This week I missed doing my drills (slipped my mind that day) and one slated resistance workout (slacker!); but, I did plenty of cross-training, including walking, yoga, swimming and some challenging mountain biking w/my husband at Brunet Island State Park in Wisconsin.
Second month of half mary training was a lot of fun.
Weeks 5-6, I continued in Base Phase, where the trng objectives are to build capacity and endurance, increase injury resistance, and up muscle activation capacity. Training then moved into the first of two Build Phases where the focus is on continuing to improve aerobic capacity and endurance, and increase fatigue resistance at 3,000m and 10K paces. For these second 4 weeks, I’d give myself an A overall. I missed a handful of the plan's specified resistance workouts (ab training specifically for running); but, supplemented lots of swimming and stuck to my weekly yoga routine...so, feel I'm plugging away pretty well.
Because of the transition from base to build phases, one noticeable difference is the switch from incline/hill repeats to interval/speed work. As much as I miss the hills, I'm *really* enjoying the speed work (something that I'd never really done before because I was confused about how to go about it to best effect). I like the feeling of pushing myself, but also knowing how much to push and what pace I need to gun for. The Brain Training for Runners plan spells all of this out in crystal detail. That specificity probably isn't needed/desired by some runners who've had more experience with speed work and hill repeats and tempo runs and plyo exercises aimed at generating fast bursts of energy a runner needs -- but for this girl, it's the bee's knees.
Week seven begins the first of two Build Phases on the Brain Training for Runners plan. The change is immediate in two ways: Hill work is replaced by very specific interval training, and fartleks are replaced by tempo runs. I enjoyed the change, but still kind of hanker for both hills and fartleks, so they'll still make their way into my running.
Continuing to enjoy the progression and specificity of the plan, and feel they are the two key components to my not missing or messing with scheduled workouts too much.
Of course, dailymile keeps me jazzed and in my runners, too.
Even with all the chillin', training was solid and strong. Yay!
Fatigue-related pain is the subconscious brain's way of trying to convince the brain's conscious decision-making center to voluntarily slow the pace of running or stop entirely. The conscious mind has some leeway to reject this message and keep the proverbial pedal to the metal. But the only way your conscious mind can really reject pain's message ("Slow down!") is to accept the pain itself, because more pain is the inevitable price paid for not slowing down. All available evidence suggests that "mentally tough" runners accept race pain -- to the point of even welcoming and embracing it -- more than other runners, and that this acceptance enables them to run harder.Of course, the pain he's talking about is the 'I can't go on...I need to slow down...pushing so hard hurts' type -- not the injury type. I worked on copping this attitude this week, with some good results.
Happy, happy about that. I'll pick things back up next week.
Author, coach, triathlete and Active Expert Matt Fitzgerald presents a revolutionary approach to running in his [2007] book, Brain Training for Runners. Fitzgerald compiled evidence from the latest research in exercise physiology that challenges conventional runner's wisdom by shifting focus to a "brain-centered" model.For someone like me who loves running, but whose fascination with the workings of the brain are endless, this approach is uber appealing.
The two-part book begins with a well thought out presentation of the brain-training system applicable to runners of all experience levels. Fitzgerald's motto, "train the brain and the rest will follow," explains how the main goal of brain-training is to develop a heightened awareness for feedback from the running experience to increase maximal capacity, efficiency of stride and injury-prevention.
This time I'm incorporating elements of that plan with one found in the book Brain Training for Runners that I got from my sister. In addition, this weekend my girlfriend gave me Kara Goucher's Running for Women book...so I'm rarin' to go + brimmin' w/info. Follow my training at dailymile, where I share my exercise adventures in real time.
Last year, PBS presented a fascinating series on The Human Spark.
In this short clip, narrator Alan Alda and Harvard scientist Dan Lieberman explore why our ability to run (specifically, long distances) may have been the catalyst for the evolution of our bigger brains.
Running clinched our predominance as swift and crafty hunters. And it also secured our dominance over large game, which, in turn, supplied our hungry ancestors with a steady stream of brain-boosting protein.
I find all of this fascinating, as it combines two pastimes I love: running, and ruminating over the many ways and whys re: the functioning of the human brain. Lucky for me (and you, if you're into these things, too), Dr. Lieberman has written more on these matters in a just-published book, The Evolution of the Human Head.
Over the years, there's one thing (yes, only one ;-) that my husband has been better than me at doing: meditating. I've always wanted to take the time to learn how to do it, but never seemed to be able to sit still and slow down enough to really give it an honest try.
Yoga and Qigong a few times a week: no problem. But, meditation?
A few half-hearted attempts where I couldn't shake the feeling that I was doing it "wrong" somehow? Check. I just couldn't keep my mind from wandering, drifting off to all of the other things that needed doing besides calming my mind and focusing on my breath. (Reading up on the latest research on issues I care about is one of those things.)
Well, two weeks ago, I came upon some interesting news re: the positive neurological effects of mindfulness meditation.
