Miles and miles and miles

I’m learning many things among them being that serious, and I mean serious, marathoners run some serious miles in training. I mean like 60-80 miles a week (maybe more?). Makes my 40 miles a week look anemic. But for the time being, as I have been saying: To each to their own ability - and I’m working hard to improve mine.

I've also learned that runners that do serious miles simply do a lot of miles *everyday*, like 8-12 miles almost every day, along with a long run or two in there somewhere. Do the math and you'll see how quickly you get up to 50 miles/week at that rate. But this is also really hard on the body and definitely does not work for me. I have found that if I manage my miles, time on my feet, and apply rest periods between run days, that I can have a very satisfactory running experience. I have to be careful not to let my competitive nature take over and try to claim a 100 mile/week.

But I love running the miles. I love the feeling of just chugging down the path, that feeling of being in a groove, the feeling of my body exerting itself. It is so hard to explain. It is odd that even though I might feel discomfort in different areas, i.e. my achilles, or a hamstring starting to fire, or whatever, that as long as I get my head back into a groove I can overcome those discomforts.

I did 18 miles last week after a scheduled  down week with a long run of “only” 11 miles, and while doing the 18 miles felt good, it was hard. At mile 16 there is no doubt that I was struggling. I was tired, I was fatigued. Fortunately a woman passed me right at mile 17 and I was able to use her as a rabbit and she basically got me to my truck. Crazy how that works. For those of you that run, you’ll know what I mean. I would have made it on my own, kind of clunking along, but having someone to chase really helps.

This particular 18 miler was an out-and-back along the C&O Trail in MD. This picture has me running northwest with the canal on my right and a rock bluff on my left. The Potomac is on the other side of the rock bluff. This particular morning was after some rain, which made the trail a bit softer. When it's dry, it feels harder than cement.

It’s a weird feeling running out 9 miles knowing that I’m going to have run all the way back in order to get home. It's a trail along the river/canal, no houses, no roads. During the week the trail there are few people using it. From time to time I might come across another runner, walker, or cyclist, but not too many. There are no short cuts, no buses, no one to call. If I want to get home, I have to make it on my own. In a way it’s kind of empowering. 

In a previous post I've mentioned the mental negotiation that I go through as I run the miles: only 3 miles until I get to turn around and head back, 2 more miles to a Gu, only 6 miles to the end, and so on. On this particular occasion I had a very scary thought which I am sure I am destined to relive: It occurred to me that at the pace I was running (~9-9:30m/m) that once I got to my turn-around spot that I had another 1hr20-25min or so to get home. For some reason, the time bothers me more than the distance. And when I start fixating on how long it is going to take me to finish, I start wanting to run faster in order to get it over with. This is a problem for me since for longer distances makes it more difficult for me to finish strong.

Miles and miles... run, run, run...

6 weeks to the MCM

2 more 20milers on the schedule and then it’s downhill from there!! I am jazzed

16 miles turns into 18 (well, 17.84)

Once again I wound up running further than I intended.  And in this case also faster than I intended.  I had gone  up to the C&O Trail (MD side of the Potomac) for my "16 miler" and around mile 3 wound up running with "Mike" who was putting in 18 miles. We had started from almost the same place, so his turn around spot on the trail was just a little bit further than mine would have been, so I figured what the heck, I don't have any problem doing the extra couple of miles.

Quick aside: The C&O trail is a great place to run - I really enjoy it, particularly very early in the morning before people start to arrive.  Today I saw a young buck (maybe a 6 pointer?)  and came within 20 feet of him. Pretty cool. Something that I don't see everyday.

And BTW, while I prefer to finish my runs on whole numbers, my spot to get off the trail happened to be at 17.84 miles...  I would have run that extra 0.16 miles except that a) I didn't realize how close I was to my mile marker, b) I was tired, c) it would have required me to run uphill, and d) I was tired! I'd had enough...  but I would have done it had I known...

The other little issue of having run with Mike was that he was running a little bit of a faster pace than I was intending to run, more or less 8:45-8:50 minute miles, whereas I was thinking of keeping it to somewhere around 9:00 to 9:10 pace.  But I was actually looking for some company for this run and figured that extra effort on my part would be worth it - and it was.  It was a great work out and I wound up averaging a 9:00 min/mile pace overall, which puts me right on target for reaching my 4 hour marathon - assuming of course that I can run the next 8 miles at a 9 min pace (not so sure about that).... My right quad was starting to fire around mile 16 and I fought it off by changing my gait until I found something that relieved the stress or tension on it and I didn't think about it at all during the last mile.

While I wasn't sore, and didn't cramp, I was definitely tired by the time I was done.  The temptation to just lay down in the grass in the parking lot was incredible... but I didn't do it!!! Instead I walked around the parking area for a bit, did some stretching, then drove home and took my dog for a mile walk. I was feeling really tired, but that mile walk was wonders for my legs. Then a nice cold bath... ahh heaven...

All in all, I'm getting more confident about being able to do reasonably well in the MCM.  Even more happy about the fact that I've staved off any cramping issues this year - I've come close... but I've avoided them. Big win for me. I believe that the reason is simply that I am paying more attention to my fueling and my endurance level is substantially improved.

