Chicago (+SF) Training: Adding Healing Time

So I did a stupid thing last week. At the end of my long Sunday run, I added a huge hill. Not bad, but I ended up sprinting that hill. Unfortunately, on the way down back to the car, I was in pain. Got home and had a pretty bad calf cramp session.

I didn't think anything of it. Did my maintenance runs during the week with no problem until the pre-long run. Total pain in my calf. I hobbled that shorter milage.. But I had a race the next day...

So I ran the race and should have PR'ed it, but dangit if the calf pain came back! GRRRR..

I know, the internet knows, everyone and their brother knows what the solution is.. rest that leg.. grrrrr! The last time I took a rest from the Hal Higdon bible was when I had a fever... It was tough but I rested a couple days and came back blazing...

So, I have to take a 5 day rest.. FIVE DAYS!! I've ended up doing a lot of pushups, pullups, and situps..

We'll see what happens this weekend.. According to the schedule, it's a pretty long run.. I'm going to cut 2 miles from the Sunday run and 2 miles from the Saturday run..

Let's see how this works..

The Relay '08: Drivers Wanted

It's still a year out, but the one thing I'm worried about is finding willing drivers. I really would like to have 2 per vehicle to that they can trade off.

I guess, we still have to work out the logistics. Are the drivers going to drive from L.A. to Calistoga? Are we going to fly up and rent up there?

The driver and navigator's duties are one of the most important. All that a runner has to think of is finishing their leg. The driver's got to think of traffic, route (because in the late night legs, I figure the runner's going to use the van's lights as a beacon to follow), time, and dealing with 6 cranky runners.

Sure, I'd love that job!

Chicago (+SF) Training: Adding HIIT

Started adding HIIT to the schedule. I've never been one to sprint. I was always happy that I could do the distances, but I figured it'd be nice to add speed to the workout.

So, looking at:

http://www.johnstonefitness.com/php/training.php

Which is an AWSOME site for inspiration, he did HIIT training.

I found this workout at:

http://www.musclemedia.com/training/hiit_table.asp

Table 1
	HIIT Workout 1	HIIT Workout 2	HIIT Workout 3
Week 1	One 4-minute cycle (as shown in Table 2)	One 4-minute cycle (same as previous workout)	One 5-minute cycle (add one 30-second sprint and one 30-second jog)
Week 2	One 5-minute cycle (same as previous workout)	One 5-minute cycle (add one 30-second sprint and one 30-second jog)	One 6-minute cycle (same as previous workout)
Week 3	One 7-minute cycle (add one 30-second sprint and one 30-second jog)	One 7-minute cycle (same as previous workout)	One 8-minute cycle (add one 30-second sprint and one 30-second jog)
Week 4	One 8-minute cycle (same as previous workout)	One 9-minute cycle (add one 30-second sprint and one 30-second jog)	One 9-minute cycle (same as previous workout)
Week 5	One 10-minute cycle (add one 30-second sprint and one 30-second jog)	One 10-minute cycle (same as previous workout)	One 11-minute cycle (add one 30-second sprint and one 30-second jog)
Week 6	One 11-minute cycle (same as previous workout)	One 12-minute cycle (add one 30-second sprint and one 30-second jog)	One 12-minute cycle (same as previous workout)
Week 7	One 13-minute cycle (add one 30-second sprint and one 30-second jog)	One 13-minute cycle (same as previous workout)	One 14-minute cycle (add one 30-second sprint and one 30-second jog)
Week 8	One 14-minute cycle (same as previous workout)	One 15-minute cycle (add one 30-second sprint and one 30-second jog)	One 15-minute cycle (same as previous workout)

Table 2

Jogging for 30 seconds followed immediately by

Sprinting for 30 seconds followed immediately by

Jogging for 30 seconds followed immediately by

Sprinting for 30 seconds followed immediately by

Jogging for 30 seconds followed immediately by

Sprinting for 30 seconds followed immediately by

Jogging for 30 seconds followed immediately by

Sprinting for 30 seconds

I just did my first attempt on yesterday for a 4min stretch (+5min warmup/ 5min cooldown). I did it on a treadmill just because I KNOW that if I do this outside, I'll freakin' cheat.

I did it yesterday AM early b/c I figured I'd have enough for a quick 4miler in the afternoon since the 1/2 marathon on Monday made me adjust the Hal Higdon training for the week.

WOW, it was ridiculous! I actually did a 6min stretch with 30sec at 20:00min/mile pace and 30sec at 6:40min/mile. OMG after the short 5min + 6min + 5min workout, I was DONE! It doesn't feel like an 8miler. It was completely different. That short span had me sweating like a dog and the pains in the legs were MUCH different.

I figure to add this routine to the Tues/Thurs workouts. I figured I would be able to rest up during the day to keep the Hal Higdon maintenance runs. I was going to add it to the AM Saturday runs before the "easy" short long run prior the the long run on Sunday. There is NO way! So, it's Friday AM for this.

I'll see how it works after a couple weeks. I hope to gain speed and not injury.

Van Issues: Deux

Another thing I'm going to try and do to save money, is to see if anyone we know has a van they can loan us for the weekend. We still have to work out the logistics. Right now, I'm assuming that some people will be riding up to Calistoga from the van starting here in So. Cal.
Now, there are some runners that are actually from the No Cal area, so.. gotta spec out if we can rent a van up there. Maybe there will be people that would like to fly up north instead of riding.. and just fly back.

