(Photo courtesy of Gregg Gelmis of We Run Huntsville) Keith Henry is a strong runner who has an interesting story. He now resides in Huntsville, AL, after living in many different locations across the U.S. His focus has changed from competitive cycling to running, and he has been successful at the regional level since 2008.
Keith is a kind and engaging individual and was willing to answer several training related questions.
1) Keith, you have a background in mountain biking. When you were racing back then, did you ride every day? Was there a training schedule?
I started racing mountain bikes in 1989 when I was twelve years old. I was always self-coached and was obssessed with training methods, and training and winning in general. I was a national class amateur. I have tried everything including short intervals, very short intervals, medium intervals, pedalling with one leg, heavy weights, light weights, lots of good ole fashioned hard riding on trails, road group rides (very important), intervals at a very precise predetermined speed, long climbs, long 6-8 hour rides, etc. Sometimes my training didn't vary much week to week, sometimes I'de have a periodized training plan down to the minute. Also, I should note that after a you reach a certain level, even mountain bikers do most of their training on the road and I also raced at a fairly high level on the raod. I was always training a lot and was probably overtrained 90% of the time! I wish I could have made myself rest more. I've tried everything (except resting enough!).Looking back over the many years, what worked the best? In a nutshell: train very hard and then don't train hard again until you are rested enough to do better than the last hard session. I think that it's that simple. The best training for me was 1) riding 45 minute climbs in the mountains at a hard, uncomfortable (but sustainable) pace while chasing someone who was faster than me and 2) group road rides (which can be harder than races), esp getting in a fast small breakaway where there were just one or two others where I would be really uncomfortable, really above my limit and want to quit, but kept going anyway, far past what I thought I could do! The most gains that I ever had were the summer of when a friend and I rode very hard, up long gravel road climbs every Tuesday, all summer. I recall that I used a heart rate monitor to stay slightly below my anaerobic thresold (which I tested fairly regularly using the simple Conconi test). He was quite a bit faster than me and our rides were 3-6hrs. Thursday was a short one hour group road ride and Saturday was a two hour group road ride and both of these had pretty hard sections. So three days getting out of the comfort zone with Tuesday being the most important. I mostly didnt ride the other days. One last thing. I made large gains in 1998 too. By then I was a top regional rider and had a huge base. One workout that sticks out in my memory was three 5 minute intervals every Wednesday on the indoor trainer from December to March before the real season started. This doesn't sound like much, but I used a rear mounted computer to accurately measure my speed. So if the previous week was able to do them at 37km/hr (the actual speed is abitrary and does not correlate to speed on the road), then this week I would do them at 38km/hr or maybe just the last one at that pace. These were VERY difficult and took everything I had to hold the pace for the full five minutes! But I believe that they made me very strong from then on. Races actually seemed easier than completing these intervals! The key was making those tiny increments each week and I wasn't able to cheat at any point during the session since I would immediately know because of the cycling computer. I'm using this in my running training now and so far I seem to be breaking through a plateau. The treadmill is a magical training device, because once you figure that pace that you want to hold (a tiny increment up from last week), you can't cheat even for 3 seconds! You just have to find ways to push through the discomfort. You can be confident that you've gotten faster or if you failed that you didn't rest enough (shame on you; lesson learned).
2) Did you run during those MTN bike days?
I ran sometimes, but I never really enjoyed it. I was like, Why run when you could ride a bike? I probably ran more in muddy mountain bike races or in cyclocross races than in training.
3) If you could only run 1 day per week, what type of run would you do?
This one is easy to answer. I'de run as hard as I could sustain for 35-45'. This is basically a 10k PR attempt every time. Ideally this would be with a group that includes people faster than me (not too much faster, maybe 20'; per mile) and some people a little slower (so I'm not always losing). I get so much energy running with others and I just plain enjoy people. There should be sections (or possibly most of the run) where because the pace is so high you want to slow down or even stop (BUT YOU DON'T!). Times when you're chasing one of you're faster friends and you know that you're at your mile PR pace, but somehow you hold it for 1.5 miles and you can't even believe it, you're amazed! And then you crack and start get dropped, but somehow manage to hold it together enough in the last mile to finish just 10' behind your faster friend. You are a changed runner after an accomplishment like that!
4) Ok, so now you get a 2nd day, what will be the 2nd type?
A repeat of what I would do if I only had one day. When I first started running in 2008 I was still in pretty good cycling shape. The running shop in San Antonio had group runs on Mondays and Wednesdays. There was a course for Monday and one for Wednesday and both were five miles. So I began doing them in January and never missed a single one until I moved away at the end of May. This was the only training that I did, except for riding my bike slowly around town to friend's houses or to the grocery store, etc. I treated each run as if it was a race and there were a few guys who would really push me! I really looked forward to hanging out with everyone before and after the run. I did my first race in April, a flat 10k at 5'; pace (goal was under 6'; pace). It was very hard, but I recall pushing waaaay past my limit and passing a couple of guys in the last mile to get third place! I'm not kidding, at one point I was just 200m from the line and almost had to walk because the discomfort was so much. Though I think that the easy cycling helped maintain my base, this was on just 10 miles of running per week.
5) What is your favorite place to run in the North Alabama area?
Every run is on Monte Sano. Just kidding. Almost. I don't know if I have a favorite. Of course Monte Sano is great. It's really a runner's paradise and I definitely prefer trails to road. I know that it might sound strange, but I also enjoy that paved path along Gunterville Lake. I wish that we had a medium grade five mile gravel road climb in the area. I would definitely use that.
6) What tips would you have for a new runner?
Train hard (sustainable uncomfortable) when you train and then rest. Rest until you're confident that you can train a tiny bit faster (or longer at the same pace) than the last time. During the rest you still run, swim, bike, lift weights, etc, but always remember that getting out of your comfort zone is what's going to make you faster (assuming here that that's what you're after). If you're doing a 30 minute run at a fast, uncomfortable (but sustainable) pace, then those last 10 minutes count more that if you were to do while fresh. I'm not sure that I'm explaining myself very well, but those first 20 minutes are just getting you to the point where those last 10 minutes will be extra valuable, much more than if you were fresh. Find a group to run with regularly. I look forward to group runs so much, especialy the challenge and the camradere. Note: To the cyclists crossing over. Two things: 1) Cycling is exactly like interval training,meaning that sometimes you're going REALLY hard, even sprinting in the middle of the race and then sometimes you're coasting, getting a rest. Therefore, the hardest aspect of running will be that you never get to rest, even for 5 seconds! Running is SO steady and the discomfort builds slowly and nevers goes away (very unlike cycling). 2) Technique varies is you're running faster or slower. I mean, your technique is roughly the same whether you're going at 15mph or 30mph (your crankarm length is fixed), while your technique will be MUCH different if your running at 5 min/mi versus 8min/mi.
