Training for...

Training...seems like I'm always training. An upcoming marathon, training. Pacing at marathon X, training...even in #heartfailure I find myself training!
Seems like I've been 'training' ever since the late 70's/early 80's... Sure there have been blocks of time where I wouldn't run/workout...3, 6 months maybe, but in the back of my mind, and my 'diet', always training. Sometimes I think life would have been a bit easier had I just been a lazy fat guy...able to eat Doritos, and come home after work to 4 hours of NASCAR or...or whatever fat/lazy guys watch. ...but, always a race/workout/goal to get after...I supposed it's just how I'm wired.
So why the post on 'training'? I have a new goal, and a new training theory...ready for this?
Last August, while hanging out in ICU at the Heart Hospital, I was all set for an LVAD...numbers were bad enough, heart scarred/dilated enough where this was my journey...'in a week' was what the surgeon told us. 
'One more test'...you've heard me say that before, right? Stress-test on the treadmill. Nice...bring that shit on...I LIVE for treadmill workouts! VO2 Max on this particular test was 44...nice. No LVAD! Now, did I roll 44 because I was in '44' shape? ...or maybe because I've spent hours and hours pounding on the treadmill over the years...or am I just that stubborn? Whatever the reason, off the LVAD list for now!
Over the past 18 months, I think I've done 4, maybe 5, treadmill stress-tests. 
60 (I don't remember this one...)...48, 46, 42...and now 32. As my numbers continue to drop, this will/should indicate when the LVAD comes knocking at my door. ...and frankly, I need to wait as long as possible! After the LVAD surgery, I'll keep the device 3-5 years before my transplant...then roughly 10 years with the new heart...and that's it. SO, I'm going to do my best to keep rocking the stress-tests, or should I say 'manipulate' the test results.
How can you manipulate the results, Mr. Wizard? Well, theory time... I am training FOR the stress test! I've done it enough to know the sequence of speed and elevation, and what I need to be training for...are you following me?
Wanna run fast, you run fast. Wanna race a marathon, you TRAIN for a marathon. Want to ROCK a treadmill stress test, you TRAIN for the test...
Part of my training is gonna be hard, as running in general is tough on me, however, the power-walking part of the test at elevation, DONE.
Another cardiologist visit on Dec. 6th where I would assume I'll get to jump on the tread...so this time, I'll be ready! SO hard for me to push the QUIT button when I'm done, and I was really disappointed in myself for pushing the 'button' too soon last time...I'm such a pansy...suck it up, dick.

This was my workout/power-walk from yesterday, a new KEY workout in my training plan. 
LifeTime in Lakeville, working through 12 hill repeats, 5 minutes each. 2 minutes at 9% elevation, 2 at 12%...and 1 at 15%. Speed anywhere from 4.1-4.4. Solid workout, and I was able to keep my HR under 130 the whole time. 1:05:04 total time with the cool down. A lot of strength training along with working on my visualization, I'll be ready when it's time to jump back on the tread for Dr. H.
Treadmill stress-test...it's what all the cool kids are doing!
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I guess while I have you here, I may as well capture the moment and continue on my quest of listing my 25 best/favorite running related moments.
#12...ready for this one? July 26th, 2008...LumberJack 10 Miler in Stillwater, MN.
Remember this one? What a fun race...FAST race. They would bus you up and out of dowtown Stillwater to some park 10 miles away. Flat/open for the first 6 miles, then the course offered a crazy/quick downhill, with a gradual downhill from 6.5-9.5ish. I could MapMyRun the course, but frankly, I'm just lazy.
I brought a group of East Metro runners I was coaching at the time to the race, along with my daughter, who was almost 3, as she LOVED to ride in the baby-jogger while I ran...so racing, here we come!
I don't remember a lot of the race...I think 'we' were running at 6:20-6:25 pace through 6...and I was feeling amazing. Legs were solid, breathing was good...singing with Torun as we ran. Such a good rider...
As we got to the downhill section of the course, it was 'hold-on'...the jogger just wanted to GO, and as we got to 7 and beyond, we were rockin'!
I remember passing a group of 5-6 runners at roughly 9 miles, easily running sub 6 minute pace at this point, while pushing a 45 pound package.
Came around the final 2 corners towards the finish, still rolling...
Before the race I was thinking we could run sub 1:05, but we ended up at 1:02:18 for a 6:14 average. 30th overall out of 1107 athletes. ...and I felt AMAZING from start to finish! Maybe had we 'raced' the first 6 more than we did, maybe sub 1:00, but I'll take the 1:02 and change!
Days like these are the ones you want to bottle and use at your next race, but alas, they don't come along very often. 
What did I learn from this race? Well, nothing, frankly. Firm believer in that we learn SO much more from UG LY races, knowing what to do, what not to do, and the end result from race-day decisions. All I learned from this race is that we were FAST...and we rocked this course...and to spend a quality morning with my daughter in the process, priceless!
RESULTS

