WEEKLY SUMMARY (Jan. 27 - Feb. 2): 40 miles (92.5% E and 7.5% M paces)
Sunday: 6 miles at 7:23/mi. on a treadmill
Monday: 7 miles at 7:16/mi.
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: 6 miles at 7:21/mi.
Thursday: 7 miles at 7:16/mi.
Friday: 7 miles at 7:16/mi. on a treadmill
Saturday: 3 E, 3 miles progressing from 7:00 to 6:30 pace, 1 E on a treadmill (7 miles total)
This week was less bad than I feared it would be, since I ran almost every day and felt by the end of the week like I was on the road to recovery. But I probably have some ways to go before I can do harder workouts again. Monday was the first day that I started to feel like I was clawing my way back to health. My hip didn't hurt when I ran, but that whole area felt weak and tight. Since that run seemed to go relatively well, and it was my fourth day running in a row, I decided to take Tuesday off in order to consolidate whatever gains I'd made and, I imagined, to feel better still on Wednesday. Instead my hip hurt more during my run on Wednesday than it had any other time since my injury. I was close to despairing, but it dawned on me that this was evidence that tightness was a large part of my problem. I hadn't activated my muscles in any way for 48 hours, and stupidly I didn't stretch before running on Wednesday. It relieved me somewhat to think that all this was caused only by tightness somewhere. But where? So many muscles were involved, but what was the root of the problem? That same day I read an article that led me to think that tightness in my psoas was the underlying problem, since apparently that can cause secondary tightness in all the other muscles where I was feeling pain. (Apparently you often don't feel psoas tightness directly because it's such a deep muscle). So I started doing psoas stretches before and after running. Perhaps coincidentally, my next three runs went ok. On both Thursday and Friday I felt looser and felt less (but still some) direct pain along my hip bone (iliac crest). On Saturday I headed to the treadmill without a plan but thinking that I might pick up the pace a bit if I felt ok again. After three miles in the 7-teens I felt fine, so I then went to 7-flat and gradually picked it up every half mile until I got to 6:30/mi. pace and three (more) miles. That's not very fast, but I did feel it a little in my hip as my form stretched out some. The next day (Sunday) I was ok, though, and ran 6 easy miles as normal. That was about the safest possible way to test whether my hip can handle running faster right now, and it was neither encouraging nor entirely discouraging. I'm going to have to keep taking baby steps forward. Today (Monday) I finally had my appointment with a physical therapist. I found a great (but expensive) running-specific PT who put me through various strength tests and videotaped me running on a treadmill. In addition to giving me tips on running form (my feet land too far in front of my body, and my arms swing unevenly) and posture (I slouch while sitting and shift my hips forward while standing, both of which put pressure on my lower back), he discovered significant strength imbalances in my hip muscles. Something has caused certain muscles in my right hip (especially my TFL) to atrophy. After finding my right side to be significantly weaker on some strength tests, the PT started probing around and said that he could feel the difference in the size and tension of certain muscles when comparing my right and left sides. "There's just nothing there," he said of my right TFL. Well, no wonder it hurts. A puny, atrophied muscle that isn't firing correctly will get tight and hurt when dragged through activities that healthy muscles can handle. So what has caused muscles in my right hip to atrophy? The search for an answer to this question was inconclusive. The PT looked for evidence of some underlying lower back problem, but it seemed to me that he must not have found the evidence he was looking for because at that point he started talking about psoas tightness, which is common in distance runners and squares with the tightness I've been feeling well above my hip just below my rib cage (where the psoas attaches to the spine). So he gave me some exercises to do to resurrect the dead muscles in my hip and asked me to come back (and pay more) for some acupuncture that might shock them back to life. I guess I'm relieved that he didn't find any major strain, but at the same time of course I'm annoyed to learn that my muscles are weak and imbalanced. When I was a kid, my dad used to wake me up - after I'd slept through the five previous attempts to wake me up - by quickly pulling all the sheets off me. (Ok, maybe he did it only a couple times, but it worked and I remembered it). I'm going to pull the sheets off those atrophied muscles in my right hip, and I'll even pay for acupuncture if that might help. Maybe this is also what I need to jolt me into regularly doing the ("core") strength exercises that I've known for a long time that I should be doing.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
WEEKLY SUMMARY (January 20-26): 16 miles (100% easy)
Sunday: off
Monday: off
Tuesday: 6 miles at 7:19/mi. on a treadmill
Wednesday: off
Thursday: off
Friday: 5 miles at 7:26/mi.
