Decision made.

Decisions, I hate decisions.

Completely unrelated, the moon last night

I have not run more than 6 miles continuous in the past couple of weeks. It has been frustrating not being able to venture far from home for fear of having to walk back.

I ran 5 miles on Saturday (of the 14 miles scheduled) and skipped the long run entirely on Sunday. On Monday I ran the indoor track for 6 miles and did a progress ladder – 7:15, 7:15, 7:05, 6:55, 6:05 and a cool down of 7:30. Only a few light irritations towards the end.

Tuesday I did 8 Yasso’s at 2:55ish (sub 6 minute pace for the half mile repeats). There was no pain at all and I while I can’t say they were easy I was able to complete them without difficulty. So, while I may not have the endurance for the marathon I still have the speed.

I have also been on the bike trainer a lot these past couple of weeks. Also, I do not have the bike endurance but my power numbers for short durations are as high as they have ever been.

So, what is my decision regarding the prioritization of the marathon or the half ironman? Well, I don’t think I can run a sub-3 marathon in 3 weeks. It would have been difficult regardless of injury. But I do believe I can still put up either a ‘good’ marathon or possibly a PR half marathon while focusing on the bike. There you have it, I will be continuing to run but I am going to add the bike back into the mix. The sub-3 marathon goal will have to wait for another race.

Decisions, decisions

I am a little hurt right now. That pains me to admit it. That ‘Worst Run Ever; is still haunting me. If you remember, I raced a 5 miler on a Saturday and then did a 22 miler that was supposed to be at 7:30 pace. The prior week I had nailed a 20 miler at 7:2x pace and felt strong at the end. I was firing on all cylinders.

Well, after that ‘Worst Run Ever’ where I felt a lot of pain in my left leg (ITB) I took a complete day off, but just one. I attempted to run an 8 mile tempt the next day. That run was going great until some pain started creeping back into the left leg. I ran 5 miles of the tempo at the correct pace, slowed dramatically and did a run / walk for the last 2.3 miles.

I was hurt. I was disappointed. I was frustrated. Generally, I am a bulletproof runner. I mean I do occasionally get hurt but it is not from training, it is from crashing on the bike or falling on a trail. I accept those cuts, scrapes, bruises and occasional fractures. Those are the price of doing business. But chronic and overtraining injuries, that does not happen to me.

Until now.

Friday I will make a decision whether to pursue the sub-3 marathon or switch gears and concentrate on my half ironman (10 weeks away). If I move to a bike concentration, I should be able to have a run at a PR (sub-5).

Worst Run Ever

If you recall, I posted recently about injuries following the words “Best Run Ever.”  Well, I’ll take best over worst any day of the week.

---

After the 5-mile race on Saturday, I still had big volume for the rest of the weekend. Sunday called for a 22-mile run. This is definitely pushing the comfort zone. I knew that from my house to Sumrall is 20 miles but I needed two more. I decided to run to Jackson Station and then back past my house to Sumrall and back to get the allotted distance.

I had such a good 20 miler the previous weekend I knew I was going to have success. I loaded up my race belt with gels. I inserted each gel in the loop and pulled it tight. One, two, three for a total of five. It was as if I was loading a bandolier and readying for battle.

I started slightly downhill towards Jackson, I quickly got on pace. The legs loosened up easily but there was some fatigue from the 5-mile race the previous morning. I had raced at a hard effort.

I was clicking off miles just as planned but now I was running slightly up hill. My pace slowed a few seconds per mile. No big deal, I would make up the time on the return. The effort was growing higher.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it was 70 degrees and 100 humidity on this Sunday in January! I took my second gel at Epley. This was the 9-mile mark. I thought about turning around and running the 6 back home, 15 miles would still be respectable. I pushed on. It was another 4 miles to Sumrall Station.

I started to feel some slight discomfort in my left leg on the downhill to the station. If I turned around here, I could still get 20 miles for the run. Would that be a failure? I pushed on. I took my third gel at the bottom of the hill. I turned around slowly knowing that I had to climb the hill and reach home. I was at mile 12 and still had 10 to go.

