So this was a good week. I did 4 and 5-mile "runs" (not really running, is it?) on the elliptical several days, one day getting up to 8 miles. And today, four weeks away from race day, I got OUTSIDE for long a run. This involved actual running: lifting one foot, then the other, repeat, repeat, repeat.
Shelburne Farms has miles of dirt roads (more forgiving that asphalt, prettier than the suburbs) so I went there on Tiffany's advice. (She neglected to mention it would be "Calf Open House" and that oodles of families and Volvos would be tearing up the place. Baby cows are very popular.) The terrain was good: open roads, tree-lined roads, lakeside roads, wooded roads. I think I got in 11.5 miles of running, mostly, with some walking and several generous breaks to stretch and look at farm animals.
Right now I'm tired and achy, but shouldn't one be tired and achy after going 11 miles on three weeks of rest and sedentary living? I think tomorrow morning will be the real test of whether I'm ready to pick up the training again.
Revised training plan!
So typically, you would train for a marathon on an 18 week schedule. You start with a lower volume of miles per week, and one weekly long run that gradually gets longer - up to 18, 20, 22 miles. Those really long runs are what most people are doing now, and they'll keep doing that distance for the next couple of weeks. Then in mid-May, about 2-3 weeks out from the marathon, they'll begin to taper (reduce the weekly mileage, cut way back on the distance of the long runs) and arrive at marathon day well rested and ready to attack to the race course.
I wasted my taper time getting injured. Instead of taking a break before the race, I'm going to try rebuilding my mileage from where I am now and hopefully get up to 18 miles range the week before the race. It's not ideal, but it's the best I can manage with the time that's remaining.
So what was that injury all about?
In a nutshell, crappy biomechanics. From the look on Tiffany's face (chiropractor extraordinaire -- she had this diagnosed perfectly from the beginning), this was only a matter of time and I think she was surprised only that it took so long to happen. I don't *think* I'm one of those truly awful looking runners who spastically fling their arms around, or slap the pavement in a duck-footed stride. However, everything from the top of the my spine to below my knees is out of whack, with bones and muscles all twisted and pulled in ways that aren't intended. And basically my right hip flexor felt like it had been taking for the team for far too long. Point taken. Treat hip flexor more kindly in the future.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
One month, a thousand variables
The marathon is four Sundays from now, and things are not looking ideal for me. I haven't blogged this season of training (maybe that was the crucial mistake!) so allow me to run the highlight reel:
Snowiest winter ever
This fact was confirmed by the National Weather Service, but anyone training outside this winter didn't need the bulletin. How many times did I find myself outside, in a blizzard, trying to figure out how even the sidewalk was beneath the snow drifts, snot frozen on my face, barely achieving a walking pace while fighting against the wind? The answer is many, many times.
No fear=no motivation
Last year's training was predicated on the mystery of whether or not I would actually be able to complete the race. Every run had some urgency and necessity behind it. This year, the necessity remained but the urgency was gone. Aloof is a good way to put it. Delusional is another - there's no guarantee I'm going to cross the finish line this year.
A little experience is a dangerous thing
I tried to make up for the lackluster pace of my early winter training by poring it on in the middle weeks of the training schedule. I counted a little too much on the reassurance that having done this once, I can manage to do again. I undertrained, then overtrained, then got injured.
And now for the current update:
On April 5, I ran the Burlington "Unplugged" 1/2 marathon and came in with a time that I was truly ecstatic about: 2 hours 24 minutes 55 seconds. This is 11 minutes faster than my time in this race last year: I ran steady 11 minute miles the whole way through, and that was after running two miles from my house to the starting line. It was a GREAT morning.
Until about 15 minutes after the race ended when I realized the pain in my right hip wasn't going away and stretching didn't help. Later that day I walked 3 miles (to make up the 18 miles I was due to run), but the stiffness and soreness weren't going anywhere. I woke up the next several mornings pretty much unable to walk like a normal human being -- lots of dramatic limping and demanding calls to physical therapists to get appointments. Copious amounts of Advil, heat, ice, garlic, rosaries....
After numerous opinions, many of them conflicting, I ended up taking off about two weeks from doing any exercise. Then I slowly started up with micro-mini runs on the elliptical machines at the gym, tentative run-walks outside, lots of heat, still more Advil. Days rolled by with very little training getting accomplished as my fellow runners talked about 18-mile and 20-mile routes. I seriously questioned whether I could start the race, let alone finish.
Snowiest winter ever
This fact was confirmed by the National Weather Service, but anyone training outside this winter didn't need the bulletin. How many times did I find myself outside, in a blizzard, trying to figure out how even the sidewalk was beneath the snow drifts, snot frozen on my face, barely achieving a walking pace while fighting against the wind? The answer is many, many times.
No fear=no motivation
Last year's training was predicated on the mystery of whether or not I would actually be able to complete the race. Every run had some urgency and necessity behind it. This year, the necessity remained but the urgency was gone. Aloof is a good way to put it. Delusional is another - there's no guarantee I'm going to cross the finish line this year.
A little experience is a dangerous thing
I tried to make up for the lackluster pace of my early winter training by poring it on in the middle weeks of the training schedule. I counted a little too much on the reassurance that having done this once, I can manage to do again. I undertrained, then overtrained, then got injured.
And now for the current update:
On April 5, I ran the Burlington "Unplugged" 1/2 marathon and came in with a time that I was truly ecstatic about: 2 hours 24 minutes 55 seconds. This is 11 minutes faster than my time in this race last year: I ran steady 11 minute miles the whole way through, and that was after running two miles from my house to the starting line. It was a GREAT morning.
Until about 15 minutes after the race ended when I realized the pain in my right hip wasn't going away and stretching didn't help. Later that day I walked 3 miles (to make up the 18 miles I was due to run), but the stiffness and soreness weren't going anywhere. I woke up the next several mornings pretty much unable to walk like a normal human being -- lots of dramatic limping and demanding calls to physical therapists to get appointments. Copious amounts of Advil, heat, ice, garlic, rosaries....
After numerous opinions, many of them conflicting, I ended up taking off about two weeks from doing any exercise. Then I slowly started up with micro-mini runs on the elliptical machines at the gym, tentative run-walks outside, lots of heat, still more Advil. Days rolled by with very little training getting accomplished as my fellow runners talked about 18-mile and 20-mile routes. I seriously questioned whether I could start the race, let alone finish.
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