Just Plain Tired

While I am still enjoying the buzz of my new marathon PR, I also realized how old I am and how zapped I feel after such an effort.  My intention was to run recovery runs all week, just to keep my streak alive, but acute soreness on Sumday, along with rainy conditions convinced me to take a day off.  One day turned to two, then three and finally I got back out there on Wednesday night with my run club.  Felt sluggish and a nice pain in my right hip/buttock area.  Didn't go away, even after a few miles of warm up.  Ran again Friday night with the same pain and felt like I was pulling an anchor.  Ran for a third time today and the hip felt better, it also felt like I weighed 250 pounds.  I need another nap and hopefully I will be felling perkier by the end of this week.

In need of motivation and wanting to make my goal of running every race in the MDRA Grand Prix, I signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon on October 6th.  They were down to a few hundred slots, so I thought I had better get signed up. I plan on resting for another week or so, then kick off a Pfitzinger 12 week, 85 mile plus plan.  It's super aggressive with a mileage peak of 104, with tons of interval training and countless two-a-days.  I am shorting for sub 2:55 at Twin Cities Marathon.  That mile 21 hill is not going to get me this time!

Happy Running!

Rick

Chasing 3 Hours - Grandma's Marathon Edition

I've often dreamed of running a marathon in cool weather, slightly misting and a nice tailwind. Yesterday's marathon in Duluth was a dream come true.

While uncomfortable at the start, the conditions were ideal; 48 degrees, dense fog, misting with a 10 to 15 MPH tailwind.  I caught an early bus to the start, which meant hanging around the Port-a-Potties for an hour or so.  Grandma's is a great race, but the starting area is one of the most bleak.  Basically it is in the parking lot of a Two Harbor's car dealership. I made one last bathroom break, then dropped my stuff at the bag drop then made my way to the starting line.  Partial nervous energy and partial "help, I'm freezing here" had me pacing between the 2:50 and 3:00 flags.  As I was pacing, 4:30am guy from our Runners World forum stopped me to say hello.  He had to utter words I am guessing he never thought he would ever have to say to a stranger, "Are you Swamp Angel?"  Its always nice to put a face and a personality to an internet acquaintance.  It was a pleasure to meet you Chris and nice running with you.   We chatted for a bit, then just like that, the horn sounded and we were off.

Miles 1 - 5 (6:59, 6:48, 6:41, 6:46, 6:45)
I ran with 4:30am guy for a bit and after a few miles he was gone.  The good news was that the early miles were going by super fast.  Seriously, the cool wind off the lake was like having AC blowing at our backs, it was awesome.  About mile 5, 4:30 guy joins me again after a nature call on the side of the road.  One great advantage of running along the north shore is that there are plenty of opportunities to pull off the road and do what you have to do!

Miles 6 - 10 (6:42, 6:46, 6:45, 6:43, 6:31)
I continued to run with 4:30am guy through mile 10 and we both commented how effortless those first 10 miles were.  He took off and I got down to work.  The course was hillier than I remember, but I maintained my pace with not much effort.  I kept telling myself that if I felt this way at the half, I would open things up a bit, but luckily I didn't get careless with my pace.  The miles were just clicking by and it was like every time I looked up there was another yellow mile marker greeting me to the next mile. It really felt great!

Miles 11 - 15 (6:47, 6:40, 6:42, 6:38, 6:42)
I deliberately pushed just a tad harder through these miles and I was finally starting to feel some fatigue.  I was also feeling a slight twinge in my right abductor, which had me worrying just a bit.  Working through the hills seemed to help, but I also realized that I needed to just hold pace and not ruin this.  Hell, I was running 6:40 miles and it felt awesome!  What is there to worry about!?

Miles 16 - 20 (6:42, 6:46, 6:44, 6:38, 6:45)
The second milestone for me was the 18 mile mark, where I vowed to get a little careless with my pace.  I broke that vow, however, as things were going so well and this 6:40 to 6:45 pace felt just perfect.  Why mess with a good thing?  Also, there was Lemondrop Hill to worry about and I wanted a strong finish.  Lastly, the twinge in my right abductor had blossomed into full fledged pain.

Miles 21 to 26.2 (6:44, 6:36, 6:42, 6:32, 6:36, 6:51)
There are lots of downhills when you hit town and I found it kind of easy to drop into the low 6:30's. Unfortunately, my right hip continued to give me trouble and more worrisome was my right hamstring which was staring to quiver.  Every time I would try to push the pace it started to spasm.  I soon found out that if I shortened my stride a bit and concentrated on a quick turnover, I was fine.  Also, I concentrated on landing on my front foot, which seemed to take some pressure off the hammy.  After Lemon Drop Hill, it was all downhill and I threw caution to the wind.  I still wasn't moving crazy fast, but I was passing people (including two guys in my AG) and the shouts from the crowd were very encouraging.  At this point, I knew I was going to break 2:57, but by how much?  I got into downtown and pushed as hard as my wonkish hamstring would allow and cruised down the cobblestones of Superior Street at a sub 6:30 pace.  What a blast!  The last stretch has lots of turns with lots of screaming fans, which is pretty cool, but making lots of turns is easier said than done at the end of a marathon  Crossed the finish line in 2:56:28 and I couldn't be more thrilled.

The mist had now turned to a cold rain, so I didn't spend too much time in the finishing area.  I chatted with a few local runners, comparing times and small chit chat, grabbed some goodies and made the trek back to the hotel.

