A non-race, race report

This last weekend was the City of Lakes 25k, a relatively small but very competitive event around the lakes of Minneapolis. It usually brings out all of the best local talent as it’s a fantastic opportunity to either get in one final tune up before a fall goal marathon, or test out race day logistics and pacing for races like Twin Cities marathon. It’s even run on part of the TCM course.

One somewhat unique thing that the organizers provide is a USATF certified half marathon split. Obviously 25k is a rather odd distance, not too many people are cornered about PR’ing at that length. The half marathon split allows some to race to that point, then shut it down to the finish. That was to be my strategy for the race.

As far as preparation this time around, I’ve been limiting my mileage this training cycle for a number of reasons. The main being that I just don’t think I need to be putting in 110+ miles a week on a regular basis to run a sub 2:40 marathon. Just because my body doesn’t break down running that kind of mileage, doesn’t mean it’s entirely beneficial either. Showing up to the line absolutely toasted in Green Bay this last May was proof enough more isn’t always better.

I look at it this way. Last year I average 57mpw for the entire year. Through March of this year it was over 100. Does it make sense to almost double your mileage from what your body is clearly able to handle? I think not. Unfortunately this sport requires patience, even if you’re willing to put in the work. Running 80 mpw in training is far more reasonable, I believe, and should prevent me from burning out as I did this spring.

So back to the race, well, first let me explain the past couple of weeks. Training has been going extremely well. The temps around here finally dropped and my comfort level when running a workout has increased proportionality. Running 12 miles at 5:55 pace about 2 weeks ago really felt like a reasonable pace that could be sustainable for much longer. Another 3x2 mile at 5:35 pace with short rest also bolstered my confidence heading into this last weekend. My pace for a half marathon should be much closer to the second workout than the first, so with good conditions I’d head out a bit slower than 5:35.

The weather yesterday was ideal, maybe just a slight breeze, but nothing substantial. The first mile heads out on a fairly significant incline, so the fact that my legs didn’t feel great wasn’t a concern. I spent mile 2 getting comfortable with the pace, but never really felt dialed in. No worries though, it was early.

But by mile 3 I was falling off a large group of guys that I should be able to hang with. It took far too much concentration this early in a HM to maintain pace. The phrase “dead legs” gets used too often, but it’s tough to come up with a better way to describe the feeling. Maybe the three solid workouts in the last 10 days caught up with me. Maybe I pushed a little too hard on Tuesday of last week during a final tune up. Tough to say, but it became clear racing today was going to be a struggle.

The sensible solution wasn’t to force it, but rather change to plan B. Back off the pace and the race at marathon pace. Even while backing off to around 6:05 pace, I still was working way too hard to not fall off. I was getting passed by quite a few people at this point, all of whom were breathing much harder than I, but my legs just didn’t want to go. The most annoying part of the day was this was the kind of scenario my limited mileage was supposed to avoid. Fading at the end? That I could understand, but just showing up flat? Not supposed to happen.

But, just because something is not supposed to happen, doesn’t mean it can’t. So I won’t get too worried about the performance. If anything, it was a good reminder for the body to what racing is like. I haven’t toed the line since Green Bay, so I’m bound to be a little rusty. Better to have that happen in a tune-up than on October 3^rd.

Final stats:

1:34:35 (34^th/408)

Of Running and Book Burning- A Blog Entry

After some serious soul searching (actually about a three second passing thought) I’ve decided to revive this blog. When I started writing, I had the intention of not just blathering on about running, but also touch on a subject du jour that I felt my opinion might be interesting enough to put out there for others to read. So today is a good day for that.

But first, I’m a little over three weeks from the Twin Cities marathon, what will be my 5^th time toeing the line at the distance. The weak-ass PR of 2:47 is still out there for me to take down, and I have all intentions of doing so. A lot more details on that to follow, but something’s stuck in my craw that requires me to opine a bit. As I’m sure you’ve heard, our wacky friend in Gainesville Florida, whose name needn’t be mentioned, is firing up a good ol’ fashioned book burning. Of course, the critical part of his little soiree is that the Quran is his kindling.

Everyone says this guy is nuts, which he is, and they don’t endorse his behavior, which I don’t either. But the real issue to me isn’t Crazy Preacher Guy, it’s our leaderships reaction to him.

This guy is a nobody. He’s about as important to the day to day workings of this society as a house plant. If he vanished off the face of the earth tomorrow, literally nobody outside of his immediate family would even notice. Well, prior to all the attention he’s received that is. So my question is, why in the world does a four star military general, a secretary of state and a attorney general even acknowledge his existence?

He’s not associated with the federal government, and he’s posing no risk to a sovereign nation. He’s just a private citizen of the United States. Clearly he doesn’t speak for the majority of our country. Why then do elected and appointed officials who do speak for our country comment on his actions? All that does is elevate whatever convoluted messages this moron is attempting to send to an entirely different stratosphere.

