Allow me to pout just a bit...

This has been one of those weeks that a runner would rather forget.  My plantar fasciitis has gone from an annoyance to a full-fledged injury.  I've been stretching, icing and massaging it, but it just keeps getting progressively worse.  I even bought a Strassburg Sock, which is basically a splint that keeps the arch gently flexed while resting or sleeping.  I wore it all last night and woke up this morning with no heel pain.  I then proceeded to do my tempo run this morning of 18 miles with 12 at marathon pace.  I warmed up for 3 miles that started to open it up a bit.  I was just starting to click off consecutive marathon pace miles when my heel/arch started barking again.  I had to slow down and eventually stop at about 12 miles.  Practically every workout this week has been slower or shorter than planned because of the damn heel. So excuse me while I pout....

Okay, now that my pouting session is over, lets take a look at the week.  I did manage a relatively successful Rice Street Mile on Thursday, clocking a 5:37 mile in pretty warm conditions.  I don't know what I'm more tired of, my foot pain or the humidity this month.  Oh wait, this is supposed to be the positive part of the blog.  Okay positive, even though I only managed 55 miles for the week I did log 338.29 miles for the month!  Positive.  Even though my foot hurts, I am finding relief by wearing this splint/sock thingy and I have plenty of time to get my quality runs in; all of August and September in fact.  Positive.  This upcoming week was a planned step back week, so it will give me time to rest my foot.  Positive.  The weather can only get less humid, right?  Positive.  My Marathon Clinic participants are all doing well; even though they all ran farther than me today.  Positive.  In a week or so I will look back at this blog and realize how much I was overreacting to a nagging injury.  I always do.  Lets be realistic here, I'm 50 and am running 60 to 90 miles per week; it would be a miracle if I made through an 18 week training cycle with NO injuries.  Positive.  I did discover some new gels this week; they are called Honey Stingers.  They are very tasty and don't get stuck in your teeth.  Positive.  I ran 22.50 miles last Sunday with the second half much faster than the first half.  Positive.  I'm going to take a day off tomorrow, so I can sleep in.  Positive.  All the yard work and household chores were done yesterday, so I have the rest of the day to park my butt and put my foot in my splint.  Here is what it looks like.

No Epiphanies this week.  Closest thing was during one of the later miles of ill-fated tempo run today.  I was struggling and this song helped me hold on long enough to at least finish the mile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGICI8z3SrQ&feature=related

Happy Running!

The Return of the Black Toenails!

Just in time for summer sandal weather!  The black toenails were indirectly caused by the heat wave that hit Minnesota this week.  The weather was so bad that I moved a couple of runs indoors on the treadmill.  My form changes dramatically on this contraption and the proof is evident on both of my big toes today.  I haven't lost a nail in over two years and yet after doing a couple of work-outs indoors, I will be losing two of them.  They are past the point of being painful; I ran 22.5 miles today and even though I had a bloody sock I wasn't in much pain.  I do know of people that drill through the nail with a pin to relieve the pressure, but I haven't braved that.  Sounds like some sort of torture you would receive in a prison camp!  Runners are a strange and immodest bunch.  They are willing to talk about blackened toenails, bleeding and chafing in casual conversations.  They will pee just about anywhere, including a Gatorade bottle at the start of a race or simply wet their shorts because they don't want to stop for a bathroom break.  They spit, sweat, fire off snot rockets, fart, and spit some more all with reckless abandon!  We go shirtless with short shorts in public whether or not we have the body for it.  When we are running we just don't care.  Apologies to the rest of you non-runners out on the trails,  you just have too avert your eyes; runner coming through!  Speaking of immodest, I was working at the running store yesterday and a gentlemen comes in and without hesitation tells me he needs some nipple cream! In fact, it less of a question and more of a pronouncement!  A proclamation!   I then continue to have a 5 minute conversation with a complete stranger about the benefits of Body Glide and why it is needed.  Then there was the biker that came in and asked if we carried "butt butter!"   It's nice to know that running isn't the only sport where people just don't care!

