I wrote this about a month ago, but never posted it.

Oh man, I woke up today tired all over for the first time this season. It’s not a full-on muscle buzz cut like I’d expect in the next month or so, but yesterday was my first huge day of being outside going over the top with workouts, and it was great!!

However, the number one thing I can do to improve my performance is to get outside absolutely as much as possible. While I don’t have any tangible goals for the summer, the more hours that I spend on foot and in the mountains, the faster I’m going to get. The goal is to take every opportunity to pull myself outside and have fun doing something along the lines of hiking, running, and rollerskiing (as long as it doesn’t make my pecks toooo big for running…).

Yesterday was a perfect example of that. The day before I got a call from a friend and planned a sunrise run/hike at 7:30am, then got another call and planned another run at 3:30. On the way to the second run I heard about a relatively fast group doing a substantial hike at 6. Considering I’m coming off a lot of rest and going for endurance races, this whole situation was going to afford me some serious endurance training. It sounds crazy, but let’s have a look at why it’s a good idea.

The first two runs were with girls that I was significantly faster than, so they were going to be total L1, no L2. But, subconsciously hanging out and training with girls provides a different energy from conversation, and whether you like it or not, guys can take advantage of their testocerone to show off a little to get higher quality intensity if it’s in the plan at all. Sounds shallow, but it’s not and it’s real, dude.

So after the first two you “workouts” you’ll have between 3-4 hours of almost sub-easy activity on your feet, which will totally still prepare your running-specific muscles for long races. The last hike was with a substantially fast male hiker, and I could use the him to pull me through the last couple of hours to cap off a huge day.

If you are on the “get out as much as possible” plan, I think it will only work if you are actually into each of the things you are doing. I can’t imagine how sticking yesterday on a pre-plan would get you anywhere, so the key is to get in touch with your lust for outdoor activity and be ready to take advantage of fun opportunities that may arise.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.