Saturday: 5 miles at 7:30/mi.
I was feeling pretty confident when I wrote my previous post just after last Saturday's 18-miler. Things seemed to be going so well that I wondered what was going on. As the Stranger from California warned me several months ago: when things seem to be going really well, especially when they seem to be going too well, you might be right on the edge of falling apart. Indeed. The hip problem that nagged me last Saturday sidelined me this week, and it's too early to tell how far back it has set me. It seems to be a cluster of problems rather than a single injury, all centered around my right hip area. Hip flexors, glutes (especially medius), lower abdominal muscles (especially obliques), and maybe my upper IT band are implicated. When I first noticed a slight pain in that area around two weeks ago, it was on the outside of my hip near the top of my IT band. So maybe that's the source of the problem, or maybe not. I've had lower back problems for a long time, and hip issues are often related to back issues. But I don't know exactly what's up, and I'll try to get an appointment with a sports doctor soon. But I don't need to know exactly what's up in order to do what I've always done with injuries: rest if and only if the pain crosses the line beyond which running could make matters worse. I was clearly over that line on Sunday, the day after the 18-miler; and possibly on Monday, which I took off in any case because I just wanted the problem to go away. On Tuesday it felt better but not completely healed, so I ran on the treadmill in order to assess things while avoiding the stress of running on asphalt. My hip tightened up some as the run progressed, but it was no big deal. But afterwards and for the next couple of days it was worse. When I ran again on Friday (outside this time), it didn't feel much different while I was running than it did on the treadmill a few days earlier. Afterwards it felt worse again, but less so than before. So I hazarded running again the next day (Saturday) and felt marginally less bad afterwards. By then I was feeling pretty heavy (I've gained a few pounds this week) and out of shape from all those days off and from doing so little even on the days I did run. But my body still doesn't feel like it wants me to do any more. Today (Sunday) I skipped the half-marathon that I had registered for and went to the gym intending to cross train on the bike. But I ended up running 6 miles on the treadmill instead, stretching carefully both beforehand and afterwards. Cross training just isn't my thing. I'll do it if I have to, but I guess I haven't been driven quite that far yet. It has been a depressing week, though. Last year at this exact time I had a hamstring injury and skipped the same half-marathon that I skipped today. In fact, the race organizers were kind enough to defer my registration from last year to this year, but again I didn't show up. Maybe next year I won't sign up for any races in late January, or at least not that one. Next week I have no plan except to take things one day at a time.
Sunday: off
Monday: off
Tuesday: 6 miles at 7:19/mi. on a treadmill
Wednesday: off
Thursday: off
Friday: 5 miles at 7:26/mi.
Saturday: 5 miles at 7:30/mi.
I was feeling pretty confident when I wrote my previous post just after last Saturday's 18-miler. Things seemed to be going so well that I wondered what was going on. As the Stranger from California warned me several months ago: when things seem to be going really well, especially when they seem to be going too well, you might be right on the edge of falling apart. Indeed. The hip problem that nagged me last Saturday sidelined me this week, and it's too early to tell how far back it has set me. It seems to be a cluster of problems rather than a single injury, all centered around my right hip area. Hip flexors, glutes (especially medius), lower abdominal muscles (especially obliques), and maybe my upper IT band are implicated. When I first noticed a slight pain in that area around two weeks ago, it was on the outside of my hip near the top of my IT band. So maybe that's the source of the problem, or maybe not. I've had lower back problems for a long time, and hip issues are often related to back issues. But I don't know exactly what's up, and I'll try to get an appointment with a sports doctor soon. But I don't need to know exactly what's up in order to do what I've always done with injuries: rest if and only if the pain crosses the line beyond which running could make matters worse. I was clearly over that line on Sunday, the day after the 18-miler; and possibly on Monday, which I took off in any case because I just wanted the problem to go away. On Tuesday it felt better but not completely healed, so I ran on the treadmill in order to assess things while avoiding the stress of running on asphalt. My hip tightened up some as the run progressed, but it was no big deal. But afterwards and for the next couple of days it was worse. When I ran again on Friday (outside this time), it didn't feel much different while I was running than it did on the treadmill a few days earlier. Afterwards it felt worse again, but less so than before. So I hazarded running again the next day (Saturday) and felt marginally less bad afterwards. By then I was feeling pretty heavy (I've gained a few pounds this week) and out of shape from all those days off and from doing so little even on the days I did run. But my body still doesn't feel like it wants me to do any more. Today (Sunday) I skipped the half-marathon that I had registered for and went to the gym intending to cross train on the bike. But I ended up running 6 miles on the treadmill instead, stretching carefully both beforehand and afterwards. Cross training just isn't my thing. I'll do it if I have to, but I guess I haven't been driven quite that far yet. It has been a depressing week, though. Last year at this exact time I had a hamstring injury and skipped the same half-marathon that I skipped today. In fact, the race organizers were kind enough to defer my registration from last year to this year, but again I didn't show up. Maybe next year I won't sign up for any races in late January, or at least not that one. Next week I have no plan except to take things one day at a time.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
WEEKLY SUMMARY (January 13-19): 52 miles (93% E, 6% M, 1% R paces)
Sunday: 6 miles at 7:28/mi.
