Team Joe-mentum

We Measure Success in Willies and Jomentums

2009-11-12T13:19:00.000-08:00

NYC 2010 countdown posted.

Here's the dilly. Training starts for reals in July. If we want a spring race, we can run anything before June 1. That gives us a couple weeks of recovery and a couple weeks in a holding pattern.

April might be perfect for a spring race, since that gives us an abbreviated 3-month build up. Cram a condensed intermediate schedule in there.

Which brings me to the awesome part: We use Brave Start for spring races.

The timeline below is straight off the Higdon Advanced. I figure we leave it as is and decide on a day-to-day basis how we complete the mileage (e.g., 3 miles roadwork vs. 3 miles of jomentums). This will be based on how taxing the speed and hill work built into the program turns out to be. It looks pretty rugged and there's very little rest.

For tempo days, we push as close to 5K pace as we can muster. Ten minute warm-up, 5K pace, 10 minute cooldown. So a 30-minute tempo is really 10 minutes at 5K pace.

Pace days, we target VDOT-adjusted race-day pace.

Hills, we run up the Willie, walk down, and repeat till we get through them.

The only thing left to decide is what we select for our target.

A Jomentous Occasion

2009-10-15T07:23:00.000-07:00

On October 10, Team Jo-Mentum demolished Hartford, precisely according to plan.

The weather was just about perfect, with a partly cloudy 64 degrees at race time. The course was flat and fast, except for three steep little dudes in the final miles. Crowd support was a lot better than I'd expected, given that there were only around 2,400 marathoners. The dude at Taco Chulo who suggested we write our names on our shirts might be the smartest guy ever to roll a fajita. Nothing quite like having a couple of cops yelling "Come on Tommy, get it done!" to get you past mile 24.

Anyway, the results were strong, but the biggest shock from the training was how quickly we rebounded from the race. There were some slight aches the day after, but nothing bad enough to stop us from going apple picking and hitting up Pepe's pizza.

Next on the agenda, Harrisburg, PA.

2009-08-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Notes, goals, plans, tactics, targets, and approaches

2009-07-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

So, just to consolidate some of the shit we've been talking about.

Goals for training are:

1. Get used to long times. 3:30 is a long haul. We gotta get in the routine of being out there bangin em out. In terms of training, this means, even more than miles, we need to log hours on long days and get used to heat and figure out the food and water routine so there are no surprises.

2. No negative splits. 8:00 miles ain't gonna hack it. We need to be posting 7:45s for as long as we can and we need to get that pace in the blood. Some of our middle distance days gotta be at the McCarren track, cranking out 1:56 quarters for as long as it takes.

3. 1,800 racers. The course is going to be quiet and we need to get used to that. I think middle-distance days at the track are going to get us in the right headspace to zone out. Also, putting in an 18 or 20 mile day on the course when it's totally empty will help.

4. Get the fitness up. We gotta stay on the Jomentums. However, hills are a speed substitute, so bridges count. Potentially, we can run Pulaskis for speed to really get it done.

5. Nobody's getting hurt in training. 12 hours between runs, regardless of how much other shit is on the schedule. No more of this night run / morning speedwork stuff.

6. Better records. We gotta start using Jo-mentum to track our shit.

We should have three major types of run:

Long days: First for time exposure, then for pace as we improve. Target runs include: 16-mile day for consistency (1:04 out, 1:04 back); 13 miles of Pulaskis; a course run in Hartford; coastal run in Boston; Hamptons run; Warriors classic.

Middle distance: First back to the track to drill that 7:45 pace, then on the road. We gotta be rigorous about the pace.

Short days: Pulaskis, Jomentums, or--god forbid--Pulaski time trials.

October ain't that far off.

The Bloomfield 3 Recap

2009-05-26T07:58:00.000-07:00

Ba-ba-ba-ba-BOOSH!

2009-05-26T07:11:00.000-07:00

00:19:01

What I did on my summer vacation:

2009-05-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

Together, we can raise delinquency awareness within our lifetimes

2009-04-27T16:36:00.000-07:00

Click for more information.

"I shine my running shoes, rub some sunscreen on my face and neck, set my watch, and hit the road."

2009-04-27T07:06:00.000-07:00

Please note point 2.

Yall Ready For This

2009-04-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

So am i bummed that i didnt end up taking all the drugs off the bus the other day. That said I am sure the times we put up today wouldnt have been possible on handfuls of hydrocodone.

i have had sort of a shit week with times and nights out, but i feel that i might redeem myself with the following -

5 mile pulaski run late night tonight
tomorrow 4/25 a nice willy b trot - maybe 6+
then sunday a bronx zoo 10 miler

i think that would be a nice way to get my week to 25 miles. Not a super strong week, but OK.

