64

Had a great week of training last week. I got in 64 miles, two high quality days in addition to a moderate quality day.
Tuesday:
I met up with a group and did 8 x 1k with 400m recovery in 3:03. It was great to back into pack of runners around the track. It made a big difference for my confidence to finish up the workout with a few K's at or just under 3 minutes.
Thursday:
70 minute run at a moderate pace (6:08). This was on a fairly hill route and I would imagine a flatter course would have been more around 5:45 pace.
Saturday:
5 mile race on a very fast (short?) course. Less than a week after barely breaking 26 for 8k, I managed to run 25:17 for a full 5. For now, I will say I am in 25:17 shape and try to improve my fitness week by week.

Still Learning

Emotionally high. I was heading into the week atop a peak, renewed with vigor, and ready to really start training. I took the first part of the week easy to help recover from Sundays effort and planned to attack the back half with a tempo and a long run. I went out for the tempo on Friday and by the time I was done, I had fallen. I was quickly reminded that everyday would not be perfect, in quite a cruel fashion.
I headed down to "The Point" (hains point) for a nice 5 mile tempo. After feeling tired all week from the race, I felt like I was floating on the warmup; this was going to be a good day. After some stretching and strides, I got started on the tempo feeling just as good as I had on the warmup. After two miles around 5:30, I picked it up and finished the next mile in 5:18. Unfortunately all was not well. I developed a side stitch in the third mile that would get worse with each step. After about a minute into the fourth mile, I had convinced myself that I would not be finishing all 5. After two minutes, the pain of the stitch was forcing me to go all out to keep the pace tempo worthy. With each right step, my body would bend to the side and I would attempt to convince myself of the futility of the effort; with each left step, I would regroup and convince myself to wait for the stitch to disappear. The stitch stayed and I did not complete the 5. I came close, 4.95 before I broke and called it a day. Of course there is the part of me that would have loved to complete the final .05, but then there is the smarter side that realizes that I am not in any worse shape as a result. In the end, I averaged 2 seconds a mile faster than when I did the same workout two weeks ago. Considering the improvement and the stitch, I am pleased.

Three Years

Time flies. It really does. Im not sure how I finally made it back to standing behind a timing mat after numerous injuries that hampered my running to the point that I could not build up to a level of fitness where I felt comfortable toeing the line.

From here, who knows what happens next? Im hoping to finish up an entire season of racing and continue onto another. At the moment I am enjoying the accomplishment. The completion of my first real 5k.... in 3 years.

As for the actual race, I was disappointed after I finished. I was hoping for a time unbeknownst to me. I was looking ahead picturing myself in the lead pack. I was looking head anticipating a magical occurrence of a blast of forward thrust to shrink the distance between myself and the leaders more and more until my ultimate victory. Not today, no. Alas, I arrived back at the mats 15 minutes and 44 seconds later strangely feeling both weak and strong, the undertaking of a formerly less foreign task complete. Its funny, right after the race when the air stands still and the world slows and all you can do is smile. Im sure its kind of like the feeling the kid last off the bench on his rec team feels as he catches fire and finishes the losing effort with 8 points and 2 assists. A memory stained that is readily recovered decades down the line.

Later in the day, the disappointment receded and I started to feel like I thought I would. The effort was great, as was the time. I am certain that in just a few weeks I could hold the same pace for twice the distance. As for a few more weeks after that, I am less certain about the time I could run, but I will have the opportunity to figure it out on April 17th.

The disappointment was nice. Looking back on it, I see the fire. I see the hunger that just a couple of weeks ago I thought may never feel again. Its funny that nearly two years ago to the day (2/7/9), a former JMU runner told me to look at this way "whenever you get healthy, you will feel fresh". How right he was.

