Plan Going Forward

After nearly 5 months of training this year (or, "training to train," I'll call it), I've evaluated my progress and what the next few months may look like.

Instead of worrying about a goal race at this point, I've decided to focus on just rebuilding a base and staying injury-free. I've proved to myself that I can run once again, but I don't know to what extent just yet. The 16 miles I ran last week has been my high volume week so far this year. That's a far cry from where I was a few years ago. While I have zero expectations about getting back the previous levels (both in volume and speed), I'm going to very slowly and gradually build weekly volume, while continuing to cross-train on the bike, and—if I can force myself—in the pool. I also started strength training again last week, including some leg and hip work that will hopefully strengthen my surgically-repaired right hip.

Speaking of which, that hip has been aching quite a bit toward the end of my longer runs (8 miles, run twice the last 2 weeks). And today, 3 days after the latest long run, the back of my OTHER hip is hurting horribly. I'm planning on running with my club tonight, and I'm hoping I'll be able to make it. I don't know why it's hurting so much, but I do notice a little pain there during my last couple of long runs, too, although it's mostly pain in my lower left back, as opposed to the hip.

My left knee still isn't right, but running in Hokas seems to have alleviated the pain while running enough to not notice it that much now, thankfully. Still, every once in a while, I can feel it if I step a certain way (or while running uphill). Comes with the territory, I guess. I'd like to sell that territory. Any buyers?

My body has become like an old MG. Very high maintenance. Always something wrong with it.

Want to go for a ride? Hope you pick the right day!

And with that, I'm off to do a little stretching and rolling to see if that gets my "good" hip feeling run-worthy in a few hours...

Interesting Development…and Future Plans

INTERESTING DEVELOPMENT

[Apologies in advance - this will be long]

If there is such a beast as a schizophrenic hypochondriacal chameleon, then I am he.

I recently had a stretch of bad days involving quite a bit of foot and ankle pain. After posting here last Tuesday that I HAD to get in to see a sports podiatrist, I got pretty busy with work. The next day, my foot suddenly felt pretty good. On a total whim, I put on my running shoes w/my Superfeet Green insoles in them and gently stepped onto my cheapo treadmill. I jogged a 9:30 mile. Hmm. No pain. I was actually hoping there would be some pain so I could justify the visit to the doc even more than I already thought I could. I didn't want a situation similar to bringing my car into the shop and telling the mechanic, "well, it's running fine now, but trust me, it was making all kinds of horrible noises yesterday."

I then ran a slightly faster (8:19) mile on the treddy on Thursday. Same thing. No pain. I skipped Friday because there actually was a little discomfort in my upper ankle area (not where the pain usually is, and not as bad). I iced, massaged and stretched. Today, I stepped back on the "going nowhere fast" machine and grinded out a 17:06 2-miler (8:33 pace). Good news - no pain once again. Bad news - I'm HORRIBLY out of shape. It felt like I just ran a half marathon at race pace. I guess that's to be expected.

Does this mean I'm all better and can start ramping up the miles now? Does it mean I won't see the foot doc? As for the latter, I honestly don't know...but I definitely won't be increasing my mileage any time soon, though. At best, I'll attempt three very short treadmill runs per week to hopefully strengthen my legs and feet. If there's any sign of recurring pain, I'll stop. If I'm regressing, I'll hit up the doc right away. I think the flat, forgiving treadmill is easier on my foot than the hard pavement or uneven trails.

Why did the pain seem to suddenly disappear? Maybe some friends and family threw some prayers up for me (yes, I believe in them). It's an odd thing. Like I said, I can still feel something unsavory happening down there, but it's nowhere near what I was experiencing about a week ago.

FUTURE PLANS

The above report leads into my new plans for later this year and the first part of next year. Since it seems that relatively high mileage (for me),  long runs and hills led to my foot issue, I'm going to focus on…hold onto your hats…speed. And I'm not just talking Mario Kart Wii speed, either (although I'll kick your butts on most courses…bring it on, homeys. I'll even give you my "friend" number if you ask). I'm going to train as if I'm training for high school track season, starting either late this year or the beginning of next year. My true desire would be to slowly ramp up the mileage again for either a 2nd marathon attempt next spring or a 1st ultra attempt, but I don't think my foot could handle it.

Last year, during marathon training, I started to miss my (ahem) leg speed (assuming I ever had any). Don't get me wrong - I LOVE long runs and I get sucked into the lure of more and more miles, but I truly felt I could be running faster. Where it really hit me was during Ragnar. I was fortunate to be on a team with some pretty quick young(er) guys. There were four of us over 40 and I held my own compared to them, but I started to get envious of the youngsters knocking out 6-6:15 mile splits.

