I don't know anything about bikes other than WHAT A JERK that guy was. I probably was a bit of a jerk when I was 16, too, but I don't think I was that mean. Stoopid boys. MTA: Oops, sorry, Erika. Of course I wasn't talking about your boys.

Dave - stinks having a sick kid. Hope you catch up on your sleep later this week. Glad she's feeling better.

Shan, You learn to bike by taking swimming lessons. You befriend a really hot ironman and say you want to get into biking. A bike ride together, leads to a drink, movie & dinner... How do you guys pick your workouts? Is it off of a schedule or do you randomly pick what you're going to run today?

Shan, You learn to bike by taking swimming lessons. You befriend a really hot ironman and say you want to get into biking. A bike ride together, leads to a drink, movie & dinner...

hahaha

got 9.2 done for my second run today. Had to take 7 year old dd to get new glasses today. Her prescription almost doubled this past year Made the appointment last week and her glasses broke today at school. Talk about timing.

Rats the links dont work when you cut and paste. When I get back from the gym I will try to find the article and post it. Shan, ask me anything you want about bikes. It is 1/3 of my training and racing. Also at Kickrunners dot com they have a multi sport thread and we talk about biking a lot. Beginners questions are more than welcome, we also talk running and swimming. Introduce yourself over there.

Part 1 This is going to be a two-part series on marathon training. Part One will share some concepts which I believe impact all endurance sports, but especially, marathon training (stand alone and Ironman). Part Two will pick up the questions from last week, as well as, any from this week. ++ It has been a hectic week for me in Europe and I am now in Asia for a few days before returning to the US. Sorry that I missed the Friday deadline but I was busy growing grey hairs! No announcements this week, we will roll straight into Part One. ++ I had a look at average results for all marathons in the US in 2005 -- the results didn't surprise me, but they might surprise you. Average male finish time was about 4.5 hours, with the ladies just over 5.0 hours. That is for stand-alone marathons -- not running after 2.4 miles of swimming and 112 miles of running. One of the interesting aspects about watching the US Election was that it reminded me that Americans are aspirational in their politics. What I mean is that some Americans will vote against their likely long-term financial interest to protect themselves for when they make-it-big. In America, people believe that everyone has a shot at making it big. In many other countries, people believe that the system is stacked against them (the only way to make it big in many places is to leave!) -- in those situations, soft socialialism (Cdn Style) can make sense. For all you Republicans out there, you have to see the irony about the Democrats co-opting the hope message. In many ways, I see similar psychological attitudes towards endurance training. Athletes wanting to learn everything possible about elite and high-end run training -- many years before these techniques are appropriate for them. Thinking about those average marathon finishers... they are racing at between 10-minutes and 11.5-minutes per mile. What are the factors that will impact their finish time? Nutrition -- the single greatest performance enhancer for the bulk of the field is improved nutrition. This flows through in three main ways: improved body composition; increased energy; and increased training consistency (through reduced illness). Nutrition is NOT the same as weight loss. A weight-loss focus with poor nutrition is a short-term strategy that will result in PERMANENT endurance performance impairment via impaired metabolic function. That said, the main benefit to the average runner's performance flows through reduced body weight. Now, when you read the science, it will tell you that losing weight is an effective way to improve your VO2max (and I agree with that). However, is our average competitor (4.5 hours +/- 1 hour) really limited by VO2max? Is the average runner limited by their central capacity? I would say that average runner is peripherally limited. In other words, their capacity to put strain on their central aerobic system is what limits them. Why is this the case? Put plainly, most runners lack the necessary mileage to make marathoning an aerobic endurance event. For most, it is a strength endurance event. The media, and popular press, feed what our psychology desires, not what our lives need. So we need to recognize a cognitive bias that we share when it comes to performance in all fields. Consistently plugging away for years (saving, eating right, moderate training, getting out of bed...) these success factors are much more habitual than enjoyable. What is deeply satisfying is the life-situation that arises from an early-to-bed-early-to-rise approach to living. Back to running! So if your main goal for athletics is consistent training with outstanding nutrition... how should you approach your training? Long Term Consistent Mileage -- your optimal training approach is the strategy (today) that will MAXIMIZE your ten-year mileage. Unfortunately, humans are particularly poor at long term pay-offs. That's why only 1.6% of American Marathon finishers were able to get under 3-hours in 2005. What is mileage? As my friend, and coach, Bobby McGee says... EVERYTHING is mileage! Hiking, walking, jogging, running and, as a triathlete, I would add swimming, biking, crosstraining. For the mileage limited (and nearly all of us fall into that category), we need to use every means possible to sneak in bonus training. What are the items that most risk mileage? Here are mine: Not training first thing in the morning Getting off a routine sleep pattern Excessive training stress (session duration or intensity) resulting in injury Driving everywhere (a mile driven is one that you never get back into your log!) Excessive training stress (weekly or monthly volume) resulting in deep fatigue Lack of discipline with evening commitments (letting things run late, missing sleep) Note I still haven't mentioned a single thing about training protocol. I haven't because it doesn't matter to that average finisher. As student, we must demonstrate an ability "to do" (for years) before we are constrained by "what we do". Here's the basic week that I use to maintain my endurance options when I want to do a lot of work. The nice thing about running is that you get a large fitness return per minute invested. Five days per week -- at least one hour of running One day per week -- 2-4 hours of crosstraining, running, or mixed bike/hike One day per week -- an hour of walking or crosstraining 6 days per week are easy/steady and one day per week will include some mod-hard/tempo. Long time readers will know how I define intensity but an easy way would be to use Mark Allen's article on max aerobic heart rate. Easy is 20 under, Steady is 10 under, Mod-hard is just under... Mark's heart rate. The system isn't perfect but it is simple/effective and won't distract us from sorting out our nutrition/mileage (daily, for the next decade). Now, you'll see above that I listed 8-10 hours of exercise per week. That's far too much if you aren't used to it. So you will need to taper into the volume. Here's how: Until you can run for 10 minutes (any speed) and keep your heart rate under Mark's max aerobic, just walk. You should be able to walk fast and get your heart rate within 20 beats of your max aerobic zone -- and that is enough. Aim for 20 minutes of aerobic walking per day. Prove that you can do that daily, for a month, before progressing. Once your walking habit is well-established then try this workout. Walk ten minutes; (3x) 5 minutes easy running (with short steps) alternating with 1 minute brisk walking; walk ten minutes. At first, do this workout 1-2x per week. When you can manage it 4x per week, for 4 weeks, then consider adding a long hike on the weekend. Remember that your goal is high-quality nutrition and mileage by any means necessary. Speed is meaningless, while you will see rapid progress with this approach, it will be years before you learn your full potential. Enjoy the journey, it is a lot of fun. gordo PS -- In the early 90s, I was unable to complete a 5K run. In 2004, I ran a 2:46 marathon at the end of an Ironman Triathlon. You'll never know if you don't try and the rewards are much greater than athletic performance alone.