Splits for the race went something like 5:02, 5:03, 5:04

DNF pt. 2

DNF? I did a workout this morning and ended up cutting it short. The planned workout was 5x1 mile with 1 minute rest at tempo effort. After a two mile warmup, I jumped into the first repeat (which I was aiming to be around a controlled 5:40) and kept things under control while managing not to peek at the pace. There were a few icy bridges which broke up my rhythm slightly. As I finished I looked down in shock at my first split: 6:11... "oops, i guess that really was like an extended warmup. the next one will be all business". I waited for a minute and took off with a little more oomph for the second mile. I looked down about a minute in and I was at 5:40 pace "uh oh, lets open it up a little". I attempted to pick it up to no avail and my second mile was right around 5:40. At this point, I was doing my best to ignore pace and convince myself the effort was where it needed to be. As I started the next interval, I thought maybe I will finally be warm. After a minute, I attempted to pick it up again and then acid start flowing through my legs similar to the intensity of a western wave or a wayward flame. At this point, I pulled the plug and settled into 7 minute pace. After one final flicker of motivation where I contemplated picking it back up, I let my pride sink from my head through the rest of my defeated frame. After a couple minutes of thinking about retrying the workout, I settled to go at it again the following week.

The reason behind the DNF is that my legs are just fried. Last Thursday and Friday I did 19 miles, then followed that up with a time trial on Saturday (3 miles in 15:46) and topped it off with a 40 mile bike ride on Monday where my body shut down mid ride. I knew I would be hurting from the combo, but I purposely made this a down week and am just realizing I need a few more easy miles to clear out my system.

Silver Lining: I just got in 8 great days of training.

DNF pt. 1

As I was logging in, I noticed the last post was in May! I thought to myself "really, nothing since May?". That would make it 3/4 of a year since I had any blogworthy running. What has happended since May? A lot of the same injury. At the end of April, I began having issues with my hamstring which then moved to my calf and then a mixture of the two. After a few months of varying degrees of injury, I finally went to see a chirpractor. He quickly diagnosed a sciatica, which conveniently explained how both my hamstring and calf bothered me (basically the sciatic nerve was jacked and it was telling my muscles "to stop working...now!" and "good work haha"). I went to see the chiropractor for a few months and left about 85% healed. During this time, I purchased a bike and resigned myself to possibly turning to biking full time if I was not able to race in the spring. I kept running easy (plus strengthening and increasing range of motion) after I finished up with the chiropractor and surprisingly started to feel better. At this point and time I would say I am between 90-95% healthy.

Forgot to add a video

Hamstrung

This current week has been pretty interesting. I have not only felt strong on my runs, but the pace has been noticeably quicker than runs from last month. The only problem is that my hamstring has been tight since Sundays long run. On the second half of my long run, my right hamstring started to tighten up. The next day my left was tight when I was doing strides (which I probably should have cut short sooner). I have done two moderate 10 milers this week and the same thing happened. I felt tight to start, then it loosened up after a couple of miles and then I finsished with it tighening up. The first of the 10 milers, I ran easy and didnt look at my watch until I finished and ended up running just under 65. The second was last night and I felt really good from the start. I gradually picked it up as the run went along and eventually started to ease up when my hamstring started to tighten up. Both of the routes were hilly, the first being a little moreso than the second. Last night was actually impressive because the pace was only 18 seconds per mile slower than a 6 mile tempo I did on the same route 3 weeks ago.

I am anticipating that a week off for the cruise might be just what the dr ordered.

week recap

There was nothing about last week because it was a planned down week. I took two days off and shortened all my normal runs. I returned to normal base this week. I finished up the week with 60 miles (right on schedule (65,70, down the next 3 weeks)). I had one planned workout and it actually turned out to be a disaster. The plan was to do a 6 mile tempo on a flat surface. The warmup went well, but it was all downhill from there. The second I started to do the tempo, it started to rain. About a minute later, it start to pour. Another minute passed and hail started to pelt me along with very heavy winds. At this point, I contemplated scratching the workout, but I pushed on. The rain eased up as I neared the first mile, which I magically hit in 5:47, but at this point my shoes and shorts were soaked. I slogged on and at one point I started to feel good, but that feeling disappeared after 5 miles and I ended up cutting the workout off just before 30 minutes. The splits for the workout were: 5:47, 5:53, 5:52, 5:23, 5:34.
Finished up the week with a 15 mile long run out at Great Falls.

