So here we are, already getting into the middle of February.
A bit like in the middle of a long race I kind of 'zoned out' with my blogging in these cold months.
January started out great. After a few days off at the end of December, I hit the ground running in 2010. I'd clocked 100 miles in the first 10 days, well on track. By the middle of the month I started getting some pain on the outer side of my left foot. I started getting paranoid it was a stress fracture, but after spending more time at the Newton Labs I realized it was being caused by tight tendons down the outer side of the leg.
More rolling, and a few extra days off. I decided to go ahead with a 5K in City Park that I'd run the previous year - the 'Run for the the Dream'. I wanted to get a time to get me into the AA wave of the Bolder Boulder, and the relatively flat course in City Park seemed ideal. The race went well - I maintained a 6.15 pace, easily inside the time I needed and came 3rd overall, 1st in my age group. Unfortunately the course was long. Most races use the same course in City Park, so I knew immediately the finish was in the wrong place. I spoke to the organizer afterward and he confirmed that they'd made it a tenth of a mile longer by mistake. GRRR. I still ran a PR - 19.57, but with that extra 10th of a mile I missed the time I needed by a few seconds. In reality the time was around 19.25 if you adjust for the extra distance, so it tells me there's PRs to be had again this year.
My foot was still gimpy, so I took the rest of the weekend off.
Following advice from runners on the Boston boards, I decided to get a sports massage. Both the foot, and my previous knee issues, were caused by tight tendons. Getting into a semi-regular massage program might be the preventative maintenance that I was looking for.
On January 18th I saw Steve Lynn. He spent an hour on my legs and things felt good. He told me to drink water afterward, which I did a little, but didn't think too much of it. The next morning I woke up with flu like symptoms in my legs. I figured it was just the massage and went to work, but by midday my whole body was going downhill. I ended up taking the rest of the week off work sick in bed. No running - unless you count the multiple repeats I was doing to the toilet...
I later learned that some people can have this type of reaction to a deep tissue massage. The lymph fluid, and general 'gunk' that's been stored for years in the muscles is released, causing the immune system to go into overdrive. Friends told me that I needed to drink copious amounts of water, and even cleansing detox tea to avoid this the next time.
The foot, and sickness had put a big dent in things. I'd run 100 miles in the first 10 days of the month, and then just 26 in the next 13. Fortunately with my foot issue under control with constant rolling, and the sickness finally at bay, I was able to get back to it. I ran 75 miles over the last 8 days of the month to just achieve the 200 mile / month target.
Not the way I'd hoped to start the year, but I feel that I'm learning more about my body and how running impacts it.
I see a lot of runners out and around Stapleton, and after speaking to a few, realized there might be interest in a local running club. An alternative to the existing offerings that require monthly memberships. I created a yahoo group, a simple website (www.stapletonrunners.com), and had some business cards printed to hand out to runners that I see out. We started off with some 'fun runs' at the weekend. Still early days - we have 20+ people in the yahoo group, but only 3 or 4 have shown up for runs. As the weather warms up, I'm hoping this can develop into a reasonable sized group spanning beginners to sub 3 hour marathoners. I've given cards to people in both camps.
February has started off well. 11 days in and I should pass the 100 mile mark today, with 2 rest days included. I don't want to tempt fate, but my knees and foot seem to be under control. It's a struggle to get up early for some of the long mid-week runs that Pfitz is calling for (15 yesterday, 13 tomorrow), but so far I've just about managed to juggle the work and running.
Just 67 days until Boston...
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
2010 Goals
The Christmas and New Year festivities are over, now's the time to think about the coming year.
I was able to close out 2009 by getting back to some reasonable mileage. I started running again after the PT visit. While I still have some knee pain, it's less than it was before and the combination of exercises, switching to the newtons, and not pushing things too hard seems to have helped. I was able to run 90 miles in the last two weeks of the month and easily make my previous year's resolution to run 100 miles every month.
When I set that goal last December it seemed like a big stretch. I was coming off my first ever 100 mile month and - truth be told - would have bet against myself achieving it. Last January I was just seeing how things went, not yet committed to a marathon. I closed out 2009 with 1735 miles and over 100 every month. I took the last 2 days off with sore calves (due to the newtons), otherwise it would have been 1750.
Moving into 2010
I want to try to run 200 miles / month. This one is very much injury dependent, so I'd be very happy if I ended up with 2400 miles, even if some months fell short. Realistically some will due to the cyclical nature of training around the marathons.
I want to run the Boston marathon in April, then either Chicago or New York (or both) in the fall. I may even run the Denver marathon too, although that wouldn't be for a time. Then I could sign up for Marathon Maniacs.
I'd like to go below 3.10 at Boston. Having run 2 marathons now I feel a little more comfortable with the distance. In both Chicago and CIM I was on target for below 3.15 and then lost time over the last 5 miles. With an injury free training session and better race and hydration strategy, I'm pretty sure 3.10 is a achievable.
If I do make 3.10 at Boston, then I'd like to shave more time off in the fall marathon. When I was 18 I thought I had a sub 3 hour marathon in me. If I'd run one then, then it's very likely I would have made it. That's still probably too lofty a goal for me, but if things go well in the races this year I'm not ready to rule it out as my ultimate marathon goal. I don't think there's any danger of me breaking that this year though.
I've already run a 1.31 half. To get the automatic qualification for New York I just need to lower that to sub 1.30. My initial half goal for 2010 will therefore be to do that, with the stretch goal to go below 1.28.
As for the shorter distances - I want to beat all my PRs from 2009. I want to get into the AA wave at the Bolder Boulder. That should be pretty realistic. I'll attack that through a 5K in the coming month - needing to get below 19.53. That's only 20 seconds faster than my current PR, set last summer. I didn't run many so this one I'm hoping I can knock off fairly soon.
I'd also like to run the Mount Evans Ascent in June. 14 miles up a mountain to the top of the highest paved road in North America at over 14,200 feet. Far higher than any Tour de France stage ever goes. This more 'because it's there'. I see Mount Evans every day from Denver, and have taken 2 scooters to the summit. It seems a natural progression to run up it.
I want to do this by training smarter. I've just ordered a soft heart rate monitor strap for my garmin. It's hard to know what my 'marathon pace' is - when I'm hoping to knock 10 mins off it, so I'm going to work out my maximum HR and tailor my workouts just as much off that than actual speed.
I was able to close out 2009 by getting back to some reasonable mileage. I started running again after the PT visit. While I still have some knee pain, it's less than it was before and the combination of exercises, switching to the newtons, and not pushing things too hard seems to have helped. I was able to run 90 miles in the last two weeks of the month and easily make my previous year's resolution to run 100 miles every month.
When I set that goal last December it seemed like a big stretch. I was coming off my first ever 100 mile month and - truth be told - would have bet against myself achieving it. Last January I was just seeing how things went, not yet committed to a marathon. I closed out 2009 with 1735 miles and over 100 every month. I took the last 2 days off with sore calves (due to the newtons), otherwise it would have been 1750.
Moving into 2010
I want to try to run 200 miles / month. This one is very much injury dependent, so I'd be very happy if I ended up with 2400 miles, even if some months fell short. Realistically some will due to the cyclical nature of training around the marathons.
I want to run the Boston marathon in April, then either Chicago or New York (or both) in the fall. I may even run the Denver marathon too, although that wouldn't be for a time. Then I could sign up for Marathon Maniacs.
I'd like to go below 3.10 at Boston. Having run 2 marathons now I feel a little more comfortable with the distance. In both Chicago and CIM I was on target for below 3.15 and then lost time over the last 5 miles. With an injury free training session and better race and hydration strategy, I'm pretty sure 3.10 is a achievable.
If I do make 3.10 at Boston, then I'd like to shave more time off in the fall marathon. When I was 18 I thought I had a sub 3 hour marathon in me. If I'd run one then, then it's very likely I would have made it. That's still probably too lofty a goal for me, but if things go well in the races this year I'm not ready to rule it out as my ultimate marathon goal. I don't think there's any danger of me breaking that this year though.
