The Long Run

“A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.”
– Steve Prefontaine

Long is of course up to everyone’s interpretation, but for the most part here’s a good way to train for any running event longer than 800 m. I use this formula when I am preparing for ultramarathon of 50 miles, a unit’s PRT test of 1.5 or 3 miles, or a local 5K.

Some terms to familiarize yourself with;

Casual pace- typically two to three minutes per mile slower than your race pace. For example if the fastest mile you can run is a six minute mile your casual pace is around an eight minute 30 sec or nine minute per mile pace.

Race pace- just what it sounds like. As fast as your two little legs can pump for the distance that you going. That last part is important. My race pace for a 1 mile PRT is not the same for three-mile PRT.

Threshold pace- typically a pace that is one minute to two minutes per mile slower than your race pace.

Saturday and Sunday- this is perhaps one of the more important combo training days when running. For the ultra marathoners, this is the key to the kingdom. Saturday and Sunday are back-to-back long days. For the 5K and PRT people these are still back-to-back long days with less mileage. Ultra marathoners should be running for a minimum of two hours each day initially, toward a closer time to race date ultra marathoners should be running somewhere around four hours each day not to exceed 18 miles each day. I’ve never seen any benefit to doing a run longer than 18 miles when preparing for an ultra. The only exception is if you’ve never done an ultra before you need to get a 25 or 30 miler in four months or so before the race. For 5K and PRT folks, Saturdays and Sundays should be a minimum of a one hour run initially each day, and runs no longer than two hours each day not to exceed twice the race distance ( i’m putting this in here for some of the units and organizations to do a 10 mile time to run for their PRT. ) The pace for PRT and 5K folks is a casual pace. The pace for ultramarathon at the fastest is a casual pace, but realistically is somewhere around a 9:30 to 10:30 min pace.

Monday- off (remember that somewhere around 50% of all physical activities gains are from recovery. This is true for lifting weights, running, cycling, anything. This is difficult for runners to adhere to who are training especially after they begin to get runners high.)

Tues- 5K and PRT guys threshold pace for one hour. Ultra marathoners, casual pace for two hours.

Wed- 5K and PRT guys 1 mile repeat sprints at race pace. It will depend on how many of these you can do as to the total work out. For a 5K I will typically work up to doing four or five 1 mile repeats with the amount of rest in between the runs the time that I ran that 1 mile in. I have found way more success in PRT and 5K races using this formula for my “sprint” day as opposed to the typical 800 m, 400 m, 200 m, ethos of old. Ultra marathoners- two hour run at a casual pace preferably doing hill work if possible. I have never found hill work to be a necessary part of of an ultramarathon even when I ran ultra’s in the mountains like the iron Mountain 50. However, with that being said keep in mind that without hell work you will never keep up with the guys from out West.

Thu- 5K and PRT guys one hour casual pace then one hour at threshold pace. Depending on the distance you’re running, this could be 30 minutes and 30 minutes or 45 minutes and 45 minutes, etc. Ultra marathoners three hours at a casual pace.

Fri- off

Throughout the schedule ultramarathoner’s need to constantly be running with full kit (full water bottles, all gus, and salt tablets), and also experiment with wet socks, different carry methods, different clothing, body glide, sunglasses, hats, etc. Shoe choice can also be fine tuned during this. PRT and 5K guys should be occasionally training in a racing flat that they will run in on the day.

V/R,

Kyle Defoor

“Trainer of Feeders”

Kyle Defoor is one of the world’s most committed and passionate shooting instructors. Literally growing up with a gun in hand he took his talents into the military where he was combat decorated as a SEAL assaulter and sniper. Kyle helped to create and define modern training while along the way personally teaching thousands of military personal and civilians from around the globe. His shooting prowess led to appearances on multiple TV shows including Shooting Gallery, Tactical Arms, and Tactical Impact, and guest appearances on History Channel. Kyle’s outdoor athletic lifestyle includes shooting, ultra running, stand-up paddle surfing and climbing. He now serves as the brand ambassador for Mission Ready Equipment and runs his own company which offers tactical training, wilderness navigation, TV and film consulting, and motivational speaking.

www.kyledefoor.com

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn they offer some words of wisdom.

Since so many of us are like-minded individuals and have the same interests not only in guns and shooting but other things as well, I’ve decided to offer some tips in four of the other areas where I have years of experience; motorcycles, climbing, running, and hunting. I think this will be a nice complement to the other gunfighters on here who offer tips and tricks and hopefully keeps it fresh. Sadly or happily, these four subjects along with shooting and tactics are pretty much all my life is and has been since a very young age. This week it’s going to be a motorcycle riding tip.

I log somewhere between 15 and 20,000 miles a year on my motorcycle. I use it as my primary mode of transportation to most classes that are driving distance from my home. I’ve been doing that kind of mileage for years, and I also have a very brief roadracing background on sport bikes. All in all I’ve been riding a bike on the street or the track for over 20 years now.

One very simple and important fundamental of riding correctly either on the track, street or dirt is manipulation of the clutch lever and brake lever with your fingers. On a comparison scale, this is strong hand and other strong hand grip when shooting a pistol. More often than not what I see on the street is a rider that uses all four fingers to work the clutch and any combination of fingers except the correct two to work the front brake lever. Harley riders and big cruiser riders are the biggest offenders of this, but young inexperienced race replica riders are a close second.

The correct way to manipulate the clutch is to adjust your clutch so that it activates when pulled in with two fingers on the lever and the lever is touching your ring finger. This provides the ability for the rider to activate the clutch and still have superb control on the handlebars and the bike itself. A side benefit of this technique is that when racing or riding hard your shifts are actually faster because all four fingers do not have to come up and over the lever and then regain grip on the handlebar. Anyone who has rode the tail of the Dragon on the East Coast, or the canyons of Azusa California on the West Coast can attest to this and knows exactly what I’m talking about.

The activation of the front brake is exactly the same using the index finger and middle finger only to apply brake pressure. On this side of the handlebars one of the most overlooked fundamentals is correct placement of the lever up or down on the handle bar to provide maximum leverage for the rider when he is using only those two fingers. Very similar to guns, motorcycles do not come set up correctly. You have to fine tune placement and adjustments to make them work for you.

Lastly, another small tip on using your clutch and brake levers correctly is that you can slide your hands closer to the middle of the bar or further toward the end of the bar to provide more or less leverage. This is an especially important consideration for the majority of Harley riders because of the size of Harley handlebars and the size of the levers combined with a cable activated clutch instead of an hydraulic one.

Once you start riding like this you will not only see the benefits and become better at shifting, turning and overall manipulation of the handlebars, but you are also doing in motorcycling the equivalent to “long finger in the side” in shooting and that’s showing the rest of the world that your professional.

V/R,

Kyle Defoor

“Trainer of Feeders”

Kyle Defoor is one of the world’s most committed and passionate shooting instructors. Literally growing up with a gun in hand he took his talents into the military where he was combat decorated as a SEAL assaulter and sniper. Kyle helped to create and define modern training while along the way personally teaching thousands of military personal and civilians from around the globe. His shooting prowess led to appearances on multiple TV shows including Shooting Gallery, Tactical Arms, and Tactical Impact, and guest appearances on History Channel. Kyle’s outdoor athletic lifestyle includes shooting, ultra running, stand-up paddle surfing and climbing. He now serves as the brand ambassador for Mission Ready Equipment and runs his own company which offers tactical training, wilderness navigation, TV and film consulting, and motivational speaking.

www.kyledefoor.com

Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn they offer some words of wisdom.