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 !

Heart rate (HR) monitoring

I jumped on the heart rate (HR) monitoring band wagon for a short bit – but I'm off of it now and I am sure that I’ll get a lot of comments back on this post….

Summary for the impatient:  I feel that while there is valid science behind the physiology and mechanics of my HR as it relates to my running efficiency, the effort required to adequately monitor it and quantify (if not also qualify) the data hardly makes it worth my effort to monitor and run to a HR bandwidth.

In other words, I am saying that I am able to judge closely enough how I am doing without having to attach devices to my body, be constantly monitoring the status of HR readings, and then adjust my effort to those readings.  In the same way that I would have to go through a data collection and analysis process if I was monitoring my HR and arrive at some quantifiable solution, over time I have been able to recognize body signals that provide me with basically the same information regarding my health status.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m an Engineer – and I love data. As it is I probably keep way too much data about my running activities, miles run, splits, cumulative, averages, pacing, hill work, miles on shoes, and so on. And at first I really latched on the idea of being able to quantify my running efforts with the status of my HR – the data could be pretty interesting – perhaps… 

But as I got into it I realized that first off, the key is to establish what my MaxHR was.  There is/are a bogus formula which needs to be expunged from the internet that uses a number minus your age or a factor of your age. Perhaps over a very, very large population sample the results average out, but at a personal level it is a non-starter. And the reason is simply because my MaxHR can be substantially different than another runner of the same age and similar health. The same can be said for the “aerobic” and “anaerobic” ranges which are said to be 60-70% and 70-80% or MaxHR respectfully. Bogus, bogus, bogus.

The only way to make this really work is to gather enough data and sufficient testing to establish metrics that apply to me personally. And this is something that is totally possible. And yes, I am confident that it would make me a better runner. But no, I doubt that it will ever enable me win a race (my genetics simply aren’t there to run at a pace faster than the guys at the front of the pack or even in my age group). So given all that, I don’t see the value in going through all of the data gathering – it begins to take the fun and joy out of simply being able to run.

I’m trying to keep this post very personal and individual to me, because I realize that everyone is different, genetically, biologically, chemically, etc., and there are also mental games at play. But I’ll share one situation where I was running with someone who was tracking their HR and somewhere around mile 9 he said that he needed to slow down or walk because he was approaching the max for his targeted HR aerobic range. I’ll note that we were running pretty smoothly, conversing, laughing, and he seemed to be in a very comfortable groove, in other words, he did not seem to be approaching a higher level of exertion than he had been. I asked him if he felt ok, and he said he felt great, but that he had to keep his HR below a certain threshold. Turns out he was taking his threshold levels literally as calculations from the same internet crap that I mentioned earlier.  His MaxHR was probably nowhere near what he read he should calculate, and his aerobic range was likely substantially wider than even 60-70% of whatever his MaxHR really is…

So my conclusion to all this is to run by listening to my body. How comfortable do I feel? How is my breathing? Do I feel like I’m pressing or am I cruising? Can I run a little faster without a lot of extra effort? Should I slow down? And so on. I think it comes down to running smart, but not so much “data smart”, but rather smart as in tune with my body and recognizing signals.

I also realize that not everybody can interpret what their body is trying to tell them,  so having a device that tells them “SLOW DOWN”, or “you are good, you can speed up some…”  is important. I get it.  But I just feel that I can be a better runner, and be healthier, by being able to tune in more to what my body is saying and not stress myself out on the my current HR reading.

Side note… I still track my HR from time to time, but only because I find it mildly interesting. Plus,  I’m a data hog. But I won’t look at my HR while I’m running anymore; I’ll let my body tell give me status updates the old fashioned way…

Comments and stories welcome...

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.

A tough 20 miles capping a 45 mile week

Today’s 20 miler capped a 45 mile week for me, 13 miles more than last week.  Oddly enough I did this to myself on purpose in order to push myself beyond my normal comfort zone.  I also realize that 45 miles is chump change for a lot of marathoner’s but as the saying goes, to each their own ability… 

I ran on the C&O Trail again, starting right at sunrise.  It was a little gloomy under the trees without the sunlight, but things brightened up quickly.  Within my first couple of miles I came within 10 feet of a deer that was standing right on the edge of the path. I slowed to a walk so that I wouldn’t spook it any more than I was going to and hoped to take a picture, but she quietly slipped back into the forest and out of sight.  It’s kind of amazing how easily they can disappear amongst the trees.

I was also running with my heart monitor (and I’ll have a separate post on this) and my intent was to keep my heart rate within my “burn and churn” range between 125 and 143 bpm, and I pretty much did.  My average HR was 131 with a max HR of 143. I was hoping that if I ran within “the limits” that I would feel strong in the last few miles, but possibly because this was a really hard run week, I didn’t. The last 3 miles were really, really hard! On top of that, my feet were starting to hurt. The trail is basically crushed rock and I sought to run along the edges that were a bit softer and had more soil than rock content.  In some places I was able to run on the sort-of low grass. But with little recent rain the ground was very hard, and boy did I feel it.

Another by-product of getting tired is sloppy running and posture failure. As I got tired, particularly as I was entering mile 16, I noticed that my footfalls were flatter and I felt that I was pounding the ground vs stepping through. I would try to adjust my stride and body posture, but my legs were simply tired – I was running out of juice. As I got tired and failed to maintain my posture and form, my knee’s started to bother me. In addition, I could feel my that hamstrings were tightening and I felt like I was edging ever so close to cramping. I sucked down another Gu at mile 17 and I sipped my water/Gatorade mix throughout. Interestingly enough, between thorough miles 16 and 18 my HR was fairly nominal (mid 130’s), but as I got to mile 19 my HR started popping into the 140’s. I found that by managing my breathing I was able to manage my HR some, but obviously I was reaching a point of fatigue. I should also mention that it was getting warm (mid 70's) and about a 90% humidity. I was dripping sweat and my shirt and shorts were soaked. The good news is that I didn’t cramp and I finished my run successfully with a nice 9:30m/m pace average. Of interest to me is that last weeks 18 miler average pace was 9:00m/m, on a week that I only logged 33 miles. Obviously I was tired from the start for this 20 miler.

Earlier in the week I had a marvelous (and hard) 10 mile run around DC – across the Key bridge, along the Potomac all the way around East Potomac Park and then back across the Memorial bridge. It was a good run and the weather was great.

8 weeks to the MCM !!   Next week is a “down” week with my longest run closer to 10 miles. I am looking forward to that!