Aloha Everyone,
Let’s start off with some amazing news…..Both Jeff and I have been asked to join up with the wonderful team @SkratchLabs and we will be Taste Agents for the 2014 calendar year. This is a fantastic opportunity to spread the word about a product that I 100% believe in and use on a regular basis. I have been using the product since it was called “Secret Drink Mix” and it has been in almost every bottle/bladder that I have used over the past few years. It is all natural, tastes great, and it seriously works! Please check it out and let me know if you have any questions! Big Thanks to Allen, Aaron, and their entire team at Skratch Labs!
Last week was my first week getting back into a training rhythm and following the plan that I have drawn up for 2014. I have been feeling pretty good and I decided to jump into 2 local 10k races this weekend for some solid training and to get a reference point for the beginning of the plan. The week prior to the Saturday/Sunday races was filled with easy runs, a trip up the tantalus road loop, and a lap on the tantalus triple trek trails. Weekly mileage last week wound up at 62.9.
Saturday’s race was the Seabee 10k out at Ford Island. The course was a super flat 2 laps and the weather was a bit windy with off/on rain. Jeff, Shelby, and I headed over together and we were all curious to see where we sat on the fitness spectrum. This was going to be my first hard effort and I was very curious to see how my body & head would respond. When the race started, I started a bit conservatively as about 5-6 guys chased local high school stud Makai Clemons. He was gone from the start and left the rest of us racing for second. After about 800-1200 meters, I started to move up and I put myself comfortably running for 2nd/3rd. For the rest of the race, I jockeyed back/forth with Michael Garza and we eventually fought it out for 3rd (Kevin Enriques passed us early in the 2nd lap to take 2nd place). This race was a great starting point for me because I only lost focus or felt negative once—this happened when Kevin passed me and it lasted for about 1 minute, I doubted myself and I did not fight. After that, I regained my focus and consistently made the right decision to keep on fighting for the rest of the race. I have found that breaking down efforts into small components fits my psyche well and I need to keep that up this year! I have found that in racing, we have to make a series of decisions and the more often we decide to be tough and that it really does not hurt—the better the race result…At least that’s how it works in my little head.
Race results—I was 3rd overall in 38:29 and very pleased with my effort. Jeff put in a very solid effort and was 10th male with a time of 41:44. Shelby dropped a 46:18PR for 4th Woman. I have been coaching Shelby for a bit and her PR prior to the race was 50:45. We are making some solid progress.
Sunday, Jeff and I jumped into the significantly hillier Faerber 10k that started and finished at kapiolani park. The course is pretty much a modified out and back over Diamond Head Road and into the Kaimuki and Kahala neighborhoods. The field was a bit larger than the Seabee race and my legs most definately felt the effects of Saturday’s race. The plan was to try and run a negative split on the hilly course. A little easier said than done…..
For the first 2 miles of the race, I ran according to plan and ran rather conservatively. I was feeling pretty good and the pace did not feel too fast. I could still see most of the front-runners and then I got just a little antsy. From miles 2-3 I decided to run up and catch Dave Carlson. It is always nice to race with Dave–he is consistent, tough and always runs with Aloha! After passing Dave, the wheels started to come off the wagon a bit and I made the decision to not be tough–I threw in a 7 min mile. Of course, Dave rolled right by along with 1 or 2 other runners during this time. Once I hit 4 miles, I started to feel better and I picked the pace back up again heading up Diamond Head on the way home. Nothing too fast, but certainly up-tempo for me. As I approached the entrance to kapiolani park (1000 meters to the finish) I looked at my watch and realized that if I hustled, I could break 40 min for the 2nd time this weekend. I kicked it into gear and finished up in 39:53 for 13th place. Jeff was close behind in 15th place running 41:06—38 seconds faster than on the flatlands the day before! Overall, I think we were both happy with the efforts and are looking forward to the 8.15 mile time trial in a few weeks at the Great Aloha Run.
Finally, I have had some time to reflect and look thru the past few years of training logs. With all this knowledge and data, I have put together a nice 4 week training cycle that I will attempt to follow for the next 24 weeks. This plan was built to best prepare me for 2 big races this summer—The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler in DC June 7 and the Tahoe Rim Trail 50 miler July 19. I will race a nice assortment of local races until then to test fitness and get back in the habit of being a tough/fit/smart runner again. I have had a few people request to see my training breakdown–so here it goes–of course it is just a framework and nothing is set in stone. Everything is listed as components of each week and I place the runs/workouts in order based on work/life schedule and how my body is feeling. Pauline is starting to train and has her own plan in place for her 50k debut at the North Face Endurance Challenge 50k. I am certain she will post her progress once she gets rolling and she is officially Pauline Garrison–Yes, we are super excited and I am beyond lucky!
Week 1–Mileage 50-60 Miles per week–At the end of February–this week also falls on Wedding week 🙂
1) Tantalus Road lap
2) Fartlek either 4’on/2’off or 6:30’/90″
3) Long run 14-16
4) 3 days of mileage with Yoga/Planks/Foam roller mixed in
5) day off
Week 2 60-70 miles per week
1) Tantalus 1 lap
2) 800’s or 1000’s on track
3) Long Run 15-18 miles
4) 4 days of Mileage with Yoga, planks, foam roller mixed in
Week 3 70-80 Miles per week
1) Tantalus 2 laps
2) 400’s on track
3) Long run 17-20 miles
4) Sierra Drive
5) 3 days Mileage with Yoga/Planks/Roller
Week 4 80-90 miles per week
1) Tantalus 2 laps
2) Mile repeats up/down Diamond Head road–use miles 24-25 from Honolulu Marathon
3) Long Run 19-24 miles
4) Sierra Drive
5) 4 mileage runs with a mix of Yoga/roller/planks
Where are the trails???? I mix in the trails on long runs and mileage runs. It is pretty tough to run fast on the trails here on Oahu and the trails are a great place to get in some climbing and dirty miles.
So far, week 1 was successful and is in the books! Feel free to follow along on Strava if you like.
Thanks for reading and feel free to let me know if you have any questions or would like to see anything else on the blog
To Quote Diamond Dave: “Happy Trails to you, until we meet again”
Michael
Run With Garrison 