Monday, December 3, 2012

16 weeks down the #ADP road


It has been a crazy journey the last 16 weeks. We're 4 months down the (new) road and it feels great! Over those 4 months, Scott Simmons – lead coach of the American Distance Project - did a fantastic job. He tu(r)ned my thinking back into the positive attitude a competitive runner needs. That's probably mainly due to the small successes that occur more than once every week.

The last 16 weeks, I RAN 1,220+ miles (1,960+ kms) without suffering from any pains. All aspects of my revamped workout schedule seem to progress as expected. The long runs (17 milers) go better than ever. The speed development work reminds my body that it needs to run FAST. And the threshold runs – a significant aspect that was missing – have a tremendous impact (also on the mental side).

There is no change on the travel schedule and that is probably the biggest challenge we`ll have to cope with. Especially the Monday morning workout is a tough one. Flying in on Sunday afternoon and switching 2 time zones makes it hard on Monday morning. Converted to Mountain Time, I get up at 3:45-4:00 in the morning to get my threshold run in. Amazingly, the body can handle a big workload if planned out correctly.

Off course, the new approach can only be proven when doing some real racing. We can only judge after the first summer season in 2013. However, it feels nice to be confident again. Let`s find out how it goes on the track when leading my next race from the gun :-)

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