a few days after the half....

I just want to record how I'm feeling after the race. My shins were sore Sunday and Monday and are feeling much better this morning. I took a day off from working out on Sunday. Monday, and this morning, I ran 3 miles at 6.2 mph (9:40 pace) on a treadmill. I'll continue running various distances at 9:00 or slower pace until at least one day after I don't notice any shin soreness. That will probably only be a few days from now.

My feet feel pretty good. I can tell that I had a problem with my right foot but there is no pain now. I'll still take it easy, meaning no fast intervals, for a few more weeks.

--Mark

Securian Frozen Half Marathon

I'll get right to it. I had two main goals for the race: 1) Practice running it like the first half of a marathon and 2) Get another TCM Wave 1 qualifier in.

I made a little card and kept it in my pocket where I had written the pace I wanted to run each mile. The race started and my goal for the first mile was 8:13. I ran 7:44. Ooops. With my heart rate monitor I got the lap time at every mile marker. Some of the markers were not exactly in the right place. I could tell because the pace was quite a bit off sometimes. I deleted the questionable mile markers off my heart rate monitor later when I looked at the data. The graph of my heart rate is here:



Here is the table of my planned paces and how I did.

Mile - planned pace > actual pace
1 - 8:13 > 7:44
2 - 8:13 > 7:57
3 - 8:08 > 7:59
4 - 8:04 > 7:53
5 - 7:54 > 7:53
6 - 7:49 > 7:52
7 - 7:45 > 7:52
8 - 7:45 > 7:37
9 - 7:40 > 7:38
10 - 7:40 > 7:37
11 - 7:40 > 7:43
12 - 7:40 > 7:43
13 - 7:40 > 7:15 (pace includes last 0.1 mile)
.1 - 0:47

It took a few miles to get settled into my plan. From the 5th through 12th miles I was really right on target. You can see that the 13th mile was way off plan. I knew by then (mile 12) my experiment was successful. Up ahead of me in the race was a large group that I was itching to pass. I hit my lap button and put it into high gear. There was little chance of me crashing and burning at that point. I passed a very large group and kept on going fast and continued my fast pace up the last hill. The final 100 meters I picked it up into a sprint and sniped a few more during that stretch. I was sure my gas tank wasn't even half empty at the end of this race. I'm feeling fairly confident about meeting my 3:27 goal at Fargo in May. I have 16 weeks to go.

My final time was 1:41:26 (according to the online results) so I made my Twin Cities Marathon Wave-1 qualifier! Woo-hoo!

Other notes:

The weather was perfect at around 20 degrees, overcast, and very light snow falling.

I met Julie B. and chatted with her before and after the race. I was happy to finally meet her.

My friend Dave was on the course cheering me on around mile 5. I learned that if you hear your name being shouted, someone may be shouting it at YOU. :-) I finally whipped my head around and gave him a wave. On my way back I ran over near him and he gave me a GU. That was nice! Thanks Dave!

Around mile 7 I heard someone yell "Mark". Since a few miles earlier I ignored my friend Dave, this time I decided to wave at the person and smile. Of course I didn't know her. I then asked the guy about 10 feet in front of me if his name was Mark. It was. He said we must be the Marks (Marx) brothers. :-)

Oh yeah. I forgot where I parked. What building did I park under? I didn't know. What parking ramp level? I didn't know. I wandered two ramps and various levels on both ramps with no luck. I finally decided to go out on the street, find where I drove in, and walk the same path I drove to park. That worked!

I hope to run this again next year.
--Mark

Mid-week update

My foot has still been bothering me. Sure, I ramped up my mileage at a reasonable rate over the last few months. I didn't do that with speed training. Ugh! Live and learn.

Monday I walked two miles on the treadmill. Later Monday afternoon and instructor friend of mine sent me an email. She was going to be a sub in Cycle 60 that night and also the 30-minute core class that followed. I went and did those awesome workouts. It was strange working out late at night since I almost always workout at 5:30 or 6 in the morning. Tuesday and today (Thursday) I ran 3 miles. Wednesday I did a Kickboxing class.