Here’s how this should have been handled. Hillary gets a question from a reporter, “have you heard about Nutjob in Florida? What’s your reaction?”

Answer:

“If any of our citizens threaten another nation’s safety or security, we will do everything that is necessary to mitigate that threat. But as to the actions of private citizens in our country that do not rise to that level, I have no comment.”

The same answer should be coming from every single member of the US government. I don’t care how often the question is asked or by whom. The idea that our President needs to speak about the actions of this moron, when everyone agrees he has the right to do what he’s doing, is ridiculous. And if anyone doesn’t understand that, fax them a copy of the constitution with the 1^st amendment highlighted.

Our leadership has given such power and meaning to a single idiot’s intentions, it’s mind blowing. If the Muslim world thinks that all of America believes what this pastor believes about Islam, it’s because the people who do speak for all of America are associating themselves with this man’s message. Even by rejecting it. Unless this guy is a threat, the best way to marginalize him is to ignore him. The media won’t do it, but I expect a more pragmatic approach from our leadership.

I’m not someone that thinks American never needs to apologize, that we’re infallible. But in this instance, we have nothing to apologize for. If you really believe in democracy and free speech, stand behind it. Otherwise, those that don’t believe that members of a given society have a right to those principles are further emboldened by our weakness.

Marathon Failure

Completing a marathon, regardless of fast or slow, is an accomplishment. I won’t deny that. You could certainly argue to the degree of which it an accomplishment. The fact that some 400,000 people in this country do it every year would indicate to me it’s noteworthy, but not significant. That being said, finishing a marathon should be considered success at least to some degree. Not finishing one on the other hand, is a definite failure. Is it deserving of a scarlet letter or banishment from town? Hardly, but that doesn’t mean it sucks any less to walk away from a goal race having dropped out at mile 13.

So what happened? Tough to say, but a training cycle whose beginning and middle produced amazing results petered out into an utter disappointment.

Having put in 110+ miles a week from the beginning of January through the middle of March, I was feeling as fit as ever. Paces felt great, particularly tempo runs were going better than at any point since I began training for marathons seriously some two and half years ago. All indications were I was finally ready to run to my potential. I had two solid years of training under my belt and I was finally beginning to show signs that I’d moved passed the “beginner” stage of my second running life. Aside from the occasional injury scare, nothing became more than just a scare. My body was more than accepting of the mileage and was thriving on the intensity. At least for a while.

Then came an 8k race that was the first of the year. It was the first true test of my fitness and it didn’t go well. Was it the mileage catching up to me? Just a bad day? Either way it was time to reassess my training. Up to that point I was averaging more than 25 miles a week more than at any point in my previous training. Some might say it’s a blessing to be resilient to the pounding you take running 100 miles, or more, per week. And it is for sure, but sometimes those true injuries grab your attention enough to force you to back off and let the body recover, not just heal the ailment. Without those, you just keep piling on the stress and eventually the mind or body begins to wear down.

I’d been in this spot before, training for my first marathon. Having learned a tough lesson about less being more, I had no qualms with running less this time around. I dropped my mileage back into the 80’s and 90’s, trying to prepare for a half marathon in mid April. Fortunately I salvaged a decent race on a good day to PR, and ran 1:16. A full two minutes slower than I was hoping, but considering how poorly things could have gone, I was pleased. Setting PR’s, in this case by a minute, is nothing to be ashamed of. That being said, it didn’t bode well for my chances of running 2:35 for the marathon 4 weeks later.

Maintaining my relatively lighter training load for the next two weeks, I entered taper very confident. Sure my mileage the previous 8 weeks wasn’t what it was the prior few months, but that was alright. That base was built and wasn’t going away any time soon. The goal was to peak at the right time and a strong 18 marathon pace workout 3 weeks out indicated my timing was right, at least I thought.

Then came race day, perfect conditions, a strong field for that particular race, meaning plenty of people to run with, I was set for a significant PR. After all, having only run 2:47 last fall I figured, quite frankly, at least that was in the bag. Boy was I wrong.

The first few miles of the Green Bay course were as difficult as I’ve run in any marathon. Instead of reminding the body to back off, I had to concentrate just to maintain a pace that was still a good 10 seconds per mile slower than I was planning. Even after just a few minutes of running, my breathing was far too heavy. The first 10 miles of a marathon should be nothing but a relative stroll, and I felt like I was already racing just a few miles in. But in every marathon, there’s a rough patch. You’d like to think it wouldn’t be the first few miles, but you never know. I told myself to keep working, get some fluids in, relax, anything to distract me from what I knew was coming.

