dark dirt brown, she begged me once again to go to the hospital. I looked her in the eye and said.... Just let me enjoy this pain I'm in. And I did. I enjoyed how hard I had just pushed myself and I wanted to feel every bit of that.

Now this guy knows how to run and motivate people! I have already changed my running routine based on Goggins' philosophy. Almost everyday I run hard. Not for the whole run, but at least a portion of the run is hard. My new main training staple is a Kenyan progression run. I start very slow and easy (10 minute/mile pace) and end up running hard and fast (6:45 minute/mile pace). I do this almost every morning on the treadmill. It's easy to adjust the pace faster and faster on the treadmill. Hit the + button and it goes faster by 6 seconds/mile. Keep doing that over 4-5 miles and you are eventually running hard. I hope to be going 6:00 pace at the end of these runs in a couple months.

I haven't gone completely crazy. I will temper my fast run schedule with easy runs...done with consultant Jeff! Probably twice a week I'll run with Riddle at his easy pace. That translates into jog-walks averaging 12:00 pace or slower. This will allow me to recharge my batteries (mind and body) so I'll be able to get back to enjoying pain on my Goggin's runs. I even imagine taking a full week off every couple months and doing only Riddle runs at easy pace. By the end of 7 days with Jeff I'll be eager for some pain. This new "Riddle-Goggins" training seems perfect. I'll let you know how it works. I have several short road races planned over the next 2 months to test my training.

Based on their personalities, here is an example future coaching conversation...
Chris: "It's rather hot today, should I change my planned training routine?"
Jeff: "Yes, we must remain flexible. Take today as an easy day and run only in the early morning. No need to run hard in this heat."
David: "You bet--you will double your normal miles and run in the mid-day heat! You need to get acclimated for Howl at the Moon!"

Please note that I am not paying either of these "coaches" of mine. Also note that neither Jeff nor David know they are my coaches.

Race Results Are Certified

The Buffalo Trace 7-Day Stage Race results are now final. Over the last week, they have been certified by the race director following precise guidelines. Some people had to be dropped, others mileage revised, and one person was even added to the final results. I can now officially declare that Tracy Thomas was the overall champion with 335 total miles! That's a picture of her finishing an early morning loop on day 7. Tracy set a new course record (the old one was fairly weak--set by me last year at 303 miles). Congratulations to Tracy...and the other 12 race participants that made it out to the trails all week. We had 21 final participants last year--I guess the reputation of this race as "insane" has gotten out. People are wising up to the fact that running for 7 days straight on rolling trails in the summer heat is not easy. Still, this year's "lucky 13" had a great time and several set personal weekly mileage records.

Hope everyone is recovering well and planning their next running adventure. I have a few local 5K road races planned. That's new running territory for me! I'm even adding speed work to my weekly training plans. Howl at the Moon 8-Hour run is still my goal race for this year. I hope to hit 50 miles. Mid-August weather is usually hot & humid in central Illinois. If I can get in a good combination of distance and speed work over the next 2 months, plus a bit of heat training, I have a shot at 50 miles.

National Running Day

Today is "National Running Day." Well, what are you waiting for...get out the door and run! Not sure these special days do much to promote their cause, but it can't hurt to spread the word. Tell your co-workers and friends. Get a colleague to run. Tell them how great it feels to finish that 2, 3, 5, or 10 mile run. Maybe even run a few strides sans shoes...

Monday, June 1, was "National Go Barefoot Day." I forgot to mention it...I'm still a bit hesitant to hit the trails barefoot after getting a thorn THROUGH my shoe and into my toe last week! The toe seems to be fine today...thanks for asking. If you missed National Go Barefoot Day, don't worry, there is still "Barefoot Sunday"on June 7. Soles 4 Souls is the founder of these barefoot days. Apparently the celebration is actually going on all week.

It's Just Running

The buffalo used to have a Singaporean runner among us. Wee-Haur (aka "Thunder Thighs") was a fine runner and one of the first in the herd to run a 100-mile trail race. Even though he ran some great ultras, he always said "It's just running" when people would ask about training methods, racing tactics, or balance of life issues. Wee-Haur knew where running fit into his life. He didn't let running successes inflate his ego. Running helped him connect with new friends and colleagues. It helped him stay fit, relieve stress, and be more productive. In general, it helped him be a better person...but it wasn't his life. I hope to be the new "Wee-Haur" of the herd!

I'm sure I'll be tested many times about what priority running and racing takes in my life. I already passed test #1. On the last day of the Buffalo Trace 7-Day Stage Race I almost went out in the evening to walk 2 miles so I could pass Donna and be in second place (she had 152 miles and I had 151). Then a subtle calm came over me as I asked myself "Why?" Donna ran well all week and deserved to be 2nd place overall. Me getting an extra 2 miles would not change the fact that she actually ran better than me all week. So before the urge struck me again, I grabbed some grub and sat in front of the TV...and I was out for the night. I finished the week with 151 miles. I passed test #1.

Test #2 will come on June 27 as I fret over the Clear Pond 5-Hour Run for the animals that Kennekuk Road Runners put on each year to raise funds for the local Humane Societies. It's also the date of the local garden walk. I'm doing the garden walk with my wife. Clear Pond is a great event for a fantastic cause. Going on a garden walk with my dear wife is just a little nicer. There are tons of races each year, only a couple garden walks.

Test #3 is the Devils' Lake 50K (part of the Dances with Dirt series) on July 11. That same day is the Fisher 5K. I plan on running the closer and shorter event. I still get in a nice little race, but I'm back home (and recovered) within a couple hours. Sounds like a good "balance of life" decision between running and family.

Test #4 has been a continual struggle to resist. Soccer. I have a couple of opportunities to join local adult soccer leagues. I may just dip my toe in this summer. I've been hesitant to play any soccer fearing that I might get injured and not be able to run. Hmmm...running has prevented me from doing something I love. That doesn't sound right. I better sign up for soccer this summer. The real test will be keeping soccer in perspective. It could become another obsession. Probably not healthy to trade one compulsion for another. Need to keep everything in perspective. "Nothing to excess" as the ancient Greeks used to say.

Remember, it's just running. Now futbol, that's life! Whoops...better start another blog related to my soccer travails.