I've already run a 1.31 half. To get the automatic qualification for New York I just need to lower that to sub 1.30. My initial half goal for 2010 will therefore be to do that, with the stretch goal to go below 1.28.
As for the shorter distances - I want to beat all my PRs from 2009. I want to get into the AA wave at the Bolder Boulder. That should be pretty realistic. I'll attack that through a 5K in the coming month - needing to get below 19.53. That's only 20 seconds faster than my current PR, set last summer. I didn't run many so this one I'm hoping I can knock off fairly soon.
I'd also like to run the Mount Evans Ascent in June. 14 miles up a mountain to the top of the highest paved road in North America at over 14,200 feet. Far higher than any Tour de France stage ever goes. This more 'because it's there'. I see Mount Evans every day from Denver, and have taken 2 scooters to the summit. It seems a natural progression to run up it.
I want to do this by training smarter. I've just ordered a soft heart rate monitor strap for my garmin. It's hard to know what my 'marathon pace' is - when I'm hoping to knock 10 mins off it, so I'm going to work out my maximum HR and tailor my workouts just as much off that than actual speed.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Downtime and Newtons
After CIM I took the time off I'd promised myself.
For the first couple of days that was easy, but once the stiffness had gone it was a lot harder to hold myself back. Still - after a week without running I was a little disappointed to feel some residual pain in my left knee. I booked another physiotherapy appointment to find out what was going on.
A few days before I had the PT visit I found myself in Boulder. It's only a 30 minute drive from our house and I'd read about the Newton Running lab there. If you haven't heard about Newton - it's a relatively new (couple of years) old shoe company who believe landing on your midfoot/forefoot is the most natural way to run, as well as being the fastest and most efficient way to run. They design shoes to try to achieve that, as well as recommending you change your running style to shorter strides, concentrating on landing on the mid-foot. Very much like Chi-running. I'd read reviews in a couple of places with some people saying that they'd been injury plagued before switching to their newtons.
The shoes aren't cheap, so my intention was just to check the place out. When I got there I found myself being fitted by Danny Abshire, the co-founder of the company and designer of the shoes. Pretty cool. Danny showed me how to run in them, and helped change an insole I'd brought with me to add extra support. I can get a 15% discount through runners roost, and when I mentioned that to him - he said they'd match that. So I walked out with my Christmas presents...
But I didn't run in them. The plan was still to take December off and I had the PT appointment coming up. When I saw the doctor he suggested a few new exercises - trying to give additional motion to my left hip which was tight, and some calf stretches too. I mentioned the time I was taking off, expecting to be congratulated, and got the opposite reaction. He told me to get back to it straight away, reasoning that if I wasn't running, I couldn't be providing feedback on the new exercises.
Twist my arm doc. The next day, after 10 days off, I was back at it. I ran 6 slow miles in the newtons. They were definitely different. I'm naturally a heal striker so I had to really concentrate on my form and kept catching myself slipping back to old habits. The next day when I woke up - no knee pain at all. That was a little bit of a shocker. I hadn't had that happen for a couple of months. I decided to push things a little more. I ran 8 miles both the next two days. Again - no pain. I took a day off, and then ran 13 one day and 8 the next. No pain. Amazing. I'm sure it was partly the exercises, but the shoes and changing styles was likely the biggest contributor.
This was partly proven out today - Christmas Eve. We had a snow storm come through yesterday dropping 8 inches. Knowing that I'll not run so much on Christmas day, I very much wanted to get 10 miles in. 10 miles on the treadmill is my vision of hell, so with some suggestions from the RW boards I took the kayanos that I'd been running in recently and screwed in 20 x 3/8th inch sheet metal screws to each. They worked great. They gave me the grip I needed to run on the compacted snow.
Literally half a mile in I could feel my left knee again. I was still trying to maintain the mid-foot form, and the pain went away a little, but after 6 miles it was definitely back. Rather than risk damage, I came home, switched to my newtons and ran the rest of the miles on the treadmill. No pain. So definitely the shoes help - I'd had the kayanos fitted at a running store using the slo-mo video so know that my form in them was good, albeit as a heal striker. Still - this was all the proof I needed. From now on - I'm a newton guy. Great shoes, and a local company to boot. I've still not completely got used to the style. I find myself regressing back - at least to the longer strides. It's going to take several months before I do it naturally.
I've spent the last few days getting my running plan together for Boston. I'm going to use the Pfitzinger 55-70 mile plan. After the rave reviews from my friends on the RW forums, I figured I owed it to myself to train the right way for once. I realized I didn't have the recent mileage to jump straight into a 70 mile / week program, so have adjusted it slightly - starting off with the 50 mile plan for the first few weeks and then merging them together. I've run 53 miles in the past 8 days so am pretty much on track. The 'official' start date I've set myself is next Monday. That will be 16 weeks until Boston. With the help of the newtons and chi running I'm hoping I can get through this cycle healthy !
For the first couple of days that was easy, but once the stiffness had gone it was a lot harder to hold myself back. Still - after a week without running I was a little disappointed to feel some residual pain in my left knee. I booked another physiotherapy appointment to find out what was going on.
A few days before I had the PT visit I found myself in Boulder. It's only a 30 minute drive from our house and I'd read about the Newton Running lab there. If you haven't heard about Newton - it's a relatively new (couple of years) old shoe company who believe landing on your midfoot/forefoot is the most natural way to run, as well as being the fastest and most efficient way to run. They design shoes to try to achieve that, as well as recommending you change your running style to shorter strides, concentrating on landing on the mid-foot. Very much like Chi-running. I'd read reviews in a couple of places with some people saying that they'd been injury plagued before switching to their newtons.
The shoes aren't cheap, so my intention was just to check the place out. When I got there I found myself being fitted by Danny Abshire, the co-founder of the company and designer of the shoes. Pretty cool. Danny showed me how to run in them, and helped change an insole I'd brought with me to add extra support. I can get a 15% discount through runners roost, and when I mentioned that to him - he said they'd match that. So I walked out with my Christmas presents...
But I didn't run in them. The plan was still to take December off and I had the PT appointment coming up. When I saw the doctor he suggested a few new exercises - trying to give additional motion to my left hip which was tight, and some calf stretches too. I mentioned the time I was taking off, expecting to be congratulated, and got the opposite reaction. He told me to get back to it straight away, reasoning that if I wasn't running, I couldn't be providing feedback on the new exercises.
Twist my arm doc. The next day, after 10 days off, I was back at it. I ran 6 slow miles in the newtons. They were definitely different. I'm naturally a heal striker so I had to really concentrate on my form and kept catching myself slipping back to old habits. The next day when I woke up - no knee pain at all. That was a little bit of a shocker. I hadn't had that happen for a couple of months. I decided to push things a little more. I ran 8 miles both the next two days. Again - no pain. I took a day off, and then ran 13 one day and 8 the next. No pain. Amazing. I'm sure it was partly the exercises, but the shoes and changing styles was likely the biggest contributor.
This was partly proven out today - Christmas Eve. We had a snow storm come through yesterday dropping 8 inches. Knowing that I'll not run so much on Christmas day, I very much wanted to get 10 miles in. 10 miles on the treadmill is my vision of hell, so with some suggestions from the RW boards I took the kayanos that I'd been running in recently and screwed in 20 x 3/8th inch sheet metal screws to each. They worked great. They gave me the grip I needed to run on the compacted snow.
Literally half a mile in I could feel my left knee again. I was still trying to maintain the mid-foot form, and the pain went away a little, but after 6 miles it was definitely back. Rather than risk damage, I came home, switched to my newtons and ran the rest of the miles on the treadmill. No pain. So definitely the shoes help - I'd had the kayanos fitted at a running store using the slo-mo video so know that my form in them was good, albeit as a heal striker. Still - this was all the proof I needed. From now on - I'm a newton guy. Great shoes, and a local company to boot. I've still not completely got used to the style. I find myself regressing back - at least to the longer strides. It's going to take several months before I do it naturally.
