Ok, I deserved that

Not two days after asserting, rather proudly, that I do not exist because I do everything wrong and have never been seriously injured, I suffered some kind of ligament or tendon injury.

 

I deserved that.  No question.

 

But after 8 days of downtime I’m back, and I’m feeling good again, doing the one thing that separates us from cave men and every other mammal on the planet—running.  I haven’t used my watch on my last couple of runs, clocking miles instead of time.  I’ve packed on, as of today, 6.6 miles and will run another 5 or 6 tomorrow as I start extending my distance once again.  In a week or so I’ll break the watch back out and see how my times are holding up on the longer—10+ miles—runs and make a determination as to whether I’ll run a marathon slowly or run a half marathon quickly.

 

The decision will be based on the following:

 

I am not, nor do I ever intend to, train for A MARATHON.  I am, however, training my body and mind to once again be a RUNNER.  And as A RUNNER, if I hope to condition myself to be able to not only run 100 meters quickly, but also 100 MILES.  No, I am under no presumption that running 100 miles is as easy as running 100 meters, but a runner—a true runner—should be capable of doing either, even if the 100 miles takes 5 days to do it.  A runner is a different breed of animal than a person who runs.  A runner holds himself differently.  A runner knows that if gas spikes back up to $10 per gallon, he’ll still be able to get to the office because it’s “only” 15 miles and he can run that in 2, maybe 3 hours.  A runner has a higher level of fitness, poise, confidence, and general well being that merely somebody who runs.  I am not training to run a marathon.  I am training to be human again.

 

As such, I know I can run 13 miles.  That is not now, nor ever has been, a question in my mind.  I’m not saying it’s easy to run 13.1 miles, but I am saying it’s easy for me to run 13.1 miles.  26.2, however, is still hard for me.  As such, 26.2 is my current goal, but merely as a waypoint to my ultimate goal of being able—both physically and mentally—to run 26.2 today, tomorrow, and whenever as easy as I run 3 or 5 or 10 today.

However, if based on my times in the next few weeks, I can run 13.1 miles exceptionally—that is, “exceptionally” as I have defined it being under 2 hours, and closer to 1:30 than 2:00—then I will seriously consider adjusting my training to seek that goal.  Because if I can run 13.1 in under 2 hours, then I can begin to seriously consider not only running far, but running far AND fast.  I know not a few runners who are quite literally torturing themselves on a regular basis in order to shave several minutes off of the 300 or so that they’re already planning to run for the marathon.  Do you know what the difference between a 5:35 marathon and a 5:28 marathon is?  A lot of miserable Tuesday nights, and 7 stinkin’ minutes.  Do you know what the difference between a 5:30 and 4:00 marathon is?  Me neither, but I’d still like to find out.  But running a 3:00 half marathon won’t get me any closer to knowing.

And I guarantee if I run a sub 2:00 half marathon, a sub 4:00 full will not be too far in my future.  And I won’t have to torture myself to find out.

 

And that would be something, indeed!

There's a first time for everything

Yup, I pulled …  well, pulled something.  Maybe strained something.  Possibly just suffered a severe, severe cramp.

 

I was nervous before the run on Sunday.  A feeling I’ve grown accustomed to this season.  I tried to shake the nerves with a little blood pumping activity. 

 

Consequently, on Sunday, before the 25k, I was doing some warm-up jogs and stretches.  During these short little jogs and stretches, I felt a twinge at the top of my right calf, just below, and behind, the knee.  It’s a twinge I’d felt before on runs, but the twinge always went away after a couple minutes of running as the muscles and ligaments loosened up.

 

Not this time.

 

At precisely 7:00am, when the gun sounded, and I pushed off with my right foot to take my first step with the left, I felt a BIG twinge in my right calf, just above the muscle, just behind and below the knee.

 

I kept going, hoping it would go away, as it has always done in the past.

 

Mile 1, 12 minutes.  Mile 2, 15 minutes.  On mile 3 things started to get to normal and I logged a pair of 10 minute miles.  At the start of mile 5 I had to stop and use the can.  Standing there caused the muscles to seize up once again and that mile cost me 19 minutes.  I crossed the starting zone and pulled out of the race.  The pain was unbearable at that point and it wasn’t getting normal.  I had gone about an hour and a half into the race, was roughly 5 miles behind where I wanted to and needed to be at that point, and wasn’t going to be getting that time and distance back.  It was over.

 

I’m worried that I strained a ligament.  I’m less worried that I strained the muscle, and even less worried that it is just a severe cramp.  The last will be fine in a few days and everything will be back to normal.  The second will take a little longer, but everything will be ok if I focus and work on making up for lost time, possibly pushing the goal from sub-4:30 to sub-5:00.  The first, however, will likely force the conversation of the complete realignment of goals for January, like from 26.2 to 13.1.

That’s a conversation I’m not ready to contemplate right now.

 

Now, a little post crash analysis.

 

In August, my FREQUENCY of runs was roughly one every other day—about 15 runs logged.

