The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast New Year 2022 Episode
(Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/ NewYear2022.mp3]
Link NewYear2022.mp3
RunRunLive New Year 2022
Welcome my friends to the new year.
NewYear2022
There will be no net-new episode this week for several reasons. In no particular order, first, it was the holidays for me, second, I was on vacation this week from work, third I had a cold… I could go on making up rationalizations like a crazy man listing alternate realities on the street corner of a dirty industrial zone – but I’ll leave it there.
The biggest reason we are not doing a ‘regular’ show is that I didn’t find anyone to talk to.
Instead, today, I’m going to catch you up on my training and give you some frameworks to think about for your beginning of year retrenchment.
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On the training front, I’ve continued to increase my mileage and the knee feels good. I do notice a couple little twinges still, when I’m toeing off on uphills, but nothing crazy.
I’m slow, unfit and heavy – but had a good week of training and feel very confident about the future. Been getting some solid runs in and lots of cross training.
I’ve been following a Galloway based plan that is 3 runs a week. My long run last weekend was 11.5 miles.
It’s funny how all training plans converge.
Meaning the elements of this plan are the same as any other plan when you look at it from the building block perspective. One day is basically speed work. The other day is basically tempo and the third day is the long run.
In between days are cross training. Some pool running, some biking, some swimming and some walking.
The Galloway part of the plan is taking walk breaks. That’s the difference and we’ve talked about that before.
The actual plan structure is the same as most marathon training plans that are based on a weekly cadence. Speed, Tempo, Long and cross training to build base.
It’s a 2-week macro-cycle. Meaning the long run gets longer every other week. Long week, fall back week.
This every-other-week macro-cycle is designed to give you the most recovery possible. The whole plan is about recovery. It’s about gaining mileage without stress.
The 4 days that you aren’t running are supposed to be cross training. The plan isn’t all that prescriptive about cross training. You can bike, walk, swim or any other type of light cardio. It really likes pool-running as a cross training workout. Pool running gives you many of the benefits of running without stress.
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Why am I training this way? Because I’m coming off a long stress injury in the left knee. This is allowing me to train and heal at the same time.
My goal in this training cycle is not a time or distance goal. My goal is to get to the starting line healthy.
Since it’s a Galloway-based plan, we have to talk about running and walking.
I started out with the bare minimum of running because I was frankly terrified of how my knee would respond. That bare minimum is a 30 second run then a 30 second walk.
Let me tell you, my friends, if you think you are at rock bottom and are afraid to start your running practice, the 30/30 is the way to go. You cannot get hurt, you cannot get tired, you can’t get sore running a 30/30.
From there I have started to judiciously increase the run segments. Last week I ran my long run at a 60/30cadence. This week I’ve been using a 90/30 cadence.
The difference is, well, besides the obvious, that it allows you to work your pace a bit better with the longer run intervals. It allows your heart rate to come up into the higher zones. And it significantly lowers your pace per mile.
I’m going to keep pushing that cadence as I progress through the training cycle to see if I ca get to something like a 240/30 which would be 4 minutes of running with a 30 second walk break. Based on my calculations, believe it or not, that would make a sub-4-hour marathon possible.
I also ran a test mile at the track a couple weeks back. I think I came in right around an 8-minute mile. I can work with that. As I change age groups this year, I only need a 3:50 marathon to requalify. Which is an 8:45 minutes per mile.
If I add this data to the flashes of competence that I get in my workouts – I’m feeling quite positive that I’ll be able to do something good with my fitness in this next season.
The world is my oyster.
And what the hell does that mean? Well, my friends, we have our old friend Billy Shakespeare to thank for that one. It’s dialogue in “The Merry Wives of Windsor”.
“The world is mine oyster and I shall open it with my sword.”
But, the modern usage is that when you have a nice fresh oyster, you can open it up and maybe there’s a pearl in there?
So – ‘the world’s your oyster’ simply means it’s like an unopened gift, full of potential, waiting to be found.
Speaking of Boston, I’m going to skip the race this year. I’m out of qualification. I’d have to commit to an $8-10k charity raise for a waver bib. I don’t want to do that. I’ve got enough going on that I choose not to add a full-time fund-raising job to my life.
But, also, I need a change.
I think it’s a mentally healthy decision to take a break.
Instead, I’m going to take this training cycle and run a travel race somewhere.
I’ve been taking Ollie out on these runs with me. He’s still a nut-job. I have to keep him on the leash and it’s work in progress. I’d like to think he’s getting better, but I it’s more likely he’s just waiting for me to get exhausted and give up.
We went out and did a slow 5.5 miler with my old running buddies this morning in the rain and the knee still feels good.
Now that we’re out of the holidays and looking at a new year I feel positive. Positive that there is lots of opportunity for learning and growth and adventure in this new year.
This new year is my oyster.
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Now let’s talk about planning this next year coming up.
I’m purposely not using the words ‘goals’ or ‘resolutions’ because those topics have been done to death. They have ceased to be a topic and have turned into more of a meme of sorts.
I do think the new year is a great time to reassess, maybe readjust, and maybe, even change direction. Because you have that built in down time and introspection, with maybe a sweet dose of family and spirituality tossed in that breaks your work-a-day pattern and allows a free peep outside your box.
I’m not going to be proscriptive. I’m going to give you some things to think about. Some ammunition, some fodder or some raw materials – the kindling of thought as you build your beacon fire on the shores of your future.
First, this is no normal end of year change over. This is a unique situations where we are all a bit emotionally and psychologically whiplashed by the pandemic. We thought we were at the end of it and things were getting better, but WHOMP! – we’re back in the think of plague days again.
What this does to you psychologically is to create a gap in expectations. And not just for you, but for everybody, so you get this cultural shockwave, this existential ‘oh shit here we go again’, just as people were beginning to stretch out and breathe again.
For the introverted among us this will cause you to want to hide. Your reaction will be to crawl under the covers and wrap the pillow around your head. For the action-oriented among us this is going to cause your flight or flight to get kicked into high gear.
In all cases, when you mix this psychological stewyness with your new year planning you might overcorrect. Be careful to think hard about whether you are making the change that is right for you or if, like the rest of us, you are making decisions and plans based on the current state of weirdness we’re all in.
Ask yourself a simple question: “If there was not pandemic would I be making the same decisions?” Again, I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m asking you to think. To consider. To not let current state overwhelm future state.
The second question I’ve advised people to ask during these planning processes is “Are you doing this because you think you should?” Meaning, is this really your decision? Or are you taking actions based on what other people think is the right thing to do?
What’s an example? For instance, you may be looking at a new job because the experts say it is the next step in your career path. But who are they to tell you what is your career path? I see people stuck in patterns where they go along to the next thing because that’s what they are ‘supposed to do’.
Along with this, making sure it’s your idea and not someone else’s is the concept of removing the ‘either-or’ facet from the decision. Decisions get wrapped in stress because we see them as ‘either-or’ decisions. There really are no either-or decisions. All choices are good choices, and you are choosing one among many.
The reason I bring this up is because people burn so much energy trying to find the perfect solution. You can take that energy and re-task it to make any of your potential decisions a good one. Give yourself a break. Let yourself make a decision or a change or a plan – knowing that it isn’t perfect. Nothing is. You make it perfect with you nurturing.
It’s ok.
Finally, in the end success is not being the smartest or then best or the most perfect. It is exactly the opposite. Success is trying things that are hard, knowing that you are probably going to fail. It is about failing and learning and failing and learning and laughing your way through it all to evolve into whatever magical beast you were meant to be.
With that, my friends, happy new year 2022 and I’ll see you out there.