Oh Everest, My Everest

This weekend's 20-miler really highlighted how far I have come since last year at this time. The first indicator of the difference was my ability to walk around, squat, and ride my bike without an extraordinary amount of pain. I didn't even take any NSAIDS to kill the swollen knees! (And they didn't even swell until after I stopped running!) The cold shower took care of that in a jiffy.

Despite not putting as many miles in the bank in preparation for the big marathon withdrawal, my fitness level has been far above where it was at any other time in my life - with the single possible exception of when I was studying karate. I did some mean stuff in those three months, strength-wise, but even then I had nothing close to the endurance I have now. Aside from being in a general fitness arc that's on the rise, I believe I can thank riding fixie all over town since the end of last semester, working for the park service in a job where I had to hike around the sides of the highway carrying a GPS unit on my back, and continuing to run even if it wasn't as regularly as I would have liked. All of this really showed during every step of those 20 miles I ran on Saturday morning.

For one thing, I didn't feel significantly different in the second ten miles than I did in the first. That is pretty unusual for me, with the last five often feeling worlds worse than the first five. Yet it felt to me like a steady forward effort from beginning to end, instead of the game where I guess at which mile my nice day in the park degenerates into never-ending torture. (Yes, it really used to feel that way.) As I have always known about the marathon but perhaps not kept in mind nearly enough, running 26.2 miles is more of a mind game than anything.

The mind game of which I speak is not magic shoes or what do you think will happen if I put my foot in this blender. I am talking about the challenge of getting into the right mindset, of arming yourself with the right tools to succeed. The first step is always to begin with the end in mind (hat tip to Stephen Covey). I think this is where I really let myself down last year (and again in LA). My only goals were to have a good time (what does that even mean in a marathon?) and to finish. Finishing is a worthy goal, but why not finish and also push your limits? Why not see what you are capable of? This never occurred to me while training for MCM'07 because I think the idea of running a marathon was still sort of untouchable to me, and I inexplicably clung to the image of concerts and ball games where the people in the very back are having the best time despite having the worst seats in the house.

This year, my goal is pretty clear. I want to run it a lot faster than last year. Exactly how much faster is not as important because I have a second goal - to cover the distance with more or less a continuous effort. I'm not deluded, because I know things are going to get progressively harder and more painful as the miles add up, but I know that there is a vast difference between last Saturday and one year ago. I want this marathon to be more like last Saturday.

I am going on at length about all of this because I wasted a lot of time on unimportant things during this run, but I did manage to maintain a steady sense of forward momentum while I was running and avoid excessive walking. This was reflected quite accurately by the numbers. I had once again forgotten to turn off the auto-pause function so the timer stopped for every pit stop and loss of satellite reception, and that conveniently separated my short GU breaks (walking) from my getting lost and waiting for people breaks (standing). Leaving out all of the map checking and waiting for people fluff, I finished in 4:07:48 with an average pace of 12:23. This is a pace I can not only live with, but be quite happy about for a marathon finish. That would mean breaking 5:30, which is a significant improvement over my first two marathons.

The really encouraging news is that the actual time for this 20 (when I factor all of that wasted time back into the equation) is 4:40:14, which is a 14:13 pace. (As a reminder, my average pace at MCM'07 was ~14:35.) That means that the worst case scenario is that I continue to waste lots of time by hanging around at the aid stations for way too long and still I am better off than last year! Of course, I am NOT planning to waste so much time again, and am instead figuring out the best way to run with people who are slightly faster than me. There is one candidate in the group this year (my saint from the 18-miler), but she may turn out to be too fast on race day when she has no incentive to wait around for me. My other alternative is to sign up with a pace group. Either way, there are options. I am trying to con some friends from school into showing up on course to pace me for a while, too. This feels like a recipe for success.

Labels: blue powerade, GU, knees

Well, I'm no Ron Burgundy, but today I ran 12 miles at an 11:17 pace. That doesn't sound like such a big deal - it really didn't to me after I did it this morning - but it is. Let me tell you why.

