Ok, so I am in the middle of week 13. I am doing much better with my stretching and weight training and have altered my schedule a bit. After the last fiasco and thinking that I really hurt my foot, I've decided not to do my pace runs the day after my longs. So the experts were right. BUT, I have decided to actually cut the pace runs in half so I am not completely tired out when I go to do my long runs.
2 weeks ago I actually made it all the way to 20! It was a rough one for sure. First I wasn't prepared nutritionally. I forgot to restock my Gu, so all I had for the whole 20 miles was water, gator aid, and 3 little shot blocks. I ate those at mile 8, so they were long gone by mile 15.
I ran with Rick and some new people which was fun. We started at 5:30 a.m. and it was cool running in the pitch blackness with a group. I am used to being alone. We saw the sun come up as we turned from Poplar to Houston Levy, thankfully. That was another problem...it was in the low 50's that morning and all I had on was a thin T-shirt. I never really did warm up.
I was able to hold their pace util about mile 14 when I started to lag behind. The lack of nutrition was catching up with me and my legs were so stiff that I felt like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. I caught up to them again at mile 17 at the water stop, so I stretched and felt a little better. Now I was just starving!
Finally, we made it to 20 miles, only to realize that we miscalculated the distance and still had a good 3 miles before we were back at the car. I felt like crying. Rick and I ended up walking/limping home.
So now I am looking at my second twenty miler this weekend. I am going to run with the same group, but this time have a LOT of nutritional supplements and even a granola bar stashed somewhere. I am hoping this one goes a little better, although I wouldn't say my last one was bad. I just think whenever a person runs that long it is always going to hurt and be uncomfortable.
Why am I doing this again?????
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Um...This is harder than I thought!
Why I thought training for a marathon would be easier than training for a triathlon is beyond me. I am starting to rethink my plan, or at least my schedule. In retrospect, jumping past the Novice and Intermediate training plans may not have been the best idea.
Both the Novice II and Intermediate I programs would have had me run a total of 36 miles this week. In the Intermediate II, I am running 43 miles this week. I guess that 7 miles really makes a difference in an untrained body. I didn't get to run my mid-week 9 or 4 miler due to hip issues. I did run 19 yesterday and felt OK, but today was supposed to be 9 at pace (9:15) and I just couldn't do it. I managed about a 10:00-10:30 pace for about 6 miles, but then had to call it quits due to a new pain, this time on the outside arch of my foot. It got so bad that I decided to walk the last 3 miles rather than risk an injury.
Now for my altered schedule...
a. I am going to follow Hal's advice and do my pace runs on Saturday and my long runs on Sunday. I reversed them initially because I wanted to get my long run out of the way and feel like I could relax a bit for the rest of the weekend and still do a pretty good pace run Sunday. That actually worked out until this weekend; week 10. After a 19 miler, I realize I just don't have the body to get out the next day and do a good pace run.
b. I AM going to make myself crosstrain Monday (swim) and Thursday (bike) and do two days of light weights and core. The reason my hips are having issues is because the rest of my body is weak, so they are working overtime. I need to strengthen all of my muscles if I am going to make it through in one piece.
c. Stretching!! I have not been stretching at all and that is not good. I know I will not be able to make it to Yoga with this schedule, but I can at least stretch at home each day. I've added some good stretching and weight training sites here, so I intend to use them!
d. New running shoes. It is time. I've had these since April and trained and raced for 4 triathlons and 1/2 way through this marathon program. I am headed to Fleet Feet today and am so excited.
So that's it. If I stick to this, hopefully that will help. If not, I may need to drop down to one of the lower training programs. We'll see. I do know that I am learning a lot and with each marathon I do, my body will be in better condition. I really want to just enjoy this journey and keep in mind how awesome it is that I am even doing this in the first place. :)
Both the Novice II and Intermediate I programs would have had me run a total of 36 miles this week. In the Intermediate II, I am running 43 miles this week. I guess that 7 miles really makes a difference in an untrained body. I didn't get to run my mid-week 9 or 4 miler due to hip issues. I did run 19 yesterday and felt OK, but today was supposed to be 9 at pace (9:15) and I just couldn't do it. I managed about a 10:00-10:30 pace for about 6 miles, but then had to call it quits due to a new pain, this time on the outside arch of my foot. It got so bad that I decided to walk the last 3 miles rather than risk an injury.