Next week is 18 miles (again) - going to try to work on my negative split strategy.
63 days to the MCM !!  (9 very short weeks)

13 very humid miles on the C&O Trail

I pushed out 13 miles very early this morning on the C&O Trail.  My original goal had been 12, but as usual, I talked myself into  another 1/2 mile past the turn-around so that I could post 13 miles.  It's so easy to do... after doing 6 miles, another 1/2 mile is nothing.  The hard part is that I then have 6.5 miles back to the truck, but since subconsciously I know that I'm on my way back, it somehow seems easy.

The great news is that I was able to turn the run into a nice negative split (the last half of my run was faster than the first), and the best news is that I ran the 13th mile at a nice 7:30min/mile pace!

The humidy was a very thick 95% even at 6:30AM.  I was careful to be sure to consistently be sipping fluids (I had brought along my camelback - filled it about a 1/3 with gatorade, froze it overnight, and then filled it with a bit more gatorade and the rest with water).  I was probably sipping fluids every 1/2 mile or so, perhaps even more often than that. It was so humid that by the time I was done my clothes were dripping wet.

This picture is around mile 2 I think...  I came across a couple of deer and they stayed just ahead of me.  You can just see one of them in the path.  The other is to the left of the path.

Somewhere around mile 9 or 10 I became aware of someone pacing behind me.  I figured that he would simply be passing me at any moment, but he never did.  I was trying to maintain a constant pace but he seemed content to draft behind me, so I eventually eased up a bit and he wound up finally coming abreast of me.  By this point we were around my mile 11 or so, and I was hoping that I could get him to run with me since I was  becoming fatigued and perhaps a bit of conversation would help me finish strong. But unfortunately he was at the end of his run and that was that.  He did however thank me for setting his pace.

So I was left to my own devices to finish - which is fine.  I'm going to run a marathon, and it's going to be me and me alone that runs the distance. I'm not sure why, but when I got to mile 12 I felt kind of surprised. My legs were feeling really tired and I was ready to be done, but of course I still had to get to my truck. In a way I was just thinking that the sooner I got to the parking lot, the better; so the faster that I could run the sooner I'd be done.  I didn't really feel like I was running a sub-8 pace, but obviously I was. Net-net, it was a great run.

Post run, I made sure to walk for a good bit to shake out the lactic acid build up, did a protein shake as soon as I got home, took my dog for a 2 mile walk, and then finally enjoyed a nice ice-bath (just lovely!).  It is evening right now, and even though my legs are a little stiff if I sit for too long, my legs actually feel pretty good!  So like I said, it was a good run!

11.5 on the C&O Canal Path

This was a good run week starting with a 2 miles shakeout from last weeks 11 mile run, followed by a 5m jaunt with a local running group from Potomac River Running, then 6, 3, and 11.5 miles.  That made for a total of 27 miles, which while nothing for the serious runners, was a lot of miles for me.  As I prep for the Marine Corp Marathon, I know that I’ll be doing many 30+mile weeks, but I’m just trying to train carefully and methodically.  I don’t want a repeat of last year.

I enjoyed the 5 mile run with the running group, although I was not crazy about the route.  It involved having to cross too many roads, and since it was in the evening, there was a fair amount of traffic.  Given the stores location (on Leesburg Pike in Falls Church) it is kind of hard to avoid traffic situations.  But I enjoyed the run nonetheless – good people, good pace. I'll run with them again I think.

The next day I did two 3 mile loops around my apartment area; this is actually a really good work out because very little of is flat.  I’m either going up or down, and there is a very nice uphill finish on each loop, making it great training for the MCM. During my first loop I was dragging so badly at 2 miles, that I almost pictured myself just doing 3 miles. So I sucked down a Gu, pretended like I had someone running with me and we had 6 miles to do, and kept going. While I know full well that the Gu was a great stimulant for me, I also wonder how much my mental imagination of running with someone got me over the hump.  I actually had a really good run that day, averaging a 8:30 pace.  I even clocked a 7:45 split on mile 5 (slight downhill – fun to take advantage of that stretch).

Sunday’s long run was a different story altogether though.  I went back to the C&O Canal path (6:30AM, 67deg, 95% humidity) with the goal of making it to a hill on the west side of the Reservoir.  That hill is on the MCM path and hits right around mile 7, so I wanted to experience it to see how steep and long it might be.  I picked a spot to jump on the trail about 4 miles from the hill, the thought being that I wanted to have some miles on me before I got to it so that I would be a little tired by the time I got there and still finish with an 11-12 mile run.  It turns out that it’s a good hill, but not bad at all. And there is a slight downhill grade afterwards providing some relief – so all good. 

In order to get back on the trail I had to run all the way down MacArthur Blvd to Canal Rd where I found a tunnel that goes under the road and the canal back to the trail.  I’m not big on tunnels, and it gave me the creeps.  It was well lit, paved, and I could see the other end, but it still gave me the heeby-geebies… yuk!

