A good 24 hours

My main concern over the previous day was my foot. It's been my experience that when the cuboid bone in my foot lines up properly, there is no pain. Wearing a small moleskin patch under the hurt area has pushed things back into place and I've been pain-free since yesterday afternoon. I ran 9 miles this morning without pain.

My big issue now is how can I find the root cause of the problem so this doesn't happen again. The trigger seems to be intense races and also fast speed intervals. I think in the first few weeks after the Fargo marathon I'll go for a good shoe fitting. I've only ever worn one model of shoe so there may be something else that is better for me.

I made marks on my foot where the pain was and where I put the moleskin patch. I'll take pictures of those for my records..... not to post here.

Update: My foot still feels good. I found a picture of the foot bones on the internet and put a circle on the picture where the problem is. Now I don't have to take a photo but will have something to show my doc if I ever need to go in.

My issue is at the front of the cuboid bone, not the back as the diagram from the other day shows.



--Mark

20 mile run plus Get In Gear 10K 2008

Friday, Jim, Kim, and I ran 20.7 miles as our last long run before Fargo in three weeks. That morning at 4:30 it was 52 degrees at my house. Jim said he had 49 in Minneapolis. I dressed in my planned marathon clothes of a sleeveless shirt and race-ready long distance shorts. I put glide on what I thought were my 'problem areas'. After the run I found that I had forgot the seam/tag area at the back of my shorts. Maybe I'll remember next time. Kim and Jim ran in long sleeves which was a better choice. After our start the wind was strong and it was obvious the temperature was dropping like a rock. We had intermittent mist and rain but stayed just warm enough to keep us out of trouble.

We have out GU/electrolytes figured out. Before the run I took a GU but I think that one is optional. During the run we took GU at the 1 hour mark and then every 50 minutes after that. At the 2 hr 15 min mark we took one S! Cap. The S! Cap is the key to preventing cramping and possible stomach problems late in the race due to low electrolytes. Jim had trouble two weeks ago on our 20-miler (skipping the S! Cap then) but sailed right through this one. We finished the run at 3:00 on the dot including the 9 minutes of stops for GU/bathroom breaks. Our overall pace was 8:43 and our running pace with the 9 minutes of stops removed was 8:17. Perfect since our goal for Fargo is about a 7:55 pace.

That was Friday. Now Saturday we have the Get In Gear 10K race. Cold, wind, and snow. That was the Get In Gear this year. Kim, Jim, and I along with KB and Dave were running the 10K. My early goal was just to run it at about an 8:30 pace. Then I changed my mind and wanted to run it at whatever speed my body wanted to go. Dave and I lost Jim, Kim, and KB before we lined-up for the start. Dave and I must have been around the 9:30 pace people. The race started and I ran with the crowd for the first half mile. I was feeling very claustrophobic and just wanted to get around people. Dave and I parted ways and then I started to move forward through the runners. At the first mile marker I pushed my lap timer on my watch at 8:15. Not bad.

I decided to run at a reasonable/easy pace for me but I still moving forward through the crowds. Near the half-way point I decided that I was going to run a negative-split race and kicked up my speed. Mile 4, 5, and 6 paces were 7:10, 7:04, and 7:10. Crossing the Ford Bridge was a B@#$h. The wind was very strong from the west. Still, it didn't affect my time very much. I finished feeling good at 46:12 officially (46:15 on my watch). 7:27 average pace. You can see from my heart rate chart below my easy first half / hard second half race.



I believe my anaerobic threshold is 167/168 so I wasn't pushing it too hard. So, not too bad for the day after a twenty mile run.

Kim who also ran the 20.7 on Friday got the 3rd place award in her age group. Way to go Kim! Awesome!

I've had some cuboid bone problems in my foot since a few days after the Trail Mix. I didn't notice it during the race but I know I'm not 100% yet because it was much worse Sunday afternoon. I purchased some moleskin and made a patch to help the foot problem. The image below is from a website I found while searching for info on my problem.



This week is still a fairly full week of running through my planned 12-miler on Friday. Then it's two weeks of tapering.

--Mark

26 days to Fargo

I'll start counting the days instead of weeks now. This Friday will be my last long 20 mile run. Saturday I'm running the Get-in-Gear 10K with 4000+ other runners. I'll run it fairly easy as as recovery run. After that, I'll start tapering but I still will have a 5K on May 3rd and a 1-mile race on May 8th.

This morning I signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon.

I ran 9 this morning and can feel a little something going on in my right foot. It should go away soon as this has happened before.

edit: This afternoon I decided to NOT run the 5K in my plans. There is too high of chance I could cause some damage to my feet in that intense of a race on blacktop.

