How Long A Long Is Too Long?

Long run that is.  I know where you were heading.

This Sunday will be one month until marathon #2, and also marks the longest of my long runs for this training plan, 23 miles.  I’ve done a 20 and a 21 as part of this plan, so I’m not worried about being able to get it done.  I am wondering, however, if 23 miles is too many miles for a training run.  The aftermath of 20 and 21 wasn’t terrible, but after the 26 for marathon 1, I ended up in PT for ITBand issues.  My IT Band has held up pretty well, and my Plantar Fasciitis seems manageable right now.  I like the idea of 23 miles as a better way to get my body ready for the race-day reality.  However, I’ve read several articles questioning the marginal return of training miles beyond 20.

I know I’ll get out there and go for 23 regardless of any doubts, since I refuse to stray too far from the training plan that so far has served me well.  Mostly wondering if anyone has any practical and/or scientific insight into the point at which the return on the miles doesn’t necessarily justify the abuse on the body.  One bonus is that I’ll be out-of-town for this run, so some new scenery will break up some of the monotony around my usual long-run course.  For those of you in the Northern Virginia area, I’m tentatively planning 5 laps around Burke Lake, which should put me just over 23 miles.  I’d be open to other suggestions if anyone has any.

Decided the best way to break out of my running mini-funk last week was to throw in a tempo run targeting 7-ish minute miles for 4 miles.  Was able to hit the pace goal, and break the funk:

Tempo runs have probably been the best discovery for me during this training cycle.  I’ve really enjoyed the couple time I’ve been able to do track work as well, but don’t care for having to feel like I’m breaking into Fort Knox just to be able to use the local tracks.  Abundantly frustrating to have to jump the fences that my tax dollars built to trespass on a track that my tax dollars built at the school my son attends that my tax dollars (and my straight-out-of-the-wallet dollars) support.

Farewell Blast Furnace, aka August

Spent some time taking stock of the last month of training, to see how it went and what nuggets ‘o wisdom can be extracted from the results:

* Did very well sticking to the plan, even with a 1.5 week vacation thrown into the mix. 151 miles planned, 161.87 miles run. Running while on vacation was definitely challenging, but I feel much better for having done it and stuck to my training schedule. Running by the Charles River in Boston was mucho cool.

* Did a lousy job getting a proper amount of sleep to support the training demands. Almost all my workouts (running, lifting, swimming) are done in the early AM to make sure they get done and don’t interfere with work, kids, etc. This usually means getting up around 5AM every day, including weekends when doing long runs. I HAVE to start going to bed earlier to make this work. More than once during the month I was in full zombie mode from sleep deprivation. As someone that doesn’t drink coffee, this can get ugly for those unfortunate enough to have to interact with me. Must get better about this. Fortunately I haven’t developed a taste for brains. Yet.

* REALLY enjoyed keeping up with the fellow ‘Distance Dreamers’ and their various challenges and accomplishments. Abbi is a rock star for the collective summaries she puts together, which include links to the blogs. Having tried to maintain links to the songs in the Throwback Training Tunes posts I’ve been doing, I know what a MONSTER time commitment it must be to keep up with the blogs, and keep the links straight. Nice to be a part of this virtual group as we all march towards our associated finish-lines.

* Started doing the Hard CORE Club workouts since I’ve done a poor job of ensuring I work my core as part of my weight training. Making these CORE workouts their own separate effort has thus far been a success in terms of making me get them done. Thanks to Jamoosh for putting the club together, and putting the workout together including demo photos. Should only be a matter of weeks before I finish a long run, grab a box of detergent, wade into the river and scrub my clothes clean on my washboard abs. It’s all about workout efficiency.

* Still digging on tempo runs, and speed work in general. Haven’t tried the local tracks again to see if they are less heavily fortified now that the kids are back in school. I’d really like to get some track work done. Maybe some Yassos. I know my natural pace on my long runs has sped up as a result of the speed work. In related news, Usain Bolt has shut down his running for the year, not long after I called him out in my blog. Coincidence? I think not.