I've spent the last few days getting my running plan together for Boston. I'm going to use the Pfitzinger 55-70 mile plan. After the rave reviews from my friends on the RW forums, I figured I owed it to myself to train the right way for once. I realized I didn't have the recent mileage to jump straight into a 70 mile / week program, so have adjusted it slightly - starting off with the 50 mile plan for the first few weeks and then merging them together. I've run 53 miles in the past 8 days so am pretty much on track. The 'official' start date I've set myself is next Monday. That will be 16 weeks until Boston. With the help of the newtons and chi running I'm hoping I can get through this cycle healthy !
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
California International Marathon (CIM)
While Chicago was a 'whole experience', I decided CIM would be more of a business trip. I flew in Saturday afternoon and had a flight home Sunday after the race. I went straight to the expo from the airport. It felt similar in size to the Denver one I'd attended 7 weeks prior. Then to a super market to find some supplies and finally the hotel. I'd chosen the Vagabond Inn - by far the cheapest of the recommended hotels. It really wasn't bad, and was walkable to both the expo and the finish line. After unpacking I headed out for dinner with 'GoAnnie' from the runners world forums. I hadn't slept well the past few nights so after dinner went back to the room, watched the end of the Texas v Nebraska game then went to bed early. CIM is a point to point course so buses were due to take us from the hotels at 5:00am
I wrote a race report for the runners world forum - I've included it below.
Race Day
Wake up. Don't look at the clock. It's still the middle of the night. Looked at clock. 1:50am. Uggh. Nice one. 2 hours until the alarm. Go back to sleep. Right ?! Good luck with that. Toss and turn. Finally it's 3.45am. Think positive. Don't think of it as being early - that's actually 4:45am mountain time. No. That's early. Breakfast, shower, let's do a daily on runners world - maybe I can be one of the first despite being on the west coast. Can't. I can get to every site except runners world - the hotel is blocking it ?! Or RW is flakey again. Facebook instead. Ok - concentrate. Get your stuff together. Time to get to reception. 5am - here comes the bus. Must be at least 100 of us waiting - we're not all getting on that thing. GoAnnie had talked about race reports where people got to the line late because they missed the first bus. Try to get up close to front. Phew - I'm on. Here we go. Chat with the guy next to me. Trying to BQ. He just found out it's closed. Sorry man. I can only imagine. This drive is taking forever - 26.2 miles seems a hell of a long way. 45 mins driving and I'm going to run back downtown ? Lucky I've got $40 for a cab if the knee plays up. Better to DNF than damage anything. Right ? I probably shouldn't be thinking like that. Ok - we're here. It's 5:50am. 70 mins to gun time - please don't make us get out. Thank you. Lots of people do leave. It's 28F and windy - you think you're going to 'warm up' ?! Sit there in seat and tape knee. Decide it's not a good attempt so rip it off and tape it again. No tape left so hopefully that lasts. Eat a double pack of shot blocks and drink some gatorade. Close to 6:30am now - 30 mins. Time to go. Strip down and put clothes in checked bag. Put on large trash sack and leave bus. OMG. It's cold. Stand in potty line, then drop off checked bag and stretch. Tape on knee starts slipping down towards calf. Great job Richard. Now what ? Guess we see how long it holds up. 10 mins to go. Wander up towards start line. Where should I stand. Let's try 3.15 pace group - stand at edge. A bit of a pretender. Probably should be a bit more realistic. Best case everything holds together and I beat Chicago time, although not very likely. Still - after all the expense to come out here I'd rather make a good effort and crash and burn than take it too easy. 1 minute to go and get pelted with throw away clothes. Shouldn't have stood at edge. Off comes trash sack and we're away.
Start slow Richard. Seriously - s l o w l y. A race is only lost, not won in the first mile. I read that somewhere. Hey - don't cut me up - I can't go any faster, it's pretty packed in here. Thud - sound of runner a few back tumbling and follow up yelps as others go down on top. Stay calm. Ok - a downhill, not too fast. Here's the first mile marker. 7.35. Perfect. Ahead of a 3.20 pace but slower than the 7.26 for a 3.15. No knee pain yet so worst case only a 25 mile taxi ride now. A little faster now. Take the apexes. I read that too. We're doing a lot of rolling hills - seems tougher than the video. Running strong. Keeping constant and picking people off on every hill. 7.16 second mile. Ok - good. A little fast, but now you're on 7.26 pace. Where's that 3.15 pacer going - seems like it's a bit fast. Guess he knows what he's doing, maybe it's a strategy - positive split ? No - that's not good. Let's hang with him a little longer. More hills. Some wind. This is colder than Chicago. I wasn't expecting this in California. Here comes the next split. 7.08. Hmm. That's 20 seconds too fast. What's this guy doing. We're just 30 yards behind the 3.10 pace group after 3 miles - can that be right ? Garmin is accurately calling the miles, let's stick with that and not this guy. Let them pull away, they'll be coming back to you later if they go out this fast.
7.15 next mile - and that's letting them go ? Stay consistent. How's the knee. Ok. Tape now completely off knee and over top of calf. Should I stop and rip it off ? Nahh. It's not bothering me, although imagine runners behind wondering what a bit of flapping tape is going to help with. Another water stop - run through it. I've still got my small bottle of gatorade. 5 miles in and I haven't drunk 10 oz ? You need to have finished this by the next stop. Promise me. Learn from Chicago. 7.18. All under pace. Keep this up and you're looking at 3.13. Don't think that way. Zone out - listen to your body. Here comes 6 miles and the first relay check point. Lots of people turn off. Wow - a confidence boost. 7.23. Mentally calculating - so here comes the quarter point. Stop it - you're not supposed to think like that. Break it into mini races. Thinking about 26 miles is overwhelming. I read that too.
7.24. Good - more around what I want to be doing. 19 to go. What did I just say ? Take a gel shot. Can feel my stomach sloshing. Another water stop - take some finally. More hills - hey - this may be net downhill, but there's a lot more up than I was expecting. Mentally strong on the hills. I live in Colorado - a 200 foot hill is a pimple. 2 girls next to me looking strong - we seem to be keeping a similar pace. Mile 8, 7.30, Mile 9, 7.29. Hmm - just a few seconds slower than pace, but still feel good. Looks like the knee will at least get me to the half. Promise me you'll run to the half, even if it hurts. You can drop out then. 7.16, 7.12, 7.24, 7.25 - half in exactly 1.37. Take check. Not bad. You ran your first half marathon ever just 7 months ago and struggled in just under 1.36, and here you are just a minute slower in a marathon and feeling pretty good. Now if I have to stop I bet the cab will be under $20. Stop thinking like that. Need to be mentally strong. Stop thinking about stopping - it's making you soft. I tell the guy next to me 'now the race begins'. Picturing Chicago I'm running towards the United Center now. The start of the boring part of that course. Beginning to over take people with few going past me. Nice feeling. Mile 14. Another 7.25. Going well.
UGGH. Where did that wind come from. Brutal in our face, must be 20 mph at least. Guy next to me leaning like he's in a hurricane. Doesn't that hurt your legs ? Need to find a tall person to get behind. Can't see anyone. Still running with the 2 girls. Get behind them. Can't be more than 5 foot 4, but they're close together so maybe it helps a little. Now the wind's from the side. That's not fair. 7.37. Uggh. That's all wind. Probably 15 seconds slower because of it. Need to push through it. 7.29 for the 16th mile. 7.24 overall pace at the moment. Nice. Wind still tough - long straight road into the wind. When do we turn off ? Do we turn off or is this to the end. Wish I knew the course. More wind. This wind is worse than a hill. I'd take a hill anytime over this. What's that up ahead ? Oh great. Here comes a hill and we've still got the wind. Nicely tempting fate there Richard - why did you have to think that ? Wind and hill are worse than just wind. 7.27. 7.29. Finally - we're turning.