--Mark

Trail Mix 50K team race 2008

Q: How do you take a pair of road shoes and turn them into trail shoes?



A: Wear them at a Trail Mix race.

Those shoes have almost 400 miles on them... all treadmill or road until Saturday. Now I'll just use them on trails until they're worn out. They worked out very well in the hills and mud. On the topic of mud... I saw one guy in a mud pit with his shoe sucked off his foot. He didn't look happy.

I like comparing my races results to help gauge how I'm performing. This year, as well as last year, I ran the Trail Mix team race. In the team race, 4-person teams run one loop (12.5K) of the course each and their times are added together for a team time. My team, Live to Win, ended up coming in 3rd in the uneven-mixed division. I think we were 8th in the division last year.

I met Marise W. before the race. She a member of the Upper Midwest Trail Runners group. We chatted a bit and discovered we both want to run the Superior 50 Trail Race in our 50th birthday celebration month in 2009. That's something to look forward to!

My marathon training, that I've several months into, has made me much faster than last year. My overall place at the Trail Mix last year was 99/433 (top 23% and 7:59 pace). This year I was 35/394 or in the top 9% at a 7:20* pace. My time was 52:53 officially, but 52:45 on my watch. The added time was due to a two-runner backup in front of me at the finish. It took a while for the time/number keeper to record my time.

It was a very enjoyable race to run this year and I hope to do the team run again next year!

--Mark

*note: Update 4/22: The Trail Mix website now lists the team race distance as 7.2 miles.

5 weeks to Fargo

I had a great week last week. 53.9 miles total, I felt great during and after my second-to-the-last 20-miler, and I feel great now. No injuries.

Saturday I stopped into Run-n-Fun and bought my 'Marathon shoes'. They're Brooks Adrenaline GTS-8's. I've only ran in Brooks Adrenaline shoes except for my one day with ASICS. This morning I ran 9 in the new shoes and they felt great. I plan to put about 80 to 100 miles on them before Marathon day. I have three other pairs I rotate but they all have ~300 miles on them.

I'll be dipping my toes into the ultra-marathon waters this year. I'm signed up for the Afton 50K and also joined the Upper Midwest Trail Runners group. I didn't really want to sign-up for the Fab 5 Fifties series this year as I'm only running one race on the list. Well, I'm signed-up and I'm not dropping out. Next year I plan to run three 50K and two 50 mile races. Yikes!

Oh yeah, my next race is the Trail Mix 50K 4-person team race on Saturday. I only run 12.5K. My 4-person team all run at the same time and our finishing times are added together for the team time. It was great fun last year on the dry and fast course. I'm looking forward to some mud this year!

--Mark

not again

Nearly every long run I've done this winter and 'spring' has had not-so-good weather conditions. I'm planning to run 20+ miles Friday morning, starting at 5:15. Here is the latest forecast for Thursday night:

Thursday Night - Breezy...snow. Snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches. Lows 30 to 35. Northeast winds 15 to 25 mph.

Not much better on Friday:

Friday - Snow. Snow accumulation of 5 to 6 inches. Highs around 40. Northeast winds 15 to 20 mph.

Ugh.
--Mark

update 4/11: It wasn't too bad out this morning. Some of the paths were clear, others had an inch or slow of slush. Of course my shoes are completely soaked but I got in a good 20.4 mile run.

Ron Daws 25K 2008 report

This is a very low-key road race with a fee of $4 and a cap of 170 runners. My first time running it was this morning. The weather was excellent. 40 degrees at the start, light breeze, and mostly sunny. I understand last year it was 20 degrees and windy... Brrrr.

I met a few friends there. Jim and I had a plan to finish in just under 2 hours. Hopefully with a 7:43 average pace. We started out just a little fast, mile two was way too fast, and we thought we would finish a little ahead as we were averaging 7:30s for the first several miles. My average pace was 7:32 and although I am a bit tired now (7 hours later) I think it is an indicator that I should do well in the Fargo Marathon in 6 weeks.

Here are my mile splits. Like most races measured in Kilometers, the last one is screwy. My 6:17 pace is correct for the final 0.53 miles. I kicked it into high gear for the finish!

1 7:46
2 6:59
3 7:36
4 7:44
5 7:19
6 7:41
7 7:28
8 8:01
9 7:57
10 7:03
11 7:17
12 7:43
13 7:43
14 8:01
15 7:22
15.53 3:20 (0.53 miles at 6:17 pace)

time: 1:57:05 (according to my watch)

Overall a great race today. I really enjoyed running it.

--Mark