One and a wake up - MCM

It's down to today and a wake up, assuming that I can get to sleep. 3AM wake up call so that I can start going through my pre-run process and out the door by 4:40. I wish that I was one of those that could just wake up and run - that would be nice.

I got my bib yesterday in anticipation that the crowds today would be nuts. As it was, there were ton's of people and long lines (I hate lines) and naturally I got into the wrong one first. I did suffer myself through an extra line just so that I could get access to the Books VIP toilets - but I suspect that it will be worth it given the press of people in the starting area needing to take a pre-start wizz.

To help loosen myself up a bit I did 2 miles this morning, all the while wishing that I was doing more. In a weird way I feel like a penned up pony (if only I could run like one!).

As I've trained for the MCM I've become acutely aware how easily it would be for running, something that I've pretty much taken for granted, to be taken away from me. A little twist, a small mistep, a minor misjudgement, and suddenly I could be hobbling and unable to run for several days or more. So as a consequence, I savor the opportunity to run this event tomorrow and I hope to do it proud. I hope that I can run up that last hill with strength and dignity. I hope.

Tomorrow's sunrise is at 7:30, starting gun at 7:55, and I should cross the starting grid by 8:10. I can't wait. A little more than 17 hours to go.

3 days and a wake up

Three days and a wake up… I'm going to run it.
October 27, 2013.
The MCM – the Marine Corp Marathon.

I am jazzed, I am excited, and I am pumped. I am thrilled to have the opportunity and the privilege to run this event.

And I am more than a little nervous. I am ready, but its a long way and anything can happen.

I am confident, but not that confident. I have trained as much as I can, I have run hills, intervals, long runs, worked muscle groups, stretched, massaged, and I’ve seen my chiropractor regularly. I am as ready as I’m going to be.

My FL project pushed my training sideways some, but hopefully not so much as it would make a difference.  My experience with Chicago (2011 and my only other marathon) has taught me that my training will get me through the miles. I feel strong, and most importantly nothing hurts, nothing feels out of sorts (which is very amazing considering the work that I’ve been doing). I have even lost 5 pounds doing this work over the last 3-4 weeks, but I think that is a good thing.

Among the things that I am fretting about is how to dress for the day…  It will be cold (maybe high 30’s? or low 40’s?) between the time that I get off the Metro and the sun rises, and then it should warm up to the low 50’s.  I love running in the high 40’s and low 50’s, so that part is good. But the trick is making it through the couple of hours before the start without becoming a popsicle. I know that I’m going to have to wear stuff that I will ditch at the start of the race, but the big decisions are what to take to ditch.

Another thing that I’m fretting about is the 14^th St Bridge crossing between miles 20 and 21 – I am told that this can a tough point, possible more so with wind.  I have also heard that the jaunt through Crystal City and then up to the Pentagon can be a drag, which sucks since those will be the toughest miles.

But oddly enough, I already know that on marathon day I will not think about any of those things or any others, and I will simply relish the day, the people, the run, and the opportunity to have been able to participate.

Yes, I would love to do spectacularly well from a timing perspective, but I will be thrilled to post any kind of a  respectable time. My immediate goal is to finish the race. I joke with people about “crossing the finish line vertical and preferably running”, but my serious goal is to finish with anything better than a 4:20hr posting. Making my stretch goal here will depend on the day, energy levels, how things are going, etc., etc.  If I hit it, or even come remotely close to it I will be over the moon with excitement.

I have a race plan and a nutrition plan. I hope that I remember it while I’m running (I sort of lost track of things during Chicago….).  I will start with the 10m/m group and depending on how I’m feeling, start working on decreasing my splits.  26.2 miles is a long way and there are plenty of miles to do things.  Nutritionally, I am planning on doing my banana thing: I’ll eat a banana prior to the start, another at mile 4 and the second one at mile 12. I’ll do GU at miles 8, 16, and 20. I’ll have an extra GU in event that I can/should suck one down between 20 and 25 – it all depends on what my stomach will handle at that point. I will also hit every water station and take down at least 4oz of fluid.

Like I said – I am as ready as I can get. Three days and a wake up.  I can’t wait.

training interrupted (by life...) but I still got 17 miles in

When there are 4 weeks to go prior to a marathon I'm not one to want to make any serious changes or deviations from my training plan. But unfortunately life happens, deviations take place, and somehow or another I'll compensate, recover, and do well.

With 4 weeks to go to the marathon I've gotten myself involved in a project that has totally inhaled my time. Last week I managed to squeeze in 13 miles, but the week before was a paltry 3 miles, and I felt guilty doing those 3. The only upside is that the project involves a heavy measure of physical exercise, so I had been calling it "cross-training" - except that it didn't help me today.

