Warning!!! Do not try this at home!!!

This is an email received yesterday afternoon from a "loyal reader":

-----Original Message-----
From: Harriss, Crystal L
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 12:29 PM
To: Kim, Peter
Subject: RE: Hi

Dear Coach Peter,
I am writing you this note to let you know how brutally punishing your
reverse ladder workout is. My legs are jello and I look as if I've been
swimming in my running clothes. Said workout is also not adviseable on
a treadmill because 10.1 is seriously hauling some buttay and I d*mn
near fell off the back!!! Picked up the last 400 and ran it at a 5:52
pace (10.2) which is still way slower than you had recommended (see
below). This is only further proof that you are a Nazi Coach and may
succeed in making me vomit from running. The only good that has come
from above workout is that I just ran my fastest mile E-V-E-R. Who
knew, I can run a sub six mile?!?!

Sincerely,
Paula wannabe

I was pretty much in hysterics after reading this, but very proud that Crystal hit all the splits I had prescribed for myself. Even more impressive, it was done on a treadmill which I feel is absolutely INSANE and a million times tougher. Very impressive work! After reading this "motivating" email, I pretty much decided to get this workout over with. An added motivation was punishing myself for my little drinkfest Monday night at the concert, as well as enjoying an evening with my workout done early (not to mention a little break from work). To make the workout even more challenging, I did it on the road - I find doing track work on the road more difficult: one, the terrain is usually not even, so have to deal with uphills and downhills which can make keeping consistent times tough; two, even though I have my Garmin to track distance, there is no substitute for running on a track, knowing exactly where your end points are at (this is more a mental barrier, if anything). So in summary, I was running a reverse ladder workout a day after a tough run on minimal sleep, a massive hangover and slight dehydration. Am I a glutton for punishment? Absolutely!

So I found a somewhat flat area around my building, and set forth on my workout. First set was the mile - went out pretty hard, kept a good pace going. While I felt like I was definitely working, legs felt pretty comfortable, and I was pleased to see 5:43 as my split. Next set was the 1200 - went out hard, definitely was struggling after the first quarter mile. Had to dig deep and kick hard to hit 4:22. Was struggling to keep good form, and felt every drink from last night with every step. 800 was pretty much the same - first quarter was ok, but grinded out the last half. Kicked hard to hit 2:47, and officially felt like complete crap. Final set was the 400 - legs were pretty shot at this point, and had taken a lot longer between sets at this point. I gave myself a good pep talk, and worked on my focus for this final set. Coasted through most of the run, and kicked hard at the finish to hit 1:15. Definitely would have shaved 3-5 seconds easy on a track, and was pleased to end the workout on a good note while hitting all my splits. Did a short cooldown to end the day.

After work, went over to Pat and Crystal's afterwards for a Cinco de Mayo celebration dinner. To celebrate the wonderful weather, we played some yard games and drank a few Dos Equis (oops!). Crystal made homemade guacamole (yummy!), cheesy chicken enchiladas which were amazing, and a raspberry layered chocolate cake for dessert. One note about Crystal's cooking - not only is her food absolutely fabulous and amazingly tasty, but it is all HEALTHY!!! I used to think all healthy food at best was mediocre in taste (mostly bland), but with her extensive research of healthy food magazine/cookbooks, experience and hard work, she has perfected her craft as an amazing cook whose food I thoroughly enjoy, not to mention is also good for me! Thank you so much for feeding your Kenyan-wannabe running buddy, Crystal!!!

Afterwards, we literally waddled over to a friend's house to say hi (they just moved in), then came back to watch the Biggest Loser. The challenge for this episode was for each of the final four contestants to run a marathon. Yes, you read that correctly - four obese people were instructed to run a marathon, and did I mention they had a whopping 26 days to train for it? I'm sorry, but I have a huge problem with the producers of this show coming up with this ludicrous challenge. First, while these contestants of the show have been exercising religiously over the last few months, the bottom line is you don't give anyone just 26 days to properly train for a race that most experts recommend intermediate to advanced runners a minimum 4 months to prepare for! That is just plain stupid and asking for too much from anybody. Second, the course that the runners were given was, in my opinion, was a lot more challenging than it could have been. Come on,running through mountains, fields, and sand?! A little overly dramatic, don't you think? Basically, outside of some family/friends and the previous Biggest Loser winners at a later mile marker, no one was on the course to cheer and encourage the contestants. I'm not sure how fair that was - spectators play a large part of a marathon in motivation. I don't know how many times I have been mentally defeated on a course, only to have a few cheering fans pick me up and get me going again. As far as I'm concerned, the producers should have just thrown the contestants 26.2 miles away in the middle of a desert and tell them to get back somehow. While I am ecstatic that the Biggest Loser is giving great exposure to the wonderful sport of long distance running, showing that truly anyone can do it, I feel they are giving false hope that one can minimally train for a marathon in less than a month and succeed. In my experiences of marathon running, it takes a good four months of dedicated running to properly prepare for the physical and mental rigors of the race, and giving yourself the best chance for injury prevention. I just think it is a very unsafe and unreasonable challenge, and hopefully we don't see a mass influx of running injuries from hopeful beginner marathoners over the next year.

On a different note, I give major props to all four contestants as they all completed the marathon against the odds. Running a marathon is one of the hardest things anyone will ever physically perform in their lifetime, and running with very little training, minimal crowd support, and what appeared to be a difficult course is a completely AMAZING feat. I am in complete awe of Tara, Helen, Mike, and Ron for joining a very exclusive club and earning the very prestigious title of "Marathoner". Bravo!!!

Tomorrow, easy run, lots of stretching and corework. Shane is coming back into town on Thursday night for the weekend, and looking forward to a group long run this weekend! As promised, here are a few pictures from Monday night's concert...