Back at It, Almost Recovered

I'm not real happy to report that last week's mileage was only 28.5 feeble, slow miles as I battled a combination of lower back pain, hot weather and general tiredness and lazyness. My longest run was a slowpoke 5.5 miles.

Six weeks until the Santa Barbara Marathon and at this point I'm not really sure I want to run it.  My mileage and training has been hampered by illness and injuries but we shall see. 

Truth be told...the back spasm was less of an issue than my general inability to wake up and run.  I am so looking forward to the additional hour of sleep this Sunday as Daylight Saving Time goes away until the spring.

In the latest Runners World magazine the publisher had a nice discussion about his own training and how he's doing all the right thing in preparation for an upcoming marathon.  Something that hit home with me was his insistence on getting to bed early enough so that he could wake up for his early morning run.  He mentioned he was dedicated to the task, with the occasional exception of his hometown team playing late.

My commitment to this "comeback" marathon has waned of late I think in large part to my inability to train properly.  On the other hand, MY SLEEP HAS BEEN INADEQUATE for most of the last 6 months.  Probably 75% of that is my own fault...staying up late with this website that I love, writing, corresponding...and then winding down at midnight with the TV on.  Not good at all for the training...

So here I am at 10:15 pm...writing this blog post and planning on a 20 minute run afterwards.  Shower and get to bed by midnight. 

Do as I say, not as I do...

I'm Sitting Here Writhing in Back Pain Again

Darn it!  It was only a few months ago that a major back spasm sidelined my running for 3 weeks.  I visited the chiropractor and the problem finally went away.  Well at 3 a.m. Monday morning my 4 year old awoke me out of a deep sleep to help him go potty...I turned too fast as I was getting out of bed and...SNAP...there goes my back again.  First froggies, then 4 year olds.

Strangely, while my current back spasm and nerve irritation makes cause me excrutiating discomfort when I'm sitting down, I can run without major incident.  This is good. Weird though.  So in the meantime I'm back at the chiro office 3X per week. 

In the meantime, last week I had 48 miles of running under my belt, ending with my slow but steady 16.3 miler on Sunday.  I was able to get that much mileage last week only by doubling up my runs 3 days.  Not particularly enjoyable for me but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

The other good thing is that I pretty much feel 100% recuperated now from my wonderful swine flu experience.  Just when I'm over and done with one injury, illness or other stumbling block in my training, some new issue pops up.  Boy am I glad I'm not a professional runner.  I don't know how I could deal with so many setbacks!  But as a casual runner, it is easier to take these problems in stride.

That's it for tonight.  Better get to bed before midnight or I'll turn into a pumpkin.

True Grit Running This Week

Today was a day of sheer grit and determination.  Seven weeks away from the Santa Barbara Marathon and I felt that if I didn't get a long run in, I would not be able to run the marathon. 

The last 4 weeks were supposed to be 60 mile weeks for me, but between getting the flu and slowly recovering from it, my training has been way off the plan.  In fact, last week's total mileage of 16.5 was the lowest in recent memory for me. Not good.

This week and today, I STILL don't feel quite right.  I'm not sick. But my body is still recovering from being sick.  Still coughing in the morning and sluggish and tired overall.  Wasn't able to wake up earlier than 6:45 a.m. this week.  So to make up for the short morning runs I doubled up on Tues, Wed and Thurs.  Not fun!  But I felt I HAD to get my mileage where it needed to be.

It was nice, cool and rainy up through Wed. Then Thurs through Sat it was unseasonably hot out. Between the heat and my inability to drag myself out of bed early, I was worried about my critical long run today.

Good luck!  It was cool out when I started my run at 8 a.m. today! And the temp didn't rise higher than about 75 degrees.

The goal: Run for 2 1/2 hours. Pace irrelevant.  Normally I run around a 7 min pace but given the way my body has felt, I'll settle for anything!  Just need to knock this run out.

But 20 minutes into the run, physically I felt like stopping.  Just didn't have anything in the tank. But I swallowed my pride and ignored my dead legs...and resolved to KEEP RUNNING, even if it felt like I was walking!

Two hours, 26 minutes later, I was done.  I was not surprised this afternoon when, using MapMyRun.com found out I ran 16.3 miles today.  That equates to about a 9 minute per mile pace. I slogged my way through this run.  But I did it!  It didn't feel good today.  But mentally it was necessary that I was able to PUSH myself into making it happen!

