Monday, October 3, 2011
About three miles total, running to BB with a loop of the field for easy form drills and strides. Hung around a bit visiting xc team, then a quick! run to White Park with the kids. It felt good to wear the fivefingers, and the legs felt fine, if a little tired with some soreness in the hamstrings. But really, I felt good, better than yesterday even. The only residual soreness, other than the hammies, is in my feet, but that's only a minor discomfort, and fading quickly.
Let me recap my last year of training: very sketchy
September-December 2010 - fairly consistent training, low mileage, good job getting back into a running lifestyle. Some good racing in late November and December (~41 min 10k).
January-April 2011 - good maintenance training early on, but more inconsistent once outdoor track began, resulting in a lot of lost fitness. I ran the Boston Marathon after taking off most of late March and early April, with the first half in about 1:45 and hamstring spasms throughout the 2:25 second half. The tips/tops of three toes were very badly blistered. I was certainly not in marathon condition, but what the hell, I had a chance to run Boston again (first time since 1993, I think) and it was a ton of fun!
May-June 2011 - I took all of May off to let the toenails heal properly, and the first half of June concentrating on coaching and working. I started some good cycling in June after buying a nice road bike, including several rides to/from work (about 40-45 hilly miles) and one or two half centuries. Running fitness decreasing, but cardio fitness still high.
July 2011 - 0 miles running. 0 miles biking. 0 miles walking. I spent virtually the entire month lying on me left side in excruciating pain from a herniated lumbar disc. Any residual fitness fades into a vague memory. My right leg is numb and very weak, maybe about 20% strength, and one of my two goals every day is not to fall down. I can stand for about 30 seconds before the pain forces me to get back into my safety position. On the positive side, though, I finally got down to a serious racing weight, under 150 pounds for the first time in about 30 years (so it's due to malnutrition, boo-hoo). An epidural cortisone injection at the end of the month works wonders, though, and I decide to start "training" to get "ready" for The Running School. At the end of the month I can walk, but my right leg is still very weak and somewhat numb, particularly on the inside of the knee. I can probably do a mile in 20 minutes, if I could do a mile. Frankly, I think July sucked ass, and I'll probably repress any remaining memories.
August 2011 - Some light running, but the funky right leg breaks symmetry and causes all kinds of secondary problems, so I spend most of my time on the bike, getting in some pretty good rides. The leg still feels way off on the bike, but I can hammer pretty good anyway. My back is very achy, as is the right hip flexor. I only did one three mile run at The Running School, other than that it was all bike. Fitness and mobility greatly improved, but actual running still negligible.
September 2011 - Very inconsistent running and somewhat less biking. After almost two months of being substantially disabled, I really needed to concentrate on work. My mobility and pain are improving, but the right leg still isn't right.
I signed up months ago, before the injury, for the Reach the Beach relay (200 miles, 12 person teams, 3 legs per runner) in the middle of the month. I was scheduled for a total of 23 miles, with a longest leg of about 9 miles. Crap, I didn't think I could even run 9 miles all at once, so a week before the relay I ran 9 miles. It hurt, but I could do it, and at about 8:30 pace, so I didn't feel like a total scrub. Fortunately, Hurricane Irene washed out one of the roads on the route, and my first leg was shortened from 9 to 3 miles. It was downhill, running southeast from Cannon mountain, and I cranked out a 22 minute three mile, the fastest I've run since about February. My second leg was about 10k in the middle of the night, and I ran very slowly and felt like doggy doo. I was probably shuffling at close to 10 minute pace by the end. My third leg the next morning was about 5.5 miles, and in the first mile my right calf (soleus) tore, and I was reduced to a combination of painful walking and very painful gimping. Not even close to 10 minute miles. Luckily, we get to the beach before nightfall and I soak my legs in the ocean.
I didn't do any running in the last two weeks of the month, except for a six miler last Monday, mainly to see if I could run on the calf without pain. And I could! My right leg is still improving, but much more gradually, almost glacially. I'm beginning to worry about the numbness being permanent. That would really suck. I was originally scheduled for four epidural injections, about 3-4 weeks apart, but I canceled all the follow-up injections in favor of more conservative treatment (pt only). Perhaps I should have gotten one more, just to calm the nerve. So I called my orthopedist. During the epidural procedure back in July, we had a long discussion regarding my usual activity levels and expectations - marathons, triathlons, cycling, mountain climbing etc. He recalled this and reassured me that he thought the chances were low of the numbness being permanent and that he also would prefer a more conservative approach. He said that as long as I didn't "overdo" it, I should be fine. Overdo it? Moi? I didn't mention the RTB relay. Or the 45 mile bike rides. But I did mention in passing that "I'm entered in the Maine Marathon this weekend." His response? "Don't tell me that."
