The past week was filled with indecision over whether I should race this morning or not. On Wednesday I saw a massage guy (Mario Washington @ Select Physical Therapy) who had me in more distress than I have ever been in during a massage session. My right & left calves were extremely tight, and he busted up a lot of scar tissue. My mechanics haven't felt smooth in some time, but the massage made each passing day feel a little bit more normal. I decided to give the race a go, despite the fact that the only other guy on the team who would be under 55 is out with a stress fracture.
I woke up at 5:30 and did a standard 10 minute shakeout run without any discomfort. The weather was really nice at the start, and the Army did a great job of organizing and managing everything. At the starting line I had probably 100 people in front of me, which initially seemed like it wouldn't be a problem because I expected them to all go out quickly for the first 1/4 - 1/2 mile and then fade away. The Howitzer fired, and the people in front of me began at a rather pedestrian race; this is the last time I make the assumption that those who are 4 feet back from the starting line a) belong there, b) will go out fast enough to not be a large inconvenience to me. I spent the first quarter mile ducking & weaving around people who were a little too ambitious with their placement. I didn't feel relaxed, and I didn't feel smooth.
In a recent spate of races being mis-marked with regards to mile markers, I decided to wear the Garmin. It turned out that the split I was given for each mile by Garmin was roughly 6 seconds short of what it should have been. I rolled through 3 mi in roughly 16:05, 5 in 26:45, and then began to slow a bit. I managed to stay right at 5:30 pace for the remainder of the race. At 9 I passed 2004 US Olympian Dan Browne, who appeared to be limping slightly. I gave him a word of encouragement, and headed on. I caught an Ethiopian who regularly cleans up DC races who must have been having an off day. We went back & forth over the last half mile and he sprinted away from me in the last 100 meters; a Kenyan also blew by me with 50 meters to go as well. Results haven't been posted, but I was most likely ~54:15 with no idea of what place I ended up in. My old PR was 54:27, so it's good to have bested that while not being 100%.
The upshot is I ran a PR coming in with relatively low confidence (I didn't know I would race until yesterday morning). I think I hung on well and mentally stayed in it even though I didn't feel awesome doing it. The calves didn't hurt during the race, which is an improvement over last week.
The downside is I didn't really feel smooth at all during the race. Fitnesswise, I think I have more in me than what I came up with today, but that's how things go. I recognize that frequent massage is going to have to be a big part of the next 5 weeks to be able to run the marathon as I would like.
Overall, this was a positive effort, not perfect, but considering I was limping out of bed 5 days ago, I'll take it.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Run For The Parks 10K
This past week has been tiring. Wednesday I got in a long run of 24 miles, which felt pretty good. Friday I did my usual 10 X 400 m workout, with 100 m jog recovery. Averaged 1:13 for the 400's, and 25 for the 100 recovery for a total of 16:28.
I ended up working a cross country meet yesterday, and it was a long day outdoors. My right calf has been barking lately, so the combination of being tired and overly tight may have caused the 10k to be such a lackluster event for me.
Got through the mile in 5:10 in 4th place. The second mile marker was off, but I was now in third. Went through 3 in 15:45 and started to slow. 4 in 21:04, and I felt like my mechanics were just falling apart; in particular with regards to my right footstrike. I finished up in 33:12 and stayed in 3rd. I didn't have much motivation to run harder than whatever was necessary to maintain my place over the final two miles. So I didn't.
I need some good sleep, and a round of massage. I expect to have both taken care of by Wednesday.
I ended up working a cross country meet yesterday, and it was a long day outdoors. My right calf has been barking lately, so the combination of being tired and overly tight may have caused the 10k to be such a lackluster event for me.
Got through the mile in 5:10 in 4th place. The second mile marker was off, but I was now in third. Went through 3 in 15:45 and started to slow. 4 in 21:04, and I felt like my mechanics were just falling apart; in particular with regards to my right footstrike. I finished up in 33:12 and stayed in 3rd. I didn't have much motivation to run harder than whatever was necessary to maintain my place over the final two miles. So I didn't.