Monday: 7 miles at 7:18/mi.
Tuesday: 2.5 E, 2 x (400m R + 400m E), 2.5 E (6 miles total)
Wednesday: 8 miles at 7:13/mi.
Thursday: off
Friday: 7 miles at 7:10/mi.
Saturday: 18 miles at 7:10/mi. (last 3 miles in 6:51, 6:49, 6:47)
Ok, I'm a go for the RnR USA marathon, assuming that I don't get injured or very sick between now and then. In fact, I do seem to be nursing some kind of hip problem, which I'll monitor closely this coming week. But I finally had a good long run on Saturday this week. The first half of the week was underwhelming. After recovering from my previous long run last Saturday, I set out for a planned 400m repetition workout on Tuesday morning in spite of the cold, wind, and freezing rain. Once I arrived at the track and started trying to run fast, it became obvious that it just wasn't going to happen. I couldn't cover 400m any faster than 86 seconds, compared with 79 in my previous repetition workouts. The weather was mainly to blame, but my right hip was already hurting. So I called off the workout shortly after it had begun. My plan had been to do a tempo run this week as well, and initially I thought I'd do it on Thursday since Tuesday's workout was a dud. But this was my first week of classes and I'm still getting a feel for my schedule. I didn't get out early on Thursday to run and wasn't able to fit it in later. By then I was reading forecasts of seriously wintery weather next week, and the inauguration will also close off my usual longer routes, all of which pass through the National Mall area. So I postponed the tempo run (yet again) and did a long run on Saturday. The weather was nice - sunny and in the low 50's - but breezy. I was surprised at how packed the Mall area already was with people two days before the inauguration. For maybe 5 miles I was weaving through crowds or running on clumpy grass because the sidewalks were jammed with people. My intention was to run 18 miles at a steady pace around 7:20/mi., and this time I planned to eat a gel and drink more water at both 6 and 12 miles. At halfway my average pace was 7:16. My hip was getting tight but I felt strong, and my pace drifted faster from there. When I stopped briefly for my second gel at 12 miles, my hip felt very tight, but once I got going again I felt very strong and found myself gliding along comfortably at just over 7-flat. Running up Capitol Hill, which pushed me over the edge last week, didn't faze me this time. So I decided to run marathon pace for the final 3 miles. That was harder but I was not totally spent at the end. Surely the gels were a big part of the reason why this run went better than previous ones. But still, 7:10/mi. is way faster than I've ever been able to do long training runs before, and my standard easy pace these days is drifting that fast as well. What is going on here? I'm not training particularly hard and my mileage is relatively moderate. Here's a hypothesis: my last couple months of training for the MCM were basically a kind of base training phase. I ran (for me) high mileage and never ran faster than tempo pace, which I kept to a low percentage of my overall mileage. After the MCM, I cut my mileage significantly and started doing some faster running - initially too much, but then I was forced to back off to running faster no more than twice a week and often only once a week. So I'm more rested now from lower mileage and my body wants to run faster due to occasional injections of speed. If that's right, then it suggests both that I should keep those injections of speed occasional (i.e., I should be careful to avoid running too fast too often), and that I should keep my mileage moderate in order to maintain this momentum through the Spring. Maybe I should plan another high mileage base phase in the summer, which might pay similar dividends in the Fall?