Today, after not being able to get my last long run in a week ago, and before tapering for the MCM, I got in 17 miles. I wanted to do 20, but the humidity was too much, and more importantly, boy did I feel the effects of not running. The last long run of any significance was 19 days prior, not counting a 6 miler that I got in 3 days ago. My endurance levels seemed to be ok, but my legs were not there. And I'm guessing that it is because they had been on vacation for too long. With 18 days to go, I am going to have to adapt my taper to make sure that my legs don't forget how to run without negating the positive effects of the tapering period.

My point here is that I'm very surprised by how much not keeping up with a 20-30 mile per week routine affected me today. I realize that everybody is different and I am sure that some people, probably most people, are not affected by a gap in their running schedule. But clearly, I am. What I've learned is that I will loose what little edge I have if I am not constantly on top of it.

The 17 miles that I did, albeit in the very, very high humidity of FL, have totally drained my legs. They feel soooo done. I'm going to force myself to do at least a 2 mile run/walk tomorrow, and then step into my regular taper prior to the marathon.

Quick aside:  I did my run with bananas and a single gu. I strapped the bananas to my waist belt with velcro cable ties, ate one at mile 4 and the other at mile 12, sucking down the gu at mile 8.  Awesome.

I'm jazzed and excited. 18 days to go !

Another 20 mile run for my log book

Pushed out another 20 mile run yesterday as part of my training plan for the Marine Corp Marathon (5 weeks to go).  My plan has been to put in at least three 20 milers, along with a couple of 18’ers, the intent being to build up and solidify my endurance.  So far I have all of my 18’ers in and two of my 20 milers – one to go.

I’ve had a long debate with myself about doing 20 mile runs (risk of injury) and asked about it on various runners forums. I asked if doing 16 miles followed by 5 the next day would yield the same benefit as doing a 20 mile run, and the prevailing thought was that doing the 20 (more or perhaps just a little bit less) was better from an endurance training perspective. The 16/5 routine appears to apply mostly to those training plans that involve A LOT of weekly miles and running 6 days per week. I’m running between 4 and 5 days per week and am limiting myself to no more than 45 miles per week – basically a nod to trying to not injure myself. As it is I’m fighting off some minor issues and I’m trying to not aggravate things.

Overall it was a great run – I ran it very conservatively, watching my fuel intake and hydration. I experimented with running with bananas, which I’ll expand on in a separate post. But I have to admit that at the end of my run I was really wondering if I had another 6 miles left in me… and to be brutally honest, yesterday I did not.

As it was, the trail that I ran on (Washington and Old Dominion Trail) intersects with roads from time to time, and although traffic is very considerate to runners and bikers that are crossing, I always come to a stop before crossing because I want to make sure that the cars/trucks are going to stop for me….  And sure enough, at mile 19.90 I had to cross a road  – I came to a stop, the driver waved me across, and it took all I had to get moving again. It required an incredible force of will to make myself start running again. For a moment I thought that the driver was going to get impatient with me and run me over.  Interestingly enough, prior to having to stop, I was grinding out that last mile kind of ok. I wasn’t a figure of elegance in motion, but I was running, perhaps somewhere between a 9:30-10:00 m/m pace. But once I stopped at that crossing, my body was not wanting to move again. But I did, and as soon as my mileage tracker said “20 miles” in my ear, I stopped in my tracks. I seriously did not think that I had another step left in me. And thus my concern.

All things being equal, I recovered pretty quick –I walked around a bit, got in my truck, went through a burger drive through for a couple of cheese burgers (yum), went home and took my dog for a mile walk, showered, a bit more food, and a nap. Then another mile and a half walk with the dog. My feet hurt from pounding the pavement and I’m a little stiff, but overall I feel pretty good.

But still, I have that nagging doubt now… can I finish the marathon?

I remember having the same thoughts two years ago for my first marathon, especially since I really struggled through my training. Two years ago I was not able to completely run a 20 mile distance; on my two attempts I had to walk at least 2 miles each time. On top of that I was struggling with cramping issues. Knock on wood, this year I have done substantially better on my long runs and have not experienced any cramping issues. I feel like I am in better shape, so why the doubts?

5 weeks to the MCM !!!

CAN I do it vs do I WANT to do it

While doing an easy 6 miles over a somewhat hilly route (not crazy hilly, but several 150+ft elevation transitions), I started thinking about the “can I” and “do I want to” conundrum.  In other words, “can I” run this route over these hills, and assuming that the answer is yes, “do I want to”?

