My Worst To My Best – The Dead Of Winter

June 21, 2017Craig LutzBlog

This next section of training is split into two chunks. This first one holds a bit of a different story line than the rest of my winter training in that I seem to make jumps in fitness from bad workouts in December to a string of great training when January starts. Then I run 8:01 in a 3k in Washington and the mood shifts just a bit. It isn’t that it was a bad race; it just wasn’t what I wanted at that moment and I think it really shows in the racing to come.

Something that does begin to stand out is the lack of volume. Ben and I never felt entirely comfortable moving the mileage back up. I found that with achilles injuries, the fear takes a long time to depart and that was another factor in the back of my head through-out these weeks of training.

First six weeks of training

WEEK 7 > Dec. 12th - Dec. 18th

WEEK 8 > Dec. 19th - Dec. 25th

WEEK 9 > Dec. 26th - Jan. 1st

WEEK 10 > Jan. 2nd - Jan. 8th

WEEK 11 > Jan. 9th - Jan. 15th

WEEK 7 > Dec. 12th - Dec. 18th

WEEK 7: Dec 12th – 18th Total Mileage = 63.6 Flagstaff, AZ

Monday: 8.02 mile run (56:42) I made a note about how happy I was that my legs felt great during this run. No mention of how bad I felt about the race.

Tuesday: 6.06 mile run (42:42) / 4 mile run and drills (27:13) Wrote again that I was feeling good overall. Did mention that my Achilles was being touchy but nothing over a 1 on the pain scale.

Wednesday: WORKOUT > 3 mile WU, 10 x 1 min hard/ 1 min easy Fartlek, 3 mile CD

“Thought my right achilles was being a punk yesterday but all in all, it felt great today during the workout. In fact, this morning was just another day in a row where I felt A+. This is a very common workout in our schedule. Early segment and post race. Ill have to look back at other attempts of this workout but it seriously felt like one of my best. It was at buffalo park so the only time i think it may have been better would be the same session but straight out at Lake mary rd.” – Me … I was clearly excited about this short fartlek. Sitting here now and reading this makes me laugh because I remember that I was trying to be as positive as I could be.

Thursday: 8.04 mile run (55:49) No other run but Thursday’s is our group strength training day so I’m sure that sucked.

Friday: 8.00 mile run (55:11) A note a made on my log > “I ended up choosing to run 8 this morning due to a lack of interest in running 3 miles back alone in the worst weather imaginable. Then I thought, you know what, I feel like this afternoon 4 miler in between a day with weights and a harder session (LR tomorrow) is the recipe for my achilles to flare up. Probably a terrible mentality but on paper it seems to make sense. Plus with the the extra 2 this morning and some extra points here and there during the week, im only a mile behind anyways. Achilles on both sides have been feeling pretty good. Legs are still bouncy and haven’t had much of anything wrong post race still. Though the right achilles was sore earlier this week so i’ve been paying attention to that. Another reason why my mistake this morning reflects in my afternoon decision.”

Saturday: WORKOUT > 12 mile LR with the green light to hammer if I felt good.

“Crushed.
I woke up this morning feeling like crap. I spent most of the night restless and having to get up to chug water. But once I ate and was on my way to the run, I started to feel normal. After a slower first mile of climbing, my body didn’t want to hold back and I began pushing the pace little by little. At the turn around (6), I was already under 6;10 and ready to fly. The only hard part about the run was the end of mile 11 and the beginning of mile 12. I knew I just had to get to .75 to go for the big drop but the climb to that point at sub 5:30 pace was brutal. Felt great to open up like this.” – Me… I was excited to get to move hard. It reminded me of long runs back at Texas.

Sunday: 4.09 mile run (29:21) / 4 mile run (26:25) I cringe looking at that 26 min 4 miler. I even wrote that I was excited to have a good recovery day but then went out a “crushed” the afternoon effort. Very dumb on my part, would not recommend.

WEEK 8 > Dec. 19th - Dec. 25th

WEEK 8: Dec 19th – Dec 25th Total Mileage = 68.8 Flagstaff, AZ

Monday: 6 mile run (41:46) Made a note about doing 200 meter strides in Cliftons after the run. Said that I still could not believe that Marty ran a 60 sec 400 in a pair.

Tuesday: WORKOUT > 3 WU, 3min,2min,1min x 5 Fartlek, 3 CD

This was a terrible, terrible workout. Beaver Creek, a dirt road south of Flagstaff that sits above Camp Verde, is a hilly route that can and has broken me whenever it wants. The Fartlek, on paper, seemed easy and the paces certainly didn’t sound bad. The 3 min section was suppose to be around 5 min pace, the 2 min faster than that and the 1 min, even faster. The thing that threw me off was that the group was rolling on effort and so the downhills kept approaching suicidal (rest = 1 min after everything) I panicked in the first set and stopped running after the third 3 min “on”. I turned my watch off and began the run back to the cars. Overall I got 12.5 miles on the day but felt very down about how poorly this workout went. Below is a graph of the elevation change for the first few miles on Beaver Creek and the first two and third sets of the workout before I stopped.