26:59

Need I say more...

Finished up the week with 64 miles. Had a nice long run in the heat this afternoon. I went for a 100 min and hit 6:29 pace. Happy with the week that included my first workout in years! I'll be taking it easy next week after back to back 60 mile weeks.

1st workout of 2010

6:06,5:55, 5:42, 5:48, 5:54, 5:35

The splits from my 6 mile tempo/pickup. I ran up and down 16th st to add a little flavor to the workout, which actually was just supposed to stop a little short of a workout effort-wise, but you know how these things go. Overall pace was 5:50.

Needle In The Hay

Last week went really well. I didnt do any workouts, but I did get in 60 miles for the week that ended with a 14 mile long run(6:16 pace). I finally decided to go north on Beach Dr to start the run, which made the last few miles much more pleasant than the typical gradual uphill into Sherril Dr collapse. Normally I finish the last mile that includes the hill out of the park in around 7 minutes... Sunday was right around 6 flat.
This week was supposed to the big week! I was supposed to run my first race in decent shape in over two years. I am going to have to skip the race for two reasons. First off, I need to work. Second, things are going well. Why race when I havent done any workouts? Why not toe the line without any excuses (hopefully in near PR shape)? Ive lost nearly 10 pounds in the last couple of months, I feel great and every week feels better than the last. There will a come a time...

(attempted to embed needle in the hay.... miss misery will do)

Late April Update

I feel bad for the couple of people who occasionally check the blog for updates into my training. Its been a couple weeks since my last post and that normally means that I am injured. I am happy to report that I am still healthy! I did take a down week last week, but I am on pace to hit 60 this week. I might miss a few miles here and there this week because I am heading to The Penn Relays on Saturday.

Whats the plan?

Well I have been debating two big options for this year. One option involves a typical training progression of base, threshold, intervals and a peak. The other option involves a year of base. I have been contemplating, waffling, debating and have come up with mixing the two options. But, I will be focusing more on the second option throughout the year. I will be building up the miles until September, including tempos in June and incorporating intervals in September. I will run races throughout the year, but my heart will be set on track next spring. Dream on...

Last Week

Last week went pretty well. I managed to hit 55 miles... probably the most I have run in almost two years. I also got in a pretty solid 2 mile pickup. Now that I have made it this far, I need to make sure I start to plan out somewhat of a future schedule, rather than just waiting until just before the week starts to plan my runs. But not too far in the future of course... x bitten, y shy.

Hello. How 'bout that ride in?

An interesting thing has happened over the past month. I have been feeling a little younger every couple of runs. It feels good to be at a point I havent been at in over two years. I am reminded of a part in once a runner when quenton (i think) is describing how you can never remember how it feels to race until you are actually racing. Well i am finding out the same goes for just running when you are starting to get into shape. The body becomes resilient. You can shift from tired to strong deep into a run. The mundane becomes profound. Ritual becomes life.

Another interesting thing happened yesterday on my run. I ended up with a random blood stain on my shirt. I was getting ready to do some drills before my strides when I realized there an unmistakable red spot on my shirt. After a number of attempts to figure where the blood originated, I gave up and gave credit to my nose (even though I have never had a bloody nose in my life).

Monday I added another mile to weekly pickup for a grand total of 2 miles! I headed down to the canal for a 9 mile run on a nice flat and soft surface. Unfortunately, it was extra soft on Monday as a result of some heavy rain. The run ended up going really well. I managed to hit 10:41 for my pickup after a fairly slow start. It took about 3 minutes before I really got comfortable and fell into a smooth and controlled tempo type effort. I will probably take next week off and move up to 3 miles the following week (sub 16 or bust...).

Slowly

I am starting to get into halfway respectable shape. I only ran 30 something miles last week to take it easy on my it band. I did manage to add a quick mile to the end of one of my runs, just to see where I was. I ended up hitting 5:37 with a gradual hill or two thrown in. Overall, it was good to get the legs turning over, but I did feel a little more pain than normal with my it band the next day.