Yes, I can, and Yes, I want to. 

But then I took it to the next level such as running a marathon.  And the answer remains the same: yes, I want to, and yes, I can.  But I noted that I switched the order, wanting to do it, which then led me to being able to do it.  Which interestingly is in line with the concept of being goal oriented.  If you have a goal in mind, the chances of achieving that goal are pretty good. Of course it always helps if you include a plan on how to achieve that goal. But still, if you believe in it, then it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy.

And not to beat this to death, but obviously if there is something that I don’t want to do, then the likelihood of me being able to do it diminishes significantly, even if it is something that I “can” do. You get the drift.

Want to, can do.

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)

Leesburg 20K - great run, great event

I probably had the best race event of my very short running career.  Somehow or another I managed to eat right the day before, rest enough, fuel myself in the AM, not drink too much fluids before hand, not start out too fast, manage my fuel and fluid intake during the race, and had enough juice to finish strong.  The net result is that I averaged an 8:39m/m pace, well under my 8:59m/m goal.  And the bonus is that I had a lot of fun doing it. Best of all, I had a great "event test" run with my new Newton's and I am pleased that they didn't let me down!

Up through around mile 4 I can claim all of the credit, but then I managed to hook up with some good company that was compatible with the pace that I wanted to set, we had good conversation, and we able to encourage ourselves to a strong finish.  I’m not sure that I would have run as strong as I did without them. It was a lot of fun and it felt really good to run with them.

My goal had been to do my first mile at somewhere around a 9:30 pace, which I did, then steadily but slowly improve on that as I felt stronger, start running harder after mile 8, with hopefully a nice kick during the last mile. And things turned out pretty much according to plan:

Mile 8: 8:46

Mile 9: 7:46

Mile 10: 7:45

Mile 11: 8:03 (ran into some traffic)

Mile 12: 7:38

Last 4/10 of a mile: 7:59 pace

Somewhere around mile 4 I connected with “Sarah”, a 40-something woman who it turns out is a very accomplished runner, having already run the MCM twice.  We seemed to share the same goals for the event so it was easy to run with her.  Then around mile 7 I became aware of 2 guys that were drafting us and at first I started asking them if we were holding them back, but they insisted that it was more like we were pulling them along and we were  doing fine setting the pace.  As soon as we finished mile 8 I started kicking it up a bit, helped somewhat by the slight downhill  that we had and as soon as we finished that mile I was almost afraid to let my companions know that we just did a 7:46 split. But they were cool with it and ok to continue at that pace, and so we did. By the time we got to mile 12 with 4/10 of a mile to go, I wanted to see if I could push to the finish, and everyone started humping it up a bit more.

Sarah’s young son had joined us around mile 11.5 told us that we had this little bridge go over, then a 90 degree turn to the finish.  But unbeknownst to me, as soon as we turned that corner we had a bit of a hill…  Ok, it was not much of a hill, but I was pretty close to running out of gas and dealing with a hill was not something that I was looking forward to.  As soon as we hit that corner, one of the guys that I was sprinting with at time just took off on me.  It’s like he fired a new engine and just took off up that hill.  I started to take off after him, thinking that yeah it would be fun to finish with him, but as I started to amp it up, discretion took over – I wanted to finish the race…. not fall flat short of the finish line, or worse yet, hurt myself.  So I finished, strong, albeit not as strong as he did – but hey, I can play the “age” card; I probably have 10 years on that guy.

My right Achilles was somewhat tight the rest of the day and today (the day after), so I’ve been icing it after walking Reece (my dog), and wrapping it from time to time for support and warmth.  No stretching or serious exertion.  The running group (Potomac River Running, a group that I’ve gotten to know) invited me to join them on Tuesday afternoon for a group run, but I’m not sure that I should.  We’ll see come Tuesday PM.  I want to do 16 miles this weekend, so I need my feet, ankles, calves, Achilles,hams, quads, etc., to all be in good shape!

I do want to send a shout out to the Potomac River Running (website: www.prraces.com) group that organized this event. I haven’t run that many events, but the Leesburg 20K was one that I thought was one of the best managed events that I have participated in.  The sign-in at 6:00AM was seemless, plenty of porta johns,  a well organized start, a nicely marshaled route, lots of hydration, and a well managed finish line.  Best of all, I had a great time (both figuratively and literally).

69 more days to the MCM !!!

Why do we run marathons? I did a survey

It occurred to me that people that run marathons might actually be certifiable nuts...  So I did a survey few weeks ago to attempt to find out why we do it. Why do we run marathons?