I had a pretty good running week, despite the weather.  My miles dropped from last week, but I did complete a 22.5 mile run today.  I managed to gradually increase my pace and run the back half a full 45 seconds faster pace per mile than the front half.  Looking ahead to week 9 (the half-way point) and I'm seeing no increase in mileage, but a big increase in intensity.    I have two long mid-week runs, while Sunday's run is only 18 miles, but 12 of them will be at 6:50 pace.  That will be a good fitness test.  Also, I have a race on Thursday night; the Rice Street Mile is 7:00 pm.  I've never raced it before, but it's a flat, straight mile street course with one heat only!  Should be fun.  I don't know how fast I can run a mile these days.  I ran an indoor 5:27 in February, so I'm thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of 5:40?  We'll see.

My "music moment" of the week goes to one of my all-time favorite songs and one I never tire of.  I had my MP3 player on shuffle and this song came on around mile 19 today and it gave me a bit of a boost.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2T-ZAharmY

Happy Running!

I'm Still Standing

Well, first of all, NO, I did not run outside today.  I'm kind of a heat wimp; I did try it, but I really had trouble breathing, so rather than risk heatstroke I moved the run inside on the treadmill.  I'm thankful for our Snap Fitness membership for just that reason.  Also, I've been doing some good core, weight and conditioning workouts during the week.  I'm a long ways from looking like Charles Atlas (I'm down to 154 pounds and still look like the guy who gets sand kicked in his face.  For those of you younger than 40, look it up.) but I really like the machines that focus on one particular muscle group.  After a few workouts I can really notice the strengthening of my core.  Looking at the forecast for the week, I may be spending more time at Snap!

Now for the week in review.  I'm pretty proud of myself.  I completed all my workouts and set another weekly mileage record of 94.01 miles.  I suffered a bit of fatigue mid-week, but bounced back quickly and completed intense workouts Friday (15 miles) and Sunday (20 miles).  The more miles and slower pace continues to work for me.  I like the speed in which my body recovers from intense workouts.  I can now run hard on Tuesday (10 to 14 miles with 6 to 8 half-marathon pace) then run easy Tuesday night and Wednesday morning and be ready to do it all over again by Thursday or Friday.  However, the base-building phase is almost complete and in a few weeks the mileage stays about the same, but the intensity gets cranked up a notch or in some cases, several notches.  In a kind of a sick, masochistic way, I'm looking forward to it.  Week 12 for example has a similar mileage total to this week, but includes a 12 mile run with intervals, 6 X 1k at 5k race pace and a 20 mile run with 14 miles at marathon race pace.  Sandwiched between these two quality workouts is a 15 mile run on Wednesday.  15 miles on Wednesday?  What the hell?  Okay, it kinda sounds like fun.

I made a musical discovery this week.  Most of you are going to laugh, but I think I finally get The Rolling Stones!  I've been a pretty serious music lover since about the age of 13.  So, yeah, its taken me 37 years to finally acknowledge that The Rolling Stones are a pretty good rock band.  I've been pretty much indifferent to Mick Jaggar and the boys for most of my life, but after listening to Let it Bleed, Beggars Banquet, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main Street over the past few weeks I am now officially a convert.  I blame "Classic Rock" radio format for ruining The Stones for me.  My "runners moment" this week happened to this song on my long run today.  Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fa4HUiFJ6c

Happy Running!

Now things are getting serious.

This week was a cutback week before the real fun begins.  Once again I will be venturing into new territory mileage wise.  I thought today would be a good day to look back on the first 5 weeks and go down my checklist of physical and mental improvements to determine what I could be doing better.  I'm feeling pretty good mentally and physically, but the next 3 weeks are going to be a challenge and I need to be hitting on all cylinders.