I was planning on skipping the pickup this week, but I felt really good yesterday and decided to give it a go. The mile before the pickup, I ran 5:48, so I had a feeling that it would be a good bit faster than last week. I was right, as I came through the mile in 5:14 feeling strong. The best part was that my it band felt pretty good today. Now I just need to keep getting a little stronger each week and I might be ready to race one of these days.

Too Much

In my last post, I mentioned how I ended up getting a little overzealous during my long run... well, I did. I felt good Monday, but on Tuesday I was limping throughout my run. My IT Band was causing me a good amount of pain and I ended up cutting the run short. I also ended up taking Wednesday and today off to play it safe. I will try and do an easy run tomorrow, but I am not expecting to feel great. Ive been out so long that I am not in any rush to push through an injury; not to mention I dealt with an IT Band injury in college for 6 months. I ended up getting over it by taking a week off, so if it means I just need to take a week off again, I have no problem with this.

Weekly Update

I think I might have finally reached the point when I can start regularly updating the blog again. I just finished a week of training that was a respectable enough to write about. I havent started doing workouts, but I have been running at a decent pace and a decent distance.
I managed to get in 6 days of running last week even with loads and loads of snow (February record for DC). The total was 50 miles, comprised mainly of running through neighborhood streets at night, carefully avoiding black ice at every intersection. The only real notable run was todays long run. I headed over to Rock Creek for 13.6 in 1:25:41 (6:18 pace). I really didnt think that I was getting overzealous, but apparently that was not the case. I was running a little easier than the start of last weeks long run, but I think I ended up going a little too fast right after I turned around. I think I should have realized that when I hit my first gradual uphill mile in 5:51. Oh well, I kept up and as I neared the end of the run, I ended up stopping at the top of a couple of big hills, therefore turning my long run into somewhat of an interval workout. After the run I checked to see that my second to last full mile was 6:49 (ouch!). Magically(read: thanks to the stopping), I ended up finishing my last .6 at 6 flat pace.

Running

I have been doing this crazy thing called running recently. Its oddly familiar, like something I did years ago. If I remember correctly, I used to run a lot faster and farther. I guess most importantly I have been running without pain. This has been step 1 of my 3 step process to recovery. The next step involves adding strides (the action that caused my achilles injury late last february) and finally workouts to complete the process.
Recently I have been around 40 miles a week at 6:40-7 minute pace.

A Tale of Two Runs

As I move closer to a full year of achilles tendonitis, I am still learning a few do's an dont's. I have found some shoes that work well and some excercises that help my feet become more responsive as they hit the ground (helping to relieve some stress off the achilles). I have also found a number of shoes that dont work. Last week I started a run in a pair of these shoes and had to turn around and switch into the good shoes. It would seem as if armed with this knowledge I might be able to progress a little. Fortunately, I have made a little progress. I have run 30 miles the last two weeks and am on pace to run even more this week. Unfortunately, I have had painful runs in the good shoes... hence "A Tale of Two Runs". Even worse, I have had some good runs in other shoes.

The trick over the past few weeks has been to focus on the current week and the next week no matter how well things are going. I have had some definite days where I was feeling great and had to fight off thoughts of 40, 50, 60.... mile weeks. All I can really do is stick with one of my favorite corporate slogans over the past couple of years.... "I am what I am"

Wheres Waldo

... remember that childhood game? Well thats kind of like my running over the past couple of years. Every so often when I least expect it, I see that striped hat, but more often than not I am just blankly staring into open spaces.
Last month I was starting to feel pretty good, albeit over the course of pretty short runs (30-50 min). Now I am dealing with some slight plantar issues, but I have been on the stationary bike 5 days a week for around 60 min over the past couple weeks.
I am finally heading to PT today, so I am hopeful for the future. The surprising thing is that I have never been really frustrated over the past couple years. I have been good at not letting running take over, but that might be because I have run so little that I havent really built myself up too much.