Which brings us to October having run about 50 miles over the past 5 months. Let's math that out. Hmm, it's about 10 miles per month. Almost 3 miles per week. I feel good about my marathon training! My injuries have been healing, my weight is good. My visualization has been splendid. I decide to go for a world record. The marathon WR was broken last week at Berlin, 2:03:38. All I have to do is run each 5k in about 14:40. I like to run the first half of a marathon about a minute or two faster than the second, so I plan to hit the first 5k in 14:20 and the 10k in 28:45, then settle down to 14:30 pace until the half, which I should hit at about 61 minutes. All I have to do then is back off the pace a little bit and cruise in at about 2:03 even. If I don't hit the first couple splits comfortably, I'll just shift to plan B.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Maine Marathon, Portland
First of all, and to complete my October training log, I have to admit that I took yesterday off. The day before a marathon you should stick to what you know. Dance with the one who brung ya, right? I could tell that I was ready for a fast marathon, hopefully a world record, because my right hip flexor would spasm just by moving my leg as I tried to rise from reclining on the sofa. And my calves, and ITB, and piriformis were all sore without me having bothered overtraining! Oh yeah, this is gonna be great! I AM READY FOR THIS!
7:30 in the morning, with the race starting in 15 minutes. Rain is pouring down like a tropical storm. It's not cold, maybe mid-50's, but the wind is stiff from the NNE, the prevailing direction along the shore for the first half of the race. I decide to make sure I stay warm and overdress, and I'm glad I did. Keri and I start together near the back of the field and I'm comfortable with the pace as we walk to the starting line. I suggest to Keri that she aim for 5k splits just under 27 minutes. I look for the 5k split, but they only have markers at the mile splits, so I assume that I'm right on pace. I feel as if I ran a 14:20 5k, so it must have been close. There is no 10k marker either, so I estimate it based on the 6 mile marker, and it's about 52 minutes. That second 5k must have been a lot slower, so I move on to plan B, which is to pace Keri at 27 minute 5k pace for as long as possible. Seeing as we reached the 10k mark 2 minutes early, I decide to walk for two minutes until 54 minutes rolls around. The walking feels good, and I reluctantly resume running at 54. I consider turning around at the half marathon turnaround, but only for a small fraction of a second. I pass 15k in about 83 or 84 minutes, and by then it seems like a good idea to walk a little bit every couple miles. The half moseys by in 2:02, and I know that 4:24 is out of reach. My hams and calves are sending out warning signals, and I want to make sure I don't let them go into hard spasm (I'm looking at you, Boston), so I spend much of 13-18 walking. I run a bit more over the last 6 miles, though. The right hamstring tried to cramp up with about 20 meters left in the race. Seriously?!? It was the first time in the race that I actually stopped. It was only for about two seconds, just long enough to prevent the spasm, but still …. Anyway, it was 4:40 something, between 10 and 11 minute pace, with a lot of walking. I deserved that. But nothing is hurt, and nothing is particularly sore, either 24 or 48 hours afterward, and that is kind of amazing. I had absolutely no business running that marathon. Totally stupid. But it was fun, and the torrential downpour/nor'easter didn't bother me in the least. Much nicer than bright sunshine and heat. and no problems with the toes!!!!! Yippeee!
So I've decided to do the 50 marathon/50 state thing. And one more for DC, and I'll be happy to add Canada and Europe when appropriate. So Maine is out of the way. I've previously done NY (Champlain Valley 1978 or '79 3:11, Wineglass '82 2:54 and '92 2:47), MA (Boston '93 and '11) and CT (Nipmuck 1994). I'm thinking about the Cape Coral marathon in early December, maybe one in early November after the Hairy Gorilla half Halloween weekend, then try for one every 2-3 months, or more often if I'm really enjoying them and not getting hurt and have the money and time necessary.
Perhaps I should revisit my training, though. I thought everything was is place for the world record, or at least a big victory, but I wasn't even close. It's not that I mind running marathons in over four hours. All marathons hurt, it's just that slow marathons hurt longer. And I really ought to be running under 3:30, easily. Maybe I'll try adding more running to my training. I'm considering switching from 3 miles a week to 3 miles a day. Let me think on this