The way back was without incident, and I was able to get into a nice cadence.  It felt really good.  I wound up killing some time when I had to slow to a walk at mile 9 so that I could take off my camelback and get to a packet of Gu in a difficult to reach pocket, but aside from that I was very steady all the way through.  Notwithstanding, by the time I got to where my truck was, I was ready to call it “done”. The humidity just sucked the energy out of me - and I'm sure that the burger and beers the night before did not help...  Even though I had posted 11 ½ miles, and I always prefer to post whole numbers, I did not have it in me to do another ½ mile.  In retrospect, I should have toughed it out, but I didn’t.  Next time. 

My average pace was 9min/mile dead on, with which I was very pleased.  If I hadn’t had to walk while rescuing my last packet of Gu, I would have been able to post a sub 9min/mile pace!  (it is always the little things…).

139 days (20 weeks) to the MCM

Chesapeake and Ohio Trail

I had an opportunity to run on the Chesapeake and Ohio Trail this week – good experience.  I was looking for someplace reasonably flat to do 10 contiguous miles on and came across this trail.  For anyone that is not familiar with it, it is basically a tow path along a canal that runs some 184 miles from Washington DC (Georgetown) to somewhere in Maryland.  The purpose of the canal was to enable the safe passage of

goods down and around the various rapids on the Potomac.  I’m not sure how far the trail goes, but it goes further than I can run…  The trail is a crushed rock/dirt, smooth enough and flat enough to make for easy running.  I like that because I can put myself on autopilot and just run, instead of having to constantly be looking for rocks, branches, and holes.

This picture is at Lockhouse #10 - the canal itself is to the left and the tow path is on the right.  The locks are immediately to the left.

I started fairly early, 6:30AM, and there were quite a few people at Lockhouse #10 parking area off the Carla Barton Parkway – mostly cyclists it seems.  But when I hit the trail, I pretty much had it to myself.  By the time I was finishing, shortly after 8AM, there were substantially more runners and cyclists, which obviously means that this is a popular trail.  But even with all of this popularity the trail was very clean of debris and trash.

Despite the 6:30AM start, the temp was 73 degrees with a 79% humidity.  Up at the parking area there was a nice breeze, but down on the trail there was zilch for wind, so as the sun rose, so did the humidity.

My plan was to run easy and get my 10 miles in.  Easy for me was to be defined by whatever pace just felt good.  Without pressing I found myself loping along at about a 9 min/mile pace, some miles were 8:50, others were 9:10.  Interestingly enough, I found that the mile following a gu (mile 7.5), I actually clocked an 8:40 split – that stuff is amazing.  Once I realized that I was kind of trucking along a little faster than I probably should, I backed it off some and settled back to a 9 min/mile pace.

I had the foresight to bring my camel back, which I loaded up with Gatorade and made a special point to take a sip every ½ mile (very soon I’m going to have to train myself to drinking only every 2 miles – pre-marathon prep).  From prior experience, I wanted to make sure that I remained well hydrated, but not overly so.  I suspect that some of my cramping issues were caused by not watching my fluids and nutrition.  For nutrition, I made sure that I fueled before I left my house (peanut butter on whole wheat toast) and then a gu at mile 3.5 and again at mile 7.5.

By the time I was approaching my mile 5 turnaround point (I was doing an out-and-back run) I was feeling so good (hot but good) that I thought that I should push myself to 11 total miles instead of just 10…  so I trotted along for another half mile and then did my turn-around.  (It is so easy to talk myself into “an extra half mile… it’s only 4 ½ minutes or less… just do it…”  which can really backfire on me since I have to run an equal distance back again.) By now it is about 7:30AM and the sun is definitely up – and even though there are lots of trees for shade, it is hot and humid on the trail. 

One of my heat/humidity indicators is to track when my sweat starts to drip off the bill of my cap.  That started right around mile 7.  At that point I am making sure that I am sipping my Gatorade a little more regularly – I don’t want to cramp.  I was also very grateful that I brought the camelback vs the little bottles and the waist belt.  (I always piss and moan about how heavy – it really isn’t – a full camelback is… but as in this case, so grateful that I had all of its fluids!).

Around mile 9.5 my hams were getting tired and a little tight, so I started modifying my gait a little: one minute one way, another minute a little different, and so on.  That really seemed to help.  As it was tightening, I was a little concerned that it might be a pre-cramping signal, so I was trying to be very cognizant to making sure that the muscle had an opportunity to relax (inasmuch as it can) and stretch out.  The idea with altering my gait was to give my hamstrings a different feel and a chance for me to finish my run without incident.

The last half mile was the hardest.  I think that I was pretty much done at mile 10.5.  The humidity was taking me down and sucking all of the energy out of me.  I felt that I was managing my fluids well and my legs were ok, but in general I was becoming very fatigued.  I know that it is all a training thing.  I had a great 10 miles run 2 weeks ago, but that was in a cold mist.  Humidity is such an energy sucker.  I kept telling myself that this was as tired as I wanted to be at mile 25 and that I could without a doubt finish strong.  I did finish that last ½ mile at a steady pace, making it a 9:10 min/mile split.  Overall I ran a  9:03 m/m pace without really trying.  Very happy with that.

 145 days to the MCM!