On the climb out, I shortened my stride. I was hurting now. I kept going. With an out and back you always have to get home.

My pace was slowing and after Epley, I started doing a run walk. It was frustrating that I was not able to keep running. This was not a fitness issue but an injury issue. I really thought about walking the entire 6 miles back home. I did the quick math and there was no way that I was going to be out there another two hours.

No amount of stretching helped curb the pain. It was sharp and intense all around my left knee. This is not the good kind of pain. I took my last gel at Clyde. I looked around for any cars that I recognized. There was none. In fact, there were no cars at all. At this point, I would have checked the ego and bummed a ride from anyone.

I gathered my courage and ran the last two miles home. The pain was not so bad but the thought of extended recovery loomed heavy on my thoughts.

Once home I took an ice bath and a full recovery meal. I rested the legs on Monday (upper body strength work). By Tuesday, I felt much better. So good that I could go out on the trace and tear it up again.

Marathon training is all about pushing the envelope.

 

---

 

This was definitely up there with one of my worst training runs ever and it could have been avoided.  I should not have run a ‘longest of the season’ run following a hard effort race.  I should have changed the pace a touch considering that last week I had run and it was 20 degrees cooler. 

It is a minor set back but a set back nonetheless.

Smarter than I used to be

So I had some tightness in my calf.  I really thought that I had hurt myself bad – like a micro tear or something.  Not career ending but career halting.  In years past I would have tried to run on it the next day and dug myself into a deeper hole.  I preach 3 days off will save you 3 weeks; 3 weeks will save you 3 months.  But in reality I have pushed through the pain.  Not smart.

This time I called my friend, a PT and fellow runner PT Dan.  I cannot stress how important it is to see someone that is also an athlete.  PT Dan fit me into his schedule and before even looking at me he questioned exactly what I was doing when I started to feel the discomfort.  Dan knew what and why I was experiencing the pain that I was going through.

He told me that pushing the limits and changing shoes probably caused the pain.  I was experiencing shin splints.  I was dumbfounded!  Me, shin splints?  I am experienced runner who racks up hundreds of miles a month.  Well, the test shoes were minimalists and there was next to no arch support.  On top of that I was a bit fatigued. 

PT Dan massaged, did some ultrasound and next taped my aching calf.  It still hurt some the rest of the day.  However, the next day it was much better.  In fact it was so much better by Sunday that I decided to go ahead and run the First Light Half Marathon that I had already signed up for; al be at a much slower pace (I paced a friend to a PR for the half).

I have become smart enough to know that I depend on my running for so much more than athletic needs (my mental health depends on my running) that I am quick to seek expert advise when necessary.

Three Words I am Starting to Fear

Since I had Monday off from work I rescheduled my long run.  I did not want to attempt a challenging run after New Year’s Eve.  Now, I did not go overboard during the holiday but I would need all of my strength (mentally and physically) to complete the session.  I was a little bit worried.

So Monday I headed out to the trace to run 18 miles at a 7:30 pace.  I planned out the run in my mind and used some advice from Pounds to Miles.  Brandy had just completed an 18 mile run the day before.  She told me that she broke the session up into two 9 mile runs.  She did not look at the session as a continuous 18 miles – that was too daunting.

I have used these Jedi mind tricks in the past but I appreciated the reminder.  I broke my 18 miles into three 6 mile runs.  6 miles is my everyday mileage.  I don’t run many session under this mileage.  This is manageable to me.

I started out down the trace towards campus and turned around at 3 miles.  This meant I would cross by my house at mile 6 and then I would just have to do my normal 12 mile bread and butter run to Epley and back.  No sweat.

I kept the pace nice and steady.  I took gels at the water stations (I had already figured out the schedule – it would be miles 8, 12, and 16 – that is just the way the water stops hit).