Now it's a side wind and even a little behind us. I laugh in the face of a tail wind. The 2 girls talk briefly and one drops back - I can imagine a 'no - you go on' type thing. The other keeps pace. Another guy in a white shirt is there too. The 3 of us are overtaking everyone, although we're just keeping consistent. Mile 19. 7.33. Hmm - a little slower. I feel decent, just a few minor twinges from the knee. In Chicago this was where I started bonking - hope it's not starting again. 7.35 for the 20th mile. Don't worry - that's just 8 seconds over pace - you're still a little ahead of 3.15 and still feel good. Just a 10K to go. Yes - that's what you're supposed to think. I read that. I've only run one 10K - the Bolder Boulder. That was tough. Ok - don't think that. Just picture the distance. 7.30 next split. Way hay. That's going the right direction. Should I be drinking more ? My stomach still feels like it's sloshing but I haven't had much. Take a quick sip. No bonk yet and just 5 to go. The girl drops back. Maybe I've got this right. I can't believe after such a crappy last 6 weeks of training that I'm running this much better than Chicago. Thinking about my acceptance post on BATTASS. What's the level called again ? Can't remember. It's the lowest one. Something fluffy I think. I'll take it.
22 miles. 7.43. No. That's not in the script. Where did that come from ? Still feeling okay. Guy in white DROPS ME. Come back. Uhoh. HTFU. Calf starting to cramp. No you don't - I won't permit that. Try to relax. Relax ? Idiot. Stop talking to yourself. Last little hill over a bridge - I read about this on the CA forums. Flat to the end. 7.46. Ok - still okay. 3.15 still possible if I can speed up. Just a 5K to go. Come on 7.30 pace to the end. That's just 8 mph. Easy peasy. HTFU. Seriously. Count down the city streets. 50 something down to 9. Seriously ? These blocks seem big - I've got to run 40 of them ? 7.57 next split. Nooo. What's going on ? 2 miles to go. Suck it up. 15 minutes of pain. 8.01. Baah. There goes 3.15. Running in treacle. People passing me now. Can feel and taste the shots in my stomach. Should I stop to be sick ? No. Gut it out. What's this - giving out twizzler sticks ? That's all I need - my teeth stuck together. No thanks. A mile to go now. Water station ? No thanks again - I can drink when I'm done. Other people suffering too. Over taking some, others flying by. That's going to be me one day. Nice crowds. Downtown Sacramento. Mile 26. 8.12 split - slowest of the race. There goes 3.16 too. Not much you can do now. Just a few hundred yards left. Wow - is that guy alright. He's staggering diagonally like that famous video of the Olympic marathon finish. Hope he makes it. Last turn. Oh yes - they're going to split men and women for separate finishes. A tradition here. Stick to the right. Final sprint. I can't. Legs don't want to. Here comes the line. Don't be the person in the photo stopping your watch. Hands in the air, try to fake a smile, across the mat. Click stop. What does it say ? 3.17.43 Wow - you dropped fast. Hey - wait. I've just run another marathon ! And despite the last 4 miles it seemed a little easier than before. Realization. 3 mins better than just 8 weeks ago on a tougher course and with a very limited training program. On cue knee starts to lock up. That's ok - sorry. I'll look after you now. Promise. Medal, photo, find checked bag. Warm clothes. Not bad. I'm in the Goldilocks club.
So that was my race. Better than I was expecting. I still know I can do better. I need to get a handle on those last 4 or 5 miles. I don't think the bonk is carbs related. I do a good job loading, and if anything think I take too much before and during the race. At the end I was very dehydrated - the same as I'd been at Chicago. I think that's probably more the culprit. That, and the limited training I'd been able to do this cycle. Still - lots of positives, and lots of lessons I can apply for my next race.
CIM was a decent race. The course wasn't the most exciting, but the finish is nice downtown. If the weather had been a little warmer and the wind hadn't been so strong it would have been a lot more 'enjoyable'. I doubt I'll go back, but if you're thinking about it and it fits your timing - I would definitely recommend it.
After the race I hobbled back to the hotel, checked out, then went to the post race FE at the Pyramid. Met some of the California folks. Then headed to the airport. Our flight was delayed several hours due to snow in Denver. I finally got home a little after 9pm and didn't get to bed until midnight. A long day, but a fairly successful day. I felt a lot better about it than I had after Chicago.
I wrote a race report for the runners world forum - I've included it below.
Race Day
Wake up. Don't look at the clock. It's still the middle of the night. Looked at clock. 1:50am. Uggh. Nice one. 2 hours until the alarm. Go back to sleep. Right ?! Good luck with that. Toss and turn. Finally it's 3.45am. Think positive. Don't think of it as being early - that's actually 4:45am mountain time. No. That's early. Breakfast, shower, let's do a daily on runners world - maybe I can be one of the first despite being on the west coast. Can't. I can get to every site except runners world - the hotel is blocking it ?! Or RW is flakey again. Facebook instead. Ok - concentrate. Get your stuff together. Time to get to reception. 5am - here comes the bus. Must be at least 100 of us waiting - we're not all getting on that thing. GoAnnie had talked about race reports where people got to the line late because they missed the first bus. Try to get up close to front. Phew - I'm on. Here we go. Chat with the guy next to me. Trying to BQ. He just found out it's closed. Sorry man. I can only imagine. This drive is taking forever - 26.2 miles seems a hell of a long way. 45 mins driving and I'm going to run back downtown ? Lucky I've got $40 for a cab if the knee plays up. Better to DNF than damage anything. Right ? I probably shouldn't be thinking like that. Ok - we're here. It's 5:50am. 70 mins to gun time - please don't make us get out. Thank you. Lots of people do leave. It's 28F and windy - you think you're going to 'warm up' ?! Sit there in seat and tape knee. Decide it's not a good attempt so rip it off and tape it again. No tape left so hopefully that lasts. Eat a double pack of shot blocks and drink some gatorade. Close to 6:30am now - 30 mins. Time to go. Strip down and put clothes in checked bag. Put on large trash sack and leave bus. OMG. It's cold. Stand in potty line, then drop off checked bag and stretch. Tape on knee starts slipping down towards calf. Great job Richard. Now what ? Guess we see how long it holds up. 10 mins to go. Wander up towards start line. Where should I stand. Let's try 3.15 pace group - stand at edge. A bit of a pretender. Probably should be a bit more realistic. Best case everything holds together and I beat Chicago time, although not very likely. Still - after all the expense to come out here I'd rather make a good effort and crash and burn than take it too easy. 1 minute to go and get pelted with throw away clothes. Shouldn't have stood at edge. Off comes trash sack and we're away.
Start slow Richard. Seriously - s l o w l y. A race is only lost, not won in the first mile. I read that somewhere. Hey - don't cut me up - I can't go any faster, it's pretty packed in here. Thud - sound of runner a few back tumbling and follow up yelps as others go down on top. Stay calm. Ok - a downhill, not too fast. Here's the first mile marker. 7.35. Perfect. Ahead of a 3.20 pace but slower than the 7.26 for a 3.15. No knee pain yet so worst case only a 25 mile taxi ride now. A little faster now. Take the apexes. I read that too. We're doing a lot of rolling hills - seems tougher than the video. Running strong. Keeping constant and picking people off on every hill. 7.16 second mile. Ok - good. A little fast, but now you're on 7.26 pace. Where's that 3.15 pacer going - seems like it's a bit fast. Guess he knows what he's doing, maybe it's a strategy - positive split ? No - that's not good. Let's hang with him a little longer. More hills. Some wind. This is colder than Chicago. I wasn't expecting this in California. Here comes the next split. 7.08. Hmm. That's 20 seconds too fast. What's this guy doing. We're just 30 yards behind the 3.10 pace group after 3 miles - can that be right ? Garmin is accurately calling the miles, let's stick with that and not this guy. Let them pull away, they'll be coming back to you later if they go out this fast.
7.15 next mile - and that's letting them go ? Stay consistent. How's the knee. Ok. Tape now completely off knee and over top of calf. Should I stop and rip it off ? Nahh. It's not bothering me, although imagine runners behind wondering what a bit of flapping tape is going to help with. Another water stop - run through it. I've still got my small bottle of gatorade. 5 miles in and I haven't drunk 10 oz ? You need to have finished this by the next stop. Promise me. Learn from Chicago. 7.18. All under pace. Keep this up and you're looking at 3.13. Don't think that way. Zone out - listen to your body. Here comes 6 miles and the first relay check point. Lots of people turn off. Wow - a confidence boost. 7.23. Mentally calculating - so here comes the quarter point. Stop it - you're not supposed to think like that. Break it into mini races. Thinking about 26 miles is overwhelming. I read that too.