As I go through my own training for my second marathon, I find that I keep asking myself the question "why am I doing this?" Not because I have doubts or lack of desire, but simply because I have become very interested in why it is that we put ourselves through what we do. There is a lot of training, lots of miles, lots of time, tons of discomfort, it costs money, injuries happen, and so on. And we do it just to run 26.2 miles with 100's if not 1,000's of other running nuts. What drives us to do it?

I hosted the survey at http://whydowerunmarathons.blogspot.com/2013/07/why-do-we-do-it.html which asked 4 basic questions:
1) an open ended question: What drives you to want to run a marathon?
2) How many have you already run (options are 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4+)
3) What is your age group,
4) and Are you Male or Female.

If would like to contribute your thoughts, just go to http://whydowerunmarathons.blogspot.com/2013/07/why-do-we-do-it.html.
  - 4 questions, totally anonymous, take you 60 seconds.

Summary of results so far:

First the demographics

• 48% of the respondents have run 4 or more marathons, 
• 15% are thinking about running their first, 
• 15% have previously only run one marathon, and 
• the remaining 12% have run between 2 & 3 marathons. 
• *What might be key here is that 60% have run two or more!! 
• 33% are in the 40-49 year old range,  25% in the 30-39 age group,   19% are 50-59,   10% are over 60 years old, and the remaining 13% are under 30.
• 62% male, 38% female  (I believe this number is a little skewed, since my personal observations is that at least half the runners in my marathons have been women, if not more)

At a very top level, it seems that we run marathons for a sense of accomplishment; it is a challenge, and we want to see if we can do it. It is a difficult enough of a challenge to not be taken casually, thus providing the sense of accomplishment upon its completion, and for some people, the need to do it again.

To paraphrase some of the general themes that I’ve received:  I want to see if I do it.  I gave birth to a child, can I run a marathon? I’m the only one in my office that will run 26.2 miles. I ran one marathon, can I do better in another one? If I run a marathon (or more than one) I will impress my friends… and so on in that vein.  

The “Can I do it?” trend was typical for first timers or it was a “bucket list” thing along the lines of “several people in my social circle have done it, therefore I need to do it too”.  But for the 15% that have only run one marathon, the phrase “I did it, I survived, I’ll never do it again” was pretty consistent.

There was also a secondary thread that was goal oriented (similar to “accomplishment”, yet different); by scheduling to run a marathon, the goal was to train and exercise accordingly with the net goal of staying fit.  In other words, the marathon itself was the reward, the party, for all of the training. By having the implied obligation to run the event, it became compulsory to train for it, and therefore lead a reasonably healthy lifestyle.  This may be what leads runners to participate in multiple marathons. It may also be that the event (the marathon itself) provides a sense of purpose in one's life.  This was implied, but not specifically stated, (I am grossly paraphrasing and reading between lines here): "I am going to run a marathon and I will surround my everyday life with those things that support achieving that goal".

Some respondents are naturally competitive (and obviously naturally athletic) and their reason for running a marathon is continuous improvement. Can they do better. This group just loves running, is good and accomplished at distance running, and in general loves the atmosphere of a marathon. One respondent wrote to me about the mystery of the event, i.e. there is no telling what is going to happen between the starting line and the finish line (and it’s true – 26.2 miles is a long enough of a distance that anything can happen, be it weather, event organization, personal fitness or injury, and so on).

Another thought that seemed to be streaming in was that everyone enjoyed the buzz and activity surrounding a marathon.  Runners all seem to like the excitement before the start of the race, the support during the event, and of course, the finish line events.  In large marathons there is a carnival atmosphere that just amps up the buzz and excitement.  Obviously, many smaller marathons have little, if any buzz, and is targeted to the serious and hard core athletes.

One response that struck home with me (because we are in the same age group and apparently share the same thought) discussed the desire to run because people that he’s known are now dead or very unhealthy due to life style choices and his goal was simply to live a healthy life right up to the day that he keels over during a run. (I know that sounds morbid, but I agree – I’d rather drop on a trail or a road during a run than in a nursing home….)

But the striking result of this survey was the number of repeat marathoners. 60% of the respondents have run two or more marathons (48% have run 4 or more!!).  This flies in the face of the fact that running a marathon is very hard and sucks so much out of your body, plus it demands so much attention to training.  Obviously, there are exceptions for those individuals who are naturally athletic and have the right genes. 