At the Epley turn around (mile 12) I was feeling strong.  Really strong.  I decided to pick the pace up at mile 13.  The last 5 miles were all under 7:10.  After the last gel at Clyde Station I once again picked up the pace.  I finished strong and the last 2 miles were in the 6:40’s.

I took a nice and easy cool down walk back to the house.  I did not say it out loud but I thought that was a damn fine run – almost, Best Run Ever.

---

How many times have I heard that this year?  Many times.  Unfortunately, just to see an athlete crumble in the next few days.  When we have these wonderful, almost perfect sessions, we are pushing the limits of our fitness.  We are walking a fine line.  I have seen it on three occasions this year where in the week following a Best Run Ever session an injury has popped up.

The night after the run I felt great.  Much better than I have for sessions that were shorter and slower. 

And here is where I made a mistake.  I do some product testing for a major shoe manufacture.  I am asked to run a lot of miles to test the wear of shoes before they hit the market.  I am fortunate that I can run in almost any type of shoe.  But I am smart. I run nice and easy before I do any real mileage.  I have never had any problems.

So on Tuesday I wore the lightly cushioned minimalist shoe to the gym.  I ran 2 miles on the treadmill at a 10 minutes per mile pace – this is a VERY EASY pace for me.  A couple of minutes slower than my comfortable pace.  No problems at all.

So at lunch I again ran on the treadmill in the test shoes.  This time at my comfortable pace of 7:30 minutes per mile.  I planned on running for 6 miles.  At the 1.9 mile mark I felt a sharp pain on the inside of my left calf.  I know the drill.  I shut the treadmill down - walk away.   (I did some upper body strength training).

The calf was tight the rest of the day and I foam rollered it and ‘The Stick'’d’ that night.  The next morning it was still sore but not bad.  At lunch I decided to run an easy 9+ minute per mile pace with some friends.  This would be a social run.  We went out 3 miles and there was some very minor discomfort.  It was minor enough that the guys I was running with did not know that I even had a mild injury.  And then it got worse – quickly.  At mile 4.5 it started to really hurt.  I continued to run on it for another half mile. 

At mile 5 I had to shut it down.  I walked the last mile in agony back to campus.

Best Run Ever, damn it.

Do you ever get hurt after a big session?

Ankle better–check, back to running

I stayed off of the run all week, since I turned my ankle last Sunday while trail running.  In addition to the turned ankle I got a crick in my neck last Tuesday.  Well, the only day that I ran was when I was shooting some video – watch the video here.  I ran less than 100 yards on the swollen ankle and the stiff neck.  We must be bobble heads while we run.  That little bit of running really tweaked the neck.

Speaking of the video, I really appreciate the comments.  I am not sure how to go about ‘correcting’ my form but I am going to work on it.  My stride reminds me of swimming and crossing the center line.

I gave the ankle and neck 5 days.  I still road the bike trainer but I had not tested the run.

I headed out in a super moist and humid mist on Saturday morning.  I was walking (warming up) to the trace.  I saw Terry L. go by headed towards the trace.  We were not on the same road and he did not see me.  I thought it would be fun to have a quick chat.

With no warm up to speak of I tried to bridge the gap and catch up with Terry.  He was running low 7’s so this required a good effort on my part.  I was able to close the distance. When I got close he could hear footsteps and slowed a little bit.  We chewed the fat for a mile or so and then Terry headed back.  He was at mile 5 of his 10 mile run.

I decided to continue to keep the pace fast.  I had to run in the high 6’s to catch Terry and the ankle had not protested.  The neck was not a problem either.  The pace ended up being the problem.  I ended up with 3.5 mile at speed (about 7:05 pace).

I then had to take a break.  I came to a halt and walked for a quarter mile.  I ran easy for the 3.25 mile home.

All in all it was a good first run of the week – 7 mile with 3.5 of them fast.

I would get another 10 miles on Sunday morning – all of them comfortable.  Throw in a raining 30 on the bike and it was a pretty good weekend. 

The ankle still shows some slight swelling but it is very minor at this point.  The neck is still somewhat of an issue.