Wednesday: 8.04 mile run (55:50) / 4 mile run (27:06) then 1 mile of 200 on/off (34,32,31,30) Im not 100% sure why I threw those into my afternoon effort but I’m guessing it’s because of how the workout went the day before. I was acting like I did in my first couple of years at Texas whenever my mentality was shaken. So silly.

Thursday: 6 mile run (43:59) / 2.95 mile run (19:58) Weight training and double day. Also a weird 6/2.95 duo.

Friday: WORKOUT > 3 mile WU, 2miles at 4:50. 5min rest. 4 x 2min hills with 3min rest, 2 mile CD /Afternoon Shake Out: 3 mile run (22:08)

Marshall Lake is one of our hardest workouts in the Ben Rosario training plan. You generally have something easier before (like a short tempo) and then you jog to the bottom of this hill and tell your body that everything is going to be ok, which is a lie. You do the first 2 min rep and want to throw up. Which sucks because you still have 3 more. At 7000 feet of elevation. I did snake Scott Smith on the final rep after he really went for it. Here’s a different perspective on the Marshall Hill Workout.

My thoughts from the day: “What a workout! The 2 mile tempo at 4:50 was smooth but also a shock to the system. I think I could have gone another 2 at that pace but it would have started to get very hard. The hills were a different story. I generally feel confident grinding upwards but this was a different kind of hill workout. You sort of lose control of your body half way through in the later reps and then it turns into trying to remain bouncy and aggressive. I puked after three and that certainly made the fourth harder but I’m very proud of myself for not throwing in the towel. This will be a huge boost in fitness.”

Saturday: 8 mile run (58:17)

Sunday: 6 mile run (45:00) / 3 mile run (21:02) Another weird 6/3 double

WEEK 9 > Dec. 26th - Jan. 1st

Week 9: Dec 26th – Jan 1st Total Mileage: 79.9 (wtf) Flagstaff, Az

Monday: WORKOUT > 15 miles. First 5 normal. Last 10= 3 at 6:00 effort, 3 at 5:30 effort, 3 at 5:00 effort. 1 mi cool-down for 15 total + Evening weight session

I didn’t write anything in my log about this workout but I remember clearly. Everyone who was there that day remembers it clearly. We did this progression long run at Beaver Creek (the place where I fell apart just last week) and it did not go very well. I had 15 miles and the rest of the group had 20 (getting ready for the Houston Half) so Rosario drove me out 5 miles. I actually think this caused me some issue because I didn’t really get those easy first miles to slowly lean into things. We hit the turn around and that’s when the progression started. The first three were relatively fine when you take out the fact that we were climbing and the road was thick with mud. When we reached mile 3 and had to switch gears, I started to lose grip with the road and quickly fell apart emotionally. So much that I threw my hat on the ground in disgust and then cruised the rest of the run around 6 min pace. Overall it still ended up being one of my best long runs for that distance but I didn’t see it like that. I saw another terribly executed workout and now it was emotionally affecting me. Below is the chart of paces:

Tuesday: 10 mile run (1:08:29)

Wednesday: 8 mile run (55:51)

Thursday: WORKOUT > 3 mile WU, 8 x 1 mile (1 min rest) @ 4:45, 3 mile CD

Lactate threshold work is generally the bees knees for me and this workout was exactly what I needed to chill out and crush. Well not crush but nail the paces and walk away feeling good about something. This was done down in Camp Verde (3200 ft elevation) which is another factor that I generally do well with. The rest of the group had 10 x mile which was a bit of a negative topic when, while finishing my last rep, I said out loud “Yes, I’m going to finish a workout!” I thought Scott Smith was going to punch me. Fauble wasn’t very happy either.

Friday: 6 mile run (43:30)

Saturday: 10 mile run (1:07:42) / 4 mile run (30:44)

Sunday: NEW YEARS DAY WORKOUT > 3up. 20 x 400 in 70 with 100m jog recovery. Finish with 8 x 100, 2 mile CD

A) Who gives a workout on New Years Day? B) I was suppose to have a 10 mile steady state on Lake Mary but weather caused us to change workouts last minute.

The change meant that we had to endure 20 x 400 on a 300 meter indoor track with a line of 8 guys. Actually, the energy was very cool and certainly made the workout easier but the amount of laps blew. Not much to say about this workout other than the fact that we nailed the pacing and then opened up our legs on some 100 meter strides.

This had definitely been my most quality week of training throughout this block. Mainly because it worked out where I had three workouts in 7 days. But also because I managed to have three quality days while also not ruining them too much on the rest in-between. Still, at the time, I was only thinking about the bad moments and not looking forward. This would be a popular trend for the next few months as the fitness began to roll in but the mindset was still very negative.