Race #13 COUNTDOWN

25 DAYS AND COUNTING...COUNTING DOWN!
RACE #13
Thanks for being patient with the blog. This summer I had this brilliant idea of writing about my top 25 running 'moments' and/or memories, 25 'stories' beginning 25 days before the final race in the Leadman series. Well, after the wheels fell off racing this past summer, so did my ambitious quest to write everyday for 25 days. Well, the dust has settled and I figured it was about time to finish this damn list. I have the 'list' scribbled on a legal pad so I know the order of what's to come...the races, the crazy stories...and I feel like I'm ready to continue!
When I started writing in March/April of 2018, it was so easy...the words just poured out of me. I had all of this raw emotion, all the loss just made it easy to write...and I did! Sometimes I would write honestly with my heart on my sleeve, only to delete it the next day. Some of those posts, however, are still posted... Lately, and I don't want to say that it's a 'writer's block', because I'm not smart enough to be able to write deep enough to begin with, but I'm writing with less focus, less hurt...I hope that makes sense, and I hope you still enjoy the stories.
When I first found out I was in #heartfailure, it was hard on me...the posts about 'why me', the emotional posts looking for some guidance, well it was easy to write. ...but now that the dust has settled and I know my plan, and I'm truly fine with the plan, I'm not as emotional, knowing that this is my journey.
So, shall we continue? Race/memory #13. A tough race, with a better Honorable Mention.
Let's go back 16 years, the 2003 Grandma's Marathon. I have mixed emotions about Grandma's...I have run fast there, but over the past 15 years or so, the weather never seemed to cooperate. 2003, 2005, 2007...hot, DAMN hot, and it would seem the years when I DIDN'T run, 43 with a tail wind (slight exaggeration), but you get the idea.
2003, and I'm training well, though I hadn't raced much...maybe a 1:16+ half marathon in Louisiana, a low 16 5K, but nothing crazy, BUT, training was going well. ...and as I would tell athletes, if you have no idea what kind of shape you're in and you race a marathon and your 'guess' is off, you're gonna have a tough day. Hell, I told myself, I feel like I'm in 2:45-2:50 shape, though why I thought that, I have no idea. I hit the 10K split maybe a titch too fast (38:46...6:14 pace) and hit the half in 1:24 flat, but it was getting hot, and humid! By mile 16-17, it was getting UG LY, and as most runners do, you try to be logical with your time... "Well maybe I can still run 2:50...nope...3:00, think not..."...and so it went. The last 10 miles are a blur to me, SO hot, so much walking/jogging...such an ugly day, rivals only my Chicago of 2010(?), another hot day where I completely fell apart. This day at Grandma's I was still able to pull a 3:11 out of my ass, but it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. The later miles were so hard on me...and as would be customary after long hard races, I ended up vomiting for hours. Over the past 18 months, I've wondered if the vomiting after long hard/hot races had anything to do with my heart...did my heart cause my vomiting, or did the hard races/vomited contribute to my heart failure. When I met with the cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, I was told there was NO correlation, but damn, I really pushed my body on a number of occasions, this race was one of the hardest on my body. Wouldn't wish this upon anyone...

I bring up this race not because it was fast, because it wasn't...or because I ran smart, because I didn't, but the race, the effort needed to just finish, the way the wheels completely fell off, it's a nightmare I can't wake up from!
To make matters worse, I had just turned 40 and this race was part of the MN Race Team Circuit, and I was running for Gear Running Store at the time. The team had a group of BEASTS, and I was hoping to be the 'man' at Grandma's...again, nope...didn't even score.
Ugh...let's move on, shall we?
HONORABLE MENTION
1991 was solid year for racing...I wrote about 1991 earlier in this list, but in September of 1991, living in Madison, WI, I made my way to Green Bay for the Schneider National 2 Mile/10K...I ended up running both races, because it's what Gabe would do. WWGD :)
Good crowd, maybe a few hundred...loop course with a hill at .7 mile and a downhill at roughly 1.5. 
I take it out hard, trying to separate from the field, but ran in 2nd for most of the first mile. I/we ran the 1st mile in 4:55, but I was feeling pretty springy still. A little breather on a flat before the trek down, and by now I had a bit of a gap and decided to push/roll the downhill...it felt so good to stride it out. Finished in 9:38, running mile 2 in 4:43, a time that the McMillan Running Calculator would have an equivalent 5K time of 15:53...and wouldn't you know it, just a couple of weeks later I ran 15:56! 
This was a solid race...a race that made the list because of the win, and how good I felt from the first step...and the killer trophy, back when trophies were cool...now the winner probably get's a $5 gift card to the Running Room.
Racing is a LOT of fun when you're running fast in a fast crowd...
(...also ran/paced a 35:11 10K to cool-down...because at the end of the day, WWGD?)