Week Summary

I've been struggling with a sore right hip and knee and so not much running at all this week.

Thursday: I did 30 minutes on the bike at level 10 setting, keeping RPM's above 100. I also began a strength training program, as I have been lacking this.

Friday: 60 min on bike, core work.

Saturday: 60 min on bike, core work.

Sunday: 3 mile run on treadmill 9:26 pace. This was a test to see how my body is healing. Hip still sore about 5 out of 10 as far as pain goes. I will wait another 3 days and run again.

In the meantime, I bought a aqua jogger. I plan on adding this to my workouts, hopefully I will be able to maintain my cardio-fitness throughout all of this. I bailed on the race I was looking at today, but I hope to get back out there this weekend for to Shamrock Run 8K.

A New Strategy

I keep reading about the importance of recovering and resting from an injury. I know this is the right thing to do, but it doesn't make it any easier. I've done a bunch of reading and have come up with a couple of new approaches. First of all, I need to add strength training to my weekly schedule, what better time than now? Also, in regards to running, I am going to take 3 days off, run a easy 3 miles, and then wait another 3 days and do another 3. I grabbed this from Runner's World as a way to easy back into running from an injury. Hopefully, this will help things heal up and I won't lose too much of my fitness. I will be putting in a bunch of time on the bike.

Today I started this new plan. Strength workout=low weights, high reps. I'm not much of a gym rat, and I can imagine how silly I look, 6'2 guy, with 10lb weights in his hand doing bicep curls, but I don't want to bulk up. I also, spent 30 minutes on the bike. Tomorrow, 1 hour on the bike with some core work.

Trying to stay positive....

???????? (%&*#!@)

I'm feeling uncertain as to what to do right now. Today, I ran another 7, and felt the aches in my right leg the entire time. I'd put this pain at about a 6 out of 10, tolerable, but I'm sure it impacts my running form to some degree. The first logical response would be STOP, until better, cross train until then. This is okay, but I have my last 20 miler scheduled this week, and I'm wondering how this will impact my prep for the marathon. I guess it is more important to get well or I may not be running at all.

The March issue of Runner's World had a good article about dealing with injury issues, so I guess I should just suck it up and rest, get better, pass on some of my runs and races, and hope for the best....

Mileage: 7.00
Time/Pace: 1:04:04/9:09
Avg HR: 147
T/W: 31 (23 wc)

Back at It

After dealing with a mostly painful and runless week, I'm back at it. The pain in my right leg has greatly diminished since last week. I took it easy today, I concentrated on making smaller strides and didn't even use my I-pod, so I could "listen" to my body. I still have some general soreness, but it feels better. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Mileage: 7.00
Time/Pace: 1:04:55/9:16
Avg HR: 152
T/W: 32( WC 23)

Testing it Out

My hip continues to annoy me along with my knee, but I thought I'd try it out today on the treadmill. I haven't run since Monday, so I was craving a bit of a run. I just did 5 to try it out. Pain did not worsen, actually felt better as I ran. I feel okay now, took some Aleve as a pre caution and will probably rest again tomorrow.

Mileage: 5.00
Time/Pace: 46:30/9:18

An Annoying Injury

I have a sore hip. Yeah, I know it sounds silly, but it is very annoying and makes even walking painful. It started Sunday, and still continues. I am laying off running for the next few days to see if it subsides. Ugh!

5 Weeks to Go

5 weeks to go to my first marathon. Body was unusually sore today, probably from pushing it a bit in Saturday's race. This week is a shorter distance week, with no speed or long run workouts.

Mileage: 7.00
Time/Pace: 1:04:41/9:14
Avg HR: 145
T/W: 25 (17wc)

Lockport Y-10

I was looking at this race as a tempo run as part of my marathon training. My previous tempo run lengths had been in the 4-6 mile range at a pace of 8:05 or so. Not really knowing how I'd hold up under the temperature, length, and hills, I set a rather conservative target of 8:35/mile.

Looking down at my 1st mile I was shocked to see 7:57. I thought that I'd better reign it in quick or I wasn't going to survive the final hill. This time was made very easy due to the mostly downhill running. I really tried to back off the next few miles, but still logged 8:16, 8:08, 7:46 (!). Again, mostly because of the ease of running downhill. Mile 5 leveled off quite a bit and a clocked a 8:24.

I was really feeling good still, half way through, so I thought, why not pick up the pace a bit. My new target was 8:20. I also invented a fun little game in my head I call "Reel 'Em In!". Basically, I set my sights on the person immediately in front of me and try to pass them. I get a +1 for each person I pass and a -1 for each that passes me. After, the 6th mile (8:25) I was even, passed one, but was passed by 1. Mile 7, still feeling good I picked up the pace some more (8:12) and now was +2. Mile 8 and 9 got me to +7, with splits of 8:03 and 8:13. Despite the nasty little hill at the end of mile 10 I was able to finish a +16, with a final split of 8:13. According to my GPS watch the course was actually 10.05 miles, and I ran that last .05 at a 5:56 pace.