To further support my rationale (i.e. try to convince myself), I can hopefully avoid the cumulative fatigue that the longer miles and few rest days were causing. Not to say that intense speed work will be a walk in the park. While my foot may not agree, I still think of myself as a long-distance runner, and busting out fast 400 meter repeats sounds like torture. But it doesn't involve the foot-beating hills nor 2-hour runs (although I love both).

I try not to dwell on or relive the past, but a lot can be learned from it. My high-school track program (distance, anyway) left a lot to be desired. During my senior season, I averaged 18.5 miles/week during the season (more than that leading up to it). It included a LOT of speed work and very little distance. I managed to improve my mile time from 5:13 (end of my junior season) to a still-not-terribly-fast 5:01 by the end of my senior season. On that paltry mileage base, I also knocked out my fastest 10k right after track season ended (39:06). Even at age 43, I still feel like I can get relatively fast again. I doubt I'll see a 5 minute mile in the future, but I think I can go sub-6 and even break my soft 5k PR. I may even consider racing in an all-comers track meet next summer.

Something I learned after training for my marathon is that I need to build more rest days into my program. I don't recover very quickly anymore. Once I begin this program, I'll shoot for 4 running days per week instead of the 5-6 days I was running last spring. I won't run as much speed work as I did in high school – maybe twice per week – but I'll average a few more miles per week, even with fewer runs. I'll keep up the strength work and maybe hit the bike trainer once a week.

Assuming my plan works, I should be ready for some fast(er) running at Ragnar next year. Then, if the foot is holding up, I'll transition into longer runs (still allowing for adequate recovery), with the hopes of either running a fall marathon or my first ultra.

If you're still awake and reading this, congratulations. I've even bored myself. But I gotta say that I'm excited to focus on something different for awhile. I always love a challenge and, while I'd love to jump back into some long, slow miles and hilly trails, I'm eager to see just how fast these old legs can turn over.

Of course, all of this is contingent on my [heavy sarcasm alert] always-compliant foot. In another month, there's a good chance I could be writing a book called Once A Runner*


*that title hasn't been taken, has it?

Hindsight, and...What Next?

Well, that was a fast week! It was a week ago today that I finished my first marathon. I took three days off from running, then ran the next four days (gently, with exception of today). Things are feeling pretty good. I totaled 20.2 miles, capped off with a group 6-miler this morning at a 7:24 pace. My quads and achilles are still a bit sore, but I feel more recovered than I expected to.

So, what are my thoughts on my marathon training cycle? For the most part, I feel pretty good about it. There are some tweaks I'll make next time around. It might be easiest to itemize my thoughts:

1. Include more recovery weeks. I felt fresh relatively early in my cycle, and probably peaked about half way through. Toward the end, my legs went flat and I felt tired often. I only threw in two cutback weeks in my cycle. I feel that I would have stayed fresh longer if I had cut my weekly mileage every third or (at most) fourth week. That may also have allowed me to increase my mileage even more during my regular weeks.
2. Find a way to eat even more. I felt weak toward the end of the training cycle. I believe I lost too much weight, yet my appetite wasn't ravenous most of the time. I think I could have solved the problem by eating small snacks throughout the day just to get in some extra calories. I just need to remember to do it!
   
3. Keep up with the strength training. When I started running again last year, I intended to include some strength training at least twice per week. Nothing outrageous. Just enough to maintain some upper body and core strength. As my training progressed, I was just too tired to keep up with it. Consequently, my upper body continued to waste away. I'm not looking to "bulk up" necessarily, but just a little extra strength would have been nice.
4. Hill work is my friend. I did a moderate amount of hill work, but I could have done even more. I feel that it's equivalent to strength training for the legs. I believe it can also enhance speed. My marathon was mostly flat, but with some ultras coming up this year, I'll definitely be focusing more on hills (and trails...which I love).
   
5. Nail down my race nutrition. That's kind of a nebulous comment, but I had some definite issues during the marathon...although I think the heat had a lot to do with it. I don't think I'm far off. This one is just going to take race experience to figure out.
6. Easier easy days. I usually structured my weeks thusly: long run, recovery run, hill/progression run, recovery run, recovery run, tempo run. Rinse and repeat. Not a bad plan (IMHO), but as the cycle went on, my "recovery runs" gradually got faster. Or some of them did. It's difficult to run slower than what feels comfortable, but I think even subtle pace variations can make a big difference.