Trail running with turned ankles

We were all a little stiff getting out of the car after the Sunfish.  Nothing major since the race is short but we could feel it in our legs.

Monday’s are generally my off days (at least for the legs – just Master’s swim) so I wanted to get a few miles running on Sunday.  However, since there was fatigue in the legs I did not want a block of structured hard miles. 

I have been a ‘product tester’ for Reebok for a while now.  Last week I received a pair of trail walking / hiking shoes.  They have some kind of zipper technology and are made from gore-tex.  I thought I might find some standing water and stream to run through.  I have been wearing them everyday.  They are comfortable and fit me well.

I am fortunate to have some mountain bike trails right out by front door.  I walked down the street for a warm up and then headed into the woods.  It is easy to get turned around out here.  I just wanted to run for about an hour.  I settled into a comfortable pace.  The legs opened up.  The shoes felt fine.

Since I can get turned around I generally stay on the same track but take every right turn.  It may take a while to get out of the thick but I will eventually find my way out.

I took a right turn and starting running on a new section of trail.  This was a challenging run.  I was thinking how difficult it would be on the bike.  I was running comfortable.  My mind was starting to drift.  I was having a good run.  I was enjoying the trail.

I ran down a steep decline and at the bottom my left foot struck a rock.  Not a big deal except the rock shifted with my weight.  It felt like my ankle turned at a 90 degree angle.  Pain shot up my entire body.  My run stopped immediately.  I continued to walk up the hill.  I knew better to stop cold in my tracks.  I needed to walk it out.  I looked up into the canopy of trees to get a glimpse of the sun.  I had no idea what direction I was headed.  I thought I was headed north and would end up on the trace and then I could make my way home.

All that I wanted was the quickest way home.  I wanted to be off of my legs.  Then I remembered that I was wearing a GPS watch.  I flipped over to the navigate function.  I turned on the compass.  If you know anything about GPS then you know that they do not have a real compass.  You have to keep moving to get your heading.  The compass showed that I was not heading north but more of a south east.  I was going deeper into the works.

Mapping function

I then clicked over to the mapping function.  My GPS watch has a very rudimentary mapping capability.  It shows a line on a blank screen.  However, I could see where I started.  With this information I made an about face.

I did not want to simply back track all the way home.  I wanted a short cut.  Looking at the map I was able to jump tracks and cut out a large portion of the run.

I headed straight across the top of the lake.

I was in no danger or fear of not making it out of the trails (they are a quarter mile from my house). But the GPS did let me get off of my feet much quicker.

I iced the ankle all morning and then jumped on the group ride in the afternoon.  No the smartest idea.  Sunday night the ankle was much worse.  Just a swim on Monday for the off day.

My experience on the HydroWorx

 

Special thanks to Dan Lent-Koop, MPT, CHT at Orleans Park Rehab.

Ask the Physical Therapist–March 16

Earlier in the week I posed a question regarding physical therapy and said that I need to touch base with an expert.  Well, Dan from Orleans Park Rehab (the guy that kinesio taped my arm) replied to my question.

Dan Lent-Koop, MPT, CHT

http://www.orleansparkrehab.com

---

Question:

I know from working in physical therapy (many, many moons ago) that you have to work an injured body part.  But where is the line between aggravating the injury and rehabilitating the injury?

Answer:

The line, so to speak, is established in the physiology of tissue healing. It is important to always go back to the science of it all. When you tweak or injure something there is typically pain. Pain is your body’s own natural protective mechanism. It signals that continued performance of whatever you’re doing will result in further tissue damage. We are taught as athletes to ignore pain and push on. While there is some truth to this be it the result of lactic acid during the final hard sprint, the chemistry of pain will best you every time.

As a therapist, I am trained to evaluate pain and its origin. There lies in the clinical experience of a good therapist. When to push and when to hold back is based on the individual case. Years ago, injuries were splinted and patients were immobilized until the tissues were well-healed. We now know better.

