Big Recycling Box in the Sky

I had to retire another pair of shoes a few weeks ago. I wanted to have a Viking funeral or a bonfire or something but then the fire department would show up followed by the police, so I chose to not do those things.

So I just took my old Nike Pegasus 30 to the recycling box at my running shop, letting them end at the place where it began. Before I started working at Fleet Feet I would show up at the weekly Monday Night Group Run event and one day the Nike rep had Pegs for us to try and a pair to give away via drawing. I so rarely win things like this so I didn't get my hopes up but I heard my name called and a few days later I went home with these dudes:

Nike Pegasus 30, men's 9 1/2 with elastic laces

These were even a favorite at my old running store in Tuscaloosa. Our Chief Running Officer always loved them because they were so soft and comfortable. Store manager Voldemort liked them because they were the shoe Nick Saban wore on the sidelines at Alabama football games, meaning Tide football fans gobbled them up when we got them in. Ol' Voldemort couldn't even pronounce Pegasus but that didn't matter as long as the cash register kept up. It's still a running joke for the First Lady and me-- we call them what he did-- Nike 'Paygus.'

My first run for them was a nine-miler on a Saturday in September, 2013. Probably a little long for their debut, but I wrote AWESOME in my running log that day, after I'd scrawled OMG! in the space for Monday's demo run. So I guess I was a fan right from the get go. They'd been making this shoe for a long time and it seemed as though they were on to something.

The Pegasus took me through the streets of Atlanta in March, 2014 for the Publix Marathon. That was the time my wife actually had to help me down off the curb so I could cross the street on our way back to the hotel.

Last ride for these old friends was a four-miler a few weeks ago on a sticky Georgia morning. 533 miles for these old foot soldiers.

It has a name, but...

I think most people are on board with the fact that fast 400 meter repeats on the track aren't much fun but yield positive benefits.

Now I've never been a big speedwork guy-- I've never had a rigid schedule unless I've been in marathon training, and even then it was more about pouring on the miles. However when I was prepping for the 2014 Publix Marathon in Atlanta, I squeezed out 16x400 with some of my running friends. I was as surprised as anybody. Speed days since then have maxed out at 8x400, doing three-minute intervals. Run the 400, and recover for the time left over. For example, if I ran a quarter in 90 seconds, I'd have 90 seconds to rest before the next repeat. I found the rest period worked better than an easy 400 jog.

Recently, I read in Runner's World about Jonas Hampton of New Britain, Connecticut who runs 30x400 on his speed days as one of his key workouts during marathon training. My eyes about popped out of their sockets. 30? Quarter-mile repeats? Are we sure that's right?

Well, yes it is. Here is his session:

“It has a name, but you can’t print it.” Warm up with 3 miles followed by 10 minutes of dynamic stretches. Then run 30 x 400, with 200-meter recovery jogs. After every 5 repeats, recover with a 400-meter jog. Cool down with 2 easy miles.

I wonder if we could crowdsource a printable name for this workout. He runs three miles before he even gets to the fun part. Excluding the recovery jogs, he's sitting on a 12.5-mile workout. Yikes. Just saddling up for that distance requires a little extra prep for me. Obviously it's a bit different for him. 

I'm not arguing the methods-- I'm amazed at them. Hampton ran a 2:15 and won the Hartford Marathon in 2015 and competed at the Olympic Marathon Trials back in February. What makes this all the more remarkable is that he's got a day job as a highway design engineer.