But, one thing for sure to check on, is whether or not anyone has any info and a van that can be "loaned" to us for the race weekend.

VAN issues

So, looking into the vehicle situation.. I've priced a couple of the recommended rental places. It looks like I can reserve from Thrifty right now. The van holds 7 including gear..

The price is $116/day and I'm going to reserve:

Pick-up:

ONTARIO AIRPORT, CA, USA

Date:

Apr 18, 2008 09:00 AM

Drop-off:

Same as pickup

Date:

Apr 21, 2008 09:00 AM

Car Type

Van

Rate $58.48/day

Total Base Rate* $175.44

3 days @ $58.48/day with Unlimited Miles

Now I have to find another van!


---

More runners!

Now Jim and Guy from up north have decided to join our team! GREAT!! Welcome!

What have I gotten myself into?

Mr. Fox has convinced me to do a 70 mile bike ride the day after I do an 18 mile run!
Now, I *could* always back out of the ride or do the 18miler some other day, but the gauntlet has been thrown down!

Oh, man....

The Relay Guys: Answers

So, I talked to the relay folks and they were actually really cool! I had a series of questions lined up (basically all listed in one of my previous posts) ready hear how difficult it was going to be. In actuality, it's going to be fine.

Entrance Fees:

So the first series of questions dealt with money. There's a $960 Entrance Fee no matter how many people are on the team. So, should we get 12 people, we each pony up $80. Then the other part you already know, the donations. That donation is $600 per team, again no matter how many people. This being so, my initial calculations for entrance fee's alone is going to set you back $130, that's if we get 12.

Rules:

The next series of questions dealt with the rules. If we are to be a competitive team, we've got 20 rules to follow. This includes, running order, injury issues, etc. If we are not going to be a competitive team, we've only got 16!! rules to follow. More for fun!

I suggest we enter ourselves as a non-competitive team. We do it for the thrill of it! This way, we can just have fun. As a non competitive team, we pretty much rule ourselves. We don't have to follow the specific running order, although, I'd like to keep that pretty strict. But, more importantly, if someone gets injured or hurt, anyone can fill their spot.

I'm also mapping out all the gas stations and rest stops so that the active van (the one holding the runners who's in the process of doing their shift) can follow ahead of the runner at a moderate pace. We can't actually be going 6mi/hr on the street, b/c, well, we'd get into an accident. The only rule we have to follow is that we must stop at the exchange point before the runner gets there.


That's it for now..

More runners?

So, it's pretty crazy, but here's the update:

Jason Fox
Drew Vaughan
Chet Joswig
Nora Gray
I-hsiang Shu
Beth Dewell
Van Dang
Uly Marquez
Robert Montiel
Jay Torres
Jim Kurien


Possible:
Ivan Miller
Tyson Miller
Jason Bachelder
Guy Przynski

Escort Runners:

Jason Fox
Jay Torres

Drivers:

Steve Scott

This is really coming along now! We're not going to compete as a competitive team only because those guys are going for the gold. We get to run for FUN!

Going to ask the following to the Relay guys:

Hello,

I’m planning to send a team in the Open Division and Men’s Category. I’ve got a few questions about the rules.

• What does it mean to have a team considered a noncompetitive team? Noncompetitive teams must follow rules 1-16. Rules 17-20 pertain to injury and substitution. How does this affect the noncompetitive team?

• If a runner gets injured during their run, does the next runner have to finish the injured runner’s leg AND run their own leg?

• Since the Active van cannot trail a runner, their only stop can be at the runner exchange stop? Suppose there’s a gas station along the route that someone needs to use, would the entire team be disqualified if the active van stops there before stopping at the exchange point?

• Since Van #2 has only 1 official shower, can we rent a room at a hotel and have them clean up there while they are considered the Resting Van?

• Is the $960 entrance fee per team no matter how many people are in their team?

• Suppose a male runner from the Resting Van would like to escort a female runner in the Active Van during the night time hours, is that possible? Can the escort ride in the Active Van? Will they be disqualified for doing so?

• Is the escort only available for night time running? Can a female runner have an escort during the day time?

• Can the escort not be one of the 12 (max) runners who officially enter the relay?

• What are the rules on substitutions? If a runner gets injured during their run, can a substitute run their remaining mileage and remaining legs? I realize according to the rules that the competative teams require the next person in the queue to step in. Is there a non-competative classification?

• No one on my team knows the route, we all pretty much live in Southern California, so a few have asked.. Can we have a companion runner for male participants?

The Relay

So the inception of this blog is because I needed a place to put all the information I've got for our TEAM!

If you don't know, our TEAM is for the EAS Relay that occurs next year 2008.

The following are the people that I believe will be on our team:

Team Members

Runners

Agreed to Run

1. Jason Fox
2. Drew Vaughan
3. Chet Joswig
4. Nora Gray
5. I-hsiang Shu
6. Beth Dewell
7. Van Dang
8. Uly Marquez
9. Robert Montiel
10. Jay Torres

Possible Runners

1. Ivan Miller
2. Tyson Miller
3. Jason Bachelder

Possible Companion Runners

1. Jason Fox
2. Jay Torres

Possible Backup Runners

Drivers Possible:

1. Steve Scott