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Howdyhoo! This is the first installment in this section. I decided to use the title “Running Demons 2023 Mile Campaign” to describe this journey. Just some initial thoughts.
If we are trying to hit a decent mile run, that fits nicely into our May and June training block. That’s the Power Block and we train for both explosive and aerobic power. Running Demons can bias their focus a bit more toward the mile and I’ll blend that into the training documents.
The main things we need right now are twofold. First, we need to just gradually raise our general conditioning level. Some of this is aerobic conditioning and it’s also just good athletic systemic development and robustness. The weekly workouts take care of that. The other thing we need is to make sure we are getting some consistent ground contacts each week. By this I mean those microdoses of hopping, jumping, lunging, bounding, landing, skipping and the like which we have in our programming. These contacts build resiliency in our muscles, tendons, bones, and fascial systems so that we can run with good form and less risk of mechanical breakdown. Tendon and bone stress injuries are very common and problematic for runners building up in the spring, and one reason is that they often overload their systems with running contacts too soon. If you must miss a workout here and there, that is of course the world we live in. However, try to hop and bounce around for a few minutes every day if you can. It really works plus it makes you feel like the playful child you should be.
As always, let me know what you think and if you have any questions!
So stoked! I have never trained for mile pace before. I am excited to experience the challenge and liberation into a faster runner! Thanks JZ
DanetteThose are great words…challenge and liberation. This process is both easy and hard. The easy part is just hitting consistent workouts that are not too long. It’s exhilarating thinking you are not going to make yourself exhausted. The hard part is that there will be some interval workouts where we have to bear down. The secret is in the mind. Instead of thinking “I can’t run that fast” we think “I WILL run that fast!”
Howdy Awesome Ones! As you recall we’ve been talking about getting those ground contacts in with a little jogging and a few hops and jumps. Nothing crazy just consistent. The strength work we are focusing on will help quite a bit, as it’s the only time of year we really bear down on it.
All that stated, a mile running demon will want to add an extra jog for 2-3 miles into the week in addition to the 2 that are in this week’s programming. Not pushing anything right now, just looking at consistency which is king.
Here is a thought about running a mile…it lives near your VO2max output (and slightly above it). We need an aerobic base of running-specific endurance that we are building. But it also requires what is known as your anaerobic speed reserve (how fast can you blast a 200). We will be developing both sides to meet in the middle.
Related to that last paragraph, you’ve probably known certain athletes who were strong and fast but couldn’t run a good mile because they never developed their aerobic base. Once you are past about 300 meters, you need it and in a mile you’ve got 1300 to go.
But I also bet you have known tons of “runners” (actually trailturd slopjoggers) who totally sucked at the mile and couldn’t run fast. They said it was hard and it hurt (boo hoo) and they hated it. That’s because they did not develop their anaerobic speed reserve (didn’t do the interval workouts). No wonder it shocked the piss out of them. Just didn’t know what the hell they were doing.
You do cuz you got yer daddy.
Thanks, John, for inspiring us! Just to clarify, we are currently following the strength block workout routines you send us via email, along with consistent ground contacts, and in addition, we are to add an extra 2-3 mile jog into the week. Correct?
Oh, yea…just mainly hitting the strength programming and grabbing the extra jog for now. In about a month I’ll start issuing specific weekly workouts for the Running Demons Mile Campaign and I’ll put it in the member program doc so all the workouts are in one place. But we’ll use the Forum here for discussing some of the finer points of training, etc. Thanks for that clarification request.
Since I’m here…I’ll share what I did for my personal bonus workout today. I’ve been doing some backpack testing and training (I should say rucking to be cool but I don’t care) and I have a pack loaded up with about 50 pounds in it. Not super heavy but I know when I’m wearing it. I walked 1 mile at 10% grade on the treadmill, then jogged 1.5 miles at 3% without the pack, then walked another mile easy. Then I practiced a few light squats because I’m trying to improve my form for the Tuesday workout. Felt good. I’ll be just a tiny bit tired/sore this afternoon but nothing major.
I think the main thing at this time of year is just to get some consistency and have a little conditioning work going on. The mixed training is nice because you spread the impact forces around a bit and don’t end up with a running overuse injury. Soon enough we’ll be having some longer runs and then those interval sessions will start up in March (just one per week). When weather is nice Sunday afternoons at the track might become an option.
Consistency is my biggest challenge right now, but my goal is to build a new routine that better fits into my work schedule and is not stressful! Looking forward to getting more jogging/running time in! 🙂
Hey thanks for sharing and I feel ya. Yea, it’s a weird but true issue…we try to stay consistent, then life gets in the way. Main thing is to see ye ole glass half full and don’t beat yourself up. This is one reason why our demonic programming is not super involved and hardcore. Nobody would do it, everyone would be depressed, and no performance would happen. That’s been my experience for 40 years. But when all you have to do is sneak in a yog here and there…well now we are talkin’.
I’m going to start putting in a little demon section every week in the member program document. It will tell you what you need to do each week in addition (not in place of) the regular programming.