So for those of you who, like me, don't feel up to a particular run...change your mental outlook, tweak your goal and MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Double Up Your Runs When You Need to Double Down Your Training

The past two mornings I've had a hard time waking up.  So here I am less than 2 months from my marathon running 15 minutes this morning. That ain't gonna cut it!  Time to double up!

I don't usually enjoy doing 2 runs a day.  One quality 40 minute run is better than a 15 minute and a 25 minute run in my opinion.  But ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

I'm already feeling vulnerable in my training because I've been in a 4 week training tailspin due to illness.  So I need to do whatever it takes to make one last ditch mileage buildup before tapering off for the marathon starting in a month.

Today we welcomed the first rainstorm of the Fall here in Ventura County.  What a pleasure to see the rain out there.  Last night there was a very light rain that made my 2nd run of the day quite pleasant.  It was a solid 2nd run that made me feel good physically and emotionally. Yes, although I almost fell asleep at 8 pm reading my 4 year old to sleep, I was able to drag myself out and run again!

Second runs build mental toughness. It ain't easy lacing up those shoes at night in the dark. But doing so builds up that "I can do it" attitude that marathoners need to meet their goals.

Note:  Do be particularly careful running at night.  Always run facing traffic. Wear a reflective vest.  Run in familiar areas, preferably well lighted.  Running in the dark increases the possibility of stepping on things you don't want to step on.

Slowly Coming Back From the Flu

The last time I wrote was last Wednesday, my first run after 5 days off with the flu.  On that day I ran a slow 1.5 miles on the treadmill.  The next day I did 2 miles, then 3.5 miles on Friday, steadily increasing to 4 miles on Saturday, 5.5 miles on Sunday and another 5.5 today (Monday) slowly but surely regaining some energy. 

My weekly Monday to Sunday total was a personal low of 16.5 miles during a time frame 2 months prior to the marathon in which I had planned to be running 60 mile weeks.  The prior week was only 25 miles total.  As you can see below, I've been on a descent for the last month after a previous comeback from a back injury.

I have to admit, I'm starting to have doubts about my ability to run this marathon at the sub 3-hour level.  There have been too many problems with my training...it seems every other week I get sick or a new injury pops up.  I'm really frustrated that every time my training starts looking good, I'm forced to back off.

That said, I'll continue plugging away. What I really need to do is regain enough energy to run a 20 miler this weekend to maintain my long distance fitness.

On the injury front, a spot below my left knee has had a chronic pain for 4 months now and I'm visiting an orthopedist in Thousand Oaks to assess the problem.  The good thing is that it hasn't significantly impacted my running.  The bad thing is that it has been a chronic weak leak for me when crouching, bending and standing. 

Today I ran a solid 40 minutes after work.  For some reason with the change of the seasons in the air, my body stopped waking up early.  Oddly, this also happened to my entire family.  The good thing is, we get an extra hour of sleep on Halloween night as Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 p.m. on November 1st.  Getting that hour of sleep is always very welcome in my household!

One Flu, Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Instead of breaking into a 60 mile week with a 22 miler last week, I ran 25 miles Monday through Thursday and not a single step until today.  For the first time ever, I have refrained from running for 5 DAYS STRAIGHT, not due to injury, but to an evil, nasty FLU!! 

Yes indeed. Well what brought me to this lovely place probably started September 27th. On that day, we had a big party at our house for the mom-in-law.  But the teenage stepson wouldn't get out of bed.  Being the good stepdad I am, I attempted to cajole him into stepping out and saying hello at least. But he wouldn't budge, even just to greet Grandma. Later that night Urgent Care said he had a strain of H1N1.

So as a special birthday gift we rewarded Grandma with Grandkid quarantine duty the next 3 days. In the meantime his little brothers caught something too, though not quite as bad.  I washed my hands with soap and warm water every chance I could...hoping, praying, pondering the longshot chance that I would not be affected by this influx of yuckyness.

So I'm in the clear still on Thursday, thinking I'll run 22 miles on Saturday morning and be primed with my longest training run for the Santa Barbara Marathon. Yep, then a 5K the following Sunday to sharpen up a bit!  Calm before the storm.

At 11:45 p.m. PDT, Hurricane Dry Heave hit, and came back and hit again, once an hour, until 5 a.m. Friday morning.  I'll refrain from providing more graphic details of this wonderful experience. Truth be told, there are better ways of shedding pounds.

