There are a number of reasons why my Achilles became more vulnerable than usual. The first being that I’m older than I was last year. The other reasons are all some variation on the theme of not easing into training like I should. Bottom line, the older I get, the more I need to ease into strenuous physical activities, and have plenty of warm-up and cool-down on either side of a challenging workout.

Also, my body needs to see training as the norm rather than the exception. Once this happens, and it takes weeks for this baseline adaptation to kick in, then I can gradually introduce physical stress that will bring on adaptions necessary for racing. If I try to move to the next level without enough weeks in the running-as-the-norm zone, then my body will view new stress as exceptionally exceptional: way too difficult to sustain.

The body is amazing at adapting to stress, but creating just the right stress for just the right amount of time to yield the most gain without bringing on injuries is an art form. I tend to think that the body can adapt to just about anything if it is given the time to adapt new stress. Overall physical stress has to go up slightly over time and there must be plenty of recovery time between workouts in order to let the body respond appropriately.

Besides a first place finish, the time puts my VDOT at 52.

I haven’t specifically been training for a 5k. I do tempo runs once a week, but no speed work to speak of. My goal in July is to break 1:28 in the April Sorensen Half Marathon here in Albert Lea, and my 52 VDOT puts me at 1:28, so there’s a chance I could hit it.

Note: I wore my new Asics Piranha 3 racing flats, which I’ve also been training in. They’re expensive shoes, but I got them used on eBay for $30. A guy wore them one time on a training run and didn’t like ‘em. I love ‘em! They’re my second pair of Asics Piranha running shoes. I also have a pair of the second generation shoe of the same name.

On Sunday, my legs felt tight and sore, but I decided to do my long run anyway.

I did the long run, but it was painfully slow.

As you can see, some of my miles were close to and over 10:00 per mile. But here’s the good news. That remarkably slow long run really helped me recover from the previous day’s tempo run. This morning after the previous day’s long slow run, I felt like my legs had a session in a hyperbarbic chamber; they experienced very little strain and all the oxygen they needed for over 90 minutes.

Many distance coaches and trainers argue that this is one of the primary roles of the long slow run. In addition to all the other cardiovascular, circulatory and endurance benefits, getting oxygen rich blood out to muscles in need of repair is crucial.

My plan this summer, in addition to regular mileage during the week, is to continue with a tempo run on Saturday followed by a long slow distance run on Sunday.

Also, I’m going to continue to plenty of Active Isolated Stretching. I have Jim Wharton’s “Stretch Book,” and I’d recommend it to anyone.

I’m now using a Garmin Forerunner to log my workouts. Last Saturday I ran a tempo run at the Blazing Star trail, which was 20:00 at 6:40 pace. Turned out that was a touch too fast given my current level of fitness. This Saturday I am aiming for a more conservative 6:50 pace.

As a result of last Saturday’s overextended run, I’ve got a very tight tendon down the inside of my lower leg. (Flexor hallucis longus muscle (FHL)). A little research this morning uncovered the scope of this mild injury. It’s the tendon that flexes my big toe. I get relief by gradually stretching my big toe back.

It wasn’t just the run on Saturday that caused this. I also increased my mileage last week. Ah, the perils of getting into race shape.

I really wanted the first third of the race to feel as though I were running at a medium effort. The first mile was around 6:15, but I felt very relaxed so I wasn’t overly concerned with the possibility that I might be going out too fast. The first half of the next third, I started to push myself into a medium hard effort and then settled in to medium hard for the rest of the second third, making sure not to over extend myself and dip too far into anaerobic energy systems.

The last third of the race, or actually the last three miles, which is slightly less than a third, I prepared myself for running hard, with measurably hard breathing and a feeling that I couldn’t keep my current pace up much past three miles. My strategy worked well and I had more left at the end than I figured I would.

Amazingly, too, I ran in my 4 oz. Asics Piranhas, which are about the most minimal pair of shoes a person can run in, outside of something like Vibram Five Finger shoes, etc. Most of my training has been in those shoes as well. So far no injuries.

I felt some tight tingles in my left achilles tendon, but those were resolved by doing calf extensions off a step on the stairs up to the kitchen from our main back entry way. I extend my heel down below the edge of the step and back up. This gets blood flow to the area and prepares the tendon and surrounding muscles for use.

My biggest lesson from this race is on the importance of taking a regular inventory of effort levels, categorizing them as I go.

Also, as far as training is concerned, it’s amazing how I can still maintain and improve my race fitness levels by simply doing some medium long runs and tempo runs that aren’t particularly long. I find it is enough to simply stimulate those energy systems rather than expect to really hammer them.