I need some good sleep, and a round of massage. I expect to have both taken care of by Wednesday.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
4 X 2 Mile
On Friday I woke to a set of overly tight calves. This isn't a terribly uncommon occurrence as of late, but as a result I decided to just run easy. So I got 10 in, with the last 3 jogging along with the dog. Later in the day, I changed my mind.
I went out to Algonkian and warmed up for 3 miles in the rain. Then ran 4 X 2 on the road loop in 10:33, 10:28, 10:31, 10:38. The rest was all around 1:50 jogging, so for a workout with that minimal of recovery it went fairly well. I cooled down and was sufficiently tired. I have done this workout in past marathon build ups, though I believe the fastest I have ever averaged is ~10:40 with more rest built in than I took during this instance.
Yesterday I decided to run short and absorb as much as possible from the workout. Today will be a relatively shorter effort as well to simply give my body a little bit more recovery. At this point in training the importance lies in maximizing the harder efforts, and maximizing how I recover from them; not maximizing my overall mileage is a hard thing to feel comfortable with, but the goal is to run fast not run a set mileage amount.
I went out to Algonkian and warmed up for 3 miles in the rain. Then ran 4 X 2 on the road loop in 10:33, 10:28, 10:31, 10:38. The rest was all around 1:50 jogging, so for a workout with that minimal of recovery it went fairly well. I cooled down and was sufficiently tired. I have done this workout in past marathon build ups, though I believe the fastest I have ever averaged is ~10:40 with more rest built in than I took during this instance.
Yesterday I decided to run short and absorb as much as possible from the workout. Today will be a relatively shorter effort as well to simply give my body a little bit more recovery. At this point in training the importance lies in maximizing the harder efforts, and maximizing how I recover from them; not maximizing my overall mileage is a hard thing to feel comfortable with, but the goal is to run fast not run a set mileage amount.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
The Go Getter
Training has been going well. This is not to say that it has been perfect, but well nonetheless. I'll be finishing up my 8th week at 100 or more in a few days, and minus some right hip and calf issues am not too worse for wear.
I have changed my weekly routine this season to follow an up-up-down philosophy with regards to my volume. Alternating up weeks with marathon pace work - regular long run should prove to be a more sustainable approach; trying to fit 13+ miles at marathon pace, a long run of 20+ miles, and some other type of demanding workout into 7 days is a little bit more than I can handle these days.
My formula of focusing on marathon training seems to have positive effects on my racing shorter distances. This spring, on an admittedly downhill course, I managed to hit 32:01 for 10k 3 weeks after my lackluster performance at national. A few weeks back I hit 15:47 for 5k, in my first time under 16 on a hilly course to end a week at 103. My had a similar large pr, so it was nice for both of us to have the same experience.
On Sunday I got in 14 in 1:18.44 by myself in Rock Creek park. The temperature was in the 50's, and it just seemed to go by without issue. I closed the last two miles in what was my high school best, which was swell.
This week will be close to 140, and I'm a bit tired.
---
Back in late July I was having issues with regards to being excited about going running everyday. I had the Clic Fila 5K & Army 10 Miler on my schedule, but I wasn't really filled with a large sense to prepare for them. Ever since I ran my first marathon back in 2004, I have been a lot more on board with training as long as a marathon is the seasonal goal. For this reason, and that I tend to run short distance bests in the middle of long mileage blocks, while not doing workouts to target said distances, I think my days of setting aside 3 months to just work on 5k-10k are done.
Put simply, I don't get the level of satisfaction out of training to run for the shorter distances that I get out of the marathon. I'm not sure why exactly, but I am sure that since this is all about what I want to do, as my financial standing has nothing to do with it, I have decided to just go with it and pursue what I want to.
Now I'd like to actually run one more than 70 seconds faster than I did 6 years ago.
