Big Spin: "The Darwin-Nietzsche"

The hardest Big Spin session I have ever coached, "The Darwin-Nietzsche":

20 minutes warm-up EZ

60 minutes 1-leg drills: 3 x 5 min per leg, then 15 minutes per leg

15 minutes easy spin, run, or swim

10 x 4 min hard, 2 min RI

10 min cool-down EZ

2:45 total

Country Music Marathon and Half Record Numbers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Organizers of the Country Music Marathon and Half-Marathon said on Thursday that a record number of runners have signed up to participate in this year's race.

More than 30,000 people have signed up to participate, including 5,480 to run the marathon.

The race will bring and estimated $40 million to Nashville, said organizers at a press conference held at Union Station.

The marathon will take place on April 24. This is the 10th year for the event.

Last year's race was not without controversy after one runner died and others had to be taken to the hospital after they were hampered by temperatures in the high 80s.

If you want to run this race do not delay registering....it WILL fill up, and you may be left out.

If you need a great group to train with, check out the Music City Runners.

Country Music Marathon web site.

The Season Part 1: The Template

Every week I speak with athletes who want input on training planning. They want to know what workouts to do and when. Some athletes want to do a LOT of training because they have ambitious goals.

Other individuals--fitness or endurance athletes--are struggling with motivation, and they want me to help them "get fired up" to train again. Still others have extremely busy schedules with work and family, and they want guidance on fitting their training and exercise into that schedule.

Whether you are trying to find an effective program, increase your motivation, or fit exercise into a busy schedule, you need to develop your template.

What is a Weekly Template?

Every day when you wake up, you have many choices on what to do for a workout. Hard day or easy day? Long or short? Intervals or aerobic. Swim, bike, run, and/or lift.....the combinations are almost infinite. Moreover, certain patterns or sequences of workouts are more manageable or fruitful than others. The simplest example is a hard day/easy day pattern.

What I suggest is to look at your schedule, and fit in certain slots which remain the same every week. Perhaps this is your long run on Saturday morning. Or maybe it is a group swim workout every wednesday night. Or an intensity run tuesday morning. The idea is to plug in a certain number of workout slots that are usually the same every week. Thus you have formed the foundation or TEMPLATE of each week.

The mental benefit of an effective template is it takes the mental energy out of planning your week. If you do big spin every Saturday, then you (and your body) know to expect that. It wouldn't make sense then to do long hard workouts on Thurs and Fri. Somewhere leading into Big Spin you are going to get a recovery day in there.

Then around your template you "fill in the gaps." On good training week you are able to get more training in. Perhaps you do an intensity bike session later in the day after your fast run, maybe even add some weights in there. That day is "on" and when you are "really on," well, might as make hay when the sun is shining.

But go hard on the hard day only. If Tues, Thurs, and Saturday are your big training days, then it follows that some of the other days need to be recovery days. The point is, this all doesn't have to be worked out in advance. If you have a good template, you can rely on it to structure the week. Your hard days are hard, long days are long, and easy days...are the days that the "honeydo" list gets done.

How do I know if my template is correct?

I'm a pragmatist; it is correct if it works. If you feel yourself getting fitter after a few weeks it works. If you are dragging or unmotivated, then tweak the template.

I CAN tell you that there are certain templates that we know work well. First, you have to have adequate recovery built into your template. A couple years back my coaching schedule had me doing a long hard session Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Sunday. Every week when this happened, I found that I was dragging by the Saturday or Sunday. I was getting hurt. And it would take me all week to be ready for the next 4-day push. What I finally realized was that I needed to take one of those days easy; so I sat out, coached off the bike. My energy went way up and I found that by doing 3 of 4 of those sessions, I corrected my template into a much more effective pattern. Recovery was key.

We also know that your template should be sport-specific. If you are training for an iron distance tri or an ultramarathon, then your templated sessions should be the long stuff. The bottom line is that you need to go LSD 2 out of every 3 weekends. The stuff during the week isn't nearly as important, so long as you get recovered and you are ready for those mega weekends. Conversely, if you are focusing on short course triathlon or competitive half marathon, then your intensity sessions are the most important. Structure those each week and fill in the gaps with some (but not a lot) of aerobic endurance time.

Over-Under-Just Right

While writing this piece I just got off the phone with a client from Des Moines, IA. Rachel said she has enjoyed the training plan that I designed for her, but is concerned that she has only completed 8 of the 9 workouts assigned each week. NO WORRIES. She is substantially completing the template in this case. As long as she is not skipping the intensity session each week, or the long session each week, then we are completing the substance of the training plan.

Likewise, some of my more motivated clients are always wanting to do more training. More is better right? Not always if it leads to injury or burnout. For them I program in recovery days. You can do extra on the hard days, but the recovery days have to stay short and slow. This keeps the flow and avoids the tendency to do too much.

