It was very nice to get back with the group for a run this morning. Stephanie, Laurie, Randy, Biff, and I started from Memorial Park at 6:30. They were scheduled for 20 miles and I had 17 on my training plan. I wasn't sure what to expect given the recent issues with my IT bands ... yes, it's both legs now. I figured I'd go out with the group and see how far I could go. I was fully prepared to walk it in if necessary. I just hoped that if I had a problem that it would happen early or late in the run to make the walk shorter!
The ITB's started flaring up around 4-5 miles. It wasn't the sharp, intense pain that I've had before. It was more of a dull ache. I kept going. We went down around the Rice University campus. The ITB's were getting progressively worse and my pace was falling off. At 13.5, I broke from the group to head back to the park. This is where I planned to leave them to shorten my run to 17 miles. Once I was away from the group, I got slower and the strain on my knees became more persistent. I finished the run but it wasn't a strong one.
17 miles @ 8:50/mile
I wore my old blue Mizuno Wave Rider 10's today. I haven't worn them in a long time. I just wanted to change shoes to see if that helped my ITB's any. It's hard to say .... I also took 800 mg Ibuprofen before starting and "rolled" my legs with a rolling pin. During the week, I also did stretching and strengthening exercises hoping to alleviate the problem.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
Reading for Runners
Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune wrote this worthwhile editorial commenting on the Ryan Shay and Chicago marathon incidents.
LINK
LINK
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Still Trying to Find the Tempo
For some reason I stayed in the office until a little after 7 today. This only served to make me feel less like running as the afternoon evolved to evening. The plan was to run at Memorial Park. The 5 mile tempo run with mile warm up and cool down could be better controlled on the 3-mile loop. In the event a breakdown occurred, the walk would be shorter and hopefully the trail is a bit softer than pavement. As a side note, last Saturday it seemed the trail at Memorial Park had been filled in with new sand/crushed rock in some places.
The run got under way a little after 7:30. The temperature was a cool 57 but the real shocker was the humidity at 27%. The park was busy with people winding down their activities for the evening.
The tempo run was scheduled for 7:33/mile pace. I warmed up by going over to the tennis courts and back. During the 8:51/mile warm up, it felt like 7:33 was going to be a stretch tonight. I figured I'd just go out at that pace and hold it as long as I could. If the run deteriorated as it progressed so be it.
I decided that I'd only check the Garmin each quarter mile. That way I wouldn't be constantly "messing with the watch". If I was slow, I'd pick it up and vica versa. For the first mile, I started fast and stayed fast. The second felt pretty good too but a slowed a bit in an effort to save some for the later miles. The third mile was the toughest. Somewhere near the end of the mile, I found myself having to make that decision for whether I was going to stay on track or let this one get away from me. Oddly, for some reason tonight this crossroad almost seemed like it does during a race for me. I usually have these moments during races and oftentimes have them during challenging workouts ... although during workouts they aren't as seemingly dramatic as in races. It just comes down to a "so what's it going to be" moment. Tonight I pushed though and once on the other side, it felt better. I used other runners along the trail as targets over the last two miles. Whoever was up ahead was my next "victim". How fast could I reel them in? This little mental game helped me hold the pace. At the beginning of the final mile, I think I passed a guy who didn't appreciate being passed. I noticed that he picked up the pace and stayed with me for about 300 yards. I liked this push. I was determined to hold my pace. If he could maintain or go faster, more power to him. Slowly but steadily, his foot strikes became quieter and quieter as I stretch the gap between us until he was gone. I appreciate him for helping me finish my run stronger than I probably would have otherwise.
1 mile warm up
5 mile tempo (7:29/mile pace)
7:24
7:33
7:35
7:25
7:28
1 mile cool down
I wish my mile splits were a bit tighter but am satisfied that the run was a success.
I've intentionally not mentioned my knee. If there is a mental "injury cycle", I've now stepped into the all-out denial phase. I'm also having those questions about mental toughness and pain threshold that occasionally dance around in my head.
Stephanie has the group scheduled for 20 miles Saturday morning. I need 17 and plan to join them.
On the heals of tonight's workout, I'm looking forward to next Thursday's 5-mile race. It's a new distance so it is guaranteed to be a PR!
The run got under way a little after 7:30. The temperature was a cool 57 but the real shocker was the humidity at 27%. The park was busy with people winding down their activities for the evening.