Honestly, I thought about dropping out from about 4 miles on. It takes a hell of a lot of mental fortitude to fight those negative thoughts for another 22 miles. If there’s someone out there that can, I’d like to meet him. But once you’ve accepted the possibility that early on, it’s nearly impossible to banish those thoughts from your mind. As much as I tried, by mile 10 I’d given in. I managed to maintain pace during that time, but I continued to work harder and harder. Maybe it was a subconscious thing, if I didn’t back off I’d get my wish and have no choice but to drop out. You could say I sealed my fate when after the first few miles I knew it wasn’t my day, but continued to push anyway. I’d made it an all or nothing venture, and in reality, had no chance of running 26.2 miles that day. Either way, by mile 13 I’d reached the point of no return on the course, and that was it. I was done.

Back in my room at the hotel, I gathered up my stuff getting ready for the drive back to Minneapolis. My wife was driving back from the finish, totally confused as to what happened. I had already digested what happened and was comfortable with the decision I made. I certainly wasn’t proud of it of course, but I’ve slogged through that last 6 miles of a marathon, limping from cramps, just frustrated as hell. I had no interest in repeating that scene from my first marathon. I’d earned that badge I decided, and didn’t need another. Not only was a PR not going to happen that day, it could have been enough to turn me off from this sport for a while.

I’ve had that race too. Going back to my first running life, I’d put in a crazy amount of work getting ready for my senior year of High School track. Running all throughout a Minnesota winter, it came down to the state meet final. It was a very different set of circumstances, but the result on that day made me question why even bother training the way I did. So I quit, and that was the end of my track career. Call it a personality flaw, call it immature, I don’t care. I knew last Sunday that if decided to force a marathon out of my body that day, it might have been my last. I’m not ready to end this yet and I didn’t want one race to influence my thinking to such a degree that I give up on a sport I really do love.

So where does that leave me now? Well physically I’m feeling great. Avoiding a complete meltdown I can get back to training almost immediately. I’m still going to take some time to relax and enjoy a little downtime, but I’m feeling fresh mentally and physically to take on another goal race relatively soon. I can’t say I’ve moved on completely from the disappointed from last Sunday, but keeping some perspective certainly helps. It’s a freakin’ hobby, let’s not turn this into life or death. Doing it should be fun, hard work for sure, but at its core, enjoyable. Fortunately despite the results in Green Bay, I still feel that way about running.

So there it is, a crazy first four and half months of running to start 2010. There’s still plenty of time to run fast, and that’s the plan. When and where is soon to be determined.

Is this a blog or a diary?

That's the question that I've struggled with for the past few weeks, if not months. I'm in the midst of a monster training cycle, hopefully culminating with a performance at the marathon distance that finally is indicative of my abilities, yet this sorry excuse for a blog basically goes untouched? Why?

Well, lots of reasons. First, life is pretty tough right now. I guess I could go into details about why exactly that is, but suffice it to say, every day is a challenge. Things will get better, but to log on to just to pound my chest about how much I'm running right now seems completely conceited. I've got bigger concerns in life, and to go on long rambling diatribes about how a tempo run felt seems all too selfish. I probably would be better off just explaining myself, but you'll have to trust me. I'm in a tough spot.

Maybe I should just take this opportunity to write all this shit out, but this little endeavor was never meant to be a diary. It was supposed to be my attempt to document my improvement as a runner. But the reality is I'm having a hard time keeping the two separate. Every time I want to write about my running, I want to put it in the context of what I'm facing on a day to day basis. But if I refuse to write about the reality of my life, how can anyone understand what I'm actually facing?

So what's my choice? I have no idea. All I know is this blog absolutely sucks. The fact the I actually ask people to check it out is ridiculous.

On thing is for sure, I need to figure out where I'm going with this or shut it down.

The last few weeks...

...have included a LOT of running. Since my last weekly update I've put in weeks of 110, 113, 122 and I'm on pace to run around 115-120 this week. One thing that I believe runners should keep an eye on is how much their current average weekly mileage compares to the previous training cycle. Trying to bump up the mileage too much is certainly a risk. Well, I'm pretty much ignoring that advice. Not only am I setting weekly mileage PR's damn near every week, they're fairly significant PR's as well. I mean 122 miles in a week? For a hopeful 2:35 marathoner? I won't claim it makes a lot of sense, but that's what I'm going with.

I should add that the only difference between of week of 90 miles last summer and a week of 120 this winter is 30 easy miles. It's not like I'm going crazy with workouts at this point. But, that begs the question, how much should I be running when the big time workouts are necessary? Should I step back on the mileage significantly, or just continue at this volume because it's working? I haven't answered that question yet.

