 Okay, so in this training block we've got long runs for Amsterdam, we've got threshold runs. At this point, only two that I've got scheduled. And just like that, amazing everyone, the Pikes Peak Ascent training block is in the rearview mirror. It's done. I can't believe it. And yesterday's vlog was all about reflecting on the race. That's how I end a training block, okay, where I process and think and look at the workouts that I did. And how did they correspond or correlate to the actual race day effort and how, frankly, I can improve for the future. So that's what yesterday's vlog was. If you haven't seen it, check it out upper right hand corner. But now we're looking forward. That's right. To the Amsterdam Marathon, I'll come back to this in a minute. On October 20th, 2019, and mentally, I only think about one peak race at a time. So I was focused on Pikes Peak the last, really the last six weeks, since July 1st. And now it's in the rearview mirror. It's time to look to Amsterdam, which I just counted is 54 days away. That's crazy. That's not much time, but it's also a relief because lesson learned, okay. So if you're new to the channel, you might be wondering, and there's a lot of new folks because of the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon coverage. You might be wondering, wait a minute, Seth. I thought you were a mountain runner, an uphill trail runner, and I am. And that is my number one passion in the long distance running world. But as I like to say, any distance, any surface. I forget who said that first, but meaning I'm not afraid to race on the roads. I would love to race a sea level 5k track race in 2020. That's one of my goals for 2020. But in addition, I'm trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials in the Marathon by January 31st, 2020. Because the Olympic Trials for the Marathon is, I think, February 29th in Atlanta, Georgia. So that's my goal. I need to run under two hours and 19 minutes, and therefore a couple lessons. So my first marathon that I was going to race in 2019 was going to be the Cleveland Marathon, but I had an injury and a couple lessons learned. We're going to dive into the Amsterdam training block here in a second, but I'm just trying to catch up, everybody. That is a new subscriber. I had an injury in late March, early April. So April, May, I was out completely. June, I started to come back from the injury. But basically, I was unable to race the Cleveland Marathon, and I think the reason I got injured was because the training block leading up to Cleveland was too long, way too long. It should have been shorter, which is why I'm pretty excited about Amsterdam only being 54 days. But then in addition, I was doing a little bit too much speed work, not intervals, but threshold running on pavement leading up to Cleveland, which I believe helped lead to my stress reaction in my left foot, which was a major bummer. We worked through it, and sure enough, bone injuries, they do heal. Sometimes it doesn't feel like they're ever going to heal, but eventually they do. So if you have a bone injury or really any injury, but especially bone injuries, just give it time, let it fully heal. And that's what I did. Remember the phantom pain kind of scared me, but sure enough, since July 1st, I've been able to put in a really solid summer of mountain running leading up to Pikespeak. And now we are looking to the future with 54 days to go before Amsterdam. And what's crazy is you're looking at the Amsterdam Marathon website right now. I actually didn't register until today because I just didn't know, am I going to be healthy after Pikespeak? I like that, you know, I was, it's been a kind of a precarious summer of training. Remember, I took some calculated risks leading into Pikespeak to make sure I arrived at the starting line as fit as possible and as fresh as possible. And sure enough, I arrived healthy. And now I feel confident enough today to hit that register button for the Amsterdam Marathon. So it's official. It's on the calendar. I'm going to Amsterdam to race this marathon and at sea level on a flat and fast course. If you've been subscribed for a while, you know my approach to marathon training and really any distance, okay, but especially the marathon. And I've said it a dozen times and I'm going to say it a dozen more times. I believe developing a bigger aerobic foundation is going to lead to a greater peak later in the training block, meaning your aerobic system. So your cardiac efficiency, your blood circulation, your capillary beds in your lungs, even what's crazy, the size of your heart. That's right. Longer runs that you do in a training block, you are actually increasing the power. That's the cardiac efficiency of your heart, meaning how much blood can be pumped to your muscles during hard efforts in a race. It goes up. And frankly, I'll just say it. Sometimes I'm a little baffled when I see marathon training programs that skip over the aerobic development part of the block, of the training block. I think they go right into anaerobic work or interval work or speed work. And I'm not saying that's not important, but frankly, you've got to lay that foundation first before you start to, in my humble opinion, before you start to add speed work or interval work. And so for a marathon race, how I approach it and how I will be approaching Amsterdam is yes, the first 20 miles of the race is important, no doubt. But it's the last six miles that really matters. And that's where the aerobic, like if your aerobic system, if my aerobic system is not developed fully to the, you know, as much as I can possibly, as