I have changed my weekly routine this season to follow an up-up-down philosophy with regards to my volume. Alternating up weeks with marathon pace work - regular long run should prove to be a more sustainable approach; trying to fit 13+ miles at marathon pace, a long run of 20+ miles, and some other type of demanding workout into 7 days is a little bit more than I can handle these days.
My formula of focusing on marathon training seems to have positive effects on my racing shorter distances. This spring, on an admittedly downhill course, I managed to hit 32:01 for 10k 3 weeks after my lackluster performance at national. A few weeks back I hit 15:47 for 5k, in my first time under 16 on a hilly course to end a week at 103. My had a similar large pr, so it was nice for both of us to have the same experience.
On Sunday I got in 14 in 1:18.44 by myself in Rock Creek park. The temperature was in the 50's, and it just seemed to go by without issue. I closed the last two miles in what was my high school best, which was swell.
This week will be close to 140, and I'm a bit tired.
---
Back in late July I was having issues with regards to being excited about going running everyday. I had the Clic Fila 5K & Army 10 Miler on my schedule, but I wasn't really filled with a large sense to prepare for them. Ever since I ran my first marathon back in 2004, I have been a lot more on board with training as long as a marathon is the seasonal goal. For this reason, and that I tend to run short distance bests in the middle of long mileage blocks, while not doing workouts to target said distances, I think my days of setting aside 3 months to just work on 5k-10k are done.
Put simply, I don't get the level of satisfaction out of training to run for the shorter distances that I get out of the marathon. I'm not sure why exactly, but I am sure that since this is all about what I want to do, as my financial standing has nothing to do with it, I have decided to just go with it and pursue what I want to.
Now I'd like to actually run one more than 70 seconds faster than I did 6 years ago.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
National Marathon
I slept alright last night. The brief warm up jog outside of the armory felt fine, and I had a singular focus of sticking to goal plan: 5:50 pace.
An overall lack of mile markers made it very hard to get the pace dialed in correctly. I found myself at 10 miles in 57:27, and this was the first identifiable mile marker since 5 (29:18). The group of miles between 5 and 10 was hardly flat, and I found myself realizing that I had deviated from the plan for a fifth of the race. I immediately let the group of guys who were throwing in surges go, and tried to bring everything under control.
Too little, too late. My IT band on the right side tightened up around 9 miles, and strangely didn't get much worse for the remainder of the race, but didn't get any better either. Half split was 1:15.15. I made it through 20 in 1:55.45, and then slowed over the final 10k to 2:35.55.
It is a 25 second PR, and I am lucky to have been given that based on how off everything felt starting around 10. With a few miles to go, I was wondering if I would have another massive blow up like I had in the fall of 2007 when I closed out the last 1.2 in nearly 12 minutes. Somehow I managed to keep my head in the game, enough to do what I could. The last few miles were probably just under 7:00 pace.
My calves got busted up, my adductor on the side I had surgery on was annoyed, overall it was not the best of races. The most frustrating part to deal with at the moment is how poorly my body responded in the final 10k (one could make the argument that things were helter skelter prior to that point).
My initial plan for this season was to do this race, barely pr without breaking the bank, and then gear up for the Wisconsin marathon in May. As my fitness progressed, and I had some awesome longer marathon+ pace runs, I decided to give my effort at National the full blast. Given that this clearly did not go how I wanted it to, now what I have to figure out to do is to get my body under control as quickly as possible, and then put in 3 more weeks of solid training. I can at least rest well knowing that I will have had a marathon pace run of the full distance in the build up.
Now it's time for me to figure out how to accomplish something I've never tried to attempt before.
An overall lack of mile markers made it very hard to get the pace dialed in correctly. I found myself at 10 miles in 57:27, and this was the first identifiable mile marker since 5 (29:18). The group of miles between 5 and 10 was hardly flat, and I found myself realizing that I had deviated from the plan for a fifth of the race. I immediately let the group of guys who were throwing in surges go, and tried to bring everything under control.