Assuming your injury is not profound, range of motion activities should be performed even in the acute phases of healing. These activities aid in promoting blood flow through the injured area and can reduce the presence of swelling. It also prevents the development of shortened muscles around the injury. These are commonly known as muscle contractures and can be even more difficult to overcome than the original injury.

Now if you ignore pain, push too hard, and overstrain the healing tissues, it is very likely going to prolong the healing process. If a little is good, it does not necessarily mean that more is better. Tolerating modified activity, moving through the available tolerated range of motion, for limited duration at limited intensity is exactly what is needed. Listen to your body. It will tell you when too much is too much.

Your best bet is to do everything possible to maximize the healing environment for your tissues. For healthy people, the body is trying to do exactly what it needs to do to heal itself. We can promote this by keeping the injured area from getting too swollen. The acronym R.I.C.E. should be employed. Rest the area as noted above. Ice the region for 15 minute intervals. Compression; wrap the area to promote venous return. Elevate the injury above the heart.

In Good Health-

Dan Lent-Koop, MPT, CHT

---

Wow – thanks Dan.  That answered my question!  I have started back to swimming with my shoulder and there has only been mild discomfort.  The bench press will still have to wait.  I am thinking of starting the 100 push up challenge at the intermediate level.  This should allow for me to build up the shoulder without further injury.

If you have any questions for Dan then leave a comment or send me an email james@powermultisport.com

Back in the Pool!

So after a fairly big weekend on the legs – wait, back up.  Saturday I ran 10.5.  Sunday I rode 25 hard miles on the trainer, did a 6 mile brick that was progressively faster (started 7:30 and finished at 6:40 for an average pace of 7:05) and then got another 30 miles with the group ride!

Did I mention that I am starting to feel more like myself?  I’m not 100% but I am getting there.

Although the legs felt fine on Monday I have decided to give them a rest after the weekend.  However, I did skip Masters Swim again.  I tried swimming last week and I made it about 500 yards.  The swim was slow and painful.

Well, it has been three full weeks since the bike crash.  I’m a broken record here but I do say if you are injured – 3 days will save you 3 weeks and 3 weeks will save you 3 months.

Well, I took my three weeks off and got back in the pool.  I made a deal with myself that I was not going to push it at all and that I was going to jump out after only 2 laps if I felt pain.  But the real plan was to swim 10 x 100 yards on 2 minutes.  Nice and easy.

The shoulder felt fine.  There was zero pain.  There were no worries.  After the first 100 yards I just kept going.  In my head I re-did the set and decided on 4 x 250 to get my 1000 yards.

That turned into 6 x 250 for 1500 yards total.  It was not fast but it was pain free!

After the swim I went upstairs to do some abdominal work.  With the shoulder and the back hurting my core workouts have been absent.  I did about 15 minutes of crunches, side crunches and planks.  The obliques on the side my back is sore were way out of touch.  They started to burn instantly.  I have lost a lot in my core.  Time to start building that back.  Oh, how I have missed the TRX – but that will have to wait for a least another week!

I feel like I am getting back on track!

Here is a video of my good friend Dan from Orleans Park Rehab taping my arm.  The tape did provide some support the past few days.  It might have giving me some confidence getting back into the pool.  Thanks Dan!

First REAL brick of the year.

I am starting to get back on track (everything except for the swimming).  On Saturday I went for a 10.5 mile run on the trace.  I saw a lot of runner friends out on the trace.  I did not push the pace and felt strong for the entire run.  The back did come into play as the distance increased.  It was not debilitating but not being used to this type of pain it is very frustrating.  After the run I am sore the rest of the day in the lower back.  It is not a spine issue – the pain is in the lower back muscles.  Someone suggested that I might have a cracked rib – I don’t think so.

Saturday afternoon I went to the injury prevention clinic conducted by my good friend Dan (http://www.orleansparkrehab.com/).  He broke down common injuries by SWIM / BIKE / RUN and the stretches that can be used to prevent them.  Now, I am not a stretcher but I am going to start. 

