See the results in Mind Over Matter and Just Do It. Another post, Valentines: Don’t go breaking *your* heart, is an update on one I did here last year.
FYI: Expect more writing from me over at dailymile this year. While my 2011 team ambassadorship is soon over, happily, I'll continue as a weekly contributor. Look for my posts on Wednesdays.
Lost a little of my oomph toward the end of the week, and pushed this week's LSD run (slated for Sunday) back by a day. Other slacking includes not getting my two yoga sessions in, along w/my Brain Training for Runners resistance sets. Weekly mileage is building to the highest level I've ever seen, and I'm starting to feel it. Tired a little more -- even took a nap after one my runs this week...very unusual. High humidity isn't giving anyone a boost in stride, either.
Need to get back on the ball as far as stretching and weights workouts go, but I'm also having a ball and that counts for something, too.
What to slip in your carryon?
Two new books that I’ve been toting around with me lately (and returning to again and again) are Kara Goucher’s Running for Women: From First Steps to Marathons” (Touchstone, 2011) and Martin Dugard’s To Be a Runner: How Racing Up Mountains, Running with the Bulls, or Just Taking on a 5-K Makes You a Better Person (and the World a Better Place) (Rodale, 2011).
Both ‘chunk’ content in quick-to-read and digest bits, so they’re perfect for tucking away in a summertime travel or gym bag. Have a minute and want to get inspired? Pick up one of these volumes, flip it open to a page and set out to explore another topic or chapter.
They’re ideal for the time-crunched reader and running enthusiast.
See my reviews at dailymile.
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.
Looking for some inspiration?
The past few months, I've had the pleasure of interviewing a few amazing athletes for the dailymiler of the week series. Each approaching the sport of running (and cycling and swimming) from different angles, passions and levels, I can't say enough how much Allison J., Ben Byers, Richard H. and Nicole Z. inspire me.
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.
On May 30, I started a new 20-week half marathon training program to get ready for the Whistlestop race held in upper Wisconsin on October 15, 2011. Last year, I used a tweaked 12-week Hal Higdon plan to prep for my first half mary stab; this year, I’m trying a regimen from a book given to me by my sister and niece, Brain Training for Runners.
Weeks 1-6 is Base Phase. Trng objectives? Build capacity + endurance, increase injury resistance + muscle activation capacity. For the first four weeks of this phase, I’d give myself a C+ overall. Week 1 = A | Week 2 = A | Week 3 = F | Week 4 = B.
The program starts off slowly and is longer than Higdon’s (I didn’t miss more than 5 or so days of trng the entire 12 wks of it). With my wintertime running, I felt I had a base equal to what’s slated for this phase going in. When I came upon a really hectic period during Week 3 (where I wasn’t sleeping much or well) I cut myself some slack. Rather than pushing I pulled back and eased up on things like time online (sorry guys! ;-) and other tasks that can cause tension and spent whatever free time I had relaxing outside or enjoying family and friend time.
It doesn’t help my training, but I’ve learned it helps my mindset…and since overall health is what drives my efforts here, I give myself allowances to be human.
I know, not very inspirational. ;-)
So far, the BEST thing about the Brain Training plan is the weekly proprioceptive cue work. Proprioceptive cues are meant to improve running technique by having you focus on particular thoughts + sensations during exercise to control physical movement in a desired way. The three that I have used so far are getting engrained, each one building on the other, so that when I run I not only have the current cue in my mind’s cross hairs – the others pop back in, too. I’m not sure how much my form is improved as a result; but, I *do* like having something positive and constructive to focus my mind on when I’m on my trng runs.
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.
Another wonderful find by the always inspiring Mary over at dailymile. You're going to enjoy this one, guaranteed.