In September and October, my FREQUENCY dropped to one every third day—about 10 to 12 runs logged per month.

My frequency needs to increase.

 

In August, my distance and intensity was relatively low.  I was in the process of ramping up distance from 1 to 6 miles and my times were all above 10:30 per mile.

In September and October, my intensity began to steadily increase as the times steadily began dropping to sub 10:00 and sub 9:00 miles.  The distances, on average though, continued to remain flat at an average distance of roughly 5 miles per outing.

 

Now, the frequency can drop, but the distance needs to increase along with the intensity.  The distance cannot remain the same if the frequency is going to drop.  If the distance is going to remain the same, the frequency needs to remain at least the same while the intensity increases.  If the intensity is going to drop, the frequency needs to stay at least the same while the distances increase.  It’s like a big triangle, and the ultimate goal is to increase the area of the triangle.   If only one side grows, the total area stays the same or shrinks.  At least two sides need to grow simultaneously, while the third at least stays static, to ensure an increasing total area.  The sides of the triangle are intensity (time), distance, and frequency.  The two most important sides are intensity and distance.  As soon as the pain goes away, I’ll start back on that formula and see what it gets me.

Race fuel

Ok, I just read about a chick who fuels up during long runs with Gummi Bears.

 

Interesting idea…

 

Just remembered that I have a dinner date tonight with part of the fam.  I’m quite literally going to have to go home, throw on my gear, and run to dinner.  Hopefully I’ll get there in time for the entrees.

 

How’s that for dedication?

My lack of existence

According to most marathon training programs, I do not exist.

 

I don’t stretch.

I don’t train with weights.

I hardly ever do speed workouts, and when I do they’re pretty short.

I never run hills.

I rarely run more than 3 or 4 times a week.

My mileage rarely tops 35 miles in a week.

I don’t do “tempo” runs.

I don’t run Fartleks.

I don’t consciously carbo-load.

I don’t use energy drinks.

I don’t use energy gels.

I rarely drink sports drinks.

I don’t have a heart monitor, and therefore don’t know when I’m at 90% of my ideal heart rate.

My “long, slow runs” are neither long, nor slow.

I don’t consciously taper before a big race.

I don’t warm up.

I don’t cool down.

I run almost exclusively on concrete.

 

Basically, I do everything they advise against, yet still manage to run long distances and have completed one marathon with the second on its way without any significant injury to my muscles, joints, or bones.

 

Basically, I don’t exist.

 

Sure, you can say “it’s just a matter of time before…”  But you know what?  If you wait long enough, even Olympians get injured.  And I’m willing to bet real, American money that most of the Olympic runners have been injured more in the last 6 months than I have.

 

Basically, my training program is to get out there and run.  Run as far as I can, as fast as I can, given the time constraints I have to work within.  If I have an hour to run, well, I need to go out there and run for an hour.  If that’s 3 miles, then it’s a 3 mile run.  If it’s 6, then a 6 mile run.  If I can finish 8 in that time frame, then I’ll go after 8 (and thus far I have never been able to run THAT fast, for THAT far).  Sure, on the weekends, when I have more time, I’ll give myself a specific distance target—go run 10 miles, cover the distance, no matter what.  But on a typical weekday evening, or morning, when I have to get back to the house ahead of either darkness or in time to go to work, then I have to either leave early—which is precluded by sleeping or driving—or adjust either the speed or distance.  And you know what?  A 6 mile run at 9:00 per mile is probably as good a workout as a 10 mile run at 12:00 per mile.

 

Of course, I can’t prove that.  I’m not a coach or anything.

 

But, then again, according to most coaches I don’t exist.

 

A week of preparation

I’ve fallen into something of a pattern with my running.  A pattern that will likely be completely disrupted thanks to the phase shift from daylight savings time to standard time…  or standard to daylight savings time…  whichever.  We fell back and now it’s dark when I get home.

 

The old pattern was 3 or 4 runs a week.  Most of the runs were in the evening and I could usually sneak one in on a Wednesday morning if I didn’t stay up too late on Tuesday.  Going back to the middle of September I am working in long runs every couple of weekends.  I’ve stretched the definition of “long” from 6 miles to 13 miles, and will be hitting 15 this weekend (2 weeks after the not-so-good 13 miles).

 

On the weeks in between these long runs, it’s not that I don’t want to run.  In fact, Saturday I woke up with every intention of running, but couldn’t find socks, shoes, or shorts.  An hour after I intended to leave, I crawled back into bed and enjoyed the warm sheets.  The next morning, as I was opening the door to head out, I hear my son call from upstairs and decided that playing with him was FAR more important than the 13 I was about to run, so I chose to play with my kid—and will no doubt pay the price for that this weekend.

