Recovery Run

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 36:49
Pace: 7:22/mi

Comments: I honestly do not intend to run these things at such quick paces but it just sort of works out that way. I was actually planning on keeping this at the plus-8 minute range and kept slowing my pace down to do so, but it didn't work out that way.


One thing that might be making a difference is that I am purposefully shortening my strides. Most of the literature I am reading suggests this as a way to speed up distance times despite the counter-intuitiveness of it. What is clear is it is much more effecient energy-wise and it is a lot less brutal on the legs.

I played around with it during the half-marathon and was pleasantly surprised at the effectiveness.

Anyhow, felt pretty strong the whole run. I skipped yesterday's run since I was feeling very worn out and tired. Given the effort of the race and my recent injury issues I felt it best to play it safe.

Marathon Training Summary: Week 10

Distance: 32 miles
Time: 4 hours 7 minutes

Comments: After a rough mid-week struggle with the debilitating pain in my left calf, I was able to put in a surprisingly decent performance in the half-marathon to finish the week up strong.

I am glad I went ahead and did the race - the experience was very valuable and the psychological boost was a huge improvement on my recent lassitude and anxiety.

But the concerns I expressed at the start of the week are still very valid. The effort will clearly take a bit of the next week to recover from and further shortens the window I have for putting in the long miles needed to prepare for the marathon.

The next few weeks are going to be a real test of the effort I have put in over the past year. I am already running distances and speeds that I have never done before but now things get really intense. I hope I haven't overplayed my hand by the effort this week.

Just six weeks to go. A month and a half. Too long to seem realistically at hand and much to close in terms of the amount of work left to be done.

The plan this week was to use the build-up of last week to pour on the miles. The calf issue and the last-minute decision to run the half-marathon have altered that situation somewhat.

I will still try and get the 18-mile long run in or some distance in that ballpark. The difference will come in the weekly mileage where I'll probably take it easy with four and six-milers on alternating days.

Obviously, I'll be rather paranoid about the possibility of injury, so reserving the right to abandon ship on any given workout and the week itself remains a real possibility.

With luck, a slow pace and a new pair of shoes I should get through it alright.

Injury update: That damned calf problem. It was relatively sedate during the race and that is good. But it was still very definitely there. And that is not good at all.

Following my post-race ice bath (just as glorious an experience as always) the situation was better and the heat cream seemed to help some as well.

I have a massage appointment for Monday and I will go get another pair of shoes this week that return me to the land of motion-stability.

2006 Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon

Race: Runner's Den/Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon
Official Time: 1:37:56
Actual Time: 1:37:38

After going back and forth all week on whether or not to run this thing I finally decided to do it on Friday.

The plan was to head out and take it easy - putting in an 8 minute mile pace or more. And that's how it started. But at about halfway I felt pretty good about the effort and tried to turn in a strong reverse split. And that's pretty much how it turned out.

There was no chip timing so the time on my watch is what I'm relying on. Doing the math, it looks like I averaged 7:27 for each mile over the whole race. My first mile was at just more than 8:30 and my last one around 7:00 even. Extending that time out to a marathon would put me at right at a 3:30 race.

My official time was good enough to place me 71st place overall and 11th in my age group.

This one started out brisk to damn chilly. I arrived about 40 minutes before race time and it was still dark. I had my $3 Albertsons long sleeve shirt on over my running shirt and it was enough to keep the cutting edge off.

About ten minutes to racetime I draped the shirt over the lip of a dumpster and headed to the start line. Gotta say, without even that minimal amount of protection, every time that breeze hit it was not pleasant.

There were only about 700 folks in the race so the start wasn't overly crowded and the atmosphere was pretty laid-back.

I was expecting the panjandrums to bloviate before the start like in the New Times 10K but they just hit the horn and it was on. Most of us were a bit surprised when we heard it, to be honest.

I kept it casual for the first few miles. I was real wary of the calf and didn't really see the need to surge out ahead of things. I did do some passing but nothing agressive.

The route was essentially one long loop with a five-mile or so straight shot on the long sides. They had us in the inside lane with traffic moving on the two outside lanes. A few bozos in a hurry cut across our route to get into side streets but, for the most part, traffic was light and folks were understanding.

There were occasional folks on the route urging us on, mostly families waiting for someone to come by ("Come on kids! Lets go see Daddy suffer in agonizing pain!)

Since I wasn't running this one all out I never had that 'Oh God' moment but there were a few stretches I felt lagging. One biker stopped on the route gave me a high five on the way by. It helped a lot.

To avoid the major intersections at the end of the route, they had us follow a butterfly access to a bike trail underneath the road. These inclines, although not overly steep or long, were a pain. They really threw you off your pace at that stretch of the end of the race you wanted to keep the ball rolling.

My biggest worry, my left calf, performed better than expected. It was clearly still there but in the background and not overly painful. I wore the Asics and hoped the support would help keep the problem at bay.

And it seemed to... up till about mile 8 when I started to really feel it come to the fore. At about mile 10 it was pretty bad but not at the level of last Thursday when I cut my run short. I was going to give the race up if it got worse but from there on it kind of stayed the same so I gritted through it.

The other problem that emerged was the blisters on the ball of my feet that the Asics have become notorious for.

