3-3-3: June Racing and the Next Step in Generalist Training (June 2024)

 

Boston 10K medal, B2VT finisher glass, Boston Dragon Boat 2nd place C Division medal

Boston Dragon Boat Festival
Date: June 8-9, 2024
Location: Boston / Cambridge, MA
Distance: 2 x 200m Sat; 3 x 500m Sun

B2VT
Date: June 15, 2024
Location: Massachusetts, NH & VT
Distance: 142 miles
Goal Time: 12:00:00
Actual Time:  12:27:20

Boston 10K
Date: June 23, 2024
Location: Boston / Cambridge, MA
Distance: 6.2 Miles
Goal Time: 52:42
Actual Time: 54:25

“Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars”

~ Proverbs 9:1

I made the right onto Exeter and then left onto Boylston.  The rain; the heat; the humidity; the lack of running for a week – had clearly taken a toll.  But, I was still within an acceptable pace.  We crossed the Marathon finish line and had a little more than 1 km to go.  The calculations in my head said I would have to average a 7:15 mile for my last kilometer.  (SPOILER ALERT: That wasn’t going to happen).  I sped up a bit over the final stretch but definitely didn’t put myself fulling into the red zone.  Across the finish line, I got my medal from McKenzie and headed to the DM tent for a ceremonial 9:15am Sam Adams.

Living Root getting our awards

The Boston 10k finished up my 3 races in 3 sports in 3 weekends.  I reached my B goal in each of the 3 events: Boston Dragon Boat Festival, B2VT and Boston 10K.  This success was because of generally consistent generalist training over the past 6 months.  Between running, lifting, cycling and paddling, I did the bare minimum to achieve my non-spectacular B Goals.

Where do I go from here? 

I have about 12 weeks until my next big block of events in September 4 events in 3 Weeks:

9/8 - Bike Not Bombs 105 miler, JP

9/14 – Spartan Beast Race, Killington

9/21 – Lake Winni Dragon Boat Race, Alton Bay, NH

9/22 – Lone Gull 10K, Gloucester, MA

Vermont along the B2VT route

With this in mind, I plan to build a training structure around two main goals

Training for life

Some specificity for events I am registered for.  (I need to be able to run 13 trail miles with obstacles, bike 105 and paddle 4 races in a day over 3 weeks – plus Lone Gull.)

Rough Draft of 7 Pillars of Generalist Training

I need to start somewhere.  I will start with a draft using guidelines of health from DHHS while adding two more – accountability and recovery – that are required to achieve the other 5

Accountability – I need to be accountable to myself, my wife and my teammates

Strength – Commit to continued strength training

Cardiovascular Endurance – Continue and increase my running / cycling

Muscular Endurance – add more endurance strength to my workouts

Flexibility – Mobility and malleability are often limited when strength and running are practices.  Need to add to this

Body Composition – cutting fat and gaining muscle.  Exercise is one step of this; calories and quality thereof is another step.

Recovery – sleep better and more. Also commit to hobbies that can help relaxation.

I know many people will find the idea of slowly building a program as the lazy way out.  And maybe that’s true.  Maybe I’m just lying to myself.  Or maybe trying to create a strong foundation, I can do this I like for longer.  We’ll find out which one it is.

And the Celtics had their parade - Tingus Pingus