Now for my altered schedule...
a. I am going to follow Hal's advice and do my pace runs on Saturday and my long runs on Sunday. I reversed them initially because I wanted to get my long run out of the way and feel like I could relax a bit for the rest of the weekend and still do a pretty good pace run Sunday. That actually worked out until this weekend; week 10. After a 19 miler, I realize I just don't have the body to get out the next day and do a good pace run.
b. I AM going to make myself crosstrain Monday (swim) and Thursday (bike) and do two days of light weights and core. The reason my hips are having issues is because the rest of my body is weak, so they are working overtime. I need to strengthen all of my muscles if I am going to make it through in one piece.
c. Stretching!! I have not been stretching at all and that is not good. I know I will not be able to make it to Yoga with this schedule, but I can at least stretch at home each day. I've added some good stretching and weight training sites here, so I intend to use them!
d. New running shoes. It is time. I've had these since April and trained and raced for 4 triathlons and 1/2 way through this marathon program. I am headed to Fleet Feet today and am so excited.
So that's it. If I stick to this, hopefully that will help. If not, I may need to drop down to one of the lower training programs. We'll see. I do know that I am learning a lot and with each marathon I do, my body will be in better condition. I really want to just enjoy this journey and keep in mind how awesome it is that I am even doing this in the first place. :)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Pain in the Middle
Rick and I have ventured into week 10 (just past the mid-way point) of our marathon training and are running into unchartered territory. So far, our longest run has been about 18 miles 2 weeks ago, and last week it went down to 12. This was an interesting couple of weeks.
Both of us had a fantastic 18 miler. Rick ran by himself so that he could keep his goal pace (which he did) and I ran with Chuk and Adam: half on the new Greenway, and half on the Yellow trail. It was a nice slow run (about 9:30-10:00 pace) and I felt pretty strong the whole way. The last mile is when my knees started hurting, but I was amazed it didn't happen sooner. If it wasn't for that, I know I could have gone longer.
The 12 miler the following week seemed harder, strangely. It was a little warmer, I ran by myself, and it was a hillier route through Germantown. I didn't have any pain, though. In the next day or so, my hips really started bothering me...mainly after running and throughout the day.
My weekend pace runs have been good, especially when someone is there pacing me. Last week I ran half of it with the team and the other half with Rick and Raul. Having Rick pace me is a little hard because he always goes a bit faster than my goal, but I'm glad for it afterward. On marathon day, I am going to try to stay with the 9:15 pace group that Jennie Vee is leading.
Gradually, my hip pain got worse, so I made the decision to take 3 days off this week in the hopes that I can do my long runs this weekend. So here I sit with ice packs stuffed in my sweats and a bottle of Alieve. I did dust off my road bike yesterday and got out for a fantastic 32 mile ride. It was a beautiful day and I forgot that I actually enjoy the bike. I did't try to kill it, but averaged about 16.9-17 which I was pretty happy with at this point. It is much better than where I was last year at this time, so that is encouraging! I actually felt excited thinking about tri season. I may go for a swim today, or maybe another ride. It sure is nice not to be so structured during the off season.
Next week's plan...
Sat: 19 miles
Sun: 9 mile pace
Mon: Cross
Tue: 5 mile recovery
Wed:10 miles
Thurs:5 miles or cross
Fri: off
Sat:20 miles
Sun:10 miles
Both of us had a fantastic 18 miler. Rick ran by himself so that he could keep his goal pace (which he did) and I ran with Chuk and Adam: half on the new Greenway, and half on the Yellow trail. It was a nice slow run (about 9:30-10:00 pace) and I felt pretty strong the whole way. The last mile is when my knees started hurting, but I was amazed it didn't happen sooner. If it wasn't for that, I know I could have gone longer.
The 12 miler the following week seemed harder, strangely. It was a little warmer, I ran by myself, and it was a hillier route through Germantown. I didn't have any pain, though. In the next day or so, my hips really started bothering me...mainly after running and throughout the day.
My weekend pace runs have been good, especially when someone is there pacing me. Last week I ran half of it with the team and the other half with Rick and Raul. Having Rick pace me is a little hard because he always goes a bit faster than my goal, but I'm glad for it afterward. On marathon day, I am going to try to stay with the 9:15 pace group that Jennie Vee is leading.
Gradually, my hip pain got worse, so I made the decision to take 3 days off this week in the hopes that I can do my long runs this weekend. So here I sit with ice packs stuffed in my sweats and a bottle of Alieve. I did dust off my road bike yesterday and got out for a fantastic 32 mile ride. It was a beautiful day and I forgot that I actually enjoy the bike. I did't try to kill it, but averaged about 16.9-17 which I was pretty happy with at this point. It is much better than where I was last year at this time, so that is encouraging! I actually felt excited thinking about tri season. I may go for a swim today, or maybe another ride. It sure is nice not to be so structured during the off season.
Next week's plan...
Sat: 19 miles
Sun: 9 mile pace
Mon: Cross
Tue: 5 mile recovery
Wed:10 miles
Thurs:5 miles or cross
Fri: off
Sat:20 miles
Sun:10 miles
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