7.24. Good - more around what I want to be doing. 19 to go. What did I just say ? Take a gel shot. Can feel my stomach sloshing. Another water stop - take some finally. More hills - hey - this may be net downhill, but there's a lot more up than I was expecting. Mentally strong on the hills. I live in Colorado - a 200 foot hill is a pimple. 2 girls next to me looking strong - we seem to be keeping a similar pace. Mile 8, 7.30, Mile 9, 7.29. Hmm - just a few seconds slower than pace, but still feel good. Looks like the knee will at least get me to the half. Promise me you'll run to the half, even if it hurts. You can drop out then. 7.16, 7.12, 7.24, 7.25 - half in exactly 1.37. Take check. Not bad. You ran your first half marathon ever just 7 months ago and struggled in just under 1.36, and here you are just a minute slower in a marathon and feeling pretty good. Now if I have to stop I bet the cab will be under $20. Stop thinking like that. Need to be mentally strong. Stop thinking about stopping - it's making you soft. I tell the guy next to me 'now the race begins'. Picturing Chicago I'm running towards the United Center now. The start of the boring part of that course. Beginning to over take people with few going past me. Nice feeling. Mile 14. Another 7.25. Going well.
UGGH. Where did that wind come from. Brutal in our face, must be 20 mph at least. Guy next to me leaning like he's in a hurricane. Doesn't that hurt your legs ? Need to find a tall person to get behind. Can't see anyone. Still running with the 2 girls. Get behind them. Can't be more than 5 foot 4, but they're close together so maybe it helps a little. Now the wind's from the side. That's not fair. 7.37. Uggh. That's all wind. Probably 15 seconds slower because of it. Need to push through it. 7.29 for the 16th mile. 7.24 overall pace at the moment. Nice. Wind still tough - long straight road into the wind. When do we turn off ? Do we turn off or is this to the end. Wish I knew the course. More wind. This wind is worse than a hill. I'd take a hill anytime over this. What's that up ahead ? Oh great. Here comes a hill and we've still got the wind. Nicely tempting fate there Richard - why did you have to think that ? Wind and hill are worse than just wind. 7.27. 7.29. Finally - we're turning.
Now it's a side wind and even a little behind us. I laugh in the face of a tail wind. The 2 girls talk briefly and one drops back - I can imagine a 'no - you go on' type thing. The other keeps pace. Another guy in a white shirt is there too. The 3 of us are overtaking everyone, although we're just keeping consistent. Mile 19. 7.33. Hmm - a little slower. I feel decent, just a few minor twinges from the knee. In Chicago this was where I started bonking - hope it's not starting again. 7.35 for the 20th mile. Don't worry - that's just 8 seconds over pace - you're still a little ahead of 3.15 and still feel good. Just a 10K to go. Yes - that's what you're supposed to think. I read that. I've only run one 10K - the Bolder Boulder. That was tough. Ok - don't think that. Just picture the distance. 7.30 next split. Way hay. That's going the right direction. Should I be drinking more ? My stomach still feels like it's sloshing but I haven't had much. Take a quick sip. No bonk yet and just 5 to go. The girl drops back. Maybe I've got this right. I can't believe after such a crappy last 6 weeks of training that I'm running this much better than Chicago. Thinking about my acceptance post on BATTASS. What's the level called again ? Can't remember. It's the lowest one. Something fluffy I think. I'll take it.
22 miles. 7.43. No. That's not in the script. Where did that come from ? Still feeling okay. Guy in white DROPS ME. Come back. Uhoh. HTFU. Calf starting to cramp. No you don't - I won't permit that. Try to relax. Relax ? Idiot. Stop talking to yourself. Last little hill over a bridge - I read about this on the CA forums. Flat to the end. 7.46. Ok - still okay. 3.15 still possible if I can speed up. Just a 5K to go. Come on 7.30 pace to the end. That's just 8 mph. Easy peasy. HTFU. Seriously. Count down the city streets. 50 something down to 9. Seriously ? These blocks seem big - I've got to run 40 of them ? 7.57 next split. Nooo. What's going on ? 2 miles to go. Suck it up. 15 minutes of pain. 8.01. Baah. There goes 3.15. Running in treacle. People passing me now. Can feel and taste the shots in my stomach. Should I stop to be sick ? No. Gut it out. What's this - giving out twizzler sticks ? That's all I need - my teeth stuck together. No thanks. A mile to go now. Water station ? No thanks again - I can drink when I'm done. Other people suffering too. Over taking some, others flying by. That's going to be me one day. Nice crowds. Downtown Sacramento. Mile 26. 8.12 split - slowest of the race. There goes 3.16 too. Not much you can do now. Just a few hundred yards left. Wow - is that guy alright. He's staggering diagonally like that famous video of the Olympic marathon finish. Hope he makes it. Last turn. Oh yes - they're going to split men and women for separate finishes. A tradition here. Stick to the right. Final sprint. I can't. Legs don't want to. Here comes the line. Don't be the person in the photo stopping your watch. Hands in the air, try to fake a smile, across the mat. Click stop. What does it say ? 3.17.43 Wow - you dropped fast. Hey - wait. I've just run another marathon ! And despite the last 4 miles it seemed a little easier than before. Realization. 3 mins better than just 8 weeks ago on a tougher course and with a very limited training program. On cue knee starts to lock up. That's ok - sorry. I'll look after you now. Promise. Medal, photo, find checked bag. Warm clothes. Not bad. I'm in the Goldilocks club.
So that was my race. Better than I was expecting. I still know I can do better. I need to get a handle on those last 4 or 5 miles. I don't think the bonk is carbs related. I do a good job loading, and if anything think I take too much before and during the race. At the end I was very dehydrated - the same as I'd been at Chicago. I think that's probably more the culprit. That, and the limited training I'd been able to do this cycle. Still - lots of positives, and lots of lessons I can apply for my next race.
CIM was a decent race. The course wasn't the most exciting, but the finish is nice downtown. If the weather had been a little warmer and the wind hadn't been so strong it would have been a lot more 'enjoyable'. I doubt I'll go back, but if you're thinking about it and it fits your timing - I would definitely recommend it.
After the race I hobbled back to the hotel, checked out, then went to the post race FE at the Pyramid. Met some of the California folks. Then headed to the airport. Our flight was delayed several hours due to snow in Denver. I finally got home a little after 9pm and didn't get to bed until midnight. A long day, but a fairly successful day. I felt a lot better about it than I had after Chicago.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Training, Taping, Tapering, Thanks Giving and a Trot...
Just catching up the last few weeks.
On November 14th the plan called for a 17 miler. I was anxious to see how the exercises were helping my knee.
For the first 5 or 6 miles, everything was great. No pain. But then around 8 miles I started to feel it again. I run a loop so have the option at 9 miles to turn for home, or to keep going. After stopping and stretching, I reluctantly turned for home. The pain was minor, but I didn't want to risk it. With 3 weeks to go to CIM, not the confidence boost I was hoping for.
Looking at my running log, the start of the knee pain coincided with a new pair of running shoes. The kayano 15s had been my 3rd pair in a row, and had checked out okay on the slow-mo video, but still - it seemed a little too much of a coincidence. That afternoon I went back to the running store, got a refund on my orthotics (they'd come with a 4 week guarantee), and used that money towards a new pair of kayano 16s. It may just be mental, but if it helped - I was all for it. Worst case I had 2 pairs of shoes I could rotate.
Sunday off, I went back to treadmill running on Monday. The shoes felt great, and so did the knee. I'd get off every mile or so and do one of the stretches the physio had given me for a few seconds. I ran 6 miles Monday, 6 on Tuesday and even managed a double on Wednesday (6 in the morning, and 6 in the evening), and another 5 on Thursday. If I didn't have a marathon in a few weeks, I wouldn't have been pushing so hard, but I was feeling no pain.