One flu. Am I going cuckoo? How is it possible to get sick and injured so often?  Nearly one third of my blog postings have to do with this topic!

In my younger days I was out running, feeling light and lean after a stomach bug, sometimes the next day. Not so with this one. I was on my back most of Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  Was OK to work on Tuesday but not yet run. Though I did run up the stairs...my feet felt real light, my chest is majorly conjested so I felt asthmatic.

So today, Wednesday, I did get out and run 1 mile in 10 minutes.  It felt pretty good all things considered and I was able to breathe a little better, but not deeply.

Am I fretting about this?  Nope. I've come back time and time again from injuries and illnesses. This flu was pretty bad but, heck, I'm already feeling better.  Still 2 months until the marathon. My biggest challenge will be mental...how to pump myself up to run 22 miles after another off week.

I'm Over the Cuckoo's Nest and ready for As Good as it Gets, Jack.

Predicting the Unpredictable: How Do I Feel Today?

Last week's mileage was only 39. Between the heat and general tiredness last week after my half marathon on September 19th, I had kind of an off week.

On Saturday, I ran the Alliance for the Arts 10K in Thousand Oaks.  The 10K was simply a hard training run for me with a goal of sharpening my speed for my December marathon.  I knew I wasn't fully recovered from half marathon, but I signed up awhile back and decided it would be better to run a 10K than to do a long run this weekend.

I was surprised on Saturday morning because when I woke up, I actually felt pretty good...light on my feet and not as overwhelmingly tired as I had felt most of the week.  That was at 6:45 a.m. Two hours until the start of the 10K.

After messing around, socializing, etc., it was finally time for the 10K at 8:45 a.m. By then, it was getting pretty warm out; mid to upper 70s, close to 80.  I was nonchalant all morning, and the only thing I ate was a McDonald's sausage biscuit, hash brown and iced coffee.  (Don't ask...I rarely eat at McD's, but I was impulsive that morning.) In hindsight I should have had more water.

So I started out running pretty well, actually leading the race at the halfway 5K mark in about 18:30, but I started feeling parched somewhere around 2 1/2 miles into the race. But then, all hell broke loose with my body.  I was downright thirsty. And pooped.  A dummy light went on that told me to check my fluid levels. But I wasn't about to stop at that point.  I just dragged my body along to finish. The 2nd 5K was about 21:10.  The winner ran strong and consistently the whole race.  I managed to finish 2nd.

The point of all this is...the body is unpredictable.  I didn't feel good in the days leading up to the 10K. I felt pretty good before the race. But halfway into the race I blew a gasket.

This past Monday, I was so tired I could barely get out the door. Big party at the house on Sunday, up late cleaning, half the family was sick, etc.  I really didn't feel like running off my 5 hours' sleep.

Oddly enough, I felt GOOD on my Monday morning trail run! Heck, I could have run 2 hours (if it weren't for having a job to get to).  I never would have predicted it.  I felt energized and lean all day on Monday.

Lesson Learned:  All I know is, it is had to predict how I will feel on a given day. But I suppose what I should focus in on are the factors that I CAN control...get enough sleep, rest, nutrition, etc.

Slowing Things Down as We Age

Before I get to the main topic, my mileage last week (week 20 of my training for the Santa Barbara Marathon) was 48 with a long run of 13.1 miles in a half marathon race.  I've been hoping to achieve 60 miles in a week at some point but this week also looks to be on the light side.

On the topic of mileage and training hard as my age advances, I came across another interesting article in a recent Wall Street Journal.  The article, "Older, Wiser, Slower" touches on this issue of training too hard as we age...something I find myself constantly struggling with.

Just 10 years ago I was running 70, 80, 90 miles per week in my marathon training.  I was in my mid-30s, single, no kids and in my distance running prime. 

Today I can barely contemplate running those kind of miles, as my life has changed and time is so scarce.  But on top of that and maybe more importantly, my body has aged and can only take so much hard core training and competition.

I ran 5 or 6 marathons in the 2:35 to 2:40 range in the mid to late 1990s. Today that seems impossible because not only do I not have time to train that hard (nor the time to recover from such training), but my body just won't let me do it!  I'm constantly battling and re-battling injuries, new and old.

