I Heart ART

I visited my A.R.T. doctor last night and I feel much better this morning. He beat me up pretty good, but that is the way I like it.

I rode my bicycle this morning and other than my butt, I was pain free.

I heart ART.

I first started using ART a few years ago after dealing with a recurring IT band issue for 6-9 months. I tried everything I could find in a google search but nothing worked. Then I finally tried ART and the problem was gone after 2 sessions. Wow.

So after my ART session last night, I got a one hour ride in this morning at a park near where I work. Rode a few loops in the park and then down to the beach and back and then a few more loops. Nothing crazy, just an hour ride.

By the way, I got in a short swim yesterday. Felt a little creaky and my should hurt a bit, but not too bad either. I will try to get a run in this afternoon, again all easy.

I am trying to take it easy from now until the end of the year. I am still running focused, or will be when I am fully recovered. However, between now and February 1, I want to make sure I get 3 sessions each of biking and swimming a week. That should lay enough of a foundation for when my IM program kicks in earnestly then.

The other key is to make sure I am mentally refreshed too so that I don't burn out during my training.

Overall, I am happy that I feel a little better today. We will see how the week progresses.

Patience Is A Sucky Virtue

I am so not recovered from last week's horror-thon. There is nothing left in my legs. My right leg still hurts a bit in my high hamstring and there is still some calf tightness there too.

I know it has only been a week and throwing a new sport (cycling) into the mix certainly didn't help, but I thought I would be feeling better by now.

My easy miles don't feel so easy and they are 30-45 seconds per mile slower than I was running easy just two weeks ago.

I know. I am supposed to be patient. It takes 3 weeks to recover. I know I know. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

And I get back int he pool today as well after a 3 week layoff, so that will suck too.

Patience is a sucky virtue.

I am also experiencing some IT band tightness on my left leg. I think I will pay a visit to the ART specialist and give my body a tune up. Maybe that'll help my spirits a bit.

Cycling Is Stupid

That's right. I said it.

Well, since I signed up for Ironman, I knew that the bike would have to come out of mothballs at some point.

I am in pretty good shape, theoretically. I just finished a marathon, albeit painfully, but I finished the darn thing. So I am in shape, or so I thought. Yesterday, I took my bike down from its perch on my garage wall, replaced the tubes, and took it out for a spin.

An hour's worth of riding. That is all. Just a measly 16 miles and change.

So why is it that my 5 mile run this morning felt like the marathon was just yesterday? I am unbelievably sore all over. Not just my legs, but my butt, my shoulders, everything. Ouch.

How did I ever do the Ironman in 2006 and how will I ever be able to do it again?

Swimming I get. Running is tough, but I get it. Cycling? Cycling is stupid. What did I get myself into?

Changing Gears

Since my return to training in May '11, I have been entirely focused on the marathon. While the marathon itself was just a stepping stone on the way back to IronMan fitness and IMNYC in August '12, I never let myself think that far in advance. It was marathon, marathon, and more marathon.

Now that the marathon is over, it is time to start changing gears, literally.

The trick is: How do I not only maintain but improve my running fitness while at the same time introduce sufficient cycling to begin serious preparation for the IronMan? Come February, my serious IM training begins in earnest and IM training is all about the bike. Fully +50% of my total training time will be spent on the bicycle. Between now and then, the goal is to introduce sufficient cycling so that I can jump into that higher volume phase in February. I want to do this while still improving my running.

My experience from my previous IM tells me that all the long cycling helps maintain running endurance but does little or nothing for running speed. So between now and then, it is all about speed, greasy fast speed.

After another week or so of post-marathon recovery, I want to embark on a 6 week training regimen to get me ready to run the Manhattan half-marathon in Central Park on January 21. I think that will be my last chance to race anything long before IM so I want to make this time count. But...I can't neglect the bike now. The cycling I do between now and February lays the foundation for all that comes later. Changing gears is tough. Like everything in life, its a balancing act.

Giving Thanks: Running & Eating

I got in five miles yesterday. Not so much because I wanted or even needed to run, a rest day might have been in order. I ran because I had Thanksgiving dinner waiting for me and I wanted to relieve some of my anticipated guilt for eating and drinking too much.

Mission accomplished.

I cooked the turkey, of course. I also made a sourdough, pumpkin cornbread, and sausage stuffing from scratch (the bread, not the sausage.) Quite delicious. I also made creamy pumpkin soup and the gravy. Yessir.

The Mrs. made candied sweet potatoes, mash potatoes, and cranberry sauce from scratch. Everything tasted great.

I also drank some beer and wine and then sat down to watch Super 8 on demand.

And this was all made possible by that five miles. Not one little twinge of guilt. It was Thanksgiving after all and I did just run a a marathon a few days ago.

I will resume my diet on Monday. For the rest of this weekend, its guilt-free leftovers. Thanksgiving isn't over until the last leftover is gone. Until then run and eat. Not necessarily in that order.

Back To Running

I got back to running yesterday. Just three miles, to test the waters so to speak. I am definitely still a little sore from Sunday's marathon, but it still felt good in a way.

My right hamstring is still making its presence known, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it hurt. I will keep an eye on it. Something else I am keeping an eye on is my left IT band. This was a recurring thing years ago when I ran but it hasn't bothered me this time around until now.

Yesterday, depending on the camber of the road, I definitely felt some tightness there.

All in all, not too shabby. I will run again today (Thanksgiving) and see what is what. Maybe four or five miles today.