Sunday: 6 miles at 7:28/mi.
Monday: 7 miles at 7:18/mi.
Tuesday: 2.5 E, 2 x (400m R + 400m E), 2.5 E (6 miles total)
Wednesday: 8 miles at 7:13/mi.
Thursday: off
Friday: 7 miles at 7:10/mi.
Saturday: 18 miles at 7:10/mi. (last 3 miles in 6:51, 6:49, 6:47)
Ok, I'm a go for the RnR USA marathon, assuming that I don't get injured or very sick between now and then. In fact, I do seem to be nursing some kind of hip problem, which I'll monitor closely this coming week. But I finally had a good long run on Saturday this week. The first half of the week was underwhelming. After recovering from my previous long run last Saturday, I set out for a planned 400m repetition workout on Tuesday morning in spite of the cold, wind, and freezing rain. Once I arrived at the track and started trying to run fast, it became obvious that it just wasn't going to happen. I couldn't cover 400m any faster than 86 seconds, compared with 79 in my previous repetition workouts. The weather was mainly to blame, but my right hip was already hurting. So I called off the workout shortly after it had begun. My plan had been to do a tempo run this week as well, and initially I thought I'd do it on Thursday since Tuesday's workout was a dud. But this was my first week of classes and I'm still getting a feel for my schedule. I didn't get out early on Thursday to run and wasn't able to fit it in later. By then I was reading forecasts of seriously wintery weather next week, and the inauguration will also close off my usual longer routes, all of which pass through the National Mall area. So I postponed the tempo run (yet again) and did a long run on Saturday. The weather was nice - sunny and in the low 50's - but breezy. I was surprised at how packed the Mall area already was with people two days before the inauguration. For maybe 5 miles I was weaving through crowds or running on clumpy grass because the sidewalks were jammed with people. My intention was to run 18 miles at a steady pace around 7:20/mi., and this time I planned to eat a gel and drink more water at both 6 and 12 miles. At halfway my average pace was 7:16. My hip was getting tight but I felt strong, and my pace drifted faster from there. When I stopped briefly for my second gel at 12 miles, my hip felt very tight, but once I got going again I felt very strong and found myself gliding along comfortably at just over 7-flat. Running up Capitol Hill, which pushed me over the edge last week, didn't faze me this time. So I decided to run marathon pace for the final 3 miles. That was harder but I was not totally spent at the end. Surely the gels were a big part of the reason why this run went better than previous ones. But still, 7:10/mi. is way faster than I've ever been able to do long training runs before, and my standard easy pace these days is drifting that fast as well. What is going on here? I'm not training particularly hard and my mileage is relatively moderate. Here's a hypothesis: my last couple months of training for the MCM were basically a kind of base training phase. I ran (for me) high mileage and never ran faster than tempo pace, which I kept to a low percentage of my overall mileage. After the MCM, I cut my mileage significantly and started doing some faster running - initially too much, but then I was forced to back off to running faster no more than twice a week and often only once a week. So I'm more rested now from lower mileage and my body wants to run faster due to occasional injections of speed. If that's right, then it suggests both that I should keep those injections of speed occasional (i.e., I should be careful to avoid running too fast too often), and that I should keep my mileage moderate in order to maintain this momentum through the Spring. Maybe I should plan another high mileage base phase in the summer, which might pay similar dividends in the Fall?
Saturday, January 12, 2013
WEEKLY SUMMARY (January 6-12): 50 miles (88% E, 6% M, and 6% 5k paces)
Sunday: 2 E, 5k race in 17:58 (see below), 1.9 E
Monday: 6 miles at 7:25/mi.
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: 7 miles at 7:20/mi.
Thursday: 8 miles at 7:17/mi.
Friday: 6 miles at 7:22/mi.
Saturday: 16 miles at 7:18/mi.