Off the top of my head, that's about it. The race was tough and could have gone better, but I honestly don't have many regrets about the training leading up to it - especially for the first marathon. With experience, I'll continue to improve and refine my training.

What's next? Well, this year will continue to be interesting. As I write this, I'm three weeks away from the Lake Youngs Ultra (28.8 miles). There's no time for ramping up again for that, so I'll go into cruise control until then, running moderate mileage at an easy-moderate pace, hopefully going into the race pretty fresh. I don't plan on "racing" it, but I'd like to see what I can do. Then I need to shift into high gear, in terms of getting a little bit of speed back. I'm running a local 5k in early July in preparation for the Ragnar Relay, in late July. No races are scheduled for August, so I'll have a short window to ramp back up for the Skagit Flats Marathon (hopefully), on Sept. 12th. I'd like to see if I can improve on my Windermere Marathon time (and experience). No heat, please! Then, another short window before my first 50k at Baker Lake (Oct. 2nd). I hear it's a tough course, so again, this will be more for the experience than a fast time. I may run a little 10k in November, then will probably finish the year with the Last Chance Marathon (or half) on Dec. 31st. Should be a fun rest of the year. Hope I can stay healthy!

Signed Up!

Well, I did it. I am officially signed up for my first marathon (May 15, 2010). And while I was at it, I signed up for a January half marathon and a March half marathon. I can't say my wife was happy to see me writing three checks last night. Merry Christmas to me, I guess.

I'll probably treat one or both of the half marathons as long tempo runs leading up to the marathon. I wouldn't mind getting a PR in at least one of them, though, but I don't want to wipe myself out in either race. I'll also throw in a 10k or two (as speed work) before the marathon. As for the rest of 2010, the schedule is up in the air. I may try for a fall marathon, and possibly my first ultra somewhere in there. I have committed to running as part of a relay team in July in Spokane, but I don't have any details yet.

So as 2009 winds down, I'm eagerly looking forward to running and racing in 2010! I hope '09 has been good to you.

Tempo Run & Training Plan

Today's run started with a 1-mile warm-up, followed by a 3.5 mile tempo run in 24:57 (7:07 pace). I started too quickly (6:59), then just tried to hang on. It ended up being a slightly faster pace than my 5k race back in June. I struggled the last mile or so, but I think I may FINALLY be near the end of this prolonged illness.

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Over the weekend, I tried to design a training program that I can use for the foreseeable future. Roughly, it involves running 5 days/week. Here's how I laid it out:

Monday: Speed (fartlek, intervals, tempo, or hill repeats)
Tuesday: Short run at "recovery" pace (roughly 2 min. per mile slower than 10k race pace)
Wednesday: Medium-long at "easy" pace (roughly 1 min. per mile slower than 10k race pace)
Thursday: off
Friday: Long run (roughly 40-50 sec/mile slower than half marathon race pace)
Saturday: Short run at "recovery" pace
Sunday: off

I'll do strength training (something I've been neglecting) twice per week. On "race weeks", I'll probably drop the long run in favor of the race. This is all subject to change, but I'm going to go with it for the time being. I may even use a close version of it when my "official" marathon training begins. Given how my body has reacted to running so far this year, this plan seems sensible, but I'm open to any comments or suggestions.

Thumbs Can Get Sore From Too Much Twiddling

I've taken this week off from any exercise...and it's killing me! I was over the soreness from the half marathon by Wednesday. The effects from my cold are nearly gone (still tired at times and have just a very slight cough). Monday I'll strap on the running shoes and start training for next spring's marathon. At this point, I'm leaning toward the Windermere, once again in Spokane. It falls on May 15th, which gives me a full 30 weeks of training. To keep me focused for that long haul, I've got 3-4 10k races and 1 or 2 half marathons lined up along the way. My recent half marathon went well, but this time I want to focus on slowly building a bigger base, and running SLOWER during my long runs and my easy runs. Like most recreational runners, I tend to run my easy runs at too fast a pace. I'm going to fight that tendency. But, by the same token, I will also put the appropriate effort into my intervals, tempo runs and "B" races, too...all while staying injury-free. Sounds great, doesn't it? Hehe. We'll see. As for mileage, I roughly mapped out a plan that'll take me up to a 50 mile week, along with a 24-mile long run before the marathon. If I can run more miles while staying healthy and NOT overtraining, I will. I would just rather err on the side of caution, so 50 is the tentative "high" week in my plan.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!