The Lab Rats are alive

So late last year I announced the creation of the Fleet Feet Lab Rats Program. This is a small group of runners that I am personally coaching in exchange for a stash of Red Bull.

My plan was to work them hard and to make them stronger runners. They had no idea what I was going to do or if it would work but so far they are all still alive and training hard.

I'm real excited that so far it appears they are all taking to the training real well. Some are running faster then they ever have and others are getting there. Every two weeks I have been sending them their workouts and they have been diving right in and doing them. In the very least I am sure they are all getting mentally stronger.

While they are doing some pretty hard workouts I think the reason most of them are getting stronger is that I am actually making them take easy days out there. I find that too many runners are always running too fast. This makes their easy days too hard and then their hard days are not hard enough. Essentially all their runs are the same. With the Lab Rats when they have to run easy they run easy, and when they have to run hard they can run real hard.

Pretty simple really, you might want to try it.

Here's a little sample of a Lab Rat week.

2/16
OFF
Or 40 minutes easy (70/75% of Max Heart rate) nice easy run after Sundays long run

2/17
FF Hills w/ a new twist
Run to the hills, Do the complete “Y” as normal (up at 85% down easy. For the next one go at 80% up the hill and then continue all the way around the res. at 80% then down the other hill and then up to the top at 85%. Now jog down nice and slow and do another normal “Y”. Then do the complete around the res loop like before. Run back to the store nice and easy. Kinda confusing so if you need clarification let me know This ended up being really pretty hard

Or 10:00 up, 10 x 2:00 at 85% w/ 1:00 recovery between each, then 5 x 1:00 at 90%, 10:00 down fairly tough option but not as bad as above

2/18
10:00 up, Snow Cheap plus after finishing 6 x 1:15 at 85 – 90 % ON THE GRASS, 10 down
Or 10:00 up, 20:00 at 85%, 2:00 @ 90%, 2:00 easy, 5:00 @ 85%, 2:00 @ 90%, 2:00 easy, 2:00 @ 90%, 10:00 down Snow Cheap was about 2.5 miles long on tough trails and then the 6x made for a fun but hard night. The second option workout was tougher. Back to back hard days is never easy either way

2/19
OFF
Or 50 minutes easy (70-75% of Max HR) Recovery

2/20
45 – 60 minutes easy (70-75% of Max HR) Recovery

2/21
Meet me at FF for an 8 am surprise run. Bring you’re A game. Don’t be late They have no idea what they are in for on this one
OR 10:00 up, 10:00 @ 80%, 10:00 @ 85%, 5:00 @ 90%ish. 5:00 rest, 10:00 @ 85%, 5:00 @ 90%ish, 2:00 @ all out, 10:00 down This option is pretty nasty but we'll see which option ends up tougher

2/22
90 – 120 minute easy long run (70/75% of max) Nice easy long run

So there you go, a sample of a tough week. Run real hard, run real easy, take some days off if needed. Not rocket science but too many runners appear to mess it up.

Good luck

Testing Update

So I've been logging the miles (not that many) and trying the different shoes I wrote about earlier. First impressions are pretty good which is a good thing.

Puma Vectana - This is the Puma stability shoe that will be coming out this summer. It has a totally new last and fit which should be a very good thing. I've only got a couple of runs on them but they have a real nice ride. Stability is right where it should be, cushioning is more then enough and the fit is what they said it will be, wider then their old fit. I actually got a small hot spot on my first met head on my foot and that is a good thing for this test as I have a real narrow foot so these should be too wide for my foot and they are. This will be a shoe to watch once it comes out.

Pearl Izumi Pace 3 - Just arrived in store and I've got a few good runs on my pair that I got early. They updated the forefoot and it feels great. They needed to increase the amount of cushioning up front so the shoe doesn't "bottom out" so fast. They nailed it on this one, great fit and now a really great ride. Now I just hope they don't run into inventory issues like they did last year. The downside to this update is the $20 price increase. I think PI got hit harder then most by the economy and the rising cost of sourcing products. If you liked the old Pace you'll love these.

Nike Equalon 3 - Update of their high end stability shoe. Very nice ride and plenty of stability. Great Nike fit and with the increased cushioning it feels nice and soft. I think this version is finally worth the cost as the previous ones just didn't quite do it for me.

New Balance 769 - built on their new PL- 1 last which is great for my foot. Much narrower, less volume and a great heel and mid foot. I took these for a nice 8 miler the other day and they have a very nice ride. Smooth transition from heel to toe off with plenty of stability and cushioning.

I have not had a chance to test the Ecco's just yet as I don't think my calves can handle the low to the ground midsole and very minimal heel to forefoot drop.

The adidas adiStar Salvation will be getting a few miles very shortly and Vibram has sent me a pair of their 5 fingers to test out as well. I better up the mileage if I want to get all the testing done. Luckily I have at least 3 other guys here at the shop that also wear size 10.5 so I think I'll start passing the shoes around for testing.

I guess I better keep training so I can keep testing. Tough job but someone has to do it :)