 

However, this weekend’s run shouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary.  Sure, it’s 15.5 miles.  That’s a long way to run.  But just 4 days ago I whipped off 6 miles at a 9:30 clip.  The fastest 6 miles I’ve run in probably forever.  If I can key it back to 10:30, I should be able to crank out 13 or 14 miles, and then gut out the last mile or two.  Even more importantly, I need to find out what my “forever pace” is.  Alberto Salazar, at the end of his marathon career, realized that he could no longer run 26.2 miles at 5:30/mile.  He realized, though, that he could run forever at 6:30, so he transformed himself into an ultramarathoner and started running 40 mile races instead of 26.2 mile races.  He was injured shortly thereafter and hung ‘em up for good, but THAT’s the pace that I’m looking for.  I don’t want to plod around at 15:00/mile.  I want to find that pace where I can just hit the cruise control button, crawl into the back seat, and nap all the way to the finish line.

 

So to speak.

 

To do that, though, I’ve got to put in some more miles and deepen the reserves of energy as well as add some strength to the old power plant.  So, in preparation for the next long run on Sunday, I’ll be running 6 miles this evening (and possibly 3 at lunch), 6 miles tomorrow evening, skipping Wednesday (unless I can sneak in a morning run), and adding another 6 or 8 on Thursday and Friday.  I’ll take the day off on Saturday (or only run 3), and then it’s off to the races on Sunday.

 

What about the taper, you ask?  I’m not looking at this as a race, I’m looking at it as just another training run.  Will I be at my peak performance?  Nope.  Will that matter in the grand scheme of things?  Nope.  I’m not trying to shave another minute off my time to beat out some Kenyan at the front of the pack.  I’m just trying to run 15.5 miles…  and get to church on time.

 

Ideal time for this run, between 2:35 and 3:00.  That’s between a 10:00 and 11:30 pace, which is around the pace I want to have for the marathon.

 

Can I do it?  Not sure.  Will I try?  Yup.  The half marathon was an 11:30 pace, and I’m feeling a lot stronger now than I was then.  I should be able to at least match that “performance”.

Can and Will, the eternal struggle

I know I can bust out a marathon.  I’ve done it before.  If I continue at my current pace, I know I’ll finish the marathon in January.  I can set my pace at 13 minutes per mile and grind out a slow, steady, 5:30 marathon without any major problems.  It won’t be pretty, but I won’t die trying.

 

The thing is, I don’t WANT a 5:30 marathon this time around.  LAST time I ran a 5:30 marathon.  I know what that feels like.  I’ve climbed that mountain, looked down and seen the valleys.  I don’t need to spend $100 to run another marathon slowly.  I want to run a little faster race this time. 

 

This time, I want to finish in the front half of the fourth hour.

 

But the question isn’t “what can I do?”

 

The question has NEVER been “what can I do?”

 

The thing that defines Man is the ability to run for long distance.  Man IS el cazador, el coreador.  Physiologically, the issue of “can” has never been in question.

 

However, the fact remains that much of the population of the world today has never run 26.2 miles in its entire life, much less 26.2 miles in one shot.  But even for them the question is not whether or not they can.

 

The question that begs an answer is “what WILL I do?”

 

Will I do the extra conditioning needed to extend my endurance so that I can maintain a 10 minute pace for 26.2 miles?

Will I do the extra training required to mentally prepare for the distance?

 

I know I can run a marathon.  I know a person can run a marathon in under 4:30—hell, people run the marathon in 2:05.

 

WILL I run a marathon in under 4:30?  Do I have the will to push through that time barrier?

 

I think so.  Time’s coming to prove it.

The whole half recap

This weekend’s half marathon is really the story of 3 races.  I started out strong, I fell into a nice, steady pace that I’m generally comfortable with and was cruising along for awhile at that pace, then things started to go south around the 10 mile mark and times started to drag, my quit caught up to me and I started to run/walk the last few miles, but managed to dig down and fight through the last mile and change to finish stronger than I had been dragging through those last few miles.

 

All in all, not a bad run, but not even close to a good run, either.

 

Final time (per my watch):  2:29

1.       9:14

2.       9:44  (end race 1)

3.       10:18

4.       10:24

5.       10:44

6.       10:15

7.       11:10

8.       11:13

9.       11:25

10.   12:13 (end race 2)

11.   13:58

12.   14:02

13.   13:13

.03:   1:01

 

Hydration was a problem.  Dietary preparation was a problem.  GI preparation was a problem (need to teach the gut what to expect as far as Gatorade on the run).  Training was too light.  The list can go on and on.

 

I’m not overly satisfied with the run, but I’m not devastated, either.  I knew going in it was going to be a challenging run, and I knew I was a little underprepared.  I didn’t expect it to be THAT challenging, though.  I thought I was going to finish about 10 minutes faster.  Oh well, I know what the road ahead looks like now.  I have a LOT of work to do over the next 2 weeks to get ready for the 25k, if I’m going to run that race strong.

 

The preliminary goal for the 25k (which is 15.5 miles), is 2:40.  That’s slightly slower than 10:00/mile.  That’s doable.  At least it SHOULD be doable.  A 10:00/mile marathon is 4:19:00.  That’s doable, too.