WEEK 10 > Jan. 2nd - Jan. 8th

Week 10: Jan 2nd – Jan 8th Total Mileage = 63.6 Flagstaff, AZ

Monday: 8 miles (57:25)

Tuesday: 8 mile (54:53) + Strides and Drills / 3.98 mile run (29:12)

I thought this comment I left on the morning run was worth sharing: “Yesterday I was pretty sore but today it remains to be just my quads. I have a pop in my step and grabbed some drills and strides after the 8 miler. Felt smooth and relaxed. I’m getting nervous for the upcoming 3k but also more confident in my turnover. Hopefully the pacing is for an 8 flat because I feel like any faster and I will die.“

Wednesday: WORKOUT > 3 mile WU, 3miles in 15:00. 1mi in 4:35. 2 x 800 in 2:15. 4 x 400 in 62, 3 mile CD :Camp Verde (3200 feet)

This workout is great due to its change of pace and ability to work different training zones. Those are also the reasons for why this workout sucks. The 3 mile tempo is generally smooth but does it’s job in getting your legs a little tired. 5 min rest follows before you drop the pace quickly with a hard mile. Then it’s a 3 min rest before some sub-4:30 800 reps with 2 min rest. Then you run hard 400s with a minute rest and then you can lay down on the ground. This workout went well for me but it also took a lot to get through it. Here is the chart:

Thursday: 8.02 mile run (58:02)

Friday: 10 mile run (1:12:52) This was suppose to be an 8/4 day but it looks like I chose for the single 10. Not a good habit to not listen to your coach.

Saturday: 8.29 mile run (1:00:52) / 4 miles (26:59) Wrote a note about how sore I was after the afternoon run. Seems silly that I wrote that but also broke 27 minutes for 4. I also explained how we had taken this rare three day rest period of easy runs before doing Sunday’s steady state run. I put that I was nervous because this would be my first time running one on such a low weekly average.

Sunday: SICK, came down with a 24 hour stomach bug. A lot of throwing up. Meg appreciated it.

WEEK 11 > Jan. 9th - Jan. 15th

WEEK 11: Jan 9th – Jan 15th Total Mileage: 66.2 Flagstaff, AZ / Seattle, WA

Monday: 4 mile run (27:38) / 4 mile run (29:15) We have an unwritten rule on the team; one that I follow more closely now. If you’re running your afternoon run faster than 30 minutes, then it’s probably too hard. Now of course this doesn’t really mean much but the day after being sick, I broke 30 twice. Looking at it now, I can’t believe I thought I should press it like that.

Tuesday: 8 mile run (55:43) / 4 mile run (26:45) And another one.

Wednesday: WORKOUT > (Leg Speed) 3 miles WU, 20 x 200 @ 31 w/ 200 jog, 3 mile CD

I think I came into this workout thinking that It would be easy. Generally speaking, 200s aren’t usually something that keep me up at night. Maybe it was the stomach bug from the weekend or maybe it was the hard easy runs…. or maybe the fact that 31 seconds isn’t exactly comfortable 20 times but this workout ended up being a pain and doing it with Marty (the only sub-4 guy on the team) made it even harder. If you take a look at the graph, you’ll notice that in the middle, there is a rather large down period. That’s because I took off number 11 too catch my breath. Generally speaking, my rule for a 200 meter jog is to get that sucker right at 1:00 to 1:05. But the splits show that Marty and I were grabbing some rests as short as 55 seconds. I’m not saying this was the breaking point, but it certainly added to everything I was probably being negative about. We ran 30/31 the whole time though, Nothing faster, nothing slower.

Thursday: 8 mile run (56:46) / 4 mile run (26:45)

Friday: Travel Day : 5 mile run (30:50) I actually remember this day very well. I blew off doing my mileage ( one 8 mile run) until I got to Seattle. But I ended up hanging out with family once I arrived and thus pushed back my run even more. So b the time I got to it, I only had time to run 5. I also ran it hard to ensure that I could get in as much as I could. I’m generally not very good at cutting my loses without stressing. For you Seattle peeps out there, this 5 miler was done around Green Lake. Very nice spot!

Saturday: Race Day > UW Preview 3k : 3rd place – 8:01

Indoor isn’t exactly NAZ Elite’s best side to racing and I don’t think I helped our case in this one. Although losing to Matt Centrowitz isn’t ever something I generally complain about when the race distance is in his realm. The race went off with a couple of fast laps to start before Matt pulled away from the field. We began running slower in the middle of the race and it wasn’t until a move by Dan Huling and Troy Fraley (just finished 7th in the steeple final at NCAAs) that got the pace going again. The last 600 was hard fought and I stopped looking at splits as it had turned into a battle for second (Matt won by 11 seconds). When I crossed the line behind Troy, I was disappointed to see 8:01 flash up on the board. That was already my PR and I wanted to go under 8:00. I hid my frown with things like “I didn’t give up.” and “I closed hard and raced!” But I couldn’t get the fact that I could only produce an 8:01 3k at that moment out of my head. Race Video Here > Check it out.

Sunday: 6 mile run (42:45)