30 years ago the average finish time was 3 hrs 30 minutes. Today it is at least 60 minutes longer, if not a bit more.  Any runner that is out there hoofing it along for over 4 hours (and I am one of those) is in danger of doing damage to their body – there is so much that can go wrong.  The prevailing wisdom is that after 3 hours of running we are starting to significantly break our body down.  I suspect that those runners that are repeat marathoners are running sub 3:30 events. In hindsight, I should have asked that kind of question in the survey...

But my overall conclusion from the responses that I've received is that the key reason that so many people are drawn to running a marathon is because it is hard, but it is doable, and when you succeed and cross that finish line, there is a tremendous feeling of self accomplishment.  And apparently that leads to the wanting to run another one…

My own reasons have changed a bit, but not by much.  My first marathon was simply a personal call to a challenge.  My running level had amped up enough for me to consider that yes, I would like to attempt to run a marathon.  At a physical and mental level, a marathon is a difficult, yet reachable objective that forces me to train for it, i.e. exercise, and to eat sensibly. I get to apply a level of "mind over matter" to get through the tough spots (of which I have many) and succeeding in that, I believe, makes me a better person.

To me a marathon is a very individual event; oh sure, there are people that cheer me on towards my endeavor, run with me, and so on, but on marathon day only me, my endurance, and my legs will carry me from the starting line to the finish line - it's all me - no one else can run it for me. And being able to cross that finish line is a very personal achievement.

And guess what?  I'm going to run my second marathon on Oct 27 - the Marine Corp Marathon, and I am very excited about it! And I'm totally expecting to run a third marathon at some point after that.

(If you would like to leave a comment I've been told that it may be necessary for you to temporarily allow 3rd Party Cookies - it's not my thing... it's seems to be a Google Blogger thing... For example, if you use Chrome as a browser, go to "Settings", scroll down to the bottom and select "Show Advanced Settings", select "Content Settings" in the Privacy section, and then un-select "Block 3rd Party cookies...".   I would not recommend leaving your settings that way, so be sure to reset it back to block 3rd party cookies.)

Tough week

This was a tough week for me – I did a two-fer (two runs in a day) on Tuesday, hill repeats on Thursday, then a very hilly 7 mile trail run on Friday, and capped it with a 15 miler on Sunday. In total it was 33 miles for the week, which I know pales in comparison to what serious runners put in, but it is was I was comfortable doing.  I usually run 5 days a week, but this week was only 4 – my right Achilles has been a little tight, so I am trying to exercise some measure of level headedness and not overdo it to the point of not being able to run.  My mantra this year has been to stay uninjured.  Besides, the runs that I did were very productive and touched on all the elements that I wanted.

The mistake I made however was on Saturday.  Feeling the need to do something physical, I went down to the gym with the thought of doing some light upper body work – which led to also doing some leg work (leg curls, leg presses, calf presses), and because I felt so empowered, it led to a more rigorous workout that I ought to have considering that I was going to run 15 miles the next day.

I did the run, but it was so very much not my best run by a long shot.  My legs were totally toast after mile 10.  I started to feel the effects of my legs  not having the juice as soon as I hit my first significant hill around mile 7.  My legs just did not have it to run up that hill – so I sucked on a Gu and walked up most of it.  The Gu helped and I seemed to be ok of the next series of modest hills.

I had run up from my apartment into Great Falls Park and then up a trail into River Bend Park.  The trails were beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed that part of the run.  I was on trails that I had mostly not been on before, was navigating by dead reckoning, and it was a blast.  At one point, knowing that I was heading towards the Potomac River I wound up on the trail that switch-backed its way down a reasonably high ridge (probably a 200 ft drop in elevation).  I remember thinking that if this trail didn’t drop me where I thought it was going to that I was going to have to run back up that switch-back, something that I did not think my legs were going to appreciate.  But fortunately I did wind up at a trail that runs along the river that would take me back to Great Falls Park.  The first picture is looking back upstream on the trail I was running, and the second is in the direction that I'm going. (yes, that is the edge of my finger on the left frame - I could crop that out, but...)

I like running on trails for a variety of reasons, but I am learning that trail running is very different than road running.  First of all you have to pay attention to the ground and what is in front of you.  Secondly, you have to make sure that 

you pick up your feet.  There is no such thing as “gliding” like I try to do on hard packed surfaces.  And finally, it is really hard to appreciate your surroundings.  So as a result, my times on trails suck because I’m enjoying where I am and I’m still learning how to run on uneven trails.

