It is now mid-June, 3 months since I re-injured my calf. I've gone through extensive PT, run the Dexter-AnnArbor HM, and the Ann Arbor HM portion of the AA Marathon. Because I was unable to run the miles, I had to bail out of the AA Marathon. As it was, I only barely squeezed in a 12 mile training run a couple of weeks before the DexAA HM. That barely got me ready for that event. Then I had all of two weeks in between the DexAA HM and the AA HM - I did a short 5 miler in the week in between. The good news is that my calf is all good and I'm very happy with that. Plus I've learned a lot of cool and interesting techniques for stretching and exercising my legs. I've also done some biking for cross training. Out of a bad experience I've picked up some good things, so all positive there....
On the down side, since my training has been so limited, my speed and endurance has suffered. I barely completed the DexAA HM - I started cramping coming up the hill and pushed hard to finish. My time was so-so: 2:00:31, a full 1:38 off last year. The AA HM was going well for me, but the humidity got to me around mile 10 and I got very hot and started cramping - so I slowed way down to take care of myself so that I could be sure to finish (I didn't want another "Milford incident"). Even so, I was bull headed enough to push hard at the end and suffered cramps started after mile 12, first in one thigh and then the other (fortunately not both at the same time). I found that I could sort of run by grabbing the upper part of the cramping thigh with my hand and sort of hobble along. It was very uncomfortable, and I know that I made for quite a sight, but I made it. The good news there is that I recovered very quickly - I was seemingly just fine moments after I crossed the finish line and stopped running! My time for the AA HM was a dismal 2:09:01. That included a 13:35 minute mile between mile 10 and 11.... (that's 4:30 race minutes off my intended pace of 9:00 min/mile that I was not going to make up!). Oh well.....
I had flirted, briefly, with the notion of doing the full AA marathon - I'm glad that I had the good sense to back off of it. That would have made for an ugly day.
As an aside, I noticed in the annarbor.com article about the event a lot of not-kind comments from very unfriendly locals about the event. I'm hoping that these people are not the majority or that they don't sway any decision to not have the event again. While I'm not crazy about the route, I think that it is great that AA has it's own marathon and I'm hoping that it becomes a much bigger event.
I am still hoping to run the Grand Rapids Marathon in October. I need to figure out some logistics (hotel), but I'm aiming for that as my next big event. 17 weeks to go.
These are notes of my running journey. Hopefully they will be useful or even inspiring to other runners! Scroll down and look on the right hand side for titles that might interest you (Archive)
Monday, June 18, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Calf problems
That was last week... Since then I've been very carefully taking care of my calf. I took two full days off, and then slowly ramped up my routine: I did run/walks, running a quarter mile, and then walking a quarter mile. The next day I tried running just a bit further and walking less. And finally on Friday I did 5 miles without walking. After each run I would ice my calf for 20 minutes. All in all it felt great.
On Saturday (yesterday) I did a 2.5 mile walk instead of running. And today, with absolutely perfect weather, I got up early with the anticipation of doing 10-12 slow and easy miles. I even picked a fairly flat route that would not stress out my calf. It was going to be a great run. But around mile 4, my calf suddenly started twinging to the point that I had to stop. I walked for a bit, hoping that I could work out whatever was stressing it, but eventually realized that today's run was over.
I turned around and started to hobble home. About a mile into it my calf was substantially uncomfortable. The walking was not helping, and I could not find a comfortable gait or way to place my foot to releve the tension in my calf. I finally had to call AnnDee to come pick me up (that's one good argument for having a cell phone... I've been considering ditching my iPhone and using a wrist gps device. Not anymore.)
So now I'm on the couch, icing down my calf, and I'm disappointed and worried about my training.i have 12 weeks until the AA Marathon (10 weeks until the DexAA HM), and I am officially behind in my miles. If I have a micro-tear in my calf, as I did a year ago, that could side line me for several weeks. This is a problem as it will be difficult to build up the endurance for the marathon in a very short time span. (note that I said difficult, not impossible). The important part right now is to make sure that I am as healthy and as strong as possible so that I can.
