Hello runners,

Now that our group has grown in include some runners with different goals than a fast 5k in August, I thought it made sense to streamline the training into a steady-state series of workouts.  If you have any key races, you will want to taper your mileage a little the week before the race and do an easier 10×100m workout the Tuesday before the race.  The revised schedule is posted below, and as always, try to supplement it with a tempo run, low key race or a set of longer intervals later in the week.   I’ll be traveling next week, but Rob has kindly offered to lead you through a tough workout (I’ll be doing it solo in the heat and humidity of Wilmington, NC).

We have a great group, and I’m excited to see how we do in upcoming races!

Scott

Image via Wikipedia

As many of you know, my best friend is Paul Kingsbury, owner of Kingsbury’s Cyclery in Elmira, NY.  Paul is a great guy and a half-way decent rider (although sometimes totally decent when he lets me draft him!  but unbeknownst to many people, Paul is an aspiring author who from time-to-time publishes what he calls his “drivel”.  Some of you may recall his recent post about getting more flat tires than he had tubes to fix them and his long walk back toward Horseheads before he got picked up by a nice guy in a pickup truck.

Below is the latest of Paul’s “drivel”, a great story of life in the bike shop during what is the busiest time of the year which coincides with TV coverage of the biggest bike race of the year, the Tour De France.  Hope you enjoy it!

Jim Reed
Bicycling Fanatic / Injury & Malpractice Lawyer
jreed@zifflaw.com

PAUL KINGSBURY WRITES:  Here we are again in the middle of July. Summer’s in full force, long exhausting days, it’s hot, it’s humid, it’s demanding. Every July it’s like this for three weeks, day in and day out. It’s the middle of the Tour de France, the pinnacle of every cyclist’s season. A grueling time of year. Once again Sloane, Steve and I are on the same team. It’s nice, we’ve been through it before, we work well together, each seems to know what the other needs as soon as we need it.  We support each other, picking up the slack when one can’t keep up. Each and every day our training is put to the test. It’s brutal. We’re not cycling superstars, there’s no glory here, no photogs, no interviews, no jerseys to pull on, no podium girls to kiss. We’re just lowly domestique types. Today at the Tour it’s a tough mountain stage. The route ‘ll be up and over a couple above category climbs then a sprint finish in yet another nameless French town. Beautiful cities, but to me they all blend together, one Ville de something after another. On this particular day Sloane is busting his ass ! His head is down and he’s crankin’ ! I try to match his pace but can’t. I’m distracted by people coming up alongside. “Hey, Paul, who’s winning ?” they ask, ” How many kilometers to go ?”. I have no clue. Even though I can hear the helicopters above my head and the fans screaming “allez, allez, allez” alongside the road, I haven’t had a spare moment to look at the distance remaining, never mind who’s ahead in the breakaway. Is there a solo break or are there four guys up the road, can they hold it or will the peleton reel them in ? What happened to the dude off the front ? I have no idea, I’m just moving as fast as I can, shifting gears, checking the computer, spinning the pedals, desperately trying to keep up. It’s tough today, real tough. “Hey, Steve, can you go back and fill some bottles ?” I ask, “we’re dying of thirst and it’s going to be a long day”. “OK” is all I hear and off he goes. It’s great to have a trusty helper during demanding times like these. After a couple minutes Steve comes up along side, “Here ya go”, he hands me a wet bottle, I take a swing, ” ah, thanks, dude”. “No, problem” he says in his low, easy going tone. He moves away and finds his own sheltered space in the chaos. Meanwhile Sloane is still keeping tempo, he’s an animal today! Steve and I try to hold on.