Now it is time to start think about my next race(s) and what I will need to do to get ready. Post on that topic coming up.

Crash & Burn: A Marathon Cautionary Tale

After a five year layoff, I completed my fifth marathon. Yay. Honestly, I thought it might never end.

It wasn't even in my mind. When I first got off the couch just six months ago and began preparing to marathon again, the idea of going for a personal record was the furthest thing from my mind. It should have stayed there.

My goal six months ago, actually even until six weeks ago, was just get back in shape, lose the 70 lbs I put on in the intervening years, and to finish the marathon in one piece. That was no small ambition. But then I got this crazy idea.

As my running improved, I began to wonder if was possible that I could set a personal record for the marathon by breaking 4 hours. As Matt as my witness, I tried to talk myself out of this. For that way lies madness. Six months is simply not enough time to go from 70 lbs overweight couch potato to sub 4. I knew this. But...

Over the last weeks of my training, running seemed so easy, my times had improved so much that I decided, against my own better judgment, to go for it.

I decided to run with a pacing group to try and take all the thinking out of it. I would not monitor my own mile splits, let the pacer take care of it. Just run.

Now the pacer is supposed run as close to even splits for the entire marathon. To break 4 hours with about 30 seconds to spare, you need to average about 9:08 per mile.

I lined up with the 4:00 hr pacer, who carries a sign with balloons attached and we went. I didn't even wear a watch and I didn't even look at the clocks. I ceded all responsibility for pacing to the pacer. I ceded all responsibility for my pacing to a person I had never met. Yeah.

Honestly, for the first 16 miles I thought that this was the smartest move ever. I was moving along very nicely, never straying more that 50 feet from the pacer. My running felt easy most of the time. I began to think that 4 hrs was mine. It wasn't.

At mile 16 I began to develop a pain in my right hamstring and it quickly developed. I started to fade off the pace. I tried to catch back up but that only made the pain worse. By mile 17 my right hamstring began to cramp. Badly. I had to stop, stretch, walk, and then try to run again. It just got worse and worse. I was doing more and more walking. Even small hills made my leg scream. Even more walking. The pain got so severe that I even wondered if I might have to quit. But I kept going.

Miles 16 to 21 were a nightmare. I kept trying to run, but my leg would not cooperate. It hurt pretty bad. My gait was now completely off and this caused the rest of me to start hurting as well.

Stop, stretch, walk, run. Rinse. Repeat. I just kept going.

Somehow, when I got to mile 21, I found that I didn't have to stop as much. From mile 21 on, other than walking through the water stations, I was able to run the rest of the way, albeit at a greatly reduced speed.

I crossed the line relieved but somewhat disappointed in 4:31. Given the nightmare I experienced out there, I guess a 1/2 hr lost could have been a lot worse.

So the question is, what went wrong?

Well, a number of things. Number one, I don't think I drank enough. It was fairly warm and I skipped a number of water stops. Also, I was probably not fit enough for sub 4, even if my pacing went as planned. But the thing is my pacing strategy did not go as planned. I envisioned that with a professional pacer, to achieve my overall 9:08 pace, that my mile splits would vary from 9:00 to 9:20. I knew that too much under 9:00 and I would be in trouble. My Iphone was on my waist and recorded my mile splits.

Mile 01 - Average 9:35 /mile
Mile 02 - Average 8:45 /mile
Mile 03 - Average 9:01 /mile
Mile 04 - Average 9:16 /mile
Mile 05 - Average 9:24 /mile
Mile 06 - Average 8:44 /mile
Mile 07 - Average 8:05 /mile
Mile 08 - Average 8:56 /mile
Mile 09 - Average 8:38 /mile
Mile 10 - Average 9:05 /mile
Mile 11 - Average 9:16 /mile
Mile 12 - Average 8:54 /mile
Mile 13 - Average 9:02 /mile
Mile 14 - Average 9:01 /mile
Mile 15 - Average 8:30 /mile
Mile 16 - Average 9:06 /mile

Oh boy. Fully seven of my first 16 miles were under 9:00, some of them well under. This kind of pacing was a prescription for disaster for me and disaster is what I got. I should have paced my self. I ceded a responsibility that should have been mine and I payed the price.

But then again, even though it was a slower and more painful experience than need be, I finished the darn thing and now I am officially a marathoner again. Yay. I think I will take a nap now.

Posted in: marathon,races

The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

I am going bonkers.

I am now just a few days away from the marathon for which I have been preparing for the last six months. My training is done, I can get no fitter. The hay is in the barn as they say. My running volume is now dramatically curtailed, so naturally I feel like garbage.

I did an easy 3 mile run this morning and I felt terrible. Where are the springy legs I should be feeling by now? Why do I feel so much slower than I did just a week ago? Ach!

I know this is all in my head, or mostly in my head, or maybe its not in my head and its real I am just trying to convince myself its in my head so I will feel better about not feeling better. Or something....

See what I am saying?

Anyway. I am going nuts. On a second by second basis I am alternatively convinced that I have my goal pace in the bag and that my goal pace is nothing but a pipe dream and disaster looms at mile 22. Ach.

Speaking of disaster, paranoia is now at its peak. I am petrified of rolling my ankle everywhere I walk and every little momentary pain is a major hamstring pull just beginning to reveal itself.

And the weather. Don't get me started on the weather. I am convinced that somehow it will be the hottest day on record in Philly this Sunday and RAINING. I just know it will.

I can't take it anymore. I just want to get this over with.

Think this is bad? Wait until I am in my Ironman taper next year.