As I sit here in my frustration, my plan is to take a shower, not run for a couple of days, do whatever PT I can think of or read about on my calf, and take a new look at things on Wednesday. Absolutely worst case is that I don't run the AA Marathon and train like a bastard for the Grand Rapids Marathon.
10 weeks to the DexAA HM
12 weeks to the AA Marathon
30 weeks to the Grand Rapids Marathon
Friday, March 16, 2012
nutrition really matters
This week I had a bad run day and a good run day. And I think that it all centered around being nutritionally ready to run. On the day prior to the bad run, I didn't fuel myself properly and I definitely did not fuel myself as I should have on the day of. And I could really tell that I didn't have any juice.
On Wednesday I had a goal of doing 12 miles - but due to other commitments I was going to have to split it into two runs. I also had the idea that since I was splitting up the run that I would do more than 12. But for reasons that I can't fathom, on Tuesday I didn't eat balanced meals (carbs/proteins). In fact, for some reason I was very protein intensive (but I did end the day with some totally awesome, over the top good, smoked ribs compliments of my neighbor!) . Prior to my Wednesday run, I did a goo pack and took off with a goal of doing 7 miles prior to breaking for an appointment. But despite the fact that it was a beautiful day, cool, no wind, sunny, I never found my rhythm, I was constantly struggling for juice. At mile 2, I sucked down another goo and forced myself to finish 5 miles. And to make matters worse, I felt totally fatigued for the rest of the day. I never made it to the second part of the run. This was bad because I was slightly behind in my training schedule for the AA marathon.
But the one thing I did on Wednesday was eat. In fact it occurred to me that I was eating more than usual. Small portions, and all leaning towards carb-heavy. But I ate. I even went out and had a few beers that evening (I had taken myself off beer because I thought that it was adding pounds on me that I didn't need).
Thursday morning I had a whole wheat English muffin and after 90 minutes hit the road. And I had a great 10+ mile run. I did 5 miles on flat terrain, goo'ed up, and then did 5 hilly miles. The hills were hard, but the work out felt great. And I felt strong afterwards. I even toyed with the idea of doing an extra 2 hill miles, but decided that sanity needed to take charge. Let's not get ahead of myself....
Bottom line: pre-run nutrition is so important. And it's not just the day-of, it's also about the day-before. And the day before that, and so on. I'm slowly figuring it out.
This weekend is the Sham-Rock 10K
10 weeks to the DexAnnArbor HM
12 weeks to the AA Marathon
On Wednesday I had a goal of doing 12 miles - but due to other commitments I was going to have to split it into two runs. I also had the idea that since I was splitting up the run that I would do more than 12. But for reasons that I can't fathom, on Tuesday I didn't eat balanced meals (carbs/proteins). In fact, for some reason I was very protein intensive (but I did end the day with some totally awesome, over the top good, smoked ribs compliments of my neighbor!) . Prior to my Wednesday run, I did a goo pack and took off with a goal of doing 7 miles prior to breaking for an appointment. But despite the fact that it was a beautiful day, cool, no wind, sunny, I never found my rhythm, I was constantly struggling for juice. At mile 2, I sucked down another goo and forced myself to finish 5 miles. And to make matters worse, I felt totally fatigued for the rest of the day. I never made it to the second part of the run. This was bad because I was slightly behind in my training schedule for the AA marathon.
But the one thing I did on Wednesday was eat. In fact it occurred to me that I was eating more than usual. Small portions, and all leaning towards carb-heavy. But I ate. I even went out and had a few beers that evening (I had taken myself off beer because I thought that it was adding pounds on me that I didn't need).
Thursday morning I had a whole wheat English muffin and after 90 minutes hit the road. And I had a great 10+ mile run. I did 5 miles on flat terrain, goo'ed up, and then did 5 hilly miles. The hills were hard, but the work out felt great. And I felt strong afterwards. I even toyed with the idea of doing an extra 2 hill miles, but decided that sanity needed to take charge. Let's not get ahead of myself....
