Thursday, May 31, 2007
Ready to restart training?
Well, I've taken a week and a half off with no running at all. I tried an easy 3-mile run today and it seemed fine. I only have some minor discomfort in my left shin. I'm hoping that this means that I can carefully restart my training. I'll continue with the ice and Advil and take tomorrow off. Saturday I may try a longer run with a local group of runners also training for the SF marathon...
Friday, May 25, 2007
Crash and burn - game over?
Well, I either have a bad case of anterior shin splints or even possibly small stress fractures in my left leg. My left shin is visibly swollen and even a short, easy 3 mile run on Tuesday was painful. I've decided to not run at all until it's better. I'm trying ice, elevation and Advil for a few days and if it doesn't improve then I'll get it x-rayed. Either way this brings my training to a screeching halt - possibly for weeks. So, I'll probably have to skip the Lake Chabot Trail Challenge on June 3rd. Looking ahead to the SF Marathon in July, I probably have to give up on my goal of running the full Marathon in 4 hours or less. Depending on how things progress, I may run the Half Marathon or run the Full Marathon with the goal of simply finishing - regardless of time. Of course, if I'm unable to run the Full Marathon in July there will be others. There is the Portland Marathon in October..;-)
Hopefully, I'll learn from my mistakes. I was impatient and training too hard. Most of my runs should have at ~10-minute mile pace - including all my long runs and all of my easy recovery runs. I was running most of my mileage at 8:30-9:30 pace mistakenly thinking that my legs wouldn't know the difference. I sort of assumed that my cardiorespiratory system would be the limiting factor and that my legs could handle anything. As it turns out my 46-yr old legs haven't been up to the demanding runs I've put them through. So, I'll recover and start training again - hopefully smarter next time...
Hopefully, I'll learn from my mistakes. I was impatient and training too hard. Most of my runs should have at ~10-minute mile pace - including all my long runs and all of my easy recovery runs. I was running most of my mileage at 8:30-9:30 pace mistakenly thinking that my legs wouldn't know the difference. I sort of assumed that my cardiorespiratory system would be the limiting factor and that my legs could handle anything. As it turns out my 46-yr old legs haven't been up to the demanding runs I've put them through. So, I'll recover and start training again - hopefully smarter next time...
Monday, May 21, 2007
The Tilden Tough Ten
May 21st I ran in the Tilden Tough Ten sponsored by the Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders. This is a 10-mile race along the East Bay hills. I have a painful case of shin splints so I took it fairly easy. The course is a simple "out and back" with the middle third being quite hilly. There are photos and a course description here:
http://www.lmjs.org/Tilden_Tough_Ten
I ran the first 5 miles in 44:17 and felt pretty good charging the uphill sections. In the 6th mile I met my match with a steep dirt hill on Mezue and my time dropped own to 10:54 for lap 6. I took it easy after that and finished the event in about 93 minutes. So more, ice, Advil, rest and hopefully I can shake this case of shin splints and be back training at 100%. I may run the LMJS 15k next weekend and the Lake Chabot Trail Challenge the weekend after next - we'll see how my recovery progresses.
http://www.lmjs.org/Tilden_Tough_Ten
I ran the first 5 miles in 44:17 and felt pretty good charging the uphill sections. In the 6th mile I met my match with a steep dirt hill on Mezue and my time dropped own to 10:54 for lap 6. I took it easy after that and finished the event in about 93 minutes. So more, ice, Advil, rest and hopefully I can shake this case of shin splints and be back training at 100%. I may run the LMJS 15k next weekend and the Lake Chabot Trail Challenge the weekend after next - we'll see how my recovery progresses.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
MT. TAM WILD BOAR RIDGE 18k
I ran the Envirosports Mt. Tam. Wild Boar Ridge 18k (~11.25 miles) on May 12th. The short story is that I started out too fast on a cold morning with inadequate warm-up and now I have a new injury - shin splints!
I got a late start the morning of the event. With some careful driving I made it to the event site on Mt. Tam about 5-10 minutes before the start of the race. It was clear out, but cold and windy. I had no time for a warm-up run and after quick announcements from the event coordinator we were off. The first few miles were on pavement and hilly. At about the 2 mile mark the strain in my left hamstring was back - damn. I had probably gone out to fast and wasn't warmed up either. I stopped briefly to quickly massage the strain and stretch. Then I started out again at a much slower pace and spent the next mile or so deciding if I should finish the event or not. I decided that I would just continue and hope for the best. I was able to finish but my legs were wrecked by the time I was done - with a new injury, a painful case of shin splints in my left leg - damn.