While the whole Run For Kids team stood around me praising my victory, I had this the distinct feeling that I had done this before and couldn't understand why they were so proud of me. I was sure that I had done 11:15s on a long run at least once before, thinking specifically of the LA marathon in March. While I ended up finishing with a worse time than my first marathon that day, I stayed with my brother until mile 18 and I felt strong and fast up through the half and well into mile 15. I started to feel the pain around then and hit a wall (not THE wall, but it's unusually-painful-in-the-joints cousin) and slowed down drastically, eventually being reduced to walking by mile 19. It was walking the last 7 miles that did my great time in. So I must have been averaging 11:15s or 11:30s through the half, right?

Wrong.

I checked the records again and I was going fast (for me, at the time) but not that fast. I was averaging 12:45s through the half, and then the average dropped to 13:55s by the 30K (~mile 18-2/3). So I decided to sort my run log by average pace to figure out just how significant today was.

What I found is that the next best I've done on anything over 6 miles (and there aren't even that many 6-milers this high on my list) was the 10-mile club challenge in February, a week before LA. I averaged 11:35s, slower than today for two fewer miles, and that was only because I knew I wouldn't score if I took more than two hours.

Next on the list are the two Marine Corps half marathons: the inaugural Historic Half in May where I averaged 12:30s and the Quantico Half last September with 12:37s. I shaved off a full minute and a quarter from each mile today, and that's from my best runs. Not counting the handful of runs where I didn't wear my watch, today's run is tied for my 21st fastest run. Ever. And the one that ties it? A dinky 2-miler. Sure, it's possible that there are one or two times in life where I ran faster than that for maybe up to 4 miles, but I really wasn't a runner before last year and I could probably count on both hands how many times I had run a mile or more continuously before training for the 2007 MCM. Here's the breakdown of my 20 faster runs:

Best Pace - 10:03
Highest Mileage - 8

Frequency:
1 mile - 2
1.5 miles - 1
2 miles - 2
3 miles - 9
4 miles - 2
6 miles - 3
8 miles - 1

I would make you a histogram using R, but then I might be tempted to perform some kind of multivariate analysis to figure out what factors are correlated with fast running - and I don't have that kind of time. As it is, I can hardly keep myself from creating a frequency table. So I guess I should get blisters and feel like shit more often. Or, since one of those 6-milers (the other was the Butler Relay in March) and that 8-miler were in LA with Keith, I should find somebody to run with on this side of the country who is faster than me and doesn't leave me behind despite occasional pleas to do so as well as not-so-occasional verbal abuse. (People with virgin ears would do best to steer clear of me on the trails.) I seem to get my best results when feeling hostile. The overly talkative or cheerful need not apply. Oh, and I have to like talking to you for more than five minutes at a time without wanting to strangle you. Not everybody has the special qualities of a good brother-in-law.

(Gee, when I put it that way, it's a wonder people aren't lining up outside my door to go running with me!)

Labels: blisters, GU, hips, knees, liquid breakfast, long run, red gatorade

Last week's 12-miler brought on a surprisingly early bout of taper madness. Everyone was some kind of loopy during the run and it almost seemed like a mistake when we reached the end and we all felt so good. When I got home after today's so-so 10-miler, I realized that I should stop being surprised at the distances I am capable of running and also stop pretending that I am shocked about my training success in front of other people (most notably non-runners). I'm a runner, goddamn it, and sometime in the last 5-ish months this activity stopped feeling like that lark I had one night while scouring craigslist for things to do and it became who I was. This is who I am now. This is what I do.

I have definitely emerged from my personal funk; happycat has found her happy. The real challenge this next two weeks will be in staying gainfully employed despite my constant, intense urge to jump ship so that I can stop letting them run me into the ground and actually sleep enough to feel refreshed on the big day. If this week was any indicator, it does not look very promising for any people there who still think that the marathon and school are anywhere below my top two priorities.




