View Workout (Joe Uhan)

Return to Log

Olde Tyme Saturday Roadie Grind

February 11, 2017 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: mid 30s, brisk but dry!

Comments:
While the competitive trail community is a little sparse, there's a burgeoning fairly-fast (or at least grindy) roadie community, and a fair amount of younger guys. They meet several times a week, and their "easy" run is supposed to be Saturday morning.

I knew better, and when I decided to branch out and meet up, I was ready for a good "grind tempo" workout.

Met Scott Williams (who also runs occasionally with the Hunt), and three other young grindies (all mid to late 20s) for 8.5 miles. Ran at 7:30 from SEHS, around Fairmount, into PRE to SPFD, then back via campus - a great, classic Saturday AM route.

Still a little tired from SOB and sore from weights and 200s, I felt a little stiff on this run...but oh man, was it a throwback!

No HRM today, which was probably a good thing:

801
703
712
703
647
653
651
658
---
807

Bear in mind, some of these sections were flat-and-fast, but a lot had some climbs, twisting turns and soggy bark. This was a classic "Joe Easy-Plus Run" from 2010. But the difference now is the GPS. Back then, I'd "grab" a pace on a (flat and fast) measured section and say, "Oh, I ran 6:30 pace". That's about what we did today. Splits were 7:00, but our cruise effort and flat-fast pace got down there in the second half, for sure.

...and it felt...GOOD. I NEED to do this. It's stupid not to...as much as it's stupid to do it every day (or to do so when the system isn't feeling it). But here's the facts: THIS is fucking ultra pace. If you wanna run 8:30 pace for 62 miles on trail...you goddamn better be able to cruise 6:30-7:00 on a "base" run on "roads".

I used to do this 100% of the time, back in '10 when I ran 2:31 and 2:32 marathons. And this was the fitness I brought into ultras in '11 and '12, that blew out in '13...but has been gone since. I now run like 1% of my runs at this effort.

The bottom line: my STRENGTH is grinding. I can't deny that. I just have to appropriately harness it.

The keys:
1.) Make it sustainable as possible, generating this speed with STRIDE efficiency (which seems to be really working, recently)
2.) Balance. Doing some (perhaps a couple days a week), but not ALL. Amidst the other workouts, there has to be bonafide EASY days.

#1 happened well in '10 (although my stride imbalance was alive and strong), but I never did #2 well...which is why I always plateued-felt burnt every 4-6 months back then.

It's doable. And I'm gonna go for it.

This was a good starting point.

Got back to SEHS and I ran-shuffled an EASY kilo cool-down (thus the 8:xx mile).

GREAT RUN! And FUN, too.

Rest of the day:
- home quick to shower
- yoga at 9:15
- met Jonathan, my-our new assistant-assistant distance coach. GREAT kid. A crazy irony-poetic justice that I'll now have a young guy co-coaching with me, aged 24, just out of school, returning to the alma mater to start his coaching career...this was the EXACT spot I was in when I started coaching! Gonna try to nurture, mentor and collaborate with him in the way I wish I'd had back then.

- did some major work on my PT-gait analysis exercise templates
- made CA dinner for when she came home from school, then pre-work trip (flying to Utah...for an overnight inspection)