Overall I am glad I ran it. I got a much better sense of what I will be dealing with come Jan. 14 and a clearer idea on what needs to be worked on before then:

• Water stations: Walk through them. Spilling all over myself ain't a pleasant option with the chilly morning air. I don't lose really that much time so why bother?
• Fluids: I am probably going to have to carry a bottle to drink from for the first section of the marathon. The water stations are pretty far between and keeping the hydration levels up matter. Also, it's nice to have it there to help wash down the gels right after you choke them down.
• Pacing: Starting slow works. Having more in the tank later makes it a lot easier to pick up the pace when it matters. But, it is clear I have got to run the beginning at a good pace or it will give me too big a time difference to make up.
• Clothing: Gloves and chullo will be handy if the temperature is at all like this one was. 

Conditions:

Start: 7:30 a.m..
Surface: concrete/asphalt
Weather: sunny
Temperature: 51 degrees
Humidity: 13 percent
Wind: 11 mph
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Shoes: Asics Gel Kayano XII

Training Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 35:26
Pace: 8:52/mi

Comments: A very slow, very controlled run with a slight dose of paranoia due to the ongoing issue with my left calf.

I took it very slow and was constantly ready to pack it in if I felt even the slightest additional twinge out of the leg.

I also wore my old Asics which have a greater degree of motion control. These shoes are nearing the end of their usable lifespan but they will be more than fine for right now. The idea is that by using them, they will give the lower leg a bit more support and a bit of a break until I can figure out exactly what the hell is wrong with me.

Training Run

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 40:00 (approx)
Pace: 8:00/mi (approx)

Comments: Good run, bad effect. I struggled the first two miles due to the cold and the bracing wind. By the time I got warmed up and into the thing my left calf started to hurt.

After ruminating over one adage regarding pain - "If the pain gets worse during the run, think twice about what's going on." - I decided to throw in the towel at five miles.

Yet except for that I felt strong and in control of the run. I had no doubt I could get through the planned eight miles with little excess effort.

Training Run

Distance: 6 miles
Time: 46:28
Pace: 7:45/mi

Comments: A pretty tough wind buffeted me about for about half of the effort. That allied with the lower temperatures made things uncomfortably brisk heading out.

That said it turned into a very nice little run. I started off slow after taking extra time to stretch out (my left knee has been somewhat sore over the last day or so). I chugged along into the whoosh of the chilly desert air for the first two miles before I got warm and the wind decided to ease off somewhat.

The last half of the run was completely in the zone. I felt strong, had a solid pace and felt completely in control the whole way. A rather nice feeling after the drag-ass that has followed me around for the last few weeks.

The only negative part of the run is I felt my breathing wasn't right. I never developed an actual stitch but one kept threatening to pop up. It looks like I might need to re-read that chapter of the book this afternoon.

Training Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 28:04
Pace: 7:01/mi

Comments: Not a bad little effort. I wanted to make this a recovery run but got into a good groove despite myself and just rode with it.

I tried to focus on form - keeping my elbows in and running on the ball of each foot - throughout. I felt pretty strong most of the way but my inconsistent dining yesterday didn't leave me with as much energy at my disposal as I would have liked.

It is noticeably chillier and darker in the mornings lately which is nice for running but I'm gonna have to start putting on layers if it gets any worse. And it can't be as bad as the depressing never-ending grey of Lima.

Week Wrapup

Distance: 22 miles
Time: 4 hours 18 minutes

Comments: Not a bad week in light of the fact I am supposed to be cutting back in anticipation of the race at the end of next week. But I'm still feeling like I am behind on my training after forgoing the long run of last week.

I did a bit less mileage-wise this week when I took an extra day off but, since I have decided to cut back in order to shake this case of drag-ass I have developed, it made sense at the time. I'm basically being over-conservative until this half marathon and, after that, I start pushing hard to get in the key workouts in anticipation of the big race.

Marathon Training Summary: Week 9

Distance: 22 miles
Time: 2 hours 49 minutes

Comments: I woke up this morning with every intention of putting in the 18-mile long run and it quickly became apparent that was not gonna happen. I was feeling completely exhausted and my desire to undertake the substantial effort was undercut by that.

I ended up going back to bed for an hour and woke up feeling just as tired. Throughout the day I was completely zapped and an afternoon nap did little to resolve it. Although I really wanted to get back on track mileage-wise, it just didn't make sense to push through this since the only logical reason for it would have to be overtraining.

So it turns into another sub-par week and a slab of meaty anxiety for my ability to be properly prepared for this race. Ugh.

One month to go. Well, four weeks, to be exact. The toughest week of the training still remains, though.

Training Run

Distance: 10 miles
Time: 85:59 minutes
Pace: 8:36/mi

Comments: Headed over to my sister's house with my cousin Erin to put this one in. As a result we were a bit later starting out than I expected and my pace was a good deal slower than usual.

But my sister had a loop route of five miles to run the thing. So I did the first mile holding back at the "group" pace and then took off on the second lap by myself. It worked out that my first five miles took 46:34 (9:19 mile pace) and the second five took 39:24 (7:52 mile pace).

That's not a bad reverse split practice particularly since I really have not been bearing down on my training lately. I'll need to pump it up quite a bit for the final race but that's alright for this upcoming half-marathon.