The climbs are spectacular, there are lunatic fans running in the road. They’re wearing crazy hats, cartoon outfits, waving huge pink and green hands. One guy even ran butt naked next to the leaders ! Spectators spray water and slap and push and scream.  It’s amazing more riders aren’t pulled down. A quick glance up, I see the KOM banner then it’s over the top. Early on I could cruise along with barely a thought but now I can’t look away, the descent is thrilling, the speeds are insane, I get chills and try not to think of crashing. Mario Andretti once said “if you think about crashing, you will”, So I think about carving turns and the techniques needed to ride this section safely. Wow, what a gloriousness, twisty road ! Incredible ! I hold the bars, my hand on the rear brake lever, I’m still now, not turning the  pedals but my heart rate is climbing from the excitement. Finally I exhale as the field safely reaches the flat road. It’s back to business again, I push the pedals, flick the shifter and off I go, head down and crankin’. The climbs are over and it’s all work now. I know the end is near but still unsure how many kilos remain. To me, it’s over when it’s over, what else can you do ? Then as usual a fellow rider asks me, ” how far to go?” so I look up and see the five K banner, then the four. I missed the three and two because some idiot was babbling nonstop nonsense to me but when I finally had a chance to look up I spotted the red, one K kite flying above the road. It’s go time ! All outside distractions are ignored, it’s just us and the finish line now. Steve, Sloane and myself are fully involved, our heads are up and we’re in full-blown final kilometer mode. From our vantage we see four riders dueling it out, guys who’s names we’ve never heard before. They jockey for position as we shout out advice. ” Get off the front, dude, they’re using you !”, “watch the guy on the outside !” “Don’t look back, just go !” ” Go now, go, go go, !!” And he does go, just like we told him to. It’s a fantastic three wide sprint and our favorite rider wins!  Seconds later the one guy who sat up crosses the line, dejected, he didn’t listen to our free tips, years of knowledge gone to waste. The three of us scoff at him. We’ve been here year after year, why didn’t he listen to us ? “What a dumb ass, what a loser !” our fingers forming an L on our foreheads as we coast along enjoying the end of the stage. We laugh. Just then the phone rings, both lines at once. We scramble back into action as a customer huffs from the counter, “can I get a twenty inch tube ?” , ” I’m sorry, what was I checking on for you, ma’am ?”  ” The guy on the phone wants to know if he can get it fixed today and what kinda deal you gonna give him and can he pay later ” Is the a/c broken ?  It’s stuffy in here !  A wrench drops loudly on the floor as Phil and Paul ramble on politely in the background. We put our heads down and charge forward, trying to put thirty or forty bikes behind us. We suffer in the heat, the noise, the dirt, the smell of rubber clings to our clothing. Tomorrow will be the same as today for us domestiques, it’s just another day in July, just another day at the Tour!

So it’s a beautiful morning on Seneca Lake when the Reedo’s (Jim & Meg Reed) set out on their tandem “for a 3 hour cruise”. Everything is going great. Beautiful climbs and descents on the many hills between Seneca Lake and Keuka Lake, a great tailwind push up the Wayne climb to the Keuka Overlook Winery (aptly named!) as we scream North toward Penn Yan.

Then off in the distance we see some BIG, BROODING, BLACK CLOUDS. Jim suggests a bailout route back to Seneca to beat the quickly approaching storm. Meg, usually the voice of caution, says: “What are you a weenie, let’s do it!” Who can resist that?

Off we go…past one safe bailout….past a second safe bailout……Jim says: Man that sky looks nasty”, Meg says: “the clouds are really cool”. That is she says that until a GIANT bolt of lightning extends all the way from the heavens to the road up ahead of us. SIZZLE, SIZZLE, BAM!!!!! Now Meg is begging for cover….. We scoot onto the porch of a one-room Amish schoolhouse where we watch giant lightning strikes all around us.

Then it begins to break so out from the safety of the porch and back onto the bike and the cold, wet roads. Just an hour more to get home. Lightning still till the North of us and to the South of us but “pedal, pedal, pedal, it’s not too close”. Meg ducks her head with every lightning strike. Jim points out that ducking your head a couple inches isn’t likely to save you if the lightning decides to strike us. Meg is not appreciative of this advice…..

Lightning continues to strike off in the distance as we make our way home for hot showers and hot tea.

All is well as another epic ride in Upstate N.Y. ends……

Reedo
_____________________________
Jim Reed
Fanatic Bike Riding Injury Lawyer

You HAVE to watch this video– Men’s 800 Meter Final 

The race is simply unbelievable.  Oregon took all three Olympic spots, with Nick Symmonds and Chris Smith of the Oregon Track Club placing first and third respectively and Andrew Wheating — the stunning running newbie from the University of Oregon — moving up from last over the final 200 meters to finish second.