Then at the weekend I tried another test outside. I adapted the plan to run 17 miles again. This time it was a lot better. For the first 8 miles I didn't feel a thing. At 8 I had to stop at some lights, so used the break to lie down and stretch. Then I ran another 3, and then stopped again to stretch. I did that 3 times in total. Either my knee was getting better, or the stretching was 'fixing' things each time. I ran the 17 miles, and ran them pretty quickly. Partly the exuberance of getting out side with minimal pain, and also because I was foolishly trying to make up for lost time and training, but I ran them @ 7.38 pace. I know, I know - not smart, but for me it was a big test. With a marathon in 2 weeks, if I couldn't get through 17 miles at a pace that was 20 seconds / mile slower than I hoped to run in the real thing, then I should be thinking about dropping out. I iced the knee afterwards.
The next day the knee was a little tender so I took the day off - in fact to be safe I took 4 consecutive rest days. Then it was Thanksgiving Day (and my 41st birthday !) and time for the 4 mile Turkey Trot in Wash Park. The anniversary of my first race last year.
The weather was great - forecast to be close to 70 later in the day, it was in the 50s at 10:15am as we lined up. I'd met 4CHI - Phil - and his brother before the race. I thought I was fairly close to the start line, but when the gun went off I had to spend a good minute weaving through the joggers. 10,000 runners were estimated although many unofficial. I didn't have much of a plan - my ideal was to get under 25.52 - the time for the AA wave in the Bolder Boulder, but with the limited training and knee issues - I didn't want to push it too hard. I tried to maintain a 6.28 pace to get there, and was successful for 3 of the 4 miles. For some reason the 3rd mile came in at 6.40. I didn't feel bad - perhaps just not concentrating. So I finished in 26.07 - nearly 4 minutes faster than the year before, and enough to place me 9th out of 322 in my AG. The best news - no knee pain at all.
The next day it was a little tender again. I'm seeing a pattern here. No issues on the day, but a little sore the next. I did go for a very gentle recovery run and met another runner on the trail from out of town needing directions. I ran with him for a few miles and we chatted about Boston. Immediate common ground - one of the great things about the sport.
The next morning, on a whim I logged into the 'injury section' of the runners world board. I looked for anyone with advice for my minor knee issue. And found it in bunches ! My injury is also known as 'runners knee'. There was a lot of advice from others who'd had it and beaten it. There was also some great information on how to tape it. I learned about the McConnell method and found a video on youtube that showed me how to do it myself. I hadn't planned on running that day, but taped my knee and went for a half mile jog to see how it felt. Amazing ! No pain - nothing. Just a few pieces of tape to pull the knee cap back in line, and it felt good as new. I ended up running close to 7 miles and would have run further if we hadn't had plans.
Finding this taping method was perhaps the final piece of the puzzle. I'll rest and take things easy this next week, and then tape the knee on race day. The advice from the boards very much mirrored what the doctor and physio had said. Rest on it's own likely won't help - I need to stretch the IT band and strengthen the quad. I'll spend much of my December doing that so hopefully I'm good to go in January. The taping is a little bit like a safety blanket - giving me the piece of mind I needed, and also preventing further inflamation. The tape is literally doing what the stretching and muscle strengthening will do - pull the knee cap back to the correct positioning, so the beauty of it is that it's not masking the pain - it's preventing it.
On November 14th the plan called for a 17 miler. I was anxious to see how the exercises were helping my knee.
For the first 5 or 6 miles, everything was great. No pain. But then around 8 miles I started to feel it again. I run a loop so have the option at 9 miles to turn for home, or to keep going. After stopping and stretching, I reluctantly turned for home. The pain was minor, but I didn't want to risk it. With 3 weeks to go to CIM, not the confidence boost I was hoping for.
Looking at my running log, the start of the knee pain coincided with a new pair of running shoes. The kayano 15s had been my 3rd pair in a row, and had checked out okay on the slow-mo video, but still - it seemed a little too much of a coincidence. That afternoon I went back to the running store, got a refund on my orthotics (they'd come with a 4 week guarantee), and used that money towards a new pair of kayano 16s. It may just be mental, but if it helped - I was all for it. Worst case I had 2 pairs of shoes I could rotate.
Sunday off, I went back to treadmill running on Monday. The shoes felt great, and so did the knee. I'd get off every mile or so and do one of the stretches the physio had given me for a few seconds. I ran 6 miles Monday, 6 on Tuesday and even managed a double on Wednesday (6 in the morning, and 6 in the evening), and another 5 on Thursday. If I didn't have a marathon in a few weeks, I wouldn't have been pushing so hard, but I was feeling no pain.
Then at the weekend I tried another test outside. I adapted the plan to run 17 miles again. This time it was a lot better. For the first 8 miles I didn't feel a thing. At 8 I had to stop at some lights, so used the break to lie down and stretch. Then I ran another 3, and then stopped again to stretch. I did that 3 times in total. Either my knee was getting better, or the stretching was 'fixing' things each time. I ran the 17 miles, and ran them pretty quickly. Partly the exuberance of getting out side with minimal pain, and also because I was foolishly trying to make up for lost time and training, but I ran them @ 7.38 pace. I know, I know - not smart, but for me it was a big test. With a marathon in 2 weeks, if I couldn't get through 17 miles at a pace that was 20 seconds / mile slower than I hoped to run in the real thing, then I should be thinking about dropping out. I iced the knee afterwards.
The next day the knee was a little tender so I took the day off - in fact to be safe I took 4 consecutive rest days. Then it was Thanksgiving Day (and my 41st birthday !) and time for the 4 mile Turkey Trot in Wash Park. The anniversary of my first race last year.
The weather was great - forecast to be close to 70 later in the day, it was in the 50s at 10:15am as we lined up. I'd met 4CHI - Phil - and his brother before the race. I thought I was fairly close to the start line, but when the gun went off I had to spend a good minute weaving through the joggers. 10,000 runners were estimated although many unofficial. I didn't have much of a plan - my ideal was to get under 25.52 - the time for the AA wave in the Bolder Boulder, but with the limited training and knee issues - I didn't want to push it too hard. I tried to maintain a 6.28 pace to get there, and was successful for 3 of the 4 miles. For some reason the 3rd mile came in at 6.40. I didn't feel bad - perhaps just not concentrating. So I finished in 26.07 - nearly 4 minutes faster than the year before, and enough to place me 9th out of 322 in my AG. The best news - no knee pain at all.
The next day it was a little tender again. I'm seeing a pattern here. No issues on the day, but a little sore the next. I did go for a very gentle recovery run and met another runner on the trail from out of town needing directions. I ran with him for a few miles and we chatted about Boston. Immediate common ground - one of the great things about the sport.
The next morning, on a whim I logged into the 'injury section' of the runners world board. I looked for anyone with advice for my minor knee issue. And found it in bunches ! My injury is also known as 'runners knee'. There was a lot of advice from others who'd had it and beaten it. There was also some great information on how to tape it. I learned about the McConnell method and found a video on youtube that showed me how to do it myself. I hadn't planned on running that day, but taped my knee and went for a half mile jog to see how it felt. Amazing ! No pain - nothing. Just a few pieces of tape to pull the knee cap back in line, and it felt good as new. I ended up running close to 7 miles and would have run further if we hadn't had plans.
Finding this taping method was perhaps the final piece of the puzzle. I'll rest and take things easy this next week, and then tape the knee on race day. The advice from the boards very much mirrored what the doctor and physio had said. Rest on it's own likely won't help - I need to stretch the IT band and strengthen the quad. I'll spend much of my December doing that so hopefully I'm good to go in January. The taping is a little bit like a safety blanket - giving me the piece of mind I needed, and also preventing further inflamation. The tape is literally doing what the stretching and muscle strengthening will do - pull the knee cap back to the correct positioning, so the beauty of it is that it's not masking the pain - it's preventing it.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Patella Femoral Syndrome
So that's what's going on in my left knee. A minor case of patella femoral syndrome. My IT band on the outer side of my left leg is tight, so it pulls the knee cap slightly over that way. That leads to additional rubbing of cartilage on cartilage, and the pain I've felt.