No regrets in this race.  With these conditions it could have been easy to get careless in the first 10 miles and ruin a perfect opportunity for a PR.  I have to admit that I was surprised that my hip and my hamstring were giving me trouble.  I logged a lot of miles this cycle and I thought my body could take the pressure.  Oh well, my time was good enough for an 8th place AG finish and an 80th percentile age graded time.  The high-miles paid off big time for me.  This crazy sub 3 effort started in earnest in 2006 with a dismal failure on this same course (1:32 first half and a 3:59 finish)  I slowly but surely have lowered my times gradually from to 3:59, 3:45, 3:29, 3:17, 3:07, 3:02, 2:58 and 2:56.  Hey, that's 8 consecutive PR's!  All as a result from higher (not faster) mileage.  Not sure if I have a 9th consecutive PR left in me, but I am not too worried about that right now, just going to enjoy the buzz of another marathon PR!

Cheers to 4:30am Guy, who ran a phenomenal race and a huge negative split, finishing in 2:54!  Awesome race Chris!  You definitely can go sub 2:50!

Thanks for reading!

Happy Running!
Rick

 

Grandma's Training Cycle Review

Well, the work is done.  I get to run easy again this week and let it all go on Saturday.  I thought I would take some time and review the numbers for this training cycle.

Average MPW - 88.1, which is about 7 miles higher than the Des Moines training cycle.  It included one week over 100, 5 weeks over 90, 10 single runs over 20 ( longest was 24) and I had 13 days when I went over 20 miles total.

Speed - most of the long runs were in the 8:15 to 8:00 range and worked in most of my MP or tempo runs through racing.  I did set a PR in the 5k (17:52) and 10k (36:42) and was very disciplined in getting my Tuesday morning progression/interval run in.  I would get up at 4:45 and 10 to 12 miles starting out easy and finishing in the 6:00 to 6:20 range.  I did have a disappointing half marathon at New Prague in a fierce wind finishing in 1:26

Running Streak - I have run everyday since December 30th and have averaged 10.6 miles per day over that stretch, and 12.5 per day over the cycle.  Not taking a day off and running 6 miles at a very easy recovery pace has been key.

Health - no injuries or pains to speak of, thank God.  My right heel has been a little sore when I first get up, but is normally fine after 10 or 15 minutes of moving around.

What would I do differently?  Not so sure I will do another 100 mile week.  It took the better part of a week to recover, especially with that 24 miler in there.  90 feels good and I can still function at a relatively high level.  I didn't worry about diet at all this cycle.  I definitely could have fueled my body a lot better, but what can I say, I like my junk food from time to time.  I would have liked a little more sleep, but you can only go to bed so early when it's light out until 9!  Probably could have benefited for an extra race or two.

So, what does all this mean?  What can I say, I'm feeling confident that I will PR for the marathon, as long as the weather is reasonable.  The plan is to go out at a relaxed 6:45 to 6:50 pace through the first third, settling in a 6:40 pace for the second third and hopefully sub 6:40 for the final stretch.  So, a nice 2:56xx would sure look good.

An Old Dog and New Tricks (and a New PR!)

So what is the new trick?  Well, I, like most runners have become a slave to my GPS device.  They are wonderful tools for tracking your mileage and measuring your pace accurately. However, I found out this same device can hold you back.  I always race with my trusty Garmin and knowing what my goal is, I can easily lock in the proper pace and come in close to my goal time.  So I raced Saturday morning and as usual, wore my Garmin.  I was expecting a good race and was hoping to run in the 37:30 range or 6:04 pace.  My trusted Garmin read 6:14 for the first mile, 6:10 for the second mile and 6:04 for mile 3.  I wasn't feeling great, but was confident I could run the second 5k quite a bit faster and dip under 37:30 for a new PR.  At mile 3:14, my Garmin quit, blank screen, nuthin'.  I tried to turn it back on, but finally gave up.  I would run the final 3 miles blind.  I know my pace pretty well and it felt like  6 minute pace through mile 4.  I felt kind of a weird surge somewhere in mile 5 and felt like I was wildly out of control at times.  I ran hard up the hills and it felt like I was sprinting down them.  My breathing was under control, but I could tell I was working.  I hit the 5 mile mark and told myself, what the hell, just push as hard as possible.  I was working really hard at this point, flying by the 5k racers, but I honestly didn't think I was under 6 minutes.  One last hill, one last turn and then the final stretch.  I crossed the finish line and didn't see the clock, but I thought I heard someone yell something about 36.  I asked the timer and when he told me 36:42, I almost fell over.  That means after an opening 19 minute 5k, I ran a 17:42!  I was running those last few miles blind, but at a 5:45 pace.  What did I learn?  Don't be a slave to the watch and for these shorter races, just run until it hurts, then hang on for dear life!

What a great confidence booster for Grandmas.  I honestly feel that my sub 2:56 is very doable.  The long term, forecast looks good.  I've got about 12 days to rest up and go after this thing.

Happy Running!

1. Rick

Taper Time Already?

No, that title is not sarcasm; I really can't believe the taper is here.  Now keep in mind this is a high mileage, Pfitz style taper, but a taper nonetheless.  This was a good week and a nice way to finish up the high mileage portion of the cycle.  I PR'd in a 5K on Monday, ran a nifty interval workout on Friday and did my last 20 mile plus run today and I actually feel ready for more!  Not only was it a big mileage week, but capped off a big mileage month, topping out at 402 miles for May, a new monthly record for me.  

So, what does the first week of the taper look like?  I'll be at about 80 to 85 miles with some track work on Tuesday and. 10k race on Saturday (ALARC Legends)   Ill be dropping some of the doubles and get to rest my legs on Monday and Thursday evenings.  I am really curious to see how I fare at Grandma's.  This will be two back to back very high mileage cycles and I feel healthier than ever and running pretty fast.  Can't wait for this one!

Happy Running!

Rick