The tempo run was scheduled for 7:33/mile pace. I warmed up by going over to the tennis courts and back. During the 8:51/mile warm up, it felt like 7:33 was going to be a stretch tonight. I figured I'd just go out at that pace and hold it as long as I could. If the run deteriorated as it progressed so be it.
I decided that I'd only check the Garmin each quarter mile. That way I wouldn't be constantly "messing with the watch". If I was slow, I'd pick it up and vica versa. For the first mile, I started fast and stayed fast. The second felt pretty good too but a slowed a bit in an effort to save some for the later miles. The third mile was the toughest. Somewhere near the end of the mile, I found myself having to make that decision for whether I was going to stay on track or let this one get away from me. Oddly, for some reason tonight this crossroad almost seemed like it does during a race for me. I usually have these moments during races and oftentimes have them during challenging workouts ... although during workouts they aren't as seemingly dramatic as in races. It just comes down to a "so what's it going to be" moment. Tonight I pushed though and once on the other side, it felt better. I used other runners along the trail as targets over the last two miles. Whoever was up ahead was my next "victim". How fast could I reel them in? This little mental game helped me hold the pace. At the beginning of the final mile, I think I passed a guy who didn't appreciate being passed. I noticed that he picked up the pace and stayed with me for about 300 yards. I liked this push. I was determined to hold my pace. If he could maintain or go faster, more power to him. Slowly but steadily, his foot strikes became quieter and quieter as I stretch the gap between us until he was gone. I appreciate him for helping me finish my run stronger than I probably would have otherwise.
1 mile warm up
5 mile tempo (7:29/mile pace)
7:24
7:33
7:35
7:25
7:28
1 mile cool down
I wish my mile splits were a bit tighter but am satisfied that the run was a success.
I've intentionally not mentioned my knee. If there is a mental "injury cycle", I've now stepped into the all-out denial phase. I'm also having those questions about mental toughness and pain threshold that occasionally dance around in my head.
Stephanie has the group scheduled for 20 miles Saturday morning. I need 17 and plan to join them.
On the heals of tonight's workout, I'm looking forward to next Thursday's 5-mile race. It's a new distance so it is guaranteed to be a PR!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Injury? ... what injury? ... Oh, now I remember!
Okay, last I posted I had failed to complete the final 2 miles of my 15-miler on Saturday and had self-diagnosed iliotibial band syndrome. Of course, I'm not a doctor but I don't mind playing one ... on myself!
I prescribed rest and trying an ITB strap while running. Not surprisingly, I took my own advice. So I went 3 days without running and I picked up the strap at a local running store. Interestingly, I lifted weights yesterday morning and didn't notice anything wrong with my legs during or afterward.
So, I figured it was time to get back to running this morning. I put my new strap on and made my way to the high school track at a pedestrian pace. Everything felt fine.
Once at the track I ran the scheduled ladder of 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400, and 200. The times were supposed to be:
4:51
3:55
3:07
2:16
1:31
0:45
My actuals were:
4:47
3:58
3:08
2:14
1:23
0:37
The workout felt good and I was happy to be "on" my times. The strap bothered me a little bit near the end as it seemed to slip a bit once I got lathered up (it was 72 with 87% humidity this morning ... at 4:45 ... yes, it is November 14!) More importantly, the right knee didn't bother me at all. I was a bit tentative at first but "put the hammer down" for the last 2 intervals. The knee held up fine.
So after picking up my shirt and water bottle, I walked from the stadium and started the 1.5 miles for home. BOOM! There goes the knee! I have no idea what this is. It's unlike any injury I've ever had playing baseball, basketball, football, running, etc. How can I go from busting it on a tough interval workout to effectively paralyzed? The situation on Saturday was similar. I had run negative splits for 12 miles followed by a +2 second 13th mile when I stopped for a traffic light. After the light when I tried to go, the knee wasn't cooperating. This whole thing is weird.
Oh, I failed to mention that I found a few strengthening exercises that I started doing on Monday. Maybe that's what delayed the onset today until after the speed part ... ? I'll stick with the exercise that I'm doing and add a couple that I found on the Runners' World website.
