Huge Setback!

I have had a remarkable streak of injury free running and numerous PR's over the past couple of years.  That streak has come to an end.  After Monday's recovery run, I was stepping over the gate that keeps our dog Gizmo in his "area" and I felt a little twang in my lower back.  It was okay most of the day, but an evening recovery run didn't seem wise.  Tuesday morning my back was in complete revolt.  I could barely stand up straight and my 10 miler with 5 at HMP was completely out of the question.  I applied lots of ice and took boku Ibuprofen just to get through the day.  The ice was a big help and by Wednesday, my back was almost back to normal.  I had 15 miles scheduled in the morning and a recovery run planned with run club in the evening, both of which I scratched.  Thursday morning was good, but gave myself one extra break in the morning and did an easy 8 in the evening.  What a relief, everything felt normal.  I followed up with 11+ on Friday morning, again with no pain or stiffness; it appears that I dodged a bullet.  Saturday morning I woke up feeling good and better yet, it was October like!  50 degrees and I couldn't wait to hit the trails!  I ran downstairs to the laundry room to get a clean pair of socks and when I reached the bottom of the stairs, the carpet felt wet and I could hear water dripping from the ceiling.  Noooooooooo!  I wasted no time and sprang into action.  I called the plumber, shut off the water and started to move around all the water logged stuff I could move.  Turns out the mess wasn't as bad as I had originally thought, but after all was said and done, I re-injured my back!  Took Saturday off and woke up this morning and it feels pretty normal, but am not sure an 18 mile run would be wise.  Drat!

I am not sure how badly missing an entire week of a 12 week plan will effect my goal.  My biggest problem right now is mental.  I think it will be difficult to race or hit my tempo runs, knowing in the back of mind that my lower back is a little wonky.  My mental state isn't the best right now, so I am probably over-reacting a tad.  Let's break out the ice packs and see what tomorrow holds.

Happy Running!

Surviving the Heat and Humidity

This morning's weather (pre Thunderstoms) was certainly a welcome relief.  My thermometer read 63 degrees and there was certainly a break in the jungle humidity.  Now the rest of the week was a different story, with overnight temps in the 70's and dew points from 68 to 75 all week.  Blech!  I am happy to report that I only used the treadmill once all week.  Now, I had to get up at 4:30 am to run in  conditions that were bearable, but that is a small price to pay to avoid the treadmill.  I did go through a lot of water and much Powerade.

This was week one of my Pfitz 12/85 plan.  I was a little worried about the radical jump in mileage, but my body held up pretty well.  I ran 84 miles, which was my highest weekly mileage total since late May/early June.  I did recovery doubles on Monday, a 10 miler on Tuesday with 5x800m at 2:50ish pace, a work out that wasn't actually on the schedule, I just read the wrong week!  Wednesday was a 12 mile am run and a 4 mile evening run, cut short because of the 100 degree heat index.  Thursday was more recovery doubles, Friday was just shy of 12, Saturday was 8 and the week capped off with a nice 17.5 mile run with 8 miles at 6:40ish pace.  The run was fantastic and I was having a lot of fun flying down the trail.  My plantar fasciitis flared up at mile 13, but it was a fun run nonetheless.

Alright, one week down and only 8 more until the taper!  You gotta love these 12 week plans!

Happy Running!

Rick

Reintroducing Myself to Mr. Pfitzinger

I have had about a 3-week vacation from any kind of training and with Twin Cities Marathon 12 weeks away, it's time to reintroduce myself to Mr. Pete Pfitzinger.  I have never done his 12/85 plan and it looks a little intimidating, but I'm willing to give it my best shot.  Since its only 12 weeks, it wastes no time in in getting into some serious marathon paced runs.  In fact the first week will be over 80 miles, capping off a week full of doubles with an 18 miler with 8 at marathon pace.  It peaks at week 7 with a 104 mile week.

I'm not going into this cycle feeling particularly healthy.  My Plantar Faciitis is flaring up big time.  In fact, I'm gimping around the house today only after a leisurely 14 miler today.  The hamstring is better. But never felt like it completely recovered after my efforts at Grandma's.   Mentally I am ready to jump back into another cycle, now I have to see if this old body will hold up.

Did a little racing this week at the fairgrounds.  The Richard Hoska Mid-Summer Mile was Wednesday night at its new location.  I was quite excited about my new PR of 5:09, which was changed to 5:11 officially, but then the word quickly spread that it was a short course.  Most Garmins are going to be off by a couple of hundredths, so I wasn't too concerned, but then I saw that the Minnesota Runner of the Year pulled the results from their website and took away our points, so I figured there was some serious concern about the length.  Oh well, most people had the course short by 2 hundredths, which would still give me a 5:18 or so, which is still a big PR.

So, lets get through week one and look ahead to the MDRA 15k on August 11th.

Here is a shot of me finishing off the Mid-summer mile.  A lot grimacing going on!




https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201559088319022&set=a.10201559074358673.1073741827.1231877531&type=1&relevant_count=1

Recovery Almost Complete

I am still in recovery mode from Grandma's Marathon, but did manage to run everyday and even threw in a Friday night tempo run just for good measure.  The fatigue is gone, the mental fog has lifted and most of the post-race aches and pains have disappeared.  The Friday night tempo run was just a test to see how the hamstring and glutes were feeling and I have to say that all systems are go.  It was a 10-miler with the last 5 at a sub 6:40 pace. (which is top secret, but is my Twin Cities Marathon goal pace)  The 5 miles were pretty effortless and I was happy to report no aches or pains.

 

It certainly is treadmill season again.  I can run early morning in the heat, but if I have any running to do at a specific pace I will most certainly bring it indoors.  Its virtually impossible to hit your goal marathon paces when its 90 plus and jungle humid.  I certainly don't like the treadmill, but don't despise it as some of you do.  Its a great tool and I can get past the boredom by focusing on faster and faster paces in a controlled environment.

 

I got some regular scheduled racing over the next few months leading up to the marathon.  There is the Richard Hoska Mid-summer Mile at the fairground on July 10th (hey wait, that's this week!)  I am certainly not ready for that!  There is the MDRA 15k in July and the Victory 10k and City of Lakes 25K in September.  I will also to the Old SOD Days 8k, but not sure when that is.  All these lead up to the big one, Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon.  Should be fun!

Happy Running!
Rick

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.