* Perhaps I don’t enjoy running in the heat as much as earlier advertised. My prior love affair with hot-weather running was mostly built around 4-5 mile runs. Whole different ballgame when you’re doing double-digit runs in triple-digit heat indices with quadruple-digit humidity. Yes … you read that right. NC weather is hardcore like that. Hydration is a puzzle that I’m still trying to solve. Thankfully the weather has been considerably cooler in the mornings lately, so hopefully the worst of it is behind us.

* Finally, I’m wondering how long one could survive on a diet consisting entirely of chocolate covered pretzels. In the interest of science I may be willing to take on this challenge. Were it not for the fact that pretty much every aspect of them are somehow processed, I’d call them nature’s perfect food. Sometimes even nature misses the boat. Rather than a chocolate covered pretzel bush, we get poison ivy. Weak.

Bannister, You Feelin' Me?

Yesterday morning was a battle between the mind and the body. When the alarm went off it was dark, grey, wet, drizzling, etc. outside …. basically all the ingredients pointing to staying in bed. However, a 6 mile tempo run was on tap. I don’t usually have much trouble with convincing myself to get out the door, so when I do I try to step up my game to make my body punish my mind. My plan had been for 1 easy mile, 3 fairly fast miles (7:30 – 8:00 pace), and 2 miles at a moderate pace between 8:30 and 9:00. Made a quick revision of the plan, and decided to speed everything up, and try to really step up the pace on the 3rd tempo mile. Basically tell my brain to shove it up its cortex, and remember this the next time it starts pondering the snooze button.

An important thing to understand about my running/racing history is that until my marathon in March, I had never competed in any type of timed running race. Thus I have no official benchmarks against which to measure my time and effort. I was never on a track team, never tried a 5K, 10K, or any K. I have no idea what my fastest mile time is. Upside is I’ve got a pretty wide-open opportunity for PRs in all kinds of events.

Got myself out in the gloomy weather and got the run underway. Knees and feet felt pretty good throughout. Worked out some kinks and soreness in my calves in the first mile, ready to step it up the tempo in the second mile:

Mile 1 – 8:51

Sped things up quickly in mile 2, and still felt pretty good. In the past, when I wanted to speed up my pace I did so by elongating my stride. In this training cycle I’m working hard on changing that philosophy, focusing more on faster turnover and maintaining form. I’m still teaching my legs to behave this way, but getting better.

Mile 2 – 7:17

Got into a nice groove in mile 3. Still focusing on rapid turnover for faster pacing, and trying to step up the pace from the last mile. Legs still generally healthy.

Mile 3 – 7:03

Game on for mile 4. Here’s where I really wanted to see what I could do for a mile without badly breaking form. The first half mile felt pretty good. The second half I was running out of steam, and spent a lot of time eyeballing my Garmin. Very pleased when the 1-mile lap timer gave me permission to step off the gas a bit.

Mile 4 – 6:35

Miles 5 and 6 felt really slow after mile 4, but they were 8:21 and 8:30 respectively. I’m pretty happy with the 6:35 mile, and now have something that I can call my ‘best mile time’ moving forward. I’m a numbers junkie, so this feeds my statistics habit nicely.

Overall a strong run, and a strong tempo run, although not really following the proper definition of a tempo run. My brain has been properly reprimanded for its resistance, and hopefully will continue to behave itself going forward.

Joined the ‘Hard CORE Club’ yesterday, and got my first core workout completed last night. Ab work has always been the last thing that I do when I go to the gym, and unfortunately it often gets bumped in the interest of time. I’m hoping that doing core work as its own monster will get me doing it more regularly, and signing up publicly for this challenge will keep me accountable.

Tarheels in Beantown

456 miles, and approximately $74,000 in tolls later, we have finally arrived in Boston. Long trip, but not unbearable. The weather is in the mid-70s, which is welcome relief from the hellfire temps we left behind. Hopefully the weather cooperates for the crazy collection of activities over the next few days.