The two main runs of this week were on the weekends, between which I spent the rest of the week recovering from a back issue. I've had an old man's lower back since I was a teenager, in part because my torso is bizarrely long (and perhaps in part because, when I was a teenager, I used to lift weights with bad form). When I was in Florida a few weeks ago, my mom paid for me to get a massage as a birthday present, and the first thing the masseuse said when she saw me lying on the table was "wow, you have a long back!" My lower back hurt during and after my 15-miler last Friday, and it may simply not have recovered before my 5k race on Sunday. It didn't hurt during the race, but it did start hurting the next day and got worse through the middle of the week. So I was content to run easy until that cleared up, having just run a good race in any case. I decided to push the track workout back to next week and to do the long run first whenever I was ready, which turned out to be on Saturday. It was another disappointing long run, though not as bad as the previous one. My plan was to run 10 miles around 7:20 pace (easy) and then to run 6 more at 6:45-50 (marathon pace). It was warmer than usual (50 degrees) and sunny, I ran at mid-day, and the drinking fountains I normally use are turned off for the winter except for one that I found about 6 miles from where I live. I averaged 7:19 over the first 10 miles and felt pretty good, stopping briefly at the drinking fountain twice but taking no gels. Then I felt strong running at marathon pace for two miles but was thrown off by a steep hill that I stupidly chose to run up, after which I managed only one more downhill mile at marathon pace (averaging 6:46 for those 3 miles). At that point, there's a short staircase on the course I normally run. I had to sit on the stairs and rest for several minutes (with my watch stopped) before jogging in the remaining 3 miles, which brought my average pace back up to my easy range. It may be that I simply reached the distance by which I need to drink more and eat a gel if I want to do any marathon pace running, since I did fall apart pretty quickly. My back was fine, though, and I didn't have the creeping fatigue (as opposed to a relatively sudden onset) that afflicted my purely easy paced run last time. I'm slowly getting stronger at bigger distances, but time is short to get strong enough for a marathon in two months. My plan for next week is to do a track workout, probably the 400m repetitions that I put off from this week, and some 1-mile tempo intervals. My next long run will probably be a purely easy paced 18-miler early the following week. The week after that, on January 27, I'm registered for a half-marathon on the towpath. I probably won't race that but, depending on weather, may run it at marathon pace with the option of speeding up a little later on if I feel good. Then, as we get into February, I'll decide whether a good enough marathon in mid-March is in the cards and what kind of long distance-oriented training to do in the remaining time. I'm still leaning toward doing the marathon, in spite (or partly because?) of my recent disappointing long runs. In other news, we're in a mini-heat-wave right now: it was in the 50's today (and felt Spring-like), and tomorrow is forecasted to approach 70! This is not right for January in the mid-Atlantic. But temperatures should quickly return to normal (highs in the low 40's) after that and then may dip a little below normal (bring it on!). My semester begins next week and, because of my schedule, I'll probably do at least most of my runs very early in the morning when temperatures are near their daily lows (around freezing on average, but often in the high 20's). For my trouble, I hope to be rewarded at least sometime this winter with some snow, not to mention the usual grit that comes with running through a (real?) winter.
Sunday: 2 E, 5k race in 17:58 (see below), 1.9 E
Monday: 6 miles at 7:25/mi.
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: 7 miles at 7:20/mi.
Thursday: 8 miles at 7:17/mi.
Friday: 6 miles at 7:22/mi.
Saturday: 16 miles at 7:18/mi.
