Low Heart Rate Training Revisited

My first year of serious ultra running (well...running as a sport in general) I was fortunate enough to have someone help me with base building by introducing me to Low Heart Rate Training (LHRT) and it definitely helped prepare me for my first 50 mile event. Unfortunately I took the advice to a T and ignored some of the heavier work I had been doing (heavy kettlebell training) and lost some strength as well. This past year I have been gradually building back strength and my speed at it's best - but on a return visit to LHRT yesterday I was shocked to find that I couldn't keep my HR under 140. So maybe some base building again? It would be a good idea. Yet I'm not sure I want to take it to the extreme of a few years ago. Strength works stays. I have found a template that works well for me right now and don't wish to tamper with it. I also don't wish to lose speed even in the short term. This is what Triathlete Marc Allen calls his "patience phase" of training and it's understandable. I'm just not sure I'm willing to be that patient. It would be the difference of a 3.5 hour long run and a 5 hour run - or even more. I will be doing 30 mile training runs to prep for the 100 and even at my fastest that would be time consuming. So I'm assessing and re-assing my training. A recent purchase was John L. Parker's book on Heart Monitor Training and he as some different numbers to go by that may be more manageable and even has speed and tempo work as well. Basically it's a hard/easy philosophy to technically I could run a "hard" long run at a higher HR and pace if I make sure I follow it with my baseline LHR run. So that's what I'm thinking now and wanted to share. Thanks for reading!

Eric

The War Of Art

A recent blog post I read reminded me of the Book - The War Of Art, By Steven Pressfield -and what a positive impact it had upon my life. I first read this book in 2002 and the single thing that has stayed with me since is that writers, write - everyday. No excuses. I took this to heart and have missed two days in over 10 years. I recall leaping out of bed to write just a few lines on the rare occasion that I forgot to sit and write. I made an appointment with myself and took it seriously and applied it strictly. The words didn't have to be a masterpiece - or even that good. Words on a page became (and is) my mantra. For an amazingly productive period I wrote a poem a day for several years and was quite pleased with most of them. Five books of poetry sprung from this time. Personal issues seemed to interfere with the creative flow of poetry and writing a single poem, let alone a poem a day, became a struggle. Enter the blog - a perfect place to court the Muse, practice writing and fill a page with words - for better or worse. In the next week or so I will visit the sequel to The War Of Art - titled On Turning Pro and I hope to mine from that another 10 years of lasting inspiration.

Peace,
Eric

Standing In My Way

 

 

Between the observer and

observed -

is only me...standing in the

way.

 

~

If not for the ego - I would observe a tree, the sky, a rock - as an aspect of self that is different but not separate. An extension of self yet part of the whole. Of course the ego is a needed guide for navigating the material world. It's the identification of the ego as self that gets us into a bit of trouble. When things and people are viewed as entirely separate from ourselves we are apt to treat some as lesser, or more and all as so different that we can only relate in possible abstract terms. Quantum physics shows that their is no (real) place where a tree leaves off and the sky begins - there is only energy and patterns of energy. The same holds true for each of us as well. If I viewed you as an extension of myself, deserving of love and esteem in the same matter I wish for myself - would hurting you be even a remote possibility?

It's an interesting thought.

In the mean time I still very much block the view of how I wish to see the world.

But my vision is clearing.





Fueling For Vegan Ultra Runners

One of the big challenges for me on running the C&O 100 will be fueling correctly - meaning getting in enough calories to carry me through the miles without crashing. This of course is a challenge for everyone but it seems to offer a specific problem for vegans - what to eat? Aid Stations don't often stock the most vegan friendly food - nor for the most part even healthy choices. Most runners just want calories and that's understandable. I want calories that will fuel me, nourish me, aid in my recuperation even while I'm running, while the whole time staying true to my ethical standards. Fruit is the (almost) perfect standby but with the exception of a few are fairly low in calories and it just may not be feasible to consume so much while on the trail - not to mention that later in a race fructose becomes harder to tolerate for some on a stomach turning sour. On 50ks and 50 miles I have had great success with dates, bananas and the occasional Vega gel (date based, vegan) but even at this shorter distance I have experienced a stomach beginning to rebel from too much fruit. A longer race may be out of the question. We'll see as I plan to keep experimenting with the right combination - adding some fat and protein (almonds) to help absorb the sugar. I may try (well, retry) Hammer Perpetuem - which supposedly (not doubting just lack personal experience) would allow me to get by with less fuel. So Perpetuem, dates, and whatever fruit (and maybe the occasional pretzel - my weakness) is available at aid stations. I'm open for suggestions from all runners - not just the vegan kind.

Thanks!

Eric

Path With Heart (And Running an Ultra)

To the best of my ability I will make my 100 mile race and training a testament to the title of this blog. Training for the race won't be enough, finishing won't be enough either - the whole experience of the race - from training to the finish line will have to have heart. The best description of this path comes (again) from Carlos Castaneda -

The Path With A Heart

Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions. To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path, and there is not affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do. But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition.

I warn you. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question. This question is one that only a very old person asks. My benefactor told me about it once when I was young, and my blood was too vigorous for me to understand it. Now I do understand it.

I will tell you what it is: Does this path have a heart?

All paths are the same, they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long, long paths, but I am not anywhere. My benefactor's question has meaning now. "Does this path have a heart?" One makes you strong; the other weakens you.

The trouble is nobody asks the question: and when a person finally realizes that they have taken a path without heart, the path is ready to kill them. At that point very few people stop to deliberate and leave the path.

A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.

For my part there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length.

And there I travel looking, looking, breathlessly.

 

 

~

Running with Spirit means choosing the path with heart - and following it through completion - that may mean 100 miles and yet again it could be 70, or 40 or even 10.

My intent is to run with heart, with spirit - for however far that takes me.

 

Peace,

Eric

Resentment and Space

Resent often fills up so much space within our hearts that there is no room left for the beautiful things we wish for to expand. In recent years there has been much talk of the Law Of Attraction and truly what we think about we can attract in our lives - however if there is no room to accept the good we wish for we will not be able to keep it. Forgiveness creates the inward space we need for the things we wish for by clearing out stale resentments and grievances. It's been said that nature abhors a void and this is true for our inner world as well. Once clear of resentments our life becomes a rush of beauty as it pours into our world. It's magic. Try it.

C&O Canal 100 Mile Endurance Run

I'm in - the C&O Canal 100 Mile Endurance Run - my first 100. Training actually started awhile back - I had my site set on this race since before Stone Mill 50 and wanted to continue training straight through. The focus will change however - it's concrete - a set date and a goal. That's when everything changes-  when a loose idea becomes fixed as an actual intent and the worlds focus come together to cooperate and lend aid. I'm excited - as much for the training and this focus as the race itself. Thanks to all who read for being part of this journey as well.

Peace,
Eric