Bottom line: pre-run nutrition is so important. And it's not just the day-of, it's also about the day-before. And the day before that, and so on. I'm slowly figuring it out.
This weekend is the Sham-Rock 10K
10 weeks to the DexAnnArbor HM
12 weeks to the AA Marathon
Monday, February 27, 2012
Hamstring fun
While doing speed intervals a week or so ago I managed to aggravate my right hamstring. Everything was going well in my routine: warm up, and then quarter mile fast/slow repeats. During my fourth repeat, instead of just doing a quarter mile fast, I decided to try for a half mile. I felt good endurance-wise, nothing hurt, and even though I was tired, I felt like it was a good goal. I finished the half mile fast no problem and then did my quarter mile recovery at a slow jog. But when I went to start my next fast period something did not feel right at all with my right hamstring. So I quickly abandoned the run and walked and massaged my ham. I find that if I run my fingers up from the back of my knee up the middle of my ham towards my glutes, that it can often release what ever pressure or knot is in the muscle. It helps, but of course, some kind of damage has occurred and it needs to repair itself. I sort of jogged the last quarter mile home, but I was very concerned about what just happened.
I took the next couple of days off, massaging and stretching my legs. I followed that with an easy 3 miles - ham still a little tender. The following day I did 5 miles, and that was pretty scary. At about 3.5 miles, my right ham felt very weird, like it was about to give out, so I walked it and massaged it for a bit. I also noted that my left knee was feeling weird, no doubt due to the fact that my left leg was probably compensating for my right. I did finish my 5 miles, but did so very carefully and took the next 2 days off.
By the time day 3 dawned, I was beginning to feel like I was behind in my training plan, so I naturally had to get out there and put some miles on. I did 8+ miles. The first 4 were very careful and I slowly upped my pace, while modifying my stride in order to help stretch out different parts of my ham and quads. By mile 6 I'm guessing that my ham finally warmed up because it suddenly felt great. It felt so good that I finished the last 2.5 miles at nice clip.
So what happened? Was it the change in my stride that helped? Did it take 6 miles for my ham to "warm up" and get loose? Both?
I iced my ham afterwards and for the rest of the afternoon it was very stiff. Actually both of my legs were stiff. I'm sure that my left leg was out of sorts for having to compensate for my right. That night Amy showed me some Yoga moves that really helped. (way to go Amy!) I worked through them and a few others this morning and things feel a bit better.
I have a long run (10 miles) to do this week, followed by 11 miles the following one with the St Patty's day 5K that weekend. I need that ham to get right.
I took the next couple of days off, massaging and stretching my legs. I followed that with an easy 3 miles - ham still a little tender. The following day I did 5 miles, and that was pretty scary. At about 3.5 miles, my right ham felt very weird, like it was about to give out, so I walked it and massaged it for a bit. I also noted that my left knee was feeling weird, no doubt due to the fact that my left leg was probably compensating for my right. I did finish my 5 miles, but did so very carefully and took the next 2 days off.
By the time day 3 dawned, I was beginning to feel like I was behind in my training plan, so I naturally had to get out there and put some miles on. I did 8+ miles. The first 4 were very careful and I slowly upped my pace, while modifying my stride in order to help stretch out different parts of my ham and quads. By mile 6 I'm guessing that my ham finally warmed up because it suddenly felt great. It felt so good that I finished the last 2.5 miles at nice clip.
So what happened? Was it the change in my stride that helped? Did it take 6 miles for my ham to "warm up" and get loose? Both?
I iced my ham afterwards and for the rest of the afternoon it was very stiff. Actually both of my legs were stiff. I'm sure that my left leg was out of sorts for having to compensate for my right. That night Amy showed me some Yoga moves that really helped. (way to go Amy!) I worked through them and a few others this morning and things feel a bit better.
