Thursday, June 14, 2012

The Need for Speed...and Endurance...and Everything Else

While working to hammer myself back into shape these days, I'm trying a new challenge to reach certain "speed benchmarks" along the way. In addition to my thoroughly enjoyable 19.2 mile run commute to work on Mondays and Fridays, and other "easy" miles spent cruising around with Sammy in the stroller or just solo at night, I'm trying to make my speed workouts translate, in a valuable way, to my decidedly non-speedy ultra races.

The game I'm playing over the next few months goes like this:  I need to pass a Time Trial for each of the following distances before I allow myself to "move up" and take on the time challenge for the next distance on the list: 5k, 10k, 10m, 13.1m, 20m, 26.2m.

Right now I'm still hacking away at the necessary time needed to pass Stage One, the 5k. I think this will be the toughest for me since I started completely out of shape. The good news is I'm chopping off 30-45 seconds or so every time I run the distance (twice a week), so I know I'm both getting back into shape and nowhere near my peak yet. The bad news is, I have a ways to go, and I know it only gets more painful from here!

Last week I ran a 18:29 followed by a tidy 17:59 a couple days later (look at those times...you think I was gunning to break a couple benchmarks at the end of each?!). Since the time-goal I need to pass the 5k challenge and move up to the 10k is 17:00 (basically sub-5:30 splits), I know I now have some real work to do, but I'm hopeful I can gut out a 16:59.99 within the next 2-3 weeks. ...and to think, I could cruise through a 16:30 like nothing as a kid. ....stupid 'Kid Dan' always making me look bad...

Of course, my reward for passing the 5k test is a 10k time goal that is only going to be more painful. Remind me again why we torture ourselves like this, especially when the reward is always just more torture?!!

Daddy and co-pilot, ready to roll. Quite literally.


7 comments:

Brennen Wysong said...

Sweet ride for Sammy!

I carried my 2-and-a-half-year-old son--all 37 pounds of him--up a 1,000-foot climb this past Sunday. That was a chore, but extremely reward.

Hope to see you at The Ring.

Dan Rose said...

Brennen - $1M goes to you if you can carry your son around the entire Ring course in September. You know you want to...

nmp said...

Good to see you are back at it! So are those times with the stroller?!?

Brennen Wysong said...

Well, Dan, considering I couldn't even drag my own self around The Ring last year, that is quite the challenge -- though I figure the carrier would be easier than pushing him in his jogging stroller. I'll have to talk to him and see if he's into it ... and hope he doesn't get much bigger over the next few months. ...

Dan Rose said...

Nick - Unless it's downhill (and down wind), I'm not breaking 7:30s in the stroller yet. That thing is like running with a wind-chute most of the time. I consider it good resistance training!

Brennen - Just spit-balling here, but do you think Child Protective Services would object to putting your little guy on a Slim Fast diet to drop weight before the race? Just tell them you'll cut them into the $1M if you make it. I'm sure they'll be cool with that.

nmp said...

I just thought your big comeback was going to be a head-to-head with Wardian for the marathon WR with a baby jogger....

ps. Just saw your schedule for December. Good stuff! Think I will see you there ;)

Dan Rose said...

I don't think I could run Wardian's time WITHOUT the stroller. Unless, of course, it was on a downhill course and I could just hop in with Sammy and roll to the finish.

We'll see about Solstice...I'm doing my best to get in 24 hour shape by then, but at this point I'm not even in 24 mile shape!