Next Dan went over Power Taping.  It was an interesting topic and I video taped Dan taping knees and shoulders (my shoulder).  I will be posting these in the next couple of day.

Next we got to play in the Hydroorx treadmill.  Yeah, a treadmill in a hot tub.  It had video camera under the water and you could see your stride and everything.  When Dan turned the jets up and you had to fight against the water – well, that was the hardest head wind I have ever experienced.  It was a solid workout with 30 second sprints.  And, oh yeah, no IMPACT.

Chad fighting the current!

Sunday brought a solid day.  I was not feeling particular strong but I dialed up a hard trainer workout with the full intension of turning the session into a brick.  I ate my oatmeal and then jumped on the trainer for 4 x10 minutes at hard effort.  This was a 70 minute trainer ride and then I slipped on the running shoes.  I just wanted to feel the legs out but I ended up running a progressively faster ladder.  The paces started at 7:30 minutes per mile and quickly jumped down into the 6’s.  The fastest mile was 6:39.  I completed the 6 mile run at an average pace of 7:05.

I got home and recovered from the workout and jumped on the Sunday afternoon group ride.  I just wanted a few more mile and to enjoy the beautiful weather.  During this ride I hung way back in the pace line and took it easy.  I tacked on another 30 miles (easy 30 miles).

For the weekend I am starting to get some of my numbers back – (26.5 miles running and 55 miles biking).  That is not far off from some of my recent weekly totals.

Monday morning (as I type this) I skipped Masters Swim for the, I don’t know 681st time.  I am going to test the waters today at lunch.  The last time I swam (last week) it was slow and painful.  The shoulder is getting better but I do not want to aggravate it.

I know from working in physical therapy (many, many moons ago) that you have to work an injured body but - where is the line between aggravating the injury and rehabilitating the injury?  - I think I need to ask Dan.

First Brick of the Year–kind of …

Remember this Mississippi Runners that I told you about last week?  Well, their respective race reports are up.  They all had fantastic results.  A common thread is that I have had conversation with each of them regarding mental toughness.  Ginny and Jen have mentioned in the past ‘how tough’ they think I am – well, they need to look internally.  These are three tough athletes!  They have the Tiger’s Blood!

Happy Feet 26.2

The Running Artist

Dawn the Runner

Jen running ( sloshing ) the MS50

Cycling, running and poker

I am getting back into the groove of things.  Monday was a big day for me.  I was able to get on the trainer and actually do a ‘real’ workout. 

Ridicule Stout and Chocolate Almond Porter

Testing the body

As I mentioned last week, when you are not training you have a lot of time on your hands.  You get to sleep a little later.  Stay up a little later.  You take a lot less showers and do a lot less laundry.

1 of 8 – my race bike on the trainer.

There are been a few projects on the white board that have not been getting done.  Well, I can say that the white board is clean.

Back on the trainer

I am slowly getting back to normal. I got home from work last night and I felt pretty good. I decided to give the trainer a try. It was an ordeal getting on the bike. I mean, I had to contort myself just to mount the dang thing. It was lifting the leg over the saddle that really tweaked the back.

However, once I was on the bike and my arms in the aero bars I was stabilized and everything felt normal again. I had an easy (pretty easy) 55 minute session dialed in – it would be easy spinning with 3 x 10 minutes at 80 % of FTP. This should keep my heart rate low and the legs moving without having to put too much pressure on the pedals. Not being on my feet in a while, my legs felt tired even from the warm up. However, they soon came around. I was able to finish the session easily – while watching 3 episodes of “cougar town”.  That’s right, I said it – “Cougar Town”.

Hidden Opportunities

I am an opportunist. I am also an optimist. I see the glass as half full (actually I see the glass as overflowing most of the time). So this week has gotten me thinking. I’m not able to train. Now, this is a big part of my lifestyle – it is a major part of who I am. But I am out of commission. This is frustrating.