Too little, too late. My IT band on the right side tightened up around 9 miles, and strangely didn't get much worse for the remainder of the race, but didn't get any better either. Half split was 1:15.15. I made it through 20 in 1:55.45, and then slowed over the final 10k to 2:35.55.
It is a 25 second PR, and I am lucky to have been given that based on how off everything felt starting around 10. With a few miles to go, I was wondering if I would have another massive blow up like I had in the fall of 2007 when I closed out the last 1.2 in nearly 12 minutes. Somehow I managed to keep my head in the game, enough to do what I could. The last few miles were probably just under 7:00 pace.
My calves got busted up, my adductor on the side I had surgery on was annoyed, overall it was not the best of races. The most frustrating part to deal with at the moment is how poorly my body responded in the final 10k (one could make the argument that things were helter skelter prior to that point).
My initial plan for this season was to do this race, barely pr without breaking the bank, and then gear up for the Wisconsin marathon in May. As my fitness progressed, and I had some awesome longer marathon+ pace runs, I decided to give my effort at National the full blast. Given that this clearly did not go how I wanted it to, now what I have to figure out to do is to get my body under control as quickly as possible, and then put in 3 more weeks of solid training. I can at least rest well knowing that I will have had a marathon pace run of the full distance in the build up.
Now it's time for me to figure out how to accomplish something I've never tried to attempt before.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Consistency
Over the past several years I have lamented that I have not had a consistent, voluminous, block of training since 2005. During that time I ran 10 weeks over 120 miles and transcend the runner I had previously been.
This winter I approached my training with the sole purpose of copying that consistency, and once again trying to eclipse myself at my favorite distance: the marathon.
Over the past 3 months I logged 11 weeks over 100, with well scheduled marathon + pace workouts. I ran a very hilly 10 mile race in 54:30, and narrowly missed my best. This past weekend I missed my 8k best in 26:17 by 5 seconds on a windy day. To be so close to shorter prs while training for the marathon is very encouraging.
I have 9 more runs before race day, and i'm ready.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Quarters
This evening Dustin and I went to the track to do a session of quarters. The goal going in was to run 12 times 400 m with 100 m jog recovery. I initially wanted to start out around 1:18 and finish the workout up around 1:15.
We ended up running consistently in the 1:16 range for the first 4-5, and then the pace began to drop with a few 1:12s mixed in between 5-10. The last two were 1:10 and 1:11.
This is the first short interval measured workout I have done since the surgery in August. It ended up feeling very mechanically efficient and relatively simple until the last two repeats.
After I left my college team I really stayed away from ever doing quarter workouts, aside from one poignant workout. I remember them as being so hard when I was younger, and in particular, with much greater rest than we took this evening. Now in comparison there are other workouts which require so much more focus and patience. It's neat to watch the evolution of how these things go.
Hit 85 for total mileage last week, with a long run of 16+ around 6:45 pace. Still a little sore in my Hip Flexor/Psoas/Adductor groups, but otherwise running appears to feel as easy as it ever has from a mechanical perspective.
We ended up running consistently in the 1:16 range for the first 4-5, and then the pace began to drop with a few 1:12s mixed in between 5-10. The last two were 1:10 and 1:11.
This is the first short interval measured workout I have done since the surgery in August. It ended up feeling very mechanically efficient and relatively simple until the last two repeats.
After I left my college team I really stayed away from ever doing quarter workouts, aside from one poignant workout. I remember them as being so hard when I was younger, and in particular, with much greater rest than we took this evening. Now in comparison there are other workouts which require so much more focus and patience. It's neat to watch the evolution of how these things go.
Hit 85 for total mileage last week, with a long run of 16+ around 6:45 pace. Still a little sore in my Hip Flexor/Psoas/Adductor groups, but otherwise running appears to feel as easy as it ever has from a mechanical perspective.
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