Heads up is there will be a workout that is a 2 mile jog that finishes with an all out minute up a long hill. Can be done on treadmill or I’ll recommend places for outdoors as well. It’s that last minute where we briefly capture max heart rate (you’ll need monitor unless your neck check skills are really good). This will then be used for some calculations in our training. So exciting.
One of the reasons I’ve been coaxing everyone along to hit the sessions, get some bouncy contacts in, etc. is to ready you for this test. It’s very safe and effective, and not even that hard, but if you don’t fucking hammer all out on the hill, your data will be pure dogshit.
Just posted the protocol in the weekly member program document for your first assignment…the max HR test. So valuable, so crucial, so easy to complete.
As a data collection tool, let me know in here what your age and HR is because I’m studying this phenomenon.
What we do now really sets up the summer. Stay strong.
Thanks!
Wow! Here’s my report on the HR test. Went out today at lunchtime. Sunny. Temp had warmed up into upper teens. Overall nice day. I’d stated that jogging two miles and then blasting a hill was “easy.” Well, it was easy to set up and approach the workout.
After my jog I hit the jets on the hill, hoping to push strong for as much as 90 seconds just to be sure. Sputtered out at 75 seconds and hit a max HR of 168 bpm. Fun but challenging. It’s amazing how going balls-out for a friggin’ minute is such an uplifting change once in a while. I almost puked afterward, but luckily I hadn’t eaten breakfast today. Funny.
Now I have data. I know that 70% of 168 = 118 so that’s where a lot of my easy endurance and recovery training needs to be. Can’t wait to hear from you.
Hi John, I see we are to get our max heart rate test done this week (we can use a GC day for this test). You mention that we can refer to T2 Forum for instructions. I looked around a bit on the T2 forum, but am not able to find this information, so can you please direct me to that? Also, just to clarify, GC is general conditioning, correct? Ha, sorry to be so elementary. Thanks for your help!
Howdy and thanks for your input. Yea, we talked about that test in the thread above but it was also in the program doc for 2-13. I’ll paste it below.
BONUS INFO FOR RUNNING DEMONS: By request, I’ll be putting in a demon section each week in this document. Keep up with your resistance workouts and also getting that extra jog in each week. Get a little jumprope or hopping work in to improve ground contact efficiency. But here is the first assignment. Over the next two weeks, do a max heart rate test because we will be using that for come calculations soon. Outside or treadmill. Here’s the protocol. Jog two miles and finish on a long, steep hill that takes you a full minute to run up. Go as hard as you can on that hill. At the end/top, check your HR and record it. If you have a monitor (best) you are good to go. Otherwise, place two fingers on your carotid artery in your neck, count your beats in 10 seconds and multiply by 6.
Now there is also another assignment in the most recent member program document. It’s doing an easy run using 70% of the max heart rate you discovered. Easy but important.
Also, you are entirely correct…GC stands for general conditioning and this month we are mainly in the “cardio” mode with that.
I realize we use a lot of terms and acronyms and I apologize if it gets unwieldy at times. However, if you are on the Training Tribe page, hit the “login” button, you can go to “Introductory Information” and read a lengthy document all about the system and nomenclature we utilize. Let me know what you think!
Hey John, I ran all out for approx 1 min on the hill by the hospital after a 20 min jog. When I checked my HR monitor at the end of 1 min it was 187. So multiplying .7 X Max HR gives me 131.
A Max HR of 187 seems high for my age group. Do you think I should do another max HR test next week? I measured using a Garmin 45 forerunner wrist sensor.Howdy Bill,
Thanks for the input. It sounds like you had a good test. I don’t think you need to repeat it right now and I also would not worry that 187 is high for your age. Here’s the interesting thing. Maximum heart rate is genetically determined. We can’t really change it. It usually declines with age in most people, but at different rates. So it’s plausible that your max was actually near 200 bpm when you were younger. This is not uncommon. During exercise, our bodies are dependent on the heart to deliver oxygen, via blood flow, to the working muscles and other tissues. This is known as cardiac output and is usually expressed in Liters per Minute. Cardiac output is the product of Heart Rate x Stroke Volume (the amount of blood ejected from the left ventricle with each contraction cycle). Everyone’s body is a little different in how much stroke volume they produce and consequently how fast their heart needs to beat to meet the demands. One person’s heart may beat at 200 bpm with 1.4 L/m and another can be at 160 bpm with 1.7 L/m. So the variability is natural and nothing to worry about.
For the good stuff, we now know that your 70% HR for recovery and aerobic exercise is around 130 (I rounded down for simplicity). If we make sure that 80%(ish) of your running is done at or below this zone, you’ll build the aerobic foundation for health, fitness, and performance. That ratio will change a little in May when we do more hard training. The other 20% of our training will not actually be heart rate based because it’s during the intervals where we focus on pace instead. The trick in getting fitter and faster is going easy most of the time, and then going fast the other. All the world class athletes do this and it’s incredibly well researched and proven, yet most of the people we know live in the middle a bit too much. They go a little too hard most of the time and when it’s time to hammer, they don’t go fast enough. This isn’t a character flaw, just a human tendency.
We however, are superhuman.
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