Andrew Wheating has captured the hearts of folks all across the United States.  (Read about Wheating in Eugene’s Register-Guard.)  Just begininng to run two years ago on a whim during his senior year of high school (when he attended a school that didn’t even have a track team,) Wheating has already become on of the foremost middle distance runners in the country.  Standing 6′5 and skinny as a rail, Wheating defies the norm is almost every sense of the sport of running.  However, running for a school where Pre — ever the unpredictable misfit – reigned King for many years, Andrew Wheating is surely a star in the making.  

On Friday, July 4, Elmira’s hometown hero Molly Huddle will attempt to secure a spot on the United States Olympic Track and Field Team when she runs in the 5,000 meter finals at the Olympic Trials on the University of Oregon’s fabled Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

Huddle has been a phenom from the first moment her quick feet stepped onto the track.  A member of Elmira Notre Dame High School’s basketball team at the time, Molly ran in an all-comers track meet at Cornell University with the Finger Lakes Runners Club in 2002 just to see how she could do.  That afternoon, Molly ran the fastest time yet that year in the nation by a high school girl in both the one mile (4:47:0) and two mile (10:19.8) races, and the Twin Tiers knew a track star had been born.  (Read FLRC runner Adam Engst’s account of Huddle’s performances.)  Molly went on to win numerous high school state titles on the track, and, during her senior year at Notre Dame, won and set course records at every regular season Cross Country meet she ran — despite being the only person on Elmira N.D.’s team!  That spring Molly won the U.S. National title in the girl’s two mile race in record time (10:01:08) — a record that still stands today.

Molly went on to enjoy a stellar career at the University of Notre Dame, where she graduated as its most decorated athlete — male or female — in history.  Earning over ten All American Certificates, finishing runner-up in two NCAA Division 1 5,000 meter national championships and taking 7th at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 5,000 meters in 2004, Molly showed the running world she is an up-and-coming talent with what seems like limitless potential.  (View Huddle’s profile by the University of Notre Dame.)

After graduating from Notre Dame Molly accepted sponsorship from Saucony and moved to Providence to join Run Providence and train under the tutelage of Ray Treacy.  Having an opportunity to train with some of the finest female distance runners in the world — including New Zealand star Kim Smith, Irish speedster Mary Cullen and U.S. racer Amy Mortimer, Huddle has achieved personal records in both the 5,000 meters (15:17) and 10,000 meters (31:27) throughout the past twelve months. 

But what Molly wants most she has yet to achieve…a spot on the United States Olympic Team. 

Last Friday Huddle had a chance to earn a ticket to Beijing when she competed in the 10,000 meter finals.  Molly came into the race as the third seed, and, along with Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher and Katie McGregor, was one of only four women to have run under the Olympic “A” standard prior to the trials.  Her world class time of 31:27 — run in the same race at Mount Sac where Flanagan smashed Deena Kastor’s American 10,000 meter record by an astounding 17 seconds in her debut at that distance — put Huddle in a great position to grab a spot on the team.  (Listen to a Running Times radio interview with Molly prior to the race.)  However, Flanagan, the American record holder in the 3,000 (indoor), 5,000, and 10,000 meter races, outdistanced Goucher, the 2007 Wolrd Championship bronze medalist in the 10,000 meters, down the stretch, and Goucher’s training partner and longtime pal Amy Yoder-Begely snuck just under the “A” standard to claim third place and the title of “Olympian.”  Read the rest…

Scott Bickham translates TrackLingo into a langauge we ALL can understand!!

The code names for different types of workouts can be confusing, but this link is the best summary I’ve found.  These types of workouts are the core of nearly any training plan, although some of the more well-known ones by Lydiard and Daniels include a much more complex base phase.   I think most of us have done enough base training to start the workout plan I sent, and even if not, starting these workouts a little early will still provide benefits.   Even though we will be running workouts on the track, we are doing much more than working on speed:

Mile and 1.5 mile intervals = “Tempo Intervals”, which improve stamina and pacing

800-1000m intervals = “Cruise Intervals”, also for stamina

There’s a pretty fine line between these types of intervals, but both of these have relatively short rest periods and are at a slower pace Read the rest…

Scott Bickham, a stand-out 5k runner from Corning, has suggested a nine-week training schedule in our to prepare for the Chris Thater 5K, a race in Binghamton on August 23, 2008.  The Chris Thater 5k features world class runners and is a target race for many local athletes.