So my mileage this week is 6 so far. I think I'll run 3 tomorrow and then do the Winter Carnival half marathon on Saturday. If all continues to go well, I'll add a bit more mileage again next week.

Tonight I'm going to watch Spirit of the Marathon with my wife and some friends.

--Mark

17 weeks to Fargo

Last week I ran 41.5 miles. The highlight was on Saturday when I ran a practice simulation of the first part of the Fargo marathon on a treadmill. Two of us ran according to the same plan. He ran 15 miles and I ran 14. Each mile we would adjust our treadmill speed according to a chart I posted earlier. The run went great but what worried me is that my heart rate was higher than I would have liked during the later miles. I decided that on Saturday, when I run a half marathon race, I will attempt to run the same paces as I did on the treadmill. If that goes according to plan, I will be able to compare the two heart rate charts: indoors at 65+ degrees with proper hydration vs. outdoors at 10-15 degrees and under-hydration. I'm predicting that my heart rate will be lower in the race. My second goal would be to finish the half in just under 1:45 which will give me another wave 1 qualifier for the TC marathon in October.

Yesterday afternoon I had a sharp pain hit me in my right foot. In the top-mid-right area. There is some intermittent clicking there when I walk. It could be a side effect of running 14 miles on Saturday at a 7:59 average pace. I expect the 3x 3-minutes of 6:31's on Wed didn't help either. The pain comes and goes now (Monday morning) and I just walked for 2 miles at various inclines this morning to see if I could get things to click back into place. This same thing happens a few times a year and it always resolves itself in a few days.

Update: I did some searching on the internet during lunchtime today and I almost certain to have something called Cuboid syndrome. The is a cuboid bone in my foot that is slightly out of place and when it pops back all the pain will be gone. That's been my past experience and I think it will be better soon this time too.

I'm winging it this week for workouts. It all depends on when my foot gets back to normal. The only workout I'm doing for sure is the half on Saturday.

--Mark

Good news about my foot

I picked up a Strassburg Sock at Run N Fun yesterday to wear at night to help my plantar fasciitis problem. I wore it last night and there was no sign of it this morning. My running workout today was pain free too. I think I'll wear the sock for three weeks and also at the slightest sign of a problem in the future.

My hard interval workout was a good idea but I had to modify it greatly. Instead of 5x (4 min at 9.2mph then 3 min at 6.2mph) I changed it to 3x (3 min at 9.2 mph then 4 min of walk- or run at 6.2mph). My heart rate was at 169 and my AT is ~165. I think I was dealing with more of a mind issue than a physical one but at 3 minutes I just wanted to get out. I was able to do three cycles with good form and then decided that next week I'll do the same thing 4x. My total miles today was 5.0.

--Mark

Backing off the miles

The past few days I noticed that the back-bottom of my right foot hurts a little in the mornings. I felt it today when I ran a few miles. I'm pretty sure that I have plantar fasciitis. I have been following a running plan where my weekly miles are a percentage of what I expect my peak week will be. I'm working towards a peak of 60 but I'm changing it starting now to 48 miles. This week and next week I was planning to run 80% of peak. Instead of 48 miles, I'm dropping it down to 38 miles.

I'm revising the rest of the week to hit 38 miles. Instead of running 3 before weights, I'll walk. I'm cutting the number of cycles of Wednesday's workout from 6 to 5 and will walk to cool down. Friday I'll run less too. New remainder of week plan:

Everyday
Stretch calves/feet

Wednesday
6.6 miles
2 mile warmup +
5 x (4 min at 6:31 pace + 3 min at 9:41 pace)
6:31 = 9.2mph; 9:41 = 6.2mph

Thursday
strength training

Friday
6.4 miles

Saturday
12

Sunday
core or rest

18 Weeks to Fargo

I just finished a good week of workouts - 47.7 total miles. Saturday I ran 12 outside with a friend. It was a very early run and there was about an inch of fresh snow on the ground. We averaged an 8:06 pace on this excellent run. The Tues/Thurs strength training was hard on me and I was very tired at the end of the week. Starting this week Sundays may be a day off or just a short easy run and/or a core workout. No squats or lunges on Sunday. My legs need a break.