The route back home involved a lot of uphill…  coming out of the park there is a 200 ft elevation uplift over a bit more than a mile.  I’m on an asphalt road at this point and it is just a smooth grind up and out of the park area.  I just chugged up the road at a steady pace, somewhere around a 9:45m/m pace and felt ok.  I got a bit of relief for the next couple miles and then had an uphill challenge for the next 4 miles, with the last ½ mile being the steepest. I sucked another Gu down at mile 12 and that helped some, but on that last ½ mile I was suffering (a very slow 11m/m plod).  At one point I almost fell on my face as I tripped on the edge of sidewalk slab.  I managed to catch myself, but I had the thought that if for some reason that I hadn’t, I would have just laid there for a while to rest up some….

I walked Reece for a mile after I got home, took an ice bath, did my protein shake, hydrated, iced my Achilles, etc… and all is good.  I was a little sore, but not horribly.  Achilles ok the next day – maybe we’re going to be ok.  We went to a pool party later that afternoon and someone asked me if I could run a marathon this week if I had to…  My first inclination was to say no, but oddly enough as I was finishing up my 15 miles and evaluating how tired I really was, I wondered if I had another 11 miles left in me, and I thought that yes, if I had to do it, I could.  So my answer to the question was yes… but I’d rather not, just yet… 

83 more days to the MCM!   (12 weeks)

2 weeks to the Leesburg 20K

14 miles becomes 15.3 miles…

Ok – so my goal for today was a simple 14 mile run, and to make my life interesting (and ideally simpler), I was going to run from my house to Great Falls Park and back. Seven miles out, seven miles back. A few hills, some ups and downs, and a nice 150ft hill over the last ½ mile to finish with. I figured that the last hill would be good training for the MCM since it finishes with a hill and I wanted to see just how well I handled a hill after running a long way. But it turned out to be 7 miles out and 8 and a half back…

So I get myself up well before dawn, feed and walk the dog, to my stretching, etc., and head out as the sun comes up. This was actually important since I was going to be running on roads that had virtually no shoulder and I wanted to be done before traffic woke up. As it was, there were a few times when I had to step into the ditch to avoid cars – it was not the safest route I’ve ever run. But what it lacked for in safety it made up with beauty. Tons of tree’s and lots of greenery. Since it was so early I got to run undisturbed from traffic for some good stretches and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Clean air is so nice!

 My plan was to run into the park until I hit my 7 mile mark and then turn around. But once I was in there I started thinking about re-routing myself to bounce out onto another road for the return trip. This led me to take a trail that I’d never been on before and had no real idea where it went except that it sort of started out “westwards”…. And if you’ve ever been on a trail in the woods, they never go straight for very long, and this one was no exception.

This particular trail wound up being a somewhat difficult and technical trail to run – steep, rocky, and muddy. Dark too… There was so much under and over growth that there was little light (plus it was cloudy). This particular picture was in one of the rare "clearer" areas.  Making matter worse, there was no cellular signal so the map function on my handy smart phone was useless. The GPS knew where I was, but there was no map data – somewhat aggravating…

Nevertheless, I had a fair idea of where I was and where I wanted to go and ultimately arrived at a modestly level gravel trail that afforded me some respite. But that trail detour took a lot out of me – I was pretty tired and I was not even half way through my run. The gravel trail ran north-south which I knew would intersect with a road and once at that road I was able to figure out where I was and how to get home.

Taking a lesson from my last long run, I took a 5hour energy shot at the 7 mile point and the jolt of B12 did wonders. I was able to keep a fairly good pace all the way through to the end of mile 13 where I suddenly started to sag. I started to get that “hit the wall” and out of juice feeling, so I sucked down my last GU, and trudged my way forward. Incredibly, by the time I hit mile 14.5 I was back in rhythm and finished (even doing the hill nicely) strong. That last hill was difficult but I kept on truck’n – it wasn’t my fastest pace, but I was running.

The great news is that I did the entire run without experiencing any cramping. It was very humid (97%) and I was sweating profusely. I had done a reasonably good job of managing my fuel and Gatorade intake (half a cup of watered down Gatorade every 2 miles), GU at miles 4, 9, and 13, and the 5hr at mile 7. I let myself walk while drinking so that I could deliberately savor it and swallow (ahhh nice!). Even with the slow 2 miles on that trail I averaged a 9:26 pace. After my run I did a mile walk with my dog, relaxed with an ice bath, and then an ice compress for my Achilles tendon. I was tired, but not horribly. Next week I’d like to do 16 miles and then do a little taper prior to a 20K race on Aug 18.

91 days to the MCM….
 3 weeks to the Leesburg 20K

Negotiating my way through 14 miles

I find it interesting how sometimes I negotiate my way through a long run.  But don’t misunderstand me, I love to run, I like the feeling of running, I love the exertion. But sometimes on a long run I get bored and it’s not enough to just be running – There is the long term view of why I am where I am in my training program, i.e. this long run fits here in my endurance training program, but sometimes it does get monotonous.