But flipping it around it is giving me a real opportunity to rest my legs following the marathon. As you know I have been having some nagging ITB (actually hamstring) issues. Well, my back is pretty sore and my shoulder is pretty sore which equals no running. I can’t tell you the last time that I took a week off running. I’m frustrated but the legs are loving me for it.

On top of that I am continuing to track my weight. I have weighed almost every day for nearly 10 years. I have a routine. I got do my early morning pee and then strip down and weight. I have a yearly calendar on the vanity and write it down. Then I transfer the data to a spreadsheet. I like to look at the trends. I like to keep my weight in check. This is also who I am since I was not always as concerned about my health – see Coach James.

Running marathon pace without pain

I would like to say thank you for all of the support I have received from local runners and the blog-o-sphere at large.  It is very appreciated!

As you know I had a lot of discomfort while running this past week and a half.  This is something that I am just not used to.  I joke about it a lot but I like to think that I actually train smart most of time.  A lot of the guys that I workout with do a lot less and are hurt a lot more.  In fact, some of them are hurt so much that the own the boot.  They pull it out of the closet every few months.  I can almost predict when they will have to saddle it up again.

Count me lucky but I am so very rarely hurt.  But you do make your own luck.  I am very quick to shut it down at the first signs of discomfort.  That is why this caught me by surprise.  In retrospect, the intensity these past few weeks has been pretty high and I might have felt this ITB issue coming on earlier than I recognized.  But the real discomfort did not manifest itself until the last few miles of that 20 mile run two weeks ago.  The discomfort came on slowly and decided to stay awhile. 

I always like to say, “3 days will save you 3 weeks, 3 weeks will save you 3 months”.  I took my often given advice (sometimes this is difficult to do).  I took several days off.  I took a total of 4 complete days off and then I only ran at a super easy pace.  I tested the leg twice more with a couple of near complete rest days in between.

Today was the real test.  This was important.  Important not only to maintain my M (marathon) pace but to be able to do it without pain.  I set out for a 6 mile run at M pace today at lunch.  The wind was swirling and it was bitter cold.  Bitter cold here in the south is in the 30’s.  Everyone thought I was nuts to brave the elements.  I dressed appropriately with shorts, a short sleeved shirt, a long sleeved shirt and a pair of gloves.  I programmed the virtual nemesis for 6 miles @ M pace (6:50).

The first two miles were difficult.  My leg was not hurting but the run was.  I was laboring harder than I should of for the pace.  There was fear in my mind.  Where had my race fitness gone?  I thought about turning around but as long as the leg was fine I was not going to back down.  I was holding steady with the nemesis.  After the first couple of miles I eased into my rhythm.  I was running strong and there was no pain.  This was a huge relief off of my mind.

The first half of the run is harder than the back.  I was a few feet behind the nemesis but I new that I would make up some ground.  I was not looking at heart rate.  I was just trying to put some time into the nemesis without working too hard.  I started to gain more and more time.  I was a couple of hundred feet in front of the nemesis and still the leg held.
I finished up the 6 miles in 40:27 with the following splits:

01.  6:50
02:  6:53
03:  6:48
04.  6:39
05.  6:39
06.  6:37

Although this run was at M pace (not too fast) I was very gratified that I was able to hold pace and even more important hold pace without pain.  I am hoping that the couple of days off not only did not hurt my marathon efforts but might have even helped them.  You know, the old adage of it is better to be 10 percent undertrained than 1 percent over trainer.

The marathon goals are in place and the effort will be made.  There are no guarantees of success but I will be toeing the line on race day prepared to give it my best.  I’m getting excited about this again.

Trainer ride, Masters Swim–NO PAIN

Tuesday was kind of a no fitness day.  My schedule has been thrown off with the precursors to injury.  It would have been a Yasso day.  Being in this part of the taper plus the leg discomfort Yasso’s were not really on the menu.

I did ride the trainer in the AM before work.  I dialed up a rather short and aggressive program of increasingly difficult 2 minute intervals.  I was not able to complete the workout.  The good news is that my leg did not flair up or anything.  No pain.  Furthermore, looking back at previous times that I have attempted this workout I also failed.  This time I actually got 2 intervals farther in the set.  You can’t really compare these two different sessions at different points in a training cycle but it was definitely less of a failure than I first thought.