I'm going to try the core workout from the Feb 2008 Runner's World to see how that goes. I did the base workouts today. The Swiss Hip Extension workout is challenging and I'm looking forward to seeing how I improve over the weeks.

Plan for week starting Monday, January 14

Monday
10 miles

Tuesday
3 mile easy run +
strength training

Wednesday
9.5 miles
2 mile warmup +
6 x (4 min at 6:31 pace + 3 min at 9:41 pace) +
2 mile easy run
6:31 = 9.2mph; 9:41 = 6.2mph

I edited on 1/14 because I learned the 'quality portion' on Wednesday was to be 8% of my total week. I had added the recovery portion into the calculation previously. It just means 6x vs 4x previously. Ugh.

Thursday
3 mile easy run +
strength training

Friday
7.5 miles

Saturday
12

Sunday
3 miles plus core or rest

Planned total: 48 miles

Lofty goals or just plain crazy?

I'm sorting out what to do for major races the next few years. My final 2 year goal would be to finish a 50 mile race. I was going to write "run a 50 mile race" but I'd be lying. If the Superior 50 lands on September 12th in 2009 it will be just after I turn 50 -- what a perfect way to celebrate. Here are my preliminary plans:

2008
May - Fargo Marathon
July - Afton 50K Trail
August - Ragnar Relay - Great River
October - Twin Cities Marathon

2009
April - Marathon
July - Afton 50K Trail
August - Ragnar Relay - Great River
September - Superior Trail 50 mile

--Mark

Week 19 (to go)

That plantar faciitis that I thought I had wasn't. No sign of it this morning. I ran a nice 13.1 on the treadmill with a couple of friends so we had a chance to chat. It wasn't so boring that way.

Since I dropped the two fitness classes I had in my schedule, I'm going back to the Daniels' Running Formula book and will be trying Marathon Training Plan A. Next week is 19 weeks before race so using the book, I came up with the following based on a 60 mile peak week later on. I'll be at 43.1 miles this week after Sunday, so I'll be able to step up to 47 miles next week.

Week starting Monday, January 7
19 weeks to go

Monday
6 miles

Tuesday
3 mile warmup
strength training

Wednesday
10 miles

Thursday
3 mile warmup
strength training

Friday
10 miles

Saturday
12 miles

Sunday
3 mile warmup
strength training

Planned total: 47 miles

Week 18 (to go) I'll switch over to Daniels' Phase II of the plan and the workouts will become more complicated.

--Mark

update: I need to swap some of these days around to get my long runs on Saturdays.

plantar fasciitis?

I noticed just the slightest feeling of plantar fasciitis when I got out of bed this morning. I have not had PF for many years. A Step class I took (first time in months) on Tuesday may have been the cause. I'll have to pay close attention to my foot now and maybe add some stretches like I used to do. I've been noticing it a tiny bit during the day today too.

--Mark

Re-thinking my training

My mind is already past the Fargo marathon and I'm thinking of running (and walking) the Afton 50K. I know that Afton will be a bear. The 25K was not an easy run last year in the heat. So... I'm thinking of stepping my weekly mileage up from the upper 30's to 48 or so. I'll still keep one rest day but I'll make sure to have two strength days per week. I will also have some easy miles before and after my strength training. Over the next three weeks I'll be increasing my miles from the low 40's to the high 40's. My peak should be 56 on my week with a 22 mile LR. I'll also be dropping my hydro training class and kickboxing.

--Mark

Happy New Year 2008

I ran 10 early this morning on the treadmill. It was a good way to start the year.

Resolutions (more like goals):

1) Unclutter. The garage. The house. My stuff.
2) Eat better. Cut down on processed foods and foods with sugar.
3) Floss more. It's so easy to do so why can't I floss every day?

Running Races - I think I will be running the Afton 50K this year.

--Mark