Yesterday I did 14 miles on the Mt Vernon Trail (runs along the Potomac, across from DC) on a simple 7 mile out-and-back route.  Around mile 4 I started thinking “3 more miles and I get to turn around”, then at mile 7, the turn-around point, it was “Yipee, I’m heading back!”, at mile 12 it was “17-18 minutes or less and I’ll be done!”, and at mile 13 it was “if I run faster I’ll be done sooner”….  You get the drift.  I wonder what other runners do to talk their way through the run...

I have no idea how people run without music… at a minimum the music is entertaining.  More importantly to me, the beat provides me with inspiration. Sometimes I’ll even listen to a podcast, but that tends to not help me with my cadence.  I know this woman in Michigan who recently ran the JFK 50 miler, and one of their rules is no earbuds or headphones.  She told me that she tried singing to herself, talking to whomever she could, but after 8-10 hours of running it has to get very tough.  It is not only a physical endurance test, but also a mental one.

Running on the Mt Vernon Trail was ok – it’s safe traffic-wise, reasonably runner friendly (except for all of the bicycles), no major hills, paved, and you can go a long way.  The downside however is that it follows the GW Parkway for the most part on which there is a lot of traffic.  And lots of traffic means lots of vehicular exhaust in the air, and I don’t think that’s real good for lungs, especially when you are running and sucking in lots of air. 

Even at 6:30AM on a Saturday there was what I would consider as significant traffic.  If it was windy, or even just breezy, that would help a lot. But yesterday morning was still and hot and humid.  I would have preferred to run the C&O canal path, but there has been a lot of rain and I wanted to avoid the mud.  Also, knowing that it was going to be a still and humid morning, I was hoping that the more wider-open area next to the Potomac would have been a bit cooler.  Maybe starting earlier in the AM or on a Sunday would be better.

But all good – It was a solid run, I averaged a 9:07 pace which (I think) I could easily have sucked below 9.  At mile 7, the turn-around point, I took a few minutes to pull some nutrition out of my camel-back and that process squandered some time, even though I was still moving, something that I would not have done in a timed event.  Regardless, I managed a slight negative split. 

One of the new things that I experimented with was slugging down a 5HR shot at mile 7, and I very positively felt its effects during the next few miles. My intent was to see if the B12 (the primary component of 5HR) would help me. I did the whole shot, but it’s likely that I only needed maybe half.  I did GU at miles 4, 9, and 12.  I also sipped on my watered-down Gatorade throughout the run. For tracking purposes, I went through almost 48oz of fluid (6 cups).  I felt no cramping or major fatiguing – I was tired at the end, but I could have gone another mile or so if necessary.  So far so good.

105 days (15 weeks) to the MCM!!  

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

Running tired

There is something about learning to run when you are tired – or at least much that I need to learn.  And it’s actually an interesting phenomena. 

In my case, I’ll get to a point in my (long) run where I’m starting to think that “I’m tired”, but naturally, I’m not done with my run.  And as is often the case, I may be 5, 8 or more miles away from my truck or home, so being tired is, well, just too bad.  I have to finish.

There are times when the thought crosses my mind (very briefly, mind you) that I could just walk…  but that would take so long to make it back to wherever, so I just continue to run.

The crazy thing is that not too long after I get this feeling I seem to get a second wind, like new-found strength and I’m fine for a while longer.

I would be kidding you if I didn't tell you that there was a mental part to this.  When I get that "I'm tired" feeling, I'm instantly evaluating if my body is really trying to tell me something or not.  At 56, I'm scanning all of my vital signs like a pilot does his instruments - am I in trouble or am I ok?  99.9% of the time I am ok, and I have to find the mental strength to get past it. And sometimes it is hard, really hard, to do - but it feels so good when I do, when I push past being tired and keep rolling.  I have no idea where that comes from and I wish that I could find a way to bottle it up.

The really hard part is towards the end of a long run, particularly if that last bit is uphill.  The tiredness becomes very heavy, and all I think about is “keep running and just finish”. I use any number of little mental tricks to keep me going: I’ll tell myself that I’m on mile 25 of a marathon and I’m going to finish and I will do it running. Or I’ll think about other people who have actually had to run for their lives or someone else’s and giving up was not an option.  I’ll also imagine a wire attached to the middle of my hips that is pulling me to the finish (or up the hill) – that last one works to keep me pumping. 