By the time we got settled in our place, did a little exploring and grabbed some dinner it was already dark, so I moved my Sunday run to a Monday early-morning run. Got up far too early, busted out the running gear and headed in the general direction of the Charles River. Went with the assumption that there would be some path/trail options once I got there, and wasn’t disappointed. Week 3 is a step-back week in my plan, so only had a 6-mile long-run on the plan. Took a nice easy pace, enjoyed the scenery, and gave my legs some welcome stretching after too long in the car yesterday.

Week 2 was another good week in terms of miles and overall leg health. Started off with a brutal 12-mile long run on the sun that I covered in an earlier post, but I redeemed myself with the runs for the remainder of the week.

Got in another tempo workout, which is helping speed up my normal pace a bit. Still have some work to do on maintaining a consistent pace across miles. Nothing fancy planned for week 3 in terms of training. Main focus is just getting in the miles while we’re traveling, and not letting running interfere with any of the planned activities and the rare opportunity to spend extended quality time with my family. Really hoping this trip lives up to my wife’s expectations, and provides some lasting memories for my kids. Road trips with my family are some of the more vivid memories I have from my childhood, so if all goes well we’re leaving an imprint on the kids – Griswold style.

Tempo Love

To say that my training for my first marathon was lacking in creativity and variety would be a bit of an understatement. Got my Hal Higdon training program off the internet, and when DoubleH (that’s how I refer to Hal …. we’re pretty tight) told me to run, I ran. Pretty much always at the same pace, on pretty much the same routes, with pretty much the same results. Not much speed-up, and very little (intentional) slow-down.

This time around I’m determined to mix things up a bit. Not just out of boredom, but rather because of all the blog posts and articles I’ve read documenting how this will improve the overall training effectiveness, (hopefully) improve my finish time, and (EXTREMELY HOPEFULLY!!! ALL CAPS WITH MANY EXCLAMATION POINTS AND EMPHATIC KEYBOARD STRIKING) keep me away from my orthopedist. I’d like to slow down his early retirement plan if I can.

The first significant change I’ve made is trying to work a tempo run into the mix each week. I am by no means an expert on the proper approach to a tempo run, but I try and do 1-2 miles at my target marathon pace, then 3-4 miles at my best guess of my 5k pace (haven’t run one yet, but would target somewhere between 7:00 and 7:30 pace), and then 1-2 miles at a pace somewhere between marathon and 5k. Yesterday was my second tempo run for M2 training, and I’m finding I REALLY like doing these.

With my string of leg injuries worthy of getting some ‘FRAGILE’ tattoos, I’ve shied away from trying to add any significant speed or heavy effort into my runs for fear of injury. Without a real purpose behind the acceleration, it just seemed like tempting fate. However, the tempo runs have given me a reason to step things up a bit, and I like having license to increase my turnover and really focus on going fast along with going far. I have discovered that I’m not very good at maintaining a constant speed if I’m not just running at my natural pace. Not something that really concerns me, but it’s something I want to work on to establish better overall control over my running and my expenditure of energy. Yesterday was a good example of my poorly-calibrated cruise control:

If any of you have any good variations on the tempo-run theme, or look at my approach above and think ‘you’re doing it all wrong jackass’, then please pass along your thoughts. I’m enjoying tinkering with this for the moment, and want to make sure I’m maximizing the return. I’ve already noticed that it has sped up my normal running speed a bit, especially when I run the day after the tempo run, so that’s a good thing in my book.

Interval training will be my next big adventure, but I need to put some more planning into the Navy-seal tactics required to actually get on a track around here and get a run done without the running police throwing me in running jail. Viva la revolucion!

With our vacation getting started in just a few days, I had to switch up and stack up my training for the end of the week, so I went to the gym this morning to lift, and assuming all hell doesn’t break loose at work, I’ll be doing about 7 miles this afternoon. Currently 92 degrees, and the hourly forecast shows 94 with 52% humidity at run time. Should be Sweatacular.

No Trespassing

Feeling inspired this past weekend to try something new/different, I decided to find a track nearby and try some interval work. While running a couple errands on Saturday I drove down to the nearest high school to check out the track. What I found was a very nice track, surrounded by a very unfriendly high fence covered with no trespassing signs and padlocks.