I have a long run (10 miles) to do this week, followed by 11 miles the following one with the St Patty's day 5K that weekend. I need that ham to get right.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
hill work
Hills. I need to do more hills or else I will absolutely die doing the AA marathon (17 weeks from now). The marathon course doesn't have any huge or horrible hills, but there are a lot of them. And historically so far, its been hills that tend to knock the crap out of me (the Milford 30K, the 22 mile Tortoise and Hare training run), so I need to make sure that I build the necessary endurance to manage, if not survive, the whole race.
I've been picking routes that have hills and I will also work in doing hill repeats (up and down the same hill - which is kind of boring for me..). I prefer doing hill repeats at the Arb if for no other reason than it is scenic and its a dirt path, vs asphalt or cement (easier on my feet), but if it's been raining it make the path somewhat difficult. My goal in doing hill repeats is to be able to do them while keeping my heart rate within a reasonable range. But I don't always wear a heart monitor (too fricking unreliable) so its just a "feel".
I recently read a quote in Runners World by Mark Remy where defined treadmills as "designed to destroy one's mind through sensory deprivation and monotony" - and while I agree with the sensory deprivation and monotony and I avoid treadmills now as much as possible, I never would have gotten started with running were it not for treadmills. Running on a treadmill basically gave me the confidence to hit the road and a safe place to run in the winter. Interesting how a perspective changes...
St Pat's run in 3 weeks.
10K run in 4 weeks.
DexAnnArbor run in 15 weeks.
Ann Arbor Marathon in 17 weeks.
Grand Rapids Marathon in 35 weeks.
I've been picking routes that have hills and I will also work in doing hill repeats (up and down the same hill - which is kind of boring for me..). I prefer doing hill repeats at the Arb if for no other reason than it is scenic and its a dirt path, vs asphalt or cement (easier on my feet), but if it's been raining it make the path somewhat difficult. My goal in doing hill repeats is to be able to do them while keeping my heart rate within a reasonable range. But I don't always wear a heart monitor (too fricking unreliable) so its just a "feel".
I recently read a quote in Runners World by Mark Remy where defined treadmills as "designed to destroy one's mind through sensory deprivation and monotony" - and while I agree with the sensory deprivation and monotony and I avoid treadmills now as much as possible, I never would have gotten started with running were it not for treadmills. Running on a treadmill basically gave me the confidence to hit the road and a safe place to run in the winter. Interesting how a perspective changes...
St Pat's run in 3 weeks.
10K run in 4 weeks.
DexAnnArbor run in 15 weeks.
Ann Arbor Marathon in 17 weeks.
Grand Rapids Marathon in 35 weeks.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
New day, new run
Yesterday I did a measly 3 miles - and struggled through every friking yard of it. Today I did 4 miles and enjoyed every inch of it. What was the difference?
Yesterday was partly sunny, in the high 20's, and windy, making for a nice wind chill factor. I know that I was not happy about the wind. Today on the other hand, is cloudy, light snow, and enough breeze to make the snow come down at a 45degree angle.
I had no mojo yesterday. My last run was 4 days prior, a good but hard 8 miles. Then it got really cold out and on Saturday with plans for another 7-8 miler, I crawled back into bed when I saw that the temp was 9degrees with a 15mph wind. Forget about it. I really don't need to put up with stupid weather conditions... So yesterday, with the weather more or less reasonable (it was, less the wind) and having not run in a few days, became one of those days when I feel that "I really need to get out there". My legs were heavy, my breathing was labored, my pace was out of sync - not a damn thing was right. Plus I almost got run over by a car in my neighborhood; my fault since I wasn't paying attention and literally running (shuffling, stomping - not really running) in the middle of the road. My bad.
But the bottom line is that I felt like I had no juice. Was it lack of fuel? Possibly the wrong kind? I had had something for breakfast; something very healthy: greek yogurt with blueberries and a spoonful of granola. Plus a hard boiled egg. Sounds like a nice balance...? But then after the run, I felt crappy. I also didn't feel that "ahhhhh" feeling that I'm supposed to get after a run.