I've always seemed to have success with running three big weeks followed by a cutback week. This week should have been a cutback week, but I just didn't feel like taking one. Is that dumb? Maybe, but I also know that if I can consistently produce big weeks like this, without the need for a step back, it's all the more likely I won't need to drastically cut back my mileage when I need to be fresh for an 8 mile tempo run.

So with that in mind, I'll look to maintain the mileage for two more weeks following this one, and then take it easy as I prepare for the Human Race 8k. That'll be my first race of the season, and I can't wait to find out what kind of shape I'm really in. The tempo miles on the treadmill can be deceiving, it's tough to really gauge how the effort translates to the roads. But if the workouts are any indication, I think 5:15 pace is doable given a good day. Which, in Minnesota in March can be a roll of the dice.

In the midst of all this running, I've also had my first go-around with Plantar Fasciitis. Pretty much any experienced marathoner has probably dealt with it at some point. The horror stories you can find on the internet are countless. Some dealt with it for a year before finally breaking something that required complete shutdown from any running for 8 weeks, and that's what finally cured it. I don't know about you, but I have no interest going down that route. But after reading as much as I could find about the injury, there seemed to be two kinds of people.

The first kind waits for the pain to go away before really working on the root cause of the problem. Unfortunately, that is the person that ends up dealing with it for months on end, because the pain never really goes away. You can take a week off from running, come back thinking it's gone away, and bam, there it is again. This leads to another week off and the cycle continues to repeat itself. I probably shouldn't blame these people, they were probably told by some PT that's the best way to deal with it. If it hurts, give it rest. But like I said, that never actually treats the cause of the injury.

This leads me to the second type of person. He or she, at the moment they feel there is pain or discomfort, immediately go into full-on triage mode. What I mean by that is everything they can possibly do to fix the problem becomes a priority. The way I view it is treating the pain for sure, but concurrently treating the problem. So of course there's lots of ice and stretching, but just as importantly there lots of drills to work on the muscular imbalance that exists somewhere in the lower leg. I'm not a doctor or PT, I have no idea exactly where there problem actually lies, but damn it, if I do enough exercises I find it!

My guess is if I went to 100 PT's and asked them if they thought barefoot running was a good idea while in pain with PF, 99 would tell me it's a dumb idea. Well, I'm not saying they're all wrong, because it's not a good idea for everyone, but it is for me. The day I literally couldn't put any weight on my left foot because the pain was so severe was the same day I first started incorporating barefoot running. Did it hurt? Somewhat, but no sharp pains, just a pretty bad ache while doing it. In addition lots of calf raises, golf ball rolling and more stretching than I've ever done, I'm running pain free just more than a week later.

Is this kind of treatment for everyone? No, but I'd be willing to be that if more people were aggressive with THIS type of injury, there'd be a lot fewer cases of people dealing with it for months on end.

So there's the latest and greatest on my running life, hopefully it wasn't too boring. This evening is another easy 7-9 miles and tomorrow is, what I hope to be, a successful longer tempo. I'll let you know how it goes.

Good lord I've got some catching up to do

The running has been exceptional, last three weeks have been 110, 113 and a whopping 122. And on top of that, I've come face to face with the runner's worst nightmare, plantar fasciitis.

Tomorrow I'll post a longer recap of the last three weeks of training as well as a diagnosis of my current "injury". I say "injury" because as of right now, there isn't one, but tomorrow morning that could all change, who knows.

Either way I'll be sure to give you some insight into what has been the best training I've had as a runner, without a doubt. Most importantly, why I believe I'm in the position I'm in.

Stay tuned.

Week 4 of training for the Green Bay marathon

As I mentioned in the last post, early on last week I decided to make it a step back week, both in intensity and mileage. Well, I managed to do that of course, but I also didn't let a cutback week turn into a lost training week. Here's how the schedule looked...

Mon: 4 @ 7:54

Tues: 8 @ 7:24

10 @ 6:43 (probably 40x75m pickups)

Wed: 4 @ 6:45 (felt like crap, bailed)

Thurs: 18 @ 7:22

Fri: 10 @ 7:30

6 @ 7:01

Sat: 12 w/ 4 @ 5:35

Sun: 12 @ 7:29

6 @ 7:30

90 total.

First observation from the week is I'm somewhat amazed that a 90 mile week now constitutes a step back in training. I mean, I certainly feel like I ran 90 miles last week, I'm not exactly fresh as a daisy, but at least on the mental side of things I'm ready for another big week. I guess that's most of the point of a easy week anyway.

I won't bore you with describing every single day's workout, mostly because it's not very exciting right now, just some solid miles, both indoors and out.

This next week should be back around 110, with what I hope to be two very strong workouts. Nothing blazing fast, but longer tempo/fartlek type stuff to get a little more specific focus on marathon pace. It's probably not a bad thing to give my body a little beginner course on what to expect in May.