Origin of The Template

I created the concept of the template in response to my training groups program. As the number in the program has swelled to over 50, I have added more and more offerings. Now there are 12+ workouts in a typical week, everything from Big Spin to beginner swim to beginner run to 22 mile trail runs in snow. Some people get confused on what sessions to attend. Some what to attend everything. Some are overwhelmed so they skip a whole week with no attendance. Some miss one workout, then feel they've "blown it."

To all these scenarios, I say "figure out your template," then build from that. Make sure that certain workouts are done EVERY WEEK religiously, then fill in the gaps and build from there.

Slush Run

Well it is all gone by now, but I got out and ran some really gnarly trails last week while the snow was still "piled high" in Nashville. I hit the Percy Warner Park Red-White-Candy Cane-Blue loop, one of my favorite anywhere.

The extreme snow/slush/mud combo gave me an excuse to pull out these great Gore-Tex Salomons that I wear only a few times per year. They have a nice gaitor-thingy on them to keep your socks dry. Of course you know what sock was hidden beneath there.

Swiftwicks! If you are going to be running trails, I highly recommend the Merino Wool / Olefin blend sock for the best in cushioning, blister protection, and warmth. My feet felt dry even when immersed in ice water.

And I had a chance to try out this great shirt my friend Mike Denehy from Missouri sent me. We started this race called Xtreme Cross Country ("XCX") together before I moved to Nashville. If you live up in those parts definitely enter it in the fall. In the meantime, get out there and run some trails.

TSU Invitational Indoor Track Meet

I volunteered at the Tennessee State University indoor track meet on Saturday afternoon. I love watching athletes push themselves to the edge for a great performance.

It is always nice to see the bling of a trophy display. These are some pretty cool chalice trophies for 1-3 podium spots.

On this day I was stationed at the High Jump, measuring the height and replacing the bar when it was knocked down. An unattached (non-collegiate) high jumper was entered in the meet, named Keith Moffatt. He "held a clinic" in the high jump, entering the competition when there were only two or three of the original jumpers still clearing the bar.

Here he is clearing somewhere in the 6'11" range:

And 7'2":

It is amazing to see an elite athlete in action. Such is the history of excellence at TSU , as displayed on this sculpture outside their field house.

The base of the statue is ringed in gold, silver and bronze. Inscribed on the base are the names and dates of all TSU alumni who have medaled in the Olympics.

Mind-Body Connection

Life inevitably throws us for a curve when we least expect it. In an ideal world our biggest challenge in life would be getting good at cycling, and cycling provides a pleasant distraction from the more mundane aspects of life. But alas, from time to time life rears its ugly head and throws more at us than we can handle in the form of life situations. This may pertain to a difficult situation at work or with family. Financial and health stresses occur. During times of great emotional stress, the body will not be able to perform 100%..

Because I work with 60-70 coaching clients on an ongoing basis, I have plenty experience providing support to people in difficult times. I am always surprised when someone is going through tough times and they express concern that their training is going to suffer. It is okay. Running or cycling or strength training should be the last thing on your mind during hard times. The body needs a break from hard work from time to time, and those breaks are just as well dictated by outside factors.

It is true that exercise provides a stress reliever. But when the going gets tough, expect that you will not be able to give it your all in the gym. Don’t try. Put your energy where it is more needed, whether that be at work, home, school, etc.

As it is important to turn your attention elsewhere when life is hitting hard, when the tough times are past you need to get back on to a consistent training plan. The thing to do is to try to do just enough exercise so that when the tough times blow over, you will still be in decent shape so that you can get going again. Remember, keep a positive attitude and do your best and things will turn out okay. A support network is invaluable in this process. A coach or a training partner is a perfect sounding board, and this person can provide the incentive to get you back to where you were before.

Music City Runners Feb Meeting

www.musiccityrunners.com

This was the design that got by far the most votes...expect to see this soon on some shirts around Nashville.

Lots of people showed up on a night that qualifies as "bad weather" and "dangerous roads" in the south. If this many people showed up to eat pizza, drink 2-for-1's, and listen to me talk....then I can't wait to see what happens when we have an actual running workout.

Everyone had a nice time, and Pie in the Sky treated us well. You can even see in this picture....

Kingston is the youngest Music City Runner. He's actually smiling in this picture, don't let the fork or the red eyes intimidate you. In fact, K is an amazing dancer who shows off his moves for the ladies at post-race parties. You can tell he's been doing the running thing for a while now.

This is Barry who is one of the most enthusiastic Music City Runners. He is making the Facebook page as you read this. And he holds the record for the MCRunner with the tallest Faux Hawk.

As you can tell we like to have fun...hope to see you soon on a Monday night.