Just backing up a few days. I took most of last week off running. I'd gone to Runners Roost to have my new shoes checked out on the slow-mo video. They'd said they were fine, but the sales lady took literally 2 seconds to tell me that. I took a drive up to Road Runner Sports in Thornton for a second opinion. I tried on several new pairs of shoes but with so few miles on my current ones, and with them getting the thumbs up there too, I decided to stick with my kayano 15s. I did get some custom insoles made to help distribute the foot strike more evenly across the foot.
I went for a very easy 3 mile jog Saturday and felt pretty good, so decided to attempt the longest run on the CIM training plan - a 22 miler on Sunday. It was partly a test. If I couldn't get through a good portion of it, then I'd consider canceling my December marathon. Things started off well - far better than the week before. The plan was to run around 8 min/mile pace, which is my marathon goal pace + 40 seconds. About 5 miles in I could feel some tightness in the knee but it was very minor. Still, it was constantly on my mind. I tried different running styles - standing tall, leaning forwarders a little, exaggerating the heal strike on the left foot, all to see if I could get any cues of how to help. After 10 miles I could feel a little pain so started thinking about calling it a day. I decided to run one more mile to the half way point where I'd left some gatorade. I'd stop and take inventory. So that's what I did. I stopped for less than 30 seconds to switch out bottles (I use a lower back carrying sleeve). I stretched my leg and rubbed the knee cap and started back up. No pain. Nothing. I figured it would come back in a mile or two, but it didn't. So I kept running. The next 'bail' point was 17 miles - that's where the loop I follow gives me the chance to turn towards home. No need - I felt fine, so I kept going. My pace for the first 21 miles was 7.48 min/miles. For the last mile, wanting to practice for a race, I picked it up and ran a 7.21, so overall 7.47 average. Faster than I'd intended, but best of all - my knee felt fine.
Monday was a rest day, and I could feel some tightness in my legs and knees - not unusual following a 22 miler. Tuesday it was much better, but I decided to take another day off to be safe. I'd casually chatted with a doctor at the running store but decided to book an official appointment with my doctor for Wednesday. That morning I almost canceled because everything felt fine, but went anyway. That's when I learned it was a minor case of patella femoral syndrome. He sent me upstairs to the physio, also a runner, who gave me some exercises to loosen the IT band and strengthen the quads to counteract. He also offered to tape my leg the Friday before the race which would help.
I was very glad I went. Knowing that it wasn't a bone on bone issue, and something that was very fixable made me feel great. I took Wednesday off, and then ran a gentle 10K on the treadmill Thursday to minimize impact. I iced the knee straight afterwards. It felt great, but it's normally the next morning where I can feel it. Nope - I woke up and couldn't, so ran another 6 miler on the treadmill Friday. Again - everything good. Very encouraging. CIM is literally 3 weeks away, so the taper is beginning.
While things appear to be slowly getting back to normal, it definitely messed up my training schedule for CIM. No track, no fast or tempo runs, lots of rest days, just easy and long miles. The weekly mileage has been around 25-30 instead of 60-70, and that with the majority in the single long run. My expectations now center more on just completing it at a reasonable pace, chalking up marathon number 2. Gone are the goals of the sub 3.10 time that I'd been harboring. Those will still be there another day.
After 70 degree temps this week which I missed either with rest days or treadmill running, today it's cold. It snowed last night and there's a bigger storm due in this afternoon. Today was meant to be speed work, which I don't want to risk yet, so I'll switch things around and do my long run for the week - 17 miles - today, and likely take a rest day tomorrow. The Broncos have an early game anyway so that works out.
Just over 3 weeks to CIM, and then the rest of December off...
Just backing up a few days. I took most of last week off running. I'd gone to Runners Roost to have my new shoes checked out on the slow-mo video. They'd said they were fine, but the sales lady took literally 2 seconds to tell me that. I took a drive up to Road Runner Sports in Thornton for a second opinion. I tried on several new pairs of shoes but with so few miles on my current ones, and with them getting the thumbs up there too, I decided to stick with my kayano 15s. I did get some custom insoles made to help distribute the foot strike more evenly across the foot.
I went for a very easy 3 mile jog Saturday and felt pretty good, so decided to attempt the longest run on the CIM training plan - a 22 miler on Sunday. It was partly a test. If I couldn't get through a good portion of it, then I'd consider canceling my December marathon. Things started off well - far better than the week before. The plan was to run around 8 min/mile pace, which is my marathon goal pace + 40 seconds. About 5 miles in I could feel some tightness in the knee but it was very minor. Still, it was constantly on my mind. I tried different running styles - standing tall, leaning forwarders a little, exaggerating the heal strike on the left foot, all to see if I could get any cues of how to help. After 10 miles I could feel a little pain so started thinking about calling it a day. I decided to run one more mile to the half way point where I'd left some gatorade. I'd stop and take inventory. So that's what I did. I stopped for less than 30 seconds to switch out bottles (I use a lower back carrying sleeve). I stretched my leg and rubbed the knee cap and started back up. No pain. Nothing. I figured it would come back in a mile or two, but it didn't. So I kept running. The next 'bail' point was 17 miles - that's where the loop I follow gives me the chance to turn towards home. No need - I felt fine, so I kept going. My pace for the first 21 miles was 7.48 min/miles. For the last mile, wanting to practice for a race, I picked it up and ran a 7.21, so overall 7.47 average. Faster than I'd intended, but best of all - my knee felt fine.
Monday was a rest day, and I could feel some tightness in my legs and knees - not unusual following a 22 miler. Tuesday it was much better, but I decided to take another day off to be safe. I'd casually chatted with a doctor at the running store but decided to book an official appointment with my doctor for Wednesday. That morning I almost canceled because everything felt fine, but went anyway. That's when I learned it was a minor case of patella femoral syndrome. He sent me upstairs to the physio, also a runner, who gave me some exercises to loosen the IT band and strengthen the quads to counteract. He also offered to tape my leg the Friday before the race which would help.
I was very glad I went. Knowing that it wasn't a bone on bone issue, and something that was very fixable made me feel great. I took Wednesday off, and then ran a gentle 10K on the treadmill Thursday to minimize impact. I iced the knee straight afterwards. It felt great, but it's normally the next morning where I can feel it. Nope - I woke up and couldn't, so ran another 6 miler on the treadmill Friday. Again - everything good. Very encouraging. CIM is literally 3 weeks away, so the taper is beginning.
While things appear to be slowly getting back to normal, it definitely messed up my training schedule for CIM. No track, no fast or tempo runs, lots of rest days, just easy and long miles. The weekly mileage has been around 25-30 instead of 60-70, and that with the majority in the single long run. My expectations now center more on just completing it at a reasonable pace, chalking up marathon number 2. Gone are the goals of the sub 3.10 time that I'd been harboring. Those will still be there another day.
After 70 degree temps this week which I missed either with rest days or treadmill running, today it's cold. It snowed last night and there's a bigger storm due in this afternoon. Today was meant to be speed work, which I don't want to risk yet, so I'll switch things around and do my long run for the week - 17 miles - today, and likely take a rest day tomorrow. The Broncos have an early game anyway so that works out.
Just over 3 weeks to CIM, and then the rest of December off...
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
One Year In
It's November already. How time flies. It was the realization of turning 40 last November which spurred me back to running. Reaching the one year point got me thinking about how far I've come and the mistakes that I've made.
My first runs were last October. I've kept track of everything in a spreadsheet. Last November I ran 52 miles, almost all on the treadmill. I ran my first race - the 4 mile Turkey Trot in Wash Park on November 27th. I'd hoped to run below 30 minutes, but was just a few seconds over that. While intuitively I'd known it would be harder to run on pavement than a treadmill, that was the first tangible evidence I had. This year I hope to run that same race again with the goal to run below 25.52 to qualify for the AA wave in next year's Bolder Boulder, so more than a minute per mile faster.
Last October I was 183 lbs. Now I'm 153 lbs. Since the summer of 2008 I've actually lost close to 40 lbs.