That’s a gross oversimplification, but what’s helpful about this book is that it’s actually for athletes in training; not just another all-purpose nutrition guide.

According to the authors, carbohydrates are our primary source of fuel — something most athletes know. But what they don’t often understand, is that our stores of carbohydrate energy are extremely limited: 450 to 475 grams. Interestingly, athletes can actually increase this capacity by utilizing a high-carbohydrate diet. As the result of a high carbohydrate diet, the body manufactures more glycogen-storing enzymes, which can actually double carbohydrate storage capacity.

As I’ve begun to integrate their thinking into my own eating patterns, I notice both a sound awareness of how strength and energy comes from food, as well as an increased feeling of preparedness before, during and after workouts. For those who feel like nutrition for performance has been a guessing game, this is a great book. The authors make extra efforts dispel confusion around supplements and other tactics that may or may not actually be as effective as a balanced, well-timed diet.

My time was actually a few seconds slower than last year: 1:30:08, but it’s hard to compare times because the course changed. Also, times were slower this year because the last few miles were on scorching new asphalt backtop, which caught a number of runners by surprise in the late stages of their racing.

One fellow I chased nearly the whole race, simply stopped and walked around mile ten or eleven, I can’t remember which. I do know it took him a while to start running again because he came in at least a minute or two behind me.

The other reasons why I think my time was fairly slow, 6:53 pace per mile compared to 6:35 per mile for my PR, are these:

1. This course still had very long rolling hills, which take their toll over time, but aren’t immediately apparent as a source of exhaustion.
2. I really haven’t done the miles yet, to merit a fast half marathon time. There’s mileage for base building and then there is mileage for simply getting through a long race with enough endurance. My aerobic capacity was okay, but legs felt remarkably heavy, which is partly hydration, but also having to do with arriving at my lactate threshold.

I’m going to pick up my mileage carefully in the next few weeks and see if I can’t better prepare for a couple races in August.

Do my lower leg muscles feel stronger as a result of having trained in minimal footwear? Absolutely. Every step felt far more solid than in past races. I noticed I felt particularly comfortable on the downhill portion of the race. Steep downhills sometimes cause me to feel slightly out of control. This was not the case on Monday.

I did notice in the last mile that my form started to fall apart, which is a result of a weak upper body. My goal this summer is to do a little more strength training: core work and some upper body work. Recently I’ve read a few articles that stress the importance of doing deadlifts. One of my favorite books, “Healthy Intelligent Training” by Keith Livingstone, argues that a runner can address up to 90% of his running muscles using the deadlift. Low repetitions with heavy weight. Who would have guessed?

Some coaches suggest doing these drills when you’re fresh at the beginning of a workout and others argue that it’s just as good to do them at the end of an easy run. Regardless, most coaches will agree that you don’t want run them when you’re overly tired because otherwise the whole point is lost.

Sadly, when I’m on my own, I often end up skipping this part of my workout. When I’m coaching, though, I rarely miss an opportunity to focus on developing good leg turnover, especially for young runners who are still learning the basics of how to run.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, running is a learned skill. Sure, some runners come by perfect form naturally, but most don’t.

First, lets better define the three main energy systems. (My own formulation of these concepts are owed in a large part to Daniels’ Running Formula, 2nd Edition.)

By endurance, I mean workouts that increase aerobic capacity…with paces approaching sub-threshold, or paces fast enough that elevate the heart rate over a relatively long period of time without producing lactate.

By strength, I mean challenging the body’s ability to both clear and use lactate, with heart rates that from aerobic to anaerobic.

By speed, I mean cultivating sound running mechanics and a solid anaerobic metabolism.

From my own observations, how a coach trains an athlete for endurance races that are also very fast, can vary quite a bit. A perfect example of this is the 800 meter dash. The need for all three systems of endurance, strength and speed is inescapable. But getting the correct balance between these three is rather difficult.

It’s like mixing cement.

You need just the right consistency to mix cement properly. Too dry and it is impossible to use. Too wet and it moves quickly to fill its forms, but will crack easily and simply not hold up over time. The mix is something like this: 1 part cement, 2 parts sand, and 3 parts gravel. The entire mix is one’s aerobic capacity. The appropriate ratio of the parts in the mix is strength and the water is speed.

You can’t do anything without the mix and if you don’t get the mix right, it’s useless. And without water, you simply cannot arrive at your final result. Too much water and you’ll crack (injuries). Too much sand/not enough gravel and it won’t hold together (no strength). Too much cement without gravel and sand and you can’t get anywhere (great aerobic capacity, but no way to use it).