big as I can build that aerobic base, I'm going to be struggling the last four miles, the last three miles. And I, that's the last thing I want for Amsterdam is to go backward. So again, I'm going to be doing long runs, okay, 20 mile, 22 mile, possibly 23 mile long runs leading into Amsterdam. And not at crazy fast paces. We're talking for me, and for me, like, but 730 to 815 pace per mile. So not bopping along, but just going, just getting that work in, making sure that that cardiac efficiency is being developed so that the last six miles, the last 10k of a marathon I can finish strong. Like mile repeats, 1k repeats, that might help like the last, you know, I'm just going to say like the last two miles, but I'm more concerned about the last six miles. I want to make sure I feel in full control of my breathing and of my leg strength in order to cross the finish line as strong as possible. Now in addition to long runs, 20 miles, 22 miles leading into Amsterdam, I'm also going to be doing threshold runs. You all know how much I love threshold runs where basically you're, you're approaching going anaerobic, but you're not actually pushing through that ceiling, okay. So you don't want your pH levels in your blood to be plunged down too low. In order to calculate your threshold pace, you take your 5k PR, and then divide it by three. So whatever your mile pace is, 4 or 5k, and then add 20 to 30 seconds to that time. So for me, right now I can run, you know, based on a 5k I did last spring, I can run about five minutes a mile for a 5k. So my threshold pace would be 520 per mile, okay. So that's how you calculate your threshold running. And then, so I like to, I love to do threshold training for half marathons and now marathons, but for Cleveland, I think I did too much threshold training. So I'm probably most likely, and this is why I only did it in pencil, I'm probably only going to do two threshold runs, a nine mile and a 13 mile threshold run leading into the Amsterdam marathon. Why? I want to arrive at the starting line as fit as possible, as fresh as possible, but also frankly, healthy. I'm not, I don't want to mess around with another injury leading into Amsterdam. Okay. So in this training block, we've got long runs for Amsterdam. We've got threshold runs. At this point, only two that I've got scheduled. And then as far as going anaerobic, speed work, interval work, probably two or three. Not much. I need to think about it just a little bit more. Okay. And one specific workout that I will do leading into the Amsterdam marathon is what I call cresting the hill with 1k repeats basically. And it's especially important. Now listen, I'm very fortunate because Amsterdam is one of, if not the flattest marathon course in the world. It's very, very flat. But I'm still going to do this workout where I train myself. So if you're getting ready for Boston, which is pretty hilly, New York, Berlin is flat. Anyway, we're basically, I'll do six by 1k. So and it's a gentle, maybe 50 to 100 feet of elevation gain. So not much, but it is slightly uphill. So you should feel it in your legs where I will run, it basically all out. Not okay. Just say all out, but hard, a hard effort where your pH level is being plunged down and then a job back to the start. But the key is that I want to crest the hill and then do about 30 seconds where I'm running off the backside of the hill. Again, it's very gentle, gentle downhill and uphill. Like you, you're going to notice it, but it shouldn't be steep at all. Like your legs, you don't want to pound a downhill really, really hard. I just love the resistance of a gentle uphill for 1k repeats. And so I will, that is one example of a specific workout I will do leading into Amsterdam. Okay. So long runs, threshold, a two to three anaerobic efforts. I, I, you know, I'm tempted to say two right now because just based on my experience with speed work in the past, and I just know again, it's a marathon. Like it's, this is not a 5k or a 10k. Like this is a long effort. Like you're, you just don't need to go anaerobic that much in a marathon training block in my humble opinion. All right. All right. So I know that was a lot. I just threw at you. And hopefully I gave you some specific ideas for what I'm going to be doing leading into Amsterdam. We could talk all night, all day about training for a marathon. That'll be happening a lot more in the next 54 days. I can't believe it. So canals, keyword is canals for the, the canals in Amsterdam. I can't wait to go see Amsterdam. I know it's a beautiful city, experience the culture, run along the canals before the race. So anyway, it's going to be fun. And guess we will do a meetup while I'm over there. Absolutely. So there's that canals. A question of the day. And I've asked this before, but I'm going to ask it again. Do you have aspirations to race a marathon in the next 365 days? So the next year. All right. And if so, do you have a marathon on your radar? Yeah. Let us know. And maybe you're just getting into running. If so, who knows? Maybe it's a two or three year goal down the road. If so, that is great as well. But let us know what you're thinking as far as marathon racing moving forward. All right. I think that's it for today. And yes, I am going to throw up two vlogs here on the right. Is the injury announcement leading into Cleveland, just as a reminder for myself to stay smart in this training block leading into Amsterdam. And on the left, we're going to talk about threshold workouts. All right. That's it, folks. See beauty, work hard and love each other. Thanks for being here. See you tomorrow.