Totally Ready for Hinson Lake 24

Ever since my Boogie 50 finish this June, I've been carefully planning and training for Hinson Lake this year.  I know a lot of you all were not sure what was going on . . . no races for me since mid June.  No races, very few posts . . . all part of a carefully laid out and executed plan for a fantastic Hinson Lake performance!

The secret is I have been following a totally new training plan in preparation for this endurance event.  One that might seem odd to some and stupid to others.  But let's just wait and see how this training experiment turns out!  "The proof is in the pudding!"

Going back to my Boogie race / walk . . . many of you thought the blisters were the reason for my slow time and actually I tried to make you BELIEVE that was the case!  But Boogie was really just part of the plan!  The key to solid endurance running is pacing and dealing with the mental side of a challenging run.  So Boogie was really a carefully planned race and I intentionally developed the blisters on the bottom of my forefoot for two reasons: 1) character training . . . learning to deal with the pain and suffering involved when things just do go well, and 2) I had to figure out a way to keep me from going too fast!  The blister idea was brilliant, if I do say so myself.  Few of you would have ever even thought of this tactic and fewer still would have executed it to the degree I was able to!  So Boogie wasn't the disaster you thought . . . it was just part of the plan.

Now my new training plan is equally innovative and has required a significant amount of "out of the box" thinking again!  But really the plan is quite simple and is based on the premise that "less is more!"

Now I've got to admit that this as been an excruciating plan to actually execute.  In the past I have kept my mileage fairly high and tried to race a marathon or further every other weekend or so.  But that needed to change, it just wasn't working for me any more.  My times were just getting slower and slower.  I needed a totally new and innovative approach to my training.  Hence . . . my new plan which I am calling "Eco-training!"

Eco-training (soon to be patented) centers around not wasting needless energy by doing too much running or exercise.  Save all that for the "focus event" . . . in this case, Hinson Lake 24.

• First and key to Eco-running . . . long runs are a total waste of effort, all they do is make you tired and sometimes sore.  So with Eco-running, I've minimize my long runs leading up to Hinson Lake.  With effort, I've managed to keep all my long runs under 6 miles.  In total I've only run 4 times over 5 miles since mid June!  That's right!  Think of the energy I've saved!  This is not insignificant!
• Mid-week miles are really just trash miles and no one needs many trash miles.  So with my new Eco-training, I've eliminated these from my weekly plan.  Since Boogie, I have run no more then 2 times per week and many weeks only ONCE !  Eliminating all trash!  Another hallmark of this brilliant plan.

Okay . . . I know some of you are already questioning the wisdom of this, but remember what I said . . . the proof will be in the pudding!

So my training is complete and it time to start the "tapering phase" of my Eco-training for next Saturday's race.  But enthusiasm may have gotten the better of me and I'm hoping I didn't do too much today: 5.43 miles at a 11:17 pace . . . a solid 1 hour and one minute of quality training.  I just hope that wasn't too much . . .

Monday, I'm having an MRI and a follow-up visit with my doctor mid-week just to make sure everything is in perfect condition for my PR effort!  I should be perfect come race day!  Then . . . I can apply for my patent.