Back then I didn't have much of an idea about training plans. I'd basically go and run 30 minutes on the treadmill, 3 times a week. As I was able to run further and faster I'd basically just up the distance, but still try to run close to the fastest pace I could go. It wasn't until after I'd run my first half marathon in May that I looked into creating a more detailed training plan for the Chicago marathon in October. I looked at several plans online and came up with one that I thought might work, varying mileage through the week with an increasing mileage long run each weekend. Even then I had no idea about different paces. I thought that by running a fast pace for all my training - including the long runs - was the best way to prepare. What benefit could jogging slowly possibly do ?
Since last November I steadily increased my mileage. December was my first 100 mile month. I was amazed that I'd run that far in a month. The weight was falling off - 4 or 5 lbs a month. For my New Year's resolution I set a goal to run 1000 miles for 2009. I figured it would take me the year. I reached it by the start of August. From January to May I averaged 120 miles / month. In June as I started my Chicago plan, I increased the mileage. 150 in June, 170 in July. 205 in August. My first 200 mile month. September and October dropped a little as I had to taper for, and then run the marathon, but I still averaged 170 miles / month. Again - mostly all at or close to full speed.
I can't completely knock the approach. It did get me a BQ at the first attempt, but now reading the Pfitzinger plan, and getting advice from more experienced runners, I've realized I've been doing a number of things very wrong. It's surprising that I didn't get injured much during the year.
Unfortunately that luck seems to have run out. The past 10 days I've been getting knee pain during and after most runs. Nothing too bad. It'll hurt for a few minutes, then stop. A few hours after the run it's as if nothing had happened, but it's something I need to shake. It's definitely impacting my running.
In hindsight I probably shouldn't have signed up to CIM so soon. I should have taken a month off giving my body time to recover with just some gentle training, then slowly got back to it.
Still - I did sign up for it, and with the money all spent I'm going to see how things go over the next few weeks. I've decided to stop training this week and take 3 or 4 days off. Then I'll try a gentle jog Saturday. If I don't experience any pain I'll run my long run on Sunday, again at a slow pace. That's the longest run before CIM, so I'd then be beginning a gradual taper anyway. If the pain doesn't stop - then I will. I signed up for CIM wanting to beat my Chicago time, but I'm realistic to know that pushing myself for it could set me back for future races.
I don't want to over dramatize this - having experienced knee pain last year and worked through it, I'm confident that a little R&R will help fix things and that I'll be able to go ahead with my second marathon of the year. I may adjust my expectations, but that's okay. I went to the running store earlier and had a custom support added to my shoe. With the slow-motion video analysis of my running gait they told me everything looked good, which makes me feel more confident that rest is all I need. I've already got the fitness base, so taking a few days off really shouldn't have much of an impact.
Moving forwards, however - I'm going to have to drastically change the way I train. While I'll likely increase the mileage to 60 - 70 miles / week, those miles will be run much smarter. A combination of long runs at a slower pace (marathon pace + 40 to 80 seconds per mile), recovery runs at an even slower pace, tempo runs at half-marathon pace, some repeat sprints at varying distances, and perhaps even some cross training and a few races. I've read blogs of other runners on the Boston runners world boards and have seen that similar plans have lead to huge improvements. I'm not sure if I'll see the kinds of gains that they have, but if I can get a little faster and avoid the injuries, then that's fine by me. I'm at an age where runners typically see a decline. A 35-39 year old needs to run 3.15 to qualify for Boston. A 40 - 44 year old needs 3.20. At 45 that time drops to 3.30, reflecting what appears to be a steep decline in running performance. Who says life begins at 40 ?!! :)
Still. A year into this, I'm very glad I got back to running. I love my level of fitness. I'm very happy with the weight loss and the way I feel. I'm proud to have achieved the Boston qualifying time at the first attempt. I also realize there's still a long way to go and hopefully some improvement to be had.
My first runs were last October. I've kept track of everything in a spreadsheet. Last November I ran 52 miles, almost all on the treadmill. I ran my first race - the 4 mile Turkey Trot in Wash Park on November 27th. I'd hoped to run below 30 minutes, but was just a few seconds over that. While intuitively I'd known it would be harder to run on pavement than a treadmill, that was the first tangible evidence I had. This year I hope to run that same race again with the goal to run below 25.52 to qualify for the AA wave in next year's Bolder Boulder, so more than a minute per mile faster.
Last October I was 183 lbs. Now I'm 153 lbs. Since the summer of 2008 I've actually lost close to 40 lbs.
Back then I didn't have much of an idea about training plans. I'd basically go and run 30 minutes on the treadmill, 3 times a week. As I was able to run further and faster I'd basically just up the distance, but still try to run close to the fastest pace I could go. It wasn't until after I'd run my first half marathon in May that I looked into creating a more detailed training plan for the Chicago marathon in October. I looked at several plans online and came up with one that I thought might work, varying mileage through the week with an increasing mileage long run each weekend. Even then I had no idea about different paces. I thought that by running a fast pace for all my training - including the long runs - was the best way to prepare. What benefit could jogging slowly possibly do ?
Since last November I steadily increased my mileage. December was my first 100 mile month. I was amazed that I'd run that far in a month. The weight was falling off - 4 or 5 lbs a month. For my New Year's resolution I set a goal to run 1000 miles for 2009. I figured it would take me the year. I reached it by the start of August. From January to May I averaged 120 miles / month. In June as I started my Chicago plan, I increased the mileage. 150 in June, 170 in July. 205 in August. My first 200 mile month. September and October dropped a little as I had to taper for, and then run the marathon, but I still averaged 170 miles / month. Again - mostly all at or close to full speed.
I can't completely knock the approach. It did get me a BQ at the first attempt, but now reading the Pfitzinger plan, and getting advice from more experienced runners, I've realized I've been doing a number of things very wrong. It's surprising that I didn't get injured much during the year.
Unfortunately that luck seems to have run out. The past 10 days I've been getting knee pain during and after most runs. Nothing too bad. It'll hurt for a few minutes, then stop. A few hours after the run it's as if nothing had happened, but it's something I need to shake. It's definitely impacting my running.
In hindsight I probably shouldn't have signed up to CIM so soon. I should have taken a month off giving my body time to recover with just some gentle training, then slowly got back to it.
Still - I did sign up for it, and with the money all spent I'm going to see how things go over the next few weeks. I've decided to stop training this week and take 3 or 4 days off. Then I'll try a gentle jog Saturday. If I don't experience any pain I'll run my long run on Sunday, again at a slow pace. That's the longest run before CIM, so I'd then be beginning a gradual taper anyway. If the pain doesn't stop - then I will. I signed up for CIM wanting to beat my Chicago time, but I'm realistic to know that pushing myself for it could set me back for future races.
I don't want to over dramatize this - having experienced knee pain last year and worked through it, I'm confident that a little R&R will help fix things and that I'll be able to go ahead with my second marathon of the year. I may adjust my expectations, but that's okay. I went to the running store earlier and had a custom support added to my shoe. With the slow-motion video analysis of my running gait they told me everything looked good, which makes me feel more confident that rest is all I need. I've already got the fitness base, so taking a few days off really shouldn't have much of an impact.
Moving forwards, however - I'm going to have to drastically change the way I train. While I'll likely increase the mileage to 60 - 70 miles / week, those miles will be run much smarter. A combination of long runs at a slower pace (marathon pace + 40 to 80 seconds per mile), recovery runs at an even slower pace, tempo runs at half-marathon pace, some repeat sprints at varying distances, and perhaps even some cross training and a few races. I've read blogs of other runners on the Boston runners world boards and have seen that similar plans have lead to huge improvements. I'm not sure if I'll see the kinds of gains that they have, but if I can get a little faster and avoid the injuries, then that's fine by me. I'm at an age where runners typically see a decline. A 35-39 year old needs to run 3.15 to qualify for Boston. A 40 - 44 year old needs 3.20. At 45 that time drops to 3.30, reflecting what appears to be a steep decline in running performance. Who says life begins at 40 ?!! :)
Still. A year into this, I'm very glad I got back to running. I love my level of fitness. I'm very happy with the weight loss and the way I feel. I'm proud to have achieved the Boston qualifying time at the first attempt. I also realize there's still a long way to go and hopefully some improvement to be had.
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