We will feature Scott’s workouts at the Tuesday night sessions from now until Thater along with longer tempo-style runs for marathoners and additional shorter intervals for sprinters and middle distance runners. 

The training plan anticipates an additional speed session each week.  We will post the time and place for the second workout once participants in the training plan decide when and where to meet.

The foundation of the workout is two weeks with two faster workouts and only one every third week.  Runs on non-workout (maintanance) days should be at an easy conversational pace – resist the urge to go faster.  Try to get in an longer easy run of at least 45 minutes on the weekend, preferably on trails or softer surfaces, and take rest days or run a very easy 3-4 miles on days when you feel fatigued

                                                                           – Scott Bickham

WIth Team Ziff’s focus aimed directly at the Cayuga Triathlon (where it hopes a hard day on the course will result – at a minimum — in a reason to celebrate with a few cold Ithaca brews,) the firm’s Legal Ladies brought some pride home this weekend.  Christina Bruner Sonsire, who recently married Chemung County ADA and future trail-running recruit Damian Sonsire, took top honors in the women’s five-mile race at last Sunday’s Tanglefoot Trail Run at the Tanglewood Nature Center in Elmira, New York.  (Read Diane Sherrer’s Race Report , visit the Finger Lakes Runners Club’s website, and watch a News 10 video clip for more information about the race.)  This was Sonsire’s fourth time running the race, having won the women’s five-mile title in 2006 and the women’s ten-mile title in 2007.

More impressive than Sonsire’s performance was Team Ziff Attorney Sue Daubner’s STELLAR trail running debut!!!  Sue finished the five-mile course as First Place Master’s Runner.  (To put it in perspective, Jim Derick – undeniably ine of the greatest Twin Tiers runners in history — won the men’s master’s title.)  According to Sue, the title was “bittersweet.”  “Winning the award was pretty cool,” said Daubner, “but having to accept that I am now in the master’s division is a reality I wasn’t quite ready to face!”  

Great job, ladies.  Go Team Ziff!

After last week’s killer 400s, and in anticipation (for most of us) or Ian’s Mile race in Ithaca on Thursday night, we have decided to scale the Tuesday workout for this week back a bit.  In other words, we will still work hard but will try not to use more than 90% effort on any of the intervals…(i.e. NO RACING!!)

Specifically, we will split into two groups.  The faster folks will do 5-6 X 1,000 at 5k or slightly faster pace and the other (by NO means slow!) group will do 5-6 X 800 at a similar pace.  In order to stick together as much as possible, the first group will cut across the field in order to join the others and do 200 meter recovery jogs together.

Information about Thursday’s race (a mile race to immediately precede the start of the Ithaca Festival’s opening parade) can be found at http://www.fingerlakesrunners.org/index.html. It should be a great time!!

Image via Wikipedia

Here’s Scott’s plan:

Hello,

Our workout next week will be 400m intervals, which may sound scary but they are the bread and butter for many runners. The objective is to run at least 6 of these – 8 to 10 is better, with a relatively short rest in between. The long term goal is to be able to do 10 at your target pace with ~1 minute recovery jogs (200m is about right) in between, but some may have to work up to that level. You never want to give more than 90-95% in these workouts, and should walk away knowing you could have done a couple more.

I try to do one of these workouts every two weeks or so, and I’ve correlated them with several of my PRs including one of my best half-marathons. The benefits of these workouts are to help develop speed, but more importantly, and improve your lactate threshold which many of us experience as a burning sensation in our legs when we run up hills or near the finish of a race.

Approximate target paces from McMillan Running are:

5k pace 400m split

23:00 1:39 to 1:43

21:00 1:30 to 1:34

19:00 1:22 to 1:25

17:00 1:13 to 1:16

Hope to see you next week!