I felt really strong throughout the race, even with the hills. I felt as though I still had something left in the tank, which makes me feel optimistic about my marathon, which is now only about 5 weeks away.

Mileage: 10.05
Time/Pace: 1:21:57/8:09
Avg HR: 160
T/W: 17 (WC 12), light snow, wind

For some reason the results are missing for 85-145th place, right where I'd be. Looking forward to seeing where I placed.

**UPDATE**

They added the rest of the names, here's what I did...

6 of 13 in my age group
100 of 278 overall

Long Run Part 2 (Outdoor Version)

The weather cleared nicely this afternoon, even a bit of sun. Still very windy, but I had to get out. The miles felt pretty good, and I feel even better now that I've finished!

Mileage: 9.00
Time/Pace: 1:23:56/9:18
Avg HR: 149
T/W: 25 (WC 17), windy/sun

Does 2=1?

Woke up to my alarm at 4am, hoped out of bed, put on my gear and took one step outside. I really don't have too many issues with running in the elements, but this morning was a bit too much to attempt for me. With the blowing and howling snow, I knew that 16 miles would be a bit too risky. So, I crawled back into bed (nice!) and reset the alarm for 5:30 to hit the gym's indoor track. My plan was to split up my long run into two sessions. I'm not sure if this defeats the purpose or not, but it is the best I can do. I also decided to add two miles to the total.

Morning Session Stats:

Mileage: 9.00
Time/Pace: 1:24:25/9:23
Avg HR: 144

Hopefully, my day will cooperate with me and I can get 9 more in this evening.

Still Gliding

Another 6 miles and still feeling great! At times, I may have been pushing a bit, but it felt good!

Mileage: 6.00
Time/Pace: 54:14/9:02
Avg HR: 152
T/W: 29, light snow

Day off tomorrow, then a 16-miler.

Just Like Gliding

Not sure why, but today's run was a breeze. I felt like I was gliding through the entire run. I like this feeling!

Mileage: 6.00
Time/Pace: 55:13/9:12
Avg HR: 148
T/W: 25 (17 WC), cloudy

On Sunday, I did my 4x1600 workout on a treadmill at the gym. Not really a treadmill fan, but got it done. Pretty consistent splits too!

Splits: 7:25, 7:25, 7:27, 7:25

Totals:
Mileage: 7.50
Time/Pace: 1:04:51/8:39
Avg HR: 154
Incline: 1.0

Friday & Saturday

Body has recovered nicely from the 20 mile run on Saturday. Only slight soreness yesterday and nothing really today. Feeling good, running strong.

Friday:
Mileage: 5.00
Time/Pace: 46:00/9:12

Saturday:
Mileage: 4.00
Time/Pace: 37:37/9:24

20!

93 seconds is all it takes. In that first 93 second of being awake, I struggle mightily on whether to jump out of bed or reset the alarm and get a couple more hours of sleep. Sure, 2-3 hours of extra rest, huddled under a warm blanket would be sheer bliss, but the rest of the day I would be mentally scolding myself for being lazy and a procrastinator. I had my gear laid out, went to bed early, carbed up the night before, so I was ready as I could be. By 4:15am I was off!

We had had a few inches of snow overnight and the plowing crew hadn't quite caught up yet. At first this wasn't an issue, but as I traveled further from the center of town, it became more difficult. I love my gear and think I am well prepared for most situations, but not today. I've battled wind, sun, heat, humidity, sub-zero temps, but haven't really dealt with too much snow. It finally caught up with me today. There was just enough snow on the roads and sidewalks to be annoying. Each stride was more like a half-stride and my body moved almost as much side to side as ahead. I really could have used those winter studs they make just for this purpose. Needless to say, the going was slower than I would have liked.

On to the run...

It is remarkable how "easy" the first 10-12 miles have become. They certainly aren't fast by any means, but my body seems to handle this distance in stride. However, anything after 16 is a totally different run. My body began to scream, first the left knee, then the right, right hamstring, oh (!) there's a cramp...etc, etc. The only thing keeping me going was I was 4 miles from the hotel, so I had two choices, run back or walk back. Might as well run. I hit mile 18 and experienced calf muscle cramps like something I never felt before. It was really high in the calf almost behind the knee. That lasted about 3/4 of a mile, before subsiding.

The last 4 miles was a demonstration in sheer will power. I wanted nothing more than to stop, but willed myself on, thinking of anything I could other than stopping. Looking back a day later, I can say that I will do it again. Why? Being able to get my body through that 8 months ago would have been impossible. This is representative of how far I've come and yet the pain and suffering shows me how much further I need to go. I still think back to my first 3 mile run. I experienced similar things during that run and now I've run 20. This marathon thing might actually happen!

Mileage: 20.00
Time/Pace: 3:24:42/10:14
Avg HR: 158
T/W: 22, light snow
Best/Worst Splits: 9:38 (mile 9), 11:21 (mile 19)