I walked the whole perimeter looking for a way in, but all entries were barred. I didn’t see any snipers nearby, but could only assume landmines were strategically planted as well. Decided it was time to retreat from this top-secret war zone, and drive to the middle school my son will be attending next year to check out the track there. After a lengthy walk I came upon a much less impressive track (think asphalt with some occasional rebellious grass growing out of scattered cracks), but an equally impressive fully-locked fence with more No Trespassing signs. Ummmm …. WTF? I’ll resist going off on a rant about how my taxes pay for both of these tracks, and how these are the schools that both of my kids will most likely be attending, and instead just say what a sad commentary it is that these places have to be locked down with threats of prosecution. I have to assume it’s either in response to past vandalism, or a function of liability and fear of litigation, but regardless it was greatly disappointing. I will no doubt be jumping one of these fences in the not too distant future, and hopefully won’t end up in running jail. I’m envisioning a Thelma and Louise moment as the assembled law officers chase me through the neighboring playground, past the tetherball poles and jungle gyms, ending with a dramatic slow-motion leap into the neighboring creek. Hopefully I survive the 2 foot drop.

So …. Change in plans for my Sunday run. Decided to try something else new, and do my version of a tempo run. This begged the obvious question …. What tempo? Much of what I read points to running your 5k pace, but I have a slight problem in that I’ve never run a 5k. With nothing to indicate otherwise, I chose to assume that my 5k time would be around 12 minutes, but if I ran that pace then I’d have to deal with all the world-record press, the angry Kenyans, and the inevitable investigation revealing my performance-enhancing addiction to little chocolate doughnuts. On a similar note I’m confident that were I to try and sprint 100 meters I would most likely go under 9 seconds. However, Usain Bolt won’t return my calls for a pay-per-view showdown. Chicken.

I went a bit more conservative and shot for around 2 miles somewhere between 7 and 8 minutes each. Started off with my usual 1-mile walk warmup (my offering to the please-don’t-make-me-any-more-injured gods), then managed the following ‘tempo run’:

Overall this felt REALLY good. My legs were angry at the end, but it was a ‘what did we ever do to you?’ angry rather than an injury angry. I found it really hard to throttle back the speed on the last couple miles after running at a faster clip than usual, which I guess is the point. I’ll definitely be doing more of these workouts as part of the training plan …. Which starts in a mere 6 days.

On an unrelated note – as I enjoyed my bowl ‘o cereal Saturday morning I was flipping through the channels and found one of the weekend versions of the daily morning ‘news’ shows (Today, GMA, etc.) where they bring in the b-team and stammer through the teleprompted chatter. When I flipped to one channel there was a girl at a piano singing a song and just KILLING it (in a VERY good way). I stopped and listened to the whole song, and was mesmerized. For reference, I’m not an American Idol fan, mostly because of the shows devoted to the folks who can’t sing and really shouldn’t be there. I get very embarrassed for people who embarrass themselves, and I find those shows painful to watch. I also take no pleasure in watching people fail, unless of course they are my sworn arch-enemy or are trying to sell Woody and the Roundup Gang to a toy museum in Japan. However, I will give all kinds of respect to someone who goes out there and really does a great performance, especially if it’s something acoustic that doesn’t get drowned by massive overproducing.

Anyhow, this girl was incredible, and that much more engrossing since it was just her and a piano. Her name is Christina Perri, and the song she sang is called ‘Jar of Hearts’. I downloaded it from iTunes and played it for my wife, who informed me that it’s been playing on the radio for a while, so as usual I’m a bit late to the party. That’s what happens when you only listen to talk radio in your car, and only listen to playlists on your iPod. In some ways I think the version I heard on TV was better than the iTunes download, but it’s still pretty darn good. Really an amazing and engaging voice. Not much of a ‘running song’, but still worth a listen.

In terms of running songs – I threw the iPod on random during my Friday run, and it pulled up ‘Turn to the Sky’ by the March Violets from the ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’ soundtrack. This is a textbook 80s tune, but it’s a GREAT song for running. Ended up listening to it a couple more times over the course of the run. Nice blast from the past – worth checking out if you’re looking for something new/different.