Regarding the ITB – I ran 5 on Friday, 5 on Sunday and 6.5 on Monday.  There has been ZERO discomfort this week!  However – there is always an however, I have not pushed the pace at all – not even to M pace (marathon).

If all goes as planned I will attempt a 6 or 7 mile run at M pace (6:50).

I did my second attempt at the Running Man Wannabe Burpee 2 Minute Challenge.  You can see my l second attempt (40) here.

 

 

Finally, Masters Swim has been going well.  I have been getting up easily.  I have been holding my times.  I have been working hard and seeing improvement.  On top of that, Coach Steve came in this morning and said he had good news.  He said that he had been wondering why we were having such a tough time with the sets – not holding time or not holding zones.  He had calculated out times as if they were our 200 yard average times, not our 200 yard time trials,  We have been trying to swim too fast.  On the flip side, there is very little difference between my average times and my time trial times.  Still, I am swimming HARDER, BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER.

Marathon Decisions

Okay, there are decisions that need to be made. I ran 5 miles on Sunday at a comfortable pace (7:30ish). I had slight discomfort for the first 2 miles. Today I ran 6.5 miles at an even easier pace (8:30ish). There was absolutely zero pain. I also pushed the pace for half a mile towards the end of the run. All was well.

 

However, I am still taking it very easy. I need to test the legs with a marathon pace run (6:50). I need to see if my race goals are achievable.

 

When it comes to race day I believe you either execute or you don’t. I really don’t care what the reasons are for not achieving. When it is all said and done it doesn’t matter. It can be the conditions, it can be your condition but it doesn’t really matter.

 

Matty-O sent me the following:

 

The big question in your head is this: Do I pull the trigger on race day to hit my goal, or do I back off at the first sign of pain so that I don't throw my season in the trash can?

 

So here is the decision that needs to be made. This marathon is important to me. But I need to be smart about this. This race is not so important that I will risk the rest of the season (or more). So I need to take a look at my options –

 

1. I race the marathon at my projected pace (6:50)
2. I run the marathon with one of my buddies – kiss sub-3 good bye for now
3. I run the half marathon – much slower than current half PR
4. I skip the whole dang race

 

The next week will let me know where I will fall.  Since I am in taper mode I do not think I will lose any of my fitness but I still need to test the legs at race pace.  I think this run will occur on Thursday.  That will be the deciding day – a day of reckoning if you will.

 

Don’t forget the 2011 Wannabe Burpee Challenge.

Masters Swim and jogging on the trace

Monday morning rambling -

Masters Swim is starting to click a little better. And truly, just getting to the pool is half the battle. Coach Steve added a smidge more recovery to the efforts and I was able to achieve my paces. Friday consisted of what he called a rainbow set (the colors of your face). We did the following x 2:

1 x 200 (3:07) WHITE
2 x 150 (2:17) PINK
3 x 100 (1:27) RED
4 x 50 (39.3) BLUE

This was a challenging but not insurmountable set for me. I left the pool feeling satisfied.

At lunch I did a very light and easy jog. I bet if you search this entire blog that is the first time I have ever used the word jog. I do not like that word. I do not job. I never go jogging. Jogging is not defined by speed but by intention. Joggers burn calories. They are exercisers. They are not training for anything.

I do not jog. But due to the ITB in the leg I went for a jog at lunch. On the bright side there was only mild discomfort. However, I was not running fast – not running at all. I was jogging.

I went for a run in the rain on Sunday. My paces were better and the discomfort was once again only mild. However, I was a minute off my marathon race pace. And this run was only 5 miles.

Finally, you need to jump into the 2011 Wannabe Burpee Challenge (burpees with pushups).  I’m in; the gauntlet has been thrown down.  You can see my first attempt here.

(you need to add the pushup at the bottom )