Other than my little injuries, it was a fun event. About the first 4 miles were on pavement, but the rest of the race were on trails. Some of these trails I trained on 20 years ago when i ran track at C.C.S.F. so it was fun to run on them again. The first section of trails was along a grassy ridge with beatiful views of the Pacific. The trail was less than a foot wide with grass at least knee high whipping your legs, with the occasional thistle to spice things up. On the first steep uphill section most people walked! I was initially shocked, but then I reminded myself that I was running with slower runners and why not? The trail wasn't wide enough to pass, so I tried walking a few steps - it was refreshing- haha. Anyway, once back into the woods (this is Matt Davis trail if you know Mt. Tam.) the trail widened, but now we has rocks and roots and branches to dodge. One runner took a nasty fall in front of me and another almost did the same. At the 10 mile mark, we came to the last water station and then a 500' climb of switchbacks to the finish. I ran the some of it but everyone around me walked the steepest portions. It seemed almost sacrilegious to walk, but I could see no reason to kill myself and appariently no one else did either. There were great snacks and a cool T-shirt at the finish. Simple things like cold water and chez-its are sooo good after a hard run...;-)
My official time for this event was 1:52:21, but I had my time as under 1:50 Either way, not very impressive, but so it goes...
I got a late start the morning of the event. With some careful driving I made it to the event site on Mt. Tam about 5-10 minutes before the start of the race. It was clear out, but cold and windy. I had no time for a warm-up run and after quick announcements from the event coordinator we were off. The first few miles were on pavement and hilly. At about the 2 mile mark the strain in my left hamstring was back - damn. I had probably gone out to fast and wasn't warmed up either. I stopped briefly to quickly massage the strain and stretch. Then I started out again at a much slower pace and spent the next mile or so deciding if I should finish the event or not. I decided that I would just continue and hope for the best. I was able to finish but my legs were wrecked by the time I was done - with a new injury, a painful case of shin splints in my left leg - damn.
Other than my little injuries, it was a fun event. About the first 4 miles were on pavement, but the rest of the race were on trails. Some of these trails I trained on 20 years ago when i ran track at C.C.S.F. so it was fun to run on them again. The first section of trails was along a grassy ridge with beatiful views of the Pacific. The trail was less than a foot wide with grass at least knee high whipping your legs, with the occasional thistle to spice things up. On the first steep uphill section most people walked! I was initially shocked, but then I reminded myself that I was running with slower runners and why not? The trail wasn't wide enough to pass, so I tried walking a few steps - it was refreshing- haha. Anyway, once back into the woods (this is Matt Davis trail if you know Mt. Tam.) the trail widened, but now we has rocks and roots and branches to dodge. One runner took a nasty fall in front of me and another almost did the same. At the 10 mile mark, we came to the last water station and then a 500' climb of switchbacks to the finish. I ran the some of it but everyone around me walked the steepest portions. It seemed almost sacrilegious to walk, but I could see no reason to kill myself and appariently no one else did either. There were great snacks and a cool T-shirt at the finish. Simple things like cold water and chez-its are sooo good after a hard run...;-)
My official time for this event was 1:52:21, but I had my time as under 1:50 Either way, not very impressive, but so it goes...
Monday, May 7, 2007
The Half Marathon in 1:56:42 !
Last weekend I finished the Avenue of the Giants Half Marathon with a great time of 1:56:42. That's an average pace of 8:54 per mile for 13.1 miles. That was good for 172nd place out of 883 runners - well entrants - some were walking, not running. Not too shabby for a 46 year-old guy with only 6 weeks of training! The bad news is that I was nursing an injury and possibly shouldn't have run at all - and definitely shouldn't have run so hard. I started out easy, but picked up the pace once I warmed up. I ran miles 3 thru 13.1 at a 8:48 pace.
So ice, aspirin and rest most of this week and hopefully I'll be ready for the Envirosports Mt. Tam. Wild Boar Ridge 18k this weekend.
A month ago I hadn't expected to run in this event. Tina and I had planned a 9 day road trip to Utah this week. Unfortunately, our dog Squeak was hit by a car last month and required surgery. So we canceled our vacation to help pay for the pet hospital bill. Since Tina had the week off we decided to take an overnight trip up to the Redwoods and I'd be able to run in this event.