Sleep - been doing pretty well here, but I need to shut off the t.v. and do more reading before bed.  Much more relaxing
Diet - probably could do a better job of menu planning.  Been eating well, but the real challenge is eating right and getting enough calories.  When I need to be consuming 3,000 to 4,000 calories a day, its hard to get there on broccoli!  Been keeping up with supplements as well.  I have also learned not to totally deprive myself.  Friday night I ate an entire pepperoni and green olive pizza at Detello's and washed it down with two pints of Shock Tops.  Tasted pretty darn good.  Nice treat on a Friday night!  Other than the two beers on Friday night I have eliminated alcohol.
Conditioning - have to admit that I've fallen off the wagon here.  My new plan is to do 15 minutes per day rather than 45 minutes 3 times per week.
Visualization and self-talk - I knew this would be the first thing to go.  I'm going to try to get back into this again, but one problem.  Almost every time I try these techniques I fall asleep.  I don't think that's supposed to happen!  I've been remaining pretty positive and this whole process still is as exciting as day one, so I'm doing something right.
Extra Mileage and Two-a-days - check and check
Running with others - check, in fact I'm kind of missing some my alone time.
Hydration - check

Here is a sample of what I'm in for this week:

Monday - 6 miles easy
Tuesday am - 11 miles with 5 at 6:40 pace
Tuesday pm - 6 easy with Marathon clinic and maybe some hills
Wednesday am - 15 miles
Wednesday - optional 6 miles very easy
Thursday - 7 miles recovery
Friday - 13 miles general aerobic
Saturday - 8 miles with 8X100M strides
Sunday - 22 miles - some very easy with clinic team

total - 94 miles

Hopefully I'll have the mental energy left on Sunday to write a blog!

Been running with groups this week, so I didn't get a chance to listen much music.  I did listen to this new band (at least new to me) called 100 Monkeys, who I thought were pretty cool.  Here is a sample.  Very funny video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOPP3r3Ci2M

Happy Running!

Week 5 - Lesson Learned

Week 5 was a big week.  I knew it was a big week, so why was I so careless?  I can make lots of excuses, crazy work schedule, tropical weather, but the bottom line was that I sloughed off on my diet, probably didn't sleep as much as I should have and I carelessly added too many junk miles.  I've preached to myself and my clinic students to protect the Sunday long run; don't to anything to jeopardize that quality run.  So what do I do?  I run 13 hard miles in the tropical conditions Friday morning, Friday night I pigged out on a huge bowl of ice cream smothered in chocolate syrup, I then ran 11 miles Saturday morning (5+ miles more than I should have) and I ate a double Quarter Pounder Combo Meal Super Sized for lunch! (With a giant Coke)  I tried to redeem myself; for dinner I ate baked Salmon, oven roasted potatoes and a Nectarine-Pepper-Cilantro Salad, but the damage had already been done.  This morning's so-called Crown Jewel was more Crown Cubic Zirconia!  I visualized doing my 4 warm-up miles, then rattling off 10 successive sub 6:52 miles coasting in with 4 more cool-down miles.  This was my first real fitness test and I should have been able to finish the work-out with ease.  It started out fine, but I really had trouble finding my marathon-pace gear.  I managed to get under a 6:59 pace, but it wasn't comfortable and it certainly wasn't going to last for 10-miles.  I consumed a caffeine-laced gel, which provided some assistance as miles 5 thought 8 were at or below my goal pace.  Suddenly my stomach started to act up, so I stopped for a water and bathroom break.  I got back on the trail and resumed my marathon pace, but it felt clumsy and everything about it was labored.  I did make it to 10 miles, and ran the last 4 at a decent pace, but my 10 miles of planned 6:52 we closer to 6:59 and a very ugly 6:59.  So, lesson learned!  I have a recovery week coming up, so I plan on using it to get back on track with plenty of rest, easy miles and a diet that will include NO McDonald's.

Outside of my questionable dietary habits and a mediocre Sunday run, I did have some "moments" out on the trails this week.  I often rate my running week by how many of these "moments" I experience.  Epiphany is too strong of a word, but there are these little windows of time, about 5 or 10 minutes long where everything comes together.  Your running seems fluid, your mind is perfectly clear and usually the song playing on your MP3 player sounds like the greatest and most profound song you have every heard.  Call it a "runners high" call it whatever you want, but just keep them coming!  This weeks biggest moment came when I was listening to one of my son's favorite artists, Elliot Smith.  My son aspires to be the next Elliot Smith (sans the tragic early death) so I thought I would get to know Mr. Smith a little better.  Here is the song that was playing for this week's "moment!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx62ZleG9DA&feature=related

Happy Running and Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Birthday, Kristen!  I love you!