The two main runs of this week were on the weekends, between which I spent the rest of the week recovering from a back issue. I've had an old man's lower back since I was a teenager, in part because my torso is bizarrely long (and perhaps in part because, when I was a teenager, I used to lift weights with bad form). When I was in Florida a few weeks ago, my mom paid for me to get a massage as a birthday present, and the first thing the masseuse said when she saw me lying on the table was "wow, you have a long back!" My lower back hurt during and after my 15-miler last Friday, and it may simply not have recovered before my 5k race on Sunday. It didn't hurt during the race, but it did start hurting the next day and got worse through the middle of the week. So I was content to run easy until that cleared up, having just run a good race in any case. I decided to push the track workout back to next week and to do the long run first whenever I was ready, which turned out to be on Saturday. It was another disappointing long run, though not as bad as the previous one. My plan was to run 10 miles around 7:20 pace (easy) and then to run 6 more at 6:45-50 (marathon pace). It was warmer than usual (50 degrees) and sunny, I ran at mid-day, and the drinking fountains I normally use are turned off for the winter except for one that I found about 6 miles from where I live. I averaged 7:19 over the first 10 miles and felt pretty good, stopping briefly at the drinking fountain twice but taking no gels. Then I felt strong running at marathon pace for two miles but was thrown off by a steep hill that I stupidly chose to run up, after which I managed only one more downhill mile at marathon pace (averaging 6:46 for those 3 miles). At that point, there's a short staircase on the course I normally run. I had to sit on the stairs and rest for several minutes (with my watch stopped) before jogging in the remaining 3 miles, which brought my average pace back up to my easy range. It may be that I simply reached the distance by which I need to drink more and eat a gel if I want to do any marathon pace running, since I did fall apart pretty quickly. My back was fine, though, and I didn't have the creeping fatigue (as opposed to a relatively sudden onset) that afflicted my purely easy paced run last time. I'm slowly getting stronger at bigger distances, but time is short to get strong enough for a marathon in two months. My plan for next week is to do a track workout, probably the 400m repetitions that I put off from this week, and some 1-mile tempo intervals. My next long run will probably be a purely easy paced 18-miler early the following week. The week after that, on January 27, I'm registered for a half-marathon on the towpath. I probably won't race that but, depending on weather, may run it at marathon pace with the option of speeding up a little later on if I feel good. Then, as we get into February, I'll decide whether a good enough marathon in mid-March is in the cards and what kind of long distance-oriented training to do in the remaining time. I'm still leaning toward doing the marathon, in spite (or partly because?) of my recent disappointing long runs. In other news, we're in a mini-heat-wave right now: it was in the 50's today (and felt Spring-like), and tomorrow is forecasted to approach 70! This is not right for January in the mid-Atlantic. But temperatures should quickly return to normal (highs in the low 40's) after that and then may dip a little below normal (bring it on!). My semester begins next week and, because of my schedule, I'll probably do at least most of my runs very early in the morning when temperatures are near their daily lows (around freezing on average, but often in the high 20's). For my trouble, I hope to be rewarded at least sometime this winter with some snow, not to mention the usual grit that comes with running through a (real?) winter.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
WEEKLY SUMMARY (Dec. 30 - Jan. 5): 49 miles (95% E and 5% I paces)
Sunday: 6.5 miles at 7:22/mi. on a treadmill in Atlanta
Monday: 7 miles at 7:27/mi. in Raleigh
Tuesday: 2.5 E, 3 x (1200m I averaging 4:17 + 800 E), 1.75 E back in DC
Wednesday: 5.5 miles at 7:21/mi.
Thursday: 7 miles at 7:16/mi.
Friday: 15 miles at 7:20/mi.
Saturday: off
This week I did the two main runs that I wanted to do: the interval workout on Tuesday and the longish run on Friday. Plus, I was all set to increase my weekly mileage slightly until I was unable to fit in a run on Saturday, which was no big deal in any case since I was surprisingly worn out by my 15-miler the day before and had a race the next day. Tuesday's interval workout was encouraging and gave me the confidence I needed to set a 5k PR the following Sunday (see below). 1200m in 4:17 is around 5:44/mi. pace, which is just under 18 minute 5k pace. It was my first successful interval workout in a long time, my third attempt since the MCM, and my second one in a week. But this time the weather was right, I was back home running on a (familiar) track, and things just clicked. I need to keep doing this workout every 2-3 weeks, increasing next time to 4 intervals, and gradually increasing the pace when I'm ready. My other main run of the week, the 15-miler on Friday, was less encouraging. I should be able to run my easy pace for that distance with little difficulty, but I haven't been doing it so it did in fact become somewhat difficult after 10 miles or so. It didn't help that all the drinking fountains I normally use had just been turned off for the winter and I wasn't carrying any water. This run put me in a mood to give up on the marathon in March and to focus instead on running a good half-marathon and a good 10-miler three weeks later. But I don't give up that easily. At the end of next week I want to try another run about the same distance but this time speeding up to marathon pace for the last 6 miles or so. My recent 13-miler ending with 4 miles at marathon pace felt really good, so that seems to be the next step. In fact, my entire marathon-specific training plan for the RnR USA marathon consists in doing that run and a couple more, slightly longer ones with the additional miles all at marathon pace, culminating (I hope) in a 20-miler with the last 10 miles at marathon pace. As I've been writing lately, I don't want to get all caught up in marathon training but want that to be only one element in a more balanced training routine. Anyway, next week, in addition to the marathon pace run, I plan to do a track workout - probably 400m repetitions.