Today I started with a simple piece of whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter. An hour later I pushed off for my run and I felt great. I had a good, if not a great, run. Light snow, some breeze, the path was totally covered with snow and only a couple other footprints. Nice.
Was it the pre-run fuel? the wind? other mojo affecting bs?
There is one thing that I am very proud of. During my sucky run yesterday I had several opportunities to cut the run short, i.e. trim it down from 3 miles to 2.5, 1.5, or even just 1 mile. But I put my head into it and I did the miles that I intended to run from the start. I don't know if that is good or bad - I don't know if I benefited physically from having pushed myself to do the entire run or if, since I was not into it, if it was actually detrimental, but mentally it was very rewarding. While in the shower I remember thinking "I did it anyway", with a smile... For that reason alone I'm glad that I did it. Even better that the following day was a great run day.
Yesterday was partly sunny, in the high 20's, and windy, making for a nice wind chill factor. I know that I was not happy about the wind. Today on the other hand, is cloudy, light snow, and enough breeze to make the snow come down at a 45degree angle.
I had no mojo yesterday. My last run was 4 days prior, a good but hard 8 miles. Then it got really cold out and on Saturday with plans for another 7-8 miler, I crawled back into bed when I saw that the temp was 9degrees with a 15mph wind. Forget about it. I really don't need to put up with stupid weather conditions... So yesterday, with the weather more or less reasonable (it was, less the wind) and having not run in a few days, became one of those days when I feel that "I really need to get out there". My legs were heavy, my breathing was labored, my pace was out of sync - not a damn thing was right. Plus I almost got run over by a car in my neighborhood; my fault since I wasn't paying attention and literally running (shuffling, stomping - not really running) in the middle of the road. My bad.
But the bottom line is that I felt like I had no juice. Was it lack of fuel? Possibly the wrong kind? I had had something for breakfast; something very healthy: greek yogurt with blueberries and a spoonful of granola. Plus a hard boiled egg. Sounds like a nice balance...? But then after the run, I felt crappy. I also didn't feel that "ahhhhh" feeling that I'm supposed to get after a run.
Today I started with a simple piece of whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter. An hour later I pushed off for my run and I felt great. I had a good, if not a great, run. Light snow, some breeze, the path was totally covered with snow and only a couple other footprints. Nice.
Was it the pre-run fuel? the wind? other mojo affecting bs?
There is one thing that I am very proud of. During my sucky run yesterday I had several opportunities to cut the run short, i.e. trim it down from 3 miles to 2.5, 1.5, or even just 1 mile. But I put my head into it and I did the miles that I intended to run from the start. I don't know if that is good or bad - I don't know if I benefited physically from having pushed myself to do the entire run or if, since I was not into it, if it was actually detrimental, but mentally it was very rewarding. While in the shower I remember thinking "I did it anyway", with a smile... For that reason alone I'm glad that I did it. Even better that the following day was a great run day.
Friday, February 3, 2012
What winter?
First week of February and we're having winter-not-so-much. Good run today. Odd thing was that I ran without my usual cap, just with a skull-cap kind of thing to keep my head warm/covered. For some reason I felt lighter and faster. I trucked along pretty quick, taking a full 6 minutes off my previous run of the same length. Was it the cap?
I'll also probably sign up for
- Registered for the Dexter Ann Arbor Half Marathon for June 3, 2012 (http://dxa2.com/). 16 weeks out.
- Registered for the Ann Arbor Marathon, for June 17, 2012 (http://theannarbormarathon.com) 18 weeks out.
I'll also probably sign up for
- the local St. Patricks Day 5K run on March 11 (http://runshamrocks.com/). This is more of an excuse to drink beer than a real race. Was fun last year....
- A 10K St Patricks run in Plymouth on March 18 (http://www.shamrocknrollrun.com/)
- Hoping to do the Big House Big Heart 10K on April 15, but I may be out of town...
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