So the article basically tells us we have to acknowledge our limitations as we age and literally slow down or risk really hurting ourselves.  Overuse injuries, lack of rest and stressing ourselves out about our training can kill us! 

Type A runners can do a number on themselves attempting to compete at a fanatical level year in, year out and can lead to either complete burnout (and abandoning exercise altogether) or doubling up our training in pursuit of the past.

I am a member of the Conejo Track Club, which is a local group of runners, the majority of which are in their 50s, 60s and beyond (I ain't quite there yet). It is motivational and encouraging to see this wonderful group of runners and friends continue to stay active through the years.  Their times slow down, many stop running but continue with walking long distances and others move on to other forms of exercise...cycling, skiing, hiking, etc.

Take a lesson from these aging athletes.  Slowing down as you age is a natural progression that allows you to stay in the game. 

Tuning Up For a Marathon by Running a Half Marathon

Yesterday I ran the Point Mugu Half Marathon* at Naval Base Ventura County. After 20 weeks of training, mostly mileage buildup and long runs, it was good timing to gauge my marathon fitness level by running a half marathon.

Now it wouldn't be prudent to run the half marathon within a month of the marathon date. Since the Santa Barbara Marathon is on December 6th, that wasn't an issue.

The marathon is the "main event" in my training schedule, so I didn't treat yesterday's half marathon too seriously.  If I had, I would have tapered off my mileage for the event to gear up for a top performance.  For a full-blown competitive half marathon performance I might taper off the mileage for a week.  For yesterday's race, I ran light (only 4 miles) the day before the race.

Running a half marathon as a training run provides the opportunity to practice the important skill of taking in fluids on the run.  The art of grabbing a cup of water/sports drink from a volunteer and drinking its contents, is a good one to practice.  I hate stopping during the middle of a race.  It ruins my momentum. So it is important to know how to grab that cup and down it efficiently.

In this race, there were 6 or 7 water stops. I grabbed liquid at all of the stops except the final one (which was only a mile or so from the end of the race).  Each stand had both water and Gatorade.  I was running alone pretty much the entire race, so as I approached the stop, I yelled out " Do you have Gatorade?" This triggered the Seabee volunteer to have a cup ready for me.  Worked fine for me.

The approach that I use to consuming the liquid is to squeese the top of the cup, turn it sideways, and pour it in.  Makes it much easier to drink "on the run."

OK, so back to the race itself.  I'm happy to report that I finished in 3rd place overall in 1 hour, 23 minutes, 53 seconds.  Not a bad showing for the race, particularly given I have done no form of "speed work" on a track or otherwise. 

The "rule of thumb" I've been using for years is, assuming you do adequate long runs, take your half marathon time and multiply by 2.1 to get your full marathon approximate fitness level.  For yesterday's performance, I take 64 (rounded up) minutes x 2.1 = 176.4 minutes = 2 hours, 56 minutes, 24 seconds (.4 minutes x 60 seconds = 24 seconds).

So, all else equal, yesterday's half marathon performance indicates I have the ability to run a sub 3-hour marathon.

Another rule of thumb for estimating marathon time is to take your 10K time and multiply by 4.7. So if you can run a 10K in 45 minutes, assuming you've done your marathon (e.g. long run) training, in theory you are fit to run a 3 1/2 hour marathon.

These are just rules of thumb, but they have always worked pretty well for me. It is also fun to work backwards based on your desired marathon time.  If you're looking to run a 4 hour marathon, divide 240 minutes by 4.7 to determine a 51 minute 10K should get you close to that goal.

That said, I'll we doing 3 or 4 5K and 10K races in these final 11 weeks pre-marathon, interspersed with 2 to 3 more long runs.

* The Point Mugu Half Marathon course has its pros and cons.  Race was completely flat as the entire course is within 1/4 mile of the Pacific Ocean.   Very low key race with less than 100 competitors.  Most of course is nowhere near cars and traffic!  Miles 5 through 9.5 (approximate) were directly adjacent to the ocean!  Race entry fees were extremely low.  Within a minute after the start of the race we were blessed with a live performance of the National Anthem by a Naval band. Well organized, well marked course. And, the entire race was under overcast skies, which was quite nice!

The cons I suppose were that other than close proximity to the ocean, the course is a bit lacking in terms of scenery (in fact, it was quite swampy and smelly over a few sections of the course). Around mile 7 or 8 I heard some target practice going on, which had the unintended effect of pushing my pace to get outta there!