Wednesday, April 2, 2014

New Coach / MAF Test

I have hired a coach to help me prepare for the Leadville 100 on August 16. This will be my fifth Leadville, and it’s fair to say the race has vexed me every year. Results from my past four Leadvilles:
  • 2010: 24:47 – Overcame hypothermia, vomiting and dehydration at Mayqueen inbound (86.5), as well as a two-mile excursion off-course (missed a turn), to eke out a sub-25.
  • 2011: 22:35 – Fell asleep while running between Mayqueen and the finish, fighting off hypothermia. The final 13.5 miles were an epic slog and, yes, included some chunk blowing (as always).
  • 2012: DNF – Knee injury, blown up legs, whatever.
  • 2013: 22:40 – After a horrible first 65 miles that included a 7-hour Hope Pass double-crossing and puking attack at Hopeless inbound (gotta love barfing 15+ times at 12,000 feet), I came alive and finished super strong. And, yep, Mayqueen inbound once again featured an impressive barfing attack (thank goodness for that aluminum baking dish).
While I’m proud of those results (except 2012), I know I can do better. That is why I’ve hired a coach who really gets this 100-mile racing thing—a runner who has put up impressive results for many years, including a strong finish at Leadville a few years ago. He’s one of those runners who has a knack for showing up for his A race in peak form. He delivers on the big day because of his training, his passion, his great attitude, his good instincts and what’s between his ears. I want to learn from him. Even though I’ve been doing ultras for a few years now, I know I can always learn and improve.
 
Tuesday of this week was day one of my training under my new coach’s tutelage. We’re starting gradually—this morning I did a few hill repeats and on Thursday I’m at the track for some intervals (though the forecasted 1-3 inches of slush might say otherwise). The weekends will see long runs and tempo efforts, and on a periodic basis I’ll have rest weeks--which I'm really bad at including in my training blocks. I’m really excited to see where this all goes.

One thing I’ve asked him to do is reign me in—I’m one of those runners who tends to chase numbers and put a lot of stock in weekly volume. And while this program will include some good volume, I know that at this stage in my running life, with a big base already laid, what I most need are specific workouts that provide the stimulus to reach my potential at Leadville—whatever it may be. He believes I can run a sub-20. I tend to look more at sub-21. We’ll see where this all goes. I don’t want to load expectations on my back—racing 100 miles at Leadville is hard enough.

***

As for what’s next, I’m now a little over four weeks from the Colorado Marathon. This will be my fourth consecutive week of 70+ miles. On Sunday, I ran 19 miles, including a MAF test at the local high school track. I just wanted to see where I am with my aerobic fitness. For my MAF test, which came after five easy miles with my dog, I ran 5 miles at 146 beats per minute (even though technically my MAF is 135-145 now) and averaged 6:43/mile. Last August, before Leadville, I averaged 6:38/mile in a MAF test. I like where I am right now—somewhat fit but not too fit four months from Leadville. My goal for the Colorado Marathon is to qualify for Boston.

After the marathon, I’ll take a rest week and then resume my Leadville training, emphasizing longer runs on mountain trails. By then, many of the trails will be ice-free. That’s when the real fun begins.

23 comments:

  1. I was thinking the same thing. Who?

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  2. I'll say more in a later post. Want to get in a few weeks with him before getting specific about who he is. He is a very accomplished ultrarunner--that I will say.

    Wyatt

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  3. Shad - we might have to put up a guessing contest. I will go with AJW.

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  4. If your MAF pace is 6:43/mile, shouldn't you be able to hold that pace for the entire marathon? My (perhaps limited) understanding of this seems like that should not be a problem since it is still at an aerobic effort.

    Being an accomplished ultra runner does not automatically make one a good coach.

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    1. I was thinking something along these lines yesterday when having a discussion with an overweight but incredibly accomplished cardiologist.

      Regarding your MAF question ... I recall that Mark Allen apparently got his MAF pace to 5:20, but he struggled to hold that in an outright marathon. I think the issue there is if you are "only" MAF fit, your MAF can be very close to your LT (in other words you have a pretty low ceiling). You can blow up pretty easily.

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    2. It would be of interest to see how the pace degraded for Wyatt say over 10 miles. Or to see what happened on a 10 mile run at 150 or 155 pace.

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    3. Hi Nick: 6:43 average over 5 miles on Sunday was at my MAF max (146 bpm). Admittedly, I might have done a few too many warm-up miles, but my dog was bouncing off the walls and needed to get some energy expended. In MAF tests, it's normal to see your pace slow a bit especially toward the end of the test. Over time, as the gap lessens, your fitness is improving. In the marathon, due to cardiac drift, it would be hard (I would say close to impossible) for me to average 6:43/mile and stay within MAF. As the miles wear on and I'm working harder and harder (especially after mile 20), running at 146 bpm might mean my pace slows to 7something, even 8something. I don't want to put limits on myself--it would be great to break 3 at Fort Collins in a few weeks. Anyway, I don't plan to run the whole thing at MAF but I would like to stay at MAF for the first 20 miles and then open things up a bit in the last 6.2. Interestingly, it's a mostly downhill race so staying within MAF while also keeping a sub-7 pace might be "easier" than in normal circumstances. We'll see!

      Wyatt

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  5. Nick,
    I also have no real understanding of what MAF is, but I would think your MAF pace would degrade over time/distance just due to nutritional depletion (glycogen stores, etc). Even though you are at an aerobic effort and could maintain that pace over say 10 miles your body would be unable to replace energy at a fast enough rate for longer distances. I would also imagine this is also variable for everyone due to size, weight, metabolic efficiency etc. I imagine you'll be at MAF pace for Tor Des Geants :)

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  6. +1 AJW. Was leaning Karl until I read track intervals.

    For me, the coaching aspect was less about the science and more about focus, accountability, and motivation.

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    1. For me, Chris, this is about being open to new ways and also having someone keep me in check. I have a bad habit of peaking too soon.

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  7. That's great news about hiring a coach as it sounds like he will be able to fine tune all of the efforts you have made and provide some specific workouts to strengthen your running where it counts most. I hope to have a coach train me this fall for a marathon in Huntsville (the Rocket City) in my attempt to qualify for Boston as well. Coaches have a knack to see what you do well, but offer advice and tips on areas that can be improved more.

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  8. Vague... my money says that it isn't Karl M... but who it could be escapes me right now. My vote in just light research is AJW given that AJW used the term "pain cave" for a race last weekend and Wyatt used the term in his last blog post. Just a common thread there, could mean nothing. Pain cave... decorum prevents me from saying what I really envision when I hear that term... LOL!

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  9. My guess is Lucho. Or maybe Ian Torrence. Will be interesting to see the reveal.

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    1. Tim is a great coach and a super runner but, no, it's not him.

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    1. If I were doing Leadman, he'd be a great coach (and of course Lucho or Travis would be, too). But it's not him.

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  12. 6:43 MAF pace is to me incredible...I've been doing Maffetone training for 10 years and at best my MAF is 12:30's. According to Maffetone something's wrong internally if I see no improvement. I think maybe what's wrong is 39 years of training/racing and 62 yo ;-)
    I guess if we're guessing, I'd guess Duncan Callahan.

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