It's Official, I'm a Wogger

I'm a jogger.
I'm a slogger (slow jogger). 
Actually, I think it's official, I'm a wogger.
Wogger = walk-jogger. 

Sad, but true. I used to be a runner.  I ran with a spring in my step, jumped over logs, bounded over streams, danced up hills, and ran swiftly down ravines. It was fun. Heck, even when doing ultramarathons, I still felt like a runner.  I may have been slow, but who isn't when they are "running" 50K or 50 miles on trails?  At least I was tough and persevered. And if I was doing a short run, I had a touch of speed. Not super fast, but you'd have to put in some effort to overtake me. That was then...this is now.

Lately I'm not even fast enough to be considered a jogger.  At least joggers lope along at a steady pace without walking every freaking hill. At times I might be a slow jogger...but it's not long until I enter that walk phase and have transformed from jogger to slogger to wogger.  Let me introduce myself...I'm Chris the Wogger.  I walk, then jog, then walk, then jog. Eventually the jog becomes a "slog"...but the walking breaks still occur.  Sad. I'm not a runner anymore.

Sure, there are tons of excuses. The weather has been dreadful. Hot. Humid. Sunny.  Everyone slows down...but not everyone becomes a wogger!  I was the last "finisher" among my buffalo friends this evening. A single 5-mile trail loop and I can't keep up with the elderly, the injured, the kids. Even the buffalo that ran an early loop still wooped me. Of course, they are all runners and I'm a wogger.  Pretty soon I'll be walking with poles to assist me. Sad.

But not for long. I will be a runner again.  And the metamorphosis won't take long.  It begins on August 14...one day after the Howl at the Moon 8-Hour race.  I'll continue to slog along for 2 more weeks. Easy, slow, long, heat-riddled runs jogs. It's too late to change my training and race strategy. But after August 13, things will change.  No more listening to "Coach Jeff."  No more Maffetone heart rate training based on anecdotes. I still believe in effort-based training, but it's time to go with real coaches and science...I'm going with Arthur Lydiard and Roy Benson. There is a time and place for easy runs--but even recovery-style runs are at heart rates above 180-age (Maffetone rule). How about 65-70% of heart rate reserve?  Still easy, still aerobic, and still in the fat-burning zone, but with enough stimulus to actually assist in recovery and build a bit of aerobic capacity.  Of course, there will also be regular running in higher HR zones to improve running economy, lactate threshold, and VO2 max. Doesn't that sound wonderful?  Soon I will again be a runner!

NOTE: There is nothing wrong with being a walker. Or jogger.  Or hiker.  I simply prefer being a runner.