Sunday: 6.5 miles at 7:22/mi. on a treadmill in Atlanta
Monday: 7 miles at 7:27/mi. in Raleigh
Tuesday: 2.5 E, 3 x (1200m I averaging 4:17 + 800 E), 1.75 E back in DC
Wednesday: 5.5 miles at 7:21/mi.
Thursday: 7 miles at 7:16/mi.
Friday: 15 miles at 7:20/mi.
Saturday: off
This week I did the two main runs that I wanted to do: the interval workout on Tuesday and the longish run on Friday. Plus, I was all set to increase my weekly mileage slightly until I was unable to fit in a run on Saturday, which was no big deal in any case since I was surprisingly worn out by my 15-miler the day before and had a race the next day. Tuesday's interval workout was encouraging and gave me the confidence I needed to set a 5k PR the following Sunday (see below). 1200m in 4:17 is around 5:44/mi. pace, which is just under 18 minute 5k pace. It was my first successful interval workout in a long time, my third attempt since the MCM, and my second one in a week. But this time the weather was right, I was back home running on a (familiar) track, and things just clicked. I need to keep doing this workout every 2-3 weeks, increasing next time to 4 intervals, and gradually increasing the pace when I'm ready. My other main run of the week, the 15-miler on Friday, was less encouraging. I should be able to run my easy pace for that distance with little difficulty, but I haven't been doing it so it did in fact become somewhat difficult after 10 miles or so. It didn't help that all the drinking fountains I normally use had just been turned off for the winter and I wasn't carrying any water. This run put me in a mood to give up on the marathon in March and to focus instead on running a good half-marathon and a good 10-miler three weeks later. But I don't give up that easily. At the end of next week I want to try another run about the same distance but this time speeding up to marathon pace for the last 6 miles or so. My recent 13-miler ending with 4 miles at marathon pace felt really good, so that seems to be the next step. In fact, my entire marathon-specific training plan for the RnR USA marathon consists in doing that run and a couple more, slightly longer ones with the additional miles all at marathon pace, culminating (I hope) in a 20-miler with the last 10 miles at marathon pace. As I've been writing lately, I don't want to get all caught up in marathon training but want that to be only one element in a more balanced training routine. Anyway, next week, in addition to the marathon pace run, I plan to do a track workout - probably 400m repetitions.
2012 STATS:
Total miles: 2720
Average miles per month: 226.7
Average miles per week: 52.3
Average miles per day: 7.45
Number of days off: 55
Most days off in a row: 3 (after the MCM)
Average miles per day run: 8.8
Average pace: 7:34/mi.
Number of races: 19 (8 5k's, 2 8k's, 3 10k's, and 1 of every other distance below)
I set new all-time PR's this year at every distance I've run:
5k: 18:25 (1/8/12)
4 miles: 24:08 (6/17/12)
8k: 30:30 (12/9/12)
10k: 37:48 (4/29/12)
10 miles: 1:04:42 (4/1/12)
20k: 1:23:06 (8/19/12)
half-marathon: 1:26:34 (9/16/12)
metric marathon: 1:49:15 (10/7/12)
marathon: 3:12:17 (10/28/12)
Total miles: 2720
Average miles per month: 226.7
Average miles per week: 52.3
Average miles per day: 7.45
Number of days off: 55
Most days off in a row: 3 (after the MCM)
Average miles per day run: 8.8
Average pace: 7:34/mi.