The weather was beautiful and we had a nice drive up. We drove up Saturday and stopped at the site of the Marathon to check in. We drove the route of the Half Marathon so that Tina would know what it would be like. Lodging was tough to find so we actually had to stay in Arcata almost an hour north of the event. Sunday morning we got up at the crack of dawn to head down to the Marathon site.
The weather was perfect and the location is beautiful. There were about 1200 participants for the Marathon and Half Marathon. We all started at the same time so the road was crowded for the first 3/4 mile. I was nursing an injury - a strain in my left hamstring - so I took it easy at the start. At the 3-mile mark I was surprised to find that I had run the 3rd mile in less than 9 minutes. Doing some quick math I determined I could finish the half Marathon in less than 2 hours if I kept that pace. My injury felt ok so I kept up that pace. I averaged 8:48 per mile for miles 3 thru 10. After the 10-mile mark, I started to tire and my times for miles 11 and 12 were 9:06 and 9:10. The last mile or so in picked the pace and ran mile 13 in 8:38. I mistakenly thought the finish line was at the starting line and kicked too early - I had another 1/10th mile to go - oops! Anyway, I finished with a great time - at least for me. Between the injury and fatigue, my legs felt terrible after the event and I have a lot of ice, aspirin and rest planned this week.
So ice, aspirin and rest most of this week and hopefully I'll be ready for the Envirosports Mt. Tam. Wild Boar Ridge 18k this weekend.
A month ago I hadn't expected to run in this event. Tina and I had planned a 9 day road trip to Utah this week. Unfortunately, our dog Squeak was hit by a car last month and required surgery. So we canceled our vacation to help pay for the pet hospital bill. Since Tina had the week off we decided to take an overnight trip up to the Redwoods and I'd be able to run in this event.
The weather was beautiful and we had a nice drive up. We drove up Saturday and stopped at the site of the Marathon to check in. We drove the route of the Half Marathon so that Tina would know what it would be like. Lodging was tough to find so we actually had to stay in Arcata almost an hour north of the event. Sunday morning we got up at the crack of dawn to head down to the Marathon site.
The weather was perfect and the location is beautiful. There were about 1200 participants for the Marathon and Half Marathon. We all started at the same time so the road was crowded for the first 3/4 mile. I was nursing an injury - a strain in my left hamstring - so I took it easy at the start. At the 3-mile mark I was surprised to find that I had run the 3rd mile in less than 9 minutes. Doing some quick math I determined I could finish the half Marathon in less than 2 hours if I kept that pace. My injury felt ok so I kept up that pace. I averaged 8:48 per mile for miles 3 thru 10. After the 10-mile mark, I started to tire and my times for miles 11 and 12 were 9:06 and 9:10. The last mile or so in picked the pace and ran mile 13 in 8:38. I mistakenly thought the finish line was at the starting line and kicked too early - I had another 1/10th mile to go - oops! Anyway, I finished with a great time - at least for me. Between the injury and fatigue, my legs felt terrible after the event and I have a lot of ice, aspirin and rest planned this week.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Injury - again!
Eighteen weeks is not enough time to train for a Marathon when you haven't been running at all. Most training programs I've found prefer that you have been running 25-30 per week for a few months before you start the 16-18 week training for the Marathon. So once I started researching how to train for a Marathon I quickly understood that what I want to accomplish is somewhat unreasonable and that I'd be training at the verge of injury. Well, this has turned out to be the case. Week 3 I strained my right calf and had to take 3 days off. Last week my right calf and hamstring were bothering me and I had to take it easy for a few days. Yesterday I pulled my left hamstring while on a 'tempo run" (3 miles at a pace faster than my target race pace this weekend). I had to take a taxi home! So, I'll take a few days off with ice, aspirin and stretching and hopefully be able to make the race this weekend. Instead of trying to go out at 8:50-9:00 this weekend I'm going to go out at ~9:30 pace and just try to finish!
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
A quiet week and a big race this weekend
Not much to report today. I plan to run easy this week with two rest days of no running at all. This weekend I have the Avenue of the Giants Half Marathon up in Humboldt county. This 13.1 mile race will be a good test of how much I've been able to improve my conditioning with 6 weeks of training. The 13.1 mile race will be a jump in distance from my current longest day of 10 miles. My first challenge will be to not start out too fast - my target first mile time of 8:50-9:00 will feel very slow in a race environment. The bigger test will be to then sustain that pace for the entire race. My goal is to finish in less than 2 hours.
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