...Also, I want to punch someone in the face because my knees only hurt right now thanks to the lack of sleep this week. Maybe happycat found some catnip instead of happy. It's been a while since I've felt like I could go for a good barfight.

Labels: aggression, bagel, knees, lemon-lime powerade, long run, shot blocks, sport beans, violent urges

Yesterday was a rough one, but I did it! I ran 16 miles! 16.4 to be exact. I don't particularly feel like reliving it, but I will summarize it by saying that it was long and arduous and my knees hurt the whole damn time despite the Tylenol I took at the beginning. I developed a case of tourette's just as I hit mile 14 and I think I'm just now shaking it. (Maybe not. I still have a few choice words in me.) I also had a great desire to spear the people running in front of me. They just looked too damned chipper. Good thing I didn't actually have a spear or any functional substitutes handy.

Mister-man had some good advice for me after I vented to him yesterday. He said that I should try doing some jumprope warm-up and a stretch before I run. This is usually not necessary for long runs since we run the whole thing slowly and do the warming up by attempting to negative split and running especially slow the first 3-5 miles. But it did make me realize why my knees hurt so much: I should have done exactly that before my two short runs this last week, since I chose to do speed runs for both. That's precisely the kind of workout that requires a warm-up and stretch. My knees hurt since that first speed run and only got worse through the end of the week, culminating in a world of pain for over 3-1/2 hours yesterday morning. (Who am I kidding? I'm still in a lot of pain.)

Anyway, I was going to go back to my usual wimpy 1-mile recovery run at a whopping 14-ish minute pace, but the thought of being on my knees for that long and only accomplishing one mile wearied me. Plus, I need to add miles during the week as we stay in the double digit mileage from here on out. I decided that from now on, no matter how tired I am, I should be shooting for runs that are no shorter than 3 miles. I mean, am I just going to stop before I get to the end of that marathon because I'm tired? Hell no. So, I took off into the nice misty day for a jog around some different parts of campus.

The cool weather felt good, so I just sort of took off with nary a care. My recovery run morphed into a speed workout. There were no sprints involved, which I typically like to incorporate into speed runs, but then neither were there any during my last two. I guess it's a good sign that I didn't notice until I finished, all out of breath and feeling accomplished. If I had gone just another half mile, I would have logged 20 miles this weekend. (!!) Given how beat up I feel, I'm perfectly happy with 19.5. That's a big enough deal for this little chicken.

Labels: consecutive key workouts, knees, long run, nsaids, recovery run, short run, shot blocks, speed run, sport beans, violent urges

THE NEED FOR SPEED

Two key workouts in a row and two speed workouts in one week. That's supposed to be really stupid, but it can't be as stupid as not running at all. I just have to do what I can when I can, make sure I don't miss the long runs and hope for the best.

Still, my time was great, considering the shape I'm in! I maintained a 10:30 pace for the first two miles (give or take 4 seconds) and then dropped to 11:00 on the last mile because I tanked and forgot to bring water. The shot block I ate before the run was obviously spent as well. I was lucky to finish the mile at that point. And now my knees kill.

Am I anywhere near even the minimum PFT on my 3-mile run yet?

Labels: consecutive key workouts, knees, PFT, short run, shot blocks, speed run

I think it's time for me to start setting aside some more dough so that I can start getting massages... maybe once monthly is in my budget? I have to find a good affordable place first.

Basically since I started this running business, I have suffered from the same ailments - achy joints and overheating much too quickly. I had a system for after the long runs: stretch and eat at the run, drive home, turn the shower on, stuff whatever food was immediately available into my mouth, and get into the shower to let the cold water run over my legs for a few minutes before warming it up a bit for a more humane shower. Then I'd prepare more food, turn on some cartoons or grab a book, and sit on the couch icing my knees with frozen fruit (peaches seem to stay frozen longer than ice) until numb, and then curl up for nap time on the sunny spot of my couch with the a/c blasting. You know what? This worked. I had me a good system.

