A Passion for Running

Today was my long run. I had high hopes.

We actually had a nice, sunny, non-snowing, warm, not very windy day today. Wow. Does it get better? Read on…

I headed out feeling a bit uneasy because of the lingering effects of a grueling workout I had on Saturday – 13 miles at 8:00 minutes/mile aka “marathon pace”.

Not only was I still feeling a wee bit of fatigue from that workout, but my right Achilles – which had given me quite a bit of trouble in the last couple of miles of Saturday’s workout – was still not 100%.

So today I started out slow and was happy that the Achilles was feeling fine …at least for a while.

I paced myself with what I thought has been the pace I’ve been running my long runs lately – around 8:45 min/mile. At the half way point, I pushed a bit harder (as per Andrew’s instructions to “run the second half faster than the first”). I was able to hold the faster pace without much problem for 30 minutes. At two hours, things started to get difficult and, from that point forward it just got harder and harder. I found myself almost crawling in the last three miles. I was going so slow it was really saddening.

I felt myself tightening up and was anticipating calf cramps at any moment so I decided to turn around and cut the run a bit short. I was DONE and had no desire to end this run in an injury.

I thought I’d be walking home on my hands that last half mile or so.

But, being in the state I was in, I didn’t notice how close I’d come to the 20 mile mark. When I got back home, my legs were in rough shape. They ached like they haven’t ached in a long time. Ouch.

Water, dinner, and shower and a half hour later and I sat down at the computer and figured things out:

Time: 2:48:45
Distance: 19.76 miles
Pace: 8:32 minutes per mile!

I was ecstatic! An 8:30 min/mile long run pace has been my silent goal for this marathon and the goal was finally achieved today.

Funny …the soreness seems to have gone away?

Here are some before/after pics. For those of you who are just tuning in, this is the result of 60 to 70 miles per week running for about six months. Click on the thumbnails for larger photos. I’m happy. Becoming fit again is one thing but this takes the cake. It’s almost motivating enough to get me into the gym to firm things up.

That was what I thought after receiving my instructions for today’s run from Andrew:

2 mile warmup slowly, 3 miles 7:55 min/mile, 3 miles 7:30 – 7:40 min/mile, 3 miles 7:55 min/mile, 2 miles cooldown.

Purpose: rhythm and control. It is important to run each pace as prescribed – only because we are shifting from the training controlling your pace, to you controlling the training pace. If at any time the pace seems too fast then back off. We are not trying to work hard really.

Warmup properly then get your MP rhythm going. Then after three miles, just increase the tempo just enough to get a 7:40 or 7:30 but not any faster. Be aware of how fast you are going and be smooth. Now the hard part, after three miles you back off just enough to regain the MP rhythm. Remember, no points for coming back with better times. Points are for rhythm and control. No surging or pushing. Cooldown properly.

Have fun.

I skimmed the message and then, after getting the gist of it, re-read it looking closer at the details.

As my friend Aaron often comments, my “government math” (I work for the Gov’t) tends to be a bit different than the math he teaches his high school students so I had to add the numbers twice to be certain …yup, 2+3+3+3+2=13!

And then I thought, “Andrew’s trying to kill me!”.

For those of you following along, Monday I ran 20 miles, yesterday I did 9 and today I ran 13 for a three day total of 42 miles. A year ago, I would have thought I’d have dropped dead doing that kind of mileage in three short days.

The warm up was very sluggish but I felt OK by the time the second section started. I did the entire run by time since I did not have mile markers set out for the run. The idea was to run the route, make a mental note of landmarks where I switched paces, and then get the pace and distance figured out using Google Maps. It totally worked. I was able to very precisely determine all my paces and distances upon returning home as follows:

Warm Up: 2.01 miles at 8:29 min/mile pace (18 minutes)
MP Section #1: 3.02 miles at 7:52 minutes/mile (23:45 minutes)
Tempo Section: 3.02 miles at 7:27 minutes/mile (22:30 minutes)
MP Section #2: 3.02 miles at 7:52 minutes/mile (23:45 minutes)
Cool Down: 2.01 miles at 8:29 min/mile pace (18 minutes)

Total Workout: 13.08 miles at 7:57 minutes per mile.

I was a tad bit faster than the paces I was supposed to hit but, this being my first time at this, I was going strictly by feel so I think I did ok in judging things.

But what amazes me about those numbers is how the first and second marathon pace sections are exactly the same. And I am not fudging those numbers at all – I ran those two sections in exactly the same minutes and SECONDS. Apparently, I am learning to pace myself!

I was pretty exhausted by the end of today’s workout but, in the end, the coach was not as nuts as I thought he was when I got the instructions.

I’m pretty happy about my performance for this last seven days in a row of running especially since half of today’s run was in terrible headwinds.

Sometimes the only way to change things is to keep on truckin’. In my case, after that foot sprain, I needed to run to get over my tentativeness about running.

And with that, I set out to run. And I’ve run six days straight. Here are some details about my last three runs:

Sunday I ran a partial tempo run. The run was 60 minutes and consisted of roughly equal amounts of time for warm up, tempo and cool down. Overall pace for exactly eight miles was 7:38 minutes/mile into a heckuva headwind.

Yesterday was my 20 mile long run. I got that baby done in another headwind. I ran 20.42 miles at an 8:47 minute/mile pace.

And today (the day after my long run), I managed a very decent nine miles at a 7:58 minute per mile pace.

Even better news is my foot feels terrific with absolutely no signs of the injury.

What’s next Coach?

Very good 20 miler today. Details tomorrow (after a nice, long sleep).

I got the “all clear” from Dr. Gregg last Wednesday (April 4) and got back to running the next day. Thankfully, the foot did not give me any grief. However, life has not been without its problems since then…

A couple of days before I started back to running, I was doing some work around the house when a cramp of epic proportions hit my left hamstring. I spent five minutes writhing around in pain trying to straighten my leg out. Icing and gentle stretching only seemed to help marginally.

Fast forward to my return to running and I was still bothered by major hamstring tightness. Day two of running resulted in “hammy” almost cramping up. To make matters worse, the tightness in my hamstring lead to more tightness in my left calf muscle. Friday’s and Saturday’s runs were not fun. Not fun at all.

My daughter and I became ill on Easter Sunday. No running.

Monday (my long run day) I was still ill and did not run (two long runs missed in a row). The worst symptom was terrible dizziness. The good news was I was able to stretch and ice my hamstring a lot those couple of days and returned (again!) to running yesterday feeling pretty fantastic.

I think my worst problem at this moment is mental. My confidence is …not good after missing two long runs and I have started to doubt whether I’ll be ready for a May 20th marathon.

That said, I’ve resolved to ease into hill training today and see if I can force a change in my perspective.

56 minutes today with no pain! More details later.

I went to see a doctor today – a doctor who specializes in sports related injuries. And the news was good.

He quickly found “the spot” and, upon pressing on it several different ways, declared “if it was a stress fracture, you’d have hit the ceiling in pain”.

He asked some questions, checked out my stance & mechanics, told me x-rays/bone scans would be “a waste of radiation” and surmised that I had a severe sprain. He showed me the exact spot and even put a name to the sprain (which I can’t remember) and told me to try running and “use your pain as the guide” for the next while. He also advised more icing and, only if swelling returns, to use NSAIDs.

Funny, that’s pretty much exactly what Andrew’s been telling me. Maybe I should start listening to that guy?

So, I’m going to start running tomorrow and let pain be my guide.

For anyone who’s counting, this little episode put me off running for nine days. We’ll call it a mini-taper.