Interestingly, I almost hit every single split today (with the Garmin's lack of exact precision on distances, I calibrated each interval to be slightly longer than scheduled ... so I like to think that I hit every one). This FIRST training program is very challenging as I mentioned before but it seems that I have a relatively easier time with the speed workouts and really struggle with the endurance workouts. FIRST posted this to their website (Furman Institute of Running & Scientific Training):
"In our studies, we have found that some runners find the track intervals difficult but find the long run pace easy and conversely, some find the track intervals easy and are very challenged with the long tempo and long run paces. Some runners have more speed than endurance and vice versa.
What we emphasize to the runners in our program is that we want the track intervals to have a very small range for the entire workout. After each week we adjust the target training times based on the most recent training performance. We attempt to find target paces that are realistic and challenging, but not so difficult that the runner is unable to recover for key workout #2. By insisting that the entire set of repeats be run with a range of only a couple of seconds, it pretty much ensures that the runner isn't overdoing it."
Apparently, I fall into the category of having more speed than endurance. This is actually pretty funny to me because I openly acknowledge that I'm pitifully slow!
I plan to try this week's tempo run tomorrow night.
I prescribed rest and trying an ITB strap while running. Not surprisingly, I took my own advice. So I went 3 days without running and I picked up the strap at a local running store. Interestingly, I lifted weights yesterday morning and didn't notice anything wrong with my legs during or afterward.
So, I figured it was time to get back to running this morning. I put my new strap on and made my way to the high school track at a pedestrian pace. Everything felt fine.
Once at the track I ran the scheduled ladder of 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400, and 200. The times were supposed to be:
4:51
3:55
3:07
2:16
1:31
0:45
My actuals were:
4:47
3:58
3:08
2:14
1:23
0:37
The workout felt good and I was happy to be "on" my times. The strap bothered me a little bit near the end as it seemed to slip a bit once I got lathered up (it was 72 with 87% humidity this morning ... at 4:45 ... yes, it is November 14!) More importantly, the right knee didn't bother me at all. I was a bit tentative at first but "put the hammer down" for the last 2 intervals. The knee held up fine.
So after picking up my shirt and water bottle, I walked from the stadium and started the 1.5 miles for home. BOOM! There goes the knee! I have no idea what this is. It's unlike any injury I've ever had playing baseball, basketball, football, running, etc. How can I go from busting it on a tough interval workout to effectively paralyzed? The situation on Saturday was similar. I had run negative splits for 12 miles followed by a +2 second 13th mile when I stopped for a traffic light. After the light when I tried to go, the knee wasn't cooperating. This whole thing is weird.
Oh, I failed to mention that I found a few strengthening exercises that I started doing on Monday. Maybe that's what delayed the onset today until after the speed part ... ? I'll stick with the exercise that I'm doing and add a couple that I found on the Runners' World website.
Interestingly, I almost hit every single split today (with the Garmin's lack of exact precision on distances, I calibrated each interval to be slightly longer than scheduled ... so I like to think that I hit every one). This FIRST training program is very challenging as I mentioned before but it seems that I have a relatively easier time with the speed workouts and really struggle with the endurance workouts. FIRST posted this to their website (Furman Institute of Running & Scientific Training):
"In our studies, we have found that some runners find the track intervals difficult but find the long run pace easy and conversely, some find the track intervals easy and are very challenged with the long tempo and long run paces. Some runners have more speed than endurance and vice versa.
What we emphasize to the runners in our program is that we want the track intervals to have a very small range for the entire workout. After each week we adjust the target training times based on the most recent training performance. We attempt to find target paces that are realistic and challenging, but not so difficult that the runner is unable to recover for key workout #2. By insisting that the entire set of repeats be run with a range of only a couple of seconds, it pretty much ensures that the runner isn't overdoing it."
Apparently, I fall into the category of having more speed than endurance. This is actually pretty funny to me because I openly acknowledge that I'm pitifully slow!
I plan to try this week's tempo run tomorrow night.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Training Schedule: November 12 - 18
Tue - 10-20 min. WU
1200 - 4:51
1000 - 3:55
800 - 3:07
600 - 2:16
400 - 1:31
200 - 0:45
(200M rest intervals)
10 min. CD
Thu - 1M WU; 5M@7:33; 1M CD
Sat - 17 miles @ 8:28
1200 - 4:51
1000 - 3:55
800 - 3:07
600 - 2:16
400 - 1:31
200 - 0:45
(200M rest intervals)
10 min. CD
Thu - 1M WU; 5M@7:33; 1M CD
Sat - 17 miles @ 8:28
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