This last week, though, I have found myself taking hotter and hotter showers, wanting to just curl up and lie down at the bottom of the tub and wanting badly to soak in the nice hot water. My whole body aches and even though it's still pretty hot outside, I just want to curl up in a nice hot bath. These peculiar urges are what make me think that maybe, just maybe, I need a massage. That hot water isn't going to do much good to my joints, so I have been refraining, but the all-over aches are NOT going away. I think I may succumb later today and take a nice hot bath before I get back to icing my knees and popping NSAIDS.

Yesterday, I thought maybe I just really missed being in the water so I decided to actually do an ice bath rather than a cold shower and it was fun to slosh around in the small body of water I created for the occasion. It was fun with the sloshing, but not with the cold. My legs cooled down pretty quickly, which is obviously the desired effect, but then my muscles just ached again and I really wanted to make the water hot. Then I realized that there are definitely two things going on here: (1) I want to go to the beach, and (2) I need to have a massage.

Apparently I have always been able to spend at least a few days every summer in the water somewhere. Last year brought many visits to Florida and its beaches; most summers before then were spent in California (sometimes with brief sojourns out of the country), and the beaches were always part of that. Somehow, I have ended up in a place with no beach to speak of and my body is actually telling me to go find one!

The regular massage thing has always been a dream, but I really don't have the money for that kind of lifestyle yet. Now my body is aching something fierce and I may just have to give up some other things to make sure I have that money. There's just so much research and planning involved, I don't think I'll be getting one anytime in the next week. For today, a hot bath will have to do. And I'll have to see about that beach thing sometime. There has to be some place closer than Virginia Beach with a decent place to build sand castles and splash around in the ocean. Maybe Ocean City? I don't really know much about either of those places, but I think they are the closest beaches. Hmph.

Labels: beach, knees, massage, nsaids

Running in the rain is great!

Heartburn is not. I need to lay off those cheap calzones.

I just wish it had rained yesterday when I wore my last clean pieces of technical gear. Cotton is no fun when you're all wet. Although, yesterday's run was quite the success. I combined the speed workout with the baby long run because I stupidly took three days off in a row again. When will I learn?

I think I only did so well because I was pacing myself against a dude and he wasn't much faster than me... I'm not faster than anybody, much less a dude. Here was my chance, and I took it. I did a 100-meter sprint for every lap around the mall (just shy of 1km) from my third through sixth lap (actually, I did two in the fourth lap). Then the dude I was beating finished his run and my distraction disappeared, leaving me with my twitchy muscles, throbbing knees and burning feet. I eeked out two more "easy" laps before I pretty much just wanted to pull out a knife and slice out the tendons in my knees. (They needed the extra space.)

Not having a knife handy, I decided on one more sprint to distract me. The rest of lap nine was spent catching my breath and wrangling my heart back into my chest. That just left excruciating lap ten for me to do, during which it was easier to convince myself to just keep going at my average long run pace because I was "warming down."

I've been on NSAIDS since Saturday - the maximum dose of ibuprofen plus one overlapping dose of aspirin during a really bad night. I iced my knees three times on Saturday and then again after my run yesterday, and I should do it again now. My knees are starting to complain. I'm having old ladies at work tell me that the reason they can't walk to the next building is because they didn't take care of their knees when they were young and running like me. (Gee, thanks.) I'm gonna quit it with the NSAIDS tomorrow, though. If I wake up in a lot of pain again, the morning will be my last dose. If not, this is it. No more drugs until after the Saturday long run. But I'm hopeful I won't really need them again until I add more mileage. I have this week and next to get my body accustomed to ten miles. Lord help my knees when the following week comes.

Labels: baby long run tuesday, calzones, heartburn, knees, nsaids, rain, short run, sprints, violent urges