I’ve never been so tired that I literally felt like I was going to collapse (that’s a line that I won’t fret with).  I think that instinctively I’ve always kept a reasonable buffer in the tank, so to speak, so that bad or weird things don’t happen.

The hard part is that when I start to get really tired, I mean really tired, I start to not process thoughts very well, and as a result I have to be extra careful that I don’t make stupid decisions.  I’ve learned that this is likely caused by the flood of lactic acid in my system. Hot conditions will do that also, but for different reasons.

But the even crazier thing is that finishing a run tired seems to better condition me for the next run. Which makes sense of course; I am pushing the envelope a little bit, expanding my ability by a bit more every time.  It turns out that there is actual science to this:  As I endurance train, I am increasing the amount of blood that is being delivered to my muscles.  But note that it is not my blood volume that is increasing, but rather the ability for the blood to reach the muscles that need the nutrition.  It turns out that I am increasing the number and size of the capillaries that deliver blood.  In addition, I am becoming more efficient at burning fuel (glycogen and fat).

One very telling symptom of this cardio improvement is that I’ve noticed that my resting heart rate is in the 45-50 bpm range. An emergency room doctor that I happened to run with one day told me that if I ever had the misfortune to wind up in an ER to be sure to tell the attending nurses/docs that I was a runner, or else they would start giving me drugs to raise my heart rate!  I thought that was pretty crazy..

Of course, after “pushing the envelope” the trick is to recover adequately and properly so that my body can take advantage of that new endurance.  By that I mean, refueling properly (water, electrolyte replenishment, carbs and proteins), taking care of my muscles (stretching, rolling), and some rest (but not too much).

The more I get into running (all 4 years of it so far), the more I can see how deeply engaged and involved one can get.  It all depends on how deep you want to go and how much time you have to spend on it.  Overall, I think it’s pretty interesting!  I’m just hoping that I can keep my body healthy enough to continue.

148 days to the MCM!

Miles

I’m doing 20-25 miles a week as I do my pre-training for the Marine Corp Marathon in October and once I get into the heart of my training routine I’ll probably peak out somewhere close to 40 miles during certain weeks.  And to me, that’s a fair amount of running – and time…  And I started to think about other people that I’ve met or read about that do 30-40 miles per week just on a regular basis, then amp it up to 60+ for their marathon training. Some of these runners are running multiple times a day.  The question I have to ask is: do these people have a life outside of just running? Do they have jobs, errands to run, a house to take care of, have kids, a spouse, or friends?  You know… a life?  Do they go out for a beer on Friday or Saturday nights?

Perhaps it’s just me, but an hour’s run actually consumes more like 3 hours of my day if I take my pre and post run routines into consideration.  All told, those 20-25 miles take a reasonable, but very enjoyable, chunk out of my life.  So for those folks that are consistently doing 30-40 and more miles per week, either they run really, really fast or running is basically pretty much all they do.  And I’m pretty certain that when they are not running, they are cross-training…

So my point here I guess is that there are varying levels of running fanaticism. There’s the guys like me that want to run, like to run, and want to be better, but are constrained by the different priorities and pulls of a “life”.  And then there are those that live to run.  I have this image of those that live to run literally wearing running gear under their work clothes and then do the phone-booth Superman transformation (ok – they probably do it in a bathroom or perhaps their car).  Of course I’m assuming that they are actually working….  There was a story in Runners World about a guy who kind of had that way of life: as soon as 5:00 hit, he'd change clothes and be running down the road by 5:05 and then order pizza while running to be delivered to some corner so that he'd have something to eat for the run back to his car.  But guys like that are so not the norm.  C'mon man...

But nevertheless, I am hammering out my miles in the relentless effort to become more fit and physically capable of accomplishing a difficult goal.  I struggle with balancing training-time and other-things-I-need-to-do and I know that I'm not alone.  But in the end the personal reward is tremendous.  It’s something that I can’t describe to anyone and I’m sure that other runners feel the same.  And it’s more than just accomplishing something.  It’s almost like it’s an internal digestion and reaching for a certain “zen”, whatever the heck that is.  

I can’t wait for the MCM.  I’m excited and I hope that I am fit and can toe the starting line healthy!

176 days to go.

Marine Corp Marathon - I'm in !

It took serious persistence and knowing some html, but I managed to get registered for the MCM, running Oct 27, 2013!  The event sold out in 2 hours, 27 minutes.  Registration started at noon, and crashed immediately as thousands of runners hit the site.  I am just grateful that I had the time to be able to dedicate to getting registered.  Now I'm just hoping for a strong training period and a good run!
HooRah!  Here we go!

Goals?  Right now my goal is to cross the finish line vertical and preferably running !