Zoning out

This weekend was my last distance heavy weekend leading into my 50km race which is in 3 weeks. Saturday I ran 35km of the Baden Powell, the goal was to run 40km but part way through I realised I had an appointment (which I had completely forgotten about) at 2:00pm at Peak so we had to cut the run a bit short. We started our run with the Mountain Madness group for the first 6km. Stefan and I continued out to Grouse Mountain when the group turned back. It poured rain but was a good run overall. Again my goal was to run the hills as much as possible and I felt pretty good after we finished.

From the North Shore I headed straight to Peak Centre for Human Performance to meet with Michael McIvor. I will admit I had my Run Assessment weeks ago (October 6th - to be exact) and totally procrastinated receiving my results because I was scared of the results.

The tests that I completed at Peak total us three important indicators about my body and running; VO2 Max, Lactate Threshold and Aerobic Threshold.  For the type of endurance events that I am training for the aerobic threshold is most important because its the zone I should be in when running for 2 hours or more.  Your aerobic threshold represents the speed/pace you can maintain for prolonged periods without tiring so improving your aerobic threshold will allow you to run faster at long distances while experiencing less fatigue.

Once Mike started going through my results I was amazed at the information he was providing me with. It made so much sense compared to how I’ve been feeling during my training.  In particular how I have been feeling about my progress compared to the quantity of training I have been doing. This meeting will now transform how I train moving forward.

Based on the results for the three key indicators (VO2 max, lactate threshold and aerobic threshold) Peak develops a zone training system for you.  The goal of the zone training system that Mike provided is to lower the lactate level for each speed of your training - which means you are producing less fatigue at each speed and able to go faster for longer.  I will be focusing my training in three of the five possible zones:

• Zone 1: Improvement of aerobic fitness and recovery between hard workouts - used for training that is at least 30 minutes or greater.  85% of my total weekly running.
• Zone 3: Red lining zone - To train the removal of lactic acid and increase lactate threshold. 10% of my total weekly running.
• Zone 5: Aerobic Interval Training - Lower production of lactic acid and increase removal from high lactic acid concentration. 5% of my total weekly running.

So to make sure I'm using my new knowledge I'll need to start the following:

1. Learn how to use the Garmin 405. I bought it at the beginning of the summer and have only used once. I know shame on me.  
2. Start zone 1 heart rate training. This means adapting my long runs to using my heart rate monitor and running in the heart rate zone that Mike told me to run in. Sorry to my training partners this may mean a decrease in my speed for a short time.
3. Add zone 3 training i.e. tempo training. I will be completing mine on a treadmill at my lovely gym.  I'll need to increase the intensity to the top of this zone for 2-3 minutes and the recover at the lower end of this zone for 2-3 mins repeating for 20-60 minutes.
4. Add zone 5 training i.e. interval training on a track super short but as hard as I can.  This you run at 100% for 1 to 3 mins and then recover for 4-6 mins for 2-6 repeats.
5. Nutrition, Mike went through some information on my nutrition for my long runs I’m excited that I now have the knowledge to properly fuel by body for Peak performance.  The one sad thing is I must switch gels which is going to be tough because I really love the taste of them.
6. Buy new lulus! Ok, so this wasn’t on Mike’s list but I just had to buy the new Lululemon running tights. They are amazing.

I will be back to see Mike in January to see how this training has impact by progress. I’m confident that these changes in my training are going to help improve my speed, endurance and hill climbing ability.

After Peak I headed to Lululemon where I purchased my new running tights – wunder under.  Then headed for a night on the town filled with delicious wine & appetizers at Sanafir Restaurant & Lounge, wonderful friends, an awesome concert at the commodore; Kaskade and tons of dancing. Picture is my friend Jules and I.  This face is the result of the consumption of too much wine and not enough food and water but the night was well worth it. 

Sunday morning was rough to say the least. I woke at 6:30am after going to bed at 2:00am feeling terrible but I had committed to a point to point run with my friend Grant. I wasn’t even able to eat breakfast but packed a cliff bar and a camel back and headed to meet him in deep cove. This run was truely painful; note to self 35km, wine and no sleep lead to TERRIBLE performance running the following day. I made it through the 2 hour run but barely. Post run I headed straight home to the couch where I stayed most of the day watching Entourage only getting up to eat or do laundry. Mike from Peak would definitely have been disappointed with this performance:(

Monday was a rest day for me so I headed to Lululemon for their free Monday night Yoga session with my friend Jules and then we went to our gym for some girly talk, relaxation and hot tubing.

Tonight is my first run with my new heart rate monitor and zone 1 training – I’m stupidly excited for this run in the rain and to start my zone specific training!

Switching gears to one of my other loves - Get ready for the 2009/2010 ski and snowboard season.  Here is the snow report for Whistler, they are opening 12 days early on Saturday November 14th.  I'm stoked!  I sense an epic snow season leading into the Vancouver 2010 Olympics!

 
 
 
 
 

Lastly don't forget to check out the Warren Miller's Dynasty coming to a city near you. I'm headed to the show in YVR this Sunday and already working on my paper airplane building skillz.