In praise of low volume weeks. March 18, 2007
Posted by anton in : Training , add a commentIt’s Sunday morning and I have yet to touch a bike or running shoes…
Oh I will…but according to my IMLP training schedule this has been a low volume week. Only about 8 hours worth…which has been quite nice.
The basic schedule is three weeks on, one “off.” It’s not really off but the volume is reduced to recuperate from the previous three weeks brouhaha.
During the week I was able to: Clean House. Work on the bike. Read. Spend a little more time with the “Babe.” Catch some movies. Tinker with the Heart Rate Monitor. Shop for a few things.
All the stuff that you can’t get to when you have to put in 12 or 14 or 16 or 20 hours of training during a week.
At the beginning of the week off you feel cranky, tired and maybe a little sore. Seven days later it’s the opposite. You feel rested and ready and looking forward to getting the hours back up….going to the next level.
True, the week “off” holds it’s own hard workouts, like yesterday’s trainer ride at Lactic Threshold or running the ten x 1 minute repeats on Tuesday, or the 500 meter repeats in the pool on Thursday. It is a nice change from the Looooong workouts that are only going to get longer as the weeks progress.
I’m still in Base mode and as such am just layering on the time: This week’s schedule:
Mon Tue Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
Lift Run swim run bike bike run
swim bike lift bike swim run swim
I’ll spare you the boring stuff like at what level I’m supposed to work at or how long…but the next three weeks all look the same and hitting around 13/14 hours. The weekend of the 31st and 1st will be a BTW ( break through weekend) with the long workouts going longer and harder than usual. All this is dependant on life…. That nothing interferes or there are no car problems or flu like symptoms or busted ankles or the pool isn’t closed or any of a million things that can get in the way…and if they do? Smile,laugh and move on….
Giving Back March 8, 2007
Posted by anton in : Observations , add a commentCan’t tell you how many times in the last 37 years I’ve gone to races and ignored volunteers. Sad. But I also can’t tell you how many times I’ve volunteered for races…and never get thanked..which is ok because it’s not about that…it’s about giving back, not about recognition.
I had the distinct pleasure of being a Volunteer at the Greenway Trail Marathon and 50k this past weekend. Even though it was a long day (9-5),it wasn’t nearly as long a day as some of the runners had.Time wise yes…effort wise no. I worked the after race picnic and so heard a lot.
Not having run the race …all this is second hand:
The first 15 miles were run on a sheet of ice.
The next 15 were run in muck the consistancy of wet concrete.
“I’ve never run on a glacier before.”
“I fell 18 times!”
” I got off trail…which was ok because it was better than the trail.”
Lots of Mud…lots of blood and the best part….
Smiles all around. I only heard a few complaints and they were from folks not used to running on trails.
It’s a razors edge…you wake up on the morning of a race and decide if it’s a go or not. It was a tough day for the runners no doubt…but I feel having listened to so many voices after the race, that those who stayed abed…had a poorer day.
Congrats to Ed on a race well run…and thanks.