Number of races: 19 (8 5k's, 2 8k's, 3 10k's, and 1 of every other distance below)
I set new all-time PR's this year at every distance I've run:
5k: 18:25 (1/8/12)
4 miles: 24:08 (6/17/12)
8k: 30:30 (12/9/12)
10k: 37:48 (4/29/12)
10 miles: 1:04:42 (4/1/12)
20k: 1:23:06 (8/19/12)
half-marathon: 1:26:34 (9/16/12)
metric marathon: 1:49:15 (10/7/12)
marathon: 3:12:17 (10/28/12)
BRATS FROZEN 5K (race report):
In January 2012, I set a 30-second breakthrough PR (18:25) on this fast 5k course in Manassas, VA. That's a hour drive from where I live in DC, and I did the race last year simply because the weather was weirdly Spring-like and I couldn't find any other races nearby. This year I did it again in hopes of reconnecting with last year's PR-vibe, and I was not disappointed: I set another PR (17:58) by almost the same margin (I never managed to run faster than 18:25 in the previous year). This year the conditions weren't quite as perfect: again it was sunny and the wind was calm, but at 27 degrees it was colder than ideal. That may have contributed to my getting off to a slow start. But I ran almost even splits, which really means that I sped up in mile 2 since there is a turn-around a little past halfway through it. I started fading in mile 3, but I think it was more mental than physical. Luckily, the first woman finisher passed me around halfway through mile 3 and said "come on, guy." That jolted me to speed up and follow behind her, which I managed to do only for a little while until I could see the finish line, which had its usual effect. Besides her, nobody else passed me during the entire race, and I must have passed 40-50 people after the first half mile. I started a little back from the front and got off relatively slowly, so at first I just tried to find a rhythm. It wasn't until maybe two-thirds of a mile into the race that I realized there were basically two chase packs at that point following one lead runner who was way ahead of everyone else. I realized this as I came up to the second pack from behind and passed it around the first mile marker. In the second mile, the other chase group disintegrated into a bunch of individual runners chugging along at different rates. Most were slowing down, and I passed those people one by one. Of those who didn't slow down, one dressed in bright colors some 30 feet ahead at the turn-around was my target for the rest of the race. I never caught him, and neither did the woman who passed me, who had started out in that second pack and must have stayed just behind me for most of the race. I ended up finishing 13th (and 3rd in the 35-39 age group). I'm sure that I could have run faster today by staying mentally stronger in the last mile, and by warming up better to run a faster first mile. But I still ran well. As usual when I set a PR, my first and second thoughts upon finishing were "Yay, I did it!" and "I can run faster than that." I discovered last Spring that duplicating a good time set on this course requires running slightly better on a course that isn't as fast. So that's my next 5k challenge. I'd rather not wait an entire year again for another 5k PR.
In January 2012, I set a 30-second breakthrough PR (18:25) on this fast 5k course in Manassas, VA. That's a hour drive from where I live in DC, and I did the race last year simply because the weather was weirdly Spring-like and I couldn't find any other races nearby. This year I did it again in hopes of reconnecting with last year's PR-vibe, and I was not disappointed: I set another PR (17:58) by almost the same margin (I never managed to run faster than 18:25 in the previous year). This year the conditions weren't quite as perfect: again it was sunny and the wind was calm, but at 27 degrees it was colder than ideal. That may have contributed to my getting off to a slow start. But I ran almost even splits, which really means that I sped up in mile 2 since there is a turn-around a little past halfway through it. I started fading in mile 3, but I think it was more mental than physical. Luckily, the first woman finisher passed me around halfway through mile 3 and said "come on, guy." That jolted me to speed up and follow behind her, which I managed to do only for a little while until I could see the finish line, which had its usual effect. Besides her, nobody else passed me during the entire race, and I must have passed 40-50 people after the first half mile. I started a little back from the front and got off relatively slowly, so at first I just tried to find a rhythm. It wasn't until maybe two-thirds of a mile into the race that I realized there were basically two chase packs at that point following one lead runner who was way ahead of everyone else. I realized this as I came up to the second pack from behind and passed it around the first mile marker. In the second mile, the other chase group disintegrated into a bunch of individual runners chugging along at different rates. Most were slowing down, and I passed those people one by one. Of those who didn't slow down, one dressed in bright colors some 30 feet ahead at the turn-around was my target for the rest of the race. I never caught him, and neither did the woman who passed me, who had started out in that second pack and must have stayed just behind me for most of the race. I ended up finishing 13th (and 3rd in the 35-39 age group). I'm sure that I could have run faster today by staying mentally stronger in the last mile, and by warming up better to run a faster first mile. But I still ran well. As usual when I set a PR, my first and second thoughts upon finishing were "Yay, I did it!" and "I can run faster than that." I discovered last Spring that duplicating a good time set on this course requires running slightly better on a course that isn't as fast. So that's my next 5k challenge. I'd rather not wait an entire year again for another 5k PR.
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