Check in, check up.

2009-04-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

Since we've been pretty aggressive with the speedwork and have started to get weekly mileage up, it seems like a good idea to keep tabs on whatever aches and pains have surfaced so far. Like Murakami says, suffering is optional, but bitching about it is the whole point of Web 2.0.

Maybe we can even cross reference these troubles with some other running sites and figure out what we can do beyond ice and ibuprofen. Like changing up footwear or working on IT band exercises or taint kegels. Whatever.

Check this out:

2009-04-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

4/26/09 Long Route
Find more Runs in Bronx To Brooklyn, New York

Sunday long plan

2009-04-22T07:42:00.000-07:00

There are two possible routes from the Bronx Zoo to Greenpoint, almost exactly the same distance.

One goes down through Manhattan, over the 59th and over the Pulaski. The other does the Triborough / RFK into Astoria, down 21st to the Pulaski. They're both like 10.5.

I'd vote for the Triborough option just to mix it up a little.

Ah, crap.

2009-04-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

It looks like Joe might have something with the Chucks.

Team Joe-Mentum Media Package Publicity Still

2009-04-21T09:13:00.001-07:00

Got it done.

2009-04-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

14 mile loop this Sunday. We ran from Java & McGuinness, over the Pulaski, over the 59th, to Central Park (where we ran a 4-mile NYRR qualifier race), back over the 59th, back over the Pulaski, and we stopped at Eagle.

All in all, it was 14.1 miles in 1:55:45. Overall pace was around 8:09, but there were a couple glitches in there. We got held up at the start of the race because it was a nice day and there were 10,000 runners/walkers out. Traffic was so bad that our pace in the race was 8:19, mostly due to a crummy first mile. We ran into a similar jam at the end of the race. Probably 3-4 minutes stoppage plus a 9+ pace on mile one.

Strong day and I got a low-five from Mr. G !

E/L, T, I/R

2009-04-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

Aight, according to Jack Daniels, we might should think about our training in terms of level of intensity as a percentage of vdot.

Easy / Long runs should be 70% of VOmax.

Threshold days should be around 90% of VOmax.

Intense days should be as close to 100% of VOmax for bursts around 5 min.

Repetition days should be faster than VOmax, for bursts around 2 min.

Marathon Pace runs should be about 20-30 seconds slower than Threshold.

Plugging the target time of 3:30 into the calculator, that gives us E/L of 9:16, MP of 7:57. The interval and intensity targets are much slower than what we're already doing, so I think we should be shooting for a higher vdot.

If we work towards a vdot of 50, we get:

E/L = 8:30
MP = 7:16
Threshold = 6:51
Interval = 6:18
Repetition = 87 second quarter

Based on our Joe-Mentum intervals, I think this should be our target. The E/L and I/R targets are already within our ability, but the MP and T numbers are clearly faster than what we're doing.

Putzing around with the vdot tables

2009-04-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

So for my past four NYRR races (Bronx half, snowflake, colon 15, Scotland), in the order they've occurred, the vdot numbers have been 46.41, 48.57, 47.18, 48.97. Ordered by distance, the vdots have been 48.57, 48.97, 47.18, 46.41.

The vdot target for my 1:30 half goal is 51. The target for a 3:30:00 Hartford should be 44.5.

The question here is whether vdot has increased because of the speedwork and better fitness of the past few months, or whether vdot has decreased as distance has increased. I know that ain't how it's supposed to work, and vdot should be constant relative to distance, but either explanation fits, since neither is a smooth curve.

Anyway, for that 1:30 half target, I'm going to have to pick up a few points. We'll see if the joe-mentum plan keeps adding points. Otherwise, I might have to consider more drastic measures. Like drying out or giving up street meat lunches.

Timed mile 100% winners.

2009-04-08T06:41:00.000-07:00

We hit the target of 5:59, then did a couple at 7:30, then went to papacito's for fish tacos and chicken mole. That's what's on my training table.

Day before a long day

2009-04-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday before a race / long day

Tomorrow I got a 4M in the park - Central Parks "Race for the Parks". Not sure what the hell that means, but im gonna haul ass.

I am lookin to finish in under 28, but that might be wishful thinking considering last nights, BARELY finishing 3 miles in under 21 and those are track miles not road miles.

That said, I am gonna man up and run home from the park with the BergMan after the race and get my miles up to about 8 for the day.

Then it is Alaskan salmon and potato salad sunday dinner with mel, berg and melissa.

Thats what im talkin about

Cup of Joe-mentum

2009-04-02T06:15:00.000-07:00

It's time to get the coffee runs.